Coming and Going {Grace Abounds}

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

In our quest for daily Mass on Mondays, we have accidentally attended many funerals at the other Catholic Church in our home town. Today we happened upon the exceptional occasion of a 'double funeral' for a husband and wife (Nina and John), married 72 years.  Although baptized as infants in different countries, they both received the rest of their sacraments (Eucharist, confession, confirmation and marriage) and lived as members of the Church of the Assumption.   Dying within days of each other allowed this couple's loved ones the unique opportunity to pray for the repose of their two souls together at this one Mass.

Leaving Mass and re-entering the world-in-progress is sometimes like leaping from a hot tub into a glacier fed lake.  Today was one of those days... 

As I exited the Church after quiet prayer following the funeral(s), I caught a glimpse of a pair of high school age boys walking toward me in the opposite direction on the sidewalk.  As our paths crossed, one dropped the conversation-in-progress to chant loudly the lyrics to Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast."

Perhaps the sudden rock-n-roll monologue was for my benefit, or perhaps something inside of him randomly rebelled at the very instant he passed the Holy Church where Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.  I prayed for the young men, and praised God for His merciful, endless, and inexhaustible love.

There but for the grace of God, go I.