TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

In our house we have a small landing on our staircase. It's large enough to do something small but not large enough for anything too detailed. At first I had a vision of a tiny, customized table that could be designed to fit in the space. I imagined that it would hold special pictures of important family moments i.e. wedding, baptism etc... I abandoned that prospect when I realized that our toddler's wedding pictures would be ready for framing before I found/designed/created a table that would perfectly fit that space, especially since what would really work there would be a mantle.

It was Advent that defined the space. During the Advent Season I placed a miniature Christmas tree on a crate covered in a festive cloth on the landing. It was one of those little lighted trees, very simple but beautiful at night with it's glow warming our foyer. Because I loved it so much, I kept it there until Lent. At that time two things happened. First, it seemed gauche to have such a celebratory icon gracing our home during such a solemn season. Second, it was revealed to me at that time that the space could serve as a reflection of the liturgical calendar - our family's physical representation of the changing rhythms of the Christian calendar. I began to get excited about that. The idea of the home being the domestic church and place of Christian education (as opposed to leaving it all up to the one hour of church our children get once a week) for our family has appealed to me before our children even were born. I feel and have felt called into that ministry to our family and am always thinking of ways to lead my family in that direction.

When Lent and Easter were over, I was challenged by how our famiy's sacred space would evolve. It seemed easy for it to represent the obivious seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. How would we observe Ordinary Time in our home? I set up an alter with an obligatory candle, cloth, and water pitcher. The cloth for ascethics, the candle for times when we are praying beyond our normal daily prayer, and the pitcher as a reminder of water and all it symbolizes in our faith. On the wall behind the alter are pieces of paper with our prayer requests for our friends and family written on them. I use green ink as green is the color for ordinary time, symbolizing hope and growth.

In addition, I have been trying to keep up with what week we are in and what the scripture for each week is. I say trying because life is full and I am not as disciplined as I would like. YET. The good news is I pass this space many times a day and many times a day I am reminded it is not quite what I feel God is calling me to make it to be. Eventually the tots will be old enough to help contribute and the Monkey Man also has contributions but as the pastor of this domestic church, it is my responsibility to maintain the sacred center of our home. So God gently nudges me (or is it Jesus? or Mary? or all of them (it takes a village to raise a domestic minister)) each time I run up and down the steps. "When are you going to update your alter?"

As with many things, I need routine and systems to keep things maintained. So of course I logically thought that having one more thing to maintain would help me keep the alter maintained and that is what brings me to this point. While it might seem counterintuitive, I am hoping it will work. I have been wanting to blog for a while and have tried a couple of times. I hope this blog will help me keep myself educated, invite feedback from others, educate others and give me a system to keep our sacred center, well really sacred and meaningful.