I was walking down the hall several years ago just before our Wednesday night session began when a third grade boy named Alex asked if it was the night, once a month, that Father Harris made himself available for children who choose to go to confession.
I responded that it was indeed, and Alex gave me the first of many surprising responses that we have seen since starting Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at our parish for preparation for Eucharist and Reconciliation:
"YES!" he cheered, as he pumped his fist.
I remember how I responded to the news that we were going to confession at CCD classes back in the day. Sweaty palms? Yes. Fist pump? No.
Over the past several years, it is this common and most striking response to the Sacrament of Forgiveness that has made catechists and parents alike comment that something different indeed is going on in the hearts of these children that have been placed in our care.
Catholic guilt doesn't seem to exist for them. They seem to fly to the Sacrament of Reconciliation each month with little fear or trepidation at all. Often the lines are so long that the priest (and sometimes two priests) can't get to all of the penitents in line.
Last week I found this drawing that Adam, a fourth grade boy in our program, made during his personal work time in the atrium. I almost looked past the significance, it was so stunningly simple. Though it had been a year and a half since he'd shared in the True Vine (John 15) bible study while preparing for First Communion and First Reconciliation, this little moral theologian pondered so deeply on the parable of the True Vine that he could articulate his own motivation to keep sin out of his life... and it wasn't because of so-called Catholic Guilt.
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| "If your [sic] bad, you clog the goodness." |
The innocent and joyful witness of these children should inspire all of us to get rid of those "sap blocks" in our lives. Let us make confession, do penance, amend our lives, and for goodness' sake, let the grace flow!
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