The Empty Cross

I have a shop in a flea market near where I live. Among the variety of articles that I sell is some religious jewelry that came from a religious goods shop that closed many years ago. I have some crucifixes and also simple crosses that can be worn on a chain.

Not long ago, an elderly woman and her young grandson stopped by and were looking at my selection of crucifixes and crosses. The little boy was pointing out the crucifixes to her, noting that Jesus' body was on the cross.

Grandma explained to the boy that they did not wear crucifixes; only crosses. Their religious faith was concentrated on the Resurrection of Jesus, not His Crucifixion. I thought this was an interesting explanation of a distinction between some Christian denominations and us Catholics who cherish both the Crucifixion and the Resurrection and are not shy about wearing images of the crucified Jesus, as well as medals representing different saints.

I thought Grandma did a nice job of explaining what she believed and I doubt that the child will forget what she taught that day.

All Hallow's Eve

The rain stopped earlier this afternoon, just in time for the children in this subdivision to enjoy an evening of trick-or-treating. I'm glad it cleared up for their sakes. If they felt like I did as a child, this night was a special one where they could dress up in costume and fill their sacks with candy and other goodies...

Yes, I know all the arguments against Halloween trick-or-treating so I'm not going to address those issues. All I want to think about tonight is the fun of knowing that a child can dress up and pretend to be someone totally different than they are in real life. That a child can get a free piece of candy or other treat for no other reason than custom. That for once, the child (with a parent) can knock on a door and expect to get something for nothing.

Actually, the homeowner who answers the door gets quite a treat themselves. I find it interesting to see what types of costumes the children wear. Some are very elaborate. Others are simply thrown together from odds and ends that a parent has around the house. Sometimes, the parents get dressed up too.

When I was a child, we sometimes played tricks. But what tricks!!! Can you imagine the unsophistication of a child who has a wallet or purse attached to a string, who puts the purse on a porch, rings the doorbell and hastily runs to the side of the house to wait for the occupant to open the door. We expected the person who opened the door to be totally surprised that there should be a purse on his doorstep. We wanted him to reach down to pick it up and we would pull the string and snatch the purse from his outstretched hand!!! Did it ever work that way? Nooooo...

Sometimes, bad boys in the neighborhood would soap up a car or move things off a porch... things like that. I don't remember anything really destructive that was done. Sometimes, the local playground which was not far from my home, had Halloween activities too. I spent a lot of time at that playground when I was growing up. There was a woman there who taught crafts and games to us and made sure that we had plenty to do.

I was shocked several years ago when people began finding razor blades and other things in apples and candy bars. Who would want to hurt children like that. Events like that changed trick-or-treating forever. One couldn't just enjoy the evening. Now one had to instruct their children NOT to accept fruit or any unwrapped candy. When my grandchildren brought home their treats, everything was emptied on the table and anything suspicious was discarded immediately. Such a shame that children had to be made aware that some folks do mean things.

Anyway, I was happy to see the few who ventured down my street tonight. They were greeted with a smile from me and a compliment on their costumes and a wish that they have lots of fun tonight. Too soon, these children will grow up to discover a world that is not the carefree world of childhood.

Behind and before, You encircle me...

Recently, Psalm 139 came up as one of the psalms in rotation in the Liturgy of the Hours. I love this psalm. Every time I pray it, I am struck by one or another of its verses. This time it was verse 5, which goes like this: "Behind and before, you encircle me and rest your hand upon me."

It is such a comforting thought to know that our God is so personal to us that He wishes to capture us in His embrace; and to rest His hand on us to guide and direct us...

In times of distress and suffering, He encircles us as a gesture of protection - a promise to us that He will not give us more than we can endure. When we stumble and seem ready to fall, He rests His hand upon us to steady us and give us strength to go on.

In times of temptation, He encircles us with His grace; help that we can accept or not. When we fall into sin and our hearts and souls cry out for mercy and forgiveness, His hand is there to lift us up and bring us back into friendship with Him. We know He has not abandoned us; it is we who have abandoned Him.

We simply cannot fathom the love our Father has for us. Our love for spouse, children, other family members or friends is only a tiny foretaste of the love that our God has for each of us. It is a sacrificial love that allowed His beloved Son to become one of us. And that Son willing to taste death to be the ultimate sacrifice that brought healing to us and to all of creation.

Even then, we were not to be left alone; for the Spirit was promised to us. We believe God's Holy Spirit is with us right now, to guide us in the way we are to go. All we are required to do is to love, to trust... and to encircle in love the people we encounter and to place our hands in theirs to comfort them in their need, just as our God does with us.

Lord, let Your Light shine through us unto everyone we meet.

The Wren's Song

Sometimes, during the summer months, in the early morning soon after I have awakened, a wren begins to sing directly outside my bedroom window. This tiny bird has one of the most beautiful voices in nature; and it is a joy to hear it.

The wren's song is loud and has an intricate and beautiful melody. The wren is calling someone. If you listen closely, away in the distance, one can hear a faint response to its call. As the wren continues to sing, the answering call sounds closer, becomes stronger, as though the second wren is following the call of its mate so that they can be together.

Isn't the wren's beautiful call like God's call to us? God sings His beautiful melody into our souls and desires a response from us.

Our souls try to answer but because of sin, our voices are weak and can scarcely be heard. God doesn't give up though. His beautiful melody reaches us again and again, as we try to put away our sins and come closer to Him.

As I reflect on God's call, I am reminded of another call - the evil song of the Lorelei, whose haunting melody lured sailors and their ships to destruction among the rocks of the river Rhine.

But our God's call is not a call to destruction; but a call to life in Him. The call of the evil one can have no effect on us if our hearts, souls and minds are filled with God's melody.

Gospel Anniversary Concert #18

Well, it's all over! Today we are recuperating from weeks of hard work, music-wise, and so we can finally get rid of the stress that had built up for the past several months in our music ministry. If you recall in August, the gospel choir I am a member of, had to learn the music for and to sing at an ethnic Nuptial Mass at our Cathedral. That Mass turned out to be a beautiful event and we did our part well too.

At the same time, we were preparing songs for our gospel concert that was held yesterday in our parish church. Because we had to learn so much new music for the Nuptial Mass, we limited ourselves to only 2 new gospel songs and a couple of songs we seldom sing at Mass because of various reasons. (Please note, that many of the gospel songs have to be modified a little to make them appropriate for Mass selections.) Gospel music in concert is often very repetitive and it takes time to sing it properly.

In addition to the songs we sang, were songs provided by the five gospel choirs from various Christian churches/groups in the surrounding area. Each sang their three allotted songs. It was a wonderful mixture of different gospel styles and the audience was very appreciative.

My gospel choir began 32 years ago and there are still several of us around who have been members from the early years. We are a mixed group of around seventeen members. And after so many years together, we can sing!

Our concert was the 18th we had celebrated over the years. Because our choir had had a major transition about 2 years ago in losing our director/pianist who had been with us for 13 years, we had no concert last year. We now have a new pianist and our assistant director has assumed leadership of the choir. She is excellent; as is our new pianist, whose wife is a parishioner!

After all the musical festivities, we had food for our guests. All the good stuff that our choir members prepared: deviled eggs, meatballs, fried chicken, glazed chicken, ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, salad platters, cheese platters, cake, and punch... Choir members had decorated the parish hall for the reception and members of the parish helped us serve our guests and ourselves.

It really was a wonderful afternoon. We received many compliments, both for our music, as well as for our repast. You can guess we were exhausted at the end of the day; but we are looking forward to next year when we will do it again!

One of the gospel songs we sang was Hezikiah Walker's Grateful. You can find it here:

Grateful

Other than the fact that Hezikiah Walker's choir is larger, we sound just like this!

Female Deacons?

"Similarly, deacons must be dignified, not deceitful, not addicted to drink, not greedy for sordid gain, holding fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. Moreover, they should be tested first; then, if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

Women, similarly, should be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in everything. Deacons may be married only once and must manage their children and their households well. Thus those who serve well as deacons gain good standing and much confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus." 1 Tim 3:8-13


These verses were taken from the New American Bible and were part of the 1st Reading for the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows celebrated today, September 15, 2009.

I recall reading earlier this year about the possibility of ordaining women into the diaconate at some point in the future. I imagine these verses are part of the "proof" that at one time, women as well as men, filled this role in the Christian community.

I was looking at the footnotes in my bible this morning after I read this passage. Here is what the footnotes in the New American Bible had to say about this verse 11 (with my emphasis):

"Women: this seems to refer to women deacons but may possibly mean wives of deacons. The former is preferred because the word is used absolutely; if deacons' wives were meant, a possessive "their" would be expected. Moreover, they are also introduced by the word "similarly," as in 1 Tim 3:8; this parallel suggests that they too exercised ecclesiastical functions."

I would certainly be in favor of ordaining women deacons. There could surely be no reason to withhold this ministry from women since it obviously was a legitimate one in the early Church. I'd like to know the reason it was suppressed in the first place. I would hate to think it was abolished because the powers-that-be were afraid that women might think they could then aspire to the priesthood...

Well, folks... What do you think?

Something's Missing

I have found it very helpful for my own spiritual life, if I can attend Mass during the week as well as on Sunday. My own parish has only a Wednesday evening Mass which I attend, but I have found that a local Catholic hospital not far from my home has Mass in its chapel twice a week. The hospital is within the service area of a Catholic parish not my own. The pastor celebrates Mass there before going on his hospital rounds. Our little community of about 15 regulars come mainly from the priest's parish, but also from surrounding parishes like I do. We are a congenial group.

So what is the problem?

Although the Mass is celebrated reverently, it is missing some of its little rituals. What has happened to the several drops of water that the celebrant is supposed to pour into the chalice with the wine? The co-mingling of the water and wine. There is no water cruet set out for that or for washing his hands. There is no paten for a larger host; only a plate containing the small hosts. What has happened to the breaking of a consecrated Host and the tiny bit that is supposed to be put into the chalice with the Precious Blood? It doesn't happen as far as I can tell...

It's a pity since these rituals all have a meaning that now is lost to those of us who attend these Masses. However, I am not the one who is going to call the priest's attention to the lack of these rituals. From what I have gathered, he is not happy when he is questioned about certain issues. I am a visitor there so I am just grateful that I can attend these Masses and receive my Lord during the week.