My First Confession

This morning, I experienced the profound grace of my first Sacrament of Confession. I entered the confessional burdened with an extensive catalog of transgressions, meticulously prepared, yet the priest, in his gentle and paternal wisdom, guided me away from the rigid legalism of my list. Instead, he illuminated the radiant heart of Christ’s message: His boundless mercy and the divine summons to love God with all my being and to cherish my neighbor as myself.

His words were a balm to my weary soul, precisely the counsel I longed for without knowing it. In that sacred moment, tears of catharsis flowed freely, a tender echo of St. Ambrose’s timeless wisdom—that within the Church, two conversions unfold: the cleansing waters of Baptism and the purifying tears of repentance.

Through the unmerited grace of God and the redeeming blood of Christ, I now stand unshackled, released from the chains of past sins that once consumed me. In their place blooms a newfound liberty, a call to turn my gaze forward, toward a life of sanctification, ever drawing nearer to the heart of Christ.