David Ancell / Sunday, February 28, 2010 / Comments(0)
I was doing random Internet searching for fun and found this parody of Marty Haugen’s Gather Us In. For me, this particular “hymn” is the symbol of all really awful songs that we sing in church these days. In this song, we, the congregation, and singing about ourselves, and there is even a verse which could be taken to eschew our desire for Heaven. I laughed out loud when I read this article.
On a better note, I found this great article by Fr. Gary Coulter on the priest celebrating the Mass facing the same direction as the people. Notice that I said “the same direction as the people” instead of “with his back to the people” or “facing the wall” or something like that. The distinction is important here even though any of these phrases would have the priest facing the same way. I am hoping for a return to the practice of the priest facing the same direction of the people at least for the Eucharistic Prayer. It shows a sign of unity of movement of priest and people towards God, and, more importantly, it shows that the prayers of the Mass are addressed to God, not the people. And to think, this practice could be changed without a single legislative act on the part of those in authority. It is already permitted.
Category: Liturgy
David Ancell / Sunday, February 28, 2010 / Comments(0)
Here’s my second post about last weekend’s retreat . . .
An interesting point was made about giving money as a possible substitute for going and doing service to an organization. One of the young adults suggested that she felt that giving money might be a way to “buy my way out” of serving. She has a point. Though this is not always the case, it is possible to give money because we’d rather just write a check than go to serve.
One of the center staff had a good response. She mentioned that she wrote a check to help efforts in Haiti. She said she’d like to go, but she can’t. This particular person has a very young child. However, she mentioned that she would have to work a certain number of days to earn the money that she is giving. So, she was basically working in that capacity to have the money to give.
I’m adding my own thoughts here since I didn’t get to weigh in on this particular part of the discussion. One thing to add is that we cannot possibly give time to every worthy cause. We just do not have time for everything. We most certainly cannot do so at the expense of the duties of our state of life. Some of us may have health problems with preclude work in certain areas.
On top of that, organizations have a genuine need for money. There are only so many things that volunteers can do. In a homeless shelter, unless the local power company donates electricity, money is needed for the utility bill. There’s just not a way to volunteer electricity. Money was needed to buy needed supplies to send to Haiti and the fuel to get there. For these things, writing a check is very helpful. Some operations need full-time staff, and they need to be paid in order to have a livelihood.
It takes prayer and discernment to decide where to volunteer time. While we don’t want to give money as an excuse not to serve, it is good to give to causes we wish to support but cannot work with.
Category: Spirituality
David Ancell / Wednesday, February 24, 2010 / Comments(0)
Here is my first note on the retreat. We had a group discussion on stewardship and evangelization, and we spent time on each topic of time, talent, and treasure. Here I’m going to expand on some comments that I made about time . . .
At one time, I knew that I needed to do a lot of new things in my life. For longer than I wish to admit, I’d simply decide I wanted to do something, and then I’d keep doing everything I had been doing. I somehow expected to just magically start doing whatever it was I needed to do, whether it be to read more, join a gym, get out more, etc. Well, it just doesn’t work that way. In order to make room for what I needed to do, I had to sacrifice something I was doing.
I had a rather time-consuming hobby. I’m a big electroholic. It didn’t even occur to me how much time and money I was spending needlessly. I decided I had to spend less time shopping and playing with my little toys and spend it on the things I needed to do. Within months, I found time for that which I needed to do.
Being a good steward of time means evaluating how we are spending our time. It means making a sacrifice so that we can do something more important. I am thankful that God finally allowed me to realize this. It’s even more important now that I am married and will hopefully be a father someday.
Category: Spirituality
David Ancell / Saturday, June 14, 2003 / Comments(0)
This is my latest entry in a dissent and faithfulness forum on Busted Halo:
I would caution anyone who wishes to say that “differing views expresses” are no more than a “diversity of opinion.” Indeed, I get a sense that there has been a denial of the existence of true evil in the world. Let us not forget that the Devil is a gentleman. He did not threaten Eve and force her to commit an act of violence. Instead, he told her how great the forbidden fruit was. A mistaken notion of compassion that drives some away from certain teachings could well be attributed to the same source.
Even God cannot contradict himself. He is omnipresent in all times, and therefore cannot be subject to change. To believe such is not to put him in our box but rather to “limit” him to what he himself has told us of himself. How can such an all-powerful God be powerless to create timeless truth?
Many believe false teachings, but may not be held morally accountable. However, in many cases there was someone who was supposed to teach them who will be held accountable. If a priest, bishop, CCD teacher, parent, or other person placed in charge of formation does not teach the truth, then such a person will be held accountable. Some have deliberately rejected what God has told them. St. Paul wrote about them in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
The important thing to understand is that we are not dealing with mere opinions but with things revealed by God. To have faith is to believe those truths. When we are given a message contrary to revealed truth, we have the assurance that it is not the Holy Spirit speaking but a very unholy spirit. God has given us that assurance. Let us be thankful for the gift, even when it is difficult to accept.
Category: Cathechesis, Catholic, Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Response