He is Risen - Alleluia!

Let all the world rejoice!

Pax et bonum

Pope Francis and the rubrics

You knew it was going to happen: Pope Francis is coming under attack. It's just interesting that the first serious shots are coming from the orthodox/right.

There has been some sniping at how he's been going against the norm in number of ways. But when he washed the feet of females - including a Muslim one - on Holy Thursday, some folks got "incensed."

I don't know all the norms about whose feet should be washed - the sticklers note it should only be male feet, but I've also seen some people argue that it depends on which set of rules, interpretation, etc.

Okay, to be honest, I've been irked at the way that interpretation argument has been used to excuse repeated rubric roughing in my own diocese. But I also think some rules are more important than others. After all, there is that "the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath" observation that someone once made. So I had no problem with altar girls, or holding hands at the Our Father, to cite two examples.

I also wondered when he was elected if he was going to exhibit some of the traits I've seen at Hispanic liturgies. There's often a looser interpretation of the rules and more spontaneity. I've seen signs of that in what he does.

Now this foot thing.

And what happens if he starts saying some other things are perfectly fine. Like liturgical dance (admittedly, one of my peeves)? Or religious rock/folk/jazz music? What if - gasp - he says the guitar is a legitimate liturgical instrument?

Is Pope Francis going to get the treatment Cardinal Dolan got after he arrived in New York and disappointed the folks who thought he was going to clean house?

It remains to be seen just what Pope Francis will do with some significant issues.

It also remains to be seen if some folks will give him a chance, or will just settle back into a more-Catholic-than-the-pope mode of operation.

I just hope he says no to liturgical dance!

Pax et bonum

Holy Saturday haiku

Holy Saturday:
the tabernacle's empty
but God is still here

Holy Saturday -
praying at Planned Parenthood
for the emptied wombs

Pax et bonum

Stations for Life (2013)

Good Friday 2013 marked the 25th year that pro-lifers in Rochester have staged the Stations of the Cross in Reparation for Abortion.

Although abortion is cited in the name of the event, the day focuses on all the life issues, with concerns raised about issues like economic justice, euthanasia, poverty, imprisonment, and many more.

This year, roughly 225 people took part in the actual march. It war preceded by a prayer service in the packed chapel of McQuaid Jesuit High School where the people prayed, sang

and listened to the stirring words of Deacon Larry Feasel.

Deacon Feasel noted that all people suffer - children, teens, college students, adults and seniors - and that all their suffering can be offered up to join that of Jesus: "We raise you up, all of the pain, all of the sacrifice, we unite with his."

He reminded those on the chapel of the foot washing that went on the night before, observing that today those who pray and march for life "wash the feet of the culture of death, the culture of violence, (and witness)  to the primacy of life."

Following the prayers, the marchers gathered  in front of the school

and then processed down the street, praying the Stations and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

The march ended in front of the office of a doctor who performs abortions. There, participants finished the stations, then prayed over the office and for the doctor, his staff, and all the women and children victimized by his practice.

Pax et bonum

Jesus of "The Bible" - Buddy Jesus??

Roma Downey may send Andrew, the Angel of Death, to visit me for saying this ...

... but there are scenes in which the smiling Jesus of The Bible series reminds me of Buddy Jesus.

Pax et bonum

Spring has sprung!

Here it is in sunny western New York - all the snow and storms are to the east. I feel bad for those folks, they've been getting hit again and again, but we seem to have been spared for the past couple of years. Climate change?

I'm thinking too of Pope Francis. Pope Benedict was - is - a good man, but it seems as if spring has sprung in the Church. The left, the Church bashers, the CINOs, the media are all unsettled. They keep trying to find ways to attack, to tear Pope Francis down, but they haven't found one yet. Maybe they'll resort to old tactics and just make stuff up.

As for me, I'm waiting to see what he does and how he does it.

Pax et bonum

Smiles in the Vatican.

Keep smiling!

Pax et bonum