Cry Room Chronicles XLVI

This is the last Sunday in Ordinary Country for us, though liturgically it is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. In an effort to make things easier for our trip to Front Royal on Sunday for Father's Day (happy day to all fathers out there), we went to a Saturday vigil Mass. We are currently living in a hotel since all our household items are either on their way to England or in storage. We went to the "local" parish, St. Lawrence Martyr (apologies to anyone who clicked through the link, the web site is pretty bad) for 5 p.m. Mass.

The church is nearly 150 years old and seemingly there's been no expansions or rebuilding. The building is small with narrow pews except for the back one where we sat. That pew had a sign reserving it for people with special needs, e.g. wheelchairs, crutches, etc. I think we fall under "etc." since the children are definitely a handful. At least they cause us to have fewer hands.

We arrived a little early, which allowed Jacob to request a pre-Mass potty break. The bathroom was in another more modern building (circa 1950?) across the parking lot. Mommy took him. About ten minutes after they got back, Jacob said he had more pee-pee. We said he'd have to wait. Later, he asked me if I had to go pee-pee. I was okay and told him I'd wait. Otherwise, Jacob was pretty well behaved.

Lucy, on the other hand, was quite rambunctious and just couldn't keep quiet. We discovered the cry room in this church which also serves as the confessional. Someone had boxed in the back corner of the church and left a big window and glass door so it could also serve as a cry room. Two family had already gone in, but Lucy and I had our turn during the homily. Eventually, I convinced Lucy to whisper and we returned to the church. Five minutes later, we were back in the cry room because she was being too loud. We kept going in and out several times. Lucy started to get upset that she wasn't with Mommy, which helped her to be quiet for a while. It was rough going back and forth so many times, especially since the room didn't have any air conditioning or circulation. It reminded me of "the box" from Bridge on the River Kwai. Hopefully, she's learned her lesson. We'll see what happens next week in England.

Both children were happy to put money in the collection basket when it came. A poor box in the back also received some donations. At one point, Lucy asked to light candles but we forgot at the end of Mass. Jacob didn't forget to go potty one last time.

Father's sermon was mostly lost to me except for some snippets: The readings for this Sunday don't ever use the word "Trinity" and in fact that word is not found in the Scriptures. But many references are made to the triune nature of God: Jesus speaks often of the Father and how He is the Son and how He will send His Spirit afterward. Father talked a bit about the mystery of the Trinity, how it is unfathomable by us. He did have a good quote from Meister Eckhart, which I found here:

‘Do you want to know what goes on in the Heart of the Trinity? I will tell you. In the Heart of the Trinity the Father laughs and gives birth to the Son.
The Son laughs back at the Father and gives birth to the Spirit.
The Trinity laughs and gives birth to us.’

I really like this quote, even though I only heard the last line of it at Mass. Father's version of the last line is "The Trinity laughs and gives birth to creation," which seems more humbling and more accurate to me. God is so full of joy that He can't and won't contain Himself. He wants to share with us. What an awesome thought!