OLD NEWS REPORT

(Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka) Because of a special event, [Rev. James Pathinathan] decided to move the service that day to a chapel a mile inland. Some 1,500 parishioners, mainly fishermen and their families from communities by the sea, showed up. When the deadly tsunami struck, they were at mass--and were saved. Those who didn’t go, who overslept, or didn’t have a bicycle, or simply had other things to do, were not as lucky.

…because Pathinathan took the time to bless each family one by one, the service went late--until just before 9 a.m.

…If mass had ended even 10 minutes earlier, the parishioners would still have gotten home in time to fall victim to the deadly wave.

Fang, Bay. Finding god in tragedy
U.S. News & World Report – Top Stories

Comment: Keep that in mind next time you think to sleep in or grump when the service goes late . Seriously, worship saves lives -- our eternal souls, as we hear the Word and receive the sacraments, which build our faith - for every storm.

Everybody has a good excuse for not attending church. If you take those excuses and apply them to other things we do (or don’t do), like eating, they might look like this list:

1) I was forced to eat as a child.

2) People who eat all the time are hypocrites; they aren’t really hungry.

3) There are so many different kinds of food, I can’t decide what to eat.

4) I used to eat, but I got bored and stopped.

5) I only eat on special occasions, like Christmas and Easter.

6) None of my friends will eat with me.

7) I’ll start eating when I get older.

8) I don’t really have to eat.

9) I don’t believe that eating does anybody any good. It’s just a crutch.

10) Restaurants and grocery stores are only after your money.

Unknown

OLD NEWS ARTICLE

(Chatteris, England) Pam Potts, chair of Fenland District Council in central England, requested three dozen seats to be reserved at the front of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church at Chatteris, near Cambridge, for the council’s annual carol service.

Vicar James Thomson refused, telling Potts, “All are equal before God.”

She has now moved the service to another church in nearby March (name of city). “You cannot have the Lord Lieutenant of the county sitting at the back in a civic carol service. He is the representative of the queen and it simply would not be right,” she huffed.

Thomson, 35, was unrepentant. “If people wanted to sit at the front they could come early,” he said.

Carol Service Moved Over Seat Flap
December 2, 2004. Associated Press – Strange News

Comment: It reminds me of Cathedrals that I've visited where there was a special throne for the Archbishop and one for the king. Is that fitting, especially when you consider James words about not showing favoritism?

Usually people in our church prefer the back, not the front. Why is that?

SAYING

How can you be happy in heaven when you are miserable in God’s house here?

Unknown Source

Comment: Everyone wants to be with God forever in paradise after this life, but so few want to give him time in the houses he has established here.

SAYING

A man who won’t let his religion interfere with his business, frequently allows his business to interfere with his religion.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN