It’s amazing to see the mysterious ways God works. This has been one of those nights where I see how incredible He is. It may not mean much to many of you, but I am so full of joy as a result of God’s amazing power.
I’ll be honest, I was really debating about going to Ash Wednesday mass tonight. It’s not a Holy Day of obligation, and honestly, I just wasn’t feeling it. I was feeling really human and thinking about how if I went to mass at my normal church, I would get home after 8:30. Fairly selfish thinking. However, I kept feeling this tug that I really needed to attend mass.
Next door to my school is another Catholic church that I’ve gone to on occasion. I tend to not like the church too much because it just doesn’t feel like “home.” Regardless, I went to their website and saw there was a 4:30 mass. After grading persuasive papers for three hours straight, I figured a little God in my life would be a good thing.
So off to mass I went. What was strange, was the absolute power I felt when I entered the church. As I prayed, gratitude overwhelmed me. I hadn’t felt so filled with God in a long time. My heart was absolutely on fire.
As mass began, I noticed the priest was someone who was very familiar to me. I knew this priest had returned to the area recently, but I figured the odds of him doing one of the six masses the church offered this day was slim. Plus, when I decided to go to this mass, I hadn’t even thought about this gentleman until I saw him walk in.
I turns out this priest was my good friend Father Akan Simon. Father Simon was the priest who headed up the RCIA process when I entered the church in 2000. I haven’t seen Simon in about seven or so years, after he moved to another parish. Father Simon was in a sense, my first spiritual advisor. He helped me in becoming the Catholic I am by how he displayed his love of God. He is a good man.
After mass ended, I got to speak to my friend for a few minutes. The look on his face was priceless. Heck, I’m sure the look on my face was pretty hilarious too. The fact that I got to reconnect with my friend means the world to me. I’m grateful that I got to tell my friend how much I missed him. Words cannot even begin to describe how I feel.
Some people would say that this encounter is nothing more than a coincidence. I don’t believe in that. I believe in God.
Ash Wednesday

Boundaries

Until next time,
Peace!