I’ll be checking back in to see what you are up to.

My parish is a merge of two parishes - the main church is “Our Lady of the Sacred Heart” and the secondary church is ….. “St. Margaret Mary” - and yes it has relics of St. Margaret Mary - just like your new co-cathederal

Thanks for sharing it with us. Wish I could have seen it.

Speaking of “minions” holding the vestments, check out the picture and text on the sidebar of With a Grain of Salt….

We ring the bells for the Gloria at this mass (as well as Thursday night) and the altar servers ALL have bells. The congregation is encouraged to BYO (bring your own) bells and ring them. Last year Father told them all that he expected them to turn up “with bells on”…..

After their feet were washed, each of the six went to a different place in the church were there was a basin and washed peoples hands. The congregation would queue up at the nearest basin and the recently foot-washed person would pour a little water on their hands and someone would then dry them (the sponsor of the baptisimal candidate in four cases, an acolyte in the other two cases). This meant that most of the approximately 500 people were involved in some way.

I have never seen this done before - this year was the first time. I am not entirely sure it was a good idea - after all, Peter asks to have his hands (and head) washed in the reading and gets told “no” by Jesus.

Here, the hosts are not removed from the tabernacle before the mass - the tabernacle is treated as usual until after communion. As in a normal mass, the tabernacle is opened at the “sign of peace” so that the hosts can be distributed along side the hosts consecrated in this mass (the three priests consecrated 1250 hosts).

At the end of mass, one ciborium is left on the main alter (the rest of the ciboria magically vanish). This is carried to the altar of repose (Our Lady’s altar for our church) and left visible on the altar until midnight. At midnight the priest would normally lock it in the tabernacle (but we couldn’t find the key so he moved it to the tabernacle in the sacristy with the rest of the ciboria that vanished at the end of mass).

Moving the other ciboria (after communion) must be done by a priest, deacon or instituted acolyte (as per the new rules for the mass outlined in the GIRM) - that was me this year. As the priest starts the final procession to the altar of repose, one of the agile altar servers turns off the red light (because Christ is leaving the sanctuary).

From Our Lady’s altar, we take a shortcut behind the altar to the sacristy and emerge from the other side of the church to strip the cross and the candles from the church.

We had three priests, four instituted acolytes, one senior server (female), five altar servers (three boys, two girls). Deacons are a bit scarce in our diocese - I believe there are only two left (although this will change after WYD08).

Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your rendition of “The Irish Washerwoman” on the tin whistle. This is one that I have not mastered on my fife.

Jim

deacon tom (& Dee)

ps: Where is the guest bedroom? I mean — you are expecting all of your loyal fans to come for a visit aren’t you?

-Bob

I wanted to mention a problem for vocations I haven’t heard many
people talk about. These days, most college education is financed by
student loans. Grants are getting harder to get each year, and many
people just don’t save the way they might. I have a colleague who has
responded to the call to religious life, but she can’t enter until she
has paid off all her debt. The same day I heard your podcast #70, I
got a mailing from the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations. Their Web
site is http://www.fundforvocations.org. This fund helps people who
are entering formation in the priesthood or religious life to pay
their student loan debt (only their student loan debt), and it seems
like a very very worthy cause. I think they will be going onto my
donor list right after my parish, Rosary Army, and SQPN.

Oh, and here is a link to an article about how debt can affect the
ability to respond to a vocation:
http://www.religiouslife.com/a_debt_vocation.phtml

Hope you find this useful for the future,
Naomi

The issue a lot of Catholics have with much of the music we hear in our churches is that they are primarily congregation-oriented (”horizontal”) instead of God-oriented (”vertical”). The more “traditional” hymns and chants of the Church are directed to God (either to the Trinity as a whole or to a particular Person) or to Mary (of course, not in worship, but in honor, and usually asking her to pray for us). I’m thinking of songs like “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” (which is an adaptation of the Te Deum), “At the Lamb’s High Feast”, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”, “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus”, “Come, Holy Ghost”, “Crown Him with Many Crowns”, and “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

Compare that to songs like:

* “Gather Us In”, which (although directed to God) is all about what the congregation is doing. “We have been sung throughout all of hist’ry” — We have been sung? Why weren’t people singing about God? “Not in the dark of buildings confining / not in some heaven light-years away” — what message is that giving?

* “Anthem”, which deals with “we are…” over and over again. It implies that we define and shape the Church, whereas it should be the Church that defines and shapes us.

* “Table of Plenty”: The refrain is spoken by us to… who? Ourselves? We’re already here. The verses are more or less the words of Christ, but they’re obsessed with the “feast” symbolism and entirely ignore the “sacrifice” reality. “Feast of gladness”, “cup of my love”, “my wine will flow”, etc.

* “Canticle of the Sun”, which until a couple weeks ago, I thought was about giving praise to the sun, the moon, the wind, etc., instead of to God. Then I realized (after finding the source, a prayer by St. Francis) that the verses are “Praise [God] for the Sun”, and “Praise [God] for the Moon”, etc.

While both traditional and contemporary songs are often filled with doctrinal references, they are far more explicit and clear in the traditional songs, whereas the contemporary songs usually need to be explained so as to make sure people understand what IS being said.

The example of “Bread of Life” is a good one in that regard. “I myself am the bread of life / You and I are the bread of life”. The first part should be quoted, because those are the words of Christ, to separate them from the second part. The second part, however, is ambiguous; it is playing off the “bread of life” / “body of Christ” analogy without making it clear, thus it sounds at first as if we are the Eucharistic Victim being offered on the altar.

Finally, a lot of contemporary music is all over the musical staff — what I mean is, it’s not easy to sing for everyone. They involve abrupt jumps from one note to the next, notes of difficult duration (very long or very short), and seemingly free-floating melodies. The traditional melodies are easier to sing (and easier to remember) because they often use repetition and the notes flow very well, one into the next. I would expect they were inspired by Gregorian Chant.

The USCCB is meeting this week to discuss liturgical music; here’s their PowerPoint presentation.

Finally, here are a couple of articles from the periodical Adoremus:

Ritus Narcissus, by Fr. Paul Scalia (March 1999)
Singing for the Supper or the Sacrifice?, by Lucy E. Carroll (November 2002)

Thanks for the wonderful podcast!

Is the K7 service the same one that the other SQPN shows use? How well do you like the service?

Thanks,

Jim

Pax,
Amy

God Bless,

Bob

I, like you, decided that the answer for our family was to drop out of the rat race and begin homeschooling. Obviously, this isn’t the right answer for everyone, but I bet your show will inspire people to find an answer to their own rat race problem!

Allyson, you might be interested in my show this week….it all started when I was asked to sign a Statement of Faith for a homeschooling group. Deacon Tim coaches me on the origins of the Bible, and why Catholics have 7 more books than the homeschooling statement I was asked to sign.

Peace be with you, and keep making us better parents!
Cyndi

-Bob

You can also check out a good blog post on the topic of Music During the Civil War at:
http://www.littlestregular.com/blog/2006/08/hearing-civil-war-music-of-civil-war_25.html

Jim

I think I commented a while back about how I will be homeschooling my girls this coming year (I have 5). The whole concept is exciting, but scary.

I would love to hear about the good stuff, and the frustrating stuff. Curriculum choices can be overwhelming. I also feel inspired by the stories of those who homeschool … how did you decide to do it?

Elaine

Loved your interview with the Drum Family and the story of Austin’s sacrifice brought tears to my eyes.

Many Blessings…

I have a couple of suggestions for ya regarding poor Kathryn’s foot smell
issue.

1.  IF at any time she must put on footwear, the application of a little
baking soda would help a great deal to cut down on it; if not eliminate it
altogether.

2.  IF you want an even more effective idea, just let her run around
completely BAREFOOTED all she wants to; and, this might include getting in
the car to go somewhere and even perhaps in public places where it’s
reasonably safe to do so.  In fact, going around BAREFOOTED is the best
remedy because the feet can be left free to the open air and this is the way
God intended man to go anyhow.  Think about it.  God designed the human foot
to be and to function best when completely bare.  Who are we, therefore, to
think we know better than he?  So far as I am concerned, there’s just
nothing like walking BAREFOOTED on God’s Earth which he created and giving
him thanks for making it the way he did and that he made it to feel so good
underneath us.  Well, that’s all for now.  God bless.

Sincerely yours,
The Constantly Barefooted,
Ray
Home phone and fax:
(985)853-0139
E-mail:
rforetjr@bellsouth.net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
Blog:
http://www.raysworld.blogs.com
Podcast .rss Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray

God bless President George W. Bush!
God bless our troops!
and God bless America

God Bless,

Bob

I love hearing your family tales … from one parent to another, they are always fun to listen to.

Your comments about freedom and feeling good were “right on” in my mind. It was an excellent way to explain and stand up for your beliefs. I often have a hard time articulating why I feel this way according to my church beliefs. Far too many times I have been made to feel like the Catholic Church has too many rules. Your response really seemed to be a good way to “begin” to answer the “whys”.

I also wanted to add that … we are a Catholic school family who plan to homeschool our children next fall. I would love some stories of your experiences and if you still feel like that will be your direction once again.

Elaine

The McWilliams

-Bob

Whenever you visit a website, the McAfee Site Advisor will give you one of four ratings: Green (Safe), Yellow (Caution), Red (Danger), or Gray (Site hasn’t been tested yet).

Some of the factors Site Advisor takes into account when rating websites include viruses, spyware, browser exploits, spam, phishing, and popups. For example, catholicfamilypodcast.com has a green rating, because, obviously, you don’t do any of that.
Great podcast! Keep up the good work!

Have fun at the festival.

When my daughter reaches that age, my approach will be:
* Is the event chaperoned by someone or some group that I trust (if not, then maybe I become a chaperone)?
* Does my daughter know who to contact and what to do if she finds any situation hard to handle?
* Will my wife or I be “nearby” just in case of need?

Wind forward a few years. The parishes were “sort of” merged. The acting principal was replaced by permanent principal who we have been able to work with. The benefits of a small school were fading, there was no permanent priest any more (the small church just became an offshoot of the larger). My daughter started school at the larger parish this year and we have been estatic with the way the school works and the integration of the church into the school (unlike the smaller school/parish).

We are moving our commitments bit by bit to the main church….

“Hey”, said the chicken, “check out the notice board. The church is having a fund raising drive - maybe we could help out with the fund-raising breakfast”.

“Well” said the pig “it is alright for you, eggs are just a contribution but bacon is a lifetime commitment.”

s/are/aren’t/

Re: “Dorky” - I think you look fine - in fact I dress that way all the time. I guess my kids are game to tell me I look dorky
Re: Assembly of toys - agreed.
Re: Ask your mother - absolutely.

Bob

-Bob

-Bob

Bob and family

PS from Cody “Thanks for the line rider game I really enjoy it”, and I (Bob) have to admit watching that guy crash is funny

Love the show!

No better joy comes with embarrassing your kids with how cool you are. [:D]

Bob

Great show (I am prodding my wife to send audio)

Bob

PS the kids did great also! I live the ‘ask dad’ segment it is always good for a laugh.

Dad thrown under the bus. Ouch! That was a lot of fun to listen to. I am still listening in between chuckles.

Great segment!

Bob

You’re name’s not Bob? Darn… I’m going to have to re-cut all of those checks.

I kept re-loading and re-loading in iTunes… cry… no podcast yet.

+Michael

CFP came up on the Rosary Army forums in one of the threads…

Might get a few more listeners

By the way… my name isn’t Bob. I guess that means you have *two* listeners. Me and Bob (or is that Bob and I given that Allyson is teaching grammar).

“I’m going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland”

Sorry to hear you missed it but now you get to put it back on the ‘to do’ list.

I liked the show. It was like catching up after a trip.

Bob

Hmmm. I probably need to send this as an email so you can ask that question on the next podcast….

Sorry, my computer crashed and I have only downloaded the New York episode. I am rebuilding it right now ….

This is now my favourite podcast (listening order is: CFP, RA, CI, DB…)

My understanding is that the church teaches that there are different types of souls. The soul of a human is different to the soul of an animal.

How does this answer the question of animals in heaven? Well it doesn’t. My parents always used the logic that anything good on earth is a reflection of something in heaven. Given the wonderful part that animals play in our lives, it seems likely that they would also exist in heaven….

P: So you guys believe in the “real presence”, right?
C: Yup.
P: Which means that Jesus is really present in the bread and wine?
C: Yup.
P: Then you are all a bunch of hypocrites…
C: Huh?
P: If it was *really* Jesus present, there is no way you would ever get up off your knees….

The greatest privilege at mass (for me) is to hand out the body of Christ (as an acolyte or a special minister) to people…

When I was a kid (a really long time ago), I lived on 5 acres with a cow and some ducks, chooks, and some wild kangaroos.

I used to check in with St. Francis when my ducks were sick…

You can read about it at Wikipedia: Stevenson and Wikipedia: A Garden of Verses

We don’t have a formal program here at the moment but I have been “annoying” the vocations director about it for a while. The official stance is that the archbishop (actually cardinal) will allow it when the priests are happy to accept it. There are 4 deacons left from the last time there was a program (15 years ago maybe).

Anyway, prayers for your study…

Don’t get discouraged. I am looking forward to your next CFP!

Bill Pratt
Grove city, OH

GBY keep it up!

Bob McWilliams

Episode 12 was very good. I think there might be a bright future in broadcasting for Hannah! I also appreciate the book review for ‘What Are You So Grumpy About?’ I enjoyed hearing it and will need to look for it to add to our family library and to that of our other friends. I also could appreciate the skunk bit. Even though I live in metro Columbus (the state capitol), I work in rural Ohio. We have lots of deer, foxes (and coyotes–I’ve been told), and skunks at our facility. I get a whiff of one once a week.

I was showing my daughter, Steffany, 13, your website. Keep up the good work, and I will keep my prayers for your continued production and ever-growing fan base.

Regards,

Bill (and Steffany),
Grove City, Ohio

Bob