In light of the liturgical changes coming the first Sunday of Advent, 2011, this recent address by Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, Executive Director of the ICEL Secretariat, at the Southeastern Liturgical Music Symposium bears some thoughtful meditation and serious thought by the clergy:
Towards the Future: Singing the Mass by Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Harvard Valedictorian Delivers Valedictory in Latin!
Mary Anne Marks, Harvard University's most recent valedictorian, delivered her valedictory in Latin. Albeit her Latin is the Germanic pronunciation rather ecclesiastical, it's still a homerun in my book! Oh yeah...and she's off to the convent joining the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist! Ad multos annos, Mary Anne!!
Read her full interview here.
Read her full interview here.
The Consequences of Contraception
Michael Barber (The Sacred Page)posted the following:
"A couple of weeks ago, a local paper out of Louisiana ran an op-ed on contraception on the anniversary of the release of "the pill". I had wished to cover it back then but I was traveling all about the country and didn't have time to post on it. Anyways, here it is, "better late then never" I suppose. Come to think of it, that actually sounds like a slogan for a birth control company, doesn't it?
. . . Women have been told for this entire time that they would now be in charge of their fertility.
Many have taken the bait, finding that emotional, physical and spiritual scars follow the use of artificial hormonal chemicals for control of fertility. . .
. . . The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that more than 65 million Americans have an incurable sexually transmitted disease, with 13 million new cases developing each year.
In 2005, the World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as Type I carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).
The following year, “Mayo Clinic Proceedings” published an analysis in which at least 21 studies showed links between oral contraceptives and breast cancer.
Many women never realize that the birth-control pill does not always prevent ovulation.
A statistically significant number of times the pill prevents implantation of fertilized embryos, causing early abortions when women aren’t even aware they are pregnant.
According to the package inserts contained in the pill packages, missing the pill for one day or taking it at a different time can allow women to ovulate, conceive and abort without ever knowing it.
The pill also has serious detrimental effects on the environment. Contrary to popular thought, the pill is not natural. Whereas the hormones women and men normally produce are rapidly processed by nature, the artificial steroidal sex hormones contained in the pill remain in the environment almost indefinitely.
Scientists have determined that the high levels of artificial estrogen and progestin in bodies of water downstream from city sewer plants are causing alterations in the sex characteristics of numerous animals and plants.
While many in the media, as well as trusted sectors of government, science and medicine, are celebrating this 50-year milestone and continue to promote the pill as safe, informed people should be aware of the long-term personal, societal and environmental consequences of using artificial hormones to control our fertility.
The story mentions the fact that scientists have now linked unhealthy levels of estrogen in drinking water with the use of contraceptives. Indeed, this is an old story. . . Strangely (or maybe not!), I don't find too many people concerned about the fact that we aren't doing anything to stem the tide of this ecological nightmare."
"A couple of weeks ago, a local paper out of Louisiana ran an op-ed on contraception on the anniversary of the release of "the pill". I had wished to cover it back then but I was traveling all about the country and didn't have time to post on it. Anyways, here it is, "better late then never" I suppose. Come to think of it, that actually sounds like a slogan for a birth control company, doesn't it?
. . . Women have been told for this entire time that they would now be in charge of their fertility.
Many have taken the bait, finding that emotional, physical and spiritual scars follow the use of artificial hormonal chemicals for control of fertility. . .
. . . The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that more than 65 million Americans have an incurable sexually transmitted disease, with 13 million new cases developing each year.
In 2005, the World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as Type I carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).
The following year, “Mayo Clinic Proceedings” published an analysis in which at least 21 studies showed links between oral contraceptives and breast cancer.
Many women never realize that the birth-control pill does not always prevent ovulation.
A statistically significant number of times the pill prevents implantation of fertilized embryos, causing early abortions when women aren’t even aware they are pregnant.
According to the package inserts contained in the pill packages, missing the pill for one day or taking it at a different time can allow women to ovulate, conceive and abort without ever knowing it.
The pill also has serious detrimental effects on the environment. Contrary to popular thought, the pill is not natural. Whereas the hormones women and men normally produce are rapidly processed by nature, the artificial steroidal sex hormones contained in the pill remain in the environment almost indefinitely.
Scientists have determined that the high levels of artificial estrogen and progestin in bodies of water downstream from city sewer plants are causing alterations in the sex characteristics of numerous animals and plants.
While many in the media, as well as trusted sectors of government, science and medicine, are celebrating this 50-year milestone and continue to promote the pill as safe, informed people should be aware of the long-term personal, societal and environmental consequences of using artificial hormones to control our fertility.
The story mentions the fact that scientists have now linked unhealthy levels of estrogen in drinking water with the use of contraceptives. Indeed, this is an old story. . . Strangely (or maybe not!), I don't find too many people concerned about the fact that we aren't doing anything to stem the tide of this ecological nightmare."
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Liturgical Experts' Long Tassles
A wonderful article on the "reform of the reform" from a parish priest's perspective. Surely worth the few minutes it takes to read it. I couldn't have said it better myself!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
"Liturgical Changes" Webinars
The journey into the hi-tech world continues! Beginning Sunday evening, February 7, 2010, I will begin hosting a series of webinars (seminars on the web) examining the changes to the Order of Holy Mass recently approved by the USSCB and the Holy See, tentatively scheduled for implementation in Advent 2010 (possibly later...maybe Lent or Easter 2011). Check the parish website often for updates on times, dates, and topics. In the meantime, check the parish website ("Home Page") for computer system requirements to be able to join in the webinars.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Twilight" Brings Anything But Light
Have you wondered at all about the phenomenal success of the "Twilight" vampire books and movies? Michael O'Brien has written a fascinating article that may be a bit long but well worth reading.
An excerpt from the article:
"A number of authors have pointed out in their studies of this genre that the thirst for the life-blood of others is a metaphor of lust. It is important to note in this regard that the vampire of legend only sometimes kills his victim; just as often, he infects the victim, turning him or her into a vampire. E. Michael Jones has written that at the root of the phenomenal rise of horror culture is suppressed conscience. Tracing the pattern from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (first published in 1818) through to Ridley Scott’s film Alien (1979) and its sequels, Jones argues that the denial of moral law produces metaphorical monsters that arise from the subconscious of creative people and spread into society through their cultural works. The monster in the Alien
I highly recommend the entire article!
An excerpt from the article:
"A number of authors have pointed out in their studies of this genre that the thirst for the life-blood of others is a metaphor of lust. It is important to note in this regard that the vampire of legend only sometimes kills his victim; just as often, he infects the victim, turning him or her into a vampire. E. Michael Jones has written that at the root of the phenomenal rise of horror culture is suppressed conscience. Tracing the pattern from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (first published in 1818) through to Ridley Scott’s film Alien (1979) and its sequels, Jones argues that the denial of moral law produces metaphorical monsters that arise from the subconscious of creative people and spread into society through their cultural works. The monster in the Alien
films, for example, is a ghastly abomination of the feminine, and salvation is possible only through expulsion of the offspring it implants and incubates in humans—a subconscious eruption of internal conflicts (and guilt) over abortion.
As Jones points out:
'By following our illicit desires to their logical endpoint in death, we have created a nightmare culture, a horror-movie culture, one in which we are led back again and again to the source of our mysterious fears by forces over which we have no control.'"I highly recommend the entire article!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Deacon Joe A. Machacek's Ordination
Yesterday our parish and, indeed, the entire Diocese of Victoria in Texas celebrated with great joy the ordination of four men to the permanent diaconate. I offer my personal congratulations to all four of the ordinandi but especially to our parish's new deacon, Deacon Joe A. Machacek.
The program provided to all of us at the ordination liturgy had this to say: "Ordination brings an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that transforms the deacon, enabling him to minister with a distinct identity and integrity in the Church that marks him as neither a lay person or a priest, but one designated to a diakonia, namely, a service to God's people in communion with the bishop and his body of priests."
Deacon Joe, ad multos annos in your ministry of service to God's people!
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