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Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
July/August 2005

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OUR LADY OF GRACE, FLETCHER HILLS

Our Lady of Grace church sits at the corner of Medford and Navajo Road in Fletcher Hills. Founded in 1954, the parish draws its current 2600 registered households from nearby El Cajon, La Mesa, San Carlos, Lakeside, and from as far away as Ramona and Alpine.

The utilitarian cinder block building, erected circa 1968, is not lovely to look at. I've heard longtime members say it resembles a prison building. However, it does have a cruciform design. A rectangular rooftop structure admits natural light through vertical slits in the side and panels on top; a cross carved into its front and rear offers passersby a clue that this is a church. A renovation project undertaken for the parish's 50th anniversary included polished oak and glass front doors adorned with a monogram in honor of the patroness; a decorative M over which hovers a crown encircled by twelve stars.

The interior features cushioned pews in eight sections with a seating capacity of 1100. The pews are arranged in a T pattern with the altar at the juncture of the T. Statuary is limited to four pieces: Our Lady of Grace, Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus, the Sacred Heart, and Saint Rita.

Over the footpace of the altar hangs a unique crucifix on which the carved oak corpus leans forward in a spasm of death agony, with its arms grotesquely twisted behind. This is an image of extreme suffering; but in eliminating the graceful repose of Jesus as seen on a traditional crucifix, it fails to manifest the Savior's triumph over death.

The Blessed Sacrament abides in a chapel behind the rear wall of the sanctuary. This chapel is dedicated to perpetual adoration.

I attended the 7:00 a.m. Mass on June 12, the 11th Sunday in ordinary time. Associate pastor Father Omer LeBlanc celebrated. A cantor led the singing, accompanied by a woman who alternated between the organ and grand piano. The church was about half full, and those under sixty were a distinct minority.

Besides the musicians, Father would be aided later in the liturgy by a small army of extraordinary ministers — nine women and six men — who reduced the time for communion. With their help and Father's ten-minute homily, the entire Mass was done in forty minutes.

Our cantor, a gentleman who appeared to be in his late fifties, wearing black slacks and a maroon dress shirt, welcomed us and announced the entrance hymn: Lift High the Cross. Penned in 1974, this song is well known and easy to sing. Protestant assemblies shake the rafters with it. At Our Lady of Grace this morning, the pipe organ pealed an intro, the cantor standing at the microphone gave a strong lead, but almost no one sang. Some might say it's the older generation of Catholics, but I was reminded of the 1990 book Why Catholics Can't Sing in which author Thomas Day observes that an electronically enhanced cantor's voice easily overpowers and discourages good congregational singing.

During the song Father Omer entered behind an alb-clad altar girl carrying the processional cross and the lector, attired in cream-colored slacks and navy sport jacket. After venerating the altar Father Omer led a trope Kyrie which reminded Our Lord of how loving and merciful he is but had no penitential character. The Gloria was spoken in unison.

The lector read from the Book of Exodus, God's promise to Israel that if they kept his covenant they would be dear to him as a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation. The cantor then sang verses of Psalm 100 with the refrain, "We are his people: the sheep of his flock." The second reading, from Saint Paul to the Romans, recalled that we have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son; we are saved by his life. The cantor introduced the Gospel with an eightfold Alleluia sung in a call and repeat pattern. Then Father Omer read the Gospel, Matthew 9: 36-10: 8, in which the Lord summoned his twelve disciples and sent them out to proclaim his kingdom and work miracles.

Father Omer read his sermon word for word from a notebook. He began with a story of four mothers who were boasting of their priest sons. The first said, "My son is a monsignor, and when he enters a room everyone says, 'Good morning Monsignor!'" The second said, "My son is a bishop and when he enters a room everyone says, 'Good morning, Your Excellency!'" The third said, "My son is a Cardinal and when he enters a room everyone says, 'Good morning, Your Eminence!'" The fourth mother remained silent while the others looked at her, and finally said, "My son is six foot ten and three hundred pounds, and when he enters a room everyone says 'O my God!'" After the laughter died down, Father Omer noted that of the twelve disciples Jesus chose, none were famous and none were scholars. They were ordinary working men, and scripture is very candid about their shortcomings. The main thing that commended them to Jesus was their openness of heart to him. This is also what commends us to him, and as long as we have our hearts open to his love he can make use of us in his kingdom. Father also drew the contrast between Peter, who denied Christ three times, but kept his heart open and repented; and Judas, who betrayed Jesus and then closed his heart to his Master's mercy, and was lost. We also can close our hearts to the love of Christ little by little, without ever realizing it. Raising the question as to whether any of us have done this, Father concluded with "You decide."

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