First Sunday Doings...

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This is the last weekend before work resumes fully. From tomorrow, I’d start working full-time and chasing the bag like it did something to me. And like everyone else, I wanted to start the season on the right note. Seeing as this is the first Sunday of the year, I decided to attend church like everyone else. If there is one thing I’ve not skimped on during this holiday season, it was attending the services and masses associated with the season.

From Christmas vigils to New Year’s Day mass, I attended every one of them, making sure that I got the full experience of the season. I know that when work resumes tomorrow, it will be stressful, and based on the workload I’d find myself with, I could end up working even during weekends. It’s a reality I’ve come to accept.

So, before all that hullabaloo came to pass, I decided to attend one more mass, and being the first Sunday of the year, it was kind of special. However, things changed in a way I never expected. The mass was meant to start off by 8 am, and by 7:30 I was already on the road to church. I was confident that I would get there early and have a choice seat. Although I’m the kind of person that even though I come early enough, I'd still sit at the back of the church. I seem to have an allergy to being in the front seat.

Anyway, I got to church, and to my shock, I found out that I was very late. As it wasn’t even up to 8 am yet, I still had at least four minutes to go. Then, how the hell were they already giving out the Holy Communion? It didn’t make any sense at all. I wasn’t alone in this though, the number of people who came early was few compared to those of us who came late. The outside of the church was filled up with latecomers, many of us not even knowing how we were late despite coming early to church.

Anyway, later on, it turned out that there had been a mix-up. Last week, it had been announced that the mass today would be at 8 am, however, that was wrong. The mass was meant to start off by 7 am, somehow though, the lector that announced it or the catechist that compiled the announcement got it wrong. And many of us only work with what we hear during the announcement, we don’t look at what’s in the bulletin. So, we all came to church today with the mindset that the mass was by 8.

The priest who held the mass said he would have postponed the mass when he noticed that the turnout was low. However, he also had another mass to hold at 9, somewhere else and he needed to get on the road as soon as possible. He didn’t have a choice, so he started with the few people that he saw which were mostly workers of the church, who had been preparing the church for the day’s mass.

He encouraged us to go over to the parish to attend mass so we don’t miss out on today’s mass, and while I’m pissed about all this, I don’t see a church. I could have gotten on a bus and gone straight to a neighboring parish in time for the 9 am mass, but I chose to come home instead. I’ll go to evening mass instead. That should work better for me, considering everything I have to do today. Besides, I know a lot of people at the parish, and leaving immediately after the mass is over would be difficult.

So, I came home instead to finish up with everything I had to do. Then, later in the evening, I go to mass. The events of today weren’t expected and it put a hitch in my stride, however, that’s not going to sway my plans for the day. There are still things I hope to accomplish today and I’d definitely get them all. It’s the first Sunday of the year, and I’m ready to get back to work.

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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_{N.B: All images used in this post are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.}

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