A Rose by Any Other Name

I learned something new yesterday!

Below is a post from the Cross Reference blogspot, another new discovery which I will be adding to my blogroll. Do stop by and visit Jeff.

At the local church, I teach confirmation classes. I’ve remarked in the past that if I lived in a more populous area, with more resources in the parish, I would not be teaching this class. As it turns out, I was asked to do it, but with more resources available (as in humans) I would never have presumed. In fact, I think they would have told me, “Thank you for your interest, Mrs. Thorns, you are welcome to bring cupcakes for snack time if you desire.”

I’m not selling myself short here, for an average Catholic TODAY, I know quite a bit. But, would I throw myself up against some of today’s scholars? Not a chance! I’m a smart cookie and I can figure out how to get answers, I read quite a bit, and I have spent most of the last 15 years devotedly learning and researching the faith, which does give me a leg up on most of my peers as far as Catholic formation. However, fit to teach teenagers the faith and prepare them for Confirmation? Never would I have imagined it. Yet, God calls us to fulfill roles, and prepares us to do the job.

What did I learn? Here is a reprint of the post from Cross Reference, the title is a link:

Liturgy: What's in a name?

The technical (proper) term is extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. Why is this title correctly preferred over terms like...

* Eucharistic Minister
* Special Minister of the Eucharist
* Special Minister of Holy Communion
* Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist

Pick apart the name. See if you can figure out where it's right and the others are wrong.

I learned the fine difference in meaning between Holy Communion and Eucharist! I knew there was a difference, didn’t know what it was. More pearls to pass on to my students. Go to the comments section of this post, the answer is explained. While you are at his website, check out the two posts on the ‘Jenga Mass’ and the 'Jenga Mass Part Two' which are fascinating if you love the Liturgy and have read anything on the subject.

It seems to me that the young men of today are well prepared to be leaders speaking out on behalf of our beautiful Catholic faith. Deo Gratias! We need strong young men, well educated, and fearless. Whether laity or religious, strong, young men will lead the Catholic faithful of today back to the head of the mystical body, back to Christ’s Church, back to the basics of Catholicism. Much has been lost or forgotten. At least some remember, or take the time to learn correctly, speak up, and pass the information on.

Baking bread

Baking bread is indeed a meditative and rewarding experience. I have been working hard at mastering the technique. Having been raised by a 'modern woman' who espoused many of the ideals of feminism and independence for women, one concept I learned young was to not spend time making from scratch what I could make from a mix or buy pre-made. Bread is the perfect example of this.

I've always admired those who can create such warm and tasty masterpieces from the simplest of ingredients with ease and confidence. Never having any opportunity to try before, my first attempts were rather comical. In one of my earliest and most memorable failures I had started yeast for the dough and was interrupted by unexpected visitors. Madame Yeast, being the rather persnickety creature she is, got a bit offended at being left alone so long. When I returned and proceeded with the bread recipe, she held a grudge against me and refused to cooperate. My bread turned out like biscuits, all crumbly and hard to hold onto, impossible to slice. I could just see her scoffing at me, "You do not desert Madame Yeast! She will not forgive and forget!" The bread was tasty, but it wasn't really bread. My family appreciates all efforts to fill their bellies, but I was disappointed.

Thankfully each subsequent attempt was more successful. I discovered in addition to being left alone, Madame Yeast detests liquid which is either too warm or too cool, and sometimes she likes a little sugar in the mix. She is also sensitive to the weather, proofing environment, and storage conditions. Once I figured out her eccentricities I was well on my way to being a happy bread baker.

Despite all of the early failures I continued to persist because of the desire I had to feed my family nutritious, hand formed bread. Oh, I did try a bread machine for a while but I found them to be more bother than they were worth. I didn't like the hole in the bottom of the loaf from the mixing. I would take the bread out of the machine to rise in a pan and bake without the hole. That worked well until we had so many children that one loaf from a bread machine wasn't enough to go around. Bread machines cannot handle a large family. Even when I used the machine I felt like I was cheating somehow. I wasn't kneading the bread by hand. This is where the meditative part of the bread making experience comes in.

Did you ever watch children play with dough? They all love it. Preschools cannot make the stuff fast enough. They love to roll it out, cut shapes, make snakes and logs, and squish it. We have a natural yearning to play with dough. Most of us suppress the urge, but some of us never quite outgrow it. That is a good thing, it keeps people eating fresh, homemade bread! There is one major difference between the dough preschoolers play with and the dough that bakes up into scrumptious bread however, and that is consistency of the dough. Kneading bread dough is hard work, but it is indeed very rewarding. While you are kneading, your entire upper body is engaged in the effort to push and fold, push and fold. The process is repetitive and mindless. It is a great time to think, I like to pray when I knead bread. During advent my husband helps to knead because of the quantity of loaves we produce. I need his strong shoulders and upper arms to help with the task. When he is kneading bread we have conversations. Whether praying or talking, the kneading process is always a pleasant experience. Hard, muscle building work, but it is a wholesome and virtuous task, taking your hands and working the dough to make a basic food for your family. Depending on the type of bread you are making you may still get to form snakes and logs, circles, or balls. You also are able to slash the top. Just like when you were a child, all the 'fun' is still there.

When you go to the trouble of making the bread to feed your family you can't help but draw a parallel to the Eucharist. Christ changed bread, the basic food of life, simple fare, wrought by human hands, made with love, into his Body. He feeds us and nurtures us with the most basic food for our souls, Himself, and he uses the most basic food from earth to do it. It is no wonder He chose bread, the food of life, to be the substance for transubstantiation. Once you experience making bread, you come fully around to the meaning of "The Bread of Life".

Then of course, at long last, there is the joy and sensual delight of the moment when the bread comes out of the oven. You've been inhaling the aroma of the bread baking, and the hot, freshly baked loaf is too much for the senses. Around our house the first loaf is for instant consumption. Steaming, the bread is just calling for butter, and the first bite is like heaven on earth. It is rewarding to set out a loaf of hand kneaded, home baked bread for your family to enjoy, and the process of getting there is almost as good as the first bite.