I have to say that I’ve never attended Masses like those I just attended in CA. Sacred Heart Parish — Fresno. We attended the same church 2 weeks in a row.
None of the children looked like they were chafing at being in their Sunday best. Neither did their parents. The church was packed, the Masses were 1 1/2 hours long, and NOBODY left early. The congregation was mostly Mexican, but there were many ethnicities represented. At our first Mass there was an Invitation for people to join an Italian-American group and “you don’t have to be Italian to join”. The Pastor was Filipino. The Mexican restaurant manager at our hotel knew about him and commented about what “good Spanish” he spoke. His English was pretty good too.
There were no hymnals. The hymns and the responses were projected on 2 screens on either side of the altar that were so cleverly designed that they almost looked like words on parchment. Consequently, people’s eyes were focused up, rather than leafing through 4 different books trying to find the right hymn, or response. On Palm Sunday, the palms were haded out AFTER church, so there was no fiddling around with palms throughout worship.
Communion was distributed from the front of the church working back and from the back of the church working forward at the same time. This meant that the exit doors were blocked by Eucharistic ministers and there was no opportunity for the people to sneak out after Communion. (Since my knee operation, I have spent a great deal of time sitting in chairs at the back of my own church with the other handicapped people. I am astounded about how many people leave right after Communion. At least 1/3 of our church just vanishes after Communion. Some even leave after the Gospel.)
But the really inspirational aspect of these Masses was how deftly the Filipino Pastor and the Anglo Deacon used them as teaching moments. They involved the parish all the way. And they loved it. And the words on the screens meant that he was teaching them English all the while.
At one Mass, he invited Carmen to come forward with her family and friends and the whole congregation blessed her in anticipation of her upcoming surgery. At a discussion of Confession, he invited an 8 year old (Stephanie) and a 13 year old (Marco) to play the roles of Jesus and a person seeking forgiveness. He had the children take his hands and explained how the priest is just the conduit between the person confessing and Christ. No reason to be afraid.
During the Consecration, a group of children and their adult advisors come forard and form a semi circle behind the priest and repeat some of his words in unison — almost like a litany. I’ve never seen that done before.
This parish has several different style Masses, according to the bulletin. We were at the “Life Teen” Mass. I’m not sure what that means, but there were all ages participating. There is also a Charismatic Mass, a Family Mass, etc. every Sunday.
The lessons continued after the Mass was over, during the announcements. Everybody hung on the Pastor’s every word. And nobody seemed too eager to leave. Even drivers in the parking lot, afterward, were patient with one another. (One time, many years ago, I was loading my baby into the back of the car when another driver hit my open car door knocking me to the ground and causing me to drop the baby into his bassinet, he was so anxious to leave.)
Everybody was very friendly. There was a champagne brunch ($8) after the Palm Sunday Mass, but my Mom had died earlier that morning so we didn’t feel like going. I’m sure that we would have felt right at home, however. I thought that $8 was very reasonable, considering the high prices every place else in CA. I thought it interesting that they chose to have a celebration like that on Palm Sunday. I don’t think that I have ever attended a church that scheduled a Palm Sunday activity. It sounded very nice.
Oh yes. I forgot about the music director who was black and who played Praise songs on a mean guitar. He really kept things moving along. He might have been the only black person in the church, but you could tell that he was really liked and appreciated. I’m told (by the Mexican restaurant manager at our hotel who seems to know everything in town) that he just wandered in one day and has stayed on to run the music program.
During the Consecration, a group of children and their adult advisors come forard and form a semi circle behind the priest and repeat some of his words in unison — almost like a litany. I’ve never seen that done before.
Because Consecration is the most sacred part of the Mass and is only done by the priest. I have seen deacons be permitted to say some parts of that portion of the Mass, but, being hyper-traditional, i am a bit uneasy with having lay people up there at that point.