Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: June 07, 2020
I think all of us agree that 2020 has NOT turned out to be what we anticipated. We knew there’d be a letdown after LSU’s National Championship in football, but wow! We’re enduring a global pandemic and its destructive economic and psychological aftermath. Violence has reminded us that for all of its good qualities the USA remains a deeply-flawed society as regards the evil of racism. Our political divisions – both silly and significant – are not going away anytime soon. And now we have to face another “hurricane season” here in the Gulf South. Sigh!
Maybe, just maybe, though, we’ve turned a corner. As we’ve moved past Pentecost and gotten into June, I anticipate that Parish life here will become more routine at the Cathedral. Attendance at Mass has slowly but steadily increased, whilst remaining safe. Individuals and groups are cautiously starting to think of meeting and ministering “in person” again. As our bishop and governor lead us into the next phase of “opening up,” please try to stay hopeful and understanding. The obligation to attend Mass is dispensed indefinitely, but still in prayer, actions and attitude we can still be very good Catholics!
One good thing that happened this past week was the successful installation of a new “bell control system” up in the loft and steeple of the Cathedral. Due to some vandalism in January, we lost the ability to control our "real" church bells in the steeple of the Cathedral. The clock was also “frozen” at 9:13 for 4½ months! So we relied on "recorded" bells to sound out time strikes and our usual three sets of three carillon hymns each evening.
The new system was installed on May 27, and it took more than four days to get it working and programmed properly. Many of our downtown neighbors were surprised at our church bells going off unexpectedly! Trust me – since I live here on site too! – I was just as surprised when late-night bells and carillon hymns woke me up a few times!
I think we have it worked out now. The clock is fixed. The "real" bells are mostly working, striking the hours and half-hours between 6 am & 9 pm, plus the "Angelus" and Mass calls (one bell has a broken chain-link to the motor that swings it, which should be fixed this week). The carillon chimes are pleasant and not overbearing. And I have to say, the "real" bells are way more clear and vibrant than recordings broadcast over the steeple’s bullhorns.
So I’ve apologized to everyone who complained about the crazy bells. (I even apologized to God myself – in confession! – for some of the words I said when jolted out of bed at 2 am by the bells!) Here at the Cathedral we want to be good neighbors in downtown Baton Rouge – as I hope we have been for more than 227 years now!
Still rejoicing in Christ’s Gift of the Spirit,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
