Acknowledging Love

I love leaving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I hate going, but I love leaving! I used to share that small testimony with the many youth I worked with in college and when I worked at a youth retreat center for a year to encourage them to participate in the Sacrament. I still hate going to Confession. But I love to leave!

And yesterday our family made a rare and inconvenient decision to go all together early to Mass to have the opportunity for Confession. My husband, went first with our daughter, and I occupied the little boys, squeezing into the end of the line once my husband was through, knowing I might not get in before the priest had to leave for Mass.

I did have my Confession heard, and my penance was memorable. It's something we should all be doing every day, but my priest somehow saw into my soul that I was forgetting. He seemed to understand that the cares of the world were crushing me, and while I was staying close to the Lord, a vital part of our relationship was missing. Maybe it is missing in yours, too. 

So I share my penance as a sort of challenge to each of you. I'm guessing that every one of us needs to incorporate this advice into our daily prayer:

Spend some time thanking God for loving you so perfectly.