Advent Penance Service

I attended our parish Advent Penance Service this year. I do not like going to these group things. The lines are very long. I do not like to watch people waiting in lines. I forced myself to go as I was on the Parish grounds for another meeting. My reluctance was so misguided. I witnessed so many joys.
I saw people I know well there and it was wonderful to accept their smiles and whispered acknowledgments.
Our parish musician played for an hour and he is very good at what he does. I do not hear live music often enough.
I saw many priests that I knew and a few that I did not. There were 17 or 18 of them there. Yes, we have a very big congregation. One of the priests within my eyesight was Fr. Joe. He was an associate at our parish the year after his ordination and then moved on to be a pastor at another parish in our city, He has a great gift for reconciliation. There were many who mourned his moving away from our community. The line for him was very long. I saw him bust out in laughter with some of his penitents. He is so real. there is no doubt that his absolution is too.
There was a priest on the other side who spoke with his hands as he talked to his penitents. Of course we could not hear him, but the body language of the people beside him was so open to his comments and questions. I saw so much peace on the faces of the people returning to the pews. This was a church filled with grace. How could any prayer not be answered.