Tis the Season!

So I’ve been quiet for the past two weeks due to getting back into school and being busy with Holiday preparations.

The last two Sundays of Advent have been wonderful, and I look forward to my upcoming trip to visit my father and his family out of state. this will be the first time that my boyfriend will meet them. 

We have joyously noticed that our congregation have been turning to their missals to learn the changes to the liturgy. It’s oddly comforting to hear the rustling of pages as everyone turns the page in unison. 

I’m super excited about Christmas, even if our tree is a Charlie Brown one. The weather doesn’t feel very Christmas like, but I’m not letting it ruin my mood. It’s around this time that I get to reflect on my year and the changes that have happened. I have wonderful friends who are more supportive than I could have ever hoped for.

On another note, my divorce is final, which means I can begin the process of annulment. My now Ex-Husband is super supportive and has offered to testify if the process goes to trial. I’m glad to have an Ex that I’m on good terms with.

My boyfriend's anger, and my sadness

Ok, so today all of the Catechumens and Candidates were supposed to meet at the Church for 10:30 mass. After the Homily, the Candidates and and Catechumens leave to reflect and discuss the readings and gospel. Overall it's something I look forward to, even if I am bummed at missing the rest of mass.

Unfortunately my boyfriend and I woke up to find that I was too sore to go. We decided to go to the Teen Mass at 5pm. We've been to Teen Mass before, and have enjoyed it.

During mass, I looked over and saw that my boyfriend was extremely upset. I quietly asked him what was wrong and he replied "I'm trying not to be angry". I was obviously concerned at this and after Mass I spoke to him about it. I've never seen him so angry in my life.

He told me that the absolute lack of participation by the Mass attendees really bothered him, to the point that his anger brought tears to his eyes. He said that he could deal with people not singing, a lot of people aren't comfortable sing hymns. The part that bothered him so severely was that people just stopped during the parts of the Liturgy that has changed. "How hard is it to look at the card or pick up the damn Missalette?" was key to his angry words. His thought was that if someone isn't going to make the effort or fully participate in mass, the why bother going?

I personally noticed that participation was lax, but instead of anger, I felt sadness. The idea that people would come to mass and not want to participate in worship is something I'm unable to fathom. What's the point of going with you don't partake in fellowship? The fact that my boyfriend was so angered at the lack of worship shows that he's growing closer to his faith. He referred to it as a "righteous anger in his stomach" that he couldn't control. He didn't feel that the anger was a bad thing, and in fact he felt he should be angry at the apathy of our fellow parishioners. I have encouraged him to talk to someone about it and work on trying to fix what we feel is a very real issue in our parish.

On a lighter note, I greeted the priest after Mass, an encountered the most awkward moment of my life. Right after shaking my hand he said "What does it say on your chest?" I looked down to find that a bit of it was peeking out of my shirt. I sheepishly recited the lines and explained where it came from and it's meaning to me. It turns out that he's a bit of an Eliot fan as well. But still, it was a very awkward moment.