Just Pat

"...all language about everything is analogical; we think in a series of metaphors. We can explain nothing in terms of itself, but only in terms of other things." (Dorothy Sayers, Mind of the Maker, 1941)

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Location: West Michigan

Sunday, September 26, 2004

There's a Little Catholic In All of Us


And in some of us, she's screaming to get out!

I'm back on the
church topic again. I've been in several conversations with a couple of friends in various settings this week that have driven me to the next couple of posts, in which I will once again ask myself, "What is the Church?"

There is a little voice within me, a little Catholic girl that knows deep down that there was something to that big, beautiful building. Someone who misses the stations of the cross, even though the story is in my Bible. I miss the sunlight shining on me through beautiful stained glass images of my Saviour. I miss the majesty and hush of the building that reminded me how small I was and, at the same time, how miraculous God's love for someone so small must be.

I don't even know if it's right to miss it so much. What I do know is that the first years of my life were shaped by an environment that taught me reverence of sacred things, of holy rites, and of all people. It wasn't enough at the time to bring me to a saving knowledge of Jesus, but it's the framework from which I found him and continue finding Him today. The older I grow, the richer I find that heritage to be.

I'm not wishing for a big cathedral building. I'm one who believes church buildings should be as multi-functional as possible to accommodate people, not a nice "service." But I'm missing something that I'm not finding in the Protestant world. It's more than the building; it's the ancient history, the communion of saints - living and dead, the holy awe and reverence expressed in the liturgy.

And, yes, even the black and blue plaid jumper with the Saint Francis crest over the breast pocket.

7 Comments:

Blogger Pat said...

Yes, it's about giving the best - exactly. Just what Daryl has been preaching the last few weeks. Even though God does not dwell in a temple made of hands, he does receive the work of our hands as a sacrifice of love and praise. It's our own flawed psyches that get mixed up and worship the thing we made rather than our God to whom we made it in tribute.
I'm still sorting it all out - I'm feeling conflicted still. Would I support a cathedral construction project? Probably not. Do I appreciate what has been built? Absolutely. I'm trying to separate the nostalgia from the spiritual hunger.

12:49 PM  
Blogger spookyrach said...

It doesn't even have to be nostalgia. I have been a protestant all my life, but I have this not-so-secret desire to be Catholic. I wish for ritual and symbolism. The feeling of history that is present in an old cathedral is different from the sense that you have in a 1950's "ranch-style" brick church. I believe both forms have value, but I occassionally have a hunger for "high church".

4:14 PM  
Blogger Pat said...

Thanks for your insight, Spooky. I have to smile when I see "high church," because I never heard the term until several years after I had left the Catholic Church. You see, we thought we WERE the Church.
What I haven't mentioned yet is that although I was Catholic, I had also been baptized by a Methodist minister. My roots are in both Catholic and Protestant Christian faith. My leaning were toward the Catholic side when I was a child.

7:10 PM  
Blogger Liz said...

Oh gosh yes. I would love to sit down with you sometime over this. It's why I went to seminaryh in the first place - to explore my Catholic roots - and what I found in the end is that I can be Catholic, without necessarily accepting it all - after all, who do you know who accepts EVERYthing their church teaches or does? And I truly feel that I have come home. I love the liturgy. I love being with people who are Catholic. As one friend said to me "You don't stop being Catholic any more than a Jew could stop being Jewish." Hmmmm.

2:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

God's word says that "God does not dwell in houses (church buildings) made with hands," but He does dwell, through the person of the Holy Spirit, inside His believers, both on an individual basis, and when believers come together collectively. While human beings are impressed with the size and appearance of the building, God is not. He's more impressed with the body of his redeemed ones which He calls His temple, where he dwells and communes with us personally. :)

As for all the old doctrine and religion that we leave behind when we are born again into Christ Jesus, let us say as St. Paul did, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things (past and present, and of self), and do count them but DUNG, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him..." Phil 3:8, 9a

You said you ask yourself "What is the Church?" Col. 1:24c tells us His body is the Church, with its biblical specifications, and throughout the NT it is also called the Bride of Christ, a Bride adorned and waiting for her groom to appear. Elsewhere the Church is also referred to as "the mystery that was hid from ages and generations, but is now manifest to the saints" because it was not revealed in the OT but after Christ ascended to the right hand of the Heavenly Father, through the work of the Apostles.

:)

6:56 PM  
Blogger Pat said...

For Rocky: You have a lot of words, but I don't see you. You have clearly misunderstood me.

I worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God and son of man. He is my Love, my Reason, and my Mystery. The stained glass windows, the precious prayers and recitations, are all reminders of the humble majesty of my Savior.

I don't know who you are, whether or not you were ever Catholic or if what you know is through others you've trusted. What you have shared is a third person response to a heart felt expression of love for my Savior. If you don't understand how I can talk about a building while exalting and loving my eternal Lord, I'd appreciate it if you would simply ask me.

8:08 PM  
Blogger FemmeMode said...

Hmmmmm....I find myself here again at nearly 2am. This time not looking thru your Chronicles but your other.

I wonder....(not claiming anything 'biblical'...just wondering...)

about your thoughts for the sactuary/building/cathedral...the best 'work of our hands'...
It makes me think of the time when the I AM did come to actually dwell in the tabernacles holy of holies....
He WAS there....
Leviticus was not empty....it was step by step how to make the best for the Almighty....

not trying to get to philosophical...but, with great care are the santuaries of the Catholic church built....and with great reverance are the kept...etc.

I know we are under the 2nd law...that's why I'm not a theologen....

I think your thoughts...and contimplations are beautiful...I know your heart is pure...and your love my Jesus!

ooooh....and I love you!

3:00 AM  

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