159/365 Vigils

When we lived in Columbia, Missouri, we attended Our Lady of Lourdes parish, attached to the consolidated school and staffed by Benedictines. I was in late grade school when we lived there, and we almost always went to the Saturday evening mass. It was the family-friendly mass, not too long, homilies not too bookish, easy to sing music and relaxed atmosphere. The early Sunday mass was the typical old lady mass, and then the three later masses were: "Couples and Families with Things To Do"; "Cecil B. DeMille Presents"; and "I woke up too late with a hangover." People moved from mass to mass and we sometimes went to "Things To Do". But each mass definitely had its theme.

At our parish, there are three masses. I would characterize them (I'm deeply biased) as "Deadly", "Old and Tired", and "Pull Out All The Stops." We go to the last one, have since the very beginning. I've gone to the early Sunday mass perhaps three times, always because we were on our way to my in-laws for the day and had to get on the road. And Saturday night vigil? Once.

They are not interchangeable at my parish. I wish they were--Fr. Bill made it very clear that if you wanted to be a real part of our community, you'd better come to the 10 a.m. mass. Fr. Miguel hasn't come out and said that, but it still is de facto in many ways. It is two, maybe even three separate parishes. And that is frustrating. I wish I could pack up my kids and go to the Saturday vigil sometime, especially during the winter when it's nearly dark by the time it starts anyway. Can't be outside playing...but you could sleep in if we go to church. I know, I sound like an expedient Catholic, and I'm not, really. I just wish the three Sunday gatherings were less rigid in their attendance and implied meaning.

Saturday evening would probably make a great family mass, from my experiences elsewhere. But to change folks' interpretation of what the vigil means at our parish would be nearly insurmountable. That's the way we've always done it is still the name of the game here in many ways. So I'll stay at the 10 with everyone I know who helped me stay Catholic when golly the Church wasn't helping.