Everlast

Happiness comes in many, often unexpected, ways and forms: through a surprise call from a loved one, a butterfly that lands on the palm of your hand, a smile of an infant, the feel of your mother’s hands on your hair, etc. Happiness came to me today in the form of a first reading. This morning, during the mass, I was the one who read the first reading. Sounds like it’s no big deal being able to read the first reading, right? But it’s a big deal to me because I read it in Italian. It was the first time I did it in public and it brought me extra thrill and joy. I know though that I didn’t do it well but it was something for me already. To think that it’s almost a month now since I began studying the language.

I actually prepared for it. Last night I asked Fr. Angel to listen to me as I read and reread the prima lettura. He made comments and corrections, especially on my pronunciation. I also woke up very early this morning to practice more. It felt like I was preparing for a great speech when in fact I was only practicing to read a few verses from the Libro di Profeta Michea. What makes Italian so difficult for me is that speaking it is like singing, you have to hit the rights notes all the time lest you’ll be misunderstood or you’ll sound like a gong. Italian is just so alive and lyrical.

Fr. Angel told me of his assessment about my reading after the mass. He said that it wasn’t bad and he reminded me of the accents of some important words. I find it especially difficult to place correctly the accents for the verbs used in the third person plural, in the imperative and the future tense. Fr. Angel is such a great person. I love sitting with him at the dining table to learn from him. When he talks to me in Italian he does it very slowly, taking every effort to make himself perfectly clear and understandable. And he patiently repeats himself if I can’t comprehend his words. Then he unwearyingly listens to my grammatically wrong responses. And word for word he explains to me the right way to say them. He teaches me, he corrects me, he dares me, and he motivates me. In a word, he has become a friend to me.

Happiness indeed comes in many ways and forms. Today it came to me in the form of a first reading and in the way of friendship. Of all the things that God has provided to make us entirely happy, I believe the greatest is the possession of true friendship.