tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post2460138444412192101..comments2024-03-25T06:39:42.081-04:00Comments on Bonfire of the Vanities: 'A Prophecy: The Vocation Crisis is Over'Fr Martin Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375628123126091747noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-41977835034009810542014-07-13T21:23:59.086-04:002014-07-13T21:23:59.086-04:00I see little cause for hope. My parish has receiv...I see little cause for hope. My parish has received two new young priests over the past two or three years. They are every bit as politically correct and anodyne as their older brethren. Our parish music is still infested with Marty Haugan and David Haas (how's that for traditionalism? Haugan-Haas now in its 20th year!). The architecture is still appalling in the area.<br /><br />People have been promising a new springtime Real Soon Now (™) but I just don't see it.GenXBenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15298459502431357489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-72717955955192303432014-07-13T14:14:32.792-04:002014-07-13T14:14:32.792-04:00Evi:
Well, I have not seen the show, so I cannot ...Evi:<br /><br />Well, I have not seen the show, so I cannot comment on the analogy.Fr Martin Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01375628123126091747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-43266141087125157392014-07-13T09:28:07.413-04:002014-07-13T09:28:07.413-04:00Very interesting post! So to use a Game of Throne...Very interesting post! So to use a Game of Thrones analogy, are priests more akin to taking the black and protecting the realms of men? Evi L. Bloggerladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00371362907839227149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-70881365727717462902014-07-11T22:33:48.020-04:002014-07-11T22:33:48.020-04:00Thank you, Fr Fox! Oh, yes, I call all that good. ...Thank you, Fr Fox! Oh, yes, I call all that good. I personally prefer the <i>vetus ordo</i> to the new <i>as it is usually celebrated</i>, yes, but I also happily await the day-- after our lifetimes, perhaps, but also as you and Fr Longenecker suggest it may come very quickly due to other causes-- when the <i>stabilisation</i> has happened; I'm not one of those who thinks the <i>novus ordo</i> will ever be simply suppressed, or that the <i>vetus</i> can't be reformed in an 'organic' (whatever that buzzword actually means :-)) sort of way (the calendar, commemorations, an augmented lectionary etc etc). When we can speak openly of the great mess of nonsense made by the Consilium, that will be a good thing, too. <br /><br />I brought up Mons Benson's The Lord of the World because in that novelist's version of the end of the age and the advent of Antichrist it all happens rather quickly, in half a lifetime, in a few years really. The Pope permits priests to use the same votive Mass every day, if I recall rightly, in view of the dire circumstances. (Don't know if it is quite sui generis but it's the only Catholic depiction of the last days I know of.) <br /><br />Thanks very much!Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-64083012478007223932014-07-11T18:53:51.322-04:002014-07-11T18:53:51.322-04:00Thanks for making me aware of Fr. Longenecker'...Thanks for making me aware of Fr. Longenecker's site.<br /><br />Yes, along with the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church is fast becoming a refuge for dissenters.<br /><br />Which is a good thing.Shouting Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09813058890609756982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-42442441863280474142014-07-11T11:44:45.190-04:002014-07-11T11:44:45.190-04:00Hoser:
My thoughts are that you need to talk dire...Hoser:<br /><br />My thoughts are that you need to talk directly with the priest you refer to. You should be able to have a friendly conversation, in which you share concerns. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it.Fr Martin Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01375628123126091747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-85475800400339467762014-07-11T11:43:28.687-04:002014-07-11T11:43:28.687-04:00Marc:
In reply to several questions:
Yes, I am t...Marc:<br /><br />In reply to several questions:<br /><br />Yes, I am the president of the National Pro Life Alliance. Thanks for any help you may choose to give!<br /><br />And when I referred to "something new that may be good," I just mean this: if indeed the Church goes through a time of trial and purification in the next 20 years, as Father Longenecker "prophesies," then that "new" Church will be a holy Church; and if, as I further prophesy, that experience will bring the "liturgy wars" largely to an end, then the resulting sacred liturgy will indeed be <i>sacred.</i><br /><br />That's all good, isn't it?<br /><br />Yet it may not be a simple return to the Extraordinary Form. It probably will not be. That's why I say this may be a challenge for many traditionalists, who -- understandably -- are mighty skeptical of anything "new."<br /><br />It may take 100 years before the Roman Rite restabilizes after the disruption that followed the Second Vatican Council (note, I did not attribute <i>causation!</i> Beware of that pitfall.). <br /><br />But what should come in the near future, with the forecast of Father Longenecker, should be a much more Christ-focused liturgy, supported by faithful more interested in actual worship of Him, as opposed to all the narcissism I referred to.<br /><br />Is that not something you would call good?Fr Martin Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01375628123126091747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-25416141254068775362014-07-11T01:13:40.882-04:002014-07-11T01:13:40.882-04:00"But he who endures to the end will be saved...."But he who endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:13Deacon David Oatneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895500028831981591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-10872660961968338732014-07-11T00:36:32.110-04:002014-07-11T00:36:32.110-04:00Amen. I hope you are correct about the 'liturg...Amen. I hope you are correct about the 'liturgy wars' ending sooner rather than later, but am curious what you think is the "something new that will be <i>good</i>"? <br /><br />I have become expert at closing my ears and eyes to the liturgical nonsense (today, it is hands upraised to pray the Pater, yesterday, it was standing throughout the entire communion rite): but even I must admit that each of the priests celebrates attentively, devotedly, preaches perfectly orthodox homilies, does good pastoral work. Gone are the days, in other words, when one had to be concerned, two or three days a week, as to whether the Sacrament was validly confected, or if the priest was going to declare himself a material heretic three or only two times in the course of his introductory remarks/homily/homilia brevior ante precem eucharisticam/closing remarks. (Cincinnati archdiocese '75 to '78!)<br /><br />Sincerely, inasmuch as I am "narcissistic" I'm happy to have that purged away. <br /><br />Do you know Robert Hugh Benson's The Lord of the World? Evidently, it's one of his Holiness's favorite novels. <br /><br />(And, changing subjects entirely, since I'm prosing on-- do you continue to be actively associated with that pro-life organisation that I hear from? My budget is quite limited so have never given them any alms but would consider dividing up the small pot differently if you're vouching for them, as it were.)Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-76050599858974768062014-07-10T21:16:15.686-04:002014-07-10T21:16:15.686-04:00We recently moved back to my wife's birth comm...We recently moved back to my wife's birth community after we both retired last year. We found our parish five miles down the road a little lacking in what I call "parish culture' from what we were used to, in fact, our priest, who shares three parishes within a 33 mile radius, rarely has the opportunity to say mass locally but once a week. The ladies are trying to start an Altar Society group; adoration one afternoon a week; but spirituality is lacking, and that is being kind. The young, mainly teenagers, rarely go to Mass even with the blessings of their parents. Families may attend twice a month, but always receive communion when they do attend services. Surely the priest must know that communicants are not attending Mass, they don't go to confession, no one does, but he allows them to receive the Body and Blood everytime they come to the altar. Father sits in the confessional, alone, virtually every Saturday afternoon 15 minutes prior to Mass. <br /><br />Although this type of lackadaisical catholic activities is pretty common, it is more noticeable in this parish. I have been wanting to talk to Father about what I see, but don't want to burn MY bridges with him since he is the only confessor I have.<br /><br />To remedy these issues, Father needs to communicate these concerns to his flock. I am afraid that Father will be held responsible for his not pointing out to his flock that it is indeed a sin to miss Mass; it is indeed a sin to receive communion with mortal sin on your soul. And to make his point more dramatic, he needs to have confession at least an hour once per week and not on the night of Saturday's Mass.<br /><br />What is your thoughts, Father? I do not see the gathering of the young in our parishes like is written in your story, I see the exact opposite in fact: old folks and a young priest who fails to see there is a problem.Hoserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08224816012035167024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-35209850970693216422014-07-10T12:28:28.733-04:002014-07-10T12:28:28.733-04:00I think you hit the nail on the head. There is no ...I think you hit the nail on the head. There is no doubt that the Church is in for some really hard times in the very near future.<br /><br />I especially agree with your supposition that "Cultural Catholics" will fall by the wayside.<br />That is right on the money. You can see it happening already every day.<br /><br />Great post. Thank you.Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-33585492157092383172014-07-10T10:48:42.291-04:002014-07-10T10:48:42.291-04:00Cavalier:
Actually, no. Care to expand on that?Cavalier:<br /><br />Actually, no. Care to expand on that?Fr Martin Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01375628123126091747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14168956.post-27031725247511543622014-07-10T09:59:22.983-04:002014-07-10T09:59:22.983-04:00Father, you've been reading Ratzinger's &q...Father, you've been reading Ratzinger's "Faith and the Future"?cavalierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00851956310193341297noreply@blogger.com