Father William Byron, S.J.
It would be interesting if every diocesan office of liturgy were to take a page each year from the book of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and award an Oscar to high-performing parishes in the areas of preaching, presiding, participation and music.
Best preacher, best presider, best participating congregation and best liturgical music in any given diocese deserve recognition, and by recognizing the best, the diocesan office could encourage other parishes to improve.
Gradual improvement across the board in any diocese would make weekend worship more attractive to former parishioners who have drifted away. There should be no difficulty finding or designing an appropriate statuette to accompany the recognition. And instead of calling it an Oscar, the award in this case might be named in honor of a saint or familiar liturgical gesture, item or event that all would recognize. Something like a “thurible” or “prie dieu” might work.
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If any creativity at all resides in a diocesan office charged with the promotion of good liturgy, it should not be difficult to set standards and select judges for this holy competition. All parishes would have to be visited over the course of any year by judges who are there only to help, not to police or punish.
Dramatic improvement in the quality of worship is likely to result. And it is also a good probability that positive playback would be felt in the seminaries where future contenders for this recognition are in formation.
If, say, the Sunday morning 11 a.m. liturgy at a given parish were so honored, it is probable that visitors would be attracted, regular attendees would be retained and the disaffected young might be prompted to take a look to see what’s going on. And isn’t this exactly what any parish wants to see happen?
If anything close to this is going to occur, however, pastor and parish staff will have to pay more attention to what is actually taking place on weekends in the parishes where the faith community looks to them for leadership. They might see this as an opportunity to engage young people in the planning and preparation of liturgies. They might invite experienced professionals in the parish to help evaluate the quality of preaching, presiding, participation and music in parish liturgies.
Nothing but good can come from an initiative like this. It won’t happen, however, without diocesan leadership and widespread cooperation from the people in the pews who, I suspect, are just waiting for something like this to happen.
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Jesuit Father Byron is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Email: wbyron@sju.edu.
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I’d give an oscar to Rev. Stephen Katziner of St. Ephrem Parish in Bensalem, PA!!!
He moves down to the center aisle and speaks clearly and articulately. He gives a well-prepared homily that takes time to prepare and is based on the scripture of the day. I can’t wait to hear him at the 10:30 mass and miss him when he’s assigned at other masses.
What a fun and inspirational idea. Of course, too, some priests are not necessarily the most exciting speakers, but are truly great pastoral inspirations in parishes, and, make a difference in many individuals lives.
I fully agree with the concept of better homilists, lectorers. In my parish as in most of the parishes I have attended all my life there has been a dearth of good homilists. Even when their content, as it mostly, is excellent their delivery is dreadful. And the lectorers in my parish are usually terrible. I think it’s because we don’t for one second realize what we’re involved in, the actual mystery of God present on the altar. People of my generation were told to be quiet, the lectionary advised to read the Epistles in a passionless voice, letting the hearers take the words in as they were inspired (haha). The Word of God is dynamic, inspiring us who read to be present, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and this should be conveyed to all present. This is God’s Word, Jesus Christ. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to hear a bland delivery of our all powerful God. Sincerely Elaine O’Brien
Thank you Father for that inspiring article. We belong to the exact parish that you are talking about. Our parish is St. Cornelius in Chadds Ford, PA. Anyone that is looking for the things in a parish that you wrote about should make it a priority to come to our 11:00 mass on any Sunday and I am sure that they will leave mass with a joy in their heart that they maybe have not felt in a long time. Our pastor, Msgr. Parlante is so uplifting in his homilies and we have an amazing music department led by Mrs. Margie Melchiore. Mass is usually standing room only so anyone who wants to experience an active parish should come early for a seat. God bless you for lighting a fire under some people that come out of mass and don’t feel the spark that we felt the first time we attended mass at our parish.