Mercies Without End

On Saturday, we attended a Mass at Christ the King parish. The mass was offered to Jose Maria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei. Bishop Kevin Farrell presided and preached with a dignity that could not mask his passion for the central tenets held by this remarkable man. The music was exquisite, the interior of the building lovely, and all told it was a glorious morning.  Because it was the 5th anniversary of our coming into the church, the mass had a particular significance for us, which we later remarked upon around the dinner table with friends.

Our new auxiliary was there, the priest who received us at St. Rita parish, and with him were two more couples, all converts with only one exception.

Converts, I have remarked before, seem to be an exceptionally joy filled group. True to form the evening exuded love for the church, for the graces bestowed on all of us, however unworthy, and it saw a great deal of hilarity thrown in as well.

I recalled for Bishop Mark the moment during our first meeting when he asked if I could accept that women in the Catholic church are not ordained as priests. He wanted to be sure, he said, that I would be content with what we were about to do.

"I never looked back" I told him last night. Not once.

I attribute that particular grace to Pope John Paul II. He was dying during the period when we began attending mass regularly, yet watching the televised news coverage devoted to lengthy reviews of his life, and devouring every bit of it, he became a powerful figure for me. I had  had only the vaguest notion of who he was and who he had been during his long pontificate. When his death was announced I remember shedding tears, though mine had been such a fleeting acquaintance.

On the day we entered into the fullness of the Catholic church, I was given a book by our spiritual advisor, called "The Private Prayers of Pope John Paul II."

These are some of the words I read there.

Truly each one, with his unique and singular personal history, is called by name, to bring his own particular contribution to the coming of the Kingdom of God. No talent, no matter how small  is to be left hidden or left unutilized.

Christifideles Laici, 56.

Finally, our times require a serious commitment to holiness. The spiritual needs  of the present world are immense! It is almost frightening to look at the infinite forests of buildings in a modern metropolis, inhabited by countless numbers of people. How will we be able to reach all these people and lead them to Christ?
The certainty that we merely instruments of grace comes to our aid: acting in the individual soul is God himself, with his love and mercy.
Our true, lifelong commitment must be to personal sanctification, so that we may be fit and efficacious instruments of grace.
The truest and most sincere wish I have for you is just this:
"Become holy and soon be saints!"

St. Pio V Parish, October 28, 1979

Today I am struck by the way these words resonate with the life and work of Jose Maria Escriva.  On the back cover of the  booklet we used during mass on Saturday, I found this description of the Saint's life and work.

"On October 2, 1928, in Madrid, by divine inspiration he founded Opus Dei, which has opened up a new way for the faithful to sanctify themselves in the midst of the world, through the practice of their ordinary work and in the fulfillment if their personal, family, and social duties."

Divine providence has seen fit to guide me, along with my husband and daughter along the  pathway marked out by these two great men, the pathway revealed by our Lord himself. This path asks us to be holy, each one of us. It does not use position in the church, ordination or otherwise as the measure for how we ought to live. Holiness is a loss of self for the greater glory of God.

To discover by grace that a life that seeks holiness is everything  we could ever need or desire, is also to understand the church's teaching on the priesthood.   Holy orders are not a right. They are one way to live a life of holiness, a way offered by God to a few men.

God in his loving care for each of us does not give less to the non-ordained, or less to women. On the contrary he offers, as the hymn says, blessings without number, mercies without end.  

Did I ever think twice about leaving behind protestant ministry?

Not once. For I have truly received mercies without end. And they are all I need.

At our mass of reception five years ago, we sang for the opening hymn, a hymn I had never heard before. Today it is one of my very favorites and says everything my heart speaks as a Catholic. It is the hymn I posted just recently, O God Beyond All Praising.

Here it is again, this time in it's orchestral form.