Holy leftovers.

Le 14 mars     Living in a convent, daily mass is encouraged. It’s not required, though I’ve come to like my Rwandan mass – even if it is at the crack of dawn. I’ve gotten used to the customs, the language (I have my mass booklet which has been a savior), and the songs – some I even sing along to! I’ve also gotten used to having priests. In fact, at every mass I’ve ever been to, they come standard.

This morning when the choir began their processional hymn, I watched as the parade of gown-laden men and youth came out of the Sacristy. Okay, Father’s just running a little slow today… But he never came.

And then it dawned on me – Fr. Valens and Fr. Antoine went down South to Butare for the day, so they would have left early in the morning. They were headed to play a priestly basketball and football tournament. Go figure.

Usually when one of our two priests isn’t around, another from the surrounding churches fills in. This morning, however, it seems as if everyone had headed to the tournament. Instead, I watched as a man dressed in the simple white robe and sash went about the opening prayer then after the readings he read aloud the Gospel and gave a homily. I see this guy every morning at church – he’s not a priest… does he know that?

And then the unthinkable happened. In all of my 23 some years, I’ve never witnessed this before. Sometimes when mom’s made too much chicken soup, we eat the same meal for a few consecutive nights. The man went over to the tabernacle and pulled out the previously-blessed Eucharist.

WHAT?

I suppose that’s usually the case, though. The priest blesses the wine and Eucharist in his hand and then goes to the tabernacle to pull out the others, which I presume have already been blessed. Something about this – the whole morning – struck me as funny. And everyone else must have seen this before, because no one else even batted an eyelash.

I turned to Petite to ask what was going on – “Yes, this does happen from time to time. It’s called ‘Sharing of the Word,’ so it’s not mass.”

I’ll have you know that this was all worthwhile – our Muhato priests won in their basketball match.