ROAMIN'
CATHOLIC
By Charles A. Coulombe
ARTICLES
LETTERS
NEWS
Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
HOLY FAMILY, WILMINGTON
Worship With the Little Drummer Boy
Holy Family Church at Sanford Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington is a large, primarily Hispanic parish. Arriving early, at 11:30 a.m., for the noon English Mass on December 31, 2000 (the Feast of the Holy Family), I experienced part of the overflow crowd from the 11 o'clock Spanish Mass. There was as large a crowd outside the church as in it, most listening intently to the speakers which carried the Mass to them. I took a quick look inside, but saw little except the long hair of the altar girls.Holy Family is an oddly shaped building: the altar is off-center with one side of the church larger than the other. Over the altar table is a beautiful wooden baldachino surmounted by statues of the Holy Family of Nazareth, who are also represented in a lovely round stained glass window in the choir loft. There is a side shrine, to which many petitioners resorted, with the Virgin of Guadalupe and a large statue of the Sacred Heart. On the larger side of the church was a very big creche, and in front of the altar table was a large Baby Jesus in a manger. The church was about half full, with a mostly Latino crowd of all ages.
As the celebrant, Father Ramon Palomera, processed in with a single deacon in attendance, the organist up in the choir loft acted as lead vocalist in a rendition of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." With a voice reminiscent of Bob Dylan's, the vocalist was assisted by the rest of the choir.
Father Palomera wished us all a merry Christmas; but, perhaps, not pleased with the response, he said, smiling, "you don't sound like you mean it!" His tone was quite welcoming. At the Gloria, he lifted up the Infant Jesus in his hands, and then walked down the aisle, presenting Him to the children on either side to be kissed. Once he had resumed his place in the worship space, a woman in slacks came up from the audience and read the lesson and epistle from the lectern; she then half genuflected/half curtseyed to the tabernacle and returned to her place. The alleluia being sung, the deacon read the Gospel.
Then Father Palomera began his homily. "It is the feast of the Holy Family, whom this parish is named after. And we have to accept our families, however imperfect." This was the main theme of his talk, and he pointed out various examples of dysfunctional families, and how the siblings had later reconciled, more or less. This ability to eventually accept each other was another thing needed in family life, he assured us. "Even if you don't have a family at home, you have one here. These are the people you see every week." He talked about the need to pray for one's family, and the need to forgive them.
The offertory hymn was "The Little Drummer Boy," after which Father Palomera offered Eucharistic Prayer II. He elevated the Sacred Species with great devotion, genuflecting each time (although this was the only time during the Mass he or the deacon did so). The congregation then sang The "Echo Our Father" (which I had not heard since the 1970s). A moderate number of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist appeared to help distribute Communion. The choir sang a medley of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," with some other tune whose verses ended with the same phrase. About a third of the people, of all ages, received on the tongue. Some lingered to pray at the creche en route back to their seats.
Communion finished, the choir led us in "Silent Night." Father came from round the table with the deacon in tow, and said, "let's sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!" He then led us in "Happy Birthday." That hymn concluded, Father Palomera initiated the applause, after which he and the deacon recessed.