HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU KID

Do you feel sorry for millionaires? The responsibilities! The extra effort required in the spiritual life! The daily facing people who want part of your wealth! The complication of financial affairs! The burden of having to decide and pick out the car of your preference instead of having to settle for the one that you can afford.

Bet you don’t. Unless you are a millionaire. If you are not one, there tends to be very little sympathy. “Life is hard,” it is thought, “but it is sure a whole lot easier if you have a few bucks to see you through.” But one only has to look at the ruined lives of those who win the lottery or those whose lives crash because everyone bends to their whim in awe of their resources never supplying them with the needed societal boundaries that would keep them on track.

I set before you a blessing and curse.

People with good looks rarely get any sympathy either. More often than not I think lesser looking people would fall into envy rather than think on any burden that may be involved. Even I fall into the thought pattern every now and then of, “I’d like to look like that.” (Though being a celibate, I do not exactly what I would do with my newly found good looks.)

Yet for all the good fortune that we assume goes hand in hand with looking beautiful, there are many traps also. Being beautiful does give a person many breaks and opportunities that those who are beauty impaired are not given. But conversely I’ve seen equal amounts of beautiful people crying out for structure, accountability, and, in a way, acceptance and failing because everyone wants to be a friend of the good-looking person. More people may want to be your friend or even your lover, but just as often they want to take advantage of and use a beautiful person. A beautiful person may have an easier time making friends quickly, but they also have some friends because of how they look, not because of who they are. They may be given many breaks because of their beauty, but they can also be horribly unprepared to deal with everyday life when that beauty fades or suddenly disappears.

You cannot tell a book by its cover, but we try just the same. But how is it that God must see us? “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7. What if appearance did not register at all with us and we dealt with each other solely on the basis of the appearance of our souls?

“Honor and virtue are ornaments of the soul, without which the body, though it be really beautiful, ought not to be thought so.” Don Quixote

In the next life we might be surprised at who is truly beautiful and who is not. Beauty is wedded to truth without which beauty is empty; it is a lie. There will be those who are thought both ugly and beautiful in this life who will be radiant as the stars in the sky come the next, and those ugly and beautiful who will fade like the grass in the fields.

Rich, poor, beautiful, ugly, all have hurdles to overcome. It is said that one third of the world is starving and another one third is eating themselves to death. Because someone has a gold ring does not that life is easy or that their soul is saved. Because someone is hungry does not mean that they are sad or that their souls are not mightier than most powerful man on earth. Remember it was Lazarus who was named and went to heaven while the rich man remains anonymous and did not. (Luke 16:19-31)

All of us are needy. All of us called to service. Never assume that someone has it all. They may be the ones most in need.

SUNDAY VIDEO ON TAP XXII - AND OTHER VARIOUS AND SUNDRY

The Curt Jester let us know about the latest episode of "That Catholic Show!"



IN OTHER NEWS:

Here is a conglomeration of things that I've been storing for "someday" and I'm tired of having them on my computer. So here we go . . .

First this from Back to Damerosehay.

Fr. V

Passable

Passable

Extremely Insane

Extremely Insane

Click Here to Find Out YOUR Psychiatric Evaluation at QuizGalaxy.com

I want my Mommy. Okay. Well, so that didn't go so well.

Mingle² - Online Dating

PG13! Neither hot nor cold. How can one be extremely insane and BORING! Ah well, one more shot from the New Roving Medievalist.

How INSaNe are you?
	35%
Quirky - You are only insane very rarely and when you do go insane it is hilarious.
'How Insane are You?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Yes. Well. (*Ahem*) Let us, um, (*Cough*) move along . . .

Oh Yeah, then there's this:

From the "All Things Catholic" grab bag, Kay sent this in for people who want to lose weight the Catholic way. Thanks Kay. Apparently there are a few people around here using this method. I've only read their opening page but it looks pretty Okay.

Habemus Papem sent this second article in about an upcoming T.V. show about a Catholic priest. It still looks promising. (I'm still not holding my breath.)

Catholic Carnival 127 is up and running!

The Diocese of Cleveland E-Newsletter wants us to know about the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation. The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation links interested donors to the causes which are near to their hearts. Here, you can get information about the programs and services which comprise the mission of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and the many ways you can express your support.

SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - COLOR COMMENTARY

Colors are a little trickier than you might think. How you are using them will determine what they mean. For example there is the liturgical color symbol language of the Latin Rite and a slightly different one in the Eastern Rites. Color symbols in heraldry would differ from other art forms. With that in mind we begin with the liturgical colors of the Latin Rite.

These are the approved liturgical colors for use in the west, White, Red, Green, Purple, Rose, and Black.

WHITE – White symbolizes innocence, purity and holiness. In Scripture there are many references to this color. For example, in Psalm 51:7 it says, “O wash me and I shall be whiter than snow”, and during His transfiguration Jesus’ “clothes became white as light,” Matthew 17:2.

It is no accident that Jesus after his resurrection wears white or that Mary as the Immaculate Conception or in her presentation in the temple or prior to the annunciation is seen wearing white. If the artist knows what he or she is doing, close attention will be paid to this in order to aid the viewer understand what is being depicted.

We depict virgin saints wearing white robes. We wear white at baptisms (the baptismal garment), and at First Communion (at least the girls do) and brides wear white to show their purity. (*Ahem*)

Liturgically white is interchangeable with silver or gold. Priests and altar appointments are white on Christmas, Easter, Feasts of Our Lady, and Feasts of Angels, Confessors, and Virgins. It is also used for funerals.

RED – We think of the color red when choosing a crayon to color blood, though why we would be coloring blood is another question. Therefore it is the color of martyrs, those who spilled their blood for Christ and His Church.

It is also the crayon we would choose to color fire (warning: if you spend your time coloring blood and fire, you may be sent away for counseling.) Because the Holy Spirit descending as tongues of fire this color is also associated with the third person of the Blessed Trinity.

Priests and altar appointments appear in red on Pentecost, Passion (Palm) Sunday, and feasts of Apostles and Martyrs.

Next week we will finish up liturgical colors.

NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SACRAMENTAL SERVICE

“I’m not an animal! I am a human being!”

This line is from the play, “The Elephant Man” about a man struck with the terrible disease elephantiasis that greatly deformed his head. He was crying out for people to treat him with the same compassion and respect they would any human being and not scorn him simply because of the way he looked.

Many people use this same line to defend the way they dress in church. When summer would hit my last pastor was want to put a notice in the parish bulletin informing parishioners that he was aware that the summer months were upon us and assured them that the air conditioning was serviced and working and to please dress appropriately for mass. Of course there were the several phone calls and one or two anonymous letters blasting him. “You should accept people for who they are and not how they are dressed! Stop judging people! At least they are at mass!”

Of course they are right. People should not be judged for how they dress at mass. Especially since it may well be that they cannot afford to dress any better. Where this argument falls apart however is with people who otherwise have the means to dress appropriately and choose not to. Clothing says more than something about you, it also says what you think about other people. If you go to a job interview in ripped jeans, a death rock T-shirt, uncombed hair and ratty shoes, you may use the argument, “He never accepted me for who I am,” but sure as the pope is Catholic he is at the other end thinking, “He doesn’t really want this job, does not respect me, does not think much of this company, and probably will have the same attitude toward our customers.”

So when someone comes to mass dressed inappropriately (and I believe that there are different standards for different situations though modesty is modesty) it is not simply a matter of “people need to accept me for who I am”, but “What am I saying to others and about what is important to them?” Am I saying (even inadvertently) that this isn’t really all that important? Serious Catholics say that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives. To come dressed like you just got out of bed and rummaged through the reject bin at the Saint Vincent de Paul Shop makes a strong statement especially if you can and do dress better at other times which, quite frankly, marks those things symbolically as the source and summit of your life. You can say, “But God knows what’s in my heart.” But Mrs. Smith doesn’t and Catholicism isn’t about “me and God” it is about “us and God” and that means paying the same respect you want from the community to the community.

So what do you do with good-clothing-manners-scofflaws in your parish?

Well, there are a few options, most of which I would avoid.

The first option is to give the offender the obvious once over and then lift one side of your upper lip in a sneer and then look away in disgust.

Another option is to say something loudly to the person next to you in order that the offender might overhear such as, “Can you believe some people come to mass dressed up like a teenage Jezebel?”

You could encourage the pastor to write a scathing letter in the bulletin or make a hell and brimstone sermon from the pulpit about being an occasion of sin for others.

You could be honest and blunt and just say to the offender, “I’m sorry, we don’t dress to intentionally offend people here at this parish.”

I don’t recommend any of these tactics. Christ message from beginning to end is about unity. Every one of these tactics will only cause division. We just add to the scandal already caused. My advice (with my Monsignor Manners hat on) is don’t do any of them.

So what can you do? Nothing. Well, almost nothing. Start with setting a good example. Dress a little better than you want others to. Young people in the Cleveland area began doing just that not too long ago. Determined to influence their peers they began dressing in gowns and tuxedos to attend the opera. Somebody has to start the trend at church too and might as well be you.

Determine over whom you have influence such as with your children. Have them dress at least modestly and neatly. Use the same influence that you have with them to get up, dress well,and get to school.

Inspire dressing well in the day school and CCD if possible. A priest friend was telling me about a trip he made with his youth group to this last weekend Steubenville. The school was taking a stance against short shorts. They explained it well and in depth and told offenders that if they were going to attend the retreat, they would have to change clothes. One girl wrote about her experience at the retreat, “I am a human being. I am not for sale!” The priest was so moved by her revelation that he hung the note up in his office.

If someone is staying at your house, gently encourage them about dress. “You might want to bring some nice clothes because we will be going to mass on Sunday.”

Find ways to make dressing appropriately inviting. If people feel they are being ostracized they will either fight getting dressed up or stop coming to mass altogether. Rather than putting, “You people look like a bunch of hoodlums,” in the bulletin invite people to help others know of the importance of the mass by their signs of reverence, one of which is dressing up. On certain occasions invite people to dress particularly well such as, “Show your parish spirit! Next Sunday is the celebration of our parish feast day. Please dress up to help us celebrate!”

You get the idea. Now, about that aqua and maroon sweater that you’ve been wearing . . .

AND FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN ROME

ROME, ITALY “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a new document promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI this past week in response to the maelstrom of controversy over the Catholic Church’s latest pronouncement that it alone was the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church through which salvation is granted. Though this belief is recited by Catholics everywhere in the creed each Sunday, the idea that it would be said in a way that aids others who wish to engage the Catholic Church in dialogue know her position has struck Church watchdogs around the world as “cheeky.”

A protestant minister in Iowa who spoke with us under the condition that she remains anonymous stated her concern over Rome’s assertion that they were the one true church. “If true,” she stated, “that could put me and whole lot of other people out of work. Does Rome really want to contribute to world unemployment?” Her congregation gathered earlier in the week to discuss this latest revelation in a town hall meeting. “There was a lot of hurt,” she reports. “There were questions such as, ‘Does this mean we have to become Catholic?’ and “I though we were the one true Church.’ This contention of Catholics that they are Christ’s true Church does nothing but spread confusion and hurt.”

Even non-Christians have noted how politically incorrect the claim is. “This is just not how polite people talk,” said a popular etiquette columnist. But others have noted that if one does not assert that they have truth, there is not really much point in engaging them in conversation. The president of “Deists In Search of a Religion” was quoted as saying, “If someone does not believe they are speaking truth, what’s the point in having a conversation with them? It all becomes about sharing feelings then. I don’t need therapy I need a religion. And I want to talk to someone who at least thinks they know what they are talking about [and has] something to offer me. I wouldn’t vote for someone who is wishy washy about their beliefs, why would I entrust my soul to someone who is wishy washy about how salvation occurs?”

But in the end, it was the outcry of those “left behind” that caught Rome’s ear and today the pope released “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to ease feelings and help others build self-esteem. “It really brings down the Church's teaching on being the one and holy church to the level of an interoffice memo,” says a Vatican insider. “We know it is true in our hearts but if nobody asks us, we just won’t make a thing out of it. We will still say the creed at mass but when we say, ‘We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church,’ we will simply not specify who we mean.”

The document does not go into effect until August 17th, the feast of St. Perfidia. When a diocesan spokesperson was asked what a priest’s reaction should be when asked if the Catholic Church is the one true Church after this date he said, “We are recommending that he smile, arch his eyebrows thusly and shrug his shoulders. That should make everyone happy.”

(N.B. Satire Alert)

WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG TO BRING YOU A SPECIAL VIDEO

KAZ from New York sent this. It couldn't wait for Sunday. I hope you enjoy it.




Granted, this smacks of gloating, something of which I disapprove. But I still find it funny.

At the other end of the spectrum a brother priest, who is no fan of the Missal of John XXIII, mentioned yesterday his disappointment with some of our fellow brethren who speak sneeringly about "those people", the priests and laity alike who have some connection with this Missal. People who would never dream of offending our separated brethren of the Protestant denominations look upon our fellow Catholics with the utmost disdain. Is it any wonder then that there is gloating? Is it in turn any wonder that there is in return some amount of disdain? And in return . . .

Don't be part of the cycle. On this feast of Saint Benedict let us take to heart the Offertory prayer which says in part, "By following his example in seeking You, may we know unity and peace in your service."

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XXI

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “Why then do you try to pervert the truth in wishing to be praised when you do good and blaming God when you do evil?” – Saint Augustine.

QUOTE II – “Love is a substitute for chocolate.” – Unknown

IN OTHER NEWS:

I was looking for something else for you and came across this that gives some information on saints and the symbols associated with them.

Some of you sent in some sites about symbolism that others of you might enjoy here, here, and here.

The e5 Man fasts for his bride to imitate Jesus as described by Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5 (for which e5 is named). Fasting is eating only bread and water. It is not only for married men but for men who intend on marrying also. To find out more look here.

Check this out: Catholic Therapists.com

Sylvana sent this is:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Lord John the Tenuous of Hopton Goosnargh Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH

THEY ARE THE CHURCH – The Rev J. Glenn Murray SJ

You who have been with Adam’s Ale for awhile know that the parish in which I grew up tended to be about ten to twenty years behind the rest of the Church. At times this served us well and inadvertently made us cutting edge and sometimes just made us out of step.

Up until my high school years we were mercifully behind the times in the way CCD was taught. While most of the rest of the country had declared the Baltimore Catechism one step away from heretical and got on with the important business of making felt banners, we were still forced to learn why God made us. (To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.)

Father Ozimek would brag from the pulpit that we had the best attendance in the diocese (would you want to explain to Fr. O why you weren’t there) and the whole kit and caboodle was run pretty strictly. We had examinations and report cards and the support (or perhaps threat) of the community.

Then in high school, with all the good intensions in the world, some well meaning people came into save and modernize our CCD program. The name changed to Confraternity of Catholic Dogma (CCD) to Parish School of Religion (PSR) and we gradually slipped out of a school environment into something between therapy and art class. We began to split up into discussion groups and talk our feelings about Jesus and His teaching and then gather around tables and make banners, which mercifully never made it into our little English Gothic Church. I understand the effort. I understand the well-meaning intentions. But we as students knew full well that we had stopped learning anything except that Jesus loved us and how each of us happened to feel about it.

This was not unusual in U.S. Catholicism. It just happened earlier in most places. The worst part of this great American experiment in religion education is that two generations (maybe three) of parents came of age not knowing their faith. Whereas at least before there was a snowball’s chance in July of parents being able for fill in gaps in religious savvy, now many times the parents are equally as uniformed about their faith as their children.

There is a perspective out there that many people believe that says youth gatherings of any type must be entertaining in order to draw people in and that they need to be social and accepting so that all feel welcome. These are nice ideas but not as primary objectives especially if that means sacrificing substance so that we end up with pizza parties and dances instead of kids knowing what the Eucharistic elements are or knowing how to answer the bishop (and our bishops in this diocese are becoming much more serious about this) when he quizzes them at confirmation. Pizza parties and dances are the job of the local recreation center. We can do such things but they must be clearly subject to the completion of our primary mission: the catechizing of our children. If we fail at that, we fail at our reason for being. Period. We might as well close our doors and send everyone to the pool.

We can’t suck kids in to Church by doing bad catechesis and entertaining them into sticking around until they are adults and hope that they will learn their faith by osmosis and be persuaded to put a few bucks in the collection basket. There are plenty of Churches that do that. We cannot be one of them. Our message is too important. Eternity depends on it. Everybody is willing to serve children candy. It is our business to give them meat.

Then, after they are fed, have the dance. But you won’t be failing your mission statement if you do not have one.

SUNDAY VIDEO ON TAP XXI

Over at Roman Catholic Vocations this video was posted. Yes, it's six minutes of cheese, but I like cheese - maybe it's a guy thing. It is a good lesson for how we should live the faith in this life however.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The latest Catholic Carnival is up.

From the (somewhat) unsubstantiated rumors department: Our new bishop spoke to some of our youth ministers. He was noted as saying that we are not about dances and pizza parties, we need substance and catechesis. Our youth are our future and we must stop ingraining in them that Church is nothing but a social organization. While not saying that they need to be done away with altogether, he has stated that he would rather we lose out on these practices rather than continue to raise up Catholics ignorant of their faith. Way to go bishop!

SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - A RED LETTER DAY

VIP
ESP
ID
IV
PIN

EWTN

When you see these letters you know that they stand for something. VIP is not a word but stands for Very Important Person. We use letters too in our symbolic language to refer to other things.

IHS is a very common group of letters in our churches. It is sometimes mistaken for the Latin phrase, “In hoc signo” meaning, “In this sign”, a reference to the story of Constantine seeing a cross in the sky and being told, “In this sign you will conquer” which precipitated his, and consequently all those under him, conversion to the Catholic Church. It is also sometimes thought to be an acronym for, “Jesus hominum salvator” or “Jesus, savior of men.” These are both nice and perhaps clever definitions of these symbols but historically incorrect. They are actually the first three letters of the Greek word “Ihsus” or Jesus. If Jesus had a plush terrycloth bathrobe, this would be one of the monograms he might have embroidered on it.

Variants on this might be “JHS” or “IHC” as Is and Ss are sometime interchangeable in our alphabetical character schema with Js and Cs.

The X with the P superimposed over it is called the “Chi Rho,” the first two letters of the word Christ in Greek. This is another bathrobe monogram.

This is a symbol for Christ the Conqueror. Starting at the upper right corner we see “IC” the first and last letters in IHCUC or Jesus. Next is “XC”, the first and last letters of Christ. And across the bottom we have “NIKA” or conqueror. Thus we have, “Jesus Christ, Conqueror!”

The Alpha and Omega symbol also refers to Jesus. They are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In revelations 1;8 Jesus referring to himself said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega . . . the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”

The Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, can call to mind the cross. St. Francis calls us to put on the cross of Christ and the Franciscan habit, if laid out flat would roughly form this shape. The "T" can also refer to God as it is the first letter of in the Greek word for Theos.

INRI, I was once told, stood for, “I never regretted it.” Of course it really stands for “Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum” or “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” which comes to us from John 19;19.

There are a few really cool monograms for Mary, but I can't find examples of them easily shared on the Internet and they are too difficult to explain. Perhaps I'll get around to scanning them some Sunday.

Enjoy the weekend!

I SEE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING

A while back on my day away from the parish I went on a pilgrimage of sorts. I owed God a thank you for taking care of my family during a rough go of it and so hopped on my bike and rode the Ohio Canal Trail from close to my Dad’s house down to Massillon where my Dad had been hospitalized. On my many previous trips down there I took to getting off on and exit that was not quite convenient but took me past this gorgeous Catholic Church. Knowing the Blessed Sacrament was contained within I would say a prayer as I passed by asking for His aid. This day I stopped by to say thanks.

I am ashamed to say that if St. Mary had looked a bit more like a Walmart than a Catholic Church (which we are trending toward) I probably would not have thought to go out of my way all those days in order to drive by and ask for His assistance. But there is something about this building that says, “I AM HERE, WHAT DO YOU NEED?”

The place where modern architects make their goof is that while they may be creating interesting shapes, challenging engineering feats, playing games with shadows and light, maybe even creating art, they forget the basic premise, the purpose of this type of building, which is not to inspire man but to inspire man toward God, the common man toward God, to look up, praise God, think on Him, give hint to His presence within, to stand out as different from other buildings because this building is different as well as more important than all the others. If one drives past a church and has to read the sign in order to know that is a Catholic Church, the architect has failed. If one could easily change the cross to a crescent moon or a Star of David and nobody would see an incongruity, the architect has failed. If there is not some comfort for a Catholic to gaze upon his Church as a point of contemplation of its promise and beauty, the architect has failed.

The edifice does not have to be nearly as dramatic in scale, art or symbolism as this and in fact most are not, and they still work and work quite well. But let's take a moment to look at Saint Mary Church (even though this is not symbolic Saturday) and dissect this façade and why it works.

Notice the basic Gothic structure of the building. Everything about it points upwards to the heavens. The towers themselves dwarf humans and seem to dissipate into the sky. If you spend any time gazing at this building your eyes will automatically be drawn upward. There is no denying that this is a church and a Catholic one to boot. No sign needed here. And there is such beauty one is attracted to it. I couldn’t even tell you what is across the street.

At top center is a statue of Mary, patroness of this parish. The statues to the right and left who keep guard over the entrance to the church are Peter and Paul who brought Christ to the world. The center of the rose window has a star. Often the star has been used to symbolize the five wounds of Christ. I am guessing that this is what this window represents as just above this window there is the “IHS” and the three nails of his crucifixion. The three doorways leading in are united in the architecture as one giving testimony to our God, three in one.

Wanting to go inside I found the doors locked, both frustrating and understandable, so I offered my prayers on the steps (would I feel silly doing that at St. Walmart?) I was scared however when I say the giant windowpanes were of faceted glass. I have an aversion to the art form, perhaps because so much of it is bad. Maybe yet I’ll find some that I really like. But even more distressing is that in such a grand edifice as this; it is usually a sign of a really awful 1970’s wreckovation. But peering in the one window in which I could see revealed a glimpse of an ornate communion rail and pulpit so perhaps all is well in Massillon.

There have been tiny Catholic Churches with a fraction of the symbolism and art that can inspire like actions, it simply (ha, simply) requires all involved in the project to remember basic premises and purposes of the building. We are not a “with it” organization. Besides, as Archbishop Ambrozic once wrote in a note to me, “There is many an “it” that is not worth being with.” That goes for architecture as well.

I CAN READ YOU LIKE A BOOK

One of the greatest sadnesses of my priesthood is that I rarely get to proclaim Paul anymore. Like him or hate him, you have to admit his passion and his gut wrenching emotion shine through in these powerful epistles. This is true even for those who think that our current translations are abysmal. So it kills me to hear somebody proclaim him with all the passion of reading aloud a grocery list.

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is not jealous
Love is not pompous
Love is not inflated
Two cans of tomato paste
Butter
Milk
Lettuce
Bag of Dan Dee Cheese Curls: economy size

On Pentecost Day there was a reading form the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-11). The people, it says, were astounded and amazed! They were all from different places where different languages were spoken yet each heard what was being said in his native tongue. It would be as though we were saying, “There were guys there from Italy and Greece. There was a couple we met from Zimbabwe and a nice lady from El Salvador. There was a youth group from Russia and some sisters from Argentina, brothers from Singapore, priests from Hong Kong and some teens from Canada yet all of us heard what the apostles were saying in our native languages! It was mind blowing! We all stared at each other filled with the Holy Spirit and amazement!” Yet one of the renditions I heard was a close imitation of the teacher in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” reading the attendance sheet, “Bueller . . .Bueller . . .Bueller . . .”

I will grant you there is a fine line in proclaiming between simply reading and being theatrical. Grandiose theatrics can be as annoying as reading deadpan can be uninspiring. Read it like a letter (which it is) written specifically to you and this community (which it is) with the awe and wonder of having the privilege of reading to this people as if it is new for you and the first time those gathered to hear it. To that end, here are a few humble suggestions (HA!) I offer lectors in their ministry.

Never (make it an exception to the rule when you do) emphasize a pronoun, they emphasize themselves. When you do over emphasize them your listeners may miss the truly important point of the sentence. For example, do not read, “Not that HE might not offer HIMSELF repeatedly . . .” but rather, “Not that he might not offer himself REPEATEDLY . . .”

To that end, it is wise to find the important words in a sentence (this gets easier with practice) and make sure your inflections emphasize them. For example, “May the EYES of your HEARTS be ENLIGHTENED . . .”

When reading lists of things do not read them like a grocery list nor read everything as if it were all equally important (even if it is). To deemphasize everything is to lead your listener into daydreams of the BBQ that they will be having later, and to emphasize everything as being important is to render everything bland. The trick is to find gems in the list that are important to you and emphasize those. That will catch your listener’s attention.

Love is patient,
Love is kind.
IT IS NOT JEALOUS,
It is not pompous.

Study what you are going to read. What is the point of the whole reading? Make your proclamation build to that point. Is there more than one point? Choose one to emphasize. Talk to the homilist of the mass, is there a particular line from the reading that he is building upon which you can help emphasize? Determine what kind of writing it is. Is it a story? Is it an admonition? Is the writer angry, excited, or happy? All these will determine how you proclaim the reading.

Practice. Record yourself occasionally. Do you sound interesting to you? Do you sound like a credible witness to the truth of the message?

Buy yourself a little pronunciation guide. Look up words. There has been more than one parish that has had “flaming brassiere” read instead of “flaming brazier”. Don’t be that person!

Forever I would preach on a certain passage that came up every year during the week. As fate would have it, each year the same lector would read about the “Eeknocks.” Year in and year out, “Eeknocks”. And year in and year out I would say, “And then the Eeknocks, some people call them eunuchs . . .”

In all seriousness lectors, you have a terribly awesome responsibility. It is not to be taken lightly. If you feel this is too much work, think about stepping down. For those who strive to carry on this ministry, remember to pray. Pray the readings to be proclaimed, pray that you proclaim them well, pray for those who will hear you, pray that all who hear including yourself will be challenged and transformed by Him.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

REMEMBER! - Let freedom ring! (Just not in church. Turn off your cell phone!)

This was a favorite song as a little kid.



Be safe and enjoy the day.

Thank you to those who serve or work today so that we may celebrate.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XX

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND - "Many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but all unwept and unknown, they sleep in endless night, for they had no poets to sound their praises." Horace

QUOTE II - "Rings and Jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself." Emerson

IN OTHER NEWS:

This is an interesting site called Prayerbook. It is a various and sundry collection of things Catholic.

Here is a site to help you look things up that have not been mentioned yet on Symbolic Saturdays.

If you're looking for something short to read, this is pretty interesting.

WHAT'S DA MOTU YOU?

I do not understand all the brouhaha over the motu proprio.

About once a month or so my family and I would go to one of the indult masses in Cleveland. We did this after we attended mass at our own parish. (We were musicians. We would fulfill our ministry and worship with our community and then go to the Latin Mass to fulfill some inner desire we had.)

At our home parish we sang all the parts of the mass in Latin on Wednesdays and on some high holydays. I actually did not realize that not everyone (or rather almost no one) did this except the parishes in my little Catholic ghetto until I went into the seminary. (Ah! I was so naive!) Though now looking back, I think my home parish, at least in this one respect, was much closer to what Vatican II actually said (rather than what people want it to say).

47. According to the Constitution on the Liturgy, “the use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites.”(30)
However, since “the use of the vernacular may frequently be of great advantage to the people” (31) “it is for the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority to decide whether, and to what extent, the vernacular language is to be used. Its decrees have to be approved, that is confirmed by the Apostolic See.”(32)
[But]. . . Pastors of souls should take care that besides the vernacular “the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertains to them.” (33) (Instruction on Music in the Liturgy)

Good ole’ Father Ozimek was cutting edge and didn’t even know it.

Anyway, I’ve lived both, love both, and see merit in both (though I am hardly qualified to be celebrant of the earlier form of the mass).

So I find it a bit troublesome that the very people who taught me that, “Unity does not mean uniformity!” would be the very ones who are most against this permission for greater usage of something that is already permitted in the Church albeit in a limited fashion. There is no reason why this should be seen as a great division in the Church.

The greatest proponents of the Norvus Ordo mass state that it is a natural outgrowth of the previous way of praying the mass: that nothing has essentially changed. We are, in essence, doing the same thing. That is all the less reason to be upset. Why those who would see nothing wrong with liturgical dancers or inclusive language at a mass in the United States go apoplectic at the thought of a Tridentine Mass existing somewhere is interesting. Besides nobody is going to be forced to attend (just as nobody is forced to attend a rock and roll mass or a polka mass.)

The New York Times (Thursday, June 28th) sited the Rev. Keith Pecklers, a Jesuit scholar at the Gregorian University in Rome as worrying that relations between Catholics and Jews may be harmed by the move. He sites as an example the Good Friday mass, which includes a prayer for the conversion of the Jews. If this were in fact a true concern, Fr. Pecklers and those who agree with him should be the first to rejoice that motu proprio has come out. In a more complete way the rite will become part of the living tradition of the Church once again rather than a historical anomaly that we keep alive. The rite, now that it will have to be taken a bit more seriously, will become susceptible to natural evolution. We know this is true from when it was still the universal rite of the Latin Church. The Holy Week services changed quite a bit in the 1940s. Pope John XXIII added, “We honor Joseph her husband” (sed et beati Joseph, eiusdem Viriginis Sponsi) to the canon of the mass. Now those parts of the mass that might be found objectionable to modern sensibilities might be more subject to change.

The charge in this article is also made that clergy will be overburdened, but that is in the paragraph just before it states, “there seems to be no widespread demand for it.” So which way is it guys?

Let’s be frank, most priests cannot even say the mass anymore. New churches are not designed for the rite and our grand old dames have often been so severely wreckovated that it would not even be possible to say the mass there anyway.

Still I call on those who would cry out “sensus fidelium!” to take a dose of that same medicine. It has been over four decades since the close of the Second Vatican Council. If there is still a hue and cry for this apparently legitimate way to pray the rite, maybe we are being told something. Who knows? If it is of God we will know soon enough. If it is not, it will die out of its own accord.

For us in the United States, all this moaning and fussing is really quite silly. What I do understand however are those in authority in such places as France where much energy has been spent suppressing this rite against those who feel the Church has gone astray and want us to return celebrating the way mass as it was before Vatican II because of it. They spent a lot of their authority capitol making the point that we have moved on and there is no returning. I felt the same way when defending parishes not allowing altar girls. I would say, “That is not our tradition, we are not allowed, Rome has spoken.” Well, then they spoke again and I felt as though I had enough egg on my face to feed a small 3rd world country. But you know what, if this is that to which we are called, you move on. The problem will be having both sides agree to play nicely with others and not run with scissors. When celebrated well, neither is “better” than the other. Both are mass. And as Christ is the ultimate celebrant of every sacrament, though we may get more out of one way than the other, the Christ proclaimed and the Body and Blood receive at both are exactly the same.

Perhaps I am really missing something here (and that is very possible) so file this under the, “nobody asked for my opinion” and “like what I think matters anyway” column, but let us wait and see and not get our liturgical underwear in a bunch in the mean time.