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Daily Archives: 2 January 2014
Crescent2
Driving home tonight from the parish, the crescent moon hung in the southwestern sky. Venus below. Nice photo at UT showing both the moon and the much smaller crescent Venus. By the time of this writing, you might think about … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy
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Mediator Dei 105
External participation is praised, as well as those who facilitate it: 105. Therefore, they are to be praised who, with the idea of getting the Christian people to take part more easily and more fruitfully in the Mass, strive to make … Continue reading
Posted in Mediator Dei, pre-conciliar documents
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Christmas Scheduling
My former parish in Kansas City had a grueling Christmas schedule. I inherited four Christmas Eve Masses (two simultaneously on our campus with a total of 1300-plus between them), a Midnight Mass, and three on Christmas morning. A few years … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Liturgy, Parish Life
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Jahi McMath
The tragic case of Jahi McMath continues to spin. Aside from the ethical questions, which are not insignificant, there are pastoral ones. A child suffers cardiac arrest and brain death after a routine minor operation. Medical error or accident? Would a family trust … Continue reading
Mass at the Church of Gesù
Early morning Masses in Rome are very early in the Americas. Or very late, I suppose–but I don’t keep those late hours as I did in my student days. I found a link on UCA News for this celebration of … Continue reading
Posted in Liturgy
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Apologetics Off Track
With commentaries like this, it’s no wonder some conservative Catholics are “confused” about Pope Francis and what he’s saying. To begin with, I have no particular beef with Jimmy Akin. He’s one of the top apologists in Catholicism, and I … Continue reading
Post-Clerical Catholicism
Frequent commenter Jimmy Mac sent me a link to Bill McGarvey’s piece in America, following on the heels of Dan Horan’s column on clericalism: What struck me was how disconnected I felt from the entire conversation surrounding clericalism. It felt … Continue reading
EG 39: Finding Harmony in the Gospel Message
Pope Francis will cover preaching a bit later in Evangelii Gaudium (135-159) in the context of the larger concern of the proclamation of the Gospel in chapter three. EG 39 sets things up for us: 39. Just as the organic unity existing among … Continue reading
Down With Gossip
A confluence of two news bits in my box today. First, Rita Ferrone relates a charming experience of a seminary openings its doors to the praying Church. Bill deHaas reminds us that the curia and their associates have thrown cold … Continue reading →