Mouse had her first Reconciliation on Sunday afternoon (yes, mere hours after Mudpuppy's supplemental baptismal rites). She's been preparing for this for four months, so it's a big deal. They had the kids do it within the context of a communal penance service, which is good, because then the kids get to see lots and lots of other adults going to confession, too.
Here is Mouse with her confessor. (This was taken after everyone had cleared out.) I went to him as well, and he seemed really good. Mouse said it was :kind of scary but good." She had a big smile on her face when she was done.
Reconciliation is a beautiful, under-appreciated sacrament. We get to present ourselves to God as we really are -- warts and all -- in a very concrete, intentional way. Without intentionality, and without sacramentality (the concreteness of the thing), it's all too easy to minimize or sidestep our faults and failings. I can't speak for others, but I know that for myself, acknowledging my sins to God through the Church is a whole different experience than just acknowledging them in prayer. Sometimes I even come away with a smile, like Mouse did.
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