St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church

I had the occasion to travel to the Ann Arbor area over a long weekend. As such, I had the opportunity to attend Mass on both Saturday and Sunday morning. On Saturday, I attended Mass at St Thomas the Apostle in Ann Arbor. The Mass was reverent, licit, valid and orthodox…and very well attended for a Saturday morning. Quite a nice surprise! Due to extremely limited parking in the vicinity of St Thomas, I decided to seek out another church for Mass on Sunday and decided on the 11:30 AM Mass at St Andrew the Apostle in Saline. I have to say, I was very disappointed, actually very disgusted by what I witnessed. The Mass was celebrated by the weekend assistant. Immediately following the Sign of the Cross, which marks the start of Holy Mass, he launched into a monologue about how cold it was and how he had to dig out his coat, closing with, “Come on, man!” Following this, he changed the words of every single prayer of the sacred liturgy that is not said along with parishioners (i.e., Sign of the Cross, Nicene Creed, Our Father). There were words added, words omitted, and words changed, but no prayer was left unmolested. Also, for some reason, he felt the need, prior to each reading and the gospel, to provide a very sophomoric commentary. As a matter of fact, prior to the first reading he pointed out that Wisdom was referred to as “her”, and he said that was appropriate since he thinks "the Catholic Church tends to be too paternalistic." Seriously? Most egregious, though was his treatment of Eucharistic Prayer II and his behavior during the consecration. He added, omitted and changed words throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, absolutely butchering it. Then, immediately following the words of consecration, instead of elevating the newly consecrated Holy Eucharist, he unceremoniously pitched it in the ciborium like he was tossing out a piece of trash. To his credit, at least he spoke the words of consecration of both species exactly as they are supposed to be said, so I do believe the sacraments were valid. Prior to the Our Father, he said words that didn’t even come close to resembling what he was supposed to say and then urged everyone to hold hands. This is a protestant carry over and not in accordance with the rubrics of the GIRM. Does he not know that? Finally, at the end of Mass he specifically said he would omit the closing prayer and substitute the Witness to Hope prayer (bishop's service appeal fundraising prayer) on the prayer cards in the pews. I don't believe he has the authority to make that call. My perception of this priest's behavior was one of a performance and he was the star of the show. It certainly appeared to be all about him. It should be all about Christ. Instead, he remade the liturgy in his own image. Absolutely appalling. I emailed the pastor to let him know of the abuses I witnessed, but have yet to receive a response. His silence speaks volumes. If I find myself in Ann Arbor again, I will be attending Mass at St Thomas the Apostle. The parking problem is a small matter compared to the abuses I witnessed at St Andrew.
1 9 years ago (23-11-2017)

Great church with an awesome pastor! Stop by if you're in the area, I really enjoyed their noon mass.
5 9 years ago (16-10-2017)

Nice church
5 8 years ago (06-04-2018)

Seems to be flying by the seat of their pants.
3 9 years ago (11-11-2017)

Great service, Highly recommend the 5:30 pm sunday mass
5 11 years ago (18-01-2016)