In a world (liturgical and otherwise) where teenagers are pandered to in so many ways it is striking to find one who gets it. Of course there are many, maybe even most, who get it. Most teenagers have a built-in detection system that tells them when older people are trying to "get down" to their level so that they can "relate". Adults with common sense also have this ability. All you have to do is see a 45 year old "hanging out" with teenagers, using their lingo, trying to be "cool" to know what I mean. Unfortunately, teenagers also have a built-in system that makes them immensely susceptible to outside influences and peer pressure, thus hesitant to speak out.
This young man not only gets it, he explains it all so clearly and eloquently that it should be required reading for every bishop, priest, deacon, youth minister, and parent in the Church.
The letter, here in its original context, is written as a response to a previous letter that apparently said that teens couldn't relate to the mass without changing it to make it relevant to them in some way. This extraordinary young man takes exception to that idea.
Hat tip to clewis at Roman Catholic by Choice for leading me to this.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Pure Beauty
In keeping with the mood of the day. Credit to the New Liturgical Movement for leading me to this one.
Enjoy...
Downtrodden No More
It's a lovely day. And a good day. I apologize for the dark tone last week, but I guess that's what a blog is about to some degree - a reflection of a person and a time.
And a new time is here, and I am sure of it. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for being downtrodden in the first place. The darkness is not over yet, but the sky in the east is getting lighter and lighter. As I think about it, and the unlikely beauty of it all, I consider myself lucky to be living at a time when it is all happening. Who could have dreamed even a few years ago that the Church would be rediscovering itself? Yet it is happening - right now.
Right now there are priests out there learning the old rite, and practicing their Latin. Musicians thinking about and practicing gregorian chant. And just plain old laymen like myself buying and reading and studying Missals so that they will be ready when they finally can attend the Extraordinary use.
Look past the frustrations and ask yourself - did you ever think you'd see this day??
And a new time is here, and I am sure of it. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for being downtrodden in the first place. The darkness is not over yet, but the sky in the east is getting lighter and lighter. As I think about it, and the unlikely beauty of it all, I consider myself lucky to be living at a time when it is all happening. Who could have dreamed even a few years ago that the Church would be rediscovering itself? Yet it is happening - right now.
Right now there are priests out there learning the old rite, and practicing their Latin. Musicians thinking about and practicing gregorian chant. And just plain old laymen like myself buying and reading and studying Missals so that they will be ready when they finally can attend the Extraordinary use.
Look past the frustrations and ask yourself - did you ever think you'd see this day??
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Exhausted, stressed out wife, asleep upstairs. Trying to keep the girls quiet while as they watch Zula Patrol on DVR. Oldest one sick and mopey, younger two harassing each other constantly. Will go to mass tonight, though I dread doing so. It often turns into heartbreak - a beautiful mass ruined by a congregation who seem to be hell-bent on not giving a damn.
Life as I know it.
Life as I know it.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Downtrodden
Yesterdays post by my friend the Carolina Cannonball has me just flat downtrodden. It makes me wonder if there is really any hope at all for our diocese and the traditional mass. I just feel like not caring any more.
Too bad the nearest SSPX Chapel is the other side of Charlotte. With a wife dubious about the old rite, and our three small children, that's just too tough logistically.
Too bad the nearest SSPX Chapel is the other side of Charlotte. With a wife dubious about the old rite, and our three small children, that's just too tough logistically.
Monday, September 17, 2007
As Good as It Gets
Back when "Spa" was "Spa"...
there were giants on the earth. Men who put their lives on the line, using their incredible skill and discipline to prove that they were the best. And they were.
Back when "car control" was something that was driven by the heart, processed by the central nervous system, and executed by the bones, muscles and tendons of the body.
Now, 40 years on, car control means having the best software - software allowing the driver to just point and shoot. How inspiring is that?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The Next Move
The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum is now in effect. Executed better in some places - far better than I had ever dreamed. And grudgingly in others - a situation that will be worked out over time. (I have the feeling that a few pontifical new-arsehole-rippings for some bishops are in the works even as I write this) BUT, in effect nonetheless.
It should be clear by now that the mission of the Holy Father is the revival of The Church and the revival of Catholic identity, and Summorum Pontificum is just the most recent move in this crusade. The first move in this crusade was the pontifical report on the Eucharistic Congress, released earlier this year, entitled Sacramantum Caritatis.
Sacramentam Caritatis was released to little fanfare, but was in is workings, an awesome document. I think, as it sinks in over time that it, as much as Summorum Pontificum, will change the church as we know it. The problem is that, until now little has been said about it at all. It was relased, announced, and promptly vanished. I think that there are two good reasons for that. One is that the document, however powerful, was doomed to be eclipsed by Summorum Pontificum. Both in the press and in the church it was treated as a long awaited document that had to be released and gotten out of the way before the much-heralded motu proprio. But the other reason - and one that hardly gets mentioned - is that it was on some ways just an overview with little in terms of nuts-and-bolts.
But those nuts-and-bolts were mentioned, in article 93:
"The competent offices of the Roman Curia will publish a Compendium which will assemble texts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prayers, explanations of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Missal and other useful aids for a correct understanding, celebration and adoration of the Sacrament of the Altar (251). It is my hope that this book will help make the memorial of the Passover of the Lord increasingly the source and summit of the Church's life and mission."
THAT, I think, is the next move. I am hoping and praying and betting that this compendium is going to go a long-long way to "cleaning up" the junk liturgies that have metastacized in many parts of our Church. Look for it to contain lots and lots of details on the "ars celebrandi". As well as details about everything from vestments to chuch design.
This Pope, driven by the Holy Spirit, is on a mission from God. I think that more and more each day. An old theologian, late in his years, solid, respectable. A "caretaker Pope" to follow on the Rock Star like persona of John Paul II. Someone who would "fill in" until the next Pope has become, through the Blessing of the Holy Spirit, the Pope who saved the Church.
It should be clear by now that the mission of the Holy Father is the revival of The Church and the revival of Catholic identity, and Summorum Pontificum is just the most recent move in this crusade. The first move in this crusade was the pontifical report on the Eucharistic Congress, released earlier this year, entitled Sacramantum Caritatis.
Sacramentam Caritatis was released to little fanfare, but was in is workings, an awesome document. I think, as it sinks in over time that it, as much as Summorum Pontificum, will change the church as we know it. The problem is that, until now little has been said about it at all. It was relased, announced, and promptly vanished. I think that there are two good reasons for that. One is that the document, however powerful, was doomed to be eclipsed by Summorum Pontificum. Both in the press and in the church it was treated as a long awaited document that had to be released and gotten out of the way before the much-heralded motu proprio. But the other reason - and one that hardly gets mentioned - is that it was on some ways just an overview with little in terms of nuts-and-bolts.
But those nuts-and-bolts were mentioned, in article 93:
"The competent offices of the Roman Curia will publish a Compendium which will assemble texts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prayers, explanations of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Missal and other useful aids for a correct understanding, celebration and adoration of the Sacrament of the Altar (251). It is my hope that this book will help make the memorial of the Passover of the Lord increasingly the source and summit of the Church's life and mission."
THAT, I think, is the next move. I am hoping and praying and betting that this compendium is going to go a long-long way to "cleaning up" the junk liturgies that have metastacized in many parts of our Church. Look for it to contain lots and lots of details on the "ars celebrandi". As well as details about everything from vestments to chuch design.
This Pope, driven by the Holy Spirit, is on a mission from God. I think that more and more each day. An old theologian, late in his years, solid, respectable. A "caretaker Pope" to follow on the Rock Star like persona of John Paul II. Someone who would "fill in" until the next Pope has become, through the Blessing of the Holy Spirit, the Pope who saved the Church.
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