He Smiled at Me!

Gifts in their simplest form can warm the heart in an amazing fashion. I had a wonderful surprise today.

Every third Sunday of the month, I serve at the 6:30 am Mass. This is a special Mass for me. I love the people who come to this service where I get to proclaim the scriptures and lead the congregation in singing the Psalms. My voice is not great, but it is powerful enough to lead in singing. One of the gifts I have been trusted with is my ability to share my enthusiasm in whatever I am doing. When proclaiming the Word and when singing the Psalms during Mass, I do so with gusto.

The collection of people who attend this service is quite eclectic. Most are older people, a good number are folks who work in hospitals (I can tell by their uniforms) and a sprinkling of couples and young people with their parents. Most of them seem happy when they see me enter the sanctuary as they know the Psalms will be sung.

There is this couple who is always there every week. The wife likes me and she always tells me how she enjoys the service whenever I am there, but the husband barely looks at me and won't give me the time of day. I did not really mind as he was one of those cantankerous old men who do not want to be bothered with and I just let it be.

Three Thursdays ago, their prayer group was having their Christmas party in the parish center. I saw them singing Christmas carols and I so wanted to join in, but I had to do an errand so I went about doing so. When I came back, I saw them eating a sumptous feast and they were now listening to some music from the CD player. In my audacity, I went (crashed) in, turned the CD player off, borrowed the guitar that was there and told them I was going to sing to them.

And so I sang old Filipino Christmas carols and to my surprise, the words came back, my fingers hit the right chords (that I have not played in years) and before I knew it, they were either singing with me or gazing at me with twinkles in their eyes as I reminded them of home. As I sang this one song of a cold breeze and warm hearts and of the sounds, smells and feelings of Christmas in the Philippines, the room fell silent and they all joined me as we harmonized in that soft beautiful melody.

This old man was looking at me all this time and probably did not know what to make of me. Being used to seeing him with this very stoic and expressionless face, I thought nothing of it and of him. What mattered to me was I made some people happy. As my fingers and voice got raw, I stopped and thanked them for indulging me. The folks hugged me and thanked me for "serenading" them and they made sure I stuffed myself with their feast. That was one lovely evening and I had so much fun.

But this morning brought in my surprise. As the priest celebrant told us to greet each other and wish each other peace, I looked at their direction. His wife, as always, blew me a kiss. I involuntarily glanced at him and and when our eyes met, he gave me the sweetest smile I have ever seen.

He smiled at me and it just made my heart leap with joy.

That just made my day.