Not what I expected. I sat down, next to a woman whom I had said next to last Sunday. However, people sat in the pew in front of us; they had a newborn baby and two toddlers. The toddlers kept talking, but not very loudly so it didn’t bother me, however, two women (the mothers of the toddlers, I assume) kept laughing and talking (not very loudly, although you could tell they were doing it) during the homily. Eventually, the toddlers started getting restless and talking loudly, laughing, eating, and complaining. Something I found particularly upsetting was the the mothers talking with their children during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. I tried to move my mind from dwelling upon it, but it was distracting; eventually it got too distracting and, as the congregation was up for Communion, I went to a different pew for the end of the Mass. As I was sitting in the different pew, the little boy who kept talking eventually starting yelling and the priest, in a joking manner during his final words before the end of Mass, said he knows he’s spoken too much because the children are restless (I believe). Before the priest blessed the congregation, I began to smell something, and it was noticeable that the newborn needed a diaper change.
I know I should remove the log from my eye instead of pointing out the specks in others’, but their actions removed my attention from Mass and I felt out of place because I couldn’t remember some words as they were loud, distracting, and, to me, upsetting. It appeared to distract the woman next to me as well. I felt horrible for feeling this way in the presence of the Lord, but I couldn’t help it.
Hopefully Sunday will be better.
)
But the Mass was beautiful 