And then, there are moments of joy!
This morning's 11:30 Mass was one of those celebrations where everything comes together as you always hope it will but often doesn't. Of course, God is praised worthily and his holy people nourished by word and sacrament every time they gather to celebrate the Eucharist. But as one charged (ordained) to oversee the Sunday assembly and its prayer, I work hard with the people of the parish and other ministers to prepare a time, a place, a word, a song and a ritual through which God is revealed among us clearly and graciously. The liturgy is like a window. Sometimes the window is clean and sometimes it is smudged by the finger prints of those open and close it. Even when clean, the window allows in less light on cloudy days than on sunny ones - even if the light of a cloudy day is more than enough for the needs of those inside.
Today the window was clean and though it was, indeed, a gray day, the light of scripture and sacrament shone brightly through the window of worship, offering us its warmth and light as God's people gathered on the Lord's day to remember and do what he did in that upper room on the night before he died.
The church was full; the servers attentive; the musical selections wonderful; the lectors prepared and articulate; the people's response resounding; the choir in fine form with several new members!
A woman who had worshipped with us for many years but who has found another community happened to return to pray with us today and she emailed me her impressions later in the afternoon. Her words confirmed my own experience during our community's prayer: we have survived the past 5 difficult years of abuse scandal and parish closings; we bear some scars but we are not defeated; we gather faithfully to be instructed by God's word; we make a joyful sound to the Lord; we continue to depend on the gift of his presence in the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us for the work of the reign of God. The Lord's name in the opening song says it all: Emmanuel - God is with us!
I am blessed to be pastor a parish where such moments are not infrequent but the depth and strength of what I experienced today was a welcome confirmation of the Spirit's work within and among us. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
AMEN.....
ReplyDeleteLet us remember graced moments like what we experienced yesterday when we find ourselves in dessert terrain: during those sparcely-attended worship celebrations, when music and homily do not resonate, when our souls do not find peace - that the Lord is with us even then.
ReplyDeleteNow you're telling me to skip the 930 mass and join the 1130 mass? :)
ReplyDeleteThe earlier mass also had some fine moments of its' own to share:
1) the childrens choir's rendition of "Soon and very soon" was so inspiring it brought a tear to many eyes.
2) your pre children's liturgy blessing was quite enjoyable, and watching that many kids at rapt attention is not a sight to be missed.
3) your rendition of "White Christmas" during your homily was even BETTER at the 930 mass...why? Because we leaked to the "1130'ers" that they were in for quite a treat.
We too, are often away from HFP on Sundays, due to family living out of the area and work related issues...when I walk into HFP after any absence I always have this feeling wash over me that I am "home". It was particulalry poignant yesterday at the 11:30...did you not LOVE Lauren's prelude Breath of Heaven???
ReplyDeleteWelcome, pjjbiker, and thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteI neglected to write about a piece of my experience at the 11:30 which made it a bit different for me than the beautiful experience of the 9:30.
I sometimes preach a homily 4 times over the course of a weekend, fewer times if a deacon is on the preaching schedule or a visiting priest, as was the case this weekend, when I preached only twice.
I find that I don't really "know" my homily until I've preached it once. Saturday nights usually find me doing some edit/rewrite of my text once I've preached it at the 5:00 Mass. Other changes are made as the weekend progresses. There's also development in my comfortability and ease with my text. I believe the more often I preach a text, the better my expression and delivery. (I think our cantors who hear the same homily multiple times would corroborate this.) The 11:30 "edition" of my homily is usually the one I post here and on the parish website. Even, as on this weekend, when I only preach twice, I can notice the difference in homiletic quality and that's part of what contributed to my prayer at the 11:30.
pjjbiker is correct: the ministry of the middle-school choir to our prayer was beautiful! And as I noted in my post, regardless of how well or poorly our liturgical efforts are carried out, the grace and Spirit of God never fail to break through in word and sacrament. So, anonymous 2, above,
is so right in reminding us that the Lord is with us regardless of how many wrong notes we might sing and in spite of a preacher's lack of preparation.
God is praised worthily and his holy people nourished by word and sacrament every time they gather to celebrate the Eucharist
Now I'm full of suspense... having been at the 9:30, what WAS different at the 11:30??
ReplyDeleteAs the testimony above tells us, there was very little different between the two liturgies. I think most of the "difference" was in my own spiritual response and, as evidenced in my comment above, in my own assessment of the homily and its delivery. The last thing I intended to do was to "compare and contrast" the several liurgies on the weekend!
ReplyDelete