gather: Hocktide
The last will be first
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.Excerpt from the Litany of Humility (attributed to Cardinal Merry del Val, Secretary of State to Pope St. Pius X, 1903-1914)
For the past few years, I’ve hosted a Liturgical Life group. We’re a diverse gathering - of all ages, from a variety of denominations, learning alongside each other and working to graft the traditions of the liturgical calendar into our own varied circumstances.
One of the hidden gems in the practice of hosting these liturgical life parties every-single-month is that a lot of idols have been knocked off pedestals simply out of necessity: I can’t manage be too precious with these gatherings, since they come around so often (a dream come true, really).
So, I don’t worry about exactitude…we celebrate when we can, and that often means that we’re gathering weeks after the actual holiday. Oh well!
In getting together for a belated Hocktide party, I saw it as a way for us to really explore the challenge of celebrating all fifty days of Easter - of recalling it as a season, not a day…a habit, not a moment.
And this ended up being one of our wildest gatherings! Here’s a peek into the day…