I Confess, Your Attitude Sucks.

This blog entry is in response to an article publised in Time Magazine, July 30th, 2007, Pg 60. It is also available at, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645160,00.html

The article disscussing one Catholic's opinion with respect to the lifting of restrictions on Mass in Latin by the Pope.

The following is what I sent to the editor.

Dear Editor,

I would find an article discussing the merits of English over Latin in Mass much more interesting if the premise was not, "I don't like what I hear in English." Reading this article, I see it for what it is. Here is a person unhappy with the Catholic Church's teachings and would like nothing more than to escape back into a time when those in the pew had no clue.

The allure of Mass is not in the language that it is spoken, but of the celebration itself. It says very little about the Christian faith to attend worship out of "habit and guilt." Worshiping together as a community, as a body of believers with a common voice, celebrating the Eucharist together, is much more powerful than the "allure" of a dead language.

The most important point is that you'll never understand your faith if you just ride along through mass and not make any attempt to understand what is being said and what is going on. The lack of understanding is still what is inherently wrong with the Catholic Church today and it is a direct result of having the Mass in Latin for so many centuries. The fact that Cullen can understand what is going on in English and disagree with it should be celebrated, not condemned. The common language of the people should remain because it is their faith that makes the Church more of a community than an institution.

Medicare Advice

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers,

"Hello."

"Mrs. Ward, please."

"Speaking"

"Mrs. Ward, this is Doctor Jones at the Medical Testing Laboratory. When your doctor sent your husband's biopsy to the lab yesterday, a biopsy from another Mr. Ward arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one is your husband's. Frankly, the results are either bad or terrible."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Ward asks nervously.

"Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's, and the other one tested positive for AIDS. We can't tell which is your husband's."

"That's dreadful! Can't you do the test again?" asked Mrs.Ward.

"Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time."

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

"The people at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him."