This morning, I went to the Friday school mass at the Roman Catholic Church to which the school that two of my grandchildren attend is attached. My granddaughter was carrying up the gifts, and I wanted to be there. The Irish priest who is the pastor of the parish is quite good with the children. He has, in the past, given sermons that were paeans of praise to George W. Bush, but he did not do so today, thanks be to God, because, when he does, he puts me rather fully off my spiritual balance for the rest of the mass.
Today was the feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven. There was much talk of Mary as queen and Mary's queenship. I wonder what Mary, in her bliss in the heavenly kingdom, thinks of this talk of her queenship. She probably smiles indulgently and says, "There they go again." I think of "The Song of Mary", the magnificent "Magnificat", in which Mary sings the praises of God:
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
Of course, God highly exalted the young Jewish girl by calling her to the awesome task of mothering Jesus, the God-Man. I love and honor Mary greatly, nevertheless, in my humble opinion, the talk of her queenship may not be entirely to her liking. Of course, I could be wrong.
The Gospel today was the story of the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she was to be the mother of the Son of the Most High. Instead of reading the Gospel, Fr. Irish gave a brief paraphrase of the Gospel story, either extemporaneously or from memory. The paraphrase was quite good, and yet, I would like for the children to have heard the actual Gospel, perhaps with the excellent paraphrase following.
Several recitations of the "Hail Mary" were interspersed throughout the mass, which is a new practice since I moved to the Episcopal Church. Perhaps these additions are according to Fr. Irish's personal preference and not in general use.
A couple of the hymns were oldies which I remembered verbatim, such as "Immaculate Mary" and "Salve Regina", which I rather like singing, although the sentiments are not entirely mine. For some reason, the theology expressed in hymns doesn't seem to greatly affect my liking for them.
The picture above is the rear view of the three girls who carried up the gifts. My granddaughter is in the center. The picture below was to be the front view of the girls, but I was in a hurry, and what I got is my middle finger and a blur. Here it is, readers, my middle finger.
I tend to think Mary hears us calling her blessed so many generations later and just smiles and thinks to herself, "HA! I *told* you so!" She's kind of the opposite of Abraham Lincoln saying with unintentional irony, "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here."
ReplyDeleteOf course, you could be right, WE. She's a woman.
ReplyDeleteI always cringed with the right wingnuts of the RCC would tell me that Mary was an example to all women of how to be a woman. Men and women aren't unequal but "different." Yet except for birthing Jesus, she is mostly ignored in the Gospels and accorded no "teaching" or leadership role. I didn't know you were an ex-RCC. So am I, here in Episcopal land to find a saner more open congregation. I'm told from something I read yesterday that the Catholic Mass is again undergoing change and a lot of the responsorial liturgy is being revised again. That will drive the Conservatives wild no doubt, unless its a return to the 1950's in which case they will adore it. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteHoly Mary. What a glorious finger!
ReplyDeleteI love this post.
ReplyDeleteThat guy sounds like a character. I am very "marian" but that whole Hail Mary during the mass thing sets me off.
The public recitation of the Magnificat was outlawed by the Guatemalan dictators in the 80's for being too revolutionary.
I mean if God goes around giving poor, disenfranchised girls power, what is next?
Love your finger by the way.
I attended a funeral this morning. The man was 44. His kids - 8 and 11 brought up the gifts, not a dry eye in the house.
God have mercy on us all.
Grandmere, the accident with the camera produced an icon!
ReplyDeleteI must disagree with afeatheradrift however. Of course the Gospels do not accredit Mary with a teaching or leadership role. They would not - they are 1st/2nd century documents. But Mary would have had the perfect teaching role in nurturing her son (that troublesome Jesus!) in the faith. As for any 1st century mother, any mother, good and hard work always goes unrewarded in a literature written by men.
Afeatheradrift, I'd have to disagree with you. The implications in the Gospels for Mary being a strong influence in the life of her son are there. As RR said, she trained Jesus up right.
ReplyDeleteThen, she arranged for Jesus to do his first miracle before he was ready. The last words she speaks in the Gospels are, "Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you," surely excellent advice for us all to follow.
I am an ex-Roman Catholic, but I try not to be a bitter ex-RC. As for the changes in the mass, I hear they will carry the church back to some practices of the pre-Vatican II period.
Fran, he is a character. Were he my pastor, it would be the clash of the titans.
David, do you see the image of Mary in the finger? What about the blur? Anyone of significance in there?
Who would have guessed that "getting the finger" from Mimi would be a holy experience?
ReplyDeleteI have such mixed feelings about Mary. I admire her obedience and faith--I really love the story of the Annunciation--but Marian veneration has always been difficult for me. I know some of my difficulties with my own mother are tangled in there.
ReplyDeleteThis really doesn't have much to do with your post, but this is what it made me think of.
Giving us all the finger - and you a grandmother!
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked, shocked I tell you.
Mom is cool (and one kick-ass woman). When I moved into my home in Albuquerque I dedicated it to Our Lady of Guadalupe, San Rafael Arcangel, and Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. Ever since seeing the message the Virgencita gave to Juan Diego inscribed over the new basilica at Tepeyac, I have trusted her words:
¿No estoy aquí quien soy tu madre? Am I not here who am your mother?
Rather like a feminine parallel of the message in the Hebrew Scriptures: fear not for I am with you.
What little I do know tells me that the recitation of the Hail Mary during the Eucharist is not a common occurence.
ReplyDeleteI like your finger!
I forgot to say that my granddaughter insisted that I show her friends my tattoo. I believe they thought it was pretty cool, but also pretty crazy.
ReplyDeleteGranddaughters are a great joy. I don't have a tattoo, but mine seems to think I'm safe enough around her friends. :-)
ReplyDeleteelizabeth
I can see in the finger an image of the Virin Birth
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, my granddaughter liked me before I had my tattoo. She is a great joy, the only girl of six grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I Googled virin, and they asked if I meant virgin. Did you?
TELP, only you could come up with that comment.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, Paul, I am not yo' mama. I know I'm old and all, but please.... I love La Virgen de Guadalupe.
Hola, Fred. Give Wilma a hug for me.
Ruth, that's OK. I understand.
I meant "Virgin" Grandmere!
ReplyDeleteOur Holy Mother reminds me of you.
Sorry, I apparently didn't make myself clear at all. I was referring to ultra conservative Catholics who think of Mary only as a mother and therefore argue that women in the Church are consigned to motherhood and being a good wife only. I didn't mean to infer that I considered Mary in that limited way. The biblical exegesis that I have been privileged to learn is that Mary was in some sense the first apostle, unnamed of course by a patriarchal world of that time. Sorry if I ruffled any feathers. I surely did not mean to.
ReplyDeleteI am not particularly bitter toward the Church itself. I still carry some bitterness toward some within her who I feel are extraordinarily uncharitible and not in keeping with Christian love and compassion. Again, I'm sorry, I seemed to have written the entire thing poorly I guess. I was just excited to meet another ex-Roman Catholic and was hoping of some interesting dialog on the subject.
Our Holy Mother reminds me of you.
ReplyDeleteFather David, I hope you're not losing it.
Afeatheradrift, I see what you were saying about Mary, but my experience is more that certain of the conservatives want deify Mary and put her on a par with Jesus. In fact, there is a movement within the church to make her co-Redemptrix.
I did not mean to imply that you were bitter. It's something that I need to guard against.
We surely can talk about our common background in moving from the RCC to the Episcopal Church. I would like that.
Paul, the real miracle would be to see Mimi's finger in/on a representation of the Blessed Virgin!
ReplyDelete