For years now I have driven by this stunningly beautiful catholic church near my house, but I had never been inside. Looking for a quiet place to pray, I had once called and asked if I (a protestant and minister) would be allowed to pray there during the day. The receptionist had welcomed me. She said I could come as early as 6am and as late as 10pm - and if I needed to pray all night, then I could stay as long as I wished if I came before 10pm when they locked the doors. So this afternoon I decided to be brave and venture inside. If this worked out, I could ride my bike there whenever I wanted to spend my prayer time in a sanctuary. To my amazement, the small chapel (or lower church as it would be called in Europe), was quite busy with parishioners praying. At first there were just three women and myself, but by the time I had prayed the daily office, two men had joined us. The chapel was so still and quiet even with all of us scattered throughout the pews. I am sure Luther and Calvin and George W. Stroup (my Calvinist theology professor who made us read the Catholic Catechism from cover to cover - and who warned :-) me that I wasnt a Presbyterian theologically speaking) would never understand, but it felt good and right to be praying alongside my neighbors even if our theologies are a bit different.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:10:32 +0000
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