Mass... En Masse

HIS:

This week took us back to Connecticut and the Archdiocese of Hartford for Mass and dinner.  And it was for a very special reason.  Friday was my Mom’s 90^th birthday!  We gathered with as much of the family as possible to be there to celebrate with her!  The party began on Friday with an informal dinner at Mamma Mary’s (insert Honey Boo Boo reference if you like) house and continued on Saturday with Mass at St James Church (if that is truly the parish’s name…more later) followed by dinner at the Capital Grille in the Capitol City of Hartford.  Most all of the Fam was there but Harry Callahan (aka – Jacob Walsh) who was sorely missed.

Mass this week was 4:30 at St. James Church in Rocky Hill, CT.  The strange thing about St. James is that there is a bit of an identity crisis with respect to the actual name of the parish.  I’m thinking that the Archdiocese did some parish closings/consolidations and St James and St. Elizabeth Seton were combined to create St. Josephine Bakhita.  Although St. James’ origins appear to date back to the mid 19^th century it doesn’t appear to have attained its own identity until 1946.  St. Elizabeth Seton on the other hand is new by Catholic Church standards.  Founded as a mission of St James in the mid 80’s.  The two parishes operate with one pastor and have mass times that don’t overlap.  This week brought another example of “small world” in the world of the Catholic church.  The pastor who oversees both churches was the pastor at St. Dunstan’s (remember that from our last trip to Connecticut?) who knows my Uncle Ed (a parishioner at St Dunstan) very well.  Our corner of the church got a big hello from the celebrant when he processed in thanks to Uncle Ed!

Let me tread very carefully in my interpretation of this week’s readings.  I had 13 witnesses who attended mass with us who could very well call BS on any embellishment I may add.  Not that I would do that… This week we again heard about the stone rejected by the builders.  This is a reference to the rock on which Jesus built his church.  That rock is St. Peter.  The name Peter translates to rock and Jesus is going to build his church on a rock, ergo Jesus is building his church on the foundation that is Peter.  It all makes perfect sense when you think about it, doesn’t it?  We also learned about being the good shepherd this week.  Who would we lay down our life for?  The Gospel talked about the Good Shepherd or the hired man.  The Good Shepherd would lay his life down for his flock but the hired man would leave the sheep at the first sign of trouble, letting happen to his sheep the worst imaginable things.  Are we a hired man or are we the Good Shepherd?  Very few of us would ever be called upon to lay down our lives for someone else, with limited exception.  My nephew Jacob comes to mind as a police officer serving the citizens of Memphis (so proud of him!)  For most of us, our “laying down of our lives” is a bit more subtle.  The deacon who had the homily compared it to being present in our lives.  He warned us not to get too caught up in our lives, in work, in Facebook, in Instagram, in Twitter…. you get the idea (but keep reading this blog!)  We need to remember to make room for Jesus in our busy lives, lay down our lives for the Risen Man.  This is a conscious choice we make.  I want to be the Good Shepherd!

Dinner was a sybaritic feast (I know, I pulled out the thesaurus for this one!)  15 members of the Sitnik and Walsh families gathered at The Capital Grille in Hartford to festively and formally honor my Mom on the occasion of her 90^th birthday!  In addition to me, present at the celebration were my brother Richard and sister Joan, our spouses, Mary, Joyce and Michael, Uncle Ed, five of Mom’s six grandchildren, Alexandra, Bryan, Kara, Diana, and Micaela (Jacob was missed but we are glad he is making the streets of Memphis safe for its citizens) as well as two welcome additions in the significant others of Alexandra and Bryan, Ben and Kylie.  We were treated like royalty by the staff of Capital Grille.  Our server Ned was very attentive and didn’t miss a beat.  The food was a great compliment to the tremendous company in the group I call my family.  I always tell Mary that I wish I was part of the family on Modern Family.  They always seem like they have a great time.  Turns out, my modern family is pretty great too.  It was a wonderful evening and I think I managed to be a Good Shepherd if for just one night.

HERS:

This weekend was about celebration. We headed back up to the picturesque New England town of Wethersfield, CT to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 90^th birthday, beginning with mass at St. James in Rocky Hill, CT. Surrounded by her three children, their spouses, her grandchildren (one grandchild was unfortunately not in attendance, because he is dutifully serving his community in Memphis, TN as a Police Officer), a couple significant others, and her brother-in-law, my mother-in-law was in her glory.  If this is not evidence of a well-lived 90 years, I don’t know what is. I commented to Lou earlier in the week that his mom is the oldest person I know.

Because there were 13 of us in attendance at the mass, and 15 in attendance at dinner, I told my sister-in-law Joni before mass that I would affectionately name this week's blog, Mass En Masse. She had other suggestions... Mass Confusion and Mass Casualties. We laughed at these, but I respectfully decided to stick with Mass En Masse.

I know Lou will cover the history of the church (Thank God... no pun intended, but history is his forte), so I will jump right into the gospel.

We are sheep. Jesus is our shepherd. A shepherd would lay down his life for his sheep.

Let those words sink in for a moment.

Who would you voluntarily lay down YOUR life for? It’s a tough question and your answer may be a short list. And that got me thinking…

Let’s take the laying down of your life out of the equation. Jesus' love for us is something we strive for with our brothers and sisters, but it takes a special person to be willing to lay down their life for another individual.  Perhaps a more appropriate question is, “To whom do you choose to give life?” Strange question? Not really. Bear with me. I use the words “give life” in this way…

Do we choose to listen?

Do we choose give of our time?

Do we choose to build people up or tear them down?

Do we choose kindness?

Do we choose to offer support?

Do we choose to apologize when we have done someone wrong?

Do we choose to accept an apology or hold onto a grudge?

Do we choose to go out of our way for someone in need?

Do we choose love?

Do we choose to make time for prayer?

All of these things breathe life into ourselves and the people around us. I’ll admit, I struggle with this sometimes. Sometimes people are not easy to love. Sometimes things are messy. Things get complicated. That brings me back to, “Jesus is our shepherd. A shepherd would lay down his life for his sheep.” Isn’t “giving life” to others the least we can do?

I choose to breathe life into my "other family" with these words about each:

Mimi: for your kindness and dedication to our family

Uncle Ed: for your caring ways

Joni: for your thought provoking conversations

Michael: for your way of including everyone

Alexandra: for your kind spirit

Jacob: for your dedication to serve and protect

Micaela: for your many musical talents

Richard: for your commitment to your family

Joyce: for your dedication to your children

Bryan: for your confidence 

Kara: for your wonderful hugs

Diana: for your carefree smile and humor

The party moved on to the Capital Grille in downtown Hartford where we celebrated 90 years in style. Conversations flowed and so did the wine! My mother-in-law was in the center of it all, enjoying that everyone had gathered to pay tribute to her 90 years. 

As I reflected upon the evening, my one take-away is this…

Even though everyone seated at that table is different, we all have things in common. We all have our good days and our bad days. We all have our loves and our passions. We all have fears and worries. We are all trying to “breathe life” each and every day. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail. But most of all, we try. And we keep trying.

And as always, we end with our Soulfie:

Thank you for reading!