Last night at St. Cletus Church in St. Charles, Archbishop Burke celebrated Holy Mass following the St. Charles Deanery meeting. Most of the St. Charles county priests were in attendance as well as many of the deacons.
We arrived at St. Cletus about 6:30pm, an hour before the start of Mass. I had been to St. Cletus before and I can honestly say that I am not impressed with the stark nakedness of the interior of the church. With a sliding glass door to separate the tabernacle from the church proper, it becomes more suited to a meeting hall rather than a gateway to heaven, a sacred space where one can leave the mundane world behind and enter into a sacred place of holiness, a church truly worthy of our Lord. However, it did have Stations of the Cross mounted on the walls which is significantly more than my parish church. In our new 'worship space', we have banners for stations which can be taken down when Lent is over. But anyway, I digress.
The next thing I noticed was the credence table which held - not common wine glasses but - gold goblets, something usually not seen in many parishes here. I had heard and read that the Archbishop "goes by the book" when he celebrates the Sacred Mysteries and that he expects his priests to do likewise. Praise God for that! Maybe 'Danced Prayer', or as it used to be called, Liturgical Dance, will be eliminated from Sacred Liturgy here in the St. Louis Archdiocese?
Upon seeing his Excellency up close, I could detect a sincere humility and kindness in this servant of our Lord, which evoked an inexplicable sense of joy and happiness in me as I watched him process into the sanctuary. I think that I can relate, in a simple sort of way, to the sadness that the faithful in La Crosse must feel because of his transfer to St. Louis.
In my rush to get to St. Cletus early to have a decent seat in order to see and hear, I forgot my tape recorder. So my recollections of the homily will be short. Suffice it to say that his homily seemed to me to be a shortened, but equally inspiring version of his Installation Mass homily. He did praise catechists, both those in the Catholic schools and those involved in PSR. He also stressed being faithful to the authentic teachings of the Church. He emphasized that the Faith must be handed on to children fully and completely, as it was handed on to us. [The true meaning of 'catechesis'.]
He also warned against a reductionist view of the faith and a picking and choosing of doctrines which to our minds might be acceptable and unacceptable. The totality of the Church's teaching must be accepted, lived and taught.
After Holy Mass but before the Final Blessing, Archbishop Burke was presented with a first class relic of St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne. From my vantage point, he appeared very pleased and humbled to have been presented with such a gift.
Immediately following, a reception was held in the gymnasium. We were one of the first in line waiting for the Archbishop to come out to greet and receive the faithful. When it was my turn to greet him, I knelt and kissed his ring (probably one of the few to do that) and thanked him for his service to the Lord and His Church. I also asked him to sign my copy of the "Marian Catechist Manual", a publication of Fr. John Hardon's with Archbishop Burke's Imprimatur. His smile widened and I could sense a twinkle of sorts in his eyes at seeing this booklet - he is the National Director of the Marian Catechist Apostulate, chosen specifically for this by Fr. Hardon before he died. He asked me to keep in touch since I have started the Marian Catechist formation process.
As I have stated many times in the past, our Lord has provided us with a true shepherd in the person of Archbishop Burke. Please pray for him as he prays for us.
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