Altar Server Quotes

The mystery of love, the immolation of the Holy Victim, was about to begin. The server took the Missal and bore it to the left, or Gospel-side, of the altar, taking care not to touch the pages of the book. Each time he passed before the tabernacle he made a genuflexion slantwise, which threw him all askew. Returning to the right-hand side once more, he stood upright with crossed arms during the reading of the Gospel. The priest, after making the sign of the cross upon the Missal, next crossed himself: first upon his forehead—to declare that he would never blush for the divine word; then on his mouth—to show his unchanging readiness to confess his faith; and finally on his heart—to mark that it belonged to God alone. ‘Dominus vobiscum,’ said he, turning round and facing the cold white church.

If there was Altar Server training to do, I was ready to help. Exciting, right? It was for me.

a world where yesterday’s classmate and fellow altar server becomes tomorrow’s martyr to the firing squads.

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. —James 1:26 (KJV) When I was in my twenties, I started going to the opera. An enthusiastic novice, I’d walk joyfully to the lobby for intermission, only to hear the dismissive remarks of the jaded veterans. A fine performance by Pavarotti? “He has no squillo. You really should have heard Corelli in that part.” An incredible high note from Joan Sutherland? “Too bad you couldn’t have heard her twenty years ago.” I’d go back to my seat for the second act, regretting that I wasn’t twenty years older rather than enjoying the singing that night. I’ve tried, with diminishing success as I’ve grown older, to be less of a curmudgeon. But the place I’ve failed utterly has been church. Walking home on Sunday mornings, I’ve recited a litany of complaints. “The music here is terrible. Do you remember the choir at St. So-and-So’s?” “There was no meat in that sermon. Father X was so much more thoughtful.” “Did you see the sneakers the altar server was wearing? We’d never have let that pass at St. Thingummy’s.” Finally, my wife, Julia, had enough. “What are you doing for Lent?” she asked. “Giving up peanut butter, like always,” I answered. “How about giving up all that negativity?” So I tried. Sometimes I’d just keep quiet. Sometimes I’d catch myself mid-complaint. Sometimes I’d even say something positive! And you know what? I found myself praying rather than looking for things I didn’t like. After all, I was there for God’s sake, not my own. You know what else? This Lent I’m going to find something good to say every Sunday. Lord, keep my attention where it really belongs—on You. —Andrew Attaway Digging Deeper: Jl 2:12–13; 1 Pt 5:6

404: Empathy Not Found [system message] Faith.exe gagal dimuat. File rusak sejak pembaruan terakhir peradaban. Bukankah kegelapan itu— sejenis underground server room, tempat kesadaran disimpan dalam format zip, dan doa diunggah dalam gelap tanpa penerima? Kau menyebutnya “ruang bawah tanah”, aku menyebutnya “cache of forgotten souls.” Lagu yang sama diputar ulang: verse tentang penebusan, bridge tentang kematian, refrain yang diulang, diulang, diulang— sampai maknanya terkikis oleh algoritma rekomendasi. Kita memutar ulang sejarah dalam loop playback, mengganti bait dengan data, mengganti iman dengan simulation of belief. (notification ping!) “Kebenaran trending di tab spiritual.” Siapa yang percaya? Siapa yang membeli? Tak ada lagi nabi di pinggir jalan, hanya content creator yang menjual mukjizat instan dalam format video berdurasi 59 detik. [insert advertisement here] “Temukan ketenangan batin versi 2.1 — dengan AI-guided meditation dan sertifikat kebahagiaan abadi.” Kau mengetuk pintu, tapi rumah-rumah itu hanya avatar: dindingnya terbuat dari feed, jendelanya dari comment section, penghuninya hanyalah profil palsu yang mengulang doa secara otomatis. Sejarah disunting dengan filter nostalgia, iman disesuaikan dengan subscription tier, dan kebenaran dikurasi oleh admin yang tak pernah tidur. Ide-ide memenuhi kepala seperti pop-up windows, dan mulutmu berbusa oleh update patch moralitas yang sudah kadaluwarsa. (warning:) “Overload: terlalu banyak opini. Sistem kehilangan empati!” Fantasi, ilusi, dogma— kini hanya deretan kata sandi yang gagal diverifikasi. Kau membangun altar kebahagiaan dari user agreement yang tak pernah kau baca, dan di atas pondasi rasa takut yang kau sebut iman digital. Tapi lihatlah, bahkan surga pun kini membutuhkan cloud storage. Apakah kita akan menemukan kebenaran? Tidak dengan mengalaminya. Tidak dengan mengakses apa yang telah dihapus. Kebenaran bukan lagi cahaya, melainkan glitch — sekejap kilat dalam gelap, pantulan dari mata kamera yang nyaris padam. [end transmission] Di layar terakhir, hanya satu kalimat tersisa: “Segala yang kau yakini adalah hasil edit terakhir.” (cursor berkedip. diam. tak ada respons.) // 404: Empathy Not Found // November 2025