Catholic Review Online: Ads urge Catholics to see the light – and go to confession

Gary Gately reports today that Baltimore buses, various print ads, radio spots and TV ads will have the message that the "light is on for you." The light referred to is the one over the confessional. To quote His Excellency, Archbishop O'Brien:

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien says too many Catholics have gotten away from regular Confession, and he’s using the Lenten media campaign season to try to get them to return.

“We have to make use of the media for important things in our lives if we want to get the message across,” Archbishop O’Brien said, “and this sacrament of reconciliation is an essential of our faith that is too often overlooked by people or not utilized as often as it should be.”

The campaign is patterned after a similar effort launched two years ago by the Archdiocese of Washington.

Not so long ago, Archbishop O’Brien noted, Catholics went to confession regularly.

“These traditions have fallen by the wayside,” he said. “We’ve just not given the stress and the attention to the beauty of the sacrament, as in the past, as we should. But this [campaign] has been a big step in that direction.”

Here is the best part:

Sean Caine, director of communications for the archdiocese, said the catchy ads should reach a wide range of Catholics, many of whom might find it easier to make confession Wednesday night than on a Saturday. (All churches will be open for confession 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays in Lent except Ash Wednesday and the Wednesday of Holy Week.)

How long has it been? Too long?

Father John Zuhlsdorf's (WDTPRS) 20 tips for making a good confession.