The ancient image of ekklesia will also help us to see the contents of our liturgies more clearly. We do not gather as individual consumers come to a priestly distributor of religious goods. We come to do a communal thing, to be a people, to receive a common vocation, to be a tangible representation of the… Continue reading The Power of Ekklesia
Month: March 2017
Assembly As Basic Symbol
According to the classic description of this basic symbol, then, this meeting is not - or ought not be - a crowd, a cheering section, a gathering to hear a lecture or a sales pitch, an audience. It is not a collection of consumers come to an expert, a gathering of the uninvolved come to… Continue reading Assembly As Basic Symbol
Review: Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life
Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life by Timothy P O'Malley My rating: 4 of 5 stars Unlike his previous book, this volume by Timothy O'Malley has a more personal feel, featuring a deep and insightful reflection on the various ritual units that constitute the celebration of the Eucharist, that liturgical event… Continue reading Review: Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life
Transforming The World
The Prayers of the Faithful represent a vision of the Christian in the world that should not be forgotten by the Mass-goer. We don't leave behind our material and historical realities when we got to Mass. We don't got to Mass to escape from the sorrows of the word, as if Church is a safe… Continue reading Transforming The World
The Unfolding Yet Hidden Glory of God
The first two lines of the Gloria are in fact essential to understanding what takes place at Mass. In this small parish church, where the lives of men and women unfold over the years, the Word still becomes flesh. God's glory appears in the reading of Scripture, in the body of Christ assembled, in the priest's… Continue reading The Unfolding Yet Hidden Glory of God
Going To Mass
Going to Mass is not fundamentally about my unique spiritual experience, but about giving over part of myself in love to all other believers so that together we can manifest Christ's love for the world. Even if I'm distracted by work, dealing with a sick toddler, or more interested in watching a football game later… Continue reading Going To Mass
Allowing Boredom In
Our fear of boredom is in fact most perilous to fruitful participation in the Mass. It often seems that what we desire most in the celebration of the Mass is an occasion to be entertained. We want a homilist who can make jokes and tell engaging stories about his life. We want music that is… Continue reading Allowing Boredom In
Review: Revelation
Revelation by C.J. Sansom My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another classic mystery thriller from the pen of CJ Sansom sees his hero, Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and one time radical believer in Christian reform, thrown into the midst of a series of brutal, nay horrific, murders that seem to draw 'inspiration' from the Book of… Continue reading Review: Revelation
Continually Gathered and Scattered
For those who have a sense of the liturgy, the use of the terms 'gathered' and 'scattered' in connection with the Church should have immediate resonance. This is because, at the very heart of what the Church celebrates each and every Sunday, is the gathering and scattering of the community of the People of God,… Continue reading Continually Gathered and Scattered
Not Traditional? I Don’t Think So!
One of the most misunderstood and misused words found in the language and rhetoric of the contemporary Catholic Church is the word 'traditional'. It is a word that, when used in the wrong context, often drives me to distraction, mostly because of the judgement often implied in its use. I say that because I consider… Continue reading Not Traditional? I Don’t Think So!
Review: Sovereign
Sovereign by C.J. Sansom My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the third book in the Matthew Shardlake series of novels and is set chronologically during the Great Progress of King Henry VIII north towards York. Faced with the usual conspiracies that beset Tudor England under Henry's reign, Shardlake finds himself attached to the… Continue reading Review: Sovereign
Review: Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism
Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism by Robert E. Barron My rating: 4 of 5 stars This collection of pithy essays is exactly as was promised in the Foreward: little gems whose facts shine brightly in the eyes of the reader. Grouped into five broad categories - 'Sin and Mercy', 'Reason and Faith', 'Matter and… Continue reading Review: Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism
