Catholic Youth & Vocations, Part 1

.

.
Yay!  I found a work-around that seems to get troublesome videos uploaded.

So, here is Part 1 of my discussion with Diocese of Knoxville seminarian & all-around good guy, Joseph Chait.  Here he tells us about how he discerned his vocation & what life is like at seminary.

The recording volume is a little low - sorry 'bout that.
.

Catholic Youth & Vocations, Parts 2 & 3

During Thanksgiving break, I had an opportunity to talk with Joseph Chait, seminarian for the Diocese of Knoxville, about young Catholics and discerning one's vocation.  So far, Blogger refuses to upload Part 1 of the talk - will keep working on it.

.

.

.

Joseph gives some important advice: we all have a vocation to holiness, regardless of our particular calling.  Holiness is not just a special gift given to people like Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul II; it is something that every baptized & confirmed Catholic should long for, fight for, & manifest in word & deed through their love for Jesus, his Church, & therefore for all mankind.  Perhaps this focus is what we've been missing over the past several decades.

Seriously, "become a saint!"
.

Sunday Vespers

,

Here's a bit of fun!  After E.F. Mass yesterday, I asked some of the schola members to stay & sing Sunday Vespers with me.  We just sort of threw it together on the spot, but it's not too bad, hopefully, even prayerful!

Please have a listen to the other evening prayer recordings at rcvespers.blogspot.com.
.

New Vespers Project

Alright, I did something I may regret - I started a new blog site to post my evening prayer recordings:

Roman Catholic Vespers found at http://rcvespers.blogspot.com/

My intention is to post the complete 4-week Psalter as we move through it, then adapt as the liturgical seasons change.  Please go have a listen & let me know what you think & if it will be of any use.

"Become a saint!"
.

Vespers - Tuesday, Week IV

One of the reoccurring reasons I hear from people of why they don't pray/participate in the Liturgy of the Hours is that it is confusing.  Maybe, but it is a liturgy, you know.  You wouldn't expect someone who's never been to Mass before to just walk right in & know exactly what's going on & what to do.  One has to become familiar with it slowly, learning its different parts & their meanings gradually.

So, I propose an experiment: in hopes that folks will become more familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours, I will attempt to record & post a full, 4-week cycle of Evening Prayer, or Vespers.  I hope more people will  come to love this ancient form of Christian prayer as much as I do.  Even the bishops are also interested in breathing some new life into the Hours [click here].

I will try to post them on the sidebar as I get them recorded.  This is quite complicated, however, because of the various saints' days & other feasts.  Plus we're heading into the season of Advent soon, so there will be far more variations upcoming.  Ideally, I would have each day's recording posted that evening, but this will be extremely difficult, especially to add the subtexts.  Please keep in mind that there is a lot of improvisation required to sing the Hours, so my apologies for the miscues.

Let me know - either in the combox or via email - if this is useful to you or if you would like to see something different, say, just an audio recording.  Thanks & God bless.

"Become a saint!"

Penance

.

[UPDATE] Here is the finished version of the video for our present Whole Community Catechesis program on the sacrament of Reconciliation.  Last names were abbreviated to protect the guilty, or at least highly suspect.  Looks like the text got cropped off a bit on this format; but should be fine on the "big screen."  Enjoy.

"Become a saint!"
.

Silent Expectation

Following up on my last post about the problem with folks at Mass feeling the need to say/sing everything instead of actively & receptively listening, I wanted to mention a related approach people sometimes bring to the liturgy: the need to hear everything.

That probably seems like a pretty weird gripe to write a post about.  I will give an example: a friend with the typical depth of understanding of the Roman liturgy said that they wished the priest would say those little prayers after the offertory out loud so everyone could hear them.  Below is a transcription of what the people are to hear as the priest, bowing, prays in a quiet voice...

"mmmnnmmm... mmnnmmmnnn... mmnmnmnm... nnmmnmmnnn... mnm."

It is, in fact, a very profound prayer.

At this point in the Mass, the priest is entering the Holy of Holies, the very heart of the liturgical celebration.  The profound bow and quiet voice tell us that he is not talking to us & not just communicating information.  He is speaking directly to God on our behalf, asking that He accept our sacrifice.  That is his job; to offer prayers to God on behalf of the assembly. By virtue of his sacramental configuration to Christ Jesus through Holy Orders, he can do this in a way that no other lay person can.  Some people do not believe that priests have any special character above or beyond any other member of the Body of Christ.  These people, if they claim to be Christian, are called Protestants.

My point is that you don't need to know what the priest is saying.  Maybe you could learn what he is saying, and that may be spiritually enriching for you; but the fact is, you just don't need to know.  If you did, he would be addressing you.  If you must know, here is what the Roman Missal says...

"With humble spirit and contrite heart

may we be accepted by you, O Lord,

and may our sacrifice in your sight this day

be pleasing to you, Lord God."

Then the Priest, standing at the side of the altar, washes his hands, saying quietly:

"Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin."

OK, there it is.  Happy now?

I propose as one possible explanation that people simply do not trust that this arrangement of God, priest, and people works.  They do not really believe in the power of the priest's prayer on their behalf.  If they cannot hear the prayer, & so have "full, conscience, & active participation" in the prayer, then they have no ownership of it, no control of it.  It is a lack of trust in the sacramental economy & a tacit denial of the operation of the Holy Spirit within the Church.  It has an echo of Pelagianism: "No thanks, God; I've got this one myself."  If this attitude does indeed exist, I would say it is a terrible cancerous one within the household of God.  

I want to contrast the typically very busy & noisy new Mass with the utter serenity that pervades the old Mass (though my intention here is not to bash the Ordinary Form, because the new Mass can be celebrated very beautifully & reverently [it just isn't very often] & the old Mass can be celebrated poorly, too [it just isn't very often]).  

One commonly-used cudgel for criticizing the old Mass is that the priest stands at the altar - let's all say it together - with his back to the people & just mumbles his prayers in a language no one understands anyway, while the people just sit there praying the Rosary, looking around at the stained glass windows, or just dozing off, occasionally being jolted to consciousness by the priest's "Dominus vobiscum."  While there may have been some truth to these exaggerations, my purpose here is to evidence the utter trust that Catholics once had in the power of the priest to intercede for them in the sanctuary.  There was no need for them to hear and understand everything - just knowing that the priest as Christ was at work on behalf of his people was enough.  One old custom that reflected this was that people would bow - some even genuflect - as the priest processed into the congregation.  From the choir loft, this looks like the people are doing a very slow, back-to-front holy wave.  Even in the new Mass, I always give at least a solemn nod to the priest.

So, any new thoughts here?  Are you thinking about your own ability to let the priest be your intercessor at the Mass?  Your own level of trust that God will hear the priest's prayers & answer them?  How an attitude of quiet expectation may be the most active one?  If so, my work here is done.