Dear friends,

I was sorting through papers as part of a new year’s resolution – to clean some of the clutter that has accumulated. I came across a bunch of letters from kids requesting confirmation back in 2003 – one of them made me stop suddenly. It was written by one of the 14 year olds and a line of what he wrote struck me, “I want to be confirmed because I can finally tell [a priest] something I did and he ain’t going to tell nothing to no one.”  I remember this young man – he was involved in our programs of mentoring, had a friendly disposition and always had a smile on his face. Of course, I don’t remember him confessing, but I wish I had paid more attention to the letter. He was shot and killed early in the morning just this past December on the last day of the month. …another tragic loss of life in our neighborhood.

Dear friends,

I was sorting through papers as part of a new year’s resolution – to clean some of the clutter that has accumulated. I came across a bunch of letters from kids requesting confirmation back in 2003 – one of them made me stop suddenly. It was written by one of the 14 year olds and a line of what he wrote struck me, “I want to be confirmed because I can finally tell [a priest] something I did and he ain’t going to tell nothing to no one.”  I remember this young man – he was involved in our programs of mentoring, had a friendly disposition and always had a smile on his face. Of course, I don’t remember him confessing, but I wish I had paid more attention to the letter. He was shot and killed early in the morning just this past December on the last day of the month. …another tragic loss of life in our neighborhood.