The Legacy
After mass on Sunday, I was approached by Rico Bruni, a former member of the Parish Leadership Team, a liturgical minister and all-around nice guy. He thanked me for the blog (now to encourage him to comment – still needing some courageous souls for that), and then he shared what he felt were some good changes Fr. George had introduced. I list them here, with some of my additional thoughts:
- Making (little) people feel special at celebrations. Remember how the First Communion kids would stand on either side of him behind the altar while Fr. George read the Eucharistic Prayer? They all had this “Wow, we’re up here with Father! This is cool!” look on their faces. Then, when it was time for each child to receive communion for the first time, his / her whole family would come up beside them, while all eyes were watching that blessed host pop quickly (or sometimes not so quickly) into that little mouth. We’d all clap together as a sign of support. I wasn’t that fond of the clapping, and not just because my boy would wake up from the noise, but most people seemed to like it. And who can forget each baptized baby held aloft, like Simba in the Lion King?Or the times the kids come up at the start of mass, and Fr. George asks them questions to which he gets all kinds of answers?Or passing out the children’s bulletins at the end of mass, the kids running down the aisles to get their copy, as if Father might run out of copies before they reached him?Yes, this was one of Fr. George’s gifts. He knew how to make children feel special. He probably also figured out that kids interested in going to mass bring adults who are only moderately interested.
- Organizing the Eucharistic ministers for Communion. Rico is going to have to explain this again as I don’t remember it fully, but he was saying something like the distribution of the Body and Blood is very orderly and efficient, the way that Fr. George organized things. I have to agree. Fr. George paid attention to every little detail, and made sure everything flowed well. Even the people in the opening procession came in on his signal, like downhill skiers in the starting gate, waiting for the beep to sound. In some ways things were almost too perfect, too clinical, but never disorderly.
We should take the time to recognize the positive contributions Fr. George gave to our parish, ones that are worth keeping, and then work to keep them. When our parish is used to doing things a certain way, and that way seems good, why not continue to maintain those traditions?
I thought about that as I observed Fr. Brendan’s very low-key approach to First Communion this past weekend, lacking anything celebratory really. It’s frustrating to see every new priest come in with his own ways of doing things and expecting the parish to change directions, even if it’s 180 degrees from how things were done. Why can’t the priest integrate himself into the parish, instead of the other way around? Isn’t it better to maintain the current direction, especially during an already difficult transition time? More on that in a post later this week.
So please take a moment to help our parish identify what Fr. George’s legacy should be, that we might continue to do those things that we feel bring life to the community. I will collect all comments and promise that Fr. Brendan, Veronica our secretary and any PLT-like committee (should one get formed again) will receive a copy.
You are an important part of this parish, and I’ll hoist you over my head at mass to prove it if necessary, or die trying.
