ALRIGHT! WHO STARTED THAT?!

We are hard to please. We can be bedazzled by something one moment and completely board by it the next. Last week many people gravitated to the local gadget store to see the latest and greatest gewgaw that modern science has to offer the masses. That is not to say that, whatever it is, (it will eventually make its way into my life with no effort on my part) is not truly something of note and wonder, but it makes everything that comes before it old and useless. Yesterday’s marvel is today’s landfill. (If you think this is harsh, remember that this is coming from a man who still listens to a gramophone from time to time.)

Think of the innovations of the past that we now take for granted. There was an article in the newspaper the other day about the invention of the gas lantern. Previously at best a room would be lit by candles or a fireplace. But now there was a lantern that could be hung in the center of a room and everyone in the room could read from the one light source! Now that was a show! To them, the paper reported, the simple gas lamp would have been a spectacle like a laser show to us. Perhaps not though since we grow used to laser shows.

Then a book I was reading, Pillars of the Earth, told the story about an architect and his first encounter with stained glass windows as they were just coming into fashion. The character told at how amazed he was at the color and the light streaming in to the cathedral like nothing he had ever seen before. Today the simplest of churches seem incomplete unless they have some sort of colored glass in their windows.

Things get even more basic than that. Reading for leisure is a relatively (considering the total history of man) recent phenomena. And at some point reading silently was a new fad. If I remember my history correctly it was Saint Ambrose who taught St. Augustine this novel way of reading. Could you imagine what a modern library would be like today if everyone read aloud? Oh wait. Yes we can. It’s called cell phones going off.

There is a certain danger in getting too used to things of the earth and to be in the constant practice of setting them aside for the newer and (usually) better. Not that we cannot come to appreciate the new, but we should also remember that the new was built on the shoulders of the old; that the simplest of things were once marvelous, new, innovative achievements without which we would not have magic phones that can give us movie reviews, tell us where it is playing, buy our ticket, tell us how to get there, and enable us to call friends to meet us there.

Goethe said, “He who cannot live on 3,000 years of history is living hand to mouth.” It is only when we can look back and marvel that we can come to fully appreciate the Resurrection. A good historian knows how the world changed through the invention of the stirrup, which was not an original part of a saddle. We too must contemplate what it meant to be looking forward to a coming Messiah, to not have assurances of life after death, to not have God fully revealed to us through His Word. It is only then that we can fully and most joyfully celebrate this modern Easter Season.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CLXIX

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but of the dawn.” - G.K. Chesterton (The Everlasting Man)

QUOTE II: “I think that someday historians will look back upon our age of divorce, abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and war and say, ‘at least they didn’t smoke.’” Dr. John Chalburg

IN OTHER NEWS:

The first meeting of the Saint Sebastian Chesterton Society was last night (Easter Monday) and we had a play and discussion with Dr. John Chalburg her performed Chesterton for us. It was an intimate crowd but many friends showed:

Founders of the St. Sebastian Chesterton Society (Akron), Fr. Valencheck and Matt Wyzinski with G. K. Chesterton (Chuck Chalburg) Visiting Chestertonians Ellen Finan of the Warren C. S. (who helped us put on the Hilaire Belloc play last year), Sue Morton of the North Pinellas C.S. (Florida), and Vickie Darkey of the Western PA C. S. Thank you for coming! Hope to see you again in the future.

IN STILL OTHER NEWS:

C. K. Sent this interesting link in. Neal McDonough is a Catholic actor who was recently fired for refusing to do a sex scene. Here is the story.C. R. sent this in: "Father, You have likely heard of this but I just did this weekend. This is a new opera by Marcos Galvany. I did some research and it seems to be a work of reverence honoring the life of Christ and Mary. It premiers at Carnegie Hall Saturday 4/10." Here is a link to the video.

C. C. sent this article in.

Oh! That's all there is time for!

N. B. - There is a very good likelihood that there will be no post on Easter Wednesday. If that is the case know that I will be back Thursday. God bless and Happy Easter!

MONDAY DIARY: SO YOU THINK YOU THOUGH OF EVERYTHING?

Having a parochial vicar around, particularly one that is fresh from the seminary and who knows his stuff, is both a blessing and curse. It is a blessing because he is here all day every day and we got a lot of things done that others simply cannot help with. Therefore we actually had some extra time on our hands preparing for the Triduum that I normally do not have. The bad part is that we had a little extra time on our hands that we normally don’t have so that we were able to fill every moment pouring over all the rubrics and decrees of the bishop to make sure we are keeping with the mind of the Church as best we can. We tried to leave no detail unheeded.

It took hundreds of ministers and other workers as well as hundreds of hours to pull together Maundy Thursday though Easter Sunday. We did our best to make sure that everything was remembered and executed. We tried to anticipate everything even to where each item used would be set so that we and the ministers (first would remember to use them and secondly) would have what we needed to do perform our tasks.

Things went pretty well. Maundy Thursday seemed to go well as did Good Friday. Even the Blessing of the Foods passed without too much fuss. Then it was time for the Easter Vigil. We had gone through by ourselves the whole thing a couple of times. Then we spent about an hour and a half going through it with everybody, walking through the ceremony so that everyone would know what to do and feel comfortable with it. The only part we skipped (because it would so very obvious) was the pouring of water at the baptism.

All day Saturday people scurried about making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. We lit the fire outside. The liturgy progressed mostly smoothly. Then we came to the baptisms. We stood before the baptismal font when I realized the biggest oversight of the weekend. I had nothing with which to lift the water and pour it over the heads of those being baptized. We were not in a place where I could grab a server and send him or her to go fetch SOMETHING (even a Dixie cup!) nor was there time or opportunity for me just to walk across the sanctuary and into the sacristy to get something. By the time I noticed it was time to start.

Now you might think, “why not just use your hands?” This would be fine but lifting the water higher than your head from the ground while wearing five layers of clothing, some of it draping and hanging from your arms could mean wearing soaking vestments for the next hour and half. Fortunately the first person to be baptized decided that he was uncomfortable bowing over the holy water when he was to be baptized and opted to kneel. This brought his head a lot closer to the water and so I was able to scoop it up rather easily and pour it without it running down my arms. Thank you Holy Spirit that he inspired the others to kneel also!

That meant that little faux pas was covered with little brouhaha save for the smile on my face. The last thing was now my hands were soaking wet, I needed to turn a page in the book, and there was no place to dry my hands (except on the vestment, which I was not about to do. My Mother would be proud.) Fortunately there was a towel dropped on the floor and I was able to bend down and pick it up. A little ungraceful but better than the alternatives.

The best laid plans of mice and men . . .

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: WHILE IT LASTS - A TRIP UP THE BELL TOWER

As promised last week, we will begin our trip up the bell tower of Saint Mary Parish in Akron. The parish is slated to close this June. But first, a quick peek at the interior. Here is the high altar. This mosaic is in the center of the sanctuary just in front of altar of sacrafice.

We did not have much light but this picture will still give you an idea of what the church interior looks like.

Look up! Here is a shot of the ceiling. Not a spot is lacking in detail.

This is from the altar looking toward the choir loft and pipe organ.

These are actually in the wrong order, this picture of Fr. Pfeiffer was on the way down. This is the story before you reach the bell chamber. The bell is still rung by hand. The rope that runs through the floor is right next to Father.

This is a shot from the bell chamber itself. Way off in the distance you can see the steeple of St. Bernard Parish in the heart of downtown Akron with whom St. Mary is merging.

The inscription on the bell reads, "HY STUCKS?EDE - BELL FDY CO. - ST LOUIS MO - 1915. DONATED BY THE CHILDREN OF SAINT MARY PARISH.

I just thought this was an interesting picture. This is the giant whell that rings the bell.

This is how you get up most of the way. Our shoulders touched the center post and the outside rail at the same time. It is very narrow (and dirty of course. Would be a bell tower ladder if it were clean?)

Well, that's it ladies and gentlemen. If you are from out of town I hope you enjoyed the climb with us. If you are in town - GO SEE THE PLACE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Just a reminder: Easter Monday is the G. K. Chesterton play at St. Sebastian (Zwilser Hall) in Akron at 7PM. Come one come all!

A FRESH VOICE - GUEST BLOGGER PART II

This is Part II of a 2 part series by seminarian Patrick Schultz

In the anthropocentric worldview, to be free is to wield the hammer of creativity and by sheer exercise of the will, sculpt oneself and one’s world as he or she sees fit. There is no notion that our choices should conform to our nature and promote our end, simply because modernity denies that we have a nature to conform to or an end to actualize. Herein lies the difference: to consider all of reality as devoid of intrinsic natures and indwelling ends is to see all being as malleable and moldable according to our whims, including the human person. If man is not endowed with a nature and an end, then all is permissible, and more importantly, everything is right. In a “Hakuna-matata”—no worries—fashion, whatever a person chooses, he is right; no one can object. You cannot go wrong within this framework. Why? Because if the supra-material causality of spirit is illusory, then there are no intrinsic natures in nature; likewise, if there is no transcendent spiritual dimension, then there is no God. If there is no God, then there is no grounding for morality, for good, for evil, for right, for wrong, for anything. If, as Nietzsche contends, “God is dead,” then all concepts of anything absolute dissipate. Without a lawgiver, law is a farce. The voice that speaks categorically in our heads, the voice of conscience that whispers those “ought’s,” is an illusion that can and should be ignored. The anthropocentric worldview is a slow asphyxiation. As Flannery O’Connor once remarked, it is a noxious gas that is breeding the moral sense out of certain segments of humanity, much like the wings have been bred off certain types of chickens. Our culture is being bred to believe in nothing, or better yet, that everything is permissible.

Although I doubt the woman on the plane was aware of what she was implying, her question was brimming over with this destructive worldview. I am here to affirm the opposite, and I will spend the rest of my life spreading the gospel of the theocentric worldview. Seminarians, postulants, novices, and all those earnestly seeking God, are looked on by the culture as misguided idealists who are throwing their lives away. And that is the crux of it. We are throwing our lives away. There is a theo-logic inaccessible to human reason that confounds modern sensibilities: for each one of us, we find ourselves by losing ourselves; we gain everything by losing everything; we become fully alive when we die to self. The Church declares that man, made in the image and likeness of God, “is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes 24). To actualize our freedom for excellence is to recognize this sublime truth: it is by giving that we receive. It is through a willed dispossession of self that one fully comes to life.

So, what on earth would make me want to be a priest, especially in this day and age? The answer is simple: I want to respond to Him who loved me first. Just as He gave himself completely to me out of love, so too I wish to give myself completely to him. The only appropriate response to love is love itself. Out of love I was formed, and out of that same love and creativity, I am held in existence from moment to moment. At each and every second of my existence, I stand over the precipice of non-being, and yet God continues to choose me, and wills me to be. In light of such an unfathomable, magnanimous gift, how could I not respond by laying my life down, and giving my all? I do not desire to be used as a means to further God’s ends, as many moderns would interpret; I desire to cooperate willfully in the theo-drama that we are all a part of. I want to be, like all the great saints, one who enrolls in the school of silence, and says everyday: “Here I am, Lord. I long to do your will.”

A FRESH VOICE - GUEST BLOGGER

Here's a treat for you! As you know it is the habit at Adam's Ale that when we approach our busy holy days I have come to rely on Guest Bloggers to fill the gaps when otherwise this space would have to go blank out of necessity. As we enter into this Holy Week it is my pleasure to hand the Adam's Ale reigns over to Mr. Patrick Schultz. He is a junior philosophy major at Borremeo Seminary here in the Diocese of Cleveland. He hails from Saint Mary Parish in Hudson, a hop, skip, and a twenty minute drive from Saint Sebastian. His philosophy teacher, Fr. F. who contributes to Quote Tuesday quite often suggested (with the permission of the seminary) that he submit a paper that he wrote to Adam's Ale. After reading it I was most excited that this space be venue for his first publishing.

I was able to meet Patrick at the Aquinas lecture this past week. It is also a pleasure to report that he is also quite a personable gentleman. So with no further ado, here is Part I of a two Part series.

Answering the “Hakuna-Matata” Culture of 21st Century America
By: Patrick R. Schultz

I was sitting next to a woman on a flight recently. We were sharing a pleasant conversation; she was telling me about her children and grandchildren, and I was sharing stories about me and my younger brother. The topic, however, turned, and she asked me where I go to school and what I study. Instead of avoiding the question, I dropped the bomb: “I am actually a seminarian studying for the Catholic priesthood.” She became quiet, and a puzzled look filled her lined face. She quipped, “Oh, that’s interesting,” at which point I thought the conversation was over. But then, she turned back and looked at me, and as if she were figuring out how to best word her question, she asked, “What on earth would make you want to do that, especially in this day and age?” Indeed, what on earth would compel anybody to walk such a path?

The modern world is ripe with possibilities and new frontiers for young people to explore and take part in. We can do things, go places, learn concepts, communicate, and live lifestyles, etc., that our forbearers could never have dreamed. American culture marches forward to a steady beat that rings out loudly: change, development, innovation, and progress. We live and move and have our being in a consumerist culture where the externals (money, career, popularity, image, power, etc.) are exalted on high. When our heroes are Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes, and our role models are The Housewives of Orange County and the cast members of MTV’s The Real World, it is logical that, given this cultural heartbeat and social framework, the priesthood could only appear as an arcane, outmoded “career.” The Catholic Church is consequently perceived as an antiquated institution, which drives people back into the dark-ages of superstition, sexual repression, and corruption. The priesthood, let alone the pursuit of holiness, is utterly counter-intuitive, and counter-cultural. In a word, the priesthood appears diametrically opposed to plain common sense. The modern world simply cannot see the value in it, or the logic behind it.

And this is the key: the occluding worldview of modernity, which has devalued the spiritual and the absolute, makes it not simply difficult to see, but downright impossible to see. The woman’s incredulous response to my answer points to this very blindness. Our ideas matter; our underlying presumptions about the world, the universe, about reality, all matter. They are the lenses through which we process reality. Therefore, since modernity has acquiesced to Nietzsche’s bold proclamation, “God is dead,” contemporary culture is anthropocentric, that is, we possess a temporal or human-centered worldview. This worldview does not liberate humanity but rather slowly poisons it. What is needed is a theocentric worldview, that is, a Godly worldview, which considers man as a composite being of spirit and matter, endowed with reason, and oriented towards a transcendent destiny.

Implicit in the woman’s question is this anthropocentric worldview, and its consequent redefinition of freedom. The concept of freedom, especially here in America, is the value par excellence. We cherish, honor, celebrate, and defend our freedom more so than anything else. We talk about personal freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion (or lack thereof). We talk about one’s freedom to choose, freedom to determine one’s future, and freedom to define happiness and the meaning of life. Fundamentally, we exalt the freedom of the individual to act however, and choose whatever, insofar as one’s actions and choices do not infringe upon another’s autonomy. Like many concepts today, we causally use this word freedom, putting it front and center and often hiding behind it, without knowing what it really means. In the history of ideas, freedom has undergone a dramatic redefinition, which coincides with the devaluation of the spiritual and the absolute. Where freedom once was seen as freedom for excellence, or virtue, it now implies a freedom of indifference. Before, the person who best actualized his inborn potential for excellence was most free. Now, he who can simply choose between a plurality of options is free.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CLXVIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "This focus on the external manifestation of success leads many priests to do, do, do. To go, go, go. in short, to turn into workaholics. Too easily, then, we become obsessed with the success of the pancake breakfast, the parish festival, the drive to raise money for World Youth Day. . . As a result, the pastor is unable, in many cases, to tend fully to the spiritual needs of his people. His role as prophet and spiritual leader, in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, receives short shrift." Fr. Alvaro Delgado from "Year for Priests: Presence and Not Production" in "Homiletic and Pastoral Review"

QUOTE II: "Without humility it is impossible to appreciate anything. Even pride." from G. K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy"

IN OTHER NEWS:

Don't forget! Tell your friends! Post it on your site if you would be so kind! G. K. Chesterton is coming to Saint Sebastian's Zwisler Hall (476 Mull Avenue, Akron, OH 44320) on Easter Monday at 7PM.

"John C. "Chuck" Chalberg is an American historian, who also travels about as this noted Englishman. I'm the same "Chesterton" who appears on EWTN's "The Apostle of Common Sense" with Dale Ahlquist of the American Chesterton Society. The show itself is set in 1934 and pretends that Mr. C. is on his third tour of America. (He was here in 1921 and 1930.) He is an a lecture tour. But he tends to forget that; hence he will drift into and out of lecture mode. Along the way, he will have much to say on any number of topics. He will defend the Faith; he will tell the audience about his early life and about the importance of family among other topics/themes. He will be serious and funny--sometimes at the same time. He will also field questions, both in character and out of character."

Admission is free though if you wish to help off set the cost to the newly forming Chesterton Society it would be appreciated. See more about the newly forming Akron society here and read more about Mr. Chalberg here.

IN STILL OTHER NEWS:

Fr. Pfeiffer took this picture of Sebastian while I was on vacation. Do you SEE why this dog steals my heart???

M. sent this in. I was Okay with it thinking that it was old - but it is very recent. It was like watching a slow motion car accident in which you kept asking yourself, "Why don't I turn away?" We stopped counting the liturgical abuses when we ran out of fingers.

Michelle sent this in: "EWTN Global Catholic Network has entered into an agreement with Catholic News Agency to share news and resources from around the world to Catholics and those interested in the Catholic faith, Catholic news and Catholic perspectives. To showcase this expanded news service, EWTN has launched a new website" here.

Russel sent in this six and a half minute video. If you got a bad taste in your mouth above, this might sweeten it back up. Thanks!


Fr. F. sent in this link to a thought provoking post on the "Myth of the Pedophile Priest" of at Standing On My Head." Thanks friend.

Here is a seven and half minute video sent in by Eric that should give you a laugh.

P. Sent this 4 and a half minute video. ""It's speech time again and this year, Lia tackled the topic of Euthanasia for her grade 8 speech project. She didn't win the speech contest this year, but she still got an A on her project." February 20, 2010 [Last year Lia won a speech contest for her presentation against abortion.]"

BIG, BIG news coming about the Saint Sebastian Choir! But I promised I wouldn't say what it was until Lynn had a chance to break the news.

HAPPY HOLY WEEK!

MONDAY DIARY: IF IT SEEMS LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD, IT MUST BE HOLY WEEK

Despite checking and double checking page numbers and order of pages and highlighting and comparing it to the liturgical books, I read the wrong Passion on Saturday. The problem was with the source that I was using. It had two mistakes in it. Instead of a 1 it had a 0 and instead of the 0 it had a 9 in the title. But perhaps it was prophetic. A line came screaming off of the page and grabbed my attention.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.”’”

At that moment I could not help but think about Pope Benedict. As you are probably painfully aware he has been accused have playing a role in the abuse scandal. Earlier a faithful lady of the parish had come to me with the articles that she cut out concerning the matter. “Are you going to speak on this?” she rightfully asked. I didn’t and do not plan to until after Easter. It is a judgment call. During this holiest season of the year our attention is on Christ and what He did for us and the salvation of our souls. The next week perhaps if the story is still a story we will touch on it.

The whole thing came to my attention at the breakfast table. I was nibbling on my peanut butter toast sipping my milk when a picture of Pope Benedict in the morning paper caught my eye. The news was anything but heartening. A while later Fr. Pfeiffer sat down with his breakfast. “Did you see the paper yet?” I asked.

“No. Anything interesting?”

I flipped through a couple of pages, opened it up to the picture of the pope and slid it over to him. “Have you ever noticed,” I asked him, “How these revelations always seem to correspond with Holy Week? Year after year there is some huge revelatory expose that the papers scream what will finally put an end to the Church, or the faith, or the pope. Every single year.”

What was last year’s? Was that the discovery of the tomb of one of Jesus’ brothers or son or some such thing that “expert scientist” had determined was authentic? That would certainly put a damper on the Catholic Church and her teaching. Then after Holy Week and the brouhaha died down it suddenly died on the twelfth page of section X in a tiny article under an ad for flatulence prevention that the tomb was a fraud.

“Oh magic phone,” Fr. P said, holding up his small electrical device in his hand like an oracle stone, “tell me the inside story on the pope.” The phone then looked into alternative news sources that started to systematically tear apart the story. Not that abuse did not happen but that the further accusations intimated do not add up the way the paper assembled it.

What will come of this? It’s hard to say but the winds seem to be changing a bit already. The articles concerning it in the local major papers are already moving further and further back into the paper. Will everything disappear magically again a couple of weeks after Easter? Or will it boil over? We shall see. In the meantime I’m not going to get my alb in a bunch until more information comes out. Right now I am focusing on the resurrection.

This is supposed to be a diary day I know and it has somewhat missed the mark but this needed to get out of my system. So here is one last thing that keeps popping up in my mind. The paper yesterday or the day before mentioned how upset people are that certain priests are not “kicked out” or laicized for their misconduct. Quite readily people jump on the bandwagon. I don’t know if they think it is a greater punishment to be laicized or if justice is better served or what. But it does seem to be a common thought that this must be done.

IMHO: Stupidest thing in the world.

Think about it this way: So a guy is laicized. Now what? Now there are less people keeping an eye on him. He is free to move anywhere. He is free to get a job where he pleases. Sure there are legal restrictions. But he is out there doing as he will for the most part and nobody is watching 24/7.

What would happen if he were still an active priest? First he would have to have a job where does not come on contact with children. That means a position such as in an office or as a chaplain for a cloistered order of nuns or some such thing. His living and working arrangements are more closely monitored and he is surrounded by people who know him and why he is there and who have a vested interest in making sure he keeps his nose out of trouble.

But instead he has his collar taken off and is shooed out into the world. Does not seem to make much sense to me and the greater punishment would be in remaining a priest but barely doing priestly work. That would be the killer at least for me.

For those of you who would like some other sources of information on this year’s Holy Week scandal perhaps you could look here and here and here for starters.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION: W. had a couple more good sources to check out here and here.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: WHILE IT LASTS!

As you may be aware, Saint Mary on South Main in Akron is slated to close this summer - a victim of "progress." It's once thriving neighborhood has been divided up over the years by highways and the expansion of industry and Catholics, as they are wont to do, have moved out to other locations.

In my opinion this church building is the finest piece of architecture in the diocese both for its authenticity and its integrity. I wish a lot of things - and the world would be a much different place if everyone followed my every whim, but I wish we could do something with this building so that it might be preserved as a gem of Catholic architecture in this diocese. But greater things than this have been lost and guess what - people are still saved and the Church lives on.

That being said - if someone would give me several million dollars I promise to buy it, fix it up, and use it as - I don't know - a private shrine, a venue for concerts - anything . . .

I took my cousin to visit two weeks ago. These pictures were taken that day. Next week there will be pictures of the interior and my climb up the bell tower.

If you get the chance, please do yourself a favor and visit the Church before June. There is something so pleasing about the proportions and lines of this building. According to the pastor who has been so kind about my visits, there have been many artists and architects stopping buy to study, make sketches, take pictures, and such.

Here are a couple of pictures that I hope explain why.

Saint Mary, 750 South Main Street, Akron, OH 44311

WHO WILL BE THE NEW CONSERVATIVES?

If you read this space regularly you know that there is coming a change in the Roman Missal. Actually, that is incorrect; there is coming a change in the English translation of the Roman Missal. Even if you think it is necessary (and I do) and even if you think it is positive (and I do) and even if you are looking forward to it (and I am) it is going to be DIFFICULT.

This came to mind recently reading over the changes in everything from the Gloria to the Institution Narrative. There is a familiarity with these texts – a comfort – a rhythm that we have become both accustomed to saying and hearing. For me, anyway, it is like reading a favorite book or watching a best loved movie over and over again. You know perfectly well how it’s going to end, what the next scene is, and can even quote the lines, but there is still something so incredibly satisfying in going through it again.

That is about to change. Not completely. And that might be the most difficult part of it. It will be ALMOST the same. You will be going along familiar passages and then – WHAM – there will be a turn of phrase or a new sentence or a clarifying adjective that was not there before. It will be like watching the director’s cut and asking, “Where did THAT scene come from?”

There are going to be those who are going to complain. Protest. Be angry. There are going to be accusations that “We are going back in time! We are becoming Pre-Vatican II!” (as if automatically that is something evil – but that’s a post for another day.) But such is not the case. It is interesting to note that these particular changes are NOT changes. This translation (for those who may not be aware) is only taking place in English speaking countries. The rest of the world is not going through this because when they translated their Missals it was already more in line with the official words of the Mass. If you went to another country in which the spoke another language it would not take much of a language scholar to realize that when they were saying the Confiteor they were already saying their equivalent to “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa,” or “through my fault, through my fault, through my own grievous fault,” which we currently translate as “though my own fault.” So far from doing anything new or “going retro,” we are merely bringing ourselves back in line with Church universal. (If somebody does know of some similar thing happening in another country please leave a comment.)

How we got here is a long and complicated story full of fighting and intrigue. But we are here and now we have to deal with this corrective phase. In a couple of years most everybody will be back to being comfortable once again. (Does anybody remember and is still aggravated that “This is the Word of the Lord” was changed to “The Word of the Lord”?) But the transition will be hard for many. Please pray for this transition and for those who will have a difficult time with it (clergy and lay alike.) Try to remain positive about it. And have this knowledge in your hip pocket to help those who will be struggling.

Here is the interesting question: Who will become the “Neo Traditionalists” who will want to preserve this old translation and will fight the changes? Now THAT will be fascinating.

FEAR NO CLAIM TO TRUTH

We are called, every one of us, to defend the faith. That is part of our baptismal promise: to spread the kingdom of God. Some do it as professional apologists, some as casual apologists (such as when someone asks something at work,) some as brave examples, others in prayer. But no matter what, you are called to something in this area.

What follows are just some scribbled notes (mixed with some personal thoughts) from a presentation this past Monday at Saint Sebastian by the Emmaus Round Table concerning how to share and defend the faith. (Emmaus Roundtable is a lay Catholic apostolate dedicated to facilitating the “New Springtime of Evangelization” that Pope John Paul II called and prayed for.) For more information on them look here.

If we are not prepared to defend the faith, to give answers to such questions as to what is the meaning of life, the world will provide answers that will be readily eaten up. Why do we try to share the faith? Because we believe that in them is truth, life, and joy. If someone is not living in truth, they are not experiencing the fullness of life, and then there can be no fullness of joy. That is why we try to be that source of knowledge and truth for the world.

Yet we do not impose the faith, we propose. We are to provide light, not heat. But still if we are going to present the faith convincingly we must first know our stuff. We must study and learn. You cannot pass on what you don’t have. “Holding hands and singing Kumbaya will not draw us into the unity Christ desires.”

In order to pass on this faith we ourselves must be convicted. Nobody wants to get up early on Sunday to go to a church that simply another alternative and a difficult one at that. We must know that there is unity, beauty, goodness, and truth here that cannot be completely matched anywhere or we will fail at evangelization.

We must not merely arm ourselves with facts and arguments however. Facts do not convert hearts. We must also have a spirituality – we must be in relationship with the God to Whom we wish to draw hearts. How does one attract a crowd? One sets themselves on fire – on fire for love of God and the many blessings He wishes to bestow upon us. These are the first steps.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CLXVII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions." G. K. Chesterton

QUOTE II: "If we really love the poor do we really want them coming to our soup kitchens for the rest of their lives?" source unknown.

IN OTHER NEWS:

ATTENTION CHESTERTON FANS: HELP SPREAD THE NEWS: There will be a one man play about G. K. Chesterton on Easter Monday at 7PM here at St. Sebastian Parish in Zwisler Hall. Admission is free (though you may make a donation if you wish.) We local Chestertonian fans are sponsoring this event to help kick off our Chesterton Society. See more here. Please come and drag along friends - help introduce Chesterton to others.

IN STILL OTHER NEWS:

Fr. F. sends in this article entitled, "What Do You Think of Catholic Preaching?" It's a good read. Thanks friend.

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter asks, "A very common question that is asked today by parents and grandparents is 'What can I do to encourage my children (or grandchildren) to return to the Church and practice their faith?'" Read more here.

From the same source: "Did you know, Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends give married couples the tools to make Good marriages Great marriages?"

Frank sent this golf game in. WARNING: ADDICTION LEVEL: LOW

P sent this site in. It has 23 pictures of Catholic and Protestant chaplains serving our troops in Afghanistan.

Our God Is an Awesome God. I know this song has made the rounds but I still think it's great. 3 and a half minutes.

I know there was more things sent in but it is our busy time - I'll post more of your things over the next two Tuesdays. Thanks!

MONDAY DIARY: SECRET HOLY PLACES

Down the street from where my parents lived is a park with a pavilion in it. Apparently someone ended their life there a number of years ago. That seems to mark a place. People do not buy homes because a particular crime had taken place there. People believe that such things leave a bad aura. But what about the good things that happen? This came to mind because we are in the thick of confession season and priests are called to kinds of places to hear confessions. Although the rubrics say that confessions should take place in a confessional there are times when this is not possible.

This past weekend was the men’s conference in Akron. Over a thousand men showed up for this day of retreat at a local Catholic high school. A small army of priests were brought in to help hear confessions. Obviously there were not 40 confessionals available for use and so we were assigned classrooms. My classroom was a computer lab. Once inside one had to wind through a maze of desks to get to the chairs set up for confession. Computer screens faced me from every direction, the large windows looked out onto the front of the building, and smart board, which are now as common as overhead projectors used to be, sat at my left.

There was a break in the line of men coming for confession and I thought about Monday (today) when the students would return for classes. Did they have any idea of what went on in this classroom that they drag through every day? While they practice their typing do they have any notion that it was quite possible that the chair in which they were sitting was occupied recently by a dad who needed to bare his soul to God? While the student watches the clock tick the seconds away to the end of class do they have any idea of the healing and the joy that took place there?

I think of this with home Masses. Occasionally I go on vacation with other priests and we know that we are not going to be able to get to Mass and so bring a Mass kit with us and have Mass in the hotel room. I get a chuckle out of thinking that if there was a question on Family Feud about the top 8 things that take place in a hotel room, Mass would not be one of them.

Hotels and nursing homes are often thought of as sad places. We were called out on a number of occasions this past week to anoint people and offer the apostolic pardon for those standing on the threshold of life in the world to come. Family and friends might be sad but there is joy in a person being prepared to greet God. The definition of a saint is one who goes to heaven. I wonder how many hospital and nursing home beds are blessed to have had saints die in them? How many sacraments, Eucharist, confession, anointing, how many rosaries, how many pleas to God have taken place on these beds? It is not all tragic and sad. These can be very holy places.

On another note: I continue my crusade against the notion that anointing of the sick is for those who are on the point of death. Not only is not called for it is dangerous. Anointing of the sick is for those who are sick. Part of the hope is that with the blessing a person might get better.

I was called out late at night to anoint someone at a place that I had never been to before several parishes away. Apparently we were the only ones they could get a hold of. That was fine. I got out of bed, got dressed and headed to the address. But when I pulled into the place I realized that I had no idea where to go. It was not just a building but 40 acres of buildings. It was dark, the buildings were not well marked, and I had forgotten my cell phone. So I got out of my car and started wandering. A man with a flashlight called out, “Are you a priest?”

He was sent to keep an eye out for clergyman to help direct me to where I needed to go. We walked back to my car and he guided me to the correct building. As we drove we talked a bit. I asked if the person had a sudden turn for the worst.

“Oh no. She’s been like this for a while.”

“Then why did you wait until late at night to call for a priest?”

“Well, we think that she will die soon.”

“Just so you know you could have called earlier. Imminent death is not a prerequisite for an anointing. She would have been equally as covered if we anointed her in the evening.”

“When did that change?”

“The Council of Trent.”

“Well, these people are pretty old. When was that?”

“5 hundred years ago.”

“Oh.”