The third- and fourth-graders at my children's school
attend mass every two weeks. Before the first one, I asked my daughter's class
teacher (Frau F.) if parents may attend, and she said, "Yes, of course! Parents'
participation is very welcome!" So two weeks ago I went along, the only adult
besides the teachers, and my two little ones the only non-school children. I
enjoyed it very much--we sang true praise songs, some of them familiar to me,
and I didn't find a single word of the talk by the priest to disagree with. On
the contrary, I was quite impressed that what he said came straight from the
Bible, and the way he encouraged student participation was also good. (Of
course, only a relatively small number of the 50 students present could
participate...that's just the way it is in school...) Afterwards, Frau F. asked
me how I liked it, and I was able to honestly say that I thought it was very
good. I asked if other parents ever come, and she said that unfortunately, it's
very rare that any participate, except at Holy Day services, and then kind of
laughed and said "We Catholics, you know." So I'm not Catholic, but I do know
Christian Catholics, and I thought it was sad.
Today I went again, and the religion teacher (Frau v.B.)
led the service. This time it was a little more "Catholic" in that she discussed
why they make the sign of the cross at various times, but I was happy to hear
it. I'd especially wondered about the three little crosses that seemed to just
be made all over the place: it turns out that the first one is on the forehead
to symbolize knowing God, the second one on the mouth to symbolize telling about
God, and the third one on the heart to symbolize loving and living with God.
Nothing I can disagree with there, either! The scripture passage read was the
"Great Commission"--Jesus telling his followers to go out into the world and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then she talked a little bit about baptism, and asked
if the baby that was there (my eight-week-old daughter) was already baptized,
and I just shook my head. She continued by saying that the baby would be soon,
then, and talked a little bit about baptism.
When the service was over, I followed the school children
outside because I'd forgotten to tell my daughter that I'd be picking her up
after school, and Frau F. was talking with Frau v.B. Then I went back in and
spoke with Frau v.B., telling her that we are what is known in Germany as "free
Protestants"--Protestants that don't belong to the state church. She said she
knows--that Frau F. had just told her that! She also said, "As a Baptist (to
Germans, any non-state Protestant is a Baptist...), you experience baptism
consciously, so you of course understood what I was talking about." Interesting
choice of words, I thought. She didn't sound at all accusatory--very accepting
and positive, actually. Anyway, she was very friendly, we talked for a minute or
two, she was very happy that I had come with my children (all of them this time,
as my son didn't start school today until later), and we wished each other a
blessed day.
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