One Year Ago Today

April 8th, 2009 was the day.  BUT Let me start a little earlier… Sun April 5th, 2009.  It was Palm Sunday, the welcoming of Holy Week and I was being initiated into the Catholic Church on the coming Saturday with my First Communion and Confirmation.  I was almost ready, only one thing stood in my way… I had one week to complete my First Confession.   As I was leaving my Sunday school class I explained my predicament to our Director with cool confidence, I mean it was an entire week, how hard could it be to find a confession time?  Hmmmm.  Coming from a Presbyterian upbringing I was not familiar with the Catholic liturgical calendar.  My director quickly informed me that during Holy Week regular confession times were not held except for a few large confessions at different corners of the Diocese.  Not so bad.  I found the times and places…all times and places I could not be.  I kinda panicked.  I called some good Catholic friends and my sponsor and explained the ’sitch.  ”Call around,” one said, “find if anyone is available to hear a Confession.  Worse comes to worse, you go to a Church and tackle a priest.”  I had to be at a church on Wednesday the 8th for a meeting so I set my sights on finding a priest then.

Wednesday comes and I go the church for my meeting.  I run to the rectory and ask where the priests are.  ”Oh, all the priests are at the Diocese day of confession right now but we are having Mass a little later.”  That means a priest will be here!  During my meeting I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for anyone looking remotely close to a holy undivided man of God.  Just about anyone wearing black I gave a good long staring to.  As we were conversing outside I watched a car pull up and waited for the driver to step out.  He stepped out in all black and that was enough.  Mid-sentence I took off to catch him.  I came closer and saw his collar.  A priest.  I stopped at his car door and said, “Hi, father, do you have a minute?”  ”Sure” , he said, ” what can I do for you?”  ”Well, I’m receiving my Easter Sacraments on Saturday night and I have to complete my first Confession.  See, I’m a convert and didn’t know there were no regular Confession times during Holy week.  Could you help me?  Would you hear my first Confession right now?”  ”Sure, I be happy to!”, he said.  ”Now you say you are a convert, I’ll have you know I am a convert myself.  In fact I converted when I was about your age!”  Unbelievable. He went on, “now, tell me, from what type of church are you converting from?”  ”I was raised Presbyterian”.  ”No kidding,” he said, ” I was raised Presbyterian myself!”  Wow.  Was this my angel?! “Let’s go inside and I’ll hear your Confession”.  I couldn’t stop smiling as we walked inside.  We sat down on a pew in back of the nearly empty church.  ”So”, he started, “where are you from?”  ”Orange.  La Purisima Parish.”  ”Really!”,  he said, “I used to serve there!”  Absolutely incredible!!!  Someone really wanted me to feel welcome in this first step in becoming Catholic.

He heard my Confession and we went off to say Mass.  I told my friends and anyone who would listen the little miracle God had just worked for me.

On my way home I received a text from my sister.  She asked if I wanted to go to the cemetery with her.  The cemetery?  Kinda strange.  I ran though my head why today of all days she was going to the cemetary.  My mom had gone home to worship Jesus in August of 2000 and we went to her grave site every once in a while.  So why today?  I looked at the date, April 8th. It was my Mom’s birthday.  She would have been 66.   It felt like  water had just washed over my entire body.  I couldn’t see her yet she was so close to me in that moment.  The power of prayer was so apparent.  The comfort of the Holy Spirit wrapped Himself around me.  God was revealing His victory over death to me.  My mom was raised Presbyterian and my Dad and her chose to raise us the same.  This whole time she had been praying for me, wanting me to know that she was with me.  That she was a part of my life and my decision to become closer to God through the Catholic church.

Communion and Confirmation came along with one of the most powerful experiences in my life as I was anointed by the priest at the altar.  If you had known my life before, my life while my Mom was still on Earth, you would be amazed that was even close to a church.  The next day, Easter Sunday, I talked to my dad.  He gave me his congrats and told me that while he was walking around yesterday at home in Ohio, he noticed something stuck to his shoe.  He looked down to pull it off and saw that it was a cross.  Our sign from God that He died for us.  A reminder that He came to us in body and after being crucified He rose and ascended into Heaven leaving His Spirit to dwell with us always.  So that we would never be alone.

Happy Birthday, mom.  I love you.