ROAMIN'
CATHOLIC
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by Jim Holman.
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
February 2006
OUR MOTHER OF CONFIDENCE, UNIVERSITY CITY
Our Mother of Confidence parish was founded in 1964. The church building, located at the southwest corner of Regents Road and Governor Drive in University City, was constructed in 1978 and has just completed a five-and-a-half million-dollar renovation. The original debt on the building had been paid off in 1990; the current project carries a new debt of over two million.
The parish renovation committee awarded the project contract to the architectural firm of M.W. Steele. According to Chairman Tom Finn, the Steele Group "had never done a church before, but they had done a synagogue, and that was good enough for us."
The parish hired Sister Marilyn Morgan, RSM as their liturgical design consultant to guide every facet of the renovation. This newspaper reported on one of Sister Morgan's presentations to Our Mother of Confidence parishioners in a June 2001 story titled "I Want to Destroy Vestibules." At that session Sister Morgan counseled attendees: "In order to create a building that works liturgically, look at being in harmony with the earth." She asked them to "reverence the earth." "Look for designs in earth, air, fire and water, and how those elements are reflected in the liturgy. For example, water recalls baptism; the paschal candle and the clay pots connote fire; and light always plays a big part."
Light has indeed been increased. The church formerly seemed dark to many as it utilized dark wood paneling and burnt-orange carpet to produce the "earth tones" popular in the late '70s. The place is now illuminated from multiple sources, including rooftop skylights, incandescent ceiling lights, fluorescent fixtures, and hanging globe lamps. Sunlight filters through stained glass windows which are colorful but depict nothing.
All carpeting has been replaced with pale oak flooring. The church now exhibits a circular floor plan, with four sections of pews forming a semi-circle around the altar.
To the right of the altar, the Blessed Sacrament chapel is open to view. The tabernacle is a large bronze box displaying bas-relief symbols of the four Evangelists: man, lion, ox, and eagle. The Holy Infant of Prague occupies a niche in the chapel.
The nave of the church currently appears as barren of symbols as a Calvinist meeting house. The statue of Our Mother of Confidence has been placed in the "gathering space." The former altarpiece, a wire sculpture of Christ as seen on the Shroud of Turin, now hangs in the courtyard. A bronze resurrected corpus will soon hang over a cruciform cut-out in the wall behind the altar. Stations of the Cross are being made for the walls, and three empty niches will hold statues of Saint Joseph, Saint Therese of Lisieux, and John Paul II.
I attended the dedication Mass of the renovated church at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 15. Bishop Robert Brom presided, joined by Monsignor Donal Sheahan, the parish pastor; Reverend Peter Vu Lam, associate pastor; Reverend Richard Hopkins, in residence; Deacon Arnie Hess, Deacon William Klopchin, and visiting clergy. A thirty-voice choir led a congregation of well over 1200 in song, accompanied by pipe organ, grand piano, flute and drums.
Led by a young crucifetrix, the clergy processed to the altar as the people sang Marty Haugen's 1994 paean to inclusiveness, All Are Welcome. After Bishop Brom had welcomed and greeted the assembly, Monsignor Sheahan called on members of the renovation committee to hand over to the bishop the keys of the church. Bishop Brom then blessed water and went about the church generously sprinkling all of us. Returning to the altar, the bishop sprinkled and so "baptized" the new altar. During the sprinkling the cantor led the crowd singing in bouncy 6/4 time: "We shall draw water joyfully, singing joyfully, singing joyfully/ We shall draw water joyfully from the wellsprings of salvation." A choral Gloria and the opening prayer concluded the entrance rites.
A woman went to the ambo and read the first lesson, from Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem recorded in 1 Kings 8:22-30, in which Solomon says: "If the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple?" The cantoress, who had an exceptional voice, sang Psalm 122 to a Chassidic melody with the refrain, "I rejoiced when I heard them say: 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'" A gentleman then took the second lesson, from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, in which he refers to himself as a wise master builder of the temple of God, and to the whole Christian people as the holy dwelling place of the Spirit of God. Following the "Celtic Alleluia" Deacon William Klopchin proclaimed the Gospel, Matthew 16:13-19; in which Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and Jesus makes him the Rock foundation of the universal Church, and the key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven.
Bishop Brom's sermon was very short -- about five minutes. He noted that we today join Peter in confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that Christ means the anointed one; that today the renovated church building is anointed; that we are the temple of the living God, and that we are anointed by the Spirit of God to bear witness to his love in this world.
The Litany of Saints having been sung, Bishop Brom, without miter, offered the prayer of dedication. Then removing his chasuble, he put on an apron and went to the altar. Deacon Hess carried the chrism and the bishop proceeded to anoint the altar and the walls; thus the church's interior was "confirmed." A brazier was placed on the altar and the bishop censed the altar. Returning to his chair, the deacons performed the incensing of the whole church while the people sang to a sentimental David Haas tune: "Lord, may our prayer rise like incense in your sight/ may this place be filled with the fragrance of Christ." The candles on the altar and the walls were lit while Bernadette Farrell's "Christ, be our Light" was sung; then the altar and gifts were prepared for the "First Eucharist" as the organist offered a good rendition of J.S. Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring."
After Mass we enjoyed a meal in the parish hall. I sat with Bill and Marie, old-timers who have been with the parish since its inception. Between bites on a roast beef sandwich I asked Bill, "So, what do you think of the renovation?" He replied, "I don't think it looks like a church; it looks like there should be microscopes on the altar, and people should be running around in lab coats." Marie agreed, adding, "All the renovated churches look the same."