God, did I do the right thing last night? He desperately prayed for understanding and why God had sent him into the horror of last night or what sense could be found in it.

After a few moments, the panel covering the latticed screen slid open to reveal the silhouette of the priest on the opposite side of the confessional.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” Patrick said. “My last confession was three months ago.” It felt like another lifetime. Three months ago, he didn’t know how it felt when a man’s nose fatally crunched beneath his fist. It was a sensation he could never forget.

“And what brings you here today?” the priest asked.

“I killed a man in self-defense.” Even from the other side of the screen, Patrick heard the priest’s startled breath. He rushed to explain how a defenseless man was assaulted by three strangers and how he intervened. He hadn’t meant to kill anyone, but good intentions counted for little when a man was dead.

“I will forever wonder if I could have handled it differently. I’m a strong man, and there might have been another way.”

“Were you driven by anger or hatred when you struck that blow?”

“No, it was fear.” Patrick’s heart pounded again at the memory of those few, fleeting seconds. “That man was a sinner, but all life is precious, even the sinners, and I hate what I did.”

“We have a duty to help those in distress,” the priest said. “That was what you did, and it clearly wasn’t your day to become a martyr.”

“I still feel guilty.”

The priest coaxed Patrick to delve deeper into his turbulent emotions, and over the next ten minutes, his heart rate slowed to a normal pace. Some people struggled in the confessional, but Patrick felt at ease here, and it was at times like these when he regretted leaving the seminary. He and the priest discussed how God didn’t demand perfection of them, and Patrick had done the best he could with the few seconds he had to defend himself. They recited their final prayers, and then the priest said the words Patrick had been waiting to hear.

“Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.”

Patrick crossed himself and stood. “Thanks be to God.”