From the Pastor- Part One

Until I came to St. Ann's I had never been assigned to a parish that did not have missalettes. For more than two decades I had been experiencing an increasing dissatisfaction with missalettes, and I got to the point where I wanted to stop ordering them for the entire congregation but perhaps not for particular individuals.

What specifically led me not to want to stock my entire church with missalettes? Well, for one thing I just got tired of looking at the top of people's head as they read along with me. I felt strongly that we could be doing so much better than we were doing if we all just stretched ourselves a little bit. Sometimes I'd wonder what difference it would make if the lectors and I remained silent and simply read along with the congregation? Would anyone notice?

I am all for Bible Reading! I encourage Bible Reading! But even if my entire parish is reading the Bible daily and comes to know the Bible inside out, could we not collectively make one space in the week---in addition to Bible Reading----for Bible Proclamation, for the spoken-and-heard Word of God?

In the meantime in order to help us all be better prepared to be good hearers of God's proclaimed Word, the Scripture Proclamations for the following Sunday will now be listed in each week's Bulletin. The intention is that each one of us will come to Mass having prepared ourselves to hear God's Word by reading and meditating on the Sunday Scriptures prior to Sunday Mass.

From the Pastor - Part Two

The second most frequent request I have heard since I arrived in St. Ann has been to re-institute missalettes. I have a great hesitancy to do so and I have been trying to put my reasons for this hesitancy into words for some months. I'm still working on putting my thoughts on this matter into a more coherent and comprehensive form, but for now, I can say this. I think the heart of my resistance is that the experience of human engagement called forth by proclamation and listening is a qualitatively different experience than that of reading along while someone else reads aloud.

I think that human experiences differ, and sometimes the difference is significant. A rough analogy would be that of the experience of making the effort to gather with people we love around a table, with candlelight, with food, and then SAYING the words, "Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Mary. Happy Birthday to you." It is not just a different experience whether we say or sing the words; the difference is significant.

As I understand the Church's directives, the Liturgy of the Word is a moment of the proclaiming and hearing of God's Word rather than a time for reading God's Word. Proclamation expects more; more of the proclaimer; more of the hearer. To introduce an aide to reading during the Proclamation of the Liturgy of the Word is to expect less; less of the proclaimer; less of the hearer.

From the Pastor - Part Three

What about our members with hearing impairments and/or other special needs? I want to hear from any of our members who are prevented for whatever reason from full, conscious, and active participation in our Services. I will do whatever I can to assist you, but before I ca recommend that you use aides such as missals and missalettes, I'd like to first examine some more fundamental and comprehensive issues, such as:

1. Is there a problem with our sound system?
2. Is there a problem with those who speak into our sound system? I know that I am always grateful to be informed when people cannot hear me so that I can take corrective steps, and I am sure that anyone else who "ministers at the microphone" has the same outlook.
3. Would it help if the parish purchased assistive listening devices for those who needed them?
4. Is there something the individual parishioner can do to help himself or herself? For instance, might a change in the location of one's normal seat in chapel improve one's ability to hear clearly?

After each one of the above issues related to hearing has been checked out, a few of our members will still have difficulty hearing the words during Mass. I think in such cases, and in other types of special needs, some form of visual aide might make sense for a few members of our congregation. The first type of visual aide to consider is our red Worship Hymnal, which offers within its section on the Order of Mass such texts as the Confiteor (#231), the Gloria #234), the Creed (#238), and the Orate Fratres (#241). A second type of visual aide to consider would be personal Missals and missalettes. Personal missals can be purchased from any Catholic Religious Goods store at prices ranging from $2.00 for an annual paperback missal to about $20.00 for a complete leather bound large print missal. Missalettes may be obtained via Oregon Catholic Press (1-800-547-8992) in a large print format for $5.42 per year or a regular format for $4.66 per year. If anyone who needs such assistance cannot afford it, that person should discuss the matter with the pastor.

Rev. John J. Newn