Daily Mass Testimonies by Cameron
Hi! In this third and final blog post in the "Daily Mass Trilogy," I want to tell you some of our fellow parishioners' personal Daily Mass testimonies. I interviewed four people. Here they are!
Interview #1:
Mr. Jon is one of our great friends who is also known to us as"Jister Mon." Here is his testimony:
Mr. Jon was a "Cradle Catholic," meaning that he was raised Catholic. By the time he was 35 years of age, he had strayed away from the Church and was doing not so very good things. Eventually, he started going to a different denomination church. But soon his dad got sick, so he started bringing him to Mass at our Church.
Mr. Jon was sad that he wasn't able to receive the Eucharist, as he had fallen away from the church, so he went to Confession and started living his Catholic faith again, and going to Mass on Sundays.
One day when Mr. Jon was in Church during Lent, he heard Father Reidy's "Extra Mass Lent" Rule, which suggested that the parishioners go to one extra Daily Mass a week during Lent. He started going to 6:30 Mass on Tuesdays. But soon he got an addiction...an addiction to Daily Mass! He has been coming ever since! He said every morning he feels like he's not going to go, but the Holy Spirit wills it so that it happens.
Interview #2
Ms. Vi is basically known as the person that runs the whole church. Another of our greatest friends, here is her testimony:
Ms. Vi started going to Daily Mass when she was young with her mother. Then she grew up, got married, and continued going with her husband, who had also been going before. She enjoyed starting every day with Christ, and felt like she needed it in her life. She feels sad when she is sick, because then she has to miss Mass.
She also enjoys going because she gets to meet new people. Her way of greeting people is A) a hug, or B) a "love tap" (which is actually a punch to the stomach). She gets to know people, and knows when they are missing, and checks in with them. After Mass, Ms. Vi makes sure to invite anyone new to fellowship and drink coffee.
She loves her Catholic faith, and can't imagine being at another Church. She also can't imagine life without Daily Mass, and continues coming to Daily Mass at the age of 95!
Interview #3
Mr. Tony and Mrs. Lily
This amazing couple started joining us for Daily Mass before we went to Central America. Here is their testimony:
Mr. Tony used to go to Daily Mass, but had to stop for work. Ms. Lily was not Catholic when they got married, and I don't think they were going to Mass. But Father Reidy (the one and only!) brought Mr. Tony back to the Church, and inspired him to go to Mass when possible.
Ms. Lily was raised Pentecostal, but went to different denomination churches. Soon she got married to Mr. Tony. But, she didn't go to Mass with him and the kids because she had some doubts against the Catholic Church (she didn't really understand Confession, and thought Catholics worship Mary). But, one Sunday, she decided to join them. At the end of Mass, she said to Mr. Tony, "You guys don't worship Mary - you worship the same God I do!"
Next, she went to an RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) inquiry meeting, and decided to become Catholic. She then went through RCIA, had a great first Confession with Father Mike, and then she and Tony became RCIA sponsors.
Fast forward a couple years, and they were retired and waking up early - sitting around drinking coffee and doing nothing for two hours. Talking with us after Mass one Sunday, they say they were inspired to come to Daily Mass on Monday, and decided to try it out rather than waste away their morning.
They now come daily, and they say they need community, and have it there. They say they still get to enjoy having their coffee, but now God comes first! They are such great friends to us.
I really enjoyed these interviews because I have learned many different things. I saw that it is usually another person that will bring you back to your faith, so we should all try to be those people. I also saw that it was Fr. Reidy (our beloved priest for many years) that brought some of these people back. He also was the cause of my mother coming to Daily Mass, and then us. Some people (like Ms. Vi) in our parish even call him a "walking saint," because he has helped many grow in their spiritual life.
Now I want to tell you a little about how going to Daily Mass can help you live longer. *One study of many people over 16 years showed those who went to church just once per week had a 26 percent lower risk of mortality. But wait, there's more!!! People who go to church more than once per week have a 33 percent lower risk of death from any cause.
Also, in his book Living Joy, Chris Stefanick shares, "In Haiti, the mission that we work at with Real Life Catholic started an orphanage. While working with orphans, they found old people dying in the hills and forest. So, they started a home for the dying to give them a comfortable bed to die on. And a miracle happened. The kids from the orphanage started coming over and playing with the elderly in the home of the dying...and they stopped dying. What was a hospice became an old-age home where people live to a ripe old age!"
Pretty self explanatory; you live longer in good community!
I hope that you enjoyed these testimonies, and this whole "Daily Mass Trilogy." Know that we are praying for all of you, and consider going to Daily Mass!
By the way, Ms. Vi says, "EVERYONE IS WELCOME!" So, if you come to our church, I am anxious to see whether you'll get a hug or a "love tap" from Ms. Vi!
God bless,
Cameron
*Nicholas Bakalar, "Churchgoers May Live Longer," New York Times, June 12, 2016,
https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/churchgoers-may-live-longer/
