The discussion following Katherine's post about the historical causes of Vatican II has branched into discussion about what is covered in OCIA (the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, known as RCIA until 2021).
I don't think I mention it very often, but I'm one of the contributors, or presenters, or facilitators, or whatever the appropriate term is, for our parish's OCIA program. In case it's of interest, I'm going to describe what I do, and what I've observed of RCIA / OCIA in our parish.
I was first invited to contribute instruction around the time I was ordained, in 2004. At that time, RCIA was run by a deacon and his wife. The wife had grown up in one of the Protestant denominations and then went through RCIA just prior to her marriage to her husband. (For her, it "took"; she was the one who, in my view, actually ran the program, and of the two was the more engaged with the catechumens and candidates.) They asked me, as a freshly minted deacon, if I would lead the session on Mary, Mother of God.
Why they would ask me to present this particular topic, is kind of a head-scratcher. The only thing I can think of is that, prior to my entering deacon formation, I led a musical ensemble - a sort of small choir - which sang at a late-morning Sunday mass; and that same mass slot had been chosen by some other group in the parish as the mass after which, in May, a May crowning ceremony was performed. Because our little group provided the music at that mass, we were asked if we would also provide music for the May crowning, and we obliged. (The May crowning music, I have to say, could veer from the standard - Immaculate Mary - to the really bad - Bring Flow'rs of the Fairest).
So this May crowning history may have connected me in somebody's brain to Mary. But in truth, I didn't really have a Marian devotion, if Marian devotion meant coming to the daily rosary or visiting Marian apparition sites. I had nothing against her - she's fine! - but I wasn't really the most Marian person in the parish. Nor did we have much formation, or any at all, on Mary during my deacon formation.
But - I was asked to lead this session, and despite knowing comparatively litte about Mary and considerably less than that about RCIA, I said, Sure, I'll give it a shot.
I decided the way to do it would be to sit in a circle with everyone and have a conversation about Mary. I supposed that most people going through RCIA would be non-Catholic Christians who might have some rudimentary biblical familiarity (quite possibly more familiarity than us Catholics), so I'd start by talking about what we all share in common about Mary: the stories of her in the New Testament - the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Circumcision, and so on. I'd start by asking them what their favorite Bible stories are about Mary.
I quickly learned a couple of things: most young people going through RCIA / OCIA these days don't actually have much of a biblical or religious background, so they know little or nothing about Mary (or Jesus or the Catholic church); but every RCIA attendee has one or more sponsors, and the sponsors are very eager to talk about Mary. So when I asked, "What are your favorite Bible stories about Mary?" it would mostly be the sponsors, not the attendees, who would answer. But it turned out, that was kind of okay, because when a sponsor raised her hand and said, "I love the story about Mary and Jesus at the wedding at Cana", I'd ask them, "Why do you love that story?", and a conversation would ensue - sometimes, a group conversation. And the attendees would listen to the conversation - they found the topic quite interesting. And eventually I'd be able to draw some of them into the conversation, and they would ask questions that occurred to them about Mary.
Beyond the biblical aspects of Mary, we also talked about some of the Marian dogmas and beliefs (Immaculate Conception, Assumption, Mary mother of God, Mary ever-virgin, Mary queen of heaven) which don't have a direct, explicit biblical basis but which the church nevertheless believes. In those conversations, I didn't hammer them with, "You must believe these things!", but just tried to describe what they consist of, so they could have some understanding of what those terms actually mean. Whether or not to accept the teachings, is kind of up to them - or at least that's my approach.
We also talked about why the Catholic church loves Mary so much; Marian apparitions; and a bit about the rosary (I was told to only touch the rosary topic lightly because there is a whole separate session on the rosary).
I guess you could say I lectured. I had a stint when I was younger where I taught community college courses, and then spent a lot of years in the corporate world doing corporate training, so I was pretty comfortable preparing and giving lectures. But as I say, I try to do it in an interactive way.
About 10 years ago, the deacon who led the sessions with his wife died quite suddenly - he contracted a terrible rare disease and died within about three months. The wife, understandably, was bereft, and felt she couldn't lead RCIA without him. So for a period of two or so years, we didn't have an RCIA program. Then we found someone - this wonderful woman from Pakistan who is a former nun, who had run the RCIA program at a different parish. She started to put together her program, but then COVID happened. So we went on hiatus for another couple of years.
This new director is more assertive: she asked me to lead, not only the Mary session, but also a session on the parts of the Mass and the parts of the worship space; and a session on Call to Holiness / Call to Evangelization / Call to Conversion. So for the past few years, I've done those topics, as well. And then, this past year, she asked me to take on a fourth topic, on Anointing of the Sick (a topic, btw, about which I knew even less than I had known about Mary). So I researched and prepared, put together PowerPoint decks, practiced, and have led those sessions, too.
The people to whom I subject these sessions, seem to like them. Most of the participants are young adults, and most of them have at least some college in their background, so they're all pretty comfortable sitting and listening to someone lecture to them. And as I say, I try to make it interactive. I've got a certain level of energy and enthusiasm, which helps I think.
There are other people who lead other sessions. I dont' have a clear idea of what other approaches are used. I walked past the OCIA room on a recent Sunday, and the OCIA group was sitting and looking at a flat-screen television while a video played. I think this is a common way to present educational and formational topics in the church these days. There are a number of programs and services that make videos available: Word on Fire, Formed, Hallow, and others. A typical video would consist of a priest talking about a topic, and there are discussion questions, study guides, etc.
I guess video learning is probably fine, but I'm old-fashioned in this regard. I like lecture, conversation, and Q&A. But that's just me, and not everyone has that background or desire to prep and execute something like that.
Jim, I wish the class you led on Mary had been available when Kelly went through RCIA. As I mentioned in the previous post, the teachings about Mary were what nearly caused him not to join.
ReplyDeleteMy own perception of Mary has changed through the years. I was one of those grade school kids who was in the May processions. I loved the songs ( including Bring Flowers of the Fairest, LOL) We got out of class to practice, and I would always much rather sing than be in class. But I didn't really have much devotion or understanding of Mary. I was like you, she's fine. But that's about as far as it went.
In later years I have grown closer to her. I try to say the rosary every day, I have a lot of people to pray for. I like the joyful mysteries a lot. Some people find the Assumption a stumbling block. but I have an irrational fear and revulsion about what happens to our bodies after death. We either get cremated or buried, and decompose. So Mary's Assumption is a singular blessing to her. Thinking about that and the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time has helped me with the uneasiness. Of course I know that the our spirits aren't in the grave or the ashes.
It sounds like you have a good program going.
O like the Joyful Mysteries the best, too!
DeleteI've also drawn closer to her over the years. All the reflection and faith-sharing that accompanies these sessions has their spiritual effect. The same is true regarding preaching: it has deepened my faith.
You mention that the wedding feast at Cana was someone's favorite story about Mary. I think that story is singular in that the miracle wasn't requested by the stressed and embarrassed wedding family. They didn't know to ask for help, Mary saw the need and intervened.
DeleteI can relate to that story. We were responsible for the rehearsal dinner prior to our oldest son and daughter in law's wedding. The caterer got the date wrong. So we had a bunch of relatives sitting in a church hall wondering where the food was. That was stressful.
Katherine, don't leave us hanging - how did you feed the 5,000 that day?!
DeleteWe would have called Domino's or a similar deliver-it-fast pizza joint. But that's not cheap for a large crowd.
DeleteIt ended up not too bad. The caterer (which was a large supermarket chain in Omaha) acknowledged their mistake. What we had ordered was an Italian pasta bar. That would have taken too long to do from scratch, so they asked if we would accept a Chinese buffet. We did. And they gave it to us without charge. There were lots of leftovers which my niece took to the homeless shelter after asking them if they could accept it.
DeleteWe weren't on our home turf. The wedding was at St. John's on the Creighton campus which is a dicey neighborhood at night. And we were back the following evening for the actual wedding. The bride and groom had the reception at another venue, and thankfully we were not responsible for arranging that.
Thanks, Jim, for the data rich insider view of RCIA from the viewpoint of a pastoral staff member. My observations of RCIA programs have been more from an external viewpoint of a very large parish and several medium sized parishes.
ReplyDelete1. Priests do not seem to get involved very much. The pastor’s involvement seems to be limited to an “initial interview” and a “final interview” probably both with a pastoral staff member involved. I can see why a busy pastor cannot become more involved, but I don’t see why other priests of the parish do not become involved. Our parish is a training ground for recently ordained priests. Extensive involvement them with new members would seem an ideal way to assess the parish and diocese's efforts at evangelization.
Other priests and deacons seem to become involved as occasional presenters. I suspect it is as way to let the candidates meet personally the clergy. I have not however seen much effort to have priests and deacons get to know the candidates well.
2. The coordination of the whole RCIA program with the rest of the parish is usually in the hands of a paid pastoral associate, usually a woman whose talents consist of knowing where the clergy and other staff (e.g. musicians) are and who the candidates and their sponsors are and what might be their special circumstances. However, pastoral associates are also very busy and likely do not become very involved with the spiritual development of the candidates.
3. The RCIA program like many programs is dependent upon a group of parish volunteers, maybe just a couple, but sometimes a half dozen. These are the people that really make a program work. When key members of this group give up their involvement, the program may founder for a while.
A lot of the positive effects of these programs likely depend upon the interaction of this group with the current class of candidates and sponsors. As I learned as a college professor, the class is just as dependent upon the class members as the professor. I always delivered the content, but it was very much up to individual class members as to whether or not the class came alive and became interesting. Sometimes it takes only a few people, and hopefully the group of volunteers, sponsors and candidates have enough of those.
4. My overall impression from the viewpoint of parish staff is that RCIA is kind of a chore, not something they get excited about. It is another religious education effort, and those can become boring for staff as well as students. This is interesting since at least in our large parish, there is a lot of propaganda about the importance of the RCIA the parish school and religious education in general. Parish members are encouraged to pray for and welcome new members but there does not seem to be a lot of depth even in that. My impression of parish members is that they see the Rites and the Easter Vigil as a great deal of attention being paid to newcomers and their families with little real relevance to their own lives or the rest of the parish. They see the same for the parish school and religious education efforts.
Popes Francis and Leo have said that the church needs to become more evangelical, to reach out to people where they are. We need a welcoming effort that get beyond boring religious education. In my next comment I will have some suggestions about that.
I'd say you are on target with #4.
DeleteWe have some people working on an evangelization committee in our parish. Seems to me they are pretty enthusiastic about an Evangelical Protestant style of engaging people. Think of stuff like Alpha, and a greet people at the door style.
DeleteSeems lik.e people are either like dogs or cats. The dog wants to walk up friendly with tail wagging. The cat gets stressed by a too direct approach and wants to hide under the bed if there is too much noise and confusion. I guess we need to recognize that there are both kinds of people in a parish.
Regarding priest involvement: in our parish, our pastor is very supportive of OCIA, but wouldn't be able to join every session. He tries to be visible and as present as he's able, but of course he is pulled in many directions. The sessions I describe in my post take place on Sunday mornings: the OCIA attendees attend a mid-morning mass, and then (during this time of year) are dismissed prior to the liturgy of Eucharist. When they are dismissed, they go to a different room on the parish campus where they discuss their experience: the Gospel, the homily, etc. I (or whoever is the presenter of the day) show up when mass ends and cover my material. I'm given 90 minutes(!) to cover each of my assigned topics. I don't have a problem talking that long! But it is a lot to put on people.
DeleteOver the last 10 or so years, we've had periods of time when we've had an associate pastor. Two recent ones were called away by the archdiocese to fill pastor vacancies. The most recent one stepped away because he's trying to discern if the priesthood is for him. That is why I was given a fourth topic to present this year: Anointing of the Sick originally was his topic, so I had to backfill him. So now we're in one of our periods of time where the pastor is the only priest assigned to the parish. We will request another associate pastor, but there aren't many available from year to year.
If we do get a new associate pastor: he is asked where his interests and passions lie, and our pastor attempts to align him to those areas. That wouldn't exempt the associate pastor from OCIA involvement, but it might determine his level of involvement. Plus, I think everyone understands that any associate pastor (assuming he isn't an older guy nearing retirement) is on a pastor fast-track, so our current pastor would be expected to prepare him to be a pastor, including exposing him to areas of parish life that he may not have expressed as being of particular interest but are necessary for a future pastor to understand.
Regarding the pastoral associate in charge of OCIA: in my time here as a deacon (I was kind of oblivious to who ran it prior to that period), we've had the two leaders I mention in the post: a deacon and his wife, who have had pastoral training but aren't paid; and now the woman who runs the program. She is a part-time member of staff and is compensated. Having collaborated with her now for several years, I can say that she is as involved in the spiritual life and development of the catechumens and candidates as they will permit. Some are glad for the involvement and guidance; others are looking for something a little more minimal - they see it as a set of hoops to jump through to get to their wedding day. When a participant drifts away (as happens, especially with young adults), she goes after the lost sheep.
DeleteShe's also spun up a second group each year, on a weekday evening, to accommodate those seekers who, for one reason or another, aren't available on Sunday mornings. I think that's considered "above and beyond"; I think many parishes can lapse into an attitude of, "If you can't do it on our predetermined timeline, then you can wait until next year or go find another parish." Personally, I really don't like that latter approach, but I do recognize that there need to be some limits to the staff's flexibility.
Regarding treating OCIA as a chore vs. something to be excited about: I think it depends in large part on the attitude and disposition of the people in charge. Maybe the folks we have at present are the exception to the rule, but they are committed and passionate about Christian initiation, and they really do pour themselves into the ministry. Certainly, there are parishes whose appointed staff members aren't like that. I see that as a very large pastoral problem, and one from which clergy aren't exempt. Fixing it requires a pastor to make hard decisions about current staff and then recruiting someone who is different. Some pastors are better at this than others. Some prioritize ministry more than others.
DeleteOur OCIA meets on Tuesday evenings (classes started with the school year in September). We used to have our own OCIA at our parish. But now that we in a parish family, it's a consolidated program and meets at the larger parish. This year I heard there are 17 candidates. Our pastor attends all the class meetings. St. Stanislaus has their own program since they are 12 miles away.
DeleteWe have always had our own director of religious education. But she is getting up in years and I have an idea that when she retires they won't fill the position. The person who always made the program work is a volunteer. She helps with the consolidated program, but she is probably close to retirement too
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ReplyDeleteI have no power over RCIA, and neither do any of us. Imo, it's basically a correctional process for candidates, with the aim of rehabilitating their Protestant notions.
ReplyDeleteSo my Big Idea is to at least try to incorporate converts into the life of the parish and to emphasize the fullness of Christian life in addition to all the corrective info on offer.
--Welcome them to Mass even as you make it clear they may not participate in the Sacraments. Stop incarcerating them in RCIA sessions.
--Give them a vestry tour.
--Give them a tour of the Church and introduce them to the art and what it means to the local parish. Give them a copy of the hymnal. Most of them will find old friends there!
--Introduce them in the parish bulletin or at a coffee hour.
--Encourage them to put intentions in the prayer box.
--Encourage them to use the holy water and votive candles, receive ashes--whatever sacramentals are ok for their semi-heathen state. Give them Rice Bowls to take home, if that's still going on.
--Invite them to take part in the life of the parish individually or as a group--go with parishioners on hospital visits, take donations to the food bank, collect for the diaper drive, help send out parish birthday cards, work the funeral lunch, etc.
You want to form Christians eager to work in the vineyard, not just sit in a pew with their correct ideas.
"Welcome them to Mass even as you make it clear they may not participate in the Sacraments. Stop incarcerating them in RCIA sessions." Jean, I agree. I think it is ridiculous to dismiss them after the Gospel is read. We don't do that here. The class is on a different day than Sunday. That "dismissal of the catechumens" thing is something they resurrected after VII that should have stayed in the past, where there was a reason for it. Someone who is already baptized isn't strictly speaking a catechumen anyway.
DeleteYah, not trying to make you or Jim or anyone else feel defensive. Just cogitating on my own experience in a small rural parish. Feel free to ignore.
DeleteJean, no offense taken. I think your suggestions above are good.
DeleteSame - I really appreciate your suggestions and contributions.
DeleteJim, you mentioned that you were doing a section on Anointing of the Sick. Hopefully you were able to get across to them that it isn't just for people on their death bed. Some older people still think of it that way, I suppose going back to when it was called Extreme Unction
ReplyDeleteI was reading that in medieval days you only got one crack at that sacrament, so you'd better not waste it on something that wasn't going to kill you. I think I have received it four times already.
I'm not that old - well, maybe getting there - but I absorbed all those medieval beliefs when I was a kid, too.
DeleteI am a natural-born chicken, I lack a lot of fortitude. I figure I need all the help I can get when facing surgery or something serious. And the definition of minor surgery is one that happens to someone else.
DeleteI switched doctors and practices earlier this week for the first time in 35 years. The new doctor immediately spotted a couple of health things that the old doctor never mentioned. So April is shaping up to be test-and-procedure month for me.
DeleteI am not a chicken about medical procedures. I probably err too much in a different direction: I sort of like being put under anesthesia because I get such good sleep, and I trust the doctors (maybe too much) to do the right thing.
DeleteChurch Lady rule is anointing before an operation or treatment without which you would die, or if there is a less than 50-50 chance you would pull out of an illness.That seemed like a pretty good gauge to me. I asked Raber if he wanted a priest after his heart attack, but after they installed the emergency stent, he was doing great, so he said no. So we said prayers of thanks for the docs and nurses and called it good.
DeleteIs anointing diff from Last Rites?
Some parishes have healing services for the chronically ill. A friend takes her schizophrenic son to one in Lansing periodically. As I understand it, it's less about praying for a cure than receiving assurance that God is with you in suffering. That seems like a wonderful thing to offer, but never been done hereabouts. Surprising given the advanced age and decrepit condition of so many parishioners.
Good luck with the tests, Jim. That stuff is stressful.
DeleteI am not a chicken for general anesthesia. I definitely do not want to be awake for whatever it is they're doing. I have a relative who had surgery for a brain tumor. He had to be awake for that so they could tell if they were getting too close to something like speech or sight. That just sounds like something from one of Dante's circles of hell. Though he said he doesn't remember any pain and they pile on the anti-anxiety drugs. But still.
"Is anointing diff from Last Rites?" This is how I understand it. Anointing of the Sick is it's own sacrament. You don't have to be in immediate danger of death. Last Rites are when you are facing death in the very near future. If you are conscious, it would include Confession and Viaticum, and Anointing. (Confession when you are at that stage wouldn't mean everything that has gone wrong in your whole life, just admission of sin and expressing sorrow, and absolution). There is an Apostolic blessing that carries a plenary indulgence ( if you don't believe in that, you don't have to get it). You can have anointing even if you're not conscious any more, and absolution, they assume you would want it if you were conscious. Of course they wouldn't put a Host in someone's mouth if they weren't conscious or weren't able to swallow. (You probably know the story of St. Juliana Falconieri's deathbed).
DeleteHopefully Jim will correct me if I am not giving accurate information?
Beginning in the 1980s my parish in Toledo offered Anointing of the Sick at Mass several times a year. The explanation was that the sacrament applied to those with chronic conditions not just acute episodes. Also, that sick included things like mental illness, physical disabilities, etc. This was not just a one-time anointing, you could continue to receive the sacrament as long as you had the ailment. Also, you were encouraged to receive the sacrament individually if your condition worsened.
DeleteAt the time, I had just been diagnosed with high blood pressure and was managing it without medication by a low sodium diet. I decided to regularly receive the sacrament as a reminder that I was ill although not symptomatic.
Illness and symptoms are not the same. Mentally ill people suffer from the problem of having too many symptoms (cognitive, emotional, and behavior) that distract from their dignity as an individual. I decided that I had the opposite problem, convincing myself and others that I was not well despite all appearances. The reality was that if I ended up with a heart attack or stroke, my appearance might be worse than that of the people whom I served. This insight helped very much in promoting my solidarity with the mentally ill by seeing myself as a chronically ill person.
Cleveland like Toledo also practices regular administration of the Anointing of the Sick at Masses several times a year. I don’t know what the practices of other dioceses are. Jean’s RCIA instruction may have occurred before widespread practice of this extension to chronic conditions occurred. Some places may simply be stuck in the Middle Ages.
What I observed in my parish is that the line up for reception begins with the obvious cases, e.g. older people, people in wheel-chairs, etc. But as the anointing goes on more and more people at the Mass decide that they do need to be anointed, often encouraged by nudges from family members.
I think these (usually) Sunday Masses with Anointing of the Sick should also include a blessing for caregivers. Before Covid caregivers were encouraged to place their hand upon the shoulder of the person being anointed. That seems to have dropped out after Covid. The reality is that chronically ill people are often accompanied by a flock of caregivers whose presence and importance should be made visible in the celebration of the Sacrament of the Sick.
It is interesting that we have different perspectives of RCIA/OCIA - Jean who made the journey; Katherine who accompanied her husband on his journey; me as an instructor who doesn't have a holistic view; and Jack as a thoughtful critic of parish pastoral practice. I don't know if the mosaic is a coherent picture.?
ReplyDeleteProbably not.
DeleteWhat's missing are hard numbers about how many converts are still practicing Catholics after certain milestones--after marriage, after a divorce, after the kids are out of the house, after a move away from in-laws who apply pressure to convert, after their Catholic spouse or parent dies, etc.
It would also be interesting to know how many people in RCIA don't go through with it. My guess is very few. Church Ladies put so much effort into it (and ours reminded us of it every week!), that quitting seems rude.
I wanted to drop out after inquirers and talk to Raber about it more, but the priest persuaded me to stick with it. I should have followed my gut.
I don't know if hard numbers really tell the whole story. Everyone has their own story, and they come at different stages in their life. I think of the parable of the sower and the seeds. And I also think of the "super bloom" in Death Valley, which has been in the news this year. Seeds that have lain dormant in the desert heat for a decade or more suddenly springing to life with beautiful flowers when they finally get some rain (Google some of the pictures, they are gorgeous). Humans don't control rain. Or grace. We can make the effort, but the outcome isn't up to us.
DeleteI understand your point, and parishes and dioceses do not keep stats on these things. But the dropout rate among those in RCIA in the local parish was about 90 percent. That seems like a number worth investigating.
DeleteYeah, 90% dropout would not be a good outcome. And the definition of insanity would be to keep doing the same things but expecting a different outcome. I hope they would do some "what went wrong" analysis. There should be a way to do some exit polling without any finger pointing.
DeleteI’ve said more than I should about R.C.I.A. classes on the other thread. I wanted to say something here about the rosary. I dropped the rosary decades ago when Marian devotions seemed ( to me) to become excessive. People traipsing all over the world to Marian shrines, people seeing Mary’s face in waffles and in rain stains on buildings, people claiming to have visions. What about Jesus? Does nobody ever see Jesus’s face in burnt toast? Why doesn’t Jesus appear to “visionaries”?
DeleteBut at one point I went back to the rosary as a form of meditation. Always the Joyful mysteries. After a while I felt a bit closer to Mary as Mother. I had always discounted her as a role model. After all, according to the RCC she was perfect - born without “ original sin” (one of Augustine’s teachings that I now reject), was a perpetual virgin (so not a normal married woman, “sullied” by sex even with her husband, an insult to all married women) and has a sinless child. But eventually, meditating on the Joyful mysteries, I started having thoughts originally sparked by a homily by the woman priest at my EC parish - a single (divorced) mother. She talked about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Both happy about becoming mothers, both dealing with somewhat frightening circumstances. Elizabeth having felt that her inability to conceive was a punishment from God (probably taught by some misguided volunteers in some R.C.I.A. classes too) and now giving birth in “ old age”. More dangerous. Mary conceiving without help from her fiancé, according to the story. A virgin. Both had reasons to be nervous. At the Annunciation, Mary is held up as the model of perfect obedience. But was Mary also a bit frightened? Not just that Joseph might reject her, but that the word would get out and she could be stoned to death? Even worrying that if she wasn’t killed might she be a single mom, raising a son without support from his father? Maybe cast out and poverty stricken?
The birth of Jesus was joyful for humanity, and for Mary and Joseph. But the circumstances were horrific. Riding on a donkey for days in late pregnancy? Did she have anyone but Joseph helping with the birth? Unmedicated childbirth is extremely painful (I had three unmedicated births). Did Joseph know anything about helping her? Were any women around who had experience being midwives or even with their own experiences giving birth? Delivering in a cold cave or stable - the scholars say it was spring. Dec was a convenience date as we know, chosen to divert Christians from the pagan winter solstice festivals. But spring can still be pretty cold in Israel. The cold would add to the misery. Where was there a source of clean water? Clean linens? Mary must not only have experienced pain, but also extreme discomfort and some fear about giving birth under these circumstances. She would have known that very often both mom and baby died even under normal- best conditions in that era.
So, they get through that. Next they go to the temple to dedicate their 8 day old son who survived. And Mary is told that her heart will be pierced by the suffering her son will experience. Wonderful news. Then she experienced the fears all parents experience when a child goes missing . A true nightmare, and the relief when they find him is dimmed somewhat by his disrespectful comments to his parents. ( I thought he was sinless, but…) So the occasions celebrated by the Joyful mysteries are actually somewhat ambiguous - mixed, not all joy
However, meditating on them made me appreciate that Mary was more of a real woman- that maybe I could relate to at least a bit - than I had recognized, experiencing motherhood as others do at times.
Great job cutting thru the hagiographical accretions and theological extrapolations to see a real person guided by grace doing her best in difficult circumstances. I like to think there are kernels of human endurance and divine grace in all the saints' lives. In connecting the saints with heaven, we often forget that they lived on earth.
Delete