Our oldest son, Joseph, made his First Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation) this evening at the Cathedral. It was precious. He's been preparing for weeks---learning the 10 Commandments, learning how to examine his conscience to find areas of sin in his young little soul, learning to confess those sins to the Lord through a humble priest, and learning to thank Jesus for the tremendous gift of forgiveness that was purchased for us by His Precious Blood. That's a lot of learning for an 8 year old to comprehend. But, then again, Joseph is not your average 8 year old. He seems to fully grasp the gravity of sin and the gift of God's mercy...better than most adults, I'm sure! Sometimes I honestly wonder if he will be a priest someday...or is that just my over-zealous-wishful-thinking? :)
As a gift to celebrate this special day, I bought Joseph a camouflage Bible cover and a little prayer journal that also fits inside. He was ecstatic! He immediately took his journal to a room in the basement, locked the door, and brainstormed a list of sins that he needed to confess (bless his heart, he could only come up with 6) :) He decided it would be wise to take "his notes" in with him to confession so that he wouldn't forget any of his sins, and came out of the confessional practically skipping with glee. Taking off the load of those 6 sins must've made him feel as light as a feather! :) If I only had my camera! It was a proud moment for this Catholic mother :) What a joy for me to see how genuinely excited he was to confess his sins rather than dreading the whole process (like many Catholics tend to do). Joseph sincerely told me that he would like to do this every week! Wow, how I wish more adults (myself included) had his enthusiasm to admit their faults and receive the graces to begin anew! Wouldn't the world be a much better place if we all went to confession more often!? :)
Anyway, later that night, after having cookies and cocoa at the church, and then coming home to get ready for bed, I told him that I wanted to show him what God does with our sins once we confess and ask for His forgiveness. So I asked him to tear out the "sheet of sins" from his journal and crumple it up. Then we put it in our fireplace and watched it turn into nothing but ashes. I said,
"That's what God does with our sins. He forgives them and forgets them as if they never were. And His mercies are new every morning!" How refreshing to be reminded of that! Perhaps I got more out of tonight than my enthusiastic son? :)
