Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph Church,

As president of the Pastoral Council, I am very aware of my responsibility to listen to the voice of the people of St. Joseph Parish. Over the past several months, I have been compiling a list of questions and comments and preparing responses. Some of the more recent comments were stimulated by our discussion this Summer to improve the reverence of our worship environment.

Many of the questions and comments are very relevant. I would like to encourage all parishioners to come forward with their comments or concerns. There are plenty of opportunities to make your thoughts known. All Pastoral Council Meetings are open to parishioners. The meetings are announced in the bulletin. All are welcome to attend the Liturgy Committee meetings. These are irregularly scheduled and announced in the bulletin and on the web site.

The parish phone is (860) 583-1369

My phone is 877-718-3266

Here is the list of comments, questions and responses:

Some people think that all this "new stuff" from the Vatican-II reforms of the past thirty years has been watering-down the traditional worship of the church.

Many people think of the Latin Mass as a traditional Mass. Some people even think that the Latin Mass was instituted by Jesus and they wonder why we don’t return to the "original Mass" and use "the language Jesus used." (He didn't. He spoke Aramaic.) In fact, the Latin Mass came about by a directive from Pope Pius V in the 16^th Century. It was a break from tradition where the Pope stopped people from engaging in their local liturgical heritage, such as worshiping in their own languages.

The Church still reveres Latin and chant music. It is a most beautiful part of our heritage and tradition. It is also important for the assembly to engage in a prayer that they understand because prayer is a dialogue with God.

The reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1963 actually created a return to a traditional setting that is more deeply rooted in the worship of the early Church. In the thirty years since the Second Vatican Council, some of the work is not done yet. It’s not really a reform (changing old ways to new ways) but rather is a restoration (trying to return to our roots – Jesus Christ).

The new Lectionary and Worship-III scripture texts in our hymnals do not match. Some people like to follow along with the readings.

From the Introduction to the Lectionary: Christ’s Word gathers the people of God as one and increases and sustains them. In the Liturgy of the Word, the assembly receives the Word of God’s covenant through the faith that comes through hearing. The faithful at the celebration of the Mass are to listen to the Word of God with an inward and outward reverence that will bring them continuous growth in the spiritual life and draw them more deeply into the mystery they celebrate. In other words, we really should be hearing the Word, rather than reading the text. The proclamation of the Word is an action, not simply a conveying of information. Otherwise, we could all just read the readings at home and skip this part of the Mass. The Word is proclaimed. The Word is heard. At St. Joseph Church, we are blessed with exceptional readers who proclaim the scripture with prayerfulness, clarity and accuracy.

We should consider some kind of missalette with the revised readings.

The scripture is the Word of God. This is one of the ways God continues to speak to us today. The Word is holy and is worthy of our care and respect. In a public worship setting we are conscious of our outward expressions of faith. One outward expression is to have the Word printed and available in a form worthy of the sacred scriptures. This means it is printed and bound in an appropriate hard cover, durable and attractive book. Missalettes (just about any of them, even the ones with the plastic covers) are disposable, paperback booklets. The Word of God deserves better. Catholic liturgy is beautiful and exceptional because of the attention we place on ritual and ceremony. A throw-away paperback booklet printed on newspaper stock just doesn’t live up to the elegance and worthiness of a hardcover hymnal.

In addition, there is no room in the hymnal racks to hold another publication. Because missalettes tend to look worn after only one or two Masses, they detract from the beauty of our wonderful parish worship setting.

We should consider updating our Worship-III hymnal (the red book) to the new scripture text.

Worship-III is available for purchase with the revised Lectionary text. However, there is a movement to revise the Lectionary again because of some translation issues. The life expectancy of a typical church hymnal is well over 10 years. It’s risky right now to spend $6,000 for new hymnals that we might need to replace again in a few years.

We should consider purchasing a small supply of updated books and make them available in the vestibule.

This is a possibility. We understand that some people find it necessary to follow the text as it is being proclaimed during Mass. If you require the updated scripture texts for your personal use during Mass, please let us know and we will purchase a copy for you to keep and bring to Mass.

We should consider having a Mass (such as 7:30 AM Sunday) without music so that people who prefer this kind of worship setting can have an outlet for quiet prayer.

From Liturgical Music Today (a liturgy document published after the Second Vatican Council): In all liturgical celebrations proper use should be made of the musical elements within the liturgy of the word, i.e., responsorial psalm, gospel acclamation, and sometimes an acclamation after the homily or the profession of faith. Further efforts are needed to make the assembly’s responses in song the normal pastoral practice in the celebration of God’s Word. The liturgical structure of the Mass at St. Joseph Parish has been consistently in line with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and the teaching of the bishops. Creating the same worship plan for all the weekend Masses is a symbol of the unity of the people of our parish coming to worship together as part of the one Body of Christ. We should not have a special regular Mass without music any more than we should have a special mass time just for children or for singing just contemporary (or just classical) music (like the days of the "Folk Masses" in the late ‘60’s). Special Masses fragment the parish into individual groups instead of one Body, one Church. While people do engage in quiet, or private prayer during Mass, the Mass is intended to be a public celebration. People sing at celebrations. But the church does not force people to sing. In fact, simply "listening" is a form of active participation during Mass. The Body of Christ is made up of different members. Some will praise God in different ways and all will benefit. Liturgy is a way of expressing the gospel as it is lived in community, expressing it through communal signs, actions, words, gestures, songs, colors, silence and more. Because music is an integral part of the Mass, we should not eliminate it any more that we should eliminate any other part such as the homily, the readings, or the Eucharist.

The choir rehearsals before mass are annoying and disturb our time for private prayer or meditation.

Church teaching requires parishes to place a priority on music in worship. In order for the quality of our music to be worthy of the liturgy, rehearsal time is required. Just as readers study their readings at home before Mass and the homilist prepares and reviews his homily before Mass, the choir needs to prepare as well. Because many factors can influence music, the optimum setting for rehearsal is to be in the same acoustical environment as the Mass. This means standing in the same "space" and using the same musical instruments (piano and organ). The vocalists (all volunteers in our parish) need to experience the rehearsal under the same conditions they will have during the Mass. They are required to arrive 45 minutes before Mass and the rehearsals usually take about 30 minutes. That usually leaves some quiet time before Mass.

Liturgy is a public celebration. Current discussions among church scholars suggest that people who come to Mass specifically for quiet time to pray might not be making enough time in their busy lives for quiet personal prayer during the week.

Having the choir move from the pews to the rear of the altar is disruptive during Mass.

This comment is the same as saying, "Having the reader move to the ambo for the reading is disruptive.", or, "Having the Eucharistic Ministers come to the altar for communion is disruptive." The members of the choir are liturgical ministers who are moving to the position in the sanctuary where they conduct their ministry. Of course, the choir must conduct this movement with care and reverence.

Ideally our church should have a special location for the choir to be seated in the front of the church. New churches today conform to the Second Vatican Council recommendations and have such a place. In our historic building, there is no practical way to create the needed space in front. Leading the assembly in song from the back of the church (such as the choir loft) is not recommended by the Church documents. The documents call for the choir to be in a place where they can exercise their ministry effectively as music leaders of the assembly while providing a place where the choir members can participate sacramentally in the Mass. We do our best to work around the space limitations in our beautiful church.

The general attire of the people at Mass has been getting worse. More people are wearing clothes that are marginally acceptable for church – even before the heat of the summer. (Some called this "beachwear".)

The attire of the assembly and especially the liturgical ministers should be appropriate for worship. Some of our liturgical ministers have not been appropriately dressed from time to time. We ask that all liturgical ministers consistently dress appropriately for worship. We ask the assembly to consider appropriate dress as well.

People are concerned about shaking hands during the Sign of Peace or holding hands during the Our Father. Some people are concerned about the health issues. Others are simply uncomfortable.

Everyone should understand that hand shakes or hand holding are not required during Mass. During the Sign of Peace, we offer to one another a sign of Christ’s peace. This sign can be a hand shake but it can also be any other sign you may wish to offer. It can be something as simple as a smile or a nod. It can be as elaborate as a hug or a kiss. You have a choice on how you want to participate. You should not feel uncomfortable if you do not want to shake hands. Those who extend their hand to another should not feel slighted if your gesture is declined. People have the option here to participate in their own way.

Holding hands during the Our Father is not required. It is a symbol of our unity as a people in prayer. Again, you have a choice on how you want to participate.

Parishioners make anonymous complaints about things that happen in our parish and expect things to change.

We don’t take anonymous complaints seriously. We can not respond to complaints if we don’t know who is making them. We don’t even know if they are parishioners! We do take parishioner concerns very seriously and we will respond to them in a timely manner. We will be happy to discuss any concern with any parishioner.