Days in the Diocese
Solemnity – St. Benedict (for us Benedictines, a regular feast day for the rest of the Church)
Pentecost 8/Trinity 7/Ordinary Time 14 – Friday
[ now playing? ] Emmanuel Worship – ‘Call Upon The Name’ (from the album Revolution)
It’s St. Benedict’s feast day today. So yay for us Benedictines, Cistercians and Trappists; irrespective of whether we are professed, oblates, associates or members of the laity who have adopted St. Ben’s rule in some way without being formally affiliated with a Benedictine/Cistercian/Trappist house. =)
I figured that given that I have made a commitment to God about adopting and adapting the Benedictine way of Christian living to my own puny life, that the least that I could do in gratitude for this was to get to Mass today.
And given that here in Brisbane at the moment, it’s the week leading up to World Youth Day next week, thought that I’d pay a visit to St. Stephen’s Cathedral for Mass today. Given that this week has been designated as the “Days in the Diocese” by the Archdioceses and Dioceses here in Australia for pilgrims, take a guess who else was at Mass today?
About 90 or so pilgrims and their chaperones from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis were spending their Days in the Diocese here in Brisbane this week, so they were present at the 12:30 Mass. Trivia note: it’s St. Benedict’s feast day today, and the Archbishop of the Indianapolis Archdiocese is a Benedictine. We’re everywhere. Mwahahahahahahaha! =P
Good to see the youth be involved in the liturgy too as readers of both the 1st reading (from Hosea) and the responsorial psalm (Ps. 50(51), better known to me as the Miserere mei, Deus). And for me, it was my first ever real experience of being at a concelebrated Mass (by one of the Cathedral priests as the primary presider and the other two priests from the Indianapolis Archdiocese that came along with the pilgrim group). Having said that, given that I remained in the pews as the remainder of the congregation communicated, I must have either:
- Looked as one who was still in ‘grave sin’ from not going to and receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, to the others there; or
- People realized that I was not Roman Catholic.
More than likely, people probably would have thought of option #1. Then again, I should have walked up, crossed my arms and received a blessing instead (then I’d have looked as if I hadn’t been confirmed yet or some might have thought option #2). Instead, I’ll settle for spiritual communion in the pews.
Went after Mass to Christian Supplies on Elizabeth St (the website seems to have been re-done recently because it looks a lot more spiffy than it used to look!) to have a browse around and also to see if Richard was there (or was it Greg? I’ve forgotten his name; it’s been that long since I’ve been in CS!) to see how “Youth Arise” was going. Was rather envious when he said that last night was an experience to not have missed. Matt Maher and the band there took it from hi-energy right down to a time of personal reflection (I wonder whether or not he played “Adoration” for a time of communal Eucharistic Adoration). Am also envious of Adolfo (another friend who works at St. Paul’s Book Centre alongside Heather and Fr. Bruno) and those from his Sunnybank parish that are making their way to Sydney as well on Monday morning (6am[!!!] for Adolfo, from Roma St Train Station).
As I’m typing now, they are probably finishing up the 2nd night rally up at Nudgee College. Am praying that all of tomorrow’s events in the city go well. Including the welcome service that St. John’s Cathedral and the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane is having in the morning for the WYD pilgrims before they make their way to the Roma St. Parklands for the remainder of the day.
On Sunday though, I’ll definitely be tuning in to SBS for the Holy Father’s arrival at 3pm. And on Tuesday, I’m definitely coming home early from work. Don’t want to miss out on the opening Mass and also then I can get ready properly for Opera Queensland’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the Queensland Conservatorium Theatre in the evening.
Went back to St. Stephen’s again after work for a bit of quiet time. This week has been a nightmare in terms of mental analysis of legal arguments back and forth, that I’ve had to do at work. No wonder every night I’m feeling utterly stuffed. But it’s worse because of late, I haven’t been getting enough sleep at night. I have a feeling it might be because my mind is still ticking over those very legal arguments at midnight. Looking at the bronze crucifix of Christ hanging above the altar just before 5pm, there was a sense of peace that came over me. And when I made my way to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the eastern end of the Cathedral, that feeling of peace intensified even more in prayer. I slept like a log on the train coming home for 30 minutes. That’s the perfect way to end this week off.
What’s on the agenda next week? More mentally taxing (pardon the pun!) days at work. But more importantly, next Wednesday is the 3rd anniversary of the day when I made a form of Benedictine commitment with the Lord (which has since been more formally “codified” in my regula). More on that next week.
+ Pax,
bf 2148hrs
