Derry priest pens book on confession
Fr Paul Farrren is presented with a framed portrait of his book cover, "Confession, looking into the eyes of God", at his book launch at St Mary's College by Taylor McKinney.
A Derry priest has written a new book focusing on the sacrament of confession.
‘Confession: looking into the eyes of God’, by Rev. Paul Farren, was launched at St Mary’s College, Derry, on Friday last.
Guest speakers at the event were Monsignor Eamon Martin, Baroness Nuala O’Loan and Minster Simon Coveney TD. St Mary’s College choir and orchestra, with Anne Marie Hickey, provided music and song at the event.
Fr Paul Farren, explaining why he wrote the book, said: “The sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession is probably the most talked about sacrament of the Church and, maybe, the most misunderstood sacrament, too. In the book I have tried to focus primarily on the role of God in the sacrament. It is God who confesses first when he confesses his love, his trust and his forgiveness of us.
“At the heart of the sacrament of Reconciliation is our relationship with God in Jesus. Very little of what the Church teaches makes any sense outside a friendship with Jesus. The most overwhelming reality of that relationship is that God believes in us and trusts us more than we will ever trust God or even ourselves. This little book tries to explore our friendship with God and, in the context of this friendship, how we live our experience forgiveness and reconciliation.”
This book explores the sacrament focusing on the two people who confess – God and the penitent. The gift of freedom, the existence of hell and the role conscience are dealt with in the book while forgiveness and sin are discussed at length. The conclusion drawn about sin is that, perhaps, there are only two sins.
Jean Vanier, who is the founder of the l’Arche community, has written the foreword to the book. The book is available from local bookshops, www.amazon.co.uk, The Diocesan Catechetical Centre, Gate Lodge, Francis Street, and St Eugene’s Cathedral. Enquiries to Tel: 028 71264087.
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Monday 20 May 2013
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