Washing dishes

Prayer for the Day

Dear Loving Father,

You are the perfect example of fatherhood, and Jesus is the perfect example of what a Son should be.  I ask for the ability to keep in mind what my true mission as a father and a son is really about, the willingness to endure the path on which this mission calls me and for the strength to be proactive in times of challenge and hardship.  Amen.

 Reflection

I  took a week off from work to spend some time with Mom and help her get to LA for a visit with my brother and sisters-in-law.  Because of several obstacles that seemed Providential, we didn’t get to go.  It was nobody’s fault, just bad timing.  But Mom kept apologizing for “ruining” my vacation and “keeping me from my family”.  I had to remind her that I took the vacation to focus on her needs, and that Marilyn and the girls understood.

I wanted to find the right words that would explain why it didn’t bother any of us that I took a vacation to be there for her and it took Father John’s sermon this morning to explain it simply:  “I want to wash the dishes.” 

Father said he saw a movie a few years back that was about a couple who were always bickering about everything.  He said it was painful to watch, because the outcome seemed inevitable and was a reflection of a lot of relationships these days.  He couldn’t remember the movie’s title.  With the help of the internet, I found the title and in the process discovered why I hadn’t seen the movie—when I saw the ‘trailers’ for the movie, I thought it was condoning a lot of values I don’t agree or identify with.  I digress. 

The title of the film is, “Break Up”.  In a scene from Break Up, the nervous Vince Vaughn angrily reproaches Jennifer Anniston: ‘You wanted me to wash the dishes, and I’ll wash the dishes – what’s the problem?’ She replies: ‘I don’t want you to wash the dishes – I want you to want to wash the dishes!’

What a way to assure Mom that I am in no way upset about the way this week turned out, nor do I ever feel “obligated” to attend to her needs!  I do it out of love.  I don’t visit every week because I feel I have to.  I come over out of love and gratitude for who she is and what she has done for me.  I WANT and look forward to the visits.

We can extend that same feeling to Mass attendance.  We shouldn’t go because we know Jesus wants us to, or that it is a precept of the Church.   We should go because our love for Him creates a desire in our soul to show that love and thank Him for His gift of salvation.