Reconcilliation

When I joined the mission group at church in October, one item that they talked about was making sure that we all went to reconciliation before the Dominican Friars arrived in January.  I realized that I hadn't actually been to "confession" in over a decade.  In fact, I couldn't remember if I last went when Cal, Meg or Cameron took First Communion.  Thus, I decided that I would make it a priority to go to confession at some point before the first of the year.  

I didn't really think about my resolution much more until yesterday when we went to mass.  The church was hosting an advent season reconciliation for the entire congregation tonight and were bringing in sixteen priests for the event.  Once I read the information in the bulletin, I knew that I should make every effort to attend.  I told Doug about it, believing if I said it out loud, then I would follow through on my promise.

This morning after I dropped Doug off at the airport, I headed to Epcot.  There were a few Christmas items that I still needed to purchase and I really wanted to spend the Disney gift card that Cal gave me.  I also planned on checking out a few rides and eating lunch as well.  I had a lot of fun on my solo trip to Epcot.  I rode Soarin', ate a chocolate covered banana, finished my Christmas shopping list and found the perfect Lounge Fly to buy with my birthday gift card from Cal.  While I was there, I also had a lot of time to think about tonight's reconciliation event at church.  I decided that I had to make sure that I was home in time to make it.  I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't.

I made sure to leave Orlando by 2:30 so that I could pick up groceries and shower before I had to be at church.  I also listened to several podcasts from Father Mike that talked about confession.  The one that helped the most was intended for people like me - "Going to Confession for the First Time in a Long Time."  As always, he was extremely helpful and I felt a lot better prepared than I had earlier in the day.

Tonight's event was different than I was expecting as the congregation gathered together as a group beforehand, singing songs, listening to readings and receiving instructions from Father Pat.  We said the Act of Contrition together and then lined up by one of the sixteen priests, waiting our turn for confession.  I was very nervous, but had a lot of time to think while in line.  I knew that I wanted to participate and knew that I would be very happy in the end if I did.  After forty-five minutes of waiting, it was finally my turn.  The experience was even better than I had hoped for and I was very happy that I pushed myself to participate.  I appreciated the encouragement that I had received from Doug and my children before and after the event.  The beliefs of the Catholic Church aren't for everyone, but I do realized that they are for me.