Our Brothers and Sisters

I really love when I have the opportunity to go to daily mass.  There is a simplicity about it that brings out the true beauty of the mass.  The simplicity allows me to hear lines of prayers that I say every week in a new light.  
The mass brings us together as a community.  We need that community.  As much as we want to be (and think we are) independent and self sufficient we need a community.  I am starting to build a little community but it is a slow process.  But even if we know no one in the church or if we are visiting a new parish we are still part of a community.  I was reminded of this today as we prayed the penitential act.

"And you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

The people around us are our brothers and sisters.  We are asking them to pray for us as they are asking us to pray for them.  This brings us closer together as we draw closer to Christ.  We are not alone in the church, we are surrounded by our brothers and sisters who are praying for us. 

Will he recognize you?

When I sat in mass when I was growing up I probably knew the name of everyone sitting around me. The rare person that I didn't know by name, I knew by sight and would definitely say hi to if I saw them on the street.  They were part of my community.  I was part of that community.  Even now when I go to mass in my hometown I know most of the people around me and will say hi to several people after mass.  

This was just the way it was.  You went to mass with your community.  You said hi to some of them afterwards and you would no doubt see some of them later in the week at school or at the grocery store.  I never really though much about it.

Fast forward to a Sunday morning in 2013.  I am not going to mass in my hometown.  I am going to mass in a town that I have lived in for less than a year.  On the average Sunday morning I would be lucky if I knew by name even one other person in the church besides my husband.  I have gotten involved in the parish but it is not quite feeling like I am part of the parish community yet.  It is something that I miss greatly.  It is something that I have gotten upset about and am continuously working towards.  But in the meantime I sometimes feel very alone even with the church is filled.

But today I saw things differently.  I cannot remember the exact wording but during one of the prayers the priest said something about Jesus recognizing the people in the church today.  That's when it clicked. 

Knowing the person who is sitting next to you is not nearly as important as knowing Jesus.

While having the person sitting next to you recognize you is nice, it is not nearly as important has having Jesus recognize you.  

How are we living?  Are we living our lives in a way that Jesus would recognize us?  Do we talk to him?  Do we spend time with him?  Could we even expect him to recognize us?

I am still working towards becoming part of the community.  But now I recognize that I don't go to mass to be part of a community.  I don't go to mass to say hi to my friends.  I go to mass to see Jesus.