[Northern Yankee]

I am so glad to see the younger priests understanding the importance of sacredness towards the Mass and towards their profession.

It is certainly a good sign of things to come.

[purpleporter]

Kasel explains: “Only men can be priests, and the church sees serving at the altar as the first step toward being a priest. Is it really fair to the girl to have her at the altar if she can’t become a priest?”
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Ok, so any child wanting to serve the alter, really desires to being a priest in their future.

Right...

As a former Catholic, my EIGHT BROTHERS all were alter boys, NONE are priests today.

In fact a couple were “messed with” by a priest while on camping trips with the priest as “mentor”.

It is truly a shame the Church feels the necessity to EXCLUDE females.

[BenKenobi]

“Latin is a beautiful language, but we don’t understand it.”

So learn it. It’s not that hard. It’s only your faith after all.

[Chode]

love the Gregorian chant...

[Desdemona]

So the tables have turned. When I was younger, it was the newbies out of the seminaries who were doing all the, dare I say it, hippie stuff, and the older guard (now in the center for retired priests if they are still with us on Earth) who cringed. It seems that things are coming back full circle. The young guys don't feel that their manliness is threatened in wearing lace, chant is a part of who they are and with all luck they stick to the script so that the rest of us who are ministering in some way aren't lost when they decide to omit, change or otherwise mess with the Mass.

It's kind of funny - last week, the kids serving set up the procession and you could tell no adult supervised their vesting. Cassocks were the wrong length, one surplus was just all wrong for the kid (it was too short and the neck was too big), parents didn't insist on black shoes with dark socks and pants, etc. It was just sloppy looking. I'm glad there are priests out there now who are concerned with presentation (and this week we had seminarians serving). Some people think/say that it's external, but what is presented externally reflects what is going on internally. Showing up to serve Mass with bedhead doesn't say much about one's respect for what's happening.

Oh, and BTW, by not having an organ, the parish in the article is outside of canon law. Although, it being the Dominicans, all bets are off.

[Salvation]

A cute way to get into the contrast by starting with the outer garments.

It’s what is on the inside that is important. In this case the younger priest wins all around, hands down, and Roman collar in full view when he goes out shopping — that last one is my guess.