Last night I cried
by Jody Breakall
As Wendy and I prepare for our big move to Indiana in February, we are excited to be moving near our children and grandchildren, but we are also confronting the reality of leaving our home and especially the community of St. Catherine of Siena and St Agnes.
During year of our COVID existence, I have had the opportunity to sit in a pew, under a tent or at home on Zoom, and just be a parishioner. For over thirty years, I have been singing in the contemporary choir with my guitar and that has been one of my greatest joys. It is joyful work but while the readings are spoken, I would be getting ready for the Psalm or the Gospel Acclamation or whatever piece came next and I wasn’t always completely present to the Word or the preparation of the Eucharist. Since March, my choral voice has been silenced, but my ears and eyes have been opened and it has been a gift. A gift that coincided with the final weeks of Wendy’s RCIA journey as we have both experienced Mass in new ways together. While I am back in the “loft” now to accompany Rita, I still can not sing out, but my heart sings harmony along with Tracy on the few pieces she is permitted to cantor at each Mass, due to ongoing COVID precautions.
I cried back in November sitting in the pew before Mass, as I looked around the church that has been my spiritual home for so many years and so many memories came flooding into my head. When I was first invited to attend Mass by the Matkovics in the early 80’s, I was newly divorced, a new single Mom and had been absent from a faith community since college. Having spent my teens as a founding family of Emmaus Community, I wasn’t sure I would find a “mainstream” parish that could equal that faith experience, but I was also wanting to put down roots for my young children, Chris and Michele. I was surprised to see my old friend Paul Stroh from my Emmaus music days leading the Contemporary Choir. He spotted me on his way back from Communion, stopped in front of our pew and played “air guitar,” then pointed to me and then the choir. After the service we hugged, and I told him there was no way I could join the group, as I could not leave the kids or afford a sitter every week to rehearse. His answer…bring the kids….and so it began.
I had found my spiritual home, and music was once again a part of my life. Times were tough in those early days, and an angel at SCS got wind of it and that first Christmas, there were secret angel gifts for both kids. I still do not know who or how, but I knew we were loved.
As the years went by, Chris became an Altar Server, and two years later, after Mass, I saw Michele go up to Father Gilbert and tug on his robe. She wanted to know why she could not be an Altar Server, too. Well, you guessed it, she was one of the first group of girls who trained to be an Altar Server.
Soon after, all three of us got involved with St. Catherine’s Players, and I stayed for thirty years! As the kids aged out of Players and into college careers, my life changed dramatically when Wendy joined our family. She attended Mass each week, joined the Players volunteer ranks and was lovingly dubbed the “Jew in the Pew”.
Our involvement in small faith groups, Bible Study, choirs, The Players, Carnival, Christmas Pageants, Food Drives, Blood Drives, World AIDS Day Celebration, Search Committees, Soup Kitchen, Religious Ed (I am not smarter than a 4th grader), Making Music Praying Twice, Centennial Committee, Strategic Planning, Friends of Music, Renato Travels, Book Groups, my children’s faith formation and sacraments, my mother’s funeral, and Wendy’s ushering and completed RCIA journey – all have been major blessings in our lives.
Msgr. Detscher, Fr. Hoffman, Fr. Bill, Fr. Gilbert, and all the clergy, Tracy, Rita, Liya, the Barbara’s, Micky, the “boys”, Renato and Andrea, Lori, my choir family, SCP, Bible Study gals (Waldo too!) and so many others are “famiglia,” and we are so very grateful that they are and will continue to be a part of our lives. Thanks to COVID, we know that we can stay connected through Zoom, attend livestream and get all the Facebook news.
Although we may not regularly celebrate with you locally, we will remain Parishioners and you will remain in our hearts always.
We are blessed!
Jody & Wendy
