Fr. Michael began with a story about a friend of his named Mitch who spent two weeks at a monastery and the good it did him, which reminded me of my five-day stay at Our Lady. There was a little discussion about prayer and the contemplative aspect of spirituality—how work is neither mutually exclusive of prayer nor mutually inclusive, and how both are important to living a spiritually-balanced life. Then Fr. Michael brought up something Pope Francis said about the current global situation amounting to a piecemeal WWIII, and how our response to things is often also individualistic and piecemeal and not big enough.
In relation to this last part, Fr. Michael offered an example of 'thinking big' by asking us to imagine the archdiocese of Portland doing something like announcing the goal of making all their parishes' energy self-sufficient (or as close to it as possible) by 2030 as a response to global climate change, much like the city of Eugene is doing. The point I took away from this was that we should try to think bigger, to think outside of and beyond ourselves and the 'shadow of Cain' as Pope Francis calls it. Instead of asking "What does it matter to me?" or "Am I my brother's keeper?," we should recall what Jesus asks of us in the Gospel:
We have heard: he is in the least of his brothers; he, the King, the Judge of the world, he is the one who hungers, who thirsts, he is the stranger, the one who is sick, the prisoner… The one who cares for his brother or sister enters into the joy of the Lord; the one who does not do so, however, who by his omissions says, "What does it matter to me?", remains excluded.
Fr. Michael also shared the Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday mass for reflection, which happens to be the parable of the workers in the vineyard. I thought this parable was interesting. On the one hand, it's clearly talking about something spiritual, about the kingdom of heaven, suggesting that all who accept this spiritual invitation will be equally rewarded regardless of when in life they do so, and warning against letting jealousy poison one's heart. But it also has fairly obvious socio-economic implications about how workers should be treated, justifying everything from a living wage to a universal basic income. At least it does to me, anyway.
Yesterday also happened to be the day before Fr. Michael's birthday, so one of the ladies made him a cake and we all sang "Happy Birthday" and had a piece of cake to celebrate it. It was nice to be able to share in that.
As much as I enjoyed my time at Holy Trinity last Sunday, this experience has reaffirmed my initial decision to learn more about the Catholic Church and attend the inquiry class at St. Philip Neri. For one, I feel that this particular community is more open and accepting than many others, and I feel drawn towards it. It feels as if I'm on the right track, where I need to be at the moment. Only time will tell if I'm right.
Sounds to me like the Western Christian approach, being less loaded with exoteric mysticism, could be a better fit for you, because the features that trouble some kinds of Christians don't affect you. It's like you fly below the radar. Also, Catholicism has more elasticity for single adults than, I think, Orthodoxy does. Anyway, good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think Catholicism has a fair amount of both, but you may be right. I agree that it seems to have 'more elasticity' for single adults, as well, particularly this parish. As much as I like Holy Trinity and the Orthodox Church in general, I just don't feel as comfortable there. I feel like I can be more myself at St. Philip for whatever reason. I'm curious, though, about what features you're referring to.
ReplyDeleteCatholicism has many features, especially devotional practices and ideology, that is considered unbiblical by many Christians, including Orthodox. If you are not an ideological microcritic, you will do fine. Let other people do and believe as they must, as for you (and me) we fly by our lights, and it's never dark.
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