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My husband and I are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary today.
My parish began a weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form this Sunday. Deo Gratias. Father’s sermon was about the desperate need for silence in our world, which was rather fitting for such a Mass.
We have a pretty liberal parish and this was a really good Mass. The homily focused on the continuity of worship through the Liturgy, a rare topic. The people seemed to take the ‘new’ words in stride, often grinning when they made a mistake. Altogether, I am very happy.
We transitioned over to “ad orientem” for the Liturgy of the Eucharist and restored the communion rail at all Masses. Not bad for a Sunday’s work, considering this was also corrected translation Sunday. Head is spinning.
This http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/27/calgary-urged-to-say-indoors-as-high-winds-down-power-lines-tear-off-roof/ missed us during Mass today. A power line right next to our church got torn down by the wind, but it spared us in church. Come to think of it, I did actually hear the loud noise it made, but I didn’t realize what it was at the time. We were probably in the safest place.
I also went to Confession on Saturday night and all the gross disturbing images that got burnt into my mind from dealing with other people and their disturbing sins are all gone! I can’t remember them at all! I don’t even remember the details of what these people did! I’m so happy!
I found a Parish that says the black does the red, everybody receives on the tongue, and 80% of people receive kneeling at the rails. Once a month the same Priest offers the Latin Mass.
I also found a weekly Latin Mass just down the road from that Parish. Every Monday, a Low Mass. Thanks be to God.
Father reminded us that Advent is a time of preparation for the TWO comings of Christ–at Christmas and at the end of the world. He also pointed out that Jesus is the man in the Gospel parable travelling abroad, and we are the servants who have been left behind to take care of the work, and tied it all together. Well done.
Father preached about the importance of confession, especially in advent and lent. He also talked about the escatological aspects of Christs coming: Second Coming and Final Judgement, the hour of our individual deaths and Particular Judgement. He talked about Christ the Eternal Judge, whom we should fear, and who’s mercy we should ask for daily.
I heard a good sermon about using Advent to prepare in our hearts to receive Jesus at Christmas, not to get caught up in doing Christmas stuff before it comes. AND our wonderful Bishop, Mark Davies of Shrewsbury (The new John Fisher?!) asked every priest to make a public act of consecration of the parish to Our Lady at Sunday Masses.
The sermons for the past month or longer have been on the difficult times we are going to face financially and politically. The priest emphasized prayer and fasting and getting ready not only for the Coming of Jesus at Christmas, but for the Second Coming. If anyone has been listening to the Canons at the Cathedral since the beginning of November, they would be hearing a clarion call to repentance in the face of oppression, martyrdom and general anti-Christian chaos. I am personally in agreement with these good priests and am mildly surprised they have been so open as to the near future for us. The priest also said the now was the time to help the poor and those in need, as we do not have much time to do so…..This immediacy of the message is compelling.
We were on Cape Cod this weekend and found a TLM at St. Francis Xavier in Hyannis, was a low mass in the early afternoon but was well attended, about 50 people. The church is simple but gorgeous with a canopy over the original high altar. The celebrant was a religious in a gray habit and sandals, I believe he was Franciscan? He gave a sermon that was hard to hear at times, but talked about the need to be prepared, not only because we don’t know when our own end time will come, but also the second coming could be at any time. At that time there will only be heaven or hell and our decision will be mad by how we have lived our life up to that point. We ended up with a discussion in the car, what happens at the end time to the people who are going to heaven but need to be purified before being in God’s presence? I wondered if the final tribulation we read about in Revelation might be that purifying phase.
Our pastor had been so angry and upset about the new translations that he did not prepare the parish for the changes and we wondered if he would use the new Roman Missal. He did use the new missal and all went well, though he said he re-phrased a few sentences to make them easier to say. He used the word “multitudes” instead of “for the many.” His sermon gave kudos to Archbishop Dolan for his opening address to the NCCB and reminding everyone of the centrality of Christ. Then he went on to bash the U.S. bishops for being a crowd of do-nothings. My experience of this first Mass celebration with the new translations was mostly one of anxiety due to the pastor’s attitude. I hope we all get in better sync in the near future so we can appreciate the new wordings and pray with the Mass again. I see that Fr. Anthony Ruff has backtracked on his earlier criticism and said that things went well where he was. Too bad he worked so many people up ahead of time to be resentful. Some will not get over that mood as easily or quickly as he seems to have done.
In the sermon we heard, we were invited to consider how much, or how intensely, we desire to give room to the God who comes to fill us…
A beautiful Mass for first Adventsonntag here in Pinswang’s Church of St. Ulrich. Pfarrer Simon’s eloquent narrative reminded us that there is great wondrous mystery in this coming of our Lord made flesh. His quiet demeanor, bright, witty mind and care for all make Pfarrer Simon a much beloved Seelsorger (one who has great concern for the souls of his flock).
We also had an evening of ‘Adventsingen’ at the Ulrichskirche. Adventsingen is a beautiful celebration of the Advent time in song and poetry. The music is traditional Tirolean and Bavarian, reflecting the transcendent restfulness of this, the ‘quietest time of the year’. Happily, the Ulrichskirche was filled to overflowing. As we departed the Ulrichskirche into the late chilly Alpine night, we were greeted by the tastes of Advent and Christmas…piping hot Glühwein (spiced red wine…I believe the English call it ‘Mull Wine’) and Christmas cookies. Thus with glorious music and tastes of this season, were our spirits filled.
Our pastor is ill right now so we have visiting priests from a neighboring parish, and they’re AMAZING. I love them. :-) And one of them may be reading here because right after I griped in the combox about priests inevitably ending every Mass I’d attended in the past twenty years with “and have a nice day,” all three of them stopped doing it.
I wasn’t at my home parish this weekend, though. I was in my mom’s parish, where the priest was good-humored about the Mass changes and it was lucky for him he was because he made a major goof at one point and was able to laugh at himself. :-) The homily was about using Advent to prepare oneself for Christmas, like a Christmas-Lent, with a few practical tips for us.
The new translation at Mass went very well… The music was dreadful, but brick by brick, I guess… something about the year growing older and we grow older too, and then something about giving birth to God who is beyond all names… Ugh! But anyway, the priests here have repeatedly said something that leaves me puzzled. They keep saying that Advent is not a penitential season. I’ve seen it in print in one of their bulletin articles, heard it from another priest in a formation session last week, and then heard it from another priest in the homily today as he was giving a little history of Advent. I don’t understand. Is it accurate to say that Advent is not a penitential season? I always thought of Advent being to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. Granted, not to the extent that Lent is a penitential season (alleluias, for example), but still, it is a penitential season, isn’t it?
Our Pastor told us that the priests have 3 opinions about the New Translation. Those that want to be thought “progressive” want it, just because it’s change. Then there are those that are against it, just because it’s change. Finally, there are priests, like himself, that don’t care, just as long as it doesn’t make the Mass any longer.
BTW, that Mass took 25 minutes.
@Faith
25 minutes? How is that even possible? Our EF daily low Masses are 30-35 minutes, and that’s with father flying through it no homily and no Creed!
Spent a wonderful weekend away from the kids. 72 whole hours of no yelling or whining and being able to talk to each other with no interruptions!! The weather was perfect and our kids were having just as much fun at home having chocolate cake for breakfast with grandma! We also went to Mass at the same church where we first attended Mass as a Married couple on our honeymoon. Father preached on the real meaning of advent and being spiritually prepared. A good reminder as we discussed the budget for presents this year. Overall a fantastic weekend!
One bit of good news I recently learned is that Bishop O’Connell (Diocese of Trenton, NJ) has a priest training at Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, NJ to learn the Extraordinary Form, and that this priest will then be responsible for establishing the EF at various places throughout the diocese. From what I am told, one such place will be right in my town. So, this makes for some very good news!
My eldest son is discerning the call to the priesthood. He spent this weekend at our local seminary and my wife and I took our three others Sunday and had mass in the seminary chapel and then a nice brunch afterwords with him.
Why this is particularly good news is that just two years ago he was terribly depressed. He had a wonderful weekend and is enrolling full time in the fall of 2012.
I can’t describe how overwhelming this has been. It is a bit like giving your child away at a wedding, I guess. It has been like watching him fall in love.
Oh, and the sermon was about how we alone are not strong enough to fight against the onslaughts of evil in this world, and we must continually be praying “Oh come, Emanuel, and ransom captive Isreal.”
Great homily that detailed our need to prepare for Christ’s return as the just judge by confession and penance. It’s been rare enough to hear exhortations to confession, but this was heartening.
Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, Novus Ordo: everything went without a hitch. The Introit and the Communion antiphon were chanted by a good cantor; Father chanted the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The homily asked if we were ready, if this was our last Advent or if this was our last Mass.
Other good news: we blew off cooking this year and had really great Chinese take out for Thanksgiving. Good Chinese food always inspires gratitude is us! And the kids thought is was fun.
Wondeful homily from Father reminding us that we need to prepare for Jesus and not to let other things get in the way
Father talked about the “three” comings of Christ, the first coming in the manger, the second coming at the end of the world and for each of us at the particular judgment, and the third coming to us every day in the Eucharist. He pointed out the inevitability of death and the insecurity of our lives (he had just officiated that week over the funeral of a man who died unexpectedly in a car accident) and reminded us to always be in a good relationship with God so that we would be ready when death came. He also talked about the very “apocalyptic” events happening in the world right now, and cautioned us again to always be ready for Christ’s return. It was quite a good sermon.
The laity had some trouble remembering with the “and with your spirit” at first, but by the end of the Mass it was much better. It’ll take a little bit to get everyone up to speed, but I don’t foresee any major problems.
We have a bunch of RCIA people coming over from The Vineyard so the vigil Mass homily was about liturgy and the need for special language, etc. Fr. did very well at the homily and Mass. Mistakes were taken good naturedly. He held up the pew card when he knew there was a place we might miss something.
I am feeling much better, physically and spiritually. Another friend died recently, that makes about 15 in the last 10 years. Like a good Benedictine I do always have my death before me!
Our parish is blessed to have perhaps the finest preacher in our diocese, our parochial vicar (who, by the way, is a huge stickler for going by the book). Yesterday, he preached on how, in the book of Isaiah, Ancient Israel understood the significant loss of the Temple and of their sinfulness while in exile. He reminded us that Advent is a penitential season and that we should engage in acts of penance and charity in order to better prepare ourselves for the great season of Christmas.
He also noted that we need to recapture the sense of the grandeur and majesty of God. He said that Ancient Israel understood that God was much greater than the people and that, for the most part, they approached the Temple with holy fear. Monsignor told us that, over the course of the last 40 years, we have lost our sense of God’s divine majesty and have turned our litsurgies into something casual. He said that the new translation of the Roman Missal gives us a language that is more suitable for worshipping our Heavenly King.
Now, during the course of the homily, he also remimded us that God is our Father, as well, a Father who loves us. Thus, He is our all powerful, almighty and eternal Father. We need to not forget the Fatherhood of God.
He concluded that we are in the period between the two comings. He urged us to engage in acts of prayer, penance and charity so that we can prepare ourselves to celebrate the first coming of Christ and anticipate His return.
Our recently-ordained priest talked about how our culture is one of instant gratification where even a 6-minute wait at Starbucks is considered unacceptable, many couples do not save themselves for the wedding night, and the secular culture begins celebrating Christmas in October. He talked about the Thanksgiving meal where we often refrain from eating so we can save our appetites for the feast, about the Friday “fast” that is meant to prepare us for the Sunday feast, and how forgoing the fast greatly diminishes the effect of the feast. We should use this season of Advent of waiting and preparing, especially by going to confession, so that we can truly enjoy the feast of Christmas.
My good news is that I did not make it to Mass this weekend… because I gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday morning! He was 3 weeks early but perfectly healthy. His name is Gabriel, and his big brother and two big sisters are enamored with him.
The priest at our TLM chapel did a very powerful sermon (I think it was one of his best!), comparing the consequences of dying in the state of sanctifying grace, or dying in the state of mortal sin.
For one mortal sin, he said, we would spend an eternity in hell…yep, he mentioned hell….
My ‘good news’-Father is also the ‘chant master’ at the traditional seminary he lives at, and when he comes again on the 18th, our ‘tiny choir’ is going to chant the Mass propers for him; so maybe if we’re good enough, we can have a High Mass down the road!
Also, there was a baptism after Mass. What a cute little fellow-only four days old! He was such a good baby, too; he didn’t even cry when the water was poured over his head! It was the second ‘traditional’ baptism ceremony I’ve seen at our chapel-I loved it!
I went to our parish’s weekly EF Mass on Satruday evening and served as cantor – oh, how I miss having room in my schedule to serve regularly in this capacity!
Mass was celebrated by a priest I’ve seen before but whose name I’ve never learned, and his homily was outstanding. He preached on the need to use Advent as preparation for 3 comings of Christ: 1) at Christmas, 2) by grace, via the sacraments, 3) at the time of our death or Second Coming. In parallel, he addressed the need to be prepared for death, and though I go to a rather strong parish, it’s a subject about which I’ve not heard a sermon in 6 years. Truly wonderful!
Three weeks after having emergency surgery, I went to Holy Mass yesterday. I am so grateful to the Lord that a wonderful Surgeon was on call the day I went to the ER. I was anointed the day after surgery, since neither my parish priest or the hospital chaplain was unable to come before that time. I had a couple of bumps along the way, but am slowly recovering.
I am humbly grateful for the wonderful nursing staff who took care of me for the 2 weeks I was in hospital.
The homily this Sunday called us to evangelize. Father said the changes in the liturgy will not renew the Church, but we are called to do so.
God bless all.
Father had a great homily about how Liturgy is an action. We do not come to Mass to be entertained…to analyze the music or the homily, and to just let stuff happen. But we need to be engaged in the Mass. That we need to actively participate, not just in responses and songs. It was very nice, and unexpected from this priest.
In addition, it was marvelous to hear how many people were responding clearly and loudly! What an experience when the whole congregation is paying attention! :D
A witty sermon (EF) by an elderly priest, partly on the Epistle (“Let us walk honestly .. not in rioting and drunkenness, chambering and impurities..”). He said he had never really come across these vices until he moved to *** . Now he sees them all the time, “So,” he continued, (pause ..).. “STOP IT!”
Our associate pastor explained to us how, since he was ordained, he is required to be a sentry, and tell us the truth. It was very good.
APX no creed no procession nor recession
Praising God that the formal introduction of the corrected translation went off at my parish without a hitch (well, except for the faint ‘also with you’ from a few who weren’t paying attention, I guess…)…and with the corrected translation, Haugen and Haas ditties seem even more out of place. Could they be on the way out when people realize how banal and out of date they are?
One can only hope.
Visited another parish this Sunday… where the priests are faithful, serious, and hardworking. It was my first Mass hearing the new translation, and I liked it very much. But it is a little difficult, when you are dealing with kids and trying to be prayerful and you hear “The Lord Be With You” and you reply…. “And also….. with your spirit….” as you catch yourself.
I think we’ll all get the hang of it eventually! I enjoyed it very much. Even Father messed up the creed by accident.
In charity to those who are struggling, I observe this: I found the differences MUCH more challenging with the new translation than I did the first time I assisted at the EF. I think the new translation is familiar enough and close enough to the old that the changes are really pronounced when they come up, making it hard for folks…. whereas the EF was SO different I found the transition to the EF relatively easy….
I think those complaining just need to calm down a little. If we’re patient with each other (and a little kindness never hurt either) I think the new translation will bear good fruit for the Church.
Good News: I love the new translation…now when I attend Mass in the Ordinary Form, I actually feel like I’m praying the Mass…the same feeling I have when I’m praying from my hand missal at the EF, but now in this case of the OF I don’t even need to read it from a book! This new translation makes such a difference…it has rekindled my love for the liturgy in its ordinary form.
Sermon: The priest gave a good analogy for heaven, hell, and purgatory as they relate to the coming of Christ that we remember/look forward to in Advent. He said that those who are ready to embrace the Lord at any momemt when he returns are ready for heaven, those who look forward to his return with some trepidation need the purification of purgatory, and those who do not want the Lord to return at all are in hell. I thought this was a very effective way to teach the last four things, and we can easily apply this analogy to our own lives. How would I feel if I knew the Lord was coming RIGHT NOW? Would I run forward to greet him? Would I try and blend in with the crowd and hope he dosen’t notice me? Or would I run the other way? Asking ourselves this simple question is a great lead in to a good examination of conscience, which I will do right now…
Good news. Well, my older daughter, who is married, made me a first time grandma about two weeks ago. The baby is named Sophie and is growing very very well.
My pregnancy is progressing and every time I feel this baby kick I have more hope that maybe we won’t miscarry again. I want this little boy so bad!!
Tom Esteban:
Do we go to the same parish? Your comment describes my parish exactly (OSP in AA). Then you mentioned the Monday Low Mass down the road (at FGRHS)…
Is this a coincidence, or is it really that small of a world?? If it’s the latter, then welcome! I’d look forward to meeting you one of these days after Mass!
Two bits of good news:
1) Last night, the new translations were used WITHOUT A HICCUP! I was amazed and greatly pleased.
2) Yesterday morning, my son & I finished a half marathon, raising over $800 for the Navy SEAL Foundation.
New translation is looking good. Father chanted the preface (in English), which he rarely does at the Novus Ordo parish near my house, so that was good.
College wasn’t working out, so back in February I dropped out to join the Navy. In recent weeks, I’ve come to have serious second thoughts about my decision. But now it’s become clear to me that I can’t pay off my student debt at this point, and my dad (cosigner) would be hurt financially if I tried to go back to college next year like I’d hoped to do…so it looks like unless something major happens in the next thirteen days, I’ll be at boot camp very soon. So the good news is that I get to serve my country, not burden my family, and maybe make something of my life. I also get to stop asking myself “What now?” every day. So yeah. That’s kinda good. In a “hopefully God will bring something good from this.” I guess it’s an opportunity. (If anyone would be so kind as to offer up a prayer for me, that would be very, very much appreciated, because frankly, I’m kind of terrified now that it’s all sinking in.)
For a change, good news from Spain: four conferences by liberation theologians scheduled to be held on parish facilities have been stopped by the bishops of Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao in the last two months. One of them whined that “we have gone from the neo-conservatism of John Paul II to the fundamentalism of Benedict XVI”. (Cue sad violin music.)
I guess the Socialists’ election loss has to be considered good news as well, but I wish I had more confidence in the new guys.
I hope the blessing of the new translation will move many closer to God in understanding and worship. The Eucharistic Prayer was especially beautiful as to the clarity of sacrifice. Anyway, I think there’s more logic. Good news is that the “I” in our Nicene Creed may dent the self-absorbed, but saying so brings me to the sermon.
Sermon was about choosing either the road of loving care or the road of hate.
Of four hymns, the two in the middle were from the 70’s. Clue to not veer onto the wrong road.