Word war about a new People power

MANILA, May 3, 2010—The head of Manila’s Catholic Church has gained criticism for saying that holding of massive street protests if the elections are wracked by fraud are “irresponsible” and crazy.”

A top official of the influential Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines on Monday said Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales’ comment was wrong and worth-opposing.

“With due respect to cardinal, I disagree very vehemently with what he said. I think doing nothing (against poll fraud) is more irresponsible,” said Sr. Mary John Mananzan, AMRSP co-chairperson. [I am no fan of Sr. Mary John especially in most of her "street protests" but this time I agree with her and will go to the streets of need be.]

Rosales yesterday said he will not support any mass movement of people and to call for another people power these days is no longer needed. [With all due respect, Your Eminence, did you ever EVEN speak out against the wrong-doings of the government?  If by just lip service you cannot fulfill your moral obligation as shepherd of a million souls in Manila, how in the world can we expect him to take to the streets?]

He said the situation in 1986, when millions of Filipinos took the streets to oust a dictator was totally different from the country’s present condition. [Yes but it is heading that way because YOU are NOT DOING ANYTHING!]

He added that if the elections will be marred with cheatings, calling for street protests are unnecessary since there are still legal recourse that people could take. [How can the legal recourse be taken when even the Judiciary's reputation is even being questioned?  How can this be a recourse when an election protest would last the entire term in office?  How many times have we seen the real winner in a congressional protest get sworn into office only to serve the less than 1 week remaining days in office?  The Filipino people will never be comfortable taking a legal recourse!]

For Mananzan, however, if the cardinal is still looking at an honest-to-goodness kind of the government, the Arroyo administration is an exception.

“Most institutions in the government are severely compromised,” she said in a press conference. “So where are we going now?”

“For me really, it would be irresponsible if we are not going to do something,” Mananzan reiterated. [Which the cardinal has been doing ever since he assumed the archbishop's throne!  He is busy trumping the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and collecting coins for his Pondo ng Pinoy.  More about this alter.]

Fr. Joe Dizon, for his part, said that the people must be open to all possibilities if only to ensure that President Arroyo would no longer stay beyond June 30.

“People should act if there will be failure of elections because this would in turn result Arroyo’s further holdover to power. Enough is enough,” said Dizon. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)

***


I once attended a conference of Catholic Communicators at St. Paul's Quezon City.  The great fr. james Reuters, SJ invited the newly installed archbishop of Manila to speak to the group.  He talked about his social advocacy Pondo ng Pinoy.  What he said blew me...

He said something to the effect of..."the quick way to heaven is not the rosary, devotions, the Mass or the sacraments.  It is by giving to Pondo ng Pinoy!"

I am not making this up and I wish he was joking. We laughed when he said it, but he didn't.  He was serious.  It was all part of his "theology of the crumbs:.

***

This administration has been running this country as if it were their own kitchen cupboard.  I have been a witness on so many occasions of  the rampant corruption in government.  Who am I to speak up against these goons?   Where was the Church in all of these?  yes, there were the nuns, priests and some bishops.  But the biggest voice of them all has decided to shout his deafening silence.

A simple reminder...

Sitting on your collected 25c coins, while the whole country tears each other apart because of politics.

***

With this troubling thought and with his seeming apathy towards the Philippine political situation...

How we miss Cardinal Sin.  He may have been too political...

But in a time when we need someone to tell our politicians to do the right thing...

Whenever we, as a Filipino nation, needed someone to guide us in turbulent political times, his was the voice that guides us, assures us and comforts us.

How I miss Cardinal Sin.

GULP ALERT: Compare and contrast

What the?!?!?!

"Hey Pinoy Catholic! What are you complaining? This is the modern day donkey!"

Eeyore! Eeyore! Eeyore!

Wish I had a dollar everytime I hear that!

By the way, the priest in the photo is Fr. Gerry Tapiador, SSL, Vicar General of the Diocese of Novaliches. He is a biblical expert. Just so you know.

CBCP News reporter gets it mixed up

LAS PIŇAS, Parañaque, April 26, 2010—The Five Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ Parish in Las Piñas City has celebrated its silver feast day April 18, 2010 with a solemn High Mass officiated by Parañaque Bishop Jesse Eugenio Mercado, D.D. [We do not have that term forthe Novus Ordo Mass. The Solemn High Mass is only used for the Tridentine Mass. Obviously the one who wrote the report is not aware that such term is not used in the OF anymore.  Well,I once heard our parish priest say, "Let us have High Mass."  I later found out that all that was added was him vesting in chasuble and having incense.  He only wears an alb and stole for Mass.  See the reason why I am a member of SLAP and GULP?]

Various liturgical activities were held prior the celebration of the feast day such as the administration of the sacraments of Confirmation, Mass Wedding and celebration of Pista sa Nayon, on the 9th, 17th and 15th of April respectively.

The confirmation was officiated by retired Manila auxiliary Bishop Teodoro J. Buhain, Jr. D.D while the Mass Wedding of 12 couples was officiated by Fr. Dennis Batacandolo, CSS, the parish priest of the Five Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with two other concelebrants.

A film on the life of Padre Pio was shown on April 13. A Medical-Dental mission took place on April 16 at the parish medical-dental center in the morning. In the evening of the same day, the parishioners gathered for a dinner dance in commemoration of the Five Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ. A showdown of the clusters of the parish was performed in the evening of April 17. [Good!  Not during the Mass!  Dance all the way till the morning!  But not during the Mass!  I hope they did not have one.  Can someone confirm this?]

Administered by the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of our Lord Jesus Christ (CSS), the Parish of the Five Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ will celebrate the culmination of its silver jubilee year on June 12, 2010.

On the occasion of its jubilee year, the parish of the Five Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ has been designated as a pilgrimage church by Pope Benedict XVI through a decree, from June 12, 2009 to June 12, 2010.

Likewise, the CSS community in the Philippines will mark its silver jubilee of foundation on June 12, 2010.

The CSS congregation was founded by St. Gaspar Bertoni in Verona, Italy in 1777. (Vanessa Puno)


***

Let's end this post on a happy note shall we?

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FIVE WOUNDS OF OUR LORD OF JESUS CHRIST PARISH!!!

GULP Alert: EMHCs

Here is something why I am not so confident of having a stricter regulation on the recruitment of EMHCs.

From Ben Vallejo...

***

Dear PinoyCatholic

Let me tell you about a Eucharistic horror in the Diocese of Pasig!

During Communion at a Mass in that diocese, I made a sign (clasped hands in prayer) that I would like to receive the Sacred Host the old way. The Extraordinary Minister of Communion DROPPED THE HOST since he did not want it on my tongue! [How he dropped It, we can only imagine!]

It was good that my reflexes were good and I caught the Lord in my left hand!

Now I do know that Catholics can receive the Host orally even in churches where the indult of receiving it on the hand is given. A Catholic need only to have his hands clasped in prayer (as in the way people have done for 2000 years!)

And BTW, the late Cardinal Sin (when Pasig was part of the Archdiocese of Manila) gave an indult for communion in the hand for public health reasons. Now with the reason gone, why is the indult still there?

***

I am sure that you are not the only one who experienced this horror, Ben.  And I can only imagine the feeling of disgust at the attitude of the EMHC.

Let me share with you a somewhat similar experience.  And this one does not even involve an EMHC but a PRIEST!

I went to Mass with my wife.  I DO NOT receive Communion in the Hand. So, I put down my hand but they are clasped.  From the queue, I could see how the priest distributed the Hosts.  He would grab a number of Hosts in his hand and flip it to the hands of the communicants.  He is handling the Hosts as if they were poker chips!  I could also see that he is not saying "The Body of Christ"  when he gives Them.  When it was my time to communicate, I said "Amen" even if I did not hear him say "The Body of Christ".  I was sticking my tongue out but I could not feel the Host touch it.  When I opened my eye, I saw the priest inserting the Host into my clasp hands!

Now for the love of God, I do not consider this guy a priest anymore.  He is downright unworthy of the priesthood!

I reasoned to my wife that I will report this to the bishop but my wife told me to let it go and pray for old guy. By the way, this happened in the cathedral in the South.  I haven't seen the priest anymore.


Things to ponder regarding our experiences, Ben:

1.  There are certain cases when the priest can distribute Communion yet there is a platoon of EMHC distributing Communion.  Watch Studio 23's  Mass every Sunday morning and you'll see what I mean.  During this years' Chrism Mass in our diocese, the same thing happened.  Imagine...Chrism Mass...all priests of the diocese, secular or religious is in attendance. YET...EMHCs distributed Holy Communion aside from the bishop and 4 priests!  Is it really a necessity to have the EMHCs, even if they are the EXTRAORDINARY MINISTER to do the task of distributing Holy Communion or are the priests really are into the "laicization"of certain roles of the ordained priesthood even though this is considered an abuse in Redemptionis Sacramentum? In articles 157 and 158 of RS it says:

157.  If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed. Indeed, in such circumstances, those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it. The practice of those Priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons

158. Indeed, the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking, when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged. [Usually Communion service in Sunday Masses in the Philippines do not last more than 10 minutes.  So is there a need for EMHCs?]  This, however, is to be understood in such a way that a brief prolongation, considering the circumstances and culture of the place, is not at all a sufficient reason.

 For all I care, there are only three reasons that I could think of why this happens:

          1.  Those priests are too lazy to do their jobs.
          2.  Some priests act dumb as if they do not know anything about Redemptionis Sacramentum,which
                unfortunately most do not.
          3.  That dreaded "active participation"of the laity.


2.  EMHCs are not properly disposed liturgically and theologically; thus the need for stricter regulations of this great privilege of holding the Lord and distributing Him for Holy Communion.  I personally know some EMHCs in our parish.  Most are retirees.  Some would love to join a lot of lay organizations.  Some are only after the position of being around the sanctuary.  All of them...and I mean ALL of them...I asked during a casual conversation about the parts of the Mass(OF), and you know what?  They could not even tell me!  How come our priests and bishops trust these men who could not even answer a simple question about the Mass?!  Some EMHCs lay hands and bless the children who come with their parents for Communion.  Lay men cannot make a blessing and make gestures as if they received Holy Orders!  I cannot even hear some say the words "The Body of Christ" audibly!

The words of the Lord come to mind..."Do not give to the dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls to the pigs..."

3. The ordinary practice of receiving communion is through the mouth.  Receiving by Hand, which I abhor in the strongest possible terms, [SIGN THE PETITION!] is an INDULT, meaning it is an option.  It is not the norm but an option.  Most of our EMHC are on auto-pilot.  What they see as common, is the right thing.  So it most receive in the hand and our priest promote the practice, THEN PROBABLY, they surmise, it IS the ordinary way.  No one can force you to receive by the hand!


I have been invited a countless number of times to be an EMHC and I politely declined because:

1.  I do NOT agree to this practice.
2.  I AM AGAINST COMMUNION IN THE HAND.  If ever I become an EMHC, I do not want to be forced to give Communion in this way.


Do we expect our bishops to act this decisively?  DO NOT EXPECT THIS.  Not in the near future.

With this seemingly cold hearted, go with the flow attitude of our bishops regarding liturgical abuses, better document it. Get a photo or a video and I'll upload it on my blog.  If I can, I'll write a letter to Cardinal Levada of the CDF to report the abuses committed in our country which our dear bishops do not even dare lift a finger to address properly. National politics come first usually.

Enough of the talk.  Let us walk the talk for our priests and bishops.  If they will not do it, then we will.

Ben, if you can have the name of the EMHC, report it to the parish priest.  Hope your priest acts on it!  If not, we'll think of a better way to get your priest's attention.

To Ben, Catholic Defender, Gerald...to members of SLAP (Survivors of Liturgical Abuse in Parishes) and GULP (God's Undercover Liturgical Police) and all those who read my blog...

Let this be our inspiration to stay vigilant...

GULP Alert: Losing the sense of the sacred

From Catholic Defender...

***

I have a bad experience with FEMALE ALTAR SERVERS in the Diocese of Malolos, Holy Family Parish in Sapang, Palay, Bulacan.

The newly built house of worship was perfect for worship. However before each masses, the situation inside was like a MARKET. Before the entrance procession, the LADY ALTARS [?!] were lined up, some didn't even tie their shaggy hairs. And to my indignation, two ladies chitchat while in the isle for 30min, with a comb in one hand and candle on the other and combs her hair constantly like she's in front of a mirror.

I tried to call the attention of one of the leading older male altar servers but to no avail. [Unfortunately, the older they get, the longer they were in service of the parish, the hard-headed they get!  Take it from someone who has to learn a lot of patience dealing with the "Reverend Mothers."]

Adding insult to injury, though there are lots of Mass ushers in uniform, no one was checking the behavior of their own. The HERMANA's were talking so loud that in my desire to pray I can't even consentrate.

During communion, there were small kids who line up for communion. At isa pang nagsalita "P**ang ina, ang haba ng pila.." [Oh my...] so I told this young boy to stop receiving the communion.

After the Mass, those sampaguita vendors even steps inside to sell their sampaguitas.. i told these needy vendors to respect the sacredness of the Church...

I hope the parish priest of this Parish or at least the Bishop will read this comment.

It happened not only once, it happened many times, otherwise I won't point this out.

We need to make our Churches sacred for this is where we all worship the One TRUE God, the Bread of Life...

***

First of all, why are there still altar servers in the Diocese of Malolos?  Is this for the sake of novelty?  Was there even a call from the faithful for "full active participation" and the need for "gender sensitivity" within the Altar Servers?  I seriously doubt it.  I think this is novelty for novelty's sake.  Or the other paradigm..."if it's new, it must be good!  If it's old, it must be bad."

Let us remember that boys are made altar servers because they are being invited or "lured", "tempted" to consider the ORDAINED ministry.  How will this happen to girls as altar servers? 

I cannot blame the people for being too noisy in church before the Mass or any liturgical celebration IF the environment encourages them to be so.  If for quite sometime, liturgical celebrations are conducted in an atmosphere that encourages people to take the Mass and the newly built church for granted, then we cannot blame the people for acting in such way.

It is the role of our priests and bishops to orient people towards the holy.  The vital role of catechism, the proper construction of our churches, the solemnity of our liturgy (which obviously must discard the mundane songs and dances) would definitely help the people know and experience the Holy.

Take this from Sacrosanctum Concilium

30. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.

Take note that the Council Father envisioned active participation in these terms:

The people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes.

Active participation is in terms of the people ACTIVELY responding and singing and through actions, gestures and bodily attitudes. Unfortunately, liturgists who have dissenting agendas, used this as a creative license to do whatever they want with the Mass...And so started the disintegration of the holy character of the Mass.  Not that I am saying that the Mass lost EVERYTHING that is holy.  No!  That is heresy!

I am saying that by emphasizing more on Man (the dancing, the secular music, the over simplification of church architecture and design), the emphasis on the "communal meal" rather than the same sacrifice of Calvary, people have begun to see the Mass as a community activity, a gathering, which, not surprisingly, ready-made liturgies like Euchalette and Sambuhay, ALWAYS emphasizes.


As a lowly cardinal said in two separate occassions:

We ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties. The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-Holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the Alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the Living God but the priest or the liturgical director. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Chile, 1988)

 Do we still need sacred space, sacred time, mediating symbols? Yes, we do need them, precisely so that, through the "image," through the sign, we learn to see the openness of heaven. We need them to give us the capacity to know the mystery of God in the pierced heart of the Crucified. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Spirit of the Liturgy )

Just like you, we all pray that our priests and bishops inculcate that love of the Mass and the liturgy just like how St. John Marie Vianney loved them.

Try talking to your parish priest.  I hope he is not too defensive just like much of the priests I talked to when confronted with the same issue.

If push comes to shove, video tape it and send it to the CDF or upload it on YouTube.  I'll even post it here on TPC.  You won't get any satisfying results at CBCP...

RANT TIME: More horrific vestements and more...

As requested by Ben Vallejo...

Okay...

Open wide and say....

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

And the popesa herself...

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

***

Kidding aside...

Liturgical color is not there for sheer fashion.  Liturgical colors are specific colours which are used for the vestments and other specific hangings used inside the church during the Liturgy.  The colors are used to convey the specific mood of the specific season or occasion of the Liturgy being celebrated.  It works just as much as we use color in specific civil or secular occasions.

So with that kaleidoscopic version of a vestment, what is the liturgical color and what is the liturgical season?  Maybe for them, the rainbow is a color.


When you talk to modernist priests about this, you get the rebuke of "You are too legalistic!"  or "You are too rigid!."  Then, if that is the case...

Who will we follow?  If we do not have laws or regulations, whose directive or rule or we going to follow?


Yours, Father Kung?  These dissidents would not want you "to take anything that comes out of Rome."  They just want you to listen to them and that's it.  Don't question.

Food for thought...

Anarchists and "freedom fighters" would tell you not to follow any rule...just theirs.

You might the ask why I am taking such length at discussing this when it what I showed was Episcopalians.  Don't be so sure.  Some Catholic priests look up to the Episcopalians and wanted our beloved Catholic Church to be like them:  decentralized, married clergy, women priests and bishops, practicing gay bishop, gay marriage, contraception, liturgical dancing...

Lawlessness in simple liturgical vestments and colors is just the tip of the iceberg on dissent.

The way the Episcopalians and Anglicans have redefined what was written in the Bible is complete and utter perversion of the Judeo-Christian tradition of what we all believe.  Quite frankly, perversion is an understatement.

So, if your priest is guilty of any liturgical violations, it means any of the two:

1.  He is uninformed of the liturgical laws of the Church and plans to stay that way because quite frankly that is how most Catholic seminaries work today.

and...

2.  They know the liturgical laws but opt not to follow it because "this is Vatican 2!".  Quite frankly, you must be on the lookout for these types.  They are like these...

More than meets the eye!

GULP Exam: What is this?

I showed these photos in my post about my experiences during Holy Thursday and here is what this really is:

That is the...(Hold on! Sorry if you'll lose your lunch or dinner for this.)

ALTAR OF REPOSE!

Yup. The altar was placed at the front of the main door of the church. Carpets or persian rugs, whatever they are called, were placed on the ramp.  The women at the foot of the altar are probably novices or postulants of a religious order.  I saw some elderly sisters standing on the side.  These young sisters are all wearing the same color of dress so I guess they are their habits.  You can also see the benches were the adorers and pilgrims sat.  And yes, no kneelers.  BUT, you can see a sister (with traditional veil) on the first photo on the lower left portion of the photo, kneeling!  Huzzah sister!

The first photo shows a blurred image of an SUV.  This shows you that the altar is just a few feet away from the noise and pollution of Commonwealth Avenue.

Holy Thursday...Altar of repose...near a busy highway?

I think they don't mix.  Was I able to pray?  Hardly.  I go to church to look for a quiet place where I can spend an hour with the Lord just as He requested at the Garden of Gethsemane.

But how can you possibly do that in this situation?

Says a lot about the priest who did all this...

Don't expect me to come looking for him for spiritual direction or invite him to deliver a talk about Eucharistic Adoration.

A Christmas tale

Our parish is led by a priest who was educated in a notoriously liberal theology school in Manila.  And those who were members of the Worship Committee were sent to this school for liturgical training.  So you probably have a picture of where this is leading.

I used to be an organist and choir member of our parish.

I will never forget this Christmas Eve Mass where we sang.

The Mass started at 9PM. There were flaglets being waved by the people during the Entrance Hymn.

The Gospel was acted out.  Real live actors.  While the commentator played the part of story teller.  Our parish priest just said "A reading from the Holy Gospel..."  Joseph and Mary was asking for a place to stay.  And they were asking the people in the church, one by one, tugging our shirts.  Literally.  No really.  Literally.

When it came for the time for Mary to give birth.  She did.

The pillow on the actress playing Mary was thrown away by a quick moving altar server and out came...

a one year old baby.  No joking.  No, literally. A one year old baby.

After the Gospel, no homily!  We were surprised.  Wondered why.




The Mass went on.  More dancing and flag waving during the Offertory.

During the consecration, we were surprised to see a huge...bread, lifted up by our dear parish priest.  No literally.  A brown thing.  Almost like a huge burger bun that would make the biggest quarter pounder of McDonald's squirm in fear.

After the consecration of the wine, which I am, at this point, not sure if it is the prescribed pure grape wine, our parish priest stopped.  The commentator asked all of us who were kneeling for the consecration to take their seats.  Our charismatic parish priest, who would give Bob Barker a run for his money for his dynamic hosting job, took a wireless microphone and...delivered his homily.  No joking.  Really.  He just did.



And so on he talked for...30 minutes.  Of a homily of why we should...

Give love on Christmas day!  No joking.  No, literally.  He just did.

And after the homily, he continued with the Eucharistic Prayer.  By the way it was Eucharistic Prayer 2, the almost staple Canon for the Mass.  He said it for under 5 minutes.  Guess his homily was better than the Canon of the Mass.  And during the entire time, the actors (Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus) was still up in the sanctuary, on the left side.  By that time, the baby playing Baby Jesus, was hungry.  The poor kid was crying.  So his real mom went up the sanctuary to...give him a feeding bottle full of milk.  That made the people laugh...in the middle of the Eucharistic Prayer.  No joking.  We all did, including me.  We imagined the Baby Jesus feeding on a feeding bottle.

Then, it was quite normal from then on.  The usual hand grabbing during the Our Father.  The hugging and kissing during the Sign of Peace.  Or so I thought.

For after greeting each other "Peace." Our dear parish priest asked those in attendance to bring out the gifts they have brought and instead of just saying peace, to give the gift to the one seating near them.  We had a grand exchange of gifts.  No joking.  Literally, we did.

But surprisingly, the Communion was orderly.

After Communion, our dear parish priest ran a list of those who made this event "successful".  Each of the members of the parish's worship committee was acknowledged and applauded.

Remember the actors up on stage?

They were still there, up to the very end of the Mass, baby crying and all.

The Mass started at 9PM and ended at 11:30PM.  The poor baby was already asleep.

Traditionally, an image of the baby Jesus is carried by the priest so that the faithful may kiss and venerate the image.

Traditionally...bad word I think. Maybe because it was traditional so...that part was omitted.  After the Mass, no image kissing or veneration.

The people were startled.  They must be thinking "What do we do?  Who do we kiss?"  They found their answer.

The people approached the sleeping baby, touched him...and made the sign of the cross.

No joking.  They did.

The poor baby was startled and cried.

***
I wish Dan Brown helped me write this but he didn't.  This is all true.  I am a witness to all of this.

Is this the liturgy you want to go to?  Is this how we worship God?  Is this God's work or the work of some frustrated stage actor or director?

Now people are asking me to be more charitable towards those who love bastardizing the Mass as if this were their own little repertory.

Honestly, this was probably one of the reasons why I love the Traditional Latin Mass.  Don't get me wrong.  I attend the Novus Ordo Mass celebrated in a parish where I do not have Bozo the Clown celebrating it.

But things aren't supposed to be that way.  My college graduation was more solemn.  The silent drills of cadets in the Philippine Military Academy is more precise and awe-inspiring.

But this is the Mass!  Calvary once again.  With Christ as the victim and offerer!

We came to worship, not to be entertained.

A reason why I am a survivor of liturgical abuse in parish (SLAP)

***

My recommendation?

1. Close that damn theology school.
2.  Reorient parish liturgical committees.  Make them attend a talk by an FSSP priest or by Father Z!
3.  Send our parish priest to Rome.  Maybe have him financially audited.  Make him sign a profession of faith and make him serve the Mass of Pope Benedict or of Father Z or those in EWTN.

That'll steer them back to the right course.

SLAP! The price of liturgical inculturation

This is not a cultural show...

Nor a street dancing parade.

It was, according to UCANews, the "entrance dance to the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration on the 150th anniversary of Bengal Mission at St Xavier's College, Kolkata, Nov. 28, 2009." Since when did the Mass have an entrance dance?

Oh yeah I forgot. Since they invented the term "inculturation", through the interpretation of liturgical hobbyists aka frustrated theater directors/producers.

Which entrance procession gives you an impression or leads you to prayer or sets your mood towards a holy and awe-inspiring event?

The one above or the ones below?

 Another one for the case files of SLAP (Survivors of Liturgical Abuse in Parishes)