The Return of the Latin Mass?

Not really a return, it has been around. If you live in a big city, you can attend it every Sunday. Typical misreporting on this--a "widening" of its use would no doubt lead to it being done in a few more places, but it is hard to concieve that it will be many and if it so one can only hope that the young priests will have had lessons in Church Latin.

What I long for is the experience that I had as a young student at Saint Meinrad in the 1980's where in the monastic chapel the reformed rite of the Mass was celebrated exactly the way it is in the ritual. Only one hymn, a post communion thanksgiving hymn. The antiphons chanted at the entrance and other places, the psalm chanted, most of the prayers chanted, incense used, the homily on target with the Readings--something that if others experienced would have made the longing for the old days totally unnecessary...but what we all have experienced is a far cry from that and therefore the crisis in the liturgy continues...

From Time magazine:

The new permission, or "indult," would most immediately address a longstanding schism with the ultra-traditionalist group founded in 1969 by the French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who opposed the Vatican II reforms. Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 after he consecrated four bishops without Rome's consent. But Benedict is believed to want to bring the Lefebvrites back in the fold.

Yet his olive branch may complicate matters in the American Church. Certainly, traditionalists who had to drive a hundred miles to find a priest with permission will be thrilled. More theologically liberal Catholics, however, may see it as a Lefebvrite-tinged step back from the principles they feel inspired Vatican II. "This would make it much more difficult for people to engage in full conscious and active participation, which was the goal of the Council," says Rev. James Martin, an editor at the Jesuit magazine America. Congregations could theoretically split on the issue, and many current priests would have to learn the old Mass (and more Latin, if they wanted to understand it).

Or buy a missal and follow along like they did in the old days.

For a real concise and excellent review of the issues surrounding this issue. Check out More Catholic Than The Pope: An Inside Look At Extreme Traditionalism by Pete Vere and Pat Madrid:

Pope's Audience: St. Simon and St. Jude

From Asia News Italy:

Pressing ahead with his illustration of the personalities of the apostles, the pope today dealt with Simon the Canaanite and Jude Thaddeus. Coming as they did from totally different social realities, they “are an evident sign that Jesus calls his disciples and collaborators from the most diverse social and religious strata, without any preclusion. He is interested in people, not social categories or labels! And the great thing is that within the group of his followers, all lived together although they were different, overcoming the imaginable difficulties. It was Jesus himself, in fact, who was the reason for their cohesion, in who all came together. This clearly is a lesson for us, who are often inclined to stress differences and perhaps contradictions, forgetting that in Jesus Christ is given to us the strength to calm our conflicts.”
The pope then turned to a letter, attributed to Jude Thaddeus, that harshly criticizes “those who use the grace of God as a pretext to excuse their debauchery and to lead their brothers astray with unacceptable teachings, introducing division within the Church”. Benedict XVI said “such controversial” language is no longer used today to “state very clearly both what remains distinctive in Christianity as well as that which is incompatible with it. The way of indulgence and dialogue, which the Second Vatican Council happily took up, should surely be followed with firm constancy. All the same, it should not make one forget the duty to hark back to, and to highlight with the same force, the main and irrefutable lines of our Christian identity. On the other hand, we must bear in mind that this identity of ours is not only expressed on a merely cultural or superficial level. Rather it calls for the strength, clarity and courage of provocation that belong to the faith.”
The pope added: “It is clear that the author of these lines fully lives his faith, to which belong considerable realities like moral integrity and joy, faith and finally praise, all motivated solely by the goodness of our unique God and the mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why both Simon the Canaanite and Jude Thaddeus help us to rediscover anew and to live tirelessly the beauty of the Christian faith, capable of bearing strong and at the same time serene witness.

The Miracle that Makes a Saint

From the Indianapolis Star:

Phil McCord was at a composting convention in New Mexico making small talk when a guy asked him what was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to him.
A shy man, McCord smiled. When the Roman Catholic Church has declared the unexplained healing of your eye to be a miracle that proves a 19th century nun is worthy of sainthood -- this is a question you can answer.
McCord, who has been asked to recount his experience a lot lately, leaves Thursday for Rome, where he will participate in the canonization of Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin, whose coming recognition as a saint is due in no small part to what happened to McCord's eye.
On Sunday, he will be part of a delegation from the religious order Guerin founded -- the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods -- that will present the pope with a gift during the canonization ceremonies.
And McCord -- who isn't Catholic, doesn't consider himself devout and can't figure out how he wound up in the middle of all this -- will come face to face with a pope.
"I've got to tell you there is this whole big fuzzy circle around the whole thing that is unreal," he said.

Repent or Perish Luke 13:3

The First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation to Mary

The angel's greeting to Mary is one of joy as the hoped-for Messiah's coming is announced. Ask Our Lady to help you pray this decade, pondering the joy of God's coming to save His people.

--from Praying the Rosary: With the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and & Mysteries by Michael Dubruiel and Amy Welborn.

Repent or Perish Luke 13:3

To experience the joy of the joyful mysteries of the rosary one must truly repent, change their way of thinking--and learn a new what is really important in life. What should you and I really be awaiting? What is the ultimate event we should be looking forward to in our lives?

Isn't it interesting how the day that commemorates the birth of Jesus has been poluted in modern times as an event that is looked forward to for material gifts that in the end disappoint? Isn't this our first lesson in that not to repent leads to a life that is constantly passing where a final perishing is the end result?

Most of us can remember the many times that we have finally received what we thought would bring us ultimate happiness only in the end to realize that there is something more, something beyond what any of the earthly desires and fulfillment can bring. But the game goes on and we continue to replace one fantasy with another, thinking that this new "thing" will be "it."

This can happen even in religion, when one thinks the perfect liturgy, preacher, pope, spiritual director, (fill in your blank) will bring us to the heights that hitherto we haven't accomplished. This is a far cry from Jesus' admonition not to go off in search of the false messiahs, but rather to die to oneself. Repentance is hard. Most of us don't repent we just change our addictions, replacing one for the other--and experience the same disappointments over and over because X has let us down.

Imagine the joy of Mary as she hears the announcement that a savior is coming. The joy of a St. Paul when he realizes "wretched man that I am, who will save me?" "Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ!" (See Romans) Imagine your joy, my joy when we finally repent, turn away from Satan and all his empty promises and place our hope in God alone.

Thursday's Forecast

For all of you who live in the south, here is what we are already looking at for this week (although it is supposed to be in the 70's today), from the Weather Channel:

Mix of rain and snow. Highs in the upper 40s and lows in the upper 20s.

Irish Priests and the Florida Missions

From the Sun Sentinel:

In 1914, none of the four Catholic pastors in South Florida was Irish born, according to the Rev. Michael McNally's book, Catholicism in South Florida. By 1940, Irish clergy predominated.

About 1,250 Irish-born priests were serving in the United States in 1997, according to a study by sociologist William Smith of Georgia Southern University.

The very uncertainty of a religious frontier was a lure for the Irish, said the Rev. Gerald Grace of Highland Beach, one of 16 foreign-born Irish still serving in the Diocese of Palm Beach. "It was the missionary endeavor, never knowing what you're going to find."

For Grace, pastor of St. Lucy church in Highland Beach and a theology instructor at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary west of Boynton Beach, the appeal of South Florida so far has lasted 41 years.

"Any time you serve the needs of others -- seeing their perspective, affirming their goodness -- it's always fulfilling," he said. "That's at the heart of the gospel."

Pope: The Family Against Hedonism and Relativism

From Asia News Italy:

Citing Gaudium et Spes and Vatican Council II, the pope recalled that “God himself is the author of marriage”. And it is precisely from this Origin that the definition of marriage is born as “no longer two, but one flesh”. For this reason, any division or breaking of the marital bond is excluded: ‘Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate’ (Mk 10:8-9).

So the pope exhorted Christian spouses “to remain faithful to their vocation in every stage of life, ‘in joy and sorrow, in health and sickness’, as they promised to do in the sacramental rite. Aware of grace received, may Christian spouses build families open to life and capable of confronting together the many complex challenges of our time.”

Overcoming hedonism and relativism, parents are “true ‘missionaries’ of love and of life (cfr n.54).This mission is directed within the family – especially in reciprocal service and children’s education – and outside: the domestic family, in fact, is called to be a sign of God’s love towards all. It is a mission, this, that the Christian family can bring to fulfillment only if sustained by divine grace.”