As I now moved ( for work) to the northern part of my country in a town bordering a famous national park for Tiger reserves and surrounded by mountains, I started checking google maps for a church for Sunday mass. To my dismay, the only one I could trace was around 2 hours away… seemed way to far for traveling the one day I get off work, so I decided to stick to online mass …I happened to mention this another christian doctor working here , he managed to find a nurse who knew where the catholic mass is held and lo and behold I did find it…
As I embarked this sunday to church, I was reminded of all the sunday masses I attended through these years at various locations in my country and outside. While I am most comfortable with English Latin rite mass, I have been a devotee at the Malabar rite mass at Southern India, mass in Kannada, Malyalam, Tamil ( all southern India languages) and now in North India I attend them in Hindi.
While every church adds a few of their embellishments to the mass format as compared to the one I know as a child, I am fascinated how beautifully the priests and nuns incorporate the local culture and spread faith. While the mass began with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and everyone on the floor sitting cross legged in a small but beautiful chapel, I was just thinking how I saw thousands of faithful say that the traditional latin mass is the best and were posting on youtube ( the only social media I follow) about Pope Francis and issues related, I personally have seen many versions and embellishments added to the regular latin mass but never once did it diminish my faith nor did I have any issues following it.
Our faith is a feeling of total submission to the higher power of the Lord Almighty with things we cannot control and guidance for those that we can. I am blessed to be born in a family and region where being a catholic is not a rarity and I have never had to translate prayers or Gospel in my head (which I do now). I am even more blessed to witness the faith in people who have found Jesus for the first time in their lives and have way more enthusiasm when they sing and play hymns during the mass than I did often..
Like todays gospel the sinful woman came and wept at the feet of Jesus, I have seen people of all occupations and social class sit on a floor praising and thanking the Lord as a group of faith filled Christ loving humans and irrespective if there is incense burning or sitting arrangement on wooden pews or the priest is sitting cross legged with a plate of flowers with agarbatti being used to do an aarti of the Blessed Sacrament, i realised my faith is in HIM! and as long as I have faith — complete and submissive, nothing else should matter…NOTHING!
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
PRAYER:
Lord as I kneel before you, I thank you for being in my life, I ask you for the strengthening of my faith and believe in your path. lord I uplift my sinfulness like the woman in the Gospel and ask for your forgiveness. Help me Lord and guide me to do your will every day!!
AMEN.