Daily Mass and Other Adventures of a New Catholic

So yesterday was like a 3-1 special! Definitely the most productive, yet relaxing, day of the summer yet. Mostly because I started my plan of going to daily mass and then going walking. Let me tell you- sometimes I just have the greatest ideas ever! haha

So let me just say....I want to go to daily mass. Awwww but daily mass is just sooooo awkward at Holy Name! It's funny actually. But let's back this sucker up just a bit.....

I remember the first daily mass I ever went to. I believe it was during spring break this year. I teach, so I didn't have any class for a week. So when I was going through RCIA, I pretty much ate, drank, and slept all things Catholic. Well, I still kinda do. ;) I know it must be annoying to some people. lol

So back to the story, I decided to go to daily mass during spring break. Even to this day, I am amazed that some people went through, or go through school, going to mass every day. What an amazing gift to be given! I am also sure most kids don't realize the awesomeness of this gift but I don't think for a second that I wouldn't have felt the same way if I had grown up in it. That, my friends, is what puts me in awe of God's plan. Because now I can just relish in it and have a hunger to go to mass more than I think I would have.

So first daily mass, huh? Yep. It was special. Another thing to remember, this was March. So I am not going to do all the math, but a quick little count says that I have been to a total of maybe 10 masses at the most (with the intent to learn and become Catholic) to this point. So pretty much brand-spanking-new to this mass thing.

So for some reason, Fr. Mike does a little change of location for daily mass- in the little side chapel. I like the side chapel, go there lots for adoration. But this is weird! I walk in and it is was pretty close when mass was going to start and there is nowhere to sit......but the very, very front. And the whole place is just me and a bunch of older ladies. Tell me again, why there aren't cool single, young adults at my parish lol : )

So cool thing about the very, very front. Great vantage point for the Eucharist! lol And for someone, especially at this point in my journey, that is extremely curious and sponge-like it was exciting to be so close to the action. I wanted to take notes. haha not really but you get my point. : )

Bad thing about very, very front of church- I was nervous I would do something wrong! I was like I don't know everything yet!!!! So I devised a plan. I would tilt my face to the side so I could see what the others were doing behind me but not make it obvious. Umm Hmm. Not obvious. : ) I have no idea if I was obvious or not, but I did make it through mass unscathed. But when Fr. Mike mentioned staying for morning prayer after this; I had reached my point and I was out the door! I didn't go back to daily mass at Holy Name that week. : ) Went to Wellington once, with a friend, but didn't go back to daily mass at Holy Name until this summer.

Wellington was an experience too. Although less awkward, still slightly so. It was the first time to genuflect in front of someone I know and all that. So definitely another learning and growing point of my journey. I think a point to help me become more comfortable with sharing my faith with others.

It's funny how in the past six month's I have been in a number of these situations: my first mass ever, my first adoration, telling people in my life I was becoming Catholic, RCIA classes (by myself), giving gifts at my grandpa's funeral, my first stations, my first rosary, first rosary with people, first time to lead a decade in a rosary with people, going to the Cathedral and meeting Bishop Jackels, going to my Lenten retreat at the SLC, my baptism, my first Eucharistic feast, going to Sojourn, first morning prayer/evening prayer experience, my first confession, going to daily mass even now..... the list is endless! Plus, I know it will continue to grow. Which definitely makes me smile.

But the point is, when I think about all these first, I am.......I am, I guess, in awe, in doubt, or just simply amazed by this journey. I did this. I guess, I am just kinda proud of myself. I have put myself in a ton of uncomfortable situations. And unless you have been there, it might be kind of hard to understand. But really I think that we all can relate. Everyone has that something that they have always wanted to do...but didn't. Let me tell you, it is not going to be comfortable, you WILL mess things up, but it is worth it!! Worth it a thousand times over.

So back to daily mass. I have finally mustered up enough courage to go back. I went back towards the beginning of the summer. To be honest I really don't remember much of that one. But then I went again yesterday. Which really started my day out perfectly. Plus, I stayed for morning prayer this go around! The youth group was there, which helped me in my awkwardness. I guess I just like when younger people are in the room. Little old ladies are the sweetest thing ever, but I feel a little out of place at times. Then I talked with the church secretary, Sandy, after morning prayer. Finally got registered in the Parish. Got a pen. got a cool magnet. Got some more reading material. Got a stewardship form.Whoop! Whoop!

Yes, it is true. It's definitely the little things in life. : )

So I think it is time to add to my list again..... I am thinking get my own adoration hour, maybe be a lector, something with the youth group kids and hopefully starts something with the young adults. My parish really needs that. : )

So since this post is already long enough......I will finish telling you about the 3-1 day tomorrow. That was just day 1 of 3. See..... it was jammed packed. : )

Something Beautiful

My First Easter: Written sometime during February 2011 (I suck at dating stuff)
-This specific blog post was written during the time period I was converting to Catholicism


Something beautiful. It’s something we are always searching for in life. For example, a clear night sky can take my breath away. Just a side note— it also causes major swerving as I am driving down the highway trying to take it all in. : ) A bright orange moon, as she is hanging low in the sky, easily makes me smile. Driving down the road in a thunderstorm is music to my soul. It really doesn’t take much effort to find something beautiful. He has placed things all around us. Things to enjoy, things to inspire us, things to remind us of Him. We are surrounded with beauty, we just have to pause long enough to take it all in and appreciate it.

However, I feel the most beautiful things in this world are people. Whether it be a basketball arena full of youth jamming out to Let Us Love, little first-graders asking such cute questions like, “But why do we have to milk them everyday?”, or something so small yet soooo very beautiful like my little nephew Cooper wrapping his arms around my neck. These things are so beautiful to me.

I bring this up because tonight after leaving the high school I witnessed something way beyond beautiful. A little back story before the beautifulness…..

I have been going to Holy Name’s adoration for a while now. I am still fairly new at this whole Adoration thing and at times I feel like I am really screwing it up. If that is even possible. : ) My first little trip was somewhat awkward……”What do I do? When do I kneel? When do I genuflect? Why is it so quiet? Ahhhhh!” Learned a lot that first night, even with the little bat flying around the Chapel. : ) Now each time I go, I feel way more comfortable and get more out of it. I learned after my first little trip to bring my iPod. I sort of feel like I am breaking the rules listening to my iPod, but I enjoy things and am much more comfortable when I have it to listen to. Little did I know, I would not be needing my iPod tonight.

Tonight, I decided to go to Adoration in Ark City for the second time. I remember the first time I went to adoration in Ark City, I drove around and around that dang Church at least 6 times before I went in. haha Then when I finally made it into the Chapel, it was weird because there wasn’t two sides to get into the pews but just one. In order to get to the other side you have to walk in front of everyone and right by Jesus. How do you even handle this? Haha Well I fumbled my way through that one and ended up leaving that night with new observations and a lighter/fuller heart.

So now I was back for round two. I was kind of nervous again….mostly because of the whole one-sided thing. I was thinking, Jesus, I don’t mean to offend you if I do something wrong. : ) haha But by this point I kind of have a little routine down of what I like to do, so I grabbed my iPod and book and headed on into the Chapel. I noticed there was one little van there, so I thought this was a good sign. One person wouldn’t be a big deal and I should be able to sit on that one side.

I walked into the Chapel and immediately knew this trip was going to be different. There was a family of four sitting in the front pews. A mother, a father and two young girls all praying together. Well actually the smallest girl was practically snoring but the others were praying. In fact, the mother was praying aloud……in Spanish. This was cool to see; I smiled to myself. I did my thing, and then sat in the back. For some reason, I felt really, really comfortable this trip. I decided to go check out what the papers in the corner say and what books they have in the back. It was cool; Thanksgivings and prayer needs……or something like that. I turned to go back to where I was sitting and I heard it……a guitar starts to play. I didn’t notice when I first walked in, but the older girl has a guitar…..and she can play this guitar. Score! She was strumming a mellow tune as the mother continued to pray out loud. It was beautiful….and was only gonna get better. I could catch very, very few words of the Spanish she was speaking. But I was so interested in these people. I felt like I was witnessing something very private…yet I felt more at home then ever before. This family was amazing me. They were spending time together, praying, giving thanks to God and they didn’t care who was there to see it. I realized that all my stupid thoughts of if I was doing things correctly were really dumb. It didn’t matter how I spent my time with Jesus. This family was showing me this. Nobody is going to be the same, but to just do what feels right to me. Forget the other people that are there.

Then it started. The girl started playing a song. She then started to sing and before I knew it all four of them (even sleepyhead) were signing this song. Tears formed in my eyes. This was so beautiful. Of course this song was also in Spanish but it was more beautiful than any song I have ever heard on my iPod. I really have no words to describe how I was feeling. After the song was over, the girl playing put down her guitar and followed suit after her mother. She began to pray aloud. “Gracias, Senor para….” Over and over she gave thanks to our Father. I decide to pray with her. Not really knowing all of what she said but catching a little more than when the mother was praying. It was simply amazing. I read and listened to the family sing a few more songs together. I wanted to stay to see what they did at the end of their hour but decided to give them their time alone. As I left, I just kept thinking how blessed I was to get to not only spend time with Jesus but also with them. A beautiful family of four praising and thanking Him with so much passion and no holding back. It was simply beautiful.

What's in a Dream?

I suppose we all have dreams. : ) Yes, I am talking about those slumber ones. The thing is....I usually don't remember mine. But today I remembered one in kind of a crazy way.

The other night, I had trouble getting to sleep. It was about 2:30 in the morning and I was still awake. Which isn't a big deal, because it is summer. However, I was realllly tired. Finally, I was out. But then I woke up 30 minutes later after this dream. Kinda remembered it, but turned off my light and went back to bed.

Then I pretty much forgot about the dream. I do remember that I had one.....but I could NOT remember what it was about. At all. Until I got into my car.

As I was leaving my house, my car radio comes on and on comes this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePuYCbxa8cg

I was like......this was in my dream!!!! And I was in a car!!!! And......then about 2 minutes down the road I remembered all of the story my mind had created while I was sleeping. : )

So here's the dream:

I was driving down Green's Farm road (love this road, drive it a lot with windows down) and I was in a SUV. A couple of important things to note: this SUV belonged to my teaching partner (btw she does not own a SUV) and I was not driving this vehicle, but one of my students was. We were just driving and talking and listening to the above song. Then I realized I forgot something in Winfield and we turned around to get it. No idea what I forgot. : )

This is where it gets a little crazy up in here! Student that I mention above is gone and replaced by one of my cousins. At this point in my dream, I suddenly have this idea that it it stupid to let someone else drive my teaching partner's SUV. So I tell her I need to drive. Pretty much as these words come out of my mouth, she runs this stop sign by this coffee shop in Winfield. In my dream I remember this huge vehicle going super fast nearly hitting us. We missed them by inches. However, even though we are safe(ish) said cousin doesn't know how to use the steering wheel or brake for that matter.

And this road is a tee. You can't go forward. However, she went forward. Off into the grass or edge or something, into the direction of a parked semi or really big box of some sort. All she had to do was press the brake. Plenty of time. But it was like she went dumb or wanted to hit the big box. So we crash! Screwed up the SUV big time. And the last three seconds of the dream I was left trying to figure out how to fix this problem without getting into trouble.

At this point, I was so scared that I woke myself up. It was like the dream really happened..... and then I went back to sleep. Then proceeded to forget about the dream for a day....until I heard the song. Then it came rushing back.

I find this just a little bit crazy. So then I looked up that lyrics to The Redeemer (a favorite past time of mine) because I really didn't know the words other than some of the chorus (which was playing in my dream):

Sometimes I just want to start over, 'cause everything looks like a wreck
And I need the courage to carry on, 'cause I can't see what's ahead
And there are places I've wished I could be, battles I've wanted to win
Dreams that have slipped through my hands
I may never get back again

But I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You can make anything new

Sometimes I just wish we could say all the things that are easy to hear
Ignore the injustice we see and explain every unanswered prayer
But I'd rather speak honestly and wear a tattered heart on my sleeve
'Cause in the middle of my broken dreams, redemption is here

And I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You are the answer, the redeemer
Oh, I've given up on too many things, but I'm not giving up on You
'Cause You can make anything new

I don't have every answer in life
But I'm trusting You one day at a time
'Cause You can make a weak heart stay alive forever
this is where Heaven and Earth collide
I lift my hands and give my life
This is how my weary heart stays alive

Oh, I'm still a dreamer (This is where heaven and earth collide)
(I lift my hands and give my life)
Still a believer (This is how my weary heart stays alive)
Oh, You are the answer (Oh, this is where Heaven and Earth collide)
(I lift my voice and give my life)
The redeemer (This is how my weary heart stays alive, oh)

'Cause You can make anything new
Yeah, You can make anything new

And then I was like okay......I get it. : )

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have just got to say- Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! In the most awesome way possible. : )

At the beginning of this month I went to this little retreat called Sojourn. Met some great people that I have hung out with a little even since then. And after spending some time with them tonight my heart is just happy happy happy happy happy!!

And if you have ever read Captivating.....isn't it great to get Your Question answered?! : ) Did I mention HAPPY!!?

A Change of Intention

I attribute a lot of today's happenings with thoughts of Narnia still floating around in my head. But really I would take it anyway He wants to throw it at me. Really though, how else do you take conversations with Him? : )

I decided to go to the Hike/Bike trail. A lot of cool things have happened at this location for me. Yet again, those tales are for another day. If you're lucky. : ) So I went here kind of on a whim. In fact, I usually do not plan to go here before I go. It just tends to happen. But I went here tonight intending to do day eight of my novena.

Now, I have never done a novena before. I picked this one up in the The-Worlds-Greatest-Bookstore-Ever! at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. a little over a week ago. I am not kidding about the bookstore thing. But I am also the girl that could spend hours in just about any bookstore and be completely content. But this bookstore was a bookstore full of everything Catholic you could possibly imagine. Which made my little heart go pitter-patter. I mean, geesh I have only been in the SLC's dinky Catholic bookstore. So I picked up two books, a novena and a couple of other things and was good to go!

So back to the novena. I really didn't know which saint to choose or which one would be the best for me. But in the end I realized it would be a little unreasonable, for a number of reasons, to try to buy up the whole lot of them, so I chose St. Therese. In doing this novena, I could pray to St. Therese for intercession in a specific intention.

The thing is, I have been doing this novena and gradually been getting this feeling that I needed to tweak my intention. Which I know might make absolutely no sense. But the more I read and the more I prayed, I just couldn't get over the feeling that my intentions were so very selfish and not really what I needed. Then I realized, eight days ago I wouldn't have even really considered this. So cool. And tonight I did tweak my intention and I feel at peace with it.

Anyway, tonight also took me a reallllly looog time to do my novena. hahaha As I said, I went to the hike/bike trails. This time I went to the pond's edge, which I normally don't do. I usually prefer the river. So I sat and I read. And I paused and I thought a lot. Then I would read and the dang book would answer my thoughts. And as I was reading and just looking out across the water I just couldn't believe how lucky I was.

Here is what I was thinking:

"God IS real!" (maybe a stupid thought but I STILL thought this even after being a Christian for years.....)

"Isn't it amazing that God is real?"

"I don't really understand why I am here; can't I just come home already?"

"Why AM I here?! Really what is the purpose of worrying about all these day-to-day things of this life when I could be completely at peace with You."

"Peace.....I have felt it here and there and it's been wonderful. What does complete peace feel like?"

Then I stop thinking for a second and proceeded to let the dang book answer my questions:

In "this land of exile we meet with many a thorn and many a bitter plant; but is not this the portion earth gave to our Divine Spouse? It is fitting, then, to consider good and most beautiful this same portion, which has become our own. Yes, let us be one with God even in this life; and for this we should be more than resigned, we should embrace the Cross with joy."

Oh and I loved this part. It is waht St. Therese would say in the morning:

"My Jesus, Thou hast toiled and wept enough during Thy three and thirty years on this miserable earth. Rest Thee today. It is my turn to suffer and fight."

"Okay I get it....I think. But what do You want me to do? I mean, I do like my life, I do like my job....but there has to be something more...."

"Oh maybe it is just all about the people. I forgot I knew this already. If I make a difference, even just one person, I guess You are right. It is worth it. What should I do with these people?"

Then I go back to reading:

Souls are falling into Hell, innumerable as the flakes of snow on a winter's day, and Jesus weeps; and we are brooding over our own sorrow, instead of thinking of consoling Him."

Ouch. Guilty. I say in my head and then continue reading.....

And still more clearly: "There is only one thing to do during the brief day, or rather night, of this life; it is to love, to love Jesus with all the strength of our heart, and to save souls for Him so that He may be loved."

And then as I was changing my intention.....tears. Because how is that for a conversation with Jesus? Happiness.

So a little cliffhanger.....how do we save souls? More to come!

Take Me to Narnia.....NOW

Ahhhh what a night! Past week really. So I know that I was planning on blogging a bit about my stint at All Saints last Tuesday but it is just gonna have to wait. I don't know what it is about summertime but I have about a bajillion and two ideas just floating all around in my head.....and tonight's post just happens to be the most pressing.

How often have you wished to be in a different world?

This happens to me a lot when I read books and I read a lot of books in the summer. I also have a vice when it comes to books. I do read perfectly acceptable grownup types of books....in fact I have read a few of those this summer. However, nothing......and I mean nothing......can beat young adult or children fantasy. Yes that is right! I love "little kid" books.

Please take me now to Platform 9 3/4, or for a nice long stroll through The Shire. Or even better still, I want to fly across the oceans on Saphira's back straight into Mossflower woods to a huge feast at Redwall. Then when it is all over, I want to sail to the End of the World and walk with Aslan on the beach. Especially, that last one. : )

So I do have another tidbit of info about that Aslan/beach thing. Until this week I have never read any of the Narnia books and had only seen bits and pieces of the first movie. Of course, I knew enough about the storyline to catch most references to the books and to get the general idea. Ahhhh how deprived I have been!

This post could go on and on and on about so many things. Believe me. But I will try to keep things semi-focused here. Let's start at the beginning. I am an avid believer in books first. That is partially why I had never seen the movies. So I had to read books. And yes I suppose I did read them out of order, but I had to get to the movies. Please forgive. : )

So I sped through the books and loved them. Movie time. I went through a little mini-crisis in locating all the movies- dang stupid redbox had Voyage of the Dawn Treader just TWO days ago. Where did it go?! You see, I was very concerned with the last movie, and very tempted to watch it first, as I had heard it was the best. Plus, I love the things that Aslan says in the last movie/book, hence the walk on the beach. Never fear though, a friend pulled through and all movies were in my possession.

So anyway....another thing I can't believe I am putting out there for the public.....

I am a huge nerd. For real. So much in fact that as I was watching these movies, I would write things down. Like oh my gosh, I totally feel the same way! Write, write, write, write, write. So I suppose I took notes. haha Here I am a 27-year-old-teacher and this little childrens movie is totally speaking to me. And I will just say nothing get's much better than the ending of third movie......but oh Prince Caspian......you made me write a ton!! I just love the whole Lucy thing in that book. So many good things in that book.

And the thing is....drawing the parallels to my life made me feel good. Because sometimes I feel just like Peter when he asks Lucy, "Why do you think I couldn't see Aslan?". Or when Eustace (btw I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Eustace and the dragon thing!!), says "I do not think I am ready for this." How many times do you feel this way? Because I know I do at times.

And most especially here lately, I imagine having that same conversation that Lucy had with Aslan in Prince Caspian about not following him. And me asking, "Jesus, if I would have done this it would have made things better, right?" And then Him saying, "You know Kasie, we never know what would have happened......but it doesn't really matter." And for some reason that is sooooo comforting to me. Oh to have a conversation with Jesus.....well like they do in the book, anyways. It makes me smile for two reasons. I KNOW that I would ask all the wrong questions (kinda like they did).....and I would love to hug him...especially if He were a lion like Aslan.

Lastly, I love what Peter says when he finds out he won't be returning to Narnia, "It's not how I thought it'd be but it's alright." I feel like I fight this battle all. the. freaking. time. I have all these plans and thoughts about the past and the future. Worrisome plans, in fact. So bad, that at times the only way to shut my dang head off is to go to sleep. So thank you, C.S. Lewis, for the creation of Narnia, as it made a lot of things make sense for me. As I am sure it would do for you......even if your 80. Don't be ashamed to read those "little kid" books. : )

Oh and I can't believe I left out Reepicheep. He should be called St. Reepicheep. Love that little guy.....and oops prolly just offended him. : )

The start of an idea.....

Today I got kicked out of church. I traveled all of 55 minutes to the good ol' town of Wichita, Kansas and got kicked out of church. : ) Can't say that has ever happened before.

Well you see, I got this idea into my head that I needed to go to daily mass this summer. And this week I have been.....oh well maybe twice. And both times in Wichita. Dang 8 o'clock mass times at Holy Name and me just haven't mixed well this week. But anyway, I can see the tangents a coming!

First tangent, confessions......well I suppose I have sort of a phobia. First of all, I just converted to Catholicism this Easter. So if you count them up; all of almost 9 weeks I have been Catholic. Might I add, that I love it! For too many reasons to even mention and for so many reasons that might seem weird. But I am cool with that, even if I do have a confessions phobia.

I have a confession....hahaha...I have only been to confessions- twice. Both completely different experiences. Nothing in this world will ever compare to my first confession. Honestly, it was so amazing. I will probably blog (if only a bit) about it at some point. Just know....awesomeness.

So one might think, at least from the people I have talked to about converting, that people have these huge hurdles to get over when converting to Catholicism. For example people always ask me what about this, or what about that? You name it, I have been asked about it. Yes, it is usually something about confessions, Mama Mary, or inevitably sex. For the most part, I feel comfortable answering their questions intelligently and thoroughly. And for me, I never had a huge red flag about anything with Catholicism. To me, it always felt right and true. Maybe a little hard to believe for the skeptics out there but it truly was like finding what I had been looking for years and years and years. So the whole point of this paragraph was to say.....I have no problem with the idea of going to Confessions. It never has bothered me. But I do sort of have this unfamiliarity that makes me nervous before going. Mostly, this fear that I am going to screw it up majorly. (Even tho I am pretty sure I can't) Irrational, I know. : ) Plus, I have this other thing about not being able to go to my priest, Fr. Mike.

Anyway, so this week I really wanted to go to confessions again. Mostly, because for the first time since January 9th, I had missed mass because of traveling with students. Ugh. It felt so weird. It definitely wasn't like I could have went to mass because of schedule conflicts we had with this conference. However, I still felt bad missing and wanted to cover all my bases. And because of my phobia, I couldn't possibly go to my church. : ) Although after this week, I am starting to reconsider this decision. haha I am thinking Fr. Mike might be just the guy to go to. Regardless, my want for a good confession started an inkling of an idea and lead me to Wichita twice this week.

So Tuesday. I went to All Saints Catholic Church in Wichita. That's another blog too. : ) I am trying not to make this one too terribly long. So long story short- went to confessions, mass, sister, adoration, goodness. : ) And they all lived happily ever after.

Was a complete slacker on Wednesday but got kicked in the butt with my novena I am doing........lead me daily mass again. But even if the novena hadn't have made me feel bad, I =ask ed myself seriously, why should I not go to daily mass? It's summer and I am a teacher. So on Thursday, I did my masstimes.org magicalness and found me some options.

And St. Anthony's 12:05 mass was looking pretty dang good. Although, I did notice it was sometimes in Vietnamese....Aww what the heck, I will take my chances. I am so very glad I went to St. Anthony's. First off, it was in English. And it was an old church! Like actually the oldest Catholic Church in Wichita. It said so on the front of the church. : ) Coolness. Then onto the inside....pews really creaky. I had to sit very, very still. hahaha But it was very ornately done-up. Every imaginable statue and a plethora of colors. Beautiful in it's own way. It most certaintly did not leave me at a want for something to look upon.

Tangent 2: Holy Name is very beautiful too. But in a completely different way. I think Holy Name has a max of three colors: white, blue, and gold. However, it's simplicity and brightness make it very beautiful to me.

So I did mention earlier that I got kicked out of this church.....well that comes later. Because before we can get to that we have got to talk about the nuances of this church. Yes there was the obvious decor, which I have alrady mentioned. Next, comes the little old lady at the front of the church, who sang at odd times. Shoot, it prolly is completely normal but not for me. : ) Then I experienced the world's shortest homily. I believe it was a total of 4 sentences. And we stood for the whole thing.

I understand that for any cradle Catholics reading this, you are prolly like....oh yeah, no biggee. However, I find these subtle differences in churches, masses, and just Catholics pretty stinking interesting. I love finding out new things and of course learning something new.

Go in peace, the mass has ended. Feeling pretty good at this point, I decided I wanted to stay longer. But I left my novena in my car, and I wanted to do today's portion at St. Anthony's. So I hurried back out, grabbed my lil book and came back in. The priest was up by the altar talking to some people and then the lights go out. I slide into the very back pew. I am thinking all I need is like 10, 15 minutes max!! They are still talking but then they start walking my way. I am reading and trying to avoid eye contact. Because dang it, I just want to do my novena. But before I know it, Fr. Hung is beside me and asks "Do you need to stay here?" I am thinking, "Yes!" but feel bad, so say, "I can leave if you need me to." So I get barely into my novena and have to leave so he can lock the doors. He kicked me out. : ) lol But I really did think that all Catholic churches stayed open all the time. Well at least morning-evening. Guess not....at least in Wichita. But overall, I enjoyed the oldness of St. Anthony's and just the fact of sharing a mass with strangers but brothers and sisters in Christ. It gets me everytime. : )

And so continues this inkling of an idea.....lets go to all the different masses of the Wichita and Wichita area churches this summer. Why, what a grand idea!

I'll let you know what I thought about All Saints next time and I think for next week....I am gonna hit up St. Judes. It's fairly close to my sisters. : )