From a reader:
I have some news for your Brick by Brick File.
Today was the official opening Mass of the Blessed John XXIII Community at the Cathedral in Lansing Michigan, in the Extra-ordinary Form.
Bishop Boyea, Ordinary of Lansing, celebrated the Mass, with the chaplain of the community and another priest in choro. The Crypt of the Cathedral was overflowing with people, and there were many many young families with more than four children in attendance.
The Community was founded just recently (the first Mass was three weeks ago) partly because of Summorum Pontificum, and also partly because of requests of the faithful of Lansing.
Bishop Boyea has been known to be extremely favorable to the EF, having celebrated the EF in Detroit when he was Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit.
Today’s date was selected because it coincides with the founding of another Latin Mass Community in the diocese.
The Community’s website is: www.getholy.com Please pray for the growth of our new Community and for spiritual growth of it’s members.
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Great news. Another generous, liberal minded, and pastoral bishop. I am very happy for the folks in that diocese
Also worthy of mention: This same bishop, His Excellency Earl Boyea, had very recently encouraged (at least) one other priest of his Diocese to begin offering the Extraordinary Form in his parish. Apparently, his wish is to make it available in each of the “major” cities of the Diocese. Thank you, Your Excellency!
I was in attendance of the pontifical low mass last evening in Flint Michigan with His Excellency Earl Boyea. The choir was a great blessing (some members drove from Detroit) and my children commented on how beautiful the mass was. Deo gratias
Isn’t today also the feast day of Blessed John XXIII and (not coincidentally) the anniversary of the opening of Vatican II?
Respectfully asked:
What do families with more than four children have to do with anything?
I served this Mass and it was an amazing experience. It was only my second time serving the EF and my third time simply being at one. Everybody there was excited yet solemn and we couldn’t have been happier with the turn out. Standing room only in the crypt at St. Mary’s Cathedral is unheard of. A minor correction from the above story though, there was only one priest in chior, Fr. Jeff Robideau (the pastor of our mission community) and the other gentleman was a deacon although I forget his name (apologies if he he reads this).
@Emilio III No, both of those events are today, October 11.
@ Cheekypinkgirl Respectfully answered: Because traditionally minded catholics are often portrayed as old, nostalgic codgers who are as bitter as vinegar.A “if you like the older, more traditional form of the Mass, then something serious must be wrong with you,” kind of thing.While there are no doubt some of those in every community, the EF has shown itself to be particularly attractive to the youth of the Church. I’m only 24 and had people tell me I’m just being nostalgic about the past…and I’m only 24 and a convert of three years. And since it is supposed to be boring/dull/non-participatory/etc. no family would ever want to attend with children. That was proven incredibly false yesterday. God Bless Bishop Boyea.
A few photos from yesterday, under photos (I am the shorter server with less hair):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115126915176425&v=photos&so=15#!/group.php?gid=115126915176425&v=wall&so=15
Thanks, I thought the Mass was celebrated earlier today, since the quoted email did not include the date.
cheekypinkgirl:
My experience is that families with more than four children are rare in most Catholic parishes these days. Actually, more than three children is pretty rare. So many Catholic couples are not open to the blessings of children but the families of traditional parishes (whether NO or TLM) are more likely to welcome as many children as God wants to give.
This also illustrates the continued importance of active, forward looking Una Voce chapters or similar local organizations dedicated to the EF. In the adjoining dioceses where I live and work, the complete lack of such organizations (or their existence solely as the laity connected with a particular former Indult Mass) has meant that Summorum Pontificum has been completely ignored and actively resisted in one of the dioceses and has had very, very limited impact in the other. How would one go about addressing this sort of situation at the grassroots level?
Cheekypinkgirl;
There will undoubtedly be a major shock to Catholic parishes only a few years down the road as the “greatest generation” all pass to their eternal reward and there is only one Catholic child for each two that pass on to take their place. The Catholic Church is thriving and growing in the Third World for this very reason… population growth. There may be many reasons for this but one cannot dismiss contraception as the reason.
One of the striking things observed in many EF Communities is the number of young familes (parents in theuir twenties and early thirties) with 4, 5 or 6 children in attendance. By contrast, people seem truly shocked at the OF parish where I work (Music Director) when I tell them I have 5 children. I get looks that range from disbelief to suspicion that I’m mentally unstable or something. One parishioner several years back commented that I’ve made life hard for myself with so many children…. that is the attitude being referred to when the author notes the number of families with four or more children…
Children are a blessing from God and large families are especially a blessing. It’s always a good sign when a parish is full of children, young families, and large families. It means there’s a future there.
That being said, I’m with cheekypinkgirl – comments about the family sizes at EF communities sometimes make me uncomfortable as well. It seems there is an unspoken assumption among some people – not all – that any couple with less than 4 or 5 or 6 must be violating the Church’s teaching on contraception. However there are a lot of circumstances that can lead to a couple who is faithful to HV ending up with 1, 2, 3 or no children at all. I wasn’t born yesterday so of course I realize many people with families of that size use contraception. But faithful Catholics who don’t have large families are not all that rare either, believe me. To automatically assume that someone is commiting a mortal sin based on the number of children is beyond uncharitable and I hope that no one on this thread and blog would ever do so. Unfortunately I have encountered such judgments elsewhere among folks attached to the EF.
What’s really sad is that such attitudes can drive people away from EF communities and traditionalism. Imagine you were suffering from fertility problems or other circumstances that had limited you to one or two children. Would you feel comfortable going to Mass at a parish where people are going to judge you as a bad Catholic because your family isn’t the “right size” – as if it were some sort of contest? No of course not.
AJP and Cheekypinkgirl… I believe you misreading the statements about ” many families with more than 4 children”.. It is stated more with excitement that future generations will be brought up the EF way.. and NOT making references to those with fewer children.