Saturday, February 6, 2010

Sabbath Moments - Resting in the Lord... literally

Sabbath Moments is a weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace . They are moments of rest in God, just being rather than doing. They can be planned or may just come upon us by surprise.

Today, I attended the noon Mass. When I think of the words "rest in God" it often brings to mind a lady from my Church . She is a tiny little bird of a thing whom I often see during the weekday Masses. I do not know her but I often smile whenever I think of her. You see...almost everytime she receives Communion she passes out. At first, the priest temporarily stopped giving her communion [he didn't want her to get hurt] but now they seemed to have worked out a good plan. A minute or two before Communion, she gets up out of her seat and moves to the front row and seats herself next to Ann. Ann is a big-hearted strong lady who helps my mother and I clean the Church and center sometimes. Our priest gives the tiny lady Communion, seated, and Ann puts out her arms and catches her when she passes out. I love watching this, it never fails to make me smile. It's not just the lady who passes out that gets to me [though I do wonder what happens when she's out], it's the teamwork between Ann, the priest and the lady. When I see Ann's strong arms around her, it sometimes moves me to tears. Ann didn't want the lady to not be able to receive communion so she offered to catch her. And she does every time. How the Lord must be touched by this loving gesture....I know I am. This is truly Christian charity. Ann may not see what this lady sees, but I ask this: Who is more blessed here?

11 comments:

  1. I think everyone is blessed in this situation, everyone working together to allow this little lady to receive communion is a lesson and a blessing in itself....Happy weekend Mary.
    Many blessings and hugs....:-)

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  2. Bernie,
    True :) I feel blessed watching it. I hope your weekend is great, too, Bernie! I guess it's a good thing the lady is so small, if she were very large it might be a problem!

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  3. Mary, what an amazing story! Your little bird lady must be a saint, and your friend Ann can't be far behind! My heart often races with an anxiety attack when I go to receive communion, but to pass out every time! That's quite a wonder!

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  4. Mary,
    That is an amazing story and I agree, everyone involved and who witnesses this is blessed.

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  5. Anne, I have no idea what happens when the lady passes out. Ann went to Mass and worked with us Friday, I should have asked her more about it. It must be something good because the lady is a daily Mass goer and loves to receive Communion. She is very quiet and prayerful. When I noticed that Father temporarily stopped giving her Communion, I would ask Jesus to share mine with her and I prayed for her so that she could receive. I think the priest was afraid of her hitting her head hard but I don't think the Lord would allow her to come to harm.

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  6. Colleen,
    Even though it was about someone else I still feel very blessed to see it :)

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  7. Karinann,
    I think everyone feels blessed by it. It makes my Mom smile, too. I would like to ask the lady about it but I don't know her. I'm going to ask Ann, though. It shows me how powerful the Eucharist really is.

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  8. I am blessed and encouraged just to know that receiving communion is an important and holy event for someone. so many in our parish receive like it's no more than a Ritz .

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  9. Shastadaisy,
    This happens at my Church, also, the lines for Communion are very long but the lines for Confession are short. To be charitable I am assuming they are making their Confessions at other Churches. I always see the same faces in the Confession line :)

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  10. Oh my....I have never heard of anything like this before...but it is beautiful. If I knew her I would have to ask..."So, what is happening?" haha. It's so beautiful as well she has help in being caught. Just a very touching situation all around.

    I like your new profile picture! Now I know what you look like. :)

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  11. Cheri,
    Truthfully, I am dying to ask her :) Miss Nosy, that's who I am. She was at Mass today and I can't help but be fascinated by her. I know Ann so I am going to ask her a bit more about it.
    When I started blogging I couldn't resist putting up my daughter's picture, she's a little character :) She started her own blog this week and named it The Rose [her middle name]. She's only 6 but it's great spelling, grammar and computer practice for her so I let her. I am monitoring it of course.

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