“Are we going to church tomorrow morning for Christmas?” says ArgeyMum, late-ish in the evening on Christmas Eve. “I guess we should.” I say. Although I felt I had done my religious duties for the season earlier in the day. Let me rewind a little to explain.
I was awoken by my lovely darling Wife in the morning. She appeared to be on the phone. Promptly handing me the phone she said that it was Brad and I had to say grace. You see, the Butler family (and those who have married in to it) celebrate family Christmas on Christmas eve, that way everyone is free on Christmas day to do their own thing. It was always Dad who said grace before the meal. After he passed away, it was passed to me to be the grace sayer before the family Christmas meal. I believe it is because I am the one in the family who has studied at bible college, but whatever the reason, I consider it a great honour and privilege. Being that I am currently approximately 16,200km away from Adelaide, I had felt that someone else would take on the role this year. How wrong I was… The phone was on speaker and I said grace as I have done these past few years. To say that was an interesting way to start the day is an understatement, but I felt that I had done my duties for the season.
Fast forward to the evening and our church conversation. I began a google search of churches within walking distance of where we are staying because everything shuts down on Christmas day in London, even the buses. Turned out that not many of the churches within walking distance actually had a Christmas morning service. Luckily for us, we are staying quite literally across the road from a church. This church, however is a little different from what we are used to, but we felt it would be great to experience something new. We were a little uncertain at how the kids would go, but hey, they can sit still and quiet for an hour… can’t they…
The church in question is St Dominic’s Priory in Haverstock Hill. The building and grounds are very beautiful and it has been operating as a functioning Priory since 1883.
I must confess (excuse the pun) that I have never been to a Catholic Mass before, let alone a Christmas Mass. I will share my reflections below, but I want to say that the kids were brilliant! They both behaved so well and had absolutely no idea of what was going on around them which made their behaviour even more impressive. So here are my thoughts and reflections on what we saw…
There were some elements that I admit I did not follow what was happening and there were many parts of the Liturgy where I felt very out of place. At the beginning of the Hymnal was a Mass program that went through the various stages of the Mass and included the Priest’s comments and the congregational responses. This would have been fine except we appeared to have a rogue priest who kept going off-script. Add to this that some of the responses were to be sung in a kind of Gaelic Chant style to which I didn’t know the tunes. I noticed, very quickly that I was one of the few people there that wasn’t participating very much. There were Liturgies and parts of the Mass that I followed and could take part in which was more comfortable.
And here’s the revelation… I didn’t like the bits that were comfortable! I loved feeling like a fish out of water. I loved not knowing exactly what was going to happen next. I loved the feeling of just being taken on a ride where I knew the destination, but the route was a whole new experience for me. The ceremony of the Eucharist was simply beautiful. I always thought that Mass revolved around ceremony and all of the set little creeds and ‘call & response bits’ but what I witnessed was so much more. What I was a part of was a service that was immersed in the Word of God. A service that was covered in prayer and bursting with reverence. Yes there was the various Liturgies, prayers, responses and ceremony; but it wasn’t done in the way that I had expected. It was such a joyful experience as someone who is not a Catholic to be able to take part in something that is so different to what we normally do on a Sunday.
A wise woman once said to me after I had complained about how boring the church was that we had just visited, that I should be able to find God in any place I go, in particular a church. If I walk into a church that is different from my own and can’t see God there, then the problem is not the church, the problem is me.
I think of this conversation often and I am definitely conscious of it when I go to new churches. If the me of back then had been the one that had gone to St Dominic’s on Christmas day this year, I am sure that I would have missed the beauty and significance of such a special moment. Thankfully, I am a little older and wiser now than I was then (and I have a much wiser and smarter wife to set me straight when I am out of line) and I was able to experience God in a new way, through the most unexpected of places.
NB: Special note to acknowledge that the Headline photograph for this post is taken from the St Dominic’s photo page. The photograph is accredited to brother Lawrence Lew of the Edinburgh Community.
To read my other reflections on services we have been to while travelling – click the links below.
Very good advice from a very wise woman. Something I take with me also.