Do you know someone who is chronically late ? Fr. Jose was late for every Mass. For the Christmas Mass in 2012 , he was over an hour late. This was especially embarrassing for us , since many of the parishioners had invited friends and family for this special Mass. No one felt that they had the right to question Father about his tardiness. But, in typical Newfoundland Catholic Fashion, we parishioners started making bets before Mass as to how late Fr. Jose would be that day !
Finally , my husband R. J. and I , ( converts to Catholicism ) gathered our courage and asked Father why he was late for every Mass. He became highly indignant, and replied : ” You’re willing to wait hours for the physicians of your bodies, why are you not willing to wait for the physician of your souls ? “
And then came the day when he didn’t show up for Mass at all…