Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation


It was my forty-something birthday and I phoned my mom to again thank her and my dad (who is deceased) for giving me life. Somewhere in the midst of the conversation she said to me, “And to think I almost didn’t have you...” Not sure if I had heard her right, I asked her to repeat what she said. She said it again, and added, “Didn’t I ever tell you that?” I explained that I think I would recall such a statement, and she proceeded to tell me the way I came into being.

It was the mid 1950s and she was the mother of six boys. My mom was experiencing some “woman problems” as they said back in those days, and went to see her doctor. He told her that because she was expe- riencing some bleeding, and since she already had six children, he would schedule a hysterectomy for her. The operation was scheduled to take place a few weeks later in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Saturday arrived and Mom decided to go to confession and mention this operation to her parish priest, Father John Callhan. He advised her to seek a second opinion from a Catholic doctor. Mom called my aunt and got the name of a Catholic doctor. At her appointment, this doctor explained how she was not in need of a hysterectomy at all, and a much less invasive procedure was performed to ratify her bleeding problem.

A week or so later when the hospital called to remind my mom of the operation that was scheduled, she canceled it. Then, about a month later I was conceived! I owe my life not only to my parents, but to the sacrament of reconciliation and a good holy priest at St. Charles Catholic Church in the small coal mining town of Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania.

Mary K. Soyka Salem, Ohio