Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been...5 seconds since my last Confession.

Our church had a Communal Penance service on Monday night, which was a little odd, as they usually only do that when there's a holiday coming up. There weren't a lot of people there, but about 7 or 8 priests, mostly retired. The priest I went to was one I've gone to before, but I've never quite had an exchange like this one:

Father: Let's begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So, how long has it been since your last Confession?

Me: About a month.

Father: Alright, let's begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. How long has it been since your last Confession?

I told him, and we proceeded as normal. After telling me that my sins really weren't that bad (I hate that!), he told me to say 5 Our Fathers for the souls in Purgatory as my penance. Then he started off on a discourse about how we as Catholics need to focus more on ministering to those who have no faith. When he finished with that, he said, "And for your penance, if you could just say 4 Our Fathers for those who have no faith..."

So, it was a little odd, but I figure that as long as I was absolved (and as it happened, he used the full prayer of Absolution, instead of the abbreviation that some of the priests use), it turned out okay. Still, for a minute there, it was all I could do not to laugh...