Let God use you without consulting you....

Some advice I need to heed, from Mother Theresa, via the Archbishop-elect of New York.

“Do I want to go? Do I consider myself qualified? Are there much better candidates for the position?” Archbishop Dolan asked rhetorically.

“All of that is really beside the point. The obedience I freely and enthusiastically promised to Jesus Christ, His Church, and His vicar on earth, our Holy Father, is a very liberating act. So, I place my future in the hands of the Lord, whose grace and mercy endure forever, and I go.”

And really, how could ya not love a guy who values a good paczki? (That's pronounced "poonch-kee," for those of you who have not had the pleasure.)
I expect to enjoy at least one tomorrow night, assuming ANYONE shows up for choir rehearsal...
Even Himself is proving to be... well, let's just say, TPTB are demonstrating yet again in what lowly regard they hold what we do.
Go ahead, schedule something else during choir rehearsal.
Every rehearsal, every week.
Go ahead.
Think the noise will bother us? bother me?

I feel a Saint-Saens moment coming on....

Or is that not how He wants to use me?

The Chant, and "Accessing a Naive State of Bliss"

The Irish Times has a long piece on the power of music as experienced by the Benedictines of Glenstal Abbey, County Limerick.

Acknowledging that Gregorian chant has a special relationship to Catholic Liturgy, Br Cyprian Love speaks of the way it helps order time, calms one physically, evokes memory and emotion, focuses the mind... all good, all true.

What I like is the way Br Cyprian points to other musical forms and styles that share this power to "take you on a spiritual journey," (a "journey," I wish to add, that does not preclude utter stillness -- the stillness that is the furthest thing possible from passivity or inertia

It's important to remember that the "chant jocks" and sacred music fanatics are not, none of them, (none of us?,) so far as I know, of the Gregorian or nothing mindset they are accused of by the Ephemerists.

Rather, we hold Gregorian chant as the ideal, and any music that takes its inspiration from the chant, any music for which the chant serves as a model, any music with the same values, is a worthy avenue of exploration for liturgical musicians.

(So no, sorry, that would not include the cha-cha, head-banger, serial music...)

Sprinkling Rite During Gloria

My parish, as long as I have lived here, has had the peculiar, to me, custom of performing any sprinkling rite during the Gloria (except the one with the renewal of baptismal promises that replaces the Credo on Easter)

I always wondered where the practice originated, but the couple times I broached the subject, people who might have known became somewhat defensive, and I backed off, (I didn't want to be pegged as the Liturgy Police... even if I do have the scanner in the den, to listen to the dispatcher and the patrol cars ;oP)

Well, now I know.
Instructions for Confirmation arrived from the chancery (they don't actually concern me, because I am given unpaid leave for anything Toby decides.)

So, bishops, (or O of W's) orders --"please keep in mind that when the Gloria is to be sung, the Sprinkling Rite will occur during the sung Gloria.
If the choice is made to have a sprinkling rite song, the Gloria should be completely omitted (A spoken Gloria is not appropriate. ) For appropriate Sundays in the Liturgical year the Gloria is always sung."

Huh?

A series of partial truths and tiny errors, IMO -- the sprinkling rite if used replaces the PENITENTIAL Rite, not the Gloria.
While the Gloria is a hymn and yes, it should be sung, if the Liturgy of the day calls for a Gloria it cannot licitly be omitted.
But if singing it is not an option, (yet -- it is presumed that this would be in a liturgically immature or musically challenged parish that was on its way to remedying the situation,) the Gloria must at least be spoken.

Just leaving it out is less appropriate than reciting it.
Does this O of W have a tendency to present preferences as rubrics?

"Pinki" Wins

That All May Be One...

If you are not already reading the witty and formidable Fr Hunwicke I suggest, nay, URGE that you add him to your daily read.
In all the kerfuffle about potential unification, (RC, SSPX, TAC, a veritable alphabet soup of liturgical reverence,) he imagines a dialogue betwixt a would-be Tiber-swimmer, (yes, I've read that the metaphor is bad, inapt, I like it nonetheless....,) and one of those I-don't-see-why-you-have-to-believe-what-the-Church-teaches-to-call-yourself-Catholic prelates:

Anglican priest

Morning, Bishop. Having believed the whole Faith for 55 years as an Anglican priest, I have discerned that this is the moment humbly to seek full communion.

RC Bishop

We don't accept single issue converts. If you're one of these troublemakers who have been so noisy about women bishops ...

Priest

I don't believe that women can be bishops, but I'm not single issue. For all my life I've accepted all the defined doctrines of the Church including those of Vatican One ...

Bishop

Did you say Vatican One?

Priest

(failing to notice the thunderous brow) Yup. Pastor aeternus and all that. First rate stuff.

Bishop

That's as may be. I don't say it is and I don't say it isn't. But you sound a prickly sort of chap to me.

Priest

Bishop, I just thought that, now your diocesan establishment is down to nine priests with an average age of 81, I might be of some use to you.

Bishop

It's far too early to think about the possibility of ordination. You'll have to spend many, many years acclimatising yourself as a layman to our Catholic culture, before the question even arises.

Priest

Well, I think I do know fairly well ...

Bishop

Let me test you. What is the first thing that a priest says at the start of Mass after crossing himself in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?

Priest

Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui ...

Bishop

(the veins in his firehead bulging dangerously) In fact, I think I have already discerned that God is not calling you to priesthood. You are clearly too young/old, you are under/over qualified, you are encumbered with a wife/unmarried and therefore presumably homosexual, in fact I think I recall my chum Jim/Jack/Bob/Bill, the bishop of Barchester, talking about you only the other day. He said that you were a pain in ... that you were not well adapted to modern models of collaborative ministry.

(Forgive me, I've taken the liberty of changing the format, vaguely Tams-Witmarkish, getting in practice for typing up the kiddie scripts.... WHAT WAS I THINKING???!?!???)

Hymn Playing

Michael Lawrence on Hymn playing, which, while not the "hardest part" of my existence, is indeed a trial.

As much as I relish the playing of the organ literature and the creativity of the improvisations, these are not the aspects of the playing that get most of my attention. The truth is that the hymn playing is what really grabs me. It is organic (none of this “hold the last chord and count to two-and-a-half” and other pseudo-scientific, pseudo-musical approaches), and he makes it easy for the singers. I have never taken a single, solitary breath out of sync with this organist; it’s as though he’s able to unite the whole room with the power of his genius.

Though some will feel compelled to give some kind of do-gooder answer when it comes to such things, when I get to talking about the hardest aspect of my job, the answer is quite simple: hymn playing. It’s the hardest thing an organist does.

There are so many variables that need to be engaged. Here’s just one: phrasing. I’ve known many singers who have what I like to call a “comma fetish,” i.e., they breathe where there are commas, and they steadfastly refuse to breathe where there are none—even if the musical phrase has come to an end! In retort to this chintzy approach, one of my voice teachers once said, “God made all commas, visible and invisible.” I’m reminded, too, of a masterclass I attended of John Shirley-Quirk, one of the finest baritones in the world, in which he said that in singing there is a constant tension between the word and the music, and that at any given moment one may be more important than the other.

So much for the “comma fetish” hermeneutic of hymn playing. It seems to me that in playing hymns, one must consider a number of peculiarities. Because the music is metrical and large groups of people are singing, one is limited in the amount of verbal expression that will be possible. Sometimes a comma in the middle of a phrase just needs to be ignored. Besides, most of us don’t take conspicuous pauses at every comma when we speak; why should it be any different when we sing? At the same time, it seems to me that the ends of the musical phrases need to be marked with a breath, if for no other reason than that this is exactly how 98.5% of the people in the pews who are singing are going to do it. It is not my job as an organist to be a social engineer, to try to cram down the throats of the congregation gimmicks that replace musicality.

Now this subject, like all other subjects in which organists (and musicians, too) get involved, is controversial. It will not surprise me if I get some feedback saying that I’m stupid and so was my great-great grandfather. But this highlights the mental pretzels in which one can find oneself in the process of preparing a hymn. I have not even begun to discuss registration, tempo, introductions, modulations, etc.

But there it is, my friends. This is the hardest part of my job—not some feel-good trendy liturgical fashion statement (”Minister to the minsterial needs of the music ministers…”) on my job description, but playing hymns. It’s funny how the seemingly simple can be so complicated.

Hmmm... Is Michael part of Aristotle's blog now?

Martha, Martha, Martha!

(You have to read that title in Eve Plumb's voice.)

A strange discussion on Holy Smoke begun by decrying the "hatchet job" done by a Tablet writer on the great Fr Tim Finigan descended into an "if you spend money on liturgical beauty/children you must be evil because it means you don't care about children/liturgical beauty" snipefest.

It only struck me because on the endless travel of the past few days I'd been thinking about the need we all have, of setting of priorities.

He entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary (who) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
You are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

There is need of only one thing - the better part.

One Thing - the Better Part.

One Thing - the Better Part.

The Gospel of Mark

According to David Letterman's "Fun Facts," the Gospel of Mark is the world's first blog.

And as long as I'm reading the NYTimes online...

Here's an article about the brief encounter between the Holy Father and the Speaker of the House.
Didya follow the link, did ya read it?
Does something seem out of place, gratuitous, irrelevant to the story at hand....?
No?
I'll give you a hint:

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday told Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Roman Catholic who supports abortion rights, that Catholic politicians must protect “human life at all stages of its development.”
Ms. Pelosi is the highest-ranking Democrat to meet with the pope since the election of President Obama, whose administration’s support of abortion rights worries many in the Vatican.

In a statement, the Vatican said Benedict “briefly greeted” Ms. Pelosi and her entourage after his weekly public audience and “took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.”

The pope added that all Catholics, “especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society,” should “work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development.”

As a high-ranking politician and a practicing Catholic who regularly attends Mass and receives communion, Ms. Pelosi has been at the center of several contentious debates between the Catholic Church and the American political establishment.

Ever since the 2004 presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Catholic, United States bishops have debated whether to deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights.

Before the presidential election last fall, several American bishops criticized Ms. Pelosi for saying that church leaders had argued for centuries over whether life begins at conception.

The American bishops also criticized Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Catholic who during the campaign said that “to impose” his “personal judgment” that life begins at conception seemed “inappropriate in a pluralistic society.”

Most of the Vatican hierarchy is deeply concerned about the Obama administration’s support of abortion rights, which differs from the position taken by the Bush administration.

In a statement issued by her office on Wednesday, Ms. Pelosi said it was “with great joy” that she and her husband, Paul, had met Benedict.

She said she had praised “the church’s leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father’s dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel.” Ms. Pelosi’s statement did not mention the pope’s comments on abortion.

Her office noted that she has previously said she wants to reduce abortions but that she remains in favor of abortion rights.

In a move that provoked controversy, the pope last month revoked the excommunication of four bishops from a society founded in rejection of the liberalizing changes of the Second Vatican Council, including its commitment to religious freedom.

Visiting Italy his week, Ms. Pelosi has also met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other Italian politicians.

Oops, maybe that was too big a hint....

"Pretty Much a Dead Letter in Catholicism Today"

I think it is Amy Welborn who needs to ask, far too often when reading "Catholic stories" in the MSM, "don't you have any other names on your rolodex?"

The NYTimes has a terrific article on one priest's efforts to promote, and one parish's revival of the Sacrament of Confession, (and no, Mr. Freedman, that is not a less "formal" name for the practice than "Reconciliation.")

So, wonderful things are happening, the diocese has an initiative too, parishioners rightly point to the love affair our society is having at present with the secular versions of it, and who does the journalist drag out for a quote?

“Confession as we once knew it is pretty much a dead letter in Catholicism today,” * the Rev. Richard P. McBrien... wrote in an e-mail message.

Father McBrien... added in a subsequent e-mail message that “the practice at the Stamford parish is an anomaly, not a sign of anything else” and at best “part of a small minority” of churches.

How could there be a revival of the practice, asked Fr Kael, er.... I mean, Fr McBrien, nobody I know does it.

Anyway, well done Msgr. DiGiovanni.

* Some might beg to differ with McBrien.
F'rinstance, another priest, named Pope Benedict or something like that, is said to receive the sacrament weekly, and says, "We are losing the notion of sin. If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm."

Extraordinary Ministers

Having spent a goodly portion of the only vacation I have taken in over two years in a convalescence facility, I have had the opportunity to observe sacred rituals as enacted by quite a number of extraordinary ministers of Communion.

God bless them all for their works of mercy.

Having said that, I would also like to note that in many cases either their training seems to have been inadequate, or their admission to the ministry ill-considered.

If they were properly trained, too many of them seem to feel that their primary charge is delivery of generalized comfort, rather than the Blessed Sacrament; and that they are free to personalize the ritual.

Nonetheless, I am very grateful.

The Germans are an Interesting People

Bernd das Brot, kidnapped by squatters, (in what Variety identified as a crematorium,) was found alive and well and untoasted, although his kidnappers' house has burnt to the ground.

The glumly glutenous Bernd is a much beloved, brand name, er... I mean, cartoon character.



And you thought the hallucinatorily gay SpongeBob was weird....

This article describes poor Bernd as "surly," but I had thought it was more a matter of a kind of nihilistic depression.

It's all about... ME!

I always think the Gospel and OT readings about leprosy are 'specially chosen for me, either to rub my nose in it, (deservedly, needfully,) or to comfort me.
Yesterday, no exception (was that really only yesterday? it feels like a hundred years ago that I began the busman's holiday of checking out all the Masses at this one, enormous and growing, Catholic parish, (about which... well, I need to work on how to put it in love,) before going on to the hospital.
Anyway, quite nice, Benedict's linking of the scriptural theme of the day to our need for repentance, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation in the Angelus address.

Benedict... explained how "according to ancient Jewish Law leprosy was considered not just as an illness but as the most serious form of 'impurity'. It was the priest's task to diagnose it and declare as unclean the sick person, who then had to leave the community ... until his recovery, if any, a recovery that had to be properly certified. Leprosy, then, constituted a kind of religious and civil death, and its cure a sort of resurrection.

"In leprosy", he added, "we may see a symbol of sin, which is the true impurity of the heart and has the power to distance us from God. It is not in fact the physical sickness of leprosy, as established by the ancient laws, that separates us from Him, but guilt, spiritual and moral evil. ... The sins we commit distance us from God and, if not humbly confessed with trust in divine mercy, they go so far as to produce the death of the soul". The Holy Father then observed how Christ during His Passion "would become as a leper, made unclean by our sins, separated from God: and He would do this for love, in order to obtain reconciliation, forgiveness and salvation for us".

"In the Sacrament of Penance the crucified and risen Christ, through His ministers, purifies us with His infinite mercy, He restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and with our brothers and sisters, He makes us the gift of His love, His joy and His peace".

Benedict XVI concluded by inviting the faithful "to make frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession, the Sacrament of Forgiveness, which we must increasingly rediscover today in the value and importance it has for our lives as Christians".

Hmmm... perhaps it is all about me.

Papa, the Provocateur

Fr Raymond de Souza in the National Post, working from the recent SSPX fracas as a starting point, (of which he says, disagreeing with my thesis, "The cunning plan of a master strategist? Not likely this time; mistakes are mistakes,") makes some excellent points about how the quiet little professor with the church mouse manner has been stirring the pot for years:

Since he arrived in Rome more than 25 years ago, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has repeatedly and deliberately been provocative, kicking up enormous media storms on sensitive subjects. His calculated risk is that his interventions will not move the debate one way or the other within the given parameters, but change the parameters of debate altogether.

He is willing to play with fire in order to bring both heat and light; the obvious danger is that on occasion the fire scorches the Vatican itself.

Benedict is a quiet, even shy man. But he is not timid or naive. He is not afraid to bring the fire, even if, as was the case this month, it means that those gentle, classical pianist's fingers might get burnt. [emphasis supplied]

Perhaps the gesture of acknowledgment PapaRatz makes to crowds, which either Raymond Arroyo or the late Fr Neuhaus referred to as "piano fingers" is intended to cool them off.

What I still find remarkable is how seldom with all the "what kind of message does this send to [fill in the blank] ?!?!?!?" sturm und drang around various papal moves of the past 4 years, the whingers realize that the message may be intended for THEM.

"Because He is on that altar. Get up and go."

Interesting story, Anne Rice's.
Her prose was always a bit too purple for me, but her storytelling surely engages.

But her own life seems as intriguing as that of any of her fictional creations.

Reverts and prodigals...

But this is a great story for Mom's everywhere, no? You might not see the results, you might despair, but you are your child's best hope for salvation, because for him or her, you are the face of the Church.

Different points of view...

I think it is important to read what those with whom one disagrees are saying.

Here, for instance, one Eamonn McCann seems to be saying, Look how He dines with prostitutes and tax-collectors...!!!!!

How can the Pope welcome such appalling faces of Catholicism?
Liberal Catholics have been anguished and angered by the Pope welcoming a Holocaust denier back into the Church and promoting to the hierarchy, a man who believes that the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was devoutly to be welcomed as representing God’s wrath against New Orleans for its tolerance of homosexuals.

Novena

A novena for the Holy Father, compliments of Hermeneutics of Continuity.

Okay, I am officially a... is there a feminine of "fanboy"? ... of Cameron Carpenter

I attended a concert by Cameron Carpenter this evening.

OMGosh....
Wow and wow again. The only thing I would have changed is -- REMOVE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT FROM THE TABERNACLE WHEN YOU ARE HAVING A CONCERT IN A CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How hard is that?

But his skill is so great, his showmanship so NOT overbearing, his oral program notes so engaging, His charm so palpable, his musicality so great, his programming so interesting, and his... well, just see him and hear him if you have the chance.

I, being the epitome of Lucy Leftfoot don't follow doings in the world of non-liturgical, wait, make that "non-how-can-I-disguise-the-utter-innate-cheeziness-of-this-piece-of-religious" music, so I had no notion of what to expect.

But from the opening Revolutionary Etude through the improv on "My Grandfather's Clock," he had me.

From this cold sufferer -- DUH

So, just STOP blowing your nose.
Okay?

Blowing your nose to alleviate stuffiness may be second nature, but some people argue it does no good, reversing the flow of mucus into the sinuses and slowing the drainage.

Counterintuitive, perhaps, but research shows it to be true....

The proper method is to blow one nostril at a time and to take decongestants, said Dr. Anil Kumar Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the New York University Langone Medical Center. This prevents a buildup of excess pressure.

I am tired of winter.

Why prisons, maybe, sorta, just oughta NOT be privatized

Among the most appalling stories I have read recently, (gad, doncha just LOOOOOVE capitalism?)

I don't know why, I do not know anyone personally, so far as i know, who has been imprisoned, much less incarcerated unjustly.
But the idea of this has always haunted me (watching I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang on the Million Dollar Movie while babysitting as a fourteen year old?)

Anyway, I am exactly the kind of bleeding heart who would rather a hundred guilty persons be back on the street rather than one innocent person be deprived of his liberty ON MY BEHALF, (which is what it is. And on your behalf too, if you are a citizen of this nation.)

Weirdly, I was just discussing this, (a natural evolution of the rant about privtizing public parking.....?)

[J]udge, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., and a colleague, Michael T. Conahan, appeared in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to plead guilty to wire fraud and income tax fraud for taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care.

While prosecutors say that Judge Conahan, 56, secured contracts for the two centers to house juvenile offenders, Judge Ciavarella, 58, was the one who carried out the sentencing to keep the centers filled.

“In my entire career, I’ve never heard of anything remotely approaching this,” said Senior Judge Arthur E. Grim, who was appointed by the State Supreme Court this week to determine what should be done with the estimated 5,000 juveniles who have been sentenced by Judge Ciavarella since the scheme started in 2003. Many of them were first-time offenders and some remain in detention.