El Peso de Una Misa: Un Relato de Fe

Gr 1-5-In this original fable, the king of an unnamed country is about to marry. He chooses to have a full church wedding, although he expects that few of his people will attend because they have abandoned their religious faith. Just before the ceremony, an elderly widow asks the baker who has prepared the wedding cake for a crust of bread in exchange for her prayers at the wedding mass. The worldly baker, offended by the widow's request, scribbles ""una misa"" (""a mass"") on a piece of paper. He puts the scrap of paper on one side of his balance and throws a piece of bread onto the other, but ""una misa"" weighs more. In shock, he continues loading expensive pastries onto the balance, none of which can counterbalance ""the weight of a mass."" Both the baker and his customers learn their lesson, and the tale ends with them all deciding to attend the service. Although its message is explicitly Catholic and didactic, the story shares with folk and fairy tales the ability to make a specific situation universal. Sharp and briskly told, the tale is accompanied by beautiful watercolors that evoke the Europe of classic fairy tales. It may not be appropriate for story time in public schools or libraries, but it is indeed suited for children's collections and secular as well as religious bookstores.-Coop Renner, Fairmeadows Elementary, Duncanville, TX