Web Sites & A Locked Church
theophilus February 2nd, 2009
I have found two websites recently that are outstanding reminders.
One is the First Friday Society. Historically, the First Friday of every month is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The most important way to show our devotion on this day is to attend Mass. The First Friday Society will send you an email in the days before the first Friday of the month reminding you to go to Mass. It will also remind you of Holy Days of Obligation. If you don’t go to weekday Mass regularly, this reminder will help you become more devoted to Christ through the Eucharist.
The other website is the Apostleship of Prayer. I knew that the Holy Father always has his monthly intentions (see my left sidebar), but I didn’t know that these intentions started through the efforts of the Apostleship of Prayer ministry in 1844. The Apostleship encourages us to say a Morning Offering upon waking to offer every part of our day to Christ. I’ve been praying a Morning Offering for a year or so. It’s just such a great way to start the day.
On a totally unrelated note, I have a frustration with locked churches. I like to drop in for a visit to the Blessed Sacrament when very few people are there. I like being in Christ’s presence, the solitary silence, and the spiritual sanctuary that only an empty church can offer. I especially love traditional churches, which are often only found in urban areas. So, there are too many times when I want to enter into this blessed wonderland only to be faced with the cold, hard sound of locked doors.
Today, I had some time between meetings in the city, so I went to the Cathedral in downtown Covington, Kentucky, which is in an urban area across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio. For some reason, I was surprised that I found the doors were locked.
I then went to Mother of God Church in downtown Covington and likewise found their doors locked. I then saw a passageway to the side door of the church and decided to give it a try. The door was locked. But, there was a door buzzer with a sign stating “press for admission.” I looked up and saw the camera mounted above the door, pressed the button, “presented” myself to the camera, and the door buzzed. I entered by the confessional on the side of the church.
It all became a great juxtaposition of events. Today is the Feast of the Presentation. Monday is the Joyful Mysteries for the Holy Rosary. Mother of God is an old German church with a huge fresco of the Annunciation, Visitation and Nativity above the altar, and the Presentation and Finding Jesus in the Temple above the altars of St. Joseph and Mary respectively. So, I was led by the Holy Spirit to pray a very powerful and blessed Rosary.
Towards the end of my prayer, a gentleman came up to me to let me know that they had to lock down the church. He sheepishly apologized to me and warmly told me to come back. I left knowing that this circumstance was just a sign of the times; a contradiction expressed by Simeon.
As I got back to my car in the side parking lot, I noticed an elderly lady who was having great difficulties trying to balance some things in her arms while she got out of her car. We still have a great deal of ice around because of last week’s ice storm and she couldn’t get a good foothold on a patch of ice surrounding her car. So, I went over, took her hand, then her arm, and navigated her through the ice.
The point isn’t my gesture. It was the Christian, Christ-like and chivalrous thing to do. The point is more profound. What would have happened to her if I hadn’t been kicked out of church?
Interesting times we live in. Interesting times. Remember, God is in control.
