Midnight Meeting

There was one person Riccardo looked out for at Mass every year...

 

WE should have left earlier. Now all the seats have been taken," his mother complained, surveying the church.

"There are plenty of seats left," Riccardo said in a conciliatory tone.

"But not our usual seats.

You don't care because you always give up your seat anyway," she said grouchily.

His mother was always in a bad mood on Christmas Eve.

The midnight Mass was past her bedtime, and she had spent the day on her feet, arranging the church flowers.

"I don't understand why these people only come to church at Christmas," she ranted as they made their way to the front.

"If they can't be bothered to come every week, they shouldn't come at all." "They might be visitors, come to spend Christmas with family," Riccardo replied.

"And they even have the cheek to take children along at this time of night!" If any church celebration was meant for children, it was Christmas, Riccardo thought.

"Mamma, sit here," he said, having found an empty seat at the end of a pew.

"And you?"

He smiled at her.

"I'll stand, of course."

Giorgia sat down and looked at the stranger who had shuffled over on the pew to make space for her.

She had never seen him before, so he must be one of the Christmas crowd.

Giorgia had stopped enjoying Christmas some time ago.

Year after year, she had asked God for a simple Christmas gift - something that everyone else seemed to have in abundance.

Grandchildren.

But her only son, Riccardo, was now thirtysix and still uninterested in starting a family.

Coming to church at Christmas and seeing happy grandparents fill the pews with their children and grandchildren only reminded her of how little God liked her.

The bells rang, the guitars strummed and the youth choir stood up and started singing a cheerful song about Jesus being born today.