Katherine Saucedo felt a little uncomfortable walking through the heavy wooden doors of St. Andrew Church in Pasadena.
It had been years since she sat in any pews, despite growing up Catholic. Yet unexpectedly, Saucedo had a good reason to return and picked a good day to do it.
“I recently found out I was pregnant,” said Saucedo. “I’m not in the position I’m supposed to be in. … I have to do better and come here and ask God for help.”
“I feel the need to be closer to him again,” she added.
Saucedo was able to reconnect with her faith during the Nov. 30 Choose Your Moment with Jesus: A Day of Reflection event at St. Andrew. The parish, in partnership with the archdiocese-wide Back To Mass LA campaign, invited Catholics to participate in the form of worship of their choice — and invite others to join them. The daylong schedule included Mass, adoration, and a eucharistic procession. Several priests were available for spiritual direction and confession. Saucedo took advantage of both.
“I prayed and confessed myself too, asked for forgiveness for anything I’ve done,” said a tearful Saucedo. “He [priest] gave me good advice.”
St. Andrew’s pastor said that total access was key.
“I’m a big believer that the church must be unlocked, must be open all day because you never know when someone is going to be touched by God,” said Father Marcos Gonzalez. “I’m hoping that once people are here, they’ll be inspired….”
The Back to Mass LA campaign hopes to get people back in the pews through the power of invitation, complete with a free kit that ordinary Catholics can use to re-engage their loved ones. The kit includes a reflection from the archbishop, an invitation to Mass, and a pair of cross bracelets embedded with QR codes, that when scanned, lead the wearer to a local church. More than 3,000 of the kits, which are available for free on LACatholics.com, have been distributed since the campaign’s launch in September….
You can’t get that kind of experience online, pointed out Father Gonzalez. He compared watching livestreaming Mass to watching a cooking show.
“You can learn something, but you cannot smell it, cannot taste it, and you certainly can’t eat it,” said Father Gonzalez. “We are an incarnational church. It’s impossible to receive the Eucharist on television….”
The above comes from a Dec. 6 story in Angelus News.
Praise to Jesus!
This is a wonderful thing. I’m surprised that the usual suspects aren’t condemning it.
Bob One, the “usual suspects” as you put them, have never been away from the Church. We have gone to masses in parking lots, rainy outdoor areas. in churches, with and without masks, received on the tongue and, reluctantly, at times reverently in the hands. We have received from priests who only serve the Ordinary Mass or Extraordinary, from the SSPX and the ICK. Some of have had shots, some only ethical shots not connected in any way with abortion, others no shots at all, but we all have one thing in common — we are still alive. We followed our conscience in spite of all the fear tactics.
What I am saying, Bob, is that the “usual suspects” might even be in the picture above. Although I have not yet gone to an SSPX chapel, I know for a fact that some of the same people who do go to those chapels on a regular basis do help out at other masses.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”
Bob One, we just condemn the nonsense brought to us by the “spirit of Vatican 2” that has gutted the Church and that your side refuses to admit its failure
This is the best news I have heard in my life. We’re going to be ok.
Wonderful news! Abp. Cordileone should start a “Back to Mass SF” program like this, in the SF Archdiocese.
Let us live the Eucharist with the spirit of faith, of prayer, of forgiveness, of repentance, of communal joy, of concern for the needy and for the needs of so many brothers and sisters, in the certainty that the Lord will fulfil what he has promised us: eternal life. So be it! Pope Francis, Feb 12,2014
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140212_udienza-generale.html