first penances

Confession at the Vatican
Victor Paul

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My daughter helps my best friend with her second grade religious ed class and yesterday was the day of their first penance. I went with molly so she could help my friend and ended up being enlisted to assist one of the classes as their teacher was unavailble to be there.

these.
children.
were.
precious.

They opened with the hymn "Like a Shepherd," and the little guy standing next to me hands me his brochure and proclaims "I don't need this -- I know all the words" and proceeded to belt out the hymn like it was the Pledge of Allegience. I stood there awed by these little ones, calming the nervous ones, reassuring them of God's grace and how good they would feel afterward, which they seemed to settle at.

They would proceed, one by one as soon as one of their classmates was finished and when they were through giving their confession, would come back to their pews to say their penance. You could tell when they were relaxed again because the chattering started. I do not know how many times I approached this one little pumpkin and commended him on being so well behaved and setting such a good example for his class as I helped turn his torso forward and assisted in bringing his legs back over the edge of the pew instead of horizontal, as if he were on a recliner.

precious, I will say it again :)

When the children were finished, the parents and family members were invited to go up and give their confessions and everything concluded when they were finished. A friend of mine approached me afterward and asked why I did not go up and I said "Five minutes? What, are you kidding me? I make an appointment so Monsignor can set aside a block of time..." We chuckled and she mentioned her husband had gone up and was there for two hours :)

We all know the release we need when discussing confession - a little joke here, nervous laughter there - but I also know the feelings I experience before and after confession. The weight of my sins, the grace I am bathed in afterward. I believe this is why it is a Sacrament and one that should certainly be taken very seriously, not always with a grain of salt.

I saw my friend's husband afterward and he is someone I like very much - quick with a joke and a smile, fun to be around, always helps at vacation bible school being the sampler in the kitchen --- "Quality control, ma'am" --- but when I saw him yesterday, he was far from feeling the relief one feels after having given a good confession. He said "Pen, when I went to tell the priest how long it had been since my last confession, I drew a blank -- I said, 'I am so sorry I have not been here for so long, there is much I need to tell you...'" I looked at him and said, "Are you okay?" He said, "I will be..." and looked away. I told him "It is going to be okay, it really will - is there a special way I can pray for you?"

"No, Pen, but please just pray."

I hugged him and we parted.

I have never seen him like this. Whatever it was, it had burdened him so greatly, I prayed for him all day, on and off, and will continue to do so when he crosses my mind. I recognize in him how I have felt so many times my self -- and I think I am alone when it comes to walking a narrow path, being weighed down by so much of my *junk* -- I am not alone; none of us are. I walk it with brothers and sisters who are just as weighed down and we are here, as the Body of Christ, to help lift them up again, like you do for me, back to the Father.