Anywhere, at home in the Catholic Church

Inside the church.

The Catholic Church of Arth.

In the Catholic Church, we are at home anywhere in the world. Today, I experienced that. My niece lives in a Catholic Canton. Her firstborn has lessons of catechesis in the school. The church, with its tower, is a point of reference from any part of Arth, and it is just three minutes away from the house. The bells ring throughout the day, and today they rang joyously calling people to mass. The church was not full like it would have been in old times. However, as soon as I entered in, I felt at home: the sanctuary with the tabernacle, the altar for the Eucharistic celebration, the presidential chair, the lectern for the proclamation of the Word of God, the pews with enough space for kneeling down and with enough hymn books for everybody to participate in the singing. At the back of the church (over the entrance), there is a pipe organ, which was nicely played during mass. The celebration was like any other Eucharistic celebration, where we know what follows, the answers that we should give and the attitudes that we should take. There were four youths, two of each sex, serving at mass, and there were two extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. I did not understand a thing of the preaching, but the name of Elijah and Peter. However, it was good to listen just to the sound of the German words.

Indeed, we belong to the same family. We may speak different languages and have different costumes, but we don’t feel like strangers. Jesus Christ brings us together, and being one body with him, we are members of each other.