Taking a deep breath, Tommy started with the offenses he could remember.
“I took a pencil from school without asking,” he said. “I used a bad word, and I told my mom a lie.”
The priest listened calmly. His gentle reaction helped Tommy relax a little. Instead of sounding angry or surprised, the priest simply told him those things could be forgiven.
Then he asked, “Is there anything else?”
That question made Tommy think harder. After a pause, another memory popped into his mind.
“I threw my sister’s Barbie out the window,” he admitted, “and told her it ran away.”
The priest had to work very hard not to laugh.
The List Gets Longer
The priest asked again if there was anything else Tommy wanted to confess. By now, the boy was warming up to the process. His nerves were fading, and his memory seemed to be getting better by the second.
Suddenly, his face lit up.
“Oh, yes!” Tommy said. “Last night, I put toothpaste on Grandpa’s dentures while he was sleeping.”
This time, the priest could barely hide his amusement. Tommy, however, was completely serious. To him, this was all part of doing confession properly.
After hearing enough, the priest told him to say three Hail Marys and try his best to be a better boy. Tommy nodded proudly, feeling relieved that his first confession had gone so smoothly.
A Confident Exit
When Tommy stepped out of the booth, his grandmother was waiting with a warm smile.
“How did it go?” she asked.
Tommy grinned, full of confidence.
“Piece of cake, Grandma!” he said.
Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“But I don’t think that guy behind the screen knows half the things I’ve done!”
His grandmother tried not to laugh as they walked out together. Tommy had entered the confessional nervous and unsure, but he left feeling much lighter—and perhaps just a little too proud of what he had managed to leave out.
Sometimes the funniest moments come from children being honest in the most unexpected way.