Decisions, Decisions

This morning we went to the daily Mass, a perk of the summer months for us. The experience was strange. No one was there. The church was empty, lights off. A couple of other people stood around and wondered aloud. "Where is Virginia, the sacristan?" "Wouldn't someone hang a sign if there were to be no Mass?" Remember, we live in a small community, so everyone knows everyone, especially in a faith community in that small community. I decided to walk down to see if anyone was in the office yet. Probably all faithful people think this, but I think our church is beautiful. I walked down the garden path, past the glass parish center doors that peek into the gathering space, down the grandly curved stairs at the front of the church, to the office door. After ringing the bell, one of the office staff came to the door and seemed as surprised by the news that no one was at the church as the rest of us.

She asked another office staff member, my friend Judy, to come up and open the church while she called the priest on the schedule. We all went through our routines, praying and lighting candles, while we waited. Robby served the Mass with his classmate and I could hear them giggling in the sacristy by themselves, so I snuck pack there to shush them and encourage them to try to do some things to get ready. Light candles, set out vessels, books...

When the priest got there it was obvious that he had not realized it was his day to say Mass. We started 10 minutes late. Funny for late arrivals. The church had lots of people in it by the time we started.

Our priest is such a great homilist, it didn't matter that he had not prepared. We read about Elijah divided the water and about Jesus asking his followers to be humble - pray in privacy, hide fasting, etc. Father reminded us to always be accepting and to keep Jesus close. Okay, his version was a little longer, but inspiring.

After Mass, the kids and I went to the store and I tried to by them a treat at Starbucks. They didn't want one! Silly kids. I decided to be accepting and save money, so we skipped the treats. Something wrong with this picture? Isn't the mom supposed to be the one saying no? Funny.