Nothing to see here, folks -
or is there?
It was a very good question, from a very young person. One of two young daughters who accompanied their mother to the Sodality luncheon on Sunday raised her hand and asked me, “How are you supposed to notice something you are not supposed to notice?”
With great ceremony the indefatigable honcha of our Sodalists, Sharon O’Brien, had just presented me with a donation to cover the cost of one of the two new altar cloths I had ordered. Everyone in the room agreed it was a worthy donation and a much-needed upgrade. What (almost) nobody in the room knew was that the new cloth had already been on the altar for six days.
Everybody who eyeballed it with me after Mr. Dao put it there agreed it looks much better. But the change evident to the average eye is minimal. Honestly, beyond the people I told about it, nobody has noticed. A whole week of daily mass goers, and a whole weekend of Sunday regulars had come and gone with nary a comment. Sharon was one of those folks who had been to Mass and not noticed. The same goes for most of the ladies in the room. I confess to enjoying a mild taunt: You didn’t notice!
To assuage any guilt and make it clear that this was no grave shortcoming neither of the ladies nor of the altar cloth, I observed that the altar cloth is not something that SHOULD draw attention to itself. It should elevate the dignity of the great altar when it stands silently in the midst of the church, and it should dignify and emphasize the drama of the saving sacrifice of the Eucharist and the splendor of the Body and Blood of the Lord Who rests upon it briefly on His way toward nourishing us. It is rather like a frame that should reveal the painting, not draw attention to its own splendor. All of this our new altar cloth accomplishes.
And then our young companion asked her question. “How are you supposed to notice something you are not supposed to notice?” The sodalists chortled thinking she had me hoist on me own petard.
But a good question merits a good answer, and my response is that one spots it much the same as one sees the great works of God. Anything He has done or is doing, you will not notice in itself, unless and until you listen to what He has promised He will do, what He has done in the past, and how He accomplishes His will. All God’s works point to God, not themselves, just as Christ’s signs and wonders revealed Who He is. So even now, the works of God in our own lives can be a as a flash or flicker, or result in a substantial change that makes us ask, now when did that happen?
Most of our Sodality ladies have been at this long enough that they have had the experience of recognizing the love of God at work in their lives not as it happens, but only long after time and reflection – oh, THAT’S what He was doing for us! Similarly, their regular attention at Mass to the proclamation of the Scriptures and the consistent working of the Sacraments, their long hours of prayer for all the intentions that have been entrusted to them, and their listening to the accounts of graces poured into the lives of the people with whom they share their faith; all of this listening has opened their eyes to the marvels God is doing.
Now that you have heard about it, your eyes will be open to our new altar cloth, and to the possibility of spotting the other new one when we put it on our holy altar, as they are visibly different one from another. You can think to yourself how glad you are that our Sodality helped with this upgrade, then allow your eyes to return to their usual focus on the saving work of the divine Word being wrought on this linen white ground.
At the same time, you have sharpened a skill you may not have known that you have. If you find yourself asking during some difficulty or dry period in your life, where is God in all this? What is He doing, what does He want me to have, or to do, or to know? That is reasonable, but the next step is, as the psalmist tells us, Be still and see that I am God (Ps 46:10 DR). Listen first, then open your eyes and see the answer to your very good question.
Monsignor Smith
