Blessed weekend

We've been trying more actively around here to make Sunday about God and family. It's been a bit easier since school is not in session but, even then, culture has ways of creeping in (trumpet camp on Sunday afternoon - you still get to Mass but it kind of messes up the rest of the day. grr.). Most Sundays look like this - rosary in the car, Mass, family movie, see an open house or three. The last one is decidedly not about God; it's too easy for me to want what society says I should have and not be content with what I need.

This weekend was the first weekend of the month. We've also been making a greater effort to honor and follow the First Friday/First Saturday traditions of the Church. Going to Mass on Friday is a hit-and-miss but we do usually get there on First Friday. This month I took the little two to our local parish and were treated to 1. a delightful homily on God's mercy and Saint Maria Goretti and 2. breakfast with a wonderful priest and his equally wonderful mother following. Even dh took time out of his day to leave the office to attend Mass. I'm guessing those graces combined to make a pretty amazing Saturday.

The four older kids had altar server training/review at our parish Saturday morning. I'm not sure the girls will ever serve at the altar but we believe it a good thing for them to take every opportunity to learn anything you can about the Mass. Normally I would have been eavesdropping, trying to parse out all the knowledge that is transferred to servers but, as luck would have it (ahem) there happened to be confession happening at that exact moment.

I'm not a fan of our parish for confession. I don't like the way that sounded - confession is great anywhere/any time. However, there are priests with whom you connect and those who are less-so. I always think it's funny because I love our priests - their homilies, chatting with them about all sorts of things...the confession experience is kind of, well, meh. Still, it was First Saturday so I was blessed to have the sacrament available with minimal waiting.

Imagine my surprise when I found sitting across from me...not our usual priests, but a lovely retired Father whom we had for Mass earlier in the week. When he began that Mass, I looked at his smiling face and saw, not the priest before me, but a lovely visit from a long-ago friend. Fr. Al was one of the two priests at St. Patrick's with whom I credit keeping me in the Catholic faith. He was a good priest, a good friend and had the most wonderful smile. His passing in 2004, less than a year after marrying us, was devastating to me. In most confessions I sense Jesus and His grace. This time I also saw a dear friend I hadn't seen for over a decade. What a blessed occasion.

We left the training immediately to head south to our monthly date with the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer for First Saturday rosary. We made it with enough time to wander around a bit and visit a grotto that was erected on our wedding anniversary, the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim.

The sisters were wonderful as always and dh even got to lead a decade this month! It was a pretty funny picture, him and the nuns sitting in the front pew. How God changes you :0) I also got to speak with one of my favorite priests here, Fr. Ed. I do have a soft spot for elderly priests. They have so much wisdom to share.

Back at home, I got a Facebook message from my cousin in Slovakia, reminding me that this was the weekend of the pilgrimage in Lavoca and that she and my cousin, Fr. Peter, would be at the midnight Mass. We watched Fr. Peter concelebrate and wondered at God's amazing feat of joining us with family on another continent. How blessed we are to share this faith across the globe!

He's the big guy on the right in the middle of the photo

There are some amazing cathedrals across the globe but it's pretty spectacular to have that backdrop while you attend Mass ;0)

Sunday was equally blessed with Mass presided over by one of our favorite visiting priests. His homily, as usual, was amazing...speaking of the difference between Lucifer descending to hell out of pride and Christ condescending out of humility. Wow.

And, because God likes to show off His best stuff on Sunday, we followed up Mass with a lecture by an amazingly gifted young priest. Father spoke of Benedictine spirituality and how we must make radical choices if we're to move out of the power of secular society and rejoin God's plan for us. The joy in my heart to hear this young man speak. The hope it gives me for the future. The gift it was for 4/5ths of our kids to be there to listen to his words. Wow.

As I've said before, your mileage may vary...God gives us all amazing experiences of His love and mercy. Yours will be different from mine. The point of this, aside from recording the experiences to remember later when I'm having a dry spell, is to encourage you to just let God do his work in and through you. Free up your schedule; seek Him out in every moment of your day; make an effort to look and listen for Him. You will be amazed.

We are blessed.