Saint Joseph Catholic Church

This morning we continued our "Faith Walk-About" at the Catholic Church. Growing up Lutheran, the Catholic Church felt like we were (almost) home.

I was glad to get to experience the Catholic Church on Pentacost, since yesterday we got to celebrate the receipt of the Torah (Shavu'ot) at the Jewish Synagogue. Today we celebrated the birthday of the Christian Church. Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of the Jewish Covenant with God.

Since this formal service is so familiar to me, I tried very hard to place myself as a first-time visitor, like we were yesterday. It was an interesting point of view.

The altar was in the front, and the choir was in the very back behind us. So whenever they sang, it almost sounded like the voices were coming from above. The choir was situated around the large pipe organ that was the only instrument used throughout the service.

We were greeted warmly and found a seat, with hymnals and worship books situated in racks on the backs of the pews in front of us. Kneelers stowed neatly away under each pew.

Especially after the service we had seen the day before, I was struck by the amount of heritage, symbolism and tradition are also in the Catholic church. Visually, the robes and vestments worn by the acolytes and priests, the large crucifix hanging from the wall over the altar, and many other symbolic images flooded the senses.

The service was, much like the Jewish service the day before, one that had been said so many times that many parishioners had no need of a book to remind them what came next. They were accustomed to symbols and traditions, which an outsider might find strange: bowing to the altar/crucifix upon entering or leaving a pew; making the sign of the cross across one's chest; kneeling during prayer; responsive singing and/or prayer from the congregation, and many others.

The pinnacle of the Catholic Mass is in the distribution of the bread and wine (the Host), which through prayer and blessing is miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. All Catholics who have been through classes to better understand this concept are welcome to come and partake. As a non-Catholic, we went forward, but received a blessing.

The parishioners have that time to make eye contact, one-on-one with the priest. Though it is a very formal setting, it feels quite intimate for the moment. It is though the priest, in a very Fatherly way, welcomes the parishioner and blesses them.

It also has been said, and I really saw for the first time, that Christian denominations have different focuses: Baptists put their emphasis on salvation through baptism; Catholics emphasize the gift of acceptance and forgiveness through the bread and the wine. But, at the end of the day, both are right. And both are concerned with being the best person you can be while on earth, out of love and respect for God and Jesus Christ. And, that through acceptance of Christ, we will join Him in Heaven.

As we finished up the Catholic service, I also tried to imagine what the service would have been like if it had all been in Latin, as it was prior to Martin Luther. I imagine, other than the fact that I would recognize the generalities of the service because of my lifetime of exposure to it, I would feel as lost as I had the day prior as the service was in Hebrew.

I understood even more the importance of having a worship service that was not only done on

behalf of the congregation, but with the congregation, all with one voice praising God. I recognized how imperative it was to have the bible in the people's language, so they could tuck God's Word into their hearts. And I realized how much we as people crave that divine experience of communing with God and each other.

The children didn't have a lot to say about this service, simply because it was so close to what they have experienced in our home congregation every Sunday since their birth. But they did say how much they liked understanding what was going on, and feeling like they were a part of it, instead of watching it go on around them. They were also taken aback by the large crucifix of a dying Christ behind the altar. They didn't like this picture of Christ, seeing Him suffer. I guess we all prefer to think of the Risen Christ, though, don't we?

I am grateful for both experiences this weekend. I think seeing them back-to-back as we did gave us a perspective and an insight we otherwise could not have had.

~Amen

St. Joseph Catholic Church is located at

1225 Gallatin Pike South, Madison, TN 37115

(615) 865-1071

www.stjosephnashville.org