Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
No. 06
I’ve never been the biggest believer in confessing to a priest. Mostly because no matter how much we were told in catechism that the priest did not remember the things we’d say in confession or judge us based on it, I still wasn’t convinced. Maybe because I was too coy to confess to another human, or because at almost every mass I attended, the priest told a story, sometimes the stories were too real and I often wondered if they were being creative with someone else’s confessions and would I be in the congregation someday listening to a remixed version of my confession?
Another thing about confessions that limited the frequency of my visits was remembering how long it had been since my last confession. For non-Catholics, I’d explain a little. When you go for confessions, you say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been (here you say how long it has been since your last confession) since my last confession.” And therein lies problem number deux. How do I say it’s been six years and eight months since my last confession, or worse still, say I do not remember the last time I visited the confessionary?
Although I have to admit that these days I get the idea of confessing and admitting your wrong doings to someone, but maybe I’d prefer to actually confess to my fellow brothers and sisters like we are told to do during mass, than a priest who is human, who might be tempted to get creative with my atrocities. Of course this is just an excuse.
On a lighter note, if I were a priest and you came in for confession and confessed to fornication or adultery, normally, I think priests always assume that it wasn’t premeditated, but not me. I’d want to know if it was. I’d ask something like, “Did you shave before going to visit him?” “Did you wear your best underwear?” “Why did you buy a whole pack of condoms before you invited her if it was just a sleepover? Huh, why Osakpolor?” Depending on their answer, I’d have to decide on an appropriate penance. None of those ten Hail Marys penance, nah, actual punishments lol.
On another note, last Eater, I promised to find out the origin of Easter eggs and why it’s the symbol of Easter. Well, it turns out to be nothing interesting really. It is an old custom of German origin where eggs were used to depict new beginnings and rebirths. To be honest, it all sounds very pagan. Which reminds me of the two-hour-long conversation I had with my JW friend who says Easter is a pagan festival. It’s weird to say that I agree, especially since I’m a catholic and I’ve been pumped to celebrate Easter this year. In fact, immediately I got home after mass last night, I had Handel’s Messiah Part III on repeat. But my friend made some really good verifiable points, and I agree with her. Still, I think that it all depends on why you are celebrating.
On yet another note, a few days ago, I came across some artworks dating back to the 1970s titled “Jesus Mafa”, and you should check them out. They are essentially an African interpretation of the accounts of the New Testament. What I found unique about them was that Jesus and everyone else were depicted as Cameroonian. In the past I might not have been open to something like that because of the image of Jesus I grew up with but after realising that Jesus was in fact not Caucasian and doesn’t look like the images I saw growing up, I’ve become more fluid after all God did say “Let us make man in our image and likeness” so maybe Jesus does look a little like me.
Anyways, that’s all for now. Enjoy your Easter.