A Moment in Time - We Met at Our Lady's Altar

The Mass had ended.  We began to gather at the back of the church to wait for our priest  to hear confessions.  Usually there was a second priest assigned to hear confessions after Saturday Mass, but he wasn't there, so we waited.   Ally, a young high school teacher, saw an elderly lady waiting in line behind us.  Ally suggested that we allow this lady to go to confession ahead of us.  The woman was grateful as she opened the confessional door.  When she closed the door, Ally and I noticed that the line had grown behind us.  Shortly, the second priest arrived and the lines melted into two separate, shorter lines. 

As Ally and I waited for our turn in confession, Ally asked me for prayers.  She confided that she had just accepted a job as a Catholic missionary on college campuses.  She could be sent anywhere.  She hadn't told her parents yet.  Ally is a young woman who is very close to God.  I prayed then, and I ask for your prayers for this young woman.  I looked at the other line for confession, and I noticed that another friend was going in to receive this precious sacrament. 

Distractions and me.  We waited for the confessional to open.  I prayed to the Holy Spirit.
My turn had come.  Ally left the confessional and I walked in with my soul in my hands.  Father noted that I had come in dragging my soul behind me.  With tears and supplications for forgiveness, I opened my heart to God.  The power of the Holy Spirit flowed through Father as he absolved me of my sins.  Father gave me, what I considered, a harsh penance, but I left the confessional with peace in my heart.

I walked to the altar where Our Lady of Guadalupe is enshrined.  I looked ahead, and there was the friend  who had received the Sacrament of Reconciliation with our other priest.  Hidden in the back of these pews, at Our Lady's shrine, was Ally.  The three of us gathered there without knowing that we would. We ran to Our Lady to be covered by her mantle and protected by her Immaculate Heart.   It was only a random moment in time, but it was an important moment in time.  I felt blessed to be gathered there with these two holy women.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of the Americas.  Pray for us.