The next day after arriving home to San Antonio from Thanksgiving break, I decided to attend Mass at Our Lady of Grace. I had really enjoyed our trip to Louisiana. One special thing we did was watch the Cowboys/Saints game on Thanksgiving day at my Uncle's house. Most of us there were quite into it. Only Scott and my sister n law Kathryn were wearing cowboys shirts or cheering for them. The Saints won that game and it was close. Well, at Mass that Sunday Fr. Paul announced that there were no bulletins because after his favorite team, the Cowboys had lost on Thanksgiving he told the staff to go home on Friday and have the rest of the day off. Hehe.
Well this past weekend my parents and my brother and sister n law visited so we could celebrate an early Christmas. On Sunday we got up and went to the 10:30 AM Mass which is the more upbeat and lively one. Berch asked me if it was okay to wear his Saints shirt and if Ithought Fr. Paul would "approve" :) I told him I wasn't so sure about that. We meant to leave with enough time to get there a few minutes early and get seats. I like to sit close so Zachary can see. We left late though and arrived just after it had started. I figured there was no way we were getting seats together let alone up front. The usher, however, directed us all the way up to the front on the right side. There were two seats in front for Berch and Kathryn and enough room behind them for the rest of us.
We proceeded with the Mass. When we arrived at the homily we all sat down to listen. Now, Fr. likes to walk around while he talks and pass by each person in the front row on each side just so he can look at everyone in the church. He was discussing being accepting of all people and how it didn't matter what religion someone was. He said it isn't necessary to argue about who is right or better, but remember that all people are created equal. But then all of the sudden he stopped in front of Berch and exclaimed "but sometimes there are those who test our limits!". He then proceeded to take him by the hand and lead him up to the front of the church. The congregation began laughing as they looked up and saw my brother in his Saints shirt. But what really iced the cake was when Fr. Paul lifted up his purple vestment, unzipped the white one and revealed his Cowboys shirt. The congregation was roaring at this sight. I looked around and saw Mom, Dad, Scott and Kathryn laughing hysterically in their seats. I myself laughed so hard my cheeks hurt.
I love Fr. Paul. He has a way of making you feel as if he's speaking directly to you and he presents his homilies so that you can apply them directly to your own situations with ease. He is very sincere when he speaks to you so that you may feel he knows you personally. On top of all of that, he's hilarious. He has really impacted me and is a good model of how I want to be to people I am close to and also those I don't know well or at all.
That afternoon the Cowboys played and won. The Saints however, lost the game they played in. So I suppose Fr. Paul had the last laugh.
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