Posted on 02/11/2005 1:08:52 PM PST by B Knotts
It is truly a frightening thing to realize what direction we as Catholic have been lead by the last few Popes.
If you want to know Catholicism, you have to know what Popes like St. Pius X wrote. You won't learn it from JPII or Paul VI.
I was horrified when I first took enough interest to read encyclicals. I tried JPII and thought, "this is for the birds." And then I discovered how atypical his ideas and writings were.
I was relieved to finally read past Popes encyclicals and writings. They confirmed my faith and they also alerted me to today's problems. The truth is a mixed blessing.
"The other day I saw the local N.O. parish bulletin for Ash Wednesday. I could not find anything distinctly Roman Catholic in it."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1341642/posts
Ratzinger will say whatever seems expedient. He has become a world class back-peddler.
True. So have Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, neither of whom are Catholic, AFAIK. Power corrupts as Lord Acton said.
All of this is symptomatic of the general lack of belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. It has less and less to do with the Body of Christ and more and more to do with a social "communion".
C-o-D, I'm surprised at you. These are progressives we're talking about! They can't be considered schismatic unless they're Traditionalists.
the direct link works...
slept in, arrived late to the thread.
you knew that ;)
mea culpa!
Mortal sin, no mortal sin, catholic, buddist, mormon; it doesn't make any difference.
If it doesn't make any difference, then maybe going to Mass doesn't make any difference, maybe belonging to any organized religion doesn't make any difference. As I said, my BS buffers are about full.
These people are eggheads with no common sense, and no sense of the confusion that they sow so readily, and so happily.
Back to your words to me a while ago, 'why puzzlin' you is the nature of my game.'
Idiots, twits, morons; they make me sick!
Not to worry....I've contacted 2 other Rome organizations to try and verify the info reported. We'll see ; - )
i have seen this in NY state! we live in VA in the Arlington diocese which is fairly conservative, in that it is one of the remaining two, that doesn't permit girl altar servers. we were in upstate NY on two different occasions and attended Mass once in Syracuse and once in Rochester. In the first instance, it was a deacon that gave the sermon and that had me agitated because it was my understanding that they could assist at Mass but not give the sermon. The second instance, a ROCK AND ROLL Mass in Rochester (my husband and son were there on an ice hockey trip and they were floored by the priest opening the Mass with ARE YOU READY TO ROCK AND ROLL? ) when the priest turned to some random girlie from the "audience" to do the sermon, my husband and son got up and walked out.
excellent. Thanks, and keep us posted ;)
The Bishop of Rochester is notoriously rebellious!
In the first transgression you mention, consider yourself lucky, I guess.
At St. John the Evangelist, on Humboldt, they allowed a female pastoral associate, dressed up like the protestant Rev. Schuller, to deliver the homily. I think she's even a step below Deacon, though I'm not sure, as I don't know what powers the title pastoral associate confers. I was overcome by a desire to bolt, but convinced myself I should't make a scene, and that I was probably over-reacting.
In practice, I'm only opposed to a Deacon delivering the Homily when the Deacon is an idiot. But that would hold true for Priests as well, so there's nothing to be done.
The rock and roll thing speaks for itself.
In case you're interested and ever in town again, I have found a good Church downtown, Our Lady of Victory/St. Joseph's Church on Pleasant. Mass is at 4:30 on Saturday in anticipation of the Sunday Mass, and at 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. It's very near the arena. And the Priest is a rock solid Priest.
"In the first instance, it was a deacon that gave the sermon and that had me agitated because it was my understanding that they could assist at Mass but not give the sermon."
I believe that it is fully licit for a deacon to give the sermon.
Unfortunately rock and roll type Masses are becoming more common. Last weeks sentinel (Portland Diocese) features a story about this particular fad.
http://www.sentinel.org/articles/2005-5/13561.html
i prefer tridentine if at all possible, but a conservative novus ordo will do. thanks albiongirl for the suggestions, we will definitely look into that the next time. my husband is an SU grad and we were up there for a basketball game. the priest was african and the congregation greeted him with Jamba, Father. the deacon's sermon was appalling because it was not based on any sort of biblical teaching, but was rather his life experience, something about some girl he dated in college, who jilted him and how he reacted etc. Licit or not, rogator,to have a layperson presuming to TEACH/preach to peers, based on no scripture, no catholic theology or possessing of no particular training, WHAT is the point of that?
Deacons are not laymen; they are ordained clerics. Diaconate is the first of the three major orders: diaconate, priesthood, episcopate. Deacons usually receive three years of preparation in scripture, moral theology, patristics, Church history, canon law.
Homilies are to be based on the scripture readings of the day. I preach every three weeks, and I spend a solid ten-fifteen hours preparing a ten minute homily.
"Licit or not, rogator,to have a layperson presuming to TEACH/preach to peers, based on no scripture, no catholic theology or possessing of no particular training, WHAT is the point of that?"
Deacons are clergy not laity. I believe they have some seminary training, how much, I am not sure.
I have heard poor sermons from experienced padres.
"my husband is an SU grad "
I'm sorry.
My wife also attended SU. She mistakenly thought that she was paying all that money for a Catholic education.
needless to say, the abomination of a rock and roll Mass in Rochester, where a mass attendee named Judy was called upon to opine about something or other for the homily, is beyond offensive.
as to deacons giving sermons, well as i said, my orientation is traditional to the point of tridentine. it so happens that my parish is a very conservative novus ordo, which i am very happy with. my kids attend the school there etc. If it were not, i would be at the tridentine Mass at St. Anthanasius.
Well, I'm sorry for your horrible experience. There is no excuse for any cleric to give a homily "off the cuff." The Catholic faithful deserve a well-prepared, prayerful, well-informed homily. Anything less is to disrespect them, and God.
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