lines

After 24 years of going to Mass, I have to say that there are 4 of them that consistently pull at something within me. (Exaggerating to say that it is upon these pronouncements that my whole faith turns? Possibly, though not by much.) In no particular order:

*"Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church"
A fancier way of saying that we're all human. Crusades, indulgences, Pius XII and the Holocaust, slavery, sex scandals, Galileo - it's enough to lead any Catholic to despair. Yet people miss the obvious thing: being religious isn't the same as being perfect or divine, it's about having faith - and well, we have plenty of that.

*"For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours"
For very little reason other than the fact that it is a powerful oratorical line, the stresses all falling cleanly where they should be. Incidentally, I prefer this modern version to: "For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory"; the statement seems more majestic somehow when it leads up to the possessive pronoun; we know, when it comes, precisely what it is that is thine.

*"Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."
Saying this gives me chills every time, this expression of tremendous humility in the face of infinite love. I don't even know what else to say about how it feels. Well - I do, but it's mildly sacrilegous - if you recall the scene at the end of Return of the King where Aragorn says that the hobbits bow to no one or some such and then you get the wide angle shot of the mass genuflection and something catches in your throat? Yeah, it feels something like that, just more.

*"May the Body and Blood of Christ bring us all to Everlasting Life"
The priest gets this line after he consecrates the Host. He's not required to say it out loud (I think) and many don't. I kind of feel they should. After all, what else is all of this about?

And those are the religious posts off my chest...for a while at least.