On Completing Simbanggabi

I only have tonight’s anticipated mass to attend to complete the nine-day novena mass for the first time ever.

Some say though that technically I won’t be able to complete the Simbanggabi this year. I wasn’t able to attend the anticipated mass for the fourth one because our volunteers’ party and I wasn’t able to wake up for the actual dawn one. Instead, I attended the regular Sunday mass. Keeping the dawn tradition in mind, then I’d have to agree with them and surrender to the fact that I technically did not complete Simbanggabi this year.

However, if we peel off the dawn mass tradition and just see it as a 9-day novena in preparation for Christmas, then I have completed the said novena. I don’t really care if I won’t complete it based on such technicality and that I won’t be able to get my supposed wish to come true. I know He won’t grant my wish if only for the dawn mass I did not attend. Besides, there’s a certain aspect to my wishes that I do know He’ll grant it no matter what. ☺

Sometimes, despite having the best of intentions, we fall short of expectations and supposedly commit blunders because of technicalities and trivialities when they shouldn’t matter in the first place. In such times, maybe we should look beyond the shallowness and see a person’s true intentions and the goodness of one’s actions.

One missed dawn mass does not make one’s intention or deed less real. As long as the motivation to pursue the good is there, the trivial things would not matter.