First Holy Communion (reflections)

[Neo-Scholastic]

Observing Roman Catholic (and Orthodox) worship from the outside is often puzzling, not only for nonbelievers, but also for other Christians. A Protestant, like me, cannot help but start to do all kinds of mental translations in a similar way you did by viewing the proceeding through your skeptical lens. For example, Catholics think the Body of Christ refers only to them and not in the more universal way Protestants do (accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior). As someone who really and truly deeply respects the rich history, art, and intellectual depth of Catholicism, my desire to convert is tempered by it still feeling so strangely foreign.

Perhaps because I am an odd-bird always hearing church-speak and trying to tease out the underlying theology. That partly explains my former atheism because I kept hearing phrases like “Word made Flesh” without anyone bothering to explain them. As such I concluded they were just things people said without bothering to know what they actually entailed, philosophically.
So for better or worse, I can tell you how I, personally interpret those same curious Catholic practices and how I would have to translate them in my mind if I ever did RCIA.

Furthermore, he's a sharp kid. And when he's old enough to start asking questions, his uncle will be there to let him in on the other side of the story.

That’s what uncles are for…teaching our nephews all the dirty words.

First observation: holy water. About a third of the way into the proceedings, a deacon strolled up and down the aisle using a pestle-like object to sprinkle holy water on the crowd. A droplet hit my forehead. The burning was mild,…

IT BURNS! IT BURNS!

…isn't it odd that, this day and age, masses of people attribute special holy powers to ordinary water? Seriously, its just water. And it takes a bit of imagination to consider it otherwise… The only thing that differentiates it from "normal" water as that it has been blessed by a priest. So what?

So as a non-Catholic, I’ll use my imagination. In Hebrew the word for holy means, apart. So I would consider holy water, to be water ritualistically “set aside” for sacred use or purpose. And like a good Aristotelian, I can imagine that in some mystical way the blessing of the priest endows the water with final cause that it would not otherwise have, it has become a means for the transfer of purpose.

That brings up my next issue: blessing. What good does it do to "bless" something? … I'm sure that "blessing" holds a real meaning for many that were in the church that day. If you pressed a believer to give an explanation for what a blessing practically does, I'm guessing you'd either get a shrug or a convoluted explanation that resembles the saving throws concept.

Again putting Catholic practices through my imaginary Protestant translation engine, a blessing seems to be a lot like provenance. Think about the difference between an ordinary American flag and one that once draped over the coffin of a fallen soldier. How would the family feel if they found out that someone had snuck into their house and replaced the framed and folded flag on their mantle with one directly from Walgreens? Both are just pieces of cloth and yet somehow we feel very different about one than the other even if there is no objective difference between them. Like sentimental value, knowledge of a blessing seemingly makes an object capable of magically transferring something that is more than just a feeling – almost tangible.

Is gathering together with other people to intentionally cultivate love within oneself a beneficial spiritual exercise? Or is it just wishful/imaginative thinking that serves no real purpose whatsoever?

Communal worship, more than any other cultural practice, seems as if it has proven to serve as an unparalleled way to build community among people with diverse backgrounds and personal circumstances. I cannot think of any other type of institution that cultivates unconditional positive regard for one’s fellow human being more than churches. Not that they are perfect. Not that there are not denominational rivalries and sometimes bad blood between them. Just that overall, Jewish and Christian communal worship moves people to consider each other brothers and sisters united by a common humanity.

… just to hear about Sky Fairy.

Really? You just had to go there?