A Tour of the Church

Last night’s RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) class was an informative one! We got into three groups and we heard about different aspects of our church from each of three different people. During one section, we learned more about the altar, tabernacle, and that area of the church. In the next section, we walked through the priest sacristy and the work sacristy. And, then the last section, we walked around the nave.

It was pretty interesting to learn more about some of the things that we had wondered about before. Like, for instance, we had no idea where a person went for reconciliation. Who knew there was a little room in the back?! Although I knew it wasn’t going to be like in the movies, this definitely was not. A couple of the gals in our group were pretty sure that the priest can tell who it is in there, even if they should decide to be behind the wall/curtain thingee. (It wasn’t until earlier in RCIA that I found out that it’s an option to actually sit face to face and not behind the curtain.) It reminded me of when Fr. Dan had said that when he was a child that he almost soiled himself when, after doing confession, the priest asked him how his grandmother was doing. LOL!!! He said when he was little, he had no idea that they might actually recognize his voice or whatnot. Too funny!

Eric and I had our first trip up into the balcony area. I have to admit that that is a little high up there for me. Augh! I guess this will be my reason to always make sure to get to Mass on time! LOL It is not unusual to be asked at the beginning of Mass to scrunch together to make more room, and there are still sometimes people standing in the back. It doesn’t happen at every Mass, but it seems to happen a decent amount. (There is a Saturday night Vigil Mass at our parish, as well as four Sunday Mass times.)

We also had a chance to learn some about the stained glass windows (one side features the joyful mysteries and one side the glorious mysteries) and statues that are in the church. I really love our church for all of these beautiful features. It was fun to learn more about them, as well as the candles on either side of the church for prayer intentions.

Very informative class, although Eric was sore from standing for so long. (I didn’t mind, since we had a lot of chances to walk around.) We’re looking forward to next week, since Fr. Dan will be speaking to us, which always makes for an enjoyable class. He said we all needed to be there because the topic is moral decision making. Eric and I decided that perhaps we needed to make some immoral decisions this week just so we could say, “Shoot! Why couldn’t you have given this talk a week ago?” Okay, maybe not really.

One particularly nice thing that happened while I was at church last night was that someone who bought some of my Hail Mary prayer cards asked for some more. She said she had given them all out, and then gave her last one (that was hers) to a friend going into the hospital. Seems like she enjoyed telling people they were made by someone that isn’t even Catholic yet. LOL I ended up dropping her some in the mail today. I have been trying to think on how I might be able to use these as my own personal ministry, perhaps. I don’t know. But, I do know that I like giving them to people, and I like knowing that they are being enjoyed.

Oh, and we were happy to finish up our service project for the holidays for RCIA. We cooked a bit and did some baking for my grandmother, since, as harsh as it sounds to say it about your own grandmother, she is a shut in. She doesn’t get a chance to eat too many homemade things (unless my Mom or I make them), and so I’m hoping that she will enjoy our efforts.