Voris on the need for reform December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic.comments closed
Does Voris expect the Pope to fix the Church? What do you think of this?
I think anyone expecting Benedict XVI to “lower the boom” and somehow force bishops, or colleges, or some bureaucracy, or whatever, to change, is going to be disappointed. As a commenter stated today, the Church, since VII, no longer has a structure that allows for top-down discipline of any real nature, this misconstrued notion of “collegiality” means that Authority, as it once existed in the Church, is gone. Plus, Benedict XVI is constitutionally not a heavy handed authority figure – he’s a scholar, and prefers to set an example, but he does not have the mentality to demand change on liturgy or anything else. Hence, his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum is largely ignored or misconstrued in many diocese, including this one.
Change will have to come from the pews, and it’s going to take a long time. It takes centuries of martyrs and Saints to build the Body of Christ up, but only a few years of decadent heresy to tear it down. What the Church needs now is not new programs or initiatives or solemn edicts, but Saints, people who truly live the Faith and try their best to improve the practice of the Faith in whatever spheres of influence they have. That’s why, when we have things like freaky deaky aging hippie ‘new age’ speakers coming in to speak to aging hippies at our churches, I ask folks to write the pastor and bishop. Make them understand that allowing in speakers like this will have a cost. Perhaps donations will drop. Perhaps membership will decline. Waiting for the bishop to suddenly declare “new age” speakers……..or any other sad mistreatment of the Faith……… forbidden is like waiting for the check in the mail. It ain’t gonna happen. If you want change, you’re going to have to make it happen.
Awesome church renovation! December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Art and Architecture, awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, North Deanery.comments closed
Via New Liturgical Movement, some shots of a Catholic church renovated in North Carolina over the past several years. Check this out:
That’s quite a nice improvment! Much more focus on the altar, and an altar rail….I think it’s quite a nice improvement. But they didn’t stop there:
The paneling work behind the altar was done by parishioners. The altar cost $100,000. All told, this was not a multi-million dollar renovation, in fact, it was was around $500,000. It does not take huge amounts of money to make a huge difference in the appearance of a church. So many of our churches today are cold, bereft of imagery, and profoundly lack a distinctively Catholic identity. The above church did not start out as badly as many, but I think the improvement is amazing all the same. What a glorious work, to beautify the Churches of God! I would love to take part in such a project!
Speaking of, I have some serious woodworking skills. You might even say mad skillz. One day soon, I’m going to start displaying those skills here. I didn’t have much skill until I got serious about the Faith. Hmmmm….coincidence? Not to me!
I love nuns December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic.comments closed
I’m not entirely certain why I have a very special affinity for nuns, more so than for male religious. And, I must add, that I have a particular interest in cloistered, habited nuns. There is something mysterious, but at the same time
almost regal, in a Christ-like sense, in a woman wearing such modest clothing, so plain, and yet gloriously representative of giving oneself over entirely to God. Via Msgr. Charles Pope, a video below explains the various parts of a typical nun’s habits, although there are many particular variations. In addtion, this website shows many classic habits of nuns from years past. I pray we will see many, many more women religious similarly attired!
A modern, politically correct Christmas hymn December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, General Catholic, scandals, sickness, Society.comments closed
Except, it can’t be called “Christmas,” because we all know that Christianity and its practioners are horrid, intolerant, evil, destructive people who have only brought fear, death, and destruction to the world. From CMR:
Judge rules Obamacare unconstitutional December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, General Catholic, Society.comments closed
Sister Carol Keehan just turned beet red and cussed a blue streak. A federal judge in Virginia has ruled the “individual mandate,” the part of Obamacare that forces private citizens to have health insurance, unconstitutional:
A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation’s sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Obama’s signature domestic initiative.U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson found that Congress could not order individuals to buy health insurance.
In a 42-page opinion, Hudson said the provision of the law that requires most individuals to get insurance or pay a fine by 2014 is an unprecedented expansion of federal power that cannot be supported by Congress’s power to regulate interstate trade.
“Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market,” he wrote. “In doing so, enactment of the [individual mandate] exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article I [of the Constitution.]
The problem with that last bit is that, by 2014, the bureaucratic structures which are impossible to remove, will be so entrenched that we will be stuck with Obamacare, regardless. This is one of the many parts of Obamacare at odds with Catholic Doctrine, as the individual mandate is a massive governmental over-reach that violates subsidiarity and removes a very large swath of individual liberty. It’s funny how, when it comes to anything other than their groins, so many people are ready to surrender “the primacy of their individual conscience.” It’s like saying “I want to government to tell me what to eat, what to drive, what temperature to set my thermostat at, how big a house I can have, how much detergent I should use, etc., ad infinitum, but hands off my crotch!”
That little inanity aside, it is very important that this lawsuit go to the Supreme Court as soon as possible, to stop those immovable bureacratic structures from forming.
Short on time quick post December 13, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, General Catholic.comments closed
I had a doctor’s appt this morning and I’m always running behind on Monday, so here’s some nice chant to kill some time. I really like the prayers Adoro Te and Pange Lingua, I hope you do, too:
With a procession, no less! And that, is how we do that.
Hey Chris, is the chant group shut down for the holidays? Would figure, now that I have time on Sundays with soccer over, you guys are on break!
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