Ryan's First Reconciliation

Ryan celebrated his First Reconciliation tonight... it was a beautiful ceremony.

Backstory
For the past few weeks, Ms. Lou and I have been working to prepare the kids for First Reconciliation. "Confession" is so much different than it used to be...

In years long past, you'd walk into a confessional, say "Bless me Father for I have sinned, it has been ## since my last confession and these are my sins..."

Now, you are face to face... the Priest welcomes you and goes over a Bible passage, you confess, you discuss, you read another Bible passage and you receive your penance...

The kids were sooooooo stressed out about having to spill their souls out to the priest... Miyoko and Vanessa were the cutest about it... they had fear in their eyes... they took it soooooo seriously! It was endearing that it mattered so much to these young ladies... When we did "mock" reconciliation, I spent the most time with my group (I had 7 kids, Lou had 6) talking about how they didn't have to list out every sin they've ever committed but rather speaking more generally... Miyoko was hillarious. She asked me "How long do I have to talk? I can talk for a long time!" LOL!!!

I ended up being a reader during the mass... I read the question of conscience that had to do with charity...

Ry was restless during the ceremony... and of course, we were sitting in the front row so Fr. Geoffrey and Fr. Lolo could see everything... ugh!

Ry was the first child to see Fr. Geoffrey. He looked nervous but I think he did ok. Going into it, he kept saying, "I don't know what I'm going to tell the priest... I don't do ANYTHING wrong... I don't fight with my sisters - THEY fight with me..." LOL!!!

After reconciliation, Ms. Helen gave Ryan his candle - he lit it and put it in the center sandbox and we sat down... Painless... :)

Here is Ryan wth Fr. Geoffrey and Ms. Lou...