ROBSTOWN, Texas — A Robstown teen who vandalized prayer benches at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church returned to seek forgiveness after parishioners repaired the damage. The community responds with compassion.
"Everything was a mess. The bench stops are all broken," Father Rogel "Ogie" Rosalinas of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church said.
Father Ogie and church members discovered last Tuesday that the two prayer benches in front of the Virgin Mary statue were completely destroyed.
Community members quickly stepped up to repair the damage.
"I decided to make it out of wood where I could screw it down, and it's totally rigid and nobody can flip it over again," Joe Glynn, a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, said.
After volunteers completed the repairs, the teen responsible returned to the church and admitted what he had done.
"The young man tells me, 'I did it, I broke the benches. But I want forgiveness and I want to talk to the priest, I want to go to a confession,’" Gilbert Flores, a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, said.
Father Ogie said the church community forgave the teen and then gathered to pray with him and for him.
"He was already embracing each one of them, and everyone who was there was giving him some words of inspiration, some words of love and forgiveness," Father Ogie said.
The church emphasized that anyone experiencing difficult times is welcome to seek support at their parish.
"The young man that came that day was sent by the Lord Jesus Christ.... The gift of forgiveness....And the word salvation," Flores said.
To know more about St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, click here.
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