(Written by a Chinese student who is becoming quite a story teller)
When I went to Mass this morning, the priest reminded everyone that tomorrow is Labor Day, and as he used the same tone of voice he always uses when making such announcements, I was reminded of an embarrassing incident that occurred to me last Father’s Day when he said, “Today is Father’s Day.
I was half asleep when he made the announcement back then, but I’m so familiar with the mass that I was only half listening and kept drifting off. I got up for the Gospel, but when we sat down and he started preaching, my head jerked a couple of times, as I was more asleep than awake. Then I suddenly heard “Stand up!” from someone near me, and got up right away with everyone else even though I was still half asleep and not quite sure why we were standing.
After we had Communion, I slept again until I heard the priest say, “Stand up”, and I dutifully stood along with some of the congregation. I didn’t know again why we were standing, but guessed that it was the end of the Mass.
My neighbor, who was sitting in a pew just in front of me, turned and quietly said, “Sit down”. I looked around and saw quite a few people standing and saw no reason why I should sit. She was sitting and I thought she should stand so I didn’t move.
Then she patted my hand and hissed at me in a low voice, “Sit down….SIT down!”. I looked around me and saw that everyone else who was standing was a man. The priest had probably asked the fathers to stand. Absolutely ashamed of myself, I sheepishly sat, as I heard the priest blessing everyone who was standing.
Oh, how I wished that I had listened to her when she spoke to me the first time.