This is a copy of the Pastor's Corner from St. Mary of the Mount bulletin. It is sometimes witty, sometimes poingnant, sometimes informative, but always sincere. It is usually written by the pastor, Fr. Lou, but occassionally is presented by a guest columnist.

PASTOR'S CORNER
November 10, 1996

One of the most interesting things about visiting Rome is touring all of the Churches in the city. There are hundreds of them: from the enormous St. Peter Basilica to the tiny chapel near the Villa Stritch; from those built a thousand years ago to those built within the decade; from those in great repair to those that are close to ruins; from those used multiple times a day for parish communities to those that are only opened on special feasts; from monastery chapels to seminary chapels. Most of these are not unlike our own or any parish church, with pews and a sanctuary and a high altar. But in many of these there is also a number of small altars, usually along the side walls or in little alcoves. These harken back to the Pre-Vatican II days when every priest would say a private Mass everyday - no concelebration, no congregation, just the priest all by himself. There is no question about the validity of the sacrament in a private Mass, that it is the true re- enactment of the Sacrifice of Calvary and that graces abound from the practice. But just the thought of saying Mass by myself day after day was enough to scare me out of becoming a monk: I have no doubt that it is holy; but it is also lonely.

We mostly refer to the Mass today as "the Liturgy". That is from a Greek word that means "the work of the people" As a parish priest, it is hard for me to envision celebrating the re-enactment of the Lord's Supper without being in the midst of people. Yes, I could do it all by myself and my mind would know that it is efficacious. But my emotions would shout to me that something is amiss. How could it feel like the work of the people if there were no people except me working?

We need workers here for the liturgy at St. Mary. We of course have had many generous and dependable volunteers, but the newly remodeled space cries out for a wider and deeper involvement by all of our people to justify its existence. "Many hands make light work" is the old saying, and with many more people involved in making our liturgy beautiful we will give greater glory to God, worthy of the sacred space we have renewed. It would also be a more credible witness in the world concerning what we believe: this building is not a museum or historical curiosity, but the home of a living, thriving, worshiping community. If many of us share in the service of the altar of God, its gives all of us a more meaningful ownership of our common worship and our parish as a whole.

At each of our 4 Sunday liturgies we need: 4 ushers, 2 lectors, 2 servers, 4 Eucharistic Ministers, 1 cantor. These are minimum numbers, we could expand them, but that comes to 52 ministers per weekend. We need members for at least one choir, and it would be nice to have 2 choirs of different musical styles. If we rotate schedules, we have need for at least 300 volunteers for liturgy alone! There is "plenty good room" in God's House for His people to "liturgize". We provide instructions, training and schedules: you must provide the generosity, time and love to make it work.

Don't leave me lonely at the altar!

St. Mary Home Page
Previous Pastor's Corners