Rev. Paul Desmarais, Pastor Worship Style - Traditional Roman Catholic
This weekend we were celebrating Denise's birthday (her 29th for the second time) in Rhode Island with close friends. As a result, we attended the 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. James Chapel, which is close to our home. Because this church is close to the beach, in the summer this congregation tends to include a number of vacationers. This is a unique, contemporary style church, in that the congregation surrounds the altar, kind of a "church-in-the-round." The church was full, and there were approx. 200 worshippers.
Fr. Desmarais began his homily by reminiscing about his childhood memories of his mother's nutritious homemade lunches. He, however, then explained how he would scout out the cafeteria at lunch time to see what tempting items other kids had for lunch. Thus would begin a series of negotiations. He actually brought with him to the service examples of what he was looking to obtain, specifically, Hostess Twinkies and HoHos. This is how he introduced his homily, "We are what we eat!" The homily was based on John 6:52-58. During communion, in eating Jesus' body and blood, we abide in Jesus and He in us, and we have life forever. We receive Christ's power of grace, mercy and love. "Are we the living presence of Jesus in our world? Do our actions towards others reflect what we have received? Are we living out the presence of Jesus in our world? We make Jesus alive for others when people see how we act towards people. Our Lord is alive in us; we are given the responsibility of making Him alive to the world that is around us in our everyday lives." So, do we believe that we are what we eat and that we will live forever, and are we Jesus to the world?
This weekend we were celebrating Denise's birthday (her 29th for the second time) in Rhode Island with close friends. As a result, we attended the 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. James Chapel, which is close to our home. Because this church is close to the beach, in the summer this congregation tends to include a number of vacationers. This is a unique, contemporary style church, in that the congregation surrounds the altar, kind of a "church-in-the-round." The church was full, and there were approx. 200 worshippers.
Fr. Desmarais began his homily by reminiscing about his childhood memories of his mother's nutritious homemade lunches. He, however, then explained how he would scout out the cafeteria at lunch time to see what tempting items other kids had for lunch. Thus would begin a series of negotiations. He actually brought with him to the service examples of what he was looking to obtain, specifically, Hostess Twinkies and HoHos. This is how he introduced his homily, "We are what we eat!" The homily was based on John 6:52-58. During communion, in eating Jesus' body and blood, we abide in Jesus and He in us, and we have life forever. We receive Christ's power of grace, mercy and love. "Are we the living presence of Jesus in our world? Do our actions towards others reflect what we have received? Are we living out the presence of Jesus in our world? We make Jesus alive for others when people see how we act towards people. Our Lord is alive in us; we are given the responsibility of making Him alive to the world that is around us in our everyday lives." So, do we believe that we are what we eat and that we will live forever, and are we Jesus to the world?