Beware the Ides of March

I first wrote about my experiences at, and love for, St. Augustine Catholic Church in the Treme, back about a month ago. In the post immediately previous to this, I wrote about the incredible service of music and word and faith that took place on Sunday with Father LeDoux and members of the Marsalis family on their various instruments. At that time there was much hope in the congregation that, when an answer came from the New Orleans Archdiocese on Monday, it would be a positive word; the church, as it is presently known, would be saved.

The news came down on Monday and that news was not good. As planned, the church will remain open for services on Sunday, but the parish will be merged with another parish and Father LeDoux will be reassigned. Like so much else in this town since Katrina, it's about politics, not real life. I'm going to say some more about that on Washington's Cousin, but it's going to take me a little bit of time to process my feelings into a cogent hermeneutic.

Yesterday afternoon and evening many in the congregation joined together for a prayer vigil at the church, next to the Tomb of the Unknown Slave. And pray they did... and sing they did... and cry they did... but the "greater church" has made it's decision. The honourable men of the New Orleans Archdiocese claim that it is for the good of all, but you'd be hard pressed to tell that from the families and friends who have attended this first African-American Roman Catholic Church for their whole lives. A man on Sunday told me that Sidney Beche had been baptized there... "and ME," he added after the fact. He went on to point out that slave families had once sat on the exact same pew where I was sitting and he told the story with an obvious deep love, accompanied by the biggest smile I've ever seen in my whole life. St. Augustine's is an amazing interacial, multi-generational mix of spirit and music and history and truth. As my newfound friend on the back pew said, "it's the way the WHOLE WORLD should be!" Indeed!

I have lived my life in a perilous and obsessive relationship with the church. I have been in many churches looking for precisely what he was describing and, while I have come close once or twice, I have NEVER fully found it... at least not until I walked through the doors of St. Augustine.

On this day - The Ides of March - at St. Augustine, like in much of the rest of New Orleans, what is of true value is being ignored in exchange for what is practical and expedient, but not really facilitative or effective.

"If you have tears, prepare to shed them now."