Palm Sunday and Forgiveness

I will admit it. I was horrible at Lent this year. I didn't really choose anything that stretched me all that hard.  However, I learned several lessons along the way and had a really fabulous Lenten retreat that kicked my butt and gave me a lot of meditate on throughout Lent.  One of the themes that has been "a flowing" (there's a pun in there for Erin and Alyshia) has been about grace, mercy, forgiveness and trust.

God spoke these themes to me in many ways throughout Lent but the sweetest moment came on Palm Sunday.

Long story short I took the girls to a college campus Palm Sunday Mass because I knew the priest would do an incredible job with the liturgy and there would be a small procession which I thought would be great for Evie.  We were late to Mass. I was running all over campus in a dress, with Maggie in a front carry in the Ergo and Evie on my piggy back.   It was 11:30 am and I forgot to grab a snack for the girls to have during Mass. Rookie mistake.

Evie was fantastic through the extra-long Liturgy of the Word, and the priest's notoriously long (but worth it) homilies.  Around the Prayers of the Faithful, Evie had a meltdown and Maggie was falling asleep in the Ergo so I took the girls to the Narthex.  No sooner did we get out there did the incensing of the altar caused the fire alarm to go off.

The noise was enough to wake Lazarus from the dead.  It woke Maggie Clare and sent Evie into a further panic and tantrum.  But because the alarm siren was 3 feet away from us the only option was to go back into the church.  I certainly let Evie know this was NOT because she was being good but because we couldn't be so close to the loud noise.

Mass proceeded and Evie continued to lay on the floor kicking, pinching my leg and pulling down my dressed.  At the Sign of Peace I (ironically) laid in to her. I scolded her waving my pointer finger and all, until she bursted into heart felt tears.

The Lamb of God began and Evie tapped me on the leg.  She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said,

Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or sissy. I love you.

It took everything in my power to choke back tears as the priest continued, "Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us."

Just as my sorrowful three year old gets forgiveness and second chances, so do we from our Heavenly Father.

It was as if all my prayers this Lent were exemplified in a single hour.  Without a doubt, God gave me my children to reveal an entirely new depth of his love.