It's so hard to blog about anything these days. The Church, and the world, is such a mess. Sigh. Remember this?

Well from Poland we have:

I hope it's fake. But the website that put it up, StudioQuatro, apparently is a Polish website that specializes in high-end recordings of people's momentous events. Apparently this is at a Jesuit church in Poland.

I wonder how many years the couple lasts until... nevermind.

Getting Organized

 For a long long time I've dreamed of owning something like this...

This, of course, is a Hammond SK 1-73. The Hammond name is legendary in the organ world.

I love playing the organ. I used to love stopping by the church on my way to work every morning in Nipawin and playing their lovely organ. I really looked forward to that part of my day. I always wanted to be able to do that in my own house. Also, there have been times, such as when my grandpa died and my siblings and I were the choir, when we really could have used a portable organ. But alas, we've had this:

This organ was generously donated to us by an older Catholic couple from Weyburn, SK. It's a 1976 Lowrey model. However, the past year or so it has really started showing its age. Buttons weren't working. Pedals were touch and go. Sometime notes played, other times no. Even the on/off switch didn't work anymore. Well, with all this considered, and with the help of a generous Christmas gift from my parents, everything combined meant we were able to order the Hammond SK 1!

Now we liked the look of our organ in our living room. It just wouldn't be the same to plop in some run of the mill organ stand and modern looking portable organ. So I decided to gut the old Lowrey.

Here are just a few of the many pieces I took out (including a Leslie tremolo... that circle piece). All in all I removed probably 200 lbs of organ guts. Much of the wires look rough for wear.

Unfortunately my new Hammond didn't quite fit our old organ structure. So I took a chisel and some laminated pine and improvised. I stuffed my speakers on the inside of the organ case, and left the top part open so that we can add books. And just like that, I have a beautiful organ to play!

Long term I want to add various pedals, and a nice amp to this set up. But long long term I want my kids to learn music, especially sacred music, and maybe, just maybe, form the Millette Choir 2.0.

The Boys Say Mass

 Becca's been sick the past few days. None of us have been feeling 100%. And the boys have been driving me nuts. Things had to change. Nothing like Mass said in your own living room to bring a breath of fresh air.

Joseph and John Paul decided to say Mass. They dutifully set up an altar, prepared bells and "holy things" (holy water, palms, rosaries, little icons). Joseph suited up in his chasuble (house coat). John Paul served.

A few pictures:

Consecration. Ad Orientem style. Well, liturgical east anyway. South in reality. John Paul rings the bells.

  Communion. Very reverent. He must learn it from me.

Both species, I guess. He must learn that from someone else.

 I'm slipping as a sacristan. I put way too many hosts on the paten. The boys take seriously GIRM 85: "It is most desirable that the faithful, just as the Priest himself is bound to do, receive the Lord's Body from hosts consecrated at the same Mass." So to avoid a large stash of hosts in the tabernacle, the boys stayed a while and consumed all of the hosts.


After the final blessing they processed out while singing Immaculate Mary. Joseph took his chalice et al. with him. He picks up on stuff from the Latin Mass.

 I think I'll have them do the same tomorrow. I'm sure it would fulfill our Sunday obligation. 

Babel! Babel! Look at me now

Before Mass yesterday, a Mass in which the Millette choir made its first appearance since January 1st, my brother and I were jokingly creating little gimmicks we could add to the Mass. For instance, turning the fan on high on during the first reading (been done before), turning the lights out and having a bonfire, or releasing a dove into the church. It doesn't take a genius to create gimmicks for Mass, but it does take a fool to implement them. BenedictXVI/Ratzinger famously said: “The greatness of the liturgy depends – we shall have to repeat this frequently – on its unspontaneity” (Spirit of the Liturgy, 166).

So Mass was going along nicely. Lots of Latin, chant, polyphony, and squirmy liberals. Then the priest stated he wanted everyone to speak the Our Father in a different language. What followed was the most awkward Our Father ever prayed at a non-clown Mass. Everyone, in hushed voices, "babbling" whatever language they knew. In unity with the Universal Church I did mine in Latin, but was cut off near the end. Apparently Latin takes longer to say.

The theology behind it all is astounding. Man, in his pride, wanted to build a tower to the heavens. God confounded the self-seeking plan at salvation, and confused the people with many languages. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and, by the birth of the Church, all people were able to understand the voice of the apostles. The apostles did speak with diverse tongues, but their voice was understood by all. A complete undoing of Babel. Two thousand years later we have priests wanting to still undo Pentecost. Never mind the GIRM: "It is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings" (par. 41). Never mind Canon Law “In celebrating the sacraments the liturgical books approved by competent authority are to be observed faithfully; accordingly, no one is to add, omit, or alter anything in them on one’s own authority" (846 §1). 

Do your own thing. Just don't criticize.

Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,

I stretched my arms into the sky

I cry Babel! Babel! Look at me now

Then the walls of my town, they come crumbling down

                                      - Mumford and Sons

Protesting the "Amazing" Parish

I came across this dandy little article on newadvent.org this morning. It's dated April 28th, and titled: Unleashing the parishes. Amazing Parish Conference offers ideas, resources for creating vibrant centers of faith. Now the article could be heavily tainted by its writer, Daniel Meloy, or it could be an accurate representation of the Amazing Parish Conference, either way it is what I read.

"Detroit — If Synod ’16 is the spark that sets the Archdiocese of Detroit ablaze, the Amazing Parish Conference will be regarded as the flint and kindling." And so it begins. A rah rah conference that speaks of "New Pentecost", "discipleship", "leadership teams", and "Sunday experience", So what is an amazing parish? From "renowned business speaker and Oakland, Calif., native Pat Lencioni, an amazing parish is: "A parish with a reliance on prayer and sacraments, focused on evangelizing people and being disciples for Jesus Christ, fulfilling our call to be outposts for His mission.” So far so good.

The article then proceeds to step around the "prayer and sacraments" aspect and dive deep down into the miscellaneous. For instance, a section titled: "The Sunday 'Experience'" is given. In it we are told all about the homily. The homily must be so amazing that people are talking about it the rest of the week. Failing that: "Other panelists suggested ways for the parish staff to communicate the homily message and to be more receptive, including having parish offices open on Sundays, information events after Mass and people to serve in 'jack-of-all-trades' roles." In other words, it quickly puts everything back on "us". Quality ushers are discussed, along with greeting others, and again, "having great homilies that welcome others." It is summarized best with: "When you make it a Sunday opportunity, not a Sunday obligation, people want to come back."

The article ends with a reflection by an attendee of the conference: "'I really liked all this talk about people taking more ownership of everything in parish life,' said Patrice Abona, a parishioner of Mother of God Chaldean Church in Southfield. 'Priests tend to do a lot, because they don’t have the comfort that it will all get done if they aren’t involved in everything. 'This gives parishes confidence to go outside the pews. If you create a good Sunday experience, it makes it easy to tell others about the experience,' Abona said. 'You wouldn’t even be able to hide it.'"

- - -

You know, it is amazing to me that God had me spend two and a half years at the protestant Redeemer University College in order to earn my undergraduate degrees. I was forced to study and grapple with the writings of the likes of Luther, Calvin, Dewey, and Kuyper. Though these men still bear the name Christian, I  considered it a "know thine enemy" task. And I did learn about them. For instance, Martin Luther. He despised all reference to the Eucharistic sacrifice. The word sacrifice was to be stricken from any form of worship. Yet for Catholics the sacrifice of the Mass is the very source and summit of our faith (LG 11). All graces flow through the sacrifice. No sacrifice, no life.

When I read about this Amazing Parish Conference I quickly am reminded of my studies at Redeemer. Attention on the people. Us. Sermons/homilies. Words. Friendly actions. What we can do. Though many of these things are good and important, they must never, ever, be the primary focus for Catholics. For Catholics it must be the sacrifice. Not just the Eucharist, but all Sacraments are made possible through it. This is a reason why I shake my head at the infamous, sacrifice-diminished, Eucharistic Prayer II. To be honest, what I read from this article is concerning. Had there not been an opening reference to "prayer and sacraments" I could have sworn it was a protestant conference. It just goes to show that many diocese simply do not know what to do, and thus are looking to protestant ways for enlightenment. How to make a homily resound for an entire week? The Church supplies our needs, each and every day. The Catholic Church offers new Mass readings every day, not to mention the liturgy of the hours.  Great homilies? What about great intellectual formation from priests to thus limit the grade 2 level homilies we currently endure? Sunday opportunity over Sunday obligation? There is no ontological depth to that. A mere form of modern conceptualism. There is no real theological meat to what is being said.

But perhaps I should spare you my commentary and simply present, by way of juxtaposition, another article featured on newadent.org recently: "Why aren't other diocese' looking to Lincoln?" It speaks of a boom in vocations, tremendous success with catechesis, and vibrancy. Oh yeah, it also mentions headings such as "Male Only Sanctuary", "Tradition Friendly", and "Liturgical Continuity". It is a diocese that understands the source of life, and growth... Christ. The sacrifice of the Mass. Doing what the Church says. What an amazing idea.

Nevertheless, this is not what will be learned. There will be thousands of Amazing Parish Conference attendees returning to their parishes and pushing the tried and failed agenda of the 1970s. The only sacrifice to be mentioned will be by those stuck in these parishes, forced to sacrifice their Catholic dignity while lay "leaders" explain to them what a Sunday experience is. Another cycle of failure. A powerful force of the Church inspired, or doomed, to repeat the same mistakes.

Amazing indeed.

Theology of the Felt

There is a fine young priest who lives not too far away from us who, it seems, has dedicated much of his time to undoing the "spirit of Vatican II." Recently he has helped renovate one of his rural churches. This has been accentuated by bringing in a beautiful restored tabernacle (thanks to certain people in the Humboldt area). However, as wonderful and hopeful as it is to hear such stories, we should also remember that the battle is far from over. Take a look:

One of these things is not like the other. Did you find it?

Of course! We're referring to the banner. I can just envision some 70 year old+ wannabe-liturgist hauling out the old Luther-inspired banner, muttering something about "young whipper snapper priests and their nostalgic pre-Vatican II-ness... There! At least people will now know who's table this is! Oh shoot! I forgot the R! There, a little more hot glue and we're good..." It isn't a table. It's an altar. An altar for a sacrifice. A real sacrifice. An altar where the crucified Lord, unchained by time, is offered for our salvation. I guess there wasn't enough felt available for a banner like that.

All of this talk ultimately leads to one important question: Why felt banners?

 

 

I actually really don't get it. Someone help me out here. I get the symbolism from the word "felt" and that we should "feel" the spirit... dude. I dig that. Sort of like: "I felt so good as I played the mic'd up tambourine to Foley's One Bread, One Body." I understand it. I'm down with it. I feel it. But is there another reason?

 

Maybe the smoothness of felt is to represent how our lives on earth should go smoothly too? Perhaps something like: "there are no bumps on felt, because God wants us to all be together, with no problems. Felt represents perfect harmony."

 

Yet I can't help but think it must be deeper. Ope! Pshh. Of course! The felt represents table cloth! The Mass is about all of us sitting around the Lod's, sorry, Lord's table! Fellowship! Feasting! Felt! We are one in the spirit!

Not to diminish the meal aspect of the Mass, for there certainly a festive aspect (explained best by Ratzinger in "The Feast of Faith."). But there is so much more to it.

 

 

Meanwhile, there's still something about that picture which calls to me. My heart is being spoken to by that mysterious and awe-inspiring white box next to the banner. I know it shouldn't be taking my attention away from the felt candle and felt host, but it does. The architecture of it points higher, as if it naturally, or supernaturally, lifts my soul to reflect on higher things. The gold coloured trim appears so royal, so Divine. The tent like design reminds me of the tents in Exodus: the pilgrim Church. The tent housing the holy of holies. The tent offered by Peter at the transfiguration. Yet the tent in the picture has a temple-like quality as well. The firm promise that we will worship someday in a heavenly place. And there is, directly above all this, a cross. No, not a cross, a crucifix. One with the figure of the crucified Lord. Not so smooth, is it?  And it all calls to me. The altar, to the tabernacle, to the crucifix. A real and perfect harmony indeed. No labels needed. Leave the mystery as it is, to be revealed to those who contemplate it. This is not simply the Lord's Table. This is the Lord's house. A house of prayer. And he is present.

 

Whether you've felt it or not.

 

Evangelical Counselling

I'm probably just slow (keep quiet, Becca), but it's taking me a long time to figure out what evangelizing really means. I'll take the easy way out and blame my past surroundings. When I was at the Academy the students would often surmise (not often enough in my opinion) about what they would do with their lives when they finished there. Phrases such as: "Oh, something to do with Scripture," or "teach religion somewhere," or "share my faith," were frequently tossed around. When you are surrounded by rich teaching, and living, of the faith, you cannot help but want to pass it on to others. It is a beautiful thing. But herein lies the problem, and one that I think the Academy failed to address while I was a student there, evangelizing doesn't pay bills.

Evangelizing doesn't pay bills. Save for the fortunate few such as Peter Kreeft, Christopher West, and the like. Evangelizing doesn't pay bills.

Much of my time as registrar at the Academy was spent trying to convince students there of this. "Yes, you can keep studying and get that B.A. degree, but then what?" Much of what I said was based on my leaving Redeemer University with a B.A. and no promising future. It's an empty feeling. So I would counsel students to somehow figure out what it is they liked to do, and take a stab at it. Yet I was usually unsuccessful. The call to evangelize was too great for many of these kids. And it is a great and wonderful call. But it won't pay the bills.

Let me correct what I said at the beginning where I thought I might be a little slow at getting things. I'm more than a little slow, actually. Because it's taken me another 5 years to realize that I was also wrong about evangelizing not paying bills. The fact is that we are called to evangelize in our daily, mundane, tiresome, boring, and unending tasks, otherwise known as "work". Evangelizing at work, the work that pays bills.

Yet I don't speak of evangelizing at work to mean simply being on fire for God all the time, and people seeing this fire, and you starting up breathtaking conversations about God, conversion, and the like. Good for you if you do. As Fr. Andrew at the TLM would say: "People are just supposed to see us and be inspired? Good luck with that..." And for me the truth is I'm shy, or very introverted, or simply bored, when around others. Further, having to sit in a staff room around women talking about shopping and flowers tires me. I don't do it. No to evangelizing. Right?

Consider the words of St. Jose Maria Escriva: "Sanctifying one's work is no fantastic dream, but the mission of every Christian - yours and mine. That is what that lathe-worker had discovered, when he said, 'I am overwhelmed with happiness when I think how true it is that while I am working at the lathe and singing - singing all the time, on the outside and on the inside - I can become a saint. How good God is!'" Furrow - 517

It is a remarkable thought to think that we can become saints by working at a lathe. Or by digging a ditch. Or by marking yet another lousy essay. Or by changing that 5th poop of the day. "How good God is!" Yes, the call to evangelize is very real, even necessary to the very nature of the Church. But the call to evangelize can begin simply by doing whatever it is you're doing, and doing it well. By doing it for a higher reason. Then we can become saints. And then, oh yes then, our life is truly one of evangelizing.

So those lofty dreams of presenting Scripture to eager listeners, or teaching the faith within the Church, are all good and well. But we must not ever deny the power of the lathe worker, or the garbage man, or the office assistant, or especially the mom and dad. God calls all. Evangelizing will be inherent in the call. And how marvelous it is. To become a saint in it all. Potentially. To potentially call others as well.

Brilliant! I can hardly wait to see what I'm going to figure out in the next five years!

One can't rush these insights, you know.

No More Letters, Please

There is a New Evangelization in the Catholic Church! Yesiree, the Bishops of Canada have picked up the cause originally instituted by Pope John Paul II many many years ago. A New Evangelization! How nice! Say it to yourself slowly: "The New Evangelization." What a nice ring! Golly I feel like dancing!

What is this New Evangelization? How will it work? What is its actual meaning? No one really knows, but to begin, it means that if you're a bishop then you write a letter. Write letters to be read in church. Write letters to sit on the CCCB website for all staff members to proudly glance at. Then, wait two weeks and write more letters. The letters should talk about how there is to be a New Evangelization. "But wait!" you say, "don't the bishops already write letters all the time? How is this a New Evangelization?" Yes, bishops do write letters, but this time the letters will have the words "New Evangelization" in them, ergo they will be newer and surely to be listened to with the same ardour as a cloistered nun doing her daily lectio divina. The New Evangelization means that new churches will have to be built to house the throngs of people who return to church. The diocese coffers will soon overflow with new tithes. Heck, if all goes well then a diocese-wide theme song... no, wait, a Canada-wide theme song with both French and English verses... could be created and sung at every liturgy in the country. What unity! What New Evangelizing! The Spirit is a movin'!

Ok. 

Enough. 

Stop. 

No more silliness. 

The irony is too much for me. That is, how do you expect a New Evangelization by using the same old tried-tested-and-failed methods? More letters to be read in churches? More CCCB publications to be ignored? Can you blame people for ignoring them? And anyway, the best publications the bishops come out with are the ones that essentially reaffirm a teaching from an encyclical, to which the faithful laity says "but we already knew that, because we just read the actual encyclical instead..." I don't mean to put down all the bishops in Canada here. The Lord knows just how faithful and courageous good bishops such as Mulhall of Pembroke and Archbishop Prendergast of Ottawa have been for the Canadian Church. I speak of the same old tired antics of the CCCB and its old boys club. You know, the ones that stand by D&P at every step.

The more I hear the words "New Evangelization" beings spewed from countless letters, the more I wonder what it actually means. Right now it is only words. Empty words. No substance. Nothing to sink your teeth in, so to speak.

But now I propose a true New Evangelization. Why not use methods of evangelizing that actually work? Now that would be new indeed. How about seeing bishops praying in front of abortion clinics weekly or, if possible, daily? How about seeing a mandated increase of Eucharistic adoration in each parish? How about teaching priests how to say the Mass properly without making up half the words? You know, "save the liturgy, save the world" as Fr. Z. always says. How about taking an actual stand on those who wish to have their child baptized while the parents never go to church, and have no intention of ever going to church? How about shutting down D&P and all other "Catholic" organizations that are not actually Catholic? How about mandating that seminarians learn Latin and study the works of Aquinas (as Canon Law commands) or even take up such pious practices as wearing cassocks? How about having priests wear their collars, and thus be a visible sign of their sacred calling? How about... how about... 

How about just living the faith.

Perhaps the greatest evangelist in the history of the Church was St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis simply lived the Gospel. He preached the Gospel with his life, not with letters. We're tired of letters. They don't mean anything to anyone anymore. Please, no more letters. 

No more letters for us. 

Now that would be a New Evangelization.