Hmm, nothing about this so far . . .
Yesterday, St. Sharbel was consecrated in Las Vegas. Their bishop and five priests, as well as the pastor, concelebrated. I believe all five were former pastors (or whatever the correct term for a priest assigned to a mission is!).
In his homily, the bishop noted that the term "sin city" for las vegas may not be appropriate, as more prayers are offered in casinos than in many churches
He also commented that the last time he had been there, he had gotten comments lamenting that the liturgy was not entirely in Arabic. He was very firm about the use of English, that the church was growing, and that it would not grow if parishioners brought friends and neighbors only to have them not understand a word. He pointed out their Patriarch's emphasis on the fact that there are now more Maronites outside of Lebanon than within. I commented to him afterwords that I probably would not have been drawn into the Byzantine Church had it been entirely in Slavonic. His response included banging his head against the wall
I was there as a Knights of Columbus honor guard. At the last moment, I was handed an icon with the comment, "You're tall! Carry this!" for the entrance procession, so my sword didn't come out until the Anaphora. (And sometime between, the thought hit me that, never having heard it before, I had absolutely no idea how long it would be, and hoped that it would be shorter than St. Basil's
. . . I made it through, though my arm was sure feeling it by the end [When a bishop asks me to salute, I'm sure going to do it . . . an amazing number of priests these days are demanding that the Knights show up for something, then insisting our swords stay outside]).
Anyway, I was certainly impressed by their bishop--and also by the hospitality of the parishioners. Now we need to learn to make those thyme & cheese pizzas. They'll be great for the Great Fast this year . . .
There is a "module" with the actual church; we didn't end up in there--they used the hall, which is larger than most non Roman Catholic churches. I don't think that crowd would have fit in that little building . . .
I was surprised that they had a female alter server.
This makes three Eastern Catholic parishes in town. There is also a bi-ritual mission that still hasn't opened. I think this is easily the largest of the three. (I understand that the Chaldeans are building a parish, too, and that there is an Ethiopian Catholic group that gets a priest about once a month).
There's probably a lot more that I'm forgetting. I had a sword rather than a camera, so I have no pictures to offer.
hawk
