Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: April 24, 2016
Last weekend’s “Evening at the Cathedral” – formerly Bishop’s Day – was a particularly joyous event. I hope you were able to join us for it! The Mass and dinner following were wonderful opportunities to pray and share together. I want to offer very special thanks to many. First, the entire Development Committee of the Parish, under the leadership of their chair, Mrs. Bobbie Carey, which sponsors this event, did their usual outstanding job. The Parish Staff also – and especially Mrs. Sheila Juneau and Mrs. Carla Kennedy – put in long hours of support work, too. It was also especially nice to have the Cathedral Choir, under the direction of Mr. Robbie Giroir, and “incense-bearing” servers at our 4 pm Saturday Mass: the “regular” vigil Mass-attendees were treated to a more formal – and more beautiful liturgy – than we usually have at that time!
I have to admit that there was just one thing about the Mass that struck some guests as odd – but then again it’s something that makes us all wince a bit at virtually every weekend liturgy. I’m speaking about how a small crowd of 250 or so people gets “swallowed up” in our sizeable church building. The Cathedral comfortably seats 650 or more people, and on special occasions we squeeze in up to 1,000, but attendance at our weekend Masses usually ranges from 80 or 90 on Saturdays and early Sunday morning to perhaps 250 to 300 at the later Sunday Masses. (And let’s not talk about the faithful 25 or so Saturday Mass goers when LSU is playing on television!) Nobody likes being squished-in like sardines – that’s definitely not our problem! – but everyone also agrees that the best worship occurs when the assembly is more substantial.
At a meeting of the clergy of our deanery last week, Bishop Muench noted that the recently-developed strategic Pastoral Plan for the diocese – which should be published in its final form in the coming weeks – does among other things earnestly recommend that Mass schedules be evaluated. Mere custom and convenience are not the most important values, to be sure. We want to provide the highest quality liturgies, and of course not work our limited number of priests to death! This is something we’re going to look into, I think, in the coming months, so be ready to offer your ideas on how best to approach this aspect of our future.
In the Risen Lord,
