Walk to Atanga SS

Walk to Atanga SS

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Findng Grace at Holy Rosary

   Late start to the morning, I stayed up following the Cards and Waino via my new cellular Internet.  When the Cards got up by 8, and Waino on the hill, I figured I could sleep then set my alarm phone for 4:15 a.m. so I could send greetings to Mary Grace Barry's graduation party.  Then back to sleep, the night was cool so better sleeping.  I woke up late and missed the free breakfast for the first time.  No problem I had wanted to go to the Rolex stand anyway.  Rolex=rolled eggs or Gulu's answer to an omelet chef.  After making arrangements for my lodging later  this week.  It was  too late for Rolex time for Mass.

     I arrived via boda boda to Holy Rosary at 11:15 for an 11:30 Mass.  Every seat was filled. I looked around nary a place, including all the concrete ledges on both sides were filled by the congregation.  I was thinking about relocating to one of the side wings.  At the same time, I was approached by the man named Forget, acting like an usher, he quickly moved forward leading me outside and then into the wing.  There were a few seats here, and I opted against Forget's suggestion of squeezing into a pew with a back for a little more room in the benches,  There were many children in these benches, and now at least a dozen stood looking at the giant American with their necks crazed in awe.  There were 3 other munus in this section, so not sure why I was the attraction.

     The Priest entered and the church was filled with song and the percussion and the strings from the local instruments.  It was marvelous.   I sweat more in Holy Rosary than any place on earth, but it does not matter as although I feel the sweat, mostly I feel grace.  I looked and saw a young girl in a torn dress.  She no doubt was in the best dress, she had, but it was torn and tattered.  She had the traditional short hair and had 6 or 7 beads of sweat on her head, and each of them shone like diamonds.  Immediately behind her was a young man in a collared very intricate print of the Amazing  Spiderman.  He spent most of the Mass looking after his three younger sisters like a super hero.  There was a young girl wearing a prom dress that she might grow into in 6 years, but she wore it well  including the extra piece of material which started from her dress and wrapped several times around her neck.

      The Gospel was about seeds sown into different kinds of ground.  In my head, I could not stop comparing America and Gulu.  Whenever my mind drifted, the music and the sound of the choir brought me back.  Before the Gospel, a young woman of primary school read the first reading ant the Responsorial Prayer.  Her reading of the first reading was loud a pond confident and very well done.  I wish I could have taped it.  After she finished a line of the Responsorial she would say the word "response" loudly to ensure a response from the crowd.  After each line we heard "Ray-sponse". And the crowd would respond loudly.

     These benches were filled with many children and they at times were restless.  An older woman, a church elder?,  took it upon herself to move the children to different pews or to grab them by the shoulders to make sure they were facing forward.  One young woman got moved 2 or 3 times until the old woman finally moved her in the pew directly in front of her.  During the offertory, the woman made sure that this child was holding the donation basket.  As she turned to face us, I saw that she was wearing a t-shirt that said "Girls just wann have Fun" with the words "girls" and "fun" in shocking pink letters.

       a young man in front of me probably 3 years old had a matching three-piece suit on with no shirt.  As sweat dripped off of all of us, he elected to take off the coat and spent the rest of the Mass with just the sleeveless vest on, although young he had an old disposition and he reminded me of a young Butch Lewis before a Spinks fight (reference just for Mike Barry).  The petitions were read in English like most of the Mass, as the reader read the petitions Forget wandered up near the podium .  After the petitions were over Forget read his own petitions entirely in Lwo.  I will never know what he said, but his 3 petitions were all written down on scraps of paper.  I wonder if Forget prayed for the petitions we forget or maybe those we have forgotten.



No comments: