Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cry Room Chronicles LXIII

We made it back late from our trip to Belgium (if I may be allowed to use such language on a family blog) and could not make it to any morning Masses. We wound up at the 6 p.m. Mass at St. Roberts.

The Mass went well. Lucy only took her shoes off once and only wandered into the aisle of the church and out of reach once. Of course, she then proceeded to lift her shirt up to her face several times. Mommy had to hold her to keep her from showing so much skin.

Jacob was very well behaved except for a minor meltdown when we finished singing the gospel alleluia before he could get his hymn book open to the page he thought was correct. Some soothing from Mommy made him better. He was great at saying responses, even the responses for the Psalm. I was amazed and delighted.

The other new thing (though we didn't know it was new) was a small children's choir that led the hymns for Mass. The pianist played for the first time in public and she did show the nervous shyness of a teenager suddenly put in the limelight. She did well as did the other children.

We lit candles over by St. Joseph since the candles on the right side (by Mary) were all out and we didn't see any way to start a fire to light a candle. The children prayed for their parents.

In lieu of a sermon, Father read a letter from the Bishop that has completely slipped from my mind as I am writing, for which I am rightly ashamed. Hopefully I will get more from next week.

Advent has started (Father wished us a happy new year, and explained it is the liturgical new year for the church). We will be getting out our Advent wreath for dinner and start singing "O come, O come, Emmanuel" at evening meals. We have an Advent calendar that will also become part of the evening ritual come December 1. If we don't do the calendar at breakfast...we'll get back to you on that.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Cry Room Chronicles LXII

Whoops, we missed two weeks. Mea culpa! Now that the end of the liturgical year is upon us, it's time to get back to business. Today is the Feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday before starting the new liturgical year next week with the first Sunday of Advent. Where did our Advent wreath go? Where will we find candles?

Rather than worry about tomorrow, let's bask in today's glory. We went to a different church since we were up early. The 8 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph's was quite good because the children were really well behaved. Jacob paid attention and prayed along with many of the prayers. Often, he was a beat behind, so he said "and with your spirit" right after the rest of the congregation. Lucy was just barely fidgety.

We were the lone people up front on the right transept, so we only had ourselves to give the sign of peace to. We did give money to the collection, though I only had small change in my pocket, so we put a five pound note in too. At the end of the Mass, the priest singled us out as an example of how even if kids might seem distracting, he never gets distracted by children at Mass and loves to have them. If the kids get loud, he gets louder, or so he said. He didn't have to demonstrate it today, though we did notice him smile as he started to process out and Jacob said the final "thanks be to God" just after the congregation. Father also had some good advice on having special Sunday soft toys and having a special missal or prayer book for the kids to follow along that they only have on Sunday. He received the tip from a vicar's wife back when he was at a parish shared with the Church of England.

His sermon was good too. He talked about how foreign the notion of an active king or queen is in modern society. In the readings, the idea of a shepherd king, one who takes personal care of his people, is something unfamiliar today. Also unfamiliar is the call to serve others as the Lord does. But this is our truest vocation, being obedient to God especially in serving others in their need.