Sunday, September 10, 2006
LIFE IN THE PEWS IN CLEVELAND - ST. HILARY PARISH
Their website advertised a Catholic Mass at 11:00.
The parish is listed on the Cleveland Diocesan website so I presume that it is Roman Catholic.
St. Hilary's is located in Fairlawn, Ohio, a suburb of Akron on the west side, usually thought to be the upscale part of town. The assembly dressed in the usual collection of picnic clothes and blue jeans, in spite of the presumed wealth of the parish. The church is round--ah, no, the church is square--well, no the church is oval--no, not exactly--the church is rectangular--not rectangular either. Three are no corners. The back is much wider than the front. Maybe it's fan-shaped??
On the positive side:
- The church was perhaps even more than 3/4 full.
- For a concert, it actually wasn't half bad. The choir sang quite well and the selections were semi-classical with an overtone of Gospel music. It rocked in a formal sort of way. They even had their own hymnal with the parish name on the cover. One of the hymns in it was a Shaker hymn. I've never heard any of them before. The lead vocal had a beautiful voice and could certainly hit the high notes. There were even several men in the choir.
- The assembly was attentive. They seemed to be completely engrossed in what was taking place.
- The master of ceremonies was young, energetic, enthusiastic. He really got into his performance.
- The pews had not only seat cushions but back cushions as well. Soft and cushy, though the bench could have been a couple of inches wider from front to back for maximum comfort.
- I didn't genuflect to the tabernacle that wasn't there.
- Off to the side, left and right, halfway between church back and church front, were statues of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin with vigil candles to light.
- The holy water font was a baptismal pool with steps into and out of, that took up the center portion of the central aisle. Let's call this neutral--neither positive nor necessarily negative. It just was.
On the negative side--where to begin?
- When we walked in, the choir was singing something or other up there on the stage next to the organ where they took up the bulk of the space. I sat down and started looking for something Catholic, and thinking that we had somehow walked into a Baptist church by mistake. Then I found it, a crucifix with a body on it. This surely must be a Catholic church even though the crucifix was overpowered by the pipes for the organ which are the most obvious feature of the stage area, but if you looked closely you could tease it out of the busy background. I finally located the altar, a small table affair. No one was praying. In fact no one was kneeling. Everyone was sitting there listening to the tunes.
- The concert broke for intermission, and the members of the choir carried on a number of loud and lively conversations until the master of ceremonies, dressed in something that looked like a chasuable with hearts on it formed in a circle, stepped onto the stage and began giving announcements. When he was finished with the announcements he gave kudos to the choir and the assembly applauded. Then he stepped down from the stage, collected the girl altar boys, and processed into the church he was already in, behind a processional cross that was large, wooden, had the center of it carved out so I could see through it, and had no image of Christ on it.
- Once he again stepped up onto the stage, he asked everyone to greet their pewmates.
- Like last week, the kids were called out prior to the readings, but this time it was a little ceremony which includes a number from the choir in the process.
- The homily was about immigration. A letter signed by Archbishop Pilarzyk (Archdiocese of Cincinnati) was read. (As we left my husband remarked that the bishops are promoting breaking the law.)
- Mid-homily a projection screen magically appeared out of the thingy that partially concealed the organ pipes, and a video presentation of the peace and justice ministry at the church, I presume, was shown. The screen magically retracted into the wooden structure when the homily was over.
- Mostly Mass was said according to the rubrics. The master of ceremonies added his own words here and there. Either that, or we now have a fifth Canon of the Mass that I've never heard before. The choir was quite creative in singing the Agnus Dei.
- Communion vessels were all glass. Glass chalices, glass bowl for the hosts. The host that was consecrated reminded me of looking at the moon. You couldn't miss it. Hosts were dumped into several gold bowls right before handing them to the EMs.
- Everyone stood throughout communion. There was a brief moment for thanksgiving afterward. I had no thanksgiving to make since I didn't receive. I didn't receive because I wasn't sure what spirit was invoked at the consecration, and I wasn't taking any chances.
- When the performance was over everyone applauded. It seemed like an entirely appropriate response.
As near as I could tell, at this performance the choir must have been scheduled as the main event, and the wine and bread were the refreshments. The entertainment with the video screen was the intermission.
As we walked to the car, my husband said "You can quote me on this. That was a total waste of time unless you're interested in watching a sacreligious experiment."
Personally I found it a rather interesting parody of a progressive Catholic liturgical service. It had nearly nothing to do with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Last week this parish took in $29,512 in the offertory collection. Their goal is $33,030 per week. Unbelievably they indicated a deficit. Their year to date income (year begins 7/1) is $274,198. With that kind of cash the bishop must love them because it appears to me that they can get away with whatever moves the master of ceremonies as long as the collections are large.
I thought the new young priests were orthodox. Apparently I thought wrong.
Bulletin announcements included "Parish Clustering 101". Bulletin flyers included "Vibrant Parish Life", "St. Hilary Spiritfest", "The Alpha Course St. Hilary Church Fall 2006", and "Parents Night Out".
My husband, who has recently returned to weekly Mass attendance after being driven out by the many changes, announced that this was the last straw. He would no longer attend Mass. Hopefully that is just first reaction and not a firm commitment. He mocked me all the way home for putting a small check into the collection basket.
Cardinal Gagnon said the Church is in schism. This was the other church in our midst.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
