Sunday was "Boy Scout Sunday." The boys receive some kind of a special patch if they wear their uniform to a church service, to school on Monday, and create a poster to hang up at school, about Scouting. We looked in the motel phone book for a Catholic church, and found Holy Name Parish. I recalled that the church in Watertown purchased the windows from the Baptist Church across from Holy Family, and I wanted to see the windows. We finally did find Holy Name, arriving about 4 minutes before the mass started. The priest was good, but there were many things about the church that were foreign to us.
First of all, the brick walls of the sanctuary were curved. There were no square edges, but rather rounded walls, and an uneven sloped ceiling. With all the hard surfaces, the mezzanine floors, the marble altar and chairs, the brick walls, it was a church that felt "cold" both in temperature and atmosphere. Secondly, these two pieces do not belong together. The wooden piece on the back wall was meant to bring warmth, I am sure. But all I could think was "tiki bar". There were hard to understand elements in the carving, like the large flower in the middle.
The painting of Madonna and child was pretty, and interesting up close. The colors were the only warmth in the room, against the brick wall. This painting was on a wall that jutted out into the altar area, and it concealed a space for the linens, vestments, etc.
I do like this sculptural piece of the risen Christ, and Joey's school parish has the same one. I am sure this is a call back to my protestant influences, in which the philosophy is that "Jesus was resurrected, so why are we keeping Him on the crucifix?" He is risen! Allelujah! I don't feel pain/oppression/ at the site of the crucifix, but some people do.
Our experience at Holy Name led us to believe there had to be a more traditional, older church downtown, so we looked for an found Immaculate Conception, which is where we will attend next year when we are there. This was indeed the church that reused the stained glass windows from Mitchell. It is across the street from the catholic school, and cooincidentally, the priest is Fr. Mike Wensing, who was my priest when I converted to Catholicism, and did my first confession. The traditional church was torn down here as well, but it looks as if they tried to incorporate traditional elements in the worship space.
I believe God is present everywhere, but for me, some places have more a worshipful feel than others. I don't want to worship in a theater seat, with a stage for performances in the front, and songs projected onto a screen. It does not call to me. It does to some people. For me, the spirit has nothing to do with denomination, but there are just places where I feel it more strongly than others. I feel the Holy Spirit very strongly at all childrens' masses, no matter where I have attended them. I also feel the Holy Spirit very strongly in all school settings. People think God is not present in public schools! He certainly is there. He is everywhere.
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