The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI)
This month's edition of Christianity Today has a great article on the liturgy. Check it out. I hear the book this article is adapted from is pretty good too. Anybody read it?
One of the first times I was at Mass at Gethsemani, I was struck by a particular part of the Mass.
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;This portion of the Mass occurs during the Communion Rite itself. As the Church moves closer to receiving the body and blood of Christ, we pray the words of the Lord's Prayer together. Then the priest prays this beautiful prayer:
thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Priest: Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
All: For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.I love that prayer. It strikes close to home for me. It speaks to me every single time I hear it. It's a prayer worth wrestling with. I find it interesting that it asks the Lord to grant us peace and to protect us from all anxiety as we wait for Jesus to return. Let me tell you, when the priest utters that prayer, I pray it as hard as I can. I mouth those words. As I walk down front and receive the bread and wine, I'm reminded again that He is the one who brings healing. I take Him inside of me and pray that I may be able to rest in His peace.
Pax.
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that is may reach the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (From the Book of Common Prayer)
Tomorrow the church remembers Pentecost. We remember the Holy Spirit being sent to be our Comforter. I've been enjoying the readings in the daily Office as they have focused on the Holy Spirit. You see, I've been thinking about the Holy Spirit quite a lot any way. More specifically, I've been wondering about how the Spirit may interface with our brain. I know that sounds weird but stay with me.
Over the last several weeks, I've been learning about the brain. You see, I have a lot of interest in how our brain works and what kinds of things affect our moods, our feelings, etc. From what I understand, when a person is born the brain is the most undeveloped organ in the body. Early in life, both "nature" and "nurture" impact how our brain becomes "wired". Daniel Siegel in his book entitled The Developing Mind writes this about brain development:
The activation of neural pathways directly influences the way connections are made within the brain. Though experience shapes the activity of the brain and the strength of neuronal connections throughout life, experience early in life may be especially crucial in organizing the way the basic structures of the brain develop. For example, traumatic experiences at the beginning of life may have more profound effects on the "deeper" structures of the brain, which respond later to stress. Thus we see that abused children have elevated baseline and reactive stress hormone levels. More common, everyday experiences also shape brain structure. The brain's development is an "experience-dependent" process, in which experience activates certain pathways in the brain, strengthening existing connections and creating new ones. (page 11).
So, if that's true, that means our experience of the Church, (through the community of believers, through the Eucharist, through the preaching of the Word, through the hearing of Scripture, etc.), could all somehow, coupled with the work of the Spirit, actually bring changes to our brain. That's a bit strange to think about.
I'm sure I'm greatly oversimplifying things but this entire subject fascinates me. It also gives me hope that as time goes on, my brain too can change in such a way that my anxiety and depression won't be such big deals in my life. Will I ever have a time I won't still struggle some in these areas? I have no way of knowing that. All I know is that I am slowly changing and things are getting better. I may not understand how it all works but I do know who is responsible for it. God is with me and His presence sustains me and holds my life together.
The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia.
-- He sustains all creation and knows every word that is spoken, alleluia.
Heather and I drove down to the Abbey of Gethsemani yesterday for my monthly LCG Meeting. It was fun having her along. I did all the usual stuff: attended our LCG group meeting, went to Mass and stayed for a potluck meal. Fr. Michael passed along a great little article to us called The World Is Their Cloister which was published in The Tablet. The article talks about the increasing numbers of lay people who are interested in connecting to monastic life. I'm not exactly surprised by that--people are looking for deep, time-tested ways of being formed and find a lot of good wisdom in the monastic tradition.
I hope monasteries like Gethsemani will continue to add new vocations. Yet, it's hard to ignore the exponential growth of lay groups like the LCG. I believe the Holy Spirit is spreading the charism of monastic life around. It'll be interesting to see how monastic life changes over the next several decades.
Pax.
Today we remember Christ's Ascension. I looked up today's collect in the BCP. (Of course, I thought it would be interesting to lookup the definition of collect, because I'm a liturgical nerd. Wikipedia has some pretty interesting info. on it here).
From the Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Please offer prayers for Little Portion Monastery. Their chapel and common center burned to the ground last night. Their library was lost along with their community archives. John Michael Talbot writes:
We lost some most valuable things in the fire. Our community archives were lost and all of the books in our library. The Troubadour stockroom and inventory were lost to the flames. All of the various awards received were melted in the intense heat of the fire. We have some back-ups from computers, but nothing current. It is our hope that most of this is covered by our insurance.God gave members various words or locutions. I shared that God is stripping us back to what is really essential to our way of life and that we will rebuild with greater efficiency, but in stone. Someone got the image of Gideon, who was repeatedly told by the Lord that he needed fewer men, but men well-prepared for battle. Another said that she got a word that God is with us through this trial. These served to inspire us and to keep our spirits hopeful and filled with faith, hope, and love. I believe we may have lost some buildings, but He will make us stronger for going through this together.
You can see photos here.
Pax.
Listening to Johnny Cash, American III, Solitary Man.
I just finished ordering coffee from Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee. I'm the self-appointed "coffee guy" at St. Patrick's. If you need coffee, I can help! I'm always entertained at how people perk up when you hand them a bag of fresh roasted coffee at Mass. Word and Table (and coffee!) - it doesn't get better than that! It doesn't hurt that Land of a Thousand Hills is doing some wonderful work in Rwanda. You should read more about them on their website.
The weekend was "full" but fun. Heather and I went to a party Friday night at the Olson's and again on Saturday night at Fr. Peter's house to celebrate Trudi's birthday. Sunday morning was filled with our Priory meeting and sharing life. It was all very good. Even more exciting, we're thinking about a name for our little Priory. Names of Catholic saints are encouraged, especially those of the Celtic variety. Suggestions?
By the way, Kyle has been writing about Saint Patrick's Monastery in a series of posts on his blog. You should check them out.
Saint Patrick's Monastery: To De-Pimp and Re-Monk the Church
Saint Patrick's Monastery: Benedictine Monasticism and Celtic Mission
Saint Patrick's Monastery: More Monastic Values
Saint Patrick's Monastery: Matters of Organization
Saint Patrick's Monastery: Relationships
Saint Patrick's Monastery: The Abbey and the Wider Church
Good, good stuff. I'm pleased to be a part of it.
I guess that's about it from here.
Pax.
I've been a reader of Real Live Preacher's blog for some time. One of the best blogs out there today, in my opinion. He's written a great reflection on his experience of depression and medication. Check it out.
Also, Gordon wrote quite a bit about his depression a couple of years ago. One such blog entry can be found here.
I'm thankful that he has had the courage to write about his journey. It's encouraging to me.
Pax.
I've been journaling fairly faithfully since 2004. I bought a Moleskine journal and have been using them ever since. It's interesting now to go back and read what I wrote four years ago. I guess that's one of the values of keeping a journal - one can see the challenges of life from several years ago: prayers and petitions, moments of joy and times of deep sadness. It's all there.
It's interesting to me that on the very first page, in the very first entry, I write about my anxiety. Clearly, it was a part of my life in 2004 and now I recognize that it's been there for a much longer time than that. On the second page, I find these quotes:
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am faithful: save the servant who trusts in you.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul.
Yes, even back then I took great comfort in the Psalms. They continue to play a vital role in my daily prayers.
There are good memories here too. Memories of a good vacation in Gatlinburg, TN in June of that year. Interestingly enough, the first mention of my friend Kyle was made on June 9 at a VBCC cookout at Alan's house. Looks like he was talking about his internship in an Episcopal Church in TX. I guess this may have been the first time I had met Kyle. As I've told him before, it was almost like he just "appeared" and quickly became a part of our lives.
2004 was the year I discovered Thomas Merton, a monk of Gethsemani Abbey. Little did I know the influence this man would have on my life. I could go on and on. I suppose 2004 was a fairly important year. I hold the memories here, recorded in my handwriting.
Several Moleskines later, I'm still writing. Trust me, I've done a LOT of writing over the last sixteen months. There's a lot of hurt there. Deep darkness. But then again, that's life, and at least, it's honest. In the end, it's good for me to go back and see where I've been. I see God's faithfulness in these pages and certainly His love. That's a good reminder.
Pax.
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