My Story, Part Three

June 29, 2007 at 10:14 pm (Bible, Catholic, Catholicism, Church, Conversion, Reformation, Scripture Alone, Sola Scriptura, catholic converts)

[This is the continuation of my story about how God led me to the Catholic faith - see parts one and two on "My Story" page or among my daily posts to catch up.]

After my parents dropped the bombshell that they were considering the Catholic Church, my husband and I were on a mission to change their minds. One Sunday evening over dinner we were debating a Catholic doctrine and I threw out my “trump” card. “But Dad, that’s no where to be found in Scripture which means it can’t be true.” To which he replied, “according to whose interpretation of Scripture, Amy?…And where exactly does the Bible teach that issues of faith and morals are to be determined by Scripture alone? ”Aha,” I thought, “now we have him.” After all, Sola Scriptura is an easy doctrine to prove.

For anyone not familiar with this doctrine it is the belief that the Scriptures alone are sufficient to provide all knowledge that God wanted Christians to have for salvation, the Church and the Christian life.   It is one of the bedrocks of the Reformation and the Protestant faith because it denies that any ecclesiastical authority can be binding and Scripture alone is binding.  Of course, without a binding authority outside of Scripture, Sola Scriptura inherently suggests that the Bible interprets itself and anyone can acquire a full knowledge of God’s Word and all truth by help of the Holy Spirit, in other words through individual and private interpretation/judgment of the Scriptures.

Answering my father’s question, I quoted what I’d always been taught was the Biblical proof text for the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

My father looked unimpressed with my proof text. But instead of arguing with me he simply suggested I go home and read those verses in their context and carefully consider what they were saying. And, he further suggested we look for other verses in the Bible that taught we were to rely on Scripture alone as our authority on issues of faith and morals. So that’s what Scott and I did. And boy were we surprised.

I’m running out of time to write today so I’ll have to stop here. Meet be back here for my next installment and I’ll share what we found and more importantly what we didn’t find in the Bible.

Leave a Comment

Good Advice

June 29, 2007 at 8:40 pm (St. Francis De Sales, complaining, spiritual direction)

Complain as little as possible of your wrongs, for as a general rule you may be sure that complaining is sin; the rather that self-love always magnifies our injuries: above all, do not complain to people who are easily angered and excited. If it is needful to complain to someone, either as seeking a remedy, or in order to soothe your mind, let it be to some calm, gentle spirit, greatly filled with the Love of God; for otherwise, instead of relieving your heart, your confidants will only provoke it to still greater disturbance; instead of the taking out the thorn which pricks you, they will drive it further into your foot.

Taken from the spiritual direction writings of St. Francis De Sales (1567-1662)

Leave a Comment

My Story, Part Two

June 28, 2007 at 9:25 pm (Catholic, Catholicism, Church, Conversion, Jesus, Reformed Theology, catholic converts)

[This is the continuation of my story about how God led me to the Catholic faith - see part one posted on June 25th or "My Story" page to catch up.]

I left the charismatic “non-denominational” church when I moved away to finish my undergraduate and graduate education. For the next four years I attended a number of different types of churches: Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel, Covenant Community (a reformed church), and various other “non-denominational ” independent churches. During that time I maintained my convictions about reformed theology.  After graduate school my husband and I found ourselves back in my hometown attending a reformed church started by my former youth pastor. Throughout this time I can recall a number of “friendly” debates with others on issues such as predestination and free will, limited atonement, “once saved always saved,” justice and total depravity. As I look back on those debates I realize that I would use the same small group of Scripture verses which I interpreted in such a way as to support my positions while often missing or dismissing other verses that might contradict the way I’d been taught to interpret the Bible.

During these years I never once questioned whether “my” interpretation of Scripture was accurate or why the reformed interpretation of Scripture was truth. I just “knew” reformed theology was right (rather prideful, I know). But I was like many Christians; I sat in a pew and listened to a man teach his interpretation of Scripture. I accepted it as truth and I allowed it to become the lens through which I interpreted Scripture in my own personal study time.  Funny how that works. Pastors and Bible teachers will tell you “don’t just take my word for it, go home and study it for yourself.” Truth be told most people never go home and study for themselves. And if they do, another tricky situation comes up. They often go home to study the Word but they do what I did, they view the Word of God through some pre-conceived ideas they already hold about what Scripture means. Often those pre-conceived ideas were planted by the very teacher who tells them to go home and study the Word. Which begs the question, can we really approach Scripture as a “blank slate?” We say we’re being led by the Holy Spirit, and I don’t discount His presence and leading, but aren’t we are also being led by everything else we’ve been taught by others, all that we’ve already accepted as truth, as well as our past experiences, our reasoning skills or lack thereof, and  quite frankly, aren’t we also led by our flesh which is drawn to interpretations of Scripture that are “comfortable” and “palatable.” So can anyone really say they interpret “Scripture Alone” with the Holy Spirit a part from other influences?

All of this forces me to posit another question, one that I didn’t consider until I left the reformed church, “Did God really intend for each individual to sit down, alone with their Bible and the Holy Spirit in order to intepret Scripture to determine what is truth?” If so, then why were there so many competing Christian “truths” out there? Assuming truth is not relative and the Holy Spirit is leading each of us then wouldn’t He lead us all into the same truth?  I’ll come back to these questions later.

Scott and I attended my former youth pastor’s reformed church for six years. I had a very close bond with my pastor and his wife and many of the people at the church. It was a friendly congregation full of loving people who loved Jesus.  And, we were very involved in serving at the church. So it was very difficult when, after four years of worshipping at this church, we started to feel unsettled and began questioning whether this was the church where the Lord wanted us. I honestly couldn’t imagine leaving this congregation but at the same time I was not feeling “fed” or challenged.  For the next two years my husband and I stayed at that  church, in spite of our feelings and concerns. Instead of leaving we turned inward and asked the Lord if the problem wasn’t us: expecting to spiritually receive more from the church when perhaps we ought to serve others more. So, in a effort to take more responsibility for “being fed” we became more involved and continued to actively serve.

At this point we weren’t even questioning reformed theology. One area in which I served was to teach a women’s Bible study that was full of teaching based on reformed theology. Only months before the Lord finally told us to move on from the church, I was teaching a study on our identity in Christ (a topic I am passionate about). While I still agree with much of what I taught, I regret that I accepted certain assumptions about the “truth” of what I was teaching without challenging the interpretation of Scripture behind them.

It wasn’t until  after our first daughter was born that my husband and I knew we could no longer stay at the church. We realized that we had a larger obligation to our daughter; to rasie her where God wanted us to be and not stay where we were simply because we had a community that loved us.  One of the most difficult decisions we made was to leave that church community. I had a 17 year history with my pastor, he had truly been like a “spiritual” big brother to me for all those years. Once the decision to leave was made it still took us several months to get up the nerve to even tell him we were leaving. During those months, as we waited to tell our pastor we needed to move on, God started stirring up the theological water, so to speak. This is where things get interesting.

We shared our decision to leave the church with my parents over dinner one Sunday afternoon (we often shared Sunday dinner together). We knew they too were being led to leave this church but we did not know all the reasons why. They asked where we thought we would go. We listed a few churches we wanted to visit. We planned to visit some other churches before telling our pastor and we invited them to come with us. That’s when they told us that they had a different church in mind: The Catholic Church. Needless to say we were stunned. Remember, I wasn’t leaving the church because I disagreed with reformed theology so when my father tells me he’s been study the Reformation, early Church history and the Catholic Church red flags went flying in my head. I immediately started to ask questions and share all the classic Protestant arguments against the Catholic Church. Let the debates begin!

For the next couple of months Sunday dinner hour was more like the “debate hour.” As the youngest child I am perhaps the most argumentative of my siblings. I’m definitely the most confrontative and I married a man that can more than hold his own and willingly joins in. Of the many anti-Catholic arguments I offered I always seemed to come back to what I thought was THE WINNING ARGUMENT: It can’t be true or it’s a false doctrine because it’s not in the Bible. This was always my “trump card.” Until…

[Stay tuned for the next installment...I can only spend so much time writing each day!]

Leave a Comment

Life lessons from Ella and Miss Amelia

June 27, 2007 at 2:32 pm (Childlike, Daughters, Freedom in Christ, Love)

My three year old, Ella, learned to whistle a few weeks ago (much to the dismay of her big sister who still hasn’t mastered this skill). Ella announced (and demonstrated) her new found skill on the way to a weekday Mass. After praising and encouraging her accomplishment I didn’t give it much more thought, until we were in church. For the next 30 minutes Ella could not contain her excitement over this new skill; she whistled the entire time. Of course I tried to stop her but there’s a part of me that couldn’t blame the girl. I mean, hey, this cool sound was coming from her lips and how could anyone expect her to contain it. She did try though. Each time she whistled her hand would cover her mouth aand she would giggle. Then she’d say in a sincere voice “sorry, mommy.” Admittedly, it was pretty cute.  Thankfully those sitting around us thought it was cute too.

You have to love the inhibitions of children or rather the lack thereof. They just seem to be happy with who they are or what they can do and they aren’t afraid to express it. On top of that, they unabashedly show their love and affection.  It reminds me of some of the elderly people I’ve come across at church recently.  One in particular, Miss Amelia, has captured my attention and my heart. We sit behind her everyday at Mass. I don’t really know Miss Amelia and she doesn’t really know me or my girls. We only met her a couple of weeks ago. But Miss Amelia doesn’t let that stop her from showing her love and affection for the family of God. Each day, either during the “passing of the peace” or after Mass she turns to me, takes my hand in both of hers, looks me in the eye and says with great sincerity, “I love you dear.” And then she looks at my girls, one at a time and says, “do you know I love you too?” No inhibitions, no calcuations, no deliberation…just love, expressed without reservation.

The other day when Ella arrived home with her daddy after running errands she swung the door wide open and announced in a loud voice, “Ella Bella is here.” (Ella Bella is her nickname).  She had full confidence that her Godmother, who is staying with us, and I would thrilled to be in her presence. No inhibitions, no self-consciousness…just Ella being Ella.

It seems like somewhere between our childhood and our senior years many of us lose this, we lose the freedom to be who we are, to be comfortable in the skin God gave us and we start to carefully weigh and measure our expressions of emotion and the expression of who we are. How sad this is. My friends and I were discussing this the other day and we agreed, we’re cheating God, ourselves and the Body of Christ; our Father needs and wants us to be all that He created us to be in Him.

I want to be more like Ella and Miss Amelia. I want to be more comfortable with who God created me to be.   I want to always remember that the Sovereign God of the universe whom I fear, honor and bow down before is also my “Abba,” my Daddy; He created me and rejoices in and over me as His daughter. And, He really does enjoy my presence.  I want to share who I am in Christ with others without reservation. I also want to be more free with my expressions of love and affection for others, uninhibited by social constraints, self-consciousness, fear of what others might think or anything else… And I don’t want to wait until I’m 80 to do this.

1 Comment

How much do you love Jesus?

June 26, 2007 at 11:28 am (Dying to Self, Jesus, Love)

A couple of years ago I was sitting at a meeting for a group of women who were about to serve on a three day ecumenical retreat. One of the pastors serving as a “spiritual director” for the weekend was a sharing a short meditation with the team of ladies when he asked us “How much do you love Jesus?”

Now no one burst out with a answer but I know that I quietly replied in my heart, “Jesus I hope that I love you so much that I would die a martyr’s death for you.” After a moment of reflection on this question the spiritual director said something that has stuck with me ever since (he may have stolen this line from someone; preachers have been known to do that from time to time). Here is what he said: “I can tell you how much you love Jesus… You love Jesus, as much as you love the person you love the least.”

In an instant my hopeful pledge of martyrdom fell flat as the faces of people in my life that I’d failed to truly love and faces of those I was currently failing to love flashed before my eyes. In the silence that followed his meditation I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “So you’ll die a martyr’s death for me, but, will you die to yourself to love __________? ” (and he whispered the name of someone I’d been having a hard time unconditionally loving)

Matthew 25: 36,45 – Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me.”

Philippians 2:3-8 — Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God somthing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant…he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

  • So, how much do you love Jesus?
  • Who have you loved the least in the last week?
  • How is God calling you to die to yourself in order to love this person with the love of Jesus? 

May God give us the grace we need to die to our flesh and truly love others as much as we love ourselves.

2 Comments

My Story, Part One

June 25, 2007 at 7:09 pm (Catholicism, Church, Conversion, Jesus, Reformed Theology, catholic converts)

A number of people have asked me to share “my story” with them. By “story” I’m referring to my decision to join the Catholic Church five years ago. I know some of my Protestant friends are still baffled by Scott’s and my decision to become Catholic, though they love and accept us nonetheless. While for other friends, acceptance of and love toward us has been slow in coming. And then there are those acquaintances who have expresesd a genuine interest in understanding what led us to make such a big change. So, I will do my best to put into writing the journey that brought me to the Catholic Church.  Admittedly, it’s hard to know exactly where to begin because my decision to become Catholic is part of my lifelong faith journey. And to understand where someone is you have to know where they’ve been. I will give some “Clif Notes” here and there and go into more detail when I think it will be more helpful. I’ll have to do this in installments. I may eventually move it to a separate page but for now I’ll keep it on my daily posting page. Here’s goes Part I.

I feel blessed to be able to say I was raised in a Christian home. My parents had me baptized in the Episcopal Church as an infant [an act of faith on their part that I would not fully understand nor appreciate until I studied infant baptism after the birth of my first child 31 years later. I'll share more on this later]. I attended the Episcopal Church until I was 14. One of the blessings of being raised in this Christian home is the fact that I can’t remember a time in my life that I did not believe in Jesus and desire to love God with all my heart. I don’t have a “date of salvation”  or a “first time salvation experience” that many Evangelical Protestants believe you must have in order to be born-again. At least I don’t have a date that I can personally recall; I was just raised to believe and by God’s grace I did. That isn’t to say that I don’t recall significant times in my life where I made public professions of my faith and took personal responsibility for this faith I was raised in. Nor am I saying that I haven’t fallen. Sadly I’ve sinned and given in to some serious temptation in my lifetime but I can honestly say that by his grace I’ve never said to myself or to Father “I’ve had enough of this Christianity stuff and walked away.”   I’ve always believed and wanted to love God with my whole heart. Notice I said the word, “wanted,” because, like Paul talks about in the book of Romans, I haven’t always done what I wanted to do and fulfilled this desire to follow after the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is faithful and He’s brought me to a place of repentance each time.

So, I’m thankful for parents who sought after God. They took us to church every Sunday. My dad was a example of unselfish service to the church. My mom was and still is a faithful woman of prayer and study. I remember as a 13 year old finding out that my grandmother died. Following the example that had been set for me, the first thing I did was crawl up on my bed with my Bible looking for comfort. I know now that the most important factors in the early faith formation of children, besides the Holy Spirit, are the parents. And I was blessed with a mom and dad who did their very best with what they knew in order to raise me in the Christian faith.

My first experience with “changing” churches and denominations came when I was 14. My older sister started attending a non-denominational church (the word non-denominational is really a misnomer for any church; it might be better to say it was not a main line denominational church). My parents eventually allowed me to attend with her and then they joined us as well. This church was started by a man who was “saved” during the “Jesus Movement” of the 60’s and 70’s. He was a charismatic leader in terms of his “style” and the church by definition was a charismatic church. This was quite a departure from the liturgical worship in which I first learned to love Jesus.

Although I was eager to attend this church it had little to do with the “worship style.” Instead it was about a crossroad in my faith journey. I was a freshman in high school facing all the challenges and temptations that teenagers face. I remember thinking, “Ok God, if everything I believe about Jesus is real then I need some help.” For me, this church, with its youth group and the youth leaders who loved us, was an answer to my cry. So while I certainly enjoyed the “lively” music at this new church, music and the worship tradition weren’t the issue. Upon reflection it was more about the lack of supporting ministries for teens at the Episcopal Church we attended. I will forever be grateful for the seeds planted by the Episcopal Church and for how its liturgical worship taught me a holy reverence for God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  In this charismatic church, my love for God’s written word were nurtured. I grew in my faith and in my love for Jesus. I was a part of a “fun” youth group and I had a youth pastor who showered love and acceptance on “his” kids. I soaked up the teaching from my pastor and my youth pastor. But it was my youth pastor who had the greatest impact on me. 

Over the years that he served as a youth pastor he became more and more “reformed” in his interpretation of Scripture (eventually he would come to subscribe to the “five solas” of reformed theology and base the founding of his own church on these doctrinal principles). Naturally he taught us (the youth) the things he was learning and naturally I followed the teaching of my spiritual “big brother.”  I never “directly” questioned or challenged what I was being taught. If I read something in the Bible and it didn’t seem to line up with what I was being taught I would call my youth pastor who would interpret the Scripture for me through the lens of reformed theology.  It was not long before I too was reading R.C. Sproul and other writings that fell in line with reformed theology. And when studying Scripture I too would interpret it through the lens of reformed theology. While I would eventually depart from the tradition of reformed theology, I hold a very special place in my heart for my fomer youth pastor. He really loved me and the other youth. And he encouraged us to love the written word of God and to study.

I attended this church for seven years until… (to be continued) 

Leave a Comment

Prayer of St. Ignatius

June 24, 2007 at 3:44 pm (Prayer, Saints, Surrendering)

Dear Jesus, take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding and my will. All that I am and all that I have you have given me: I surrender it all to you to be used according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace; with these I am rich enough and desire nothing more. Amen

Leave a Comment

Daddy Date Night

June 23, 2007 at 6:03 pm (Daughters, Family)

Whenever I have a meeting to attend or I just need a “night off” my husband walks through the house announcing in a loud voice, “It’s Daddy Date Night.” In a matter of seconds you can hear shrill screams reverberating through the walls of our home. I swear you would think that we have six chilren instead of two. After the girls finish screaming they usually run through the house chanting “Daddy Date Night, Daddy Date Night…” Needless to say, my girls LOVE Daddy Date Nights.

Yesterday I had a ministry meeting scheduled for 6:00 pm so Scott made plans for his date with the girls. He asked me to put the girls in dresses (not the norm) and have them ready to leave by 2:00 pm (looked like this date would be an all day affair– nice gift of time for me). Scott left work early and came home to pick up the girls. As he walked in the door my oldest curtsied and then spun around for his approval. It was quite a sight. Scott loaded them up and they were off. 

Now, this is where I marvel at my husband because truth be told, he could take the girls just about anywhere and they would be happy. My girls would go to Home Depot and think that’s a good date (at this rate the men they marry owe us big-time!).  So, Scott could have gone someplace that interested him; someplace where he could have done something really important (like walking through the nuts and bolts aisle at Ace Hardware). But not my man, nope, instead they were off to watch ballroom dancing. Yes, you read that correctly. My husband left work early to watch ballroom dancing. [As I write this I realize that it may never actually be posted. Scott may need to salvage whatever reputation he has among some of our friends who read this.]

The ballroom dancing competition was a hit with the girls (big surprise!). But they won’t fully appreciate this date with their dad until they’re older and are able to comprehend what it means to have their dad (who is a self-professed recovering work-alcoholic) take an afternoon away from the office to watch ballroom dancers and talk about “pretty pink costumes.”

Daddy Date Night may have a new standard to meet in our home. Then again, probably not, because as much as my girls love Dadddy Date Night, they love their Daddy even more.

Leave a Comment

“Both/And” instead of “Either/Or”

June 22, 2007 at 12:26 pm (Crucifix, Dying to Self, Humility, Jesus, The Cross)

Some time ago someone asked me why I wear a crucifix around my neck instead of an empty cross. “After all ,”she said “Jesus is risen”– as if to imply that somehow my wearing a crucifix was sign that I thought Jesus was still on the cross and a denial of His resurrection. Before I go any further let me say I know this woman’s heart and I don’t think she meant the statement to come across as it did. Her question didn’t surprise me (she was raised in a different faith tradition that doesn’t use the image of the crucifix as part of their worship and church environment). However, it did make me stop and think about a few things. Mostly it made me think about Jesus.

The first crucifix necklace I owned I bought with my big sister in the early 80’s (the era of big hair, big shoulder pads and big jewelery). I wasn’t Catholic then. I was just a girl who loved Jesus and wanted to wear a cool silver crucifix as a sign of my faith. I didn’t know the crucifix was seen by many (not all) as a “catholic” image. I’m not sure that it would have made a difference to me had I known. I wore that crucifix for a number of years but lost track of it during my college years.  Fast forward to 2002. My parents gave me my second crucifix when I became Catholic. These days I’m not really into wearing much jewelery. In fact, I wear very little at all. But I do like to wear my crucifix; not because I’m trying to make a statement about where I worship but because of what the image of Jesus on the cross speaks to my heart.

I have come to love kneeling before the crucifix at church. I find that it’s nearly impossible to spend anytime at all on your knees before a life-sized image of Jesus on the cross and not be humbled. Think about it… It’s hard to really contemplate the image of Christ on the cross and hold unforgiveness or anger in your heart. After all, it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross. In light of this truth, what right do I have to hold an offense against my brother or sister? I also find it difficult to kneel before the crucifix and entertain judgmental thoughts against others. And, I can’t possibly look at an image of Jesus on the cross, the wounds on his feet and hands and his side, and complain about my circumstances. My suffering (if you can call it that) is nothing in comparison to what Jesus went through for me. I most certainly haven’t suffered to the point of shedding blood. The crucifix reminds me that He surrendered all of his rights so that I could be forgiven and reconciled to my Father in heaven. So, how can I cling to my rights as if God or anyone else owes my anything.  As I behold the image of Jesus on the cross I see a true example of what it means to “die to self” and quite frankly I need to be reminded of this daily. 

Obviously I can’t spend all day kneeling at the foot of the crosss (who would do the dishes at home?). So, I wear a crucifix.  When I wear my crucifix and I see its reflection in the mirror, touch it with my hand or when my three year-old looks at it and says ”hey mom, there’s Jesus,” I am reminded of all the things mentioned above. I am reminded of the one who humbly suffered and died because He loved me and it compells me to live by grace  so that I may love others like Jesus loves me.

I don’t recall everything I said to my friend who asked me about my crucifix. I know I didn’t say everything I just put in writing. But I do think I said something about how “the resurrection of Jesus is meaningless without the crucifixion and vice versa. Had he not suffered and died there would be no resurrection to celebrate.”  But even that statement is incomplete. The crucifixion and resurrection are not an “either/or” kind of thing like my friend’s question suggested. Christ’s suffering and death are an example of how we are to live: picking up our cross and humbly dying to self (to our flesh). But we cannot follow this example without the resurrected life of Christ within us which He’s given in the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must be mindful of what He’s given us through both His death and His resurrection. It’s a “both/and” kind of thing. And there’s definitely a balance to be had.

I’ve met Christians who focus only on the hope we have because of the resurrection. It seems these brothers and sisters want to deny their suffering, trials, God’s discipline or the need to die to their flesh. They’re convinced that the power of the resurrection is their guarantee to avoid suffering or inconvenience here on earth. Then again, I’ve met Christians who focus so much on their suffering for Jesus and carrying their cross here on earth that they’ve lost the joy of their salvation and they fail to live by and reflect the hope and promise of the resurrection. The Bible tells us the Christian life involves both. In Philippians 3:10-11 St. Paul puts it this way: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” I love this passage of Scripture. It demonstrates a paradox of our faith; “the power” and “the sufferings.” It reflects the “both/and.”

I’m glad my friend asked me about my crucifix. Little did she know where her question would lead me in my thought process. It’s definitely made me more conscious of the crucifix I wear and everything it represents. Which makes me think more about my Jesus. And the more I think about my Jesus, the more “I want to know [Him] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  And that’s what matters most, isn’t it?

*Note: I first read about the concept of  “both/and” vs. “either/or” in the writings of Stephen K. Ray. It’s applicable to many aspects of our Christian faith.

Leave a Comment

Do you smell like church?

June 20, 2007 at 6:42 pm (Church)

I know, a strange question indeed. Especially if your church serves Starbucks in the foyer and you’re thinking, “gee I don’t know, do I smell like coffee?” Hang with me for a minute and read on…

Our pastor just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. He brought back some precious oil; the same kind of oil that is believed to be used by the woman in Scripture who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and hair and then annointed them with ointment or oil (Luke 7:36-8:3). Coincidentally (or not), the story of the woman annointing the feet of Jesus with oil was the Gospel reading for Mass on Sunday. So, Father Malley took this oil out and talked about it during his homily (that’s Catholic speak for sermon).  This passage of Scripture is so rich, Fr. Malley covered a lot of bases in his homily. But it was when he spoke about the oil and it’s fragrance that the Lord really spoke to me. How powerful the fragrance must have been as she poured the oil over Christ’s feet.  The fragrance of the body of Christ must have permeated the room. I can’t help but think the smell of that oil was a reminder to everyone in that room of the forgiveness and love that Jesus had shown this woman and her abundant love in return.

As he talked about the oil Fr. Malley put some of it into the incense burner and walked through the church.  [If incense is not a part of your faith tradition then you may not know that the incense is used in liturgical worship as a symbolic image and fragrant reminder of our prayers rising up to God (see Revelation 5:8 & 8:3-4).]   As the smell of the incense permeated the sanctuary he told a story about a boy who went home with his grandfather after Mass. Later in the day the boy hugged his grandfather goodbye and said, “hey grandpa, you smell like church.” His grandfather laughed and said to the boy, “I sure hope I do.”  As Fr. Malley wrapped up his homily he asked, “When you leave you here, do you smell like church?…When you interact with others do you give off the fragrance of the Body of Christ?…Is your life a fragrant reminder to others of the love and forgiveness of Jesus?” 

Our music leader picked the Fragrance Prayer for our worship time after communion. It’s a beautiful and simple song recorded by Tom Booth (you can find it on ITunes–it’s worth every penny). I’m told that Mother Theresa prayed this prayer all the time. Now, there’s a woman who spread the fragrance of the Body of Christ…

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere that I go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may be only a radiance of yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every person I come in contact with may feel your Presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.

2 Comments

« Older entries