simple mass

Saturday Julia and I rode the buses to the neighborhood 28 de Agosto where our after school program, Manos Abiertas, is held to see some of the kids and go to mass at their church. Their church is a blue shed about the size of my garage back home. The priest drove in on Saturday afternoon in his pick-up truck and was immediately welcomed by all the kids before he could fully open his door. He is from Ireland and is younger than I expected.

Julia and I arrived at 3:30, not knowing the exact time of mass. When we got there we were an hour and a half early, but they were having catechism classes for the children beforehand. We were welcomed by everyone. The adults were so warm and happy to see us. The kids were sitting in separate corners diveded by age groups. Some of the kids were from Manos Abiertas but most were not. The ones that were, called out to us. The others sat and giggled and were shy to introduce themselves. We sat with the youngest group and we suddenly realized we were being asked to start teaching them.

We didn´t know what to do. Julia asked one of the adults if they had a book they taught out of. They said no. We looked at the kids and they were smiling back in anticipation and guidyness. We asked what they were learning. They said that they were learning the ¨Our Father¨. So we practiced that. We corrected a few of them on the order of making the sign of the cross. Then we had nothing... We asked what their favorite church songs were. They liked that so we sang with them. They would sing them all the way through and we chimed in as we picked up on the choruses. It was loud and fun and the kids were so sweet when they were singing. The kids then got a break so we went out to the dusty lot back behind the church and played with them until mass started. Nothing to active that might get their clothes dirty but some of the boys went off a ways on their own and came back covered in dust anyway.

Mass started and Fr. Liam gave us another warm welcome. They had no microphones, nor a need for microphones, and no musical instruments. That meant everyone sang, and sang loudly. Clapping hands for rythm. If a kid wasn´t singing they would quickly be encouraged from a stern look from their mother, or from any of the women for that matter. The homily was my favorite since I arrived, but I think that was because it was the first I could follow beginning to end on account of how slowly Fr. Liam spoke Spanish. He has a thick Irish accent when he speaks in English but sounds like he´s from the beaches of sothern California when he speaks Spanish. He spoke mainly to the children during his homily and it was about where to find love. It was a simple homily, but then again I guess that might be an appropriate reflection of how simple love is.

We had to leave before Communion because it would soon have been getting dark and we had a few bus rides in front of us. Next Saturday´s Mass starts an hour earlier as do catechism classes which we are now signed up to teach. I look forward to being able to stay and speak more with Fr. Liam and the parish community after mass, and of course, seeing the kids again.

I always knew mass never needed to have any extravagence. The parish in 28 de Agosto more than over compensated. To borrow and butcher the old saying about the size of the dog and the fight, it´s perhaps not the size of the church for the people but the size of the church within the people.

God bless.