Last night I sat transfixed in front of the TV. The Holy Father celebrated the Penitential Rite with the youth of the Diocese of Rome yesterday. I was able to watch this beautiful celebration during a rebroadcast on EWTN. It was truly riveting.
I know this must sound like a real yawn, but it was a terrific experience to watch the confessors with their penitents. The exchanges were amazing to me. Think about it - how often have you watched someone during the sacrament of reconciliation? I actually watched soul be cleansed. Can you wrap your mind around that?
It wasn't a weird voyeurism that kept me watching; rather, the depth of involvement of the participants. It was fantastic. The priests were deeply listening and the young people seemed to be using the opportunity to grow. Not one person looked like they were following a cut and dry formula. And don't tell me you don't know what I mean by formula: days since last confession + haltingly stating 4 or 5 transgressions + an act of contrition + 1 Hail Mary = remittance of sin. Who knows if that wasn't really the case in what I saw last night, but it didn't seem that way. There were conversations. In each instance, it seemed like both parties were really listening to each other. It was great. Peace.
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