Assumption- O'Fallon - New Church

Tomorrow (8/15) is the Feast of the Assumption, which is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year.  I will leave others to debate the wisdom of this.

I headed out to Assumption in O'Fallon.  The Church was built in 2005 in a fan shape.  The windows are clear with stained glass on the top.  For pictures of the old Church, click here.

Mass was filled to overflowing.  There is a "choir" loft, but it has pews in it and the overflow sits up there while the choir sits up front to the left of the Sanctuary.  Instead of having a board with the song numbers on it, the Church projects the song numbers and titles onto the wall.  The church has quiet a large technical set up with multiple computers.

The choir was accompanied by piano and I think a flute.
The music:
Opening:  For YouAre My God
Offertory:  The Eyes and Hands of Christ
Communion:  One Bread, One Body
Closing:  We Are Called

Before Mass, there was a summary of the bulletin and a chance to greet your neighbor.

Mass started off with the Gospel Question:  To whom would you refer to when you say "those" people.

Father used Penitential Rite A with a spoken Gloria.  Father used Eucharistic Prayer II without bells.  Father did some ad-libbing of some kind before the Our Father.  After Communion but before the Final Dismissal, there was this:

That's Big Al.  

Apparently, Fr. Steve (That's not Fr. Steve in the pic) is getting a cat.  Big Al thinks dogs are better (me too!) and that cats taste like chicken.  Fr. Joe was explaining how we all have to love God's creatures and each other.  God loves us all.

Father started off his homily discussing a town hall meeting exchange from the last election cycle involving an undocumented person.  The temptation is to reduce people to statistics or categories. Jesus was beyond all that.  Jesus meets the woman in the Gospel as a human.  We have a tendency to judge people by their worth to us.  We have to careful of labels.  Who are those people? It depends on who you are.  Who are the people we don't want to receive God's Mercy?  He calls us to look beyond labels.  It's ok to want to be around people you are comfortable with.  It is not ok believe that the other is not a Child of God.  The homily ended with a note about how good the Assumption parish is at helping the other.  

Pictures:

Assumption Church

Brick from the Original Church

Communion Rail from the Second Church

Cross from the Second Church

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

View from the Back Pew

The Holy Family

St. Monica

Station VIII

Not sure...

Thoughts?

Links:

Website of Assumption

Pictures from Rome of the West

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Herculaneum

Good Evening!
August is another month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, specifically Her Immaculate Heart.  Since I've been to both of the IHMs, I decided to start the other "Mary" churches, specifically, Assumption, its feast being this month and all (Note:  Assumption is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls on a Monday...but some parishes are still celebrating it special...)

Assumption is a small, simple country church located right next to the Doe Run Lead Smelter.  Because of lead abatement, many have left the area.  It seemed like the church was backwards.  In other churches, usually the bell tower/steeple is the entrance.  At Assumption, it is the back.

Music was accompanied by a guitar.
Entrance:  How Firm a Foundation
Offertory:  Only a Shadow
Communion:  The Cry of the Poor
Recessional:  Blest Be the Lord

Mass started with a prayer from Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Apparently the pastor is not well, so Father from Sacred Heart/St. Pius X High School said Mass.  He used a chalice veil and had a really nice classic chasuble.  Father was really nice when I spoke to him after Mass :)

The homily was about where do you find God in your life.  Do you find Him in the storm or in the quiet?  Father started discussing the story before the First Reading about Elijah.  Apparently, there was some Old Testament High Noon happening.  Elijah is on the mountain, the same mountain Moses saw God, waiting for God.  Elijah is expecting the burning bush, the storm or something equally impressive.  God comes in the quiet whisper.  We look for God in the unusual.  He is there in the everyday, the ordinary.  He abides with us.  Do we seek out God in the ordinary or do we look for Him in Our Lady of the Pop Tart (BWAHAHA!!!!) God is in the boring.  (Gee...He must be all over my life cause I'm boring).  He is in the storms in our lives:  the children, the finance etc.  Our first instinct is that God has abandoned us.  God is in the Sacraments and in the Church.  God says to get a grip.  At these times, we are tempted to leave, leave the Church.  Hold on tight to Jesus to get through.  The Church is not some dinky little fishing boat; it is a battleship (OORAH!), the battleship of salvation.  Reach out and grasp Jesus' hand.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells.

Pictures:

Assumption

View From the Back Pew

Tabernacle

Baptismal Font

Station VIII

Links:
Information from Archdiocese

Sts. Joachim and Ann

Good Evening.
Today is the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until it was too late to make it St. Ignatius in Concord Hill.  I was awake....I just couldn't get out of bed :)  Ah well.  More time in purgatory for me.

The music was accompanied by a piano located to the left of the Sanctuary.
Music:
Gathering:  Come to the Water
Offertory:  Come to Me and Drink
Communion:  Be Not Afraid
Closing:  Sing of the Lord's Goodness
Mass Setting:  Mass of the Lounge Glory

Father wore vestments designed by Henry Matisse (They looked similar to Fall of Icarus).  He also brought a print of a painting by Matisse as a homily prop.  Father used Penitential Rite A and Eucharistic Prayer II.  No bells though.  The Our Father was sung with handholding.

Homily:
Because Jesus was fully divine, He experienced the joys of Heaven all the time.  But because of His human nature, Jesus needed to pray.  We need to pray but we often times find it hard to pray.  We find other things that take up our time and we never get to prayer.  Prayer is supposed to be sweet, but we get distracted when we pray.  The Apostleship of Prayer  has practical ways of integrating prayer into our daily lives.  If you think of a triangle, one point is the Morning Offering.  Which Father forgot as he tried to say it and led to an interesting exchange with a parishoner.  In the Morning Offering, one offers everything of day to God.  Father recommended putting the text of the prayer across from the commode. The Lord doesn't care what you are doing with your body as long as your soul is with Him (Sooo....I could say be doing something naughty, but as long as I'm praying it's ok???).  The next point on the triangle is self-sacrifice and offering up our suffering to God.  Father said something in Latin I didn't catch but the translation was "As I burn, I profit."  Basically suffering is profitable.  The top point of the triangle is daily review.  How have you acknowledged God in your day and how have you not acknowledged God in your day?  God perfects our best of what we have to offer (I have a dissertation He needs to get crack-alackin on).  The daily sacrifice of suffering is more powerful than quick prayer.

Pictures:

Sts. Joachim and Ann

View From the Back Pew.

Was there some contest in the 1970s-1980s to make Catholic

Churches as plain as possible???

Tabernacle

Mary and Joseph

Sts. Joachim and Ann?

Maybe.  They seem awfully young.

I thought Tradition had them being really old when Mary was born.

Like God helped them get pregnant old.

Station VIII

Baptism and Eucharist

Reconciliation

Confirmation and ?

Anointing of the Sick

Holy Order

Matrimony

Cross

 Book

Eucharist

Cross

Forgiveness

Link:
Website of Sts. Joachim and Ann