Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday, either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was.
Also, are you churches opening up? What was attendance like?
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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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Here in Boston, parishes could reopen for reduced-capacity Masses (with a cap of some number) at the end of May.
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My pastor is responsible for three closely-situated city neighborhood parishes. He reopened a couple of weeks later after some planning and implementation, using the gym of the school building at one of the parishes – accessible, convenient, fairly easy to set up & clean, works well with the attendance cap, more economical to clean one place instead of three, better ventilated, more diplomatic to open one neutral spot instead of choosing one parish church over the others, minor bonus of better AC for summer heat (really wasn’t all that bad most of this summer, anyway), and fitted out nicely with altar furnishings from the parish churches and a couple of other touches (my hometown suburban parish had 35+ years of half of their Masses being in the school gym until they could build a bigger church, so I’m in a position to appreciate when something is more than merely functional).
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Last Sunday he announced we’d be moving back to the churches sometime in September, and this Sunday he confirmed it would in fact be next weekend (continuing social distancing, etc…). Attendance has been increasing slowly, and additional Mass times were requested/needed. So, we’re getting up to a number of Masses that’s a little less practical to do in one space, especially considering COVID cleaning/airing needs. The gym was only a temp measure, folks want to get back into their churches – it helped establish some of the new routine that’s needed. Besides that, there’s other considerations for the use of the gym space during the school year.
No homilies since shutdown. My pastor is very orthodox and traditional. We have male only altar servers, Latin Mass every Sunday, Communion in one form, on the tongue , etc. This is all a thorn in the side of our PF appointed bishop. Our pastor has been told no homilies, Communion in the hand only, Communion AFTER Mass. I feel sorry for our pastor and wonder what threats he may have received from the bishop. Good priests are definitely persecuted.
St. John Vianney, pray for our priests.
Good Homily at NO Mass…young priest spoke about the necessity of suffering and sacrifice….no matter one’s call in life. We have Mass every day…attendance slowly improving…Church marked for adequate spacing. Oh also…this new young priest offers confession Tuesdays through Saturday before Mass for 45 minutes to an hour…..we have been blessed !!
attendance was down about 25% from the last few weeks. there are “demonstrations” scheduled nearby, so that could be an influence, particularly for folks who would have to cross the demonstration zone on the way home.
homily: the things of this world will never satisfy us. only living after the Beatitudes will bring lasting joy.
because a friend asked me if a particular used book store was still in business, i took a circuitous route home. a few blocks farther on i saw a storefront with a sign reading “pachamama”. that’s evidently a cannabis store. Miserere!
Because of my hearing problem I cannot comment on the sermon. Our TLM is well attended, but social distancing allows for only 50% attendance. Prior to the quarantine our attendance was excellent and going up. It is easy to see, and from what I read, the TLM is growing stronger, and stronger.
MAGA 2020
Went to yet another parish, (4th since reopen). NO in the Balto diocese. The large, wealthy parish has a new, opulent, church building, in which I could hear most of the speaking. Monsignor told a story about thieves who broke into a church and stole only the corpus from the crucifix, leaving the cross. His point: everyone loves Jesus, but not the cross we are all called to carry.
Had to register for limited seating on Flocknote software, which worked fine. Before mass, the woman lectress/cantoress read the rules in which we trads were asked to sacrifice for our neighbors and suffer through communion in the hand. (This has not been the case at the Washington diocese churches). I did the CITH for the first time in years after initially deciding to skip it. Other congregants knelt or genuflected to make their CITH as reverent as possible, so I realized that many suffer under this rule.
Was the first time in a month that the county cops had not posted a guard at church.
Had a long visit at the cemetery afterward; (the reason we went there). Nice to see the markers of some old friends.
The emphasis was offering suffering and losing your life for Christ.
Attendance is down. We can have 25 in the church. We had 15. Donations are down. The collection is only half of the budgeted expenses.
Still Masses on-line for me. I watched a Missa Cantata (TLM) and afterwards hung around in YouTube City for a while and watched an Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy in English (for Sunday 23rd August, because of time differences the Liturgy for Sunday 30th August was not yet available).
The Gospel was Matthew 19:16-26, the rich young man who asked Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. “He asked the right person the right question. And he received a good answer, the correct answer. But he didn’t make the decision, and sadness entered his heart. And the same moments we have in our lives: God calls us non-stop. And actually, many problems we have are when we say no to this calling. Because each no to God’s calling, it means to open ourselves to…not….pleasant….spirits.”
Priest led off homily with reminder that we are not celebrating a Mass or another Mass, but The Mass, as if we’re transported to the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples. I find this a useful visual.
We have been blessed to find a mask-optional church in our NC city and have attended since mid-May when governor’s closure mandate was overruled. It’s small and with 50% capacity rules there are about 80+ inside; others in adjoining hall and outside. Rosary recitation begins 30 min prior to start of Mass.
I thought I had been attending a reverential liturgy at another church; what is celebrated here is a big step beyond. The level of care and purposeful reverence is truly a joy to experience. 10-16 altar boys/teens every week, each with a job. Incensing of altar at the beginning as well as part of the Offertory and Consecration. 4 prayers in Latin – Gloria, Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Communion reception on the tongue; True Holy Eucharist prayer recited by priest upon locking the tabernacle. Memorare and Prayer to St. Michael said before recessional.
A silver lining for me of CV has been finding this oasis of peace, nourishment and inspiration.
At our local Latin Mass, attendance has been fairly regular at between 50 and 60. The first week after the forced break we had 120 people! It seems that people sit closer at the outdoor Mass than we did when indoors. Less than half in attendance wear masks. Many families with young children (3, 4, or more per family).
Father spoke on a reflection of the Gospel (Luke 17:11-19; ten were healed, one returned). He offered the possibility that the Samaritan had the idea to return and thank Jesus. The reason the nine Jews did not return may have been due to the fact that they looked down on Samaritans and that if it had been HIS idea, they rejected it for that reason. Again, just a reflection on the Gospel, not necessarily the intent of the teaching.
Father went on from there to remind us never to let our own prejudices keep us from learning from the words or deeds of others. While we may not agree with someone’s lifestyle or their religious practices, they may have valid points. Father gave the example of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was able to find truth even in the writings of pagans and Muslims.