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St. Joseph Catholic Church

1875 S C R 700 W
North Vernon, IN 47265

Rev. Jonathan P. Meyer, Administrator

Office Hours:

Monday Office closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30 AM till 12:30 PM

St. Joseph Rectory Phone: 812-346-4783
Fax: 812-352-9033

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Question: I noticed that you sing a lot at Mass. It reminds me of the old high Mass. Why do you sing so much?

It has been said Singing is Praying Twice. As Christians we are called to be people of prayer and if you can pray twice, even better! Mass is the highest and best form of prayer. Mass is the worship of God Himself. At every Mass Christ Jesus Himself offers His Body and Blood to the Eternal Father. This is different and better than any other form of worship. It is not us worshiping God alone; but us participating in the worship of the Son to His Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. We actually enter into their worship. It is not so much about what we do, as it is what we partake in. Thus our every action and word spoken or sung is of vital importance, it is participation in something truly divine. Because this is the case, Holy Mass is the best place to pray and sing. It has become the norm to sing hymns and acclamations at Mass. Hymns are the songs that are sung at the beginning of the procession, during the preparation of the altar, communion and at the recessional. The acclamations are the parts of the Mass that the lay faithful “normally” sing: the Alleluia, the Psalm, the Holy Holy, the memorial acclamation etc. These have become normative. What you are recognizing as different is the dialogue between the priest and people that I am now singing. Why do I do it, because I am supposed to. Musicam Sacram, the document on the sacred music from the Second Vatican Council, states what should be sung at a “Sung Mass,” The following belong to the First Degree, to be sung, the greeting of the priest together with the reply of the people; the prayer, the acclamations at the Gospel, the prayer over the offerings, the preface with its dialogue and the sanctus, the final doxology of the canon, the Lord’s prayer with its introduction; the pax domini, the prayer after the communion, the formulas of dismissal.” Notice how the First degree does not even include the hymns that we normally sing; those are actually found in the third degree. Singing these “new parts” is of great importance according to the church. This is done to emphasize and highlight what we are saying/singing. It is done to lift our minds and hearts to God, to make Mass a more sacred experience and assist us to enter into the mystery of the divine sacrifice of the Mass. It does make Mass a little longer but hopefully it will help us to concentrate on what we are saying, think of God, and make us realize that Mass is about entering into heavenly worship. May we sing with the angels and saints here on earth so that we may be ready and in good form when we one day reach heaven….

Question-Why do we pray to Mary and have statues of her?

I have some protestant friends who think we worship her. Protestants will often quote 1Timothy 2:5 as a way to say that we should not pray to Mary. It reads as follows: “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus.” If one reads this out of context it seems that we should not pray to/through Mary. But keep reading the entire text of 1Timothy. 1Timothy 2:5-8 “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time. For this I was appointed preacher and apostle (I am speaking the truth, I am not lying), teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.” This makes it quite clear that Jesus is the mediator but there can be co-mediators- People who mediate with Jesus on our behalf through praying with the lifting up of holy hands. Mary, being the Mother of God is the best co-mediator. Catholics ask Mary to pray to Jesus for us. She is interceding, in the way a family member, friend, or priest, might pray for you or me. Even in the Rosary we ask Mary to "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." And we think she’s quite good at that; after all she is the mother of God. An Evangelical friend once told me, concerning the Blessed Mother Mary, "When I go to a doctor I don't want to talk to his mother." That is an interesting analogy. However, this Evangelical talks regularly with his pastor and asks the pastor to pray for him. The pastor doesn't turn him away by saying, "Don't talk to me! Don't ask me to pray for you! Go straight to Jesus!" The pastor has compassion and "intercedes" (stands in the gap) for him. He prays for the congregation and for individuals. He has compassion and wants to assist people in their relationship with Christ. Imagine a world where no one prayed for each other because we did not want to step on Jesus’ toes….AHH! Praying and interceding for each other, and asking others to pray for us in no way diminishes Jesus' role as the Lord and Savior; in fact it strengthens it! Concerning the images of Mary that we keep in our homes and churches I like to explain it in this fashion. How many of us have pictures and images of our relatives in our homes and wallets or purses? We do not worship these people; we do not break the 1st commandment (Exodus 20:4-5) by having images of loved ones and family in our homes. So why would having an image of Mary or one of the saints be a breaking of the first commandment? Are not these individuals part of our family. I consider Mary to be my mother, in fact one of my closest friends (John 19:23-27.) Having an image of them is the same as having a picture of a family member or loved one. It calls to mind their life, their love and my relationship with them. All the more let us ask our MOTHER to intercede for us…now and at the hour of our death!