A Lesson in Liturgy

Many years ago, while I was mother to very small children, I received a wedding invitation for a friend’s daughter. The wedding was to take place at an Episcopalian church not far from home. I remember being so excited about dressing up and getting a date night without kids.

It was a beautiful celebration accompanied with the recurring tears that I shed at every wedding. The older I get, the more tears that come as I more fully understand the beauty of the covenant of marriage. The ceremony was going along beautifully until the service moved into the time for the attendees to participate in receiving communion at the altar. The elements were to be taken intinction – a method I had first experienced in prior years during a three day Emmaus Walk.

So far, so good. We are lining up, exiting our rows herding like cows down the middle aisle, to receive the elements. I am not a farm girl, but I often find myself thinking about cows because my first real job after college was at a meat packing plant in Dodge City, Kansas. I still have sad thoughts of those cows being herded onto the kill floor to be slaughtered. I am surprised I have gotten past it enough to enjoy a good steak, but I certainly have. But today, I’m celebrating the slaughter of my Lord and Savior by receiving communion. What a glorious shift in mind.

As I got closer to the front of the line, I realized folks were taking the time to kneel at the altar to pray after receiving communion. Okay, I can do that. It wasn’t until the actual kneeling began that I thought about my shoes. They were a recent thrift store purchase which I absolutely had not taken the time to erase the 2.99 chalk ink price on the heel of the shoe. It was too late to make any adjustments. It was right at the point of kneeling that my memory came alive to the bottom of my shoes. Oh well, I chuckled silently and had a quick reminder that my identity as a daughter of the Most High God is not reflected by my lack of attention to details.

I have come a long way in regards to liturgy since that first Episcopalian wedding. Although my spiritual background is Baptist, having learned to enjoy responsive readings, praying with Anglican prayer beads, and praying the prayer of Suspice by Saint Ignatius of Loyola has deepened my faith and helped me to know and love God more intimately.

Be encouraged that the Spirit of God is elsewhere besides your personal church. We can celebrate God collectively when we permit ourselves to get outside of our rituals and traditions. In doing so, we are living out Philippians 1:27 “I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” and Philippians 2:2 “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

Prayer of Suscipe

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

My memory, my understanding,

And my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

That is enough for me.

– Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556

How can you deepen your faith by spending time with believers who celebrate their faith in different ways than your family?