Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

This weekend our Saint Mary pilgrimage group is leaving for the Holy Land. I’ve been typing up the booklet of Scripture that we will read at each place where we go — from the Mediterranean coast and Mount Carmel to Mount Tabor and the Sea of Galilee, from Cana and Nazareth’s Basilica of Annunciation, to Jericho, to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. The first photo to the right above is all of us last year in the cave beneath the Church of the Nativity where Jesus Christ was born.

We get to spend a few days in Jerusalem, there is a lot to see. We will spend one day in museums, and go to the town where John the Baptist was born and where Mary traveled to the house of her cousin, Elizabeth, and the Basilica of the Visitation. The next day we go to the Mount of Olives alongside the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, where we will visit the garden of Gethsemane and the rock on which Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified. Nearby Mount Zion includes the upper room of the Last Supper, as well as the Basilica of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, and the church built on the site of Caiaphas’ house where Jesus was imprisoned after his arrest, while he was awaiting overnight for his passion. The next day we go from the Pool of Bethesday (within the old city of Jerusalem to the Praetorium where Jesus was condemned to die, beginning the Way of the Cross. This is the second photo to the right. Finally, our via dolorosa ends with Mass alongside the tomb of Jesus, beneath the great dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, celebrating resurrection.

From there we head into the Judean Desert – where we will visit Qumran, Masada and the Dead Sea. The desert continues as we cross the Jordan River into Jordan where we will travel through the desert to the land of the Moabites and the Naboteans, to Petra, the great deserts of the south near the Gulf of Aquaba and Sinai, the lands where Moses and Aaron led the people of Israel from Egypt to Madaba and Mount Nebo, where Moses saw the promised land but could not enter before his death.

Needless to say, we remember you in our prayers everywhere we go, and wish that all could join us on this adventure. I’ll send more from the road next week.

God bless you.

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

It’s Ordinary Time, I need to speak about an ordinary thing. I realize that I’m about to step out on thin ice. It is socially incorrect now to make any public criticism of anyone’s behavior – please know that this is not a public criticism. It is just a series of analytical, objective statements.

1. I regularly receive letters and emails from people demanding that I do something about the order and behavior of the congregation during Mass.

2. There is a growing trend for people to do things during Mass which seem new, two arise in particular: Talking on cell phones or texting during Mass; not taking any action when children are clearly melting down and disrupting the entire congregation.

3. There are times I am unable to concentrate on giving a homily because of these behaviors. Sometimes I have to stop and restart my thoughts several times after I have lost my train of thought.

We welcome families and small children to Mass. We also acknowledge that there must be a level of consideration for those in the church who are trying to listen, to pray, to participate in the Mass, to proclaim the Scripture or offer a homily. This is a personal responsibility that is held by each person in the sacred space of the church. And we agree that we share this responsibility.

The cry room in the back of the church serves a particular function. If there is no crying child in the church, it should be completely empty. It is a space where people must be able to go when a disruption occurs. Once it is past, people return to the congregation. It is the place that must be reserved for those who need it at particular times.

I have discovered that the cry room is being used as a play room, or even a place for overflow seating, sometimes by people who don’t want to deal with the large congregation in the church. I beg you not to do this. Some parents have told me they don’t want to go in the cry room because it is being used as a play room, and they don’t want their children to think there is a play room alternative to Mass. Bad behaviors apparently can be learned there.

All are welcome, but all must serve the purpose of why so many people share one space for Mass: we must be together to be the Body of Christ offered to the Father. But we also must be able to think and to pray, and focus.

I ask everyone to please consider the necessity of this request and honor my words. Like I said, it is not intended to single out anyone, and I say these words in all charity and pastoral sensitivity. Someone has to say them. As pastor, I guess that someone is me. Please don’t contact me and condemn me for this message. Let’s try to be considerate of one another in the way we join together and fulfill our roles in the celebration of the Mass.

There is one other item of housekeeping that now is probably a good time to mention. I apologize for as often as we have broken kneelers in the church. There seems to be a design flaw in the quality of the metal pieces on which the kneelers hinge. They break when kneelers are in the up position and people push on them with their feet; I guess they were not made to sustain such pressure – and the legs have probably the strongest muscles in the body. Often people don’t realize how strong legs can be. So I ask your patience as we continue to repair them, and your consideration to take care of them. For being relatively new, our pews have taken a beating and are often found with excessive scratches, writing, sometimes even carvings (which I really can’t understand). Please take care of these things.

God bless you.