got church?

so did you know that catholics are required to go to church on 2 days out of the year, no matter what day it falls on?... yeah i just found that out in december. so the first day is, of course, christmas. that one's a gimme. the second one i didn't guess. i really thought it was easter. but now, upon reflection, easter is always on a sunday, so catholics would typically be there. the second day is new years day.

so yesterday evening, after i got back from shopping with the girls at the seattle premium outlets, i went to church at the cathedral downtown. i usually go to the 8pm mass when i go there. i've been there enough times that i know there are vagrants pan handling in that area. those people aren't so bad... it's the junkies that are not so pleasant. they just want money. no food or coffee even if you're offering to buy it for them. it's so bad that even the priests say that we should refrain from giving any pan handlers around there coins because it encourages them and the junkies to be there, and it's not so safe for anyone else to be there. it sounds mean, but i kinda agree with the priests. it got so bad in that area that there were even drug busts in the cathedral. now that i think of it, i am pretty sure i wrote of another incident at the cathedral i had... it's somewhere in my blog.

but i digress...
last night at mass, when we were standing to say the our father, i noticed someone moving to my right, across the aisle. a vagrant had slipped in the church, stepped into the pew at the end behind a woman, and took her purse which she had left unattended on her seat as she stood. it happened SO fast! the lady in the pew behind her was holding her child but noticed the man who had slipped in and out so she alerted the first woman. the woman was so shocked, she got out as quickly as she could to chase the man. i really hope she found her stuff.

i guess there are a lot of things you can take out of this blog. what i was getting at is that there are just so many people who don't go to church enough to know what the deal is anymore. i'm not out to convert people, but i do believe that you gotta be aware of the changes around you. i bet those people who show up for the three times a year that they do at church must think that the churches are full! here's news for you: it's only full three times a year! and there are still those who wonder why the world seems to be headed to hell in a handbasket.