Frist of all, the place was packed...and Holy Thursday in not even a day of obligatory attendance.  There was a hushed reverence throughout the liturgy.  There was a solemness, but not  a heaviness.  I was suprised to see so many young familes there...with thier children.  Yet tonight, everone seemed quiet, attentive.

I also think the liturgy is so beautiful.  So much rich symbolism.  As I said, people seemed so attentive, almost relieved to be there.  Is it all the heat the Church has been taking lately?  Perhaps it is the trhreat of Nuclear War on the Korean Peninsula.  Everyone just seemed glad to be there, glad to be Catholic, grateful for the opportunity to express thier beliefs.

I was glad to be there tonight.  I needed it.