For the past four years, I’ve been doing at least parts of the 5 a.m. novena at my parish, thanks to my friend Mimi Fitzgerald. Last year, I made all nine days for the first time, but it was pretty much a gutting-it-out experience. This year, I made all but one day, but feel rejuvenated and inspired (albeit not exactly rested).
There was a special air to the celebration this year. Maybe it was tropical storm Washi hitting the southern Philippines on the first night, leaving more than a thousand people dead, a similar number missing, and thousands more displaced from their homes. The tragedy provided some food for thought about what’s really important in our lives.
Maybe it was Giovanni, the eight-year-old altar boy who served several days. I ran into him in the sacristy before Mass this morning, and complimented him on what a great job he’d been doing. His brown eyes got huge. He whispered, “Oh, thank you!” After Mass, he had someone give the sacristan a homemade card complete with drawings of the priests, thanking her for helping him throughout the week. God’s got a plan for Giovanni, and I only hope I’m around to see some of it unfold.
Maybe it was the grace with which what some would have considered crises were handled. The scheduled priest, driving from miles away, isn’t here? Call up to the rectory and get someone local. A musician’s not going to be able to make it? Others will fill in the gap… and we’ll all sing a little louder. A reader doesn’t show up? Ask someone else to fill in. Short of missalettes? Share with your neighbor.
In short, it was life lived at its best, with faith that in God, it’ll all work out. And it did, to be my best Simbang Gabi–yet. I don’t know what next year’s novena will bring, but I look forward to being there to see it. For, as Father Jose Opalda Jr. crooned to us during today’s homily, “Christmas won’t be Christmas without you.” He was referring to Christ. I’m referring to the Christ I see in the Simbang Gabi family.
