MY BULLETIN LETTER FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY

DISCUSS: (updated with a second letter I wrote for our bulletin in mid January)

Dear parishioners,

In the last several bulletin letters I have been writing about Catholic identity. I would say that the basis of our Catholic identity, its foundation, is Jesus Christ and following the two greatest Commandments (which sum up all 10) the love of God (first three) and love of neighbor (last seven). 

For Catholics, our identity is tied to the Sacraments beginning with Holy Baptism. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the source and summit of our Catholic identity. It is for this reason the Church in her wisdom mandates that Catholics attend Mass each Sunday, even if they are not free to receive Holy Communion, and to keep holy the Lord’s Day by avoiding unnecessary labor. It should be a day of rest in other words.

Of course keeping Holy the Lord’s Day is based on the 3^rd Commandment. 

Pope Francis recently gave a marvelous homily at one of his daily Masses on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as it relates to the eternal High priesthood of Jesus Christ. This is what His Holiness said in part:

The priesthood of Christ takes place in three stages, the Pope said. The first is the redemption: while the priests of the Old Covenant had to offer sacrifices every year, “Christ offered Himself, once for all, for the forgiveness of sins (which is renewed in an eternal and non bloody way at every Mass).” With this marvel, “He has brought us to the Father… He has re-created the harmony of creation,” the Pope noted. The second wonder is what the Lord is doing now – that is, praying for us. “While we pray here, He is praying for us” “for each one of us,” Pope Francis emphasized: “now, living, before the Father, He intercedes,” so that the faith might not falter. How often, in fact, are priests asked to pray, the Pope said, because “we know that the prayer of the priest has a certain force, especially in the sacrifice of the Mass.” The third wonder will be when Christ returns; but this third time will not be in relation to sin, but rather, it will be “to establish the definitive Kingdom,” when He will bring all of us to the Father. (The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass points to this final reality as well).

Traditionally, the Catholic Mass has been noted for its sobriety in the manner in which it was celebrated. The personality of the priest and congregation were deemphasized in order to make Christ central. Music of the chant form was simple as well all meant to direct us to Christ whom we worship alone as He offers Himself to the Heavenly Father as both priest and victim once and for all. 

I pray that all of us understand and appreciate the true nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the redemption God accomplishes for us in the great Sacrifice of Christ, His Passion and Death. God bless you.

Your pastor,

Father Allan J. McDonald
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Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday we return to Ordinary Time with its green liturgical color. I have never liked the term “ordinary” to describe sacred time in the Catholic Church. Time after Epiphany or after Pentecost seems better to me.

But in Ordinary Time, we simply focus on the basics of our Catholic Faith as the liturgy presents it to us each Sunday. But way more importantly, we experience in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the means by which God makes possible our salvation from sin and damnation. That in and of itself should be sufficient for us during all sacred times of the year.

We live in a consumer culture and often we drag that consumerism into the Church. We expect to be satisfied with our relatives, our friends and our parishes. If we aren’t we shop around for something else that satisfies us. If we don’t like the music, we search for better music. If we don’t like the congregation, we look for people we do like. 

I find it sad when we approach our Catholic faith as consumers. I know I am dating myself, but I was taught that no matter how poor the priest was in his mannerisms and way of celebrating the Mass, no matter how boring the homily or horrible the music, that in the Mass, Jesus Christ, the Son of God was present and His one Sacrifice of the Cross was made available to us in the present, in a timeless, eternal way. What more do we want!!!!?????

Don’t get me wrong. I think the priest should be good looking, hip, relating to everyone and always giving great homilies and in touch with the deepest needs of his congregation. He should run a parish that attracts the multitudes and satisfies all their needs.

But you know what? St. Utopia doesn’t exist in the Catholic Church or any of the myriad of non-denominational churches that exist here and elsewhere no matter how much they satisfy the consumer mentality. When we become like Walmart trying to attract customers by what we offer rather than present Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us and who calls us to take up our cross and follow him, we cease to be Catholic, we become bogus. 

I pray that during the Ordinary Time of the Church’s calendar, we Catholics won’t be consumers of Catholicism but servants of Jesus Christ who leads us to eternal life. God bless you.

Your pastor,

Fr. Allan J. McDonald

 

I DISAGREE THAT THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS CAN'T BE AS REVERENT AS THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM EVEN IF LATIN IS NOT USED

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ WILL NOT BE SUCCESSFUL UNLESS IT COMES FROM ON HIGH, FROM THE POPE AND BISHOPS OF THE HOLY ROMAN, LATIN RITE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. IF THIS IS NOT THE DIRECTION OF LEADERSHIP ANY CONGREGATION AND PRIEST DOING SO FROM BELOW WILL BE SEEN AS IDIOSYNCRATIC AND THE WORK OF THE PRIEST PROMOTING IT WITH BE UNDONE BY A SUBSEQUENT PASTOR WHO DOES NOT ACCEPT THE RE-SACRALIZATION OF THE MASS IN THE ORDINARY FORM. WE CANNOT REFORM THE ORDINARY FORM IF SUBSEQUENT BISHOPS AND PRIESTS PREFER STATUS QUO AND RETURN TO IT THUS CREATING MORE ANGST AND DIVISION IN PARISHES.

What does an Ordinary Form Mass, even all in English, which recaptures the Sacrifice and reverence of the Extraordinary Form?

1. It begins with the reform of the OF Roman Missal to include what the Ordinariate's Divine Worship the Missal already accomplishes except ours would not have the Anglican patrimony or archaic English, but would allow for the use of EF characteristics gutted from the current OF Roman Missal.

2. The Mass is celebrated ad orientem with the chanting in English of the Propers, Introit, Offertory and Communion Antiphons and as it is done in the EF Roman Missal. This allows for plain chant in English or more complicated forms of English chant but certainly does not exclude our patrimony in Latin!

3. The entire Mass is celebrated ad orientem as in the EF Missal except for the Liturgy of the Word which remains as is in terms of style but without the useless repetition of the refrain of a "responsorial psalm, but the use of the Gradual and Tract.

4. The return of the use of the altar railing with communion received kneeling and on the tongue and the only option for the Precious Blood for the laity by way of intinction, not the common chalice.

5. The rule of silence in the Church maintained scrupulously before, during and after Mass.

6. Silence occurring in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the context of actual liturgical prayer rather than imposed on the liturgy after certain elements of the Mass. This means a Silent Canon and other points of silence during actual liturgical prayer that is common in the EF Roman Missal.

Any other suggestions that embraces the Ordinary Form of the Mass and does not suggest it be suppressed in favor of the 1962 Roman Missal????? 

50 YEARS OF FIXING WHAT WAS NOT BROKEN AND DENYING WHAT IS BROKEN TODAY AND NOT FIXING IT

(UPDATED WITH MY MOST IMPORTANT AND ASTUTE COMMENTS IN RED EMBEDDED IN THE TEXT BELOW) 
 
This commentary from Crux is important because it is from a priest ordained in 1965 and who was in Rome during Vatican II. He is not a reactionary but gives a sober clarion call to reconsider if Vatican II ushered in a new springtime but rather a Tower of Babel unraveling Catholicism's sacramental life:

The unraveling of Catholicism’s rich sacramental tapestry

• Fr. Robert Imbelli
  March 9, 2017
  SPECIAL TO CRUX

Pope Francis shakes hands with a young faithful after hearing his confession, during Youth Jubilee at Saint Peter square in Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2016. (Credit: Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP Photo.)

Father Robert Imbelli wonders whether the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, after fifty years of checkered reception, has resulted in a new Pentecost or a new Babel. He ponders whether the idea and practice of sacramental Catholicism has been discarded by some to the detriment of many.

A singular grace of my life was to have been in Rome during the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. Not, of course, as an active participant, but as a young seminarian on the peripheries of that extraordinary ecclesial event.

Nonetheless, like so many, I was fully caught up in the fervor and hope of a new Pentecost for which John XXIII so earnestly prayed.

Ordained in 1965, shortly before the Council’s conclusion, my life, as priest and teacher of theology, has transpired under the sign of the Council and I have sought in a modest way to adhere to and promote its vision of ressourcement and aggiornamento.

Yet I find myself wondering more and more whether the aftermath of the Council, after fifty years of checkered reception, has resulted in a new Pentecost or a new Babel?

I can imagine the dismissive reaction of some to this query, attributing it to the darkening vision of a by now quite senior presbyter. Others, more sympathetic, might still be quick to point out that Catholicism, whatever its North Atlantic condition, seems to be flourishing in the Southern hemisphere - even in the Southern United States.

Since we can only speak from a particular limited perspective, I can acknowledge the cautions expressed, yet call attention to the serious concerns I perceive.

Foremost among them is the erosion of faith in Jesus Christ. A blunt assessment to be sure. Yet even the great Dominican theologian, Yves Congar, so central a figure at Vatican II, acknowledged that the question of faith in Jesus Christ was the transcendent issue.

In responding to a question about the future of Catholicism given twenty-five years after the Council, Congar tempered his positive (if not optimistic) view by voicing the crucial query posed by Jesus himself: “when the Son of Man returns will he still find faith?”

Twenty-five years further on, as we contemplate the dismal reality of empty churches Sunday after Sunday and ponder the surveys telling of diminished belief in Christ’s resurrection, and, consequently, of his real presence in the Eucharist, Congar’s citation assumes greater poignancy.

Even among those who continue to participate in the Sunday assembly, a notion of the Mass as the re-presentation of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice is hardly prominent. How often do we still hear reference to “the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” (so common in my youth)?  (THIS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. BISHOPS AND PRIESTS MY AGE AND OLDER, THE SAME AGE AS THE PRIEST WRITING THIS ARTICLE, HAVE PROMOTED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MASS THAT IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO ITS DOCTRINAL AND DOGMATIC CONTENT AS A HOLY SACRIFICE. THUS WE TURN TO OTHER PERIPHERAL ELEMENTS OF THE MASS THAT FURTHER OBSCURES ITS PRIMARY SACRIFICIAL ELEMENTS, THE TYPE OF BREAD AND WINE CONSUMED, THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS CONSUMED, THE TYPE OF MUSIC THAT GIVES AN ADRENALIN RUSH, THE FOCUS ON THE "SACRED ASSEMBLY" WHO LOOKS AT EACH OTHER DURING MASS AND GATHERS AROUND THE TABLE TO SHARE THE MEAL AND THE EMPHASIS ON LAY MINISTRIES IN THE MASS OVER THE SACRIFICE AND FINALLY THE WARMTH, FRIENDLINESS AND ENGAGING PERSONALITY OF THE AD LIBBING PRIEST.)

The epochal turning of the altar versus populum led to a dramatic shift in perception in which the “meal” dimension of the Eucharist has prevailed: the celebration of a “Lord’s Supper” with absent host and scarce sign of victim. (THIS NO DOUBT ALSO DETHRONED THE LORD WHO THE PRIEST MERELY "ACTS IN PERSONA CHRISTI" AND MAKES THE SACRAMENTAL PRIEST THE CENTER OF ATTENTION ALONG WITH THE DIMINISHING OF HIS ROLE AS AN IMAGE OF THE SACRIFICING HIGH PRIEST, JESUS CHRIST. ALSO TURNING THE ALTAR AROUND MEANT PLACING THE PRIEST'S CHAIR DIRECTLY BEHIND IT AND HIGHER UP, THE TABERNACLE MOVED TO A SIDE ALTAR OR SEPARATE CHAPEL ALTOGETHER AND TURNING THE CHURCH BUILDING, NAVE AND SANCTUARY TOGETHER, INTO A PROTESTANT ASSEMBLY HALL WHERE PEOPLE CHIT CHAT AND VISIT PRIOR TO THE MASS AND AFTERWARD ALL IN THE NAME OF HOSPITALITY WHICH IS ALWAYS HORIZONTAL TO THE LOSS OF THE TRANSCENDENT WHICH IS VERTICAL).

Since the Eucharist is at the apex of the Church’s sacramental vision, such dwindling participation and reductive understanding is bound to have consequences for the other sacraments and their significance in the life of Catholics.

The role of the priest, who acts “in persona Christi Capitis” (in the person of Christ the Head), devolves into that of the “presider” at the community’s agape meal. Why then cannot this “function” be assumed by any member of the congregation who is willing and able? And why the need for a distinct sacrament, rather than a simple commissioning by the community?

Further, lacking a robust sense of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and of the one who “alone is holy” offering his sacrifice to the Father in the eternal Spirit, much of the motivation for celebrating the sacrament of Penance fades.

Now I am well aware of the dismissal of the weekly confessions of pre-conciliar days as “laundry list” exercises. Undoubtedly some were. But the saints of the Church always had an acute sense of sin, because they had present to themselves a standard of holiness that was not rule-based, but Person-based.

Their measure was Christ, and the confessional was no “torture chamber,” but the encounter with the saving grace of the Redeemer (as it was for countless ordinary penitents, including the seventeen year old Jorge Mario Bergoglio- today Pope Francis).

Moreover, in light of the current depressing debate surrounding marriage, one wonders whether the “great mystery,” so confidently proclaimed to the Ephesians (Eph 5:32), with such transformative implications for the union of man and woman in Christ, is even intelligible to a therapeutic culture.

But is the challenge before us a doctrinal-pastoral “accommodation” to current cultural “realities,” or (as Saint Paul dares to mount, in the face of the culture of his day), a doctrinal-pastoral mystagogy?

The Corinthians, the Romans, the Galatians were as fractious and divisive as our contemporary divorce and discard culture. Hence Paul’s “accompaniment” of them entailed all the pain and hope of childbirth: “until Christ be formed in you” (Gal 4:19).

Thus Catholicism’s tradition of “Seven Sacraments” should not be construed as some arbitrary numerical concoction. Rather, especially today, it represents the Spirit-guided safeguard of a life-giving sacramental vision that stands in liberating contrast to the stunted secular imagination whose one-dimensional individualism and consumerism ends by suffocating the soul.

However, if as I have suggested the foundational issue is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of the Church and Savior of the world, then the challenge is primarily that of a renewed Christ-centered proclamation and catechesis.

His is the beloved face revealed in and through the warp and woof of Catholicism’s sacramental tapestry. His is the radiant form to whom believers are sacramentally conformed and transformed. (AMEN TO THESE TWO PARAGRAPHS, BUT THIS MEANS A REFOCUS ON CHRIST IN THE LITURGY AND LESS FOCUS ON THE ASSEMBLY. THIS FLIES IN THE FACE OF THOSE WHO WANT TO IMITATE PROTESTANT HOSPITALITY IN CATHOLIC CHURCHES WITHOUT RECOGNIZING THE REASON FOR PROTESTANT HOSPITALITY: THEY LACK THE SACRAMENTAL TAPESTRY THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS/HAD AND THUS THEY SHIFT TO SOMETHING ELSE, WHILE NOT BAD, IS BOGUS AND FOREIGN TO CATHOLICISM AND OUR SACRAMENTAL SYSTEM. IN OTHER WORDS, WE REPLACE CHRIST WITH WARM SENTIMENTALITY NOT SACRAMENTALITY!)

Let us take Pope Francis’s Evangelii Gaudium at its challenging word: “The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known?” (no. 264).

The joy of the love of Christ compels us -  Amoris Christi Laetitia! Not the love of an “ideal,” however sublime, much less a rule; but the love of a living Person whose presence in the Church’s sacraments is continual source of life and lasting joy.

Father Robert Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is the author of Rekindling the Christic Imagination: Theological Meditations for the New Evangelization.

JUST WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE LITURGY IN THE WORLD TODAY? IT DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK!

First Things has an article on the formlessness of the liturgy and how to reform the reform. Yawn!

Don't get me wrong, if more parishes were exposed to the EF Mass and every Catholic priest had a comfort level in celebrating it, I believe we would see this influencing the Ordinary Form, what is called erroneously "mutual enrichment."

It is said that young people when exposed to the EF prefer it, not in a nostalgic way, but because of its mystery and reverence. I have not seen statistics on this. However, in my previous parish we had a monthly EF Mass at one of our normal Sunday Masses and I didn't see the young flocking to it or saying let's do this every Sunday.

At the Cathedral here in Savannah which as a weekly EF High Mass, there is about 200 or less people attend. Given the number of Catholics in Savannah and the tourist population, it should be packed given what traditionalists say about the EF Mass and its appeal!

Prior to Vatican II there were two to three forms of the EF Mass, Low, High and Solemn High. Most parishes did not celebrate the Solemn High regularly. In a multiple Mass parish, only one would be the High Mass, the rest Low Masses. Most Catholics prior to Vatican preferred the Low Mass early in the morning because sit was simple and more importantly short!

I suspect with the OF Mass, if we had only one Sung Mass on Sunday and no singing of the Mass at the other Mass times, this would go over very well compared to offering the EF Mass every Sunday at all Masses low or high!

I wholeheartedly endorse what the recent letter on music in the Mass suggests. But this has to come from our pope and bishops and be a program of restoration and renewal.

But today, we not only have multiple Masses with multiple styles of music, good, bad and horrible, but we have different language Masses which presents an entire new set of problems for pastors trying to determine what is good music in Spanish, Vietnamese or Portuguese or whatever language! It is simply impossible today for most priest to present a coherent renewal of music in their parishes!

Yes, the EF Mass is important for the reform of the Ordinary Form, but much more is needed and most of it focuses on reverence in the OF Mass, its music and how to move forward in that realm, not only on the grassroots level, but more importantly on the level of bishops and their program of renewal they expect priests to implement!

BOMSHELL INTERVIEW?

I report; you decide:

From 1 Peter5

New Papal Interview Addresses Cardinal Burke, Married Priests

Maike Hickson March 8, 2017 0 Comments

(Image: Screenshot of the papal interview as it appears [with Google translation] in Zeit Online)

Today, 8 March, the German newspaper Die Zeit published an interview with Pope Francis which was conducted at the end of February at the pope’s residence Casa Santa Marta in Rome. In this somewhat lengthy interview, the pope speaks about two important topics which are both timely and of special interest.

First, he speaks directly about Cardinal Raymond L. Burke and the pope’s own decision to intervene into the affairs of the Order of Malta, and also why Cardinal Burke was subsequently sent to Guam. In one section of the interview, Pope Francis says: “I do not consider Burke to be an adversary,” and then later also adds:

Cardinal Burke went there [to Guam] because of a terrible incident. I am very grateful to him for that, there was a bad abuse case, and he is an excellent lawyer, but I believe that this mission is already nearly accomplished.

Later in the same interview, the journalist, Giovanni di Lorenzo, asks Pope Francis about an overall question of the Order of Malta and the pope’s intervention in this specific case. Pope Francis responds:

The problem with the Order of Malta was, rather, that Cardinal Burke was not able any more to act in a just manner in the affair because he did not any more act alone. However, I did not remove his title as Cardinal Patron. He still is Patronus of the Order of Malta, but it is now necessary to clean out a little bit in the order and that is why I have sent there a delegate who has another charism than Burke. [my emphasis]

Another important aspect of the interview is the ongoing debate about married priests. Giovanni di Lorenzo asks the pope about the wide lack of priests, for example in Hamburg, Germany. The pope responds, saying that “also in Switzerland, it does not look good.” He continues with the words: “Many parishes have brave women: they keep up the Sunday and celebrate liturgies of the word, that is to say without the Eucharist. The problem, however, is the lack of vocations.” (In a later section of the interview, Pope Francis explains: “One does not get more vocations with the help of proselytism.”)

When discussing the matter of married priests, Pope Francis answers: “But voluntary celibacy is not the answer.” Additionally, he does show, however, more openness toward the idea of giving more scope and clerical faculties to the “viri probati,” those married men who have lived abidingly a tested and proven virtuous life and who would be thus eligible for the permanent diaconate. Francis says:

We have to reflect about whether the viri probati are a possibility. Then we also have to determine which tasks they could have, for example in far distant parishes. […] In the Church, it is always important to recognize the right moment, to recognize when the Holy Ghost demands something. That is why I say that we will continue to reflect about the viri probati.

With regard to the discussion of female deacons, Pope Francis says that he encourages us all to study the question. He adds that this is the “duty of theology,” to ask, when studying Holy Scripture (in line with the historical-critical method): “What did this mean at that time [of the Bible]? What does it mean today?”  Francis adds: “Truth is to have no fear. That tells us the historical truth, the academic truth: Don’t be afraid! That makes us free.”

The timing of this renewed discussion on the issue of married priests coincides with a meeting of the influential German Bishops’ Conference in Bergisch Gladbach this week, during which the question of a married priesthood (as part of a larger discussion on the priesthood itself) may be on the agenda. That this papal interview — originally conducted last month in Italian — is being released at this precise moment in a German-language publication raises questions about the possibility of a larger, coordinated communications effort to advance the issue. This is, according to Die Zeit, the pope’s “first interview with a German newspaper”.

YES WE WILL EAT MEAT AND PARTY 🎉 LIKE IT IS 1999 THE THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT!

AND WE WILL CANCEL THE WAY OF THE CROSS THAT FRIDAY TOO! SO THERE!

I have returned to the metro Savannah area after a 25 year hiatus. Savannah has one of the biggest St. Patrick Day parades in the whole wide world 🌎 if not solar system or universe! No brag just fact!

This year the most wonderful time of the year, March 17th falls on a Friday! The days of gluttony, drunkenness and out right apocalyptic immorality leading up to and following this most wonderful day as a preglow and afterglow rival anything New Orleans has!

Thus the Church in her great wisdom has dispensed Catholics and non Catholics alike from the Lenten Law of abstinence! I have canceled our Way of the Cross in the same spirit of Caligula!

I think it was about 1987 or so when a huge controversy broke out in the Hostess City when street vendors days prior to the parade began to sell green color condoms with the image of Saint Patrick on it. This caused quite a negative reaction from our then bishop, now deceased, who told the Saint Patrick's Day Committee if something wasn't done he would withdraw from the parade and cancel the huge public Mass at the Cathedral on that day.

Of course, this was front page news and made the TV news. As the MC of the Diocese and the Cathedral's Associate Rector,  I was interviewed by one of the local TV stations about my thoughts. I had never spoken about condoms before in polite company or as a priest, so I thought the question was interesting one but now I can't remember what I said.

And if this crisis was not huge enough, it was exacerbated by another huge controversy fomented by our late bishop! What was the correct pronunciation of the word condom? Was is con-dum or con-dome? Our late bishop opted for the second option. Maybe it was his North Dakota way of speaking?   I avoided that controversy in my television news interview and didn't even use the word!

But the Irish mafia in the city dealt swiftly with the vendors and the green condoms were no where to be found on the streets of Savannah with the image of St. Patrick on them.

DISCUSS AND ENJOY! BE HERE OR BE SQUARE, SAVANNAH SQUARES THAT IS!

We're only a few days away from one of the most exciting days of the year! That's right, St. Paddy's Day in Savannah, Georgia. If you've never heard of Savannah's big St. Patrick's Day Parade then you are about to my friend! There is something magical about St. Paddy's Day in the heart of Savannah. Savannah's St. Patrick's Day Parade has always been and always will be a monumental event. There is something so fun and special about a community coming together to celebrate with music, dancing, food and drink. (Lots of drinking and merriment will be had if I say so.) So if you're looking for a reason to get away, look no further. Here are just a few reasons to attend Savannah's St. Paddy's Day Parade:

1. Savannah is a beautiful historic city.

2. We have the second largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the nation. 

3. It's basically a weekend-long event.

4. Everyone is considered Irish on March 17.

5. Dressing up in your favorite green attire is a must.

6. Beads galore, everywhere.

7. Beer, beer and more beer.

8. Savannah's parade really gives you a sense of tradition and community that you wouldn't get elsewhere on St. Patrick's Day. It's such a familial and joyful event for the city.

9. Wet Willies is the place to be.

10. Clydesdales clapping down the squares.

11. There are so many different experiences each year you attend.

12. High school girls run up to peck the BC boys and marching soldiers.

13. The high school marching bands killing it.

14. The annual greening of the fountain in Forsyth Park. 

15. Your family has a special spot in one of the many squares where they set up shop.

16. You've probably been in the parade or know at least one or two people walking in it.

17. River Street is always a madhouse at the end of the parade.

18. You'll see friends and family you haven't seen in months and get to celebrate with a beer in hand!

19. All the local high school and returning college students will gather in Chippewa Square.

20. Trying to find a bathroom is a real struggle on March 17. Hold your pee, pay a fee or find a dirty, slimy portable bathroom.

21. Heading down by 6 or 7 a.m. just to find a parking spot (you might as well park the night before and be dropped off, or just be dropped off in general).

22. The parade is just one aspect of St. Paddy's Day. The night life is where all the fun is to be had. 

23. The motto: "Kiss me I'm Irish."

24. Catholics will attend mass in the Cathedral before the parade begins.

25. Roaming the streets of Savannah is like being in a sea of green. You don't know whether you're seeing a mirage or not.

26. St. Patrick's Day is the day where everyone celebrates by jugging a beer, donning their very best green and having one heck of a party!

---

In case you haven't made up your mind yet, you should definitely make plans to come to Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day Parade!

IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS HYMN AND ITS USE AT MASS?

This past Sunday was the first time I had heard or sung this particular hymn. It was our recessional. It has a wonderful and singable melody. But by the second time I sang it, it didn't sit well with me. I wonder if my negative reaction to it is sound or not. I asked our DM not to use it again after this past Sunday.

What are your feelings about it and what do you think was my problem with this hymn?



Refrain
In these days of Lenten Journey,
We have seeen and we have heard
The call to sow justice in the lives of those we serve.
1.
We reach out to those who are homeless,
To those who live without warmth.
In the coolness of evening,
We'll shelter their dreams,
We will clothe them in mercy and peace.
2.
We open our eyes to the hungry,
And see the faces of Christ.
As we nourish all people
Who hunger for food,
May their faith in our God be renewed.
3.
We open our eyes to the weary,
And hear the cry of the poor.
To the voices that echo the song of despair,
We will show our compassion and care.

4.
We call on the Spirit of Justice,
And pray for righteousness' sake.
We will sing for the freedom
Of all the oppressed.
We will loosen the bonds of distress.

IF THIS IS WHAT POPE FRANCIS HAD IN MIND FOR THE ECUMENICAL RENEWAL OF CATHOLIC MUSIC IN THE CHURCH, THEN I'M WITH HIS HOLINESS

There are those of the Praytell ilk who think Pope Francis had words put into his mouth that His Holiness read mindlessly when His Holiness said the following this past Saturday:

“Sometimes a certain mediocrity, superficiality and banality have prevailed, to the detriment of the beauty and intensity of liturgical celebrations.”
  
But then His Holiness concluded His Holiness' remarks by saying this to raised eyebrows in the Catholic blogdom world:

 "We need to promote proper musical education, especially for those who are preparing to become priests ....with an ecumenical attitude.”

If the following links from a Lutheran resource are  what Pope Francis has in mind for an ecumenical attitude about the renewal of Catholic music, I endorse it 100%!!!!!!!!

Propers of the Lutheran Mass: Click on any of the following to see the marvelous chants that Lutherans have which they encourage their congregations to chant!!!!!!

Full Propers		Cantor's Chants
Select Feasts Advent Christmass Epiphany Gesimatide Lent Passiontide Triduum Easter Per Annum 1 Per Annum 2 Per Annun 3 Per Annum 4 -- -- Candlemass -- -- --		-- Advent Christmass Epiphany Gesimatide Lent Passiontide Triduum Easter Per Annum 1 Per Annum 2 Per Annum 3 Per Annum 4 Sanctoral Cycle Chants Funerals & Other Occassions -- Good Friday Resurrection Mass All Saints