Jun
20
Sticking Around After Mass
June 20, 2008 |
I try to go to Mass on Friday. It’s something I’ve kept to off and on for the past several years. With schedules the way they are in suburban churches, it’s kind of difficult to make daily Mass, so I try to make the commitment to Christ that at least once a week I’ll make it. That day is usually Friday.
My parish only has an 8:30am which just doesn’t jive with my work schedule, so I try to get to 6:30am at St. Susanna or 11:30am at St. Gertrude. I had a birthday party last night to go to and got in kind of late, so St. Susanna was out for this morning. I have lunch plans so St. Gertrude was out as well. I remembered that St. Gabriel has a 7:00am and that seemed a little more managable than 6:30 - so off to St. Gabe’s I went.
Mass was 40 minutes long - and it was worth every minute. No rushing, no frills, just a good Mass to fill us with the spirit of Christ so we could go forth in the world today to bear fruit.
But the real treat came after Mass. I decided to stick around to pray and reflect a little. My Grandma broke her hip yesterday and is having surgery today; and I just wanted to spend a little time with Christ and Mary for her. But, I was getting a little irritated with some of the elderly ladies who were sticking around, whispering and chatting with each other. I was able to tune them out somewhat, but not enough.
I decided to pray the Rosary, so I got out my rosary and started to pray. I had gotten to the second “Hail Mary” when a older gentleman interrupted me to let me know that he and the elderly ladies, who were the source of my irritation, were about to pray the Rosary. He asked me for my name and wondered whether I would like to join them.
I went over and had one of those small, sweet moments graced by God. The gentleman introduced me to the rest of the group and I was welcomed immediately. We then proceeded to pray one of the most heartfelt group rosaries I have prayed in a long time. At the end, they added on a series of prayers that just seemed to make the offering complete.
As we concluded, the gentleman (who had led the prayer) turned around and made sure I knew that they were there every morning, same place, same time. All of the ladies nodded in agreement, as if to make sure I knew they were inviting me as well. On my way out of church, one of the ladies informed me that the gentleman is a deacon, which I guess put a lot of the previous twenty minutes into context.
Just an overall divine way to start my day. I even made it into the office at my usual time. I’m thinking I’m going to make St. Gabe’s part of my Friday plan.
Comments
1 Comment so far
Often the invitation to prayer is unexpected. Praying the rosary and reflecting on the mysteries affects me differently each time. It depends on my frame of mind entering the conversation with our Lord and his mother. I can’t help thinking about my own mother when I pray the rosary and consider the best way to honor Jesus is to pay homage to his mother.
Separately, like you I enjoy the weekday Mass. None of the people there look like they have to be there. They are all there because they want to be there.