Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Even though I was the only non-Catholic at the RCIA Pre-Catechumenate meeting last night, it was still a good meeting. A woman who was once Lutheran, but became Catholic nearly 40 years ago upon marrying her husband was also there. She was seeking, felt a calling, to learn more about her faith.
The meeting started with one of the hostesses asking what our image of God was when we pray. One woman said that she often imagines Mary when she calls upon her to intercede, but interestingly, when this woman was young, her image of Mary was of the young Mary, the virgin mother Mary, while now her image of Mary is of the older Mary, the Mary of the cross.
We talked about Catholic Tradition, mostly, in a variety of ways. We attend a rather conservative parish. We still ring bells during mass and I asked about it. In the old days, in the big Cathedrals and before Vatican II, the priest used to face away from the congregation during mass and the mass was in Latin... so most people had no idea what was going on. The bells told people that the priest was raising the host.
We talked about incense. One priest was heard to say that the incense covered the body odors of the time. A better answer, by one of our hosts, was that the bells and the incense just help to involve more of our senses with what's going on.
We talked about Mary and how the Catholic Tradition has evolved around her. How outsiders take one look and say, "They are worshiping Mary," and don't understand that Catholics call on Mary and the angels and the saints to intercede on our behalf.
The meeting started with one of the hostesses asking what our image of God was when we pray. One woman said that she often imagines Mary when she calls upon her to intercede, but interestingly, when this woman was young, her image of Mary was of the young Mary, the virgin mother Mary, while now her image of Mary is of the older Mary, the Mary of the cross.
We talked about Catholic Tradition, mostly, in a variety of ways. We attend a rather conservative parish. We still ring bells during mass and I asked about it. In the old days, in the big Cathedrals and before Vatican II, the priest used to face away from the congregation during mass and the mass was in Latin... so most people had no idea what was going on. The bells told people that the priest was raising the host.
We talked about incense. One priest was heard to say that the incense covered the body odors of the time. A better answer, by one of our hosts, was that the bells and the incense just help to involve more of our senses with what's going on.
We talked about Mary and how the Catholic Tradition has evolved around her. How outsiders take one look and say, "They are worshiping Mary," and don't understand that Catholics call on Mary and the angels and the saints to intercede on our behalf.
