-Brian
Mendonça
We
were having a hard time paying attention to the priest at Sunday morning Mass.
What with two kids under four, under the pews of the two rows where they were
ensconced.
Our
son occupies himself in various ways during the sixty minutes at Sunday Mass. Sometimes
he takes to gazing out of the large church windows after standing precariously
on the church benches which line the walls for latecomers. The last time he
fell off with a loud thud. He doesn't gaze out of the windows any more.
These
days he has taken to playing with my car keys during Mass. Earlier he used to
yank off my wedding ring and amuse himself with it. Until recently he believed
he was hired by the church authorities to keep the place clean, ferreting out
both our spotless handkerchiefs to dust and wipe the benches. Somehow he finds
playing with my C1 mobile phone passé. Bangles and bracelets are other things he
tries to take off – but why only during Sunday Mass?!
Last
Sunday he was playing by himself putting the hymn books in (dis)order. In the
pew in front of him was another kid – mischief written all over his face. Six
ladies occupied the pew. I happened to notice that the kid used to erupt into
laughter frequently. So I decided to watch closely.
At
the close of Mass the whole church emptied. In the shuffling our son noticed a
beautiful brown rosary on the floor in our pew. Since the elderly lady in
question was nowhere to be seen, I left the rosary in the pew, confident she
would retrieve it, as this was her usual seat. We made our way to the cemetery
and I noticed the elderly lady. When I asked if the rosary was hers she nodded
in horror. ‘We’ll get it for you,’ I said. In a trice my son bounded across to
the church, clasped the rosary in his little hands and gave it to the elderly
lady. As we left the lady repeatedly saying ‘Thank you,’ the words of Jesus
rang in my ear, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for
the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ (Lk 18:16; NCB)
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Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 8 February 2015; Pix source dhgate.com
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