Just a thought

I took this picture two Saturdays ago after Mass with a specific thought in mind:

On Sunday mornings, this very long conference table is covered with doughnuts laid out on platters. COVERED. I consider myself a bit of an expert on the American pastry -- the tiger tail, the applesauce, the frosted roll, the simple glazed, the sugared -- so please trust me when I say that I know doughnuts when I see them, lots of them.

Over to the left, where you can see some light coming in from a big window? There's a table beneath that window holding a large coffee urn, a cream pitcher and several graciously displayed little dishes of sweeteners.

There are two Masses on Sunday mornings at our parish, so that's a lot of doughnuts. But I ask you: What about those of us who go to the Vigil Mass on Saturdays?

Do we not find ourselves in need of refreshment after Mass? Would we not benefit from standing about in the hallway, getting in each other's way and trying not to drop food on the new carpet and narrowly avoiding spilling a beverage on a friend?

So here's my proposal: Doughnuts and coffee are somehow inapropos for the Vigil Mass, so I think we should go with a snack concept. Perhaps platters filled with chips, bowls of dip sitting temptingly off to the side. No cheesy snacks, however, because kids will be sure to touch the paint and the furniture and have the place looking frowsy in no time. But we could have some of those Keebler fudge-striped cookies, couldn't we? Everyone likes an elfen-made fudge-striped cookie! And instead of urns of coffee, we could have those camping thermos things with the handy pour spouts filled with lemonade or iced tea.

I think this would be a very nice thing to do and give all the vigilers a chance to bond over goodies instead of giving us all the bum's rush out the door as if everyone has plans for Saturday night or something.