When I was eight years old, I made my first confession. Thirty years later, I made my second.
The second one happened like this. I had just started to participate in a lay apostolate program through Regnum Christi, called Familia (Fam- ily Life in America). Through the association, I learned of an audio tape about confession by Fr. Larry Richards. After listening to the tape, the Holy Spirit whapped me upside the head with a two-by-four!
I knew I had to go to confession.
I asked my sister-in-law, “How do you confess thirty years worth of sins?”
Her reply, “Pack a lunch.”
I went with the next available time, which happened to be the first Saturday after 9/11. When it was my turn, with my stomach churning, I went in. The priest was startled at first when he realized this was my first confession as an adult but he was incredibly kind and gentle. He carefully guided me through the confession by asking a series of questions. This made it easier to confess the embarrassing sins by answering yes or no.
As I left, he cautioned me, “Don’t wait so long to make your third confession.”
Jeanne C. McGuire
Columbus, Ohio