Christmas Eve Mass

My husband was willing to attend Christmas Eve mass with me last night.

First of all, we both get up around 4 AM almost every day, so maybe we should have chosen Christmas Morning Mass instead of last night's mass. The thing is the choir at St. Olaf's - yes, we live in an area that was settled mostly by Norwegians - sang and I wanted to hear the music. They did a decent job, singing for at least 1/2 hour before the service and then during it as well. We arrived at about 10:30 and sat in the very back. It was all traditional carols and songs. If we had sat up near the choir, it would have been nice to actually sing along with them.

We're not Catholics.

The church building is a wooden structure made in a kind of Scandinavian design with arched beams for the roofline. It's not Latin America.

The service was nice, but I have to admit that during one of the congregational songs I actually started to fall asleep!  I found out that people really cannot sleep standing up. Fortunately, the Pew caught me and kept me from falling down on the floor!

The short message was a little odd to me, but I have to admit that I can't get it our of my mind. He did a ltitle thing where he gave us all a gift. It was special, magical glasses for us to be able to see something. He then showed us where the word "peace" was written on the beams of the church, up above us. He was giving us peace.

What was he talking about? The odd thing is that I have such a sense of God's presence and His peace today. It is Christmas, of course, so that day is generally peaceful because so many are gathering in Jesus' Name and prayers and songs of praise are being directed towards Heaven in a way that is not true  every day.

We also visited a little with a young lady - and her dad and stepmom  - sitting in front of us. She had gone to school with our daughter. She was good friends with a mutual friend of our daughter. He's an amazing clarinetist with a fancy music degree and is once again auditioning for positions with orchestras. He had kind of burned out and was working as a barista in a coffee place!  It was good to hear he was back practicing and auditioning.

There was also an adolescent boy sitting next to us. He made sure he wished us peace during the paz - which is something I don't quite get into. The service went a little past midnight, and the boy looked over at me at midnight, pointed at his watch, smiled and said, "It's Christmas!"  How sweet!

We felt comfortable there but left before the last hymn was over.

Also, we attended our church's service at 6 PM, which was beautiful. We also sang, praised God, heard the Christmas story, lit candles, and then celebrated Jesus' birthday with a cake. The church was full.I have to say that our music was much better.  We have some really talented, godly young people who lead us in worship.

A couple of little kids - now all grown up - that I taught years ago were there. Big hugs all around, which I love! I told John that I was glad I was nice to him when he was a little pre-schooler and kind of unruly - but cute and fun - 'cuz now he's very big and tall! That's what I love about our church. We have so many great families.

We had also been to my mother in-law's for Christmas dinner yesterday afternoon. It was a great time, even though my husband's father passed away last July. We had good food, opened presents, and then sang Christmas carols around the piano. Nice.

What does it all mean as far as my interest in Catholicism? Not sure. Interesting. I am at least gaining a better understanding of what she is. You see, I have loved Catholic theology and philosophy for years now, but I didn't realize that was what I love. I also love my Evangelical background. Love's not a bad thing.

I know that Debbie Macomber chooses a word every year to focus on. She is not Catholic but did grow up in the Catholic Church. Debbie is one of my heroes. Well, I have not read many of her books, but she is an amazing woman.  Knit Together shows what drives her as a writer and as a Christian. She also shares in the book the difficulties she had in becoming a writer, including her dyslexia. She is a woman of God, and a great lady.

So, maybe the custom of choosing a word a year to focus on isn't such a bad idea. In fact, last year I spent a lot of time thinking about "glory" because that was the topic of a conference we participated in.

Why not focus on "peace" this coming year, starting with the entry of the Prince of Peace into the world?


 Don't know, but all that we experienced yesterday, including Mass,  gives me beautiful things to think and wonder about. I like that.