Just a few thoughts.
This week at mass something struck me. We have many prayers and rituals we go through every week but
do we think of them every time we say them and do them? Because we say them every week it is easy to fall into a state
of just saying something because...well, we are used to saying them. The prayer that really hit me was when I said "Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." Sometimes we sing it. If someone were to ask me if I believe
it, of course I would say yes, but believing it and knowing it are two different things. The first two parts are a bit
easier to understand because they have happened. There is something to visualize and think of when you say it but the
last part is what really struck me this week. Christ will come again. I guess I have always thought of it as a
part of my belief, something that will happen "some day". But then it hit me - that some day may be tomorrow.
He IS coming, he is really, really coming again. If I truly believe that he is coming again then I have to
believe it could be tomorrow or the next day or the next. Remember when you were a child and it got closer to Christmas,
you knew you had better be good or Santa wouldn't bring you anything. So the closer to Christmas it got the better you
would behave. Well, if you knew the day was near that Christ was coming would you change your life and start being good?
The tricky part is we don't know when that day is so we have to always be prepared, always be good.
This may be old news to some of you and some of you may think I have gone over the edge, but it was what
was on my mind this week. Then other little things started meaning more to me. Genuflection is another little
thing that we have done repeatedly and may have lost some of the reverence. Look at that red lamp and remember who is
there. You are genuflecting to Christ, not the alter or the crucifix, but to the actual person of Jesus.
One last thing, and this is a little gripe of mine. I love to sing at mass. Singing is like
praying twice. It is praise and worship. Sometimes I even get a bit emotional. But I don't want someone
telling me to join in and sing at the moment I am going to receive the Eucharist. I want to be able to think about what,
no, not what, but Who I am going to receive. And after I return to my seat I want to be able to kneel and pray and reflect
and thank God for what I have just received. I don't want to have to worry about what page a song is on, try and follow
the words, and even worse yet try and read the music. A quiet musical background would make for a much better environment
for that part of the mass. This is just my thought on this. It has been around for a while so many others must
feel differently.
Anyway, this week see if maybe you can find big meaning hidden in a little thing. I always heard
the best things come in little packages!
