Wednesday, March 31, 2010

And I've done poorly on tests ever since...

When I was a child our priest was from Ireland. I wonder now how he felt being sent to a small town in South Dakota. He was a kind man. I grew up with Eucharist Prayer One, Two and Tree. I never knew it was actually “three” until I learned to read.

Before first communion each child had to meet with Father P privately. He wanted to be sure that all second graders had been paying attention at CCD and could answer basic questions about our faith.

Of course I was nervous. It didn’t matter that Father P was a regular visitor at our house. He came for Christmas and Easter dinners and sometimes stopped by to play the accordion. (For years I thought all people in Ireland played the accordian.) But being in a room questioned by a priest was suddenly very, very scary.

My first communion was on Thanksgiving Day but I often think about that meeting with Father P at Easter. We talked about Jesus and communion. He asked me if I knew how Jesus died and expected to hear the answer that I had been taught as a young child.


I panicked. I looked around the room and saw pictures of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix (or twenty) and a painting of the Last Supper. That’s what caught my eye. To me that long white table looked like a hospital bed and I sat up a bit straighter looked the priest in the eye and confidently said, “Jesus died in the hospital…of old age.”

16 comments:

  1. LOL!
    That's a great story!
    And wait...you mean all Irish people don't play the accordian?

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  2. hahaha. This is why I love you. You tell a story so clearly and concisely and with such wit.

    (Ireland to South Dakota? My uneducated opinion is that was a bit o' a shock).

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  3. That is completely HILARIOUS!!!!

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  4. A classic "kids say the darndest things"! Too funny!

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  5. I would have paid to see the look on his face when you said that!

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  6. LOL! Panic gives the best answers! I'm sure he felt like a failure at that moment!

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  7. Wait...you mean he didn't die in the hospital of old age?

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  8. LOL what did he do with this repsonse. That iss sooo funny. I love how the crucifixes had no show on u what so ever.

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  9. That is hilarous! But you already know that.

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  10. Ha!!! Priceless! Did you have to go through your classes all over again?? :-D (Please don't tell me you did, because then I'll just feel bad...)

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  11. What a lovely story. I play the accordion but am not Irish LOL! You must post another with the Father's response!
    Happy Friday Follow and nice to meet you. Have a blessed Easter!
    http://herroyaljoaness.blogspot.com/

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  12. Oh that is a good one!
    Following along through Follow Friday. Hope you have a second to come on over and follow me!
    http://howtosurvivelifeinthesuburbs.blogspot.com/

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  13. Stopping by via Friday Follow to say hello!
    Too funny.
    Have a great weekend :)
    http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/04/heat-wave-woohoo/

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  14. hahaha, I almost woke up hubby from that one!

    I'm stopping by from Friday Follow. I hope you'll follow me back (or if you already do, thank you!)

    I just put out, oops, help the big bunny put out my daughter's Easter basket and I'm hopping some blogs.

    Happy Easter from my family to yours!

    Kelly
    http://KellysLuckyYou.blogspot.com

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