A friend asked me to help take all his cats for a ride so I headed to 5 pm Mass on Saturday at St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood.
The Church of St. Mary Magdalen was built in 1944. The stained glass windows are colored diamonds and very narrow. It's very dark in the church.
The organ and piano used to provide music were located in the right transcept instead of the loft.
Music:
Opening: Now As We Gather
Offertory: For the Beauty of the Earth
Communion: I Am the Living Bread
Closing: With One Voice
St. Mary Magdalen has frequent Confession times so being the good little Catholic girl I am, I availed myself to partake in the Sacrament. Based on what happened in the box, I didn't hold out a lot of hope for Mass. I was pleasantly surprised however.
There was a Baptism. YAY for the new member of the Church, Carter Scott! I find it interesting that every parish does the Rite differently. In some parishes, the ceremony is held after Mass. In some parishes the Rite is done in the Mass. In these cases, sometimes the first part is at the beginning, before Mass starts and sometimes it is all done at once. What was odd was that the Deacon did the Baptism while the priest just sat there.
Father gave the homily.
Today you will witness the baptism of Carter Scott. If Carter was a member of an Eastern Rite, such as St. Raymond, he would have receive Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. (Uhm actually, he wouldn't. At St. Raymond he would have been Baptized and Confirmed but he would have still had to wait until age 7 or older to receive the Eucharist. Eastern Orthodox receive all three at once, but not the Maronite Rite. I'm not sure about the Byzantine or other Rites. I know this because my Aunt and her family are Marionite Catholics.) The Early Church really emphasized frequent Communion. Infants received Communion first and then the adults. (Uhm, I'm confused, because I was always taught that in the Early Church, they delayed Baptism until the last possible moment, to get all those sins wiped away at once. And I distinctly remember the Church had to implement a rule, the Easter Duty, because people were not receiving Communion frequently.) In the 11th and 12th century, that changed to the age of reason. (Sigh...read this, especially page 10). The point of this story is that we should come to the Eucharist. God will provide all that we need at the table of plenty (Oh dear. Now that song is stuck in my head.) Listen to the theology. God's grace is given, not earned. The Sacraments cost you nothing. It is a free gift. (Clearly Father hasn't been in a parish where Confirmation has to be earned doing various things...like service hours...) Why wait until age 7, 10 or 12? You have a right to be here.
Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there bells at the Consecration.
A bit of good news! The associate came out at announcements and said he was starting a House of Discernment for men contemplating the priesthood (wonders about women contemplating religious life, but I digress). It will be called Kolbe House and will be at Sts. Mary and Joseph! YAY! I'm so happy to see that the Church will be in use again!
Pictures:
Links:
Pictures from Rome of the West
Website of St. Mary Magdalen
