For those of you who weren't at Grotto, or didn't pick up on who was missing, here is yet one more clue, from the last 40 Hours Devotion.
SATURDAY CONFESSION TIMES
Missing one priest, and given that we are without our pastor, who is probably got his feet up, reading a good book (well-earned), we need to think about those who are carrying a heavier load at the moment.
I'd like to use this opportunity to encourage those who don't live too far away, to come to Grotto on Saturday during regular confession hours. Scheduled time is 2:30-3:30, but generally it goes on until the 4:00 Mass, unless there is only one priest available. Sometimes it doesn't start until 3:00 as a result. I've often been there on Saturdays when the lines were not long. If these priests are going to sit in those very hot confessionals, in that very hot Church on Saturdays, the least we could do is come and make it worth their while!
A PASTOR CONSPIRING WITH THE HOLY ANGELS?
That brings me to the next point concerning heat. Last year, having been a parishioner a mere week or so, I recall the first hot Sunday of the Year. It was in June and it was like today - in the 90's. I sweat real easy, and I was afraid I was going to flood the pew. The Church can actually get hotter than it is outdoors, when the back doors are closed. Usually they open them in really hot weather, but sometimes, it just doesn't matter. I had my cousin with me, who was attending Grotto for the first time ever. It was the noon Mass. Just before it began and still clinging to irreverent ways, I leaned over to her and said, "That's it - I think I'll retreat to the air-conditioned parish near my home and come back in the fall."
Well, there are lots of ways this could have went down, but my theory is that being in a parish where the Priests of Opus Angelorum work, my Guardian Angel squealed on me to Fr. Perrone's Guardian Angel. Several things happened that made me feel very sheepish, the moment Mass began....
As the altar boys and Fr. Perrone processed, he had to pause and I was in an end pew. He paused just a few steps in front of me, and I noticed something unusual about the way he had vested. I had grown accustomed to seeing a priests collar, but this priest seemed to have something wrapped tightly up his neck, covering his collar. I would later learn, it was an amice. I would also later learn in the GIRM (ref 119, 336), that street clothing, including the collar, is to be covered. Despite the heat, he stood there stoic, without even a hint of discomfort. It made me think for a moment about what I was wearing versus all those layers he had on. Ditto with the altar boys, and the lector.
If that wasn't enough to get me feeling a bit guilty, the conspiracy between pastor and angels continued...
At Grotto there are signs at every entrance reminding people of the Real Presence, and the need to be dressed appropriately - specifically, no shorts, tank tops, etc. I was not dressed inappropriately, I already figured it out long before then. Father finished his homily, then said he wanted to take this warm day to reiterate all of this. He reminded us first that the Mass was a sacrifice where the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. He said that Mass is not a fashion show where we dress to impress others. At the same time, he told us that price had nothing to do with decent clothing because there were low cost options, such as St. Vincent de Paul. Then, he extended his arms swiftly and said, "Will someone please tell me that anything you could find to wear that is proper for Mass is hotter than what I have on right now!"
Both my cousin and I crouched down in our pew and suddenly began to appreciate the open window not too far from where we were, and the fact that we didn't have all those layers of vestments on.
HOT PARISHES - SOLIDARITY WITH OUR PRIESTS
At the close of his homily, I apologized to God, then told him in my heart, and my cousin AFTER Mass, that my place each Sunday is right here, in solidarity with my pastor and all of the priests who endure the heat of that unairconditioned Church in those vestments. Who am I to escape into the suburbs for a comfy seat in a cool parish when the priests who work so hard to bring me closer to God are toasting in their cassocks?
Some cannot come into the heat for legitimate health reasons, such as my mother with uncontrolled high blood pressure. But the rest of us - lets practice solidarity and appreciation by sweating right alongside our priests, and simply "offer it up". The Mass is a sacrifice, so why not use this as an opportunity to make one.
All of this doesn't apply just to Grotto-goers, but could apply to other urban parishes without air, like St. John Cantius, or St. Josaphat's, or Sweetest Heart of Mary. If you like what you get there when it's comfy, don't run the other way when things start getting hot. Grotto was there for me when I really needed her the most, and I hope to be with her until I die, barring any strange appointments which would radically alter what we so treasure there.