"Care for the Earth" Liturgy Penitential Rite

 BROTHER TREE!

 SISTER BIRD!

INTENTIONALLY Funny Line of the Day

From Father Z:

As an avid reader of your blog please first be assured of my prayers. I recently attended an Engaged Encounter weekend in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the priest who said Mass had the couples surround him at the altar during the entirety of the Eucharistic Prayer. 

 In weakness my fiance and I did so during the first Mass but we remained kneeling in our pews during the second, I had hoped it was a one off thing.
  
I approached the priest about it, after we had received our certificate of completion, and he gave me some unfortunate explanations including: historical accuracy, and it not being ruled out in the GIRM.
  

I contacted the Archdiocese and received an unsatisfactory response. Namely a paragraph from the GIRM and Redemptionis Sacramentum which says nothing about the issue at hand. I would be happy to provide you with the full email if you wish. I am looking for something to reply back with but all I can find is a dubium from the 1980’s that has a dubious web address, seemingly unofficial. Do you have anything I could respond with? I am frustrated and saddened.

The response is from Father Tim Ferguson:


The General Institution of the Roman Missal does not explicitly ban the faithful from gathering in the sanctuary during the Canon.
Nor does it forbid the faithful from being fitted with wires and hovering above the altar, or laying on the floor underneath the table-altar, or standing amongst the statuary in the reredos. The rubric do not cover every absurdity.
A presumption (perhaps a naïve one) is that the Church’s liturgy will be carried out by reasonable men.

Read the whole thing.

Underdog!

Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles have started wearing dog head masks, to show their pride at always being the underdog. So a Permanent Deacon in Philadelphia put one on and spoke from the Ambro wearing it.

Father Z thought it was HILARIOUS....well, no he didn't really.

No, it’s not cute or clever.  No, the Eagles game is no excuse.
This is stupid and this is sacrilege.
The culpability of sin can be diminished due to ignorance.  However, deacons ought to know better.  Alas, some permanent deacon formation programs have in the past not been very good, to put it mildly.  Good men with good intentions were cheated of even barely adequate formation.
At the same time, there is the pastor of the parish who must be held to account.  If he signed on on this, he, too, is guilty of sacrilege.
The fact is: When you are a cleric, it is difficult to claim ignorance.  There is such a thing as culpable ignorance.
There is also such a thing as invincible ignorance.
At that point, one must wonder how the program of formation as well as those who approved them for ordination.  One must wonder about their supervision, at the level of the pastor and above.

An Ordination (of sorts) in France

In a way I am glad I could not imbed this. It hurts my eyes.

https://youtu.be/vnLKDII8LcU

Did Anyone Lose a Boat Propeller?

Anyone?

More Cowbells!

 This is wildly unfair to us Catholics (unless you are a charismatic from Brazil) but can work as a warning.

Play That Funky Music, White Boy

 There's a video at this link.

Detroit Bishop Plays Ukulele at Confirmation Mass

Parish organist tries to drown him out

DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bishop Donald Hanchon played a ukulele from the pulpit at a Confirmation Mass Tuesday night at Detroit's most conservative parish, Assumption Grotto. Parishioners afterwards objected to the stunt.
Auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of Detroit since 2011, Hanchon pulled out his ukelele during his homily and began to sing "This Little Light of Mine." The bishop is well known for such antics, especially at youth Masses, where he has strummed his instrument before.
At Assumption Grotto, however, his musical efforts were drowned out by the parish organist, who started up with more appropriately themed music in the middle of Bp. Hanchon's performance.

The organist, a long-time parishioner of Assumption Grotto, played the organ at full volume, and although Bp. Hanchon continued singing and playing, he eventually stopped, drily remarking, "Only at Grotto do you get that sort of accompaniment. Thank you very much."

ChurchMilitant.com was on the scene and after Mass asked the organist if he had deliberately intended to silence the bishop's performance. The organist remarked with a smile, "I'm not going to confirm or deny anything."

Because the liturgy at Assumption Grotto has a reputation for being reverent, incorporating Latin and Gregorian chant, parishioners took exception to what they considered a banal performance by the bishop.

One parishioner told ChurchMilitant.com that the bishop's ukulele strumming "would have been more appropriate at a party, reception or campfire."

Another attendee confided to ChurchMilitant.com that the bishop's conduct had brought back strong negative sentiments they had felt as a teenager while experienceing irreverent liturgy. "It put a smile on my face when the organ was drowning out the ukulele," he commented, "because the words 'The gates of Hell will not prevail' crossed my mind."

The organist was disrespectful of the Bishop. The Bishop was disrespectful of everyone else.

And He's NOT a Jesuit?

From the Archdiocese of Palermo's website:

Palermo. Primatiale Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption, Wednesday, April 27, 2016: Feast of the Athletes. Image: His Excellency Most Reverend Monsignor Corrado Lorefice, Archbishop-Metropolitan, Primate of Sicily, on a bicycle in the chancel of his cathedral.

 The Archbishop was given a bike that he didn’t want to try outside the church. Instead, he rose immediately and in full regalia as celebrant, chasuble and miter, got on the bike and drove it through the presbytery of his episcopal church. The Cathedral of Palermo is not only where lay the Stauferkaisers Henry VI. and Frederick II. and the Norman King, Roger II. It is above all one of the oldest Christian places of worship in Europe. The area of ​​the Cathedral was secret at the latest in the second century gathering of Christians in underground tunnels. Here the martyrs of the persecution of Christians were buried. The Christians gathered at their graves. In the early fourth century, the construction of the first cathedral was carried out. Under Pope Gregory the Great, the second cathedral was built around 600. 

 Msgr. Lorefice belongs to the so-called “compassionate” bishops appointed by Pope Francis. 

 He has written favorable assessments of liberation theology.

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame!

Catholic News Service reports:

Writing in L’Osservatore Romano, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has stressed the importance of moments of silence in the liturgy.
“External silence is an ascetic exercise of mastery in the use of the word,” said Cardinal Robert Sarah, who contrasted the Marian silence of the one wishes to meditate on God’s word with the noise of the person who wishes to show off.

Quoting Sacred Scripture, the Second Vatican Council, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s Spirit of the Liturgy, Cardinal Sarah said that “we must avoid transforming the church, which is the house of God intended for adoration, into a spectacle hall where you go to applaud the actors.”

Hurray for SILENCE!

 Cardinal Sarah, who hails from Guinea, also criticized the “long and loud” offertory processions, “including endless dances, in some African countries. One has the impression of being present at a folklore exhibition.”

And God Said, "You Got Some Splainin' To Do...."

 This occurred at Our Lady Of The Miraculous Medal Parish Church in Binan, The Philippines. The priest is Fr Falbert San Jose.




Please, send this guy a copy of Summorum Pontificum!

The Cardinal Takes a Flight of Fancy

 From the New York Post:

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, in his midnight homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, welcomed two “refugee families who are here tonight.”
“They’re being resettled by Catholic Charities,’’ he said.

 
Dolan said he would not mention their names or ask them to stand. One of the families, he said, was from El Salvador.
The other, the cardinal added, is “a Muslim family from the Ivory Coast,’’ in Africa.
“Jesus was born into a family that had to flee and become refugees,” Dolan told the congregation.
“We welcome them here tonight.’’

Sorry, Cardinal, but I think this is a bogus comparison.

First, El Salavador is more than 50% Catholic. Do they not provide social services to those in need? If not, why not? There was a brutal civil war raging there....which ended in 1992.  The CIA Fact Book states:

The smallest country in Central America geographically, El Salvador has the fourth largest economy in the region.

The oppressed Ivorians are from a country that is a MAJORITY Muslim. See comments abut the Church in El Salvador.

But here's the thing that sticks in my craw. To my way of thinking, Jesus was a refugee in a sense that an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to go to Egypt. Why?
 

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:6).

So there was a direct threat to the baby Jesus. And they moved to Egypt and lived happily ever after, right? NO. We all know that the Holy Family moved BACK to Nazareth. Any chance that Cardinal Dolan's refugees will ever return to their native lands?

And lastly....what's up with the rose chasuble? On Christmas Eve? NO! Liturgical abuse! Not really...my guess is the New York Post pulled some stock photo from Gaudete (or maybe Laetare) Sunday and didn't have any Catholics on the staff to correct the mistake.

Shut Up, I Explained

From the Athens News (I think in Ohio). Read the whole thing.

T he most celebrated change brought about by Vatican II was that the Mass could now be said in the vernacular – the languages of various countries; previously, it was said in Latin everywhere. This was taken to mean that it must be said in the vernacular, which was never the case.

Congregations went hog-wild. Soon there were folk-rock Masses, hootenanny Masses, puppet Masses, and so on. Encouraged to participate more actively in the Mass, congregations were soon flailing their arms around, adopting postures reserved for priests, and undertaking other alterations to the principal service of the Church. Those who looked askance were told to get with “the spirit of Vatican II.”

Priest Imitation

  Modern Mass is conducted as if silence is the enemy, that there should never be a time when there isn’t something noisy going on. Active participation is so encouraged that it sometimes seems as if there isn’t an opportunity to contemplate the mysteries of faith. Even during communion itself, the most fundamental of the seven sacraments, congregants are expected to sing rather than think about how profound it all is.

The Latin Mass is quiet, often silent or close to it. The Church teaches (and I think it stands to reason) that prayer must include listening, to hear what God tells us. This is easier to do, especially for easily distracted persons such as myself, when there’s not sensory overload. When there is music with the traditional Mass (as Fr. Jonas hopes to institute from time to time, employing seminarians), it is typically in the form of chants that encourage this phenomenon rather than replace it.

 Modern Mass has in some ways unintentionally come to resemble, say, a PTA meeting. The instant it is over, people are talking and laughing, greeting people across the room, immediately transported from whatever was going on minutes before to the modern secular world. Those who wish to stay and pray must have powers of concentration that far exceed my own. (I am as guilty of these things as anyone else, alas.) The Latin Mass ends in silence, and congregants remain silent; most remain to continue their prayer.

The Mass is ended...go in peace!

And Jesus Wept

I Went to Mass and a Hootenanny Broke Out

 I bet the Knights of Columbus bluegrass band feels the same way at St. Andrew Church in Murphysboro.... from Eye of the Tiber, of course.

Yonkers, NY––Blake Jennings, lead guitarist at St. Therese Parish in Yonkers, New York is outraged over what he calls “years of concerts being interrupted by the Mass.” The 56-year-old accountant and father of three has played with his band at the 9:30 Folk Mass since 2009. “Our fans love us,” Jennings said, after Sunday Mass. “You can see it in their eyes…the way they droop down, lazily closing as we play…as if they’re entering into some kind of ecstasy. Or the way some in the parish are so moved they just can’t stand another moment of joy, and simply walk out…presumably to get some air.” But according to Jennings, many in the band have been becoming ever frustrated with the frequent interruptions to their concerts. “Father’s always interrupting…always trying to upstage us. First it’s a gospel, then a homily, eventually the words of consecration…there’s always something with this guy.” Jennings has recently begun a petition, and hopes to get 2,000 signatures to send to the diocese.

At. Last, Something Good Out of Brazil!

A Brazilian bishop has told the faithful not to exchange informal personal greetings during the Kiss of Peace at Mass. 

Bishop Milton Kenan Junior

 Bishop Milton Kenan Junior of Barretos issued norms designed to ensure proper reverence in the liturgy, including a directive during the Kiss of Peace, the priest should not leave the altar and the faithful should “greet those persons closest to you.” He cautioned that “the rite of peace is not a time for ‘congratulations, Merry Christmas,’ ‘Happy Easter,’ or any other type of greeting.”
The bishop also said that extraordinary ministers should not substitute for ordained priests and deacons in the distribution of Communion, and “the ordained minister is not permitted to sit down during Communion time and leave the responsibility of distributing Holy Communion to the extraordinary ministers.” 

Not Brazil

As If I Needed Another Reason to Avoid Radom....

 From the Southern Illinoisan:

RADOM — St. Michael's Parish Picnic will feature plenty of attractions for all ages — from pony rides to bingo. The annual picnic will be Saturday on the church grounds, 52 S. Third St.
A fried chicken and roast pork dinner will be served from 3 to 7:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned church basement, and a polka mass will begin at 4 p.m.
Homemade quilt and cash bingo will start at 6:30 p.m., and Polka Connection will provide music from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.

Earlier in the day will be a Classic Car, Truck, Tractor & Bike Show. Registration will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with judging at 4 p.m. and presentation of awards at 5 p.m. The entry fee is $10 per vehicle.
Other attractions include games, pony rides, refreshments and a raffle. In case of rain, activities will move indoors.

I wonder who the priest is up there? Could it be...

Asked and Answered.

 From Father Z.:

From a reader:

A new pastor to our church celebrated the Sacrifice of the Mass dressed only in a white alb with a green stole this Sunday. It is my understanding a priest is always to wear proper liturgical vestments when carrying out his priestly function. The heat and humidity may have prevented him and I would like to give him the benefit of a doubt but he seems to be a maverick, if you get my drift, refusing even to purify the sacred vessels after communion or after Mass. Can the bishop give special dispensations for priests who may have health problems and simply can not bear the heat of wearing a chasuble?

No.

Call to Action

 I would be mad if I could stop laughing long enough. I'm not sure what I like best about this video. The dancing thurible guy? The giant puppet heads standing behind the priest in the orans position during the consecration?  the host the size of an old hub cap? The glass chalice?



Call to Action! Here's their website. I dare you....

By the way, Call to Action is celebrating!

I Wonder Why?

Research shows that almost 9 out of 10 Catholic men don’t participate in a Catholic activity outside of attending Mass; if men aren’t being reached in the Mass, they aren’t being reached...

 While a complex set of forces have driven the Catholic “man-crisis”, including both massive cultural changes outside the Church and serious missteps within the Church, the lack of engagement of men in the Mass is a major contributing factor: men don’t understand the Mass and well-meaning, but misinformed priests in many parishes have de-sacralized the Mass causing many men to simply “drift away.” 

Yes. It is a mystery. ALthough here's something form St. Patrick Catholic Church in Seattle - I present, the Easter Vigil Mass. It might be a clue...



Make sure you watch long enough to catch the tambourine and bongos!

Catholicism is For Losers!

At least, it is at St. Mary Catholic Church in Marysville, WA.

Actually, it's not nearly so bad when you consider what the altar looks like normally:

Here's their Adoration Chapel:

How about the Christmas "Pillars of Light"?

Is this OK,  Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University?

The U.S. bishops' conference has recently published an official document, "Built of Living Stones," which gives concrete guidelines for many aspects of church construction and design.
The document may be obtained from the conference itself or from Catholic bookstores.

 No. 305 reminds us that: "Moderation should be observed in the decoration of the altar."