St. Gabriel the Archangel

Sorry for the delay.  I'm going to post why there was a delay shortly.

On October 23, 2011, I attended the 6 pm Mass at St. Gabriel the Archangel.  I was utterly exhausted.  I had to work all weekend at my job.  So I was falling asleep during Mass.  I went with a friend who poked me a couple times.  Then I discovered my debit card was missing at the offertory.  So I had to leave Mass to go look for it.  Needless to say, this probably isn't my best report.

The Church itself is beautiful.  Lots of marble.  It's kind of art deco maybe?  The pictures I took don't do it justice.

The music was contemporary with a guitar player.
Entrance:  Send Us Your Spirit
Offertory:  The Servant Song
Communion:  In Every Age
Closing:  This Day was Made by the Lord
Mass Setting:  Mass of St. Francis Cabrini

At the beginning of Mass, Father said he'd make the Mass as quick as possible because of the game, but to remember it is still a Mass.

Father's homily started off with him mentioning that the liturgical police might get upset with him.  (Uh oh...wait...he's not talking about me is he?).  Fill in the blank:  Wax on, _____  or Paint Up, _____.  It's from the movie The Karate Kid.  Holy vs. Religious.  What's the difference?  Blessed John Paul II was holy.  So was Mother Teresa.  Blessed Marie (uh....) from the 1950s was holy.  Holy doesn't mean sweetness.  St. Jerome, St. Paul and St. Edith Stein were all grouches but were holy.  There's spiritual vs. religion.  The Talmud and St. Paul all say to find a teacher to imitate in order to become holy.  In order to become holy, you need to go through that stage where you are religious.  It may seem hypocritical.  Following the rules is not something cool in our culture.  And this is where I pretty much lost it in the homily.  Father went on to talk about how the sacraments can help us be holy.  The Roman Catholic discipline, like eating fish on Fridays, can help.  It's about making the external become internal.  Religious can lead to being holy.

Pictures:

St. Gabriel

Carving of St. Gabriel

View from the Back Pew

The Annunciation

Links:

Website of St. Gabriel
Pictures from Rome of the West