Friday, April 18, 2014

ARE WE GETTING THIS RITE?

Maundy Thursday went off almost with no hitches, which is about as good as it gets.  It was well attended, though I admit that I have daydreams (at inappropriate times) that Catholics in general become so aware of their dignity, so grateful for their salvation, so in touch with the love of God that we cannot hold them all in the church building for such a celebration.
 
But that would cause problems of its own.
 
Champagne problems, but problems.
 
I like champagne problems.
 


After it was all done, our Blessed Lord was reposed and our valiant Knights of Columbus retired the watch (they are SO cool) I headed back to the rectory to text Fr. Pfeiffer, our former parochial vicar, who is having his first ever solo Triduum celebration at his parish as pastor. 

 

>So . . .  Howd it go?

 

You would have wept.

 

>Out of jealousy, pride, or embarrassment?

 

Pride.

 
And a little bit of jealousy.  ;>)
 
Seems my downy feathered curate has shed his baby priest feathers and begun to fly.  I guess I can say I am a proud father.  (Father as in priest that is, not dad.)
 
One of the things I was most excited about at our celebration was the presence of so many families who happen to like to and normally attend our extraordinary form Mass.  When Pope emeritus Benedict (God love him) gave broad permissions for this form of the rite to be celebrated, it was his vision that it be fully integrated within the life of a parish that would joyfully celebrate both forms of the Mass and sacraments.  (We also have baptisms, and weddings in the extraordinary form.  The diocese is working something out for confirmation.) 
 
I am not one to try to win anyone over to either rite.  I like them both.  I have a hard time understanding why there are people who are rather extreme on their position for either.  I think St. Sebastian could be seen as an example of that which Benedict envisioned: people spending time at the rite they prefer (or Mass time! – odd to see a 4:30 Saturday person at a 9:00 Sunday morning ordinary form!), but being open to attending the other rite when the situation warrants it without much fuss.  Last night gave me much hope that we are on the “rite” track.

9 comments:

W.C. Hoag said...

You are doing the EF and OF very well, Father! The labour is now bearing fruit!

melody said...

We recently had the opportunity to attend the EF at your parish. We were invited by friends and it was the first time in a decade we had been at an EF liturgy. We are most comfortable with the OF since that is what we have always known but here are my thoughts after being at your parish...

- Being at the EF was like taking a breath of fresh spiritual air. While I feel "at home" in the OF, it can get very noisy (physically and spiritually) and the EF offered an opportunity to enter in to a restful worship. Prayer came much more easily, even while juggling a baby, because everything oriented the senses toward it.

- The Campion missals were a game changer for me and I am so grateful that you had them there. I was actually not totally and utterly lost and my reading children were not either. I'm going to swallow my pride here and admit that the section with pictures really helped while juggling the baby. If I had lost my place, I just matched up Father Pfeiffer to the missal pics. :)

- The community was so joyful and welcoming. Surprisingly so, in fact, and if the kids hadn't been so hungry, we could have stayed for much longer after Mass than we did!

- We were surprised and touched by the fact that you were present before and after Mass for your EF parishioners. You could have justified not being there since Fr. Pfeiffer was but I really got the sense that you love your family and cherish every member. So often, Latin Mass lovers have been made to feel like outsiders or Catholic extremists. God bless you for trying to change that.

- Most surprising of all, I think, was that my little non-readers had a very positive experience. I guess I expected them to hate it because it isn't as externally "interactive." But there wasn't one negative heard from anyone. On the contrary, they had many nice things to say.

- I know that my understanding of liturgy and openness to the EF has changed since I last attended, but I honestly did not expect to love it as I did. Part of that was the change in me but a big part of it was the context of your parish. Thank you for that.

We are still most comfortable with the OF but we are now much more comfortable with both rites and even excited about returning to the richness of the EF every once in a while.

Also, congrats to Father P.! He sure made a wonderful impression on the kids when we attended the EF! Thank you for being such a good mentor to him so that he can love his new flock well. :)

Mary W. said...

"You would have wept" says Fr. Pf. regarding the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper. Didn't you once say on your blog that you hardly ever cry? It must have been a beautiful and sacred celebration indeed. So glad for Fr. Pf! (He sure was blessed to be a fledgling at your parish!)

Cindy K said...

Holy Thursday Mass is probably my favorite Mass of the year. Unfortunately, the kids' spring breaks and our family vacation prevented us from attending at St. Sebastian this yr. looking forward to being back in town for Easter Sunday!

Anonymous said...

Hi Father V -

My husband was one of the "valiant" Knights who retired the watch of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Seb's.

He had just finished helping us prepare and serve a soup supper to our First Communion children, families and others at St. Bernard; attended our beautiful Mass at St. B at 7; helped us wash dishes, clean tables and mop the hall after Mass; loaded the crock pots, etc. into our cars (btw - we have about 20 steps up a very steep staircase from our hall to the parking lot!); and escorted the single ladies and elderly to their cars since it was late and dark.

THEN he went to St. Sebastian for honor guard duty until midnight, and he was most honored to do so.

Thank you for making him and his
brother Knights feel at home!

Blessings from Susan

Trevor said...

Admittedly, this was Dawn and my first time attending the adoration on Maundy Thursday. We had to go separately, but talked about it together right afterwards. "Very moving" was both of our descriptions. It has brought us closer to Christ. We're big fans of Adoration & Benediction.

Together in Christ,

Trevor & Dawn

The Archive said...

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Anonymous said...

I clicked on the SolidArtists icon above.

Very interesting--the type of trailers their website features.

I wonder about the JPII movie they are recommending.

Also, JPII is being canonized on SUNDAY, April 27th, not Friday. He's not being "made into a saint," either.

MaryofSharon said...

Thank you so much for making it possible for the EF Mass to be accessible to those of us in the Akron area who only come every now and then. It is such a gift to the Church of transcendence and reverence and beauty, and even being able to worship this way occasionally, elevates one's sense of the sacredness of every Mass.