Spiritual food, at home and abroad

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone. I really do like this day, and not just because it falls near my birthday or because it's fun to see people get confused by the smudge on your forehead. Today is a day that reminds us of what is truly important, and urges us to leave the safe bubble of our personal mistakes and desires. This Lent I decided to join the crowd giving up Facebook. I'd realized that constantly monitoring acquaintances' lives was making me feel badly about my own. I think my life will be happier and less cluttered without it. Going to at least two weekday Masses is another Lent resolution that I think will help me be more content with the life God has given me.

Last April I attended my first Latin Mass according to the 1962 Missal, and I was less than pleased with it. I walked away feeling frustrated, ignorant, and ignored. I also was determined to figure out this "living history" of my Faith. If the Saints of past generations worshiped this way, I needed to learn how to do so too.

By happy accident, London gave me the chance to do so. The Brompton Oratory (next door to Vicky and Al's!) seemed like a convenient Sunday location, and the 9am Low Mass was the only one that fit my schedule. So I went, navigating the Tube alone for the first time. It was a lovely morning.
It was a lovely Mass too. Knowing what to expect this time helped. Throwing Novus Ordo sensibilities to the wind, I reveled in the priest's whispered Latin and reverently silent congregation. The stillness and mystery was such a nice break from our constantly hectic touring. I didn't need to analyze, think, take notes, or even fully listen. I just needed to be there. And by some spiritual force, my existence was tied up with that of my pew mates and all pew mates from the beginning of time. And most mystical of all, our presence was woven into that of God Himself.

It's true, the focus of the Tridentine Mass is not on "community" or "participation," which are good things too. The theme of Medieval/Renaissance liturgy is"son, you better recognize." Recognize that God is right there! In front of you! Looking like bread! Isn't that amazing?

That is something worth recognizing and appreciating. Like the Incarnation it reflects, the Eucharist is a mystery. We can try to wrap our brains around it and probe its meaning, but there will always be new things to understand. There is more than one liturgical way of approaching it. God will always find ways to surprise us. So I've decided that witnessing that mystery a few more times a week would be a good way to spend my Lent.