Friday was a difficult day. I actually caught a bad cold the day before, so my head was hurting, my nose dripping, and everything was aching. If I had been in the Valley instead of San Francisco, I would have stayed home in bed. But, since I was in San Francisco and the topic was health and disability insurance, the two areas that I had the most difficult time the first time I took the exam, I decided to go ahead and go. On top of that, the next closest church with a noon mass was the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. If you don't know me well, you might not know that St. Francis is my patron saint. I was really looking forward to mass there.
So, lunch time arrives, and I start my way outside; just in time for the rain to start. So, here I go: marching a mile away for mass, with a bad headache, and shoes that seem to absorb the rain water. I'm glad that there was an open Walgreen's, so at least I was able to get an umbrella.
I arrived with soaked feet, a throbbing head, but a great desire to be at mass. I opened the door and checked in both on Ignio and Facebook, so that I was able to continue to keep track of which churches I was at each day. I was early for the mass, so the church was empty except for one nun who was praying. What a beautiful place: an empty church with large murals of the life of St. Francis and Gregorian chant music playing in the background. It was ideal to pray a rosary. Little by little, more people came in and began praying as well.
The Franciscan priest set up for the mass and then rang a bell. Before the mass began, he shared about the saints whose memorial it was that day, St. Paul Miki and companions. He pointed out how many of St. Paul Miki's companions (who all were martyred in Nagasaki Japan in 1597) were Franciscan, which is why he was taking the time to share about their lives before the mass began. I learned that St. Felipe de Jesús was actually the first saint from the Americas being from Mexico. His homily pointed out how we all need to seek things that stretch us, since we are called to go forth proclaiming the love of Christ!
So, lunch time arrives, and I start my way outside; just in time for the rain to start. So, here I go: marching a mile away for mass, with a bad headache, and shoes that seem to absorb the rain water. I'm glad that there was an open Walgreen's, so at least I was able to get an umbrella.
I arrived with soaked feet, a throbbing head, but a great desire to be at mass. I opened the door and checked in both on Ignio and Facebook, so that I was able to continue to keep track of which churches I was at each day. I was early for the mass, so the church was empty except for one nun who was praying. What a beautiful place: an empty church with large murals of the life of St. Francis and Gregorian chant music playing in the background. It was ideal to pray a rosary. Little by little, more people came in and began praying as well.
The Franciscan priest set up for the mass and then rang a bell. Before the mass began, he shared about the saints whose memorial it was that day, St. Paul Miki and companions. He pointed out how many of St. Paul Miki's companions (who all were martyred in Nagasaki Japan in 1597) were Franciscan, which is why he was taking the time to share about their lives before the mass began. I learned that St. Felipe de Jesús was actually the first saint from the Americas being from Mexico. His homily pointed out how we all need to seek things that stretch us, since we are called to go forth proclaiming the love of Christ!