Furthermore…

On my radio dial there are four religious stations right next to one another, one Catholic and three ‘Christian.’ One of the Christian stations plays either traditional, uplifting music such as familiar hymns, or a kind of Country-Christian gospel. The Catholic and the other two Christian stations all seem to play the same, at least to my ears, modern-sounding jingling genre with vocals mostly by grown up girls sounding like children or guys whose voices are not yet manly.
I usually can’t make out the lyrics, although I have gotten new hearing aids and I might begin to pick up a few more of them. Still, it seems to me I keep hearing phrases like “inside of me” (!) or “in your arms” and otherwise romantic sounding attestations of spiritual interpenetration. So I wonder if these are intentionally dual-purpose productions designed to allow listeners’ minds to flit back and forth between thoughts of You (the Lord) and you (the hoped for romantic conquest).

Couple peeping into a church they’re not sure is right for them:

“It looks like they have to go through a labyrinth to reach the communion minister!”

Today we looked at the readings for the Body and blook of Christ Sunday (N Cycle). I was the presenter, instead of just another participant, so I spoke a little about a couple of the resources I use in preparing each week, the Modern Catholic Dictionary, and the verse-by-verse Bible Study analysis materials to be found on the website of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Picayune, Mississippi.
One of the members spoke with feeling about how receiving Communion is a unique experience for each person, in how we pray, what we say, the way we give thanks and praise, what it means to us, and all. This struck a chord with me, because I had been thinking a lot lately about how the Rosary is said uniquely by each person, and these two observations seemed to dovetail perfectly. I had made a lot of notes of things I wanted to work into the discussions, but as it worked out the interchanges were so lively (with our fewer than usual participants) that it would have been a stretch to work in my points.

Guide showing group of newcomers around Heaven:

“If anyone is tired tell me – I know some of these tours can seem like eternity!:

I have a friend who often speculates about things not told us in the scriptures, along the line of how somebody might be misunderstood (St. Thomas the Apostle who was dutifly buying the groceries or performing some other good deed when Jesus appeared the first time). I told him he has the mind of a writer of historical fiction, coming up with details and sub-plots that “might have been” and might help us, to some extent, to enter into the reality of happenings in the distant past about which we only have scanty accounts. Perhaps the nine lepers who didn’t return to thank Jesus “actually” elected one of their number to come back represent them all.

It’s a different thing than the way some commentators on the Bible pooh-pooh anything miraculous as either a misunderstanding, an exaggeration, or a fabrication. These folks sometimes have declared that certain things did not exist or could not happen, basing their conclusions on the way things happen ‘in the natural,’ so to speak. But archeologists and scholars persist in coming up with proof that the Bible was right all along. I remember, for example, hearing about evidence being turned up that the Kingdom of David really existed, contrary to certain claims that it seemed not to have. Or how investigators discovered the actual Pool of Siloam, and noted how its design fit perfectly with the account of Jesus sending the blind man to it to wash away the mud paste Jesus had applied to his eyes so that he might see.

A person writing between the lines might conjure up a sub-plot explaining why no record of the Kingdom of David was at first found because, say, David’s enemies destroyed almost all traces. Such skullduggery did go on in Egypt, in fact, where all traces of 18th Dynasty King Akhnaten were largely erased. Now let’s see, about that blind man …

Engaged guy to priest preparing a couple for marriage:

“I know the Bible say ‘be not confused or deceived,’ but in a way, I think both of us are!”

This morning after Mass I stepped into the line of people waiting to go to confession. The man ahead of me I recognized as a talkative acquaintance, so I was a bit afraid he would start a conversation, but minutes passed in silence, as I ruminated about what to say inside the confessional.

About the time my friend was the next up, however, he said a few things about the interior of the church. Then he started whispering things to me about Obama, his policies, and abortion. The next thing I knew the little lady on my other side began berating the whisperer for being critical of Obama. She was dark complexioned and had something of a Caribbean accent. Her assumption seemed to be that the man’s criticism was based on Obama’s racial identity. They didn’t exactly dialog, but things kept being said, mostly by the lady,as she averred that she was sick of all the judging of Obama after only three months, that everyone is equal in God’s eyes, that Jesus died on the cross for all people, and other similar statements.

I’d glance at her from time to time, uncomfortable at having partisan interchanges in the confession line, but trying to show some attention and sympathy, agreeing with what I could agree with, but she only looked straight ahead as she continued commenting, the other person now in the confessional. It was a little difficult to understand, but it seemed she was stating that perhaps he, perhaps both of us would report her. I realized that with the two of us white guys going into see the white priest ahead of her, she well might wonder if we would “report” her. I know I didn’t.

One person to another, as they count the church collection:

“Same amount! Looks like our ‘Give with Both Hands” campaign only made them give half with one hand and half with the other.”

Sunday’s Gospel tells how Jesus “sent two of His disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water’.” (Mark 14:13)

When I was a kid I used to picture this man in the city tirelessly walking around the block carrying a water jar that seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as he said to himself “When are those guys from the Lord going to get here?”

One gossip to another, as the Litany of the Saints is prayed in church:

“Is is just me, or did you hear Thelma inserting her own name every time, instead of what the rest of us are praying?”