Today
I attend morning Mass
at Derryvolgie.
This is not my parish
and the congregation largely comprises
people I don’t know
and yet
when Mass begins
I have a strong sense of community
as individuals enter this church
to join together in prayer.

Listening to the priest
I notice
that the prayers of the Mass
are peppered with the words
“we” and “us”
while the words “I” and “me”
are used sparingly.

During the Our Father
I see individuals standing at prayer
and yet I have a sense
of us all being connected,
a sense of us all
being brothers and sisters in Jesus.
And the surprising thought strikes me
that it’s a pity
that we don’t join hands
when we pray the Our Father
as an outward sign
of our connectedness.

Mass comes to an end
and this little community
of parishioners and strangers disperses
for now
as individuals leave the church
to go their own separate ways
once more.

Tomorrow
some of us will enter the church again
and become a community once more
as we unite to pray
to Our Father.
After all,
it’s what Jesus told us to do.

© Claire Murray, 31/7/15