Catholic churchs rituals units us more that beliefs

[demosincebirth]

Viewpoint

Patrick Henry

In his recent book, Toward A True Kinship Of Faiths: How The World's Religions Can Come Together, the Dalai Lama recounts a 1994 visit to Israel during which he asked one of the chief rabbis "what it is that unites Jewish people the world over -- what the kernel of the doctrine is that unites all Jews." He was taken aback by the rabbi's response: "When it comes to doctrine, there is hardly any uniformity. What unites all faithful Jews are the rituals. Come Friday, all Jewish homes, from Siberia to Ethiopia, hold Sabbath in the same manner. We have been doing this for thousands of years, since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem."

Not being "a great believer in the efficacy of ritual in its own right," the Dalai Lama was initially surprised by this answer. But he came to understand what ritual means in the context of exile and diaspora: "a particular form of continuity and connection that allows great pluralism of views and beliefs," he said, "while at the same time links people through a shared set of practices and a language ... to a powerful lineage of memory and tradition."

While many Catholics might perhaps respond to the Dalai Lama's question by reciting the Credo, I resist the idea that faith is synonymous with conformity and allows for no variance of opinion. Almost 500 years ago, in a letter to Jean de Carondelet, Catholic priest and theologian Desiderius Erasmus maintained that faith is "more of a way of life than of a profession of articles" and that "the sum and substance" of Christianity consists in "peace and concord." Erasmus was disturbed by those who would use dogma to disrupt harmony among Christians and found good support for his ideas of charitable disagreements and mutual love in his reading of Romans 14-15, where he saw a nonjudgmental, anti-dogma approach to Christianity, one that elevated tolerance in the name of peace, love and concord. (In Romans 14:13, for example, Paul writes: "Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.&quot

I find the strength of contemporary Catholicism in its diversity, its vibrancy, its personally lived quality, its recognition of the primacy of the individual's moral conscience. I hope that others will come to value it for these same reasons and respect the conclusions of all those honestly attempting to practice the teachings of the Gospels. By honoring individual authenticity, we prevent dogmatic conflicts from disrupting peace and concord within the church.

http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/catholic-churchs-ritual-unites-us-more-beliefs

[hedgehog]

1. So many churches these days have those phony electric lights

instead of prayer candles. Someone doesn't understand what's important!

[demosincebirth]

2. I like the changes from Vatican II, but I really miss the rituals during Holy Week. No music, no

bells, etc. The solemnity of the whole week. As an alter boy, at that time, I miss the claker...using it during mass, during lent, and Holy week. that's one ritual that really sticks to my mind...don't know why, but it does

[hedgehog]

3. I recall the clacker as well. I think it went away in order to get a closer focus on the readings.

I'd rather lose the clacker than get the prayers about converting the Jews back into Holy Week!


We do compensate by ringing the bells rthroughout the Gloria during the Easter Vigil.

[Kingofalldems]

4. What's a clacker?

I was an altar boy and missed that one.

[demosincebirth]

5. Ah me' boy, I guess ya was a wee bit young to remember thee clacker.

take a wee look:

http://www.churchsupplywarehouse.com/catalog_search.asp?action=searchRedirect&searchRedirectValue=clacker&searchRedirectType=Phrase+Search



It was used instead of the ringing of the bell during Holy Week.

[Kingofalldems]

6. I am plenty old--Latin was around back then

but I really only served daily Mass and some Novenas so I could have missed them.

[demosincebirth]

7. Now you know. It made a clack-clack-clack sound, so the name...

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

8. Another example out of Jewish ritual

Every year, Jews celebrate the Passover Seder. The Haggadah which I have says

We [celebrate the Seder] because we are commanded to “explain to your children on this day ‘This is what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” We read in the Mishnah that in every generation each person should think of him- or herself as personally coming out Egypt. Therefore, it was not only our ancestors whom the Holy One redeemed from slavery, we were also redeemed together with them.

The Haggadah says, over and over, such things as

The Rebellious Child says, “What does this ritual mean to you?” Not feeling a part of the celebration, the child says “to you” as an outsider having no place in the observance. That child should be answered, “This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.” For me because I have accepted God’s call to redemption and freedom, but that child would have stayed a slave in Egypt by rebelling against God’s actions in saving his people.

"This is ... what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt." Each person is reminded of what the Lord, our God, has done for us collectively and individually. It unites each Jew who celebrates it with every other Jew since the original Passover.