sunday best part deux

This morning we went to mass at Our Lady of the Visitation, the Catholic church where Fr. Charles' was baptized (at 11 years old) and the church he still calls home. And from the minute we arrived, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Fr. Michael is the priest there, along with one other guy, and he has been there for four years. And although there are only two priests, the church holds about 4,000 people, and it is filled to capacity every week! We attended the 10:30 service, but there is also a 7am, 8:30am, and 5:30pm, all of which are also packed weekly. The numbers alone indicate the presence of something profound, but the experience of being with and worshipping alongside these people is indescribable. The choir was outstanding, their is a children's dance group that was great, and the entire procession was beautiful. Fr. Charles presided and co-celebrated with Fr. Michael...The mass was two hours long but I hardly noticed the time, as the service smoothly moved from one ritual to the next. In fact, this was one of the first times in my life where I felt a strong sense of peace, holiness, and even 'at-homeness,' in a Catholic service. There was a point in the service where I started to realize that I was beginning to appreciate the symbols and the sacraments, and I even thought to myself, "if this is what Catholicism looked like in the United States, I think I would be Catholic." I'm having trouble putting it into words, but there was just something sacred about my experience. I appreciated the symbols and was inspired by the faith, devotion, and worship of the people gathered there. In his sermon, Fr. Charles spoke about the importance of symbols and how they allow us to communicate in a way that we can't with words, they allow us to explain, identify with, point to, and touch transcendent realities. And that's why we have all the symbols in the church. They point us toward God, and help us to communicate with God in a way we couldn't otherwise....Aside from the symbols, Fr. Charles also spoke about the faith of the people at Our Lady, how they continue to encourage and inspire him, and that this is the reason he will always feel at home there. He explained that although in the United States, church attendance is declining, priests are in desparate need, and a general faith is lacking, there are other places in the world where the opposite is true. Although the sun may be setting in some places, it is beginning to rise in others. And Our Lady is one of those. What is happening at this church and the faith that these people have, is evidence that God is still present in our world and that God is still moving people to work to transform our realities...



After the service, Fr. Michael invited us to stay for lunch, and so we did. And it was delicious. In fact, I would dare say it's the best meal I've had in Kenya. There was some special kind of rice with chicken in it, beef in a delicious sauce, chicken, and chipati (an incredibly delicious Kenyan flour tortilla/bread type thing we've had a couple times and it is always amazing- it's Fr. Charles' favorite food!)...



Then this afternoon we went back to Masi Market and it was fairly uneventful. I shopped around, had some fun conversations with some of the vendors, and bought a few things...And after dinner and reflection, we had a little birthday celebration for Jess- one of the girls from Le Moyne who turned 21 today!