Priest_by_Sierra_Simone 3

It’s no secret that reconciliation is the least popular sacrament. I had many
theories as to why: pride, inconvenience, loss of spiritual autonomy. But my
prevailing theory at the moment was this fucking booth.
I hated it from the moment I saw it, something old-fashioned and hulking
from the dark days before Vatican II. Growing up, my church in Kansas City
had a reconciliation room, clean and bright and tasteful, with comfortable
chairs and a tall window overlooking the parish garden.
This booth was the antithesis to that room—constrained and formal, made
of dark wood and unnecessarily ornate molding. I’m not a claustrophobic
man, but this booth could turn me into one. I folded my hands and thanked
God for the success of our latest fundraiser. Ten thousand more dollars, and
we would be able to renovate St. Margaret’s of Weston, Missouri into
something resembling a modern church. No more fake wood paneling in the
foyer. No more red carpet—admittedly good for hiding wine stains—but
terrible for the atmosphere. There would be windows and light and
modernity. I’d been assigned to this parish because of its painful past…and
my own. Moving past that would take more than a facelift for the building,
but I wanted to show my parishioners that the church was able to change. To
grow. To move into the future.
“Do I have any penance, Father?”
I had drifted. One of my flaws, I’ll admit. One I prayed daily to change
(when I remembered to.)
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I said. Though I couldn’t see much
through the decorative screen, I had known my penitent the moment he
stepped in the booth. Rowan Murphy, middle-aged math teacher and police
scanner enthusiast. He was my only reliable penitent throughout the month,
and his sins ranged from envy (the principal gave the other math teacher
tenure) to impure thoughts (the receptionist at the gym in Platte City.) While I
knew some clergy still followed the old rules for penance, I wasn’t the “say
two Hail Marys and call me in the morning” type. Rowan’s sins came from