Emphatic Priest

I went to Mass the other day at St. Hedwig in Detroit. It was funny.

Oh, everything went all right until the very end. But I think the priest had an appointment and was running late. Yet the choir was singing a hymn and apparently intended to see it through all six or eight verses.

From the altar, Father waved at the choir loft, clearly an indication he was ready to wrap things up. The singing continued. He waved more emphatically, as if trying to catch the attention of a far off friend or a New York City cab. The song went on, and very well, I'll concede.

Father next made the cut sign. He ran his pointer finger across his neck, slowly and deliberately. He really did. And the song finally stopped. I think it just ended, but I'm sure Father took it as a victory.

I've seen more unusual endings to a Church service.

Nah, I haven't.

Church hymn funny

We hear all kinds of hymns in Church, some memorable, many forgettable, and perhaps even a few which simply don't fall off the tongue well at all. And some, not that I'm an expert in religious music, which are pretty easily interpreted by a lay person as to content and meaning. One such hymn which is easy to sing and has the proper message for a God-fearing institution is All Are Welcome. 

The basic refrain is All are welcome! All are welcome! All are welcome in this place. It's exactly the kind of music and singing one should expect in Church. And I dare say, and again I'm no sage on Church music, that it's pretty obviously a processional hymn, one to be used as people congregate, as they come into the Church. You would use it at the start of a liturgy, wouldn't you?

I know I would. Yet the organist (I'm sorry, music minister, and I suppose I do mean that just a bit snidely, for reasons I may get into at another time) at a Church we once attended played All Are Welcome as the recessional, that is, as we left Mass. He did this routinely. Maybe I'm missing something, but it never seemed appropriate.

Or, as my family took to singing it, perhaps a little quietly so as not to be too heretical, All are Welcome! All are Welcome! All are Welcome, leave this place! 

I think it's funny, in part because Snarky Marty thinks the change clever, as the adjusted lines feel more appropriate to leaving rather than arriving at Church. But if this qualifies me for extra time in purgatory, please help my cause and sing it at the beginning of my funeral. Thank you.