Parish Investigated for Mass Inaccuracies

by Frank O'Brien
Reprinted from Catholic Concerns Weekly

LANSING, MI - A well-known priest in the Diocese of Lansing has taken a sabbatical recently as a result of charges against him alleging severe defamation of the Holy Liturgy. Charges against him include omitting parts of the liturgy, asking the congregation to become highly involved in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and generally showing a lack of seriousness about solemn celebrations.

"He should never be able to celebrate Mass again," said one parish member who wishes to remain nameless.

The Diocese became aware of these alleged actions through the assistance of the religious group Frankly Unwilling to Negotiate (FUN). Chapter president Amy Bullis said that despite the acronym of her group, what she found at her local parish was no laughing matter.

"We have both audio and video evidence that [the priest] has made changes to the Eucharistic Prayer on many occasions," said Bullis. "He has four Eucharistic Prayers to choose from, but he has to go and create one of his own. Can you imagine that?! The genius wanted to incorporate ideas from his provocative homily with words handed down by the tradition of the Saints. He has no right!"

In addition to being charged with adding his own words to the Mass, the priest was also charged with deleting important parts of the Mass.

"I can't remember a hot summer day when we've had the privilege of saying the Nicene Creed," recalled Steve Rzemkovich, vice president of FUN. "I mean, would the Mickey Mouse club not sing the theme song?"

Another charge before the priest is his encouragement of active participation by the laity in the Mass.

Since he came to the parish two years ago, the number of lay readers, Eucharistic ministers, and altar servers has increased. This has left many priests alone at the local senior clergy village with no Communion to dispense. It seems clear that the priest in question would rather have lay people perform the important roles of the Mass.

"This priest is the ultimate slacker," commented Melissa Brown, a new member of FUN and its affiliated teen group: 'What Jesus Wouldn't Do'. "He says that we, the congregation, offer the sacrifice of the Mass and not him. He takes lightly his special powers as a priest."

One power he doesn't take lightly is his power to make changes, however. It was recently discovered that the Most Sacred Holy Communion wafer was not in compliance with Church standards.

"After several weeks of not getting that strange after taste in my mouth, I suspected that someone had tampered with the ingredients of the Host," said Ethel Ruffle, a member of the parish for 60 years. "I have a friend who marches for FUN, and I smuggled him a Host that I was supposed to bring back to the nursing home. He tested it, and as I suspected, there was no Gluten in that Host!"

That's right -- the priest in question cancelled the parish's long standing Host account with Sisters of the Unleavened Bread and went with a company that would provide Gluten-free hosts so that people with Celiac Disease could receive Communion.

"The Form and Matter of the host must remain the same as it was at the original Last Supper," said FUN treasurer Dominic McDonald. "I realize that people who are allergic might feel left out, but not all people are called to partake in the Mass in the same way. Like women, for example."

In all, FUN found 43 inaccuracies in the Masses which had been presided over by the priest in question. Other violations include: giving Communion to a known sinner, a non-Catholic, and a young kid who simply stuck his hands out.

FUN president Amy Bullis says that she hopes the new priest can restore order to the Mass. "All this smiling, handshaking, and singing degrades the sanctity of the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It's time to take back our Church."

Both groups involved -- those 'for' and 'against' the priest being charged -- have come to one conclusion, eloquently stated here by parish member Emily Nearing:
"I, for one, am glad that we have FUN at Mass."

Copyright 2002 by Nick Popadich
All rights reserved.