Ah...Confession!

Last night, Saturday, I was a mad woman. A maniac. There were two major events in Boston and I found myself caught in a traffic horror that, even for Boston, was insane.

Instead of using the time to reflect, to pray, heck, to listen to a CD even...I chose to curse. Road rage claimed me and I cooperated with it whole heartedly. To top it all off, I got into a ridiculous argument over a parking space at a store I sincerely did not want to stop at, and then finished my commute by making an obscene gesture at some poor person who, no doubt accidentally, cut me off when I finally got close to my home.

I knew I was in the state of sin. I crept to my little prayer room, apologized as best I could to the Lord, and prayed for Reconciliation.

I got it.

God was good to me and before Mass, I was able to make my confession to a priest and to receive absolution. It would have been more than enough to know that I was forgiven.

But I got the bonus: grace!

Actually, my penance was to pray for the virtue of patience...even in a Boston traffic jam. Which I did. (To tell the truth, patience is a virtue I pray for often!)

This evening a miracle happened.

Once again, I found myself driving home, and realized I needed to stop at the drugstore. After paying for my purchases, I discovered that a double-parker had trapped me (a common enough Bostonian occurrence.) A lady in the passenger's side of the car told me that her mother was in the store...and then began to honk frantically, trying to alert her mom.

I did good...with God's grace.

I laughed and told the lady I wasn't in a hurry and not to worry about it. She insisted on going into the store to retrieve her mom, but, as she was holding an infant, I told her to relax. Sauntering back into the store, I glanced around, feeling oddly peaceful, and bumped into an old friend checking out her purchases. We chatted as she completed the transaction, walked out together...and, what d'ye know, she got into the car that "trapped" me! For reasons known only to God, we all burst out laughing. And I drove home in peace.

Confession is a really good thing.

Not just for the absolution, which is miraculous and totally unmerited...but for the grace.

I recommend the Sacrament highly!