Communal penance services in the diocese

By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger

During this Advent season, many parishes throughout the Diocese of Davenport will add additional penance services in which multiple priests will be available to hear confessions. Below is a list of communal penance services provided by parishes to The Catholic Messenger.

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the sacrament of penance challenges us to examine our hearts inwardly and then express outwardly the ways we have failed to love God and neighbor — through both personal sin and social sin.

Examining our conscience teaches us how to “look squarely at our life” to see how well we are living the Gospel (Pope Benedict XVI, address to participants in the Course on the Internal Forum organized by the Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, March 25, 2011).

Only in recognizing our failings can our hearts be converted to God so that we can receive his forgiveness and allow his grace to heal us and our relationships, according to the USCCB.

Albia: St. Mary, Dec. 9, 1:30 p.m.
Bettendorf: Our Lady of Lourdes, Dec. 5, 6:30 p.m.
Bettendorf: St. John Vianney, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m.
Blue Grass: St. Andrew, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
Clinton: Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, Dec. 15, 11 a.m.
Colfax: Immaculate Concep-tion, Dec. 12, 7 p.m.
Coralville: St. Thomas More, Dec. 17, 7 p.m.
Davenport Deanery: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Dec. 2, 3 p.m.
Davenport: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wednesday evenings through Advent, 6-7 p.m. or until all confessions are heard.
Davenport: St. Anthony, Dec. 15, 10:30 a.m.
Des Moines County Parishes: St. John the Baptist Church, Burlington, Dec. 15, 10 a.m.
DeWitt: St. Joseph, Dec. 16, 4 p.m.
Fairfield: St. Mary, Dec. 2, 2 p.m.
Fort Madison: Holy Family Parish, Dec. 9, 4 p.m. at Ss. Mary & Joseph Church.
Houghton: St. John the Baptist, Dec. 9, 1 p.m.
Iowa City: Newman Catholic Student Center, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Iowa City: St. Mary, Dec. 15, 10 a.m.
Iowa City: St. Patrick, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.
Iowa City: St. Wenceslaus, Dec. 18, 7 p.m.­­
Keokuk: Church of All Saints, Dec. 17, 6:30 p.m.
Knoxville: St. Anthony, Dec. 16, 4 p.m.
Long Grove: St. Ann, Dec. 2, 1 p.m.
Melcher: Sacred Heart, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.
Mount Pleasant: St. Alphonsus, Dec. 18, 7 p.m.
Muscatine/Wilton: Ss. Mary & Mathias and St. Mary parishes, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. at Muscatine.
Oskaloosa: St. Mary, Dec. 1, 10:30 a.m.
Ottumwa: St. Mary of the Visitation, Dec. 16, 1 p.m.
Solon: St. Mary, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m.