This is a stunning photo of my little old humble church! And below my editorial remarks, more stunning Pontifical High Reform of the Reform Ordinary Form Bishop's Mass!
In the 1970's we were being taught in the seminary that churches like mine above should no longer be built as though towering over the city. These should be humble houses of worship blending into the surroundings and not triumphant but showing the God who lives in our midst amongst the type of architecture of the area where the church is built. Everything should be proportional, thus showing the secular city that the church is approachable and not towering over them like a monarch, but egalitarian and just like the secular city, where the church sanctifies the ordinary.
God should vomit and is vomiting that theology out of his mouth! It makes me sick too unto this day!
And what occurs in the inside of this type of magnificent, triumphant Easter architecture should match this magnificent Easter theology or triumphant over the world, sin and death. More of our Clergy Conference Mass at St. Joseph on Tuesday, April 17:
chanting the gospel:
Blessing with the Book of the Gospel:
Saint Joseph School Children bring up the offerings:
12 comments:
I admire you, Father. By your own admission, your outlook on the Church has changed so much.
Yes, Catholic churches should be magnificent, radiant beaCons of Christ's triumph and majesty to the world, not nasty little concrete boxes or log cabins devoid of statues and kneelers.
St. John's by the Trailer Park, Mod (modular) for God, Priestly Prefab, Holy Huts, Heaven in a Hat Box, Portable Paradise, Government Gothic, Cheesebox Cathedral, Beadboard Basilica, Tabernacle With a Tongue, Trinitarian Treehouse, Worship in a Wigwam, Divinity in a Dugout, Mass in a Mud Hut, Requiem in a Repo, Ranch-Style Romanesque, St. Jim Walter's, St. James' A-Frames....
The problem with (over)emphasizing a horizontal theology, which is largely what I think you're talking about in this post, is that people are visible and difficult to overlook. Even when we treat them worse than we should, our natural perception and reason tell us that they exist and share at least some characteristics with us. But for some strange reason (oh yes--original sin), we tend to forget about and downplay the invisible God a lot more easily. (Note how easy it is to assume that the priest is talking to us rather than God during the Eucharistic Prayer ad populum.) Thus if there is any imbalance between the horizontal and vertical emphasis, it ought to be in favor of the vertical.
St Joes is such a beautiful place of worship, fit for our King. We are grateful in our diocese for having such a spiritually uplifting space of prayer and contemplation.
Fr McDonald, will you be sharing with us some of what the Bishop had to say in his homily?
Father, is the tabernacle in the center of the altar or is it in one of the side altars?
After having been placed on a side altar for almost 40 years, about two years ago we place it back where it was designed to be, dead center!
Fr, you misspelled 'destined'.
;-)
rcg
Beautiful Church but did it ever have an Altar Rail ? One could be installed and be in harmony with the rest of the Sanctuary.
Yes, St. Jo's once had an altar rail...sigh...
All this magnificence and the gift bearers could not do any better than sweatshirts and shorts? Do they teach proper church attire at your school?
The three children, 6th graders are wearing their school uniform and yes shorts are allowed, this is the deep south!
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