Eucharistic Community

While visiting in Oregon, I went with relatives to an iris farm that displayed hundreds of varieties of bearded irises, and several other flowers.  We played hide and seek with the rain.  I did not have time to absorb all the beauty.  I found it difficult to choose one to accompany this blog.
Another experience of beauty was the parish community where we celebrated Pentecost Sunday.   We chose the church only because of its external beauty and historical presence.  I was astonished at what we found inside.  For starters, the pews had been rearranged so that several rows faced each other across the middle aisle, as in most monasteries.  This arrangement kept the focus on the community itself.  The pulpit was in the middle aisle close to the door and the altar was near the front.  An attractive baptismal pool with a fountain was between pulpit and altar.
The front cover of the bulletin welcomed a large variety of people and the liturgy created a strong sense of unity in that diversity.  The opening procession had about twenty young and old, gently waving white pennants with red flames on rods about ten feet high.  The church was full and everybody seemed to be praying the prayers and singing the hymns.  After a brief homily by the celebrant, a woman spoke very knowingly about the ideal place of women in the Church and our failure to reach that ideal. 
In Acts Luke describes the Pentecost experience of people of many languages understanding the disciples' preaching.   Each petition of the universal prayer was presented by people from many national backgrounds, first in the language of their origin and then in English.
The greeting of peace was given a little earlier than usual.  Lots of enthusiasm as parishioners left their places and greeted one another.  Before Communion a man walked slowly down the aisle, gently waving over one side and then the other a red pennant at the end of another very long rod.  This created a Spirit-filled hush over the congregation. 
The entire celebration lifted me up and made me newly aware of  the presence of the Spirit creating unity out of diversity.