Yes, An Outdoor Mass Can Be Celebrated Properly

While much of the East Coast was being rained upon by a little nuisance named Irene, there was an outdoor Mass held under crystal clear skies at my parish. And no unorthodox horrors occurred,

Because Family Has No Perfect Picture

There are neat people everywhere. Yes, you have them in your parish too. And they are outside your parish as well, waiting for you to invite them to join the family. Or to expand your own family, like one of my fellow parishioners has done.

A Tale of the Laity and Priestly Scandal, Circa 1400 AD

This is Part III of a recently started series about on-going personal conversion. Part I started us off with thoughts from a vision of St. Catherine of Siena. Part II continued with words of a Franciscan friar giving an intelligence brief on our adversary. What follows is either miraculous or not depending on how you view things.

Let Me Tell You About "Herding Dogs"

Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf 

Without a strong master, they are worthless. Destructive. Bored. Good for nothing but trouble. These descriptions, for those who have owned (or do own) herding dogs, would be the end of this post. Their experience with dogs like these would make the truth of these statements self-evident. Frank knows herding dogs.

A Reply to a Scold from a Priest Regarding the Corapi Kerfuffle

—Feast of the Holy Trinity  

I hadn't intended to write another word about John Corapi. In fact, I even closed off the comments in my recent post and left readers links to follow the story so I could just enjoy my Father's Day in peace. That was the plan, anyway.

But I received an e-mail this morning from a Catholic priest upset over my "Mr. Corpai Goes. I Stay" post. As you will find in the sidebar, I subscribe to the well known Welborn Protocol when it comes to correspondence. So here is the note in it's entirety followed by my reply.

For the Body of Christ, Not a Parish

My husband and I and our parish friends have waited months for the BIG DECISION. I surprised myself by leaving Mass tonight oddly unaffected by the Bishop's announcement that our parish will be changing its name and merging with two other parishes.  I felt nothing, absolutely nothing.

As I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the grocery store, I turned on the car radio. Matt Maher's "Christ is Risen" was playing.  I realized once again I'm not Catholic because of a parish. I am a Catholic because I believe, as Pope Benedict XVI says: “In a world seeking human certainties and heavenly security... Christ is the solid rock upon which to build the edifice of one's own life, and ...trust placed in Him is never placed in vain."

For Faith In Action: the Way of the Cross in New York (Part II)

This morning, our sons and I, along with thousands of others, participated in the Way of the Cross procession from the Basilica Cathedral of Saint James in Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge, (see us all crossing the bridge?)  to Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Lower Manhattan, the oldest Catholic parish in New York City. Along the way, we walked in silence, stopping only at several stations to pray sing and reflect. The procession was sponsored  by Communion and Liberation, a lay ecclesiastical movement. What follows are some of the reflections, song and chants we heard. Thanks to our 14-year-old for shooting most of these photos with our family camera.

Lent And Holy Week (A Primer)

-Feast of St. Vincent Ferrer 

We are officially past the half-way point of the Lenten Season.  Before you know it, it will be Holy Week. As a convert who entered the Church on Holy Saturday in the Year of Our Lord 2008, I'll never forget that experience.

Those who serve as sponsors for the Catechumens and Candidates never forget it either.

For the Daily Readings

-Feast of St. Macartan 

If it's Thursday, then I'll be lectoring at daily Mass at the parish near my office. I went to the USSCB website to see the readings for today and again was amazed, for like the millionth time, at how prescient the order of the readings are.

I have no idea when the readings for the Lenten season were chosen, or put in this particular order. I know it wasn't last week though. Most likely it was 30,40,50, or 350 years ago. But the thing is, they always seem to hit home with whatever the crisis du jour is.

Because There Is Good News

You have heard it said, "it is always darkest before the dawn," and you have nodded your head in agreement. At least those of you who have ever camped out know this to be true, right?

These have been dark days for our Church. Scandals, parishes and schools closing, doom and gloom, etc. But it is not always so, and no single one of us can see the "big picture."

Jacques Maritain, writing in 1966 said,

For All the Sacramentals, The Way of the Cross

—Feast of St. Tarasius 

The Lenten season is just around the corner, and one of the devotions that I look forward to is that of the Stations of the Cross. Also known as the Way of the Cross, I was amazed to see Fr. Sullivan count this devotion as a sacramental. I had no idea, did you?

Last year both Allison and I wrote posts on the Stations of the Cross. Below, Fr. John fleshes out the history of this sacramental devotion for us.

For Cults of Personality, Not! (Or My Brush with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer)

—Feast of St. Aleaunie 

Late yesterday evening, after I asked for your prayers for Egypt, I clicked over to New Advent to see what was posted there on the situation on the ground. Many of you know that besides being the electronic host of the Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent also posts links to other Catholic websites and blogs for noteworthy news stories or posts. New Advent has graciously posted our blog posts from time to time as well.

But a different sort of story caught my eye instead.

To Pray for Charles Kavanagh and To Give Thanks for Lunar Eclipses

Our teenager was looking over my shoulder one night as I read a New York Times article about one of my former pastors. "What does defrocked mean?" he asked me. "It means this man no longer is a priest," I explained. For years I have intermittently followed the case of Charles Kavanagh, a man who once served as a priest my childhood parish. Acting on authority of the Vatican, a church tribunal last week found the man guilty of sexually abusing a teenager in the 1970s. The statue of limitations for any civil trial had long since run out but "between July 2002 and July 2003 the district attorney's office worked closely with the Archdiocese and found the allegations to be credible." 

Because It Was Time: A Confession on Why I Killed Santa Claus

There is a killing that I won't need to bring to my parish priests' attention the next time I enter the confessional. I killed Santa Claus a little over a year ago in my own household, and I have absolutely no regrets about doing so either.

Because it had to be done, see? Like when Old Yeller saved the day and protected the family from a rabid wolf.

For the Love of Saint Andrew: A Christmas Novena, Day 7

Feast of St. Nicholas of Myra 

Call me dangerously distracted, but not until I saw this lovely acrylic painting by Roger Hutchison, a parishioner at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia, South Carolina, did I realize why the Saint Andrew's Christmas Novena also is a novena for couples trying to conceive. How obvious this now all seems.

Mary, a poor unwed teenager, spent the weeks before Christmas Day anticipating the birth of her son, a son conceived "by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary."

Because of Opinion Polls (Not!)

—Feast of St. Teresa of Avila  

The latest research numbers are out showing (once again) that the average Catholic in the pews in the United States, is morally sick, spiritually lame, and theologically lazy. How in the hell did I wind up surrounded by such a motley crew? How did I slip into this program? Why would I join this outfit?!

Well, I was called is all I can figure.

Because Christ is With Us When Two or More Gather

Measured one way, the family potluck I organized after the 5 p.m. Mass in my parish tonight was a bit of a bust. We thirteen took up three small tables in the large Parish Hall. Two sets of brothers showed up, along with our 14-year-old son. Three moms came, too. My own husband couldn't make it because our 10-year-old was playing a travel soccer game 30 miles away.

For All the Saints: Monica

Prayer works, especially the prayer of a parent for a child. That is the vital message of St. Monica. Monica is a later Mary. I revere her because, through her prayer, her son Augustine converted and became a Doctor of the Church. I revere Mary because, through her "yes", she gave us Jesus and brings us to Him. I could learn something about parenting from Monica and Mary, but then I already have Joan of Beverly.

Because of the Divine Beauty of the Mass

Guest Post by Terry Fenwick
I met Terry by way of Francis Beckwith's Facebook page. Pretty soon, we were "friends" too. Shortly thereafter, we were trading e-mails back and forth and I learned that she was a Catholic convert from the class of 2004.  She, and her late husband, Tom, came into full communion with the Church in 2004. She shared this piece she had written for her parish bulletin with me . I don't know much, but I knew one thing immediately upon reading this; it needed a wider audience. Take a look and see if you agree with me.

Come and See

Since becoming Catholic in 2004, I have asked myself over and over, why I was never invited to attend a Mass. I could attend funerals and was invited to a few weddings, but not one Catholic ever invited me to Mass.

Because Our Lord is Eucharistic

The church my family and I attend is nearly 100 years old and, as such, the sanctuary doesn't have central air conditioning or heating systems. During this latest heat wave, the air conditioning unit broke. Starting August 1, we've been celebrating Sunday Masses downstairs in the Parish Hall.

Our Parish Hall is essentially our church basement. It's a modest place with florescent lights, an industrial carpet and, most importantly, a working air conditioning system. As Webster just noted, Our Eucharistic Lord doesn't take a vacation. When a priest consecrates bread and wine, it becomes Christ: body, blood, soul and divinity. And He gives us a part of Himself as a foretaste of heaven. Jesus tells us: "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." He never mentioned the quality of the music, setting and the preaching, or the social class of communicants.