The following articles were recommended by Fr. Pisut
Christianity and Frog Boiling
from Standing on My Head by Fr Dwight Longenecker (Fr Dwight Longenecker)
Time and again in dealing with non-Catholics they will smile and say, "You know it really doesn't matter what denomination you are. All that really matters is how much you love Jesus!" If I don't have the time to engage in a discussion on the matter I will usually smile back and say something like non committal like, "What a comforting thought!" or "That's certainly what many people think!"
Riding up through the hills of uppper South Carolina you can't help but notice the huge number of churches. Every mile or so there's another one: Pebble Creek Baptist, Maranatha Church, Heritage Church, New Spring, Rocky Rill Baptist, Beaver Run Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Assembly of God, Church of God, Disciples of Christ, Christian Disciples...the names and numbers are bewildering and ever multiplying.
It's the Protestant principle run riot. The irony is that while the non-Catholics say, "It doesn't really matter what church you belong to" they seem to think it pretty important to keep breaking up with one church to go and start another one. If it doesn't matter what church you go to why not go to the one on the nearest corner? The second problem with this commonly held view is that it only takes a short jump from "It doesn't matter what church you go to" to "Well it doesn't really matter if you go to church at all."
Riding up through the hills of uppper South Carolina you can't help but notice the huge number of churches. Every mile or so there's another one: Pebble Creek Baptist, Maranatha Church, Heritage Church, New Spring, Rocky Rill Baptist, Beaver Run Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Assembly of God, Church of God, Disciples of Christ, Christian Disciples...the names and numbers are bewildering and ever multiplying.
It's the Protestant principle run riot. The irony is that while the non-Catholics say, "It doesn't really matter what church you belong to" they seem to think it pretty important to keep breaking up with one church to go and start another one. If it doesn't matter what church you go to why not go to the one on the nearest corner? The second problem with this commonly held view is that it only takes a short jump from "It doesn't matter what church you go to" to "Well it doesn't really matter if you go to church at all."
For the rest of the article click here: Standing on My Head
Pope’s Glasgow Mass in Latin
- Much of Pope Benedict’s Bellahouston Park Mass will be in the scholarly language of Latin
5 Sep 2010
A substantial part of the Mass to be celebrated by Pope Benedict at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow on September 16 will be said in Latin, the Vatican has confirmed.
In an interview with The Herald, published today, Monsignor Guido Marini, the Pope’s master of ceremonies, reveals the Canon and Preface – the most significant parts – will be said in the ancient language.
Mgr Marini said: “For all the Masses said in the UK the Preface and the Canon will be said in Latin. What the Holy Father intends by using Latin is to emphasise the universality of the faith and the continuity of the Church.”
The Canon is the most significant part of the Mass as it both precedes and follows the Consecration. It will be said in a Latin translation of the modern English liturgy, and will be viewed as a sign of Benedict XVI’s desire to return to the solemnity of the traditional liturgy.
Mgr Marini also revealed a new English translation of the Mass, to be introduced next year, will be truer to the original Latin used by the Church for 1500 years before the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s. Parts of it will be said at Bellahouston for the first time.
But the move falls short of a wholehearted return to the old Tridentine rite of pre-Vatican II, supported by Pope Benedict, but which remains controversial. Earlier this year news of the papal visit to the UK sparked debate about the unity of the church in Scotland as it was claimed some Scottish bishops opposed returning to the old pre-1970s liturgy.
Yesterday Father Stephen Dunn, parish priest of Sacred Heart church in Bridgeton, responded to the news by saying he is moving his regular Latin Mass from Monday evening slot to Tuesdays at 10am from this week.
“I’m doing this because it is in accordance with the wishes of the Holy Father,” he said. “I am delighted that the Holy Father is once again using liturgical Latin. It was never banned but has been discouraged.”
But Scottish composer James MacMillan, who has set parts of the new English verion to music for the Bellahouston Mass, dismissed any idea of controversy.
“Vatican II was never intended to do away with mass in Latin,” he said. “Contrary to what certain activists are trying to claim, neither Latin nor choral music have ever been banned.”
For the rest of the article click here: Herald Scotland
