#4: Eucharistic Prayer

Could you explain what's going on theologically during the Eucharistic prayer? I have a grasp of the rest of the Mass, but I feel like there's a lot of depth to that section that I’m missing…

I remember one time when my daughter was about 8 years old she said to me, with no intention of malice, "Mom, there is nothing I don't like more than going to church." At first I was really upset, feeling like I was a total failure as a Mom, as a Minister, etc. But then I started to ask her some questions. "Tell me, do you like the donuts?" and she answered "Well, YEAH! Of course I love the donuts!" Then I asked "Do you like seeing your friends at church?" And she thought for a moment and said "Yes, I do like seeing my friends...MOST of them anyway." I nodded and appreciated her candor on that one. "Do you like going with all your friends to listen to the stories from the bible during Liturgy of the Word?" "Yes, I like that too...and I REALLY like when I get to read!" she said with excitement. I continued my inquiry. "Do you like the music?" And she said "Yes, I love hearing the instruments and I really like to sing." So, puzzled, I asked, "Well, I'm having trouble understanding...what part of Mass DON'T you like?" And she said with a big sigh of exhaustion "It's that LONG PART IN THE MIDDLE!"

On further questioning, the part that she didn't enjoy was in fact our Eucharistic prayer  - and I suspect she is not alone. Many adults (including myself) have been known to wander to our grocery lists during that "long part in the middle" because we hear it each week and it may even strike our modern ears as a bit cryptic or dated. It’s human to drift now and then in our prayer, but sometimes when we are “in the zone” and really listen to the beautiful words of this, our most treasured ancient prayer, it’s pretty amazing….

#3: A registration meeting? Again?

Why do I have to attend a registration meeting EVERY year (for 1^st-5^th grade), even if I have had other children through the program?  Don’t you realize how crazy, busy this time of year is?!?!

I was talking to a couple parents at our Parish Picnic a couple weeks ago and they expressed frustration about having to attend a registration meeting every year.  And I get that.  And we may very well make on-line registration available next year.  HOWEVER, we will always do our best to gather parents for this annual meeting.  Here is our thinking on the matter….

First, I want to say loud and clear that this one-hour registration meeting each year is NOT our effort to make your life more difficult.  I have three kids and I get it…life IS busy.   I think balance is an evil myth made to make parents feel guilty.  All our families are stretched, and for nothing more than TIME!  Our intent is not to coerce parents to attend but rather to have at least one opportunity (one-hour) each year to meet with parents face-to-face so we can strategize how to best work together in bringing the faith to our kids.  

Truth be told, parents are BY FAR (BY THE LONGEST SHOT IMAGINABLE) the primary catechists  of our CTR children.  Coming from 16 years of University Ministry, let me tell you not one college student who was involved didn’t have at least one parent who talked with them about his/her own personal faith life…NOT…ONE.   

#2: John 3:16 - For God so loved the world

“For God so loved the world…” that he demanded his Son be put to death to save us from our sin…Huh? 

We Catholics aren’t traditionally known for our astonishing ability to quote chapter and verse from the Bible.  However, most of us know John 3:16 pretty well (even if its only because we see the signs held up at football games and such).  The verse we hear in our scriptures today is an important one…AND probably one of the most misinterpretted verses in the history of Christomdom. 

Fr. Francis McCabe in his brilliant book God Matters states “If God will not forgive us until his Son has been tortured to death for us then God is a lot less forgiving than even we are sometimes.  If a society feels itself somehow compensated for its loss by the satisfaction of watching the sufferings of a criminal, then society is being vengeful in a pretty infantile way…and if God is satisfied and compensated for sin by the suffering of mankind in Christ, he must be even more infantile.  It is indeed true that we could not afford to pay our damages to God but it is also true that such payment could not be needed for plainly God cannot be damaged by my sin.”  Truly, how could we ever trust such a despotic God?

#1: Why Gather in 2 or 3?

Why does Jesus say he will be with us when “2 or 3 of us gather” – isn’t God present when I pray alone too? 

None of us can come to God on our own, all by ourselves.   Today Jesus stresses the deep significance of community and the importance of effective conflict resolution for all those who wish to follow him and understand what he so passionately wishes to share with us about God and the nature of God’s kingdom.   Of course God is with us when we pray as an individual, but something essential to our growth as believers happens in community that is a non-negotiable component of our faith.  But why?

First, as Michael Himes so brilliantly points out in his fabulous 90-page, power-packed, itty-bitty book entitled The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism “Christianity is not a series of conclusions that any one of us could have reached by simply sitting down and thinking about them very seriously and carefully for a long time.  Christianity is a report, a Gospel, ‘good news’ that requires that someone bring the news to us.”  The first reason that community is intrinsic to Christianity is that we need to hear the news from someone else.

Secondly, have you ever heard the quote from Merton that says something like “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree…in being what God means it to be?”  Well, so too us.