Saint Bridget - April 11, 2010 - Eric

Introduction:
Peace be with you and welcome. What started as a laugh and an idea is now in motion, visit all of the Metro Omaha Parishes in a year. Brianne is excited, I am nervous. Projects are big in their undertaking, and this one requires an odd sort of commitment. It's a commitment that I've already made, go to church every week, but it's different. This isn't like my 'project' to learn Italian, or my 'project' to keep in shape, this project is public, and intentionally so. Add the visible aspect into my habit of 'eating the whole elephant at one sitting', and it makes for apprehension. Experience, and faith tell me that everything will work out, regardless of the nervousness of my steps, and so I'm going to put one foot in front of the other, and eventually, when I look up again, we'll have traveled some distance down the road, together.

What I'll be talking about here is my thoughts my visits, I'll probably almost always talk about the architecture of the church, some tidbit about the history, maybe something about the music. My intention though, is to talk about the Mass, the Gospel, and how it relates to myself, my life, and the world. The mission is simple, 57 churches, 52 weeks ... but I know God, this won't be anything like I expect, I won't be the same man at the end of this path, this is going to be growth on an amazing scale. Thanks be to God!

Location and History:
Saint Bridget. 26th and F Streets in South Omaha. According to the little information I could gather about the Parish, it was formed in 1895 to serve Irish immigrants who were working as packers.

Architecture:
Wow! This is going to be the fun part of this project to me, and also one that will stretch my ability to write. Although plain and smallish on the outside, on the inside, the church is amazing. The design of the space and the art and sculpture work together to make a much larger appearing church than you might think. Very nice lighting and a great touch when the lights were lowered during the Eucharistic Prayer, I got goose bumps.

Divine Mercy Sunday:
"Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of committing adultery." We threw her to the ground at his feet and we waited to see what he would do to with this piece of trash. He barely moved, looking first at woman, then at us. I stood there with a stone in my hand ready to help him send her to her death. He bent down to the ground, and grabbed a stick, and began to doodle. He spoke quietly "Whichever one of you is without sin, go ahead, cast your stones at her." Several seconds went by, and he looked at the ground and what he was drawing. Suddenly, he looked up and made eye contact with the man next to me, who gasped, and then turned and walked away. I was so lost in my rage, I barely even noticed, surely justice would be served. After several minutes, I noticed the crowd was thinning, where was everyone going? This woman deserved to be stoned. There were few of us left, when suddenly, my eyes were drawn to his. We made eye contact, and with most subtle of gestures, he directed me to glance at the ground where he had been writing, and there I saw my name, not just my name, my nickname ... he could not have known it, could not. I looked in his eyes again, the stone slid from my hand, and I turned away. As I walked away, I heard him speak again, "Since there is no one left to condemn you, neither shall I, go and do not sin again." Although I swear he had to be talking to the woman, the words still burn inside of me.

The Gospel:
"..."unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.'" John 20:25
Thomas does not believe unless he sees it with his own eyes. I can relate to being just like this, I really want to see the facts of any situation before proceeding. This is not to say I always make the logical choice, but I like to know exactly what is what. My faith is like this too, I spent years away from the church and God. Why? Because I could not see Him, I could not see His works, church and religion seemed to me, as Shakespeare might say "...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

When Jesus appears again to the disciples and Thomas is there, Jesus has Thomas do what it is he said he would need to do to believe. I said "Jesus has Thomas do what it is he said he would need to do to believe." God knows what it is that you need to be full of faith. When I had my life together, everything was working, and I didn't believe, God had a tough time getting through to me, not because He couldn't, but because I wasn't listening. In order for me to be with God, I had to lose everything I had. God knows what I needed to believe, to have nothing, no where to turn. That day in early July 1996 when I walked out of the meeting with the marriage counselor ready to kill myself, I had nothing left. I walked out thinking I had no other options, but I did. When I realized I could turn to God instead of death, I was able to see that I had another path, then I could, like Thomas, declare "My Lord, and my God!"

Peace, Eric