Blue Light Special

My family spent the Christmas holiday in Florida, lucky us! As a result we went to Christmas Eve Mass at the local parish, St. Henry's. We attended Christmas Eve Mass there last year and loved it. The quirky and eclectic mix of people, the VERY joyful elder Cantor, the hilarious Priest who upon noticing our family insisted that everyone give my daughters a round of applause, the whole thing was perfect!  I should mention that when we arrived at St. Henry's we were pretty much ready to kill each other; isn't that how most families feel as they pull into the parking lot on the big day? Anyway. I digress. My in laws and my husband's sister and her husband and their kids were all joining us this year. My 12 year excitedly telling his cousin,"this church is so much fun, I actually liked going to church." It is moments like this that really make faith sharing worth it. Am I right?

When we pulled in we noticed that some renovations had taken place. I felt happy for the parishioners of St. Henry's. "This is nice! They deserve it", I thought to myself, remembering the lady with the bouffant hairdo, the woman with the two grown sons who all sat at an odd distance from her husband, and of course the Cantor with his Bronx accent and big voice. As I contemplate this now, I'm not certain what type of people wouldn't deserve a little new stained glass but I am still warm in the glow of the season and will leave that little puzzler for a different day.

Have you ever really recommended a movie to someone and then watched it with them only to realize it wasn't quite as good as you thought? Well, that was Christmas Eve this year. The Cantor (now also promoted to Deacon, God bless him) was still there and still just a half beat ahead and enthusiastic as ever. The priest was different and just not the one we had fallen in love with. The thing that got me however, were the candles. When I was a little girl, we would stop in church during the week to light a candle, plunk in our quarters for the church and pray in the beautiful silence. Blue candle glass flickering, the smell of wood and wax and incense lingering in the air as thousands of prayers hung above us making their way to God. For me, church and Church were inseparable.

Through the years I have understood the distinction between the two. This has been at times helpful, hopeful and hurtful. This Christmas Eve as my eyes and mind wandered, they rested on the familiar and comforting sight of that flickering blue candle glass. It was then I noticed the little white button in front of each candle. One of the "improvements" to St. Henry's was the installation of electrical candles that could be "lit" with the press of a button. I sighed as the congregation broke out into a rousing rendition of, "Come all Ye Faithful" and then joined in, "Oh come let us adore Him!!!"

As we were leaving my son was explaining that it was good but not nearly as good as last year to his cousin. Another child remarked, "but aren't those candles cool? I just lit one and said a prayer."