a thought?

What will be left of sanctity once eroded by the draw of pixels and tech?

There needs to be a truly impassioned, heartfelt, brilliant text penned by a shepherd about the Mass and Precious Body and Blood of Christ. 

I mean, a text so honest and unapologetic it makes everyone a little uncomfortable. 

We don’t need more critique.  We need saints. 

We need heros...sanctity...and sacrifice.  

We need men and women who dare SUFFER for love of Christ and  His Church. 

 

Suffering: Job’s job?

“We accept good things from God;
and should we not accept evil?”
-Job

It is given us by God the duty to reject evil. To rail against it. To raise a fist in protest. Even to lay down one’s life. There is no intellectual easy way here. Job, grant me your grit. 

Physicality

Yesterday, for the first time in 10 years, I put on my rugby cleats and took to the field..

The body is intimately linked to the soul.  To feel my body alive and thundering down the field, senses immersed in a game I know so well.  Super healthy.  Good for the soul.

Momentum is life giving.  To find new life through physicality is just what the doctor ordered. 

The Death of Eulogies

Eulogies do not belong at church.

The focus of the Mass is always Christ.

Having heard enough inappropriate stories from the sacred pulpit proves that point.

Some people believe that the story about uncle Tony walking around in his underpants with various stains in them is holy ground (I can’t make this stuff up).

Please clue in!

The inevitable confusion occurs when the story about the man’s underwear and the proclamation of Jesus as the light of the world are proclaimed from the same pulpit!

You cannot use the ambo to advance the profane and at the same time expect people to not become confused about its purpose and function.

The altar and the ambo are off limits to the profane.

Disagree if you want.
As for me, I can’t abide eulogies...a direct contradiction to sacrifice.

Take note, the sacred  liturgy is a hill worth dying on.   

Entitlement

Cough!! Hack!!! Ugh. 

I have caught the bug. Entitlement. 

The sense of being ‘owed’ appreciation.

Of being understood and listened to. 

Of having my opinion valued. 

Of being spiritually ‘reimbursed’ when I go out of my way to serve. 

Do I really know Love. Or do I just know reimbursement? 

Switchfoot crooned “I dare you to move.”

But I sit distressed, thinking, “Why should I have to?”

Let’s Kill It! A Eulogy for Eulogies

Undoubtedly the greatest risk to the integrity of the holy Mass is the practice of eulogies.  Eulogies undermine and corrupt the purpose and intent of the Mass as well as the sacred space wherein it is offered. Eulogies help pulpits devolve and succumb to petty competition between families giving ‘high praises’ of their loved ones.  The only One deserving high praise in the house of God is God Himself!  Blasphemy, sexually explicit ‘stories’, cursing, religious rants about hell and damnation...I have witnessed it.  Eulogies.  Think it’s just a cute thing families do to talk about grandma’s great cookies?  Where have you been?  I say this with love: Wake up! 

What’s that Smell?

Coming back to an earlier post about Pope Francis’ exhortation to pastors to “smell like the sheep” - 

A pastor smells like the sheep because he is out ‘in the midst’ of them. Involved. Gritty.  Not retreating constantly to fulfil his desires for inner peace.  Like a good parent, his flock comes first. They are not there to serve him. Although he does allow himself to be lifted up, encouraged, and fed by their love of God.  He doesn’t run to a separate kosher kitchen for meals.  Is it the smell of urine and incontinence?  I suppose it’s whatever malfunction and distress his people face.  Not to mention his own inconsistencies and failures.  It’s a messy existence, yet one ordered by truth.  Finally le bon pasteur smells like the sheep because he IS a sheep!  There is but One shepherd.  The pastor shares in the shepherd’s role but remains a sheep himself, otherwise his discipleship devolves into rule.  The olfactory analogy can only go so far.  It’s not meant to be a comforting picture but one that shakes up our usual notions. After all, sheep smell a good deal like shit, I imagine.    

Keep Focused (on Him)

SAT DOWN TO PRAY MY BREVIARY, THE SACRED OFFICE, THIS MORNING...
after an hour I looked up from my cell phone and rushed off to my next appointment.

Friends, are you sometimes discouraged by your scattered attempts and outright resistance to prayer? Do not be crushed!  Take heart...trust not in your own self but in Christ!  He sees you. He is pleased with your attempts. 

A sharper focus on the Diocesan Priesthood

What traits distinguish a diocesan priest?  Why would a Catholic man consider becoming a diocesan priest rather than a Franciscan (Halifax), Companion of the Cross (Ottawa), or Cistercian (Rogersville)?

My first observation is that diocesan priests are by far the most common type of priest in Atlantic Canada. As Catholics we encounter more of them than any other religious order.  Diocesan priests are called ‘secular’ priests and their charism is the care of souls. They exercise this care through parish ministry which sews together both the temporal and the spiritual spheres.  Whereas a religious contemplative may be dedicated exclusively to prayer and manual work, a diocesan priest is occupied with not only offering the sacraments but tending to the needs of the parish. If he is smart he is not the head of everything, he must delegate. However, at the end of the day, a parish priest ‘smells like the sheep’ (to quote Pope Francis) because he has his finger on the pulse. A good pastor is one of the greatest gifts the Lord can bestow on a parish (Saint Jean Marie Vianney of France).

But what about them and their spirituality is unique to diocesan priests - making them stand apart from the religious orders?  From my experience the diocesan priesthood throws the largest net over the most diverse group of men. By sheer number we are necessarily a ‘motley’ band, so many personalities and gifts differing. This can be challenging but also keeps us limber.  The immersion factor for diocesan priests is that rather than be dedicated to a set group and set routine, we are immersed into the parish community, casting an even broader net of human interaction. It gives us the opportunity to be pastoral and loving toward all, especially those on the periferies.  As Father McGowan writes rather succinctly and to-the-point at catholiccaucus.blogspot.ca/ - diocesan priesthood is about leading souls to heaven -not a bad calling!  I echo his lively sentiment -not a bad calling indeed!