At Sunday morning mass, I did my customary greetings to each church-goer asking if there were any visitors or any people celebrating birthdays. A young girl, at age two and a half, came to the altar and said it was her birthday. We sang to her and she enjoyed the celebration, and she politely returned to her seat.
During the offertory, a young boy around age two and a half, said, "It is not just her birthday. It is mine too because we are twins." He went and grabbed her by the hand and they came to the altar and prayed with us. They kneeled with the altar server and stood when he did and they held hands during the Lord's Prayer. When they were finished with the prayer, they returned to their seat.
Oh, it is so good to hold onto these moments to sustain you through the challenging times. I hope they remember this day for their future life in the church. I suspect the church of their time will look vastly different from today's church. That pleases me.
What a wonderful moment for the whole parish as you are building community when you celebrate a birthday and thereby celebrate that parishioner. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThey ran up to me this past Sunday to tell me they had a splendid birthday party.
DeleteHow beautiful that you are establishing a relationship with them and in that relationship they will see our Lord. That is what the Christian faith is all about - relationships within the Trinity, the Trinity with us, us with each other and so on. I can just picture these two little ones running up to you to be greeted with your wonderful smile. My grandchildren come to church with me on occasion and they look forward to seeing my priests for that very reason.
DeleteThis one young man appeared bright eyed this week as he appeared decked out in suit and tie, "It is my seventh birthday." It was his way of telling me that he was looking forward to being recognized in the whole church during mass. He was so happy.
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