When a previous pastor's column asked for feedback from parishioners as to why they attend weekday Mass, whether it be once a week or more, I was pleased to receive, almost immediately, more than a few reflections. Today, I want to share my own experiences of weekday Mass and how it touched my life in such a positive way. Daily Mass was a staple throughout my 6 years at St John's Catholic School in Hot Springs. Whether in the morning, or before lunch, it was a regular part of our school day and we were reminded how blessed we were to be able to receive Jesus in Word and Sacrament every day! These Masses included acapella singing by the students of the 4 songs of Mass, and I was honored and happy (though a little nervous at first) as a sixth grader, to be one of the ones who started the songs during Mass. My weekday Mass attendance and participation stopped when I started in the public schools in junior high and high school, though my brothers and I would regularly be altar servers on Saturday morning Mass at St Mary's Church in Hot Springs. My college years included an occasional weekday Mass in those four years at secular college (U.C.A.) in Conway. Of course, daily Mass started again for me in my seminary days and has continued throughout my priesthood. While priests are no longer "obliged" to celebrate Mass daily, I have done so whether publicly or with my mother on my day off in her home almost every day in my priesthood. While I see daily Mass as "lower key" than a weekend Mass with far fewer people in attendance and a shorter length (including a much shorter homily), the basic elements are there for me to encounter the Lord in the most unique and personal way which is the best way for me to start my day. I also want to share with you all the blessings for myself and my brothers and sisters of having a mother who was a great example to us of the blessings of participating in daily Mass. It is something she did not only in her young life, but throughout her adult life except when motherly duties of babies and young children made that impractical until the last of her nine children started school. Even when she started working outside the home part-time and then full-time as a nurse doing the night shift, she would attend morning Mass before going home and going to bed. Fortunately, those Masses were short enough that she rarely dozed off during Mass, though it did happen when she had an especially busy night. (Please don't tell her I told on her about the dozing!). Seeing the impact weekday Mass had on my Mom with her patience with her 9 children and her faith and trust in the Lord in good times and in trying times. I'm happy to share with you that most of my siblings have been and are weekday Mass participants when they can practically do so and the blessings that come for them and their families are many. I realize how my growing up years and the example of my mom led to my siblings and me making weekday Mass a part of our lives. I look forward to sharing other parishioner's inspirations and blessing that have touched their lives through participation in daily Mass.