Day 20- August 29, 2010

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Happy Birthday, and a rock band...

Today Leopie, Andrew and I decided to go shopping. We liked St. Joan of Arc last Sunday but we wanted to know what our options are in Mobile. John and Eleanor go to school at St. Mary's so we decided to try it out today. I drove in circles because I couldn't figure out where to park until we'd pass the parking areas, but in driving these circles we found SONIC!

St. Mary's is beautiful, and probably about twice the size of St. Joan of Arc. We sat towards the front and observed the large number of families with small children around us and the men in suit jackets with women in heals and dresses beside them. It was a different vibe than St. Joan of Arc. Before mass started the priest walked around and greeting everyone. I started to think this might be the perfect fit for the year...

This summer I learned people have a lot of different views for a mass and how it should be held, perhaps in Latin or with out the 1970s music? One of my favorite memories was learning that Sarah judges people who do not give money to the collection during mass. It was a wonderful bonding moment. Since that game of questions I've noticed what goes down during the collection. Last Sunday we rushed out of door across the street for mass and when the collection came around we all realized no one had a purse or wallet....but we're JVs and we don't have money...right? No, I still felt like Sarah was watching me pass the basket, empty, to the next person in the pew.

At St. Mary's in the sea of Polo clad men and Ralph Lauren dressed women, it seemed that the collection would be no problem. But I opened the bulletin to find this...

FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK - Everything we have comes from God and, if we are truly grateful, then we give back to God - and not just the loose change but what He deserves. A tithe is not from surplus but is part of us. If we can give to Mardi Gras associations and buy season tickets to football games, then we'd better make sure we are first giving to God. People sacrifice for entertainment and vacations, why not remember first the One who sacrificed for us!

Fr. Cunningham at St. Mary's Church in Mobile, AL

Ok so now I have an even greater hope that when Sarah Angello comes to visit me I'll have the perfect place for us on Sunday. They also had the announcements before mass! Does this mean no interruption after communion...maybe...could it be? let's find out....

Opening procession was accompanied by a band, not a choir but a band. In the choir loft was a band with back up singers, drums, and bass. I was expecting crowd surfing, I have never been in a church that had a full drum set going. Throughout the mass there was little to no time for our responses. The whole thing felt rushed, that is except the homily, which seemed to be a stream of consciousness that had little to no connection with the readings or to the first point he was making.

So we learned to accept all of these things and maybe St. Mary's would still be an okay stop on our church tour once a month...until after communion. There was not the usually announcements but instead birthday and anniversary announcements, followed by a Happy Birthday rock out. This was not our cup of tea.

I talked with Emily about this mass and she didn't think acknowledging birthdays was a bad thing. I don't think it is either but I think that while you are in mass you should be focused on one thing, God. When you're prayers are interrupted by a guitar solo or a Jesus loves you version of Happy Birthday, God isn't your focus anymore. Andrew Vivian and I just rolled our eyes and Leopie played the drums with his fingers on the pew in front of us. This mass was distracting, some people may feel this is the perfect type of mass for them, and for those people St. Mary's is great...but for me it is not great.

I think we are going to continue shopping...