I Got Served

So last Sunday, I was all suited up for varying purposes for the day, but the cool thing about being suited up is that it is the best I can wear to Mass.  I might not suit up all the time for Mass, but when I do...I try to serve in some way.

I signed up to be an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for the 11AM Mass I was attending.  Mass was normal.  The usual.

When it came to ministering the Body of Christ to the faithful...one of the greatest fears for any Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion occurred.  To me.  First time. Ever.

Jesus fell on the floor! :-(   :"-(    T_T

As an EMHC, you usually try to be adaptive to the various postures and gestures people have in orienting their hands/mouth to receive the Eucharist.  But, bless her heart, this little girl came up to receive the Body.  And I tried placing Him in her hand, but she, instead, tried to grab the Body from my fingers before I placed Him in her hands.  And that's when Jesus fell on the floor...

So, our protocol is to pick Jesus up and place the Eucharist under the ciborium and to make note of the place where He fell and to guard it to prevent people from stepping on Jesus.  No sooner had I picked up Jesus from the ground when an altar server immediately appeared behind me with a purificator and water for cleanup in front of Pew #1.  It's like...he was watching and waiting for something like that to happen.  Then boom.  Like a Catholic ninja, he was there.

Shout out to the altar server!  Definitely eased my mind knowing that the situation was rectified and taken care of in less than a minute.  My freaking out only lasted a few seconds, haha.  I know this probably occurs every so often to many an EMHC...but...the first time it happens to you has more of that shock value...But, thankfully, other servers have got my back!

Faith. Hope. Charity. And quick responses.
- JD

Our Lady of Walsingham

Earlier this weekend, I blogged about how I'm out of town for the weekend due to a friend's wedding.  In this previous blog post, I also mentioned that I'd make it a point to go visit Catholic churches whenever I'm traveling about by myself.

So, the main motivation behind this idea was to go visit Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston, TX.  An old-but-new-friend now calls that parish his home--Father Chuck Hough IV.  I had the pleasure of meeting Fr. Chuck a year ago when he landed a job in religious education at my home parish. I met him and his lovely family at a backyard party, haha.  Fun facts: a) we both went to Texas A&M, b) my current spiritual director is his former spiritual director.  Lastly, he grew up in the Anglican Church.  He was ordained as an Anglican priest and after conversion and discernment, has been welcomed into the Catholic Church.  He was recently ordained as a Catholic priest (see Bishop Vann's blog on that here) and his Ordinary assigned him to Our Lady of Walsingham.  Kind of big news in the Catholic world because in addition to him being ordained, his father, Chuck Hough III, was also ordained as a Catholic priest.  Father and son. Catholic priests.  A rarity, for sure!

So, in my travel plans...it worked out best for me to fly in and out of Bush Intercontinental.  And a few days ago, the idea popped in my head that I should go visit Fr. Chuck IV since I'd be in town anyway.  Yeah, the church is out of the way coming from the east towards Houston, since it's on the west side and the airport is on the north side.  But ...I figured...why the heaven, not? Haha.

This morning, when I left my hotel at Orange, TX ...I thought to myself, "Self, hey...I should try to see if I can sneak in a confession before the 10:30AM Mass at Our Lady of Walsingham..."  So I check out and leave Orange, TX at 7:30AM.  Two hour drive later, I'm at the church.

I get there right as Mass ended.  I awkwardly walk around trying to look like a parishioner and know what I'm doing, but I don't know where I'm going...but I find the narthex of the church.  And I see Fr. Chuck IV conversing with members of the parish.  I awkwardly stand there until he notices me.  And finally he does! Fightin' Texas Aggie handshake (normal, but joyful and intense).  Exchange of "how are you?s" After he wraps up conversing with other parishioners, he takes me on a tour of the church and grounds.

A bullet list of what he showed/told me:

• Our Lady of Walsingham's architecture replicates the style and format of 11th century churches in England.  What that means exactly and how do I describe that, I'm not sure.  It looks like a castle on the outside?  The inside has huge pillars outlining the perimeter.  
• The altar is right up against the tabernacle because Mass is celebrated ad orientem, or "to the east."  In other words, most of the times, the priest and deacons have their back to you.  
• There is a choir loft.  In other words, the choir is up on the balcony and you cannot see them.  Organ is up there as well.
• One of the trancepts of the church is actually a chapel whereby the chapel is a replica of Mary's house in Nazareth.  Same dimensions.  He showed me inside, and in addition to the tabernacle, he pointed out the statue of the image of Our Lady of Walsingham, which her most prominent feature is that she's wearing a crown.
• The chapel connects outside and you can see the shrine, pictured below.  It's a replica of the real shrine in England.

Half-size Replica of the original Our Lady of Walsingham Shrine in England
Courtesy of www.walsingham-church.org

Cool.  After showing me around, he tells me he'll start hearing confessions after he takes like a ...10-minute break.  So I go back into the church and get in the confession line.  I pray for a while.  I actually was one person short of going to Confession because Fr. Chuck had to prepare for Mass, so I didn't get to go.  But he said he could resume Confession after Mass.

So, I move up further in the pews and prepare for Mass.  Now,  I must say...Our Lady of Walsingham used to be an Anglican church.  I'm not sure on the history, but the community converted to Catholicism at some point, and they received permission from Blessed Pope John Paul II to continue using the Anglican way of doing Mass.  It's called "Anglican use."

Now, I'd like to describe the things that make this particular Anglican use Mass unique compared to what I'm normally used to at my own parish.

Bulleted form:

• I participated in the Solemn Mass at 10:30AM...so...I think that's their equivalent of our High Mass.  
• During the procession, altar servers carry the cross like normal, but are then followed by the choir, the rest of the altar servers, then the clergy.  I thought it interesting that the choir would be part of the procession.
• Choir sings the antiphons prior to each section of the Mass
• Readings are the same, but a different translation is used
• Every time the name of Jesus Christ is said, the whole congregation bows their head in honor 
• The Penitential Rite, though different, was recited while kneeling, and was recited AFTER the Nicene Creed, whereas we normally do it at the beginning of Mass after the opening prayer.  Then after being sorry for our grievous faults, then came the "peace be with you"s, normally done after the Our Father at my parish.  Haha that was awkward for me...
• Announcements and birthday/anniversary blessings were done prior to the Offertory
• During Intercessions, the response was "Lord, have mercy" instead of "Lord, hear our prayer."
• In general, the liturgy uses an Anglican translation of the Latin Mass.  These translations are older than the translation used after Vatican II.  So,  you can hear and say words familiar to us with the new translation.  However, because the Anglican church originated in England, you'll find more ye olde English in the missal.  Ex. "And with thy spirit"  instead of "And with your spirit."   So there's definitely more thee's, thy's, etc.  I'm not sure to what extent the new translation of the English Mass had on the liturgy in Anglican use churches.
• There were no Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.  Only the ordained ministered the Eucharist.
• The Eucharist is given to the faithful via altar rails and by method of tincture.  So, in order to receive the Eucharist, you have to kneel at the rails located at the front of the sanctuary.  Tincture is where the Body is dipped into the Blood before ministered to the faithful.  The deacons and altar servers carry a plate and hold it below so as not to spill either species.
• In general, a lot more words/prayers were said during this Mass.  And the postures and gestures were different or rather, more deliberate.  Like, you make the sign of the cross, kneel, bow, genuflect more often during the Mass.  I noticed that where it's usually optional for us, they normally do it anyway.  Like, it's just...part of what they do.  

I'm sure I'm forgetting other little differences...if I remember, I'll add to the list and make it obvious that I updated.

After Mass concluded, I awkwardly waited around for Fr. Chuck to finish catching up with parishioners and he finally heard my confession.  We briefly talked and he asked me what I thought about the Mass.  I told him that I was impressed by the level of reverence from the congregation--something often desired in Catholic Masses that I've been to.  Just with all the solemn prayers and gestures/postures, ad orientem-ing, and ...just everything...  He acknowledged that Msgr. Hart, my pastor back home and his former boss, is aiming to bring about a more reverent Mass experience...slowly, but surely.  You can't just throw mandatory changes all at once.  That would be too much of a shock!  And yes, I can vouch...SEAS definitely has a more reverent feel to it than it used to, thanks to the slow changes that Msgr. Hart has brought.

Anyway, this was a really cool experience--to visit a new church to visit with someone from "back home" and to experience Mass in a different way.  I'm grateful for the opportunity!  Even if it required me to cancel my flight plans because the whole visit lasted way longer than I originally planned on...but it was worth it.  Not even mad.  I'd take a Mass and freshly clean soul over catching a flight, haha.

Annnnd, I have legit reason to go back and visit...after all, I couldn't receive the Eucharist ...via tincture, for that matter.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us! That we be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

- JD

Catholic Partyin'

Nuns have fun too, but this blog post about being Catholic at a bachelor party.

I'm currently sitting at an airport in Corpus Christi, TX waiting for a flight back home. I just got done spending time with two of my college buddies and their friends for my college buddies' combined bachelor party. They're getting married in a month and their weddings are two weeks part. Fun fact: they are each others' best man. Crazy, huh? I'm quite blessed and honored to be a groomsman in both of their weddings. I love those guys in a total bro way.

In summary, we didn't live out a plot line worthy of The Hangover 3, but the weekend was still full of adventure and some stereotypical bachelor party things.

I'm grateful that nothing crazy happened like someone harmed themselves or others from being too drunk, no wild cats ended up locked in the bathroom, no one got arrested, no nudity, no one got eaten by sharks, no one got mauled by seagulls and everyone still had lots of fun. I survived the weekend without a pressing need to make an appointment with a priest just to go to Confession, haha.

But without wasting time divulging the details from this weekend, I spent a lot of time reflecting on what I saw, heard, and experienced.

Because, being where I'm at now in my Catholic faith...it's difficult NOT to see the world through a Catholic lens. Even at bachelor parties.

This weekend made me think more about what it means to be a man. Not just any man, but man created in the image and likeness of God. How should he act and think? Does his outward expressions reflect his interior?  Questions like that. I know that, being a guy, we're built to be easily captivated by woman and her beauty, but it is easy to fall into wanting to satiate selfish desires. Too easy to view her as mere piece of flesh for the eyes and imagination to devour rather than seeing her soul past her outer beauty. And too much alcohol clouds the mind, the heart, and the eyes.

Also, this weekend made me think more about the vocation of marriage. It's interesting because for the man-about-to-be-married, he realizes that he must share in the life of another person and through that love...ANOTHER person comes to be. But sometimes I get the vibe from couples that married life is more about the husband and wife and not their future kids. And that's awkward to me. Really awkward.  Also, for the single guy or guy in a somewhat committed dating relationship with friends about-to-be married, it seems that the idea of marriage is like death.

(awkward pause where I don't do more blogging on the 45-minute flight back home because I'm an aerospace nerd and I was marveling at the wing and engine outside my window and then appreciated the tracts and tracts of land devoted to agriculture as observed from my vantage point thousands of feet in the air)

Why, to some guys, is marriage akin to death, worthy of the funeral march instead of wedding bells?  Is it because a married man is no longer a man free to do as he pleases?  That he can no longer enjoy non-commitment?  That his bros are no longer his highest priority?  Perhaps there is an element of truth of how getting married is like death.  No, it IS death--the death of self.  A man, if is he to live out true masculinity in marriage, needs to be willing to sacrifice his selfishness...his ego...his self-centeredness...his life...for her.  For her good.  To place her above himself.  To heaven.  It's not easy.  It's supposed to be difficult.  Where's the sense of adventure when he takes the easy route of looking and behaving inwardly?

Anyway, in brief summary...there's a lot to be thinking about in terms of what it means to be a man and what marriage means whenever you're at a bachelor party.  Worthy for other blog posts, undoubtedly.

Besides all that, there was other Catholic winning this weekend!

A friend I hadn't heard from in over a year...randomly calls me an an opportune lull in our bachelor partyin' to let me know that he has opened his heart to learn more about Catholicism.  Needless to say...I kind of disappeared from the rest of the guys for a while and ended up talking to my friend for over and hour to see where he was at and talk more about Catholicism.  Pretty dang awesome.  I'm so stoked to hear about stuff like that!

I feel like I should have blogged about or posted this somewhere...but...part of my devotions in participating in Fortnight 4 Freedom...is to pray a Rosary each day of the fortnight.  I have grown lax in my devoting a Rosary every day lately, and I have a renewed sense of commitment during this fortnight.  Not even a bachelor party stopped me from taking some time to do a Rosary each day!  What was really cool is I even got one of my friends who is getting married to join me for some Joyful praying ;-)

Lastly, I heard a Matt Maher song playing on the radio while on a Whataburger run this morning.  Sometimes all you gotta do is turn around!...and head back to the condo after securing some breakfast sandwiches...haha.

In conclusion, I had a pretty awesome weekend.  I hardly get the chance to hang out with my friends from college, and I'm grateful I had this opportunity to spend time with them before I show up as a groomsman for both their weddings next month.  Through stereotypical guy talk and life talk from a guy's perspective, I'm able to see the wisdom in having a Catholic perspective.  And it's not that hard to live out my Catholic faith in simple ways so as long as I will it and commit to doing it--while being receptive to those random out-of-the-blue moments, of course.

For ye-who-readeth this blog post, please keep my Future-Catholic-Friend-On-The-Phone in your prayers, that he continues to be open and receptive in all that the Catholic faith has to offer and that his desire to seek truth leads him closer to the greatest Truth of all--God.  Also keep my two College-Buddies-Who-Get-Married-Next-Month in your prayers, that they become prepared to take on the adventure that is marriage that images God's love.  Lastly, keep the rest of us guys also present at the bachelor party in your prayers, that we learn to live out authentic masculinity.  Deep down, that is what we, guys, all desire to do--to live as real men.

My life is Catholic.
- JD

Awkward Confession

Sometimes I go to other parishes for confession because my own parish's confession time isn't always convenient.

So, I go to my Backup Confession Parish #1 this afternoon and I pull into the parking lot.  I look around and see that the parking lot is full.   I think to myself, "Wait a minute...why is the parking lot full? Their Mass doesn't start for another hour!"

I decided to park and go in anyway just on the off-chance that maybe everyone is inside the parish hall.  Or something.

Boy was I wrong.

I walk into the narthex and see a spread worthy of a reception of some sort.  Then I look into the sanctuary and Mass is definitely going on.  Like, Communion lines everywhere.  And red seems to be a popular color.

Confirmation...maybe?!  Then I saw Bishop Vann. Then I was like...ohhhhhhh, that makes sense.  This is their Confirmation Mass.

I stood around for a few minutes thinking about a backup plan.  I awkwardly peer into the sanctuary to see if anyone was in line for confession anyway, but I was unsure because there was some standing-room only by where they normally have the confession line.

I was about to whip out my iPhone and use the Mass Times app to find out where else I could go for Confession this late in the afternoon but...a gentlemen walks up behind me and asks me what was going on in the sanctuary.  Not just any gentlemen--a priest!!!  "Ask and you shall receive," right?!

Apparently the visiting priest didn't know about the Confirmation Mass either.  That's cool.  We both go over to the confessional where there were actually people waiting.

And the story awkwardly pauses while I'm in line for confession yet observing the Confirmation Mass and Bishop Vann and the pastor wrap up Mass with closing remarks and prayer.  (Side Note:  Bishop had to jet outa there as soon as he could because he had another Confirmation Mass to celebrate across town.  His life is Catholic)

Anyway, it was my turn, and I go inside the confessional and all is normal.  But  kind of louder than normal because you can hear everyone is abuzz in the sanctuary due to the conclusion of the Confirmation Mass.

Father was in the middle of giving me penance and absolution when all of a sudden the pastor walks in!!!

Awk.  Really awk.

He apparently wasn't sure if the visiting priest had arrived yet, but my fellow confession line buddies apparently didn't give the pastor the memo?  Anyway, we had an awkward exchange of me telling him that yes, there is in fact a priest on the other side of the partition.  Haha, and the pastor even went to the other side of the wall to make sure.  He leaves.  My confessor and I laughed, and I said..."So ...(I repeat my penance) and...?"

Anyway, umm...after I finished with my confession, I walk out and the pastor apologized.  We laughed.  No biggie.  No sacrament abuses here.  No broken seals.  Still legit confession!

I just laugh and smile because my confession was interrupted by a priest...haha.  #Catholicproblems

All clean!
- JD

Know kneelers, know comfort. No kneelers, no comfort.

Last summer, I was sitting there at Mass  in the amphitheater of Six Flags Over Texas and Bishops Farrell of Dallas and Vann of Ft. Worth were on stage.  We sang through the new translation of the Holy, Holy, Holy as practice for the upcoming Advent season.

After we finished singing, I kneeled down.  On concrete.  I saw the rest of our youth group kneel down as well, because...that's just what you do during the Eucharistic Prayer, Consecration, etc.  I looked around puzzled because some of the other groups didn't kneel at first.  Was the concrete that much of a discouragement to not kneel during this part of the Mass?  But after my youth group all finished kneeling, I noticed the groups around us slowly start to kneel.  And that was cool because we sort of led the way. 

While the Bishops were doing their thing in persona Christi at the altar, I couldn't help but notice my discomfort kneeling on the concrete.  And I was wearing shorts.  As I was trying to focus, I also found myself encouraging myself to endure concrete kneeling. 

Haha, I think after that Mass...I thought "man, I'm glad I don't have to do that often."  

I go back to daily life.  And last summer, daily life included more Daily Masses than usual.  One of the joys of being a volunteer for the youth group is seeing the high schoolers attend Daily Mass regularly.  I've noticed this before, but after Six Flags, I started noticing moreso that some of the high schoolers don't use kneelers.  Eeeenteresting.

Seeing their example, I started not using kneelers in the pews at Daily Mass and Sunday Mass whenever I've got a kneeler to myself.  At first I was like, "hmm, I'll do what they do...coz it's more hardcore! And I don't want to be outdone by them especially if I'm to be their teacher!"

Well, not using a kneeler eventually became a habit of mine.  

And sometime recently, I realized a deeper meaning of not using a kneeler in the pew.  

You see, because of the discomfort of not using a padded kneeler while kneeling at Mass, I realized a profound thing regarding the Catholic faith: 

I shouldn't be comfortable in my Catholic faith.

Well that seems kind of ... negative, depending on how you look at it.  But no! I see it as a good thing.  The temporary discomforts causes me to seek comfort and peace.  Being uncomfortable in the Catholic faith ultimately causes me to seek the comfort and peace in Jesus, because that is who the Church points to.

And the other part is... I shouldn't be comfortable in my Catholic faith because I feel like if I were to be comfortable, I wouldn't feel compelled to dive deeper.  The quest for 2000 years of Catholic truth makes for a very, very deep ocean at which to dive deeper into.

...and not using kneelers is my one, physical way to remind myself to not stay comfortable.  It's temporary anyway.  And hardcore if you can kneel for a bajillion hours at Youth 2000 retreats.

I mean, I look at the crucifix and see that Jesus had to go through discomfort in order to be resurrected. #understatement  

If He can do that, I can endure kneeling on bare carpet, floors, concrete, gym floors, and whatever-I-happen-to-be-kneeling on for a little while.

Lastly, the other thing I get out of not using kneelers is that...before the Blessed Sacrament, it places me at a lower level.  I really get a sense of humility before the Lord by being lower, physically.  In essence, by placing myself lower, I raise Him higher.  Cool to think about.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not here to say that "everyone should never use kneelers"... Because that would be ridiculous and unrealistic.  But ... my life is Catholic.  Anything I can do that reminds me of my call to holiness (without being heretical or going against prescribed rubrics) is...a good thing.

*Updated:
And oh, if I'm sitting in a pew and have to share kneelers with others, I'll use the kneeler and not force my pew mates to kneel on the floor.  That would be a total jerk move, especially next to grandma.

Know kneelers, know comfort. No kneelers, no comfort.

- JD

Popes kneeling from Flickr: Papist

Last Sunday Night

So ... I had some free time one weekend, and the creative juices were flowing so I reworded Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" and made it Catholic...since my life is Catholic.  And nerdy.  And bored.  Either way! Here it is below:


"LAST SUNDAY NIGHT"  ...reworded by JD

====Verse 1====

Now here's a thought in my head

That I should get out of m'bed

Getting dressed to go to Mass

Where's my seat? I've got to guess

I hop in a front row pew

With granny and momma too

Priest processing down the aisle

Feels like a really long mile

Blessings from last night

I talked about online

I'm blessed

Oh yes!

It's filled me up with joy

And I'm really sure it rocked

Amen!

====Chorus====

Last Sunday night

Had Supper on altar tops

With the Son who was begot

Should I kneel or should I not?

Last Sunday night

Yeah we passed out prayer cards

A rosary in our cars

We crowned Mary with some stars

Last Sunday night

We were sitting at the Mass

Donated a bit of cash

Received His Body and Blood

Last Sunday night

Read some verses from the Word

Always trying to sing-ing

Am-e-n!

This Sunday night

Go to Mass again

This Sunday night

Go to Mass again

====Verse 2====

Trying to take in the Word

I went up to present the Gifts

Thought I heard a baby cry

I should wake this sleeping guy

Looked across and saw my friend

Standing up and down again

Think I need a Communion host

Of Jesus I love the most

Blessings from last night

I talked about online

I'm blessed

Oh yes!

It's filled me up with joy

And I'm really sure it rocked

Amen!

(Return to chorus)

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

Father. Son. Holy Spirit.

[insert sax solo]

Chorus