March 25, 2008
Bit late to be posting about Holy Week, but I'm behind as usual. I really enjoyed the Holy Week services at our new parish here in VA. In particular, I found the Good Friday service to be moving. As a convert who has spent her entire life in the Memphis area up until moving recently to VA, I have always attended one parish. It was a parish in which the priest was older and rather rotund. So this is the first Good Friday where I saw the priest and deacon walk in and prostrate themselves before the cross as the Good Friday service began. What a simple but beautiful message.
The parish itself historically served the African-American community but has expanded to offer a weekly Spanish Mass and attracts people from all walks of life. That is what I love so much about it.
During the veneration of the cross, we watched as an elderly black man rolled up in one of those scooters and - shakily supporting himself on his cane - bent to kiss the cross. I watched a round Mexican Abuela (grandmother) genuflect and struggle to stand and kiss the cross. Then there was the blond young man in the business suit genuflecting to kiss the cross.
I'm glad my family was sitting near the front of the church and that my children were able to watch the veritable parade of people kissing the cross. Joey was afraid to do it but he did anyway. "Stage fright," he said.
I'm not sure they understand everything we do. I know I am teaching them about it at homeschool and reading them The Life of Our Lord for Children. But whether they understand it or not, they are receiving a visual understanding of the love Christians are supposed to have for Christ. They are participating in honoring the Savior, and I know that will make an imprint on their lives which I hope bears fruit when they are older.
I know that even when I was an agnostic in my 20s, years of church-going as a child predisposed me to return and - in my exile - to yearn for that home to which all spirits wish to fly.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Faith, Creed and the Journey
March 10, 2008
We attended two different churches yesterday because my son was in the Scout Sunday exercises at the local Protestant church. Our little town has no Catholic church and we attend one 15 minutes away in the nearby city.
Wow. What a difference in the services. I was raised Methodist and that is the other church we went to yesterday. It was amazingly different. The message was good, mind you. But it just went on and on at will because that is truly the centerpiece of the Methodist service. No real liturgy and definitely no Eucharist. The gospel was read by a young teenager who mumbled and stumbled over his words. And all of the Bible verses and hymns were projected in large print onto the wall by a power point program - as if we are unable to read our hymnals. The pastor was very nice but so informal that I felt as if he was chatting up some friends at Food Lion.
Then in the evening, on to our little church where the tiny Central American priest presents the Gospel with great reverence and ceremony. The gold-embossed book held up for all to see and honor. As with a normal Mass, there were two readings from the Scripture, a responsorial Psalm and the Gospel, followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We definitely get more Scripture for the money, plus the Eucharist, which is priceless.
I am not trying to put down Protestants here. But after being Catholic for awhile, the service itself seems so empty without the Eucharist. And the creed, well, they didn't bother with a creed at the service we attended. But at the early service, apparently there was a Modern Affirmation which I read over. It seemed pretty New Age-y to me.
Growing up Methodist in Kentucky, we said the Apostles Creed every week and I had it committed to memory long before I began to say it daily in the Rosary. I'm glad that my children hear it said often as we say a regular decade of the Rosary several times per week.
It reminds me of the signs in C.S. Lewis' book, The Silver Chair. Jill is supposed to repeat the signs that Aslan gave her so that she will make good progress on her journey. If she forgets the signs, then she will easily stray from the path that he set her on -- which she does. Likewise, my children and I need to know the creed so that we will not stray from our path on the journey. Repetition is one way to "know" our creed. But to truly understand it we have to look at it and talk about it.
We did that today with the Our Father (Lord's Prayer), which we said before we began school. We talked about "Hallowed be thy name" and what that means, as well as "Lead us not into temptation." They are one week away from learning that prayer in Latin, as well as in English.
And our next big project is to make a Holy Mass book which explains and illustrates the parts of the Mass with Holy Cards. I hope they grow up with the Faith as part of their being. That is one of my daily prayers.
We attended two different churches yesterday because my son was in the Scout Sunday exercises at the local Protestant church. Our little town has no Catholic church and we attend one 15 minutes away in the nearby city.
Wow. What a difference in the services. I was raised Methodist and that is the other church we went to yesterday. It was amazingly different. The message was good, mind you. But it just went on and on at will because that is truly the centerpiece of the Methodist service. No real liturgy and definitely no Eucharist. The gospel was read by a young teenager who mumbled and stumbled over his words. And all of the Bible verses and hymns were projected in large print onto the wall by a power point program - as if we are unable to read our hymnals. The pastor was very nice but so informal that I felt as if he was chatting up some friends at Food Lion.
Then in the evening, on to our little church where the tiny Central American priest presents the Gospel with great reverence and ceremony. The gold-embossed book held up for all to see and honor. As with a normal Mass, there were two readings from the Scripture, a responsorial Psalm and the Gospel, followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We definitely get more Scripture for the money, plus the Eucharist, which is priceless.
I am not trying to put down Protestants here. But after being Catholic for awhile, the service itself seems so empty without the Eucharist. And the creed, well, they didn't bother with a creed at the service we attended. But at the early service, apparently there was a Modern Affirmation which I read over. It seemed pretty New Age-y to me.
Growing up Methodist in Kentucky, we said the Apostles Creed every week and I had it committed to memory long before I began to say it daily in the Rosary. I'm glad that my children hear it said often as we say a regular decade of the Rosary several times per week.
It reminds me of the signs in C.S. Lewis' book, The Silver Chair. Jill is supposed to repeat the signs that Aslan gave her so that she will make good progress on her journey. If she forgets the signs, then she will easily stray from the path that he set her on -- which she does. Likewise, my children and I need to know the creed so that we will not stray from our path on the journey. Repetition is one way to "know" our creed. But to truly understand it we have to look at it and talk about it.
We did that today with the Our Father (Lord's Prayer), which we said before we began school. We talked about "Hallowed be thy name" and what that means, as well as "Lead us not into temptation." They are one week away from learning that prayer in Latin, as well as in English.
And our next big project is to make a Holy Mass book which explains and illustrates the parts of the Mass with Holy Cards. I hope they grow up with the Faith as part of their being. That is one of my daily prayers.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Lenten Journey
March 1, 2008
The family and I did Stations of the Cross together at our parish last night. I particularly liked the closing prayer, which I share with you here:
"We have journeyed these steps in a spirit of prayerful hope. When we unite our suffering and difficulties to those of the Lord Jesus Christ, our sadness and distress will eventually change into joy, vindication, healing, and peace. Though we may bear the scars of our hurts, we will no longer be prisoners of fear, for we have triumphed through the victory of the cross and resurrection. Let us always be about our Lord's work. May we accomplish this work patiently and carefully, trusting in the power of the Risen Christ, who dwells among us and will bring us everlasting life."
Have a blessed Lent.
The family and I did Stations of the Cross together at our parish last night. I particularly liked the closing prayer, which I share with you here:
"We have journeyed these steps in a spirit of prayerful hope. When we unite our suffering and difficulties to those of the Lord Jesus Christ, our sadness and distress will eventually change into joy, vindication, healing, and peace. Though we may bear the scars of our hurts, we will no longer be prisoners of fear, for we have triumphed through the victory of the cross and resurrection. Let us always be about our Lord's work. May we accomplish this work patiently and carefully, trusting in the power of the Risen Christ, who dwells among us and will bring us everlasting life."
Have a blessed Lent.
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