August 17, 2022
Thought for Today
"So the church has become a spetacle of marvelous beauty, overwhelming to those who see it, but to those who know it by hearsay altogether incredible. For it soars on high to match the sky, and as if surging up from amongst the other buildings it stands on high and looks down on the remainder of the city."
Procopius [AD c. 499-565]
Byzantian administrator and historian
of the church of the Hagia Sophia
August 16, 2022
Reflection
THE GREATEST SIN
Every once and a while I notice some writer saying, "The greatest sin is ...."
Unfortunately, I forget to write down what that writer said.
If I did, I'd have a collection by now.
I spotted another one last week, but in the rush of work, I didn't jot it down.
My favorite is: "The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person."
Is it?
Wouldn't it be enlightening to walk into a waiting room - or a meditation room - and there on the wall were 16 or 20 framed sayings, "The greatest sin is ...."
Wouldn't it be neat to have in a church a side room with exactly that - with some wooden benches for people to sit and ponder - and pray - on the words on the walls in that room?
I don't know who the author is of the I like the best so far.
"The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person."
I know I've seen several so far in my life.
Let me try a few of my own I can come up with right now - to get me to be more alert - in spotting them as I go through the rest of my life?
The greatest sin is laziness - leaving Lazarus - hungry at my doorstep.
The greatest sin is greed - grabbing pension funds - hoarding - holding onto what could help another.
The greatest sin is not facing our own sins - but only spotting others sins - and then throwing "tch - tch - tch" stones at them.
The greatest sin is coldness - lack of compassion - lack of concern - lack of anger at injustice and cruelty - and then peeing on those below us - on the ladder of life.
The greatest sin is a lack of gratitude and appreciation towards those who made us who we are today: God, parents, family, teachers, church, synagogues, mosques, temples, schools, friends, grandparents, wisdom figures, etc.
The greatest sin is not laughing, not crying, not clapping, not communicating, with those next to us on the bus, the train, the plane, the benches of life.
A smaller sin would be not reflecting upon all of this.
August 15, 2022
Reflection
THE ALTAR
By turning the Mass around, by turning the priest around, by turning the altar around, the altar becomes much more prominent.
Yet, it has taken me time - standing there - to understand its mystery and its moments.
Where does one begin?
I don't know.
Was it smoke rising upwards - when we humans were burning sacrifices - to The Power Behind Everything?
Was it place?
Did certain places have the grab? Were humans looking for the perfect pace or a good place to sacrifice an animal - to let go - and let GOD do God stuff for them. If they made the sacrifice on stones, did those stones become the same place to take and eat the meat of sacrifice in communion?
Did the place where all this takes place become sacred? Or did folks keep searching for the "right" place for all this to take place?
I would think stones - rocks - were the first altars - and the only altar. Somehow stone does it.
When did wood enter into the mix, like when the Christian Last Supper was celebrated on wood? Was it at a table?
As a kid, as an altar boy, I heard the Latin sentence and I understood it at the time,
"Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutum mei."
"I will go to the altar of God, to the God, who gives joy to my youth,"
I hope and pray at 66 and 66 plus - when l return to the altar of God - I will return with the joy of my youth.
In the meanwhile calls for sacrifices are made.
Joy is an after taste.
Joy is a result.
Joy is the echo of God within us - as someone said.
So I do feel joy as I come to the altar each day - the joy of my youth.
I knew as a kid, I unconsciously did not want to be a grouchy old man.
I'm not.
I celebrate with joy at the altar each day - and I hope that joy like smoke will always rise up to You, O Lord.
August 14, 2022
Reflection
THE PAUSE THAT IMPRESSES
Coca Cola or Pepsi or some beverage had an ad that stressed, "The pause that refreshes...."
Take a break - a Coke or a tea or coffee break ....
Stop at the water fountain and get refreshed....
I don't pause enough as priest when I celebrate Mass....
I know - when I don't have an altar server - I like to pause before climbing the steps - before entering the sanctuary.
I don't know if anyone notices that pause. I do.
I like to stop before entering the sacred sanctuary - the sacred space - hence the steps - hence the altar - hence the pause.
I like to pause for a moment at a wedding ceremony - just before the couple pronounce their vows to each other. I ask the bride and groom to pause and pray for all of us - married and single - as we pray with and for them.
Pauses can impress.
The public speaker who pauses - should pause - realizing she or he's in the presence of people - sacred people.
The pause before the curtain opens in a play - after the lights have gone down - when the crowd becomes silent - is a tell. The actors take a deep breath. Everyone knows the moment: "Let the play begin."
Pause.
I don't pause enough.
Maybe God is pausing - and only speaks - after a long pause.
"And the word became flesh and is dwelling among us."
Implications .... Sound .... Pause .... Listen ....
