I have to say that the opportunity to celebrate the Holy Eucharist is one of the great joys in my life. This morning we had our "Traditional Communion" (Trad-Com, as we sometimes call it) from the BCP. One of the advantages of the traditional liturgies, IMHO, is that they allow the celebrant the luxury of introspection. Because there is so much less interaction with the congregation, I find that I can really focus on what's going on internally. This is even more true with Eastward Celebration (back to the people).
One of the things I really miss about St. Mary Magdalene's was the 7:15 AM Holy Eucharist on Tuesdays and Thursday. It seemed possible, for once, to do a perfect liturgy: every step, every gesture, every little bit done in a precise, intentional, and planned way. When I was in "the zone" celebrating Mass that way I found that the formalism enhanced my ability to be present to the Holy Spirit. I'll never forget standing on the blue carpet in the lady chapel and elevating the chalice to the height where I could just see, in the reflection, the congregation behind me.
The sensibility of Sunday worship at COTM privileges an entirely different experience: we are willing to do church without even trying to attain any kind of perfectibility. We are all about the messy and fun encounter of God with a community of imperfect, sometimes crazy, always energetic people.
-t
2 comments:
I'd love to see how the BCP Mass is done at COTM sometime. Few places seem to follow it to the letter. (We certainly don't at 8 o'clock).
Sure, come by sometime. We follow it VERY close to the letter, in fact, I can't think of any variations from the rubrics. I even use the "Authorized Version" of the Bible as printed in the BCP itself. Perhaps one of the few differences is that my folks don't kneel for the confession (just because it would be difficult for them to get up afterwards). -t
Post a Comment