March 4, 2018
Third Sunday of Lent
Views From The Pews
Terri writes, “My friend Cathy says you
showed a picture of your wife at the ten
o’clock Mass. I missed it. Can
you show it again? I would like
to see what she looked like.”
“I showed a 30-year-old
picture of Kacky and me taken at
a Hot Air Balloon Festival the
TV station I managed sponsored.
Kacky was 41(she died at 51)
and I was forty-four. Here it is.”
The “C Family” writes again about a proposal to move our
Saturday Vigil Mass from 5 PM to 4 PM. Here is part of
what the “C Family” writes.
“Regardless of the way you try to slice or dice it, the
idea...was never given a chance and you know it. No
disrespect to you, but you opposed the idea from the
beginning. First, had parishioners been made aware
through announcements, ballots, etc for a longer period of
time, at least, all would have had a chance to digest
whether they agreed to a change. Second, the idea was
not in the bulletin 5 weeks...but more like 2 or 3 weeks.
Third, so the fewer than 10 people who brought this up
before did not mean anything to you either. You dismissed
them too...In conclusion, Father Mike ‘Have it your way.’
It just annoys us that if this was what you wanted it would
have been handled differently...You are always finding
ways to defend everything to suit your preference.”
“Once again, I apologize for not placing the request to
move the Vigil Mass in our announcements as well as in
the bulletin. It truly was not an intention to sway the
vote. I don’t have a dog in the hunt. Keeping the Mass
at 5 PM allows me not to rush in the late afternoon. I
spend Saturday afternoons bringing Communion to the
home bound. Moving the Mass up an hour would give
me less time to prepare for Mass, but I could handle it.
On the other hand, moving it to 4 o’clock would give me
more free time Saturday evening. And since I have few
nights off, that would be nice. Either time is okay with
me.
The consideration of moving the Vigil Mass time was,
in fact, in the bulletin for 5 weeks: Dec. 3, Dec. 10, Dec.
17, Dec 24 and Jan 7.
I decided to pull the consideration because in 5 weeks,
only 2% of the people who normally attend the 5 o’clock
Mass asked for a vote.
Continued in next column
2
Views From The Pews
continued
And, although I agree with you the matter should
have been in the announcements as well as in the
bulletin, I concluded the mindset of those who listen to
the announcements but don’t read the bulletin was
unlikely to differ significantly enough from 2% to justify
continuing the consideration.
I honestly try hard not to “have it my way.” I take
seriously Jesus’ command to serve and not be served. I
fail sometimes; but I assure you that when I do, it is
unintentional.”
Father Mike
Did You Know?
Only 5% of African Americans are Catholic. A
recent national poll says our African American sisters and
brothers choose their religious denominations as follows:
Black Protestant 53%
Unaffiliated 18%
Evangelical Protestant 14%
Catholic 5%
Mainline Protestant 4%
Other Christian 3%
Non-Christian faiths 3%
Father Mike
VOL Healing & Penance Service
Monday, March 5 th
OLPS Penance Service
Monday, March 12 th
Christ the King Penance Service
Wednesday, March 21 st