One of the priests at a Mass I attend regularly inveighed against the decision in our diocese to change the day of the Ascension to the Sunday. “40 days is 40 days.” Why should it be changed just because so many of our people find a Thursday inconvenient?
I thought of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where quite a number of the menfolk take the 1 car off for an hour and a half ONE WAY commute to work. How difficult would it be to go to Mass himself or the family to go on a Thursday or Wednesday evening if his job site couldn’t spare him?
These were the type of reasons I thought it was good to let the Bishop decide about scheduling certain feast days, so that some Catholics wouldn’t have to be in sin for not coming when it would be so difficult.
A mentor of mine, however, suggested the Church could announce that Catholics can be dispensed for such big reasons, rather than tamper with the sacred calendar which reminds us that eternity is more important than our schedules.
I wondered how many Catholics would ever think there were dispensations, vs. just deciding themselves and then feeling guilty or just giving up on Confession when they thought a Church obligation was unreasonable?
So, if you happen to be a Church minister concerned about this issue in a diocese where the Feast Day is on a weekday, maybe spread the idea of dispensations?
I thought of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where quite a number of the menfolk take the 1 car off for an hour and a half ONE WAY commute to work. How difficult would it be to go to Mass himself or the family to go on a Thursday or Wednesday evening if his job site couldn’t spare him?
These were the type of reasons I thought it was good to let the Bishop decide about scheduling certain feast days, so that some Catholics wouldn’t have to be in sin for not coming when it would be so difficult.
A mentor of mine, however, suggested the Church could announce that Catholics can be dispensed for such big reasons, rather than tamper with the sacred calendar which reminds us that eternity is more important than our schedules.
I wondered how many Catholics would ever think there were dispensations, vs. just deciding themselves and then feeling guilty or just giving up on Confession when they thought a Church obligation was unreasonable?
So, if you happen to be a Church minister concerned about this issue in a diocese where the Feast Day is on a weekday, maybe spread the idea of dispensations?
Funny dialogue:
I live right by the Bay in Corpus Christi and our apartment complex has its own fishing pier. An advantage of being an 81 year old “safe” woman is that you can have cool conversations with men without seeming “frisky.”
I was chatting with a 60 year old fisherman in a desultory way. But since he couldn’t avoid noticing my large Benedictine crucifix I asked him if he was a Catholic.
“I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God,” he replied smiling.
I live right by the Bay in Corpus Christi and our apartment complex has its own fishing pier. An advantage of being an 81 year old “safe” woman is that you can have cool conversations with men without seeming “frisky.”
I was chatting with a 60 year old fisherman in a desultory way. But since he couldn’t avoid noticing my large Benedictine crucifix I asked him if he was a Catholic.
“I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God,” he replied smiling.
“Oh, I can prove the existence of God if you like.”
“No, I don’t.”
So when we got around to chatting about our jobs – he is a surveyor – I said:
“Oh, I was a university professor.”
“What did you teach?”
“Philosophy – like proofs for God’s existence.”
“What? People get paid to prove God’s existence????”
“No, I don’t.”
So when we got around to chatting about our jobs – he is a surveyor – I said:
“Oh, I was a university professor.”
“What did you teach?”
“Philosophy – like proofs for God’s existence.”
“What? People get paid to prove God’s existence????”
I am re-reading a book of Kierkegaard I last read 50 years ago. It is a classic called, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. In a fascinating analysis, this Danish Lutheran existentialist of the 19th century, provides a version, really, of Catholic spirituality of holiness.
He calls the opposite of striving for holiness, double-mindedness. He means any excuses, paltry or elaborate, that Christians give for straddling Christianity and worldliness. He includes such surprises as wanting to follow only God’s will, but on condition that I be a leader! God forbid, I be, instead, a weak, sick invalid in a bed all my life!!!
If you have “interiorized” lots of Catholic spiritual wisdom, you can jolt your conscience by reading this famous book!
He calls the opposite of striving for holiness, double-mindedness. He means any excuses, paltry or elaborate, that Christians give for straddling Christianity and worldliness. He includes such surprises as wanting to follow only God’s will, but on condition that I be a leader! God forbid, I be, instead, a weak, sick invalid in a bed all my life!!!
If you have “interiorized” lots of Catholic spiritual wisdom, you can jolt your conscience by reading this famous book!
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