Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Sincerity of a Server






















I rouse my son from sleep
before the light is full,
fingers brushing the blonde
of his hair, whispering,
"Get up for Mass."
It takes two tries
before he responds.
He quietly dresses
without waking the others.

We race into the rain
and arrive as the rosary begins;
he scrambles to the sacristy
to prepare the altar.

He never fails to bring the
cruets down with a loud click
on the glass table, causing
distraction to those
praying the rosary.

Our voices drone on in prayer
as my son continues
his work of preparation.

As Mass begins,
he stands stoically, holding the
sacramentary in his hands
as Father prays the words within,
and during the readings
he silently watches from his seat
behind the altar.

He smooths out his alb
during Father's homily
as he stifles a yawn.

I watch as he carefully opens
the tabernacle doors to bring
the hosts to the altar.
His work here is holy, blessed
and beautiful.

When Mass is over
the church ladies rush
to hug him, beaming with pride
and gratitude, the earthly reward
for the boy who rises early
on a summer day to
serve the Lord with sincerity.

5 comments:

  1. "His work here is holy, blessed
    and beautiful" , these words say so much.

    Beautiful

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  2. Anne, had a tear in my eye reading this as my older son is an altar server too. It was his own idea and it is a shame his mother doesn't do as god a job getting him to church early.

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  3. As good a job (sorry- commenting from my phone = typos)

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  4. Anne,
    I loved this poem about your son! May God bless him dearly for his deep commitment to serving the Lord. You have such a wonderful way with words. God has given you a precious gift :) Let me rephrase that - many precious gifts!

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  5. Beautiful poem! You are truly blessed to have a child with a heart like that for the Lord. But then again, you must be a superb parent to have raised such a wonderful boy. :)

    ReplyDelete