Trusting God While Feeding His People
It is okay to miss your home parish
Photo By: Flickr/Sean MacEntee
The first weekend with no public mass for most Catholic Churches in the United States seems to still hit one hard. However, while searching the internet looking for a Mass, I was bummed that I was not able to connect to my home parish. Many parishes do not have the capabilities to live stream the private Mass. Other parishes stopped the bulletin. Then, other parishes just closed the whole parish. It can be difficult to try to connect to your home parish. It is okay to miss your home parish. It is okay to be struggling with connecting to online Masses. It is okay to feel like you are ready to throw in the towel.
Like many, it is easy to beat yourself up because you are frustrated with connecting to your parish. It is easy to worry about what happens when Mass becomes available again. It is easy to feel angry. It is easy to not want to pray. It is easy to feel isolated from your parish. It is easy to feel hurt. It is easy to feel a host of emotions. All of those emotions, all of those fears are okay. It is okay to feel those emotions. It is okay to worry about those fears.
However, let me tell you what is not okay. It is not okay to wallow in those feelings. It is not okay to not pray. It is not okay to put off praying. It is not okay to allow those emotions to eat you up inside. It is not okay to not leave everything at the cross. Most importantly, it is totally okay to miss your home parish. It is okay to miss Father telling a corny joke. It Is okay to miss sitting in the pews and watching the family in front of you cringing at their infant daughter screaming during Mass. It is okay to miss the artwork in the church. Whatever you are missing about church, it will be there.
Everything we missed will be there. Yet, will we have a better appreciation for the things that we missed. Will we soak up the prayers a little more? Will we appreciate receiving Christ for the long time in a long time? Will we sing a little louder and actually participate in mass? Will we embrace the young family in front of us with the screaming child? Wil we be a little more welcoming? Hopefully, our answers to these questions will be yes. Hopefully, we will see the love of Christ in each person who walks through those church doors. Hopefully, we will have etched onto our souls the fact that we truly missed Christ and our home parish. The hope of knowing that we will have the opportunity to be part of the mass again.
It will all be okay. The Mass will be there for us once again. Christ will still be with us and excited to share in the Last Supper with us once again. Yet, going home and being home will be a wonderful feeling again! Until that time comes, we must continue to yearn deeper for the Eucharist and look for ways to deepen our relationship with Christ.
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About the Author
Tess Shore has dedicated her life and career to serving the underprivileged community with Shore Life Coaching. As a motivational speaker and educator, Tess specializes in coaching young adults in building better self-confidence and overcoming body issues. She is a guest speaker for Pathways to Success at her alma mater, helping juniors and seniors find their missions in life. Tess has a courageous commitment to passionately advocate for young adults dealing with issues like bullying and suicidal thoughts. Her work allows her to bring awareness to other young adult issues as well, especially those that come with transitioning into the corporate world. Tess guides her clients in building strong values and leads with zeal, inspiration, and passion. She also volunteers and serves in many capacities in other endeavors.
She can be found at http://shorelifecoaching.wordpress.com where she blogs on various issues on how to live more Christ-like. In her spare time, Tess can be found running and having a zest for life.
