Posted on 04/07/2017 8:08:59 PM PDT by NYer
Some learn early.
It’s a rare gift.
Sounds like a little girl to me: “...fanning myself all the way in a manner I was sure duplicated the graceful lines of a señorita,...”
You always post the greatest threads! We are Catholic too and this story reminded me of one 26 or 27 years ago. Our daughter was 3 or 4. We were in Sears buying something in the paint department. I noticed she was running her hand over the soft paintbrushes. Before we got in the car in the parking lot she held it up proudly. I explained to her that we did not pay for it and you can’t take things that are not yours. We went back into the store and gave it to the clerk and she said she was sorry. A few years later she made her first confession and I remembered she told me she mentioned it to the priest.
By the time they were eleven, some of the kids in my neighborhood could get a whole carton of Winstons in their coat sleeve.
Cheap-shot artists like yourself just can’t resist.
Are you the author? Sounds like it.
Thank you for sharing that poignant story of your daughter. I recently had a discussion with my pastor (he is from Syria) about preparing children for the sacrament of Penance. Being a foreigner, I planned to introduce him to an Examination of Conscience that might be beneficial for the children. He shook his head from side to side and said “it is written in the heart”. I had never considered that notion before but you and the author of this article stand as witness to that truth. Children are still closer to God and sense, in their heart, when they have done something wrong.
That's right.
Fessing up to the offended party is the way to reconciliation.
Not anonymously leaving more than was stolen and then bemoaning that you were out more than the cost of the item.
The sin was more than the monetary value.
It was offense against another person, violating them and yet that was never settled because the store owner didn't know where the quarter came from and that it was in payment for the theft, and betrayal of trust.
“somewhere” I have a small good examination pamphlet for children, written in the 50’s I think, if not older.
PS I also remember the look on her face when she came out of her first confession. I asked her how she felt and she said Mom I feel so clean and bright and white!
Passage please. Thank-you!
This should had been Catholic Caucused.
Corinthians 1:27
"But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong."
Peace.
Hiding her sin from the one against whom she had sinned is not at all demonstrative of true repentance and the passages dealing with this are quite numerous. She dealt in secrecy and hidden shame, not honesty, again with passages dealing with this being quite numerous. Finally, she denied herself the opportunity to be forgiven by the one against whom she had trespassed.
Thank you.
Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Why?
Forgiveness is not something limited to Catholicism.
Going to confession and confessing anonymously to a priest is the easy way out.
Going to the one you offended and face to face confessing and asking for their forgiveness takes way more fortitude and yields far more benefits for everyone.
How much better would it have been if the girl first made it right with the store owner and then still confessed in confession and said to the priest that she stole the item but when back, fessed it up, and paid him for it and promised to never do it again?
I doubt there’s be a priest in the world who wouldn’t be thrilled to hear of someone doing the right thing once in a while without him holding their hand.
But then again, you never know.
Anyway, there’s also the school of thought that the right way to do confession is to the offended party.
You are wrong.
For Catholics, and in a special way, those who have not done confession for years or for those who are converts who never did it before it is not an easy process. Yet it can be done first before going to the person in question. In other words, confess to Christ via the confessior.
Also if the offended person has since has passed on, this is accepted.
Nope.
I’ve done both and going face to face with the person you offended is WAY harder.
You should try it some time.
Nope.
Hiding in a dark booth without having to see the face of anyone you are *confessing* to is a cowardly way out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.