My lifelong parish, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, Milwaukee, WI

Stunningly beautiful, St. Anthony’s offers a liturgy that’s high quality. It’s not uncommon for visitors to briefly stop in just to take pictures and videos.

Last spring parishioners hoping to attend the weekly 10:00 Sunday Mass resplendent with beautiful organ and choir were met with locked church doors with a sign stating there would be no 10:00 Mass until further notice.

What happened? The Reader’s Digest: The young pastor got upset that many churchgoers were refusing to wear masks. He himself is a maskaholic. Crying to the archdiocese the priest got to shut down the popular Mass.

Unfortunately there was an element of race to this story. It was learned that the Columbian pastor was upset with a handful of 10:00 Mass patrons who criticized him. They happened to be white. The 10:00 is comprised of predominantly white fannies in the pews.

So for four consecutive weeks the church locked down but only for that one particular Mass.

Eventually the Mass returned but people found elsewhere to go on a Sunday morning. They’ve never come back. Attendance has plummeted along with weekly collections.

On this Sunday today’s read is from Emmy Griffin. Here’s a brief excerpt:

In spite of lockdowns, some churches kept their doors open. And that has made all the difference.

Read it all here.