January 12 - Mindful Mass Moments

Thought-Random:

        I am on my knees in prayer at one of the front pews of my church.  And my attention travels to  Fr Henry, the officiating priest against an austere wall background of the altar where he says today's mass.  But my attention is rather held by the contrasting resplendent view of the altar itself.  Lace covering over a marble altar table with golden biblical etches, golden candle holder stands positioned at both ends of the table;  the chalice, the paten, the decanter holding the wine, the crucifix... all golden. These vessels and linens are, of course, prepared fit for a king, -the Lord, whose body and blood are transubstantiated from bread and wine during the mass.

        Now he goes to the ambo - a podium used as both lectern and pulpit.  I was just up there myself as the Lector for the First Reading,,,,,, and now, Fr Henry delivers his sermon.  Today, we celebrate Christ's baptism at the River of Jordan so that it follows that he uses the water metaphor in his talk.  I love the way he uses water as a need  to achieve salvation. Immersion in water at baptism to be cleansed of original sin; Moses leading the Israelites across a sea divided to be saved from the Egyptians; Noah surviving a flood with his family and a pair of each beast on earth for a renewed life - these to complement Christ's own water immersion.

        Water, of course, we all know to be liquid that descends from the clouds as rain - forms streams, and lakes and seas, and is a major constituent of all living matter. Over and above that, however, I would allude water to the tears that cleanse my eyes, both in joy and in sadness, if only to remind me of a  wholeness made up of both the blessedness and the misery of being alive.