It was a different sort of day today. There is a monastery in our area where an order of cloistered nuns live. I have never been. A couple of weeks ago, one of my church-lady friends mentioned going to Mass there, and I told her I'd never been and wanted to tag along one day. So we made plans for today. The chapel was very simple. The artwork not my style. I will have to go again, though, because I didn't really get to LOOK (like at what was behind me). The nuns sit in a section to the right of the altar. You could hear them sing, but you couldn't see them. Afterwards my friend and I went to have coffee and visit. I think we covered everything from faith to curtains to kids.
I made a few phone calls that I needed to make for upcoming events when another friend called and asked if my boys wanted to go to the movies with her son. They eventually agreed on something to see. Today marked the first day that we [gasp] dropped them off at the theater. Apparently, all was OK. (We didn't just drop them off; I did return to pick them up after the film was over.)
I was going to return to my regularly scheduled workouts today. I've been trying to go 3x a week, but the last 2 weeks, it just did not happen with everything else going on in the afternoons. But it rained heavily this afternoon, and I didn't want to be on the roads unnecessarily. ;-) Tomorrow...
I have inservices the rest of the week. I may learn a thing or two, but money is a motivating factor in my attendance. With that said, I will have to be up early and there will be no possibility of a nap!
My pastor has taken the week off. He said he was going fishing, but with the oil spill, I'm not sure how that's working out for him. I miss him when he's gone, but it gives me the chance to go to Masses at other places. (When he takes off, he just cancels daily Mass, rather than trying to find subs.) Yesterday I went to St P's which always, always, always has a 7:30 Mass - holiday or not. Today I went to the Monastery. Tomorrow I will go the parish near my house - the one that burned a month or so ago. Daily Mass is in the parish library for now, and it is very cozy. The parishioners at this parish are overwhelmingly African American (and I'm not). I feel a little bit conspicuous (like a speck of rice in a gumbo pot) but the priest is awesome and the people are kind and welcoming. It has been about a year since I went there for the first time. That was an experience that made me smile all day.
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster.
During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
Wow! A whole post on virtually nothing. One of my gifts. ;-)
We have some Poor Clares here building a monastery. I am looking forward to attending mass there. Have a great day! Thanks for commenting at my blog!
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome prayer. Hopefully y'all will be hurricane free this year...don't know how the oil leak (is that what they call it?) would affect everything.
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