{"id":180,"date":"1999-04-03T14:22:00","date_gmt":"1999-04-03T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=180"},"modified":"2014-02-02T10:42:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T15:42:21","slug":"standing-room-only-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=180","title":{"rendered":"Standing room only in church"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"<\/a>by Robert Gillis<\/span>
\nPublished in The Foxboro Reporter April 1999<\/span><\/p>\n

Palm Sunday mass, and Saint Mary’s is filled beyond capacity this afternoon. There is literally a standing room only crowd. I’m late again, so I’m also standing.<\/p>\n

This particular mass features the longest gospel of the year — the Passion of Jesus Christ, which tells the story from the Last Supper to the day after the crucifixion.<\/p>\n

My mind wanders back to many years ago at Saint Kevin’s in Dorchester, when we’d all stand for the long gospel, and then afterward Father Kierce would say a seemingly longer sermon and then read the announcements from the church bulletin.<\/p>\n

But this afternoon, Father Steve — bless him — has asked us to all sit, and the church family listens intently to the gospel. Kids fuss, but people are listening. Participating. Being part of a church community.<\/p>\n

When I left church, I was thinking about how wonderful it is that the place was so crowded today. I was also reflecting that over these last few weeks I’ve been re-reading some of my old columns, and while the sentiments were always genuine, I feel that some (especially the earliest ones) were very preachy and a little too philosophical. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but being TOO philosophical can get a little tiresome, I suppose. At worst, it can seem insincere or unbelievable. I’ve tried to make an effort to tone that down a little.<\/p>\n

So I didn’t want to be too profound, but I had to comment on what I saw at that mass.<\/p>\n

Here in Foxboro, people are going to church in droves. Not just Christmas and Easter, but most weekends. The town serves many faiths and has a very strong church-going community. The annual Ecumenical service and newspaper-page filled with church activities is a great indication of what the Church means to us all.<\/p>\n

Don’t want to be preachy, but I think that’s fantastic. To see so many people involved in church, to see so many bringing their kids, to see so many boys (and now girls) acting as alter servers — well, it just gives me a shot of hope that there are some things RIGHT with the world. In a time when interest in vocations is falling and there are fewer priests and nuns, it’s good to know that so many still turn to the church.<\/p>\n

End of speech. Happy Easter, all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Robert Gillis Published in The Foxboro Reporter April 1999 Palm Sunday mass, and Saint Mary’s is filled beyond capacity this afternoon. There is literally a standing room only crowd. I’m late again, so I’m also standing. This particular mass features the longest gospel of the year — the Passion of Jesus Christ, which tells […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic","category-foxboro"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t