For two consecutive years we celebrated a penitential liturgy for young people (ages 18–30) approaching the Sacrament of Penance for the first time.
First Penitential Celebration
We used two enlarged images from J. Vanier's book Encountering Jesus:
Jesus rescuing a sheep from thorns;
Jesus tending his flock.
Three young people receiving the Sacrament of Penance for the first time were represented by three cardboard sheep bearing their names, placed before the first image in a small thicket of thorns. The celebration began with the hymn "Give us, Lord, a New Heart," followed by an explanation of the images.
After the reading of the Gospel of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15), the priest (Fr. Enrico Cattaneo, S.J., visiting from Naples) offered a brief homily and led everyone in the Confiteor, with distinctive gestures.
Then each of the three young people, in turn, took his or her sheep and went to confession. During confession, Father Enrico, wearing a red stole—a symbol of the Blood of Jesus—placed the stole on the young person's head.
After all three had confessed, each placed his or her sheep among flowers before the second image, showing Jesus tending his flock. Father Enrico blessed the assembly, and the celebration ended with singing and celebration.
Second Celebration
This celebration opened with the hymn "Come, Come, Spirit of Love," followed by Father Enrico Cattaneo's explanation of the liturgy.
This time there was a single young person approaching the Sacrament of Penance for the first time. He became the protagonist in a dramatic mime of the Prodigal Son, performed during the Gospel reading (Luke 15).
Father Enrico played the father in the parable and dressed the son in a white alb upon his return.
The parable was enacted a second time; but instead of being accompanied by the Gospel reading, the mime was narrated through an explanation of the Sacrament of Penance:
the son's departure = sin;
misery and work with the pigs = repentance;
the father's embrace = confession, followed by the gift of the white alb.
After the confessions were complete, the assembly sang "Wonderful Is the Forgiveness of the Lord" and the celebration continued with festivity and joy.
Tana Pelagallo, 1994
