David Ancell / Sunday, April 24, 2011 / Comments(0)
Alleluia! He is risen! I wish a most Blessed and Happy Easter to all of my family, friends, and anyone who is reading this.
As we were getting up this morning, my wife reminded me that this Easter marks twenty years since I became Catholic. I was baptized on the Easter Vigil in 1991 as a sophomore in high school. Somehow, this had slipped my mind. Good thing I have a wife! This is one blogging occasion that I don’t want to miss!
Truly, I am thankful that God has led me to the Catholic Church. It has become so much of who I am that I cannot imagine being anything else. Nothing compares to being able to be fed, sometimes daily, with none other than the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate this day.
This doesn’t mean that it was always easy, nor have I always felt the way that I do now. When I was in college and pharmacy school in Mississippi, I was jealous of the Protestants. They seemed to be happy in their faith. At the time, I knew of few Catholics whose love for Jesus Christ was so visible. Campus ministry wasn’t too helpful either. I tried to accept what I was being taught, but something didn’t seem quite right. It probably didn’t help that I was also somewhat anti-intellectual at the time. Well, actually, that may have been the grace of God at the time as I might have fallen for who knows what.
However, something sustained me. To explain this, I need to go back to the time before I became Catholic. When I was about three or four, I have a vague memory of being in church and watching someone put something in my aunt’s mouth. I remember thinking “I want one of those.” This never left me, and I would later come to know just what it was that I wanted. It was nothing less than the Holy Eucharist, God himself, and I believed in it! While I was preparing to enter the Church, I longed to receive him. During the last few weeks before the Easter Vigil, I was really counting down the days, tired of watching people receive what I so badly wanted but could not yet receive. The thought that I would get to join the Church the night before Easter Sunday really appealed to me. It was one less day I had to wait to receive him.
It was that total self-gift that God has given us in the Eucharist that sustained me during years of kind of “wandering in the dessert.” I was always at Sunday Mass. No matter what others had to offer, I knew that only in the Catholic Church was I receiving Jesus himself in the Eucharist. Despite sensing that something wasn’t really right (though I couldn’t put my finger on it), I wasn’t leaving the Church.
Shortly after graduation from pharmacy school, I reached the stage where I learned that the things that didn’t seem right really weren’t right. In many cases, this wasn’t really the fault of those involved. However, now I was being fed with the authentic faith. I came back to my practice of praying before the Blessed Sacrament that I had kind of fallen away from. The result was a transformation that would still be a difficult road, but now I realized I had a purpose. The things I discovered about the faith shortly after graduating from pharmacy school started me a path of falling in love with the Church all over again. It became clear that there were many people who were near my age may never have had a chance to know what I had learned. I figured out what had been bugging me. I wanted to do something about it.
What would I do? This would take years to fully develop. The seeds were actually planted while I was in pharmacy school. There were web sites being put out by people defending the teachings of the Church. I had rarely seen people defend the teachings, and I must admit that I didn’t like them at first. Still, I had my own web page and did some of the same stuff. Later, when I was working and had money, I would buy some Catholic teachings on tape. God was telling me that I could do this on a local level. So, I began recording RCIA talks into my computer and making CDs (later MP3s). A couple of years later, I joined an RCIA where I was allowed to give some talks, which I also recorded. God was using my desire to teach, my media hobby, and my geekiness for his own purpose.
Things have continued to change. I am learning more about the faith, and especially about liturgy. Yana and I will have our first-born son this September. I am going to be working in my own domestic church. Don’t get me wrong; I never want to stop working however I can in evangelization and the use of new media. I don’t think God called me to it just to take it away completely, especially since I still have the desire. However, I do know that my ultimate responsibility will be for the souls of those whom God has entrusted directly to Yana and me. I thank God for all he has given me these past twenty years and pray for his continued help for me and my family.
Category: Catholic, News on My Life, Spirituality
David Ancell / Saturday, April 02, 2011 / Comments(0)
Earlier this week, I decided to join the discussion in the comment box of Matthew Warner’s article on church bulletins. For me, I must admit that it’s something that people may not think much about. However, I think he has done a good job stirring up discussions.
For the most part, the bulletin for me has been the means by which I remember what day and time a certain event will be held. It isn’t much more than that. I may have learned about the meeting or event somewhere else. However, I’ve reached a point where I don’t even want to pick up a copy of a paper bulletin. It’s just something that will get tossed in a pile somewhere. If I want to read the bulletin, I’m going to download it, even if we have a paper copy at home. It’s easier for me to look online than to try to find where we put our copy of the bulletin.
I’d love to see some parish have their bulletin online only. I am willing to bet that there are very few, if any, people who wouldn’t be able to access it today. Maybe a few copies could be printed for them. It just seems that it would save a lot of expense and could even be updated if an error were found.
David Ancell / Tuesday, March 15, 2011 / Comments(0)
There is a lot of great Catholic media out there showing us the real picture on the Catholic Church. However, many Catholic still aren’t aware of it. That’s why I will glady participate in Catholic Media Promotion Day.
I now have the longest commute to work that I’ve ever had. So, I use the opportunity to listen to Catholic podcasts. What do I listen to?
I am also thankful that my wife found iCatholicRadio as I now no longer need to subscribe to Sirius or XM to get EWTN Radio. The EWTN site never would work on my Mac, even with Flip4Mac installed and updated. As for my favorite blogs, it’s probably best to just check out my blogroll on the right-hand side of the page. I might add that the National Catholic Register (NOT the National Catholic Reporter) is a great place to get Catholic news and commentary.
Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Catholic media, and I even like to produce some stuff myself. Surely you have seen my podcast. I used to record talks for RCIA for a couple of parishes in the Memphis area, and I have links to talks I have given and recorded here.
Category: Catholic
David Ancell / Sunday, January 23, 2011 / Comments(0)
A number of years ago, my grandmother told me about how she loved the Latin when that was the language of the Mass. I must confess that I didn’t understand her. It seemed strange that she wouldn’t be perfectly happy with having the Mass in English. We gave her a CD of Gregorian Chant one year, and she loved it. She could tell that I wasn’t so enthusiastic.
Years later, I’ve been to the Extraordinary Form a few times and really enjoy it. The parish to which we belong has a schola that does chant about once a month, and it is beautiful. I only wish that I had discovered all of this while my grandmother was still alive.
Thanks to the National Catholic Register, I learned of the Chant Cafe site. It is well worth reading about the music of the Mass and how things have departed from the original intent of Vatican II. Until I read it, I did not know what an Introit was or that there was a setting for the antiphons for the Mass. Then, one day, the schola in my parish was singing it, and I realized that they had been doing this all along. Ah, yes, this is one more reason why I love the liturgies at Assumption. By the way, this is a small parish with not a lot of staff. So, lack of resources isn’t a very good excuse for not having a beautiful Mass.
Category: Liturgy
David Ancell / Sunday, November 07, 2010 / Comments(0)
Last week, I went to my first Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy. Specifically, it was the Ukrainian Rite, and the principal celebrant was their bishop. Most of the Mass, including the Scripture reading, was chanted. I thought the deacon’s voice sounded familiar. Then, I found out that the deacon and priest live in Raleigh. We had heard them before at the morning prayer of the Ignited by Truth conference.
The Liturgy felt quite a bit different from what I am used to, but I found the basic parts were still there. It begins with the signing of Psalm 51 (penitential). The Scriptures are read. The Creed and Sanctus are used. There are also a lot of repeating prayers. It was a beautiful liturgy that I hope to experience again. However, I really do need to find something to explain the various prayers and hymns.
Oh, and the Liturgy was in English. Their translation is, in many places, very similar to the new translation coming to our Roman Rite. It just seems funny to me that people complain about our upcoming translation when the Eastern Church already uses that same kind of language.
David Ancell / Sunday, October 31, 2010 / Comments(0)
Somehow, I don’t think this one will surprise many people who read my blog, but I received this article entitled Health Overhaul May Bring Free Birth Control from Prolifepharmacy.com on my Facebook. It came from NPR, but I was hoping that it was actually from The Onion. Like I said, I’m not surprised that this is on someone’s agenda. The most telling quote was from Dr. David Grimes at UNC:
Contraception rivals immunization in dollars saved for every dollar invested. Spacing out children allows for optimal pregnancies and optimal child rearing. Contraception is a prototype of preventive medicine.
This guy is an Ob/Gyn. Does he think pregnancy is an illness? We might, as a society, save money, but for what purpose. Fortunately, the USCCB has weighed in on this. Hopefully, our upcoming election will boot the promoters of this nonsense out of office.
Category: Catholic, Morality, Pharmacy, Response
David Ancell / Sunday, October 31, 2010 / Comments(0)
Yana and I registered at the aforementioned parish this morning. After this morning’s Mass, I’m even more excited about being there. I don’t know if this is a regular thing or not, but they had a beautiful chanted Mass. Some of the chant was English, but the Gloria, Sanctus, Mysterium Fidei, and Agnus Dei were all chanted in Latin. This is a great example of what we would get if Vatican II were actually implemented as is stated in Sacrosanctum Concilium. By the way, did I mention that, after everyone receives the Eucharist at every Mass, the parish sings Salve Regina.
We had a chance to introduce ourselves to the pastor. He told us how important it was for him that we stick with tradition and to do what Jesus Christ wants instead of doing our own thing. We are grateful for this. We have firsthand knowledge of what happens when a parish does its own thing, and it is a very, very ugly picture.
Category: Catholic, News on My Life
David Ancell / Saturday, October 30, 2010 / Comment(1)
Yana and I haven’t signed the dotted line on this one yet, but we have chosen our parish. We are planning to register at Church of the Assumption in Nashville. It is a beautiful German church that actually looks like a church, including gorgeous high altars. We may actually get to see one used since they have the Extraordinary Form of the Mass once a month.
This parish is quite orthodox. I especially appreciate the availability of Confession before each Sunday Mass. There are usually a lot of people going to Confession, but you can still get in. The liturgy there is excellent. I only wish they had weekday Mass because they are just right down the road from where I work.
Category: Catholic, News on My Life
David Ancell / Saturday, October 30, 2010 / Comments(0)
I have never really liked my names that I have given this blog, so I have now chosen a new one that reflects the underlying thoughts behind many of my posts. Rather than put it in a blog post, I decided to make my explanation a permanent page which you can access by clicking About This Blog.
I will probably be changing the WordPress theme at some point as well. The theme is what provides the look and feel of a blog. I’m not a big fan of the theme I have. It’s good enough, but it doesn’t have quite the look I’m going for. Please feel free to send suggestions.
Category: Catholic, Doctrine, News on My Life
David Ancell / Wednesday, October 06, 2010 / Comments(0)
Recently, I got an e-mail advertisement about a study on Scripture taking place at a parish in North Carolina where we used to live. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. It said in the description that modern scholars seek to distinguish religious truth from historical or scientific truth. After spending a lot of time in Memphis hanging around orthodox Catholics who used good study materials, I really thought that this kind of thinking was passe. Then again, this particular parish had a way of bursting my bubble which ultimately resulted in my refusing to go back.
If, for example, the resurrection of Our Lord isn’t historically true, then there is no need to believe in him. In fact, there’s really not much point in studying Scripture. While it’s true that there are truths that can be known in different ways, there isn’t a contradiction between them. Something is either true or not, and what’s true is true.