Religious Leadership

Does a Christian understand himself to be a religious leader? If so, he would take immediate recourse to the works of mercy since he would understand that his entrance into bliss will be determined both by his fulfillment of them and his instructing others in the same.

Anything short of this is poisonous to the people—leaven to beware of.

The hypocrisy of the Pharisees prevents it.

Hypocrisy is play-acting, a falsehood. That defect can surface in several ways. But in the end—it’s a falsehood, a deception. This lie will send the Christian’s endeavor into a tailspin very quickly.

To promote an act of religion while committing an act of irreligion is corrosive of the soul in the highest degree.

It will be good to understand why Our Lord is so adamantly opposed to this sin in the pharisees. Why does it draw his unflinching wrath?

Sure, there’s “fake it till you make it.” That’s not the problem. The problem is connected with scandal.  It’s also connected with the role the Church is to play in shining the light of Christ to the nations. He’s counting on the Church’s fidelity to that all the members of the body can enter in. The role of the Church in the world is a corollary to the role of the hierarchy in the Church, as well as that of the apostles in the hierarchy and of Christ among the apostles and of the Father in sending the Son.

Let’s develop this.

Clergy

If Our Lord is so harsh wish the chief priests, scribes, elders, Sadducees and Pharisees, that is, with the hierarchy of those who are under the Old Law, how much greater will his expectation be for those responsible for instructing the people under the New Law?

I don’t see how those of us who know better can have any other response than to redouble our efforts in the apostolic work of the Church.

He holds them to account and warns them they will have a harsher judgment. We, knowing this, don’t suppose he’d ever talk to us that way.

It’s not that he’s not merciful. Of course he is. He displays that in abundance with his miracles healing the sick and forgiving sinners. And ultimately with the display of the fullest measure of his loving devotion to his father’s plan for man’s forgiveness. He is merciful. Perfectly. But who will tell them of his mercy? Or worse, will we, who know of his mercy, withdraw the news of it leaving those entrusted to us to figure it out on their own?

What is his harshness to the clergy other than a warning to you and me of what we can expect for our disregard for those whose souls he gave us to watch over and to care for. 

You chose dishonor

Sights, for the moment, are set on “Render unto Caesar.”

Let’s calibrate.

He’s addressing the Pharisees as a part of the final showdown ahead of his passion. They and the Sadducees try trap him.

The Religious leadership is corrupt. Jesus speaks harshly to them because speaking words of comfort to them will have no avail and only prove his teaching to be easily dismissible. That’s not the case when a popular religious teacher whom many regard as a prophet directly rebukes you and your colleagues in-charge as deserving the most serious punishment for failing in the responsibility entrusted to them.

They are fearful of the crowds. They attribute their fear of the crowds to their fear of the Romans who will suppress any uprising with their total destruction. They’re fearful all around. But, in the end, they forget to fear the only one whom the must fear, the Lord.  As a result they will lose everything.

It’s like Churchill’s famous judgment of Chamberlin, “You chose dishonor and you will have war.”

JC is a partisan.

He’s a partisan. But not like you and me. We get bought and sold. He remains faithful to the mission, to the end.

He won’t be distracted by what distracts us. We’re worried about earthly possessions. He’s worried about our eternity. We’re inhibiting the mission through our self concern. He treats us as an enemy for the sake of the rest who’s eternity we’re jeopardizing.

Epiphany

1/6/23

A retrospective on the Epiphany.

Yes, this idea is whacko, that we transfer the feast to the Sunday. It opens more questions than it answers. I’m not sure what the initial answer is supposed to be to begin with? That the faithful already weren’t celebrated the feast on Jan 6th, so this it salvage some recognition of the feast…? The rest of the Christian world doesn’t seem to have a problem with January 6th. Or for December 25 plus January 6th, for that matter.

This year January 6th is on a Friday. Therefore, a day of penance. Set aside, for the moment, the consideration of the importance and merits of a day of penance. Observe, rather, that they [Bishops] took away a one of the greatest dates for feasting & rejoicing on our Calendar in favor, this year, of a day of penance. Why not, for instance, keep the date and simply remove the obligation to attend Mass? Or why not altogether keep it a Holy Day of obligation. It there are too many on account of the January the First, we may have to take a look of that.

We seem to be missing out on a feast. It’ll come back, eventually.

The Twelfth Day

1/5/23

The Twelfth Day of Christmas.

Tonight is Twelfth Night.

Tomorrow, in most parts of the Christian World, is the Epiphany of the Lord.

Here we are, calling it “Twelfth Night,” which is what it’s been called for at least Five Hundred years.

The people celebrate and rejoice, with the encouragement of the civic and ecclesial governors. But not just randomly and raucously. Although reports of seemingly unrelated para-rituals involving elves in dress-up, reindeer and house-calls continue to preponderate. The purpose of counting to Twelve in Christendom has everything to do with the Incarnation and Our Lord making the use, according to his good will and pleasure, of one of his favorite numbers.

There are twelve days from Christmas (inclusive) to the Epiphany (exclusive). Go ahead and count them up—I’ve counted them twelve thousand times, just to make sure. If you include Christmas in the count then you exclude Epiphany, or vis a versa. You can’t include both, otherwise you come up with thirteen. Including Christmas makes sense and accords with scripture telling of His circumcision on the eighth day, which is the Gospel for the Octave of Christmas, January the First.

The Eighth Day is another favorite of the Lord’s. But that’s for another time.

Pinpointing, with the utmost probability, the exact days of these historical realities is beyond the capacities of the best scientists. The cultural History of the Church however has offered these two dates, 12/25 & 1/6. Separately, it seems, at first depending whether you’re from the East or the West. But ultimately, as consolidation happens and the mingling of cultures, we get them both. And probably pretty early than later in the first millennium. This gives everything enough time to become engrained in local custom and thus inexplicable beyond the well worn “we always did it this way.”

Baptism

The feast of the Epiphany is coming quickly. This year I’m appreciating the connection with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We’ve rediscovered this old blessing of Holy Water which is offered on the vigil of the feast. I think we were momentarily distracted by the power of the exorcism associated with the blessing that we lost sight of the reason for the water to begin with. The Baptism of the Lord is, in the East, the great Theophany. Why do they get such a kick out of it? The real shame is our own not-knowing why we ourselves get no kick out of it. We could hardly be bothered by the Lord’s baptism. Is it that we’re partied out by now? It could be. That too would be a real shame. We’re celebrating without knowing why. If we keep it up, at this rate Christmas itself will become a bore for us. It’s not good. We bless the water and distribute it as a reminder that we share in the baptism which was instituted by Jesus Christ, with everything that implies. God shines in the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit descends. The Father’s voice is heard. The Son receives in this world the glory he deserves.

Charity & Justice

1/3/23

Do a Study on Respect & Obedience.

This is what is expressly owed by a priest to his ordinary and to the Holy Father.

Secular Priests are bound to render it according to the order of justice, that is, by law. This order is different from the way that members of religious communities are bound to render it to their superiors. But how does it differ?

What’s the difference between the mode of Justice and the mode of Charity?

Christians are all bound by both modes, of charity & of justice. But in what way are we bound?

A man owes what is right to all mankind. A Christian man, all the more so. Christ commands we love even our enemies and even to the point of laying down one’s life. 

Two extreme ends of the spectrum, then. On one end, no man ought to render anything to anyone, for any reason. On the other end, all men ought to lay down their lives for everyone, for every reason. Both extremes, certainly, are catastrophically wrong. How do charity and justice help us navigate between the two?

Certain men owe certain things to certain other men for certain reasons under certain circumstances. Fine.

Is this Charity or Justice, though?

Words

1/2/23

I did an etymology search on a few basic words, today.

These were all greek words which I use all the time.

I like that it seemed I discovered something new to me.

Category.

This one has “agora” in it. That tipped me off that there’s something almost “public” about it. I’ll come back to this “public” sense.

Ousia.

We don’t really have an English word for this. We use “nature” a lot of times. Etymologically, it’s simply a participial form of the greek verb “to exist” or “to be.” I won’t, here, parse the difference between being and existence. Rather, it’ll suffice to understand that we’re talking about reality, as it is, in itself.

Prosopon.

Here’s where it gets fun. “Pros” plus “ops” (I can’t find the greek characters on my keyboard. “Ops” is the face or the countenance itself. “Pros” in composition puts that face against or towards another. It implies relation, in other words.

Hypostasis:

That which remains on the bottom. It’s a nice contrast with Prosopon, because while their both often translated “person,” here, hypostasis seems to focus more inwardly, substantively, as opposed to outwardly or relationally/relatively.

Back to category. In Latin it’s predicament. Either way it’s committing, publicly, in speech, openly in words, as it were, to a certain description. The “Agora” is the assembly.

Happy New Year!

1/1/23

Happy New Year.

I’m rekindling the resolution to write.

I did it before, a year or two ago.

It helped.

It organizes the thoughts in the mind.

Or so says Jordan Peterson.

It wakes up the brain in the morning.

Not bad.

With some foresight and cleverness it may coalesce into a way to produce homilies articles and, dare I say, longer pieces, like chapters of books.

I did 200-a-day for 100 days before. That grew to 250 and lasted longer. I’d have to check, but it may’ve gone on for more than six months.

I turned it into a continuous, longer study on a topic of interest at the time. I may have to be more versatile with the projects. Have a few going on at once. Projects, also, would entail ending-points or goal. Like, I’d like to actually finish writing. I think this may help quite a bit. So, it’s not then about the act producing words so much as the act of completing thoughts, expressing ideas more perfectly.

One topic of interest will be “Respect & Obedience.” This is what priests owe to their bishops and to the pope. Can we get a firmer hold on what that is, how best to fulfill that promise, and what to avoid that would derail us?

Also, I’d like to articulate some questions on the topic of Sacred Music in the Parish.

Master your craft, first.

 “Master your craft, first.”

Holding me back, in my estimation

Haven’t yet reached elite level:

preaching: discipline, mess, world-salad

visiting the home-bound: discipline, hustle

religious-ed: infrastructure, application, hustle

music: infrastructure, application, hustle

These are the first four to come-to-mind. I’m sure by the time I’m done writing this I’ll add a couple of more; so I’ll revise this in a minute.

If we can triangulate around the personal holiness of the sacred minister with these three points—excellence in his particular priestly office (parish priest), fidelity to his ordinary, and concern for his brother priests—what does “mastery” look like in each?

It first looks like “competence.”

Mastery is not necessarily jack-of-all-trades-manship.

Careful, here.

There is a basic competence required for my field of work. What is it?

A Manual for the parish priest:

Notice, here, we’re already moving beyond the scope of the previous project (Eucharistic Custody).

Good fraternity can help you gain knowledge and competence in areas where you lack immediate, direct experience.

Fidelity to the Bishop reminds you you’re in it for the long haul. This is a project that you’ll give your whole life for, even from exile.

Mind your own business: The Things of God (Ta Tou Theou)

Gozzoli, "Francis"

Pargraph One:

“Where are your thoughts?”

“What were you thinking?”

It’s not that I wasn’t. It’s that I was thinking of myself, of what I wanted.

I was ashamed to tell him what I was thinking—because if I had it would’ve revealed how warped my mind was. And a warped mind in the presence of a true mind is very easy to notice. I hid myself because I was ashamed.

Notice how Peter approaches Jesus, not openly or publicly the way you would if you were confident in the righteousness of your cause. If going to Jerusalem is such a bad idea, make it known. Well, perhaps he was just trying to spare Jesus the embarrassment of publicly disagreeing with his plan. No. Jesus tells us clearly.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Thanks, Peter, for sparing me the public humiliation of rebuking me in front of everyone.” Peter conceals his opposition.

Jesus lays claim to his—and our—thoughts, publicly.

“You’re thinking,” he says, “not as God does but as people do.”

“What were you thinking?”

Does God really have a claim on my thoughts? Jesus says it himself. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

We don’t get a moment’s rest ever from loving God, even with our thoughts.

Could you use a "vacation"? How about a vacation? Don't you "wish" you could.

Paragraph 2: Vacations

Paragraph 3: Wishes, "Whoever wishes to come after me..."

it's "schizophrenia" to mind god & love our neighbor"

9/8/2021

Theme:

Self-denial, bearing your own cross are pre-requisites to following Jesus.

Did any follower of Jesus ever promote exclusively himself, rejecting altogether his own cross?

The one who loses his life for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel saves it.

Peter illustrates what not to do—this part of his tale is cautionary: take Jesus aside, rebuke him. Your thoughts are not as God, but as of men. Publicly reproached. For our benefit. Your thoughts don’t even get to swerve from God’s path—your people depend on their not swerving. Jesus sees to it.

Don’t entertain devious, selfish thoughts. Ponder the law of the Lord day and night.

Whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.

Homily prep

Gozzoli

The step of making these 200 words “internet-ready” I’ve found takes some time and can work against the objective. An integral part of 200 words is that it’s not, say 500 words, or even 300 words. This is to kick-start the brain for the day, to get it up and at ‘em. If the drill wallows and gets bogged down in downloading large files, copying and pasting, formatting and re-formatting don’t be surprised if the brain, momentarily awakened choses to check back out again. Or, if another problem altogether, my lack of punctuality, rears its ugly head.

A gradual assessment of whether substack or blogspot is marginally easier may be useful. Also, “Keep overhead low.” No need to develop right away thematic illustrations or to scour the internet for the most beautiful image. All that’ll do is stop you dead in your tracks. If you see a good one, grab it. If not, “posted without comment” might just have to suffice. Wake up your brain and get on with your day! Don’t be late!

The fantasy of scripting even parts of the homily remains a fantasy.

One thought was: Monday, pick an appealing theme from the Gospel—there’s the topic of the homily, or the exegesis on the scripture ‘part of the homily.’ I’m settling this at around five minutes. Tuesday, find one scriptural illustration of Monday’s theme and develop it for a hundred words. Wednesday, find a saint who’s life reflects Tuesday’s illustration for another hundred words. Thursday, find an accessible everyday example where my life and my parishioners lives resemble Wednesday’s saint for another hundred words. Friday, introduce Monday’s theme with any kind of introduction for another hundred words. Conclude, as always with Our Lady and Saint Joseph. The predictability is deliberate and practical.

TLM

Memo:

To: Ray, Larry

From: Drew

Date: August 17, 2021

Re: Status & Sustainability Plan of the Pastoral Care for the TLM Community in St. Mary’s County

Message:

This recaps last-night’s conversation. I’ll present it to Anthony after you’ve reviewed it and indicated any mistakes or needed corrections.

In response to the express interest of parishioners, the pastors of three local parishes in Saint Mary’s County have been making the TLM available to the faithful according to the following plan:

Current Status:

St. Cecilia’s:

• Sunday afternoons.
• Weekday evenings (Mondays and Wednesdays).

St. John’s:

• Sunday afternoons.

St. Joseph’s:

• Sunday evenings.
• Weekday mornings (Wednesdays and Saturdays).

Going Forward:

St. Cecilia’s:

• Sundays, suspending the celebration of the TLM, unless there is no campus Mass at St. Mary’s College, i.e. during school vacations.
• Weekdays, to continue celebrating the TLM when not otherwise binating, due to the parish/school/funeral mass.

St. John’s:

• Sundays, suspending the celebration of the TLM, until a parochial vicar should be assigned there, then to resume the TLM.

St. Joseph’s:

• Sundays, to continue celebrating the TLM in the evenings.
• Weekdays, to continue celebrating the TLM when not otherwise binating, due to the parish/school/funeral mass.

exempt

 Note on the morality of using

some anti-Covid-19 vaccines

 

The question of the use of vaccines, in general, is often at the center of controversy in the forum of public opinion. In recent months, this Congregation has received several requests for guidance regarding the use of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, which, in the course of research and production, employed cell lines drawn from tissue obtained from two abortions that occurred in the last century. At the same time, diverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements in the mass media by bishops, Catholic associations, and experts have raised questions about the morality of the use of these vaccines.

There is already an important pronouncement of the Pontifical Academy for Life on this issue, entitled “Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human fetuses” (5 June 2005). Further, this Congregation expressed itself on the matter with the Instruction Dignitas Personae (September 8, 2008, cf. nn. 34 and 35). In 2017, the Pontifical Academy for Life returned to the topic with a Note. These documents already offer some general directive criteria.

Since the first vaccines against Covid-19 are already available for distribution and administration in various countries, this Congregation desires to offer some indications for clarification of this matter. We do not intend to judge the safety and efficacy of these vaccines, although ethically relevant and necessary, as this evaluation is the responsibility of biomedical researchers and drug agencies. Here, our objective is only to consider the moral aspects of the use of the vaccines against Covid-19 that have been developed from cell lines derived from tissues obtained from two fetuses that were not spontaneously aborted.

1. As the Instruction Dignitas Personae states, in cases where cells from aborted fetuses are employed to create cell lines for use in scientific research, “there exist differing degrees of responsibility”[1] of cooperation in evil. For example,“in organizations where cell lines of illicit origin are being utilized, the responsibility of those who make the decision to use them is not the same as that of those who have no voice in such a decision”.[2]

2. In this sense, when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available (e.g. in countries where vaccines without ethical problems are not made available to physicians and patients, or where their distribution is more difficult due to special storage and transport conditions, or when various types of vaccines are distributed in the same country but health authorities do not allow citizens to choose the vaccine with which to be inoculated) it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.

3. The fundamental reason for considering the use of these vaccines morally licit is that the kind of cooperation in evil (passive material cooperation) in the procured abortion from which these cell lines originate is, on the part of those making use of the resulting vaccines, remote. The moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent[3]--in this case, the pandemic spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. It must therefore be considered that, in such a case, all vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive. It should be emphasized, however, that the morally licit use of these types of vaccines, in the particular conditions that make it so, does not in itself constitute a legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion, and necessarily assumes the opposition to this practice by those who make use of these vaccines.

4. In fact, the licit use of such vaccines does not and should not in any way imply that there is a moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses.[4] Both pharmaceutical companies and governmental health agencies are therefore encouraged to produce, approve, distribute and offer ethically acceptable vaccines that do not create problems of conscience for either health care providers or the people to be vaccinated.

5. At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.

6. Finally, there is also a moral imperative for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines, which are effective and safe from a medical point of view, as well as ethically acceptable, are also accessible to the poorest countries in a manner that is not costly for them. The lack of access to vaccines, otherwise, would become another sign of discrimination and injustice that condemns poor countries to continue living in health, economic and social poverty.[5]

The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on 17 December 2020, examined the present Note and ordered its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on 21 December 2020, Liturgical Memorial of Saint Peter Canisius.

Write 200 words

Van Eyck, "The Rolin Madonna"

I’ve gotten away from the project for a little while.

Perhaps I had grown tired of it. Perhaps I had lost the handle on why I was doing it. Along those lines, as I restart it, at least for this morning, here’s the question—why am I restarting it?

Two reasons present themselves quickly: get that book out; keep that brain sharp.

Regarding the first, this also is the more painful reason. Painful because I’ve never written a book before. I have only submitted academic papers as a part of course work. I’ve written one or two articles for the smallest of publications—and I mean the smallest (does the diocesan vocations promotions society count?). So all the work, especially formatting, but also just seeing the project through is going to seem quite daunting. I should go easy, then, on my dad whom we’ve been hounding for years to finish his book.

Regarding the second, at 158-words, I can notice a bit of an effect already this morning, in terms of rousing the mental software out of it’s early morning sluggishness. Today’s Tuesday, I’ll need my brain shortly for two separate homilies over the next four hours. I can’t be forgetful or approach those tasks drowsily.There are other reasons which I’ll possibly get to another time—I’ve reached my word-count.

Developments in the parish

Duccio, "Madonna on a Throne"

July 5, 2021

I’ll observe a certain favorable development in the life of the parish: families with Children.

I’ll shoot from the hip in reacting, apprehending this development. One thing, I should take care not to neglect the immediate needs of the rest of the parish. Okay. That said, I’m acknowledging a development: families.

I got busted for “crying” or for “tears” one or the other—can’t remember which—in an anecdote relating my reaction to the recent noticeable bump in the participation of some new families at Sunday Mass.

Credit where it’s due, “I want this to be the parish of the big families” is a one-liner which I did not come up with. Rather, it’s from one of the new families themselves.

It may be worth spotting what prepared for this moment, so that we don’t foolishly forget it, much less decide to go in a different direction.

"Ad orientem" has something to do with it. To chuck this would be kind of like killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Certainly, Eucharistic piety and support for the older form of the Mass has also helped. Don’t forget, either the concrete act of gratitude for encouraging vasectomy reversal. As well as the new little one one the way as a result. In this regard the parish is certainly growing.

Image: Duccio, "Madonna and Child on a Throne"

Priestly Culture

6/21/21

Duccio, "Flagellation"

To continue this idea of a flourishing priestly culture.

Can we point to any authority on the matter? Can we find those priestly cultures that are flourishing, somewhere, and see what they have in common? That would be one task: to gather into one space, on one sheet of paper, a list of those presbyterates.

I’ll need to guard against my tendency to present an idealized portrayal of a non-existent priestly culture. This is why, if there are real examples out there—even if they are partial examples—let’s have a look at them.

I’ll say, perhaps I’ve already said it, the local constituents of the priesthood in this region of the archdiocese seem to socialize well together. What that actually looks like is the rather consistent acceptance of individual invitations to dinner on Saturday evenings. Generally anywhere from a third to sometimes a half of all of the priests in the region will, on a near weekly basis, and on rather short notice, show up for a simple dinner. There are only a few who have never joined. There are a few who nearly always join.

I wonder if this example, Saturday evening dinners, has much potential itself of developing into anything beyond just a reliable occasion to have a simple dinner and some conversations with confreres. If it’s just that, it serves a purpose. Adjacent events resembling parts of it could be rather easily spun off. That would be another purpose it could serve, namely, to show how easy it is to have successful outreach to the other guys. What those other possibilities could be, we simply do not know. I suppose they could be just about any good thing.

Cont'd from this earlier:

6/17/2021

A Flourishing Clerical Culture:

What’s it look like? When did it ever exist? What’s to prevent it from bursting onto the scene? Would we even recognize it if we saw it?

I imagine there are certain local presbyterates, or priestly societies, or religious communities that have a healthy clerical culture amongst themselves. What do they have in common?

It’s perhaps easier to spot the earmarks of unhealthiness within a priestly culture: internal strife, mistrust, frequent defections, disobedience, obstinacy, self-aggrandizement, jealousy, indulging in excess, unchastity, worldliness, cowardliness. This is not an exhaustive list. But where these vices abound among priests, it bodes ill for them and for their people.

Is there even such a thing as a common priestly, or clerical culture? Culture implies symbiosis, mutual enrichment, growth & development, organic unity, favorable environmental conditions, admixture of various particularities. The fundamental ingredients of any culture would need also to be healthy themselves, or at least not unhealthy. “A good tree produces good fruit.”

The distinctions of professional cultures in the secular world naturally resemble the character of the common trade or skills of its constituents: military, sports, education, business, arts, legal, medical, etc. The professional cultures in these various fields reflect the goodness of the field itself, even while they are determined by the character of individuals who participate.

The same can be said for spiritual cultures

It would seem vital for a healthy priestly culture that its nucleus always be what distinguishes it from any other professional or spiritual vocation. As long as the priestly character is at the heart of priestly culture, then what grows up around it can resemble the particular qualities of the men who comprise it. If the heart of the priesthood is replaced with anything other than what is essential to the priesthood—even if they be good other things, hopes for a healthy particularly priestly culture cannot long endure. The culture may be professional, it may be spiritual, it may be personal, but it won’t be priestly.

Image: Duccio, "Flagellation"

A local parish feastday

Duccio, "Descent"

6/16/21

Today’s the feast of Saint John Francis Regis. According to the wikipedia page, though, 10 September is also listed. I’m not sure what the difference is between the two dates. We’ve got a local parish, here, named for him so we’ll be heading over there today to visit the parish Church, pray there, greet the pastor and get ourselves a plenary indulgence.

This visiting the local parishes on their feast days, I hope, can become a popular thing if we put our minds to it. Here in mid-June we’ve got four local feasts within a few weeks of each other: Sacred Heart, IHM, Regis, Gonzaga. If we’re not all the way to point of each parish having a blowout bash, full festival, bishop coming to say Mass, etc, for their feast, then in the meantime a reasonable way to observe the day might, at least, be to rendezvous for visit and then grab some lunch nearby.

Lunch, maybe better than dinner to mark the day since we already have the custom of meeting regularly for dinner and doing so yet again might not carry with it the sense of a particularly special significance. Lunch—or, imagine it, breakfast—on the other hand, would be a great way to mark the day. We’d have to make sure our schedules were clear and we’d take time away from the parish—even if just for a couple of hours, and we’d pray and celebrate.

Today is Regis, the next one, Monday, is Gonzaga. Key to getting these set up is the advance notice. That’s where I definitely need some help. I’m not a planner, temperamentally. I’m way better thinking on my feet, spontaneously. Planning is plodding, that’s how it feels to me anyway. Still, I can appreciate it’s value, even if only theoretically, and I do know that a decent heads-up is practically quite considerate of the other guys.

Image: Duccio, "Descent"

On writing

6/9/21

Duccio, "Before Anna"

Remedying the mishandling of the MBS.

Slow to dive in, this morning. There may be a couple of reasons why. One is that I may have forgotten that this 5:30 AM half-hour of writing is primarily for the sake of developing my writing chops. Practicing the craft. Working it out. It’s primarily an exercise to get the brain going in the morning, but also to get the act of writing going in an increasingly proficient manner.

I foresee that I could be easily adding some bad habits. The kind that come along when you’re self-taught. But I’d rather get accustomed to producing than stifle any production for fear I may be doing it wrong. It’s hard to imagine much harm done to anyone by my honing the ability to dash out 300-500 word bursts.

Right now, I’ve begun with the 250-word burst. It was 200 before that, but I soon realized that was not quite challenging enough. Or, rather, that it wasn’t nearly long enough for me to develop a single thought to my satisfaction. So it became 250.

Very recently it’s become 250 in 30 minutes. Or better, 250 before 6 AM. Lauds are at six. Followed by a half-hour meditation. That goes right into getting set for the day, dressed, showering, etc. By 7:15 or 7:20 depending, I should be ready for Prime and whatever comes next—typically confessions and 8:00 AM Mass.

Cranking out the 250 by 6:00 AM, though, has become the scope of the exercise. At least for now.

I’ve been working on this MBS project on remedying the pastor’s mishandling of the MBS. There, you see. Just putting it so succinctly has brought about another aspect, namely, “What is the scope of the parish priest’s responsibility with respect to the MBS?” This is different from “How does the pastor safeguard the MBS?” Or, “How do pastors remedy the mishandling of the MBS?” Is it possible, to catalogue the entire scope of the pastor’s responsibility regarding the MBS? Yes, of course, it is. But that’s more than I’m bargaining for right here. Will it not suffice to indicate the pastor’s larger responsibility in general and focus specifically on a small portion of it? After all, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

This last 100-word burst is brought to you by yesterday’s exercise to articulate, as succinctly as possible, the scope of the work. A Pastor’s guide to preventing and remedying common mishandling of the MBS. Keep working at it.

I also think this time can be useful in developing that Rectory blog, and also what I’ll put up on the parish website, too. Frequency of publishing might not be the idea. But frequency of writing is more like it. By honing the writing craft, it’ll help ultimately what content eventually does get published.

Image: Duccio, "Before Anna"