A Confirmation

And so it happened that we arrived 2:30pm at the parish church today for the appointed 3:00pm confirmation of my teener son. Quite early enough I thought, until we found out that we were actually too late. The mass confirmation rites were already finished, having started earlier at 1:30pm. Apparently, my son got the scheduled time wrong. So sorry -- mixup. My wife and I were aghast. My son had already attended the pre-confirmation seminars, we had forgone many other activities to make way for this, and the godparents came all the way from Cavite. Add the fact that the next scheduled confirmation rite was due yet in another year. As the bishop was just about to conclude the celebration mass, the church greeter suggested that we request the good bishop to grant our son a special private confirmation sacrament afterward. I thought it was worth a try although I was quite embarrassed to be making such a request, knowing all too well that bishops have tight schedules. We were not a special case that a bishop had to go to the trouble of disrupting his tight schedule. Didn't even know me personally. Besides, it was our fault. Thus when we approached the bishop and the parish priest to request a private confirmation, I was prepared for a rejection.

It turned out I underestimated the graciousness of the bishop and the parish priest. While the bishop obviously had enough worries about the time, he promptly coordinated with the parish priest to find a private suitable place within the church where he can conduct the confirmation rites just for our son. My son was finally confirmed in the sacristy by the bishop with no less than the parish priest assisting. No, he didn't rush it in any way. He conducted the confirmation with the full rites and a solemnity that was awesome. And no, they didn't mind the heat either, even as I saw perspiration trickling down their chins in the poorly ventilated, unairconditioned sacristy room.

Thanks and God bless you, your Excellency Bishop Honesto Ongtioco and Reverend Father Desiderio Martin. For me, my wife, my son and his godparents, today was an encounter with Christ.