"Pastoral Planning"- An oxymoron if I ever heard one!

You can find the latest news on the “Pastoral Planning” that is going on in Irondequoit over at Cleansing Fire.

I have been a part of this “process”, both actively in my former parish, and as an “outsider looking in” at another. I also have a good friend who was involved in the “planning process” in her own parish in the Eastern Greece/Charlotte cluster, and we have discussed our general mistrust of the whole process many times.

So I submit to you the epitome of oxymorons-

“Pastoral Planning”

Pastoral: of or relating to spiritual care or guidance especially of a congregation.

Planning: the act or process of making or carrying out plans, specifically: the establishment of goals, policies and procedures for a social or economic unit.

Ummmm…., not -  even -  close- ,  folks!!!

We need much less of this and a lot more leadership here in the DOR. This process, not only in Irondequoit, but in every other instance I know, has dragged on, pitted one parish against another, and has ultimately caused more division, animosity and mistrust than anything else.

I am a department manager, and while I like to give my staff a lot of latitude, sometimes I have to make the difficult and often unpopular decisions, it comes with the territory.  I don't always like it, but "that's why I make the big bucks!" (LOL)

Should we expect any less from our Church leaders?

Pearls...

Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil big enough to draw on the ceiling.

~G.K. Chesterton

Give me a nice big cup of hot cocoa and this sounds like the perfect way to spend this frigid weekend!!

Pearls...

O, God, give me the courage and strength

to be worthy of being called a Christian.

                                                               Karl Rahner, SJ

Eternal rest grant unto him O, Lord...

Requiescat in pace

Marine, LCpl. Zach Smith, 19, of Hornell, NY was killed in action in Afganistan this past week by an I.E.D.
My prayers go out to his young wife (they were married this past summer), his family and the people of Hornell.

Eternal rest grant unto him O, Lord

and let pepetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace.

Semper Fidelis

Why shouldn't we wait?

I have very mixed feelings about the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

Some of it, I see no problem with. Other parts, I feel have lost something in translation.

The current translation is the only one I know. I find that there is a rhythm to the Mass that I find comforting, almost soothing. The new translation, from my understanding, is a more literal translation of the original Latin. I am not a linguist. But I do know that translating involves not only translating the word, but also conveying the proper meaning of the word in the context it is being used. In Greek, there are at least four words for love, whose use depends on the object of that love.  In English, we use one word, “love”, when we talk about the feelings of a husband for a wife, a parent for a child, or for how we feel about chocolate- the same word, but three distinctly different connotations.

Which brings me to the question, why is literal better?

Why is “consubstantial” better that “one in Being with”?

Why is “incarnate” better than “born of”?

My feeling on these two examples is that the new translation takes away the relationship aspect of the humanity of our faith. “Incarnate” brings to mind a “mystical” sort of coming into the world, without the very personal, very human experience that Mary had in carrying and giving birth to Jesus. “Consubstantial”, of the same substance, seems more of a chemistry term to me than one that describes the relationship of God and Jesus, and that of Jesus’ nature of being both truly human and truly divine.

I think we should wait. I would like to hear some discussion as to why a more literal translation is thought to be better. I understand that many people are concerned that some priests take it upon themselves to change the words as they see fit. Do we really think that this won’t happen with the new translation? Shouldn’t we spend our efforts and energy on combating these abuses, instead of just changing the words?

Thoughts, comments..?

Pearls...

Another gem from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta~

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

Is the world going bonkers?

I believe that abortion is a terrible evil that we need to combat. How we should do that, I am not really sure. But what we need, I believe, is to have a mentality that ALL LIFE IS SACRED, and unfortunately when it comes to the abortion debate, apparently this is not the case.
In a story that I first saw on the “ticker” of Fox News this morning, and you can read here, the AP reports that judge Warren Wilbert will allow accused murderer, Scott Roeder,(who btw, does not deny that he is guilty) to argue that he should not be convicted of pre-meditated, first degree murder, but of voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Dr. George Tiller.
Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force."
How exactly can one believe that this madman, who walked into a church, pointed a gun at the head of a parishioner and pulled the trigger  was justified in his use of "deadly force"?  Maybe (and I am saying maybe only as a hypothetical, I believe what Mr. Roeder did is murder, plain and simple, the same thing he was accusing Dr. Tiller of), I might buy this so-called defense if Mr. Roeder was at Dr. Tiller’s clinic, but in his church?!
You have got to be f****** kidding me!
Murder is murder is murder.
None of us have any right what so ever to play judge and jury and take away someone’s life. I do not agree with some of the things that Dr. Tiller did in the scope of his medical practice, but the man did not deserve to have his face blown off, in his church, during Sunday services.
How anyone can justify killing someone, and claim to be a Christian is beyond me.

Mr. Roeder should be convicted of 1st degree, pre-meditated murder, and should be punished for what he did. Case closed!

Spiritual Exercise

From “When the Heat Waits” by Sue Monk Kidd

To be truly human, fully myself,

To accept all that I am, all the You envision

This is my prayer.

Walk with me out to the rim of life,

Beyond security.

Take me to the exquisite edge of courage

And release me to become.

Someone once told me that being human, like a triangle, had three sides, one side being the physical aspects, the other the emotional/intellectual aspects and the foundation is the spiritual aspect. And this person went on to say that while the two sides were very important, and we tend to concentrate most of our energy on maintaining them, they are meaningless without a good, solid foundation, which also needs attention if it is going to stay sound.

It was actually this idea, as well as a longing that I could no longer resist, that brought me back to the Church. I had been “un-churched” for about 20 years. Oh, there were the obligatory weddings and funerals, an occasional Christmas or Easter, and attempts at other churches, Episcopal, non-denominational Christian, etc., but in the end I longed for the ritual, symbolism and richness of the Catholic tradition. My only problem was I wanted all the “externals” the Church had to offer, (“the bells & smells”) yet I was not ready to give up my ideas of what the I thought the Church “should” be as an American woman in the 21st century.

As I look back, and see where life’s journey has taken me, all I seem to hear in my head is the Grateful Dead singing
“…What a long strange trip it’s been….”
That is has.

There has been illness, estrangement, death and lots of other darkness.
There have been so many times that I wanted to say the hell with it the past five years. I blamed God for a lot of the crap that was happening in my life. I couldn’t understand why everything seemed so dark all of the time. But, I stuck with it and kept praying, even when the only thing I could think to say was “Why, God?”

And slowly, the darkness has been lifted away. It has been a lot of hard work on my part- re-examining attitudes, looking at how I live my life, asking myself what it is I truly believe. It has not been easy and I know that I would not be where I am in my journey right now, had it not been for the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

The “Principle & Foundation” , as well as Ignatius’ encouragement of using one’s imagination in Gospel contemplation intrigued me, and with a little prodding from some friends, and a lot of prodding from the Holy Spirit, I embarked on this new phase in my journey this past August. It has been a most wonderful and rewarding experience thus far. Not always good, or even pleasant, but I have deepened my relationship with Jesus, have developed a very rich prayer life and appreciation for the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist, and am becoming more “spiritually mature”. If you are looking for a way to deepen your faith and enrich your prayer life, I highly recommend “the Exercises”, it is a life-altering and life-giving experience, and is helping me to build that strong foundation.

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam

Pearls...

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."                   

Thanks to Ben at Fallacies and Fashions (see his "Twitter" updates) for this wonderful bit of wisdom from G.K.Chesterton.
Not sure when this was said, but it seems to me that this is more relevant now than it ever was!

So, what is the answer?

There has been a lot of talk in the blogs about the importance of catechesis. And with the new translation of the Roman Missal finally approved, the need for catechesis on every level is going to be even more important.

That said, while I have seen a lot of gripping and complaining, I have not seen any ideas as to how to implement this catechesis.
How do we get people to understand that coming to church is not just “getting your ticket punched until the next week?”  Coming to church should not be an “obligation” it should be a desire.
I attend Mass each week because I want to, not because it is a “mortal sin” to miss Mass.

I am a post-VII Catholic. I, along with the Novus Ordo, am celebrating my 40th this year. My “formal catechesis” as a child was lacking to say the least. It was all “fluff” and no substance. What I have learned as an adult has been on my own, except for the two years I have been a student at SBSTM, and as I have said before, what I have learned there has also made me look deeper. I have  heard from most of the Catholics I know who were catechized in the pre-VII model (the Baltimore Catechism of the 40’s – 60’s & Catholic school),  that what they learned was just rote memorization that  had no meaning or substance to them, and has left them with a serious lack of understanding about the Church and her teachings.

Which begs the question, if  people before VII didn’t understand their faith, how can we expect their children and grandchildren to understand it?

Ideas, anyone?

Happy New Year!

This is my wish for the new year.
I don’t know too much about the artist, Matisyahu, but this is an awesome song.

As someone who is an “idealist” this has been my prayer for a very long time.

Let us hope and pray that 2010 brings us this type of peace.

Happy New Year everyone, may it be filled with peace, love and the blessings of a loving God!