FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PARISH HISTORY: THE NEW CHURCH CONTINUED - 1960

The stained glass windows were made of baked glass by Francesco Marcione over a period of a year. These windows are dedicated to Our Blessed Mother as Queen, and depict her titles taken from the Litany of Loretto. 

Fourteen hand carved wooden statues carved by artisans in the Tyrolean sector of Italy surround the nave of the church. The eight side altars have two stained glass windows each that depict the lives of the saints to which they are dedicated.

The building of the new church did not end the services of the old church as a worship space.  For many years the new church would only be used for Sundays and other special events such as weddings.  Other Masses, especially the school Masses would still be held in the original church building.  The church was eventually turned into the parish hall (Zwisler Hall) and all Masses moved to the new church save for a Sunday contemporary Mass with banquet chairs and a temporary altar.  When the priest shortage began to hit in earnest and the pastor, The Rev. William Karg became the sole priest at the parish, all Masses were moved to the new church. 

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: THE SOCIETY AGAINST ACCRETIONS

Go ahead. Ask me how long our “Great Amen” lasts at Mass.

Thanks for asking. I’ll tell you. “For ever and ever. For ever. Alleluia. For ever and ever. Amen.”

If you happen to sing this particular Mass setting at your parish you understand what I meant by that.

It is interesting that everything old is new again. One of the things that Vatican II did was get rid of accretion into the Mass that evolved over the years. One of these accretions is the sequence. (There is controversy as to whether these were purposeful additions or something that just happened. I’m inclined to think the latter.) You may remember these from Easter and Pentecost when they are still required. (There are a couple more that are optional.) It seems odd to us that they are there (or at least to me.) After the Epistle everything comes to a screeching halt while we sing or recite this long poem before going into the Gospel verse.

There is not a lot of agreement on exactly how these song-poems made it into the Mass. There used to be quite a lot of them. My favorite theory goes like this: Especially in large churches where there was going to be a long Gospel procession there was need to lengthen the Alleluia. If it is to be a long procession you need a long Alleluia. So imagine writing notes for AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeLuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. You would not be able to run over the copy machine to make copies of the music so that everybody could read it. (We may be talking as early as the ninth century.) One theory suggests that words of praise were added to the music in order to help the choir remember all the many notes. Thus the sequence was born and ends up as a slightly odd and seemingly clunky (IMHO) intruder to the Mass. That being said most of the have been done away with today. But as we are ever repeating ourselves for both good and bad, things continue to sneak back in such as “For ever and ever. For ever. Alleluia. For ever and ever. Amen.” When a simple Amen would do.

FRIDAY POTPURRI: HANY INFORMATION FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR

This weekend is ordination weekend in the Diocese of Cleveland. It is always a great thing to go to and the diocese as a whole is invited so go if you can. (Saturday at 10:00 at the Cathedral.) Duties at the parish will keep me from going but Fr. Pfeiffer will be there.
Part of the ceremony is the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands is a prayer calling down the Holy Spirit upon a person. When you think of it, the gesture is beautiful. Extending back through the Bible a man who was likewise ordained and has the faculties (a duly empowered bishop) calls down the Holy Spirit, chooses a man, and signifies the choice to the community all by the laying on of hands. This has been going on in the Catholic Church since its foundation. Therefore in theory I should be able to trace my ordination back to a bishop who can trace his ordination back to a bishop who can trace his ordination back to a bishop all the way back to an Apostle.

This is not the only place that the laying on of hands takes place however. It is also used to call down the Holy Spirit at confirmation. There is a laying of hands at the anointing of the sick also.

LOW COUNCILIAR SELF ESTEEM

One of the reasons for the reform of the Mass at Vatican II was to get rid of all of the various extra things that crept into the Mass over the centuries. Post Vatican II it seems that we could not wait to plaster a whole bunch of things back in to the Mass – many under the guise of being in the Spirit of Vatican II (an extremely slippery term that nobody can quite define but is used as a catch all for allowing just about anything.)

It may not seem like such a big deal but there are consequences. Extra services and blessings, processions, added songs, extra ministers and ministries in various forms and in differenting amounts are added to the Liturgy. Pope Benedict describes this in his book, “The Spirit of the Liturgy” in this way, “Unfortunately, (active participation) was very quickly misunderstood to mean something external, entailing a need for general activity, as if as many people as possible, as often as possible, should visibly engage in action. . . The almost theatrical entrance of different players into the liturgy, which is so common today, especially during the Preparation of the Gifts, quite simply misses the point.”

And what is the point? All these ministries are quite secondary to the primary action and the more we pull people away to perform secondary actions the less, obviously, are there doing the primary – or at least the less important the primary seems. I wonder if this does not extend from the idea that we come to Mass to watch, to be entertained, as one would do passively say at the theater. But in actuality we are each of us priests, prophets, and kings. The priesthood of the people may be different from the ordained priesthood but is none-the-less and essential ministry to be carried out by each baptized person, the five your old (in their own way) as well as the 95 year old.

Continuing with Pope Benedicts words, “The real Liturgical action, the true liturgical act is the oratio, the great prayer that forms the core of the Eucharistic celebration. . . we must pray for it to become our sacrifice, that we ourselves, as we have said, may be transformed into the Logos, conformed to the Logos, and so be made the true Body of Christ. . .in this prayerful approach to participation, there is no difference between priest and laity. . . Of course, external actions – reading, singing, the bringing up of gifts – can be distributed in a sensible way. By the same token, participation in the Liturgy of the Word (reading, singing) is to be distinguished from the sacramental celebration proper. We should be clearly aware that external actions are quite secondary here.”

So we come to at least some of the consequences of adding things to the Mass. The first would be the fostering of the idea that we come to Mass to witness something and that those who “have something to do” are in some way “participating more or in a more important way than I am.” That is simply false. A second would be that in the removal of innovations that were never called for or were in fact banned by everything except this mysterious “spirit of Vatican II” will appear to those who have bought into this idea as a return to pre-Vatican II era of when in fact, it is a return to Vatican II – and this can be a cause of unnecessary dissention between clergy and lay people.

I fear that if Vatican II were a person instead of council, she would be depressed. Always misunderstood and misquoted, always trying to say who she is and often being ignored. Like a rock star everyone wants to claim to know her without really spending any time with her getting to know her. “If people really knew me,” I imagine her thinking, “would they still like me?” Fortunately she is maturing now and able to assert herself more confidently.

IT'S A BIG, BIG HOUSE. SORT OF

We have a relatively new music ministry in the parish that is made up of mostly high school folk that sing worship and praise music. Before going to Steubenville for a youth conference they gathered on the front steps of the church and ran over their music. (This gave me the idea that we need a summer lawn and picnic concert series here next year.) The music that they do is very contemporary and I quite enjoy it. Thus far they have played during adoration when we have our confirmation meetings and a song or two during Mass a couple of times. One of the songs they like to do is “Big, Big House.” The words say something like, “ It’s a big, big house with lots and lots of rooms . . . it’s my Father’s house.” The Church is like a big, big house with the whole extended family living under one roof. And when you have so many people living under one roof, no matter how big the house is, some of the people under the roof will get on the nerves of other people under the roof. Such is our fallen nature.

Now it would be one thing if some of the people under the roof were doing things that were contrary to house rules. An extreme example would be one of them selling drugs to neighborhood kids. That is completely unacceptable. Something should be done. It is another thing, when, even following house rules, some people are bothered by other people. “George is reading again and I want him to come outside and play with me! Make his stop reading!” Well, George has a right to read and so we let him alone even as it drives someone else nuts. But we are family and so we do the best we can.

It is not much different in the actual life of the Church. It is true that there are things that are clearly off of the Catholic playing field. These can be in our corporate life, such as using beer instead of wine at Mass, or in our private life such as having a harem but wanting to declare yourself a good practicing Catholic. House rules are house rules.

But even when someone is clearly on the Catholic playing field, there can still be controversy. Liberal, at least in my understanding of the word, is a rare beast in the Church and is usually not found where one expects it. My understanding of the word when referring to persons in the Church is one who is open to everything that is valid in the Church. If the Church says, “Yes,” then the liberal says, “Sure. Why not? I will not be more restrictive in than the Church.” But many times those who freely take on the title liberal have a small set of Catholic practices or beliefs that are held onto passionately making them the mirror image of traditionalist that can have a similar small set of beliefs or practices and each turns their nose at the other.

The same thing could be said between countries. Very often those of us in the West can think we have a superior handle on what is right for the Church. If Rome doesn’t tag along we accuse them of lagging, not getting it, or being fuddy duddys. If the Church in Zimbabwe doesn’t agree with us we take our definition of freedom, justice, and modernity and think that of course they should accept what we hold dear because it is right and they should come to accept it even if they are not ready for it. Granted there are some things that are just same the world around. You can’t shoot someone for eating a carrot out of your yard. But sometimes people of different nations and cultures have different ideas of freedom, justice, and modernity and they are on Catholic field. They have different problems and goals to which they need to attend. The big, big, house then seems to get a little smaller as we try to even out the rules for a billion people instead of the few thousand in a parish.

It takes a lot of smiling, a lot of acceptance, a lot of welcoming, a lot of understanding, a lot of self sacrifice, a lot of learning, and a lot prayer and trust in Jesus’ promises and the power of the Holy Spirit for us all to get along and if single households can’t always do it without a lot of clanging into each other, so much more need to work at peaceful coexistence as the universal family of our Father.

MONDAY DIARY: UNIVERSAL VS UNIFORM

For some reason I cannot download pictures today. Sorry for the wordy format.

When I was still in my first assignment the diocese change the posture from kneeling to standing from after the Angus Dei until after everyone has received communion. I was mixed about the idea. On the one hand this gesture was so apart of the New Word experience of celebrating the Mass. The universal law is that people stand. Here in the States we knelt to emphasize the presence of Jesus as the Blessed Sacrament since we are so surrounded by Christians who do not recognize Him in this way. And so with this new posture a part of our unique culture has passed. On the other hand it made celebrating funerals and weddings much, much easier. Having to invite people to kneel again at this part of the Mass where non-Catholics were often in attendance invited some rolling of eyes, snickering, or those who simply refused. Not all, certainly not the majority, but enough to make it painful. And now we are more in line with what you will find in much of Europe.

Anyway, when it came time to implement the posture I asked the people to please try it for three weeks before making judgment on the change. It was, after all, a universal law for which we had permission to do differently in the first place, and it was within our ordinary’s right to ask us, in obedience, (never an easy thing for us Americans) to do.

I must say that the people were absolutely wonderful in giving it a shot for three weeks. Then after that a number of people returned to kneeling. John Paul II spoke on this and said that although standing is preferred, nobody should be denied the right to kneel “even for purely pious reasons.” So if anyone asked me about what posture they should take I would respond that the Universal Church and our bishop has asked us to stand and so I ask you to stand, but if you have a good reason to kneel the pope has extended his permission for you to do so. As a result most people stood and few people knelt. In my book that sounds great.

Not so in other people’s book however. A small but vocal group were angry at those who knelt and came to tell me to enforce the bishop’s call to stand. My response was that I could ask them but in the end it was not my right nor in my power to make them stand. The Church clearly gives them permission to kneel and it is not my role to restrict people further than the Church does.

A philosophy teacher of mine once talked about the need we have as people to worship with like minded people. Not only do we want to believe the same things there is often a tendency to want us all to pray the same way. I find that to be true. And why not? It makes sense and is much more comfortable than having someone next to you doing something different and wondering “what do they think of ME doing something different from them?”

As a new priest there were some types of Masses that I was very nervous about celebrating. The thought of some day celebrating a Charismatic Mass scared the bejeebers (sp?) out of me. Then a very wise priest told me that, “you don’t have to pray like everyone else, you just have to be able to pray with everyone else.” This permission opened a whole new world to me. I could then go to a Charismatic Mass and celebrate and you know what? It was always a wonderful experience with very appreciative people. So I try (with various levels of success) to be open to anything on the Catholic playing field.

Recently I allowed something new at my current parish that is squarely on the Catholic playing field but it is not without its controversy in some circles. I am more assured now than ever that I will never, ever wish to become bishop – never, ever, ever, in saecula saeculorum. If it is this difficult keeping a few thousand people happy in everything, I can’t imagine what it must be like to keep nearly a million people happy, or being pope and trying to lead a billion people is some fashion of unity! But you try to do what you think is right and keeping with the Church and the Gospel and trust God to do the rest and pray that everyone at least gets along on our journey to heaven.

Further apologies to you: I suppose today is not much of a diary day but the rambling thoughts of something on my mind!

WELCOME TO ADAM'S ALE BLOG. PLEASE JOIN ME AS I SING

This may seem trivial but it bothers me like a June fly incessantly circling my head. You try to ignore it but eventually it gets to you and today is a shot at taking a swat at it hoping that it will go away. (I fear few people will agree with me and so I must learn to live with the buzzing.)

It concerns a phrase used often in the Catholic Church and I can think of no place less appropriate to use it. It usually takes a form similar to this one: “Good morning! And welcome to Saint Wearehappy Parish.”

Sounds rather harmless at first does it not? But exactly WHO is welcoming WHOM? Is there a “we” by which I am being welcomed? And if so is the person welcoming me more a part of Wearehappy Parish than I am? I could understand if I were a visitor and I was being welcomed or if I had been away for a long time, say serving in the military, and came back after a few months or years being welcomed, but if this is my parish week after week, why am I being welcomed to it?

Coupled with this is the phrase, “Please join us.” Join WHO? The rest of the parish of which I am obviously not considered a full member? Now, if there is a specific group to which you are soliciting my participation I could understand that such as, “Please join the choir as they perform their winter concert,” or “Please join the Chesterton Society of St. Wearehappy for their annual steak dinner.” However, if you are saying, “Please join US as we sing,” I ask, “Who is the us? Some secret group of insiders? Are these the same people to whom I am being welcomed? How do you get to be the welcomers or the “us”es?

I suppose we could welcome visitors but most technically speaking, there are no visitors at Mass (for those who are Catholic.) Now that may be picky. There are visitors to a particular location – but even so. But I think I could handle, “We welcome all those who are visiting Wearehappyparish and invite THEM to join US in singing the opening hymn.”

That is not to say that parishes do not need work at being more welcoming. I am just saying that this particular phrasing is does not do the trick. In fact, it make me (personally) feel a bit less welcomed.

Ha! This was supposed to be a short, one paragraph post today. I guess this bothered Monsignor Manners more than I realized.

MONDAY DIARY: BOXERS VS BRIEFS

I am afraid there is not too much intriguing to report from last week. Most of Easter Week I was as sick as can be. I got up tried to work for an hour or so and then would be so tired that I would have to lay down for a spell. It was supposed to be a catch up week and now I find I am further behind than ever.

One thing I did not miss however was getting together with priest friends to do an Easter report. We talk about what went right and (mostly) what went wrong at our respective parishes. Of course I told the story that I told you last week about getting to baptisms and suddenly discovering that we had forgotten to prepare for this most important moment.

One of the topics we discussed I almost hesitate to mention now because it is so charged with emotion. But it happened. One of my best priest friends asked, “What did people most complain about?” That was easy. On Maundy Thursday the celebrant had washed only men’s feet. That brought about an equal amount of mail both pro and con but the cons were defiantly more passionate. With a grin he reported that he had received equally heated letters because he had decided to wash women’s feet this year.

If you want to have a discussion about rubrics and symbols versus social justice please feel free to carry that on among yourselves. I will not get involved. If we were truly equal it wouldn’t matter a jot if it were all men, or 50/50, or what have you, it would be “people had their feet washed.” But it shows we have a long way to go that it matters so much. Such is life.

But what gave me a heart attack was the Easter Vigil. We are in the sacristy and I am giving last minute instructions when I stop in mid sentence. “Where are the girls?” Out of 12 servers there was only one girl. This was not planned. A sheet is posted on the wall and people sign up first come first serve. It just happened to be mostly boys that signed up. A certain dread fell over me. “This isn’t good,” I thought, “this is going to come back in a bad way.”

Then the readers stepped forward. Man heavy. Oh! We shouldn’t care! But we do! And I felt a trickle of sweat go down my back. It was like a dream where you are at a party and think everything is Okay and then suddenly realize you don’t have pants on and you pray nobody notices. So every day of Easter Week I approached my phone, mailbox, and Emails with trepidation. Fortunately there were no more angry letters concerning any observances of my boxers though I am sure there are those who noticed and for one reason or another decided not to mention them.

So . . . if your pastor seems to have done something (anything) that you find offensive might I suggest to you that you call, write, Email him a polite letter of inquiry to make sure if he woke in this dream discovering he had only boxers on or if he in fact purposefully came to the party sans trousers and what his motivation might have been in appearing so. The motivation may have been noble or innocent even if it does not appear to be so at first. More offense is brought into the world by people taking it than by it actually being offered.

BE VAWY QUIET. I'M HUNTING WABBIT

From the unconfirmed rumors department: It has been passed through the grapevine that our new bishop (mind you, this is only clerical gossip) has commented that it seems we do much more music here than that to which he has become accustomed. There may very well be truth to that. There has been a push to keep music pretty well going particularly through the entire communion rite from after the “Ecce” until the “Oremus” for the prayer after communion.

C. came to visit yesterday. (I think she is becoming a contemplative though she is fighting it.) She had to visit another parish for some reason for Sunday mass. “It drove me nuts,” she reports, “the music never stopped. There was not even a moment of silence. Even when the lector was walking up to do the readings the played an interlude.”

Kind of sounds like the academy awards.

I suppose that is how many people style their lives: with a constant sound track. In the morning the telvision set goes on. In the car, the radio is on. Walking about or exercising, the Ipod is plugged into the ears, at grocery stores music is piped in. In restaurants they have televisions squawking. Outdoor stores have seemed to pick up on all of this and now blast music out onto the street. The JCC where I work out has different radio stations blasting in every room. Then there are cell phones at every moment of every day. Grrrrrrrr.

When I was afforded the opportunity to visit the Vatican, (at the time) Archbishop Broglio kindly arranged for me to have mass with John Paul II in his private chapel. (WOW) Before we walked in he was kneeling at his prie-dieu and had been there praying before the Blessed Sacrament in silence for at least an hour before we walked in that being his routine. When asked what he had to say to Jesus all that time he once responded, “Very little. I spent most of my time listening.”

That is the purpose of silence. To listen. To listen to what rises in our hearts and minds when the constant bombardment of noise stops flooding our ears. When we stop producing sounds ourselves and “be still and know that I Am God.” What rises to consciousness? Blaise Pasquale said, “Most evils come into the world because human beings cannot sit still in a chair for thirty minutes.” This can be a scary place to go. It is here that we face our true selves and find out if we are comfortable with ourselves or not. It is where we stand before God without distraction. In this way silence is a place as much as a quality of sound and it is only accessible to the still and attentive.

THE GREAT DIVIDE OVER THE UNITY CANDLE

Consider what happens at a Catholic wedding ceremony.

1. In the introductory rite the priest explains that a man and woman are about to exchange vows before God and this congregation.
2. Then the couple must answer questions publicly that they understand and desire Catholic-wedding vows.
3. Then they actually exchange vows.
4. Then the priest announces that they have exchanged the vows.
5. If people still don’t get it, they exchange rings.
6. If people still don’t get it, they kiss each other.
7. If people still don’t get it, at the end the priest says, “I now present Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass.”

For some reason some people fear that it may not yet be clear to the congregation what exactly has happened so the bride takes a candle, "This represents me," and the groom takes a candle "And this represents me," and then they light a whopping big and expensive candle, "And this is us together after we mortgage the house and eat a lot of pasta." Then they blow out their individual candles to show that their individual self is now obliterated.

A little redundant.

There are also some symbolically theological problems. At mass the light of the candle is always Christ, not individuals. At baptism a candle is lit from the Paschal Candle (the Christ candle) and handed to the person who was baptized (or his family) and told, “Receive the Light of Christ.” At the Easter Vigil when the fire and the Paschal candle is blessed the people receive the Light of Christ, “a flame divided but undimmed.” The flame never represents an individual person. Thus the unity candle (a phenominon accuring only in the last 30 years or so) in the context of a Church service is not only redundant, it works against the symbolism of the rite.

I used to tell couples that the unity candle was a Protestant ceremony that made its way into the Catholic Church. Then I found out that the Protestant churches in town were saying that it was a Catholic ceremony that made its way into the Protestant Church. We agreed to say that it was a Hallmark ceremony that made its way into a religious setting. “Experts” seem equally divided spreading the blame among Catholics, Protestants, candle manufacturers, and revitalized ancient Pagan rites.

That is not to say that in a proper context that it might seems a nice thing to do. For example, it could be really cool thing to do at the reception; a nice ceremony in which all the in-laws could participate showing the uniting of families (a far better tradition than the stripping of the garter from the new wife’s leg and throwing it to a bunch of hungry bachelors).

I find the vast majority of Catholic brides who hear this immediately say, “Of course we won’t do this at the mass!” But it isn’t just weddings, we should always be on guard to improving or adding to the mass. It is not “mine” to customize, it is “ours” to be fed by. It belongs to the Church as a public ceremony, which is exactly what all masses and weddings are, and anybody in attendance has the right to celebrate the mass as the Church intends.

Pope Benedict has said that we must guard against, "the almost theatrical entrance of different players into the liturgy, which is so common today . . . if the liturgy degenerates into general activity, then we have radically misunderstodd the 'theo-drama' of the liturgy and lapsed almost into parady."

Besides who really needs to store yet something else on their closet shelf?

GIVE IT UP FOR THE CHOIR!

One more rant about the mass that I attended in Chicago and then I will move on.

I promise.

I think.

At the end of the train wreck the celebrant blessed us and the deacon gave the injunction, “Go in love to love and serve the Lord and one another!” to which the people responded, “Thanks be to God!” Fearing that was not enough, the celebrant added, “Have a nice day!” The hymn was announced and we sang. At the end of the song, which along with every other song we sang could be found under the subject heading, “I, Me,” everyone broke out into applause.

It seems that we have become an applauding Church. I find this disturbing. Once again the question must be asked, “Why are we here?”

When I was younger (and even more idealistic) and directing the choir, Fr. Ozemik whom I looked up to (I took my confirmation name in part after him) acting very out of character asked the congregation at the end of mass, “Didn’t the choir do a fine job? Let’s give them a round of applause.” Not usually one to counter elders I none-the-less marched in to the sacristy and said rather sternly, “Don’t you ever do that to me again. This is my ministry and unless you are going to clap for the servers and the women who ironed the linens, and the men who volunteered to fix the pews, and Mrs. C who mended your vestment, and the ushers, readers, EMEs, and everyone else who had a role in this mass including the congregation don’t you ever do that again!”

Surprisingly he took it very well. More amusedly I think than anything else. But we never clapped again and once or twice he suggested to people that if they liked the music they should go tell the choir.

I spoke about this to a seminarian yesterday at lunch. He was equally as irritated. “We used to do that at my (Catholic) high school," he said, “We were told not to clap during the mass anymore so we took up a bunch of time afterwards to acknowledge everyone after mass and clap for them. ‘And now for the choir . . .and now for the EMHC . . .’ I don’t know why we didn’t clap for the congregation that did a great job praying or for Jesus Christ who was kind enough to show up.”

Now, I am not a complete prude. There are times that I clap in church. When I was in Zimbabwe a traditional way to great another person was to bow slightly while making a kind of clapping motion with you hands. This they did when Christ became present on the altar, greeting his as a person (is that cool or what?) No problem there.

If the pope comes to visit? No problem. Rite of acceptance? No problem. Sign of special welcome or accomplishment of great significance? No problem. Fulfilling your (in many cases paid) ministry? Problem.

1. This is your gift to the community and to God.
2. You are not giving more, your giving your part (which just happens to be at the liturgy.)
3. It promotes the erroneous idea that those who participate in extra ministries at the mass are some how more fully engaged than “the guy in the pew.” This is already a horribly ingrained idea in the Church as innumerable mass planning meetings are designed around “how to get more people involved.” Rather we should be educating our people that they are already involved in the most important way that they can be. Gads is this important. (Full – Active – Conscious.)

Ah well.

However, if you ever hear me preach and you are inclined to clap, go ahead.

Yes, I am kidding.

THE ONLY REMEDY

“I don’t see what the big to-do is over the choir standing in front of the altar to sing a song. What are you getting so upset over?”

This comment is why it is so good to talk to people who do not see the world as you do. For a moment you can step outside of your paradigm and come closer to understanding not only why others do not believe as you but even better, in thinking about it, you come to understand more fully why you do believe.

Truly, the choir standing between the altar and the people even during the sung parts of the canon is an absolutely trite thing about which to be concerned and even makes sense unless you have the fullness of understanding about what the Eucharist is.

If a people think that the Eucharist is anything less than the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the reason the priest can elevate the host and proclaim as John the Baptist did 2000 years ago, “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world,” and mean the same thing, then pulling focus away from Christ does not offend because that which is in the priest’s hands is not fully Christ.

Architecture, art, environment, the way we celebrate all go a long and subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) way in informing us exactly what it is that we are doing. If a person has not been strongly catechized, then poor judgments in these areas will lead to erroneous beliefs about the faith.

Instances such as the one sited above show how a community can begin to close in on itself. Ostensibly gathered to worship God, what is slowly evolving is a celebration of the community wherein our entertainment, our comfort and our concerns become paramount. If we can erode the idea of the Eucharist as a Divine Person then the presence of the only “persons” rises to a disproportionate level of importance. Celebrating God in the community becomes the norm instead of the community looking outward, uniting themselves to Christ desiring to be united to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Is it any wonder then that Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in Sacramentum Caritas that, “Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord’s Eucharistic presence among His people (6)” and that “What wonder must the Eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts” (1).

It will only be in a refocusing and rediscovery of the glory of the Eucharist in which the Church will reclaim her proper course and cease the silliness that has infected our rites. The way we celebrate, our art, our architecture are important tools in the endeavor.

You may be thinking that you have little control over these areas. That is Okay, for they are not even the most effective or long lasting remedies. The most powerful tool in your toolbox is a continual conversion to a life of a person who believes that the Blessed Sacrament is Christ, worshiping thusly and live so as to show evidence of this conviction.

You cannot change another person no matter what you do. You can only change yourself. And if you live the life the way Christ calls us, you will become attractive to those who are seeking and if they follow you, you will lead them to Christ.

John Paul II did this. When he came to the States and we provided him a service with all kinds of silliness going on, he focused on prayer and Christ. I have forgotten most of the silliness, I remember him. We need to follow his lead both at mass and in our daily lives. If not, we get what we deserve, a bellybutton gazing liturgy.

IN OTHER NEWS:

There is a rumor going about that is completely unconfirmed: The new Bishop of Cleveland is distressed that the tabernacles in the diocese are so difficult to find. Perhaps his focus has the above in mind. Pray for you bishop whoever he may be.

IT EVEN COMES WITH AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL! PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL!

Ah . . .

Back home.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to be back in my own sweet parish. It is not perfect, but it is not bad. Not bad at all. Not as bad as it could be. Not nearly.

Has that given you a clue as to my experience over the last couple of days?

I’ve often quipped that I am so glad that I am a priest and do not have to put up with a lot of what the guy in the pew has to deal with. (This usually comes after a quibble about the sign of peace.) It can be rough and irritating out there. How do you people put up with this . . . junk?

Sunday morning, because of the situation, I attended mass in the pew at the church where I was as opposed to my usual role as celebrant. The mass was so poorly celebrated, there were so many invented rites and additions to the mass that I found myself angry. It was a struggle to remember that I was there to pray and not to critique but all I could think of was grabbing the priest afterwards and asking what the get out he thought he was doing. (I didn’t.)

What was perhaps one of the most ironic and bizarre things experienced was in the music ministry. Traveling around the city and touring churches with some family I was explaining why Catholic churches tend to have choirs in the rear and Protestants up front (having to do with a secondary role to the Eucharist rather than a primary role of focus unto itself in many Protestant churches.) Well, this went over well until we attended mass and for EVERY SONG, PSALM, MASS PART, that choir stood, walked in front of and facing the congregation so that they were directly before the altar and sang. Now I will grant that they sang phenomenally well. In fact, they sang incredibly poor music about as well as I have ever heard it. But can you imagine, say during the Sanctus, the choir standing, walking in front of the altar and singing? GAH . . . .

The best part was the bass who was not singing a particular piece who just yawned gape mouthed staring out at the congregation. I hope his mother saw him and slapped him upside the head. (He looked to be a bout 35.)

Anyway, I take this moment to sincerely apologize for anytime I may have done something out of the norm during the mass even inadvertently to distract from your celebration of the mass. Man, we priests can be annoying.

“The priest is above all a servant of others, and he must continually work at being a sign pointing to Christ. . . This is seen particularly in his humility in leading the liturgical action in obedience to the rite, uniting himself to it in mind and heart, and avoiding anything that might give the impression of an inordinate emphasis on his own personality.” Sacramentum Caritatis 23.

A big thank you to Habemus Papem for manning (womaning? personing? - we'll go with manning) the wheel of Adam's Ale whilst I was away.

WHEN YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU WRITE

About a year ago, two of my best priest buddies and I went on retreat at Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont New York which was put on by Fr. Benedict Groeshel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Because of parish duties we had to leave early on the last day of the retreat (like 5:oo AM) to get back to Cleveland, but Fr. Benedict said that he wanted to talk to us before we left. So, at 5:00 AM we knocked on the door of his humble dwelling and not only was he up, he was busy writing! He gave us a blessing and an instruction, "You boys need to start writing. You need to start getting the word out."

So we bundled ourselves into the van and headed out in awe until one of us said, "So, what do you suppose he meant?" It was then we realized that hadn't the slightest idea. (And truth be told, I think the comment was mostly directed Markus who is the most articulate and knowledgeable of us and who in fact is now in Rome studying his poor little heart out - Hi Markus - have an espresso on me today.)

Anyway, it did start me writing. Sometimes with success, sometimes not. A couple of successes have been an article on architecture and one on the liturgy. The one on liturgy was reprinted in Scotland and spurred an article by Terry Mattingly which was printed in a number of places.

Another priest whom I am proud to call a friend has also gotten into writing. An excellent article by him appeared in Dappled Things, a place for young (and happy) Catholics to post their thoughts, entitled, "Catholic Education and Masturbation." A more recent article by him can be found in First Things.

If you are Catholic, HAPPY, and a person of prayer, consider getting the pen out (or the keyboard.) Help get the good message of faith out. Write an article, a letter to the editor, a blog entry or at least journal! Don't be alarmed if it is not printed or read (I think barely a soul reads this blog) for if nothing else, it sends a message out to those managing such things that they have a readership that thinks a certain way and it organizes your thoughts, causes you to contemplate so when it comes time for you to speak out, you have something from which do draw. So get on it! Start today!