Great Mercy

A little while ago we had a High School Youth Group called “The Greater Mercy.” It seemed throughout the day that anything that could go wrong did. Two of our team members were sick and had to leave, another had to write a talk last minute and overall we were feeling very stressed. We sat together and prayed for the night, but I was still nervous about the whole thing. However, when we started everything began to go smoothly and the youth were really enthusiastic. During the evening we had adoration and the youth had a chance to go to Confession. 

At first only the boys in the group went, but then one girl got in line and soon the other ladies followed her. The evening went on beautifully, but soon it was time to leave. However, before leaving the church I noticed one girl was still in line for confession. I went over sat ahead of her and began to pray while I waited for her to go in. As I sat down she asked me if I had ever been nervous to go to confession before. I told her yes and shared with her some of my experiences of confession. She told me that she hadn’t been to confession in years and that she was very nervous. I reassured her and told her to ask the priest for help if she needed and said I would pray for her. Now it was her turn to go in and she left. I waited in the pew for her to come out and when she did she came right over to me. She had tears running down her face as she said “I feel so good, I feel SO good.” She sat beside me and I asked her if she was okay. She said yes, and then asked “does God really forgive me? For everything?” I told her that God really did forgive her, that her soul was as white as the piece of paper in her hand and that God loved more than she knows! She smiled and said “wow.” After that we got up and went to the main hall and as we walked I was almost crying.

What for me had started out as a really hard night became a beautiful witness of God’s love. Not only did He give the youth a chance to experience His love, but through them also made me realize just how close He is to us. Despite the odds being against us, He made the night one of the best Youth Groups we have ever had and I am truly able to say that God was with us.

- Jessica, iNFUSE 2
Edmonton