Father Giuse Trần Ngọc Thanh, O.P., was fatally stabbed while hearing confessions.
Father might be a martyr. Think about this. He died dispensing God's forgiveness--in persona Christi. In this horrific act of violence, we see the nobility and grace of being a priest.
Eternal rest grant unto his soul my God & let Your Perpetual Light shine upon him! May he rest in peace! Amen.
We are in the midst of a blizzard. I've spent the day Facetiming with two of my oldest friends. This was a first time.
Judee and I have been friends since high school. We roomed together in Boston. She was a bridesmaid at my wedding. Then we more or less drifted apart. We exchanged Christmas cards and friended each other on Facebook. Today since I had nothing pressing to do, on a whim, I messaged her on a video camera. She came on. She had never done that before and couldn't stop exclaiming over the novelty. It was wonderful to see her in person. It was from Judee that I learned that another high school friend had a death.
Monica and I were so close in high school that people called us the Bobbsey Twins. I was kind of angry with her because I asked her to friend me on Facebook and she ignored me. But when Judee told me that her husband died, I tried to friend her, again. She did immediately, which meant she was currently on Facebook. So I video messaged her. Again, like Judee, Monica had never done that before and was surprised.
We had a long chat. It sounded like her life revolved around her husband, so now she doesn't know what to do with herself. I think she was happy to connect with me. Maybe I lessen her sorrow, a little.
Since today, January 28 is the memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, here is a teaching from one of his conferences. Jesus' suffering gave us examples:
Circa 60 AD: before Rome burned down, before Jerusalem was destroyed, as the early believers who knew that Jesus was the Messiah were making their way across the eastern Mediterranean lands spreading the good news, there was a distinction between the Gentile and Jewish believers.
About 300 miles north of Jerusalem, in the city of Antioch, in today's Turkey, Barnabas and Saul were teaching. For at least a year they remained in Antioch and worshipped with a great number of people.
Seeing so many people following the way that Jesus taught, they were given the name Christians, probably by the Bishop of Antioch to incorporate the Gentiles and the Jews into one church.
In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware is a crime novel. I guess the setting is a hen party in England. I say that because I never heard of a hen party. It's a party for the bride-to-be. Also, the things the girls did at the hen party weren't things girls do around here.
I have two daughters who went places with friends before their weddings, i.e., manicures, facials, massages, parties on schooners, and other various sundry places. This was a vicious vulture venue. What a bunch of mean-spirited floozies.
Their high school sex adventures would make a prostitute blush. I don't think the average teen is into sex like these tarts were.
Outside of the portrayal of their teen sex lives, the crime itself was riveting. There are quite a few red herrings. At one time, I thought the entire hen party was "gaslighting." Ruth Ware spins a good yarn. It is scary and a page-turner. I'd recommend it.
I just came across this old post from Father Nicanor Austriaco, op. It's at least a year old. He's answering the question of why is God sending this COVID pandemic. It still gives me pause for contemplation.
There are numerous stories in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that reveal that there is theological meaning behind plagues and pestilence and pandemic.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is contemporary fiction about current situations. In fact, the criticism of the novel is that the author isn't "brown" enough, or "Hispanic" enough, or too middle class and has used the current issues to make money on a story.
All of which sounds like jealousy. I also get asked after I've read one of my stories, "Did that really happen?", or "How did you react?", or "What did you do?" ? And when I respond that the story is a story, IOW, fiction, everyone is disappointed or dismisses my work as unworthy of consideration.
Some of our best stories were written by people who weren't part of the story but were around when the events happened. I'm thinking of Leo Tolstoy's, War and Peace, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Tolstoy was not a soldier and Harriet Beecher Stowe was not a slave nor a slave owner.
This novel took me by surprise. If you had told me that it was about immigration, I wouldn't have been interested. But American Dirt is this month's selection in one of my book clubs. From the first sentence, I was interested. Let me correct myself. I was riveted. I stayed up too late, reading it. I thought about it all day and couldn't wait to get back home. It is a page-turner.
I learned a lot about politics, human nature, Isaac Newton's Fourth Law of Motion, immigration, geography, morality, and hope. I am not going to give you a book summary because I was given a story summary and was not interested in that type of book. The only reason I picked up the book, was because it was next on the list for my book club. It is mesmerizing. I challenge you to read ten pages. If you are human, you will continue to read until you complete the book--with a sigh of relief and satisfaction.
It begins again. People press the beads in their fingers. They travel from one bead to the next in that familiar chant. It becomes a mantra while each one centers their mind on one of the mysteries, or the person or situation they are praying for.
Sometimes you can feel the energy floating up from the people. It's a grace to experience.
My friend was telling me a story that reminded us of Mark 12: 41-44. These verses tell of the widow giving what precious money she had in the collection whereas others were putting in their surplus. She was bringing her elderly father to his doctor's appointment at the hospital. She was approached by a man who told her that his car wouldn't start and he had no money. All he wanted was $ 13.50 to take the train home. She wanted to help him so she search in her purse. All she had was $ 13 and no coins whatsoever. Credit cards were no help. He took the $ 13 with much thank yous.
Rosemarie is a widow and all she had was $ 13 and she gave it willingly. BTW, Rosemarie is unemployed at the moment. God bless her.
The labyrinth, however, to me is what I would say is a maze. The labyrinths that I've encountered are simple paths, not puzzles. The one in "The Name of the Rose" was a maze that led to death. The characters were real people, I knew because I googled them, but Eco put flesh on them.
There are pictures in this little book that depict the descriptions of the monastery, etc. I wonder why they weren't in the first book. Eco's descriptions were actually better than the real thing. I found myself silently exclaiming awe and appreciation.
This is the labyrinth on a floor. The library in the novel "The Name of the Rose," was built to copy a labyrinth. No wonder people weren't allowed in. How many would never get out?
I thought this poem appropriate for the March for Life in Washington, DC. I miss marching there.
THE BABE UNBORN
Yesterday, I posted about Father Gordon MacRae having a chance to be freed from prison. I composed a novena to Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, op to petition God to free Father MacRae. Please join me in this novena.
Novena to Free Father Gordon MacRae
Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, Apostle to prisons, who was given the grace to influence the women prisoners in Cadillac prison to turn to Jesus, and by that glory which is now yours in heaven, obtain for Father Gordon MacRae Freedom from prison. He has served as a model of a suffering servant. He has stayed faithful to you and influenced many other prisoners. He can do more good works serving You in freedom, especially as one of your priests--if it is your will--always your will, my Lord. We are begging for your mercy.
Help all those who have gone astray. Make your name known in all prisons and bring these brothers and sisters into your fold. Free the worthy and deserving. Give comfort to victims and give them the graces of mercy, forgiveness, and lve. Their suffering is not their doing. By the intercession of Blessed Lataste, we accept your will. Grant our petitions through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and Savior.
St. Dominic, the patron of the falsely accused, join your son, Bl. Jean-Joseph Lataste in praying for the release of Father Gordon MacRae.
From time to time I have written about the unjust imprisonment of Father Gordon MacRae. All endeavors to free him for over 28 years have failed. He was reconciled to his fate-die in prison.
A chance has surfaced. There has been made public a list, known as Laurie List, of crooked cops:
Officers placed on the list sustained discipline for dishonesty, excessive force, or mental illness in confidential personnel files...if a criminal defendant finds out that such evidence existed, even many years later, he or she later may petition the court for a new trial or try to have the charges dropped altogether.
This discovery is the answer to our prayers. Let us pray for Father MacRae to be free. Father Lataste is a good intercessor. He has worked miracles. Also, St. Dominic is the patron of the falsely accused. Dominic works miracles too, especially with the Rosary.
It brought smiles to our faces.
Look at what Ezekiel prophesized: David my servant shall be king over them; they shall all have one shepherd...with David my servant as their prince forever.
How can David live forever? Is your first thought that Nietzsche's claim that God is dead, correct? You might think of that. Well, think again. The Messiah was also called David because He is David's descendant. Ezekiel's prophesy goes beyond the physical and geographical location of Israel. The Lord brings people back to life, not resuscitation as Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, or Saint Dominic raising Gutadona's son. God promises to be with the Hebrews spiritually as well as in the Arc of the Covenant and the Tabernacle in our churches. The Lord promises to breathe new spiritual life into his people so that the sanctuary of their souls will be united with Him and with one another. God is with us forever.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is a novel that has to be read twice, and this opinion is from someone who never (hardly) reads a book twice. This novel is a tome. There is so much to it. All the references to historical people and events (What did readers do before google?) and foreign phrases, never mind the obscure terminology.
The setting is a thirteenth-century monastery. The protagonist is a Franciscan monk, William of Baskerville, who because of his Franciscan training from the likes of Roger Bacon and William of Occam, is assigned to find out who murdered a monk in this monastery. Adso is William's scribe, also a Benedictine novice. It is Adso, who is the narrator of the story.
Coincidentally, (Is anything ever a coincidence?), this monastery was the chosen venue for a conference between those who supported the pope and those who opposed. Who was whom and whom was who, is confusing. (See why the book needs to be read twice.) I found it interesting that the Dominican, Bernard Gui, was moderating the debate. William and Bernard were both Inquisitors together, at one time. What I learned from these particular conversations was that the Franciscans were not in accord as to how "poor" they should be. The Dominicans weren't mentioned in this particular debate, although today it is assumed that the Franciscans and Dominicans were always mendicant religious orders. The conference was about the heretical teachings of the pope.
Something else I learned from this story is the invention of spectacles. William had a pair and taught the glazier monk, who made the stain glass windows, how to make them. And one had to be careful about new inventions and ideas because you just might be accused of witchcraft.
There is someone who is accused of witchcraft and Bernard Gui sentences her to be tortured and burned. BTW, I learned that the Inquisitors never tortured, they turned them over to the secular authorities (Think good cop/bad cop.) This is important! She wasn't a witch; she was a starving girl who did what she had to do to eat and that included servicing (Use your imagination.) the monks. In fact, there's a sex scene in "The Name of the Rose," between this unfortunate girl and Adso. This miserable incident came about because there was another monk murdered and since everyone was on the lookout for suspicious behavior so she was caught.
The conference ends and the participants take their leave except for William and Adso. They were given a week to solve the murders and the week is just about up. The pace picks up here to a climax.
Another interesting tidbit I learned was that one of the monks, who was suspected, went to William to confess and William refused him ( William was a priest and as such had the faculties to hear confessions.). I didn't know a confessor could do that. They had an argument about it. William absolutely refused!! Why? William refused because he would have been bound by the seal of confession. A confessor can never tell what he learned in confession. Here is where I understood why the priests in the monastery weren't very helpful to William and Adso. They couldn't break the seal of confession. Evidently, those monks involved in the murders were confessing their sins, hence binding their confessors to the seal of confession.
Anyway, William figures everything out (including the labyrinth) and the guilty monk is found. The murderer was a fanatic about books and learning and murdered to save and perpetuate what he thought was necessary. Can you do evil to promote the good?
Well, this historic setting is before the Jesuits were founded, so William the Franciscan and Adso the Benedictine are not impressed with the culprit's arguments. Everything explodes literally and figuratively at the end. I can't elucidate more or the ending would be spoilt for you. Trust me, the ending is satisfactory.
Rusty, one of my "cloistered brothers" made a joke about the wedding feast of Cana being the first catechism: "Do as He tells you."
Father Rocco today, also talked about "Do as He tells you," but gave it a different twist. He said that his prayer when he's overwhelmed is to pray for Mary's intercession. Remember at the wedding feast, she was the one who noticed that the wine was running low. She was the one who ask Jesus to do something about it. Finally, she was the one who told the servers to do whatever Jesus told them to do.
So ask for Mary's intercession. Tell her the problem. She will tell Jesus. He will say, "Woman, what do you want me to do about it?" She will explain and then tell you, "Do whatever Jesus tells you."
Try it.
This book was my Yankee Swap gift at Book Club. It's perfect for Christmas. I guess it's one of a series of books called "A Beach Plum Cove Novel." It's sweet and light. I read it in a couple of days. The major character is Angela. Only bad luck comes at Christmas, including her mother dying when she was a child, and from then on she lived in foster homes. Now as the book opens, she just lost her job as a house cleaner for stealing! There goes her income: rent is due, tuition for college, her junk of a car, etc.
Then, miraculously, she inherits a cottage on Nantucket from a grandmother she never knew she had. On Nantucket, she finds happiness: friends, jobs, a future. Everyone will like this book.In Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary in Attleboro, MA is a poetry walk. Our current poet laureate was invited by Attleboro's program, The Big Read Event, to come and give a reading. This inspired the poetry walk along Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary.
This novel was given to me by a friend who said it was a "must-read." He recommends all Ruth Ware's books. This particular mystery "The Woman in Cabin 10" had its particular moments. I didn't like the main character, Lo, she drank too much. I thought she be a victim of "gas-lighting," but she wasn't crazy, it really was happening. The setting is on a boat and she as a travel journalist is covering it. But she is suffering from paranoia, having been victimized by an apartment break-in, and she keeps getting drunk, so you wonder if what is happening is real or her imagination.
I would recommend the book to mystery lovers. It has solid writing and well-drawn characters. The ending wasn't what I expected but satisfying.
| The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor is based on the historical facts of the shipwreck of the SS Forfarshire in 1838. Sarah Dawson survived but her two children did not. Sarah was saved by the daughter who helped her father tend Longstone Lighthouse, along the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast of England. I couldn't help but think of the song"It is well with my soul." This song was written by the father who lost his children in a shipwreck. How heart-wrenching! The story fast forwards about 100 years to another woman who tends to the upkeep of the lighthouse. The women are related and that's the story. How the stories blend together is the plot. If you like stories about strong, courageous women then you'll enjoy this novel. What I couldn't get over was the coincidence of name choice. The story begins with Sarah Dawson. Dawson was my maiden name. The other story involves a woman by my married name, Harriet Flaherty. Names are fine, but I don't want to be related to any of those tragedies. Please God, no. |
The name of this short story is The Raincoat. The
inspiration for my story is a famous Russian short story, The Overcoat, written by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The Overcoat and Nikolai Gogol have had
a great influence on Russian literature.
In fact, it has been called, “The greatest Russian short story ever
written. The story has been adapted into
a variety of stage and film interpretations.
And here is my humble offering to add to Nikolai Gogol’s inspirational
short story. It’s a sequel to my Faith
and Fido Fables.
It’s now summer and Faith and her rescue cat, Fido,
have been together for 3 months now and Faith has grown to love her little
feline friend.
It’s a good thing Fido is a talker because Faith
would really feel foolish carrying on a conversation to a fur ball. Today, Faith and Fido are on the screened-in
porch planting seeds in small peat pots.
Later, when they’re seedlings, they will go outside in the garden. The
planting was interrupted. Faith was not
entirely surprised because she had seen a man in the neighborhood, going door
to door. “I wonder what he’s selling,”
she thought.
Fido and Faith left the porch to answer the door
bell. It turns out that the salesman was
selling solar panels. “Presently, the
family isn’t interested. Maybe next
year.”
When Faith closed the door, she was surprised to see
that Fido’s fur was up on her arched back, her ears were back and her eyes were
large and round. And she was hissing.
“Good grief, Fido, I get it. You didn’t like that man. Well, he’s gone. Let’s get back to our seeding.”
The rest of the day passed uneventedly. The seeds were all planted. The porch was cleaned up and Fido had had a
busy day sleeping stretched out in the sun.
It was time to start preparing supper.
However, the preparation was interrupted by the
doorbell a second time. Once more, it
was the solar panel salesman. While
Faith greeted the man with a surprised smile, the smile on her face froze midway
because the man quickly stepped over the threshold and reached over to the coat
rack and stole the rain coat hanging there!
It happened so fast that Faith’s smile was still
frozen on her face. It was Fido’s
screech that snapped Faith back to reality.
“What?!?!?”
Faith stepped out and ran across the lawn to the
sidewalk. She wasn’t sure which way the
man ran because he was gone.
“What do you make of that Fido?”
Fido had no response except to make figure eights in
and out and around Faith’s legs.
“I don’t believe what just happened. How strange!”
Faith picked Fido up and caresses her. “I suppose it
could have been worse. He could have
stolen you, Fido.”
Fido purred loudly.
“It’s still bizarre. Why steal a raincoat on a nice,
sunny day?”
After we sit down after Communion the priest will ask us to stand for his blessings. Some announcements might be here, but the deacon or priest will dismiss everyone "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life." In Latin, the priest would have said, "Ite! Missa Est!" (This is where "Mass got the name, 'Mass'".)
The people respond with "Thanks be to God."
Hopefully, you pray this Mass with your heart. When you understand like St. Dominic, and are open for miracles to enter you like Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, your prayer will be a constant dialogue like St. Catherine of Siena, and you will love the Mass so much, you will yearn for it with all your being.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist actually begins when we sit down and put money in the collection basket. This is our tangible gift offering. Remember in the Bible, people were always giving doves, sheep, and lambs for gift offerings. This passing of the basket is the way we do it.
While we are passing the basket, some of the people bring up "gifts" of water, wine, and bread (communion hosts), to the priest. A hymn will be sung while this is going on.
These gifts of water, wine, and hosts will become the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest will take these "gifts" and say prayers and blessings and place them on the altar, where the "consecration" will occur.
The priest will symbolically wash his hands. This symbolizes that we must be free from sin to receive Communion.
Everyone will kneel now because the most sacred part of the Mass is happening. Kneeling acknowledges the presence of God. Beginning here, the priest celebrating the Mass is acting in personna Christi. He will say the exact same words Jesus did, at His Last Supper. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1353 states that the Holy Spirit comes to consecrate the "gifts." These words are "This is my body" in offering the bread and "This is my blood or the chalice of my blood" in offering the wine. If the priest doesn't say these exact words of Jesus, the consecration is not valid. And you should notice that the priest is talking to God the Father, not Jesus, His Son. It is Jesus' sacrifice offered to the Father that the priest is re-presenting. And it is offered for all the baptized people present. Notice the priest using "we," not "I" in the Eucharistic prayers. "Therefore O Lord, we humbly implore You." "Accept, O Lord, the offerings we have brought to honor ..." "...we might come to believe in your Word..." "We proclaim Your Death..."
The priest has over ten different texts to choose from when praying the Eucharistic prayer but he must use Jesus' exact words. During the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer, we pray for the whole Church and our beloved dead.
Finally, we hear the priest ask us to stand and say, "we dare to say." Everyone will pray the Lord's Prayer and give each other the "Kiss of Peace." This "Kiss" is just an acknowledgment of goodwill.
The priest then takes the consecrated host and breaks it. He places a small piece in the chalice. This is to show the unity of the Body and Blood of the Lord with the people and the Church. He then says a prayer known as the Lamb of God or Agnus Dei.
Then holding up the consecrated host, the consecrated host, the priest says, "Behold the Lamb of God..." We the people answer "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." We then get up and go to the altar to receive Communion (the consecrated Body and Blood of Jesus).
After receiving Communion we go back to the pew to pray our own thoughts--thanksgiving and praise. When everyone is finished. The priest goes to the altar and picks up and puts away the receptacles he used for the ceremony (He does the dishes, so to speak.) When the remaining consecrated hosts are placed in the Tabernacle and its doors closed, everyone sits. In my parish, it's a loud clang!
The priest sits too for a brief moment to pray his thanksgiving. There are songs sung during Communion but this varies with the number of people who receive. Some people leave at this point, figuring that the important part is over, but they shouldn't. They should wait for the priest's blessing and maybe there are some announcements. There's a closing hymn, too. It is very rude to leave this early.
Picture the dinner you've been invited to. You've been welcomed and prayed thanksgiving and praises. Now our host is going to tell you some stories. I picture everyone sitting around the table waiting for dinner to be served and talking. The host has center stage and he's a storyteller.
Jesus has invited us to the Passover Seder and His stories are the scriptures. We call this part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word. The reader or lector goes to the ambo (Latin for pulpit or lectern) and reads from a book of scriptures called the Lectionary. A good lector won't just read, he will proclaim. When I read at Mass I prepared my readings beforehand. I didn't want to stumble or mispronounce names. I also wanted my tone to match the tone of the scriptures. The First Reading is from the Old Testament. When I came to the end of the scripture, I pronounced the acclamation The word of the Lord, and all replied, Thanks be to God.
After the First Reading is a Psalm. This should be sung. In place of a Cantor leading the congregation in singing the responsorial psalm, the lector would simply read it. When I was the Lector, I read the psalm. No way I was going to sing. This is a psalm, not a penance.
The Second Reading is from the New Testament. Once again, when the lector finished this reading, the acclamation The word of the Lord, and all replied, Thanks be to God.
Upon finishing the readings, the lector returns to his seat. The congregation will stand and the deacon or priest will go to the ambo to read the Gospel. The Gospel is from one of the four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. This is the high point of the Liturgy of the Word because the Gospels tell the life and teachings of Jesus. It is so special, you will see the people do something with their hands on their foreheads, mouth, and chest. What are they doing? They are saying a prayer to remember the Gospel's teachings. The prayer copies what is prayed before the recitation of the Gospel.
The gesture is a direct imitation of what the deacon (or priest when a deacon is not present) is instructed to do before he recites the words of the holy Gospel. The Roman Missal states, “Then, with the thumb of his right hand, he makes the sign of the cross first on the book at the beginning of the Gospel to be read, and then on himself on the forehead, mouth, and breast.”
Following, the people take their thumb and make the sign of the cross on their own forehead, mouth, and breast, praying:
May the Word of the Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my heart.
A Profession of Faith follows with everyone reciting a creed (statement of faith). The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the Prayer of the Faithful, where we all ask God, on behalf of the Church, and the world to hear our intercessions.
That's it.
We sit and a collection is taken.
Mass is a religious ceremony filled with scriptural references. As we have prepared ourselves to participate in the celebration of the Mass by understanding what goes on, praying, and having the correct disposition, we stand to sing the entrance hymn and respond to the Mass celebrant's greeting and prayers.
The entrance hymn expresses the unity of the people with their variety of voices joining together in communion to make the one voice of the church. St. Augustine says singing is praying twice--so pray as best as you can. God gave you your voice so let Him hear it!
When the procession reaches the altar, the Mass celebrant will greet the congregation. We then collectively ask God to forgive our failings. The priest will bless us:Many think the Mass is confusing. I haven't even got there yet. For the last three days of posting, I've just got myself in the mood, the grove, the correct disposition to pray the Mass.
Following St. Dominic I should, to the best of my ability, understand what I will see before me. I will be prepared for all the Readings. Like St. Catherine of Siena, I've dialogued with God about what's going on with me, and like Blessed Lataste, I'm open to all.
To make it simple, there are three parts to the Mass. Think of the Mass as a supper. It is the representation of the Last Supper, after all. Jesus walks in the room, meets and greets and goes over to the table. The priest in an entrance procession will head to the table/altar. He greets everyone and prays that we are all worthily prepared for Mass.
Isn't this what we do ourselves at special dinners? We come in and the host greets and wishes us well and hopes that the upcoming meal will bring us all together.
Depending on the day, it may be a special occasion, the entrance may be elaborate and singing may accompany the entrance, but essentially we've begun.
Pere Lataste was in for a surprise. Not only did he convert the prisoners, but they also converted him! He was the first to be converted. They did listen to him, intently. Their confessions brought him to tears.
He eventually founded a community of former converted women prisoners. They are called the Dominican Sisters of Bethany. They not only work with prisoners, but orphans, handicapped, children, and the disadvantaged. Their cornerstone, like St. Dominic himself founded, was contemplation. Many of the sisters are contemplative nuns, but there are active branches of apostolic sisters, also.
How Blessed Lataste did this is the same method we are to approach Mass. We go to Mass in the first place because Jesus modeled obeying the religious rules. We go to Mass. But Lataste was open to conversion, and so we approach Mass, not in a bad mood--"Let's get this over with," but open to what Jesus is going to show us.
We won't be judgemental. We will look for surprises. Pray for all to develop a relationship with God.
St. Catherine of Siena is another "go to" model to emulate when it comes to learning to love the Mass. Since she was a child she talked to God. Talking = Praying. Her mystical conversations are in a book called the Dialogue. She talked to God constantly. The central image in the Dialogue is Jesus as a bridge between God and us. The bridge is over a river (think "sin"). Sin keeps us from God. We need to cross the bridge. Follow Jesus over--talk to Him--take His hand. Picture this before Mass. Take Jesus' hand and let Him lead you over the bridge. The two of you can stand arm in arm, contemplating and talking about receiving the Eucharist. What was it like at the Last Supper? Are you there? Where are you sitting? Whom are you talking to? What are you eating? What does the food smell like? What is the noise level? What do you hear? Is there music? Is singing part of this celebration?
Do you see Judas?
What going thru your mind?
What is Jesus eating?
Is He smiling? (at you?)
You are still in the preparation stage of going to Mass. Constantly talk to God. Walking or driving to Mass can be a constant dialogue. Kneeling in the pew--"I'm b-a-c-k." Don't lose touch. Stay in contact. Celebrating Mass with Jesus, what can be better than that?
A Biblical Way of Praying the Mass by Father Tim Gallagher explains how to get more out of the Mass. I was listening to the first part this morning. Father Tim suggests we take a favorite saint and imagine how that saint prepared himself for Mass.
I imagined St. Dominic Guzman. He would pray and study. How would I approach the Mass this way? It's a good idea to imagine St. Dominic because he wouldn't just "go" like some people do and then wonder what was going on. I once brought someone to Mass and sat them in front of the Tabernacle hoping Jesus would lead them. The man took out paper and pen and started taking notes; he expected a long preaching service. Another person, after attending a Catholic wedding said she was glad she wasn't Catholic because her knees hurt and just got comfortable sitting when she had to stand up again.
You can't just walk into Mass and love it. St. Dominic would say "study" it. There are many books written about the Mass: its connection to Jewish traditions, its Biblical origins, and its historical development from the Last Supper. There are missals to follow the Mass in the pews. There are even books for children. You need to understand what you are looking at.
There is a part of the Mass that really needs weekly study, and that's the Liturgy of the Word. You can prepare yourself to listen to the Readings before you attend Mass. I myself belong to a weekly Scripture Sharing group that does just this. It is a great help to appreciate the Liturgy of the Word.
But you want to love the Mass. Understanding it is the first and most necessary step. St. Dominic would also pray. He would probably sing, "Come Holy Spirit". He would pray to be worthy to receive the Eucharist, pray for focus, pray for appreciation, thanksgiving, and worthiness.
All this is done before Mass. The readings for sure are prepared. The praying could start while we are dressing for Mass, or driving, and/or definitely kneeling in our pew prior to Mass.
It's the preparation that turns the heart towards the right disposition to focus on the Mass.
I'll give you my top five:
1. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
2. Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard
3. The Sabbatical by Michael D. O'Brien
4. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.
5 A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
Father John linked the Old Testament to the New, in this morning's homily. Today's homily was about Mary's visit to Elizabeth....
