Easter

In my Easter bonnet and brand new dress

I walked hand in hand with my Mom.

We were walking to church together

for the first time since Christmas Eve.

I often wondered in my little mind

why we only went to church

together on Christmas and Easter.

Every other Sunday

I went to the Children’s Mass and sat

with my classmates and Sister Mary Genuflect.

One day I asked Mom why she never came

except for those two days. 

I told her what Sister Mary Genuflect said

about Mom not going to be in heaven with me

because she didn’t go to Mass every week

and Mom just shook her head and kissed me.

One day, when I was just thirteen, my Mother left

and my parents got divorced.

When I tearfully told Sister Mary Genuflect what happened,

she gave me her words of wisdom and comfort:

“Well now . . . it’s up to you, dear, to get your parents

back together or they will spend eternity in hell . . .

apart from you forever.”

And then I knew why Mom only went to Church

on those two days and I marveled

that she even went at all.

Joanne Cucinello   2007

** That was many years ago.  

Words are very powerful when spoken down at children by authority figures,
especially those who claim to know the love and mercy of Christ,
but haven't got a clue.  They don't brush off the shoulders or fly away in the wind.
They etch their way into the heart and soul of a child and stain their innocence . . . so beware.