Fodder for muttering--sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!

I was driving next to a field of grazing cattle when the word “fodder” came to my mind. I thought “fodder” was a funny word to use for cattle food, when I realized it also means material for stimulating response or creativity. I said to myself, “I have to work the word ‘fodder’ into my blog entry tonight.” Father, fodder. Mother, mutter. Sometimes I crack myself up, and I don’t even get embarrassed.


Anyway, here’s the fodder for tonight’s mutterings:
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When driving to work at 5:30 this morning, the full moon rising in the Western sky was huge! The sight told me I’d better psyche myself up for a day full of weird customers, and I was right. They just kept coming in, each one a little bit more bizarre than the one before. I was so exhausted dealing with the strangeness of it all that I made arrangements to leave work by 4:00 so I could go to Adoration and Mass. I haven’t been able to attend a daily Mass in almost a month because I’ve been so busy. Part of it was because I just didn’t “feel up to it”. But today’s events made me realize that maybe the reason I’ve been having such a hard time lately is because I haven’t been going to Adoration at least once a week or daily Mass as I have been trying to do for about 5 years now—I feel like Jesus was telling me, “You want to know what it’s like without me? I’ve shown you! What are you going to do about it?”

The minute I left work though, a pain shot through my back that almost sent me to the ground. I said, “Oh no you don’t Satan, I’ve already made a date with Jesus!” I couldn’t get to the church fast enough!

When I got there, I picked up a leaflet that had “12 Scriptural reasons to attend Adoration” and “12 Church teachings that encourage Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament”. I will try to cover those over the next few days, but for now I’d just like to relate my experience at the church. I hurt so bad that I couldn’t genuflect or kneel without grunting out loud, so I took a seat at the back of the chapel and began to say my rosary. As I was reciting the rosary, I was watching the priest set up for Mass. He was bringing out all kinds of things that he doesn’t usually bring out, like kneelers and the bells for communion, and a paten for holding under the chins of the communicants. I wondered, “What’s going on?” The priest at this particular parish is very orthodox and traditional, so I thought he was just bringing back one more tradition for the parishioners to enjoy.

Just then, a very well-dressed and well-groomed young man (about 14 or 15-years-old) came in, genuflected on both knees then took his place in a pew. He very piously made the sign of the cross and began mouthing some prayers fervently. It was such an uplifting sight! After about 15 minutes (15 minutes before Mass was to begin) he got up, genuflected on both knees again and headed for the sacristy. You don’t normally see an altar boy at daily Mass, but if you’re going to have one, this is the guy I’d want!

Mass time! Here comes the kid, leading the way for the celebrant, who goes straight to the altar and starts in with the Latin, facing the tabernacle! It’s been a good 40+ years since I’ve attended a Mass in Latin! The reverence was palpable—I felt it to the very core of my being. I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the solemnity of it all. I was so confused though, that I found myself kneeling (back pain and all) through most of it! And the altar boy was so confident in his Latin! I was impressed and kind of jealous at the same time—I was never that good. When the time came for Communion, it was just like the old days—we knelt on the kneelers that had been fashioned into a “communion rail” and received our Lord on the tongue as the priest said in Latin to each communicant “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” Translated, this is “May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto life everlasting. Amen.”  Wow.  That statement brings it home!

And yet, as I reflect on the solemnity of the Mass I attended tonight I am also a little ashamed to say I prefer the Mass as we have been saying it for the past 40 years or so in the vernacular. With the right mind set and faith, the “ordinary form” of the Mass is just as reverent. I actually like the way the priests on EWTN use a mix of Latin and English to maintain the reverence and tradition and at the same time keep it understandable. Reverence is all in how one approaches our Lord. I will continue to pray for those that don’t so that they will come to believe and be drawn into the wonder that is the Mass.