North of the Shire

I have wondered why it is that I like this piece so much. Listening to it once more I begin to wonder if it is the fact that the voices are balanced, unlike many chorale pieces.

I had thought it was simply because of the basso profondo but it is more than that. The deep bass voices are there and prominent but I think the beauty is in the way they are balanced with the tenors, altos and sopranos. So much of chorale music stresses the high tenors and sopranos.

I suppose to me this gives a more rounded feel of the human voice and there is nothing as beautiful as the human voice in music. That is why the a cappella chorale is the best.

Here’s another that I love because it features an alto soloist who I find amazing.

Anti-Catholic

One particular anti-Catholic of note today was brought to my attention through John Martignoni’s Newsletters(138, 139). His name is Mike Gendron and his mission, at least in a principle part, is to evangelize Catholics. In the world of apologetics that makes him fair game for direct and public response, and once one gets a taste of his imflammatory rhetoric, one ceases to be overly concerned with gentleness of response, or any nuance of the truth.

Seeking the Truth

Here’s a quote from an Apostolic Exhortation called “Reconciliatio et Paenitentia” that Pope John Paul II issued on December 2, 1984. This is an important document here because it is the source of a quotation that Mike Gendron uses to misrepresent Catholic teaching. The following deals with our approach to those, among others, who are outside of communion with the Church, such as Mike Gendron. Continue Reading »

I haven’t posted very much on the subject of Marian devotion because, quite frankly, my understanding is still growing in such a way as I feel I have less mastery to defend the faith from the apologetics standpoint and from the heart my sense of the faith is still incomplete.

It is quite amazing to me how deeply some prejudices and modes of thinking go, and when one is raised in a particular religious environment, it is quite natural to find certain aspects of another religious tradition and hard to grasp, not intellectually, but intuitively. Continue Reading »

There has been a lot said about the Catholic part of Ted Kennedy’s legacy, if in fact there really is one. His consistent support of abortion and related issues puts his Catholicism in doubt regardless of his personal devotion in private life.

But the discussion brought to mind a more general consideration that we all need to be aware of, namely our public Catholic identity. I cringed the other day while standing in a check-out line, (I won’t name the store) when the young man running the cash (about 35 give or take) was trying to be funny. He carried on and started out funny enough, in a rough sort of way but became downright crude and embarrassing particularly for the women in the line when he made a very nasty and rude comment about his “ex-wife.”

When I got to the head of the line I noticed that he was wearing a large, probably 2.5 to 3 inches, crucifix around his neck. For some of those people in the line it is quite possible that he was the only self-identifying Catholic they had met that day. I was sad, ashamed, and just wishing to be anywhere else. It is not the first time I have experienced such a thing, and as always, I am not sure whether I should have called him on it. He wasn’t speaking to me but was speaking loudly enough that his conversation was public.

It did make me think about myself, and my own conduct, and I asked the question whether I have brought shame on the name of Christ. It is a good thing to regularly examine ourselves, I think. I did the only thing that I could think of doing for the man. I prayed for him that he will come to a more repentent and reverant attitude and bring honour to Christ instead of shame.

There is something that really bugs me whenever the liturgical discussion comes to the fore. The latest I heard this was yesterday on the Across the Nation show with Bob Dunning on the Catholic Channel on Sirius. I don’t wish to pick on Bob Dunning because he is just one example of an understanding that is all too common. Besides that, he’s a nice guy, and does a good job as a broadcaster/host in the talk format on the Catholic Channel. While I don’t always agree with his opinions on issues, he usually has a balanced presentation and a wide range of guests.

Having said that, Continue Reading »

This is a post that I made at Whippleshire two years ago and stands the test of the passage of that time. For some reason, today it seems rather poignant, so I will repeat it here in its entirety; Continue Reading »

Two years ago almost to the day I wrote these posts as a two part series that summed up what I understand to be the point of stall of much of the Renewal of the Catholic Church. I think even many Charismatics, whose movement I discuss here, would agree that there has come a point of slowing down, of being stalled. I sense this today in 2009, sad to say, although personally I am wiser in other respects and I know as I have always known that the Church is not abandoned by God but sometimes the life of the Church is not as visible. This has come to me through my own recent experiences, and I suppose the change in me is one of optimism. But I would not change the message of these two posts one iota.

NEW PENTECOST

NEW PENTECOST PART II

Because of circumstances, mostly of my own making, I ended up going to an evening Mass in a local parish Church I had never been into before. Over the recent years I have heard rumors and characterizations of this parish and had been told by some that “I wouldn’t like it.” This not as a particular point about me, so much as a generalization about how different that Church is compared to my regular parish. Continue Reading »

 It has been almost six years since I entered the Catholic Church through baptism and confirmation and first holy communion, all in one day.  As I pause to reflect on that period, and it seems so short, I can say I have learned a lot more, and today I am more sure than ever that I am home.

Father Mitch Pacwa’s sermon in my previous post reminded me of the place that I was before I became Catholic.  I knew that I could only worship God, and that my salvation could come only through Jesus Christ.  There was a period of time when I had examined a number of the various philosophies and pagan religions and had seriously considered them.  Now I can hardly imagine why.  But God held me back until I came to the point where I realized that the teaching of my youth, namely that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth and the life, was still true and I could no more toss that aside than I could fly to the moon.

Continue Reading »