[Update:Â RealCatholicTV is back online!]
Salvete TAC readers!
Here are my observations and opinions on the Catholic Church in the Internet:
1. A RealCatholicTV (RCTV) representative is reporting that they have been experiencing technical difficulties and should be up and running by Tuesday evening at the latest.
The RCTV Facebook page reports that they could be up as early as this evening!
2. Last nights Sunday Night Live on EWTN had Father Benedict Groeschel interviewing Archbishop Timothy Dolan and 
I have to say that the good archbishop is very impressive.
He has a strong presence and speaks well with authority. Outside of dodging a question on female altar servers, he looks to be the leading archbishop and the unofficial primate of the United States of America for the foreseeable future.
His Excellency posited that the severe drop in receiving the Sacrament of Penance may have contributed to the vocational crisis since 1968. Most of the interview though was on the recent increase in vocations though.
Another theory that His Excellency suggested was the loss of grandmothers within the home. He truly believes that grandmothers have a significant impact in passing on the faith which leads to vocations to the priesthood. But with more and more families sending their dear grandmothers to retirement “homes”, the family is losing a great advocate for vocations to the priesthood.
Cardinal’s hat within five years or less.
3. I unequivocally oppose building this so called mosque anywhere near Ground Zero. I support their right to build it and if they should I would still support their right.
But as Saint Thomas More says, I am the King’s good servant, and God’s first.
Hence why I oppose this Rabat to be built there.
Remember who attacked whom and for how long.
4. Finally we come to good Father Dwight Longenecker who is having difficulty explaining his point on why there is a lack of reverence in the Mass today.
Let’s start from the beginning.
His initial post was titled Christianity and Frog Boiling in which he argued that the problem with Protestant church-shopping is that the Gospel is watered down in order to make the faith more palatable for worldly people so seats can be filled.
He then explained this by making various analogies, but in this attempt he made the poor comparison of wishy-washy Catholics seeking a parish to fit their world views to serious Catholics who seek a parish that is more Catholic.
I think Father Longenecker tried to relate it to the Catholic Church but this attempt basically says that serious Catholics are no better than wishy-washy Catholics.
My initial reaction was to “pooh-pooh” Father Longenecker, but I thought twice about it and apologized for this.
Then all Gehenna broke loose in the combox.
Many of us, including myself, tried to explain to Father about this mischaracterization and his only response was silence or to mock us:
Traddy Church shopper: “But with us its different! We’re going to a trad parish because that is the way worship really ought to be!”
Trendy Church Shopper: “But with us its different! We’re going to a trendy parish because that is the way worship really ought to be!”
After some time Father Longenecker may have realized his error and offered up not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but SIX clarifications/obfuscations (as of this posting).
I love Father Dwight Longenecker, but I feel that in making his point he used a sledgehammer when a fly-swatter would have sufficed.
Nonetheless, it only brings to mind that we are all imperfect and should ask for forgiveness when we make mistakes.
In Father Longenecker’s defense, too many serious Catholics can get a bit much in their complaints of a poorly celebrated liturgy.
The evidence proves this because if we can rub a good priest and friend of serious Catholics like Father Longenecker to the point that he puts us in a poor light, then who are we going to have in our defense (outside of the Holy Spirit of course)?
5. For the last Res et Explicatio posting click here.
6. For more news about the Catholic Church click here.
[…] Res et Explicatio for AD 9-13-2010 […]
Tito:
You and I have disagreed on this before, but I think Fr. Longenecker’s point is that modernism is concerned with choosing between products, whereas our response to the Mass ought to be receptivity (not judgment). I’ve blogged on this topic before:https://the-american-catholic.com/2010/06/21/parish-shopping/
There’s a fine line between parish-shopping and seeking out Masses that are truly reverent, one that Orthodox Catholics frustrated with liturgical abuses (and I include myself in this category) have trouble dealing with. In the end, it reinforces the need for a truly “catholic” church-one where the liturgy is universal and the laity ought not be put between their home parish and a reverent parish.
Sunday Night Live last night was a rerun from earlier this summer. Personally, I couldn’t bear to watch it again. I have a different opinion about “His Excellency.” You will recall that he asked the sod parish in N.Y. not to march in the sod parade under the parish banner. They ignored him and once again advertised their perversions under the name of the parish. “His Excellency” shows up at the parish to celebrate some sort of milestone, and as the various sod groups are presented to him, none of which are COURAGE, “His Excellency” nods and smiles in his good ole boy routine. Not a word about not participating in the parade. That wouldn’t be PC. “His Excellency” has no backbone. I would love to see what Jesus would have said in the same circumstance. And in the same program, the archbishop dares to laugh at those who call for authentic Catholicism rather than the watered-down, spineless version that’s currently being fed in far too many parishes.
Yeah, but what about those “Idaho Vandals” I so recently heard about? 🙂
Dale,
They’re licking their wounds.
🙂
Michael,
I have not met any serious Catholics that were “parish shopping”, but were looking for a reverent Mass in addition to actually being a Catholic parish and not a worldly “community”.
Cory,
I’ve heard some other stories, but I’m praying he becomes more like Cardinal Spellman than another Cardinal “please like me” O’Malley.
“Cardinal’s hat within five years or less.”
As much as it appears the Archbishop is such a well educated, bright and humble servant of his flock regardless of what he may be wearing over the next five years underneath it all I suspect he will still have on his “politically correct” T-shirt.
The more I learn about about Archbishop Dolan, the more tarnished he seems to be.
He’ll get the red hat, but because it’s New York City, not because of his spine.
Parish-shopping too often betrays a consumerist mentality: “what can you do for me?” I wish my fellow orthodox would think more about the potential they have to make a positive impact, by their suffering through a mediocre liturgy if nothing else.
Re: Dolan, I still don’t see what good blog comments criticizing bishops accomplishes. As I’ve said before, spend the time & energy in prayer for them instead.
Chris Burgwald,
We need to take care of our soul first before we can take care of others.
That’s why I advocate switching from a liturgical-dancing parish (after all efforts have been shot down) to a real parish.
I’m all for cutting off the oxygen to a body that refuses to practice the faith.
They shall be known for their fruits!
Tito,
I’m certainly sympathetic to the desire to bail on liturgical-dancing… our liturgical abuses up here are certainly insignificant next to them.
But, just to devil’s advocate… how is your soul imperiled by liturgical dance? If the sacraments are valid and there’s no actual heresy, why not gut it out for the sake of the clueless guy next to you who might need your example? Why not be the leaven in the bread? You might be it for those people, after all.
You make a good point.
But what if you have children. You do your best to educate them and don’t want poor influences, especially when it comes in the form of a disobedient/dissident priest who should be a role model and not someone to avoid because he is just plain bad.
Another thing to consider is if the priest refuses to improve and the bishop refuses to do anything about it, what do you do?
I decided, because of my character and personality, to switch.
Rather than soldier on and begin a blogging campaign I switched.
My soul has reaped the benefits of reverent Mass, an enriching parish life, and many graces that I am still unaware of.
I’m sure many, many other switchers understand me better than those that haven’t had to deal with a bad parish.
I highly recommend it.
Let that parish whither on the vine, especially if that parish priest (and bishop) refuse to do anything about it.
I want to get into Heaven at the highest possible level. Why endanger it with dissident priests and parishioners who could care less (or even acknowledge) the existence of Heaven.
I recently attended a seminar on penance at my old parish and this priest who is suppose to be a future star of the Church (he’s on his way to being a bishop) was advocating that penance isn’t that important and getting it twice a year was sufficient. He even pooh-poohed my comments of going almost weekly.
As soon as I started explaining the many benefits of penance he did his best tap-dancing routine in backtracking on his comments.
I was disappointed, but relieved knowing that I won’t have to worry about this at my parish once my children (if I’m blessed with them) start getting active in parish life.
Yes the sacraments are still valid and your soul is better for it for suffering.
But God does want us to avoid suffering if possible. And if not, embrace the suffering.
Why put yourself in this position in the first place?
Believe me, if I didn’t have a choice, I would have raised HELL at my parish and my name would be a curse word around the chancery by now.
Do I want that?
No.
//On a side note I made a promise to myself that if I ever attended a Mass where there was liturgical dancing, I would strip down to my underwear and dance along with them just to show how much of a mockery they were making the Mass out to be.
I hope you post that video on YouTube. 🙂
It’s certainly a matter of prudence, Tito. My point is to emphasize that sometimes we are placed in difficult situations because of what we have to offer, i.e. because *we* can bear fruit for others instead of focusing exclusively on the fruit we want to harvest.
Chris B.,
Yes, if I were put in that position, I would do my best to be charitable.
I would get involved, form an orthodox group of families, and begin transforming the parish with the priest (and/or bishop) kicking screaming.
As for the YouTube video, I would post it! Only to prove that these shenanigans must stop.
🙂
I also do not have a great opinon of NY Archbishop Dolan. He kept interrupting Fr. Groeshel in mid-sentence;
never answered significant questions straight forward;
and has no business being involved in NY zoning and politics that do not involve the Catholic Church – – since the Cordoba zoning does not involve Saving Souls and Fundamental rights of Man in accordance with the Gospel. (CCC 2245-2246)
The Archbishop does not understand the Muslim culture, and the symbolic meaning of Cordoba. This is not his area of competance.
Newt Gingrich wrote:
“The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over,” Gingrich wrote. “The proposed ‘Cordoba House’ overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3,000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks – is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites.”
The Archbishop needs to clean up his own NY Diocese including Xavior Parish which still has gay information on its web site not in accord with the Church.
I should have added that the Archbishop likes to hear himself talk, and be seen about town.
He needs to be exposed in the public for his public actions, so that he will NOT become a Cardinal in line to become a Pope.