Emma's First Reconciliation

Religion was not a major part of my upbringing. My parents rarely took us to church. I can recall a few occasions where I attended Sunday school with my cousin, Garry. Otherwise, I draw a blank. Whenever I attended a wedding, I became uncomfortable in a church. It was intimidating to me. I felt like a mouse surrounded by dinosaurs. I was well aware of what little I knew about Christianity and Jesus Christ.

As an adult, I would attend services occasionally, always trying to do the right thing, but seemingly coming up short. Again, the intimidation factor was a roadblock for me. Once Emma was born, Henry and I made a point to go to church more frequently, most especially during the Lenten season. Two years ago, once we signed Emma up for her Catholic religious education classes, we decided to start attending Sunday mass each week.

If we were expecting our daughter to attend a weekly class, we certainly should set a good example by attending weekly mass. Two years and many Sunday masses later, Emma reached her first milestone in her Catholic education, First Penance or First Reconciliation. On Saturday, we joined Emma as she celebrated her first act of confession. She confessed a sin to the priest who, in turn, gave her an act of penance to complete for redemption.

It was very emotional for me, as these things always are. She wasn't nervous. She knew exactly what she wanted to confess. After we presented her to the priest, we were asked to step away to allow her privacy. As she sat with the priest, we were beaming with pride. We were not permitted to take pictures or video footage during the service so I had to settle for a few snapshots during our lunch out afterwards.

The celebrant...

The proud little sister...