First Confession Needs A Little More Respect

A few weeks back, our 8 year old made his First Confession.

It wasn’t until later that I began to wonder why it’s not treated like a bigger thing. It seems like it should be, but it just isn’t. I’m not sure why.

Baptisms have special white  clothes, big parties, and a special cake.

First Communions – same deal – special white clothes (for the girls at least), party, cake.

Confirmations, again with the special clothes (white again for the girls), party, and cake.

Weddings – white dress (again for the girl), party cake.

First Confession? First thing on a Saturday morning, wearing pretty much just regular clothes, no party, no cake.

Why don’t we make a bigger deal out of this? Of all the Sacraments, why doesn’t this one have white clothes? This is the once designed to clean them up. Soul-cleansing is what the whole Sacrament is actually about, but it’s just whatever you’re wearing.

The longer I’ve thought about it, the more I think we’re missing something here.

In every parish we’ve ever attended, First Confession is treated as a step on the way to First Communion. It’s one more thing on the to-do list instead of a very separate and distinct occasion.

First Confession marks the end of the Infallible Innocence of Childhood, and the true beginning of the journey towards adulthood. From this moment forward, they cannot hide behind anyone else, but stand before the Lord taking responsibility for what they’ve done, and what they’ve failed to do, on their own tiny shoulders.

It’s an awesome and a frightening moment, this end of baby-hood. It’s a moment which deserves more recognition than a harried hour sucked out of a Saturday, on a day when nobody gets dressed up. Going to Confession for the first time represents a seismic shift in the faith life of Catholic children, and we ought to show it more respect than treating it as a minor way station on the rush to the Eucharist.

**Photo credits – all the pictured used are of my family, and the rights belong to me. You may not use any of these images without permission.