Reflections on the Divine Renovation

The pews are back! The pews are back and they don’t look quite the same! They look better! They have been refurbished and it shows. They shine a dark brown color that speaks of poverty in a rich way. We are so lucky to have St.Catherine’s as our place of worship. It billows beauty with oxygen for the soul. Our basic color is a very sleek white. It is everywhere except on our objects of art. Those are usually done in bright blues, reds, yellows, purples, violets and a gold that has to be seen to be believed. It is all good. Our Church is something to see now that it has been renovated by Father Anthony Le. Our Church was built in 1940 when we were still under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Archdiocese. I remember when the Archbishop came to Martinez and anointed me and my school friends with the oil of Confirmation. We were confirmed in 1958. In 1962 our Church was made part of the newly formed Oakland Diocese. Our Church had been originally constructed under the Supervision of Arnold Constable an English designer of great renown. He was from England and an Anglican by practice. He studied the Neo Gothic revival style of the mid 19th Century. At St. Catherine’s though he kept the Roman Catholic features of building the Church in the form of a cross while facing east with seven Arch’s across the middle of the Church with pillars on both sides and a high wooden Altar piece which is very Roman Catholic. That is to say, our Crucifixion scene is very upfront and center. Constable who moved from England to Seattle, Washington in the early 20th century, always left no doubt where he was from. The beautiful Church arches he .framed are done in the classic English Tudor style. They are in brown and white with royal emblems. The whole thing is The whole thing is a masterpiece of art set in a parish Church with old world charm. There is nothing like it. Now let’s go back to our pews because I love them. They are soft looking but strong with excellent red kneelers. We need kneelers at St. Catherine’s. because that’s what we do during Mass. We kneel during the Eucharistic prayers . That’s when the whole thing gets quiet except for the Priest who talks to God on our behalf and asks Him to forgive our sins and transform our offering of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. I go with my wife on Sundays. Afterwards we go to hospitality and shoot the bull. It’s all good!