*Remember Me?



It was January 17, 2006, and I had just left the priest at a Catholic church in a small city in Texas. He had gently and skillfully guided me through my first sacrament of reconciliation in forty-five years.

“Have you felt malice toward others, perhaps wishing them harm because of something they did to you?” he asked.
“Yes,” I confessed, “toward two people. One of them has died, but the other is still living. I’ve asked God to relieve me of my inability to forgive, but I haven’t been successful.”
After the priest absolved my sins, I left the rectory and then stopped at the grocery store on my way home. As I was crossing the parking lot, someone called out, “Hey Lynn! Remember me?” I looked at him for a moment. I had not seen him for eight years, and he was several pounds heavier,
but it was him, one of the men I told the priest I couldn’t forgive.
I had worked with him for ten years, much of that time tolerating his bad behavior and the malicious gossip he spread about me and others to fellow employees. At one time I had even thought of bringing a lawsuit against him, but I lacked sufficient evidence.
He was smiling and friendly as we inquired about one another’s families and discussed the work place. When we parted company, my malice toward him had completely dissipated. How quickly God had touched me with his healing presence!
In my heart, I had not completely forgiven the man who molested my fourteen-year-old daughter years earlier. When I spoke to my now forty-four-year-old daughter about my experience, she softly told me that she had forgiven Ted. She felt sorry for him and in her heart had forgiven him. He died alone and miserable. I was also finally able to forgive him also.
God has lightened my burden through the sacrament of reconciliation.
He brought me peace, joy, healing, and a brighter outlook on life. When I received holy Communion the following Sunday, I shed tears of joy.
Pauline L. Bludau
Victoria, Texas