St. Therese of Lisieux's intercession is frequently quite obvious in my life. If she's adopted you as a spiritual brother or sister, then I'm sure you know quite well what I mean: it's just the way that this girl works. So, as I explored the possibility of returning to music ministry at a couple of different local parishes with violin in hand, it came as no surprise to me that, when the stars aligned, I realized that the first time that I would be playing at Mass would, in fact, be the anniversary of St. Therese's birthday. It felt "right" even before the date was confirmed; this was really just the cherry on top!
Let me back up, though.
Perhaps you've been reading along for the life of this blog and you know that I've done a couple of shows in the last few years as musician. Those were both great - amazing experiences that I am incredibly grateful for and wouldn't trade. During the first one, I rediscovered my passion for music. During the second, I learned to appreciate the joy of sharing music. I know, though, that - ultimately - I'm really not interested in acting. Voice and violin are the loves of my life so the question, I suppose, is why did I not stick with music ministry when I was so involved with it in high school?
During high school, I played at so many Masses, holy hours, and funerals. Homeschool provided a lot of flexibility here, especially for playing with the pick up choir at funerals. What I never liked, though, was the absence of a choir loft. As involved as I was, the temptation to make music a performance was always too great when I had to sing and play in front of the congregation and that always bothered me so much (that and distractions were numerous). I didn't play much at all in college and pretty much stopped for several years after college. Doing the shows got me playing again after my experience of workaholism, the mental breakdown and subsequent therapy and returning to work. I will always be grateful for the shows.
A year and a half ago, I attended the groundbreaking for the new Church of the parish where I was raised. This new building promised to be beyond beautiful and to include a choir loft! It was certainly promising... and the building process gave me time to do another show.
Then last year, I moved and while my new home was further away, I still considered it close enough to the Church to be a possibility. So, just in the last month, I reached out to my parent's Church and the Church near me which I frequent. To keep the story short and sweet, I ended up playing and singing at my parent's Church on Epiphany Sunday... which also happened to be the anniversary of St. Therese's birthday.
That girl is always there. Always.
Oh and that part about returning to music ministry? I'm so very grateful that the stars have finally aligned. I've been waiting a long time and I feel like I can breathe again. Praise Jesus!
