First Reconciliation

On Wednesday, the whole second grade class received the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. It was a nice evening for the children, their parents, and the teachers, principal, and priests. No siblings were there, so the parents could focus on their second grader.

Katie was in a mood when we were getting ready to go. She was not happy about her wardrobe and wanted a fancier option. This was an enormous fit. Eric and I figured she was nervous about her one-on-one time with the priest. I finally got her to get dressed by letting her wear my necklace. (I had asked her what jewelry she wanted Mommy to wear, and she requested purple since it is the color of Reconciliation. I have a set of purple flower necklace and earrings from Wendy's wedding, so I decided on that. During her fit, I offered to let her wear my special purple flower necklace and she was very happy about that idea and agreed to get dressed.) Eric and I both thought she looked fantastic, and she got unsolicited compliments from some of the other parents as well.

It was RAINING so we put Katie in tennis shoes and carried her black satin shoes in a bag. We put on our coats and got our umbrellas and waded over to church.

It was a nice ceremony the children had prepared, and the Monsignor discussed the lost sheep with the children. Our assigned pew was front and center, and Katie raised her hand to enthusiastically answer Monsignor's questions. Eric and I were a little surprised about that...

When it was time for the confessions, Monsignor, Father Niall, and Father Jose each took a seat spread apart on the altar from one another. One by one, the children came up and sat with one of the priests. The parents waited at the bottom of the altar stairs. Katie was one of the first, and was directed to Monsignor. We couldn't hear their conversation, (we didn't know what she was planning to say, but she did figure it out ahead of time) but I could see Monsignor's understanding face looking at my daughter. After each child was done with the priest, he or she brought her candle (made by their Big Buddies in 5th grade) to the teachers to light and leave on the altar.

When we got back to our pew, Katie said she had been nervous about talking to the priest, and didn't look him in the eyes, but looked at his stole the whole time instead. But she also said she felt "renewed" from her talk.

We had to walk across the street in the downpour (switching Katie's shoes again) for the reception, put on for us by the 3rd grade parents. The children had made placemats for themselves and had assigned seats for their ice cream and cookies. The Pedroza family had seen us battling the elements and offered us a ride home, which we accepted!

She is just in that stage where she is so grown-up but still acts little sometimes. We are glad to be making this journey with her at Holy Family.