Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Having Friends Over After Mass :)


Lately, Michael and I have been inviting friends to join us for Sunday mass and come back to the house afterward.  On a recent Sunday, we had several people who took us up on the offer!

It was the Sunday of the annual parish picnic, and Michael and I were very excited to see everybody!

We attended the 11 AM mass, ran into friends, invited everyone back to the house, served cookies and coffee, warmed up our lasagna and apple pie, and had fun chatting about everything and anything!

After about an hour, it was time for the church picnic, and so we all crossed the street again to the church property.  The picnic was being held underneath the new pavilion that our Knights of Columbus built, but it was already so crowded that we decided to sit in a picnic table that was instead basking in the sunshine.  It was a glorious day!

Maria, her boyfriend Michael, and her parents are such wonderful people!  They are all well-traveled, joyful people who enjoy talking about their faith.  And Macy, our golden retriever, just loves them!

Maria's mother, Pillar, is a devout Catholic woman from Ecuador.  She just loves our Prayer Room, and she gently left our conversations in the dining room for a little time of reflection in the Prayer Room.  :)  Her faith is an inspiration to all of us.


 We spent the whole afternoon at the church picnic, and we didn't get back to our house until the evening.  By then, our bellies were full and we were exhausted!  It was time to plop ourselves on the couch and relax!  Thank you, Jesus, for this wonderful day of fellowship!