Mass at the Beach 8 AM
Said the sign and I thought, "why not." I have been avoiding church for a variety of reasons and this was a less than 2 mile drive for me instead of the 38 mile one I usually make. So, I set my alarm for 7 but, truth be told, I am accustomed to CPT* so it was no surprise that I was about 10 minutes late.
The local Roman parish has been hosting a mass on the beach twice yearly since 1998 and this would be the last one for the current priest. Maybe 200 or 300 people were present this morning, Trinity Sunday. I do believe I heard it mentioned a few times although the sermon/homily was focused elsewhere, somewhere, kind of nostalgic. I realize that, in the Lutheran liturgy, the Creed is optional but I thought for sure one would be included today--but it wasn't. Odd. The prayers of the Church/people was a little disjointed, too. Sometimes the priest forgot to give us our clue for a reponse. He prayed for peace throughout the world and named some places. Since it is also Memorial Day, one would expect him to include places like Iraq and Afghanistan, but he didn't.
After a subtle sharing of peace, we moved into the communion liturgy. I didn't expect to get any wine, it was just for the priest but, then he gave some to the communion ministers but not the acolytes, er altar servers. What's up with that? We received at one of several stations. To me, being at the beach evoked scenes of Jesus feeding people with things like real bread, fishes, and the like so, naturally, the little beige wafer was woefully insufficient. Not insufficient for grace, just not much of a meal. Oh, yeah, there was the Lord's Prayer, too, and I was smooth enough to know where to stop instead of going on like the Lutheran I am accustomed to being.
We were given a benediction and the dismissal was more like "Oh, yeah, support your parish especially with your special offerings, an envelope for which was included in your box." That was for the regulars, I guess. Maybe they didn't think folks like me would show up because of a sign that said "Mass at the Beach, 8 a.m."
Anyway, when the musicians launched into God bless America or something, I knew it was time to go. But, at least, I had Mass at the beach, 8 a.m.
*CPT is a slang expression for "colored people time." It means we start when the Spirit moves, show up when you can, and we finish when we finish, no need for a watch. It's how I roll.
The local Roman parish has been hosting a mass on the beach twice yearly since 1998 and this would be the last one for the current priest. Maybe 200 or 300 people were present this morning, Trinity Sunday. I do believe I heard it mentioned a few times although the sermon/homily was focused elsewhere, somewhere, kind of nostalgic. I realize that, in the Lutheran liturgy, the Creed is optional but I thought for sure one would be included today--but it wasn't. Odd. The prayers of the Church/people was a little disjointed, too. Sometimes the priest forgot to give us our clue for a reponse. He prayed for peace throughout the world and named some places. Since it is also Memorial Day, one would expect him to include places like Iraq and Afghanistan, but he didn't.
After a subtle sharing of peace, we moved into the communion liturgy. I didn't expect to get any wine, it was just for the priest but, then he gave some to the communion ministers but not the acolytes, er altar servers. What's up with that? We received at one of several stations. To me, being at the beach evoked scenes of Jesus feeding people with things like real bread, fishes, and the like so, naturally, the little beige wafer was woefully insufficient. Not insufficient for grace, just not much of a meal. Oh, yeah, there was the Lord's Prayer, too, and I was smooth enough to know where to stop instead of going on like the Lutheran I am accustomed to being.
We were given a benediction and the dismissal was more like "Oh, yeah, support your parish especially with your special offerings, an envelope for which was included in your box." That was for the regulars, I guess. Maybe they didn't think folks like me would show up because of a sign that said "Mass at the Beach, 8 a.m."
Anyway, when the musicians launched into God bless America or something, I knew it was time to go. But, at least, I had Mass at the beach, 8 a.m.
*CPT is a slang expression for "colored people time." It means we start when the Spirit moves, show up when you can, and we finish when we finish, no need for a watch. It's how I roll.
posted by John | 11:04 PM
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