Urbi et Orbi

Last year's Mass tally vastly exceeded the aims set at the dawning of Anno Domini 2014. I was also able to satisfy the year's principal aim of not missing Mass on a single Sunday, & for this I praise & glorify the Lord! Several factors help to explain a tally that was more than twice the previous year's record of sixty-three: I joined the choir, which both entailed additional Masses, especially during Holy Week & the Easter Triduum, & more Mass attendance due to my early dissatisfaction with the experience of the Mass as a member of the choir. Last spring, whilst performing with the choir I was not deriving the satisfaction I usually do from the Mass, & so I would attend another Mass on choir Sundays for my own satisfaction; I've since come to have a greater appreciation of the experience of the Mass from what I wish we would call the "peanut gallery," but which in common usage we call the choir loft. Additionally, Father scheduled a "secret" Mass at 3:30 on Saturdays for those parishioners, mostly elderly, who do not wish to be out of the house after sunset; I was asked to read at that Mass—all of those Masses. I accepted because I am only scheduled to read at Mass about once a month, so the 3:30 Mass is an excellent chance to practice my craft. (The Mass is not actually a secret, but it sort of is, as it is not listed in the bulletin amongst the rest of the week's Mass times.) Lastly, for a fortnight from Friday, 12 December thru Thursday, 25 December 2014, I attended Mass daily. I attended Mass on twenty-one of December's thirty-one days, & I loved it! Echoing the remarks of a brother-in-Christ who attends daily Mass, on those days when I wasn't able or chose not to attend I felt out of sorts, something felt out of place.

2008: 32
2009: 33
2010: 32
2011: 37
2012: 45
2013: 63
2014: 130
2015: 1…

This year is off to a fine start, as I have already fulfilled my obligation on this Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Papa Sierra, Holy Redeemer's Pastoral Associate & Director of Religious Education, likes to call holy days of obligation "holy days of opportunity," & once you get the obligatory groan out of your system he's right. What splendid opportunities to worship the Lord God Almighty, to celebrate this life which which he has gifted each of us, & to spent time with & grow in fellowship with the People of God.

I am not setting an explicit goal of attending Mass more frequently in '15 than I did in '14, partially out of the fear that I might begin attending Mass principally to pad the tally, instead of to worship the Creator. (The persistent fear of any tallying of Masses attended.) Instead, I shall continue to build on the series of goals met these last two years. In 2013, I attended more than the fifty-two Masses that would result from not missing a single Sunday. In 2014, I attended Mass on every single Sunday, even when I was traveling. (With thanks to the Guy for the assist in Redondo Beach, California.) In 2015, my aim to attend Mass more than fifty-two times, not to miss a single Sunday, & to attend two non-Sunday Masses a week. As ever, I strive not to attend Mass for attendance's sake; in tallying up the number of Masses attended, I can approximately how faithful I am to the Lord ay any given juncture. The more often I attend Mass, the closer to Him I draw. We see in operation here a variation on the maxim "fake it 'til you make it." The more I want to be closer to God, the closer to Him I become. Or, in the words of a prayer by Fr. Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O., "But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You."

Yes, Mrs. Brother Nacho, I did not count last year & will not count this year the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday as Mass, because I know well that it is not a Mass. I tease you for having an overly captious nature, but all in good fun. Whenever & wherever I am in error, please continue to provide whatever correction strikes your fancy. May the Lord bless you & keep you, sister.