Well, after considering the Basilica of St. Mary's contemporary Mass (which I've attended before on oversleep days and do not care for much), I had a brainstorm. Today would be a perfect opportunity to visit Saint Joan Of Arc to see just how out of the loop it really is and as folks I know have been saying it is. Luckily, this parish is just a 20 minute bicycle ride from my home and this day is a beautiful day.
I was greeted and made to feel very welcomed at Saint Joan Of Arc. For some reason I do not understand, all the "adult" Masses are held in the church gymnasium and the Sanctuary of the parish is where they celebrate something they call the Family Mass and is "geared toward children". That's a whole other can of worms, I guess, from what this post is about, since I only attended "Mass" (if a Catholic can truly call it that!) this morning.
Right from the start, I had serious trouble recognizing this event as a Catholic Mass. And I was apparently a minority of one to approximately 400 "worshipers" who were here at this parish, which is recognized by the peaceniks as a center for political opposition to the "Bush Regime" and the war in Iraq.
The Mass is the complex of prayers and ceremonies that make up the service of the Eucharist in the Latin rites. As in the case of all liturgical terms the name is less old than the thing. From the time of the first preaching of the Christian Faith in the West, as everywhere, the Holy Eucharist was celebrated as Christ had instituted it at the Last Supper, according to His command, in memory of Him. But it was not till long afterwards that the late Latin name Missa, used at first in a vaguer sense, became the technical and almost exclusive name for this service.
Rather, it resembled a radical left-wing political rally with tinges religious language. An electric band was set up on stage, including drums, electric bass, electric keyboards, electric guitar and a few mic stands. I don't mind saying that the band was quite good. The vocals were top notch and I didn't hear any mistakes in the music. So I must say that the music was very seductive. It was difficult to keep from tapping one's toe or swaying to the beat. Gee...I wonder where Our Lord God is in that equation. Also, while I could see a basketball hoop and a scoreboard, I don't recall seeing a crucifix, although, I may have simply missed that detail. Is that important? And also, there were two large projection screens hanging above the alter for song lyrics.
At one point, the band played and sang "Motherless Child". I thought this was a very appropriate song for St. Joan Of Arc Church to share, as the Catholic Church is the mother of the laity. Since this parish has turned its back on the liturgy of the Church, this parish is, indeed, a motherless child.
Let me cut to the chase; There are certain liturgical materials that are required by the Archdiocese in a Catholic Mass in order for it to qualify as a Catholic Mass. I suppose those materials were entirely located within the event. But they seemed to be secondary to the main event, which was opposing the war in Iraq. The priest, Father James Cassidy, did not even appear in this "Mass" until a half hour into the ceremony. Instead, we began with a prayer for peace in which is was noted that we are all citizens of the world and the sky is just as blue in other lands as they are in America...a not at all disguised reference to the Internationalism that these peaceniks adhere to.
It was announced that the gospel reading would be replaced with a peace poem. This poem was a vile piece of lies that depicted the people of Iraq and the U.S. soldiers in our military as victims. Without much delay at all, Kathy Kelly was introduced and invited to take the podium. I first heard Kelly's name at the recent Town Hall Meet with Keith Ellison. She is a regional leader in the peace movement, is a cofounder of Voices In The Wilderness and was an activist for unilateral nuclear disarmament in the 1980s, opposing President Ronald Reagan's initiative to out-spend the Soviet Union in nukes. She was arrested in 1988 and sentenced to a year in the federal pen for attempting to plant a corn field on a U.S. nuclear silo site.
Kelly's presentation was a diatribe against the United States' war in Iraq, painting our soldiers as victims, the Iraqi people as victims, portraying Abu Ghraib as U.S. policy, and claiming that the U.S. is a criminal power in pursuit of empire.
Finally, this petty and naive Christian woman finished speaking and she was wildly applauded by "the laity". I could go on, but what's the point? The Archdiocese requires that there be three readings from scripture. That obligation was fulfilled. Father Jim (as he calls himself) delivered a homily in which he taught that it isn't enough to stand on a bridge (a reference to the Peace Bridge event held every Wednesday on the Mississippi River) or mere participation at Saint Joan Of Arc. Clearly, he was advocating the kind of peace activism that Kathy Kelly practices. She is held up as a model of being a good Catholic.
The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist was celebrated. For obvious reasons, I did not toss any cash into the collection basket passed around. I did not feel it was my place to participate in the Holy Communion as I did not feel a part of this body. I sat at my seat and said my Holy Rosary to Mary, our Mother of God. I prayed that this parish would find it's way back to the true Christ and that its members would come to learn that they are asked, not to pursue an anti-war program, but rather, to glorify God.
This Mass was quite a contrast to that offered by another parish I'd visited last Sunday; Immaculate Heart of Mary. This parish is a member of the Society of Saint Pius X and they celebrate the Latin Tridentine Mass there. Needless to say, at Immaculate Heart of Mary, they celebrate a Mass that glorifies God and the father's homily focused on the dangers of sin rather than the war in Iraq.
