Where the Rubber Hits the Road

  As summer draws to a close, it's appropriate to come to the end of my summer meditation project on the Mass. I've accompanied this prayer time with a reading of a social gospel classic text by Walter Rauchenbauch: Christianity and the Social Crisis of the 21st Century . This book, published in 1907 (!) is amazing preessencent for what has transpired in the past number of years. Writing in the first decade of the 20th century he spoke of the need to re-engage the prophetic voice of the Church to remind society of the existence of truth as understood by Christians. He predicted that the voice of faith would be challenged both externally and weakened internally resulting in a privatization of faith, driving it from the public square. This Baptist convert from Lutheranism prefigured the arguments of a latter convert from the Church of Luther, Richard John Neuhaus. Catholics (and Christians of all denominations,) need to heed these voices. I pray that this short inspirational vi...

My thanks to Fr. Paul Conway (Elliot Lake, Ontario) for pointing out this magnificent presentation of the Lord's Prayer which follows after the Eucharistic Prayer.

The homily follows the liturgy of the Word. It is the part of the Mass where the priest is to 'break open' the word that has been proclaimed so that all participants might be able to digest the lessons of God. Just as the priest is to break the eucharistic bread so that it can be taken by individuals, so too the preacher is to take apart the scriptures so that people will be able to understand them and by nourished by the Word of God. Here is a meditation video on the significance of the Eucharist. Enjoy! (I did!!)

Another tidbit taken from today's National Post religion blog "The Holy Post"

The Liturgy of the Word is the public telling of the sacred stories of our faith. As a people of Abrahamic faith, we are a people of the written word complied together in the Old and New Testaments. One of the most beautiful ways to take in the scriptures is to participate in singing them using Gregorian chant. Much of sacred writing is in fact musical lyric and mnemonic rhythms, forms that allowed for easy memorization by populations who for the greater part, were illiterate. For the next few days, I will post video's which offers different angles on this subject so as to help in reflecting upon how the chanting of scripture can augment our understanding of how God's spirit moves through the telling of His encounters with humanity.

Continuing with my summer reflections on the parts of the mass, I offer this. As we began our Eucharist by acknowledging our sinfulness and total dependency upon the merits of the cross, the faithful are then called to move both interior-ally and externally to the expression of joy and praise in appreciation of God's mercy and love embodied in the Gloria.  May this holiday Monday be a time when joy and praise fills your heart and life as well as for all whom you love and hold dear. Fr. Tim