Monday, September 25, 2006
IT'S MONDAY MORNING
and so the question of the day is where am I going to attend Mass this coming Sunday. I have a week to come up with an answer. As I was thinking about it this morning, I have two choices--at least at the moment this seems to be the way it breaks out...
1. I can attend a Mass at a parish that is in communion with Rome that may provide a show in the sanctuary ranging anywhere from something that looks traditional to something that doesn't look even vaguely Catholic. As I walk into the doorway of the church, I have no way of knowing what I'm in for. I may leave the church mildly disgusted, vaguely satisfied, or burning with anger. I'm not likely to leave thinking that I have worshipped God. Or...
2. I can attend Mass at a church that is not in communion with Rome but that provides a Mass that looks Catholic, a homily that sounds Catholic, in an atmosphere that exudes Catholicity. In which case I will leave the church feeling at peace, but will still have failed to worship God.
Either way, I lose.
Sunday after Sunday my husband again has the opportunity to remind me that the words of the Creed--"One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic"--no longer apply to anywhere that he has attended Mass recently.
"The Church is in schism." The laity "have no right to know." But the laity are finding out thanks to an internet that permits the laity to read those documents that used to be stored away in dusty basements out of sight.
Now, where shall I attend Mass next Sunday...?
