Alter server - not by choice

 

When I was younger my mom always said that she had given up trying to plan out my life because God always had other plans that always turned out better than hers. And when I look back - I can clearly see that she was right. One example is alter serving - this is one of mum's favorite stories to tell.

I am a girl and mum felt it wasn't right for girls to be alter servers because that was a job reserved for sons. During one mass when the priest was walking down the aisle (there weren't any alter servers that day), he stopped at the pew we were standing in and spoke directly to me and said, "Come serve." Apparently I just slipped off my shoes and walked after him - without so much as a glance at mum. I didn't really know what I was doing - but followed the movements of the priest and did my best to mimic what I had seen other alter servers do. My older cousin joined me later during mass to help out with the chalice and the water bowl. I served for that mass and many other masses after that. And I am so grateful that I did - it is a blessing that I only now understand the magnanimity of. I was so close to Jesus' body, so close to the alter, witnessing and even helping out in the sacrificing of the lamb every week!

Every time I read about the sacrifices in the books of the old testament - I am blown away that I was allowed a part in the ritual that is so holy and intimate with God. The sacrifice, the offering and the distribution of Jesus' body - the sacrificial lamb that so many before wished to simply glance at let alone receive.