ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS SOME BOILER HEAT

St. Sebastian Parish is getting a new boiler (and chiller) for Christmas.  Right now that means being without heat until Friday but in the long run we will be happier, warmer and spend much less money on heat.  Here is the old boiler being chopped up in the basement of the church

I don't know what I was expecting but the inside looks like a giant radiator.  But now, thinking about it, I guess it makes sense.  After it was all (loudly) chopped up, a giant crane came by to haul it piece by piece out of the basement.

So here is a picture so you can not see what I don't see and why one must dress warmly for Mass this week!

And here are the new boilers, still wrapped in plastic, getting ready to go into the boiler room and start boiling!

 

THE BEST BLOG THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC

“The friendly church on the corner.”

I do not know why they curl my chin hairs but church slogans do.  It seems more and more Catholic parishes are jumping on board with this also.  It is not just a theme for a year but a slogan to identify their brand like, “Finger lickin’ good!”

Perhaps this is it: don’t tell me who you are - show me.  A parish or church already has a reputation in its neighborhood which no slogan will do anything to change.  If you want to be “Christ centered,” don’t put it on a banner, figure out what the community can do to be more Christ centered.  If you want to be known as friendly, don’t put it on your marque, do something to develop the reputation of being friendly.  A slogan might be a nice interior reminder of what the community is striving for - like a mission statement - but there are better ways of handling it.

Slogans are also rather confining.  A Catholic parish does many things and expresses it in many ways.  Being “friendly” is such a small part of what we are supposed to be and “Christ centered” should be so obvious that it is like putting a sign on your dog that says, “This is a dog.”  So what?  tell me something I don’t know.

If someone wants you to know that they are trustworthy, the best thing they can do is simply be trustworthy.  Then, after 99 times of trusting them they slip up, you think, “This is odd.  So unlike him.”  And the friendship is much more salvageable.  If your trust is largely built on the slogan on their T-shirt, “You can trust me!” then if he slips up you’ll simply roll your eyes every time you see him and keep your counsel to yourself.

Mom always used to say, “If you have to say it, it probably isn’t true.”  That is probably where I get my general angst with church slogans.  They are quick and easy and don’t really do anything by themselves.  But developing a community, a culture, a reputation, an environment slowly, over years, and gaining a good name is worth all of the slogans of the world.

GUEST BLOGGER: WHAT ROLLER COASTER RENOVATIONS CAN TELL US ABOUT CHURCH REFORM

Many, many thanks to Mr. David Stavars, seminarian at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland and part time St. Sebastianite for being our guest blogger today.  (I probably wouldn't have had time to get anything out today!)  As always, you are awesome Mr. Stavarz.

Lately, there has been a good bit of hype amongst roller coaster enthusiasts about the supposed removal of the wooden roller coaster, the Mean Streak, at Cedar Point Amusement Park. Cedar Point, located in Sandusky Ohio and arguably one of the best amusement parks in the world, boasts an impressive lineup of coasters of which includes the Mean Streak. This wooden behemoth of a ride opened in 1991 as the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world and since then has given rides to over 26 million people.  Luckily, as I had an obsession with coasters especially in my younger days, it was phenomenal having one of the best amusements parks only an hour away. Every year, people from all over the world flock to "America's Roller Coast" to ride the newest and best rides, including the Mean Steak, at least up until the past few years.

Undeniably, as has been the case for many wooden coasters around the country, the Mean Streak has grown much meaner over its lifetime. The ride's old wood tracking - what the trains ride on - has made for a pretty harsh ride, while the track layout has become a bit mundane compared to the newer, innovative, and more exciting steel coasters. However, despite the relatively low ride attendance in the past few years, some people are still sentimental about the wooden coaster's future in the park. Even though the park announced that the Mean Streak would "Get the Axe" at the end of this year, there are still some that speculate about the ride's future. 

One of the theories of the Mean Streak's future involves renovation. Rocky Mountain Construction - the supposed renovation firm - is a company that takes old wooden coasters and converts them into new hybrid coasters using steel tracking. This kind of coaster renovation allows for a much smoother ride and also provides for the ability to change different elements of the ride for a whole new experience. The new steel tracking makes elements like inversions and steep turns possible on an old wooden coaster. One coaster enthusiast even took the time to create a model of what a renovation for the Mean Streak could look like. See the video here: (http://youtu.be/GhbJF3ZxPRQ)

Instead of completely bulldozing the previous structure, this company re-forms the coaster into something new, yet the engineers renovate the ride in a way that is true to coaster's past, a way that is true to its essential nature. Many times today, we want to just bulldoze. In order to make way for the future, we think that we must forget the past and completely start anew. Thanks to Rene Descartes and many others in modern philosophical thought, this way of bulldozing and forgetting the past is largely how the world views what has come before. However, I think it's always important to look and see what has come before and know why it was there before you start the bulldozing. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's obsolete, and furthermore it doesn't mean that what is old can't be re-formed into something new.

Today, there are many in the larger secular culture that see the Catholic faith as old and obsolete. We hear this in regards to Catholic liturgy, ethics (especially sexual ethics), sacraments, devotional life, etc. Many of these elements of Catholicism have been around for centuries - since the very conception of the Church. Yet, in a modern world that tends to question reality and forget the past, these ancient beliefs and practices that have been passed on are what truly grounds us in reality. Just because there elements of the Church that are old, doesn't mean they are useless. As the hymn goes, the Church is ever ancient and ever new.

John Allen Jr., in his book, The Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church, explains that a major factor in future Church reform will be that of Evangelical Catholicism. By "Evangelical" he means a youthful, vibrant Catholicism that is returning to a stronger, more external, more orthodox practice of the faith in regards to liturgy, sacraments, devotions, prayer, ethics, etc. However, this return to orthodoxy, ritual, and tradition, this looking back to what has come before rather than bulldozing, is not a return to the same Pre-Vatican II Church. This re-formation is a conversion to a new era of the Church, yet one that is true to its past.

On one hand, the modern Evangelical Church will take the traditional, orthodox practices that were good from the Pre-Vatican II Church. However, this modern ecclesial renovation also means that some parts of Church practice that were rough and had possibly detracted from the true mission and purpose of the Church are going to be left in the past. Like coaster renovation, what is going to make the ride unbearable, taking away from the true purpose of the ride, will be changed. Furthermore, while modern Church reform tends to return to the roots of orthodox practice, it also has a crucial awareness to the situation and needs of the modern world. This looking to the modern world, while bring the tradition of the Church to it was the true mission and purpose of Vatican II in the first place.

In order to renovate, one must look at what has come before, but must also see what is possible in the current conditions. Allen says that the Evangelical Church is a Church that not only wants to dialogue with the modern, secular world, but also wants to convert it. Living out such a mission means having your ear close to the ground, listening to what is happening in the culture and acknowledging how the Church can speak Her truths to the people of that culture.

Having an eye to what is ahead means that exciting, new elements of the Church will emerge, but also elements that are rooted in and consistent with the Church's foundation and tradition. Even though the Church has been fundamentally the same in every century, how exactly that Church has looked had been different. 

I see this change happening is when a Mass with reverent praise and worship music also incorporating old Latin hymns into the congregation's prayer. I see it in parishes and youth groups that are centered around Eucharistic Adoration. I see it in women who wear traditional head coverings to Mass, not as a sign of submission, but of holy humility. I see it in the practice of traditional Catholic devotionals like the Rosary, Litanies, and Consecration to Mary amongst young and older people alike. I see it in websites like Word on Fire and Strange Notions, which bring the truth of humanity and Catholicism into dialogue on the Internet.

One way this change has happened in the Diocese of Cleveland is in the successful introduction of Theology on Tap. These are nights where young Catholics from around the diocese meet up at a bar, share conversation and fellowship, and listen to a guest speaker talk on some topic about the spiritual life or address some cultural issue from a Catholic perspective. This is the tradition of the Church reaching out into the modern world. This re-formation is like putting a new set of tracks onto an old coaster. 

What we need to recover, especially as we think about reform in the Church, is the understanding that the Church is ever new because it is ever ancient. Instead of the bulldozing mentality, look to what is truly good and adapt that good to what is needed. As the Church is rooted in its foundation, which is Christ and His mission of conversion in the world, the Church can present itself in a way that is ever new, ever cutting edge, ever relevant to a world that proclaims its irrelevancy. 

WHAT CAN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH LEARN FROM THE APPLE CORPORATION?

I had an occasion to go to an Apple store recently.  For the first time I went unaccompanied by an adult in the computer world.  I was intimidated.  I didn't know what I was doing, what questions to ask, or even really what I needed.  I felt out of place and out of touch.  But I put my big boy pants and went.

The store was by far the brightest, cleanest storefront in the mall.  It's presence just stuck out like a cathedral in a medieval town.  They capitalized on the energy of the store having the entire front open so that you could see the energy of all the people.  But this was also off putting.  What am I supposed to do when I go in there???

The atmosphere was almost Church like.  Every inch of space told you exactly where you were.  Instead of a crucifix the Apple apple was prominently displayed.  Saints were picture along the walls (outrageously happy people using Apple products.)  There was a recognizable clergy of sorts wearing habits of blue shirts with crucifixes - er - I mean apples on them.

So I walk in and an extremely pleasant Apple clergyman walked up to me and said, "Good evening, how may I help you?"

I showed him the object in my hand and said, "This either doesn't work or I am ignorant.  I am not sure which."

He directed me to where in the store I should go and what I should expect.  A lady came up to me and addressed me by my first name (which I have never gone by in my life but whatever) and she heard my confession - er - I mean listened to the difficulty I was having with my product. 

She apologized profusely that she didn't know enough about the thing that I brought to her and talked into her collar (microphone of some sort) and another, extremely polite man came over and she explained the problem.  "Well, let's see what we can do for you sir.  We are here to solve problems!"  And he explained to her, "Why don't you stay with us so you can learn how to do this in the future," for which she seemed genuinely grateful.

During this time the staff interacted in a most interesting way.  One person crumpled up a piece of paper and another reached out to take it and throw it away.  One person stated that they were going to go do something and another said, "I'm on my way, let me get that for you."  It was like the whole place was an old couple still in love and anticipating the other's well known needs.  There were lots of "Thank you" and "excuse me's."  I told my cleric, "Everyone is so polite here."  He smiled and simply agreed.   Then I said, "I imagine the people with whom you deal are not always so polite back."  It was then that I saw only the mildest of breaks in the facade.  For a moment there was a ruffled brow and a deep breath and as he blew the wind out of his lungs he simply said, "Well, you know . . . " and then perked right back up.

One of the Apple clerics showed me a computer.  "This is like art!  Like a Michael Angelo the way it was constructed!"  I thought that was a little over the top but without fail they all appeared to believe in the product they were selling.  Knowing that I was a priest, he showed me how to see the Vatican on the computer.  I thought that was thoughtful.  He could have picked Disneyland I suppose.

All and all it was a positive experience where I thought I was going to be miserable.  Granted, we are doing different things.  They are selling a manmade product for profit.  We are introducing people to a Person; Jesus Christ.  The Church is not a business but there are aspects of it that are business like and we could learn a thing or two.