Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - February 19, 2021
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
The ritual of the Mass, the routine, even allowing for the variety that is possible, is a given that Catholic Christians must face. In general, we know what is going to happen, what will follow what, what parts are for the congregation, the priest. Depending on parishes, the amount of variation in all this may be different. But, in general, Catholic ritual is not rebuilt weekly from the ground up.
“One person's meat is another's poison.” For some the sameness is cause for boredom and great difficulty in staying with it, even in continuing to attend. These feel that nothing new is happening, nothing, in fact, is going on. For others, the routine is a consolation and comfort, a kind of anchor in the life of the week. A place to go with the disturbances, anxieties, and pains of life for the calming effect of predictability. It would be wonderful, but possibly asking too much, to hope that some of us could see both sides, appreciate both attitudes. It's possible that some of us experience alternately both moods. Don't we all need both continuity and change?
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
