Shhhh! Keep it under the radar!

Conspicuous by the absence of any mention on any official Catholic website in Ireland is an upcoming event. It's being hosted in the west of the island (archdiocese of Tuam) this week and apparently rumour has it that all the clergy of the  province will attend. The main speaker at this event will be Father Thomas Rosica, the English language Vatican spokesman. The title of the reflection (as per his Twitter feed)  is 'confessor as a minister of mercy.'
  No doubt the reverend fathers will be instructed as to the proper interpretation of Amoris Laetitia.

Even atheists can get it right!

'Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilisation. To this day, we have no other options. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.'
Jurgen Habermas.

The Curious Case of the Wandering Mass ( or Guerilla Liturgists!!).

A puzzling occurrence appears on the Irish scene everyone once in a while. Out of nowhere a Latin Mass is offered in a diocese or in a church that hasn't seen one in sixty years and probably won't see another one for another sixty (barring Divine intervention ..... hopefully).
    This strange event goes hand in hand with a proliferation of 'Catholic Heritage Associations.' Their purpose seems to be to acknowledge some obscure saint or commemorate a  feast day or some anniversary, sometimes they don't seem to need an excuse (have missal will travel).
     Occasionally a bishop is dragooned into celebrating these masses, usually the reluctance of his Lordship is palpable and believe me I've been to a few! One Ordinary of his diocese preached of the Latin Mass being the past and Pope Francis being the future of the Church (Lord help us!).
    And in this is the kernel of the problem. While it is commendable that the true Mass is being celebrated in these places, that a tiny handful of the poor bewildered faithful perceive the heritage that has been denied them, yet ultimately it does a disservice.
   Firstly let us consider the term 'heritage', what connotations does this word bring to mind? Well for the ordinary bloke on the street, the image that comes to mind is of something being gingerly removed from a thermostatically controlled display case, the dust blown off it and then being gawped at and snapped with a camera.  Or alternatively, you pull up in a car park, pay your money and then watch some actor or eager local historical enthusiast show a bemused crowd how to make a jumper from nettles on a wooden contraption, that resembles something borrowed from a medieval torturer's chamber. Cue the same gawping and operating of camera apertures.
          In both of these outlandish caricatures of a situation the general thoughts proceed along this trajectory. ' Oh look, wow! Imagine! Isn't that curious and wonderful and soooooo quaint! Did you get a picture Fergal?  Aren't we so progressive that we no longer need to use the said torture device, now we have a silicon chip processor with a widget that does it in two point four nano seconds! We're well shot of that grisly wooden thing, it was nice to see it but now, back to the temperature controlled box with you! I wonder do they sell decaf lattes in the gift shop?
          And for many Catholics who attend these that is exactly the case,
    'Oh! so that's how they used to say Mass, prefer the English myself, anyway I thought that Mass had been banned?'
    Then the true Mass disappears, the show packs its bags and moves on. Those who attended toddle back to their own parish the next Sunday, to hear more of the same old tiresome, befuddled, confused twaddle, that doesn't offend and, most importantly, the priest hasn't turned his back to them ( oh! the exclusion). There has been no learning, no growth, no chance for Divine grace to flow into their hearts.
            Also the question that must be asked is; why would you compromise the Faith?  Celebrating a Mass with a cleric, who believes that what they are offering is obsolete and they are only doing it as some sort of nostalgic pastoral pandering to the intransigent crusty old fundamentalists, this is hardly what those Catholics cast out into the wilderness for the last half century, offered stones over bread,  desperately need.
   A guerrilla Mass, here today, gone tomorrow ? ..... no thanks. Give those hungry souls dwelling in the shadows what they yearn for, namely a permanent place, an ever present refuge where resides a good and holy priest who provides the nourishment they need. Don't sell the Mass of the Ages on the cheap!

One Thing Follows Another.

Imagine a group of scouts going on an orienteering weekend up into the mountains. They arrive at their starting point and gather round their leader awaiting their instructions. The scout leader has attended all the ‘courses’ he knows the lingo and the ethos, he has his tree huggers badge proudly stitched on his arm, his sensitivity training badge pinned over his heart and his cultural diversity badge tattooed on his forehead.

         The leader wishes them good luck and bids them farewell, a moment of silence ensues, before the questions begin from the perplexed youths. What about the map? Where is the compass? What direction do they take? Their mentor smiles at them indulgently and patiently explains that maps are too rule bound, after all the boys need to find out for themselves rather than rely on directions imposed on them from some old, fastidious cartographer. As for the direction well, whatever they feel is the best direction is the direction they should take, the experience of the journey, not the destination, was the important thing here.

   Desperately a last question is thrown at the scout leader, how do we know when we reach the finish? At this the leader scowls, he accuses the boys of looking for certainties, if they think that a given place is the finishing point then it is. Each boy must decide for himself when that will be.  With this he trudges off leaving the scouts staring at one another.

     The last time anyone checked these tragic youths were still lost in the wilderness; some had struck out east, some west, some north and some south. Others bereft of purpose merely sat down where they were, waiting and hoping. As for the scout leader, energised by the experience of liberating these boys, he is busy preparing for the next orienteering expedition and the next group of minds in need of enlightenment.

            The primary duty of a Catholic is to get to heaven.  The destination for a Catholic is eternal salvation and the vehicle to achieve this end is the one holy and apostolic Catholic Church. Well … it used to be. Our present ‘scout leader’ seems not to have twigged this pertinent fact – cue exhibit...whatever (to be honest I’ve stopped counting) namely the video in which he reveals how he understands the salvific mission of the Church. Now there is a new commission, not from our Divine Lord but courtesy of Messers Lennon and McCartney, all you need is love. That’s right folks, don’t worry about what religious symbol you have got in your hand as long as you feel that warm fuzzy sensation, we will all get there in the end. But where exactly are we going? Or is it merely about becoming ‘companions on the journey’?

         Amid the confusion and chaos, perhaps a bible quote is most apt. ‘For what things a man shall sow, so also shall he reap’ (Galatians 6:7).

          Honestly  I don’t understand why so many folks are on Papa Bergoglio’s case? Why do the conservative Catholics gaze behind them wistfully at the pontificates of John Paul and Benedict? The signs were already there for those who had eyes to see (Assisi anyone?).  Pope Francis is the pinnacle of the progressive humanist endeavour He’s following the teachings to the letter, he is the logical conclusion of what began fifty plus years ago. He is a loyal son of the council. One thing follows another.