Every Christmas all throughout my childhood, the entire family was ushered out of the main door by 11:30 pm on the 24th of December while mom speedily put all our respective gifts under the tree on the pretense of a forgotten handkerchief. We family of four in our best Christmas church attire strolled through a block away braving the chilly weather to the Holy Rosary Convent and School which had a mid night mass at Christmas.
While the 7 year old me loved the entire route to the convent being lit up, the life size figurines of the crib and the massive baby Jesus at the entrance, the tiny chapel with those Bibles and their pretty covers, the fact that the nuns always sat behind us in rows and sang so serenely and I would count every nun I knew at that mass, get all excited about the fact that I could poke my brother throughout mass which mom ultimately stopped by sitting between us were all part of my Christmas routine and it never failed to make my childish heart beam with happiness!
But the one part I especially looked forward to was the most amazing plum cake and coffee served after mass in the refractory by the nuns to all their lay neighbors. That cake was just yum!! One such year I made a beeline for the cake after mass with my mom in tow, when the priest walked up to mom and me and started a conversation. After the customary greetings and introductions, he looked at my plum cake stuffed face and smiled and remarked to my mom , ” I should say your little girl was the only one paying attention throughout the mass, she kept responding with a yes yes and no no” while my mom giggled and apologized for her kid dozing and nodding off!!! As a 7 year, in my child like innocence, I assumed my sincerity to prayer was finally noticed by someone!!
Like in todays reading ,
Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
We do not need big words or lofty actions. A contrite heart and a sincerely felt repentance can be seen by the Lord. HE does not demand us to wave our hands in the air or quote Bible scriptures at every event we attend. All my Lord wants us is to look at Him with prayer, gratitude and immense faith that what the future holds is not our worry.
All we need is a yes and yes to the father and no and no to sin!!
PRAYER: Thank you Lord for our daily lives. We praise you for keeping us healthy and safe during this pandemic. Safeguard the lives of those infected and grant them a good recovery. Almighty Lord we promise to pray with more sincerity in our words and honesty in every action and thought.
AMEN
