My parish needs serious prayers

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Aquinas Newman Center, which is located at the University of New Mexico, needs some serious prayers. I alluded to this in 2 previous posts, but I figured I should post here and go into detail as to what happened. This February article from ** National Catholic Register** is more descriptive but I will post a “short” summary. ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/albuquerque-newman-center-parishioners-decry-dominican-exit
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      Since its inception 63 years ago, my parish had been  part of the Chicago-based Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great, and thus was  staffed exclusively with Dominican priests and was not technically  part of the  the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Back in the 70's which is before my time, my parish was extremely liberal. It has been toned down quite a bit since then, but we still had some peculiar practices such as  standing  throughout the whole Consecration. (I am pretty sure that  the Archbishop had said a few years ago that this is up to the discretion of the particular pastor, though.)  We also had the Altar on a platform up against the right side wall  and all the pews positioned around three sides of the platform.  (I thought that  St. John Paul II had actually said that he preferred this orientation.)  I myself am a pretty Traditional Catholic, but I  always enjoyed the Dominicans because of their  preaching style.
      
      In January,  the Archbishop, His Excellency Michael J. Sheehan,   announced completely out of the blue that he was replacing our 4 current Dominican Priests with 2 diocesan priests by July 1.  It goes without saying this  is meant to be a permanent change. I really enjoy  our new priests, but quite a few people have  been unhappy since the  announcement.
The week before the priest change, we found out that the new pastor was going to reorient the church to the way most churches are oriented, with all of the pews facing an altar up against the back wall. At the first Mass with the new priests we found out that quite a a few more things had been changed. Without going into detail, the art around the altar is now very traditional, which I actually do not mind. A few years ago an artist who attends our parish had painted these 4 beautiful Southwestern style paintings of Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the creatures such as the Soaring Eagle that symbolize each one. These were made specifically for the parish and had been up on the wall near the altar. We found that these had been replaced by the Stations of the Cross on one wall, and the other wall which would’ve been a good place for the Evangelist paintings is now completely blank. We parishioners originally thought that this was the new pastor’s work, but then it turned out that the Archbishop had visited the parish the previous week in order to tell the new pastor exactly what he wanted the church to look like, including the immediate removal of the 4 paintings of the Evangelists.
Long story short, many people are leaving the parish, including some long time members. The woman who did the paintings was fuming, and probably will soon become one of the people leaving. I pray that people will use this difficult time for growth, and at the very least that nobody leaves the Catholic Church. I also pray for Fr. Michael DePalma; his associate pastor, Fr. Simon Carian, who is on his first parish assignment since finishing his studies in Rome earlier this year; and the two seminarians, Michael and Robert. Finally, the Archbishop himself needs prayers , especially since he is turning 75 later this month and thus will be submitting his letter of resignation. I'm sorry for this super long post. Thank you!
 
Catholics are opposed to a traditional altar, to the Stations of the Cross? The very unorthodox NC Reporter is outraged at this orthodox bishop and his priests? These are telling signs of underlying trouble. There has probably been controversy here for years which has not been obvious to many.

Having the diocese’ vocations director and a newly ordained priest at a large University Newman Center sounds like an outstanding idea.

From the website:
So what is my vision for the Aquinas Newman Center now that the Archbishop has appointed me as pastor? I really don’t think it’s all that different from what the Dominicans felt was their goal. My goal is to have the Aquinas Newman Center be THE center of vibrant, orthodox Catholic life, not only for the UNM community,
but for the entire Archdiocese. Now true, the approach to fulfilling this goal may appear to be different from my predecessors as we have set things up to be more Christ-centered as opposed to more community centered, but the two are not exclusive. As I have experienced throughout my priesthood, the more Christ-centered a parish is, the more alive the community is, and I have to admit, after this past weekend, this community is very alive, very passionate about this parish.
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Sounds like the reverse of what happened at my former parish, the one I grew up attending but had moved away from a few decades ago. I hadn’t been back in many many years, and was curious to see how it would look like. Here is the before and after. The before is etched into my memory. To say I felt disappointed after the renovation would be an understatement. The only positive changes I saw was the altar now faced East, you can still see the old altar which is facing South. Notice where the tabernacle is. Is it at the center of the Church? Where is Jesus, where is the crucifix, the pews? IMHO, reverence to our Lord comes before everything, laity, ministers, practices, liturgy, My 2 cents, the new looks rather protestant to me.

Believe me, I can relate and understand to how parishioners at your Church must feel like, but mine were for the opposite reasons. All I can say is thank God I grew and attended this parish before all these changes. I could be wrong, but my theory is, in the coming decades, what is happening at your parish will be the trend, not what happened to my former parish. I still pray for our entire Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. As different and as diverse as She is, we have to thank our Lord that he left us all with something so wonderful, material matters won’t ever change that.

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Dear OP,

I and a few friends stayed with the UNM Newman Center last year for a while, and it was wonderful. Fr. George was a blast to talk to, and Fr. Rich gave me excellent advise in confession.

However, my friends and I were not used to being in such an unorthodox Church. The thing that got me was that there wasn’t any kneeling in the mass, and those of us who chose to kneel looked a bit silly (but at the elevation of my Lord and my God, I will kneel! 😉 )

With all due respect, though I’m heartbroken that the Dominicans are gone, I think that the parish could use a bit more of a traditionalist touch. If it was even more liberal 40 years ago than it was when I visited, I don’t want to think what that looked like. (That must be what people mean when they say “Spirit of Vatican II”.)

There seems to be a wind of orthodox Catholicism that is blowing through the Church as my generation become adult laity, deacons, priests, sisters and brothers, monks and nuns. I say it’s about time.

My prayers are definitely with those who don’t like the “new” ways of doing things, but I’m hoping they’ll come to see the beauty in a reverent and traditional mass (as traditional as Novus Ordo can be, IMHO.)
 
Praying that the Lord may grant all necessary graces to your parish.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen
 
O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other Wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross.

Amen.

†

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

†

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

†
 
Lord have mercy on Aquinas Newman Center, which is located at the University of New Mexico

Father please bless Aquinas Newman Center, which is located at the University of New Mexico

Holy Mother Mary, please pray for Aquinas Newman Center, which is located at the University of New Mexico

amen.
 
Veni Sancte Spiritus. Holy Spirit, please guide this parish and everyone involved. May the will of The Lord be revealed so that no one may question which way to go.

Glory be…
 
I’m surprised that even an Archbishop can simply bypass a parish board and implement decorative changes to a church like that. Although I am more of traditional Catholic myself, every parish has its own distinct local flavor and that should be honored whenever possible. While I’m glad the archbishop is more traditional and in communion with the Pope, some more tact and diplomacy might be easier to swallow for the parish members. However, Jesus is present in the Eucharist despite whatever church building changes are occurring, and that should always be people’s number one reason for going to mass. It is not a reason to leave a parish. Praying for all…

Prayer for a Parish
The Cure d’Ars (1786-1859)

My God, grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer all my life whatsoever it may please Thee to lay upon me; yes, even for a hundred years am I prepared to endure the sharpest pains, only let my people be converted. My God, convert my parish.

Amen.
 
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
 
I prefer older architecture that places the altar at the center, included traditional pews with kneelars (spelling?), and art work that focuses on the stations of the cross, St. Joseph and Mary. Some of the new stuff seems more Protestant than Catholic and often seems to remove Jesus as the center of our Faith, especially his crucifixion.

One Parish I was in eons ago was really very sad. It took me two weeks to figure out where the tabernacle was; the crucifix was hanging in the back in the choir loft because the priest “made them have one”; projection screens took center stage as well as the choir; and plastic chairs replaced the pews. It was like going to a mall theater for a talent show.

All I could do while there was cry. The more I tried not to cry the more I did. It was awful. Then Christmas came, I was all but homeless, without a job and penniless. I walked into the “Church” only to see giant fern trees hanging from the roof as Christmas decoration for the season. There must have been 40 -50 of these 12 ft trees or higher, strung from the ceiling beams. To me that represented to less than $5K of wasted money, and yet they complained of not having enough to help the poor. Really???

The Parish name was the “Light of Christ.” All I saw there was darkness, greed, extravagance and idolatry. I left after two months, going to my grandparents where I spent 6 months in bed due to illness. I was so depressed at the time, and seeing a Parish this degraded really challenged by soul on top of the illness and economic hardships in my life at that time. People need to really think about the message being sent via the structure and design of their Church and how the Mass is conducted. It might not be what they think.
 
May the parishioners at the Newman Center be graced with the gift of obedience to the One, Holy and Apostolic Church. May they grow always in faith, in hope and in love. May their lives be lived as sacrifices acceptable to Our Lord.
Amen.
O glorious prince St. Michael,
chief and commander of the heavenly hosts,
guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits,
servant in the house of the Divine King
and our admirable conductor,
you who shine with excellence
and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil,
who turn to you with confidence
and enable us by your gracious protection
to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
Amen.
 
Cricket2 said:
I prefer older architecture that places the altar at the center, included traditional pews with kneelars (spelling?), and art work that focuses on the stations of the cross, St. Joseph and Mary. Some of the new stuff seems more Protestant than Catholic and often seems to remove Jesus as the center of our Faith, especially his crucifixion.

One Parish I was in eons ago was really very sad. It took me two weeks to figure out where the tabernacle was; the crucifix was hanging in the back in the choir loft because the priest “made them have one”; projection screens took center stage as well as the choir; and plastic chairs replaced the pews. It was like going to a mall theater for a talent show.

All I could do while there was cry. The more I tried not to cry the more I did. It was awful. Then Christmas came, I was all but homeless, without a job and penniless. I walked into the “Church” only to see giant fern trees hanging from the roof as Christmas decoration for the season. There must have been 40 -50 of these 12 ft trees or higher, strung from the ceiling beams. To me that represented to less than $5K of wasted money, and yet they complained of not having enough to help the poor. Really???

The Parish name was the “Light of Christ.” All I saw there was darkness, greed, extravagance and idolatry. I left after two months, going to my grandparents where I spent 6 months in bed due to illness. I was so depressed at the time, and seeing a Parish this degraded really challenged by soul on top of the illness and economic hardships in my life at that time. People need to really think about the message being sent via the structure and design of their Church and how the Mass is conducted. It might not be what they think.
Click to expand...
Lord have mercy

John 11:35 - Jesus wept.
 
Hail Mar,y, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed are thou amongst women,
and Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
 
***Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death
Amen.

:crossrc:***
 
Prayer for a Parish

Heavenly Father, You have chosen the parish as the vehicle by which You encounter us in our daily lives. The parish is the assembly in which your Word is proclaimed, your Eucharist is celebrated, your people are united in a local community and subdivided into smaller groups so that they may become the agent of change for the betterment of the whole Church.
Make our parishioners aware of the many opportunities and responsibilities that are theirs as witnesses of You to our age. Keep us open to our need of your love and fellowship. Let both religious and laity work together to serve You in others. Amen.
 
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