Eyelash to Eyelash

~ The word reconciliation has as its Latin roots, syllable by syllable, “re” which means “again,” and “con” which means “with,” and “cilia” which is the Latin word for eyelash.  So then “re-con-cilia-tion” is “to again be eyelash to eyelash with [someone].”

Think a moment, in the middle of this Lenten season: can you imagine yourself being so intimately close to a particular person with whom you most strongly disagree?  If you’re like me, that’s a hard image to conjure.  Yet it is that kind of intimacy and union which we’re all called to, even with those we simply can’t stand, and even with those we have not yet met.

In the liturgical realm, there are many that we might have disagreements with, particularly in terms of styles of ritual practice and music and musical forms suitable for worship.  The disagreements in themselves are not bad and can even be healthy — if we are willing to, with love, stand eyelash to eyelash with those same persons.  When it comes to including additional linguistic or cultural experiences in liturgy, one of the questions is typically, for instance, to bring in a particular language to our liturgies because persons who speak the language are already in the pews, or should that practice be adopted to be more welcoming to those who are so often kept on the margins?  The Catholic Church is universal after all, in every time and place.

In the realm of our spiritual lives, on April 8 the parish will offer our Lenten reconciliation service, to which all are invited.  It’s important, I think, that it’s a communal liturgy which surrounds the individual sacrament.  That is, when we reconcile, we must both reconcile with God and both with and within the Christian community.  I hope you can join us at 6:30PM that night for prayer, community, and healing.

Throughout the year, we present an article in the bulletin each week on a variety of topics, written by a member of our Parish staff or ministries on a rotating basis.