Stories
Adoration, tonight, 7-8 pm, SAA Church. All are invited!! Young adults: we'll meet up after Adoration in the Gathering Space to go out to dinner.
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Here are two recent stories involving parishioners at either end of the spectrum of life.
1) At the children's Christmas Eve Mass, I invited all the kids to come up to the sanctuary for the homily. At the end of the homily, I asked them to return to their pews. A few moments later, I noticed that one of the little ones wasn't going anywhere. His older brother was trying to get him to leave, but this (three year old) boy wouldn't budge. I saw this happening, and left my cordless mic on. I asked the two boys what was going on, and the older brother told me that the young one wanted to stay in the sanctuary.
So, I asked the little boy, "do you want to stay up here?" "Yes", he said, as his older brother left the sanctuary. "Ok, you can sit in any of these three chairs, except the big one. That's mine". The three year old boy proceeded to sit in the deacon's chair!
So, I sat next to him, and asked, "what is your name?" "AJ", he said. "Hi, AJ, I'm Father Greg". "Hi", he said. "So, AJ, you want to stay up here with me the rest of Mass, huh?" "Yes". "Ok, great". Seeing as how AJ wanted to actually be in the sanctuary at such a young age, I said to the crowd, "I think he will be Fr. AJ some day!"
Just then, I noticed his mortified mother approach the sanctuary. "AJ, come here, now". "Noooo!", AJ replied. "Oh, AJ, it's ok", I said. After a few moments of trying to stay where he was, AJ finally went with his mother back to his pew, saying "noooo" the whole way. "See ya later, AJ. Thanks for sitting with me!", I said, saying goodbye to my newest friend. I have seen his parents since then, and they seem to have relished the experience. Same here!
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2) I visited the home of an elderly parishioner last week who may be in her last days. This is a woman of great faith with whom I've been visiting regularly since I've been here. At the urging of a close friend, I anointed the woman and gave her Holy Communion. Although she has been much less lucid recently, she was very attentive and responsive during the Rite of Anointing. At the end of the Rite, I gave her the Apostolic Blessing which removes all temporal punishment in this life and the next.
When we finished, I told she was "good to go", which carried more than one meaning. I explained that in just twenty minutes, we had done a whole lot for her soul - gave her two sacraments and a blessing that would expedite her journey to Paradise. "Twenty minutes? Wow, that's all". She summed it all up with exceptionally profound words: "twenty minutes to get to Heaven!"
posted by Fr Greg @ 9:34 AM
17 comments
17 Comments:
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You might consider having AJ give the Archbishop's Appeal pitch. Who'd tune that out?
The history of the Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery. Among the aspects which remain unclear are the exact identity of the sitter, who commissioned the portrait, how long Leonardo worked on the painting, how long he kept it, and how it came to be in the French royal collection.
The portrait may have been painted to mark one of two events - either when Francesco del Giocondo and his wife bought their own house in 1503, or when their second son, Andrea, was born in December 1502 after the death of a daughter in 1499. The delicate dark veil that covers Mona Lisa's hair is sometimes considered a mourning veil. In fact, such veils were commonly worn as a mark of virtue. Her clothing is unremarkable. Neither the yellow sleeves of her gown, nor her pleated gown, nor the scarf delicately draped round her shoulders are signs of aristocratic status.
Wow, twenty minutes to heaven. I want you to come and see me when my time comes!
How do you explain to a three 1/2 year old that he can not have the Eucharist? This was not a problem until his brother had his first communion last year.
If anyone has any idea on how to find a spiritual director I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
could you please erase that last post? Thanks
could you please erase that last post? Thanks
Quick question. Do I go to Mass or not? I meant to go to confession because I haven't gone to Mass in a couple of weeks. I was on a long distance phone call with a friend watching the time tick by on the clock and now tomorrow is Sunday. Okay, okay I "could" have gotten off the phone but look at the options talking to a best buddy or going to confession.
Ah what the hey I missed two Sundays three won't hurt.
Go to Mass, there is nothing saying you HAVE to recieve the Eucharist. I went to mass for a month before making my way back to the church....
Those were good stories. AJ's story was cute and entertaining, while the elderly woman's story was inspirational. You should post more stories soon!
Hi Kat,
I went to church (I am supposed to do this "every" week right? JK!) and it was nice but I felt a little stupid sitting there when everybody else went up to recieve the Eucharist.
"I went to church (I am supposed to do this "every" week right? JK!) and it was nice but I felt a little stupid sitting there when everybody else went up to recieve the Eucharist."
I went through that feeling too, but Fr. Greg once told me that I shouldn't because sitting in the pew was an example of following church teaching and knowing that I had to be in a right state to recieve. (or something along those lines... I am sure I am not quoting him verbatum after all it was a while ago)... and its not like anyone is going to confront you on it after all; you did the right thing going to mass and not recieving. Good for you! Me I missed mass because my body decided I was going to be sick and try and hack up a lung. I was disappointed because I was supposed to read at the 6pm sunday mass too... hopefully FG isnt too peeved at me.
Hi Kat,
You poor thing! There is a terrible cough going around! I will send you get well vibes. "Hacking up a lung" never heard that before. I love these American sayings! When I get a cough I am going to use that. As I told you in my last post I too haven't been feeling too well with my condition and will be busy working, seeing my doctor, nutrionist, exercise trainer to get my blood sugar under control. Thus I won't be able to meet FG until the 23rd or 24 of Feb but I am looking forward to meeting him.
Why should FG bee peeved at you? You were sick. As long as you got a replacement then don't worry about a thing.
Incidentally, have a friend named Kat its short for Kathleen. What is your name short for?
I just feel bad about it... I guess when they handed out catholic guilt I went up for 3rds and 4ths....
Kat,
I have gone through exactly what you went through and have decided not to feel guilty about things that aren't in my control eg. sickness so take it from me there is enough in life to feel guilty about so don't feel guilty about this.
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