Pearls before swine

Our Lady of the Snows Church
Woodstock, Vermont
June 26, 2007

One interesting thing I’ve learned about Roman Catholic priests since Neil became Catholic is that they are encouraged to celebrate mass every day. This means that Catholics usually have the opportunity to attend mass every day, and often have a choice of multiple daily services – a big difference from what Protestants are used to. Most devout Protestants attend church once a week, on Sunday mornings, and some have the option of attending an additional Sunday night service, and a mid-week (usually Wednesday night) prayer meeting or Bible study. In addition, lots of Protestants are members of some kind of “small group” – a weekly or monthly meeting, sometimes at a church member’s home, for prayer and Bible study and getting to know each other. But almost no Protestant goes to church every day, and some Catholics do – or at least they have the option.

Since Neil has become a Catholic he tries to go to church every day. Leslie and I attended this service with him. Still on vacation, I didn’t read or do anything to prepare.

Our Lady of the Snows is a very pretty little building with a very pretty name in a town that is billed in the tourist information as “the prettiest small town in Vermont.” So that’s a lot of pretty!

The sanctuary has white walls and lots of wood, stained glass windows, and a lovely barrel ceiling ornamented with gilt. There is a domed ceiling over the altar, and a small painted blue sky and dove within that dome.

The crucifix on the back wall shows a twisted, agonized Christ. To one side is a statue of Mary holding the infant Jesus, and on the other side what looked to me like a golden coffee maker in a niche (I later realized this was where they keep the elements for the Eucharist).

The sanctuary seats about 100 people; today 18 people plus our group of three are present, which seems to me like a very good turnout for a Tuesday morning.

The priest, wearing a white robe with a green garment over it, walks to the altar area, along with a man wearing ordinary street clothes. I assume the priest is Rev. Thomas Mosher, who is listed on the front of the bulletin as the pastor of Our Lady of the Snows.

A woman reads the Old Testament passage, which is about Abram and Lot dividing the land between them, and then leads us in a responsive Psalm.

The priest then reads the New Testament lesson. He is preaching through the instructional sayings of Jesus that week (Sermon on the Mount), and today’s passage is the one about not throwing your pearls before swine. He notes an interesting similarity in the etymology of the words pearl and holy, and makes the point that argument and dialogue are not the best ways to win souls – a better evangelistic technique is simply to lead a good and holy life. We do not evangelize through erudite arguments (casting pearls before swine), but through the witness of our lives. He speaks very well, and packs a surprising number of ideas into an extremely brief (about three minutes long!) sermon.

There is a moment of silence, and then Communion. Then another moment of silence, and the benediction.

It‘s a very nice, short service. Leslie and I discuss later how good it would be if Protestant churches were to make available brief daily services like that for people who want them. I suppose it will never happen, but it certainly seems like a great idea.