Thoughts at church: a ramble

[serenissima]

I arrived at church a little early this morning, and there was a group of women up front praying the rosary out loud before Mass began. The closing prayer to Mary, that starts "Hail Holy Queen," bothers me. I don't remember learning it as a child, although someone probably tried to teach it to me. One pleads with Mary to intercede with God on our behalf, but God is all-merciful to the repentant sinner and is father and mother to us all, so why should Mary's intercession be necessary? A terribly un-Catholic attitude, I know.

The gospel reading today was the parable of the Prodigal Son. The part about the virtuous and jealous older brother reminds me of the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (in which all the day laborers receive the same wage at the end of the day, no matter how long or short a shift they have worked, and those who worked a full day are indignant). To me, the reaction of the older brother is just as important as the actions of the younger brother and their father. However, the priest only gave the older brother a passing mention, saying he "felt bad" for him, and concentrated on the theme of repentance and forgiveness. It is Lent after all.

Chris sent me Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy after I mentioned to him my interest in the series, and I've skimmed through it pretty quickly. I didn't realize before that church doctrine was so central to the plot. It actually raised my hackles a little. I need to re-read the novels more slowly and carefully. The concept that saves the universe, in the books, seems to be along the same lines as an important concept in Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land. I was thinking about this during the homily (and only half-listening).

The melody of the closing song was from the 17th century, and was in a minor key. It held my interest because it reminded me of three tunes at once: the Thanksgiving hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come" with its plodding, 4/4 rhythm made almost entirely of quarter notes, that seems to be the standard for 17th century hymns; the verses of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" (but not the refrain); and the theme music from the computer game "The Summoning"... or maybe I'm thinking of the theme from the ballet "Swan Lake." The words of the closing song were 20th century -- something Lenten-oriented.

While walking home, I was dismayed to see a little old woman blow her nose in a Kleenex and then drop the used tissue in the snow. I would have guessed little old women to be better-mannered than that.

Comments

[403.livejournal.com]

If I remember my History of Western Civilization class correctly, in the middle ages both Jesus & God were cast as judging figures by the Catholic church. (There was a great deal of social unrest going on at the time.) So people started praying to Mary, as the merciful figure in church doctrine. The tradition has only weakened a little since then.

[zeeth_kyrah]

Really, I would have made a bigger deal of the whole triune thing: a Judge (daddy), a Rebel (child), and a source of Transformation (spirit/energy). But of course, the political force of the Catholic church wanted restless people to obey them instead of worshiping through some other group.

I dunno, I suspect that historical events have shaped the church perhaps more than faith has.