Pope on Evangelii Gaudium: ‘Redemption marked by the poor’
On the 10th anniversary of his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, Pope Francis emphasizes the centrality of the poor in the Church’s joyful proclamation of salvation in Christ.
Friday, November 24, 2023
Thursday, November 23, 2023
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA ABOUT 100 YEARS BEFORE THE PLYMOUTH THANKSGIVING!
AND THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN THANKSGIVING FEATURED THE CELEBRATION OF THE ULTIMATE THANKSGIVING, THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS—TRIDENTINE VERSION, NOW FORBIDDEN OR KIND OF!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Back in 1621, the colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Native Americans shared an autumn feast, which is often referred to as the first Thanksgiving. However, historians in Florida have said otherwise.
According to the National Park Service, the first-recorded Thanksgiving took place in St. Augustine in 1565 when Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and hundreds of Spanish settlers founded St. Augustine in La Florida. This occurred decades before the Pilgrims stepped foot in New England.
As soon as the Spanish settlers were on shore at St. Augustine, they celebrated a "Mass of Thanksgiving," where Menendez also invited the native Seloy tribe -- who originally occupied the site -- as guests.
To this day, it's believed the Spaniards and Native Americans ate cocido, a stew made from salted pork, garbanzo beans, and garlic seasoning, and accompanied by hard sea biscuits and red wine.
“If the Seloy contributed to the meal from their own food stores, then the menu could have included turkey, venison, gopher tortoise, mullet, drum, sea catfish, maize (corn), beans, and squash.”
NO BISHOP, YOUR CHURCH ISN’T TOO ROMAN BUT TOO CONNECTICUT, GET OUT, ITS TOO HARTFORT! MOVE YOUR SEE TO WILLACOOCHEE, GEORGIA!
It is to laugh. But thus are the way things are today. We are to respect every cultural expression dragged into the Catholic Faith, except one, the Roman culture. You can’t make these things up!
Bishop Coyne, get out of Connecticut and move to Willacoochee, Georgia! Connecticut culture is too Hartfort!
ONE BISHOP’S ADVICE FOR THE VATICAN: ‘GET IT OUT OF ITALY. IT’S TOO ROMAN.’
From Crux: In a local television interview, the new archbishop-in-waiting of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, said that if there
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
THE POPE’S LETTER TO FOUR LAY THEOLOGIANS CORRECTING THE GERMAN SCHISM—HOW AUTHORITATIVE IS IT? NOT AT ALL, BUT…
Our Sunday Visitor has a commentary on Pope Francis’ recent letter to four German lay theologians which is a positive correction to the on-going schism potential in Germany. While it indicates a clear analysis of what the problem is in Germany, it’s just a personal letter to four theologians. Nothing else at this point. You can take it or leave it.
But it does give insights into the pope’s thinking and what a formal intervention my look like which would be authoritative. But I don’t think the radical Germans give a flip and they will go forward. A Bishop Strickland type anathema is needed by the pope or excommunications. That would be formal, authoritative and a great step forward. Both of these are graces to seek repentance and a return to orthodoxy.
Here’s the OSV commentary:
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This was far more authoritative from the pope, but obviously the German schismatics don’t care:
2019 Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany
Press title:
Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany
In the letter, he also recalled his Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany, published on 29 June 2019: a ten-page document divided into thirteen points, in which the Bishop of Rome called on the leaders of the Church in Germany to walk the correct path, that of the Gospel, without falling into functionalist drifts or ideological reductions.
The Letter was also mentioned in the declaration of the Holy See on 21 July 2021, clarifying that the synodal process cannot make doctrinal decisions.
It does not have the "authority to obligate bishops and the faithful" to "new forms of governance and new doctrinal and moral approaches," the text stated, concluding with the hope that the proposals of the German path could merge into the synodal path of the universal Church.
PRIESTLY SUICIDES, IT’S GOOD TO TALK ABOUT IT BUT NOT USE IT FOR SYNODAL IDEOLOGICAL PURPOSES!
Crux has an article of the high number of priests who have committed suicide in Brazil. I think the article is a mixed bag of truths, half-truths and using this horror for ideological synodal purposes.
You can read the Crux article in full HERE.
Last week, I offered a Requiem Mass for a 17 year old boy who committed suicide on Hilton Head Island. He was soon to graduate High School and begin college in January at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design. The reason he committed suicide was due to clinical depression and anxiety exacerbated by issues at school along with other issues.
Most priestly suicides find as its source the same thing. A complicating factor, though, would be illegal moral sexual disorders that are acted out and once caught, the priest feels he has no alternative from prison and public humiliation and derision than to commit suicide.
In both cases, that of mental and moral disorders, vocation directors and bishops should screen as best as possible candidates for the priesthood who are physically, mentally and spiritually compromised and who might have a history of immoral behavior as it concerns sexuality or other crimes.
This is an excerpt of the Crux article with my comments embedded in the text in RED:
The building of a more synodal Church, one that can reduce historical problems like clericalism and ecclesial authoritarianism, was highlighted as a possible solution for the disturbances behind the suicide of priests. (I doubt that syndoality can address any of those things!)
“There are a few factors that increase the risks of a priest committing suicide. All of them are somehow connected to clericalism, a problem many times mentioned by Pope Francis,” said Father Lício Vale.
One of the major drivers of emotional distress among priests in Brazil is occupational stress, he said. The country’s total of 30,000 priests is considered strikingly low relative the overall Catholic population, with some experts claiming that Brazil would needs at least 80,000 priests to sustain the current ecclesial model. (Yes, overwork and “workaholism” can contribute to suicide, but the issue is anxiety and depression which these exacerbate. Pope Francis is not a good example of recommending that priests not be “workaholics”. Unlike his predecessors, he never goes to Castlegandolpho for vacations or time away. I am not sure he has actual friends, or leaves the Vatican at all for time off! A lack of priests can cause priests to work too much. Living in one’s office, literally is a disaster! Priests need separation from office/church campus to a separate place to live that in a communal setting is large enough for privacy and the ability to take the day off without be called upon by anyone to do something on their day off! Many priests have to go somewhere else, rent of motel or hotel room to get some peace and quiet. That is wrong, but I don’t think this causes priestly suicides something else does as I have already written!)
“We work too much. You’re not only in charge of giving the sacraments, but you also need to work as a psychologist, a community organizer, a social worker, and so on. So much stress can rapidly become burnout syndrome,” Vale said. (Bingo! Pope Francis has recovered the idea that a priest being a counselor or a social worker is more important or equal to his priestly functions. There is no reason that a priest should be expected to be a psychologist, a community organizer, a social worker or whatever. As a pastor, he needs to coordinate this works, and find qualified lay or religious who can carry out these functions. A priest does not need to be a social worker! Many priests think they aren’t Christian enough if they aren’t at a soup kitchen, a social just rally or some such other thing. It is very 1960’s and the root of it is a loss of the priestly and cultic ministry of the priest! That is is primary role, to pray, to offer sacrifice, preach, teach and rule, based on the Sacraments, Scripture and Tradition! Everything else can be done by religious and laity! Recovering priestly identity is the key!!!)
Another central problem is loneliness. Most priests come from other cities and live alone at the rectory, without contact with their families and without real friends, he said. (Yes, this is a problem. Also a problem is the unhealthy living in rectories. There are no longer full time housekeepers to clean the house, and provide meals. Thus priests eat unhealthy things, taking the path of least resistance by purchasing fast food and junk food and processed foods. Even if a priest lived alone, to know that someone is caring for his home, preparing his meals and providing laundry care is a wonderful gift and a quite healthy one to say the least. Stop criticizing the perks that priests have that help with isolation and horrid living conditions!)
“Especially for diocesan priests, ecclesial life can be an experience of living alone. Lay communities have difficulties to grasp the priests’ humanity. People would rarely invite their priest to take a beer. Most of them demand a certain attitude of correctness from him,” he said. (As I got older, and this is because I am an introvert who has to work hard at being extraverted, I did not want to be going to meals in too many different parishioner’s homes. One or two good friends, either priestly or laity, is plenty for me. But each priest has different needs. The key is to have good and healthy friendships, which is learned and an art and sometimes mistakes are made in who is chosen.)
Priests end up assuming a superman attitude, Vale pointed out, requiring from themselves an almost unreachable individual level of moral faultlessness. (True for some but not all. Some priests are quite lazy actually and that is a separate conversation.)
“All those aspects are reinforced by clericalism and can damage mental health,” Vale said.
He argued that in order to enhance the clergy’s quality of life and avoid mental health issues, the Church needs to implement changes in its ecclesial model. (Recovering some pre-Vatican II elements of priestly life would help too. Diocesan priests need a kind of rule of life. Housekeepers to keep the rectory clean, provide meals and priests expected to eat together. If a priest lives alone and there are other parishes in a city or nearby, should get together for common meals throughout the week.)
“Synodality is a key element in that process, because it generates closeness. Walking side by side, the priest and his community are closer and his humanity is more easily recognized and experienced,” he reasoned. (B and in Bull and S as in Crap! Synodality is a contrived walking together. It might be needed for the priest who rules the parish to have a good staff, paid and volunteered and others assisting him through pastoral councils, committees and the like, but it doesn’t generate closeness. That happens naturally and by the priest making good decisions aboout his priestly health, physical health and spiritual and psychological health. He doesn’t need a synod of people, like helicopters, hovering over him! Bishops should help priests to live healthy lives and screening for healthy men to become priests is an absolute necessity too!)
BOMBSHELL: TRADITIONAL ALTAR ARRANGEMENT RETURNS TO ST. PETER BASILICA’S ALTAR! BUT WILL IT LAST—LITURGISTS LOVE REARRANGING AND REDECORATING!
This was seen at the papal Mass last Sunday! What will be seen the next time, though?????
- The striking detail for this Mass is the return of the Crucifix in the Altar. No Processional Cross on the side or anything. It is said Italian Catholic forum members that this might be part of an "ad experimentum" by Abp. Ravelli.
May I say to Abp. Ravelli that we have had enough liturgical experimentation since 1964 and to cut it out and follow Pope Benedict’s exquisite liturgical theology!!!!!
CHURCH MILITANT, BOTH THE PSEUDO ONE AND YES, THE ACTUAL ONE, IN CRISIS…
The Deacon’s Bench is reporting that Michael Voris is out at Church Militant for personal failings, i.e. immorality.
There is also an “X” video from Voris admitting the need for him to go but without specifics. But I think we probably know what the issue is.
Perhaps Pope Francis is correct about “rigid” people hiding dark secrets and orientations. But I think we can say that is also true of the super flexible. After all we are all sinners in need of redemption.
I would advise Voris to go quietly into the night and work out his salvation without narcissistic limelight.
In the meantime, let us pray for Michael Voris and the demons he must confront and may he work out his salvation in private. Let us pray for all sinners in need of God mercy and redemption: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Here’s the Deacon Bench report with the Voris’ video:
MICHAEL VORIS RESIGNS FROM CHURCH MILITANT
The statement: Fellow Catholics, Church Militant/St. Michael's Media was founded as a bastion of Catholic truth and a light to
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
BREAKING NEWS, BUT PAPAL TALK ISN’T ENOUGH, POPE FRANCIS SHOULD ASK EVERY HETERODOX BISHOP IN GERMANY TO RESIGN, IF HE DEFENESTRATED BISHOP STRICKLAND, ULTRA ORTHODOX, HE CAN DEFENSTRATE THE GERMAN EPISCOPATE!
Bishop Strickland is hardly worth what Pope Francis did to him, but to him he did it. The German episcopate deserves far harsher penalties!
FROM CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY (CNA)
BREAKING: Pope Francis intervenes in German Synodal Way, expresses 'concerns' about threats to Church unity
UNPRECEDENTED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH—SO WRITES JOHN ALLEN
Press Title:
Precedents for Argentina’s rebuke to the Pope are hard to find
MONEY BYTE:
Frankly, if a group of church affairs junkies were to sit down in a bar and try to sketch a ticket on a cocktail napkin that would amount to a rejection tout court of a sitting pope’s agenda, it’s doubtful they could have come up with anything more vivid than what actually happened.
Milei and Villarruel didn’t just squeak by, either. They won 56 percent of the vote, in one of the largest margins of victory in Argentina’s recent political history, despite the fact that many Argentine Catholics, especially the corps of “slum priests” favored by Francis, actively campaigned against them.
Consider the irony: Francis is an avowed populist, who’s repeatedly insisted that leaders should take their cues from the people. In this instance, however, it would seem his own people didn’t take their cues from him.
Have we ever seen a situation before in which a pope’s home country delivered quite such a stinging rebuke in a democratic election?
There are a few scattered examples that come to mind, though none quite on-point.
Monday, November 20, 2023
A RETIRED PRIEST’S SUNDAY…
On Sunday, November 19th, I celebrated two Sunday Masses, one a very, very, very Modern Roman Missal Sung Mass at St. Gregory the Great’s 11 AM Mass (Bluffton, SC). This parish is the Diocese of Charleston’s largest parish with over 5,000 registered households (mostly retirees to Sun City (9,000 homes) Margaritaville and other retirement communities, expensive ones!
You can watch their Facebook feed of the Mass HERE. It starts at about minute 43! My spectacular, short and to the point homily begins at minute 59:30!
And then I rushed to downtown Savannah’s Sacred Heart Church for their 1 PM TLM. The Church was full with all kinds of Catholics, young families, crying babies, white, black, Africans, African Americans, Filipinos and all the world’s ethnic groups. As everyone knows, I love both forms of the Mass and I am enriched by celebrating both forms. And yes, I had to prepared two stunningly spectacular homilies since there are two different sets of Scripture readings. I’m exhausted!
Here are photos of the TLM, not in any particular order:
BEFORE, AFTER AND BEFORE AGAIN! THE BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL OF MARY OUR QUEEN!
Praytell has an article on the restoration of use of the high altar of the "new" Baltimore Cathedral. The article can be accessed HERE.
The author is Deacon Fritz Bauerschmitt who is assigned to the Cathedral and writes for Praytell. It is a good article, but I have a disagreement with him on one thing he writes, which I will post below the photos below.
This Cathedral is around the corner from St. Mary's Seminary that I attended from 1976-79. I went to this magnificent Neo-gothic Cathedral many times for Masses and visits.
A funny side note, back then we use to joke that Anglicans/Episcopalians would refer to the new Cathedral as The Cathedral of Mary Their Queen!
This is what the altar looked like prior to Vatican II:
After Vatican II, this is what was done (but thanks be to God nothing else) and this is how I remember the Cathedral:
But now, that temporary altar has been removed, similar to what Cardinal Dolan did for St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the high altar is being used again, but facing the people. I like that the six candlesticks are placed on a platform behind the altar to maintain the majestic and traditional look of the altar. This is better than having those huge candlesticks on the altar or placed on the floor.
I think this is a marvelous solution to restoring one central altar, not two, to the Cathedral and to all churches that have two altars, one in front of the other:
Platform constructed behind the high altar.
This is the part of the article which I disagree but mostly agree very much. What is highlighted in red is what I disagree:
Such decisions always involve tradeoffs. On the one hand, the altar is now further from the people, and raised several steps, making an already distant altar more distant. On the other hand, the original design of the building is better displayed, not simply in the sense of architectural proportions (the empty space in front of the altar is actually quite impressive), but in terms of theological conception. Unlike many churches built before Vatican II, in which the high altar often competed for attention with a panoply of side altars, the Baltimore cathedral was designed to focus on the single high altar as the symbol of Christ. The many other altars in the building are all in recessed chapels along the side walls or in transepts, so that one’s attention is inexorably drawn to the high altar. This effect was undermined by interposing another altar in front of the high altar, and the visual focus of the building was relegated to serving as a very impressing stand for candles and flowers.
My comments: Apart from what I highlight in red, this paragraph is a must read for liturgical design and recovering the one altar for liturgical use.
What I highlight in red, though, is a myth. Certainly, one would think that an altar that is pushed back is further away from the nave because it is phsyically more distant. But when it is higher and completely seen by those in the nave when the cathedral is full, it is much closer looking. This is perception and or illusion. The perception is that the altar is closer. Most of our sight is based on perception and illusion, not facts.
In a full cathedral, the old "faux" altar was not the focal point of this cathedral. The eye was and is drawn to the high altar and it was seen more clearly from the perception/illusion point of view, and thus from a psychological point a view, as being closer than the one that was lower and in fact closer.
So many churches today have the altar very low and close to the first pews, but for people behind the first pew all the way to the last pew, in a full church, they can't even see the altar! It might as well be behind an iconostasis!
That's the case with our Cathedral in Savannah. The old high altar looks closer to me when I sit in the nave and the Cathedral is full because I can see it completely. I can hardly see the lower altar because it is just too low and all those in front of me block it entirely from my sight!
YIKES! THIS IS BIG BUT ALSO DISCONCERTING AND ANOTHER SIGN OF WHAT A POLARIZING FIGURE POPE FRANCIS IS…
This is really shocking and a huge embarrassment for Pope Francis. We now know why His Holiness has never returned to his native land and why he probably won’t return. In fact the Vatican last week had indicated plans were in place for the pope to return to Argentina but only if the other candidate, the Peronist one, was elected. That appears to have been an attempt to sway Argentinians to vote for the other candidate. It backfired!
From Rorate Caeli:
Javier Milei Elected President of Argentina in a Repudiation of Francis and Peronism by the People of Argentina
Javier Milei, a Catholic libertarian and outspoken critic of Pope Francis, has been elected President of Argentina over a Peronist candidate in a stunning, double-digit upset win. Milei stated that Pope Francis “has an affinity for murderous communists” and accused him of violating the Ten Commandments. Some Westerners thought these comments might hurt Milei in Argentina, Francis's home country. instead, Milei's aggressive criticisms of Pope Francis carried him to an upset victory.
Read more »
And a more detailed report from Crux:
Anti-Pope’ elected president in Francis’s native Argentina
Sunday, November 19, 2023
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Robert Mickens, quite the progressive, heterodox leaning commentator who writse now for La Croix, wrote this in a recent commentary:
It's no secret that the Roman Catholic Church is deeply divided right now, perhaps as much as it's ever been in the six decades since the end of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The fractures are most obvious on social media where even priests, bishops and cardinals preach from cyber pulpits all along the theological (or, more correctly, the ideological) spectrum.Pope Francis recently moved against the latest online episcopal celebrity from the doctrinally rigid end of that spectrum when he relieved Bishop Joseph Strickland from his duties as head of the Diocese of Tyler. Appointed to the small Texas see in 2012 by Benedict XVI, Strickland has been one of the most vocal critics of the current pope, whom he has publicly accused of undermining the Deposit of the Faith.
The blind spot in Micken's commentary is that he blames traditionalists and social media for this, rather than the content and style of teaching of Pope Francis. You don't have to be a "Francis hater" to critique Pope Francis' style of teaching, its incoherence and an almost cognitive deficient tendency to sow confusion, anger and shock.
To blame those who have grown way too weary of this papacy and its devious means of dividing and conquering is to blame victims for sexual abuse by church authorities because they feel the way they do toward their abuser. (And friends, this is an issue in the sex abuse scandal and why it is so diabolical for the Church to this day!)
Then John Allen speaks about something even more amusing, disconcerting, and angering that Pope Francis did this past week in a Roman parish where he spoke to priests of a particular vicariate there.
Allen quotes an Italian blog, which I have often quoted on this blog, Silere non Possum and a commentary that I almost used but thought was way over the top. Allen who lives in Rome acknowledges that this Italian blog is very influential and indicates that there is displeasure with this pope in Italy and Europe because of his negative streak (may be cultural, both Italian and South American) and even antipathetic towards the northern hemisphere of Europe and North America, the USA in particular.
This is a quote from Allen's Crux Commentary:
In theory this was a private meeting, with no official recording or transcript, but the next day an influential Italian blog called Silere non Possum (“I cannot be silent”) carried a lengthy account of the session, complete with lengthy allegedly direct quotes.
Three lines in particular stand out in terms of news interest.
“You’ll say the pope is a Lutheran”: Francis supposedly said this in the context of discussing his pastoral approach to communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, telling a story about a 60-year-old Italian woman who’d written him a letter explaining that she was in a second marriage and had children with her husband, but couldn’t take communion. According to the blog, Francis said he advised the woman to make a confession and then quietly go to another parish and take communion.
“Some may say that the pope is a relativist. Let it be a fruitful relativism.”: This line was allegedly delivered in the same context, regarding the divorced and civilly remarried.
“Anglo-Saxon culture. Those of us who are Latins, we have closeness to the people. Clericalism is an attitude that’s distant from the people.”: This line, which allegedly came up in the context of discussing the various demands priests often face from their congregations, would appear to suggest that the pope sees clericalism as a particular temptation of Anglo-Saxon clergy.
For the record, Silere non Possum identifies itself as a blog founded by a lay Italian canon lawyer and expert on the Vatican penal system named Marco Felipe Perfetti. It clearly has good sources; major news outlets such as the Associated Press, for example, have quoted its reports on the abuse scandals surrounding ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik.
In presenting its new report, Silere non Possum interspersed the supposed quotations from the pope with its own derisive commentary – helpfully presented in each case in boldface type, so readers couldn’t possibly miss the editorial obiter dicta.
For instance, with regard to the pope’s anecdote about calling the divorced and remarried woman, the blog added: “A tip for pastors: From here on out, take Francis’s cell phone number and post it on the bulletin board, and he’ll solve all the problems.”
One struggles to escape the impression that the blog’s goal was to provide fresh reasons for its readers to get upset with Francis, without necessarily being overly scrupulous about verbatim accuracy.
On the other hand, if the pope never said anything even remotely like what the blog quotes, it’s hard to know why the Vatican wouldn’t say so out loud. A spokesman could simply state, “While the contents of the session were private, I can confirm that the comments attributed to the Holy Father are false.”
Instead, all we’re getting at the moment is a version of the standard “no comment,” leaving it unclear what exactly transpired.
A cynic, actually, might be inclined to conclude that Francis or his advisers are happy enough to have those lines floating around, framing public impressions of what the pope really thinks, without having to take direct ownership of them.
In any event, and until we get either official confirmation or denial, “the pope is a Lutheran” and “Anglo-Saxon culture” vis-à-vis clericalism now take their place alongside “the carnival is finished” and “Hell doesn’t exist” as celebrated non-quotation quotations, from one of the most epigrammatic popes of all time – so much so, in fact, that even stuff he may never have said is well on its way to immortality.
This pope speaks off-the-cuff so much that Vatican News no longer tries to clarify what the pope said because what the pope said is what the pope said.
If people who are orthodox overreact to what this pope says which strikes them as opposed to Catholic faith, morals and canon law, who is responsible for that and is it done by the pope in a "passive aggressive" manner to create havoc in those who actually want to hold onto the Catholic Deposit of Faith as two previous popes led to them to do.
I'm not a psychologist, but I think we can critique this pope and his rantings about "rigid" people and his disdain for them, which seems to include most of the Northern hemisphere. He disses them and then that causes them to dis him. It is a completely unhealthy relationship.
Divine intervention is needed. The person with whom the buck stops is the one who has to rectify the dysfunction that he and he alone has created.
Remember what Robert Mickens wrote which says it all. We all know which pope presided over this unprecedented situation that could lead to a major schism or the plunging of the Church into even more irrelevance for a huge number of Catholics:
It's no secret that the
Roman Catholic Church is deeply divided right now, perhaps as much as
it's ever been in the six decades since the end of the Second Vatican
Council (1962-65).
ISLAND LIFE…
As some know, I entered senior status as a priest about a year and a half ago. I moved about an hour away from my last assignment in Richmond Hill, GA (Savannah is its suburb) to Hilton Head Island, SC. That’s in the Charleston Diocese and I have faculties here (meaning I can celebrate any of the sacraments without seeking permission each time).
I use “senior” status, in that retirement isn’t exactly the right word as I am a priest and still function in a sacramental way and strive to keep my two promises of obedience and celibacy within the context of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.
Saturday was an interesting day. I celebrated a very sad Requiem for a 17 year old boy who took his life. He was a senior in high school at Hilton Head High School. The Mass was filled with his classmates. His parents, brother and other relatives devastated. It was all so very tragic. He was a talented artist and would have graduated in December. He was accepted into the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design. Thus is life and death and priesthood…
Saturday night, Hilton Head Island held its annual Lantern Parade. It is really cool. One of the major changes since I entered senior priestly status, is that I have made friends independently of my parish assignment. Thus I went to the Lantern Parade with friends I have come to know on the beach where I go almost daily. I thank God for my mother’s Italian skin which I inherited! Then after the parade, they and some other beach friends went back to their condo for a Pizza dinner—never in a million years did I think my senior status would lead to this!
I took this first photo at sundown about an hour before the parade began. It was a stunning sunset and the ocean looked like icy glass and the cloud formation looks like a snow capped mountain. The mother and child are just perfect. I was at the right place at the right time for this iPhone photo that looks like a work of art:
Then, once it was dark, here are a few photos of the fabulous parade:
Saturday, November 18, 2023
TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY…ON BLOGS (NOT MINE) AND IN THE COMMENT SECTION, YES MINE TOO…
A negative spirit has infected the world and everyone on it, from the Church to politics and communities to families.
We dwell on the negative, the half empty glass, those who have left us and we fail to see that, yes, the church is 3/4th empty but it is also 1/3rd full!
Shouldn’t Catholics focus on the positive? The positive with the pope, with our bishops, with the Church Universal and our local parishes. Must we always emphasize the negative, thinking doing so will make things positive?
Of course, social media plays into this like blogs, X and the like. Of course, this doesn’t apply to my wildly famous, positive and timely blog, but others, well, yes.
Part of the problem is with comments. Whether it is here or elsewhere, comments don’t pertain to the post but are highjacked by the ones commenting. The name calling, put-downs and just plain pagan mortal sins against charity and the sanctity of persons commenting here is breathtaking and certainly not anything that would attract anyone to Catholicism and would push away those hanging by the thread. I would say uncharitableness in the Catholic blogosphere does more to harm the Church than bad liturgies!
Apart from eliminating comments, could you imagine how positive that section would be if Catholics did not break the two greatest Commandments by their on-line nonsense and negativity. Could you imagine how positive it would be if a stranger reading the comment section here could at the end of his reading sing, “Yes, they’ll known they are Catholics by their love, by their love, O yes, they’ll know they are Catholics by their love.”
Many blogs and on-line commentaries have eliminated comments. The liberal NCR use to have on-line comments and these were some of the worse, most negative and vile in the industry. To their credit, the NCR eliminated comments. What they do now is to post a limited number of “letters to the editor.” That is a nice compromise.
Even Praytell no longer publishes comments or much of anything else. I think they must be phasing out.
Are liturgical blogs useless today? Back in the day, as I look backwards to Pope Benedict, he created so much excitement in the Church, liturgically and otherwise and blogs prospered and were positive about his papacy.
Liturgy has become boring again, pedestrian is the order of the day, and with the TLM crushed for the most part, there is no excitement for improving the Modern Vernacular Mass. That is sad.
So, let’s be happy, not sad.
Friday, November 17, 2023
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