Monday, December 30, 2019

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: ACT LIKE NOTHING IS WRONG

One may plan all one wants to but in the end what will happen will happen.  Don't get me wrong, Christmas at St. Sebastian went well and I think most of the catastrophes were somewhat unnoticeable.  Well - almost . . . 
Yeah, so we forgot to turn on the Christmas trees at the first Mass - that's one of the things you notice as your are processing down the aisle and the then wondering how it might be corrected without making a big fuss and calling everybody's attention to it.  

Other things are a little more difficult to cover quietly.
Yes, this did happen and the reason for it is a little embarrassing so I will keep it to myself.

There were a few other glitches but the biggest of which must have been at the Midnight Mass.  When I went down to get the gifts it was at this point that I noticed that no collection had been taken up!  This is huge!  A parish relies heavily on its Christmas collection.  What happened???  And more importantly, what was there to be done about it???

What does one do?  Do you stop the choir and make an announcement for SOMEONE to get a basket and start collecting money?  Do you interrupt prayer?  How is this fiasco fixed without ruining the flow and reverence of the Mass.  
As it turned out I was able to get the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to pick up baskets and stand by the doors of the church like bouncers at the end of Mass and made an announcement.
And the people were kind and generous and we had a fantastic collection despite its "unorthodoxy."  Thank you so much everybody.  And . . .

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do not for get that there was no one to open the doors at Julie Billart for so many were standing outside waiting to get in.

Anonymous said...

Stop it, Father - you are making me snort!!! This time next year, it will all be very funny to remember! Sue from St. B

Anonymous said...

Impressive! I don't think it's all that easy to catch the front lawn on fire! LOL! I'll have to give it a try next Christmas. It'll be great the Magi can make smores.

Anonymous said...

What are your thoughts on the virus Father? I’d love to hear your take.