https://oevenezolano.org/2024/08/in8dcgk4 
https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/o1f8s8p0el I have a nephew with whom I share what I call Father Ernesto stories. (Well, I also share them with my sister.) I enjoy telling them, particularly because they are all true. They are the funny things that have happened to me while I have been serving as a priest. These are the stories that generally do not get told in public, not because there is anything sinful about them, but because they get people laughing at us. And, whether priest or not, most of us do not like being laughed at. Yet, I find talking to my nephew (and my sister), a relief. They are family. My sister has seen me at my worst and as a pimply stupid-behaving teenager. There is no danger that I will shock either of them or that I will somehow damage their beliefs. But, I find that sharing my most embarrassing moments with the family whom I love is just what I need. On the one hand, it helps me to keep my balance. There is nothing like a sister pricking my pride, or a nephew breaking out in a full-throated laugh to puncture my mistaken beliefs about myself. On the other hand, I freely admit that there is an element of confession about it. To share my limitations and my mistakes with those whom I love, is perfect for letting go of them and realizing that God has also seen them and dealt with them. No, this is not in any sense sacramental confession. It is the confessing of sins (and not-sins) to one another as Saint James says. And, not surprisingly, as he says, there comes a sense of peace from admitting to others how limited you are.
And so, I have told my nephew about how I accidentally set a communion napkin on fire. I have told him how I accidentally drove to Florida when I had meant to drive to Alabama. I told him about knocking a chalice of wine into another priest while the bishop was present and watching. I told him this and I told him that. And, out of that, I gained a sense of peace about many an incident in my life. And, it has been wonderful.
https://sugandhmalhotra.com/2024/08/07/bno94vioq4 We are entering the Season of Lent. It will not be long. Great Lent is a season when we recognize all our sins and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to change. But, for me, my Uncle Ernesto stories have been a good way to begin my entry into Great Lent, except that they are year-round. I do not think my nephew knows how much it means to me to share my Uncle Ernesto stories with him. To him, for all I know, they are a source of genuine, and rightfully earned laughter. And, I am ever so glad that he is laughing. But, for me, they are a source of keeping me humble and letting me confess to God and man that I am every-so-clearly not a perfect priest. I told him once that he was a type of father-confessor for me. I do not think he believed me. But, he is and has been.
https://eloquentgushing.com/qjomove And that is a perfect beginning for Lent. May God bless you this Lent, with insight, knowledge, and change, about yourself.
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