Video shows need for confession
By Nathan Rumohr

Life is stressful and challenging, and many Catholics can forget the healing power of the sacrament of confession. Johanna and Mark Osborne depict this in a video called As the Family Goes. The members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish hope their video will encourage Catholics in the Lower Mainland to receive the sacrament.

"I feel confession is essentially like when you are on an airplane and you are asked to put your air-mask on before helping others put theirs on," said Johanna Osborne. "This, I find, is especially true for parents, as we must take care of our spiritual lives so that we can guide our children.

The video shows the turmoil of an average mother in family life. She yells at her husband and her daughter while she feverishly tries to manage her life. The mother then realizes that the best way to heal from these burdens is to participate in confession.

The Osbornes were influenced by a quote from Blessed John Paul II: "As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live."

"This video encourages parishioners to seek healing in the sacrament at any point during the Lenten season," said Patrick Gillespie, the director of the archdiocese's Office of Evangelization. He also said this video can be used with archdiocese's "We have a confession to make" campaign.

However, with the busyness of the Lenten season, the archdiocese suggests Catholics attend penitential services, which began in late February.

"As the Family Goes" can be viewed on The Busy Catholic Blog at http://tinyurl.com/7l3uzt6.

A list of Lenten penitential services can be found at www.rcav.org/lent.

nrumohr@rcav.org