The other day I saw on a Catholic liturgical website a complaint against celebrating Ascension Thursday on the following Sunday. The author referred to this as one more instance of "effortless Catholicism."
I like this phrase very much, because it neatly sums up a phenomenon that has been going on with increasing momentum for years, especially since the mid-sixties.
One pastor I know has his congregation sit for the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday. Are we so delicate that we can't stand through the reading about the death of Our Lord, if not in union with His suffering at least out of respect for it? At another parish the priest has the congregation sit through the singing of the Gloria. But all of the above is basically small potatoes that I am not really too concerned about.
However, the pedophilia/homosexuality crisis that is currently overwhelming us illustrates as clearly as possible that the Church in this country is out of grace. We are not thriving, but are anemic. This is not merely a question of sinful priests and misguided bishops, but of grace that is missing. And it seems to me that there are good reasons for that.
The deacon at this morning's mass thundered that the power does not come from Rome or from the pastor, but has always come from the pews. I agree with that totally. He asked, "Are you praying for your priests? If not, why not?"
I remember as a kid, and I am not really that old, that Catholic life was a much more disciplined thing. The Communion fast was stringent, perhaps too much so, but it demanded no food or water from Midnight till the reception of Holy Communion.
There was no meat eating on Friday, period.
At this point I don't remember all the terms of the Lenten fast, but it applied to every weekday of Lent. No eating between meals, and your two smaller meals could not total more than your main meal. All this produced a Church of famished but highly disciplined Catholics and grace poured over our heads in buckets.
I especially remember the Easter season as being truly glorious. It was as if the Lord were rewarding our efforts by special impartings of grace, and about two or three times a year the congregation would come out of the Church and say things to one another such as "What a Mass!"... the presence of the Lord had been so palpable.
In every parish the time for Confession was Saturday night, say between 7:30 and 9, and the lines were very long. It was a wonderful time for prayer, in the mostly darkened Church.
But I really wanted to talk about Ember days. At the beginning of each season of the year, there would be days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) especially dedicated to prayer and fasting. This wasn't optional. This is a practice that goes back to the early Church.
My mother (who died two years ago) always said that the vocations crisis was due to our having done away with Ember Days, for that was the reason for the Ember days.
Finally I tracked down the source for this view: "Another variation of Embertides, instituted by Pope Gelasius I in 494, is to use Ember Saturdays as a day to confer Holy Orders. Apostolic tradition prescribed that ordinations be preceded by fast and prayer (see Acts 13:3), and so it seemed quite reasonable to place ordinations at the end of this fast period. Moreover, this allows the entire community to join the men in fasting and praying for God's blessing upon their calling and to share their joy in being called." From www.holytrinitygerman.org/Ember-Days.html
Catholicism used to have a much more pronounced sacrificial aspect to it that we need to recover for the sake of our priests, especially the Ember days.
Lee
I like this phrase very much, because it neatly sums up a phenomenon that has been going on with increasing momentum for years, especially since the mid-sixties.
One pastor I know has his congregation sit for the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday. Are we so delicate that we can't stand through the reading about the death of Our Lord, if not in union with His suffering at least out of respect for it? At another parish the priest has the congregation sit through the singing of the Gloria. But all of the above is basically small potatoes that I am not really too concerned about.
However, the pedophilia/homosexuality crisis that is currently overwhelming us illustrates as clearly as possible that the Church in this country is out of grace. We are not thriving, but are anemic. This is not merely a question of sinful priests and misguided bishops, but of grace that is missing. And it seems to me that there are good reasons for that.
The deacon at this morning's mass thundered that the power does not come from Rome or from the pastor, but has always come from the pews. I agree with that totally. He asked, "Are you praying for your priests? If not, why not?"
I remember as a kid, and I am not really that old, that Catholic life was a much more disciplined thing. The Communion fast was stringent, perhaps too much so, but it demanded no food or water from Midnight till the reception of Holy Communion.
There was no meat eating on Friday, period.
At this point I don't remember all the terms of the Lenten fast, but it applied to every weekday of Lent. No eating between meals, and your two smaller meals could not total more than your main meal. All this produced a Church of famished but highly disciplined Catholics and grace poured over our heads in buckets.
I especially remember the Easter season as being truly glorious. It was as if the Lord were rewarding our efforts by special impartings of grace, and about two or three times a year the congregation would come out of the Church and say things to one another such as "What a Mass!"... the presence of the Lord had been so palpable.
In every parish the time for Confession was Saturday night, say between 7:30 and 9, and the lines were very long. It was a wonderful time for prayer, in the mostly darkened Church.
But I really wanted to talk about Ember days. At the beginning of each season of the year, there would be days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) especially dedicated to prayer and fasting. This wasn't optional. This is a practice that goes back to the early Church.
My mother (who died two years ago) always said that the vocations crisis was due to our having done away with Ember Days, for that was the reason for the Ember days.
Finally I tracked down the source for this view: "Another variation of Embertides, instituted by Pope Gelasius I in 494, is to use Ember Saturdays as a day to confer Holy Orders. Apostolic tradition prescribed that ordinations be preceded by fast and prayer (see Acts 13:3), and so it seemed quite reasonable to place ordinations at the end of this fast period. Moreover, this allows the entire community to join the men in fasting and praying for God's blessing upon their calling and to share their joy in being called." From www.holytrinitygerman.org/Ember-Days.html
Catholicism used to have a much more pronounced sacrificial aspect to it that we need to recover for the sake of our priests, especially the Ember days.
Lee