MONDAY DIARY: SO WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A VOCATION?

Welcome back reader!

Ah . . . retreat was great. This particular retreat is for priests only given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel at Trinity Retreat in New York. A typical day includes about four conferences, Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, Holy Hour, and a fellowship hour.

Of course there was the afternoon break which afforded time for a long walk. Fr. B and I usually headed out toward the business district where Saint Augustine Parish is located. There we would go in to talk things over with Jesus for a little spell and light a candle. I love this little ritual/devotion and feel sorry for Catholics where lighting candles is not an option for those who get some spiritual benefit from it. I was disappointed however to see that they had replaced some of the candle racks with light bulb racks. If you put in a quarter, complicated circuitry would switch on a small light bulb disguised as a candle for some unspecified amount of time. (There is something terribly tidy and practical about this so I passed these by and went to the dirty and high maintenance candles by the sanctuary.)

Apropos of nothing, on one of the walks I took this picture. Just thought it was neat and so share it with you.

Anyway, one of my goals on this retreat was to concentrate on how God is changing my ministry now that I have been named an administrator. One evening after dinner Fr. Groeschel made himself available for private conferences and confession. During my time with him I asked him for any advice he might have for a new administrator.

He admitted that he has never been a pastor. “What a beautiful word: Pastor.” (This was not the time to interupted and clarify that I am an administrator.) Pastor is a beautiful word. Ultimately it is a relationship: a specific relationship. It is a relationship with a very particular group of people known as a parish, it a relationship with a bishop whose representative you are, there is a unique relationship with the greater Church and people in general. He called it being a gatekeeper. The example was given that in New York people do not stop someone on the street and ask them anything, but there are certain gatekeepers which you can with some amount of comfort. Priests and religious who wear identifiable garb are examples of these. Given a random group of people on a busy street corner priests and religious, for a great number of people, are the “go to” people with whom a stranger can feel comfortable. At least I’ve found that true in my life. And finally there is the special relationship that you have with Christ in whom you act as Persona Christi.

All this being said, C. K. asked me just before I left on retreat to post all the reasons to became a priest. There are so many answers one can give from the sublime, to the practical, to the silly. But on this retreat I think I narrowed it down to only one: Is this the life to which you are called? Is God calling you into this particular relationship with Him and His people?

I have shared with you before the sadness of the stories I have heard over the years. Men especially who said they should have never married and how they wish they would have taken their call to the priesthood more seriously. (The converse is also true.) I cringe when I hear of a parent who tries discourage their son or daughter from the priestly or religious life. What if that is what they are called to? Despite the intention a parent might have to save their child from something that they do not value, they may be setting them up for a life of discontent. And a vocational discontentment effects not only the person, but all those who surround the person: those nearest and dearest.

So, the best reason to become a priest? Because you are called to it. I know I would not change it for the world. I wonder if I have grown to love it so or if my disposition and joy are geared toward it. That is hard to tell. But forced to start all over again, I have no doubt but that I would make the same decision if the Church would have me again, for anything else would always be second choice for me.

RETREAT!

Just in time for the worst winter storm of the season I am leaving on retreat so there will not be any posts this week. Thank you for stopping by though! Please come back next week. In the mean time here are some pictures I took on Saturday:

This is the view out my window. Can't wait to drive though this!

This is a giant snow donut on top of a large cup of coffee (a trash can.) I can dream can't I?

Mary tries the latest Parish fashion: Tall hats and white, fluffy wraps.

FRIDAY FAIR: PRAY MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT THIS, THE WAY WE ARE PRAYING, MAY BE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THE ALMIGHTY FATHER

So Rob asked about the orans position at prayer which I thought would be a quick and relatively uncomplicated thing to report on this week, but such is not the case. It has been a minor matter of controversy in our diocese as of late as it at least appeared to a great number of us (this was later refuted by the person who it appeared was promoting it) that the laity was expected to assume this position while saying the Our Father at the Mass (which we will visit again in a moment.) At least it broke us from the habit of holding hands which was a controversy in and of itself among those who hated it, those who simply found it ritually improper, and those who thought that it was the gesture that would save the Church.

The orans position is an ancient posture of prayer. One stands with arms outstretched and having the palms of one’s hands facing toward the heavens. It is found in Exodus (17;11,12) as well as other places in Scripture. It is also found in art in the catacombs as a position of prayer. One’s body is open to God, offering one’s self as Christ did on the Cross, giving God glory and praise. But the depiction is not necessarily that of person buried there evidenced from the figure adopting this position sometimes being a female though the person buried is male. It is a symbol of the soul of the person praying for us in heaven. The Catholic Encyclopedia sites as “one of the most convincing proofs that the Orans was regarded as a symbol of the soul is an ancient lead medal in the Vatican Museum showing the martyr, St. Lawrence, under torture, while his soul, in the form of a female Orans, is just leaving the body.”

Liturgically it is the role of the priest when he is praying to God on behalf of the gathered Body of Christ. For example at the Collect when, after invoking the people to call to mind that which they want remembered at the Mass by saying, “Let us pray,” he then “collects” the prayers into one by stretching out his hands to God and offering all of the gathered prayers to the Father. Seen in this light we can understand how the gesture has become the gesture of the celebrant. It is interesting to note that the symbolic meaning of the position is such that the deacon may not assume this position during the Mass.

THAT BEING SAID, the gesture has become popularized in recent ages largely through the charismatic movement. As we have seen it is a legitimate position for private prayer. But does it fit at the liturgy? It is a more controversial and complicated symbolic question than one might think. Colin Donivan, STL puts it this way:

“The intention for lay people using the Orans position at this time is, I suppose, that we pray Our Father, and the unity of people and priest together is expressed by this common gesture of prayer. Although this gesture is not called for in the rubrics, it does at least seem, on the surface, to not be in conflict with the sacramental sign system at the point when we pray Our Father. I say on the surface, however, since while lay people are doing this the deacon, whose postures are governed by the rubrics, may not do it. So, we have the awkward disunity created by the priest making an appropriate liturgical gesture in accordance with the rubrics, the deacon not making the same gesture in accordance with the rubrics, some laity making the same gesture as the priest not in accordance with the rubrics, and other laity not making the gesture (for various reasons, including knowing it is not part of their liturgical role). In the end, the desire of the Church for liturgical unity is defeated.”

Oh, leave it to Rob to come with such a question . . .

YOU WILL BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND LIKE IT MISTER!

I used to work backstage in theater quite a bit before entering the seminary. Every once in a while someone would want to come backstage to meet one of the actors with whom they fell in love during the course of the evening. They would come to the door with bright eyes, shallow breathing, and deep passion. There were many occasions that I would try to dissuade them from seeking the idol of their dreams. “Go home with fantasy of the person you fell in love with,” I might say. Ah, but passion is often times not to be reasoned with and it takes no hints. So, giving in to the pressure of ardent begging their dream was fetched for them.

Quite often the person so fetched and the character portrayed on the stage were quite different people. One might be serious, strong, and brave on stage and the flighty, loud, and free from normal constraints of behavior off. So there was the inevitable crest falling of the face and the brave effort to still smile and have some spirit of flattery for the actor a that moment ago they were willing to stake the rest of the life in marriage with but now just wish to go home.

Though they had spent two hours with the person, they met a fantasy. They may know what the person who played the role looked like but they did not know the person. They did not love a person, they loved an illusion.

That is part of the problem – sin of you will – of pornography. It is not that too much of the person is exposed to you it is that that not enough of the person is. Here we find the difference between love (Scriptural love) and lust. Love seeks to give and lust seeks to take. In porn, an image of a person is taken completely apart from the soul and mind of the person, manipulated, and used to for our own personal means having nothing to do with what might be good for the other person.

“But they volunteer for it!” it might be said, “and get a paycheck! Where’s the harm?” The harm is wide reaching. Just because somebody chooses to degrade themselves does not make it alright for a Christian to participate in the degradation. (Because somebody wants to kill themselves or have an abortion or otherwise degrade themselves does not make Christian support of it Okay.) Next is our training of ourselves that there are certain persons, times, and places in which I might treat another human being without all of the dignity God wishes them to have. (A person who is nice to you but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person.) And lastly, even viewing “free porn” shows the producers of such soul rot that there is a market for such things and keeps the production in high gear and available to our children, the next generation of users.

“So, if you do not like it, turn it off.” It would be a swell thing if everyone could here confessions for a year. The seemingly easy mandate, “So turn it off,” would be exposed for the clap trap that it is. There is no freedom in porn – not for the producers, not for the “actors”, and definitely not for the viewers who wish terribly to be away from it forever.

The call is to love real people, appreciate real people, and extend dignity to all persons regardless of their desire to be respected, loved, and treated with dignity.

IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, YOU FIRST HAVE TO FIND THE RIGHT RING

There are two major mistakes that people make when they fighting personal vices especially in matters of chastity. They are to be avoided at all costs for any number of reasons the most important of them being that they do not work and that they can be at least mildly heretical.

The first extreme involves the idea that, “I’m going to get all cleaned up and then I will come back to God and ask for forgiveness,” or even if one is inclined already to confession they have in their mind, “I am going to beat this FOR God.” Christopher West refers to this as “White Knuckling It.” “If I try really, really hard I will beat sin on my own!” If this were even possible we would not have needed a Savior. We are in a relationship with God a kin to a marriage. We would not say to our spouse, “I’m going to work on our relationship and then I will return to you and we will live happily ever after.” No, you work on your relationship together each aiding the other in his need.

In a like manner God does not expect, desire, or even consider that we could become saints on our own. He desires all of us, warts, bald spots, and all, not just the pretty parts. He loves us for better or for worse, good times and bad, sickness and health. We should not even try to hide or protect or deny Him access to any part of us – particularly those parts that need His healing!

The other extreme are those who cry out to God to simply take some disordered desire away from them. On the surface this seems like a reasonable enough request. “I want God want, Who I want to love above all else, to take away from me this possibility to love something else more than Him.” Yet if all of our inordinate desires were simply whisked away from us, if we had no choice but to love God, we ironically would not really love Him at all. In order to love one must have free will. If one has free will one must be able to not-love for it is only to the degree that one can not-love that one can love.

So the second step to healing (the first was to realize that healing needed to take place) is to find the right path. The right path is neither “white knuckling it” nor having our problem annihilated. The Christian’s path lies directly between these two and involves recognizing and engaging our true relationship with our God. We, the Church, are the bride and Christ is the Bridegroom and we tackle the difficulties in our relationship together. Before, during, and after every temptation to stray from our Divine Spouse we implore His assistance. He wants to help us and waits for our invitation. We need not be mavericks nor puppets on a string, but partners on our path to holiness and salvation. As Julian of Norwich explains to us that when we entrust God with our whole selves in this way, God, Who is all powerful, then can use that which is damaged in us to bring us more closely to Himself by having the very thing that is designed to pull us further away from Him actually catapult us more deeply into His heart. Such is the power and wonder of God and the frustration of the Devil!

Jumping on the right path may not get you home overnight, but at least now you will be on the right path and the possibility of getting home is greater than it was before.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCVII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “Tolerance: To respect truth wherever it may be found.” from Blessed Columba Marmon’s “Christ, the Ideal of the Priest”

QUOTE II: “One commentator at the time claimed modern architecture had caused more damage to London than the Luftwaffe.” from Moyra Doorly’s, “No Place for God.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

O rapture! O bliss! It is time for Catholic Carnival 205!

M. J. Sent in this great game. "See if you can solve sixty-two brainteasing word games! It's in multiple choice format, so click as soon as you know the answer to keep your time down. If you're fast enough, you might even make it into the Hall of Fame." WARNING: Addiction level LOW. But make sure you have a little time.

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter asks, "Did you know the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located in Washington D.C., is the largest Roman Catholic church in the United States and North America, and is one of the ten largest churches in the world?" You can visit the website here.

It was a dark and foggy night two nights ago. An interesting time for taking pictures around the parish.

It is with embarrassment that this is being announced after such a long time but back in early December Heather from The Practicing Catholic was so kind as to honor me with the Catholic Scribbler Award. Thank you so very much! The rules for the award are at the bottom of this post.

Here are the blogs that I would like to award this too:

Of course, we must start with Adoro over at Adoro Te Devote. Honest, Funny, and always very Catholic and a strong supporter of priests and those who need prayer. Blessings to you!

Next up is a fellow priest and all around swell person, Fr. Schnippel at Called by Name. Being a vocations director is no easy job and I have a lot of respect for anyone who does it. But on top of that he keeps up a blog to encourage all of us but especially those considering a vocation. Keep it up!

Uncle Jim at A Second Chance is one of the reasons Adam's Ale is still here. He is also a great support especially when this blog was getting off of the ground. If it were not for him, Adam's Ale would probably be off the wires. A great man of faith and family.

Servant and Steward is written by Fr. Zehnle who is frank, learned, and never fails to be interesting. But most importantly he has fun being Catholic. Woohoo.

I wish there were more spaces but there is only one and so Vincenzo over at Sancte Pater is given it. I just like this guy. He has a great sense of humor and is a bit of an artist with the computer. I wish I could do some of the things that he does. Thank you for blogging!

And here are the Rules of the Award:

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.
Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List (scroll down). That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

MONDAY DIARY - THIS AND THAT

Nothing dramatic happened this week but here are a few tidbits.

It had been a couple of years since I donated blood and this past Friday our Knights of Columbus hosted a Red Cross blood drive and so I went. It changed quite a bit since the last time I donated. It is much more high tech. This is not nearly as disturbing as when they switched from having homemade goodies to prepackaged cookies and tiny tins of orange juice. That was a heartbreak.

There is a new question they ask now that they must ask with an absolute straight face. “Are you now and have you always been a male?” They must have completely believed me although I think a look rather masculine of for no other reason than I have a beard. Each station I went to they asked, “Is male your gender from birth?” They don’t come up with questions unless they see a problem such as when Mad Cow Disease was floating about and all of sudden they had to ask you if you’d been to Europe. Apparently this has been a problem.

I came to understand the horrors of water boarding this week. I was baptizing one of the most active babies in my life. He squirmed and lifted his head up and down and I was doing my best to hit my target but, gosh darn it, this tyke was quick! Just when I thought I had him he threw back his head and I hit square in the face and water must have gone up his nose. He was not too happy with me after that though his (slightly) older brother said, “Don’t worry about it. That’s Okay.”

There was a Family Fun Night here at the parish this past weekend. If you missed Fr. Ference’s performance (who was at the 4:30 Mass and who celebrated the 9:00) here is a little taste of what he did in Zwisler Hall on Saturday Night. (Far better than my accordion playing during intermission.)


It is an honor as well as enjoyable being the administrator of Saint Sebastian but I found one thing that I truly miss about being a parochial vicar. One afternoon I got down to the Jewish Community Center to exercise and found half of the parish there and probably spent half of the time chatting. I do not get to do this as much anymore. As a parochial vicar you get to add that extra flavor to the parish that the pastor is unable to do because of his other duties. So taking an hour just to chat about matters of faith or throwing together a program (such as Fr. Ference did above) is just a bit out of the range of possibility. Of course the trade off is fantastic but still I miss the opportunity just to sit around and discuss what faith topics are on people’s minds.

FRIDAY FAIR - WE'VE GOT IT IN HAND

Hands continued:

The way the priest holds his hands is not incidental. The hands of the priest are held in a certain fashion, some prescribed some by tradition, because of the Church’s symbolic code which should be easily read by any Catholic in any parish in the world.

Some are neither prescribed nor enforced but have value in them though a priest could ignore them completely and it not effect the Mass whatsoever. For example, have you ever considered where the practice of placing one’s hands palm to palm in prayer comes from? In ancient times someone who pledged service to their lord would place their hands thusly into the hands of their superior. This is a vulnerable position and a symbol of service and humility. This is the very act that occurs in the ordination right as a man kneels before his bishop and promises obedience to him and his successors. When we pray we often adopt this position of hands perhaps not even realizing that we are indeed symbolically placing ourselves thusly into the hands of our Master and Lord and trusting Him to care for us even as we defend His Name here on earth.

Other positions of the hands are indeed prescribed. A flat hand with the palm facing the desired target is used for calling down a blessing. So, for example, when a priest is ordained we have the laying on of hands, at the epiclesis (calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine at Mass) the flat hand is used, or the laying on of hands at the anointing of the sick.

Another hand gesture is indicative. It is the blade of the hand that faces the target of the imparted blessing. At the end of Mass when the Sign of the Cross is passed over the assemblage or when the Cross is made over the gifts, it is this indicative mode that is used.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

AND SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD!

AND WORLD PEACE DAY!

GUEST BLOG

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank His Holiness, Pope Benedict for guest blogging for today's post. Here is his message for World Peace Day

And for a little bit of silliness - I came across this video the other day. It is of a record that my sister had when I was but a wee little one. One day I dropped her record on the floor and a large chunk came out of it. It is a silly song (we had it in English) and nobody we sang it to ever believed that it existed. A couple of years ago I found the record at an antique shop and righted the great wrong I had done as a child. Here is a video in Spanish (you really can find anything on the Internet) for your holiday - holy day - listening pleasure. Make sure that you sound is turned WAY up.

In a little quiet town, just South of the Mexican border

There lived a lovely Juanita, a banana grower's daughter

She longed to sing at the opera but her father laughed and made fun

Still Juanita would sing each day in the fields as soon as her work was done

Juanita moved to the city in search of fortune and fame

It didn't take more than a couple of songs,

she had won the world's acclaim

Her father back home was astounded, his Juanita Banana a star?

He burned down the trees,

he moved to the city and he bought himself a guitar!

Q: WHAT DO DISHWASHING MACHINES AND MANGER SCENES HAVE IN COMMON?

A: There is my way of setting them up and the wrong way.

O come on! You know that it's true. Everybody has their opinions on the correct way of setting up the manger scene. There is your way and the wrong way. That’s it. I’ve set up too many manger scenes in too many churches with too many committees to not know that this is true. Fortunately for me the way I do it is really correct.

This occurred to me the other day as I was standing at the entrance of the Church waiting for a person to show up and noticed one of the small manger sets in our lobby. The numerous manger manglings were unbearable. Immediately I, in my secret role as Monsignor Manners, set about rescuing the poor statues from their embarrassing plights. Could you imagine knowing that you are improperly placed and have no way of stirring? The dishonor of it all. St. Francis would be appalled.

The most heinous of all crèche transgressions is the ignoring of the stare. What is there to see here people? Jesus! Yet how many manger scenes have you seen where people have set the figures in places where they look good rather than focusing on the guest of honor? This is a moment of worship, not a barn party. Wrapped in newspaper for 11 months the figures finally escape from their out of season confinement to be set in the manger scene staring at some hay or the foot of some shepherd or something. “Jesus is just three inches over to the left. If only somebody would come by and knock the table a little so that I could see him! That is what I was made to do! Oh the iniquity of it all.”

That goes for the animals too! Yes! The ox and the ass are actually interested in the baby Jesus. If you find that they spoil the scene being too close to Jesus leave them in the box. They will not even know Christmas is come in gone. Their animals they can’t tell time.

The one exception is sheep. Sheep can do whatever you want them to. Some of them are eating anyway. (They will be the ones on the left at the second coming.) I do have a weakness for letting one eat the hay out of Jesus’ crib though. Sheep are known to be stupid so they can get away with it. Camels can also do whatever they want. Let them have fun. They’re the first piece that breaks anyway.

Kings have a certain way of standing. You can’t force them to fit your idea of all facing the same way from the same direction. Don’t blame me, blame the artist. Take the king that is kneeling. You know the one I mean. The one that looks like he is saying,

"If you can grab this gold before I do, you can have it."

He has one way of kneeling. The artist spent some time trying to figure out how to get him to kneel toward the baby Jesus without completely turning his back on everybody. Don’t make the artist sad.

Absolutely forbidden under penalty of reserved sin that can only be forgiven by the pope himself is the placing of the Three Kings across the room and have them slowly move toward the manger on the days between Christmas and Epiphany. I mean, come on. Let us be reasonable. The kneeling king did not crawl to Bethlehem on his knees.

I was once at a parish that had two camels both of which were laying down and did the travel thing. Apparently they CRAWLED all the way from the East. Now those are mighty pious camels.

Also, let him be anathema who puts Saint Nicholas in the manger scene. Even those who live in Akron, from when we get the word AnAkronism may not do this for reasons too numerous to mention.

Lastly – ditch the snow. THERE WAS NO SNOW. Or, if you prefer, knit little hats and gloves for all the figures, especially the shepherd and the guy who holds on to the camel who are near immodestly dressed as it is.

Of course these scrupulously correct directives only pertain to my world. Rules in your state may be different. But just the same I would not advise leaving me alone in a room in your home where there is a manger scene.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCVI

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin

QUOTE II: "The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." ~G.K. Chesterton

IN OTHER NEWS:

We are still celebrating Christmas so Jay says it is not too late to read the Christmas Catholic Carnival.

Habemus Papem, from whom we've not heard in a spell, sent this link that has a video interview with the Nashville Dominicans where we have mutual friends. There is also a place to sign up for their on line newsletter if you are so desirous.

Kay sent this video in of a dog having fun in the snow with Harry Connik Jr. singing a Christmas song in the background.

Kay also sent in this Christmas game. Warning: Addiction Level: LOW

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter sends in this link to Bishop Lennon's Christmas message.

I'll give you just one guess as to why today's post is late - again. Today was booked to be a catch up day for everything that was put on the back burner over Christmas and of course very little of it was accomplished. The Internet is down again and we do not know why, but when it is down we cannot even so much as use the copy machine which pushes the bulletin completely off schedule and puts us into panic mode. So once again, no Emails are getting through. Then we had the emergency of a lady in a power scooter stopping by who without a coat and having no idea where she was or where she came from. That resolved itself nicely when one of our ever competent office staff was able to coax the name of her residence out of here - no small distance away. So, now I escape to the coffee house - the only place that I can get work done! So here is a post written yesterday just now being published.

Gather around friends and I shall tell you about my first Christmas at Saint Sebastian – or at least my favorite moment from it. Christmas day was a flury of practices and preparations. The four o’clock Children’s Mass, which everyone kept saying was going to be as out of control as the final 30 seconds of a Super Bowl game, went on smoothly enough. Seven o’clock Mass passed and we waited to begin Midnight Mass (which I might add was at midnight.) I had every intention of taking a nap but I was too keyed up even to be able to sit still for too long.

Finally the Mass came and it went well. It was well attended despite predictions that nobody would show up. In the end we even had more servers than I knew what to do with (the procession was already as long as the aisle of the church.)

So I sat down after Holy Communion and look back at the clock and see that it is going on 1:00AM. “Good,” thought I, “I will get them out of here by five after.” That was before the choir began a spectacular post communion hymn. Then the congregation joined in Silent Night, and finally there was gorgeous solo in German. I loved it. I could have stayed there for another hour listening (after all I only had a few yards to go to my bed.) But now it was about quarter after and I feared that the congregation would want to bolt for the doors at the very first opportunity and I had promised our talented music director that I would stay in the sanctuary for all the verses of Hark Herald the Angel Sings.

Thus did I do and then we started down the aisle to Handle’s Hallelujah Chorus. As we reached the back (front?) of the church our deacon said, “I’ll go purify” which left me and my cousin who is a deacon and who is up to be ordained to the priesthood this year to greet the people as they leave. So we turned and waited for the onslaught. But nobody left. They all stood and turned back toward the choir and listened – an occasional voice singing out the tenor, bass, alto, or soprano line.

It was the oddest thing. This is defiantly not a Catholic practice. Catholics volunteering to stay longer at Mass – especially when it has already gone 80 minutes!? This needed to be investigated. So I walked back into church and indeed nobody stirred. They just stood and stared. It was like being in a Sci Fi movie.

After the Chorus ended the was still no particular “Day After Thanksgiving Walmart Opening” type rush to get out. I suppose people wanted to give Santa a little extra breathing space to get all his packages out of his pack in case they might have walked in on him and spoiled the holiday.
It is wonderful to have anybody at Mass, but it was particularly touching to see so many college/post college age persons there to greet the new born King at the first hour of the very day on which we celebrate His birth. The whole night was so intoxicating that I could not fall asleep again even though I had to be up in a couple of hours for the later-morning Masses.

But I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

And that is why I love Midnight Mass.

FRIDAY FAIR - A HANDY LITTLE POST

Fr. O was over just before Christmas and he passed along a comment by Fr. Groeschel as to why Catholics do not seem to pray to the Holy Spirit as much as to the other two persons of the Blessed Trinity or the Trinity as a whole. He suggests that the symbolism of the Holy Spirit is a difficult one two grasp. Until you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit praying to a dove or a flame of fire. For early artists the depictions of God the Father posed a similar problem. They were reluctant to paint God the Father. Who could paint the unseen God? Jesus was made flesh and so appear in the world, not so the Father. So exactly what is there to paint?

So many artists chose not to. Instead they painted the hands of God. That seemed an easier concept to capture. Rather than having to create a face for our God from the prayers of faith and Scripture it get the idea of the “hand of God” or “the right hand of God” which of course make the life of inventive artists much easier. So you might see, for example, a hand extending from the heavens which is the creating hand of God the Father. At my first parish there was a depiction of the Garden of Eden and a hand extending from the heavens and pointing toward the egress accompanied by the flaming sword of expulsion as a motivator which of course was the Father kicking His wayward children out of the garden.

Sometimes the hand stands alone usually with three fingers extended and behind it the nimbus or halo reserved for depictions of the Trinity alone (having three red or gold rays of light.) Rarely the hand is seen holding something and I have read reports of but never have seen a picture of the hand holding people to suggest His protection and favor.

Hands express much more than we might at first assume and that is not just for people who talk with their hands a lot. They are used in our liturgies quite extensively and their position and what they touch mean quite a bit. But that will have to wait until next week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

DUE TO THE DEMANDS OF CHRISTMAS THIS SINGLE POST IS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS

IT'S ADAM'S ALE CHRISTMAS NIGHT AT THE MOVIES!

FIRST: THESE SHORTS:

AND WHAT IS BANK NIGHT WITHOUT A SING-A-LONG?

ANOTHER SELECTED SHORT

THE CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS SONG!

Please turn of your cell phones.

AND NOW OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION:

THE BLOODY OLIVE!

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "What life and death may be to a turkey is not my business; but the soul of Scrooge and the body of Cratchit are my business." Chesterton

QUOTE II – “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.” C. S. Lewis

QUOTE III – “There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.” Hillaire Belloc.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Not wind nor rain nor impending Christmas holiday can keep Jay from announcing another Catholic Carnival.

Ellen from Paraclete Press writes, "In these 7 days before Christmas, our home page features the text of the "O Antiphons" with the singing of the Magnificat (The Song of Mary), as it is traditionally sung at evening prayer or Vespers. These short texts sung before and after the Magnificat recall the prophecies associated with Mary's acceptance of her calling to be the mother of Jesus."

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter reports, "Dignitas Personae, Vatican Instruction on Bioethics, Welcomed for Guidance on issues of Procreation, Medical Research Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of a Person), an Instruction from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on ethical issues arising from biomedical research, provides guidance on how to respect human life and human procreation in our heavily scientific age, said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops." Read more here.

They also report that, "The following Christmas season television and radio programming information is provided to you by the Department of Communications, Diocese of Cleveland."

My cousin sent this in: "Enjoy watching Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Mei Lan and the newest cub on PandaCam, but unfortunately, this feature will soon come to an end. Due to limited resources, Zoo Atlanta will not be able to offer PandaCam after December 31, 2008. Panda Cam will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday."

This video was sent in by F. S. Only if you need a good laugh:

Adoro sent this interesting mind trick in. Thanks Adoro!

And to sum up - here is an essay on Christmas by Chesterton.