Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 4

I

A friend of mine was shot Wednesday night, and has been flown out of state to Seattle for treatment. He is still in critical condition. Please pray for him, his family, and the repose of the soul of the young man who shot him (who killed himself).

II

Having a deployed spouse must be one of the hardest things in the world; Matt was in Anchorage for work this week, just one week, and it was no fun at all. Never having another adult around the house to talk with, another set of arms to hold the crying baby, another voice to sing to him when mine grew hoarse, had me at my wits end long before Daddy finally came home. Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Wednesday saved my sanity...

III

It didn't help that Little Bear, picking up on the fact that something was wrong, completely gave up the nice sleep schedule he had established -- he would not stay asleep more than 45 minutes at a go, day or night, the entire time his daddy was gone.

IV

Little Bear's middle-of-the-night wakefulness had one bright spot: each night, I was awake while the northern lights were dancing. They are harder to see in our densely-populated neighborhood than they are at my parents' house... I miss waking up late at night as a kid, throwing coat and snowboots over pajamas, and running outside to stare up at the huge, starry sky split by dancing green and pink bands of light. We can still see them somewhat here, if we stay away from streetlights and peer up between houses, but it isn't the same.

V

Can you believe that it's been nearly a year since the new translation of the Mass was implemented? I realized that during Mass today. It has been such a blessing... sadly, we still encounter instances of priests ad libbing parts of the Mass, but that seems to have decreased to some degree since we switched to the new translation.

VI

Given that we've had a year (longer, in our parish) to become accustomed to the new responses, I oughtn't still be struggling with any of them. I do, though, with the Lord, I am not worthy... and I've only just realized why: it's not the words of the response I'm tripping over, but the language. The part just before that response, when the priest says "Behold the Lamb of God..." was (and in some instances still is) a favorite place to ad lib for some local priests, and because it upset me so much that they dared interpose themselves into such an important part of the liturgy, the only way I could avoid having my concentration broken and becoming angry was to concentrate on the proper words in Latin instead of English.

It eventually became instinctive, and now, every time we reach that point in the Mass, the priest is still speaking English but I am only hearing Latin. When we go to respond, then, I automatically begin to say "Domine, non sum dignus," catch myself, tell myself to use English, and wind up half a beat behind everyone else, flustered and trying to make my tongue hurry and remember the right English words.

VII

Many apologies for the infrequent posts recently; Little Bear was unhappy and clingy the whole time Matt was gone, so it was difficult to find opportunities to write. I'll be working on a freelance writing project for the next couple weeks as well, so the bulk of my writing time will be going to that. I'll do my best to put up more than just the Seven Quick Takes each week, though!

That's all for today... more Quick Takes at ConversionDiary.com!