Walking into Mass I was greeted by a handful of fellow parishioners that have been a part of my life from many different ministries (LIFETEEN, the school, I was youth minster to their teen, Bible study, etc) and every single one of them gave me a hug and said, “I was so glad to read the praise report on the prayer chain. I was so worried when I saw the prayer request on Friday.”
Every single person said this. First, this made me feel wrapped in the warmest blanket of LOVE that God could provide. Second, do you realize how many people we have as ‘prayer warriors’ who receive the prayer chain? If every single person I knew this morning said that and that’s just a sampling of our parish population then it boggles my mind to think that not just hundreds have been praying but possibly even up to a thousand. We receive prayer chain emails sometimes 2x or 3x a day. I read each and every one and then I say a prayer to cover every person mentioned.
And then I had people praying that aren’t on the prayer chain or don’t even go to our parish! When I knelt to pray before Mass began this revelation overwhelmed me. I was taken back by the love I felt for each and every person sitting in Mass this morning, regardless if I knew them or not. My eyes began to mist but then Mass began and I needed to stand so I gathered myself. However, at the end of Mass as I was about to receive Christ in the Eucharist when the children’s choir began to sing Sacred Silence and I couldn’t control the tears as they ran down my face. I could barely croak, ‘Amen’ when the Eucharistic Minister said, “Body of Christ.”
I managed to make it back to my pew but the tears wouldn’t stop. I was flooded with sheer joy, humility and love for everyone. I let this joy guide me through the day. It is such a comfort to know that despite all of our weaknesses, our personality differences, etc we ultimately are simple souls that just need to be loved.
SACRED SILENCE (www.spiritandsong.com)
Written by Tom Booth, Jenny Pixler, Anthony Kuner
Sacred silence, holy ocean,
gentle water, washing over me.
Help me listen, Holy Spirit,
come and speak to me.
God my Father, Christ my brother,
Holy Spirit, sanctifying me.
Lord, I’m sorry, please forgive me,
come and set me free.
Sacred silence, holy ocean,
gentle water, washing over me.
Help me listen, Holy Spirit,
come and speak to me.
Holy Mary, gentle mother,
God’s pure vessel, praying for me.
Saints and angels, all in heaven,
come and be with me.
Sacred silence, holy ocean,
gentle water, washing over me.
Help me listen, Holy Spirit,
come and speak to me.
Blessings
Shannon