Not Very Christian

“That’s not very Christian of you” was a comment directed at me a couple of times yesterday.

 I admit I was a little annoyed when pulling into the church parking lot...early as usual...and seeing it already beginning to fill up with the overflow from across the road.  According to that church’s billboard, they were hosting the High School graduation ceremonies.  I’d never been inside but judging from what I could see, its size was probably large enough to hold most of the people of Brooksville and it was surrounded by parking lots.  Unfortunately, there weren’t enough spaces to handle this particular crowd.

My immediate thought, when I saw cars beginning to fill the spaces of St Anthony’s was that there wouldn’t be places for people to park for the 4:00 Mass.  This was a real consideration for me as most who attend the Saturday evening Mass are senior citizens.

As I parked my car and walked toward the entrance of the lot, I called out to one group who were just exiting their car, loaded with balloons and gifts.  There was no doubt where they were headed.  “I’m sorry,” I called, “This is a private lot and we’ll be having services this afternoon.  We’d  appreciate it if you didn’t park here.”

“That’s not very Christian of you,” the woman called out in a sharp accusing tone, purposefully walking faster.  “What about these other cars here?” she added as she waved her arm accusingly.

I swallowed the words I was tempted to say because I knew they would fall on deaf ears.  This woman wanted me to be Christian and wasn’t too concerned about her own “Christian” words and actions.

It wasn’t much fun flagging down cars while standing in the blistering heat.  When I explained the situation, the majority of people were understanding and courteous.  They were very nice about  turning around and finding other parking.  There were the brighter moments, too, like my not recognizing Father Pecchie’s car, having him roll down his window and giving in to the impulse of asking him if he was coming to Mass.  Then there was Theresa who laughingly asked, "Does everyone want to be Catholic today?"

One young lady, when asked if she was there for the Mass or graduation, hesitated for a moment and responded with, “What time is Mass?”
“Four o’clock”, I smiled, realizing she was considering whether the price of a parking spot was worth her attending Mass.
“Oh, the same time as the graduation,” she said, a thoughtful expression on her face.  “I’ll just make a u-turn then.”

There was one other man, however, who couldn’t keep from venting his frustration by accusing me of "not being very Christian”.  I didn’t respond....maybe because by that time most of the energy had been sapped out of me.  I couldn’t help but notice his company logo on the side of his van and wondered if he knew what kind of witness he was giving me.

I can’t tell you how many cars I turned away but I’m sure the number would have filled our lot to overflowing and I can’t help but wonder about the two people who voiced their “That’s not very Christian of you” comment.  I wonder if these people expected everyone else to be Christian without putting that same expectation on themselves.  Being Christian to them meant that they should be made the exception.  They couldn’t see beyond that. 

I met a lot of “Christian” people yesterday afternoon.  They were the ones who understood and respected the situation.  They were the ones who realized they could be infringing on the rights of others.  They were the ones who didn’t think only of themselves.  I appreciated meeting them and having my faith in humanity reaffirmed.

A special thanks here to Sally who stood with me for a while in the heat, ushered me inside when she saw it was getting to be too much and brought me the water I so sorely needed.  Thank you, Sally!