Islington
Member
Greetings everyone,
I went to Mount St. Michel a few weeks ago and, since my companion had expressed a curiosity for Catholic mass, I figured it would be a nice occasion to show her.
The priest, this day, chose to comment on the Gospel of Luke and the Emmaus episode. Now, keep in mind that this was a refreshing modern talk and he was by no means one of those who stick, word by word, to the Bible.
So he went and talked about how he saw, in this particular episode, 6 foundations of personal Christian faith. I hope I won't denature his message but here it is, from what I recall:
- walking on the path of life
- the doubt and sadness about being alone and with no faith (disciples walking, sad because Jesus died)
- explanation of the meaning of the Scripture, like in during mass (Jesus explaining how and why he had to die)
- the liturgy and the rite of the bread
- faith instilled and seeing the christian truth (eyes opening and the disciples recognizing Jesus for who he is and what he has become with his resurrection)
- the Christian community, the Church (first thing those guys do? they rush back to Jerusalem to meet the others ant tell them about what they experienced and their newfound faith)
So, now, my companion turned to me and asked how and why the community is so important to Christian. She saw it as the message for proselytism that she dislikes so much with Christianity -to which I answered that it was not necessarily the case ; the priest was merely underlining how much the community matters for a Christian.
But then she asked: why can't a Christian interiorize their faith? Why does it have to be a community?
Having grown up in a Catholic environment and discussed a lot of times with priests (Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and Jesuits), it never occurred to me that the necessity of community was strange for Christians. I remember hearing them sing songs about how one cannot be a Christian alone, how they had to be together. I understand the concept of the Church as a body with each of the Catholics being a cell.
I must say that I was a bit at a loss with that question: I've studied the Christian faith but she hasn't. It was basically her first, direct contact with Catholic liturgy. And I had to empathize with her to see why she would ask such a question.
You see, we are both Hindu and our own belief is that God must be (and will be) self-realized. Meaning that no one here will do it for you ; that it's a work that one does within himself, alone. Whenever we go on pilgrimage, attend a temple or offer prayers we commune within ourselves, we dive in.
Now, to a person who would ask you such a question (and it is a very interesting one!), taking in account their personal view. How would you explain why Emmaus is such an important episode? Why does community matter so much for a Catholic?
Thank you for reading me!
I went to Mount St. Michel a few weeks ago and, since my companion had expressed a curiosity for Catholic mass, I figured it would be a nice occasion to show her.
The priest, this day, chose to comment on the Gospel of Luke and the Emmaus episode. Now, keep in mind that this was a refreshing modern talk and he was by no means one of those who stick, word by word, to the Bible.
So he went and talked about how he saw, in this particular episode, 6 foundations of personal Christian faith. I hope I won't denature his message but here it is, from what I recall:
- walking on the path of life
- the doubt and sadness about being alone and with no faith (disciples walking, sad because Jesus died)
- explanation of the meaning of the Scripture, like in during mass (Jesus explaining how and why he had to die)
- the liturgy and the rite of the bread
- faith instilled and seeing the christian truth (eyes opening and the disciples recognizing Jesus for who he is and what he has become with his resurrection)
- the Christian community, the Church (first thing those guys do? they rush back to Jerusalem to meet the others ant tell them about what they experienced and their newfound faith)
So, now, my companion turned to me and asked how and why the community is so important to Christian. She saw it as the message for proselytism that she dislikes so much with Christianity -to which I answered that it was not necessarily the case ; the priest was merely underlining how much the community matters for a Christian.
But then she asked: why can't a Christian interiorize their faith? Why does it have to be a community?
Having grown up in a Catholic environment and discussed a lot of times with priests (Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and Jesuits), it never occurred to me that the necessity of community was strange for Christians. I remember hearing them sing songs about how one cannot be a Christian alone, how they had to be together. I understand the concept of the Church as a body with each of the Catholics being a cell.
I must say that I was a bit at a loss with that question: I've studied the Christian faith but she hasn't. It was basically her first, direct contact with Catholic liturgy. And I had to empathize with her to see why she would ask such a question.
You see, we are both Hindu and our own belief is that God must be (and will be) self-realized. Meaning that no one here will do it for you ; that it's a work that one does within himself, alone. Whenever we go on pilgrimage, attend a temple or offer prayers we commune within ourselves, we dive in.
Now, to a person who would ask you such a question (and it is a very interesting one!), taking in account their personal view. How would you explain why Emmaus is such an important episode? Why does community matter so much for a Catholic?
Thank you for reading me!
