Pleading for mercy

My favorite part of being a priest is hearing confessions. As much as I love the Eucharist and celebrating Mass, at Mass I generally only encounter bodies. In Confession, I encounter souls. And, they are souls and hearts that are pleading for mercy. I have been on the other side of Confession many, many times and have received the Lord’s forgiveness every time. It’s such an awesome and humbling experience to now be an instrument of the mercy of Christ.

Last Friday was Good Friday. That afternoon I was in the confessional for six hours and was busy with penitents for five of the six hours. I didn’t count, but it had to be over fifty people coming to Confession that afternoon. God is good! So are the people here. I was a really proud spiritual papa!

They were good confessions. People prepared well with solid examinations of conscience, remembered their sins as well as they could, and were sincere throughout. For some it had been a few days, others it had been a few decades. Some were young, some were older, but they all chose to come. One said that the reason for being there was to be in the state of Grace at Easter in order to receive the Eucharist.

It was all so beautiful! At one of the highest points, I was in need of tissues because tears were streaming down my eyes at the beauty of what was going on. I had a front row seat to see dozens of people coming to Jesus for his incomparable compassion and mercy. And, all this on the day that He died for their sins to be forgiven. Perfect way to honor Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross!