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An essay about the church
An essay about the church
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Imagine the miraculous for a moment if early Christians suddenly appeared at Mass on Sunday. Would the followers of Christ, Jews at the time, recognize the liturgical events taking place? Catholics celebrate the Mass with a liturgy full of mystery and rich in rites and rubrics. These liturgical movements consist of divine realities, not created by an ancient liturgy committee, but given by God to His people in both the Old and New Testament. Christ Jesus entrusted the liturgy and sacred mysteries to his apostles, and through apostolic tradition, to his clergy for two thousand years. In modern times, the extravagance of such services and ceremonies appear ritualistic, repetitious, or even boring to the uninformed observer. A deep understanding …show more content…
Initially, God desired a relationship with individuals, such as Abraham and Noah, and later with the unified nation of Israel. Through covenants, God instructed his people on the ways to live and be in communion with Him. God called the community together for the first time at Mt. Sinai. At this gathering, God spoke to His people through Moses and gave them the Ten Commandments and ordinances. With praise, adoration and supplication, the people responded with one voice that they would “do everything that the Lord has told us.” [Exodus 24:3] A sacrificial offering, that included the splashing of blood, ratified the contract between God and mankind. These four elements—(1) answering God’s call, (2) hearing God’s Word proclaimed, (3) responding to God’s Word, and (4) consummating the deal with a sacrificial offering—bound the people to God and His promises in what the Hebrews called a “Qahal,” one of the earliest forms of worship. After Mt. Sinai, and each time the covenant was broken by His people, God used a Qahal to reconnect with them. Each of these events, the dedication at the temple, the Passover reformed under Hezekiah, the covenant renewal under Josiah, and later, the rededication of the Temple, renewed the
I had the great privilege of visiting the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. I visited this Church to witness the Salutation to the Theotokos, an annual service held to honor the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In this paper I will discuss the history of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church along with a detailed description of the architecture and interior of the church. I will also explain the service I attended, Salutations to the Theotokos and my perspective of the service. But In order to fully understand all that I must first explain, leadership within the Church,and iconography.
However, this does make a solid perception that God has chosen Moses as his divine leader and to follow him. The ten commandments were also guidelines in the religious system to create a fair and moral society and gave people structure. Some consequences were similar like the eye for an eye
Webber, Christopher. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999. Print.
I am a nondenominational Christian and I decided to attend a catholic mass. I attended mass at the Conversion of St Paul Parish on April 6, 2014. The preside was Father Senan Glass and the starting time was 10am. The Conversion of St Paul Parish’s location is 4120 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44103. The church was very big and the stain glass windows were beautiful. At first, I felt uncomfortable because I did not know where to sit or what to do. I really did not have an idea of what to expect. Everything seemed very formal and the service was easy to follow because of the bulletin I was given, which had the order of service on it. The service was concise and it only lasted about an hour.
The term liturgy has its basis in Greek mythology. It can be defined as a form of worship that is that is done according to particular beliefs and practices that are held by a certain group of people. The beliefs and the rituals are usually practiced by the whole group. It may be understood as a ritual that is usually elaborate. Ritual on the other hand refers to a number of activities that are performed in a sequential manner and which more often are prescribed by specific communities. Liturgy plays different functions depending on their nature. To begin with, the catholic liturgy expresses certain religious beliefs towards a Supreme Being and therefore done in a manner that is an expression of worship to the Supreme Being. The term ritual
Of course, as a Catholic, I am not opposed to the Church’s traditions, nor do I see them as inadequate. Since the Church is a human institution meant to represent the divine and is not divine itself, however, I feel that there must be room for improvement. For example, I recently became curious as to why women were still not allowed to become priests, so I decided to find out. I questioned two priests, my religion teacher, and numerous other practicing Catholics, and the best answer anyone could give me was, “That’s just the way we’ve always done it.” While traditions provide stability and unity within a group of people, to be unquestionably planted in tradition can restrict growth. How often do traditions that once held deep meaning fade to become mundane tasks too difficult to let go? Too often, I see the congregation of a church monotonously reciting the Lord’s prayer, a prayer which Catholics believe was spoken directly from the mouth of God, with little regard for its meaning, or singing a joyful song such as the “Alleluia” with a positively depressing expression. No fault lies within these traditions themselves, but only in the way we view them. The Church must remind its members of the purpose of every prayer, every symbol, and every law so that Catholics do not lose the meaning of their religion.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
...Temple (this action is also noted in 2nd Chronicles). In Nehemiah, Artaxerxes allows the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. These actions are attributed to God’s favor and reveal that God is still faithful to his people. The promises made to Abraham are still in effect, along with the Mosaic and Davidic covenants. Although the people disobeyed God and were punished, God continues to exhibit his love for Israel. From an overview of the writings of the Old Testament, the theme of God’s faithfulness is displayed.
Within the Roman Catholic Church, there are many rituals that vary in terms of importance, frequency and world-wide standardization. The standardized rituals deemed most essential make up what
Through the various calls for response made by the priests, “let us be attentive”, “let us pray to the Lord”, “peace be with you” and “servant of God” tradition is linguistically demonstrated. Each of these and other prayers was concluded with a response or “Amen” typically by the priest or the choir. Also, we saw reminders of God’s beauty in the images of those who loved and served the Lord throughout the ages as painting on the ceilings and walls.
God met his followers at the Red Sea and saved them. After six weeks with no food to be found and people speaking against Moses God helped his people. The last book of Moses served as the covenant rule and constitution for Israel. Through each crisis Moses was faced with we see God the Father patiently lifting his people up and carrying them one step farther” (143). God is full of compassion to meet the needs of all men and women.
As I was attending mass, I noticed, it was very organized. There was a lot of sitting and standing, where I found myself struggling to understand. I noticed that they read some passages from the bible and sang a lot of psalms and hymns. The only thing that was familiar to me was the Eucharist.
Rites form and essential part of social life. Rites invoke ancestors and the dead. The whole person, body, and soul are totally involved in worship. There are many rites of purification of individuals and communities. Religious sacredness is preserved in ritual, in dress and the arrangements of the places of worship. The sick are healed in rites, which involve their families and the community. Some of the traditional blessings are rich and very meaningful. In worship and sacrifice there is co-responsibility each person contributes his share in a spirit of participation. Symbols bridge the spheres of the sacred and secular and so make possible a balanced and unified view of reality.
Our observations took place at Newman’s Catholic Church. In particular, we observed the interactions of a priest for an hour and thirty minutes. We began by observing how he interacted with members of the church for the first fifteen minutes before service began. Then we focused on his interactions with the assembly during service and finally, we witnessed how he interacted with others after mass. During this time a few noticeable differences occurred.
I attended Mass at my local parish, the Parish of St. Francis de Sales, on Sunday, October 9th, in order to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This also happens to be the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time because the priest of the parish, Father Phan, wore green in order to symbolize life, anticipation for the coming of Christ, and hope. The liturgical season of Ordinary Time is also significant because it focuses on the fruits of Jesus’s three-year public ministry, his educational parables, and his extraordinary miracles. The season of Ordinary Time also serves as a reminder that the Church’s mission, our mission, is to not only share the life and hope of Jesus