Is Mass Out? No, but your shirt-tail is.

When G-man was in kindergarten he went to the Catholic school. Being a lifelong Baptist, the customs and liturgy of the Catholic Church were foreign to me. So I wanted to see what went on at the weekly Mass held for the elementary school, so a few weeks into the new school year I went that Thursday morning at 8:00AM. The Cathedral is a very old building near downtown. I realize old is a relative term. Some Catholic churches in Texas go back to the Spanish Missions in the 1600's. This Church started as a mission in the 1870s, and the current Spanish style structure where they worship today was built in 1935. So there are not a lot a long clear spans as in modern sanctuaries, but rather lots of view obstructing columns.

That morning I got there early and watched all of the little kids come into the sanctuary. I saw G-man come in, and as he had shown me earlier in the sink, dip his two fingers in the Holy Water and "cross" himself. Later that same year, my Aunt Jane got a kick out of him crossing himself at Brandon and Mary Katherine's wedding at the mention of the Trinity, not once, but twice. She said "he's a religious little fella isn't he?"

So I wasn't real comfortable with all of this. I was seated at the far left of the sanctuary, off in a side room near the rear, and the kids were in the middle filling the sanctuary. The priest began the service behind a lectern at the far right of the sanctuary. He started off by welcoming the students and giving a little lesson. Before administering the Eucharist (which we Baptists would call the Lord's Supper), he looked back over his left shoulder towards a crucifix hanging on the wall and said he would like to thank "Mr. Necessary." I was OK with everything up to that point, but for a priest to refer to the Savior as Mr. Necessary, I could not have been more offended. For a church so involved in proper traditions and the Seven Sacraments, I couldn't believe that it had come to this. As I sat there as a spectator, I could not get my head around that comment.

After administering Communion the priest mentioned that Mr. Bill Necessary was assisting him today with the sacraments as part of his training to become a deacon in the church. Because of all the obstructions where I was sitting, I must not have seen this guy sitting behind the priest. I felt pretty dumb, a little intolerant, but overall relieved.