Confession | Teen Ink

Confession MAG

November 18, 2015
By Lucy-Agnes PLATINUM, Clarksville, Ohio
Lucy-Agnes PLATINUM, Clarksville, Ohio
22 articles 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world." - Justice Antonin Scalia


He stood outside the church, that man,
And paced, and paused, and paced again;
He’d not gone through that ancient door
In nine long years, or maybe ten.
The chapel now he longed to see,
And loathed, and longed still, all the same;
The age-old boards where incense sleeps,
The faces in the candles’ flame.
The silence of that silent room
Was one that probed his very soul;
He loved its peace, but hated more
To feel it probe his heart’s dark hole.
And peace, and hate, and misery
Struggled now in anguished fight;
Until that fear which in all creeps
Fled from the whisper, “Do what’s right.”
With pounding heart and stricken soul,
He stepped into the church so dim;
He entered through the creaking door;
He yielded to fair grace’s whim.
Before the sacred screen he knelt,
And in the darkness, whisper-fringed,
He spoke these words, that long-lost sheep:
“Bless me, Father; I have sinned.”
And from Heaven’s floodgates an ocean streamed
Of grace flowing from a wounded Heart;
The blood, the water, forgiveness bore,
To mend what had long been torn apart.
The flood, it roared in healing strength;
The force of love swept sin away;
And the White Dove of Peace, whom all
sainthood keeps,
Fluttered into that long longed-for soul, to stay.


The author's comments:

As a Catholic, I know what it's like to go to confession - feeling scared and uneasy, and yet wanting more than anything to feel free. I imagine for a man who had not been to confession in ten years, it would be even scarier - and even more beautiful to come out of the confessional cleansed. I hope this poem will speak to and encourage those who are afraid to admit their guilt, so that they will know there is no feeling more wonderful than that of finally letting themselves be bathed in God's love.  


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 3 comments.


on Apr. 10 2017 at 8:33 pm
lizmaria140 GOLD, A, Alabama
12 articles 2 photos 13 comments
As a fellow Catholic and someone who has experienced the grace that comes with confession, allow me to sigh in total contentment at the accuracy of this piece. Well done!

on Nov. 27 2015 at 9:06 pm
Lucy-Agnes PLATINUM, Clarksville, Ohio
22 articles 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world." - Justice Antonin Scalia

Aww, thank you! Glad you liked it. :)

on Nov. 27 2015 at 1:16 pm
L.J.Barnes. GOLD, Powhatan, Virginia
15 articles 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
Avoid roasted cabbage, don't eat earwax and look on the bright side of life!
~Angela the Herbalist

I've been reading some of your work, and wow girl! You write incredibly well. This poem is amazing. All the feels! Keep it up!