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| Jesus loves everybody |
Chapter Five
Annie prepares for Reconciliation
As ever, it was pandemonium in the Duncan establishment.
Jerry and Jimmy were playing aeroplanes.
Trudy was crying in her pram, although Mother had just tended to her and cuddled her.
Elsie, the dog, was snapping at Mittens the cat, because Mittens was trying to eat the remains of her food.
Elsie had had more than enough to eat herself, but Mittens wasn't going to get any of the rest, not if she had anything to say about it.
No, sir.
Mrs Benson was perched on top of the ladder, risking a fall while washing windows energetically.
At such times she became almost talkative.
"You know Mrs D," she called from her perch, "there is only one way of getting these tarnished window handles really clean and keeping them that way.
That's to shine them up.
Where's your Brasso?"
"Ask Annie, Mrs Benson," Mother requested as she pinned a seam.
She was making Annie's first Holy Communion dress of broderie anglaise, and Annie was thrilled as she watched the beautiful dress taking shape.
Annie was about to go and find the Brasso when she heard Mrs Benson say:
"I'll go and look in the cupboard."
Mrs Benson climbed down the ladder with agility.
"To get hold of Annie these days you've got to be good.
I've never known her so quiet," she commented.
"That's because she's thinking about her first Reconciliation on Saturday," said Mother who had finished pinning the seam and was now tacking it into place.
Annie slipped out unnoticed.
Annie had a lot to think about as she climbed up her beloved tree.
She was wondering how to go about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and was thinking more about it the closer she got to Saturday.
Her classmates shared her feelings.
They had even spoken about it during catechism.
Miss Lewis had listened, then explained to them what the Sacrament was about.
Miss Lewis told them that the Sacrament of Reconciliation was a gift from Jesus to us.
On the day of His Resurrection, Jesus told the disciples;
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone's sins,
they are forgiven;
if you retain anyone's sins,
they are retained."
Jesus has paid the price for all of our sins by His Life, Death and Resurrection.
He then gave the disciples the ability to help pass on this gift in the special way of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Jesus' disciples offer this wonderful help in this Sacrament where God helps us to repair our relationship with Him and with others which has been damaged by our sin.
This healing of relationships by forgiveness of our sins is a blessed gift from God.
It also eases our hearts to speak to someone we can trust about our struggles and where we have fallen short.
We need good guidance to help us to do better in our lives in the future.
Annie was excited after hearing about Jesus' wonderful words to the disciples.
Mother had also told her about the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Jesus had told the story of a young man who had left home, and hurt his father's heart by turning his back on him.
The young man wasted his father's money, and became poor.
He eventually found work feeding pigs, but it was not well paid.
He was nearly starving.
The young man then decided to go back to his father, and tell his father he had sinned - done wrong -
against him.
He was hoping to be hired as his father's servant, because he knew his father gave good food to his servants.
However, when his father saw him a long way off, he ran all the way to his son who was returning home, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The young man's father held a big celebration, because he said, 'This son of mine was dead and he is alive again.
He was lost and now is found."
Mother explained to Annie that when we have sinned and are sorry, and try to repair our relationship with God, God is as happy as the father was when his wayward son came home.
Mother also explained to Annie that we can speak to one of Jesus' disciples when we wish to have the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Now Annie was going to speak to Father Tom on Saturday at her First Reconciliation.
A car door slammed outside Mrs Smith's place and Annie saw that Father Tom had arrived to visit their neighbour, who had been getting even weaker lately.
That morning she had heard Mother telling Granny Eckton about it on the phone, although she had abruptly changed the subject after spotting Annie's eyes on her.
Whatever Mrs Smith's problem was, it hadn't changed her sweetness, Annie thought.
Their neighbour still managed to bake her scrumptious cakes.
She had given the last of her animals away, and her house was deserted and quiet.
Now Mrs Smith just appeared to be waiting for something big to happen.
Father Tom and Mrs Smith were speaking very earnestly as Annie shyly knocked on the wiremesh mosquito door.
Their faces lit up to see her.
"Annie, as I live and breathe," Father Tom exclaimed.
"And how's the baby sister?"
"Trudy's getting big now, Father," Annie said eagerly.
"She smiles and she's getting so strong!
She's already trying to sit up!"
"All your mother's babies were so clever," Mrs Smith praised, smiling.
"When I remember you as a tiny tot, my, how lovable you were.
And bright as a button!
And now you'll be making your first Holy Communion next Sunday.
Aren't you excited?"
"I am, but I'm excited about Reconciliation first," Annie said.
Two pairs of wise eyes behind glasses gazed on her.
"You take me back many years to my own first Reconciliation, Annie," Father Tom said.
"And me," said Mrs Smith.
One of the nicest things about Father Tom and Mrs Smith was the way they always took her seriously, Annie thought.
Mrs. Smith got up to put the kettle on.
Annie watched her absently as she said:
"Mrs Benson says it's stupid to talk about your sins to someone else.
I tried to explain to her that it's different when the person is a priest.
But she didn't want to listen."
"Poor Mrs Benson, lucky Annie," said Father Tom.
"Having Mrs Benson questioning your faith will teach you to understand it."
For a while there was silence in the small sitting room.
Then Mrs Smith came in with a tray of tea and biscuits.
She started pouring and Father Tom continued speaking.
"If you ask me, your Mrs Benson is really longing to find out more about God.
She may be too shy to express her feelings."
Annie finished her tea and biscuits and prepared to leave.
"Go with God," Father Tom said, "and give my best wishes to Mrs Benson.
I mean it very sincerely.
She looks to me like a woman who suffers a lot of heartache."
Five minutes later Annie was back in her own house.
"Where on earth have you been, child?" Mother asked.
"Come and try your dress on."
Soon Annie had been fitted and was about to go into the garden again.
Seeing the housekeeper still hard at work among the window handles, Annie said:
"Father Tom sends you his best wishes, Mrs Benson.
He says he thinks you've got a lot of worries."
She bit her lip, wondering whether she had said more than Father had meant her to, but the housekeeper looked pleasantly embarrassed.
"Your window handles look wonderful, Mrs Benson," Annie added, prompted by a desire to keep her happy.
"I must pray more for her," she thought to herself.
"Perhaps if I pray hard enough, some of her worries will go."
Edited by Catherine Nicolette.
Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette. With thanks to the glass artist
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