Last week at Mass the church I went to was overflowing, and the ushers set up seats in the gathering area.
The mass itself was outstanding. The church I'm going to right now has an associate pastor from somewhere in Africa, and the guy is really special. He radiates love. My whole family has picked up on it, even my 8-year-old. .
Anyhow ... my seat out in the gathering area gave me an alarming view of people walking out of mass after communion. The way this church was set up for the overflow, the "leave earlies" were walking right past the Eucharistic ministers, shoulder to shoulder, on their way out of the church. Then they passed shoulder to shoulder with people coming up to receive their Lord.
I was struck by the image of people scurrying past Christ, in their hurry to get to their cars.
I was filled with sadness for Christ. Here He is, emptying Himself in love for His people, and folks literally CAN'T WAIT to get out of there. Not even five minutes. They hurry by, with no visible recognition of WHO they had just walked past, and what was going on in the Church.
I realize this happens everywhere on every Sunday, but the visual just struck me, and made me think of what Christ must think. And the only answer I come up with is ... heartbroken.
