Faith

Pilot photo/Gregory L. Tracy

Formed in Christ

Friday, August 8, 2025Faith

Submit a Letter to the Editor

Almost automatically, you dip your finger into the holy water and bless yourself, making the Sign of the Cross. You have just reminded yourself of your baptism.

Father Robert M.
O'Grady

You are planning to get to Mass on Sunday morning. A non-Catholic neighbor asks to join you and your family. You say yes. You arrive to get your favorite parking spot, the car parked to make a quick exit to avoid the rush after Mass. Your neighbor probably doesn't catch this.
You make your way to the main entrance, and in the vestibule or gathering area you see a few fellow parishioners. You also see those you recognize as liturgical ministers -- servers, readers, and likely the deacon and the principal celebrant of the Mass. You quickly explain this to your neighbor.
You may recognize parishioners who are neighbors, or friends from parish activities, or your children's or grandchildren's families. You check in with them, especially if you haven't seen them since last week or perhaps after a well-deserved vacation.
In that space, often called the narthex, you will also see information about parish events, perhaps representatives of parish societies urging your attention or attendance or both to one or another project of the parish or their group.

If there is not an array of flags -- American, papal, or those of ancestral homes of parishioners -- waving from their staffs outside the church, you might find them much more appropriately unfurled here rather than in the nave or main body of the church. Clearly, this is the better location for them, as this allows them to be seen up close and perhaps spark conversation about how they speak about the people of your parish and its history.
When you head into the nave, you pass by either the baptismal font or a stoup or font with holy water. Almost automatically, you dip your finger into the holy water and bless yourself, making the Sign of the Cross. You have just reminded yourself of your baptism. You explain that to your visiting neighbor. The rest of your clan follows with the same weekly, if not daily, reminder.
This reminder is key for us Roman Catholics. For just as we enter the door of the church for any liturgical celebration, we entered the door of faith at the time of our baptism. In order to grasp the Mass, we must first grasp baptism.
You all go to "your" places in the church. (Ever notice how pews become regarded as "ours" by our regular use of them?) Your neighbor settles in with you and starts to look around the main body of the church.
What grabs the attention?
Perhaps the crucifix suspended over the altar? Thus eliminating, as stated last week, any need for an additional one on or near the altar. The crucifix reminds us that we are gathering for a sacrifice. That placement of the crucifix would likely draw your guest's eyes to the altar, and the other main appointments in the sanctuary -- ambo, presidential chair, etc.
Scanning the rest of the church, she would see representations of figures from the history of salvation. Probably prominent would be an image of Mary, maybe her husband, St. Joseph, surely the patron of the parish. There also might be other images of saints who are special to the ethnic communities of the parish; the national flags of those communities were in the narthex.
The presentations could be in the form of statues -- wooden, marble, or perhaps some synthetic material. Or they might be depicted in stained glass. Here, the possibilities are greatly expanded and might include familiar biblical themes or scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. Your non-Catholic friend could readily recognize those. She may have something similar in her place of worship.
With a nod to our fellow Eastern Christian sisters and brothers, both Catholic and Orthodox, parishes have started to place icons of the Holy Theotokos, as they lovingly call the Blessed Virgin, or of saints of both the East and West, and biblical figures and scenes. Following the Eastern practice, there might be a vigil candle burning in front of the icon.
Little by little, the pews start to fill up with fellow parishioners, familiar to you as most Catholics tend to gather on Sunday at the same Mass each weekend, sitting in the same pew, and celebrating the same Mass, different in many ways each week, but alike in more.
Surely, even before the Mass has begun with the first note of the gathering hymn, questions are abounding in your friend and guest's mind.
As we continue our pilgrimage through the Mass, keep your friend in mind. Also keep yourself attuned, soul and spirit, body and mind, to what we are doing as we assemble each week for Mass.
My hope is that these columns marking our pilgrimage will help you answer any questions your guest at Mass may subsequently ask you. Or, even if there is no guest to ask, you will gather some fragments from the columns and deepen your faith, presence, and participation at the Mass.