Confessional Etiquette

The new priest is nervous about hearing confessions, so he asks an older priest to sit in on his sessions. The new priest hears some confessions, and then the old priest asks him to step out of the confessional to give him a few suggestions.

The old priest says, "Cross your arms over your chest and rub your chin with one hand."

The new priest tries this. The old priest suggests, "Try saying things like, 'I see', 'yes', 'go on', 'I understand', and 'how did you feel about that?'"

The new priest tries those phrases each one at a time, trying them out.

The old priest says, "Now, don't you think that's a little better than saying, 'Whoa! What happened next?'"

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