I am always on the look out for such a sighting.
It’s something that I do actually consider at each mass -
Maybe someone’s guardian angel - sitting beside them
Yes, they are there but sometimes, like Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, they take on human form. It happened to me. (New to this forum so I am hoping that everyone will be able to see this.) As mentioned, I am RC. 14 years ago, I watched a EMHC drop a consecrated host on the sanctuary floor then pick it up and return it to the cup. After battling liturgical abuse in that parish, this was the final straw. I said a prayer, asking our Lord to “guide me to a holy priest, a reverent liturgy and a community where my God given gifts might be of assistance.” That day I made a list of other parishes within a certain radius which included a Maronite Church. Each week I attended mass at a different parish, repeating the prayer. But I never considered how I would recognize our Lord’s response.
The Sunday I attended the Maronite Church, several extraordinary things occurred, one of which was the presence of an older, Irish looking woman with reddish hair, wearing a round chapel veil, who sat in the pew behind me. This was a tiny church with only a center aisle and one set of doors. The beauty of the liturgy touched my heart and I left that day with a sense of true peace. The following week I decided to return. Many of the parishioners smiled at me. The woman with the chapel veil sat a few rows away. Visitors are always invited to stay afterwards for refreshments but I had a previous engagement. On leaving, I was overwhelmed by that sense of peace which lasted the entire week.
Week 3, I realized that this parish was our Lord’s response to my prayer. This time, however, the woman with the chapel veil sat next to me at the end of the pew. When mass had ended, I could not leave the pew quickly as she was fidgeting with her handbag. The pastor came over and invited me to join everyone for refreshments. The parishioners made me feel welcome. At a certain point, I turned to the woman with the chapel veil and asked if this was her parish. She smiled and said, “No, dear, I’m a roamin’ catholic”. A few months later, someone asked me “where is your friend?” I was puzzled. They said, “the woman with the chapel veil”. No one had ever seen her before and she never returned.
Now, you may think this to be a coincidence; for a while, I did. Over the years since joining this parish, I have understood that she was “sent” as a reassurance of my prayer’s response. There were several extraordinary occurrences at that time, as well. True to my word, I have been tasked with multiple jobs that no one else in the parish could do. It is so humbling to receive such a gift from God and a joy to give back in service to a small and struggling parish. “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
