Pentecost

Happy Pentecost, y'all!

Today I had a very different Mass experience than normal. I was at Children's for the Children's Miracle Network Telethon, which raises money for the hospital every year, and I was on it due to my transplant last year. It was really cool, btw, but afterwards we went to Mass at the Chapel with the fantastic Fr. Mark.

Now I love Fr. Mark. He is the best chaplain one could ask for at Children's, and he has been phenomenal for my family (for more, see my other blog!). He is just phenomenal. I've never, however, been to one of his Masses, since everytime I'm in I'm usually hooked up to all sorts of fun machinery, so I didn't travel well. But today I got to go.

He had a big bowl of red candy (since it's Pentecost) on the altar, which was cool- he used it for the homily, and talked about how each one represented something different. Twizzlers, how we're all intertwined; Big Red gum, how sometimes we need that long-lasting faith; Tootsie pops, for the sweet surprises of faith, and cinnamon, because sometimes we need that fun taste. :) It was a great homily. The chapel was totally packed, every seat filled, and some of the awesome 5T and 4AE nurses--like Rita!-- where there, and Michelle, the awesome nurse would could get me off the evil BIPAP after my transplant (go to Bucket of parts-- bucketofparts.blogspot.com -- for more on all this!). It was awesome, with kids running around and a few patients but not too many. One of the pulmonologists was even there. It was a lot of fun, with applause and laughter and all sorts of good stuff. We even sang "happy birthday" to the birthday people before Mass, and offered our own intentions before, which was great. I got to do the first reading with all the big words, and my dad did the second. It was a lot of fun, especially with the little kids who reaallly wanted some of that candy! The atmosphere was just perfect for Pentecost, very celebratory and fun. It's nice to be there when you don't have to be there, you know?