Three years ago today, we stood in the Baptistery at our parish and claimed our little Social Butterfly for Christ through water and the Holy Spirit.
Today, our oldest received his First Penance. Oh the look on his face when we walked out of that confessional!
Baptism and Reconciliation are two Sacraments that happen all the time. Yet in the life of a child, the reception of these beautiful Sacraments is life-altering. And in the life of that child’s parents, well, words cannot do such an experience justice. Each time we’ve presented one of our four little souls to be Baptized has been sublime. It’s a proud moment in which you feel that you are passing on the riches of the catholic faith to your offspring, fulfilling the promise you made on your wedding day to “accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church.” Watching our first-born practicing his Act of Contrition one last time as he knelt in front of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and then seeing him nervously take his place in line was another experience entirely. He has done the work to prepare. He has learned all a second grader should know about the Ten Commandments in order to make a good examination of conscience. He walked into that confessional, and without anyone telling him what to do, or what to say, he confessed his sins. And the floodgates of mercy were opened upon him. Incredible. Truly incredible.
Courtesy of Newsday
And at about the same time, 4,500 miles away in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI officially stepped down, leaving the Chair of St. Peter empty.
What a day! For our family, a time to reflect on the Universality of the Catholic Church. We give thanks for our two children whom we celebrate today, and for our beloved Benedict XVI as we pray,
“O God, who in your wondrous providence chose your servant Pope Benedict XVI to preside over your Church, we give you most hearty thanks for the years of his faithful service, praying that, after having served as the Vicar of your Son on earth he may enjoy your abundant blessing in this life and, at life’s end, be received by your Son into eternal glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
~Taken from ewtn.com
I so loved going through those sacraments with Fiona last year. It was kind of a healing process for me since my own journey through them was such a non-event. Can I just tell you/vent that on more than one occasion our “DRE” if you want to call him that (he certainly wouldn’t call himself that) has complained to me/in my presence about how annoying the second mothers are who make such a big deal out of First Communion and think it supposed to be like the best day of the kids’ lives or something! WTF!!!! And he’s from Thomas Aquinas for the record! O Lord deliver me!!!