Retirement has its privileges. My allergies flared up today so I decided to soak in a hot bath this afternoon. I added some ashwagandha epsom salt, closed my eyes and focused on the silence. As you’ll read, silence was becoming a theme this week.

Daylight savings time always messes with me. I need my natural vitamin D so having the extra light in the evening literally makes me happy but it wreaks havoc with my sleep patterns. I woke up early on Sunday but after about an hour I felt really tired again. I laid back down with the intention of getting up at 11:00 a.m. Well, 11 came and 11 went. It was 11:30 a.m. when I checked my phone and mass was at 12:15 p.m. Needed to kick things into high gear!

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wash my hair. Up in a pony tail it went. I hurried through a shower, raced to get dressed and “pretty” myself and ran out the door. Amazing how fast one can move when they’re motivated! Shout out to all the moms with kids who make it to mass each week! Miracles do happen! Hurdle #1 cleared.

As I was quickly leaving the bathroom, I jammed my finger and cracked a nail. Sooo, I had to stop, turn around and quickly file it. Hurdle #2. I went to grab my sweater from the closet (and of course it got hooked on something). Really? I was so frustrated and started fussing at God. I AM TRYING TO GET TO MASS. Hurdle #3. As an aside, I’m confident God was keeping me out of trouble with those small delays BUT that didn’t ease my frustration at the time. I did apologize 🙂 Amazingly, we got to mass just as the priest, deacon and sacristans were getting ready to walk down the aisle. Phew!

It was a quiet mass. For those thinking isn’t mass already quiet? It is but in a quiet mass, there is no music. Antiphons are spoken as is the responsorial psalm and a Glory Be was said at the end of mass. After the ordeal to get there, I relished the thought of quiet. There is a certain reverence; a unique feeling of connection. Deep breath in, breath out. Clearing my mind so I can hear God.

How apropos the second reading at mass was about the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert battling temptation after temptation from Satan. If we really use Lent to get closer to God, do we really think it will be easy? Not a chance. And would it surprise anyone if I said Deacon Brian’s homily was about spiritual warfare? Nope.

Ever feel like the sermon was written just for you? My mind started racing and I could see the puzzle pieces starting to fall into place. A few weeks earlier, one of my friend groups was shaken to its core. I knew at the time our friendships would be reshaped but the real question weighing heavily on my mind was would they survive? Would we be able to push through this? Were we just too different? I had been praying intently about it since it happened and today I got my answer.

We are an eclectic group. We are at different stages of our lives, have had different faith journeys and have opposing political views. The involvement in our parish varies, as does our degrees of creativity and the issues we are passionate about. And today (without any announcement or coordination) four of us showed up at this particular mass. This mass that was just added for Lent. We were all sitting on the SAME side of the church which was a profound visual moment for me. Despite all our differences, the common thread was our Catholic faith.

We’ve celebrated marriages, births, birthdays, sacraments, graduations and holidays. We’ve grieved deaths, severed relationships and what might have been. We’ve supported each other through medical diagnoses, emotional crises and life’s curveballs and challenges. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve prayed. We met because we were sisters in Christ and connected on a deeper level.

I have no doubt this was spiritual warfare and we could have easily fallen into the trap. But I don’t believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason and while I may not understand it all at the time, I have to trust God implicitly. I believe in God’s providence, Our Lady’s intercession and the Holy Spirit always being at work! Thank you for the answered prayers!

Sending hugs, love and prayers! I love you my sisters!