After Mass today we were chatting in the entrance to the church with Fr. Matt, the young priest who lives in residence in our parish but who I also work with at the Pastoral Center where he is the director of the Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults. At one point we mentioned that Isabella would be making her first confession soon and so he said to her, jokingly, “Do you want to go now?” I think he expected her to cringe and say No, but instead she replied with eagerness, “Sure!” That took us all aback instead.
“Are you sure?”
“Do you have time now, Father?”
Okay then. Our pastor already had some people in the confessional, so Fr. Matt took Bella up to the sanctuary where he put a couple of chairs together. Melanie took the other kids outside so they wouldn’t create a ruckus and I knelt in the pew to pray as my baby took this big step of her second Sacrament.
After, when mom and dad had shed a few tears, we all piled into the car, full of grace and giddy with joy, to head home and have a celebratory pancake brunch. God is good!
What a lovely gift. Thank you for sharing about this moment of grace with your blog readers!
Congratulations on Isabella’s First Confession. What an exciting step toward her First Communion! She was surely well prepared! Since leaving Boston and the CNMC, we have had a few firsts in our family. We vacationed in New England after the CNMC, but we cut our trip short when Ron came down with yet another sinus infection. A trip to the Navy hospital in Newport RI armed Ron with antibiotics, but after 4 days, his infection was gone, but not the headaches. We got in the car early Sunday morning to drive home. That evening Ron was at the emergency room. They did a CAT scan and found a large chronic subdural hematoma. These are scary, but sine there is no bleeding into into the brain itself, they are usually not life threatening–although the pressure on the brain leads to many frightening problems. Since he was on blood thinners, we had to wait till Friday for them to clear his system. In the ensuing week, we had several visits from priest friends. Ron was not Catholic when he entered the hospital, but when our former pastor asked him if he wanted to be baptized, his response was a firm yes, so Father baptized him, gave him his First Communion and Confirmed him. After 44 years, two different seasons of RCIA thirty years apart and lots of prayers, we are now truly Catholic Grandparents and preparing to begin our podcasts. I am sure our wonderful weekend in Boston, surrounded by the community and the Holy Spirit helped Ron accept the gift of faith. Now Ron is preparing for his First Confession!
Wow, Pat, that’s an amazing story. Congratulations to you all and thank God that the illness wasn’t more serious. It’s hard not to conclude that God was sending a message. It’s good that it got Ron’s attention!
Congratulations to Bella! What a wonderful day and you even got a picture.