First Friday, 09/05/2003

This morning I went to Mass at the GirlChild's school. I guess in a technical sense I attended mass "with" the GirlChild, but since she has enrolled in choir and sits in the choir loft and I sat by myself, I thought of it as attending mass "at" her school.

I don't know what it is about kids. Last night the GirlChild waited until 9:00 on the night before to extend an invitation to me. And she looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "the choir is going to sing, Mom." I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. What was I going to say? I was racking my brain trying to remember what I had due, or to do, today and whether I could come in 1 1/2 hour late and attend mass and not have my day be totally fucked up. I wasn't going to go to my office at that time of night to find out, though I did briefly think about it. My Palm hasn't worked since I upgraded the software a couple of weeks ago and I've not had time to figure out what's up with that. In the end, I remembered I set an appointment late yesterday for late today but had offered the client a morning appointment if that would better suit his schedule. I decided to go hear my daughter sing.

I love the children's mass. I attended one once where the priest in his homily was talking about Jesus and his disciples and he kept saying "Jesus and his buddies." I nearly fell out of my seat trying to keep from laughing.

The new children's choir is lovely. Most of them are young, the GirlChild reports the oldest is in the 5th grade. They have such clear innocent voices.

I enjoy going with just the DearHusband. When I attend with the GirlChild it is sometimes a little trying; she tends to talk and squirm and want to go to the bathroom and go get a drink all through mass.
And when the BoyChild is there, it is horrifying. The BoyChild loves to sing and he doesn't stop when everyone else does. He loves to talk, he is a really loud talker, and can't yet understand mass is a time when we be quiet. When we must go to mass together, and there is no child care, I usually spend most of mass in the vestibule with the BoyChild. They have a "childrens room" off the vestibule but it is alwasy to hot, or to cold, depending on the season. The last time I tried to stay in there the BoyChild went to the door, which is really more of a wrought iron gate, and shook it like he was trying to make a jail break.

The DearHusband and I have taken to attending mass in shifts; I hit the 4:00 mass at St. Joseph's and he hits the 6:00 mass at Saint Francis. The GirlChild usually attends with whomever she isn't mad at at the moment.

Today was first Friday. As a relatively new Catholic, there is much about the Church and its traditions I do not understand. First Friday is one of those traditions. I think what I got out of the homily was that if you attend mass on nine first Fridays in a row, it's a novena. My recollection is a novena is really good.

Except for the incident with "Jesus and his buddies," I don't generally find mass funny. When I am by myself, I generally find it very peaceful; the hymns are soothing and the homilies are generally relevant. I think one of the things that made me want to join, over some of the other religions we talked about, was that it talked in terms of how to live my life, as opposed to how not to live my live. And if you don't get it right, forgive yourself and keep trying.

While there is much about the Catholic Church I do not understand, and much I don't agree with, the basic messages I hear are: peace, love and forgiveness. Those are lessons I want my children to learn and to live by; to be at peace in their lives, to love one another and to forgive themselves, as well as others. Those are good lessons and sometimes ones I think everyone should learn a little better.

Peace,
M&Co.