There are tons of f2f people I'm glad I found on facebook. It's just that there's a handful (and it's not all political stuff, either) of people about whom I should have known better and because they're f2f people, there's no gracious way to dump them.

Oh Connie, please forgive my bad timing.

No problem at all, that's the downside of the board, so many threads of lives with the attendant ups and downs not always gelling in an appropriately tonal manner. All appropriate ~ma in all directions.

~ma for Connie's sister.

~ma for Connie, and for your sister.

Gris, congrats!

My BFF is Catholic, and the last time that she went to church with her parents, they had confession where you just sat in a room with two chairs and the priest. she couldn't handle it.

That's how I did it for my first confession! Back in the 70s! Hippie parish.

Connie, good wishes for your sister.

Now, it's actually called "Reconciliation", not "Confession", and it's built in to the mass, so that you aren't required to do it every week, unless you've done BAAAAAD things, you can still take communion. You ARE still supposed to do it (with the priest, and it used to be with the screen between you and now it's face to face, but some will still do the screen thing if you want) at least...er...once a year? Before major holidays? Mind is slipping on that one.

So, would the sins classified as mortal sins fall under "BAAAAAAAD"? (Not according to you; I realize you aren't clergy.) Because the stuff that qualifies as mortal sins are really fucking commonplace. Which shocks me, because I was hanging on to my grade-school knowledge that murder is a mortal sin, and...not sure what else. I got the impression from my reading last night (on, you know, the internets) that mortal sins require confession/reconciliation/whatever before one can receive communion again.

I also like it--due to having far-flung family and friends.

This--what with Buffistas, college friends being spread about the globe, drag friends all over the place...I've clearly got more friends ELSEWHERE than I do where I AM...and it's not like "where I am" is where I am very often. :) So, FB and other parts of the internet that let me keep up with people (LJ, DW, b.org) are my saviors.

And luckily, only a few friends are mad political in ways I'm not (I can think of a couple very religious but still fairly socially liberal friends from college, a couple of pretty-quiet-on-FB conservative friends from college, and one teabagger ex-coworker, who I can mostly skim over)

I'm generally in favor of the Vatican II changes but hippie confession is something I never got behind. If every priest were someone you felt comfy with, great. But generally I prefer the booth (as if it matters given than I lapsed 25 years ago).

So, would the sins classified as mortal sins fall under "BAAAAAAAD"?

Um, I'm not sure. I know I learned it at some point. I suspect "skipping mass" doesn't. But it may be that "mortal sins" has gotten an update? Or there's a different brand of "must go to official Reconciliation(TM) before taking communion" list?

That's why I couldn't be Catholic! Too many RULES, man! I couldn't handle confession without the separating screen, either. I'd be terminally embarrassed or else I couldn't stop snickering.