As the semester is winding down, I'm feeling particularly swamped and hopeless. I decided to visit St. Jude, who happens to be the patron saint of hopeless causes. I went to the 10:30 am Mass.
St. Jude was built in 1953 and I get the feeling it was supposed to be a temporary church that became permanent, like Cure of Ars. If you take out the altar it could pass for a banquet hall. The stained glass windows however were installed in 1986 and were designed by Brother Mel Meyer and made by Emil Frei Associates.
Father was very personable and friendly. He saw me taking pictures before Mass and asked if I was putting the camera away during Mass. Of course. Hence there are no pictures of Father's lilac vestments.
There was a deacon/adult male server. I'm not really sure what his role was other than server. He wore some triangle shaped thing like you see on Gospel choirs. It wasn't a stole. It wasn't a dalmatic.
The choir was up front to the right of the altar. There was an electric organ to accompany the music.
Music:
Opening: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Presentation of Gifts: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Communion: was sung by choir "Waiting in Silence"
Recessional: City of God
There was incense at Mass! Father blessed the Advent wreath and gave us an extra blessing at the end. Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells at the Consecration. At the Elevation, Father said My Lord and My God three times. The Precious Blood was not distributed.
The homily was essentially about death. Time passes quickly and we stand as if we are in a doorway. We have moved closer to our rendevous with Jesus. We do not know what the new year will bring. It could be the End Times or it could be our own personal death. We live in hope though. We live in hop that we will see Jesus face to face. We hope that the year was pleasing to God (uh oh). That we have grown and made progress, putting away imperfections. We hope the new year is pleasing to the Almighty. What is really important is our relationship with God. The Church, in the reading today, remembers the time in the world without Christ. What was life like back then without Him? (short. hard. icky.) There was no mercy and no compassion. You were judged solely on content of character. Isaiah cries out to God to DO IT! Fulfill the Promise! Advent is about time. The wreath is a glorified clock. Our lives are burning up like the candles. Death is a passage. We will be judged. For the older generation, that was terrifying. The same Christ that judges us gives us hope. Christ will tell us "Not Bad" and "Good Job" (uhm. That's very affirming of Him...). During this time, the Church reminds us to STAY AWAKE! Everyday is an opportunity. Don't sleep through it.
Pictures:
St. Jude
Anniversary Chalice and incense
St. Jude Shrine and Relic
View From the Back Pew
Tabernacle
Advent Wreath
Station VIII
Uhm. Flowers!
River?
Measles?
A Rose!
Must be for Mary!
It's a plant.
I have seen a pagan symbol just like this....
Farming on the Sun
Think I have a quilt pattern just like this
Jacob's Ladder?
Jesus and the Beanstalk
Thorns?
Plates of Oranges?
Mary and Jesus
Link:
Information from St. Louis Archdiocese
Dear Tina,
ReplyDeleteAs a parishioner of St. Jude Church for many years, in a community of faith I have come to love for its warmth and spirit of generous fraternity, I must say that your comments about my Parish Family and our church were not only arrogant but unnecessarily harsh and cruel.
Your shallow, curt and empty commentary about the Mass, Father Joe's homily, as well as the art and architecture of this small suburban parish reveal much more about you, Tina, than they do about the spiritual life of our parish.
Nonetheless, you are welcome to return again and again. You may find that for all the glibness of your commentary, it's precisely a parish like St. Jude that you need in your life very much.
It can't be pleasant living in a wasteland of personal judgement about others! Come out of the desert and find a place to love and belong to someone and something greater than yourself.
God love you.
Jay B...
I would say something about first impressions...
ReplyDeleteI did not mention anything about the warmth or lack of warmth or the fraternity or the lack of the fraternity.
As for architecture, there was none. It resembles a hall. St. Francis de Sales, St. Anthony of Padua, the Cathedrals, St. Luke, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Mary Magdalen Brentwood, St. Monica, Our Lady of the Presentation, St. Ansalem...all of those have architecture...this is not architecture. It's a cafeteria.
The windows. Yes, I was glib, but what are they supposed to represent? How do they bring me to God? How do they assist in teaching the Catholic Faith?
And of course, you never judge anyone. Because your comment wasn't judging at all.