Confession

Yesterday we celebrated the Sacrament of Penance & Reconciliation (confession as it used to be called) with our 2nd graders from our school and religious education program.  This was their first time celebrating this sacrament, and I could tell from visiting their classes the past few weeks that they were nervous - some more than others.  I can remember my first time celebrating this sacrament - as a 2nd grader in St. Justin's Parish in Hartford.  I can remember the priest giving us a talk, suggesting that we not confess that we had killed our grandmother!  Of course, back in those days, we had to enter that dark booth and kneel behind that thick burgundy velvet drape and wait for the wooden window to slide open.

Now the sacrament is celebrated in an open, well-lit room, with the option of kneeling anonymously or sitting face-to-face with the priest.  I was happy to say that all but three of the children chose the face-to-face option.  All seemed to find the experience a positive one, which hopefully will encourage them to make frequent use of this wonderful means of receiving God's love and mercy and forgiveness.

Since I am on the topic of confession, several people have told me they have tried to leave comments for my various blogs but have been unable to do so.  Tonight I explored some of the options I had when I set up this blog, and I must confess that I am thinking that the way I had it configured precluded the posting of comments.  And so, having changed a couple of settings, it is my hope that this will enable comments to be posted.  I am curious to get feedback.