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Religion Friday
Aug. 23rd, 2013 09:56 amI attended a wake for a co-worker's mother, which with my recent loss means I've been spending a lot of time in churches. Herewith three thoughts on religion.
Thought #1
I am an (out-of-practice) Roman Catholic, and a child of Vatican II, which resulted in English masses and various modernizations. Well, St. Mary's Church, Westville, IL has gone, if not totally old-school, somewhat old-school. The priest there had several Latin segments, and spent a rather large portion of the service facing away from the congregation. (Under Vatican II, the priest spent almost all his time facing the congregation.)
Thought #2
My co-worker's wake was in a church of the Orthodox Church in America. The building was finished in 1997, but other then central air, looked like something out of Medieval Europe. Orthodox churches are in many ways very old-school. I don't know about the American orthodox, but another co-worker tells me that Serbian Orthodox priests must be married to get ordained.
Thought #3
I had a conversation with a third co-worker regarding death, stress and religion. He's a born-again Christian from a Roman Catholic background. During the conversation, he said words to the effect of "it is arrogant to assume that we can be saved by good works. Jesus is the only salvation."
This may be true, but I do recall Jesus saying on more than one occasion we need to help the poor and the sick, etc. I suspect faith and good deeds are required.
Thought #1
I am an (out-of-practice) Roman Catholic, and a child of Vatican II, which resulted in English masses and various modernizations. Well, St. Mary's Church, Westville, IL has gone, if not totally old-school, somewhat old-school. The priest there had several Latin segments, and spent a rather large portion of the service facing away from the congregation. (Under Vatican II, the priest spent almost all his time facing the congregation.)
Thought #2
My co-worker's wake was in a church of the Orthodox Church in America. The building was finished in 1997, but other then central air, looked like something out of Medieval Europe. Orthodox churches are in many ways very old-school. I don't know about the American orthodox, but another co-worker tells me that Serbian Orthodox priests must be married to get ordained.
Thought #3
I had a conversation with a third co-worker regarding death, stress and religion. He's a born-again Christian from a Roman Catholic background. During the conversation, he said words to the effect of "it is arrogant to assume that we can be saved by good works. Jesus is the only salvation."
This may be true, but I do recall Jesus saying on more than one occasion we need to help the poor and the sick, etc. I suspect faith and good deeds are required.
