Kete Kо̄rero February - April 2022

Page 16

DRAWN DAY BY DAY INTO UNION WITH GOD ALEX BAILEY

Are you a silent spectator at Mass?

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ituated in the parish pew, the words of the Mass seem to pass you by - like reading a paragraph of a novel only to arrive at the end without even the slightest comprehension of the text. The rote responses depart your mouth lacking intention and intonation while your thoughts wander listless and unchecked into the day ahead. Inactively standing, sitting, and kneeling, you notice a feeling of tiredness that begins in your limbs and intensifies

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until you raise your hand to stifle a yawn. Then a toddler’s shrill whining disrupts the empty silence and commands your attention, and you watch, amused, as the parents exchange anxious glances. It looks as if it will be the father who will remove the child shortly. You hear the familiar bells and cast your eyes up towards the sanctuary. Perhaps you can identify with some of the experience


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