The priest celebrating today's Mass wore a white vestment underneath a chasuble with green shamrock appliqués tumbling down its front. Huge shamrocks. Tumbling. Bright green.
Being a visual-kinesthetic learner, I generally welcome visual assists to prayer and meditation. Having recently realized this, I've developed compassion for those who read missals and hold, if not actually pray, the Rosary during Mass. I, in fact, have taken to packing my pocketbook for Mass as if I were taking a long road trip with a toddler. A copy of Magnificat, my personal journal, and colored pens keep me anchored in prayerfulness rather than distracted. Hey! At least I'm not tossing Cheerios into the air and racing matchbox cars along the kneelers. Not yet, anyway.
But I found the shamrocks disturbing. Seeing them along with red poinsettias and deep green Christmas trees made me want to check the calendar to make sure I hadn't somehow time tripped forward to March 17. Alas, I didn't have my liturgical calendar with me -- no room for it in my purse, so I had to wait until arriving home to do that. Instead, I got myself anchored in the reason for this season by shifting my gaze to the nativity scene which, I am pleased to note, did not include leprechauns.
