In the extraordinary form of the Mass the Paschal Candle (or Christ Candle or Easter Candle) would have been extinguished after the homily on Ascension Thursday. Symbolically this is terribly practical. Since the candle represents Christ and He ascends into heaven symbolically during the Gospel on that day, it makes sense that it be extinguished.
Failing this, when you come to Mass the following weekend you should see the following: The Paschal candle is no longer next to the pulpit/ambo but has been moved to the baptismal font. White altar clothes and vestments have been exchanged for green ones during the week (there are a couple of feasts on following Sundays not directly connected to the Easter season on which white will still be worn.) If there was a font set up for Easter, it should now be removed, and the flowers should change. There may still be flowers because of the feasts, but they should be less reminiscent of Easter and move on to more summery varieties.
“Nice days were still nice. ‘The sun shines,’ wrote Christopher Isherwood in his Berlin Stories, ‘and Hitler is the master of this city. The sun shines, and dozens of my friends . . . are in prison, possibly dead.’ The prevailing normalcy was seductive. ‘I catch sight of my face in the mirror of a shop, and am shocked to see that I am smiling,’ Isherwood wrote. ‘You can’t help smiling, in such beautiful weather.’ The trams moved as usual, as did the pedestrians passing on the street; everything around him had ‘an air of curious familiarity, of striking resemblance to something one remembers as normal and pleasant in the past – like a very good photograph.’”
Will we wake one day to fully realize that behind cheery billboards, smart buildings, immaculate lobbies, we have done away with thousands of human beings in the womb? One day, will we look back and wonder how it could have happened in such drastic numbers? Will others ask why we as individuals didn’t say something? Will we be embarrassed as we are about the treatment of Jews, or slaves, or Native Americans, or the whole list of people it was at one time or another Okay to treat as sub-human? 
Science feeds people.
People who eschew faith for science because it is fact based and provable (unlike religion) have to face such little scandals. (I am positive we are blindly in the middle of any number of them at this current moment only to be revealed at a later, more enlightened – or less enlightened – date.) Many excuses may be made – very legitimate excuses. Faulty science may be at fault. People manipulating data in order to promote some agenda may be at fault. Societal prejudice may be at fault. Any number of things may mar the glory of true science. 
With the changes in the Mass coming and most of those changes taking place in the parts that the priest prays, you may find us with our nose stuck in the book. There are very few references as to where a priest should be looking. I suppose that for the most part they are assuming that we are reading the Sacramentary (soon to be known as the Missal) and so direction is not needed. One of the few exceptions is in the Roman Canon where it says the priest looks up during the words, “. . . and looking up to heaven, to You, His Almighty Father . . .”
But many priests make it a point to look at places to mean things. During the consecration some make it a point to stare out at the gathered persons as though they are the ones being addressed. They are not. How many people realize that it is the Father being addressed on behalf of the community? Not that there is anything absolutely wrong about it, but at best I think it confusing that some clergy make it a point to make eye contact with every person in the congregations when they say, “He took bread, gave it to His disciples and said, ‘Take this all of you and eat it . . .’” Those in the congregation are not the ones being directly addressed. I think in the extraordinary form of the Mass many may miss what is literally being said but they know it is the Father being addressed. In the ordinary form we may understand what it is literally being said, but may miss Who is being addressed and why.
Then finally we are addressed and it is appropriate at that time to look out at the people. “The Lord be with you” and so forth.
This, the fifth day, I realize I do not have all the answers and cannot save the world (ooooh! Sin of pride.) I still think that I should write but invite the priest to consider some things that might make his life easier and benefit his parish at the same time – a friendly word of advice that he could choose to ignore but friendly enough that if he wanted to talk there would be no antagonism (hopefully) between us.
When I traveled with my Dad we always stayed in less than grand motel rooms. “We are not here to stay in a motel room all day,” he used to say, “we are here to enjoy this place. So why waste money on a room we will only sleep in?” And he was right. That is exactly what we did. We got up early, ran all day, and collapsed in bed at night.
As an adult at least half of my pleasure on a trip is moving into a nice hotel room or bed and breakfast and putting down temporary roots. I want to enjoy a cup of coffee, read part of my book, luxuriate that I can lay down in the middle of the day with no phone calls or pressing appointments, and I want to be able to buy something, plop it in the middle of the room still in the box and not have to put it away or pack it. If the hotel were nice enough, I could make a trip of not more than a mile and just stay there. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to go out and do all the things that Dad did, but the hotel room is equally a part of the trip for me.
That is not too far from our experience as Christians in this world. It is a great place to be. I look out the window and see flowers blooming, the hawks flying by, and clear, blue skies (a rarity as of late.) Sebastian sits at my side, my chair feels comfortable, and the AC is on. But this is only a temporary home. We are visitors on this earth. We have a home and a Father who expects us later (some earlier than others.) So when it is nice we should enjoy it. It is a grand hotel this earth. And when it is rough, well, endure. It is only temporary. Next to eternity, it is barely a blip on the radar screen. When you are done, leave a tip on the dresser and don’t bother packing. It will be taken care of for you. The service here is great.
“To the Universal Church”
In fact, not only the Mass but all the rites of the Church are to be made available in the manner they were celebrated prior to Vatican II at least in some way in each diocese. The only people they are to be refused to are those who do not recognize the validity of the ordinary form (Vatican II Mass) and those who do not recognize the pope as head of the Church. If there is a lack of priests it is suggested that they be brought in until trained priests are in place.
“You’ve got to eat your breakfast Margie”
So there you have it; universal, instant communication. But it is still not as good as capabilities that we have had available to us since Adam and Eve. It is why I don’t buy it when someone says, “I want to, but I don’t have time to pray.” It may be true that you don’t have time to do a holy hour or an entire rosary in one sitting, but there is always time to pray. Waiting for your drink at the coffee shop, at the red light, walking into a meeting, fueling the car, walking from the car to the garage door, in the moment that you rub your eyes after a long time staring at a computer screen, waiting for the sign to change to “WALK,” the few seconds of quiet in the little monsignor room, between messages on your phone (“Message deleted. Next message” is enough time to say, “God help me with that person,”) and you get the idea.
