The View Up Here

Earlier this week I posted about why I preferred the Traditional Latin Mass to the Novus Ordo Mass . I shared that post with a friend who observed that I never said anything about the use of Latin! Duh! But before I get into that, I do want to clarify one thing. The Novus Ordo (NO) Mass as it was initially conceived and communicated, was NOT, by and large, what many of us endured or became accustomed to in the 70s and 80s. One could say in modern parlance that the "roll out" of the new mass was not accomplished in a clear and orderly fashion, and there were undoubtedly those who took advantage of the vagueness and lack of clarity in the process. As a result, incredible abuses entered into the new mass that actually had nothing to do with its design or the intention of the Church. This is why, when I attend a properly reverent NO Mass, I am more at peace than the typical version of the Mass that is prevalent today. I still prefer the older rite for all the reasons listed in my...

(Longer read here, folks.) Recently a friend of mine suggested that I write something about why I prefer the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM - or as another friend quipped, "the Totally Latin Mass") over the Novus Ordo (NO) Mass, since the reasons I'd presented made sense to her and were not grounded in problematic ideological stances (see how I danced around that one?). At first I thought it would be a useless thing to do, as there has been so much already written. However, after a couple of days, I was led to reconsider.  So here I present the whys and wherefores of my liturgical preferences to anyone who cares. The main reason I prefer the TLM over the NO is easily summed up in four words:  I can pray better.  Please let me explain: 1. Silence.      I am not forced to speak out loud or sing banal intonations at various points, or to twist around waving at people to show them that I do not hate them before going to Communion. In all seriousness, when I'm forc...

Well you can't very well write about Good Friday and not write about Easter! I spent the weekend with a good friend in Binghamton, so am just getting around to writing a bit tonight. On my drive back from Binghamton, this prayer entered my heart: "Lord, let me see myself in the Light of Your Resurrection." Our ideas about our lives and our very personhood are too often determined by others, when the only Person who can speak who we are is God. A God who knows the realities of human existence, but who offers the final Word - LIFE. There is joy, humility and peace here. The joy of knowing that humanity is resurrected in Christ, and that by His stripes, I am healed.  I went to Easter Sunday Mass at my friend's church, and although I knew no one else besides my friend, I felt totally at home and welcomed. People had friendly faces and friendly spirits (oh that it were so in every Catholic parish!). But it soon became clear that we chose to sit near a family with ...

This year's theme was 'Hope: A World Afire!' I'm winding down the weekend after an intense two days at the Religious Education Congress (Friday and Saturday). I only went for two of the three days, mainly because I needed my one day to stay home and gear up for the coming week. I day tripped to Anaheim for the event, which was more of a challenge with Friday traffic both going and coming home, but I definitely feel the 'conference high' even with the commuting and not making it for the last day (which was today).  The sessions I chose back in December and got into (I had to choose my top 3 for each period) seemed to interlock with an ever-unfolding message of forgiveness, reconciliation and God's Love. In fact, it would appear that this Lent, the journey I'm taking with Yeshua is one of forgiveness.  Friday I arrived frazzled from rush hour and Disneyland traffic (the Anaheim Convention Center is across the street from California Advent...