WHY NO OCTAVE OF PENTECOST IN THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE CALENDAR? UNFAIR!

After 50 days of Easter, it all came to an abrupt end on Pentecost Sunday in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Calendar. Monday resumed the 11th week in Ordinary Time, although it also happened to be the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, so the liturgical color was white.

Tuesday saw a return to the liturgical color green.

Not so, though, at St. Joseph's Tuesday afternoon Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The Octave of Pentecost was being celebrated, eight days of celebrating one event, the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The liturgical color is red for the entire Octave. And like the Octave of Christmas and Easter, the Gloria is said or sung.

To be honest, I like the simplification of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Calendar and it has gotten into my blood. I also like the classification of feasts, little "m" memorials; capital "M" Memorials, Feasts and Solemnities. I still get a bit discombobulated by the EF's descriptions of first and second class commemorations.

I wouldn't change the OF Roman Calendar too much. But I would like to suggest that we get rid of the name "Ordinary Time." Doesn't it sound banal to you? Ordinary?

I would also like to suggest that we return to the Octave of Pentecost. That wouldn't take too much to change and the Holy Father could do it with the stroke of a pen tomorrow if he so desired.

I would also suggest that winter/spring's Ordinary Time be called "Time After Epiphany" and summer/winter's Ordinary Time be called "Time After Pentecost." You wouldn't need to change much else.

TRANSPARENCY IN CHURCH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP

There is always a tension between transparency and confidentiality. The two can walk hand in hand and the two are important for the Church of 2011.

Two major issues facing the Church today in terms of scandal are the sex abuse scandal and financial mismanagement if not outright criminal activity.

I can only speak for what is required in our diocese as it concerns financial transparency.

The Diocese of Savannah has broad guidelines that pastors must follow in terms of handling the offertory and establishing procedures that will reduce or eliminate the potential for theft, fraud or mistakes.

The Diocese of Savannah also offers oversight to the finances of each parish and typically should intervene if there are major problems. However, nothing if fail-safe and mistakes and misjudgments take place.

Diocesan policy requires that there be a Finance Council in each parish and that it functions. However there is not diocesan micro-management to determine if these policies are followed.

The parish is required to publicly print financial statements, summaries, etc, at least yearly and it is recommended every six months.

Not everything on the budget must be transparent. For example, salaries for both clergy and laity as well as benefits should be indicated in an overall way, but not broken down according to employee.

The budget is to be prepared by the Finance Council for the pastor's approval. There should be strict oversight by the Finance Council of the budget and any crisis in the budget that occurs. However, if the pastor chooses to by pass the finance council, he does so at his own peril and hopefully someone of the fiance council or parish staff should alert the diocese if there appears to be breaking of diocesan financial policies.

In wrong doing, the buck stops with the pastor, but also proceeds to the finance office of the diocese and the bishop if there is inadequate oversight of the policies established by the diocese.

In redressing issues of mismanagement or reallocation of funds outside of the purview of the parish fiance council and or the pastor, the laity have a right to be heard according to what the bishop allows or determines.

Transparency is important when it comes to finances and any mismanagement of monies or failure to follow parish and diocesan policy.

My own experience of being a pastor for 20 years now is that the parish has a right and should know what the parish budget is, and they should have a year-end detail of how the budget operated.

They should know how much is in savings, what is borrowed and how the money is spent. If there is a major reallocation of funds, that should be made transparent.

When issues of operating in the "red" occur the parish should be alerted as well as the diocese. Sometimes money must be borrowed to cover normal parish expenses when income does not match what is spent. This however, should always be done in consultation with the diocese and the parish should know what is happening.

The parish should know weekly what the Sunday offertory collection is.

The Diocese also publishes annually an audit for the laity to review.

Today we hear the laity threaten to hold contributions from the parish or diocese if there isn't financial transparency. If this is to move a wrong situation into the arena of what diocesan policy is, it can be an effective tool. If, however, it is born of a desire to be more like our Protestant congregationalist friends and believers, it is wrong-headed and manipulative.

There is a great deal of flexibilty in Church law concerning giving to the Church. Certainly the Biblical teaching of a tithe is seen as a "minimalistic approach to giving." Jesus calls for maximum giving and following of the Law.

Canon law simply states that Catholics must support the Church.

Catholic Stewardship is developing a noble way of encouraging people to give of their time, talent and treasure. But these are suggestions not mandates and require conversion of heart.

For Stewardship parish, transparency is paramount or stewardship will fail.

When problems arise in the parish with the finances, transparency is paramount also!

FALSELY ACCUSED PRIEST DIES OF A BROKEN HEART

As many of you know, the Boston Globe is credited with taking the priest-abuse scandal to the nation and thus galvanizing the bishops of the American Church to make sweeping reforms and to institute the Dallas Charter.

But there are many untold stories that rival this scandal in other ways. And again the Boston Globe is writing the story.

We all know that there are accusations against priests that go back three, four and more decades. Some of these accusations are from what is euphemistically called "recovered memory." Therefore a significant number of these accusations are false, and if true could not be tried in court because of witnesses failed memories or they are dead.

But the most pernicious part of this scandal concerns lawyers like the one mentioned in the Boston Globe article below and like Jeffrey Anderson and his minions in Minnesota. It is all about money and crucifying the institutional Church and making her pay. But where does the money come? From the widow's mite and the generosity of the laity.

Read it and weep:


Collateral Damage
By Brian McGrory
Globe Columnist / June 15, 2011


The first time the Rev. Charles Murphy was cleared of accusations that he improperly touched a minor, a girl 25 years earlier, everyone who ever met him said they had never doubted his innocence.

It was 2006 and priests were all over the news for every awful reason, most of them deservedly so. But Father Murphy swore his innocence, the archdiocese ruled the allegations lacked substance, and the woman dropped her suit on the eve of trial.

When Murphy triumphantly returned to the pulpit of his sun-splashed church in South Weymouth, the applause could be heard across the South Shore. Father Charlie, as he was known, was back — back cracking cornball jokes from the altar, back as a fanatical hockey fan, back as the mad plow driver clearing the parking lot at the hint of snow. He was also back ministering in prisons and helping the deaf, a man of the cloth to his core.

“He was just the same guy as before the accusation, a bubbly guy, fun, a little bit of a jokester, but a diligent priest,’’ said Joe Corcoran, the developer who befriended Murphy decades earlier at St. Agatha in Milton.

Amid so much joy, it would have been impossible to imagine the turn that Murphy’s life would eventually take.

That turn came in April 2010, when lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who had lodged the first unfounded complaint, brought another. This one involved a man, not a woman. It went back 40 years rather than 25. It centered on accusations of fondling at the old Paragon Park in Hull and on a ski trip up north.

When the charges hit, Murphy canceled a long-planned party celebrating his 50th anniversary as a priest. He cleaned out his room in the church rectory and went to live with his brother. Two accusations in four years, he knew, did not look good.

But it didn’t matter to the prominent friends and everyday parishioners who refused to give up their faith. They hired a lawyer, who in turn brought in a private investigator, who discovered that the alleged victim was mired in financial problems, had a long list of liens placed against him, and faced massive credibility issues even within his own family.

It took nearly six months — about five months longer than it should have — before an archdiocesan review board cleared Murphy of the allegations in September and Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley restored him as a senior priest. But this time, there was no triumphant return to the pulpit. In fact, when Murphy reappeared at St. Francis Xavier in South Weymouth to say Mass, he couldn’t summon the strength to deliver a sermon.

“He would say to me, ‘I just can’t preach. I just don’t have it in me,’ ’’ said Jack Pender, his longtime confidant. “It was so frustrating for him.’’

His spirit was evaporating. His antidepression medicine kept him up at night. He moved to Regina Cleri, a North End residence for retired priests, where he continued his tortured descent.

Garabedian is a talented lawyer who has done vital work on behalf of hundreds of victims of abusive priests, but in terms of Murphy, what he did is a disgrace. Garabedian told me this week his Milton client was “credible.’’ He wasn’t. He lashed out at what he described as a “kangaroo court,’’ the respected, independent archdiocesan panel that cleared Murphy. He didn’t utter the only words worth hearing: I made a mistake.

They brought Murphy to a hospice in Haverhill a couple of weeks ago after doctors determined there was nothing left to be done. There was no cancer, no apparent physical disease, just a broken 77-year-old heart that refused to mend.

And that’s where he died Saturday evening, a wisp of the man he once was. Garabedian lost his compass on this case, and thousands of people all over Massachusetts lost a truly wonderful priest.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at mcgrory@globe.com.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

My Comments:

There are reasons in civil and Church law for statutes of limitation. What good does it do to accuse someone of a crime that happened decades ago and apart from the accusation there is no real evidence or living witnesses to corroborate what happened.

Greed is the source of all evil.

EXPLODING MYTHS THAT GUIDED THE POST VATICAN II REFORMS OF THE LITURGY

My Comments First:

If what Dr. Michael P. Foley writes below is correct (and it is)we must come to the conclusion that the liturgical scholars and historians who advised the Post Vatican II redesign of the liturgy gave this committee in Rome wrong information. Every major reform of the Mass is based upon flawed or untrue facts about early Church worship.

Don't blame this on Vatican II, although the bishops of Vatican II were at the mercy of these same theologians and historians. But Vatican II only set a broad agenda for reform, but not many specifics. It was after Vatican II when theologians and Church historians held considerable sway that sweeping reforms changed the face of the Church.

Pope Benedict's Reform of the Reform with the continuity of what preceded Vatican II will help to rectify what was visited upon the Church under the guise of early Church experiences.

From CRISIS Magazine

CHURCH
06/13/2011
Five Myths About Worship in the Early Church
Michael P. Foley

As the forthcoming new translation of the Roman Missal debunks the myth that liturgical language must be so banal that even the muppets on Sesame Street can understand it, it’s a good time to examine five other untruths that have been wreaking havoc on the Church’s worship in recent decades.

1. Mass facing the people. After studying free-standing altars in early churches, liturgists in the 1930s concluded that priests once celebrated Mass “facing the people,” and that it was only under the influence of decadent medieval clericalism that they “turned their backs” to them. This myth was much in the drinking water at the time of Vatican II (1962-1965). Later, some scholars began to reexamine the evidence and found that it did not support their thesis at all, and that in fact there had been an unbroken tradition — both East and West — of priest and congregation celebrating the Eucharist in the same direction: eastward.

Pope Benedict XVI, who endorsed the most recent book refuting the versus populum error, has been trying to make the facts of the case better known. But in the past generation, millions of dollars have been spent destroying exquisite high altars and replacing them with altar-tables, all in conformity to “the practice of the early Church.” Would that this myth were busted earlier.

2. Communion in the hand and under both kinds. Myths about Holy Communion follow a similar pattern. Fifty years ago, the claim that “Communion in the hand” was the universal practice of the early Church was believed by everyone, even by those who didn’t wish to see the practice resuscitated. Now we’re not so sure. What we can say is that some early Christian communities practiced Communion in the hand, but Communion on the tongue may be just as ancient. And when Communion in the hand was practiced, the communicant received from a priest (and only a priest), most likely by putting It in his mouth without his other hand touching it. And in some places, a woman’s hand had to be covered with a white cloth!

We are more certain that the Roman Church once administered Holy Communion under both species (just as the Eastern churches have always done), but we don’t know exactly how. One interesting practice, which was in use by the seventh century, had the deacon distributing the Precious Blood with the use of a golden straw. Some think he dipped the straw in the chalice (which only he or a priest or bishop could touch), closed one end with his finger, put it over the communicant’s open mouth, and then lifted his finger to release the contents.

In other words, Holy Communion was probably not administered in the fast-food manner we have today, with a “grab-and-go” system of multiple efficient lines that move from one station to the other, and the communicant touching the Host or Precious Cup with his own hands. Our current arrangement may have more in common with the Protestant than the patristic. Significantly, Benedict XVI, a careful student of the Church Fathers, no longer administers Communion in the hand.

3. The vernacular. Another widespread myth is that the early Church had Mass “in the vernacular.” But when Jesus worshipped in the synagogue, the language used was Hebrew, which had already been dead for 300 years. And for the first three centuries in Rome, the Mass was mostly celebrated in Greek, not Latin, which was only understood by a minority of the congregation.

When the Mass was eventually translated into Latin, it retained foreign elements such as the Hebrew amen and alleluia, and even added some, such as the Greek Kyrie eleison. Moreover, the Latin used in translating was deliberately different from what was being spoken at the time: It had curious grammatical usages and was peppered with archaisms. In other words, even when the Mass was celebrated in a language people could understand, it was never celebrated in the “vernacular” — if by that term we mean the common street language of the day.

The reason for this is simple: Every apostolic Church — to say nothing of every major world religion — has always had a sacred or hieratic language, a linguistic toolbox different from daily speech specially designed to communicate the transcendence and distinctiveness of the gospel.

4. Lay ministry. Another perduring myth is the idea that the laity were “more involved” in the Mass than they were in later ages. In our own day, this has spawned a multiplication of liturgical ministries for lay folk, such as lector, etc. The reality is that in the early Church, all of these roles were administered by the clergy. In fact, the early Church had more ordained clerical offices (the former minor orders) than it does today. The Council of Nicea in 325, for instance, talked about fine-tuning the office of “subdeacon.” This tells us one thing: that subdeacons were already a fixture in the landscape before the council was convoked. Lay Eucharistic ministers were not.

5. The pre- vs. post-Constantinian Church. Lurking behind all of these myths is a powerful “meta-myth,” the claim that there was a rupture in the life of the Church after the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the fourth century. The Church before Constantine, the meta-myth goes, was simple and pristine, a Church “of the people.” After Constantine, however, the Church became clericalist, hierarchical, and corrupted by the desire for grand buildings and highfalutin’ ceremonies.

The truth is that although the Church did indeed change — in some ways for the better and some for the worse — there was far more continuity than rupture. The Church before Constantine already had firm distinctions between clergy and laity, and she already recognized the importance of beautiful art, architecture, symbolism, and solemnity. After all, the Last Supper took place during the Passover, which was itself highly ritualized, and every Mass is a consummation of the ornate liturgies of synagogue and Temple. Indeed, a Eucharistic liturgy in the second or third century was longer, more hierarchical, and more symbolically brocaded than a Sunday Mass today. And since pews are a Protestant invention to accommodate long sermons, you either stood or knelt on the floor the entire time.

Like a bad virus, the myth of a utopian, pre-Constantinian, kumbaya-singing Church continues to impair. A typical example is the 2001 video A History of the Mass, produced by Liturgy Training Publications, one of the more influential purveyors of information about Catholic worship in the United States. After describing an idyllic, egalitarian community in which bishops gave up their seats for poor widows at the Eucharistic table, the narration shifts with the ominous words: “But then… the Emperor Constantine became a Christian.” You can imagine what follows (see here and here).

Moreover, even if every one of these myths were shown to be true, it would still not justify returning to the patristic era. In 1947, Pope Pius XII prophetically warned against archeologism, an “exaggerated and senseless antiquarianism” which presumes that the older is better than that which has developed organically over time and with the approval of the Church (Mediator Dei 64). The pope was worried about liturgical innovators who would leapfrog over 1,900 years of sacred tradition and divine inspiration. He was right to worry, but not even he foresaw the extent to which that targeted Golden Past would be a reconstruction of dubious accuracy.

DESPITE DOOM AND GLOOM OF THOSE WHO COMPLAIN, NEW TRANSLATION OF ENGISH SMASHING SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA

There are some in the Church, mostly academics, who hate the new English translation of the Mass, especially they hate that the Vatican made some decisions about it that they feel others should have. They hate certain aspects of it too. However, we know that no translation will be liked by everyone and you can indeed translate from Latin into a variety of ways, pre-Vatican II laity missals certainly prove that.

Australia has begun to implement the new translation. READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE!

My concern as ever, in terms of comparing EF and OF styles of the Mass is that the EF Mass emphasizes the role of the priest, meaning his cultic role, but it does not emphasize the personality of the priest, his piety, looks or physical features that might point to reverence. Rather following the rubrics while facing ad orientem is where the emphasis is. It could be the pope, a bishop or a newly ordained priest, it doesn't matter.

Whereas with the OF, so often the qualities of the priest either enhance or destroy the worship of the laity who are looking at the face of the priest and his demeanor.

I have no doubt about the sincerity of the priest in this photograph, but if you were at Mass and looking at him, would his demeanor help or distract your prayer?

SINGING ANOTHER DENOMINATION INTO BEING

These are former Catholics who have begun a schismatic denomination, a neo-Protestant one. Oddly, and of course since they are all priests, there are no bishops that have signed on--who needs the clergy! They're all my age, the age that remembers the stringent authority of the Church and our Catholic culture prior to the Second Vatican Council and remember what it was like to have the authority jettisoned in the 1960's. They want to make it up as they go. I wonder how many will splinter from the divisiveness they thrive on?

I don't think this group is to be fear only pitied. Who would want to join them when there are reputable Protestant denominations to join?

THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS AS BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIRATIONAL

(Click on image to enlarge)


The genius of having two forms of the one Roman Rite is that we can experience the Mass as both beautiful and solemn by contrasting the ethos of both and appreciating both as they are meant to be experienced.

The criticism, although I would call it a strength, of the EF Mass is that it is too vertical in its approach to the worship of God. It is true that the primary emphasis is on the priest who acting in the person of Christ and thus the "mediator" between God and man is the focus of attention. Very little attention is paid to the congregation, although their responses at least by proxy in the persons of the altar boys and choir is needed. Yet, it is what the priest does (keeping in mind the priest also represent the people) that is the focus. In other words there is no "horizontality" meaning there is no focus on fellowship and folksiness and I don't mean these terms in the negative way they are often understood.

The criticism, although I would call it a strength, of the OF is that it is too horizontal in its approach to the worship of God. With the priest facing the people in all the prayers and the emphasis on the people's priestly role configured to the ministerial priest, there is a desire to be welcoming of the laity and as inclusive of them as possible. No one acts on their behalf by proxy. The priest can even get perturbed if the laity are not doing their parts in the most conscious and active way possible, such as not singing, not focusing on the action, or getting up and moving about, like going to the bathroom, at the most inauspicious times.

For example at Father Dawid Kwiatkowski's first Solemn Mass at St. Joseph two weeks ago, there was flexibility enough for me to welcome him and his family and visiting clergy, seminarians and others after the greeting of the Mass. There was flexibility as well after Mass for me to make comments and for there to be a fun sharing. That would not be welcomed in the EF Mass.

THE COLORING BOOK CATECHESIS OF AGING 1960'S CATHOLICS--WILL THEY EVER GIVE UP? AT DEATH, YES!

THE TALE OF TWO CONFERENCES, THE GERIATRIC "AMERICAN CATHOLIC COUNCIL" AND THE YOUTHFUL "CALL TO HOLINESS" BOTH OCCURRING IN DETROIT THIS WEEKEND.

This is the type of Church the American Catholic Council Conference in Detroit want to give birth through a new song; YIKES, YIKES, YIKES--look at it, don't worry though, you can see and hear why they are doomed to failure and extinction:

This is a clown Mass, but I hope and pray that it is Episcopalian! Mercifully, it's sound it mute!

Where are the puppets and clowns in this timeless piece? Do you like the old songs singing a new Church into being?


From the Detroit Free Press:

Catholic Events Split on Doctrine
June 12,2011

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Conservative Catholics blasted liberals and defended their church's leadership Saturday at a conference in Livonia that was a stark contrast to a separate conference of reform Catholics being held at the same time in Detroit.

Endorsed by the Archdiocese of Detroit, the Call to Holiness conference drew more than 600 Catholics to Saturday's daytime events, many of them concerned about the conference being held at Cobo Center in Detroit by the liberal American Catholic Council.

"They want a moral code that's more flexible," Catholic radio host Al Kresta of Ann Arbor said Saturday in a talk that drew applause at Burton Manor. "What they say is the cure ... is the disease. This is exactly what has emptied the seminaries ... the pews."

Both sides call themselves Catholics, but they have clashing ideas about the church's path in the 21st Century.

The liberal conference at Cobo favors discussion about having female, gay or married priests and wants parishioners to have more say in decisions. They also want more of an emphasis on social justice issues rather than issues like contraception or abortion.

The debate comes at a time when many Catholics in the U.S. are leaving the church --1 in 3 Americans raised Catholic has abandoned the faith, according to a Pew survey.

The American Catholic Council event is drawing about 2,000 Catholics from around the world who are upset with the current leadership of the church. They held the conference on the 35th anniversary of a Detroit conference called Call To Action, led by the late Cardinal John Dearden, the former archbishop of Detroit, whom liberals considered a fellow progressive.

But unlike that conference, this one is not endorsed by the archdiocese; it warned Catholics to stay away. Priests or deacons who attend a mass set for today in Cobo risk being defrocked, Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron has said.

At the heart of the debate between the conferences is who has authority among Catholics. Traditionalists and conservatives at Saturday's conference noted that the pope and bishops are divinely sanctioned and must be obeyed, while liberals say that regular people should have more say in church decision making.

For example, they say parishes should be consulted before bishops make decisions on where to assign pastors.

But attacking the authority of church leadership would lead to the unraveling of Catholicism and take away what makes it unique, said Christopher Kolomjec, 43, of Grosse Pointe Farms, who attended the Call to Holiness conference. The three-day event was expected to draw about 1,000 people.

Though sympathetic to the Catholics at the Detroit conference, he said they were misguided.

"Our conference proves its legitimacy because it is loyal to the Archdiocese of Detroit and the pope," he said. "We are united with our bishops and with Rome. Once you lose that, you can't claim to be Catholic. That's what distinguishes us."

FATHER HANS KUNG, INCAPACITATED, UNABLE TO ATTEND GERIATRIC CONFERENCE IN DETROIT

Participants arriving at the conference:

Father Hans Kung and other guest speakers

Father Hans Kung could not attend a "catholic" conference in Detroit because of aging, declining health and approaching death. So he sent a video message, but forgot closed captioning for the hearing impaired and magnifying glasses for those who can't see. This his how the Detroit Free Press classified the conference:

Kung, who could not attend in person because of health reasons, was applauded by the audience, a mostly elderly crowd disappointed at what they see as the church’s rightward turn.

The National Catholic Reporter has an article on what Fr. Kung said as he called for rebellion, but peaceful, in the Church against the Holy Father, his arch nemesis, in academia and in the hierarchy. I wonder if he is jealous? PRESS THIS SENTENCE!

A great mind is a terrible thing to be wasting away!

THE PERFECT STORM OF CATHOLIC DISSENT, LOSS OF THE SENSE OF THE SACRED AND DIMINISHMENT OF THE CHURCH AND HER UNITY

It is quite true that no one factor can be assigned to account for the decline of the Catholic Church in terms of active participation, meaning attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. In the United States, we know for a fact that the Church, meaning both the institutional Church and the “family” Church was quite strong well into the early 1960’s. There were hospitals, schools, and other social service ministries abounding and run by and staffed by numerous priests, men and women religious as well as “Catholic Action” for the laity.

Large families, (because Catholics still took traditional Catholic teachings on sex and contraception seriously)led to an abundance of vocations as a result of strong and large Catholic families which flourished in this time period. Mass attendance was more than 80%. Authority was respected, especially the authority of God that was not co-opted by personal feelings about “if it feels right, just do it” free lance thinking as it concerns morality of the late 60's to this day.

A very authoritative Council, Vatican II and very authoritative subsequent teachings on the Liturgy, the Church and the reform of both through post-Vatican II legislation as well as the authoritative teaching Humanae Vitae, were all met with two polarized reactions that mimicked what was going on society at the time (1960’s & 70’s). There was either reckless abandon of tradition, authority and common sense or hand ringing about the Church and the world going to hell in a handbag. In the middle were those befuddled by all the changes, the dissension and confusion, trying hard to hang on to any semblance of their traditional Catholic Faith.

The "theology of dissent" or theologians who said they were in "loyal opposition" to the Magisterium of the Church further eroded Catholic teachings in the areas of dogma and morality, much of the dissent focusing in on Humanae Vitae and subsequent "sexual issues" such as abortion, same sex sexual relations and same sex marriage.

The whole theology of dissent promoted by liberal theologians is now backfiring on them as a large traditional contingency of the Church now dissents against Vatican II and subsequent reforms. Liberals decry Humanae Vitae and encourage dissent but hypocritically are astounded that traditionalists would dare dissent against a Council and subsequent papal teachings.

Today, many traditional Catholics have gone "protestant congregational" as they take matters into their own hands to rectify the wrongs they see coming from either Rome or the local bishop, not to mention the local pastor and the pastoral and financial councils that are in place. This is a new form of dissent only this time from so-called conservative, traditional Catholics. It is dissent from legitimate authority.

In the middle are those who are flexible, favor the Second Vatican Council and its teachings as well as Humane Vitae and other subsequent decrees from the Holy See and the popes. The errors (apart from an extremely poor translation of the vernacular Mass, now being rectified) are not with Vatican II or subsequent decrees, but how these were co-opted, poorly implemented and reinterpreted by progressive theologians, bishops and priests.

But today too, we have conservative dissenters whose vitriolic attempts at taking matters into their own hands cause chaos, dissension and great division in parishes and dioceses. They and the liberal dissenters are cut from the same whole cloth though, except the conservative dissenters were a "badge of self-righteousness" that would make the Pharisees blush.
They accuse and condemn, see the speck in their "brother's eye" but fail to see the plank in their own.

Coupled with this is the loss of traditional Catholic piety and the sense of the sacred that marked the pre-Vatican II experience of parish life, Mass and popular devotions. The dismantling of traditional reverence and piety must be laid at the feet of progressive liturgical theologians, bishops, priests and liturgists, especially the side lining of the tabernacle or its removal altogether from the nave of the Church; the iconoclasm of older churches and new architecture and the taking out of altar railings and traditional art and statuary; communion in the hand and talking in the Church before and after Mass.

Thus a loss of priestly and “religious” identity has led to the loss of Catholic identity of the laity and the cohesiveness (Catholic unity) that a once strong Catholic identity brought to the Church. It was and is the perfect storm. You'd be surprised at those who are in the vortex of it!

THIS IS NO BOLOGNY, THIS IS A MASS FROM THE CATHEDRAL IN BOLOGNA, ITALIA

The commentary is in Italian, what really should be the language of the Mass, but I digress. He basically says that what was beautiful and sacred in the past is still today for us. He also makes the very valid point that "active participation that is fruitful" does not consist in doing and saying things, but entering into the mystery of what is celebrated with our hearts. Capisce?
Also, did you notice that most are standing to receive Holy Communion and one person tries to receive in the hand but is prevented from doing so?

EXTRAORDINARY FORM SUNG HIGH MASS FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY, 2:00 PM, SAINT JOSEPH CHURCH, MACON, GEORGIA

The Extraordinary Form of the Mass Propers for Pentecost Sunday (unofficial English):

Introit

Wis 1:7.
The Spirit of the Lord fills the world, alleluia, is all-embracing, and knows man’s utterance, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. 67:2
God arises; His enemies are scattered, and those who hate Him flee before Him.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The Spirit of the Lord fills the world, alleluia, is all-embracing, and knows man’s utterance, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Collect

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray
O God, You Who on this day have taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by that Holy Spirit Himself, to know what is right and ever to rejoice in His help.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Lesson

Lesson from the Acts of Apostles
Acts 2:1-11.
When the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak. Now there were staying at Jerusalem, devout Jews, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude gathered and were bewildered in mind, because each heard them speaking in his own language. But they were all amazed and marvelled saying, Behold, are not all these that are speaking Galileans? And how have we heard each his own language in which he was born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphilia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, Jews also and proselytes, Cretens and Arabians, we have heard them speaking in our own languages of the wonderful works of God.
R. Thanks be to God.

Gradual

Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. 103:30
V. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created: and You shall renew the face of the earth. Alleluia. Kneel.
V. Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful: and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

Sequentia

Holy Spirit! Lord of light!
From Thy clear celestial height,
Thy pure, beaming radiance give:

Come, Thou, Father of the poor!
Come, with treasures which endure!
Come, Thou light of all that live!

Thou of all consolers best,
Visiting the troubled breast,
Dost refreshing peace bestow:

Thou in toil art comfort sweet;
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal! Light divine!
Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill.

If Thou take Thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turn’d to ill.

Heal our wounds - our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on those who evermore
Thee confess and Thee adore,
In Thy sevenfold gifts descend.

Give them comfort when they die;
Give them life with Thee on high;
Give them joys which never end.
Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.

Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John

R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.

John 14:23-31.
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: If anyone love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me, does not keep My words. And the word that you have heard is not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while yet dwelling with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, or be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I go away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would indeed rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it has come to pass you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the prince of the world is coming an in Me he has nothing. But he comes that the world may know that I love the Father, and that I do as the Father has commanded Me.

R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
S. By the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out.

Offertory antiphon

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Ps 67:2-3
Confirm, O God, what You have wrought in us; from Your temple, which is in Jerusalem, kings shall offer gifts to You. Alleluia.

Secret

Sanctify these offerings, we beseech You, O Lord, and cleanse our hearts by the light of the Holy Spirit.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Preface

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
P. Lift up your hearts.
S. We have lifted them up to the Lord.
P. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
S. It is meet and just.

Holy Spirit Preface:

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: through Christ our Lord. Who ascending above all in the heavens and sitting at Thy Right Hand, poured out the Holy Spirit today upon the children of adoption. Wherefore the whole world doth rejoice with overflowing joy; and the heavenly Hosts also and the angelic Powers sing together the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying

Communion Antiphon

Acts 2:2; 2:4
Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind blowing, where they were sitting, alleluia: and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking of the wonderful works of God, alleluia, alleluia.

Post Communion

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray
May the inpouring of the Holy Spirit cleanse our hearts, O Lord, and make them fertile through the dew He sprinkles upon them.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
R. Amen.

MULTI-CULTURALISM RUN AMUCK IN THE MASS?

PRESS HERE FOR A FASCINATING COMMENTARY FROM "THE CHANT CAFE" ON MULTI-CULTURAL PARISHES AND LITURGIES. THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT A PARISH IN STONE MOUNTAIN, GA.

I'm half Italian, my better half, I might add, and when we came to America in 1957 when I was 3, my mother spoke almost no English and the English she spoke was not recognized as English.

My Canadian father, an immigrant turned naturalized American citizen, insisted that we not speak Italian in our new apartment outside Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia so that my mother would be forced to speak English and that we children "in his eyes" wouldn't be marginalized in what at that time was a true southern town.

Over the course of the next 10 years, we children became very Americanized and southernized, but my mother never gave in to my father's demands that she speak English exclusively in the home, nor did we children reprimand our mother for speaking to us in Italian although we responded in English. My oldest sister is still very fluent in Italian, although I'm less so, but can get by in Italian.

But shouldn't the Church be the place where we come together in a common language especially here in America and in Stone Mountain of all places?
Wouldn't Latin for the Liturgy be the binding force and chant be the music rather than all kinds of ethnic music? Shouldn't the ethnic stuff be left for popular devotions and allow those to shine forth as cultural expressions and language choice rather than foisting this on the Mass itself?

What do you think?

COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES?

PRESS HERE TO READ "WHAT IF REP. WEINER WERE FATHER WEINER?" (Of course, I'd change my name!)

I don't think this comparison is fair. I fully embrace our Judeo-Christian sexual ethic and deplore Rep. Weiner's actions. Most of all I sympathize with him over his sexual addiction. Without really knowing him or his situation, it is clear that he is addicted to sex and the computer is his near occasion of sin, like the corner liquor store is for the alcoholic.

Congressmen make no promise to celibacy and their persona is not built upon sexual chastity even in marriage. The Catholic priest's idenity as such is founded upon his promises to celibacy and obedience. Although, unless we forget, married couples make vows to "exclusivity" in a public forum and this is no different and perhaps even weightier than the promise to celibacy that priests make at their ordination.

Nonetheless, when a priest is accused of sexual impropriety, he is in fact sinning against his very vocation and the laity have a right to a higher degree of accountability in this regard than they would toward the congressman.

But let's talk about addiction, sexual and otherwise.

I'm old enough to remember a time when alcoholics were treated as pariah. They were considered weak; they were abusive to their wives, children and friends and they were considered a scandal to the family and community. They were shunned; most lived their alcoholism in the closet.

But somewhere around the late 1960's and early 70's, AA and other organizations as well as medical science began to label alcoholism as a disease not a personal weakness, a disease that could be brought into remission especially through 12 step programs such as AA or even through various therapies and medication.

Today our attitude about alcoholism is very different. We see it as a disease, an addiction. People who are in recovery wear their sobriety as a badge of honor and are happy to call themselves "recovering" alcoholics.

Around the same time, late 1960's and early 1970's a move to treat those with sexual addictions as we treat those with drinking and drug addictions was also occurring. Guess who was at the forefront of this social engineering? The Bishops of the Catholic Church and the psychiatrists and psychologists who advised them.

Yes, we all know by now that priests who have promised celibacy just like congressmen and presidents who have vowed fidelity in marriage can suffer from sexual addictions which manifest in different ways. A priest was just arrested in Florida for soliciting oral sex from an uncover officer at a beach known for this type of activity. Some have addictions to pornography that they access on the internet or do what Rep Weiner did in terms of on-line sexual communications.

Others of course abuse teenagers and prepubescent children. Of course in these cases, the children and teenagers are unsuspecting victims of these sexually addicted adults who are scarred for life in many cases, especially if the person abusing is a respected figure, like a parent, a priest, a teacher or even a U.S. Representative. For a priest, though, the victimization is made worse because the priest represents God.

But there was a move in the Church and in society to treat sex offenders with true addictions as we would treat alcoholics. They were placed in recovery programs, treated with therapy and medication and expected to be an a 12 step program of continuing recovery. The hope was that just like with alcoholics, recovering sex addicts could wear their recovery as a badge of honor and be reintegrated into society and their professions.

In the 1980's I knew of bishops in some dioceses that returned priests who had sex with minors and went through therapy and recovery programs back to parish ministry and told the congregations of the priest's addiction and his recovery program. There was transparency. And like the alcoholic priest who is returned to ministry, everyone knows it and is prayerfully supportive of the priest's on-going recovery.

Alcoholics, keep in mind, in their drunken stupors hurt not just themselves but their families, sometimes scarring their spouses and children for life.

Today, with zero tolerance for sexual addictions especially those directed toward children and teenagers, every sexual addict is treated the same by the Church--they are humiliated, treated as pariah, shunned, castigated, mocked and marginalized, the same thing that the media and others are doing to Rep. Weiner.

What should the Church and our society at large do? Join the pummeling with great gusto to save face or to call the people of God and others of good will to Christian love and charity, not just for the abused who should always come first, but for the abuser who is addicted and thus suffering from a disease,not just a personal, moral weakness?

GUESS WHOSE FIRST MASS THIS WAS?

From this on June 6, 1980

To this on June 7, 1980

To This on Sunday, June 8, 1980:

If you had been at Mass at St. Joseph Church in Augusta, GA at 3:00 PM on Sunday, June 8, 1980, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, you would have sung these songs at Mass. Guess whose Mass it was??? (Of course it was the Church's Mass and the priest celebrating it wasn't the one owning it, but it belonged to all who were there participating, just to be clear).

The Gathering Rite

Entrance Song: Sing to the Mountains

Rite of Sprinkling Holy Water: If God is For us

The Liturgy of the Word

In place of the Psalm, the Folk song, "I Will Bless the Lord"

The Liturgy of the Eucharist

The Preparation Song: Day by Day

At the Sign of Peace: "Peace Be With You My Brother"

Communion Songs:

Earthen Vessels

One Bread, One Body

Song after Communion: Be Not Afraid

The Recessional: Blest Be the Lord

From June 8, 1980 to Easter Sunday, 2011 is a giant leap for the priest who celebrated both Masses!

FATHER DAWID KWIATKOWSKI'S FIRST SOLEMN MASS AT SAINT JOSEPH CHURCH, MACON

Getting ready for the procession, Macon 103 degrees on Sunday!

Father David Kwiatkowski, a native of Poland, was ordained at our Cathedral in Savannah on Saturday June 4th and celebrated his First Solemn Mass at St. Joseph the next day, Sunday, June 5th. He becomes our new Parochial Vicar on Thursday, June 30th. He's a lucky duck, I mean, blessed priest!

(Click once or twice on photo's to enlarge)
Incensing the altar

Welcoming the newly ordained priest, Father Dawid Kwiatkowski to his first Mass

Showering the congregation with Holy Water

Newly ordained and his new pastor (pastor is the second priest)

The Liturgy of the Word

The homilist, Father John Dietrich, Spiritual Director, Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland

Fr. Dawid's mother and aunt from Poland bringing up the gifts

Incense me!

The Eucharistic Prayer

Calling down the Holy Spirit

The elevation of the Sacred Host

Elevation of the Most Precious Blood

Ecce Agnus Dei

The Body of Christ--Amen!

Some closing remarks
A one year old priest from Poland (left), a three week old priest from Connecticut (right) and the other newly ordained of our diocese, Fr. Chris Ortega (center)



Solemn Blessing

ANALYZING THE CRISIS TO DEATH AND EVERY THING ELSE YOU WANTED AND DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SEX ABUSE CRISIS

America Magazine (PRESS HERE) has a very good analytical essay on the abuse crisis and the John Jay Report.

The only glaring omission in all of this is that there are no comparisons with clergy of other Christian denominations or even other religions.

Until that happens, most people in the world, including Catholics, will think this is only a Catholic, male,celibate priesthood problem.

It is not. This skews the data and gives a scandalous wrong impression.

What is unique to the Catholic Church is the following and accounts for the reporting on this is:

1. Our record keeping on offending clergy

2. Bishops who mismanaged, misunderstood or were oblivious to their responsibilities to sack guilty priests rather than reassigning them time and again. However, the Methodist Church has a similar system of assigning ministers--I doubt any study has been done on Methodist ministers who abuse and their bishops who assigned them over a 60 year period.

3. The Catholic Church has a very strict sexual ethic. Sex is for marriage only, between one man and one woman. Only natural sex is allowed that has the possibility of procreation because of the "natural order of things."

4. Masturbation and sodomy, either oral or anal, is forbidden in marriage. Outside of marriage these (as well as natural sex for heterosexuals) are forbidden for both heterosexual and homosexual people. The marriage act must be completed in the normal way with the husband's ejaculate within the vagina and no artificial contraception can be morally justifiable.

5. Because of these teachings, many Catholics hate the Church's ethic on sexuality; those who are not Catholic and have strong political agendas toward artificial birth control, pre-marital sex, abortion, same sex, sex, same sex marriage and polygamy hate the Church even more because the Catholic Church is the only institution standing in the way of these political aspirations. Strike the shepherds and the sheep will disperse and not be a political problem.

6. There are mega bucks to be made by lawyers and those who were abused in suing the Catholic Church. This is not the case with smaller denominations or congregations. It would be a waste of time and money to sue them and lawyers would get a pittance.

In other words, this crisis is not just a Catholic priesthood problem it is much grander in scale. But you won't know that by any studies that have been done, because only the Catholic priesthood has been studied in this regard. It's a beginning, but the others must be studied too.

SINGING A NEW CHURCH INTO BEING, A SONG OF DISCONTENT

What is it with malcontented Catholics and puppets anyway? The picture below is a Call to Action Mass of discontent Catholics singing a new Church into being! Yikes. They can have it! Below it are two pictures of German discontented Catholics singing a new Church into being, but their puppets are smaller and they've gather around them like a circle of wagons. I wonder why? These discontented Catholics hate scandal, but don't believe in original or mortal sin. They want to sing a new church into being that is as perfect as their puppets I guess. Will they manipulate their newly sung church with strings or with their hands in a very inauspicious place? Just wondering?

With the American Call to Action group above at "Mass" and the German "let's re-imagine" the Church below, what do the two groups have in common? Gray haired men and women who were at the forefront of the "spirit of Vatican II" during the 1960's and 70's and just can't believe that they've failed, so they are trying one last valiant effort before their cause is put on life support, normal palliative care that should be given to anyone dying to make their last days comfortable, but not to extend their time unnecessarily. We entrust them to God's mercy and eternal rest!


In some parts of Germany and for some Catholics, mortal sin is too much for them. They want to sing a new Church into being and their song is one of discontent. Their song of discontent is born from the scandal of sex abuse which includes members of the clergy who abused children, bishops who mismanaged their mortal sinning clergy and what these progressive malcontents perceive as a Church in need of radical "re-imagining."

In the Macon Telegraph this morning, a wire service article on the German Catholics Song of Discontent states the following in the first paragraph:

Germany -- A year after a widespread sex scandal rocked Roman Catholics in Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland, German intellectuals and the faithful alike are turning their backs on the church, urging change or simply leaving the congregation.

German theologians and others have aired their discontent in a series of petitions to church leaders demanding changes to include more transparency, an end to celibacy and women’s ordination.

Did you catch these liberal, discontented, angry, song singing Catholic's drift and the language they use: TRANSPARENCY, AND END TO CELIBACY AND WOMEN'S ORDINATION!

This article might have also included the other demands of discontented Catholics: same sex marriage, living together prior to marriage with the Church's blessing, congregationalism, clericalizing the laity, laicization of the clergy and a protestant model of hiring and firing clergy, adjunct staff and the like.

It really is about power and control and wrestling it away from those who have it and giving it to those who don't. Their song of discontent is one that they pray will lead to a new Church. It might, but it won't be the Catholic Church, it will be a breakaway group. Germany knows about that--think Father Martin Luther. And remember, his re-imagined Church was born of a song of discontent over the mortal sins of the clergy and hierarchy.

Do you want to be a puppet? Do you want puppets at Mass? Evidently, puppets are the symbol of discontent Catholics and their songs and liturgies and devotions include them for some very strange and odd reason.

Maybe they feel as puppets or they want to make the clergy into puppets. Who knows?

I'm in favor of transparency but not if confidentiality is demanded. But I'm in favor of the "Deposit of Faith" (a term discontent Catholics hate because it is so narrow and confining). So I won't embrace an end to celibacy, women priests, same sex marriage and a multiplicity of other types of unions or transparency that sacrifices confidentiality and is a catch word for singing a new Church into being. Call me a fundamentalist who likes the old songs!