|
F r o n t i s p i e c e
Church Shopping
By Karl Keating
|
This Rock
Volume 14, Number 10
 December 2003 
|
|
|
I have been church shopping. No, I have not been looking for a new Church (there is only one Church founded by Jesus Christ, and I already am a member of it), but I have been looking for a new parish.
For a decade I have lived within walking distance of a Catholic church, but I do not attend Mass there except in extremis. The church is in the Modern Barn style. Take down the cross from the exterior, and one would not guess that the structure was designed for religious services. I could put up with that, as a trade off for convenience, if the Mass were celebrated according to the rubrics, but this parish does not come close.
So, for years, I traveled across town to a different parish, where the liturgy was celebrated with sufficient rubrical fidelity. Then things started to change. First I noticed a diminution in quiet and reverence. Maybe I am becoming persnickety with age, but I do think people began to chat more and pray less. I stayed on, out of loyalty to the pastor. Then he retired.
His replacement is a fine fellow, a gregarious priest who is a good speaker and an even better singer. The problem is that he likes to ad lib the Mass. He also likes to use jokes as brackets around the liturgy. Although a gentle witticism might be appropriate in a homily, one should keep in mind that the Mass is the reenactment of Calvary, and I suspect that no one other than the Roman soldiers joked before or after that event.
My patience wore thin, and then it wore out. I went church shopping. I visited the nearest half dozen parishes. One was almost right. It had an excellent choir—Bach and Mozart, much Latin—but there was a lack of reverence among the parishioners. Few genuflected on entering the pews, and many chatted until Mass began. It was impossible to be recollected or even to think. The other parishes were worse. Some I tried more than once, to give them a fair shot. In each, the highlight of the Mass seemed to be not the consecration but the sign of peace.
Then I heard about an old parish that had been assigned a new pastor. I tried it out. The priest did everything correctly, from the stately procession to the equally dignified recession. Ditto for the acolyte, who knew how to use a thurible. Ditto for the cantor and the lectors, who made all the right gestures and who were dressed as though they were Protestants "going to meeting." The folks in the pews were quiet and reverent. The homily was the best I had heard in years. I learned that the pastor is keenly interested in beefing up the liturgy with Latin hymns and chant.
Word is getting around that this is a parish worth registering at. Several Catholic Answers staff members have joined already, and there are other new faces. In a few years the half-filled pews may be packed with contented parishioners. I just hope other pastors will take a cue.
|
