Sunday is my busiest day of the week. Because of this, I usually dread Sunday, though I shouldn’t.
It starts with getting up early to get myself and the kids ready for the 8:15 a.m. worship service at the Lutheran church we attend. My diverse Protestant background had me at Lutheran for about four years until I began taking steps to become Catholic. My husband is Lutheran and, as far as I can tell at this time, has no desire to ever change that fact. I believe it is vital to our marriage and to the stability of our family that we have this visible display of unity in our faith, so we go together, as a family. Brian does not insist that I continue attending Lutheran worship with him and the kids, but I do it joyfully, because I love him and want to support him in his faith (even if it varies a bit from my own). It doesn’t hurt that the people at our particular Lutheran church (and, in my experience, at Lutheran churches in general) are wonderful, friendly folks!
After the service is Sunday school. Today was “Presentation Sunday,” and each of the kids’ classes gave a short presentation demonstrating what they’ve been learning. Urban’s 1st & 2nd grade class did a reading from the Bible. It was the story of when Elijah visited a poor woman and her son, and he asked for bread, but they had only a little bit of meal and oil left—their generosity was rewarded, and the meal and oil lasted and lasted. (What an example to us of how we should give out of our own need and trust the Lord to provide!) Urban did a great job with his reading; we are so proud of his progress in this area. The little ones sang “God Told Noah, ‘Build an Ark,’ E-I-E-I-O.” The teacher did most of the singing, of course, but the kids were very sweet, standing up there with their big-eyed gazes.
I’m in an enjoyable Sunday school class. It’s not always an easy thing to be the lone Catholic—especially when no one even knows that I am. But we’re all Christians there, we love God and are trying to live our lives as best we can. Keeping that in mind makes it much less of a challenge. My class tends to focus on everyday Christian living. Brian, on the other hand, ever the intellectual, is in a comparative denominations class. I heard today that, after studying everything from Baptist to Methodist to Amish to Presbyterian, they have finally begun to cover Catholicism. I can only pray the instructor isn’t giving false information or wild opinions about the Church in an attempt to paint a very bad picture. Brian hasn’t said a thing about it, and I’m not going to ask.
By the time we’re done at the Lutheran church, it’s 10:30. So we shop for a while—browse at a bookstore or at Michael’s or World Market, buy some necessities at Target. Then we have lunch. Today we went to Dairy Queen—their Blizzard flavor of the month right now is Pumpkin Pie, and it is scrumptious!
After lunch, we sometimes come home, sometimes get groceries at Wal-Mart or Publix. At home, we have a couple of hours to read the paper and hang out, then it’s time to take Urban to his R.E. (religious education) class at the Catholic church. Most Sundays, I take the little kids along, and we play on the church playground while Urban is at his class. Then, if I haven’t gone to Mass the night before, I drop the little kids at the nursery and Urban and I attend 6 p.m. Mass. It’s a contemporary Mass, with guitars and keyboard and drums. It’s wonderful. It’s real worship. My favorite is during Communion when we sometimes get to sing the Agnus Dei. That music just gets into my soul and pours right back out. I’ve tried to sing it at home, and I usually end up in tears and can’t even sing. Tonight, we sang a different song during Communion. It was nice, but not as beautiful as the Agnus Dei. And then, I guess the band must like that song as much as I do, because just before all the Communion things were put away, they launched into it, out of the blue. It felt like a special treat just for me….except not for me at all, because it’s a beautiful, joyful song of praise to God.
So now the day is over. I’m tired. But I had to check my e-mail and write a note to my mom. We’ll be in St. Pete Beach this Thanksgiving, and I needed to find out what to bring, what kind of clothing to pack.
What sits on my mind right now is that today, in the car, I suddenly started thinking about an old friend. Not an old friend as in a-friend-I’ve-had-for-a-long-time, but an old friend as in someone-I-used-to-be-friends-with-but-now-am-not.
Several weeks ago, while praying in the chapel at church, I felt God was telling me that this person was suffering. I prayed for him then, and I meant to keep on with it; but I confess, I haven’t been diligent. Perhaps my out-of-the-blue thought of him was a prompting. Perhaps he desperately needs my prayers.
So I will go to bed, and I will pray.
