First Communion 127/365

Last Sunday was First Communion at the little local Catholic Church we've been going attending.  It was the first time I've ever seen a "First Communion" service and I thought it was sweet.

Communion is something that both Protestants and Catholics do, but we do it very differently. Actually, even within the Protestant faith there are many different ways and views of taking communion. Which I've always found rather ironic since the word "communion" basically means unity.

In the Catholic faith it is taught that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus, and the wine actually becomes the blood of Christ. Catholics take Communion every time they go to church. To them, they are literally taking into themselves the body and blessing of Jesus Christ.  They go to great lengths and pains to make sure they never drop a crumb or spill a drop.

Protestants believe a wide range of things about Communion. Some believe it's just a symbol, an act we preform at church to remind our selves of Christ sacrifice. Others believe it's more than just a symbol, that something spiritual happen when we take Communion.  Some Protestants take Communion every Sunday, some take it on the first Sunday of every month, and still other hardly take it at all (I went to one church that only took it three times a year).

When William and I were in Prague on our honeymoon we learned that for centuries the churches in that city would fight and even kill each other over how to take communion and what to believe about it.

(Picture we took in Prague of a church that changed hands several times between "we want to drink the wine" and "only the Priest takes the wine" groups)

One thing we all do agree on though, is that it's a special thing we do to honor and show our faith and love for Jesus. 

The Catholic church has a very long process of classes one must take in order be presented to the Priest for their First Communion.  These adorable second graders have been studying and learning for about a year in preparation for this special Sunday morning.

Whatever you believe about God or Communion, you have to agree that these 
kids look so sweet all dressed up in their white dresses and tiaras and veils (some even had family veils handed down through the family) and suits and ties.

Mercy 111/365

William says that praying pre-written prayers is like cooking without spices.  It gets the job done and sometimes it's good, but it's also bland.

That may be true, but sometimes when I don't have the words pray on my own it's helpful to have those written prayers. Especially when the written prayers make you think about and ask for things that are really rather difficult to pray on our own.

The following is a prayer written by Saint Maria Faustina (1905 - 1938). We prayed in a special service I went to on Sunday afternoon.

It touched me and challenge me:

Oh Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my blood pulsates in my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.

I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, o Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that  of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbor' souls and come to their rescue.

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors' needs and not indifferent to their pains and moanings.

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

Help me, O Lord, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in service of my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even to the who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

You yourself commanded me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy - if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer - if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.
O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for you can do all things.

(Diary, 163)

Good Friday and Holy Saturday 102 -103/365

Good Friday is the day that Christians celebrate the day that Jesus died on the cross.  If you've never been to a Good Friday service at a Catholic church I highly recommend it. If you've never kissed the foot of the cross...you should.

Holy Saturday is the day that we "wait at the tomb" for Christ to rise from the dead.  Protestants don't do anything for Holy Saturday but Catholics really know how to celebrate our Lord.

If there's one time you ever visit a Catholic church I would recommend this service. It's hold after dark and starts with a bonfire and a "blessing of the fire." How can anything that involves fire not be awesome.

Blessing the Fire

A candle light service

"This is the night when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night when Christians everywhere are washed clean from sin and freed from all defilement, are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night, when Jesus broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. "

The fire is let to burn it self out

This is also the night when all the decorations and candles and holy symbols are put back at the front of the church and the crucifix and other statues in the church are unveiled (they were covered all week and at a very joyful time in the service all the covers were ripped off. it was very fun).

The over all theme of the night was the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus and the joy of knowing him and having salvation in him. It was beautiful and reminded me of why I believe what I believe.

Holy Thursday 101/365

My day started with the Fed Ex man. I went out to meet him when he drove up and carried in a very nice sized box. In the box was this beautiful package. Apparently this is my birthday gift from my mom. But my birthday isn't for 2 more weeks!!
That means I have to stare at this lovely thing for two weeks!

It's currently sitting on the breakfast table where I can stare at it all day long, and William says I'm not even allowed to touch it. Sigh. It is really beautiful.

In other news, and most importantly, today is Holy Thursday.  I'd never heard of Holy Thursday before this year but Catholics world wide observe and celebrate it every year. It's the Thursday before Easter and it celebrates the night Jesus had his "Last Supper" with his friends.

I went to my first Holy Thursday mass tonight and it was wonderful. I don't know if all Holy Thursday masses are celebrated the same way everywhere but I would totally recommend checking it out sometime. It was a much longer service than the usual one hour service, but it was very uplifting and very interesting.

When I walked into the church they handed me a little sliver bell. At the beginning of the service we sang a very happy "Hallelujah" song and every one in the church rang their bells. They ran them all very loudly and vigorously. It was super fun.

Apparently during the time of Lent no bells and rung and all the masses are very somber. It's a time of reflecting and there are no bells or celebrating. So when Holy Thursday comes around it's the first time that bells are rang and it's a time of celebrating. It's a time of remembering the first time Jesus gave his disciples the Eucharist (or what Protestants call Communion). 

Anyway, the night before Jesus was killed he had dinner with his friends and he washed their feet as a sign of love and service to them. So, after the Priest gave his homily he washed the feet of all 11 alter boys. It was very sweet and very moving. He then gave communion to each boy before serving it to the rest of the people in the church.

After communion the rest of the crackers, which represents Christ and to Catholics is the actual body of Jesus, was taken out of it's special holding place, wrapped several times in very lovely fabric and carried out of the church building! Then, after a while, the priest came back and took everything out of the front of the church. All the candles removed, the drapery on the alter, the decorative tables, even the flowers were taken away. And then they turned out the lights.

They told us that "Jesus had left the building".

On the night before Jesus was killed he had dinner with his friends and then he went to a garden to pray for his friends.  So tonight the church created a little garden in the school gym with flowers and candles. After the official mass was over many of us when home. But many people stayed to pray, think, or read spiritual books.  They told me that "the garden" would be open till midnight and anyone was welcome to come and "be with Jesus".

It was a very interesting night and I came home on a high. It was totally different than anything I've ever experienced before. I loved sitting there watching the priest fold the drapery from the alter and thinking about how the same thing was happening in catholic churches all over the world.  It was a night of being somber and prayerful but also of being joyful and thankful.

At the end of the service everyone returned their bells, but I brought mine home for Baby Girl since she stayed home with William.  I thought she'd really like it and I wanted to share something of my night and this wonderful service with her.

If they could see how happy this little bell made her I'm sure no one would mind that I took it. She ran around saying "BELLLL" and shaking it and giggling...

and then she put it on her nose and ran around the house laughing until she dropped it.

Happy Holy Thursday. My the love and peace and joy of the gifts God has given us be in your heart and enrich your life.

Ash Wednesday 58/365

Today is Ash Wednesday. This morning we got up early and went to the 8am mass at St. Patrick's Catholic church and the Priest put ashes on our foreheads.

Many Protestants have the misconception that only Catholics celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent. But actually the Methodists, Presbyterian, Lutherans and Reformed churches also honor Ash Wednesday with the wearing of ashes on the forehead.

My favorite part about Ash Wednesday, apart from the time to reflect on the past year and look forward to "spiritual spring" and Easter, is that the ashes are made from the palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday.  I like that the palms from such a joyful Sunday come full circle and help us prepare for the reflective time of Lent.

When the Priest put the ashes on our foreheads today he said "Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." This always reminds me that I need to live a more deliberate life. It reminds me that life is short and that I want to think about what I do more. Instead of just drudging threw thoughtlessly.  


But today it meant something so much more. I'm not sure if I can put into words how I felt about it. But then they put the ashes on Baby Girl's forehead and said to her "Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." I felt very sad.  I know I'm not perfect, I know I'm human. But Baby Girl is so perfect to me. I don't want to think about her life being short. I don't want to think about her being human. She's my little Angel from heaven. 

Well enough of all that heavy stuff! After naps and food we went out and played with the goats. Played in the mud. And got stuck in the rain. It was a wonderful day.