I
acknowledge that in terms of spirituality I may be considered to be a
kind of strange mix. To some, what I am about to write might sound
more like religion than spirituality. But I ask for your patience
and grace as I plunge into this. And when you have finished reading, please know you are welcome to add your thoughts!
 |
| Cathedral Nossa Senhora do Paraíso of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the city of São Paulo, Brazil |
I
went to church this morning, to the Roman Catholic parish where my
wife and I most frequently attend. I didn't grow up Catholic (and I
am not a member of the Catholic Church), but I have come to find
deeply meaningful what I call “liturgical worship.” with its clear,
repeated patterns, read prayers, and balance between “word and
sacrament.”
Someone
commented to me recently, referring to Catholic worship: “That's
pretty conservative, old fashioned stuff, isn't it?” And, yes, in
some ways it is. But that's part of what attracts me. The Liturgy
traces its roots all the way back to the earliest Christian
communities in the centuries immediately following the time of Jesus.
It has certainly been adapted over the millennia, and yet in many
ways it has retained the flow and spirit of the most ancient
practice.
I
like the sense of movement that the liturgy invites us to journey
through each week, from welcome, to confession, to the Gloria,
to hearing the Word, to the profession of faith and community
prayers, to celebration of the Eucharist, to the concluding blessing,
and finally the dismissal to “go in peace to love and serve the
Lord.” No matter where one attends a Catholic (or Episcopal or,
with some further elaboration an Orthodox) worship, the path one
follows is a known path and it is this familiarity that I appreciate.
Something else I value in the Liturgy is that it retains a sense of
mystery
that is so often missing in our modern, technological-scientific
world (and, I might add, in my experience in most Protestant
services). By “mystery” I mean the acknowledgment and experience
that reality is deeper, more complex than the empirically-focused
knowledge that predominates in our modern world. It is not that I
don't take the latter seriously. In fact my own life view is very
much informed by the modern sciences, however I also affirm that
there are dimensions of knowledge and truth better attributed to
“Spirit.” Finally, what I value in the Catholic Liturgy is the
space allowed for silence. In the midst of the community's
expressions of praise, belief, and petition there are moments open to
quiet and listening/reflection. This mix of the known path, the
sense of mystery, and moments of stillness create for me a time not
simply of rote ritual or of a social gathering, but an opportunity
for the journey
inward.
So,
there is a part of me that values and finds spiritual meaning within
traditional1
Christian2
liturgical practice. On the other hand, I am very much a person of
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as well. So, to be fully
meaningful for me, worship and teaching must make modern sense and
must speak to the realities of our modern world! And so while I may
be a traditionalist in some ways liturgically, I am not a
traditionalist in terms of how I approach scripture. I will pick up
this part of the story in my next posting.
1 While
I find worship in the Catholic tradition to be very meaningful, I
have multiple and deep concerns around questions of authority and
the hierarchy in the Catholic Church. I will leave that discussion
though for another day.
2 As
I have stated before, my choice to name myself a Christian
should not be understood as an exclusivist stance. I value, have
certainly learned from, and am committed to being in serious
dialogue with persons who stand firmly but openly in other faith
traditions as well.