You Know You Have a Good Priest When...

Today at mass the boys were...well, let's just say ridiculous.  That's the nicest way I can think of putting it. 

I feel like there's no rhyme or reason to how church goes for us.  You would think that maybe sleep or what they had for breakfast or some other factor might determine their behavior during mass, but I have not being able to make any correlation to anything that makes it better or worse. 

Today was worse, though. 

Judah and Silas were both whiney and loud and throwing things and trying to roll around on the floor and  yelling "no!" everytime I picked them up, etc.  You get the picture.  We were that family today.  For the record, Roman was pretty good.  He usually is.  He went to Children's Church for part of mass, and when he comes back he usually has to tell us everything they did (loudly) but he wasn't bad behavior-wise.  I didn't think he was paying attention to anything, but that seemed like no big deal in comparison to the little boys.

Anyway, after mass things just got better.  Judah ran right out the front door and towards the playground...into the street.  Awesome.  I'm the new girl yelling at her child and chasing after him...and he is totally ignoring me.  Then when he finally aknowledged by presence, he just stomped his feet and screamed.  I'm sure everyone is really impressed with us.

So, as I'm taking the walk of shame, carrying Judah back into the entrance of the church, passing all the nice people enjoying their pleasant post-mass conversations, I try to put a smile on my face and introduce myself to a couple that Joe is mingling with.

Fr. John, our new, amazing, young, faithful, sweet, thoughtful priest walks up to me and says "Do you know what Roman just asked me?"
"What?", I say.
"He said 'Father John, what is The Passion of Jesus?'"
I smile.  (And make a mental note that he was, in fact, paying attention.)
"He's a smart little guy, isn't he?  He just heard me say that phrase during mass...that's impressive."
Joe and I talk a little about Roman and how he remembers everything you tell him.
We contiue mingling and then some of the families head to the coffee shop down the road for more fellowship.  Father joins us. 
As we're standing in line at the coffee shop, Father John says "Roman, what is The Passion of Jesus?"
Roman responds "When Jesus died for us".
Father turns to me and says "Wow.  He does have really good retention".
Joe and I joke about how he remembers names better than we do.
We get the boys seated and I finally get to sit down. 
Father looks at me and says "You are doing a great job."
I smile weakly.  I think he can tell it's what I needed to hear.
"I mean, you know that right?  Your kids are incredible".
I choke back the tears and somehow manage a "thank you". 
He says "I saw you guys during mass - on the left side...about three quarters of the way back.  They're doing great."
We laugh and enjoy new friends and an awesome priest.
Judah climbs into Father's lap and, in the process, gets frosting all over his black pants.  Father doesn't seem to mind at all. 

It reminded me a lot of someone else I know.

What a blessing.