Come and See!

When I read this passage from John's Gospel (John 1:46) where Philip invites Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to go with him to meet Jesus of Nazareth, it reminded me of another passage in Scripture where the very same words were used.

Of course, the one I remembered took place after the Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There they found an angel sitting in the empty tomb. The angel told the women not to be afraid; that their Lord had risen. The angel invited them to "Come and see the place where he lay." (Matthew 28:6)

Just out of curiosity, I decided to search for other references for this invitation in the New Testament among the Gospels. I actually found several.

Remember where John the Baptizer and his disciples saw Jesus nearby. John pointed him out and said "Behold the Lamb of God..." Two of John's disciples went over to Jesus and asked him where he was staying. "Come and see..." (John 1:39) Jesus replied. One of those two disciples was Andrew.

Again, we look in the Gospel of John for the death of Lazarus. Remember how Jesus finally travelled to Bethany several days after Lazarus had died. Mary and her friends met Jesus on the road and she fell down at his feet weeping. Jesus asked where they had laid Lazarus and they replied, “Lord, come and see.” (John 11:34)

There were a couple of other references for this phrase outside the Gospels, in Psalm 66:5 and Philippians 1:27. But my interest was in how this phrase was used in the Gospels.

As you can see, something important happened after the person addressed came and saw.

Nathaniel (Bartholomew) and Andrew both became members of the Twelve after meeting this man from Nazareth. Jesus was taken to the tomb of Lazarus where he called Lazarus out from death to life. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary would be the first to witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.

Don't we hear the same call to "come and see" even today in our individual lives? When we respond to God's invitation in a positive way, something wonderful happens...

A Lovely Ethnic Wedding

Last Saturday afternoon, our gospel choir witnessed and participated in a truly meaningful and spirit-filled Nuptial Mass. I doubt that our Cathedral has ever been the scene of an ethnic wedding of such beauty.

Picture if you can, the marriage of an African bride and groom in traditional American white with eleven attendants each. The women were dressed in identical ethnic African clothing with gorgeous head wraps; the men in black suits. Picture a congregation of several hundred people, most of whom wore authentic African clothing in stunning colors and designs. Many of them had come to the States from Africa for the wedding of their family member. Some could speak little or no English.

Our choir members were dressed in black with colorful kente cloth stoles that had been wrapped individually for each of us by one of our choir members who wore her own as a head wrap. We were positioned behind the altar where the organ, piano and the cathedral choirs normally stand. Microphones carried our voices out into the cavernous church.

Picture a Nuptial Mass with African customs woven into the service. I was particularly impressed with the respect given to the Scriptures. Right before the first reading, the Lectionary was processed down the center aisle by a special group of a half dozen or more attendants, again dressed in spectacular African clothing, singing an ethnic hymn complete with drumbeats. The bride and groom read the first reading themselves. It was a reading from the Song of Songs and they alternated reading the appropriate parts for each. Quite beautiful...

Because of time constraints (the Cathedral must have a regular assembly line of marriages taking place on a Saturday during the summer months), some of the music we had learned could not be sung. We followed the lead of our priest who was mindful that we needed to be finished at a certain time. One of the losses meant that the choir was not able to receive Holy Communion with the rest of the congregation since we sang during the whole of that part of the Mass.

There is much more that I could write about this beautiful Mass and wedding ceremony but I think you have probably gotten the picture of what we experienced that day. I am grateful that we were invited to sing this Mass and it is surely one we will not soon forget.

I hope to get some photos of the wedding in the next week or so and when I do, I will place a few of them on this blog.

The Longest Nuptial Mass Ever!

... well, that is what it looks like it is turning out to be; at least for our small choir! We have been asked to sing the Mass in a Catholic Church not our own... with no practice using their equipment. The couple is from Africa and will be doing some traditional things along with the normal Nuptial Mass music.

Some music that we already know is being used; but most of it is new to us. We have learned a new Kyrie, a new Gloria, a responsorial song that we have never sung before though some of us were familiar with the tune. Fortunately, we know the Grayson Brown "Alleluia" and also his "Holy, Holy"... We also are using our Great Amen. A new memorial acclamation; a new Lord's Prayer and a new Lamb of God, a new Communion song. I have no clue who wrote the music for all of these pieces because we had to learn almost everything without written music... not unusual for a Gospel choir... We made up the harmony as we went along. Our musician was writing the notes down as our director was teaching us the tunes!

We also learned a new song for Communion, as well as a special song to be sung after the exchange of rings. Fortunately, the Offertory song is one of our favorites and a second Communion song will be our choice. Thankfully, the processional and the recessional will be done by the professionals at the church. Organ music, surely. A contrast to our piano.

Last night we had a major learning rehearsel for the wedding which will be this Saturday. The music is not as difficult as some music we have learned in the past; but after 3 hours of practice, one is ready to collapse! Tomorrow we will practice for Sunday Mass and then go over the Wedding music again. That will be it!

It will be a beautiful wedding. The music will turn out just fine. Though we are a small group of about 16 (when everyone is available to sing), we have sung together for many many years so we know what to do to make the music memorable.

Good News!

From today's readings: "All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables... "

The Gospel reading was from Matthew (Mt 13:31-35) and concerned the two parables, the mustard seed and the yeast as leaven. I got to thinking about the phrase, "He spoke to them only in parables..." Why only in parables? Of course, the reading says the reason was to fulfill the words of the prophet.

However, I would add another reason too. Just think, if someone came to you and gave you a new teaching that went way beyond what you were familiar with. A bit like Jesus speaking about the Kingdom and that He was the Savior who had been promised. Wouldn't you be a little hesitant about jumping on Jesus' bandwagon. Wouldn't you wonder if Jesus wasn't a little mentally challenged? You might even shake your head and turn away because such talk could get you into trouble. Your immediate response would probably be a NO!

BUT, if Jesus spoke in parables, I might be wondering what He meant. I might begin to think about some possibilities that I had not thought of before. It might come to me more clearly after I had an opportunity to turn these ideas over in my head. Maybe Jesus meant this... Maybe Jesus meant that... What did He mean? I might even go to Him privately and ask Him to explain it a little better. I might begin to see that what Jesus was saying wasn't impossible at all. And when I spoke to Him, I suddenly realized that He was not crazy either. That His words and actions were drawing me in. That He was someone I had been yearning for. That I wanted to be a follower, a believer... and a friend.

This conversion might not have taken place without the mental questioning that a parable evokes. So I am thankful that we have so many instances in the Gospels where Jesus does use parables to instruct us. That's Good News to me!

The Need for Silence Within

Although I am a pretty active person and have been involved in a lot of things for a long time, I am still basically a loner. I am not much of a conversationalist and I use up my "small talk" rather quickly when I am in a crowd. Mostly, I would rather the other person do the talking.

I think I am more of a listener... and the fact that people often come to me to tell me about sad things they are dealing with, bears this out. I think being able to listen is a gift that I received from God long ago. By living through my own experiences, I've been able to empathize with others. I don't doubt for a second, that God is working through me when my words bring comfort to others.

I like to be alone. Not necessarily physically alone, because I am very grateful to have one of my sons living with me. He also likes his own space; so we get along quite well. We are in the same house, but not always in each other's presence. We both like it that way.

But being alone doesn't always mean silence within. It is often difficult for me to meditate at home. Even when I go to my quiet place, I am surrounded by things that I need to do or that bring to mind other times. My thoughts scatter all around before I can tame them into even a semblance of that state where my God might speak to me. Those times when I do reach that silence within, I find it is a state I cannot maintain very long. Nonetheless, I am always grateful for every second...

I would like so much to live near a church that was open during the day. It would be such a treat to be able to open those doors and enter into that sanctuary of peacefulness where Our Lord resides. There, in the quiet of His house, I could much more easily hush the noisy conversations going on in my mind and truly experience the silence within where I could listen for the whisper of His word to me.

But one must do the best one can and so, I will make do with what I have and ask the Holy Spirit to quiet my mind and guide my prayer so that no matter where I am, I will be able to attain what I yearn for so much... that silence of His presence.

The Prayer of the Church

Many years ago, in fact in the latter part of the last century, I bought a copy of Christian Prayer, the single volume of The Liturgy of the Hours. I was in a diocesan program for ministry formation at the time; so the custom of praying this Prayer of the Church was brought to our attention and encouraged.

I found it very difficult to get into the rhythm of the Hours or to understand how to use the book correctly, so eventually I gave it up and put my Christian Prayer away.

During the last couple of months, however, my desire to try to learn this prayer has again come to the fore. From others on the Internet, I learned a little more about how the hours were prayed. I also learned that there was a website called Universalis on the Web, that provided the daily prayers of The Liturgy of the Hours free of charge. I have been using this site for the past couple weeks and I think I now understand much better how this prayer works.

Soooo, I took out my Christian Prayer book and took a second look... Well, the book was as much of a mystery as before. Flipping pages and trying to locate the correct prayers and trying to figure out where to put the ribbons was going to be my downfall again! UNTIL I learned that one simply needed to buy a Christian Prayer guide for a couple dollars and the puzzle would be solved!

I now have the guide. And, I am learning how to make some sense of how everything is integrated in the prayer book. I will also continue to use the Universalis but when I wish to be truly alone in my prayer, I will be able to use the book wherever I might be...

For those of you who have thought of praying the Liturgy of the Hours but have felt it was too daunting a task to learn, have patience with yourself. Look how long it took me! The Holy Spirit surely must have pushed me to try one more time. I must not have been ready the first time; but I hope I am now...

Burdens we place on ourselves...

This morning at Mass, the priest spoke about what God has asked of us. God's only command is that we love Him with our whole being and to love those we come in contact with. It is this simple.

However, because of the baggage we bring with us from past relationships and situations, we are burdened down with much more than is required of us... Loving God and our neighbor becomes entangled with so much of our baggage, that we no longer see clearly God's simple command.

I was really struck by the reality of these words by the priest as they related to my own life. These past several days, I had been sorely troubled about several things. As I listened, it dawned on me that I was burdening myself needlessly. As soon as I realized this, the troubles fell away...

It is always amazing to me how the Holy Spirit works through others and often, in such unexpected ways.