Saint Pius X - July 15, 2012 - Eric

What's Happening:
Hello again. Mass Chaos is back after a six month absence. In some ways it seems like a different world. In December we were all worried about the changes to the Mass and how it was going to affect our church experience. Now, Catholics find themselves squarely at odds with the government. Pressure is mounting on American Catholics to compromise ancient teaching and conform with what the world has to offer. All these challenges can seem overwhelming.

Lost in all this is that nothing has changed as far as our calling. We are presented with the same challenges that we have had since the moment we decided to live our faith. We still have to approach every person with love and respect. Although this is simply said, it is hard in practice, and it calls for prayer, faith, and God's word.

We do need one more thing, we need each other ... for encouragement. I was reminded of this while writing this, because I read something that was pretty hateful and discouraging. My first thought was to contact someone, anyone, who I know prays for me. While I did not do this, having the assurance that someone would be there for me raised my spirits up immediately. If you're one of those people that lift me up, thank you. Encourage your family, encourage your friends, encourage all.

Frank, Teri, me, Marilou, Sarah, and Joe.
We're standing in the same spot we were in week three of the original Mass Chaos.

The Church:

What a fabulous remodel! The new interior is warm and intimate, the sound system is state of the art (Father gave us a tour), and it retains a few elements of the old to go with the new. It was my first church with the new camera, so I'm not sure if everything came out well, but here are all the pictures.

Gospel:
"He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts.” Mark 6:8

I'm not this brave. I would be terrified walking out the door without means for eating and shelter, without a map, and without a plan. Is this too much to admit? Terrified is exactly the right word. I had enough of an issue trying to keep my head together from doing the original Mass Chaos tour and not panicking.

I don't know how I'd ever get over myself and my own issues to be able to go on a journey somewhere. I bet the apostles felt the same way. The lesson here is trusting in God's plan. Not everything went well for the apostles, in fact, it didn't end well for them on this earth. Our goal is heaven, and this is God's goal for us as well ... this is God's plan for everyone. The apostles fears and doubts were blessed, and they were able to overcome them by trusting in Jesus by simply putting one foot in front of the other. They didn't just journey by themselves to heaven, they brought millions of people with them.

I pray that I am brave enough to just make it out the door.

St. Pius X - Week 3 - Brianne

Despite having spend the morning in Urgent Care, I made it to week three of Mass Chaos... with steroids, antibiotics, muscle relaxers, and anti-histamines coursing through my system. I am going to use my illness as an excuse not to blog much this week...

Best part of the mass was when I said to Joe during the Our Father, "You don't have to touch me, I understand," and he couldn't stop laughing. Apparently the woman behind me took my advice, too, because no one besides Eric seemed to want to shake my hand during the sign of peace, either.

I did appreciate the fact I got to be with my friend, Barb Connell, as she celebrated her last mass at St. Pius X before heading for sunnier weather and a new job in San Diego.

Thank you to Fr. Pietramale for providing a great homily - one that brought me back to my school days at St. James - where the congregation can really interact with their pastor.

Peace.

Saint Pius X

I can tell I've been a bit frustrated with things lately. I'm not sleeping well, and I'm doing more stress eating than I'd like. Work has been sort of enabling me in that sense since I've been working absurd hours. I've been sliding around from days to mid-shift to second shift depending on the day, so it's hard to get into a rhythm. It's been busy, and I often work through meals so I don't get to eat whatever I prepared unless I can eat it while I work. Then I end up grabbing something out. I'm not the only one. What brought it to my attention was that one of my co-workers brought us a proper dinner the other night since he was tired of doing the same for himself. Anyway, there's more than just that going on, but you didn't come here to get bored by all the crazy that's inside this head. This upcoming week is going to be a challenging one workload-wise, so I'm hoping I can find some healthier ways to reduce the stress. Suggestions are welcome.

We're on week three of the tour. This week: Saint Pius X (6905 Blondo St.)
Most of my pictures from this week turned out blurry, so you'll just have to deal with the ones that I managed to take correctly.
I asked my brother what he thought of the church and he said it felt "homey." I agree. Father Pietramale does a great job of bringing the Gospel to every person there. He walked amongst the pews and got people involved, but more importantly his message made the Gospel current, which is something I'm always looking for when we look at scripture.

I'm starting to enjoy that my camera goes last in these group pictures, since at that point whatever composure we have seems to be lost.

The Gospel for today is John 10(27-30). It is really one of those...If you haven't been paying attention, here's the deal kind of readings.

"My Sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10(27-30)

I included the entire reading because it is one that builds the blocks for you. Jesus is explaining how it works to the Jews who don't believe in him, so it is a good opportunity to see the connections that we make as believers. I often try to take my troubles on alone, and this is a reminder to me that greater forces are in play and I should take the time to see where They are leading me.

-Frank

Saint Pius X - April 25, 2010 - Eric

What's Happening
Overwhelmed. That's me, overwhelmed. I usually have too many pots in the on the fire anyway, but this little project is leaving me feeling inadequate for the scope of it. We are now up to twenty or so people interested in attending with us, I am feeling as though I don't have the skills necessary to accomplish what needs to be done. This is silly of course, I probably have above average organizational skills, and above average 'stick-to-it-ness', but you just can't stop those feelings.

I was prayerfully contemplating this on Wednesday morning, and the thought popped into my head "God equips the called, not the other way around" ... well hey, how about that? Once again, my job in all of this is to put one foot in front of the other and walk, God will put in my hands every tool that is needed to accomplish His plan. Jesus said "Come to me all of you who are heavy burdened ... and I will give you rest. It doesn't matter if those burdens are real, or mostly in my own head, the relief is real. Really, it's amazing, when we trust God to provide every tool that we need to do His will, then we are able to become His instrument and be His presence in the world. Praise be to God!

Here is the group who came with us this week: Brianne, Me, Frank, Joe, and Jen. You can see all my pictures from this week here. There is probably a good reason Frank's head looks like he has a halo.

Location and Architecture:
Saint Pius X. 6905 Blondo Street in Omaha. The altar area of Saint Pius X features bold shapes and lines, the church is long and narrow, and makes good use of the land it is on. The decorations grabbed my attention, in particular the cross behind the picture we took above. We say Christ was nailed to the cross, however the nails on the cross behind me in the picture above are more like railroad spikes, that will make you take notice and consider the price Jesus paid for our sake.

A few pictures of the church.

Mass
It's sometimes surprising just how different Mass can be from church to church, and in reality from Mass at one time from another at the same parish. I went to Mary Our Queen's 1100 Sunday Mass for years, then sang at a Saturday night Mass there too ... they were quite different. Still it can vary quite a bit. I figure that between Brianne and I, that we have 15 to 20 years total in Catholic choirs, plus however many more years attending church and liking to sing. We've now been to three churches and we have yet to both know the Mass parts, this week I knew them the first few, but then I was lost and I didn't know one of the songs.

Father Pietramale's homily was wonderful. He tied in the Gospel to real life experiences and got the congregation involved at the same time.

The Gospel:
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. John 10:27

He knows me, I know His voice, and I follow Him. How beautiful is our Good Shepherd? He knows me, I know His voice, and I follow Him.

Twice today, I have spoken with people about a sign I have on my wall

I used to tell God how big my problems were, now I tell my problems how big my God is.

Who this is attributed to is unknown to me, but the source? Well that's pretty obvious, I know His voice, and I follow Him. God is the source of wisdom like this, we know him by the peace that He gives us when we draw close to Him.

This is not that He makes it easy, it's not that we'll always be comfortable, we may not even like where we are being led, but the peace our Shepherd provides us is so precious that it cannot even be valued against the travails as a cost. My Lord, my Shepherd, He hears the my lame bleatings, and He stops, and comes, and cares for me. My ears pick up many voices, and if I so desired, I could follow different one of them, I have choices ... but really do I? After all He has done, I have but one Master, one Lord ... shepherd me Jesus, you know me, I know Your voice, I will follow You.

Peace, Eric