Wednesday, February 21, 2007


JOIN ME ON MY LENTEN JOURNEY, WON'T YOU?

"Happy Lent!" Rojo chimes bright and early this morning.

"Am I going to get that stuff on my head today at Mass?"

"Am I going to go in the bathroom right when Mass is over and wash it off?"

"Will it only be on for five minutes?"

"Do I have to not say the 'A word'?"

Nobody loves ritual and routine like my son, even when it's a ritual and routine he abhors, like the sign of the cross on the forehead on Ash Wednesday. His sensory system rejects that idea on five different levels, yet he looks forward to the whole ordeal.

325 days a year you won't hear the boy say, "Alleluia!" but on Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, we start hearing about how he won't be able to say the "A word" for 40 days.

"We cannot say, 'Alleluia'?"

Right.

"Why?"

"I don't really get it either, go ahead and say it. Knock yourself out and say it a million times."

"No, I am not going to say, 'Alleluia', oops! I just said the A word! I am going to change the A word to ash, and not say ash for 40 days, OK?"

"Sounds great. Don't say "ash."

"Mom! You just said the A word! You are not supposed to say the A word until Easter!"

"OK, let's both not use the A word. Let's talk about something else now, OK?"

"Should we talk about if I am going to get that stuff on my head and wash it off right after Mass?"

It's going to be a long 40 days.

7 comments:

Jerri said...

That boy cracks me up. Well, your stories of him do. I'll bet it's not as funny the 400th time or the 4000th.

Michelle O'Neil said...

You bet your ash it is.

Suzy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
kario said...

Wow - a kid who is willing to refrain from saying a word you don't want him to. Imagine that! If I told my girls they couldn't say a particular thing for 40 days, they'd drive me nuts by saying it as much as they possibly could. Kiss that boy!

riversgrace said...

Ok, I grew up Catholic but I thought he meant ass. Ha.

Suzy said...

Oh Michelle, that was a good one!

Get your ash here to the workshop.

Carrie- Can I adopt Rojo?????

Nancy said...

Love your Rojo stories!