Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: November 08, 2020
By the time you read this election day will be over, and the squabbling about what happened and what this portends for the future will still be going on. Perhaps there will be something to be said about this by me in this space in weeks to come. But since I have to compose my views for my column so early – at the latest The Carpenter “goes to press” each week on Monday afternoon – now I could only guess. And that would be a huge mistake! So I’d best busy myself with some other subjects this week.
It has been over 20 years since an in-depth study of our Cathedral’s magnificent stained glass windows was made. Some of our older parishioners and friends will recall that in 1999 they were refurbished, re-leaded and caulked, with protective plexiglas exterior panels installed. Well, last week I asked Mr. Sam Corso, a local stained glass window artist and expert – who has served for years on our diocesan Sacred Liturgy, Art and Music Board, so he’s quite qualified to understand our situation – to give our windows a look. This needs to happen every decade or two! We certainly would not want the windows or their framing to deteriorate in some manner that untrained eyes wouldn’t recognize.
I’m happy to report that Sam’s eagle eye and expertise confirmed that the windows – now a century old! – are in good shape. Sure, there is some caulking that could be repaired, and their wooden frames in places need some sanding and some new putty and paint. But all in all it does not seem that any major work will be needed on them for quite some time to come.
Bishop Duca and I also met last week to discuss our Christmas schedule. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Christmas this year will not be a holy day of obligation, and with the overall decreased attendance among our older parishioners and the need to maintain safe distancing and other protective measures within our facilities, we don’t expect the large numbers of past years. Possibilities for extravagant musical programs and the like are slim. So I think that we will reduce the Masses on December 24-25, to a vigil mass at 4 pm on Christmas Eve, and a 10 o’clock morning mass on Christmas day. Any others would be, frankly, empty.
I am still a bit worried about the Christmas Eve Mass. In ordinary years it’s our most crowded scheduled Mass. We would violate every Covid precaution if that kind of crowd showed up this year! But by encouraging people to spread their celebration of Christmas out – and the church will be decorated for Christmas long before Christmas Eve and well after New Year’s – and trusting that most families will be keeping family celebrations smaller and within their homes, as they should, I think we’ll be fine. Let me know if you think I’m missing something!
(Honestly, it’s more sad that we won’t be able to have our traditional “gumbo and champagne” celebration on New Year’s Eve. But let me tell you, I for one do intend to celebrate the end of 2020! I’ll bet I won’t be alone in that!)
Before moving on from considering the holidays, though, I’ll mention a Christmas gift you might wish to consider. I get asked about once every week or two about which personal worship aid I recommend. No question about it, I think it’s the Daily Roman Missal, published by MTF. It’s a great Sunday and daily resource, with other prayers and features. It also is in the mainstream of our rich Catholic liturgical and spiritual tradition, and so informs the reader in the best way. Lastly, it’s affordable, in the $60 to $75 range, especially when you consider that a one-year subscription to a “throwaway” missalette like Magnificat magazine is $47 annually. Anyway, if you know of a Catholic whose spiritual life is important to them, visit http://www.theologicalforum.org/Category/112/Daily_Roman_Missals and see how high quality they are. You may even want to give yourself a present this year!!
Still always yours in Christ,
