25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners,

    People keep asking about the stained-glass windows in the church.  Some, who have not been in the church for a long time, have even said that they like the new clear glass in the church.  It is brighter in church, they say, and they enjoy seeing the clouds floating by outside.  I must explain to them that we are repairing the widows and they will return soon. 

    The large windows will return in October, before our cornerstone celebration. Then, all the west side windows will be removed during late October and early November.  These windows will be completely re-leaded during the winter and will return in the Spring.

One might ask why we have the stained glass in all the windows?  The idea is to shut out the outside world.  In European cities it is dirty and noisy outside.  When one enters a church, it is like entering another world.  The idea is to create an atmosphere of prayer.

Our Evangelical brothers and sisters achieve the same end with virtual reality.  Many modern-day churches are like big caves.  There is a stage with screens where graphics and pictures are shown to the congregation.  The mood is created by the media that is used along with the music that is shown.

Catholic churches achieve the same end through works of art and stained glass that brings us into another world.  The liturgy is to be a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy.  That is the theology of the stained glass.

We are fortunate that Fr. Culemans and members of the building committee in 1919 had such wisdom in creating pictures in our stained glass of biblical scenes which are not only pretty, but catechetical tools.

Let’s pray that the restoration work progresses on time so that a year from now our windows will be back in place and we may be uplifted by what we see.

Blessings,

Fr. Mark

 P.S.  I will be on the upcoming Cursillo team for women.  I would encourage anyone in our parish to make a Cursillo Weekend.  A Cursillo is a shore course in Christianity.  These weekends are held at Christ the King Church.  The next weekend for Men is September 19-22^nd.  The next weekend for women is October 17-20^th.  For more information call the Cursillo secretary at 737-1979. Or, let me know and I will be glad to arrange for someone in our parish to speak to you.