1/18/15

Today, John, Kathleen, Chris, and myself were officially welcomed into the community through the Rite of Acceptance and Welcoming, further deepening our commitment and relationship with the Church: John and I as catechumens seeking baptism and confirmation, Kathleen as a candidate seeking confirmation, and Chris as, well, I don't know what since he's already Catholic.

After the homily, which focused on being receptive to the call of God in our daily lives, we were all called up to the front step of the altar along with four volunteers to act as sponsors, and introduced to the community. We were asked two questions: What do you ask of God's Church?, to which we answered faith. And, What does faith offer you?, to which everyone answered eternal life (except me, I answered union with God).

Then Fr. Michael asked all those present if they were ready to welcome us and help us along our journey. After what sounded like a unanimous 'yes,' there was a short prayer and Fr. Michael made the sign of the cross over each of our foreheads, then had the volunteers sign our eyes, ears, lips, shoulders, heart, hands, and feet, encouraging us to open our minds to the presence of God, to see God in those around us, to hear God's call and answer, to fill our hearts with love for others, to bear the gentle yoke of Christ, to do good deeds, and travel a righteous path. All reminiscent of St. Teresa's prayer:

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

I'll admit that, being shy and not terribly fond of being the centre of attention, it was a little scary standing in front of so many people; but the welcome was warm and I really appreciated the meaning behind the rite. For me, an important part of being a spiritual person is trying to be kind, compassionate, loving, and skillful in all my actions, which, of course, is something I struggle to do. More often than not, anger and selfishness are behind the steering wheel, and I find such forms of external encouragement and support to be more Christ-like invaluable. The Buddha called such spiritual support admirable friendship (kalyana-mittata), and said that it was the whole of the holy life.

Something else worth noting is that one of the first persons to congratulate me after mass happened to be Rob Nosse, my state representative in the Oregon House of Representatives. I don't know Rob well, only meeting him a couple of times before at St. Philip; but I voted for him in the last election and was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that he was a parishioner at St. Philip a few weeks ago. I'm definitely happy to have someone like him as my representative, and it was an added bonus to an already memorable occasion.

After mass, we all went next door to Carvlin Hall for the monthly French toast breakfast, as well as a rather informal RCIA class. We discussed the rite and other related topics, but nothing stands out to me now. I think I was still too immersed in the fact that I actually took this relatively momentous step to really take everything in; all I wanted to do was go around hugging everyone for being so kind to me, especially Barbara and Dorothy from the B- group, who came out just for us.

Out of everyone, though, I think I owe Dorothy the most for starting me off on this journey five months ago, being in her own way for me the 'eyes with which God looks compassion on this world, the feet with which God walks to do good, and the hands with which God blesses all the world.' It was her kindness that initially brought me in and made me feel welcome at St. Philip.