Graces for Sacramental Living

Sacramental living with babies is wild! Sunday morning Mass can feel like a marathon. I am often sweating from staying on top of all the baby chaos by the time the closing hymn rolls around. Eucharistic Adoration is simply out of the question… I will let you imagine the combination of a chatty toddler and a quiet (echoey) church. And receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation never fails to leave me rolling my eyes and at least one other person in the church laughing. 

Let me take you back to about 18 months ago. That morning, I took a pregnancy test, and it read POSITIVE. I met a few of my sisters for daily Mass followed by Reconciliation. I seized the opportunity and asked the priest to say a prayer over my unborn child during my confession. The excitement soon turned to embarrassment when the priest yelled, "Congratulations," as I walked out of the confessional and back to my pew. I was not quite ready to share the news with the other daily Mass attendees!

Seven months pregnant with our daughter, Rose.

That experience launched a whole series of reconciliation adventures with my daughter, Rose. Since her birth last August, she has attended almost every one of my monthly confessions. There have been times the priest had no idea an infant was in attendance, but more often than not I share a disclaimer that I am not alone in the confessional. The gassy sounds and crumpling of paper are NOT coming from me.

Our Reconciliation experience last week was one for the memory book. At nine months old, Rose is a busy bee. The confessional line was abnormally long for a Tuesday night. Rose loved all of the attention by waving at each person who blessed her with a smile. Meanwhile, our two-year-old was quickly losing patience and found herself not so quietly asking, “Can we just go?!” as she marched around the church with her backpack filled with books and snacks. 

When we finally made it to the front of the line, I knelt down, put the baby on my left hip, and closed the confessional curtain. As I started with, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…” I tried to ignore the wiggly infant tugging on the curtain. It did not take long for her to whip open the curtain, leaving me and my sins completely exposed. My husband shared that the church was filled with quiet laughter as she played peekaboo with the entire church… literally! As my confession was coming to a close, my daughter spotted the Act of Contrition taped to the wall. It did not take long for her little fingers to get a firm grip in an attempt to rip it off the wall. I saved the paper from being torn to shreds while Jesus saved my soul!

My husband and two daughters on Easter Sunday

My default is to opt out of doing the hard or inconvenient thing. It's easier to attend Sunday Mass separately than with my husband or skip Tuesday night confession in order to keep our children home all together. But the easy route comes at a cost. My soul is not refreshed when I miss my monthly appointment with our Lord in the confessional. My children miss out on authentic friendships with other Catholic children when we choose not to bring them to Mass. We don't give them the opportunity to witness sacramental living, even if it feels like we are merely surviving, when we let them sleep in or play instead of attending Mass as a family. 

The Lord understands that encountering Him in the Sacraments can be challenging. However, He doesn't expect us to do it by ourselves. We are given the necessary grace each moment to move forward! It would be a shame to leave those graces unused just for the sake of convenience.

Thank You, Jesus, for the gift of my children, marriage, vocation, and faith! Deepen my understanding and my ability to surrender to Your will. Give me the strength to endure the challenges that accompany this season of life. May I be filled with courage to embrace the inconveniences of meeting You in the sacraments. Erase all doubt in my mind! You make everything possible!

Until next time, your sister in Christ,

Abby

P.S. Happy Pentecost!! I pray the Holy Spirit floods your heart with His gifts so your life is enriched with boldness to embrace each season of life!

**Check out our Pentecost Worship playlist on Spotify!