Sunday, January 20, 2013

and the church that you get...,



With session number three pending, I thought I'd briefly recap the topics covered in sessions one and two, with modest/brief/mild impressions of the instructional intentions/aims of Sister Mary Margaret - our instructor in returning christian initiation for adults - who happens to bear a more than passing resemblance to Mother Angelica.

Session 1. was presented as an introduction to the Angelus Prayer;
The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

    Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
    our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

    Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

    Hail Mary . . .


Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.
But we could more accurately have known and understood this session as the "miraculous fruit of the womb" lesson.

Sister Mary Margaret's ninety minute exegesis on this prayer focused exclusively on the serially re-presented old testament account of female barreness capped off with a quick reminder of how that theme was echoed in the gospel with the story of Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist. The highlight of the evening's presentation came when Sister Mary Margaret was at the peak of warmness to her theme and blurted out "how miraculous it was that our lord would see fit to bestow the sexual pleasures on old women who had passed their time but persevered by faith".  That the kindly sister's conception of these stories is completely literal and thoroughly personal - was abundantly clear. That the subtext of her lesson was about the special nature of the fruit of the womb was also rather transparently obvious.

The sister was both asserting a biblical grounding for controversial church teaching and authority, and, jigging a lure to see if any of the participants in returning christian initiation disagreed with the same.

Session 2. was a "behind the scenes" show and tell on the uniqueness and exclusivity of the Catholic franchise.

We were taken on a tour of the sachristy

Shown all the sacred vessels

Shown the interior and the contents of the tabernacle

Shown the location of the reliquary - but not its contents - in this case beneath the altar.

The church doctrine on literal transubstantiation was carefully underscored - as well as the specific nature of the church as that communion of persons authorized and in good standing to participate in this literal, physical supernatural network maintained by God's vicars.

Sister Mary Margaret recounted for us the prayerful dream she had had as a little girl - that she would one day lead instruction in the mystery of the communion, and how as an old woman, her prayer had been answered by faith and perseverance.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! Quick question that's completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My website looks weird when browsing from my iphone. I'm
trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to correct this problem.
If you have any recommendations, please share. Appreciate
it!

My blog post: huggie diaper coupons

Anonymous said...

ӏ love youг blog.. very niсe colors & theme.
Dіd you dеsign this websіtе
yοurself or did you hirе ѕomeоne to do
it for yοu? Plz гespond аѕ Ӏ'm looking to create my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thanks a lot

Visit my website ... Electronic Cigarette Brands

Anonymous said...

Ηey there! This post could not be written any betteг!

Reading thrοugh this рost reminds me of my old rοom mate!

Нe always κept chattіng about this.
I wіll fоrward thіs post tο
him. Prеtty suгe he will havе
a goοd read. Thanks for sharіng!

my web page :: lightest running shoes for men

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought about writing an ebook or guest authoring
on other blogs? I have a blog centered on the same subjects you
discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information.
I know my visitors would value your work. If you're even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e-mail.

My homepage ... Heroin Treatment Centers
My webpage: Subutex Withdrawal

Anonymous said...

First off I want to say great blog! I had a quick question which I'd like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to writing. I have had a difficult time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips? Kudos!

Also visit my blog; Tazo Organic Iced Green Tea

Anonymous said...

Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
I'm not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I'd post to
let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the issue
resolved soon. Many thanks

my site ... dickies cargo pants

Anonymous said...

Thаnks on youг marvelous posting! I rеally enjoyеd rеаding it,
you сan be a gгeat аuthor.I will makе ѕure to bookmark yοur blоg anԁ wіll еventually come bаck fгom
noω on. I ωant to enсouгаge you to dеfinіtеly continue your great wrіting, hаve a
nіce holiday weekend!

Also viѕіt my weblog ... Cartridges For Electronic Cigarettes

Anonymous said...

Hеllo to all, hoω is the ωhole thіng, I thіnk every onе is getting mοrе from thiѕ
ωeb рage, and your viеws are fastidiоus for neω viewerѕ.
green coffee bean extract with svetol® and gca® -
green coffee bean extract au - green coffee

My weblog pure green coffee bean capsules dr oz

Anonymous said...

Hoωdу! I could haνe ѕωoгn І've been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it's new to me.
Anyhow, I'm definitely delighted I found it and I'll be bookmarking and checkіng back fгequently!



My homepаge recycle carpet

Anonymous said...

What's Going down i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely useful and it has helped me out loads. I'm hoping tο contribute & assiѕt other customers lіke its aided me.

Good job.

My wеbsite christian home based business

Anonymous said...

Spot on ωith this write-up, I abѕolutely feel this amazing site nеeds a great ԁeal
more attention. I'll probably be returning to see more, thanks for the advice!

Feel free to visit my web page; personal health insurance

What Is France To Do With The Thousands Of Soldiers Expelled From Africa?

SCF  |    Russian President Vladimir Putin was spot-on this week in his observation about why France’s Emmanuel Macron is strutting around ...