Catholicism Bad Christmas Midnight Mass Experience; More Pope Confusion.
My Niece's Bad Experience at Midnight Mass in Ocean City, Maryland this past Christmas
For years I've been encouraging my niece to go to church regularly, at least for Christmas midnight mass. And from time to time she goes with me to a mass at my church.
Niece lives in Ocean City Maryland and this past Christmas she decided to attend the midnight mass by herself.
We stopped having midnight masses at my church because, as too often turned out, the local drinkers from the bars would show up. And given that we have a somewhat older population, our "midnight mass" is at 8pm.
My niece described the mass to me at the local Catholic church on Coastal Highway in Ocean City. "There was just a handful of people there," niece told me. "They didn't sing much and it wasn't majestic or beautiful like I thought it would be."
No doubt niece was expecting a mighty organ ringing down from heaven. She no doubt expected handsomely dressed people with jewels and suits. She said it was sad, lonely and forlorn.
Midnight mass is not a good thing in a resort area, I gather, which Ocean City and, indeed, my own town, is. And this area is mostly elderly, or older at the least. Christmas eve is not the time they're likely to go out driving to a huge church service.
I feel so bad that the mass my niece took the time to attend was so lonely and sad. I hope it doesn't keep her away from church in the future.
---------------------------------
See all my books on one page
---------------------------------------
Pope Francis: Catholics shouldn’t be afraid to change everything about the Church
I have issues with Pope Francis. As do many of us.
It seems like he says something outrageous and the next day all the spokespeople at the Vatican change what he quoted as saying the prior day.
I have no idea what this story means.
With Pope Francis you never know. He could be saying priests should be able to get married, we should be able to dance in church, the holy Eucharist should be made of candy.
After a groanworthy citation of the Jesuits' favorite out-of-context line from Cardinal Newman — "here below, to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often" — Francis continues:
"Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing", the pope chastises.
I have no idea what he means below. A religious leader should be understood, not in need of translation all the time.
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/pope-francis-criticises-proselytization-you-are-not-a-disciple-of-jesus-if-your-try-to-convert-non-believers
"Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing," Francis said. "If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus." "In front of an unbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak," Francis said. Instead, he stressed, "I have to live consistent with my faith. And it will be my testimony to awaken the curiosity of the other who says: 'But why do you do this?' And yes, I can speak then." Francis made a reference to the crusades and conversion by the sword, calling it "shameful" and noting that Christians too across the globe are persecuted for their faith.
--------------------------------
Lawsuit: Famed Jesuit Priest With Connections to Mother Teresa Abused Boy 'More than 1,000 Times'
You can't have a post about Catholicism it seems without running into the curse of the abuse.
Indeed I do have issues with the factor of having an unmarried man lead the congregation.
The article below concerns a very old case and that bit about having connections to Mother Teresa means nothing to the detail of the story.
https://ktla.com/2019/12/30/lawsuit-famed-jesuit-priest-with-connections-to-mother-teresa-abused-boy-more-than-1000-times/
One day in May of 1970, an 11-year-old boy and his disabled sister were sitting on the curb outside a Chicago tavern, waiting for their mother to come out. When a priest with crinkly eyes and a ready smile happened by and offered the family a ride home, they could not have been happier. The boy, Robert J. Goldberg, now 61, would pay dearly for the favor, enduring what he describes as years of psychological control and sexual abuse he suffered while working as a child valet for the late Rev. Donald J. McGuire. He remained in the Jesuit's thrall for nearly 40 years, even volunteering to testify on McGuire's behalf during criminal trials that ultimately resulted in a 25-year prison sentence for the priest. But today, Goldberg says he has finally broken the hold McGuire once had on him. And he has begun to tell his story, in interviews with The Associated Press and in a lawsuit he filed Monday in California state court in San Francisco. The lawsuit charges that McGuire, a globe-trotting Jesuit with ties to Saint Teresa of Calcutta, abused Goldberg "more than 1,000 times, in multiple states and countries," during sojourns to spiritual retreats throughout the United States and Europe.
---------------------------------
The history of God's people — the history of the Church — has always been marked by new beginnings, displacements and changes. This journey, of course, is not just geographical, but above all symbolic: it is a summons to discover the movement of the heart, which, paradoxically, has to set out in order to remain, to change in order to be faithful.... All of this has particular importance for our time, because what we are experiencing is not simply an epoch of changes, but an epochal change. We find ourselves living at a time when change is no longer linear, but epochal. It entails decisions that rapidly transform our ways of living, of relating to one another, of communicating and thinking, of how different generations relate to one another and how we understand and experience faith and science. Often we approach change as if [it] were a matter of simply putting on new clothes, but remaining exactly as we were before. I think of the enigmatic expression found in a famous Italian novel: "If we want everything to stay the same, then everything has to change" (The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa).
--------------------------------------
Are Catholic masses protected from mass shootings?
After a spate of shootings in religious buildings/events, I begin to wonder, are Catholic masses defended against such shootings?
For if ever a religion celebrated a mass in such a way that attendees can easily be shot by the dozens in a minute.
Usually masses have a lot of people. Also usually, they are seated close together. And often the attendees are on their knees, bowing their heads....perfect targets.
Just something crossed my mind.
----------------------------
More Confusion by the PopeAre Catholic masses protected from mass shootings?
After a spate of shootings in religious buildings/events, I begin to wonder, are Catholic masses defended against such shootings?
For if ever a religion celebrated a mass in such a way that attendees can easily be shot by the dozens in a minute.
Usually masses have a lot of people. Also usually, they are seated close together. And often the attendees are on their knees, bowing their heads....perfect targets.
Just something crossed my mind.
----------------------------
"Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing", the pope chastises.
I have no idea what he means below. A religious leader should be understood, not in need of translation all the time.
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/pope-francis-criticises-proselytization-you-are-not-a-disciple-of-jesus-if-your-try-to-convert-non-believers
"Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing," Francis said. "If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus." "In front of an unbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak," Francis said. Instead, he stressed, "I have to live consistent with my faith. And it will be my testimony to awaken the curiosity of the other who says: 'But why do you do this?' And yes, I can speak then." Francis made a reference to the crusades and conversion by the sword, calling it "shameful" and noting that Christians too across the globe are persecuted for their faith.
--------------------------------
Lawsuit: Famed Jesuit Priest With Connections to Mother Teresa Abused Boy 'More than 1,000 Times'
You can't have a post about Catholicism it seems without running into the curse of the abuse.
Indeed I do have issues with the factor of having an unmarried man lead the congregation.
The article below concerns a very old case and that bit about having connections to Mother Teresa means nothing to the detail of the story.
https://ktla.com/2019/12/30/lawsuit-famed-jesuit-priest-with-connections-to-mother-teresa-abused-boy-more-than-1000-times/
One day in May of 1970, an 11-year-old boy and his disabled sister were sitting on the curb outside a Chicago tavern, waiting for their mother to come out. When a priest with crinkly eyes and a ready smile happened by and offered the family a ride home, they could not have been happier. The boy, Robert J. Goldberg, now 61, would pay dearly for the favor, enduring what he describes as years of psychological control and sexual abuse he suffered while working as a child valet for the late Rev. Donald J. McGuire. He remained in the Jesuit's thrall for nearly 40 years, even volunteering to testify on McGuire's behalf during criminal trials that ultimately resulted in a 25-year prison sentence for the priest. But today, Goldberg says he has finally broken the hold McGuire once had on him. And he has begun to tell his story, in interviews with The Associated Press and in a lawsuit he filed Monday in California state court in San Francisco. The lawsuit charges that McGuire, a globe-trotting Jesuit with ties to Saint Teresa of Calcutta, abused Goldberg "more than 1,000 times, in multiple states and countries," during sojourns to spiritual retreats throughout the United States and Europe.
---------------------------------
She got desperate and though she is a cat, she wrote a book all about it.
Comments
Post a Comment