Posted on 07/19/2002 4:57:55 PM PDT by Polycarp
I've been to those, too. At one they gave awards to the schoolchildren.
Are they supposed to do that at mass? Really I wouldn't care; it's always cute when the kids do their thing. Really I love it, but if they aren't supposed to do it . . .
LOL!
I agree, it's cute and my son loved going up near the altar every Sunday when he was small.
I always feel like such an old fuddy duddy when I cringe each Sunday at how the mass is celebrated though.
It doesn't seem proper to me to have the ladies up there in the first place.
I won't accept Communion from them either.
They're not. But millions of Catholics throughout the world seem to have simply made up their own minds on the subject of contraception. What can be done to change this situation?
I will. It's too much of a hassle boycotting them and switching lines. I'm quite used to it now.
It's taken me 30 years to accept the host in my hand from a priest!
I told you I'm a fuddy duddy :-)
I am told by the Church that they are, so, yes, I guess they are. And that's what I teach the RCIA candidates. Also, my wife and I have never used any form of birth control, including NFP; after our second son was born twenty-two years ago, either she became infertile or something happened to me.
Intellectually, however, I've yet to be convinced. I often throw out the pro-contraceptive arguments in hopes I'll read something from somebody which is more persuasive than Humanae Vitae or the Catholic Catechism.
This is good to hear. It should be the norm.
In my small Orthodox parish, before Communion, the Deacon announces that, "Only those who have had recent Confession or the blessing of their spiritual father should approach the Chalice."
We also have posted on the bulletin boards, at the entrances, the rules for receiving. People have been denied Communion in my parish.
At his ordination, the priest is told that he shall give account at the Last Day, as to how he has distributed the Body and Blood. My priest takes it seriously.
We are small, so it is fairly easy. But, even in a big parish, what do y'all think about the announcement before Communion? Is it something that might raise some awareness of the gravity of what the Eucharist really and truly is?
I am not familiar with the current Roman fasting rules; only that Catholics used to eat fish on Friday. There used to be a fast before Mass. I think that is mostly done away with. Correct me if I am wrong.
Just a suggestion from an outsider, maybe a start for regaining respect for the Eucharist in the Roman Church is a rethinking of your fasting practices.
I'm happy to tell Sinkspur that I appreciate the Mass in English, as long as it is as reverently offered as it is in our parish. But I have also experienced some shockingly avant garde "liturgies" (Including a clown mass) since I came back into the Church in the early 70's. By God's grace, we have a holy, reverent priest who celebrates Mass reverently and by the book. On First Saturdays, he celebrates a sung High Latin Mass (Novus Ordo) in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Most of us I daresay who feel shocked and dismayed by how the Church in America has been polluted are not upset at the Novus Ordo Mass, but at the brazen and blasphemous mockeries that are made of it weekly all across the country.
We attended a Saturday evening Mass in a neighboring town about a month ago. The church has been magnificently restored, and is utterly beautiful. The Mass was such a disappointment. The priest was unprepared and his "homily" was a rambling monologue on something nobody could follow. The music was SIX guitars and a set of electronic bongo drums. The sanctuary looked like Grand Central Station, as people traipsed through it as if it was a turnstyle. The young children left after the Liturgy of the Word, and all walked through the sanctuary, through the sacristy, then to their classes. It was very sad to see.
I think what he is saying is that priests who demand sexual autonomy are demanding a priesthood in which celibacy/chastity is optional. In other words, they do not want to offer their sexuality to God. They prefer the pleasure to the sacrifice.
I have read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I have, and will continue to, recommend it most highly. If any of you on this thread have NOT read the CCC, you are doing yourselves and the Church a disservice. This is how we allow depredations to go on: by our lack of catechesis and informed decisions. If our formal catechesis was faulty and deficient, then the antidote to that failure is knowledge of what Holy Mother Church really TEACHES. By all means, read it. It is clearly, beautifully and poetically written, and is loaded with copious references and scripural quotations. When you finish it, turn it over and start again. An informed layity is something the predators and wreckovators do NOT want.
Of course. But, there is a physical side to spirituality. The last great struggle in the deposit of the faith, decided by an Eucemenical Council, was over the Holy Icons. Icons, basically are paintings that are displayed in the church. A group arose that called them idols, and they were removed. The faithful persisted until they were restored.
Why were "paintings" important? Because, the icon bashers said it was not fitting to portray our Lord or the saints in paint on wood. The icon lovers maintained, correctly, that it was correct and affirmed the Incarnation. That is, the Incarnation sanctified physical matter, so it was proper to depict holy people and events on physical material.
Likewise, the traditional posture of the priest, facing in the same direction as the people, speaks visually of the spiritual reality of the priest's role.
The priest's job is offering the Sacrifice. So he needs to be facing in the direction of to whom the Sacrifice is being offered.
This is the Orthodox position, not the Roman Catholic position.
Icare. VERY MUCH. To me, priestly shortcuts are a lazy man's way of zipping through mass. I'm sure that the notion of "what they don't know won't hurt them" is, if not deliberately thought, at least tacitly understood by the priest. Reverence is even more important than rubrics, as far as I am concerned. I have seen casual, one-handed elevations, no genuflections, invitations for the faithful to join in the epiclesis, as well as invitations for all at a funeral to join in all the priest's prayers. Illicit.
A special opinion poll was commissioned by Catholic World Report [Ignatius Press] on a number of issues including what Catholics believe about the Real Presence. Source
Excerpts:
"Over a two-week period in late January and early February [1997], the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut surveyed 1,000 Catholic Americans, asking them a series of questions about their religious beliefs and practices, and their attitude toward the use of inclusive language. By accepted professional standards, a poll of this size is considered reliable to an overall accuracy of within 3 percent."
"Catholic educators can take some comfort in the fact that -- in contrast to some recent polls -- the Roper survey found that most Catholics believe in the Real Presence. A refreshing 82 percent agreed (strongly or mildly) with the statement that "the bread and wine used at Mass are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.