The Town Where I Work

Yesterday, I was broke - dead flat broke. Yes I had a bit of money in the bank, but none to spare, and certainly no cash to spare. But it was Tuesday, the day of my bi-weekly trip with my boss to get spaghetti at the eatery a few hundred feet up the street. My lack of cash for the $5.25 lunch special of salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread, combined with the availability of some two-day-old leftovers prompted me to beg off and eat in my office. I never mentioned my impecunious state to my boss, or he would have insisted on buying my lunch, and I'd look like a beggar - something that I did not want.

So I ate my lunch - happily. But then, around 2:00, I got the need for a cold drink and caffeine dose, so I scraped around in my car, desk, and pockets, and came up with the princely sum of $1.38. Not quite enough for the big iced tea I wanted ($1.50 including tax) but I decided to go up the street (to the same eatery) and see if thay let me owe them the 12 cents.

Now this place is small, old, unpretentious as they come, and has a general air of happy-to-get-by comfort. Hard-working waitresses and cooks, healthy portions of good food. So, I went in, and immediately they got my tea. I met the waitress at the register, and sheepishly handed over my four quarters, two dimes, two nickels and eight pennies, explaining that it was all I had. She waved me off thoughtlessly as if to say "don't even worry about that". Then she inqured as to my absence from the "ritual" spaghetti lunch and I explained that I was broke.

At that point she became upset, as did the other waitress who overheard the conversation, and said "Don't you EVER skip a meal here because of that!! We know you are good for it and know you'll pay us when you can." The manager heard the conversation and affirmed the statement.

I love the town where I work. It is basic, blue-collar, honest, and true. It's funny how hard working honest people without a lot of money are wiling to help out when needed. That's the way I was taught to be. I am saddened by the fact that the world is corrupt and so different than that ideal, but I am even more heartened by the fact that that ideal is out there, still surviving, in places like the town where I work.

Brick by Brick (or... God is pretty bright!)

Looking at the way The Church is changing, and reflecting on how it is all unfolding, gives me cause to see clearly the hand of God in all the various facets of the situation as it exists now.

Most every day Catholics have been isolated (intentionally or not) from their heritage for 40 years. For years, the frame of reference has stopped at about 1964 - as if to discount everything before then. This attitude has permeated everything and most everyone. Think of the way the term "the council" is used! It (Vatican 2) is referred to as "The Council" - implying that said council constitues some sort of Omniscient and Omnipotent Force which exists as a prima facie Magisterium in and of itself. The typical context brings to mind once popular bumper-sticker cliche - "Jesus Said it, I Believe it, That Settles it". Substitute "The Council" for Jesus, and you get the idea.

But now, The Church is in the process of a renaissance. An awakening to the idea that we, as 21st century Catholics, are just the latest generation. The latest of hundreds. That we are the heirs to a tradition spanning many centuries. The being Catholic means something. And that that heritage carries with it the responsibility of treasuring it and passing it on.

There are numerous aspects of this unfolding as we watch:

Summorum Pontificum has awakened - even in the non-traditional - a certain awareness of tradition. Even those uninterested see it in the news (both secualar and Catholic) and bit-by-bit become aware of it's significance. And they get to see what Mass should look (and sound) like.

The Holy Father, with his kind and pointed guidance and example, is constantly reminding us of who we are. And I believe that his example of leadership, and selection of Bishops has over the past few years allowed Priests to explore more confidently (and thus rediscover) a more Catholic way of celebrating the sacraments. Slowly, the cabinet doors are opening and vestments and prayers and thuribles nearly forgotten are seeing the light of day.

The new (corrected) translation is coming up in only a few months. And the dignified prayers therein will also, slowly, permeate the way people experience Catholicism. Lex Orandi Lex Credendi indeed!

NOW, back to my first point... Any of the changes mentioned above, happening at any other time, would have been a flop. Summorum Pontificum would have been in the dead-letter file (just like Ecclesia Dei Adflicta). The Papal trend toward tradition (if even allowed by the likes of Piero Marini) would have been ignored completely as the eccentricities of "some old man in Rome". The new translation would have been killed in the womb by the likes of those who tried so hard (and unsuccessfully) to kill it by infanticide.

BUT, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN! God Himself has seen that each step is happening at EXACTLY the right time and in EXACTLY the right order.

The Extraordinary form is attracting people who never even heard of it, and is being experienced (even unintentionally) by those who looked upon it as something akin to snake-handling. The slow trend to more traditional practices is becoming "normalized". And the new translation is not only being seen for what it is (the chance to hear and say the prayers of the mass as intended), but seen as an opportunity to connect up to our catholic foundations!!!

I Thank God it's all happening. And I Thank God I am here to see it.

On Making Pancakes... or, why am I so slow?

Pancakes! First let me say that I LOVE pancakes. All kinds of pancakes - as long as ther not too exotic or (God forbid) cheesy. Love 'em.

Because of that love and appreciation I tend to want to eat them a lot. And having three little girls means that I have had to fix them a lot over the past few years. Even some of the microwaveable ones are actually quite good, and about as convenient a food as one can fix - period. But lately, thanks to economics and a new electric griddle, I have had the opportunity fix them over and over again.

Usually, I buy a Costco-sized bag of dry mix, add the necessary liquid(s) and start cooking - and they are consistently Very Good. Yesterday morning, however, I was flat out of mix, and decided to try to make them from scratch.

The FIRST ONE was barely off the griddle before I could tell the difference in aroma, appearance, and texture. The first bite and the flavor difference became readily apparent. WOW! I could not believe the difference and could not believe what I had been missing. Admittedly, pancakes are not some Julia Child fancy-pants recipe, but the fresh versus premix difference is all the more astounding.

This episode has had me thinking for the past 24 hours.....

The experience of learning the difference between fresh scratch cooking and pre-mix cooking is not a new one. It is a lesson that I have learned before, but is still being re-learned. And I have to wonder - WHY? Why must I forget such simple, essential lessons? In Other Words - Why Am I So Slow????

The priciple applies to every aspect of life, too. How can we all be so stupid? How is it that God can jump in to our lives and save us - like a fireman dragging us semi-concious from a burning building - and a few months later we are cruising along like He isn't really there or doesn't really care? And I gotta wonder - does He get frustrated with us? Does He know how stupid we feel when we re-learn His love and care?

Will we ever really learn - permanently? Or should we even try? Maybe the experience of actually re-learning His love is an essential part of appreciating it in a deeper and deeper way? And maybe that is why He made us the way we are....

Sin, Penance, and Atonement

CONFITEOR Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Ioanni Baptistae, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus Sanctis, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Ioannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes Sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. Amen.

So goes the one of the great prayers of our faith...

And this Ash Wednesday, I find myself thinking about my behavior and my attitude - especially regarding my more recent experiences at Mass. And as I think back, while I still hold to what was said, I wish I had not been so short and snarky about it.

The fact is, almost without exception, I have liked and respected every priest I have ever had or known. There are some you love, and some you just appreciate in a low-key kind of way. Priests are men, too, and as with all men some are more charismatic and likeable than others, but that's only normal. I just hope sincerely that all of those whose lives have touched mine know that they are appreciated by me and in my prayers always.

So for those of you out there who may be reading this, know that I appreciate you and all you have done. And forgive me if I have offended you.

I will continue to post and comment, to be sure! But I am going to try to be honest without being "brutally" honest.

Christ the King - Christ MY King

Today, being the feast of Christ the King, has gotten me thinking... thinking about the FACT of Christ the King, and thinking how that fact manifests itself in my life - or rather how I make that fact manifest in mine.

Because the FACT of that Kingship is out there. Whether we think about it or not, it's still there. And most importantly it is a FACT right NOW - in "real time" as we say. At times, we tend to think of Jesus returning as He promised, to reign as King of this world for all eternity. But in fact, he is King RIGHT NOW.

This morning, when I arrove in Church, I knelt in prayer, and began to contemplate that Kingship. And I began to relate it to the situation of a King or Lord in the medieval Europe - and now he would relate to his subjects, and they to him. And at that moment, it occurred to me that if I were to think of Jesus in that way - as not just A king, but MY king, how much better my life here and now would be.

Now all this may sound like a very "Baptist" thing to say. Baptists in particular make much of the idea of being saved and dedicating your life to Jesus. But I am not meaning it in that way - I didn't get "saved" before mass this morning. And the validity of that whole concept is not the issue here. I mean it solely in the sense of understanding the relationship....

Jesus is MY King!!!

And I am HIS subject.

And I am astonished at the strength and clarity that single, amazing FACT brings to my soul.

Back Home Again

After some selfish cranking and consternation over the music at my "Home Church", I spent some weeks attending mass at a couple of other area parishes. As one might imaging, all were good - and bad - in their own way, But I am thankful for and appreciate them all very very much. Yet for the last three weeks I have been back "at home" just like I had been for so many years.

After some discussion with my wife, we decided that it was the right thing to do. I just don't feel comfortable with "parish hopping" on a weekly basis. Parishes should mean something. I remember a Robert Frost line that said "home is the place that, when you go there, they have to let you in". Well I know that that is not literally true in the Catholic Church. In a sense "home" is any church in the world where the Mass takes place. But still there is some comfort in going to a place where you know so may people, and they all treat you like you belong there. And mediocre music doesn't change that.

Also, I realize that the mass isn't about me. It is God's Mass and I am just lucky enough to be there. That said there are still some things that could make it much better, more reverent, or whatever. But those problems are by no means exclusive to Saint Benedict's. They are present most everywhere. Some in different ways, some to different extents, but still there. And GOD HIMSELF is still there, really there, present in the form of the Eucharist. He doesn't look down from on high and say "I'll take a pass on Saint Offkeys, that music stinks!!!!" He comes on down anyway. Even if there is a church full of people, and only one of them is there rightfully, really wanting and needing him, he's there.

Think about that!!! He KNOWS the music sucks! Heck he know's that it's gonna suck even before the first note is sung!!! But he still comes. He's still there. For us..... So I figure if He can stand it, then I can stand it.

And I ALSO figure the right response is to help make it better - for HIM - rather than Urinate and Moan and do nothing.

And though I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to attend the local TLM - and every day I pray for the Mass of Ages to be a daily occurance at Saint Benedict's - I'll still be there, pretty much every Sunday, head down and praying as the publican prayed: "God have mercy on me, a sinner"

Mass, Vacation, Etc...

I had the RARE pleasure of going on "vacation" last month. Vacation being 4 days at the beach, but it was (literally) the nicest four days of my life. The weather was perfect, the place was perfect, the kids were perfect... Absolutely amazing that it all worked out. Made all the sweeter by the fact that we had not had a break AT ALL in about four years. Every waking moment of every day since August of 2004 was either at work or taking care of the kids/house. My wife and I hired a babysitter once to go to the MEF Mass at Our Lady of Grace (3 hours), and once for dinner (3 hours).

From Friday morning until the following Wednesday morning, I didn't read the paper, or see or hear the news at all. A self-imposed news blackout which made for a blessedly peaceful weekend. Call it blissful ignorance if you'd like, but it worked.
In spite of all of the stress and economic doomsaying that has happened since, it hasn't gotten me down like it did before. I watch with interest and fascination, but with no personal anxiety whatsoever. Amazing what the human brain can cope with once you give it a chance to recover !!!

Mass was fascinating, though! As you see, I don't travel much and rarely if ever get to see mass outside of my home church and the aforementioned OLG. So Saturday evening, my wife, mother-in-law, myself, and the powerpuff girls attended a "bi-lingual" mass, at Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel. Needless to say "bi-lingual" meant it was nearly all in Spanish, but with an obviously non-spanish speaking priest, there were some oddities. The opening prayer was in English, but virtually everything else was in Spanish save for a few words here and there. The Gospel was read in Spanish, by a nun. Something I had never seen before. The homlily was in English, but interpreted real-time. The eucharistic prayer was English, but everything else from that point on was spanish, and led either by the same nun or another lay person.

All that said, the mass was WONDERFUL. There were altar boys, reverent and precise. And even all of the lay participants were reverent, precise and well practiced. The congregation was so young, so passionate and reverent and there were kids EVERYWHERE. I was more comfortable there than at my home church. The ushers gave out a very detailed spanish-english handout of all of the prayers and hymns, in order, which was very easy to follow. Allowing me to sing and pray along in spanish* with no trouble at all, though I know little spanish beyond what one hears on Dora the Explorer.

I want to go back....

* At the risk of sounding conceited, I have a gift of being able, with very little practice, to pronounce a foreign language for the most part as a native speaker. Naturally, "sight reading" in a foreign language has its limitations, but for the purpose of participating in mass, it works great.

SLACKNESS INDICATOR

YEARS AGO I came up with one of my rules-of-thumb for life. It was based on many years of careful observation, and has served me well over the years. It stated, simply, "Never trust a man who wears flip-flops."

It is important to note the gender-related factor here - women go by a different set of rules when it comes to footwear (that's fodder for another post). And there is the factor of context - beach or poolside use.

But by and large, my rule has served me well over the years. Naturally, there are exceptions - a former client who was nicknamed "flip-flop". Flip Flop was in fact a great guy and fantastic client. In fact, he stands out as the one true exception that comes to mind.

Though times and styles may change, some basic principals are timeless. And one of these is that ones attire (footwear or otherwise) should render one ready to do at least some productive activity. Flip-flops, by their nature, scream BEACH PARTY, and are more appropriate for spring break and a keg than for any real productive work. Any footwear that does not attach securely to one's feet is wholly unsuited to productive activity. (Sandals, by comparison, are pretty handy and comfortable and offer all of the comfort of flip-flops without any of the slackiness. Or the annoying sound effects.)

I also know that for the gen X or Y er, that these ubiquitous but annoying contraptions are considered to render them ready for "work". The only problem being that work for them is seen as some activity for which they are paid large sums of money based entirely on the fact that they managed to land a job as a computer geek or something. Thus rendering themselves worthy of such rewards even though their chief accomplishment in life is the total lack of accomplishment - he looks like a slacker-geek, therefore he must be BRILLIANT!!! God forbid someone should hire a 30-year old! Everyone knows that "these kids are soooo smart nowadays"!!

And lest we forget (or you haven't noticed) most peoples feet are just ugly as hell. No two ways about it. I don't really want to see that. Nobody does. Add to that the aforemetioned annoying sound effect, and the only conclusion possible is that the flip-flopping of our nation must stop NOW!!!!

Liturgical Thoughts, Part II

ONCE upon a time at a sales training class I took, the instructor (a quite successful race-car driver turned consultant) used a true, but politically incorrect saying:
"They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but that's really not true. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but if you put him back in the same yard, he is going to poop in the same spot". The point being that training and seminars and books can teach you the right thing to do, but unless your environment changes, you are doomed to revert to the same old routines.

And so it goes with the liturgy. No amount of Papal suggestions, no books, no amount of training or retreats, will address the liturgical doldrums we are in unless something fundamental breaks the cycle. That is something that can only be done from the top down, and only with care and deliberate movement on the part of the Church. Certainly there are a quite a few priests, such as Father Longenecker who, along with his Pastor are taking the initiative to bring their own parishes liturgy around to something reverent and impressive, but they are the exception. For every one of them there are 9 who will not do it even if they think it is right, either from an aversion to parishoner complaints, or a fear of retribution from the hierarchy. And excepted from both categories are those who don't think anything is wrong with slouchmasses to begin with. Just as there are many who like Haugen/Hass/Schutte music, there are (usually the same) people who think that the liturgy is just fine the way it is.

So then, where to start? What changes can be clearly mandated in a non-fudgeable way to start the ball rolling toward the reverent liturgy that is both proper and needed? Anything that says "should" is right out. To say something like "Priests must assure that the mass is celebrated with the proper reverence" is meaningless. There must be some outward and visible and unmistakable change that grabs both the clergy and the laity by the collar and says "look here". At the same time, one can't just slam too many changes in at once, lest they both be rejected or ignored. And more importantly, while by definition this must happen from the top down, it cannot be just proclaimed and dropped.

The path to follow is clear. There are only two possibilities. Both practical, both critical, and both more or less easy to initiate.
The first must-do is to get rid of, as quickly as possible, every table altar in the every Catholic church in the world. There are some places where this will take some time and some money, but there are probably just as many (at least in the US and Europe) where the old high altar remains and the "reconversion" would take, say, 5 minutes. The change will be a bit shocking to the laity, but with a bit of catachesis, they'll adapt, and soon they will understand. And then they will believe.

The other possibility is that of re-instituting communion on the tongue while kneeling. There is simply no substitute for the feeling of being on your knees before the lord, opening up your mouth and accepting him into your person. The feeling of complete submission is simply indescribable. Since my sincerely believe that our fundamental problem with the modern liturgy is one of pride, kneeling in submission would go a long way towards dispelling the pride and restoring the submission. Something we all - including myself - desperately need.

So there are the two keys to the restoration of God's Church. THe question is, who is willing to take up those keys, and unlock the gate to the kingdom of heaven. A gate which was slammed shut decades ago by the self-absorbed "reformers" of the 1960's.

Corpus Christi

The feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated at the Mass I attended last night. It was an interesting exercise in contrasts.

The church was pretty full, not packed but not a lot of vacant pews either. Interesting thing about going to Our Lady of Grace, at least the Sunday evening service. You never know how many people will be there. Some nights will be at 10% capacity, with some others at 80%. And for no apparent reason. This is a phenomenon that seems to be peculiar to this particular mass at this particular parish. Odd...

The opening hymn was the good 'ole Gather Us In. So we were off to an inauspicious start. But then I noticed that the Altar Boy & Girl were wearing what appeared to be brand-new Cossocks & Surplices!!! Two thumbs up! The "albs" appear to have vanished - hopefully for good this time. Back before I began to blog, in January, if I recall, I commented elsewhere about how, after years and years, the servers had switched from the albs to the old (literally) Cassock & Surplice. A move so bold, so earth shattering, that it merited an announcement from the altar by the priest. He dutifully commented that we should have no fear, the albs were not going away forever, they just felt that the more traditional forms were more appropriate! I was amazed!! Alas, they reappeared for Easter season, much to my chagrin. But now the C&S are back. and this time they appear to be brand-new!

Then, there was a wonderful Sermon. And all very traditional hymns. Then, at the end of the Mass, Father proceeded to process around the inside of the church, with the Monstrance, while we sang Tantum Ergo Scramentum. A very moving sight. Very.

I wonder how many people there appreciate. Really appreciate. What they are experiencing. I know that many times I have not, or at least not paid attention. However, in my most heathenistic moments, I have never treated Church or the Mass as a thing of disdain. Even when I was just going though the motions I at least went through the motions!!!! But what do I see all around me? Ragged shorts, tees, and flip-flops. All combined with a slack-assed, I'm waaaaay too cool to care about this attitude and body language. (I was a professional salesman in a past life, and a damn good one, too. I know how to read body language) Is it just me, and am I allowing my personal prejudices to interfere with my judgement? I mean, If I hated Mass that much, I'd go somewhere else.

Is it parents that are trying to do the "right thing" by dragging their kids to church? If so, you're not doing them any favors. If you can drag them to church, how about dragging them to their closet for some decent clothes!!!! Not necessarily a suit, but a clean shirt with a collar, maybe a tie, and some real pants and shoes!!

The psychology is not hard to follow. For the parents OR the kids. They don't look respectful, they don't dress respectful, how the hell can they be expected to ACT respectful. How the hell can people who dress says "I don't give a s*** " be expected to act like they do??!!

Perhaps for some this will be outside their personal experiance, but here in the south, every Sunday morning and evening (yes, they manage to go TWICE a day), at every Baptist Church, you will see crowds of people dressed in suits and ties, or at least khaki's and shirts and ties, going to church, and acting like human beings!!! And they don't have the real presence to respect. Why then, do Catholics feel like it is their right, or actually more like their duty, to wear shorts and tee shirts??? Can someone answer that question????