Back in
May when I marked my fifteenth anniversary, the school had a little
get-together for me. All the kids made
presentations, offering notes of congratulations, spiritual bouquets of
promised prayers, or even thanking me for something I had done for them. One of the more surprising efforts was that
the first grade classes wrote essays describing what they thought I did on my
day off. Now that it is summer, and we
all like to be “off,” I thought I would share them with you.
Some had
remarkably precise plans for me: I think on Monsignor Smith’s day off he goes
to the pool for three hours, then he goes home and he prays for five hours, then
he goes to the movies for two hours, and for the rest of the day he parties.
Others
thought I did quite a lot, too: On
Monsignor’s day off … I think he probably parties, goes hiking, cooks, works
out, and goes to the movies, because he does it for hours… I think he goes
hiking, makes new friends, goes to the movies, cooks, goes fishing, and he
probably parties… He goes to the casino and he plays games on
his smartphone. He can make paper
airplanes and also go to parties.
Several knew
very well what I do on my day off, and some knew why they knew: I think on Monsignor’s day off he goes
hiking…. Monsignor goes hiking because I heard him in Church… he’s hiking
because he said that at church, and I think that he reads about God and Jesus.
Some have
the idea that I go to movies, and they say why: He probably goes out to make friends and goes to see a movie… He goes
to the movies, because he probably likes movies… He goes to the movies, because
I like going to the movies too.
There
were a few other recurring themes: I think on Monsignor Smith’s day off he
probably parties, and cooks. (“I think it’s time to cook that salami!”) …He probably parties and cooks because he
might like to…He goes and cooks, because he needs something to eat… He prays
and goes shopping… he might go shopping because you might need some new pants.
Some have
figured out that my days off aren’t always very “off”: He
visits the classrooms... He goes to
church. Others see me as a
reflective, artistic type: He lies on his bed and reads the Bible and
prays, and drinks lemonade… He goes home
and colors pictures and makes a cross out of wood.
Some give
me too much credit for being athletic – and maybe for being prayerful: He goes
to the chapel & also plays football… He walks in his gardens and reads the
Bible… He prays & plays baseball
& watches soccer… He can go to a restaurant with his mom and plays soccer
with her. He gathers some of his friends and talks about the Bible.
Others
see me as far less ambitious: He just
hangs out and chills; he watches football when it’s football season… He relaxes… He goes out with his friends…
He goes and sees his relatives &
watches baseball… He goes home and
hangs out with his friends… He takes naps.
Some
figure out what it would be for me to take a bit of a break from my usual
duties:
He does not preach… He might just go to another church to listen to another
priest say Mass… He visits the other
priests.
Some of
the kids are observant in other ways: Because he always has good stuff on
Halloween, I think he spends the whole year collecting candy… He goes to Nationals games.
Others
drew a simpler picture: He lives his life…
He prays for us.
Monsignor Smith
