The priest at my church is on a six month sabbatical leave traveling in Europe, spending the time learning to listen. I miss him very much.
I have to say, I really like my priest.
He is different than any other priest I have ever encountered. He has a hearty laugh, angelic voice and a peaceful calmness about him. He sings the Eucharistic prayers and when he stands on the alter and gives his homily, he speaks with grace and passion.
He is a tall man, somewhere in his upper 50s and smiles all the time. He lives in a house on the church property, along with his ailing sister, and has a golden retriever dog who spends her dog days with the priest. He holds a blessing of the pets ceremony every year, and the area where we live is rural enough where people have brought horses for the blessing. The priest walks around with the holy water making sure to bless all the creatures, big and small. Once, we took a gerbil, so we qualified for the smallest pet.
My children are not intimidated by him and he always welcomes them with open arms, cups their faces in his hands and teases them. One time my children were talking to the priest at a church function and they found out he is a Harry Potter fan. Because some churches have made the series out to be about witchcraft they looked at him with curious eyes as he talked about how the series is just about good vs. evil. He won them over.
I remember one time a few years ago, after mass I was standing in the atrium of the church, and the look in my eyes must have been one of being lost. He walked up to me, placed his hands on my cheeks, told me it would be okay, he kindly kissed my forehead and hugged me.
I was actually standing there, watching my children in the distance, wishing that time could stand still a little bit longer, so they wouldn't grow up so fast. How did he know all I needed was someone to tell me it was going to be okay?
I miss my priest.
