KUDOS TO THE DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (WHERE I, GOD WILLING, WILL RETIRE ONE DAY) FOR BUILDING NEW CATHOLIC CHURCHES THAT HONOR OUR CATHOLIC TRADITION OF BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE FOR CHURCH BUILDINGS

The Diocese of Charleston has hit it out of the ballpark with new churches in the last several years, in Charleston, Aiken and Greenville.

The latest is not the first picture but the second with a story I copy from the Deacon's Bench:

Building something beautiful for God in South Carolina

I was pleased to see this story in The Miscellany, the newspaper for the Diocese of Charleston, describing the groundbreaking of a new church in the diocese, led by my friend Father Gregory West.
The church promises to be stunning. (You can see more of the design here.) I found particularly interesting the background behind the design choices:

Planning for the church has been going on since shortly after the parish formed, according to Father Gregory West, pastor at St. Clare of Assisi. 

Those plans have been driven by the work of a Design and Build team, which was established in 2016 and includes Father West and six parishioners who have extensive backgrounds in construction and design. 

One of the first things they did was seek input from St. Clare of Assisi’s members. They put up bulletin boards covered with images of different architectural elements for people to view before and after Masses over several weekends. Parishioners were asked to complete a survey on which they liked best. The results revealed a preference for the traditional architecture of Catholic churches.

This did not surprise Father West, who said recent studies nationwide have shown that many Catholics prefer more traditional architecture for their churches.

“People today want something that is transcendent because we live in such a fast cyber world where things are now measured in milliseconds,” he said. “As a result, people want something in a church that feels eternal and that speaks of beauty, transcendence and tradition.”

“As Catholics, we have more than 2,000 years of architectural expression and so much of it is so very beautiful,” Father West continued. “There was a period during the 20th century when a lot of that was put aside or reinvented, and now people want to go back to tradition.”

…Father West said the church will be designed to seat about 850 people. …The estimated cost is $21 million. 

“People want something in a church that feels eternal and that speaks of beauty, transcendence and tradition.”

The parish received a divine gift before the first shovel ever broke ground. Initial plans were for the church to have 12 clear windows because stained glass was too expensive. 

Then, Father West and the building team learned that the Sisters of St. Francis in Pittsburgh were closing their motherhouse because they no longer had the resources or the membership to keep it open. A developer made plans to turn the site into an independent living home for senior citizens and all liturgical items had to be removed, including 12 stained glass windows that were more than 100 years old and had been designed by the famed Franz Mayer firm in Munich. 

 Father West and others from the parish traveled to Pittsburgh and made an agreement to purchase the windows. Other items from the motherhouse that will find new life at St. Clare of Assisi include a baptismal font, Stations of the Cross, a high altar called a reredos, the main altar, and statues of St. Clare of Assisi, St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother. 

Read more. 

CAN BISHOPS AND PRIESTS FORCE COMMUNICANTS TO RECEIVE ON THE PALM OF THE HAND AND IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM?

Despite any perfect priests, deacons and bishops, not to mention, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, most of us imperfect ministers of Holy Communion often touch some part of the hand of the communicant receiving in the hand. This is particularly true of small children who receive in the hand and are moving targets.

When a communicant is kneeling for Holy Communion (which is always the case in the EF Mass) the priest who places the Host on the tongue of the communicant who slightly tilts their head back, it seldom happens that the priest's finger tips or finger(s) comes in contact with the communicant's tongue, lips or face.

However, bishops seem to think that it is more hazardous to receive on the tongue than in the hand as it concerns the flu or coronavirus.

Can communicants be forced to receive either in the hand or on the tongue in the Ordinary Form?

Can communicants be forced to receive in the hand at the EF Mass??????????????????????

Germaphobes want to know. 

THE HOLY AND PENITENTIAL SEASON OF LENT IN THE METRO SAVANNAH AREA

WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IN THE 1970’S THAT NEW ALTARS IN THE 2020’S WOULD LLOOK LIKE THIS?????

THIS IS UNCANNY, BISHOP SNIEDER MUST HAVE GONE TO THE SAME SCHOOL TO BECOME A BIOLOGICAL SCIENTIST AS FR. MJK OF SAVANNAH--WHO KNEW--OR MAYBE THE GOOD BISHOP IS PLAGERIZING FR. MJK'S COMMENTS HERE?????

From Rorate Caeli (press for full article):

Op-Ed - Bishop Schneider: The Rite of Holy Communion in times of a pandemic

'The ban on Communion in the mouth is unfounded compared to the great health risks of Communion in the hand in the time of a pandemic. Such a ban constitutes an abuse of authority.'

 sound-bytes: 

Communion in the hand is no more hygienic than Communion in the mouth. Indeed, it can be dangerous for contagion. From a hygienic point of view, the hand carries a huge amount of bacteria. Many pathogens are transmitted through the hands. Whether by shaking other people's hands or frequently touching objects, such as door handles or handrails and grab bars in public transport, germs can quickly pass from hand to hand; and with these unhygienic hands and fingers people then touch often their nose and mouth. Also, germs can sometimes survive on the surface of the touched objects for days. According to a 2006 study, published in the journal "BMC Infectious Diseases", influenza viruses and similar viruses can persist on inanimate surfaces, such as e.g. door handles or handrails and handles in transport and public buildings for a few days.

Many people who come to church and then receive Holy Communion in their hands have first touched door handles or handrails and grab bars in public transport or other buildings. Thus, viruses are imprinted on the palm and fingers of their hands. And then during Holy Mass with these hands and fingers they are sometimes touching their nose or mouth. With these hands and fingers they touch the consecrated host, thus impressing the virus also on the host, thus transporting the viruses through the host into their mouth.

Communion in the mouth is certainly less dangerous and more hygienic compared to Communion in the hand. In fact, the palm and the fingers of the hand, without intense washing, undeniably contain an accumulation of viruses.

Many faithful of the Eastern churches are scandalized, when they see the lack of faith of bishops and priests of the Latin Rite, as they introduce the ban on receiving Communion in the mouth, a ban made ultimately for lack of faith in the sacred and Divine character of the Body and Blood of the Eucharistic Christ.

 

THIS BISHOP ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE

Reducing the politicization of Bishop’ conferences is a smart idea as well as reducing the politics of these conferences. This applies also to the synodal processes where the heterodox use their skill to diminish the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church.

Protestants ultra heterodox used politics to ensure heresy reigns.

Bishop proposes rotating presidency of German bishops' conference

BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

FEB 27, 2020

MORE EVIDENCE OF WHY SO MANY CATHOLICS NO LONGER TAKE THE MASS SERIOUSLY OR BELIEVE IN THE REAL PRESENCE

These photos tell the story. Two altars, same church. Which configuration inspires faith, awe, wonder and authentic Catholic Faith in the Mass:

A VERY WISE PASTOR WITH HEALTH CONCERN SCRUPLES

Our bishop just proposed to priests that the common chalice be suspended until further notice due to health concerns with influenza and coronavirus. The pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Church here in Savannah has placed the following on the parish Facebook page. He went a step further by also suspending the Sign of Peace which the bishop made no comment and not even I have done!

Kudos to this concerned and scrupulous pastor!

THOSE WERE THE DAYS WHEN WE WERE DISCIPLINED MANLY CATHOLICS, EVEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN!

I can see why Catholics were thrilled to turn 60 back then, because they were dispensed from the Lenten Fast

It seems to me that some people who were really committed to the discipline of our Catholic Faith back then, could harm their health by the Lenten Fast, although dispensations galore were granted even prior to Vatican II.

It seems to me that today, we need a bit more fasting than what we have which is only two days out of the year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Why not make every Friday of Lent a Fast Day? That would be easier for most of us and dispensations would still be granted for those who couldn't do it.

Or, the description of the fast could be changed to "Fast Lite" meaning, every day of Lent you could eat three full meals but no snacking between meals. 

What do you think?

How Was Lent Observed Before Vatican II?

Changes in the Rules for Fasting and Abstinence

By ThoughtCo

Updated July 23, 2018

The rules for fasting and abstinence changed as part of Vatican II. But just as the revision of the liturgical calendar and the promulgation of the Novus Ordo (the current ordinary form of the Mass) were not part of Vatican II (though many people think they were), so, too, the revision of the rules for fasting and abstinence (not just for Lent but for the entire year) coincided with Vatican II but were separate from it.

But Changes Were Made

That revision was made by Pope Paul VI in a document entitled Paenitemini, which "invites everyone to accompany the inner conversion of the spirit with the voluntary exercise of external acts of penitence." Rather than relieve the faithful of the requirement to do penance through fasting and abstinence, Paul VI called them to do other forms of penance as well.
New Minimum Requirements for Fasting and Abstinence

Paenitemini did, however, set new minimum requirements for fasting and abstinence. Down through the centuries, the Church has adjusted the regulations to fit the spirit of the times. In the Middle Ages, in both the East and the West, eggs and dairy products, as well as all meat, were forbidden, which is how the tradition developed of making pancakes or paczki on Fat Tuesday. In the modern era, however, eggs and dairy were reintroduced in the West, though they continued to be forbidden in the East.

The Traditional Rules

My Father Lasance Missal, published in 1945, gives this summary of the regulations at that time:

The Law of Abstinence forbids the use of flesh meat and the juice thereof (soup, etc.). Eggs, cheese, butter and seasonings of food are permitted.
The Law of Fasting forbids more than one full meal a day but does not forbid a small amount of food in the morning and in the evening.
All Catholics seven years old and over are obliged to abstain. All Catholics from the completion of their twenty-first to the beginning of their sixtieth year, unless lawfully excused, are bound to fast.

As for the application of fasting and abstinence during Lent, the Father Lasance Missal notes:

"Fasting and abstinence are prescribed in the United States on the Fridays of Lent, Holy Saturday forenoon (on all other days of Lent except Sundays fasting is prescribed and meat is allowed once a day) . . . Whenever meat is permitted, fish may be taken at the same meal. A dispensation is granted to the laboring classes and their families on all days of fast and abstinence except Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Wednesday in Holy Week, Holy Saturday forenoon . . . When any member of such a family lawfully uses this privilege all the other members may avail themselves of it also, but those who fast may not eat meat more than once a day."

So, to answer the reader's specific questions, in the years immediately before Pope Paul VI issued Paenitemini, eggs, and dairy were allowed during Lent, and the meat was allowed once per day, except on Ash Wednesday, the Fridays of Lent, and before noon on Holy Saturday.
No Fasting on Sundays

Meat and all other items were allowed on the Sundays in Lent, because Sundays, in honor of the Resurrection of our Lord, can never be days of fasting. (That is why there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday; the Sundays in Lent are not included in the 40 days of Lent. See How Are the 40 Days of Lent Calculated? for more details.)

But Fasting for All 40 Days

And finally, the reader's aunt is correct: The faithful were required to fast for all 40 days of Lent, which meant only one meal, though "a small amount of food" could be taken "in the morning and in the evening."

No one is obliged to go beyond the current rules for fasting and abstinence. In recent years, however, some Catholics who have desired a stricter Lenten discipline have returned to the older regulations, and Pope Benedict XVI, in his message for Lent 2009, has encouraged such a development.

WHEN WHAT WAS MARKETED TO US AS NOBLE SIMPLICITY IS IN REALITY THE DUMBING DOWN OF OUR LITURGICAL SPIRITUALITY AND OUR LITURGICAL BLESSINGS, NOT TO MENTION OUR CATHOLIC FAITH

Please note in the chart below the difference in the blessing of the ashes in the EF Mass compared to the OF Mass. In the OF Mass, there are two choices for the blessing of the ashes, or are there? In fact the first blessing doesn’t even bless the ashes, it blesses those who will receive them. Interesting, no?

The second blessing actually blesses the ashes.

Of course in the chart below the translation of the Latin uses archaic English. What is missing in the OF blessing of the people who receive the ashes or the ashes is a concluding prayer after the blessed or unblessed ashes are imposed is a concluding prayer which is included in the EF Mass.

Maybe there are too many prayers to bless the ashes in the EF Mass, but at least it doesn’t dumb down our Catholic faith as does the OF’s supposed noble simplicity which is in fact a decayed version of the Ash Wednesday blessing of the ashes. In fact the OF’s blessing is a pulverization of the EF’s richness and vitality.

ASH WEDNESDAY IN ROME WITH THE HOLY FATHER

ON THIS ASH WEDNESDAY, SHOULD BISHOPS AND PRIESTS AND LITURGY COMMITTEES REPENT OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE WITH REVERENCE, FORMALITY AND THE BEAUTY OF THE MASS AND ERASED IT FOR HYPE AND HYSTERIA?

As one who recalls the decline in reverence at Mass immediately following the implementation of the 1970's Roman Missal and the experimentation allowed by the pope and bishops at the time, I am an eyewitness to the post-Vatican II demise of Catholicism and the Mass as the source and summit of our Catholic identity.

Kneeling for communion was deemed archaic. Hushed silence before and after Mass was discouraged. Folk choirs moved into the sanctuary, undisciplined as they were. Lay people, often unqualified and untrained were asked to be lectors and Communion Ministers. Dress became lax and casual.

I went to a Jesuit's first Mass in 1978 and he used crusty French Bread for the Eucharist, which he broke off for each communicant. the crusty parts and the soft parts were all over the floor's red carpet. I was a liberal seminarian and snickered after Mass when the rigid pious types were kneeling on the floor trying to get each particle.

And today, we wonder why so few Catholics actually believe in the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion and that this might be the reason why they no longer attend, join non-denominationals or simply become nones.

And we older Catholics, 60 and upward when exposed to the reverence of the EF Mass think it is old and outdated. We prefer the casualness and comprehensibility of the OF Mass because its like a friendly Last Supper or meal, a happy Meal. We are put out with the EF Mass because it isn't the new and improved Mass of Vatican II and we hate EF sensibilities applied to the OF Mass like kneeling and ad orientem. The 1960's crowed until about 2007 did a great job at denigrating the old Mass and its ethos, ecclesiology and reverence in order the marginalize that Mass and corrupt the faithful with the so-called "new and improved" Mass of Vatican II.

This is what Phil Lawler at CatholicCulture has to say:

Something is terribly, terribly wrong — and has been wrong for years, because the mass exodus (no pun intended) began several decades ago. It should come as no surprise that, in an institution that lost its zeal for evangelization — its enthusiasm for its central mission — other signs of corruption would eventually appear.

Where should we look for a solution to this problem, a remedy for anemic faith? Let’s look to the “source and summit of the Christian life,” the Eucharist. When we think of life in the Catholic Church, we generally think first of Sunday Mass — and so do any non-Catholics and lapsed Catholics who are watching for signs of life. Every believing Catholic recognizes the Eucharistic liturgy as the source of his spiritual life. But do we think of the Sunday Mass in our parish as the summit of our spirituality? Is this the best we can do? Really?

To be sure, the liturgy can never be beautiful enough, never reverent enough, to convey the full meaning of the Eucharist. But are we trying? Or have we slipped into a lackadaisical routine, accepting a liturgical approach that does not even attempt to convey the transcendent glory of the Mass?

Read the whole thing there.

SCARY! WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF. PRAYERS ARE REQUIRED!

KNEELING FOR ASHES OR STANDING, I ASK; YOU ANSWER

Scary stuff here

From the Deacon’s bench:

Earlier today, the C.D.C. said Americans need to be prepared for what may be coming:

Top U.S. public health officials said Tuesday that Americans should prepare for the spread of the coronavirus in communities across the country.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing Tuesday.

The CDC said that Americans should prepare for the possibility of disruptions to their daily lives if the virus were to start spreading in the U.S. That could include school closings, working from home and delaying elective medical procedures.

“We should all be dusting off our pandemic preparedness plans and rehearse them very quickly,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, said. “The core concept is social distancing.”

Business leaders, Schaffner said, should start considering which employees could work from home. Perhaps the time will come, he and other experts said, to observe religious practices and ceremony at home, rather than attending larger community gatherings at places of worship. And families should start asking themselves how they would handle a week or two at home, without travel even short distances for food, medicine or entertainment.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us…

IS THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL ACTING LIKE CHICKEN LITTLE AND TOO SCRUPULOUS ABOUT THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN THE USA?

Is the CDC creating Mass hysteria? They warn that the coronavirus could spread in the USA.

Those with no scruples when it comes to the common chalice as a threat to the public health will bitterly complain about the "sky is falling" approach of the CDC.

What happens to our parishes, especially those with big bills to pay, if no one attends Mass out of Mass hysteria?

In December, out of an abundance of caution, due to the flu epidemic in Georgia, I eliminated the common chalice. Our Cathedral has followed suit.

I doubt that I will implement again the common chalice as it is such a danger to public health.

But what further things should parishes be doing?

Our non-existent liturgy office, of course, is no help in the Diocese of Savannah. In fact, they haven't even notified priests of the new and improved funeral or baptismal ritual which becomes mandatory very soon, but who knows when, since we haven't be told by our liturgical commission.

And if the coronavisus is going to be as bad as the chicken little CDC says, we may need this ritual! 

ANOTHER VATICAN II'S SPIRIT OF INCULTURATION MOMENT AND ANOTHER SIGN OF THE SUCESS OF THE NEW SPRINGTIME FOR THE CHURCH AND HER MASS! WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?

This is Mardi Gras Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Los Angeles. I don’t know if this is an annual event, but it’s definitely an event. This kind of celebration, I know, is not uncommon in New Orleans, where you don’t have to look far to find a weekly Jazz Mass.

THE PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH GO BACK TO THE RUPTURE VATICAN II CREATED IN THE 1960'S CHURCH! IS THAT JUST A PIOUS QUOTE OR A PIOUS OPINION OF THE DAY?

I saw these comments which I quote on Fr. Z's blog opining if Pope Francis is spooked by the demons his progressivist agenda has exacerbated as the German Synod spirals in the muck of heterodoxy, heresy and schism not to mention the renunciation of Christ and the Church he founded:

The same culture that gave us an Einstein and Ratzinger also gave us a Luther and Marx. 

My Master of Religious Education  thesis was how the chaos of the 60s led to empty churches and decimated clerical ranks (the SJs who proctored my defense didn’t agree, by the way…but couldn’t refute); I’m not so sure that it wasn’t the chaos in the Church post-VII that allowed society to break down or vice versa. Same thing here, I fear.

And this response:

"didn’t agree, by the way…but couldn’t refute”.

Quoth the venerable Ralph of Norton, “How sweet (that) is!”

SEX ABUSE: IS IT GREATER TODAY THAN PRIOR TO THE 1960'S SEXUAL REVOLUTION BOTH IN SECUALR SETTINGS AS WELL AS RELIGIOIUS SETTINGS?

Finally, the press seems to be getting it. Sexual abuse of minors isn't just a celibate priest problem and scandal. It is experienced in every human institution on earth, no matter the religion or if there is no religious affiliation.

Finally, we are seeing reporting on the Boy Scouts, universities, sporting events and today I saw a news story on abuse of deaf children at a secular institution in Connecticut going back decades.

And of course, anyone familiar with those incarcerated for sex abuse of minors, about 99.9% of them are married men and women, not celibates.

The one area that the press seems to neglect is public schools and the grave problems there for decades.

But let's focus on the Catholic Church and her priesthood/relgious life. Are there studies comparing abuse prior to the 1960's sexual revolution and afterward?

And now that we have had a homosexual sexual revolution, meaning acceptance of the more flamboyant aspects of this lifestyle and acceptance of same sex "marriage" is there more or less homosexual abuse of minors, especially with male partners adopting children?

Is the issue a moral issue revolving around concupicense or a true perversion. Keep in mind that the homosexual lobby does not want to label any form of sexuality as perverted and in need of psychiatric therapy to overcome.

In the past therapy for abusers was the first priority in the Church, today it is calling law enforcement.

Will this keep bishops and others in positions of authority from enabling serial abuse by those under their authority?

APPLAUSE AT MASS: IT ONLY HAPPENS IN THE ORDINARY FORM! WHY IS THAT?

An unknown archbisop, bless his heart, is trying to ban applause at Mass while his brother bishops, bless their little hearts, encourage it time and time again and say nothing negative about it!

Two of the greatest areas of applause in the Ordinary Form are bishop's ordinations and/or installations. Just watch the installation of the new archbishop of Philadelphia. He even recognizes during his homily, the other cardinals and archbishops to thunderous applause and of course he is applauded. Would that happen in an EF bishop's ordination or installation?

Think about priestly ordinations in the Ordinary Form. Like bishop's ordinations, these too are like coronations, from the triumphant music (with a cacophony of disjointed styles of music) and applause for the one(s) being ordained. Would this happen if an EF ordination?

Think about Nuptial Masses in the Ordinary Form, the hooting and hollering, not to mention the applause, especially at the recessional. Would that happen in an EF Nuptial Mass?

For the last 10 years or so I have tried hard to prevent this sort of thing from happening  at Nuptial Masses to no avail by not introducing (Mr and Mrs) at the end of Mass, simply saying God in Peace and asking the organist to start the recessional immediately not giving a chance for applause, but it doesn't work! It has never happened at an EF Nuptial I have celebrated.

Do they applaud in your parish?

I lift the following from the Deacon's bench:
 

ARCHBISHOP CRITICIZES APPLAUSE AT MASS: ‘WHO WOULD HAVE CLAPPED AT CALVARY?’

From Zenit: 

A church official has called for “abstinence” from inappropriate clapping at Mass, saying that the Eucharist is a “happy feast and a memorial of Calvary”, reported CBCP News.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said that clapping at Mass, “if not nipped early, can rob us of the true meaning of Christian liturgy and worship.”

“Who would have clapped at Calvary? Would the Blessed Mother and John the Beloved have clapped?” Villegas said in a Lenten message issued Feb. 21.

“The breaking of the Bread is a commemoration of the violent death that the Lord went through. Who claps while others are in pain? It is pain with love; yes, but it still pain,” he said.

The archbishop particularly urged priests to refrain from using applause to keep their parishioners alert and awake during the homily.

Villegas emphasized that a “well prepared, brief, inspired and inspiring” homily “has a longer lifespan than intermittent clapping as you preach”.

If there is a need to give a post-communion message, he discouraged the naming of particular persons or groups who the parish wish to appreciate for their work or donations made to the Church.

The giving of appreciation, he added, must be done outside the Mass.

Villegas pointed out that when the congregation clap at an ordination Mass after calling the candidate, the applause is not for the ordinand but for the Lord who calls.

However, he lamented that “this is not the case with many of our applauses in the church”.

Read his full statement here. 

EVEN IF A PARISH COULD AFFORD IT OR A BENEFACTOR WOULD PROVIDE IT, WOULD A BISHOP APPROVE IT?

I wonder how strong the “spirit of Vatican II” ideology against kneeling for Holy Communion amongst bishops would prevent the installation of an altar railing in any church without it, but especially a church with seating on three sides?

Fortunately, my bishop approved my request to restore the altar railing in St. Joseph Church in Macon which, ironically, I removed some 11 years earlier!

What do you think?

A TEMPEST IN A GAY TEA POT???????????????????????????/

I don't want to get into the back story, but an article by a Catholic News Service writer (CNS is owned by EWTN/National Catholic Register) indicated that Pope Francis was/is really angry with gay activist Jesuit priest, James Martin for Martin's use of the pope's meeting with him to push the gay agenda in the Church as it has done in secular society and rather successfully.

Archbishop Wester of Santa Fe, who was in the meeting where it is alleged by "sources" (bishops) that the pope was really mad, disputes this.

Here is a rebuttal by the author of the original CNS news story about a mad pope:

Vatican | Feb. 22, 2020

Santa Fe Archbishop Weighs in on Papal Discussion of Fr. James Martin

 

Archbishop Wester said bishops raised to the pope questions about a recent speech Fr. Martin delivered to the presidents of Catholic universities, “and his work in general with the LGBT community.”

 

JD Flynn/CNA.

VATICAN CITY — Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe has offered his recollections of a meeting between Pope Francis and the American Southwest, especially as regards a discussion during the meeting of Jesuit Fr. James Martin.

CNA reported Feb. 20 that Fr. Martin was discussed during a Feb. 10 meeting between the pope and bishops of the USCCB’s Region XIII, who were with the pope as part of their ad limina visit.

Fr. Martin, an American Jesuit, is well known for his writing and speaking on LGBT issues and the Church. His work has been a subject of controversy; it is criticized by some bishops and praised by others.

Archbishop Wester confirmed that Fr. Martin and his Sept. 30 visit to the pope had been discussed in the meeting, in a Feb. 21 commentary published by the National Catholic Reporter.

The Santa Fe archbishop, who was appointed to his post in 2015, is one of seven U.S. bishops to have endorsed “Building a Bridge,” Fr. Martin’s 2017 book on the Church and homosexuality.

Read the rest there....

I AM STILL PUZZLED BY ALL OF THIS

February 20, 2020

Boy Scouts failed to heed church’s lesson

ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 20, 2020

Since the 1960s, the official organization of Boy Scouts have amassed more than 14,000 documents alleging complaints of sexual abuse by scoutmasters or volunteers.
Boy Scouts of America has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect the organization and its multibillion-dollar assets from seizure amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits. A once-venerable institution, credited by generations of business and military leaders with grounding them in the fundamentals for success in life, finds itself in the same kind of crisis of trust facing the Catholic Church.

My befuddled comments:

I am still puzzled by both the Church and the Boy Scouts and other organizations where leadership seemed not to be too overly concerned by what victims experienced in these cases, especially the Church with her high moral teachings.

Did bishops and leaders of scouts and school districts just think that it was no big deal? That the kids would just get over it?

I still don't understand it. I do think, though, that those who did the abusing could lie their way out of it. But, burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me.

I was never a scout, but I had friends when I was a child who were in scouting. I remember overhearing a conversation from two boys my age, maybe 11 or 12 at the time describing one of their scout masters on an overnight trip, where three boys stayed with him in a room with two beds. One kid shared a bed with the scout master and the two kids I over heard stated that the scout master was fooling around with the kid and there was a lot of giggling, etc. I did not take what they were saying in a sexual way, but that the scout master was just horsing around.  Obviously, it was highly inappropriate and they meant more by it that what I understood at the time.

Why would there be this nonchalant attitude about sexual abuse, not only inappropriate touching, but the far more intrusive forms that are so harmful to young and older alike?

THOSE WITH NO SCRUPLES ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH AND CONTAGIONS SPREAD BY CERTAIN LITURGICAL PRACTICES WILL SCOFF AT THIS!

Philippine bishops release additional guidelines to fight coronavirus with this BOMBSHELL: NO RUBBING OF ASHES ON PEOPLE'S FOREHEADS THIS ASH WEDNESDAY, DROP IT ON THE CROWN OF THEIR HEAD!!!!!!!!

• Ryan Harms
  Feb 20, 2020
  CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

A penitent kisses a crucifix as he takes part in a Good Friday service in Manila, Philippines, March 25, 2016. Amid continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Catholics in the Philippines have been asked not to kiss or touch the cross when they venerate it on Good Friday, which this year is April 10. (Credit: Ezra Acayan, Reuters via CNS) 

ROME - Amid continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Catholics in the Philippines have been asked not to kiss or touch the cross when they venerate it on Good Friday, April 10.

Instead, they should “genuflect or make a profound bow” before the cross during the veneration of the cross, according to updated liturgical guidelines issued Feb. 20 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and posted on Twitter.

Already in January, the bishops’ conference advised priests to discontinue the unsanitary common chalice, to place protective cloths over the screens of confessionals and to change the holy water in church fonts regularly. The conference also asked the faithful not to hold hands during the “Our Father” and not to shake hands during the sign of peace.

AND THEN THERE IS THIS BOMBSHELL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO SCRUPLES WHEN IT COMES TO LITURGICAL CONTAGIONS: 

In the new guidelines, which the bishops’ conference said it “strongly recommends” following, priests were asked to distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, by “dropping or sprinkling a small portion of blessed ash on the crown of the head of the faithful,” rather than rubbing them on the person’s forehead.

WHEN I ATTEND MASS AND SIT IN THE CONGREGATION, MOST OF THE TIME I HAVE TO CLOSE MY EYES SO I DON’T HAVE TO LOOK AT THE PRIEST LOOKING AT US

COMPARE THE ETHOS OF BOTH OF THESE ORDINARY FORM MASSES AND THE PRIESTS WHO CELEBRATE IT:

The creative pop Mass celebrated by an aging priest who has a perm and dyed hair, unless it is a wig, tells you how Mass facing the congregation attracts priests or priestly candidates who have narcissistic tendencies or those who want to be on stage, front and center, These personality types prosper with the Ordinary Form Mass facing the congregation.

When I attend Mass in various places in the USA when I am on vacation, I am driven to distraction by the antics or style by which priests celebrate the Ordinary Form. The Ordinary Form of the Mass is like a box of chocolates, you never no what you are going to get depending on which priest you accidentally choose.

I find myself at Mass closing my eyes so I don’t have to see it. I am doing what many use to refer to when they went to Mass, we heard Mass.

I watched portions of the Installation Mass of the new Archbishop of Philadelphia. These episcopal celebrations have become abominations of triumphalism and show biz. It was all about the new archbishop and he gloried in the Ordinary Form that allowed him to show his stuff.

I was particularly driven to distraction by the manner in which he consecrated the Host and Chalice of wine, holding the Host with one hand and very high, he gestured toward the entire congregation with it as he prayed the words of “institution.” The same with the chalice! Really? He is typical of bishops and priests my age malformed by the Ordinary Form of the Mass and those who taught them how to celebrate it or watched other priests doing what they copy.

I am not opposed to the Ordinary Form Mass but certainly advocate for bringing it more in line with the Extraordinary Form at least through ad orientem and kneeling for Holy Communion.

But first, let’s get the antics of bishops and priests out of it. Is that too much to ask?

SHOULD PRIESTS WEAR JEWELRY WHEN CELEBRATING MASS?

I am not sure if it is required in the EF Mass, but most priests would take their watch off so that it would not be visible during the elevations. As well, except for a bishop, a priest would not wear any rings, except those who have a wedding ban as a part of their religious profession (and married priests allowed by the Church).

Also, there isn't any prescription of this, but most priests when they wear a cassock under their alb also have a white shirt with french cuffs (optional I guess).

Today, many priests (and I did up until a few years ago) wear a short sleeve clerical shirt under their alb and no cassock. Thus at the elevations, the priest's forearms are completely exposed, not a very formal look given the formal nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

What do you think?

THIS 69 YEAR OLD PRIEST LONGS FOR THE EARLY 1970’S AND HE LOOKS IT AS DOES HIS SUPER-CREATIVE MASS, POP MASS, NO LESS; HE’S A SAD CARICATURE OF THAT PERIOD

This is the kind of liturgy we often experienced at St Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1970’s, especially the early 70’s. This Jesuit priest,  Fr. Joseph Rossi is skewed in the St. Mary’s Seminary way of doing liturgy during its most corrupt period, between 1972 and 74.

Watch the video provide by the Baltimore Sun by pressing the ”Read it all” at the end of this article I post from the Deacon’s Bench.

This is truly a caricature of some of the liturgical crap that occurred in the Church in the late 60’s and 70’s and beyond. I can’t believe that Pizza and Beer weren’t used for the Eucharistic elements.

From the Deacon’s Bench:

Gospel and Gorillaz: Pop-themed Mass featuring memes and YouTube a potent draw for Loyola University students

This is fascinating stuff — and I was pleased and impressed to see that one of the students involved in this is from my parish in Queens.

From The Baltimore Sun:

It’s late on a cold Sunday night at Loyola University Maryland, and with most of its students apparently ensconced in the warmth of their dorm rooms or library carrels, the North Baltimore campus seems as dark and still as the inside of an empty cathedral.

Inside the small lounge of one freshman dorm, though, a celebration is coming to life.

Young men and women steam in by the dozen, faces illuminated by glowing candles. The strains of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” thrum off the walls. And a priest in collar and dark jeans takes his place at a makeshift altar up front.

“Guys, we’re starting with a classic rock song, and it deals with the theme of hope,” the Rev. Joseph Rossi, 69, tells the nearly 200 people now filling the incense-filled space. “Listen to the line, ‘I believe in Kingdom Come.’ That’s what’s giving them hope. That’s what their faith is holding onto.”

And the most talked-about weekly gathering on campus, the Hopkins Court Mass, has begun.

In an era in which attendance in the Catholic Church remains in decline, particularly among young adults, the 10 p.m. Mass Rossi celebrates draws more than 150 a week, at least the equivalent of its more conventional counterparts. And it generates a buzz on campus that other activities can’t touch.

Some say it’s that the service spotlights rock and pop music, YouTube videos, internet memes or film clips alongside the core elements of a traditional Mass. To others, it’s that students work with Rossi to devise, promote and carry out each one, generating a rare sense of ownership.

And many regulars cite the lack of formality, the location outside the confines of church buildings, and the sense of community that develops among those who attend.

Julia Scapp, a junior from New York who was raised Catholic, has been attending the Hopkins Court Mass regularly since her freshman year.

The 21-year-old says her commitment to the faith had been flagging — “I wasn’t feeling a connection to my home church,” she says — but the 10 o’clock Mass has brought it back to life.

“Even though the readings and the Gospels were the same ones, the way Father Rossi connected them to things that matter to me gave me a new outlook on church,” she says. “It was suddenly so relevant, so relatable. It meant a complete 180 for me.”

Read it all. 

THE NATIONAL CHISMATIC REPORTER FOMENTS CHISIM; BUT WHO WILL BE CONSIDERED CHISMATIC? THE ORTHODOX OR HETERODOX

Whether intentionally or not, Pope Francis’ papacy has emboldened the heretical, heterodox left of the Church, usually people my age and older, clergy, religious and laity with not a few cardinals and lesser bishops. For them, it is the 1970’s all over again.

But in fact, it is the pre-Trent, Protestant Reformation time for them. They live in the glory days of the 1500’s and would make Martin Luther blush at their radical reformation proposals.

Germany is on the brink of a new/neo Protestant Reformation. The question, though, and this is unprecedented, what side will the Pope take? Will he approve the heterodox/heretical movement there and simply keep them from going into an actual schism (separating from the papacy) or will he act as Pope St. Paul II acted with the Lefeberist movement?

At least the SSPX today are not heterodox, except in the manner in which they question an ecumenical council and Papal authority in the Church.

How odd would it be if the orthodox Catholics in Germany are seen as the rigid schismatic ones and the heterodox are embraced as the Church of the future in this grand epochal change in the Church and world?

Talk about heterodoxy and actual schism based on heresy, read these two articles:

Reformers' ideas gain momentum in German synodal way

Feb 19, 2020

by Donald Snyder


And:

German theologian spearheads transition to a 'gender appropriate' Catholic Church

BY CLAIRE GIANGRAVE, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

FEB 19, 2020

A GOOD VIDEO ON HOW TO AND NOT TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION

The problems shown in this video do not exist in the Extraordinary Form although there are a couple of problems with receiving at the railing which should be taught more clearly:

1. When kneeling at the railing, do not extend your arms/folded hands over the railing where the priest will pass by, for obvious reasons!

2. When receiving, tilt your head back slightly and stick your tongue out slightly. I find some are bowing their heads and sticking out their tongue which makes it difficult to place the Host on the tongue or they don't stick their tongue out far enough and some stick it out way too far.

PRIEST OFFERING THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK TO CORONAVIRUS VICTIMS AND WITH ABUNDANT CAUTION; ORWELLIAN? YESSSSSSSS!

POLAND IS RIPE FOR PROTESTANT EVANGELIZATION EVIDENTLY

Compassion Christian Church is the second largest mega church in Savannah (The Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah being the largest by far). They have several campuses in the Savannah area and are sending my next door neighbor who works for them on a Mission trip to Poland of all places.

My next door neighbor and his wife work for the Church. I have to hand it to Protestant Evangelicals, they know how to reach out to the churched in Catholic countries and prosyletize them. They call it evangelization.

I found this on a shared Facebook page. I deleted the names in order to protect the innocent.

What do you think about these evangelization endeavors?

Our Family goes to

Zakosciele, Poland

June 12-21, 2020 

TOTAL RAISED$570 of $10,000

Donate

About My Trip

Thank you for choosing to partner with us in prayer and financial support! You are playing an important part of God's plan to send (one of our families) to the mission field. 

Our team will participate in a week of service, community development and outreach. We will help our partners at Proem host a festival they call Kontakt in the city of Piotrkow where they have recently planted a church. The team will reach out to this community by doing acts of service and hosting sports, art & crafts and worship events. We have a great opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Poland!

In addition to sending us to Poland for our Mission Trip, $800 of these funds will also be used for (a family member) to do a summer-long Videography Internship with Proem. This amazing opportunity right out of High School will not only serve the community and series of summer camps, but will provide (him) priceles experience, building upon his Audio, Video, Technology and Film Pathway education he received throughout his Richmond Hill High School years. 

About Compassion Christian Church Global Outreach

For the Glory of God, we will train, equip, send, and support disciples leading people to a life changing connection with Jesus Christ.

We desire to contribute to the completion of the Great Commission by:
- Aggressively praying for global evangelism
- Resourcing church planting movements

- Mobilizing equipped national church leaders
- Exponentially growing the numbers of CCC members involved in global outreach

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