Into the Deep FAQs

St. Bernard Church was dedicated the same year as the invention of the microphone in 1876. It would have been designed for the priest to be able to preach from the front and his natural voice to reach the back of the church. The reverberation was helpful to get the sound across the long distance. Once the microphone was introduced, the reverberation of the church made it more difficult to understand the preacher.  Many churches, including our own, installed carpet to absorb the sound and make it easier to understand. However, churches were not intended to be merely functional but structures that lift our souls, hearts, and minds to encounter God through the heavenly liturgies that happen within it. Carpet guides the mind to comfort, such as memories of laying on the floor watching Saturday morning cartoons.  Marble tile lifts the mind to noble ideas such as royalty and yes, the divine. When St. Bernard was designed, they never would have fathomed using carpet just as they wouldn't have installed recliners if they were available. Recently a high end sound system was installed that reduces the reverberation by pointing small speakers within the towers to every area of the church. The computer system supporting the speakers has been updated, tweaked, and tested with all three of us new priests. The technician stated that St. Bernard Church is in his top five of difficult spaces to work with, but that he was able to dial it in to as good as it is going to get on its own.  I say on its own because I understand that it is still difficult to understand us. The next step is to reduce the reverberation further by installing hidden panels to absorb the excess sound. This will have a similar effect as having carpet while keeping the architectural dignity of the worship space. This will take time and money and may be just the next step as we continue to improve the sound quality. We priests are also doing other things to help such as cooling the church further before Mass so that we can shut off the air conditioning at least through the homily, using our lapel microphones rather than the stationary one on the ambo, and trying to speak clearly and slowly. Please be patient as we continue to make updates to improve the sound quality at St. Bernard Church. (Posted on August 31, 2023)

The Code of Canon Law (the law of the Catholic Church) number 1246 begins: "Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation."  Canon 1247 states, "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass.  Moreover, they are to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord's day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body."  Paragraph two of Canon 1248 explains that if it is impossible to participate in the Mass because of a lack of a priest or another grave reason, it is strongly recommended that the faithful "devote themselves to prayer for a suitable time alone, as a family, or, as the occasion permits, in groups of families".

Participation in the Mass requires that a person be physically (and mentally) present while the Mass is being celebrated.  If someone is unable for a grave reason to come to Mass, watching it online can be a good way to "devote themselves to prayer for a suitable time".  For example, if a person is unable to leave their home due to health or age, watching the live stream at 4:30 p.m. Saturday evening helps him keep the sabbath holy.  Watching Mass online is not a substitute for going to Mass nor is it the only way a person is able to devote themselves to prayer to fulfill the strong recommendation if they have a grave reason for not attending in person.  

In our age of internet trolling and videos going viral, I have decided that live streaming the 4:30 p.m. Mass without saving it to the archives is sufficient for the intended purpose of the Church.  It is intended to be a mere tool to help the homebound pray. (Posted August 19, 2023)

While the Watertown parishes are having more financial difficulty than the other parishes within our newly-formed pastorate, Watertown parishes will be tasked to solutionize this concern.  Assets from the other parishes within the pastorate will not be used to make up for their deficit. However, a Catholic school is part of the mission of a parish, so when we combine into one, single parish family, the whole parish, including the churches outside of Watertown, will help fund our parish Catholic school. A new name for the school will reflect this collaboration and will replace the current name, “Watertown Catholic School.” The churches within our pastorate will maintain their current names, but St. Gabriel Parish will no longer exist. My hope is that we will have children from all our churches attending our parish Catholic school! (Posted August 14, 2023)

We love our country and all those who have made sacrifices to defend her and our flag that represents them. And we love the Vatican, which represents the Catholic Church that our very Lord established. However, the sanctuaries in our churches don’t just represent heaven, but heaven literally comes down during Mass and Jesus is literally made present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. Angels and saints are present and are worshiping our Lord at every Mass. We love our Church and Country, but heaven is far above anything of this world, and our churches should reflect that. (Posted August 4, 2023)

St. Bernard properties include the newly remodeled church, the historical parish rectory and youth center and the private residence located across from the Watertown Catholic School – St. Bernard Campus.  The residence had been rented as a private home for several years.  After the renters had departed, Fr. Vince was tasked with the necessary safety and security updates before the home could be used as the intended residence for the pastorate priest, which will be used by Fr. Tim.  These updates included the replacement of the leaking roof, fencing to define lot lines and sidewalk repairs to 12 broken sidewalk squares required to maintain safe public walkways.  Most of these expenses were paid for by a grant from the Diocese of Madison from an overage of the 2022 Annual Catholic Appeal designated for the pastorates' transition. The sidewalk repairs are being reimbursed by an insurance claim, leaving only the expense of the $1,000 deductible.  Priest housing is a topic that will be further discussed in the Into the Deep planning.  Please stay tuned for more information.  (Posted August 2, 2023)

We’ve almost completed a full month in our new pastorate and things are moving along! I’m sure you’ve felt some of the growing pains and I wanted you to know that we priests are
feeling it, too. I compare our experience to trying to drink from a fire hose or walking into a tidal wave.
 
Our Watertown Catholic budget for this year was for a $250,000 deficit. I was tasked with postponing needed maintenance and forced to make the extremely difficult decision to
eliminate one of our two director of religious education positions. With all the commotion within my first couple of weeks, I forgot an important aspect of being an administrator, and that is to show appreciation for those who create our team. Shell McFarland has been an important ambassador for our Catholic Youth. Her work with our religious education
students and her vision for the youth center has been an important part of our community.
I pray her knowledge and dedication will continue to be shared in other ways, so when you see her, let her know how much she is appreciated! (Posted July 28, 2023)