Once again, I am an idiot

As I circled the church on Ash Wednesday, I was getting more and more frustrated.  

There was not a parking spot to be found - in the Church parking lot or the street - and I was not a happy camper.  I mumbled to my dashboard, "Who are all these people?  Ash Wednesday is never this crowded!"  

After finally finding a spot way down the street, I trudged through the snow to the Church to find ...no seats anywhere.  In fact, there was barely any room in the narthex to stand.  

Plus, I was now late.

To say I was not in the right state of mind to start the Blessed season of Lent would be an understatement.  

In fact, it wasn't until the second reading that it hit me.  

I had been given exactly what I asked for.

Those of you that read this blog regularly know that every Christmas and Easter, I pray that all of those people that pack the church on those two Holy Days return for our "normal" masses.  

And there, right in front of me, was a full Church.  In the past, Ash Wednesday ... if we were lucky ... filled the main part of the church.  But it is normally 1/2 to 3/4 full and never standing room only.  

Yet God had called others to this mass - maybe even those I prayed for.  And instead of immediately thanking Him, and praising His work, I was selfishly frustrated because I couldn't find a parking spot.

What an idiot I am.

God must have had His head in His hands watching me.  I am just lucky He is so forgiving.

I hope you are all having a Blessed Lent.  Please join me in praying that God will continue to call people to His church.  (And open the eyes of those that already go!)  God Bless.