Father Gabriel hears Rosita’s confession

Father Gabriel has been hearing a few confessions recently from the people in Alexandria on The Walking Dead. Rosita was in the church with her bullet.

Spencer used the car and the road trip to scavenge to share his thoughts about Rick and his leadership with Father Gabriel recently. Gabriel has become quite calm and peaceful in his priest role in Alexandria after he protected Judith from the herd and had his personal epiphany about having the courage to join the fight himself.

The good padre has been making some very astute observations about the new world now that he’s living in it and not hiding from it. He told Rick that he had faith in him. He knew they would find a way to beat this. They would get through that day and then find a way to move forward. Somehow, there was a way.

When he saw Rosita in the church with the bullet, he didn’t panic. He didn’t try to persuade her. He listened and spoke very few and deliberate wise words for her to consider. Instead of asking her what she was doing with that bullet he asked her a question with a nice one word answer that let her know that she could talk about suicide or murder and it wouldn’t shock him.

Is that for you or Negan?  

It’s for him. 

Instead of asking why, he asked her how. How was she going to do it? She would pull the trigger. Gabriel let her know that the Saviors would kill her. As long as he goes first. So she knew. And she was willing. The next question was more important. Why do you have to die?  Because he has to. I agree, but why do you? 

Gabriel didn’t argue or try to talk her out of it. He dug deeper. Why was she willing to die? She gave her reasons. Behind those reasons was the real reason. She felt alone. Alone and useless. Everything she told Eugene he was in order to coerce him into making the bullet is what she felt about herself.

You don’t know anything. You don’t do anything… people feel sorry for you.

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Eugene once told Tara that if he didn’t save the world he had no value. Rosita had just been dumped by Abraham and then watched him die. She had just been told how strong she was by Denise who died in front of her. She didn’t have enough time to believe the things Denise was trying to tell her about herself. She used Spencer the way she felt Abraham had used her.

Father Gabriel knew when Rosita told about the worthiness of all the others that could have been killed by the bat that day that she thought she was the one that wouldn’t be a loss. That wouldn’t be missed.

"Look at me, Rosita. It shouldn’t have been you. It shouldn’t have been anyone. We’ll win, but we need to wait for the right moment or create it… together. And you’re a part of that together. Don’t do this. We need you."

Now that Rosita was pushed into trying to kill Negan after Negan killed Spencer and taunted the town standing in the middle of the streets of Alexandria, she will need to remember these words even more. It shouldn’t have been her. It’s not her fault that Olivia is dead, just as it is not Daryl’s fault that Glenn is dead.

They can’t torture themselves with “what ifs” and “maybes”. They don’t get to know. We don’t know! We can’t. We don’t get to. We’re here now… and we can look to the future.

Next: Gabriel hears Spencer's confession

It shouldn’t have been anyone. It’s Negan’s fault. They will win. They need her. They need to wait for the right moment or create it…together and she is part of that. She is worthy without Abraham. She is worthy without knowing things. She is worthy without a child, without being strong. without being anything. That’s how it works with them, Miss Rosita.