I'm Seeing Angels | Minchan

1

"In Jesus' name, we pray..."

"Amen!"

Chan turned around and walked out of the church, holding the door open for people to file out neatly as the organist played a loud and incredible piece. Each person said their goodbye with a smile, happy as always to attend services with Chan preaching. He always did a wonderful job in their eyes, his sermons having so much depth and meaning to them. It was amazing how well-spoken he was for someone so young.

The church-goers loved having a young priest. It gave them hope that more people in the new generation would be more willing to attend church. He got along well with people of all ages, those sixty years older than him, and those twenty years younger than him. Being twenty-five and already ordained was astonishing for some people. But others felt proud of him since they had watched him grow up in that same church.

His parents started attending their services many years before Chan was even born, and as Chan grew up in the church, he felt like it was a calling to him. Sure, he had his rebellious years as a teenager when he strayed away from the church, but he eventually "came back to the light," as his parents put it. And now, here he was, a priest giving weekly sermons at the same church.

His teenage years had actually only made his beliefs stronger than before. He wasn't sure what it was, but once he started going back to Mass and paying more attention to his religion, he felt the urge to start partaking in it once again, which led him to this moment.

Chan smiled as the last person walked out, now wanting nothing more than to get to the robing room and take the alb and cincture off. It being dead in the middle of summer, wearing long, thick fabric that covered every inch of your body, and then fastened to your waist with a rope was not a lot of fun to wear.

He gently pushed through the crowd of people that congregated at the front of the building to get to the other side of the lot where they built the robing room. They separated the sanctuary from everything else, which made sense, but was inconvenient for Chan when services were over.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw an oh-so-familiar face greet him. It was one of the former priests who had retired not too long ago. He was the one who had apparently baptized Chan, confirmed him, and ordained him. Needless to say, he was a very important man in Chan's life.

Chan put on a big smile and walked over to the older man. "Father Jung Hoon!"

"Chan, it's so nice to see you. You did a wonderful job today," the priest complimented as he brought Chan in for a hug.

"I didn't see you in the crowd," Chan commented, not sure how the Father knew how well he did. They pulled away from each other before Jung Hoon answered.

"Mi Young live-streamed it online. I woke up a little too late to see the service in person today," Jung Hoon shrugged.

Chan nodded in understanding. The man was old and he lived his life. God forbid if he misses one service after dedicating his whole life to the church. "That's good. At least you saw it then."

Jung Hoon agreed with Chan before looking him up and down. "You're still in your alb. Aren't you dying?"

"Yeah, I was about to change before I ran into you," Chan laughed, looking down at himself. He swiped his hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat that was beginning to drip down.

"Oh, well, don't let me hold you up. Go get changed. There are some other people I want to talk to as well."

"Thank you, Father," Chan bowed and walked off. Despite the man being retired, it felt easier to call him Father than it did to just call him by his name.