…You never know what you’re gonna get.
This is how I feel whenever I go out of town and must attend a new church.
This last Sunday we went to a baptism at a church out of town. As we drove up the street that the church was on, we saw this huge, sweeping baroque building. I gasped. It looked like the Catholic churches of my youth, when faith filled immigrants with the sweat of their brow and the treasure of their wallets built edifices worthy of our Lord and God.
We walked in, and were greeted with beautiful stained glass, full sized marble statues, a correctly appointed high altar, matching marble side altars to the Blessed Virgin and her most chaste spouse.
In the high altar, there was a recessed square where the tabernacle would normally reside.
It was not there.
Each side altar had what appeared to be a tabernacle, but one had a glass door and contained the holy oils, and the other had a golden door but no red sanctuary light.
During Mass we had the standard assortment of Haugen, Haas, and St. Louis Jesuits for music. After the profession of faith, the priest led everyone in a Hail Mary. Maybe I committed a sin, but I did not participate in that. But at the end of Mass, there was a closing song that was printed in the “worship aid” but had no music. I looked in the GIA hymnal and couldn’t find it so I figured I’d just wing it.
When the song started, I realized the tune was the same one as “To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King…”, so I got into the song. The words were out of my mouth before I realized that I had referred to Jesus Christ, one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity as:
“…the man who lived for others”.
The WHAT?!?!?!?!
Ok, a little liturgical abuse I can handle. But I draw the line at heresy. Arianism was quashed almost 1700 years ago, and I wanted to tell these people:
“Jesus is not just a man. He is also God and he did not ‘lived’ in the past tense, he lives!”
I spoke with a parishioner after Mass and asked him where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved. He told me: “It’s in the Marian Chapel, it’s right down that hallway.” So I went down the hall and visited my Lord in I have to admit, a nice chapel. The tabernacle had that odd new-agey look you find in a lot of newer tabernacles. It made an odd sort of theological sense having him reserved inside the chapel dedicated to His mother.
I’d like to know if the Vatican has ever come up with a rite of exorcism to deal with the lingering “spirit of Vatican II”.
– Source www.catholicpillowfight.com
