My journey to find myself - Lent 2014

🍫🍬🍭 So it has been a very nice Easter.  We usually spend a large portion of Holy Week at the parish, and this year was no different .... Except ...... It somehow was a completely overwhelming and emotional experience all the way through.  A wonderful Paschal Meal with more than 100 parishioners in the church hall on Wednesday evening.  On Thursday evening it was the Mass of the Lord's Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet.  It was a very deeply touching Mass in which our priest humbled himself as he re-enacted the actual way in which the feet of the disciples were washed.  We followed it up with 3 hours of silent Adoration.  Good Friday the Tenenbrae service was a meditative chanting hour and by the time we got to the Good Friday Service at 3pm (CBC) I was experiencing a deep emotion like never before.  As I watched my daughter read and my son read the part of Jesus in the Passion play, I was really feeling the agony of that day in a very real way.

On Saturday evening we started the Easter Vigil around the Easter fire in the grounds of the Parish.  As we proceeded, in our hundreds, by candlelight into the church, preceded by the Easter candle and listened to the many readings, those candles carried us more and more into the growing light of Christ.  As I did my reading from Exodus, the combined candlelight of a whole community was lighting up my heart.  We had a lovely young man be received into the Catholic faith and be immersed completely ... Our priest does nothing in half measures .... He sweeps us up to feel like we too are continuously completely immersed in our Faith.....Music and singing that lifted the roof, our new church bell was able to be rung a little for the first time and by the time the Mass was over almost 4 hrs later, there was such a sense of happiness, peacefulness and joy in my heart that the first thing I said outside to Fr Chris was "is it not fantastic to be Catholic?" ..... We stood around in groups chatting and eating our 1st Easter eggs given out by the parish .... All joined by the incredible common thread of such a beautiful experience.

On Sunday morning we returned with joy in our hearts for the service in which we celebrated that The Lord is risen .... It was a happy and special morning in which Fr Chris reminded us to view Sunday, and not Monday, as the start of our week.

This Easter was not for me about giving up stuff ... I cut down my coffee drinking by a massive amount and I had a few other personal Lenten sacrifices.  But to me, this Easter was about my faith, about getting to weekday mass, even when it meant getting up at 430 am to read at the 6am mass.  It was about joining Bible Study which turned out to be addictive.  It was about giving up my time.....which is very scarce in between my commitments and being a mom and wife and driver and employee, and spending that time on my knees ..... Examining, questioning, challenging, growing and revelling in my Faith.  It was 40 days well spent.  It was 40 days in which I went on my own personal journey.  It was not always fun.  Our priest presented me with and challenged me on many issues in my life ... I am grateful for this ....   I did not always like what I saw.  I had plenty of religious questions for my priest.  I grew.  And my Faith grew.

And you know what?  As it did, my life seemed to fall into shape.  My own personal space became a little more un-mudied.

And for me ..... That was well worth the 40 day journey.

How blessed I am.

till soon
c'est la vie. xxx.  ⛪️