Make Amends

We'd been talking about it for weeks.

Our middle child, Kate (7) was preparing to make her First Reconciliation (sacrament whereby one confesses their sins to a priest and asks for forgiveness) last night and she was feeling anxious and unsure.

Why do we do this, mama?

One of the most important skills you can learn in life is how to make amends for the ways that you've hurt yourself or others in this world.  

Huh?

Part of being human means that you're going to make mistakes.  You're going to say and do things that will hurt others and you need to be remorseful and to ask for forgiveness.  You don't need to confess your sins to a priest to be forgiven.  God is always with you.  At any time and all the time, you can talk to God about what's weighing on your heart or mind.  Maybe you haven't treated a friend very kindly at school or maybe you've been picking on your little sister or fighting with your brother.  At any time, you can pray to God and talk to Him about making better choices and being more loving.  Sitting down with a priest just helps you to practice and to be accountable for your behavior to another human being.

Are you going to do it too?

I am.

What are you going to say?

I think I'm going to share that I'm sorry for the ways that I don't appreciate the many blessings in my life and that sometimes, I look at other people's lives and think that mine would be better if only I  had their things.

That's a good one, mommy.  I think I'm going to say that I lied.

Okay...

Not like a big lie, but kind of a lie.

You can share anything that you want.

Going to Reconciliation helps you when you need to say I'm sorry to someone face-to-face. It's not an easy thing to do.  You may be embarrassed or really sad or scared.  But no matter what, when you've hurt another, you need to let them know how sorry you are for what you've done.  It's called making amends.  And even if they don't accept your apology or forgive you, you still need to try.  It's one of the most important things we can do to take care of each other in the world.

Sorry that I'm mean sometimes.

Sorry that I yell sometimes.

Sorry that I don't say thank you all of the time.

Sorry that I rush you more than I should.

I love you.

I love you more.