As many of you may have heard, I witnessed a strange thing on Easter Sunday. My family and I went to mass, as we always do. We managed to get there early (a miracle in and of itself!) and were seated in a pew with space to boot. Not even half way through the mass, a lady began to feel sick. She was in the vicinity of us. Her condition worsened rapidly. A gentleman came to the alter and asked if there was a doctor in the church because “there is lady who may have just had a heart attack”.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking right now. You are thinking, the mass was stopped and they took care of the woman and the rest of the parisheners left early and said a prayer for the poor soul. Right?
Wrong.
Of course the priests were concerned and came over to check that she was alright. And a man did call 911 to send an ambulance over. But mass continued. Songs were still sung, and nothing changed. As this happened, I could feel myself getting upset. And I wasn’t the only one. For the sake of my children, I chose to leave the mass early. Some children were getting so traumatized by the whole thing and they were crying as we left. We said our prayer for the lady, missed communion and then went about the rest of our Easter Sunday traditions as a family.
So, what can I make of all this? What do you make of all this? Easter is a time of…relief. After forty days of waiting and reflection, Lent is over, the Lord has risen and we celebrate. So how what are we to do when the moment of one of our most joyous events in our faith is shattered by a woman in tremendous pain and possible death? Ummm, continue mass apparently. No, seriously. I really would love to know what you think. I have come to terms with the situation, I think. But I am still wishing the woman well and hoping she was not too traumatized herself in that moment where time did not stand still, not even in the house of the Lord.
Blessings to you all
1 comment
Pharisees? They were not serving God’s people, they were serving themselves by sticking to a schedule and a sermon. If I was in that church, I’d stand up and shout in Jesus’ name for everyone to stop their worship and fill the church with prayers for this woman. God orchestrates events like this to reveal something in us, our church leaders and others. Pray on it and see where He leads your heart… The Holy Spirit convicted you to blog about the event…and by doing so you demonstrate you are listening. I like the way you did not gossip by mentioning the church or names of the leaders. You are seeing like a Watchman should. Pray on what God placed in your path. And by all means, continue to pray for this woman and her family.