"I've never attended a Mass that made me feel the way this one did." These are the words of my brother-in-law who, with my husband's sister, were in town to celebrate our eldest daughter's graduation. They are business owners and travel all over the country, and rarely if ever miss a mass. Being a member of the staff at St. Thomas, I was eager to hear more of what he meant.
So, he continued..."Are you guys a different sect of Catholicism?" I had to laugh because I know what he meant and I'm sure if you were not raised as a St. Thomas parishioner, and have endured dry, lifeless liturgies elsewhere, you get the joke too. So I said "Of course we are not a different sect of Catholicism, we are Roman Catholic and our liturgies follow the exact same order, and include all the prayers and rituals of Catholic masses said all around the world...but we are an oasis."
There IS a difference. And my brother-in-law agreed. I will summarize the points he made.
The music: Lively, great, different, and energized from the beginning to the end. Not only is everyone singing, they appear to WANT to sing. The worship aid is far better than a hymnal.
The pre-Mass greeting: So friendly! This is unusual. A real community feeling, a wonderful way to start. In fact, it was friendly on the way in and on the way out
The commentator: eloquent speaker, it is great to see all the ethnic diversity in the church
The lectors: Very well prepared, delivered the readings with meaning, kept the attention
The homily: Loved how Fr. Joel got personal, how he challenged the community with questions, how he probed and got answers to make sure we understood. This was not a dry homily, it was personal, terrific.
Fr. Joel: love this guy, and obviously you do too. The emotional connection between Fr. Joel and the people is apparent.
The Lord's Prayer: beautiful and moving, hand holding. Everyone singing!
Okay, I'll admit it, I really felt a surge of pride hearing my brother-in-law talk about St. Thomas this way. It was affirming to me that my experience is not biased, it is real. But it is essential that we go out and make good liturgy happen everywhere. St. Thomas is an Oasis, but surely good liturgy can be found in other churches.
So, here is my take: Liturgy literally means Work of the People. Without a doubt it is the liturgists, the musicians, the commentators, the greeters, the altar servers, and the presider who make the liturgy possible. And no doubt Christ is present among us. But it is the action of the People actively seeking out and recognizing the palpable experience of Christ through one another, through the prayers, the readings, the rituals, and of course through the Eucharist. On any given Sunday, Saturday, holiday, you can look around St. Thomas and see it happening. We Celebrate. This is the difference.
We make this difference a reality wherever we go. St. Thomas parishioners have first hand experience of good liturgy but it doesn't stop here. This summer, while attending Mass at other churches, bring some of that St. Thomas difference with you and celebrate your experience of the living Christ with another.
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6 comments:
I couldn't agree more with your brother-in-law's assessment of our parish. I take it for granted most of the time. Sometimes it takes a visitor with a fresh perspective to call to our attention the blessings that should be most apparent.
I have been a member of St Thomas since July 2008 and I can echo the comments made here. I knew I found a home after I attended my first Sunday mass here. I feel great everytime I come out of the mass. The liturgy is truly wonderful for all the reasons mentioned in the post!
I definitely appreciate the warmth of our parish. But after being a member the past 25 years, I think the liturgies can be a little "over the top" sometimes. I really like to say the Our Father sometimes, and I get distracted during the consecration when there is music being played in the background. I think we have to keep in mind that we are individuals and there is never one right way to do the liturgies.
I so agree! I moved to Naperville in 2003 because of the mass I attended at St. Thomas on Aug. 18, 2002. I joined up asap and have been involved ever since. My life is richer by far due to the new friendships I have made and continue to add to as well as the plethora of opportunities at St. Thomas to be the hands and feet of Christ.
I would completely agree with Anonymous. I have been a member for 5 years and I literally feel like we are always trying to impress people at our liturgies. Sometimes it would be nice to standardize our mass so that when I fly to Texas, I'm doing the same things. For example, why do we run up during the Great Amen? It distracts me? Why do we ALWAYS sing every part and have music at every part of the mass. Mix it up a little. Keep it like the rest of the Catholic Church. Are we too above that????? Sorry for the rant....
Ken
To Ken:
The catholic churches in naperville run the gammit from very traditional to more progressive. I think St Thomas falls into the more progressive. The part I love about St Thomas is the friendliness displayed by folks at the services and in a lot of other catholic churches you dont see that. This is a great forum for expressing opinions and I appreciate all the comments that lead us to think about what matters to us in our faith.
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