Not to be taken for granted

Bees at work while the summer lasts     

It occurred to me, while at Mass last Sunday, that the kneelers were in lots of use with people in and out and up and down. In many Roman Catholic churches, the pews are positioned closely enough that people often need to step onto or over the kneelers when passing along a row – this even in spite of churches being far from packed in most places in Ireland, at least. 

Now, kneelers do not clean themselves and neither do aisle passages, seats, access porches, sanctuary carpets, altar covers, chalice palls, purificators, corporals or lavabo towels.  The bills for insurance, heating, light and water do not automatically pay themselves from year to year and church buildings need to be maintained and renovated.  The holding of a Mass necessitates that someone opens the church, puts out the required vestments or other items, lights the altar candles, switches on the microphones,

locates the correct missal or reading material for the reader and makes sure that the toilet at the back of the building is in an acceptable state.  There may be a choir or youth ministry or welcome team involved depending on the parish. 

All of this takes a lot of time, effort and money.  To keep a parish or diocese running requires a lot of helping hands from among congregations that are often smaller or older than was the case a few decades ago. As in many communities, work is mainly done by a few of the same and when the demographics are hard, as is often the case in rural areas, the volunteers are not replaced and particular activities or initiatives fall by the way.

These observations do not even refer to the larger issue of the availability of priests, whose sacramental ministry is essential for the celebration of the Eucharist. Every time we attend Mass or visit the Blessed Sacrament in a church in between services we can take a lot for granted. We should be thankful for what we have and pray that the Lord of the Harvest sends more labourers – lay and ordained – to the harvest.