Shamrocks, Soup and Sacramentality

The fourth Lenten Soup Supper was celebrated with many reminders that it was also St. Patrick’s Day. I was seeing green as I looked around at the soup crowd, many decked out in their Irish garb, sampling savory soups, such as Vegetablarney Beef, Cream O’Broccoli and McMinistrone.

Soup and fellowship was followed by a prayer service led by Pat Stevens and Theresa Healy, of the St. Joan’s Prayer Partners. The theme of the service was “The Spirituality of Humor” – which encouraged people to see beyond the mundane to the joy of being Christians. There were funny Irish stories, and Irish Jokes, complete with Holy Cards to the first one with the correct answer.

“Who is the first Irishman to come out in the spring”?
“ Patty O’Furniture of course.” HA!
The little-known St. Urho of Finland, whose feast day is March 16th, was also celebrated at this service. As legend has it, St. Urho drove the pesky grasshoppers out of Finland.

Anna Vagle and Joe Chouinard graced the prayer service with piano and flute, including a beautiful, haunting rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” on the Irish Low Flute, along with some lighter fair including “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.

The first reading was from “Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom” by John O’Donohue. The wisdom of this reading was that, though our bodies will age, our souls and our spirits can remain young.

The second reading was from Genesis: 16 which is the story about Sarah and Abraham and how they came to bear a child when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. (Illustrating that anything is possible with God or that there is a divine sense of humor?)

Adult Lenten Program- “Sacramentality: the Catholic Lens on God and Creation” – Mark Scannell

Tom Smith-Myott introduces Mark Scannell
Mark Scannell introduced his topic by asking the definition of a sacrament. In amazing unison, all in attendance who were products of the Baltimore catechism recited:

“A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.”
It was a powerful illustration of the Catholic Church that many of us grew up with - memorizing the correct answers to the questions that represented our faith. This paradigm of Catholic spirituality has changed a great deal in the past 40 years. The concept of sacramentality encompasses a much larger concept for the sacraments.
Catholicism sees in Jesus Christ the full embodiment of God. Since God became human then God is seen, touched, and heard in the context of human living. This is the principle of sacramentality.
It is the belief that all creation is the bearer of God’s Presence. It was in humanity that God became disclosed; therefore, we have the ability to experience God and reveal God to others.

Another word for sacramentality is sensuality, i.e. we come to know God through our senses. In the past, the Church has tended to deny our senses and use only our minds to understand God, to leave our emotions at the door when studying theology. But how important is the sense of touch…in sharing the sign of peace, when praying the Our Father. That is sacramentality. How important is it for us to gather around food and share meals together; to use all of our senses to experience God. Sacramentality is the way to God and God’s way to us through our bodies.

Mark went on to talk about the Sacraments themselves. The Catholic Church has seven blessed sacraments. He made the analogy of seven children in a family – they are all different and have unique gifts but are members of the same family. Sacraments remind us of the sacramentality of life itself and allow us to experience grace.

Besides the seven traditional sacraments of the Church, Mark pointed out the many sacred rituals, (sacraments) that we celebrate in our day-to-day lives. A retirement party, where people gather to acknowledge a person’s working career; a house-warming party, where friends and families bring gifts to warm and bless a home; even a birthday party has the elements of a sacrament – ritual, gifts and celebration.

When we celebrate the sacraments in our daily lives, we receive grace. So… what is grace? Again I turn to the Baltimore Catechism.
Q. 456. What do you mean by grace?
A. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation.
Q. 460. What is the difference between sanctifying grace and actual grace?
A. Sanctifying grace remains with us as long as we are not guilty of mortal sin; and hence, it is often called habitual grace; but actual grace comes to us only when we need its help in doing or avoiding an action, and it remains with us only while we are doing or avoiding the action.
This definition presents us with a very restrictive view of grace and how to obtain grace. Mark Scannell’s message was that grace, like the sacraments, can be obtained in our daily lives as we experience God in our life. He spoke of the experience of feeling special and loved, the experience of belonging, the experience of a higher power, the experience of being preserved in the face of danger. Mark told the story of a theologian who wrote a book about grace. He titled it “Loose in the World.” It wasn’t a best seller, and the title leaves the door open to all sorts of misunderstandings, but the idea presented was that there is an abundance of grace that is available to us in our everyday lives.

Teresa Nowak has been attending St. Joan for about 10 years and also belongs to a Small Christian Community. In her day job, she works as a technical trainer and consultant for a large business software company. When she's not writing for the St. Joan's web site, she can often be found tending the perennial gardens around her home in NE Mpls, rollerblading, golfing, or traveling somewhere off the beaten path. Teresa can be reached at tnowak@isd.net.
I would like to invite everyone to take part in one of the remaining Wednesday Soup Suppers and Lenten Programs. The gathering and sharing of faith felt like a sacramental experience to me.
David Rotert is a communications technician. He, his wife Sue and two boys used to walk to SJA each Sunday. They since moved to St Louis Park, but are now happy to make the drive. David and his family have been attending SJA for over 10 years. You may see him serving host or wine on Sundays, and doing the readings whenever he can help. He is also always game for a good philosophical discussion. David can be reached at dsrotert@worldnet.att.net.


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