Peace

The Statue of the Blessed Mother at church, crowned with flowers for May

Just this morning, as my husband and I were rushing through breakfast and trying to wake our older kids up for Mass, I said, “Sometimes I envy those people who post things on Facebook like, ‘Having a peaceful Sunday morning reading the paper,’  don’t you?  Wouldn’t it be nice just to be able to sit at home and relax, or sleep in on Sunday?”

But later, as I was sitting in our usual pew, I realized that it’s really only at church that I find that very peace I was seeking.  Last year, I was having a rough time emotionally for a lot of reasons.  I was depressed, and irritable, and anxious.  Wanting to figure out what was wrong with me and what I could do about it, I started thinking about what things in my life made me happy.  The very first thing that came into my mind was being at the 11:30 Mass at Immaculate Conception Church.

The Easter Candle at today’s celebration of the Ascension

I was thinking about that this morning in relation to the issue of the lack of balance in my life right now, and about my desire to slow life down a little bit, when I realized the real reason that church is a place of peace for me.  And it’s not only because God is there.  It’s because it is the one time and place when I know for sure that I am where I am supposed to be.

Statue of Mary in the garden at Immaculate Conception