Friday morning I attended a Catholic Mass funeral with one of of my new friends and his dear son. This precious man lost his wife of 58 years. We had planned the mass with one of the Bereavement counselors from the Church.  I was so impressed with her loving spirit. She told me that her sister
(Earthy one) was a Baptist like me. Well I like this woman~ she was so honest with me! She let me know very quickly that the traditional Hymns like ” Amazing Grace and What a friend we have in Jesus” were not suitable for a Mass.  I was disappointed, but understood. So the songs that were planned were Catholic songs.

Note… The Husband is no longer Catholic, but completely honored his wife’s beliefs.

Here we are at the Mass and here comes my new friend, The Bereavement lady. She runs over to me and whispers in my ear…. “You can’t receive communion because you are Baptist, but if you will just go the alter, the Father will bless you”.  Oh… I need a blessing I said. I really meant that and she knew it. She smiled and the Love of God was all over her, I gave her a Baptist hug.

The mass was Perfect. The songs were Perfect… I sang with all my heart. I didn’t know the prayers, but I raised my heart in agreement like we do in our church.

I was sitting with the Husband and Son of the Deceased . The Son went to the alter first…Then the Father who is frail got up from his Wheelchair and went to the Alter and his Son helped him up and I walked to the alter with him. This man can barely stand, kneeling would be next to impossible. He knelt. He cried and cried … so did his Son… I cried and cried because I needed forgiveness and needed to do business with God at the alter.

We stayed there and felt the presence of God. I don’t know how much time went by… my eyes were closed. When I looked up the alter boy was tugging on the robe of the priest. The priest whispered something to him. The alter boy came to us and said… You can stay here … I will come back and help you get up.

What a refreshing this alter time was. The service was PERFECT.
So… my baptist friends… don’t shun the Catholics! Embrace Jesus.
The bumper sticker on the Bereavement lady’s car has it right.

Jesus Possess me.