The fruits of bad catechesis example 1011

There are many days when I wonder if I should read anything in the newspaper other than the section A and B headlines. Since I was about 9 or 10, I enjoyed reading the paper front to back including the style section and I retain this habit today.

Our area Sunday paper has a sectionin the Style Section where they have an in-depth profile of a couple that recently married. It reviews how they met and some details of the wedding. Given that DH and I met through science fiction fandom our story probably would have been a natural had this feature existed at the time, but I digress.

So this past week, it was a couple who married in a Jewish ceremony, complete with a ketubah (or elaborately decorated marriage contract), huppah (the "tent" under which the Jewish marriage ceremony takes place, the blessings.....but neither one was Jewish. One was raised Episcopalian and the other Catholic. The operative word probably being "raised". A comment attributed to the one with the Catholic background was "I've been to a Catholic wedding, and they seem boring. It's just like church"

Based on the remainder of the article, the couple wanted "something unique" that "spoke to them" etc. Now assuming this quote was accurate, we see a sad example of the lack of catechesis into the very nature of marriage and the beautiful and powerful way that a Catholic wedding makes true two hearts and lives becoming one. I would not be surprised if this is also a result of the lack luster music and liturgical aspects of masses in too many parishes hit by the "spirit" of Vatican II". I would also bet money that he has never experienced the beauty and transcendence of an EF nuptual mass much less an EF mass, but even the OF wedding services and masses I have attended have been special and very different than other services or masses, because of the sacrament being celebrated. The individualism and personality can be expressed in the music and the readings (for the OF) and in the bridesmaid's dresses, but it should really be expressed in the reception.

There is also the issue of co-opting traditions not your own or your families because you think they are "neat", which is addressed in the article. I think many Asian wedding outfits are gorgeous (especially Japanese and Indian), but I was not running out to buy a sari or kimono when I married. The bigger issue is the tragedy of someone, ostensibly raised with the benefits of the sacraments, who seems to have no knowledge of the transcendence that is a sacramental wedding. When the marriage is sacramental, God gives special graces to the married couple, which if they act in cooperation, can assist them in the struggles of their lives as children of God and in the struggles of their vocation.

The "just church" comment strikes me as the comment of one who has not experienced the mass as the wonder that it is can be when celebrated as actually intended in the OF as well as the EF.

Calendar Finds-aka how to avoid your mind playing tricks on you

I must admit that given my choice, I would love to belong to a parish that was strictly TLM. One of the hazards/challenges of attending daily mass in the OF and Sundays in the EF is keeping track of what feast day it is, what saint is being commemorated and what is the liturgical color for the day. And don't get me started on what week in Ordinary time it is in any given week.

We have an Infant of Prague statue with vestments for all of the liturgical colors: white, green, red and purple (no rose yet, but that color is for only two Sundays a year) as a way of teaching our daughter the seasons of the liturgical year as well a way of sanctifying the year.

So, in the post Vatican II period, the seasons of time were renamed, liturgical remembrances were jettisoned (Ember Days) and saint's feast days were moved around, feast days are not celebrated on the correct day, but on the following Sunday (Ascension). Case in point, this past Friday was the Solemnity (for OCDS Carmelites) of St. Therese of Liseux in the NO, but that feast is today in the EF (though suppressed by the Sunday except in those parish's whose patron is St. Therese or for Carmelites.

The result, is almost every week a disconnect between what we are praying at Sunday mass and in my breviary (Benedictine Diurnal) and what we are praying at mass during the week. Once during Pentecost season (I think) this past May, I thought Father was wearing red because of the season but it was for a martyr who had a different feast day in the EF.

So, what is an already busy mom to do? One BIG help has been a wall calendar I found at a bookstore last year. In one of my web searches a few months ago, I found the company that makes the calendar and some other wonderful items. It is a calendar that has what the season and feast is for EF and OF. What really sets this one apart is it also has a guide to the liturgical color for both EF and OF. I know Tan Books also has a dual calendar that has both forms, but it does not indicate the liturgical colors. I also have an EF wall calendar from Seraphim at work (because it is smaller) but it does not help with knowing what the OF is that day.

I highly recommend you check out the Saints Galore calendar. They also make a lovely rosary book that has the prayers in Latin, English and Spanish and a pro-life luggage tag as well as lovely holy cards, and cards including spiritual & prayer bouquets and name day cards.

http://www.saintsgalore.com/

I get no money for this, I am just a satisfied customer who is a lot less confused.