The Crowds Will Be Amazed!

Today's Readings

"Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech." - Jeremiah 7:28

I promise not to go on and on about the evils of the world, and its inability to allow God to coexist with its "reasoned" thoughts, but I am very entertained by a connection made in today's readings. If you're new to the GregBlog, I have made it my goal to begin each day with Morning Prayer and some reflection on the day's Mass readings as outlined by the Lectionary of the Church.

Today's connection begins with the Prophet Jeremiah dealing with the very same reality that I believe is prevalent in our society today. We have relegated God to stay within the four walls of Churches, not allowing Him to be part of the collective dialogue of life. We're very uncomfortable when someone tries to sneak Him into a conversation. Many would prefer to have "the word itself banished from their speech" (Jer. 7:28) The Psalm celebrated today, is what some would call common for the season of Lent, "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." (cf. Psalm 95: 8-9) This, of course, is built on the assumption that God is always speaking to us, and that when He does speak, we should try to listen.  Now for the fun part... Today's Gospel reading begins with the verse, "Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed." (Luke 11:14)  It's another one of Jesus' healings, and it offers us some motivation.  The best way to ensure that God is part of our world, is to talk about it!  The Prophet predicted the dilemma well, and God continues to be removed from the day to day discussion of life, but the Psalmist offers the no-brainer solution:  Allow God to be God, as He will speak when He darn well pleases.  Our task is to simply listen, and then share!

Yesterday, I offered four areas that relate to our role as disciples: Proclamation, Witness, Dialogue, and Liberation.  (These come from a DVD lecture entitled Discipleship from NowYouKnowMedia.com, presented by Fr. Anthony Gittins, C.S.Sp., M.A., Ph.D.)  Notice that three of the four could involve speaking, with the fourth (liberation) serving as a positive outcome to allowing the "speech" to be made.  I would like to offer that in light of today's readings, we commit ourselves (believers or not) to allowing God to BE, and be part of the discussion of life... That's all.  Just let Him be a part of the conversation.  If you're a believer in God's Mission, and in Jesus' ability to evangelize the Good News, then you know that all shall be well.  God's plan is one of patience and persistence.  When it is part of the dialogue, "the crowds [will be] amazed." (LK 11:14)  If God threatens your comfort zone, just by the mere presence of His name, try and relax... There's no hidden agenda; in fact, it's actually quite public!  

One final note:  At the risk of trying to sound like a mini-prophet, woe to you who use God, and His holy name to justify sin, or make people feel uncomfortable about their place in this world.  In your proclamation, witness and dialogue, give them peace, faith, hope, and love.  Allow God to do the liberating!

The NEW Missal Makes a Direct Hit

This past weekend, the New Roman Missal made a direct hit on english-speaking parishes around the world. A new and what is thought to be a more vibrant and formal translation of the Mass landed in a pew near you. I am sure that some of my initial observations in my own parish are very similar to what greeted the Church around the world...

A LITTLE CONFUSION, BUT CERTAINLY NOT CHAOS:  Like most parishes, ours has a new hymnal with everything you need to follow along.  We've even added the follow along,  "red letter marks the changed language" script and the Mass Music Assembly Booklet.  Its all there, and its probably a tad too much to navigate, but it seemed to have taken only a small portion of the hour for folks to figure out where to look and what to follow.  The fun part was watching the faces of many, many well intended people simply fall back into the routine... "The Lord be with you"... And also with y--, oh.. um... your... And with your spirit!" :)

EVERY BIT OF THE PREPARATION WAS WORTH EVERY SECOND:  I'm sure many parishes within the Church worked very hard for many, many months to prepare for the weekend debut of the New Missal.  Some chose to begin practicing months ago, and others have been studying the reasons behind the changes for a year.  Our parish, like many others, worked throughout the last year praying and deciding on what to do, but began the using the new translation only within the past few weeks, focusing on the Gloria, the Confiteor, and the Nicene Creed.  We made the decision not to debut any new music until this past weekend as well.  I believe that like us, the parishes who waited until the official start time of this past weekend to "do the new Mass" were treated to the value of what comes with that newness and how it compliments the season of Advent.

"WHAT ABOUT THOSE BELLS?"  There a certainly a few nay-sayers in the pews, and some people that just aren't happy with the changes in the New Roman Missal.  Our parish has maintained a relatively "middle of the road" approach when it comes to celebrating the Mass.  The ringing of the bells has not been a usual practice at my parish.  While the use of the bells is certainly NOT part of the change of the Roman Missal, in other words, it is not a required element within the liturgy; adding the ringing of the bells at the two "elevations" of the Eucharistic Prayer came as a little bit of a shock to many in our congregation.  I would say that 85%-90% were pleasantly shocked, and enjoyed or could live with their return.  But like the usual "Bell Curve" (no pun intended), 10% just couldn't believe it.  When confronted by the unhappy, I was challenged to have to defend their re-placement within the liturgy because frankly I don't lose too much sleep over such things, but this is a great example of just how much we have to respect the 10%.  No, this isn't some "Occupy Rally", it's just a simple fact.  Many of our faithful, truly thought through, and have owned their style of worship.  No amount of training or prep classes in understanding the "New Stuff" was gonna make things any easier for these folks.  Their Mass was giving way to a new Mass!  One of our staff members put it quite nicely.  "I am now feeling what some of the older folks must have felt when I was younger, and those changes in the Missal "turned everything around".

So, I'll end by saying that while change is difficult, it is a part of growth, and that is exactly what's happening here... We, the living Body of Christ continues to grow!  We seek to perfect our worship because that's what is asked of us... Not by the Vatican, but by God.  We were created to love and worship Him.  He who fashioned us from the dust, and gave us the breath of life, has given us a chance to express our faith in the best way we know how... And that is what we'll do!

50 Ways to Get Through Easter... BLOOM!

Today's Readings

This GregBlog is part of a series called "50 Ways to Get Through Easter".  Originally posted in 2010, it follows the reading in Cycle C of the Church Lectionary, the same cycle we're on for this year... Pretty cool eh?  In the wisdom of the cycle, old becomes new again!  Kinda "Easter-ish" isn't it?  Enjoy!

“When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene... She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16: 9-15)

Today’s word: Bloom!

Its hard to deny a BLOOM. When a tree is in bloom, you can’t say it’s not recognizable, especially if its the first bloom of the season! When a flower appears, you can’t say that it is not noticeable , because the color just seems to jump out at you! You’d have to have your eyes closed not to notice!

Today’s Gospel has a few folks trying to tell the “Good News” of the risen Lord, and just like blooms on a tree, or the the first flowers in the garden, Mary Magdalene, and a couple of guys on the road to the country try to share the miracle they have seen, but no one believes. Why is it that the disciples can’t see the obvious? Why are these “blooms” of spring not evident? Their eyes are closed!

It was only at the table with the Lord, who by the way is rebuking them for not seeing, that the truth is revealed! He then invites the disciples, and ultimately us to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” How do we do this? As the saying goes, “Bloom where your planted!” Speak the message of life, and show your stuff just like the season’s first bloom... They’ll see ya’! So, BLOOM, and show off a little! You have good news for the world!