My view from a special “choir pew” provides me with a very extraordinary view. At St. Bernard Church in Louisville, the choir is situated behind the altar and ambo and behind Father Bob Stuempel and Deacons Phil Hettich and Mike Edwards.
I’m sure they love hearing all of our varied voices and imperfect pitches every Sunday!
During Holy Week, as I prepared my music and chatted with fellow choir members before Holy Thursday liturgy began, I was drawn to various faces in our assembly as they arrived and were seated throughout the church.
Because our choir faces the assembly, we are able to see individual faces and families, not the backs of church members’ heads. It is truly a gift to be able to see everyone’s front side!
Holy Thursday evening, I saw Christ’s face as I witnessed an elderly gentleman release tears from his closed eyes as he sang. I heard Christ’s voice in the cries of a baby and the soothing voice of her mother as she whispered assurances to her sleepy baby girl.
I felt Christ in the voices of the tenors and bass behind me, the sopranos in front of me and the altos on my right. As the music washed over me, the message of Christ’s love, sacrifice and hope was evident in every word and melody that surrounded me.
My view from the pew changed on Good Friday. I now had a view as I sat on cold, hard, athletic bleachers at Assumption High School’s Stations of the Cross.
On any given evening, the lights are very bright and the sounds very loud coming from our Convocation and Athletic Center, with the shouts of support for one of our athletic teams. On this cloudy, cool, Friday morning, I sat in darkness and silence with our students, faculty, staff and parents.
Ever so softly and quietly, the Way of the Cross began. I couldn’t tell exactly where the voices that were leading the stations were coming from as we sat in the darkness, but I could see the stations played out by our students in prayerful understatement.
Once again, it was in the tears of a co-worker where I saw Christ’s face. It was in the simple act of a staff member caring for a sick student, that I witnessed Christ’s hands at work. Christ’s words were heard in the voices of our young women proclaiming the suffering Jesus experienced on that Friday many years ago.
Once again, I was brought face to face with Christ’s love, sacrifice and hope.
How wonderful to know the comfort of the ritual of our Catholic faith. How exciting to trust in the unknown of the mystery of what we hope to one day know. The beauty of feeling at home in my beliefs, no matter where worship may be. I am at home and comforted in my faith, not only during Holy Week, but every day.
Kathy Fleischer is a member of St. Bernard Church and the registrar at Assumption High School.
