Since when did Catholics strt calling the Mass a , 'Service ', anyway? I heard someone yesterday thanking the priest , who was dressed in slacks and tee shirt, ' Thanks for the Service it was wonderful!' ...and the priest smiled and said, 'You're welcome '. I mean really what was it some kind of performance? Yuk Like some King of Liturgical Golkywood.
You know in the hospital we all...and I mean all of us were uniforms..especially in the Wards and most especially in the ICU's. Why do we do this? Because we are Professionals and need to be identified as doing a precise role. TEE SHIRTS AND JEANS WOULDN'T CUT IT. The Mass is non essential, close the Churches. The priests are fine I jeans and tee shirts. How did we come to this casual erasion of any importance to who we are and what we are doing?
On a brighter note, I had breakfast this morning with the new young priest at my parish in Winchester Virginia. Rock solid through and through. He knows what’s going on, understands all the current issues, is pro life and not afraid to discuss the sin of contraception and understands that most hormonal and implantable contraceptives are actually abortifacients, etc. One of the other priests at this parish gave a simply superb homily on Sunday laying out the differences between opinion, discipline and doctrine in church teaching, and mentioned all the hot button issues - gender dysphoria, contraception, abortion etc. He went so far to say if the pope expresses an opinion on climate change or Covid vaccines, that’s fine, he’s entitled to his opinion, as we all are. But it’s just that, an opinion, and carries no more weight than anyone else’s opinion. The young priest this morning had gotten the cliff notes version of this homily from the older priest after mass, as the younger priest was still in the confessional hearing confessions while the other priest gave his sermon! And he was enthusiastic about the other priest’s homily. I had such a blessed time with this priest this morning, I went back to the parish and prayed in thanks at their Perpetual Adoration Chapel for this church and these awesome priests. As I was leaving I saw a sign begging for CCD teachers for grades 10 and 11 for this year, so I went to their religious education office and volunteered!
Yes. How did we. We have certainly showed what we are made of.. God gave Satan permission to test the Church for 100 years supposedly. As we wind past the 100 year marker we see the testing has truly winnowed away Catholics. Malachi Martin said in the early 90's that Catholics were being led out of the true Church in droves and didn't even know it. I have been in a kind of mourning for years over the collapse of the faith. Clown shows and Ziegield Follies. A chief catechist telling us Holy Communion was merely a symbol. (We were parents getting our children ready for first Holy Communion) I called her on it. The priest sitting there said nothing. I could go on and on. With JPII things got better gradually. The terrible improv Masses ceased. But now I fear we are returning to those terrible days.
..and did 5he Prissy Prick who led the 'Service', this morning in jeans have any theological qualifications whatsoever? Of was he a buddy of the priests from. The golf course? Who knows? Priest for a day.. ..and boy did he know it.
You need a break Padraig. Take a trip to Germany and see what real participation looks like. Learn some new moves and you could be the guy leading the performance. (The video is only 2 minutes long.......I promise):
Gotta hand it to them. They would be a huge hit as a fringe event at a theatre festival. Good co-ordination, minimalist props, and stoles in a colour suited to every occasion. Yellow must be the colour for Holy Thursday: Whenever it seems like things are really bad here, I just need to go to that parish website for reassurance that it could be a whole lot worse.
Yes, the Catholic prophets call it Ape of the Church, I wondered then how it would look like, now I know why.... (masks)
To get back on topic, I read the full interview on Fisheaters. The Pope told the interviewer that the rumour began in Argentina. Not really on topic, but I'm curious to know whether anyone here has seen Kevin Symonds discussing Fatima with Michael Lofton. I think they are doing a series of interviews spread out over a number of weeks. Watching it can be something of an endurance test. I find myself having to resist the urge to shout at the screen telling them to get on with it. Had they been better prepared, what I have seen so far could have been covered in a quarter of the time. The purpose of the shows seems to be to debunk all Fatima conspiracy theories, sprinkled with some swipes at rad trads which seem to be Lofton's favourite whipping boys. I gather from the live chat that his excuse for dissing trads is that everyone else calls out the problems with the Church's liberal element. (He and I must be living on different planets). This week, Archbishop Vigano has replaced Taylor Marshall as the person to beware of. They could be right about all the people Symonds says are mistaken about Fatima. I wouldn't know. Trouble is that the delivery is so poor that I found myself sympathising with everyone they disagreed with even when their argument, or what I could make of it, seemed reasonable. Mr. Lofton gave a strange response to a question about the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul 11 not lining up with the vision given to the Fatima children. While managing to distance himself from the theory without dismissing it, Mr. Lofton raised the possibility that the Pope in the vision was John Paul 1. By the time the programme ended, I felt like I had been trying to keep my balance walking on shifting sand. Mr. Symonds says that he warned Archbishop Vigano about Fr. Kirby in Silverstream. Seems that Symonds had some inside information on the situation there. Not for a minute do I doubt their sincerity or that both Lofton and Symonds believe they are giving loyal service to the Church but the condescension can grate on the nerves. Seems that people who question the official line on Fatima are looking for certainty in the absence of poor leadership. I wonder what leadership they mean because I have yet to hear either of them present other than an occasional vague indication of disappointment with any of the hierarchical purveyors of the mixed messages we have been subjected to over the past few years. It's open season, however, on what Lofton calls rad trads which seems to be a loose collection of Catholics ranging from crazy conspiracy theorists to rigid fundamentalists to effectively protestants and/or sedevacantists, depending on what nuance they have missed but which is clear to him. Pope Francis said in his interview something about not liking polite devils. I think he meant people who cover their malice with a polite veneer. They rub him up the wrong way. That's the feeling I get when people do a hatchet job while claiming great concern for the target as they wield the hatchet. (Editing because the Pope actually talked about polite devils - not people and I could be completely misunderstanding what he meant). I would be interested to hear whether anyone here saw the programmes and, if so, your thoughts because I'm afraid that my own lack of empathy with the two men is hindering my assessment of their message.
Kevin Symonds was a forum member here at one time. He deigned to bestow upon us his wisdom. For a while.
WHAT ?. Was Pope Benedict actually physically attacked or threatened. Where was this reported ? It seemed he was forced to resign although he vehemently denies it. When the masons get themselves ensconced anywhere, in politics or business or sadly the Church their true colours surface, and all hell breaks loose. Come Lord Jesus, come and rescue us before we perish.
He seems to have plenty of connections. I'm inclined to agree with him that there may be people using Archbishop Vigano for their own ends. That might indicate that there's some naivete in the Archbishop but it doesn't mean that he isn't right about some things. Symonds seems to believe that Archbishop Vigano's views on Fatima are coloured by his opinion of Cardinal Bertone.
