This past week we did a parish mission in Thunder Bay. The parish was extremely hospitable and excited to have us. After three masses on Sunday as well as the parish mission during the week, we were starting to recognize many parishoners and know them by name.
 |
After the first parish mission night in which I give a talk called The Heart of Worship and share a personal story about how I have a vocal injury but I choose to praise God from the heart despite this circumstance, people kept coming up to me to offer words of encouragement. One woman arrived with a knit scarf the following evening. She explained that it was to keep my neck warm in the cold weather. Another couple brought a couple of books which they gave to me and encouraged me to read. Several parishoners approached father and asked him to pray for my throat. The second evening of the mission the priest asked me to come to the front and he and all of the people present at the mission extended their arms in prayer. It was so beautiful to see a parish so eager to support missionaries in any way possible. We were constantly being uplifted in both speech and prayer.
The last evening of the mission the theme was The Splendor of the Mass. After the mission we had snacks downstairs and many of the people expressed how this talk helped them to better understand the new translation of the mass and the reasons behind the change. One woman explained to me that we had brought so much joy to her life in the past few days and that she had been afraid that that joy would be gone once we left. Then during the talk that evening she realized that joy comes from Christ himself and that he is present at mass at her own parish every week. She left with a new found love of the mass and an eagerness to receive the Eucharist. God is SO GOOD!
Blessings,
Erin
No comments:
Post a Comment