It Really Does Matter

This week, I got the news that a new letter of instruction was released on the celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form from the Ecclesia Dei commission and approved by Pope Benedict.  This came as kind of a clarification on Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict’s letter authorizing wider use of the rite.  In both texts, the Holy Father is asking for wider availability of the older form for those who request it.

When Summorum Pontificum was published in 2007, it generated a variety of reactions.  Bishop Burbidge of Raleigh, NC welcomed it.  Meanwhile, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, a strange list of “norms” was published regarding its use that seem to defeat the purpose of the Holy Father’s decree.  In fact, what I’ve read about this past week’s new letter seem to have been written to specifically counter what they are saying in Cincinnati.

Here’s my question:  Why are there people so afraid of allowing the celebration of the Extraordinary Form?  Pope Benedict is only asking for it to be made available for those who desire it.  What is the problem that a bishop or an office of worship in a diocese would need to set up such barriers?

Well, there is one legitimate concern.  Some people who favor the old rite do so because they don’t respect the validity of the Ordinary Form of the Mass.  This is a form of dissent against the Church that cannot be supported.  The new instruction addresses this by saying that groups such as these should not be accommodated.  The purpose of Summorum Pontificum was to promote reconciliation, not schism.

Do people (whether laity, priests, or the local bishop) worry that priests, especially younger ones, will just up and decide that they aren’t going to offer the Ordinary Form anymore?  This is highly unlikely.  The greater availability of the Extraordinary Form is for people who request it.  If there is not a group of people requesting it, it’s difficult to imagine priests eager to impose it on them.  Are people going to want the Extraordinary Form in such numbers that priests everywhere will be compelled to offer it?  I doubt this.  Too many people (out of ignorance, mostly) believe that the Extraordinary Form is a relic of the Dark Ages.

Do people have some problem with the Extraordinary Form? If so, what?  It had been the only form of the Roman Rite for centuries, and it is a very beautiful rite.  Whenever I have been, I see people who truly want to be at Mass and give worship to God.  So, I ask (please feel free to comment), what are we afraid of?

Alleluia!  He is risen!  I wish a most Blessed and Happy Easter to all of my family, friends, and anyone who is reading this.

As we were getting up this morning, my wife reminded me that this Easter marks twenty years since I became Catholic.  I was baptized on the Easter Vigil in 1991 as a sophomore in high school.  Somehow, this had slipped my mind.  Good thing I have a wife!  This is one blogging occasion that I don’t want to miss!

Truly, I am thankful that God has led me to the Catholic Church.  It has become so much of who I am that I cannot imagine being anything else.  Nothing compares to being able to be fed, sometimes daily, with none other than the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate this day.

This doesn’t mean that it was always easy, nor have I always felt the way that I do now.  When I was in college and pharmacy school in Mississippi, I was jealous of the Protestants.  They seemed to be happy in their faith.  At the time, I knew of few Catholics whose love for Jesus Christ was so visible.  Campus ministry wasn’t too helpful either.  I tried to accept what I was being taught, but something didn’t seem quite right.  It probably didn’t help that I was also somewhat anti-intellectual at the time.  Well, actually, that may have been the grace of God at the time as I might have fallen for who knows what.

However, something sustained me.   To explain this, I need to go back to the time before I became Catholic.  When I was about three or four, I have a vague memory of being in church and watching someone put something in my aunt’s mouth.  I remember thinking “I want one of those.”  This never left me, and I would later come to know just what it was that I wanted.  It was nothing less than the Holy Eucharist, God himself, and I believed in it!  While I was preparing to enter the Church, I longed to receive him.  During the last few weeks before the Easter Vigil, I was really counting down the days, tired of watching people receive what I so badly wanted but could not yet receive.  The thought that I would get to join the Church the night before Easter Sunday really appealed to me.  It was one less day I had to wait to receive him.

It was that total self-gift that God has given us in the Eucharist that sustained me during years of kind of “wandering in the dessert.”  I was always at Sunday Mass.  No matter what others had to offer, I knew that only in the Catholic Church was I receiving Jesus himself in the Eucharist.  Despite sensing that something wasn’t really right (though I couldn’t put my finger on it), I wasn’t leaving the Church.

Shortly after graduation from pharmacy school, I reached the stage where I learned that the things that didn’t seem right really weren’t right.  In many cases, this wasn’t really the fault of those involved.  However, now I was being fed with the authentic faith.  I came back to my practice of praying before the Blessed Sacrament that I had kind of fallen away from.  The result was a transformation that would still be a difficult road, but now I realized I had a purpose.  The things I discovered about the faith shortly after graduating from pharmacy school started me a path of falling in love with the Church all over again.  It became clear that there were many people who were near my age may never have had a chance to know what I had learned.   I figured out what had been bugging me.  I wanted to do something about it.

What would I do?  This would take years to fully develop.  The seeds were actually planted while I was in pharmacy school.  There were web sites being put out by people defending the teachings of the Church.  I had rarely seen people defend the teachings, and I must admit that I didn’t like them at first.  Still, I had my own web page and did some of the same stuff.  Later, when I was working and had money, I would buy some Catholic teachings on tape.  God was telling me that I could do this on a local level.  So, I began recording RCIA talks into my computer and making CDs (later MP3s).  A couple of years later, I joined an RCIA where I was allowed to give some talks, which I also recorded.  God was using my desire to teach, my media hobby, and my geekiness for his own purpose.

Things have continued to change.  I am learning more about the faith, and especially about liturgy.  Yana and I will have our first-born son this September.  I am going to be working in my own domestic church. Don’t get me wrong; I never want to stop working however I can in evangelization and the use of new media.  I don’t think God called me to it just to take it away completely, especially since I still have the desire.  However, I do know that my ultimate responsibility will be for the souls of those whom God has entrusted directly to Yana and me.  I thank God for all he has given me these past twenty years and pray for his continued help for me and my family.

Earlier this week, I decided to join the discussion in the comment box of Matthew Warner’s article on church bulletins.  For me, I must admit that it’s something that people may not think much about.  However, I think he has done a good job stirring up discussions.

For the most part, the bulletin for me has been the means by which I remember what day and time a certain event will be held.  It isn’t much more than that.  I may have learned about the meeting or event somewhere else.  However, I’ve reached a point where I don’t even want to pick up a copy of a paper bulletin.  It’s just something that will get tossed in a pile somewhere.  If I want to read the bulletin, I’m going to download it, even if we have a paper copy at home.  It’s easier for me to look online than to try to find where we put our copy of the bulletin.

I’d love to see some parish have their bulletin online only.  I am willing to bet that there are very few, if any, people who wouldn’t be able to access it today.  Maybe a few copies could be printed for them.  It just seems that it would save a lot of expense and could even be updated if an error were found.

There is a lot of great Catholic media out there showing us the real picture on the Catholic Church.  However, many Catholic still aren’t aware of it.  That’s why I will glady participate in Catholic Media Promotion Day.

I now have the longest commute to work that I’ve ever had.  So, I use the opportunity to listen to Catholic podcasts.  What do I listen to?

1. Catholic Underground.  I look forward to hearing it every week.  They have a lot of great tech talk, and, like me, they are Apple fans.  Then, they give perspective on current events in the Church.
2. The Break.  Fr. Roderick in the Netherlands has a great show, and, yes, it’s in English. I’m not a big fan of the sci-fi part, but I do like what he has to say on other technology and the Church.
3. More2Life.  It’s no secret anymore that my wife and I have a baby on the way.  This podcast is actually a radio show hosted by Greg and Lisa Popcak.  They talk about Theology of the Body in our marriage and family life.

I am also thankful that my wife found iCatholicRadio as I now no longer need to subscribe to Sirius or XM to get EWTN Radio.  The EWTN site never would work on my Mac, even with Flip4Mac installed and updated.  As for my favorite blogs, it’s probably best to just check out my blogroll on the right-hand side of the page.  I might add that the National Catholic Register (NOT the National Catholic Reporter) is a great place to get Catholic news and commentary.

Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Catholic media, and I even like to produce some stuff myself.  Surely you have seen my podcast.  I used to record talks for RCIA for a couple of parishes in the Memphis area, and I have links to talks I have given and recorded here.

A number of years ago, my grandmother told me about how she loved the Latin when that was the language of the Mass.  I must confess that I didn’t understand her.  It seemed strange that she wouldn’t be perfectly happy with having the Mass in English.  We gave her a CD of Gregorian Chant one year, and she loved it.  She could tell that I wasn’t so enthusiastic.

Years later, I’ve been to the Extraordinary Form a few times and really enjoy it.  The parish to which we belong has a schola that does chant about once a month, and it is beautiful.  I only wish that I had discovered all of this while my grandmother was still alive.

Thanks to the National Catholic Register, I learned of the Chant Cafe site.  It is well worth reading about the music of the Mass and how things have departed from the original intent of Vatican II.  Until I read it, I did not know what an Introit was or that there was a setting for the antiphons for the Mass.  Then, one day, the schola in my parish was singing it, and I realized that they had been doing this all along.  Ah, yes, this is one more reason why I love the liturgies at Assumption.  By the way, this is a small parish with not a lot of staff.  So, lack of resources isn’t a very good excuse for not having a beautiful Mass.

I was in Best Buy this morning testing out the iPad to see if I wanted one for Christmas. For me, it will be useful as a reading, video watching, and mobile data device.  Since I’m going to use it to read web sites, I went to Catholic Exchange to check out how well it would work.

Well, I was in for a not-so-pleasant surprise.  I got a message saying that it was blocked from Best Buy’s network because it was “Religion.”  If I get an iPad, I’m getting it somewhere else.

Does anyone know how to get EWTN radio in a city that doesn’t have the broadcast without using XM or Sirius? I tried the listening link on EWTN’s page, and it doesn’t work on my Mac.  I have the Flip4Mac plugin and everything, and it still doesn’t work.  I have the same problem with Ave Maria Radio. I don’t know why these guys use Windows-specific technology.

I got rid of Sirius and am contemplating canceling XM.  I called and canceled my Sirius radio over a year ago, and it turns out that six months later they started charging me again.  They claimed that they sent me an e-mailing telling me that the account was on hold, but I have no memory of it.  Keep this in mind if you wish to sign up for Sirius.  If this is the way that they do business, I don’t want them.  Also, if they offer you an option to keep the account suspended so that you don’t have to pay reactivation fees, don’t take it!  This is their way of starting charges again.  I’ve noticed on some web boards that they have done these things to other people.

Last week, I went to my first Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy.  Specifically, it was the Ukrainian Rite, and the principal celebrant was their bishop.  Most of the Mass, including the Scripture reading, was chanted.  I thought the deacon’s voice sounded familiar.  Then, I found out that the deacon and priest live in Raleigh.  We had heard them before at the morning prayer of the Ignited by Truth conference.

The Liturgy felt quite a bit different from what I am used to, but I found the basic parts were still there.  It begins with the signing of Psalm 51 (penitential).  The Scriptures are read.  The Creed and Sanctus are used.  There are also a lot of repeating prayers.  It was a beautiful liturgy that I hope to experience again. However, I really do need to find something to explain the various prayers and hymns.

Oh, and the Liturgy was in English.  Their translation is, in many places, very similar to the new translation coming to our Roman Rite.  It just seems funny to me that people complain about our upcoming translation when the Eastern Church already uses that same kind of language.

Somehow, I don’t think this one will surprise many people who read my blog, but I received this article entitled Health Overhaul May Bring Free Birth Control from Prolifepharmacy.com on my Facebook.  It came from NPR, but I was hoping that it was actually from The Onion.  Like I said, I’m not surprised that this is on someone’s agenda.  The most telling quote was from Dr. David Grimes at UNC:

Contraception rivals immunization in dollars saved for every dollar invested. Spacing out children allows for optimal pregnancies and optimal child rearing. Contraception is a prototype of preventive medicine.

This guy is an Ob/Gyn.  Does he think pregnancy is an illness?  We might, as a society, save money, but for what purpose.  Fortunately, the USCCB has weighed in on this.  Hopefully, our upcoming election will boot the promoters of this nonsense out of office.

Yana and I registered at the aforementioned parish this morning.  After this morning’s Mass, I’m even more excited about being there.  I don’t know if this is a regular thing or not, but they had a beautiful chanted Mass.  Some of the chant was English, but the Gloria, Sanctus, Mysterium Fidei, and Agnus Dei were all chanted in Latin.  This is a great example of what we would get if Vatican II were actually implemented as is stated in Sacrosanctum Concilium. By the way, did I mention that, after everyone receives the Eucharist at every Mass, the parish sings Salve Regina.

We had a chance to introduce ourselves to the pastor.  He told us how important it was for him that we stick with tradition and to do what Jesus Christ wants instead of doing our own thing.  We are grateful for this.  We have firsthand knowledge of what happens when a parish does its own thing, and it is a very, very ugly picture.