Aurora Borealis

Mr. Tldz and I attended the dedication of our new parish church this morning.  The mass was just under 3 hours, and it was packed.  I counted at least 21 priests besides our own 3 concelebrating the mass, and several clergy of other denominations from the neighborhood were also there.  That was nice to see.  It would have been nice if they could have listed in the program the churches that were represented; but anway it was nice to know they were there.

We started in the old church (more formally and nicely referred to in the program as “the 1958 church”) for a short time.  I knew that part would be brief, but I was surprised there wasn’t at least a little more to it.  There was the opening processional with all the clergy coming in, a brief opening prayer of the mass, and then the Archbishop said, “And now let us process to the new church.” I thought there would be an official rite to de-consecrate the old church.  I think something does officially have to be done, but maybe they just don’t do that in the dedication mass for reasons of length or something.

Of course, moving from one church to another took a lot of time.  There was some sort of formal ceremony at the front doors, presenting the church to the Archbishop, handing over the building plans, and officially opening the doors.  We were pretty far back in the crowd, kind of out in the parking lot and they didn’t have a sound system set up for that, so we didn’t hear that part.

We eventually got into the new building, but of course, many of us were standing, because a lot of people had skipped the part in the old church and just secured their seats in the new building.  Communion vessels, linens, sacramental oils… all that stuff was processed in.  Things started at the back of the church, at the new baptismal font (large, placed like the one at the church where we were married).  The Archbishop blessed the water and then we had a rite of sprinkling by the Archbishop and our 3 priests.  We were standing right next to the font, so we got a pretty good bath!

Then we proceeded to have a normal (though bilingual) Liturgy of the Word.  The Archbishop gave a good homily.  He only gave a small part of it in Spanish, which I guess is because if he did the whole thing in both languages, it would have just gone too long.  He seems to be quite fluent in Spanish, though.

Following the profession of faith, we started the rite of dedication.  First was the deposition of the relics into the altar.  Apparently we have relics of Saint John Neumann, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Therese of Liseux.  I don’t know what they are, but I assume they are distant relics.  I don’t know if these relics were in the old church or if there were relics in the old church.  I liked this part because we got to sing the litany of the saints, which I really like.  Oddly, though, in the last part the names listed were some parishioners who had recently died.  Mr. Tldz is pretty certain that is canonically improper.  But even if an exception is made for an event like that specific to a local parish, my question is how is it decided which deceased parishioners are listed?

Then the Archbishop anointed the altar with oil.  A lot of oil.  He poured oil onto the altar.  Then he smeared it all around.  It looked like he was doing a hard scrubbing job.  Our priests got to anoint the walls with oil – or more accurately the sconces on the walls and place the candles.  Love the smell of that oil!

Next came the incensation of the altar and the church.  Love the smell of the incense, too!  But this was strange.  As this part of the mass got started, I leaned over to Mr. Tldz and said, “Oh no – I think we’re going to have liturgical dance.”  There were four willowy, barefoot teen girls in matching outfits coming up the aisle.  Well, they didn’t quite do liturgical dance.  They were the bearers of these big pottery bowls of the incense.  They walked them all over the church with very odd, ballet-like, pointed-toe steps.  They were wearing these green-blue leotard-like dresses with asymetrical skirts and matching leggings underneath.  It all seemed a little too new-agey for me.  Not incensing – that’s very Catholic.  But whatever happened to traditional censors and, oh, I don’t know, altar server robes?  I don’t know what that was about.  Except I guess to prove the definitely leftward slant of our parish.

Then came the lighting of the altar and the church – lighting all the candles around the altar and the ambo and the wall sconces – before we returned to the regular order of the mass with the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  The offertory basket that we saw seemed quite full of bills, with denominations besides $1s, so hopefully they did well.  And with as crowded as it was, distibution of Communion went pretty smoothly and quickly.  Having 21+ priests to distribute helped, no doubt.

Following Communion we had a solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament (like Holy Thursday or a Eucharistic Benediction service) to the new reservation chapel.  The reservation chapel is behind the altar.  The organ pipes block it from view from the main part of the church.  The crucifix hangs in front of the organ pipes.  (The corpus is from the old church, though it’s mounted on a different cross.  This cross doesn’t have “INRI” inscribed on it, which seems odd.)  Apparently there is a sight line into the chapel if you’re seated at the side of the church.  The placement and expense of those organ pipes is a point of contention within the parish.  There are many of us who feel like we should more closely follow the Church’s preference for placing the tabernacle in a “prominent,” “visible” location.  But it is what it is, the design was approved by our bishop, and I guess I’ll get used to having those organ pipes as a backdrop.  I hope I’ll have a chance soon to walk around and look at the reservation chapel.

I do honestly have to say that this new church really does offer a more attractive worship space than our old church.  The old  church had its charms, but, well, it just wasn”t very attractive.  The new space has a rather modern feel, but enough classical elements that it feels “churchlike” to me, and I think it will stand the test of time pretty well.

There were lots of thank yous and other acknowledgements at the end of mass, including some good-natured ribbing between our pastor and the archbishop.  And our pastor announced that one of the stained glass windows (I think he said the Holy Spirit window) is being donated by members of the parish in the name of the woman who has chaired the building committee.  (We don’t appear to have any stained glass in the new church yet, but I guess that’s coming.)  That’s a good thing.  She’s done a lot of hard work for the past 7 years and had to deal with a lot of bad feeling in the parish about various aspects of this project, which ultimately boil down to “people don’t like change” and “people can hold grudges.”

The choir really did a good job – even the children’s choir.  Years ago, under our previous music director, the children’s choir used to sound awful.  Awful.  And they were inflicted on us at mass about once a month.  We’d all shudder.  The kids were very – enthusiastic – but they didn’t seem to be getting any instruction or direction on how to sing; and it seemed like a lot of them were really too young.  This current choir sounded fabulous, and they even had little choir uniforms.

A reception followed at the school gym, but we left right after mass.  We didn’t get out until the time that we’d told N. we’d be back to pick up Agent Murphy.  So we went straight over there.  Apparently he missed us.  It was, after all, his first time being away from Mommy and Daddy while also being in an unfamiliar place.  Aunty N. reported that the Agent hadn’t had much to say to her or A. or  I., and mostly N. had had to hold him.  She carried him away to start playing when Mr. Tldz and I were leaving.  Apparently once he realized we weren’t around anymore, he shrieked.  Fortunately, his trusted friend Lemon the Lion provided some comfort.  So I think it really was the right call to have Agent Murphy visit Aunty N. rather than go to the (I’m sure very crowded) church nursery.  A big thank you to Aunty N. for watching our boy so we could participate in the dedication!

We were glad to know our boy misses us when we’re not around.  And we’re glad he’s back to his normal, busy, talkative self now – babbling, rolling around on the floor with his dog, moving stuff around the house…

So, not surprisingly, President Obama is set to undo the Mexico City Policy, which has prohibited US funding to organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas.  So now our tax dollars will be used to offer, or in some cases force, abortions in other countries.  Just what we need – to spread our Culture of Death around the world.

Clinton had undone the policy first put in place by Reagan, then W. reinstated it.  And this back and forth always takes place on the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  But this seems like such a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life supporters, especially those who will march today.  For someone who says he wants to reach out to those who disagree with him and find common ground…  Well, he couldn’t have waited until next week to do this?  We know the pro-abortion forces won in Novmeber, and we know they’re going to make policy changes like this.  And now we know for sure that there really is no desire to find common ground.  It’s just going to be about forcing a pro-abortion agenda on everyone.  It doesn’t bode well.  At all.

I say again what I did after the election – Lord, have mercy on our souls.  Shame on all those who voted against their conscience on the very existence of life because they wanted to vote for a black man, either because race meant more to them than millions of innocents slaughtered or they were so excited about voting for a black man that they chose to remain ignorant of the virulant pro-abortion platform of the Democrat Party and this president.  Shame on our bishops for not speaking more forcefully about this, particularly our own.  He put out a reasonably strong statement about the preeminence of the life issue, but he waited until right before the election to put it out – really too late given all the early voting here.  And then he rushed to congratulate Obama on his historic election.  That’s all well and good, but perhaps he could have added a statement like, “From one black man to another, I need to point out to you that this abortion position you support so fiercely is killing *our* people.”  It really is a genocide in the black community, and we need to be able to say that.

Shame on all of us for electing a man who strongly supports such evil.  Shame on all of us for abiding this evil in our country for so long.

So Agent Murphy has taken a liking to the top drawer in particular of a little filing cabinet in our office.  If I’m doing something in the office, he’ll busy himself emptying it out and carrying items around the room.  I’ve finally decided I’ll find a new home for the tape, pens, pencils, and various items and put some of his toys in there instead.  I’ll still have to pick up stuff every time I work in the office, but at least it will be *his* stuff, stuff he’s *supposed* to play with.  Of course, we’ll see if these “legitimate” toys hold his interest in the same way.  In fact, I think he’s already taken a number of the toys and carried them out of here because he doesn’t think they belong in the office.  Hmm.  Maybe I’ll have to introduce some new toys especially for the office…

Edit: I’ve been foiled.  He’s decided now it’s best to take the top drawer out and play with the drawer itself — and get into the bottom drawer.  Oy vey.

State Farm sent us a check to reimburse us for the new car seat we had to buy – within just days of when we faxed in the receipt.  That was pleasant.  But now I have no idea how quickly or if they’ll be able to get Geico to pay up.  Sure would be nice to get our deductible back!

I wasn’t going to, but I watched the inauguration on CSPAN.  We do definitely do pomp and circumstance well.  The orderly, peaceful transfer of power really is rather remarkable when you think about it in a world context.  And it’s a good day for America to have our first black president.  I hope it will mean good things for race relations in our country.  Though I’m not sure what to make of Joseph Lowery’s “benediction.”

Why is the vice-presidential oath more elaborate than the presidential?  And why did both President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts fumble the presidential oath?  President Obama delivered his inaugural address flawlessly, though it wasn’t memorable; but he stumbled all over the oath.

The first daughters are adorable.  Malia (she is the older one, right?) seemed pretty busy with her little camera during the whole ceremony.

I will admit to shedding some tears watching George W. Bush board that helicopter and depart.  I hope he has many happy, healthy, carefree years that he has certainly earned.  Thank you, Mr. President, for keeping us safe.  There are a number of things I wish you had done differently, but on the key task of the president, you done good.   I wonder if it feels weird to suddently not receive a daily inteligence briefing, or if it’s just a huge relief – “Not on my shoulders anymore!”?

My biggest kick, though, came after the Obama’s returned to the the interior of the capitol, in a room off the rotunda for his first signing ceremony.  (He noted, “I’m a lefty – get used to it,” as he signed.)  But the funny thing was Senator Dianne Feinstein standing next to him, commenting, “What a distinctive signature!” as he signed.  Eye roll.

Sunday was our last mass in our old church building.  It was a little lengthier than normal, with prayers of the faithful that reflected on things that have happened in that building over its 50-year history.  So we prayed for all the babies who were baptized at that baptismal font (including our own Agent Murphy), all the couples married at that altar, all the people whose funerals were celebrated there, etc.  It would have been touching…  Well, it was touching.  But the mood shifted to comical for us when we prayed that the angels that have surrounded us in that building will travel across the parking lot to the new building.  Golly, I sure hope the angels can make it.  They’re only supernatural celestial beings.  I don’t know if they can cross a parking lot!

We must have just been in a punchy mood.  There were two baby boys baptized at our Mass on Sunday.  One of them was named Gavin David.  Given that we sit near the back with Agent Murphy, we can’t always hear everything clearly.  Mr. Tldz turned to me and said, “Did they just say his name is Katherine David?”  We had to work hard not to laugh raucously.  I said that may be a danger of waiting until birth to find out the baby’s sex – you end up with a name like that!

The dedication Mass for the new church will take place on Saturday.  It will begin in the old church, but we’ll only be in there for a few minutes; so this really was something of a farewell.

Looking forward to the dedication – not something one gets to witness all the time.

Mr. Tldz is in the middle of a big release at work, so he had to put some hours in this weekend.  It wouldn’t have been a big deal, but his boss is being a total a%$ about a lot of things, so the weekend felt like a huge saga.

Yesterday, was a floating holiday for him, which given their current work requirement, he’ll schedule for another time.  But MARTA treated it as a holiday, so the bus that gets him to his office wasn’t running.  At least being able to work from home made it feel a little like a holiday.

There was supposed to be a meeting this morning with Mr. Tldz, his boss, and his boss’s boss to (hopefully) resolve the issues he’s been having with his boss.  But the boss’s boss came down with food poisoning and isn’t coming in today.  Hopefully the meeting will be rescheduled soon.

Believe it or not, my 15-year college reunion is in April.  Ugh, that’s depressing.  I’ve just agreed to serve on the reunion host committee.  As former alumni director there, seems like the least I can do.  But it’s strange.  After working there for seven and a half years after graduation, being all Oglethorpe all the time, I’ve really been just about completely disconnected for a number of years.

Strange to think back on how hopeful and optimistic I was at graduation, how I thought I’d grab life by the tail.  Then I think working there for so long really kind of burned me out and made me into something of a cynic.  Probably just the last year or two there.  I loved the job for a long time.

I don’t feel like I have much to show for the past 15 years.  At least I finally managed to get married and start a family.  I guess it will be interesting to see who shows up for the reunion and what they’ve made of themselves.  Though lots of the people I knew weren’t actually in my class year — one of the great challenges of class reunions being declining affinity with one’s class year…

Well, whatever that is.  But I did return the rental minivan last night and picked up our car.  It feels small now!  They don’t know what’s wrong with the fuel gauge and why it’s not registering correctly.  They told me to top the tank off again and drive it for a while to see if it resolves itself.  Yeah, we’ll see.

Now it’s wait and see if State Farm can get Geico to pay, or if we’re just out our deductible.

Work is busy for Mr. Tldz.  Big project, and they’re shorthanded.  So he’ll be putting in some extra hours for the next little bit.  Well, hopefully, it’s just a bit and things will get back to normal there, too.

Must go get Agent Murphy’s second breakfast ready before he tears the house down.

So, we made an early New Year’s resolution.  Late last year we decided we needed to do better at seeing our friends.  We resolved to have someone over for dinner once a month or so.  We went ahead and got people scheduled for January and February.  Our first dinner was to happen this evening, starting around when Agent Murphy goes to bed, with a co-worker of Mr. Tldz’s and his wife.  But our guests had to cancel.  Dad isn’t feeling all that well, and more importantly, they couldn’t find a babysitter.  Our planned menu for tonight isn’t kid friendly, and we don’t really have the space to entertain their 2 older kids very well.  Yet another reason it would be really nice to have a larger house.  The square footage doesn’t need to be tons larger, we just need a layout that is more suited to our current needs.

Well, they’ve tenatively rescheduled for next Saturday, assuming they can find a sitter.  And Mr. Tldz and I will have a very nice dinner this evening.  (Too bad for our guests – they’ll end up with “plan B” next week.)  And I have to remind myself that we can only keep our part of the resolution; actually showing up is on the people we invite.

And I guess, if you’re among our local friends, take this as notice that you’ll be ending up in our “dinner club” rotation this year.