A reader kindly alerted me to a astonishing creativity at St. Joseph’s in Mandarin, FL (Jacksonville area) in the Diocese of St. Augustine.
First, to their credit, I see in their parish bulletin that they have an adoration chapel. Also they offer confessions on Saturday from 4:30-5:30 PM in English and on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 7:30-7:55AM and they have a separate schedule for Spanish including Sunday 20 minutes before the Masses. With four priests there they should have confessions during the Masses too. And Wednesday 6:30-7:00, which doesn’t seem like very much. However, that’s a great deal better than most places right now. Whenever I hear about goofy things in a parish, I look at the bulletin for their confession schedule. Not only, they have VESPERS a couple evenings a week and adoration. Masses are in English, Spanish, Polish and Portuguese. If only there were a single language available, with which all these different groups of LATIN CHURCH Catholics could pray together instead of splintered groups.
Now to the creativity. On Ash Wednesday at their Parish School Mass Father said “we need to show eagerness and enthusiasm to run the race with the destination to Heaven.”
They had a couple of kids foot race in the church down the main aisle.
Get it? Run the race? GET IT?
I could never have come up with that. So meaningful.
MUSIC WARNING. You may need your handy emesis basin.
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They must have very good insurance.
I can’t wait to see what they do when they read of the stoning of St. Stephen!
Looking through their bulletin, I see some good things. They have Bible study, and a Seven Sorrows of Mary Devotion group. And it looks like a High School maybe with some sisters and Cemetery. Lots going on.
HOWEVER, this was a dumb thing to do, in my opinion. Demeaning of both the sacredness of place and of the moment: Mass.
Meanwhile, the people who want the Vetus Ordo have to be suppressed.
