Tuesday of Lent V - Ritual
One day an elderly priest showed up at the parish house, just off the Interstate near a gas station where he had been getting some gas. A middle-aged woman answered the door, and the priest asked if he could see a priest, because he wanted to go to confession. The woman explained that she was the administrator and that there was no priest in residence. The closest parish with a resident priest was seventeen miles away. The elderly priest seemed a little uncertain, so she invited him in for a cup of coffee. She had just baked some cookies, so she brought him to the kitchen, gave him some fresh baked cookies and a cup of coffee, and he began to talk. After a while he mentioned how he had not been happy with his confession over the past few years, and really felt the need for something different, something deeper. He spoke on while she listened. Finally, after almost an hour of talking, confessing, praying, reading scripture and sharing cookies and coffee, the woman prayed the prayer from mass: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life.” He said, “Amen.” She continued, “May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution and remission of our sins.” Again, he said “Amen”, then they embraced in a heartfelt sign of peace. As he was leaving, she offered him directions to the nearest parish with a resident, but he shook his head no, saying “That’s not necessary now, thank you; you did the trick!”
Edward Foley is a professor of liturgy and music at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. His interests include practical theology, the interplay of worship and the arts (especially music), ritual performance, and medieval Christianity.
