St Mary's Catholic Church, Waco TX

Emailed this church twice a couple weeks apart to ask questions about possibly joining and never got a response to either email. I'll go elsewhere.

If this is the one with Rev. Geleney then I had the most awful experience. I tried it out back in 2013 and this Pastor rolled his eyes at me. He mocked me! And some of the congregation were so prejudiced. One woman looked at me as if I had booboo on me. I hope they are more welcoming to people of color now. Deacon Poole was nice though, and a few others. The Pastor’s wife was nice. And there was another guy, a member of the clergy who turned his back to me, obviously to ignore me. I sincerely hope it’s different now.

We had strange vibes as we walked in and 2 ladies in the vestibule were gossiping about some other parishioners. It got worse when we got to our pew. The tabernacle was nowhere to be seen and a decorative metal structure (a fence?) was behind the altar blocking the area where the tabernacle should have been. We finally realized the tabernacle was at a side altar out of our view. At Communion time, a lay person brought a chalice of hosts (hoisted over her head) to the altar and passed the chalice to a Deacon. With a Deacon and a Priest standing around you wouldn’t think a lay person would need to be involved. At the end of Mass, the Priest began making remarks declaring that a Covid vaccine was an act of charity and there was no reason to get a letter for religious objections. What happened to our God given free will? We left at this point as we had heard more than enough.

Unfortunately, this Church lacks the piety of our fathers. I believe It has been compromised by modernity both in liturgy and decoration. Although, I will say that the priest gave an excellent orthodox homily. In honesty, I did question myself a time or two before hearing the canon, if I was at a Protestant service or a Catholic Mass. I hope one day in my lifetime I can see this beautiful Church return to the Tradition of our fathers. The people seemed lovely, the liturgy I can not recommend.

I go there and my sister works there as a alter sever and they treat everyone like family every one should come

I really dislike giving a place of worship a 1 star rating but this church really bothered me a lot when I attended and overheard a few of the members complaining about how some of the middle aged people attending mass dressed in polo shirts and khaki pants. It was certainly unchristian to judge someone simply by what they wore. They had no idea if the person was going through tough times financially, has a busy schedule or simply doesn't believe in wearing expensive suits for Mass.

In addition to that I also noticed for a good while that a couple was making another person very uncomfortable based on where they sat in the sanctuary and the person simply walked out not to come back for services.

I went to St Mary's school from 1st to 8th. Havent been here since i left school in '81. But it still a good church