Ash Wednesday

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Ash Wednesday mass at the cathedral here in Richmond. It was kind of a crazy day: I had an interview at 9a, I had to work at 10a, I had a theatre showcase at 7p. The only real time that I had to be able to go to mass was the middle of the day: 12:15p mass at the cathedral. Check! It was hectic getting there, and as I walked in and found my seat, I mentally planned how I was going to leave early [after communion] so I could get back to work on time. 12:15 rolled around an good old Nick Stein walks up to the podium:

Our hearts are with the VCU community this day. As many of you probably saw/read in the news, there was a car accident last night involving 3 VCU students, who also happened to be members of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart/VCU CCM community. 2 of the three students are at MCV and are doing alright, but last night during surgery, Carolina Perez passed away. She was a member of the Leadership Council here at CCM and an important part of this community. Tonight there will be a rosary service said in her honor after the 7p mass. She was the leader of the Rosary ministry here at VCU. There are counselors available.....

Shhhhuuuuooooccckkkmmmmm. All thoughts in my mind stopped. I was struck with utter sadness. There were students throughout the cathedral softly crying, and a few people who were having difficulty catching their breath; a lump rose in my throat. How short life is. For whatever reason, I've always thought that a certain amount of time is guaranteed. I've never had a definite number, but there's some threshold that exists. Even as I've grown older, this notion that these children that I love dearly have so much time, my parents, my sisters, my friends---we're all in the midst, not close to the end. To my credit, I have sought to live with purpose each day, but not enough [to be frank]. On this pilgrimage, every single breath is a gift. I don't think I've ever conceptualized what that means to the extent that this moment propelled me to do. I make no promises to never need to re-learn/re-realize this Truth, but it has sufficiently woken me up.
As Emily in Thornton Wilder's brilliant Our Town wisely says,

"Does any human ever realize life while they live it? --every, every minute?" 

I think in the perspective of the pilgrimage, each moment on the journey [or contemplating about the journey] is a bestowal, filled with intricacies, nuggets of sagacity, opportunities for growth and expansion and change and challenge. Who would have thought?
My heart and prayers continue to go out to the VCU community. May her memory be eternal!