and Jesus said to his disciples, "I have come to set the world on fire."

[threeplusfire]

Dark grey sky, the damp in the air, the golden light inside the church, the white stone and soaring ceiling all reminded me of caves and castles built under mountains this morning. Mass was beautiful in an unearthly way, with a cellist added to the small choir and piano, voices and strings over the thunder rolling. Amazing, uplifting, that feeling that I belong right here, in this moment, in this space, in this time. The profound connection with God and everyone all at once.

My RCIA work begins in a month, and I will try to fan the flames in one heart. She's 25 and single, all I know. I can't wait to meet her. I hope I can be what she needs for this journey.

Comments

[crichton.livejournal.com]

rcia?

RCIA

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. It's a program to help people decide if they truly want to join the Catholic Church. (An old tradition that's been revived in the past couple of decades.) I went through it when I converted, and it was such a profound and wonderful experience.

Basically, every person is paired up with a sponsor who is around to ask questions, share their faith and be support. Everyone goes to Mass, and afterwards gathers for an hour or two of discussion and learning. It's kind of like a class, but less formal. This goes on for about a year in most cases, though there are folks who decided to wait longer. Usually starts around August/September. At Easter, there are baptisms and confirmations for those who need it, and the meetings continue until the end of May.

It's an amazing program, with a lot of great people involved. I think it really helps one get an idea of the community and have opportunities to ask questions. We have a deacon who leads most of the classes, and other clergy and religious come in to speak and take questions at times.

Since I felt such love and warmth from everyone in my journey, I feel compelled to offer up my time and energy to being there for someone this year. I'm terribly excited and little nervous, but I think I have a lot to offer.

[kokopopo.livejournal.com]

In the Episcopal church, we are on the same scriptural cycle, so this morning we had the same passage from Luke that you had. It is one of those passages that makes me (and I would guess a few others) shift uncomfortably in my seat, like several other passages. By the way, my son sang brilliantly (as far as I could tell) on his second Sunday in choir. It is one of the responsibilities of second grade. I think he likes it.

that made me smile

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I like that passage. The revolutionary Christ. Reminds me of an old Cuabn Communist poster, of Christ with a machine gun over one shoulder. Strange, strange image for the Revolution I think. But it was popular.

In some ways, I envy kids who grow up within a church. (Even though my friends hasten to point out that Catholic school or the Methodists or the Baptists or whoever drove them insane.) I can't help but think it must be a good thing to have.

Re: that made me smile

[kokopopo.livejournal.com]

Your encounters with those people show that there are many reasons not to believe, and lots of people to blame for a person not believing. I have met plenty of people whom I felt did not put the Church in a good light. But raising your children in the Church ensures that they have a choice whether to believe.

One can choose not to believe from a foundation of belief, as is anybody's right, but it is so much more difficult to choose to believe without a foundation of belief, as you have.

I am hardly a fanatic, and I confess I have doubts and reservations like many thinking Christians, but my experience in the Church--particularly since we had kids--has been enormously rewarding and enriching. I started regularly going to Church again when my first son was born, for his sake really, out of a sense of obligation, but it turns out that it was as much for my sake.

Re: that made me smile

[ansat.livejournal.com]

That's one of my favorite gospel readings. Jesus the Revolutionary. Along with the parallel passage in Matthew, 10:34-36. Especially v. 34: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword." Presumably I've been hearing this passage from Luke every third year for my whole life, but it never really sank in until I was reading commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. Logia 10 has a version: "Jesus said: 'I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes.'" Maybe it struck me more because in GThomas it is in a much more apocalyptic setting. Or maybe because I think of Lincoln every time I hear the context in GLuke or GMatthew. "A house divided upon itself cannot stand," or whatever.

Anyway. I only went to Protestant school for a couple of years. I'm suprised how much I remember of it these days. I appreciate some of the things they gave me: Speech therapy; that now badly abused red NIV Bible, which lived with me for a long, long time, and was my main Bible from 1982 to 1999 or 2000; sewing classes; a few interesting memories.

I remember going to chapel, but I remember very little that happened in there, other than finding the full immersion font very foreign.

Episcopalian

[ansat.livejournal.com]

Do you mind if I ask an odd question? I understand the Episcopal church uses the same readings as the Catholic church. So, what do you do when we are reading from the books you call apocryphal? (Sirach, Wisdom, etc.) Do you read from them anyway? Or substitute other readings?

Re: Episcopalian

[kokopopo.livejournal.com]

That is a good question, and frankly I don't know the answer. I don't recall ever having the apocrypha books as a lesson reading, and I imagine they would not be. But then again, there are a great many passages that simply are never read during the year.