The Windows Were Mornings and Evenings

Today was the first Sunday that St. Theresa's was closed. No getting around it - today I was going to have to drive to church. The parish of St. Theresa's was going to be meeting at Trinity High School, and Fr. McFadden has spent the last three weeks asking people to meet there instead of doing exactly what I was getting ready to do...

I got up at 6:30 so that I would be rady to drive in plenty of time. I hate to be late anywhere, and I would rather sit in my car for twenty minutes of earliness than feel rushed. The Church of the Good Shepherd is a ten minute drive from my house, so by 7:00 am (for the 7:30am Mass) I was out the door. One small snag - at 7:01 a crazy-haired fuzzy-eyed handsome face popped out of the bedroom door. He wasn't dressed... or even clean... but he wanted to go with me. So I threw an outfit together and sponge bath-ed every bit of him that was still showing (lol), and got out the door by 7:12. The parking lot was packed. Of course the problem with taking a child with me is the absolute necessity of popping into the bathroom before the service starts. I asked a stranger where the bathroom was
(oh the agony of breaking out of the comfort zone!). We did manage to find a seat before the service actually started, just as the announcements were being made.

I managed not to giggle as Fr. "Mike" Weiss was introduced. I was really happy that Fr. Mark was celebrating, as it made me feel so much more comfortable to see a familiar face. I would have been fine either way, though. One of the nice things about the Mass is that you pretty much know what to expect. You sit, kneel, stand at the same times, and say the same or similar prayers every time, though some of the intentions are different. The scripture readings (large chunks of scripture, never just a single verse) and the homilies are different, but rotated through the a three year cycle so that the whole Bible is covered, rather than missing some books that aren't as easy to understand or as immediately interesting.

The sanctuary was beautiful. There are stained glass windows up high that are the colors of day and night - starting with a sunrise blue green, progressing through the hot red and orange of noon, all the way to a dark blue in the back. It is a very beautiful effect. There is a trickling water fountain by the baptismal font, a relief of Jesus as the Good Shepherd on the side walls. I was so surprised when the cantor (the lead singer) started singing, because I could not find him - then realized he was on a loft behind and above the whole sanctuary. There is a large pipe organ there, too.

I was afraid that getting out of the parking lot would be a huge challenge - I remember driving by the church many times and seeing long processions of people trying to get out of the church. I remember thinking it was interesting that SO many people would be there - even on a Saturday night! But really it was not so bad - though I bet one of the later services (or even the Saturday night vigil) would be much worse.

Doing something the first time is always so hard, going there again will be much easier.