Interrupted Mass

   These images are seared in my mind:

   Half-devoured steaks and untouched drinks left on top of tables.

   People running with soaked handkerchiefs covering their noses.

   Shop assistants carrying their most valuable merchandise out of the stalls.

   Families huddled in groups, positioning themselves near the doorway and breathing in precious fresh air.

   Children crying as they looked for their parents.

   But above all:

   The smoke. A white thick monster that menacingly claimed its territory... inch by terrifying inch.

   And it all took place in one of the "safest" malls in the Metro: Rockwell, Powerplant.

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   We were hearing mass in the Chapel when it happened... in the middle of singing the "Our Father," we heard the Commotion. People talking loudly. Running footsteps. Security guards on radios sprinting towards the chapel personnel, gesticulating wildly.

   And then we heard the frantic whisper: "Fire."

   So many thoughts ran through my mind... my first instinct was to run but then I remembered that most people who die in fires do not actually die from being burned, but by being trampled in a stampede, or by asphyxiation from the smoke.

I was also scared, more than I've ever been afraid before in my entire life.

But my heart grew calm as I gazed at the priest, who continued on with the mass 

after giving the short announcement that there was a fire, that it had been put out, 

that we were being asked to evacuate the premises because of the smoke, 

but that he would finish celebrating the mass. 

"You can leave if you wish," he said, and up rose 90% of the congregation.

I looked to my father, who calmly said, "We'll finish the mass," and my heart beat 

turned to normal as I looked at the composed faces of my mother, sister, and brother

...and we raised our voices loudly as we sang aloud with fervor:

"Do not bring us to the test... but deliver us from evil..."

The thought that was loudest in my mind was a prayer of thanksgiving: 

Lord, thank You, for we are together as a family. COME WHAT MAY, WE ARE

TOGETHER.

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Events like these make one think of one's mortality. And of course, the most

important question of all: "Will I go to Heaven?"

So.... how was YOUR Saturday evening?

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