Beginning January 1 of this year, there was a change decreed for the parish. In fact, what happened was that the Bishop reunited two parishes which had at one time been united, but which had separated (and flourished for a while). Unification is never an easy thing. It takes intentionality and lots of cooperation.
As it happens, the liturgies of the Paschal Triduum lend themselves very well to putting some flesh on the process of reunification. Since the Church does not permit any Mass to be celebrated on Holy Thursday, other than the Mass of Chrism and the Mass of the Lord's Supper, we thought that this would be a marvelous occasion to bring the forces together, and it was a resounding success.
Voices from various choirs combined to form a unified voice which led the musical facets of our worship last night, and even the mandatum was an occasion for people who are used to praying in separate physical locations to join forces, practicing what we preach: washing one another's feet.
This annual observance which is enacted within the heart of the liturgy is a concrete example of fulfilling the Lord's command to care for one another. The act of washing another person's feet is humbling enough, but we are asked to go further: to allow others to wash our feet as well, and this is perhaps where we learn the most valuable lessons about loving and being loved, about caring for one another and about allowing ourselves to be cared for.
The best part is that this simple gesture helps us to learn that we're not that different, one from another. In fact, we're all on the same road, all learning how to be grateful for the gifts we receive and to be generous in sharing the talents we possess with others.
More pictures from last night's mandatum will soon be posted on the parish website.
As it happens, the liturgies of the Paschal Triduum lend themselves very well to putting some flesh on the process of reunification. Since the Church does not permit any Mass to be celebrated on Holy Thursday, other than the Mass of Chrism and the Mass of the Lord's Supper, we thought that this would be a marvelous occasion to bring the forces together, and it was a resounding success.
Voices from various choirs combined to form a unified voice which led the musical facets of our worship last night, and even the mandatum was an occasion for people who are used to praying in separate physical locations to join forces, practicing what we preach: washing one another's feet.
This annual observance which is enacted within the heart of the liturgy is a concrete example of fulfilling the Lord's command to care for one another. The act of washing another person's feet is humbling enough, but we are asked to go further: to allow others to wash our feet as well, and this is perhaps where we learn the most valuable lessons about loving and being loved, about caring for one another and about allowing ourselves to be cared for.
The best part is that this simple gesture helps us to learn that we're not that different, one from another. In fact, we're all on the same road, all learning how to be grateful for the gifts we receive and to be generous in sharing the talents we possess with others.
More pictures from last night's mandatum will soon be posted on the parish website.
1 comment:
Hello,
My name is Brian Hinds and I am the Coursepack Buyer for Biola University. There is a professor at our university that would like to use a picture from your blog and I wanted to either 1) ask your permission for its use if you are the photographer or 2) ask if you could direct me to the photographer of the photo so that I may secure permission from him/her. Thanks!
The picture is found here on your website: http://aaog.blogspot.com/2011/04/combining-efforts.html
The specific picture is the top picture with the gentleman in the grey shirt.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Brian Hinds
Coursepack Processor
Biola University Bookstore
__________________________
coursepackprocessing@biola.edu
562.944.0351 ext. 5904
Fax: 562.906.4549
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