Figuring out what to write about here is easy this week. On Friday my co-worker and Melissa and I went to lunch at Culver's, she drove. As we drove down Giles, we approached the corner at 117th in LaVista, a driver in a huge gold SUV blew through the stop sign on 117th right in front of us, and by right in front of us, I mean right in front of us. Melissa slammed on the brakes, the car niftily slid one lane to the right, and we missed going home early (as in being dead) by about two feet. Small car, big SUV, 55mph equals two unhappy families.
Amazingly enough, I remained calm pretty much the whole time. Melissa was a little freaked out, but we were both able to talk about it and we were still hungry afterwards. It was a miracle we were not killed. A miracle ... cars do not niftily slide exactly one lane over against the curve of the road under emergency braking. Melissa said she 'saw' the accident happen. There were no skids marks from her tires on the road. What ever explanation you wish use to explain it, go ahead, but I think the hand of God moved the car over, or let us go right through.
As you might guess, a close encounter of the death with death might get a person thinking. Oddly enough, I didn't really do a whole lot of thinking. I thanked God, and I thought about all the work I still had to do before I shuffle off the mortal coil. I thought about my desire to outlive my mother (no, I didn't quite tell her about this little incident). I thought about how my being dead would affect my family and friends. I've also thought about how much I matter of factly have accepted a miracle in my life.
God is real. When He is part of your life, when you allow Him to do so, miracles happen, they happen constantly. Earlier in the week, Joe was hit by a truck walking across the street. Yeah, he is hurting, but is virtually uninjured. The events of this week could have had a completely different outcome for this group of people ... but it did not ... and I think I speak for the other members of Mass Chaos when I say "thanks be to God!"
We're getting to be SO big! Frank, Andy, Brianne, Me, Marcus, Anna, Teri, and Joe.
Location and History:
Our Lady of Lourdes, 2110 South 32nd Avenue, Omaha. My weak attempts at summarizing will not do justice to this fabulous history page on their website.
Architecture:
What a beautiful building. The high ceiling, the stained glass, and the baptismal font stood out. Everything worked together. The simplicity (for lack of a better term) of the design left me filled with awe for the majesty of God.
Very little distracts from the focus, our beautiful Savior.
You can see all my pictures from Our Lady of Lourdes here.
Mass / Mother's Day:
Happy Mother's Day!
I've been told by folks in the know that Mother's Day is the third most attended day of church every year, behind Christmas and Easter. The music this week, was Mary focused and the vocal pieces at Our Lady of Lourdes were very well done. In his Homily, Father H'Leureux pointed out that the closest thing to unconditional love that most of us experience is a mother's love. Obviously, I will never know what it is like to be a mom, but I think the Bible offers some amazing insight into what it is like. Read Luke 2:41-52 ... and Mary "treasured all these things in her heart."
Gospel:
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27
I like to wax philosophically about peace, about how it changed my life, and how I desire it more than any earthly distraction. However, I don't think it is the most important thing in this passage, I think what is important is what is implied here. Jesus tell us; I am God, the world is not. There is a difference, and only one leads to a life free from fear and troubles.
This peace is a gift from God! Take it my friends, it is yours. Let Christ be the rock you stand on: When the winds come, they will blow, but you will stand. The waters will come, they will wash away much, but you will stand. The earth will move, mountains will shake, but not you. If you look for peace in God, you will find your peace in the world.
Prayers:
Please pray for:
Tom who is being deployed to Afghanistan, and his wife and two daughters.
My friend C., who has been ill lately.
Joe that he is healed.
Heidi as she prepares for a mission trip to Haiti in July.
Peace, Eric
:)
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw you guys were going to my parent's home parish, I got excited. However, they were going to a different mass time, and since it was mother's day, I went with them. Sorry!