Tradition

Last night I got to the point of being pretty stressed. This whole teaching early Christian Church history thing is a new concept to me...as in, I am learning more about it as I go so then I, in turn, can pass on the information/learning opportunities to my students.

It's hard to find that kind of stuff online in videos and articles, let me tell you. (And I am not alone in this - one of my friends who I might consider a Bible history guru said it's hard to get good stuff from the internet for teaching this material.) And, let's face it, the textbook mentions big events (that I need to cover from the Archdiocesan standards) in passing...and without names.

Ok, sorry for the little rant there...but you get where I'm coming from, right? I just couldn't finish up my lessons for 8th grade, and then, all of a sudden, it was time for Mass.

Great.

I got to Mass early because I was signed up to be an EM, and that turned out to be a blessing because I had about 20 minutes in prayer/silence before the Church building started filling up with people. (It definitely gave me time to offer a prayer of thanks for another friend - this one in the seminary, so you know he's a good source - who is working on getting some ideas together to help me in my Church history endeavors. Alleluia!)

Mass proceeded pretty much as it usually does, but when it came time for the Eucharistic Prayer, something hit me - all of a sudden, I experienced the tradition of the Mass - the words and gestures and prayers we said echoing those said 2000 years ago at the time of Christ - and I got chills. (I guess all the reading up on the first Apostles and martyrs started to take its toll on me.) Literally, chills.

I don't think I'll ever experience Mass the same again, not after that. I guess the struggles of learning all this new material has rewards of understanding and blessings beyond my imagination...and I got a taste of that last night. So as much as I b**** and moan about all the material I have to jam-pack in before Thanksgiving break, I honestly have no right to complain.

At the end of the day, I must admit, I love my job.