An Eyeful

My husband and I are working on compiling pictures of Lion and Bear for a DVD Christmas present to our families this year.  Well, let me correct that statement:  My HUSBAND is compiling pictures, and I'm giving occasional feedback.  Last night's feedback was this, "some of the transitions between pictures don't allow me the eyeful of picture I'm wanting."  Just now, while making my favorite lemon curd (the sexiest thing I've ever made in my kitchen), I couldn't stop thinking about the word "eyeful."  Mouthful, earful . . . these are words I hear more often.  But eyeful could possibly be the best of all the Full Words.

I had a considerable amount of angst over my last blog post.  I was afraid of offending.  This fear is dreadfully familiar.  It keeps me from being myself, letting my thoughts and passions flow freely.  There is no anger at Protestantism.  It is my heritage.  The old hymns were born in my soul at a young age.  It is my joy to participate in my husband's expression of worship, because it is also mine.  So in an effort to articulate my love of Catholicism, I want to speak about the eyeful.

When I enter a Catholic church, I am given an eyeful of my faith.  Each statue, sculpture, mosaic, painting, and stained glass window fill my sight, and my heart comes alive with promises.  I am reminded of His words, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  The great cloud of witnesses is pictured in the faces of saints around the altar.  Icons, images, statues---all these are windows into the Real.  What believer doesn't need reminders along the way?  Having an eyeful of Scripture---the Gospel quite literally displayed before me, is what keeps my fire stoked.

Now in the case of my current parish, I am given a different kind of eyeful.  Sacred Heart is my church home.  It is simple, poor, and quite stark for a Catholic sanctuary.  One of the only images of Jesus is a hand-drawn picture of Him pointing to His Sacred Heart, and along the edges are the signed names of parishioners.  But the liturgy is my eyeful at Sacred Heart.  I have never worshiped with a congregation more committed to its liturgy.  At Sacred Heart, the liturgy is truly "the work of the people."  On Good Friday our priest holds a large wooden cross off the ground while everyone is given the opportunity to show their reverence to the symbol of our freedom from sin.  We either bow or kiss the rough cross.  Our priest, who normally walks with a cane, embodies the Cross' image of sacrifice and love while lifting this heavy, heavy piece of wood.  He is the eyeful of my faith.  He points me to Jesus.

I used to teach second grade Catechism.  I loved teaching about the sacraments.  They are the visible work of God's invisible work.  They are my eyeful of faith.  God is transcendent, but he is always imminent.  He created us to desire tangible things, and He has designed his Church to impart the beauty of the faith with actual beauty that we can see and taste and touch.  Our worship is an eyeful, an earful, and a mouthful.  All these translate to a full faith.