Following the Lord of the Dance
I had a lovely March break, but of course it wasn`t enough. I spent a great deal of it sleeping and playing Sims2. I also got the chance to see my family. On Tuesday morning Raph drove me down to Embrun and dropped me off at my sister`s house. My mom arrived at the same time. So we spent some time chatting and having an early lunch. Then headed out to drive around and check out nice stores. Much to our dismay, most of them were closed! We finally found one in Navan. My mom was kind enough to plan a party for St. Patty`s Day with no notice! (I made a fuss.....and I felt kinda bad but I wanted a party real bad!) I arrived home to find my dad in the living room listening to Irish folk music, like he always does on St. Pat`s Day. I discovered that the theme song of the mega production Lord of the Dance is a traditional Irish folk song about Jesus.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:
I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
It`s a wonderful song and totally Irish. It`s funny, as of late, I have been reconnecting with my Catholicity. I mainly attribute it to my religion class this semester. It made me realize that I knew a lot more than I thought I knew and the teacher was really good at getting us to understand the basic tenements of our religion. He helped us discriminate between what was made by man and was what truly from the Divine. And he was the first to admit that so much of our religion is weighed down my stupid man things. I also joined a Bible study offered by an organisation on campus. I admit I joined because it promised a nice little certificate that would look oh so good in my teaching portfolio...But the course ended up being pretty interesting. The animator of the group asked us to join her in an evening of worship at the St. Pat`s Church downtown. I figured I`d keep up with the Irish-Jesus-things and decided to go. I also admit that it`s one fo those things you accept to go to because you don`t know how to say no...
So it was a celebration for the adoration of the Eucharist. The priest puts a waffer in a monstrance and sets it on the altar for all to see. Catholics believe that it is really Jesus in there. I mainly shrug my shoulders but seeing the display did fill me with awe. The church is simply gorgeous. The ceremony is for the youth only. It was so different than a normal mass on a Sunday morning. This was a Saturday evening, the church full of people my age, it was kept dark, only lit in the front of the church. There was a band consisting of an electric guitar a piano and three singers. The music was gorgeous and very meditative. The lyrics not as tacky as one would expect. The most surprising and moving part were hearing all those young and beautiful voices filling up the church. I`m so used to hearing old ladies sing croak the same old mecanical hymns. Some songs were even in latin and they were gorgeous. There was no preaching or any mass by the priests. They were very much behind the scenes. There was a welcoming address and a few testimonials at the end. It was mainly a night of prayer and meditation. There were priests everywhere in the church: in confessional booths, and in the back. They were there to give the sacrament of reconciliation (aka confessions). My friend urged me to confess when I told her I hadn`t since the 7th grade. "Oh Katrina! You don't have to deal with the weight of your sins for all these years!" I lol-ed on the inside. But then I decided that Easter was in fact comming and that this was lent after all...'tis the season for confessin'. So after much agonizing whether I should do it or not, I go up and stood in line.
My turn.
I sit by the priest. He blesses me.
Mon Père, vous parlez français?
He laughs. Oui, oui!
Il y a 14 ans depuis ma dernière confession.
He laughs.
(...)
The rest is between me and Jesus, but lets just say that he was not really into hearing the bad things that I did. He actually stopped me short to get me to talk about the good things that I did and what I am thankful for. Interesting. He told me that I reminded him a lot of St. Augustine. I was so happy to hear that because that dude fascinates me and I have been meaning to read him. He said that my spiritual path resembles a lot that of Augustine. Apparently he would pray the Lord to help him change his bad ways..."just not today but later"...lol. That`s really me. I know that I do bad things. I`m just questionning everything and evaluating. But in the mean time, I want to have fun and figure things out for myself. The priest got that. (I even had a dream last year telling me to study Augustine. In the dream I was led to a painting of Lady Jane dressed in Tudor Green. It was the colour of the church....) It was touching to see all these priests sitting there, waiting to talk to all these youths, one by one. Definately a new experience.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:
I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
It`s a wonderful song and totally Irish. It`s funny, as of late, I have been reconnecting with my Catholicity. I mainly attribute it to my religion class this semester. It made me realize that I knew a lot more than I thought I knew and the teacher was really good at getting us to understand the basic tenements of our religion. He helped us discriminate between what was made by man and was what truly from the Divine. And he was the first to admit that so much of our religion is weighed down my stupid man things. I also joined a Bible study offered by an organisation on campus. I admit I joined because it promised a nice little certificate that would look oh so good in my teaching portfolio...But the course ended up being pretty interesting. The animator of the group asked us to join her in an evening of worship at the St. Pat`s Church downtown. I figured I`d keep up with the Irish-Jesus-things and decided to go. I also admit that it`s one fo those things you accept to go to because you don`t know how to say no...
So it was a celebration for the adoration of the Eucharist. The priest puts a waffer in a monstrance and sets it on the altar for all to see. Catholics believe that it is really Jesus in there. I mainly shrug my shoulders but seeing the display did fill me with awe. The church is simply gorgeous. The ceremony is for the youth only. It was so different than a normal mass on a Sunday morning. This was a Saturday evening, the church full of people my age, it was kept dark, only lit in the front of the church. There was a band consisting of an electric guitar a piano and three singers. The music was gorgeous and very meditative. The lyrics not as tacky as one would expect. The most surprising and moving part were hearing all those young and beautiful voices filling up the church. I`m so used to hearing old ladies sing croak the same old mecanical hymns. Some songs were even in latin and they were gorgeous. There was no preaching or any mass by the priests. They were very much behind the scenes. There was a welcoming address and a few testimonials at the end. It was mainly a night of prayer and meditation. There were priests everywhere in the church: in confessional booths, and in the back. They were there to give the sacrament of reconciliation (aka confessions). My friend urged me to confess when I told her I hadn`t since the 7th grade. "Oh Katrina! You don't have to deal with the weight of your sins for all these years!" I lol-ed on the inside. But then I decided that Easter was in fact comming and that this was lent after all...'tis the season for confessin'. So after much agonizing whether I should do it or not, I go up and stood in line.
My turn.
I sit by the priest. He blesses me.
Mon Père, vous parlez français?
He laughs. Oui, oui!
Il y a 14 ans depuis ma dernière confession.
He laughs.
(...)
The rest is between me and Jesus, but lets just say that he was not really into hearing the bad things that I did. He actually stopped me short to get me to talk about the good things that I did and what I am thankful for. Interesting. He told me that I reminded him a lot of St. Augustine. I was so happy to hear that because that dude fascinates me and I have been meaning to read him. He said that my spiritual path resembles a lot that of Augustine. Apparently he would pray the Lord to help him change his bad ways..."just not today but later"...lol. That`s really me. I know that I do bad things. I`m just questionning everything and evaluating. But in the mean time, I want to have fun and figure things out for myself. The priest got that. (I even had a dream last year telling me to study Augustine. In the dream I was led to a painting of Lady Jane dressed in Tudor Green. It was the colour of the church....) It was touching to see all these priests sitting there, waiting to talk to all these youths, one by one. Definately a new experience.