Saturday, August 11, 2007

Heartland America...

These photos were taken this past July 16 in celebration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The Mass was sung by the bishop of Lincoln, Most Rev. F. Bruskewitz, at the convent chapel of the Carmelite Sisters (OCD) at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on Agnew Road in Valparaiso, Nebraska.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a long time Catholic, since bith and having lived through the pre-Vatican II phase into the present, I am amazed that we are now going back to birettas and cardboard chasuables and deacons for Mass. What is it that drives many to go back to this form of dress-up Mass. As I recollect, in the early Church they faced persecution, harassment, contstant surveillence and went to their death, in the cause of Christ. But it had nothint to do with birettas and lace albs. Why this obessession with lace and birettas and flowers and candles? What is it they are missing? is it the power of the Gospel or just a liturgical beauty show? I think there are real concerns here that those who want to go backwards are looking for the wrong thing. The power, the mystery of God is revealed in Jesus, the God-man who is always with us, not in a biretta and lace alb, but in the power of the eucharist, the Gospels and the person who loves, cf. Mother Teresa and the saints. Were they obsessed with lace and birettas? I think not. Why do our bishop leaders not speak out more for the essence of the Catholic faith and forget the trivia, the non-essentials. I fear for a Church that is concerned for the trivia and forgets the essentials. Latin is not understood by the people let alone most new priests -leave it to the monks to chant. The people need substance. Craig M.

John Paul Sonnen said...

Craig:

We worship in large part in the manner in which the Hebrews did. Today, the Church, in Her wisdom, looks with compassion upon our human condition (all knowledge comes to us through the senses) and so the rites speak to our five senses.

The truth is that Vatican Council II was so much more than just "about the liturgy." In fact, there are a whole 9 decrees, 3 declarations and 4 constitutions and we need to empower ourselves by reading them and living by them (doctrinaire constancy is what we see in them).

A hysterical President Wilson and Lloyd George redrew the map of Europe in 1919. Secular leftists/anti-Catholics tried the same with their liberationist agenda of the 1960s while eulogizing the Catholic Faith as the world had known it and now it's back and Papa Wojtyla called this recurrence the "New Evangelization" of which we are now each a link in the chain so be inspired and carry Christ into the world...