A First Mass

I cried at Mass again today, but this time for a good reason. A young man from our parish was ordained to the priesthood Saturday and he said his first Mass today. It was beautiful....
I cried when he walked up to the altar at the beginning in his beautiful new vestments and kissed the altar.
I cried when he pronounced the words of Consecration for the first time and thought about how wonderful that must feel.
After Communion, he took a few moments to speak to us and then he pulled out a cloth. He told us that the after his ordination Mass, he took this cloth and wiped the chrism from his hands that the archbishop had anointed him with. He then proceeded to give this cloth to his mother, saying how instrumental she had been in raising him in the faith, and how supportive she had been of his vocation to the priesthood. Then he pulled out a stole and said that he was going to wear it the first time he heard Confessions and that afterwards, he was going to give it to his father because he had taught him about mercy and forgiveness, and he had always given him good counsel. That had lots of people tearing up...including me again, of course. What a blessing it would be to have a son as a priest.

I remembered him as a young awkward man and today he seemed poised and confident. It has been a joy to watch him grow into the priesthood. He has been in my prayers these last few years of seminary and he will remain in my prayers as a priest.

The rest of the day has been busy with church home which was very pleasant. Everyone stayed for dinner and we had too much good food....makes it hard to lose weight on these occasions.

I hope that all of you have had a blessed Sunday.....