Here are a couple of articles from Catholic publications (that I am just now catching up on now that Easter is over) that really made me sit back and ponder.
The April 2008 edition of This Rock has a piece on secrecy in the Church by Russell Shaw entitled, “Does the Church Have Too Many Secrets?” There is a paragrap
h in the article concerning clericalism that that really made me pause for thought. He says in part:
“In speaking of clericalism, I’m not talking only about the clergy. The jumble of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors that make up clericalism and the clerical mindset are by no means limited to the clergy, either in the Catholic Church or in any other denomination.” Clericalism is a distortion of the importance of a particular vocation, in this case Holy Orders. That means one’s importance lies only in how closely they mimic the vocation of the priesthood. “This way of thinking underlies the exaggerated enthusiasm in some circles for lay ministries.”
This was not the point of the article but well worth the read in and of itself and is yet another gem to be garnered from this fine publication.
April’s “The Priest” has an article entitled “Challenging Chastity: Cyberspace” by Fr. James Wehner. I thought for sure that his article was going to be about the problem of pornography and how easily available it is via the Internet, a topic that is coming up mo
re and more. But in a surprise twist he is calling priest and seminarians (and in turn all) to accountability on the Internet particularly in the amount of time spent there. The first question toward Internet Chastity he asks is, “How much time do you spend before the Blessed Sacrament?” The questions do not get much easier form there! This is a worthy thought to ponder during this holy season.
ON TO OTHER THINGS:
How about an EASTER QUIZ?
1. True or False: Holy Week consists of Easter Sunday through Divine Mercy Sunday.
2. How is the date of Easter determined?
3. When does the Easter season officially end?
4. What day is referred to as Low Sunday, or Dominicana In Albis, or Quasimodo Sunday?
5. What is the Easter Duty?
6. True or False: Where the Ascension has been moved to Sunday, it is prope
rly referred to as Ascension Thursday Sunday in order to recognize the proper numbering of days.
7. What is the proper response to, “He is risen!”
8. “Yahweh be praised!” is the definition of this word.
9. Name the pope and the year of the first universal celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.
10. What are the conditions for receiving the plenary indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday?
Answers, as always, tomorrow.
The April 2008 edition of This Rock has a piece on secrecy in the Church by Russell Shaw entitled, “Does the Church Have Too Many Secrets?” There is a paragrap
h in the article concerning clericalism that that really made me pause for thought. He says in part:“In speaking of clericalism, I’m not talking only about the clergy. The jumble of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors that make up clericalism and the clerical mindset are by no means limited to the clergy, either in the Catholic Church or in any other denomination.” Clericalism is a distortion of the importance of a particular vocation, in this case Holy Orders. That means one’s importance lies only in how closely they mimic the vocation of the priesthood. “This way of thinking underlies the exaggerated enthusiasm in some circles for lay ministries.”
This was not the point of the article but well worth the read in and of itself and is yet another gem to be garnered from this fine publication.
April’s “The Priest” has an article entitled “Challenging Chastity: Cyberspace” by Fr. James Wehner. I thought for sure that his article was going to be about the problem of pornography and how easily available it is via the Internet, a topic that is coming up mo
re and more. But in a surprise twist he is calling priest and seminarians (and in turn all) to accountability on the Internet particularly in the amount of time spent there. The first question toward Internet Chastity he asks is, “How much time do you spend before the Blessed Sacrament?” The questions do not get much easier form there! This is a worthy thought to ponder during this holy season.ON TO OTHER THINGS:
How about an EASTER QUIZ?
1. True or False: Holy Week consists of Easter Sunday through Divine Mercy Sunday.
2. How is the date of Easter determined?
3. When does the Easter season officially end?
4. What day is referred to as Low Sunday, or Dominicana In Albis, or Quasimodo Sunday?
5. What is the Easter Duty?
6. True or False: Where the Ascension has been moved to Sunday, it is prope
rly referred to as Ascension Thursday Sunday in order to recognize the proper numbering of days.7. What is the proper response to, “He is risen!”
8. “Yahweh be praised!” is the definition of this word.
9. Name the pope and the year of the first universal celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.
10. What are the conditions for receiving the plenary indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday?
Answers, as always, tomorrow.
4 comments:
Internet Chastity! That has really been on my mind lately! I've always been so smug about how little time I spend in front of the TV anymore. But the internet! It's like an I.V. drip for me and everyone I know! Ever think of the irony of people robbing their employers by surfing the internet, even if it is for good things like this blog!
I think of the "slavery" of sin and think, even though it is a good thing, I AM a slave to the internet. It's like an addiction I can't resist!
1. False
2. First full moon after the the first day of Spring (in the Latin rite)
3. Easter ends at Pentecost (or the evening before?)
4. The Sunday after Easter Sunday (it's the "low" end of the week, after the "high" of Easter Sunday)
5. Receive communion at least once during the season (or risk excommunication!)
6. False
7. He Is Risen Indeed!
8. Alleluia!
9. John Paul II, errrrr....1996?
10. Wear a hair shirt and chastise heretics.
I like Rob's answer for number 10, at least for others! ;)
#2 - a friend of mine, T., and I just discovered this. She was talking with a friend of hers (Jewish) and they were wondering why Easter (Roman Rite) was so different than the Easter of Orthodox Rite & Passover. It's the 1st full moon after the Vernal Equinox. The Orthodox Catholics and Jewish Religion uses the actual vernal equinox and the actual full moon after the vernal equinox. However, the Roman Rite does not use the actual full moon nor the actual vernal equinox - they made their own calendars! Leave it to the Romans! :-)
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