This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Praise the Lord and pass the chicken wings
Later this morning, I will head to Sunday Mass at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church on
Everything, I mean everything is wonderful about this sacred place. The Gothic architecture. The wood. The gold. The statues. The traditional
No acoustic guitar or Peter, Paul and Mary jazz here.
The gifted Lee Erickson, the best church organist, period, will be at the keyboard, and even without the tremendous choir that now has the summer off, he’ll find a way to make the Sunday experience heavenly.
Lee Erickson, St. Anthony's Music Director and director of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.
Diana at St. Fiacre’s Garden has captured the beauty of St. Anthony’s in photos.
I marvel at newcomers to St. Anthony’s. They gaze in wonderment, necks craning. They sheepishly ask this usher if they can snap a photo before asking in amazement, “You do this every Sunday?”
Newcomers and veteran parishioners alike have been known to stare up at the choir loft during the recessional, refusing to leave until the music and singing have ended. Then they stand, and in a practice not often seen in a Catholic Church unless the newlyweds have just kissed, they applaud.
As a Catholic purist, I’ve been spoiled, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Despite how grand and uplifting St. Anthony’s is, not every seat is filled. And that’s not just a Catholic phenomenon. Filling those pews is a challenge. I am appreciative that my church has not resorted to any bells and whistles to entice greater numbers.
In the town of
The Charlotte Observer reports there will be “recliners in the sanctuary, ESPN highlights on the lobby monitors, and motorcycles and cool cars in the parking lot. And there's more, dude: For its ‘Ultimate Man Day’ festivities - set for the 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. services - Next Level will also make available quality cigars, classic rock music and, at the church fire pit, chicken wings and one-pound smoked turkey legs. And get this: Next Level will purposely shorten its services this Sunday, to 45 minutes.”
That’s not Sunday Mass. That’s a church festival.
If that’s what it takes to get a lazy lump to go to church on Sunday, then he/she is going for the wrong reasons.
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