2003 ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
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Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
November 2003

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SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT, SAN DIEGO

In 2000, the San Diego Union Tribune awarded Saint Gregory the Great parish the architectural "orchid" for its new ten-million-dollar church. I had heard that "liturgical renewal" is taken to new heights in this place. My curiosity aroused, I visited at the 11:00 a.m. Mass on October 5.

Approaching on Blue Cypress Drive, you're greeted by an engraved concrete sign, St. Gregory the Great, A Catholic Community. The building's distinctive cupola over the entrance, topped with an ornate cross, is an outstanding landmark.

The grounds are impressively landscaped. Devotees of Feng Shui will particularly appreciate the long watercourse descending in terraced fashion into the Gathering Plaza. At the head of this, serving to keep the water in motion is a tripartite obelisk inscribed with runic markings. Along the right side of the watercourse, a row of stately date palms adds a touch of Middle Eastern flavor, guiding one's eye to the obelisk.

Among other interesting facets of the circular plaza are the markings on the ground; a swirling maze, or labyrinth as it is called, a common feature at New-Age retreat centers.

The Stations of the Cross are part of the landscape design, forming a prayer walk around the watercourse. Each station consists of a stone slab on the ground containing a cross, a Roman numeral, the title, and a scripture reference, without images. They conclude at the obelisk with a 15th station for the Resurrection.

The church forms an octagon. In keeping with the tastes of progressive liturgists, there is one entrance for all from the plaza. All bless themselves from one font, a great stone bowl. Natural light floods the church through massive etched-glass windows.

Seating is divided between chairs and pews with kneelers. Those who wish to kneel at the Eucharistic Prayer -- a law for Roman rite Catholics in the U. S. -- may choose pews.

The altar is in the center of the church. Behind it stands a cross of intertwined wood and crystal, empty, as Protestants prefer. The Blessed Sacrament is housed in a chapel with kneelers for two. The tabernacle is a crystal house on a wooden pedestal, reminiscent of a glass bird feeder. Alongside it stands a leafless metal tree.

I searched in vain during the liturgy for any sign of Our Blessed Mother. Afterward I did locate a Lady chapel tucked away from view, adorned with one statue -- a small but very fine wood-carved Madonna and Child.

The celebrant for the liturgy was Father John Gubbins, retired Navy chaplain and frequent supply priest for the parish. Father's greeting, given with arms open wide, proclaimed the compassion of God for his gathered people. "The communion of the Holy Spirit" was altered to "the gentleness of the Holy Spirit." Following a trope Kyrie of his own devising, likewise extolling divine tenderness, we recited the Gloria in unison.

The lessons and psalmody for this, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, series B, emphasize the divine institution and inviolability of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

Fr. Gubbins' sermon: "We all face many problems in life," he began, and as "people of faith" we look to God for answers. He reiterated the first lesson, from the second chapter of Genesis, which relates how God created woman from the rib of Adam and presented her to him as his wife. This, he asserted, is the way the "ancients" described the origin of marriage. With a wave of his hand he made clear to all that he does not believe in the literal truth of this "story." He then turned to the Gospel in which Jesus declares that what God has joined together man must not divide. He expounded this with an orthodox summary of Catholic teaching on the binding character of the marital union. However, the Law of Moses permitted divorce and remarriage "because of the hardness of hearts." This same hardness of heart exists today, and we have to deal with divorced and remarried Catholics in the compassion of Christ, not in the legalistic ways of past generations in the Church. There are, he said, many reasons why a marriage "does not take," such as one partner didn't really mean their vows. When things become intolerable between them, divorce becomes the only practical solution. We cannot exclude these persons from the communion of the Church, but must embrace them as God's love does.

After Mass Father told me that while marriage should be for life, it should not be a life sentence. When a marriage becomes a prison, "it's time to cut bait and fish in another pond!" He warned me not to quote him or he'd deny it, or else say I didn't understand.

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