This morning a number of our Sisters woke up to the sound of our fire alarm. Thankfully there was no fire. The wind blew dust into our house and set off the alarm. Unfortunately, this has continued to happen throughout the day. The alarm blared every two minutes throughout the entire Mass this morning. Many of us found this distracting, but I am grateful that I found a delightful way to look at our plight.
I am currently taking a class on the Catholic Mass and have been assigned to write a paragraph about my observations on how the Holy Spirit is at work during Mass. Often the Holy Spirit is described as a wind, and the wind today was setting off an alarm that kept us alert, and prompted some people to action. We may have been distracted, but we were sharing an experience in common with one another that united us in a sense. Being attuned to the present moment and living in unity seem to be two goals of prayer that we were privileged to experience because of the wind this morning.
This reflection prompted me to notice how many times throughout the Mass we were called to be alert or called to action. For example, we prayed that God would help us to provide for others and to proclaim the Good News. Additionally, we had a visiting priest at Mass who said things a little differently which also kept us alert. I appreciated the fact that instead of saying, “The Lord be with you,” he would say, “The Lord IS with you.” This seemed to imply the dynamic nature of God through the Holy Spirit, and reminded me that God is present (with us and in us) in the moment and is calling us to be alert, to be ready this advent season, and to put our faith into action.

Posted by Sr. Charlene Herinckx in About the Sisters, Sr. Alison's Blog