October 2, 2009
The Second Half
Celebration of life
BY DEACON JIM AND ANN CAVERA
Life took us to New Jersey this past weekend. On Saturday evening we attended a musical at a college campus. The show, based on the life of jazz star Josephine Baker, was a celebration of this remarkable American woman who took Paris by storm in the 30s. She bought a castle, adopted 12 children whom she dubbed her “Rainbow Tribe” and received an award from the French government for her work in the resistance movement during the Second World War. The songs, dance numbers and enthusiasm of the performers made the two hour production seem as though it lasted no longer than a few minutes. The contagious joy of the singers, dancers, actors and musicians spilled over into the audience. We were sorry to see the show end and hopeful we might be able to see it again in the future.
Sunday morning we arrived just before Mass began at a small church in an unfamiliar New Jersey town. No one greeted us and we found only a handful of elderly parishioners inside. We took an empty pew and soon two priests emerged from a side entrance. One began to celebrate Mass in a barely audible voice. The lack of music and lack of enthusiasm on the part of the priest and the worshipers gave this Eucharistic celebration a depressing quality.
The second priest read the gospel and delivered a homily on two of the seven deadly sins. In his opinion the church began to disintegrate in 1957 and has been going downhill ever since. He took a very long time to explain the sins and their consequences while some of the elderly people appeared to doze off. The Holy Eucharist was offered in the same manner as it had been offered in 1957, but without any sign of prayerful joy. At the end the priests left by a side entrance, presumably to get ready to “celebrate” again later that morning.
We were glad for the opportunity to participate in this Mass and thankful for the Eucharist. We left renewed in Christ and ready to begin another week because the power of the Eucharist transcends even our poorest human efforts at celebration. But we also left with a degree of sadness because a Catholic who has not been attending church had decided to come with us to this Mass. Our hope had been that we might be welcomed and that the Eucharistic celebration would be so reverent, enthusiastic and uplifting that our friend would experience the contagious joy that normally accompanies this holy celebration.
How is it that an evening at a musical production can be a celebration of great joy while being in the presence of the Lord of the Universe can be made into an un-joyful occasion? We left thankful for all the parishes where the Eucharist is a cause for true celebration and thankful for the joy we have in Christ. We are still sad that our friend experienced no outward expression of the joy that normally accompanies the reception of this magnificent gift. When the Eucharist is celebrated without a contagious sense of joy, why would any visitor be eager to return next Sunday?
Deacon Jim and Ann Cavera are former residents of Evansville; their award-winning column is a regular feature of the Message. Contact them at www.catholicseniorspirit.com.