Ascension

 

It's the great and weirdly forgotten Feast of the Ascension today, which I hope you were able to celebrate with suitably Tridentine splendor. Speaking of which, our liturgy was simple. Just an oriented Low Mass, with no liturgical dance or wymxn priestesses, oddly, but it was comparatively well attended albeit a few notable absences.

where are they?

"Huh," I thought to myself, Sherlock Holmes style, "Where are they?" Good question, surely they weren't at Shooky's, which is a pleasant marina restaurant overlooking the lake. 

Shooky's

As you know, intuition is key in the detective trade and I followed it, arriving at Shooky's some 20 minutes after Mass. It's alright there, it has a resort marina friendly vibe and a great view of the lake, and the food's alright. I ordered catfish, onion rings, hush puppies and a plastic beaker of cold white wine. Nice. Next step?

A young Sarnt LSP with a young striper on the lake

Wander around jolly old Shooky's and look for the lost sheep of the house of Mission #2. Lo and behold, there they were, in the pool room. A grin, "Happy Feast of the Ascension! You do know the food here's even better after Mass." What can I say? Caught in the act, and a good time was had by all, what good people.

Oremus:

Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum Redemptorem nostrum ad caelos ascendisse credimus, ipsi quoque mente in caelestibus habitemus.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who believe Thine only-begotten Son, our Redeemer, to have this day ascended into heaven, may ourselves dwell in spirit amid heavenly things.

God bless you all,

LSP 

A Curious Thing

 

A curious thing happened today. All the people from Mission #2 who like to go the increasingly popular Shooky's of a Thursday evening turned up at Mass first, without any prompting. That's right, with not a word from me, not even an annoyingly jocular clerical bribe, "Hey, there's a 10% discount if you go to Mass first," ha, ha, sorta thing. No, they just turned up.

Well done, team, and it makes sense. Our communion with one another flows from communion with God in the Mystical Body of Christ, nourished, vivified and deepened at the Altar. Get that right and the other follows naturally.

You know, I recall a priest in DC who told me, "We're at the point where the people here don't even think of doing a parish event without going to Mass first." Right on, worship, giving ourselves in love to God, comes first, always. 

It's what we're created for, and we saw a little bit of that North Central Texas this evening.

Stella Maris,

LSP

Thursday After Mass

 

On Thursday evenings there's a Mass at Mission #2 and afterwards we decided to go down the road to Parson's Marina for a drink and a snack. It's tranquil there, with a view over the lake and offers $2 beers and discount pizza on Thursdays, which can't be bad.

So we pulled in to Shooky's only to find several other members of the flock already there who had cunningly skipped Mass in favor of cut price lakeside fare. In fairness, the latter's a big draw but look, you can have both. Hmmm, maybe I need to say an outdoor Mass at good old Shooky's, move the mountain to Mohammed, sorta thing.

Good Old Shooky's

Then more people from the church turned up, it was getting to be like an Annual Parish Meeting and I found myself invited to a dove hunt on Sunday. Great result, let's see if the birds are flying when the day comes around and regardless, it'd be good to get out in the field now the climate's changed.

We'll see how that goes, in the meanwhile, what a lot of fun to meet up with such good people as the sun was beginning to set over the lake, beautiful. I feel more of this is in order.

Cheers,

LSP

Out And About

 

One of the things people like to do after Mass at Mission #2 is go out for lunch and I joined in today. We went to Shooky's, which is a congenial little setup overlooking Lake Whitney at Parson's Marina. I hadn't there been before, strangely, and liked it a lot.

The food was good, I can recommend their pepperoni pizza, the view over the lake tranquil and I liked the fishing lodge, marina ambiance of the place. Just a really pleasant way to spend an hour or so after church and with great company to boot.

What good people! Representing several walks of life, law enforcement, banking, engineering, ranching, and all united in the Faith. Were there any libs at the table? No, there were not. Was anyone armed? Woe betide the fool who attempted to rob Shooky's on a Sunday afternoon.

Seriously, I feel blessed by such a good hearted congregation and am amazed at its range. It's easily the most intellectual church I've served but at the same time totally down to earth. From people who write books like I'd like to shoot dove to rodeo stars and all else in between, and right there in Bosque County, Texas.

Who'd have thought it, yet there it is. Go to Shooky's if you get the chance, I think you'll have fun.

God bless,

LSP