A Universal Church

On this day following the feast of St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, I had a beautiful experience that enhanced my awareness of the Church’s universality. 
 
According to our schedule (which I have on the sacristy counter), our regular Mass celebrant would not be able to be with us this Sunday; I had made arrangements with an elderly resident priest, who was willing to offer the Mass in his stead. 
 
However, last night, upon returning from reading at the 5 p.m. Mass at the local parish, I noticed a note on our table.  The large black wording me that our normal priest would, in fact, be here to offer Mass.  I passed the information on to the other priest, so he would not have to prepare for this.  This would be easier on him, I was sure.
 
This morning, therefore, I set up for Mass as usual, for our customary visiting priest, having every reason to believe that he would be here, after all. 
 
As I was working my shift at the front desk, another priest walked in.  He knew we had 9 a.m. Mass and wished to concelebrate.  That sounded nice to me, so I showed him where he could hang his coat and offered him the use of our vestments (although he assured me that he had his own). 
 
I was relieved from the desk to make final preparations (lighting candles, etc.) for Mass, and rehearsed some of the music with the congregation.  Perplexingly, Father still was not there. 
 
As the clock chimed 9 o’clock, and the moments passed, it became evident that he probably was NOT coming after all. 
 
The other priest, who was planning to concelebrate, offered to have the Mass for us.  With no opportunity for much instruction as to where things were, or how things were done here, Father gave no sign that he’d never offered Mass for us before. 
 
Things went seamlessly.   
 
It struck me as beautiful that a priest can walk into a church anywhere and easily make his way through the liturgy there, with no prior experience of the surroundings or local customs. 
 
Much like the experience of being able to join in at a Mass while traveling on vacation, this experience reinforced the knowledge that we are all united in the Body of Christ. 

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