A Treasure To Be Shared

Pope Trudeau | AP The Generational Divide in the Priesthood by Darrick Taylor That younger priests are drawn to the older rite and to traditional spirituality I have long known, but seeing this priest made visible for me the generational divide within the priesthood today. It is one of those topics that can be delicate to speak of but is almost impossible to ignore: younger priests care more about orthodoxy, liturgy, and tradition than those ordained in previous decades. Many could produce anecdotes like the one above, but a recent survey of priests in the United States confirms this. https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/the-generational-divide-in-the-priesthood https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3951931 The Politicization of Ad Orientem by Eric Sammons When I first arrived at the Diocese of Venice, my family were happy Novus Ordo-attending Catholics. We explored the parishes around us, but what we found were variations on the same theme: the priest was a performer, cel...

Thank God – often and always. Thank Him carefully and wonderingly for your continuing privileges and for every experience of His goodness. Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow. - from Five Helps for the New Year by Archbishop Michael Ramsey, former Archbishop of Canterbury. Anglican Bless, O Father, Thy gifts to our use and us to Thy service; for Christ’s sake. Amen. Catholic ( Before a meal ) Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. ( After ) We give Thee thanks, Almighty God, for all thy benefits, Who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. ( Before a meal ) In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Benedic, Domine, nos et haec Tua dona, quae de Tua largitate sumus sumpturi. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. ( At the end of the meal ) Agimus Tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus, pro universis beneficiis Tuis. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Methodist/Wesleyan Be...

A local diocesan parish is planning a move, and along with that move a new church building and parish centre are in the works. The community's timing is excellent. The area in which the existing parish is located, and the area where the new project will be located, is booming; one of Canada's fasting growing regions. They have sufficient funds to facilitate a successful project:  https://olorchurch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-09-19-Presentation-1.pdf Unfortunately, their new church will have all the warmth of a refrigerator. An interior scoured of theological richness has been chosen over one that draws people through the transcendentals into the mystery of the Incarnation. A safe space has been chosen over a human one. And, if precedent holds, the celebration of Mass will come to resemble the space: flat; boxy; plodding. That said, the appearance of an apse of sorts, an ever so brief nod to historic and integral Catholic design, is a welcome acknowledgement on the part ...

What they say: "I'm Type-A." What they mean: "I need to control others." The Type-A individual, if we go with a commonly accepted hypothesis, is: outgoing, ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-conscious, impatient, anxious, proactive, and concerned with time management. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics". They push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence. People with Type A personalities experience more job-related stress and less job satisfaction. They tend to set high expectations for themselves, and may believe others have these same high expectations of them as well. Interestingly, those with Type A personalities do not always outperform those with Type B personalities. What's being contested here, however, is not necessarily the personality type hypothesized above. Rather, it is the type of constant manipulative behaviour of an individual who self discloses as Type-A. That is,...

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. Goodwill is rarely practiced when needed most. A conversation with a good friend the other day, a dedicated public school teacher with several advanced degrees and a long successful career in teaching at both the grade school and college levels, confirmed that rather than good intentions being assumed, the opposite is true. Parents, often indifferent or unwilling to provide their children with a sense of virtue and self discipline, too easily assume a teacher is at fault when their children's behaviour, most often a mirror and predictor of home life, is questioned and challenged. In the workplace and the classroom, as much in the public square and on or in social media, rational debate is becoming exceedingly rare. Conflict is catastrophic rather than an opportunity to stretch understanding and to achieve consensus. The terms by which people are forced to operate - conditions introduced by people seized by a pathol...

And it goes like this, here it goes Paranoia, the destroyer Here it goes again Paranoia, the destroyer - The Kinks POINT 1. The TLM world has been turned upside down: Traditionis Custodes ; the dubia . Anyone who has rubbed shoulders with Latin Mass (1962 Missal) enthusiasts is aware that there is among said adherents an understandable zeal for the older missal and at times reserved disgust (and at times a not-so reserved disgust) for the Ordinary Form (Missa Normativa), the Liturgy of Pope Saint Paul VI. Keep reading. POINT 2. Many among the blog-mob are saying that Latin Mass enthusiasts have brought the wrath of Rome down upon themselves. Is that a fair judgement? The Latin Mass folk in our neck of the woods freely admit there are among them a few individuals who are borderline sedevacantists. A very small minority; hardly enough opposition to warrant concern and a prohibition of Mass according to the 1962 Missal. POINT 3. The vast majority of Latin Mass attendees in the local dioce...

Supersoakerfragilisticexpialatrocious  We in the Ordinariate are so blessed with excellent preachers! Alas, our saintly kin in diocesan circles are too often saddled with homilists who, it seems, delight in every fad, delivering sermons with gimmicks or by soaring with highly affected voices that merely accentuate the insult of strange or flaccid content. Saintly kin, because their ability to survive the regular Sunday assault on their collective intelligence is worthy of respect. Even during these sobering coronavirus times when one could imagine clergy having time to apply themselves to the relief of study, one still frequently hears from diocesan Catholics who lament their exposure to ( facepalm ) goofy sermons. More than a few diocesan pewsitters in our neck of the woods are attending Ordinariate Masses and finding sustenance, which is swelling our ranks. Unfortunately, diocesan clergy, rather than understand the reason behind the effect, choose to characterize the defections a...