St Barbara Church

Clickish church full of people who won't talk to anyone they don't know.

As another cradel Catholic I found St. Barbara's barely recognizable as a Catholic Church. Upon entering the "church" one is instantly disoriented, as the pews do not face the "front" of the "Church" but instead are turned 90°, facing each other, taking the focus off the Lord, turning the focus of the "Mass" inward upon itself and the "celebrant" , The "Altar is at one end of the middle isle, while the pulpit is located at the opposite end. This allows for a large " theatrical " area in the center of the congratulation. The stained glass windows depict scnes of Barns, trees, local market buildings and eagles. Not Saints, or doctors of the Church mind you. The "Mass" I attended, resembled more of a Baptist revival service or alcoholic anonymous, meeting with the celebrant soliciting shelf identification of visiting parishioners at the beginning of the Mass, and a "sign of peace" that could have been mistaken for a halftime break at a football game. Now, let me tell you about the "chalice" and Patten and sacred shroud. There weren't any. The chalice was made of plastic, and was adorned with images of native American peace pipes, as were the uncovered bowls our Lord was placed in, and the plastic "pitcher", yes the literally had a pitcher to hold the water and the wine, which I think was pre-mixed because I didn't see any co-mingeling before the Consecration. Distribution of Communion looked like a circus, considering the disorienting floorplan, to no fewer than 6 Eucharistic ministers plus the Celebrant distributing Communion to approximately 150 people. There was no traditional, cleansing of the chalice, or anything by the celebrant. The celebrant just took his seat at one end of the circus maximus, while the Eucharist ministers ran around the alter putting things away. There were a lot of things being put away including the Crucifix! Because there is no Crucifix above, behind or near the alter. The Tabernacle was small, made of wood, and I'm not sure if it housed our Lord, because there was no red candle, and NOBODY genuflected in front of it. (Except me). The only thing that resembled a Catholic Church, were the Stations of the Cross on the walls. I left that Mass feeling as if I needed to go to another" real" Catholic Mass, to fulfill my obligation.