OK, I'm fried

I'm officially fried.

As our wonderful retired priest called me this morning (at 6:30!) to say he had a stomach bug, I took all four Masses; not complaining, but it is taxing. Partly my fault; I was up rather late last night, watching first The Godfather, then, when Godfather II followed, I said, "oh, just until such-and-such scene..." which ended up coming over an hour later.

It is really fascinating to see all the Masses from my vantage-point. Each Mass has its own peculiarities. The 7 am Mass crowd isn't used to singing (we don't have accompaniment at that Mass), but I make 'em sing, at least some: several sung "amens," the preface dialogue, and the "Holy, Holy." Today, I made 'em sing an opening hymn, too. Some say they like it, but it's really funny to see some of the resistance to singing at that Mass! (Oh, and I made them sing the "Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia"!)

The 10 and 11:30 Masses are a blur; I hate to think what condition my chasuble is in! Because I hadn't planned to take 11:30 Mass, I had made an appointment for that time; so just before 10 am Mass, I went and found my coordinator of religious ed, and said -- "you need to call that family; I'm sorry, but I can't do it, I have to go have Mass." Unfornately, he didn't reach them, so there they were, waiting at the door of the rectory, just as I was about to begin Mass! (I was standing outside the front doors, because that's the quietest option!) So, I ran over, quickly explained and apologized, and raced back as the bells rang. The candles never got extinguished after 10 -- and some of them burnt out during 11:30.

After I greeted everyone following the last Mass, I saw the candles still burning! I thought, oh, the servers forgot! So I went forward, started putting out candles. Well, a parishioner who takes a lot of picture came by, and sheepishly said, "Oh, I was going to take some pictures!" Turns out, I was the third person who started putting out the candles!

So, I'm out on the street around 1 -- I discover my coordinator of religious ed, and his wife, scarfing down a sandwich in their car; they have to help with the "Spirit Day" for the children preparing for first reception of the Eucharist, at 1:30. Well, we talk a little, and I think, okay, I'll just hang around to greet everyone. (I'd forgotten about it; thank heaven I hadn't had anything to prepare!)

So, I'm back home around 1:45. Time enough for a (Diet) Coke, and, I confess, some Easter candy. Because at 3, we have Divine Mercy prayers in our chapel. So I'm back over to the church around 2:40, to get things ready. I decided to try to sing the chaplet, but wasn't entirely on the mark, but people did their best! Our chapel is small, and it was full! It got a little warm (I was wearing a cope, big surprise!), and I went light on the incense for Benediction.

After that, I walked over to Bingo, to greet the "early birds." Then, realizing I had very little available to fix for dinner, I ran over to the store for a few items. Amazing how many parishioners I saw there! One guilty pleasure: I got a bag of "red pepper lime" Tostitos (never tried 'em, but they sounded good), which I'm eating with a "Hop Pocket Ale" (which pretty much only Virginians have ever heard of); I confess the bag is almost gone! And, alas, so am I!