Sacred Heart Basilica

Location: Craigie Avenue, Timaru
Denomination: Catholic
Website: www.chch.catholic.org.nz
Church Services: Sundays 8am, 10am and 7pm
Groups:

My own visit

Date: 13 March 2005

Service: 10 am Mass

The building: Probably the most impressive church building in Timaru. Red bricks and whitestone provide a striking pattern. Two towers that end in rounded spires flank the massive façade. The cupola over the sanctuary rises towards the back of the church. Wide stairs lead towards the massive entrance doors past high pillars supporting the entrance gallery.

The many arched windows give a dignified, yet fluent and welcoming impression.

The décor: Columns stand under arches, before altars, with ledges running along walls of pillars under stained-glass windows and chandeliers hanging from cupolas and galleries, sanctuaries and aisles, with tiles and plastered decorations covering walls and ceiling. Although the church is not crowded by objects or images, the whole architecture overwhelms the eyes, being always drawn to new things. Various shades of green dominate throughout the church, though the carpet is a dark blue with tiles covering floors in the passages. The stations of the cross are marked along the walls by carvings telling the story of Christ’s journey through Jerusalem. The simple wooden pews are not very comfortable at all and there was no kneeling rail where I sat.

Smiling face at the door: Again I was a bit late, so that the procession already lined up to walk along the aisle towards the front of the church, eyed me cautiously when I slipped into the church.

Start of service: Supported by a great organ sound priests and servers processed from the back to the front of the church.

Congregation (approx) 0-12: 15; 13-20: 10; 20-40: 15; 40-60: 30; 60+: 70

Liturgy: There was lots of liturgy. Some of the words were displayed on the screen by data projector. Other responses were just known by the congregation – or at least part of it. It seemed to me that people in one area seemed to participate more fully in the liturgy and the singing than people around me. Especially for communion the liturgy was quite elaborate but included also the great thanksgiving which is part of the tradition of so many churches. Some of the wording was a bit different from that known to Anglican or other Protestant churches.

Music: The organ playing was quite good and I enjoyed especially the postlude. During the distribution of the wafers the organ played as well. It also suitably accompanied the songs and hymns.

Both modern praise and worship songs and hymns were sung. Often the words were slightly changed to focus on the sacrificial character of the life of Christ or our life, or highlight the sacrifice of the Mass. There were some sung responses, again often to a modern setting.

The words for these songs and hymns were displayed by data projector on the large screen at the front of the basilica.

Instruments: Organ

Children’s Talk: No special children’s talk, but the priest apologised to parents who might have been expecting a children’s liturgy. Because of other commitments he had not come round to prepare one.

Sermon:
-Length: 4 minutes.
-Method: After the soaring celebration of the mass in liturgy, the homily seemed to be nearly conversational, delivered concisely and yet as someone sharing with the congregation.
-Bible reading: John 11:1-27
-Content: Jesus did not come quickly on hearing the message about Lazarus. He handled it his way and in his time. Not only was Jesus going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but he would give the apostles reason to believe in him.

God always answers our prayers, but not always as we want them answered. Sometimes we defeat ourselves by praying in a half-hearted fashion as if we do not believe in the value of praying. We should be like a child who takes a broken toy to someone he trusts.

Other Highlights: The Eucharist is the highlight of the mass. It is celebrated with great symbolism and liturgy. The people participate through their said and sung responses and by their position: kneeling, sitting and standing as the liturgy unfolds. They then go forward to receive the host.

Wrap-up: A few people leave once they have received the host. This is a phenomenon I have noticed in a few catholic churches. After the blessing, the priest reads some of the notices drawing attention to particular events in church life. A hymn and procession of priests and servers concludes the service. The organ plays a postlude while people file out of church, many making the sign of the cross with holy water as they leave the building.

After the service: There was quite a crowd gathering around the two priests waiting to talk to them, so that I decided not to use up their time with more questions, when their attention was clearly needed by the congregation. Some people stayed around to chat with each other a bit in the sunlight, but most went off to their cars or walked off down the road.

Quality of morning tea: There was no invitation to a morning tea, nor could I see any sign of it.

Reflection: I was impressed by the dignity and reverence of the occasion and that seems to be the aim of the mass. Also some of the theology expressed in the sermon and liturgy is quite sound. And from my own study, I can appreciate catholic theology, though there may be some problematic aspects.

Nevertheless it did seem a bit removed from the individual person in part. Similarly the churchgoers seemed to participate only for their own individual spiritual nourishment with not much interaction between people. That may just be the mark of a big church, but the question is how you build community in such a church. Mass is clearly not just a time of hanging out together, but unless there is some sharing, it can lose its purpose of binding the people of God together.