First Friday

Today was our school's regular First Friday Mass, and it was especially lovely, I thought. The seventh grade was in charge of planning, and they made beautiful banners and distributed handmade (and blessed) prayer cards that focused on the lesson of the Good Samaritan. The highlight of the morning, however, was the meditation hymn sung by our school's Liturgy Choir. Looking around, I could see that I wasn't the only parent wiping away tears as the kids sang the incredibly beautiful Chris Rice song "Come to Jesus." If you haven't heard it, go to iTunes and buy it. I didn't even have a student in the choir and I was all choked up. It wasn't just the simple but moving words that got to me. It was the angelic sound of the kids' clear and happy voices and the realization that I am very lucky that this kind of liturgy is just part of normal school life for my children. I couldn't help but wonder what these kids might go on to do with their lives because of the strong faith foundation they are receiving right alongside and intertwined with their lessons in math and reading, science and history. I went to public school growing up, so this sort of thing wasn't part of my experience until we moved the kids to Catholic school three years ago. Makes me sad that so many Catholic schools are closing when this is exactly the kind of thing our crazy mixed-up world needs more of.