Ummm...The Other Way 'Round

In the last entry, I mentioned the woman at Mass. I speculated that it was a sort of Benediction.

My colleague Mike (who has experience with Asian cultures) informs me that I have the wrong end of the stick. The gesture is one of respect, usually granted by someone young to someone old, and it is a request for a blessing or prayer. The fact that the woman is older than me lends a bit of mystery to the event.

So, I've prayed for God's blessing on her. Yet I still carry the conviction that I'm the one blessed.

A Benediction, I Think

I'm not sure what this means, but I felt compelled to get it down while it's still fresh...Cathy and I went to Mass tonight. Both of the lads were at work, so it was just the two of us. Cathy was a Eucharistic Minister and had to stay to clean up after Mass. She gave me a quick kiss and told me she'd meet me in the back.

I worked my way out with the rest of the crowd, pausing to let out a short older woman with Asian features. I've seen her at Mass before, but don't recall having spoken to her.

On the way out one of the Eucharistic ministers greeted me by name and I shook his hand and asked how he was doing.The woman, walking ahead of us, turned and extended her hand to me.

I took it and then a most extraordinary thing happened.She turned my wrist and bowed, touching her forehead to the back of my hand. She held it for the briefest of seconds and I returned as graceful a bow as I could muster. She smiled and turned back toward the entrance of the church.

I don't know what it means and my Google searches haven't turned up much of use. Yet it was a profoundly moving and very peaceful moment...almost Sacramental.

Perhaps it was a genuine Benediction. Heaven knows I could use that right now. Things are a bit tough at work. There's a certain struggle going on and I find myself very much at the center of it. Yet there was peace in that greeting...