Daily Mass Fr Jack Sheaffer: How a Local Priest Ignited a Liturgical Revolution
In a modest parish hall on the edge of Pittsburgh, Father Jack Sheaffer quietly altered the rhythm of Catholic life in America. His decision to offer a daily Mass in 1969, long before the practice was common in ordinary parishes, set in motion a movement that would help shape the Church’s return to tradition. What began as a handful of commuters praying before dawn has grown into a nationwide network of Catholics seeking stability and substance at the altar. This is the story of how one priest’s stubborn fidelity turned a simple habit into a spiritual landmark.
Sheaffer was appointed to St. John Fisher Parish in Wexford, Pennsylvania, in the late 1960s, a time when the upheaval of the post–Vatican II era was reshaping American parishes. While many communities were dismantling altars and abandoning Latin, Sheaffer chose a different path. He reinstated the Traditional Latin Mass and committed himself to celebrating it daily, long before the 1984 indult or the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum opened the door wider.
In those early years, attendance was minimal. The faithful were skeptical, and many questioned the wisdom of keeping the old rite alive in an age of experimentation. Sheaffer’s response was simple: consistency over spectacle. He told a reporter, “The Mass is not a show; it is the work of God.” That conviction attracted a small but steady stream of laypeople who were hungry for reverence and coherence in their worship.
By the early 1970s, word had spread. Neighboring parishes began sending curious parishioners, then entire families, to join the daily celebration. The parking lot that once hosted only a few cars on weekdays slowly filled with vehicles from across the diocese and beyond. Sheaffer welcomed them all, offering catechesis alongside the liturgy. He understood that tradition without teaching would wither, so he paired the Mass with explanations of the prayers, the gestures, and the theology behind them.
What started as a local curiosity soon became a model for the Church. Other priests, seeing the fruit of Sheaffer’s labor, began to reintroduce the old rite in their own communities. In 1990, the Diocese of Pittsburgh officially recognized the parish’s commitment to the Traditional Latin Mass, not as a special exception, but as a standard option for the faithful. The shift was subtle but seismic, marking one of the earliest endorsements of liturgical pluralism in a largely experimental era.
Sheaffer’s influence extended far beyond the walls of St. John Fisher. He became a mentor to younger clergy who sought to understand how to preserve the sacred in a secular age. He trained altar servers, instructed catechists, and collaborated with neighboring parishes to coordinate feast day celebrations. His approach was never ideological; it was pastoral. He believed that beauty in worship could lead souls to God, and he was determined to give people that beauty, even when it was unpopular.
One of the defining features of the St. John Fisher community under Sheaffer was its emphasis on family. Unlike many parishes where children were discouraged from attending Mass, his daily Mass became a place where entire households learned to pray together. Parents brought their infants, teenagers, and grandparents, creating a culture of intergenerational worship that is rare in modern Catholic life. Over time, this continuity produced a unique community identity, one rooted not in trends but in centuries of practice.
Over the decades, Sheaffer witnessed the pendulum swing back toward tradition across the Church. The rise of the ordinariate, increased priestly formation for the old rite, and growing hunger for the Mass of the ages all echoed the vision he had defended in a single parish. When Pope Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum in 2007, allowing wider access to the 1962 Missal, many saw it as a validation of a movement that had long been dismissed as marginal. For Sheaffer, it was simply the recognition of what had always been true: the desire for the sacred did not disappear with the reforms of Vatican II.
Today, St. John Fisher Parish remains a pilgrimage site for Catholics seeking a deeper liturgical life. People come from across the country to experience the same Mass that once began as a quiet act of fidelity in an uncertain time. Sheaffer, now in his later years, has stepped back from active ministry, but the foundation he laid continues to sustain the community. His successor carries forward the same principles, ensuring that the legacy of daily Mass remains rooted in reverence rather than nostalgia.
The broader significance of Sheaffer’s work lies in its quiet defiance of religious consumerism. In an age when churches often compete for members with programs and gimmicks, he chose the stark beauty of the liturgy. He trusted that if the Church offered the Mass as it had always been offered, the faithful would respond. History suggests he was right. The lines outside St. John Fisher on ordinary weekdays are longer than in many parish churches on Sundays, a testament to the enduring power of tradition.
Sheaffer’s story also highlights the crucial role of lay initiative in the life of the Church. He did not wait for permission to do what he believed was right. Instead, he acted, knowing that obedience to the liturgy is itself a form of obedience to the Church. In doing so, he reminded priests and laity alike that renewal often begins not with a decree from above, but with a humble priest celebrating Mass alone at an altar.
In the end, the legacy of Daily Mass Fr. Jack Sheaffer is not measured in statistics or institutional milestones, but in the countless souls formed in the school of the liturgy. His life invites a simple question: what would it mean for every parish to become, in its own way, a place where the faithful could return, day after day, to the source and summit of their faith? The answer may already be visible in the steady stream of worshippers who still walk through the doors of St. John Fisher, seeking not a new idea, but an ancient truth.
