The Way

Saturday night I was invited to church with our Polish friends. They are Catholic, but this was no ordinary mass. They belong to a subset of Catholicism called the "Neocatechumenal Way," or sometimes just "The Way." Now I had been to a meeting with my babysitter back home in Chicago, but I don't remember the details. At my Catholic job in college I had heard the Way ridiculed and called heretical, so I wanted to go again when I was more conscious of things.


This meeting was incredible. They get the name "Neocatechumenal" because they believe in continuing adult education after baptism. So everyone is in "communities" of around 30 people that meet together and study the Bible, and everyone is supposed to pray and read the Bible daily. Last Saturday night about 4 communities all met together.

The mass was very different from a normal one. First of all, the seats were in a circle around the altar, which was ringed with fresh flowers. (Edyta gave me one after the service, and it's currently on my desk.) Before the service started they introduced all the visitors, so I had to stand up and wave. You'd never have that at a regular mass.

One of the most important differences was the music--none of that bad 60s crap. Since the movement started in Spain, the songs have a Spanish air to them. They are mostly accompanied by single or mutliple guitars, with great chords (I could even sing alto!) It reminded me very much of Taize music, with that same meditative feeling.  I really liked it.
 
Each of the readings was introduced by someone who explained what that passage meant to them, before a second person came up and actually read the text. Then, after the readings, there was a children's sermon, with all the kids sitting in the front row. Lots of kids actually talked, which was pretty cute. And because it was in kiddie-French, I could understand it. In reality I could understand about 65% percent of the whole thing, which I was pretty excited about.

But then after the readings came the heretical part: the "Echoes." People got to stand up and say a few words about what the readings meant in their life, and where they had seen God that week. What people said was very moving. And then my "bisou" tally went up exponentially during the passing of the peace.

After the homily, communion wasn't wafers like normal, but a big piece of pita bread. Instead of going up to the front, the altar servers came to our seats and broke off pieces for us. Then, once everyone had a piece, the whole congregation ate together. Afterwards the altar servers came around with the wine and everyone drank from a common cup.

It was a gorgeous blend of all the best parts of the mass, combined with the Protestant feeling of community.

I think regular Catholics are leery of this group because authority is not centered in the hands of the priest. People read the Bible themselves and pray together, all independent of an organized Mass. And people can share what the readings mean to them either in introducing the texts or during the "Echoes" afterward. This takes away authority from the priest, whose job it is to interpret the Scripture in the homily. Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair to normal Catholics, but I know that some of the hard-core ones I know back home are afraid of the Way. I can see why.

The craziest part was at the end. During the closing hymn, everyone went into a circle around the altar and danced! Everyone--old people, young people, tiny kids. It was so cool, because even though I was a visitor and could barely speak the language, I was included. I felt part of a much larger family.

The whole thing was a fantastic experience.

Then Sunday afternoon the family invited me to their home for lunch. I hadn't had home-cooked food for forever, so it was delicious!  I got to see photos of their safari in Africa this past August. And all of their daughters hung onto my every word for the entire visit. I guess I am "cool" because I'm only a little bit older than they are. They wanted me to stay and watch a movie, but I had to get home to prepare for my last week of this quarter (tons of work!) But they lent me some DVDs to watch during my free time, so hopefully I'll be able to take a break from exam-studying and paper-writing to enjoy them.