Day 11: First Confessions

This morning 100 children from our parish will go to confession for the first time as they prepare for their First Communion later this spring.  They will be nervous and anxious, yet they will approach the sacrament with an innocence that us "big people" can learn from.  Children see God as their loving Father.  Their minds aren't yet clouded with confusing ideologies that make them question everything.  They simply place themselves in God's hands, no questions asked, and trust in his loving mercy.  No doubt. No cynicism.  Just pure and simple trust.  If you are preparing to make a good confession during this Lenten season, perhaps you should approach the sacrament as a child would.  Look up at your God and see a Father who loves you to no end and places no limits on his mercy.  We are the ones that limit his mercy when we think: "he can't possibly forgive me for this."  He is God.  We are not.  He is our Father.  We are his children.  He is pure mercy!  May we approach him with the innocense and simplicity of a little child as we ask for his mercy and forgiveness.  Approach the sacrament like a child approaching it for the very first time.