Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and here I am looking out this Sunday morning on a fresh cottony world of white snow. The last gasp –I hope– of winter came this morning just before 5 AM when I was making a cup of coffee and thinking about travelling sixty miles to visit my sisters. Here it is 10 AM and the sun is shining courageously, it’s warmth already beginning to melt the two inch covering of snow.
I live right next to the church parking lot and watched as the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church trudged faithfully through the snow to Mass at 7 AM and 9 AM. No adverse weather keeps these people away from prayer and the reception of Holy Communion. And today, this seventeenth day of March is also St. Patrick’s Day. Another reason to show up on Sunday with a green sweater or shirt, even some with green ties.
I can’t risk the slippery situation out there so I attend Mass through T.V. (Channel 9) and postpone this morning’s visit to my sisters. My prayers for them and the entire Church have already made it through my heart and I hope up to the throne of all graces. “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps 118:23, NAS)