When things don't go as planned....look at the blessings you receive instead

It was our anniversary (Hi husband! I love you!!), and the Archdiocese was holding a special Mass to commemorate World Marriage Day (a day celebrated the Sunday before Valentine's Day, since 1981; so don't take it as anything but a celebration of marriage, and not new with the current marriage debate in this country).  We were truly looking forward to attending, especially since it had been a full year since we returned to God and the Faith, and it landed directly on our anniversary.

As often is the case, weather can turn on a dime, and it did.  The quick flurries forecasted turned into a bit more, and traffic reports from a friend confirmed what concerned us: the roads were slick, and travel was at least temporarily, treacherous.  Sighhhhhhhhhhh.  We resigned ourselves to attending Sunday Mass at our own parish nearby, and watched a favorite movie together (Ocean's 11).

I had another thought...perhaps we could attend the Cathedral that evening instead.
My husband agreed, so we did.  From the moment we walked in, the warmth of the Cathedral, both spiritually and physically, enveloped us.  The visiting Jesuit priest was very inspiring, the architecture was beautiful, and the music was also inspirational and moving.  Everything went perfectly...the prayer, the Spirit....the hour went by too quickly.

After Mass, as we departed, we visited with the priest, and asked him for a marriage blessing.  He gave us a beautiful one, and we then invited him to dinner.  He accepted, and shortly after, we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, of which the area has many good ones.  We had no more walked in than we saw another married couple from Mass.  They invited us to join them, and we had a lovely meal with them and the priest.  Ironically, the other couple hadn't planned on being at Mass (and therefore, not at dinner) that evening either, but the weather changed their plans also.

We met some wonderful people (others at the parish were delightful as well), learned many things about the Jesuit order (he was the first Jesuit priest that I had visited with in my life, as far as I knew), and had a very good evening. We soon found out that the Jesuit priest had taught one of our parish priests many years ago, and knew his family very well!  What a small world! I had one important question to ask the priest that had come to mind, and he gave me great reassurance in his answer.

If we had went to 2:00 Mass....we wouldn't have had any of this experience. Perhaps, we would have had an equally wonderful one, but He worked it out perfectly for us.

Praise God in all things! Give Him Glory in all that is Good!  Thank you Father, for a wonderful anniversary, and the Gifts You gave us of this evening, as well as the gift of my amazing husband.  Thank you Jesus for Your Words, Your Love, Your Sacrifice, and for filling our spiritual and physical needs tonight. Thank you Holy Spirit for the moving moments of the entire day, especially during prayer and at Mass. Thank you for helping me open my heart to Your Gifts in every day and moment.  Bless and keep all those we met today, especially our priest, and Mike & Susan. Amen.