A few months ago a friend said something in conversation about it being an injustice to a child who is ready to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation to hold off on it too long. And she was right! If a child knows the difference between right and wrong but for whatever reason, is not being allowed the opportunity for that extra sacramental grace in the confessional to help them avoid the wrong in the future, that doesn't seem fair. Of course they can still be forgiven, but it puts them at a disadvantage to hold out on them the extra grace that can help them. And so it was that I made a call a few days later to get David on the parish First Reconciliation list. I had been forgetting and putting it off but when we thought about it we knew he was ready.
So yesterday our little warrior made his First Confession! He was so excited and worked on his list all week long. This boy is little but a huge force to be reckoned with, so much like his namesake. Here's hoping this new opportunity for joy and grace keeps his heart loving the things of God and giving him the means to become the saint he wants to be.
He got to go with Father Augustine who we love!
The Luke had to get in on a picture.
"David! You did it!"
"Yeah! And now the devil is SO mad!!"
His forgiven face
He right away gathered up all the brothers so he could burn his list.
The afternoon held a quick baseball practice for Michael and then the older boys were scheduled to serve at Mass so back to church we went. But after that we got to head out to Olive Garden because super classy gift cards. I haven't been to the ol' OG but when you have free money...
The boys loved it, at least, and thought it was very fancy. Michael's face when he realized that the waitress would restock the breadstick supply at just a word was priceless.
(Black and white makes it look much fancier.)
Mr. David got to have his favorite eggplant parmesan to celebrate.
And just before throwing them upstairs for bed when we got home, he opened up his gift from us.
Each of the boys get a big crucifix from us on this day to keep as a reminder of God's mercy and grace in response to our sin. I'm so happy I had the mind to pick up two in Rome when we were there to save for David and for Luke! (Sorry, Ben.) So this one was blessed by the Pope!
Sweet David, you are amazing. May you always use that fire in your belly for the true, good, and beautiful. And when you fail, may you always know and run to the merciful love of our Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace and the joy of redemption.
This is so great! His face is precious.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I wish *this* would be the picture that people hold in their minds of Confession when they even think about it. I think a whole lot in the world would be different if we all did! :)
ReplyDeleteWow! He's got it right. I told my husband about this (my husband's name is also David), and his response was "A kid after my own heart!"
ReplyDeleteCongratulations David! And can I just say that I love the sport coat. The other sacraments get fancy duds so why not First Confession too?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, David!! What a blessed day!!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful and precious!
ReplyDeleteOhhh the breadsticks :) I bet you guys got your gift card's worth out of breadsticks alone! Congratulations to David!!
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