CAN YOU PICK OUT THE FAMOUS BLOGGING NEOPOLITAN PRIEST IN THE PHOTO?

Quanto bello Napoli! Si o no? E quelli che vengono da Napoli sono i piu belli! No? Specialmente i piu giovani!

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE PLANS A WEDDING AND DOES SOMETHING VERY ODD, BUT WELL DONE! BUT DOES IT BELONG IN A CATHOLIC ORDINARY FORM NUPTIAL MASS??????

I would say this is a loss of Catholic liturgical identity, wouldn't you? But it is nicely done! And how do you like the audience's response, in a Catholic Mass, by the way? This kind of response, apart from the theatrics, is what happens usually at the end of Ordinary Form weddings. How do you like it? Have you ever heard stuff like this at an EF Nuptial Mass???????????????????????????????????

MAYBE NOT EVERYTHING CONCERNING OUR GLORIOUS NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE MASS IS UP FOR GRABS! THOSE WHO WANT TO GO BACKWARDS TO 1998 AND NOT FORWARDS IN A REFINEMENT OF THE CURRENT TRANSLATION WILL WAIL AND GNASH THEIR TEETH OVER THIS

This is old news, but fun to post:

At a recent meeting of liturgists it was revealed that the CDW had been asked if bishops' conferences could reconsider the 1998 revision of the English Roman Missal because of Magnum Principium.  The Congregation for Divine Worship replied that Magnum principium was not retroactive. No to 1998!!!! It must have been heartbreaking for those living in the past to hear these words. But alas!

It was announced to the group seeking the 1998 English Missal the following:

 "There has been a significant amount of information and correspondence received about the 1998 translation of the Missal, unfortunately (FOR THOSE OF YOU REQUESTING THE 1998 and/or the 1970 ENGLISH TRANSLATION) Magnum Principium does not allow us to go back to that [1998/1970] translation of the Missal; we have the 2010 translation of the Missal which is our standard edition now and we are looking forward to the translation of the (other) new liturgical books".*

WOULD THERE NEED TO BE AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT APPROPRIATE REVERENCE AT A PAPAL MASS IF THE MASS WERE IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM? I DOUBT IT!

I am glad that a priest spoke before this papal Mass about the proper recollection (reverence) needed for the actual participation in this Mass. And the assembly (congregation) is warned not to raise their signs and banners during the Mass. Kudos to the Vatican and the host bishops for their concern about proper reverence at a papal Mass.

But herein lies the rub. After 50 years of the new and improved Mass, Catholics, both clergy and laity, for the first time in liturgical history, have to be warned not to be irreverent  at a papal Mass! And I will bet my bottom dollar that concelebrating cardinals, bishops and priests were told not to use their cell phones to take photos as they concelebrated!

50 years of so called liturgical renewal leaves us with a terse comment before a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by a pope that you guys need to show reverence during a papal Mass!

Have you been to an Ordinary Form Nuptial Liturgy? Have you heard wild applause, cat calls, cheers and football game type grunts as the married couple took a victory dance out of the Church, with the bride holding her bouquet high and yelling woohoo? .And have you seen the bridegroom sweep his bride backwards to stick his tongue down her throat and this in the presence of the priest and the Most Blessed Sacrament??? And all this in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

And if you have ever attended an EF Nuptial Mass, have you seen the same crude and irreverent behavior?



...and the English text of Francis' homily (emphases original):

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Before coming to this country, I very much looked forward to this moment. Many of you have come from far and remote mountainous areas, some even on foot. I have come as a fellow pilgrim to listen and to learn from you, as well as to offer you some words of hope and consolation.

Today’s first reading, from the Book of Daniel, helps us to see how limited is the wisdom of King Belshazzar and his seers. They knew how to praise “gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone” (Dn 5:4), but they did not have the wisdom to praise God in whose hand is our life and breath. Daniel, on the other hand, had the wisdom of the Lord and was able to interpret his great mysteries.

The ultimate interpreter of God’s mysteries is Jesus. He is the wisdom of God in person (cf. 1 Cor 1:24). Jesus did not teach us his wisdom by long speeches or by grand demonstrations of political or earthly power but by giving his life on the cross. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of believing in our own wisdom, but the truth is we can easily lose our sense of direction. At those times we need to remember that we have a sure compass before us, in the crucified Lord. In the cross, we find the wisdom that can guide our life with the light that comes from God.

From the cross also comes healing. There, Jesus offered his wounds to the Father for us, the wounds by which we are healed (cf. 1 Pet 2:24). May we always have the wisdom to find in the wounds of Christ the source of all healing! I know that many in Myanmar bear the wounds of violence, wounds both visible and invisible. The temptation is to respond to these injuries with a worldly wisdom that, like that of the king in the first reading, is deeply flawed. We think that healing can come from anger and revenge. Yet the way of revenge is not the way of Jesus.

Jesus’ way is radically different. When hatred and rejection led him to his passion and death, he responded with forgiveness and compassion. In today’s Gospel, the Lord tells us that, like him, we too may encounter rejection and obstacles, yet he will give us a wisdom that cannot be resisted (cf. Lk 21:15). He is speaking of the Holy Spirit, through whom the love of God has been poured into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5). By the gift of his Spirit, Jesus enables us each to be signs of his wisdom, which triumphs over the wisdom of this world, and his mercy, which soothes even the most painful of injuries.

On the eve of his passion, Jesus gave himself to his apostles under the signs of bread and wine. In the gift of the Eucharist, we not only recognize, with the eyes of faith, the gift of his body and blood; we also learn how to rest in his wounds, and there to be cleansed of all our sins and foolish ways. By taking refuge in Christ’s wounds, dear brothers and sisters, may you know the healing balm of the Father’s mercy and find the strength to bring it to others, to anoint every hurt and every painful memory. In this way, you will be faithful witnesses of the reconciliation and peace that God wants to reign in every human heart and in every community.

I know that the Church in Myanmar is already doing much to bring the healing balm of God’s mercy to others, especially those most in need. There are clear signs that even with very limited means, many communities are proclaiming the Gospel to other tribal minorities, never forcing or coercing but always inviting and welcoming. Amid much poverty and difficulty, many of you offer practical assistance and solidarity to the poor and suffering. Through the daily ministrations of its bishops, priests, religious and catechists, and particularly through the praiseworthy work of Catholic Karuna Myanmar and the generous assistance provided by the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Church in this country is helping great numbers of men, women and children, regardless of religion or ethnic background. I can see that the Church here is alive, that Christ is alive and here with you and with your brothers and sisters of other Christian communities. I encourage you to keep sharing with others the priceless wisdom that you have received, the love of God welling up in the heart of Jesus.

Jesus wants to give this wisdom in abundance. He will surely crown your efforts to sow seeds of healing and reconciliation in your families, communities and the wider society of this nation. Does he not tell us that his wisdom is irresistible (cf. Lk 21:15)? His message of forgiveness and mercy uses a logic that not all will want to understand, and which will encounter obstacles. Yet his love, revealed on the cross is ultimately unstoppable. It is like a spiritual GPS that unfailingly guides us towards the inner life of God and the heart of our neighbour.

Our Blessed Mother Mary followed her Son even to the dark mountain of Calvary and she accompanies us at every step of our earthly journey. May she obtain for us the grace always be to messengers of true wisdom, heartfelt mercy to those in need, and the joy that comes from resting in the wounds of Jesus,who loved us to the end.

May God bless all of you! May God bless the Church in Myanmar! May he bless this land with his peace! God bless Myanmar!

IT APPEARS THAT THE LIBERAL PRESS' LOVE AFFAIR WITH THIS POPE IS OVER

The New York Times offers stinging criticism of the reigning Pontiff:

Pope can’t avoid criticism over Rohingya issue

BY JASON HOROWITZ
New York Times

YANGON, MYANMAR

In his last full day in Myanmar, Pope Francis sought to pivot away from politics and the disappointment over his decision to avoid mentioning the persecuted Rohingya Muslims and to find safer ground in Catholic liturgy and interreligious dialogue.

But even as the pope removed his shoes to meet with monks in a pagoda and celebrated Mass at a colonial-era racetrack, his decision not to directly address one of the world’s most acute humanitarian disasters cast a pall over what the Vatican sought to portray as a historic visit of bridge-building with a fledgling democracy.

“Nobody ever said Vatican diplomacy is infallible,” the Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, said at a news briefing here Wednesday evening. He said that no one in the Vatican had second-guessed the pope’s decision to avoid mentioning the Rohingya or considered pulling the plug on the visit, which even the pope’s supporters consider a tactical blunder for a usually politically sure-footed pontiff.

“He is not afraid of minefields,” Burke said, bristling at the notion that the trip had damaged the moral authority that is the pope’s most powerful diplomatic asset.

“People are not expected to solve impossible problems,” he said. “You'll see him going ahead and you can criticize what is said and what is not said. But the pope is not going to lose moral authority on this question here.”

Myanmar presented the pope with a treacherous diplomatic tight wire. The world expected a global figure who has championed the downtrodden to speak out for the more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh to escape a military campaign of killings, rape and arson. But local bishops urged him to avoid addressing the issue out of concern that it could aggravate the problem and endanger the small Christian minority.

In the news conference, Burke suggested that the pope had privately raised the issue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose own reputation has sunk with the weight of the crisis.

CARDINAL MUELER, SORE LOSER OR PROPHETIC FIGURE? AND IF PROPHETIC SHOULDN'T POPE BENEDICT INTERVENE IN A HEROIC WAY? JUST WONDERING

This is very concerning and I fear quite true. From LaCroix:

Cardinal Müller 'bitter and concerned' with Church's direction 

The former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has requested Church authorities to listen to the “fair complaints” of Pope Francis’ opponents, the Italian daily "Il Corriere della Sera" has reported. 

Marie Malzac

November 29, 2017

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Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller / Alberto PizzolI / AFP

“There is a front made up of traditionalist groups as well as a number of progressives, who would like to see me lead a movement against the pope, but I will never do it."

These were the words of Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Massimo Franco, columnist at the Italian daily Il Corriere dela Sera, in an interview published on Sunday, November 26.

Müller, who has previously distanced himself from a series of pontifical moves, revealed that he was both bitter and concerned with the direction the Church is taking.

Insisting that he believed in “the unity of the Church", Cardinal Müller nevertheless called on Church authorities “to listen to those who have serious questions and fair complaints".

“We must not ignore them or, worse, humiliate them,” he emphasized.

“If not, without intending it, the risk of a slow separation may grow and lead to a schism by a section of the Catholic world that feels disoriented and disappointed," Cardinal Müller warned.

“The history of Martin Luther’s Protestant schism 500 years ago should indicate the kind of mistakes we need to avoid," he said.

Although he had previously harshly criticized his dismissal as the head of the Congregation for the Faith, he revealed several new aspects of this in his Corriere interview.

Pope Francis reportedly said to him that “certain people have told me anonymously that you are my enemy".

“After forty years of service to the Church,” he lamented, “gossips are making such absurd comments, creating doubts in the mind of the pope when they would have done better to visit a psychiatrist.”

Reaffirming his loyalty to Pope Francis, Cardinal Müller claimed that the pontiff’s “real friends are not those who flatter him” but “those who assist him with the truth and with theological and human expertise".

He had severe words for the “detractors” whom he blamed for his departure from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Refuting the notion of a plot against the pope as “an absolute exaggeration", he admitted that significant “tensions” exist in the Church at present.

“I believe that the cardinals who expressed their doubts on Amoris Laetitia or the 62 signatories to a letter making critical comments about the pope, including some which were excessive, should be listened to and not swept aside with the back of the hand as if they were Pharisees or malcontents,” Cardinal Müller said.

What is needed is “free and frank dialogue,” he added.

Instead, he feared that people within the pope’s “magic circle” are “worried primarily about spying on perceived enemies, preventing open and balanced discussion".

In a sign of his good faith, Cardinal Müller recently issued a public defense of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on the family, which has crystallized the various conflicts.

“To classify all Catholics as ‘friends’ or ‘enemies’ of the pope is the greatest evil that they cause to the Church,” Cardinal Müller insisted.

“People are perplexed when they see a well-known journalist, who is also an atheist, claim to be a friend of the pope, while a Catholic bishop and cardinal like me, is defamed as an opponent of the pope.

“I don’t think that these people are in a position to give theology lessons on the primacy of the sovereign pontiff,” he said.

Compared to Benedict XVI’s pontificate, the Church now seems “weaker,” Cardinal Müller continued.

“There are fewer and fewer priests yet we are offering answers that are more organizational, political or diplomatic than theological and spiritual," he said.

“The Church is not a political party based on power struggles. We need to discuss existential issues about life and death, the family, and religious vocations and not always ecclesiastical politics,” he added.

“Pope Francis is popular and that’s a good thing. However, people are no longer receiving the sacraments. And his popularity among those Catholics who enthusiastically quote him, unfortunately, does not change their false convictions,” the cardinal insisted.

It is now necessary to go beyond the notion of a Church as a “country hospital", Cardinal Müller said, citing an expression popularized by Pope Francis.

He said, instead, that the world needs a “Silicon Valley” Church.

“We need to become the Steve Jobs of the faith and transmit a powerful vision in terms of moral and cultural values," the cardinal claimed.

CHARLIE ROSE AND NOW MATT LAUER 20 YEARS THE ANCHOR OF THE TODAY SHOW!

Like priests, celebrities and politicians are falling like flies!

WHEN WILL THE MEDIA DISCUSS THE SEXUAL DISORDERS BROUGHT ON BY ORIGINAL SIN'S CONCUPISCENCE AND ACTUAL SIN THROUGH FULL CONSENT OF THE WILL?

Other Today Show hosts are stunned. Will they gloat over this as they did over fallen priests and the disappointment and grief Catholics experienced over revelations?

Will they continue to blame celibacy and the Church's repression of sexuality?

But more importantly, when will these reporters who work for Fox, Universal and Time Warner (Fox, NBC and CNN) face up to the smut their companies create and disseminate, such as hard and soft core pornography, that degrades everyone, male, female and child and all for profit. 

The executives, producers, directors, writers and everyone else with a sophomoric mentality who manipulates and corrupts those who watch, should be held accountable and yes, fired. 

THE FRATERNITY OF SAINT PETER, THE ONE IN FULL COMMUNION WITH THE POPEa

At one time all Catholic Seminaries were like this. I blush at my 1970's seminary training so, so, so far what you see here (copied from Rorate Caeli):

Wonderful: Fraternity of St. Peter at the PBS Newshour

Wonderful report on the FSSP, their Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, and their new CD -- broadcast yesterday evening at the flagship news program of American public television network PBS:

HAS THE MODERN "MASS OF THE RESURRECTION" ALSO KNOWN AS THE MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL SANATIZED OUR NEED TO WAIL AND CRY IN PUBLIC?

Veteran, first responder honored during funeral service in Richmond Hill

Monday, November 27th 2017, 7:06 pm EST

By Amanda LaBrot, Anchor/Reporter

MARK HUMMELDORF LAID TO REST 

WTOC

SLIDESHOW

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Mark Hummeldorf. (WTOC)

 PRESS HERE TO HEAR the final dispatch for First Responder Mark Hummeldorf at the WTOC news link. The dispatch call, heard in St. Anne's Church for Mark's funeral, is at the end of the story.

A true American hero was killed in a freak auto crash in Savannah Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving in Savannah. His name is Mark Edward Hummeldrof. He was 33 years old, married, with a four year old boy and a daughter on the way to be born in April.

He served our country with honor in the Marines and in Iraq earning a Purple Heart. After he was discharged he became the highest ranking firefighter and EMT being trained to do dives and rescues from confined spaces.

He and his family live in Richmond Hill. We had his funeral on Monday, the Funeral Liturgy outside of Mass. Our 1,200 seat church was filled to capacity with about 200 firefighters, law enforcement and other first responders.

After my homily, the Intercessions and Lord's Prayer, I allowed the Firefighters burial ritual normally done after the Rite of Committal at the graveside to take place in the church as Mark's body will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary. It was very somber, with the ringing of the bell, and then the final dispatch, done live over a "walkie/talkie" where the dispatcher at the office called for Mark Hummeldorf along with his number three times, the final time acknowledging that he has gone to final call in the hereafter.

As his name was called, there was wailing and emotional outbreaks in the church from  the firefighters themselves and men and women in the congregation. I could not hold back the tears either as it was the lance needed to release the puss of enclosed grief.

I thought to myself, how the so-called "renewal" of the Requiem Mass, especially what is allowed to be sung at these funeral liturgies, sanitizes death and suppresses actual grief keeping the infection enclosed in the psyche.

We moved from wearing black vestments to white ones because of this denial of grief and to sanatize or prevent public expressions of grief during the liturgy. We eliminated dirge like music and the Dies Irae in favor of happy resurrection music that is sappy, sentimental and superficial, like "Be Not Afraid" and "On Eagle Wings" and the like.

Maybe we have something to learn from the firefighters burial ritual!

MAYBE THE COUNCIL FATHERS WANTED TO REFORM THE PONTIFICAL SOLEMN SUNG MASS?

This aspect of the EF's Pontifical Solemn High Mass needs reform because it simply looks silly. Maybe the bishops who envisioned a sober reform of the liturgies of the Church had this kind of thing in mind, not a wholesale protestantizing of the Church and her liturgies:


This alienates me; what about you?

A STRIKING PROTESTANT COMMENT ON AD ORIENTEM WORSHIP

On the post below this, from the actual blog I copied the article is this most insightful comment. This Protestant must have read Pope Benedict:

Thanks for this post. I’m a strong proponent of this posture in worship and i completely agree: it speaks decisively about what we are doing and what the prayer leader’s position is among the assembly. 

Moreover, it is important to note that this is a cosmic symbol that goes beyond a simple table. The table is fine, but it needs to take its place among God’s creation and as a piece of our ‘turning toward’ Him in prayer and expectation of Jesus’ imminent return. Besides, no matter if people and prayer leader are facing the table together, they are still facing each other and the circle is closed. Jesus turns us out toward the Father and so it is fitting that the circle of prayer open outward toward the Father as well. 

As St. Paul said, “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). So it is that Augustine says that the Christian is another Christ in that he is called to imitate Jesus and be conformed to Him. And in prayer the one who leads us becomes another Christ so that, in and through Jesus, he turns us toward the Father in prayer. This is what the prayer leader does. In the Holy Spirit he focuses our prayer through Christ Jesus and to the Father. So, the symbolism of all facing the same direction (i.e. to the East), is Trinitarian in its foundations.

PRAYTELL, WHERE DID THE POST GO?

UPDATE: The article mysteriously reappears, but perhaps in an edited form, which you can read here.

Praytell had an "other voices" ecumenical post on its main rotating lineup of posts which then did a complete disappearing act.

The post was on Protestant denominations which offer "the Lord's Supper" ad orientem. Facing east, the post described how this removes the "cult of the personality" from the minister, especially in small worship spaces.

It was interesting and I thought I would copy and paste it, only to return to Praytell and find that the post did a disappearing act!

PRAYTELL, WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT AND BE SO ECUMENICALLY INSENSITIVE?

This isn't the article, I don't think, but one very similar to the Praytell post that disappeared in such an insensitive way, ecumenically speaking:

Ad Orientem in Protestant Worship

Before the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church celebrated Mass with the priest facing ad orientem (“to the east,” since almost all altars faced to the east), with his back to the congregation or facing God along with the congregation, depending on your perspective.  This, of course, was one of the practices that fueled the Protestant Reformation: priests muttered in Latin, facing away from the worshipers, which only exacerbated their ignorance of what was happening during the service.

(One of my favorite anecdotes from church history class is the source of the phrase “hocus pocus.”  During the high part of the Mass, the priest would say, in Latin, “Hoc est corpus meum” [“This is my body.”]  But the worshipers, who didn’t understand Latin and who couldn’t hear him anyway, took those words–which sounded like “hocus pocus”–as some magic incantation that changed the wine and bread into Jesus’ body and blood.)

Since the Reformation, and since the Second Vatican Council, Protestants and Catholics alike have been worshiping with priests and pastors facing toward the congregation.  And in many ways, this has been an improvement.  But as some Catholics have begun to recover the practice of ad orientem, I think we Protestants should recover the theological significance of ad orientemin our worship, too.

Too often, in Protestant worship services–especially “contemporary” worship services–the pastor is no longer the leader of the people in prayer, directing believers to offer themselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).  But too often the pastor becomes the star of the show, the performer of worship for the crowd’s enjoyment, the lecturer for the class in the pews, or, worst yet, the object of worship himself.  This mistake is only accentuated when musicians are positioned facing the “crowd,” as though they are singing to the people instead of God.

In one of my seminary internships, the pastor would walk among the congregation to gather up prayer requests before the pastoral prayer (or “prayers of the people”).  And then he would stand in the aisle, among the worshipers, and pray to the front of the sanctuary, on behalf of the people.  And the symbolism–of who was praying to whom–was both powerful and unmistakable.

Although we may have differing opinions on how worship should look and sound, we Protestants should pay more close attention to who is actually in the spotlight and who is receiving our praise, our glory, and our worship.

MAYBE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD GIVE UP ON LITURGY AND DO THIS KIND OF EVANGELIZATION! WHAT DO YOU THINK? WOULDN'T THIS BE MORE EFFECTIVE?

Singing Christmas Tree drama is ‘On the Air’

By Charmain Z. Brackett Correspondent

SPECIAL Nearly 100 singers accompanied by an orchestra of some 35 musicians will be part of the Abilene Baptist Church Singing Christmas celebration in Dec. 8-10. A drama, On the Air ... It’s Christmas! will be also presented as the holiday tradition celebrates its 39th year.

When a radio personality is involved in a car accident and can’t work her Thanksgiving shift, newsman Dallas Street must take over the station’s transition to all-Christmas music as the clock hits midnight.

“He’s not happy about it at all,” said Tommy Sunderland, Abilene Baptist Church’s associate pastor of music and media, about the premise for the drama that will go along with the church’s Singing Christmas Tree. The annual event will be presented the weekend of Dec. 8-10 at the church.

Written by Sunderland’s daughter Katheryn Gravenor, On the Air … It’s Christmas! shows the transformation of the hard-boiled news radio host from a Scrooge to someone who embraces the true meaning of Christmas.

This is the 39th annual event and Sunderland said it takes the entire church to put on the production. His wife Lisa, who is a music teacher at Martinez Elementary School, plays a large part, and Sunderland’s other daughter, Amy Atkinson, has written dramas in previous years.

Each year, the production brings back songs from prior years and incorporate other music. The format this year was well suited for holiday music, he said.

Nearly 100 singers will be part of the tree that stands more than 30 feet tall, and there will be an orchestra of about 35 musicians. While most of the musicians attend Abilene, sometimes other musicians are brought in.

Behind the scenes, there are numerous volunteers who construct the tree and take it down, place the greenery and decorations and fill in where needed.

Sunderland said it takes about a year of preparation to get the production ready with the idea for the next year formulating not long after a production is finished.

“In August, we kick off with our musicians, introducing them to the music and concept,” he said.

The singers add an extra rehearsal in every two weeks in addition to their regular Wednesday night rehearsal.

There will be four presentations of the Singing Christmas Tree at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8; 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10. Tickets are free; however, there is a $1 service fee if they are downloaded online at www.myabilene.org/sct. Tickets may be picked up at the church office at 3917 Washington Road from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday or 9 a.m. to noon Friday.

The church seats about 1,100 people and there have been some performances that required an overflow room.

DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT POPE FRANCIS HAS IN MIND FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

New church focuses on inclusivity

By James Folker Staff Writer

From the Augusta Chronicle:

SPECIAL Musicians perform during worship at Riverfront Church, which meets at 10:30 a.m. Sundays at Merriwether Middle School on Murrah Road in Edgefield County.

There’s a new church in North Augusta, with an emphasis on the new.

“We’re aiming to create a church for people who don’t do church,” said Wilton Bowman, lead pastor of Riverfront Church. “We’re just a bunch of people in love with Jesus, but we don’t expect everyone to be immediately. We’re trying to create an environment where non-believers can belong before they believe. A place where there’s no physical, financial, moral or racial roadblocks to being welcome and equal at the cross.”

The congregation meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. in Merriwether Middle School, 430 Murrah Road in Edgefield County.

Bowman said he has seen statistics that show 66 percent of people aren’t affiliated with any kind of ministry and finds that sad.

“We’re concerned about people. We love people. We believe there absolutely is something after what you can touch, feel and see and we’re convinced that Jesus is the only way to get there,” he said. “Our goal is to communicate that to as many people as possible.”

One thing visitors might notice about the services at Riverfront is that there’s no organ. There are guitars and an electric piano, though. Some of the songs you might hear are from groups such as Citizens and Saints, Bryan and Katie Torwalt, or Loud Harp, Bowman said. Soon, that will include music written by church members.

“We’re more contemporary, and we’re practical in our teaching. Want people to understand it’s not necessarily about learning scriptural principles, but about how we apply them in our lives,” Bowman said.

There’s plenty of room for new members, regardless of denomination, Bowman said.

“It’s not about labels, it’s about one name, the name of Jesus, he said.

“We’re actively searching for ministry leaders who are more in love with Jesus than tradition and more in love with seeing people meet him than just old-time religion. And we’re actively seeking musicians who are creatively redefining Christian music and are authentically interested in creating passionate worship experiences focused on what Jesus has accomplished through his death and resurrection,” Bowman said.

For more information, visit riverfrontchurch.org or search for Riverfront Church on Facebook.

WHO CAN ARGUE WITH THIS, THANK GOD? HAPPY THANKSGIVING! THIS HOMILY, THOUGH, IS NO TURKEY

Pope Mass: Ideological colonization erases freedom, memory
Pope Francis during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta

Pope Francis during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta
23/11/2017 11:58

(Vatican Radio) Removing freedom, erasing memory, indoctrinating young people are the three indicators of cultural and ideological colonization throughout the ages. Those were the Pope's words as he returned to the subject of cultural and ideological colonization this Thursday morning during his homily at the Casa Santa Marta, inspired once again by the readings of the week, which recount the persecution of King Antiochus Epiphanes against the Maccabees who are faithful to the law of the Fathers.

Look what happens to the people of God, "said Pope Francis," every time there is a new dictatorship on Earth that is a cultural or ideological colonization. "Think, the Pope noted, without making names, to what the dictatorships of the last century did in Europe and the indoctrination in schools that have arisen:”

"Freedom is taken away, history, people’s memory is deconstructed, and an educational system is imposed on young people. Everyone: Everyone does this. Even with kid gloves on, so: I know a country, a nation that asks for a loan, '(and the answer is) “I will give you the loan, but [in return] you, in your schools, have to teach this, and this, and this,'; books that have erased all that God has created and how he has created it. They erase the differences, eliminate history: from today you have to start thinking in this way. Those who do not think like this are cast aside, even persecuted. "

This has happened even in Europe, the Pope commented, where "those who opposed genocidal dictatorships were persecuted", were threatened, deprived of freedom, which then corresponds to "another form of torture." And along with freedom, ideological and cultural colonizations also eliminate memory, reducing it to "fables", "lies," old things. " Then, recalling the figure of the Maccabei's mother who exhorts her children to stand up to martyrdom, the Pope emphasized the unique role of women in the custody of memory and historical roots:

"Preserving memory: the memory of salvation, the memory of God's people, that memory that strengthened the faith of a people persecuted by this ideological-cultural colonization. Memory is the one thing that helps us triumph over every perverse education system. To remember. Remembering the values, remembering the History, remembering the things we learned. And then, there are Mothers.

The "feminine tenderness" and the "manly courage" of the Maccabees mother who renders the historical roots of the language of the Fathers strong in defense of her children and of the People of God, makes us think, said the Pope that "only the strength of women is capable of resisting cultural colonization. " They are the mothers and women, the guardians of memory, of their native dialect , "able to defend the history of a people," and, moreover, the Pope added, to "convey the faith" which "theologians will be able to explain".

"The people of God continued on by the strength of so many valiant women who have been able to give their children faith, and only they - mothers - can convey faith in a native dialect. Let the Lord always give us grace in the Church to have memory, not to forget the native language of fathers, and to have courageous women. "

OKAY! ANOTHER JUST TOO KOOL STORY! NUMBER 2!

— “Looks like the backstroke to me!”
What 's going on here!? Gene made a comment on a previous post about a customer exclaiming to a waiter, "what is this fly doing in my soup!" And the waiter exclaims, "the backstroke of course!"

I am taking today off and was watching the Food Network. And just now the star made soup for her husband and he asked her, what is this fly doing in my soup (it was a piece of parsley that looked like a fly) and the wife said, "the backstroke!"

What are the odds that I would be exposed to this stale joke twice within a couple of hours?

FROM THE JUST TOO KOOL FILE! DO YOU BELIEVE IN MENTAL TELEPATHY OR THE DEAD REACHING OUT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING?

Last night, I was sitting in my recliner and I had a feeling that I should go on line to the Macon Telegraph's obituaries. When the thought came into my head to do that and out of the blue, I thought to myself, someone wants me to know that someone I know in Macon has died. But then, I thought to myself, no, don't be silly.

And sure enough, as I got to the obituary section of the Macon newspaper, there it was the obituary of the oldest parishioner of St. Joseph Church who had died on Sunday at 99 and a half years old.

I was stunned by the coincidence, but it doesn't stop there.

The lady who died is the grandmother of another parishioner when I was there who often comments on my blog!

My urge to look at the Macon Telegraph's obituary was around the time of this lady's wake in Macon last night, meaning the "Vigil for the Deceased" or the Rosary at about 7 pm.

About 20 minutes ago as I type this post, the grandson of this parishioner called me to let me know about the death of his grandmother. The funeral is in 15 minutes at St. Joseph Church as I type this! He was outside the Church awaiting the rest of the family to gather for the Funeral Mass.

I told him, that someone beat him to the punch about informing me of his grandmother's funeral either mental telepathy or his grandmother showed me the way to find out.

I think mental telepathy might be the case, becasue the grandson last night was wondering if I knew that his grandmother had died and he was wondering it as the Vigil for the Deceased was about the begin.

How kool is that?

WHY DOES MASON WELLS, A MORMOM MISSIONARY SOUND SO CATHOLIC?

I had never heard of him before, but he survived three terror attacks in different cities. It is a fascinating story. I just saw his interview on Fox and Friends and he talked about his faith in generic terms never mentioning he is a Mormon. He sounded very Catholic or how an ideal Catholic would sound in witnessing to his faith but not proselytizing by a drippy Jesus is my Savior churchy talk!

 

 

 

In Russia there is an old saying, ‘The first time is an accident. The second time is a coincidence. The third time is an enemy attack.’

Left Standing: The Miraculous Story of How Mason Wells’s Faith Survived the Boston, Paris, and Brussels Terror Attacks 

Wells reflects on his close calls with terrorism in this harrowing memoir. His first brush with extremist violence was at the 2013 Boston Marathon; he was several blocks away from the finish line, cheering on his mother, when the bombs went off. Two years later he was in France, serving as a missionary in Rouen (two hours north of Paris), during the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, and in 2016, at age 21 was severely injured in the Brussels Airport bombing. Wells’s religious faith shines brightly as he writes of relying on his belief in God and using prayer to help him recover from his injuries and pursue his dream of attending the Naval Academy. His bizarre and almost unbelievable experiences drive the story forward and make for an enthralling narrative. In the last chapters, Wells shares advice and life lessons, such as channeling hateful impulses into love by writing a letter to the object of your scorn. His reflections are refreshingly mature as he strives to forgive the terrorists and talks of mastering frustration. Wells demonstrates unbelievable strength of character in this stirring book. (Nov.)