Catholic Features: Priest Makes Ordinary Time Extraordinary

by Barbara Hamilton
God Gazette Features Editor

It is the longest season on the Church's calendar and Father Paul Meadows hates it. "Ordinary time is just so blasé," he said in his living room at the rectory of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Davison, MI.

The room was anything but blasé though. Fr. Meadows loves to decorate and has already remodeled the rectory seven times in his five-year tenure. Looking around the room, it's easy to see why. The place is filled to capacity with movie posters and other such memorabilia representing movies ranging from The Music Man to Indiana Jones.

"That, over there, is one of my favorites," he said, pointing to a huge curio cabinet with enough lights to illuminate a small city. "I have here the actual fake eyelashes worn by Miss Barbara Streisand when she accepted her Oscar for Funny Girl. 'Hello gorgeous.'"

Fr. Meadows spent hours showing me his impressive collection. "Every parish I've been to has helped me add to my collection. I got those Judy Garland shot glasses from St. Wenceslaus in Frankenmuth. Over here you can see my signed Neil Diamond glitter shirt. Well... some of this name has come off a little bit. Sweaty sequins - what are you going to do, ya know?"

And indeed it is Fr. Meadows' clothing collection that has given him the nickname "Brother Love." Fr. Meadows has closets full of vestments that are fit for a superstar!"

Turn on your Heart Light

"Back in the 70's, when I was ordained, many nuns had decided to change their traditional habits in favor of more practical and trendy clothes. Priests, on the other hand, though they got rid of the long black cassock on the streets, still wore outdated styles at Mass. Not only are these drab, but they're quite restrictive."

Fr. Meadows said he needed to be freed. He was working at a Spanish Mission out in California and one "Hot August Night" he had the opportunity to see Neil Diamond live, in concert. The experience changed his life forever. "I looked up at that stage as Neil sang 'Solitary Man' and thought to myself, 'Hey! This is the perfect song for me. I'm a priest. I'm a solitary man!'"

As soon as he got back to the mission that night, Fr. Meadows began making his first sequined stole. And by Easter that year, he had created a completely sequined chasuble.
"I remember it like it was just yesterday," he recalled. "We processed up to the altar in the candle light. As we sang the Gloria, the lights were turned on one by one and when they hit my vestments, 'Bam!' What a sign of resurrection, huh?! It worked perfectly with my 'You are the Light of the World' homily."

From that day on, Fr. Meadows has used his flare with fashion to bring excitement and passion back to the Mass. "I mean, this is a celebration," he said. "I say, wear your New Year's Eve outfit to Mass every week - that's the kind of God we have! Every Sunday should be like a New Year for us!"

It's Not Easy Being Green

Many parishioners aren't sure whether they are at Mass or at a Las Vegas show when they enter Fr. Meadows' church. He even tries to make ordinary time extraordinary. "Imagine having to wear green to your job every day except at Christmas and Easter time," he said. "Boring! So I've taken my green ordinary time vestments and with a little help from my Bedazzler, I've got a completely different outfit to wear every Sunday."

During the 80s, Fr. Meadows really enjoyed adorning himself with buttons. As singers came together to double their efforts to stop world hunger with the song "We are the World," Fr. Meadows' button collection also doubled in size. "I remember I had a stole with a button from each singer of "We are the World," Meadows said with pride. "We also met our goal for the mission that year." The good father added a button to his stole every time $100 was raised, as a way to help the people see how much progress they had made toward reaching their Parish goal.

Even today, he still wears his "God is my Copilot" button. "I was sad to see the button trend go, but I'm glad that rhinestones are coming back in style," he said.

The Solitary Man Remains True

Some have said that Fr. Meadows' style is a little over the top and that a priest shouldn't try to be so worldly. But their comments don't get Fr. Meadows down. "Hey, as Neil Diamond said, 'I am said.' It's our Church. Let's have a little fun with it! Where is it said that religion has to be boring?"

It certainly isn't said at St. Francis of Assisi in Davison, where one lone Pastor strives to make Ordinary Time extraordinary!

Copyright 2001-2008 by Nick Popadich
All rights reserved.