A Moment

So, faith formation starts tomorrow, and I'm taking over the Kindergarten/1st grade combined class.  I stopped by the church to set up the closet classroom.  Luckily, the church was unlocked, so the kids and I barged inside, in the un-quiet way that we always do.    And then we STOPPED.

There, lying prostate on the floor, in front of the altar, deep in prayer adoring Our Lord in the form of a consecrated Eucharist, was Deacon Tom.  All by himself.  I shushed the kids and hurried them down the stairs before we could interrupt him further.

Such an intimate moment.  But this is why I LOVE St. Anne's. 

These people are for REAL.

There's no show of devotion.  It's not a performance.  It's not that we respect this space during "show time", when there's mass on Sunday, and then the rest of the time it's just a building.  It's SACRED, this house of God.  ALL THE TIME.  Because Christ is here, in a very special way, in this place.  Yes, He's everywhere.  But here.... He's here in a very physical, tangible way.  It's HIS house.  Holy.  And everyone treats it as such. 

I noticed that as I was being given a tour by last year's faith formation teacher.  We were walking back and forth in the sanctuary, getting from the classroom to the fellowship hall several times.  And EVERY TIME, every single time, she blessed herself with holy water and then genuflected in front of the tabernacle.  And we must've gone back and forth like 5 times.  I followed suit, but honestly only because she did.  I would've probably done it once, and figured that I'd done my job.  But she didn't.  It was automatic for her, but also reverent.  She acknowledged His presence continually, because He was there.  And it's His house.

This is new to me, being surrounded by people who really KNOW what they're doing and why.  Who really SEE what actually happens, not just on a physical level, but a spiritual one as well.  Surrounded by people of such deep faith.  I've been to many churches filled with good people.  People of faith, who love God.  I've never been surrounded by so many HOLY people.  People who recognize the sacred.  It's a whole different thing, this feeling of sacredness.    Reverence.  We don't see that much in today's society.  We really don't.  And I'm still getting used to it, because it's palpable in every square inch of this church.

Such a small parish, and yet two of it's young men are looking into the Priesthood.  One, at 18 years old, is applying for seminary right now.  Given the shortage of priests, the fact that two are from THIS place is rather astounding.  But the very first time I was there, I knew that kid was going to be a priest.  Just watching him worship, even though nothing he did was for show.  I could tell because of his REVERENCE during mass.  How he never took his eyes off the alter.  He never fidgeted, never looked around at the people.  People aren't why he's there. Just totally living every single moment of the mass, soaking up it's holiness, with every inch of him.  You can see it outwardly.

 There was a young college student a few years back that I remembered celebrating Mass like that, too, and I told Rob at the time "that kid is going to become a priest".  Sure enough... six years later, he's in seminary.  They nearly glow, these young men being called.  It radiates from them outwardly, unmistakably. 

It makes me think that we might not be in the presence of merely good people, which we are.  But that we might honestly be surrounded by SAINTS, and that's something on a whole different level.  And crazy to think about.