[Desdemona]

Add a Communion Rail? That would get you hung in my parish. It's coming down next month.

Does anything other than tithes (sp?) constitute charity?

Do you believe, and can it be asserted, that development of talents and maintenance of them, as taught by Christ and through the church, is part of the Faith when those talents are developed for the service of others, specifically to feed the soul (speaking mainly of the arts)? (really a personal experience question, but important, I think)

When a Papal Encyclical is released and seems to be in contradiction to the guidelines and papers of Bishops and the Bishops Council, which do we follow?

Can we the faithful, in good conscience, do our best at what we do, knowing it will draw censure from various quarters, including perhaps clergy, in full Communion with the church?

I ask these questions as a person with what I've come to understand is an exceptional talent. It is offered freely to my parish at Mass weekly, and yet criticized, mostly by strict followers of the Bishops Council, due to more than a touch of professionalism (and almost two decades of study and development) although not given in that spirit. I ask for nothing in return. This is what I have to give. In other places not connected to my parish, I am compensated.

Easter 1999, the Pope released a letter to the artists of the world which seemed to negate the Bishops Council on this matter. The Bishops, that I can tell, paid no attention. I did. He requested the best effort one can give.

So, who to follow? This is a microcosmic question, but even Christ used simple examples to make his point.

[patent]

Add a Communion Rail? That would get you hung in my parish. It's coming down next month.

Might be worth it. ;-)

Does anything other than tithes (sp?) constitute charity?

Clearly, yes. The issue of charity, or a lack thereof, applies to every breath you take, IMHO.

Do you believe, and can it be asserted, that development of talents and maintenance of them, as taught by Christ and through the church, is part of the Faith when those talents are developed for the service of others, specifically to feed the soul (speaking mainly of the arts)? (really a personal experience question, but important, I think)

Yes, I believe that.

When a Papal Encyclical is released and seems to be in contradiction to the guidelines and papers of Bishops and the Bishops Council, which do we follow?

This question would need to be more specific. I wouldn’t be able to address it without seeing the wording.

Otherwise, this is an issue that I struggle with in this country. The Pope has a clear preference that we receive Communion on the tongue, he has expressed that. At the same time, our Bishops allow Communion on the hand, and the Pope has given them permission for this. So I receive on the tongue, that is how I reconcile that issue. Were the Bishops to forbid on the tongue, and the Pope to give them permission to so forbid, I would receive on the hand as instructed. Were the Bishops to forbid reception on the tongue, and the Pope to instruct them they cannot do that, I would go with the Pope.

Similarly, I would demand reception on the tongue from a priest that wished otherwise.

Can we the faithful, in good conscience, do our best at what we do, knowing it will draw censure from various quarters, including perhaps clergy, in full Communion with the church?

Freepmail me with specifics if that will help, but I don’t know how to answer this as it stands. It is certainly possible to act contrary to certain clergy’s preference, and to do so in good conscience. So many priests disagree with each other about so many things, I don’t see how we could do otherwise.

The specifics are the key.

Dominus Vobiscum

patent  +AMDG