The View Up Here

(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...

When God closes a door... or in this case, opens a door I wasn't expecting. I was invited to interview for and then got the position of Director of Faith Formation/Director of Religious Education/Catechetical Leader II (all synonymous and interchangeable in the Diocese) at a new parish about 30 minutes east of Rochester. So yes, I have moved (again...) and have started a position with more responsibility in a wholly different kind of parish. Today was Day 4 at the new gig, and it was as chaotic and wonderful as could be. For now, I'm staying with friends until I get a place that suits me (hopefully soon!), so most of my things are in storage. It is, as you can imagine, very disorienting. But, it's good change, and I've felt that it was the right thing to do from the beginning. So God opened this door and I was free to say no or to say yes. I said yes, but I do need more in the way of total surrender. Things at this parish are very different than they were in my las...

The other day I was at a party at the home of dear friends of mine. One of the party-goers waited until we had all sat down with our paper plates of deliciousness and (I swear) waited for me to shovel a mouthful of food in, and then asked me, "So, as our only Catholic representative, what do you have to say about the ... terrible things going on...?"  It was a moment out of a cartoon, where everyone stopped talking all at once. You could hear a plastic spoon drop. I had inwardly prepared for this moment, because I do know well this particular group of friends. I responded evenly. I looked at him and said, "It's horrific. It's beyond-words-horrific. We need to do better. We will do better, because this is the Church Jesus Christ founded." Someone suggested the cause was "men priests" and others hinted at celibacy as the problem. I wound up the conversation by saying something about the deep need for reform on many levels (without getting into s...

Monastery of St. Clare I am beginning the third week of my live-in at the Monastery of St. Clare. These two weeks were sadly interrupted by a trip back to Elmira this past week to attend the funeral of my dear Aunt Stella, who was 94. The emotion of processing her death, the weight of grieving, as well as the joy of seeing so many of my cousins I hadn't seen in years, all of it, was very overwhelming. Yesterday I took a quiet day at the monastery (not doing work during the work periods), and today being Sunday is also a quiet afternoon. Tomorrow I will be back to the regular horarium (schedule).  In the midst of all this, my relationship with Jesus is central. I am living the reality now that no matter what I am called to in this life, my relationship with Jesus is central. It's so easy to say those words, to nod and even say "Well...duh." But living that truth is the challenge of Christian life. In the sea of confusion, emotion, choices, and anguish is the ...