I couldn't let the 25th January pass by without saying something about Burns' Night and something about Saint Paul's Conversion.
First of all, unlike what I hear from other people, all we have in our family is the haggis, neeps n tatties and maybe perhaps possibly recite one of his poems (my favourites are To A Mouse and Tam O' Shanter). There's no ceremonial about the thing either.

Secondly, I'd like to wish everyone all the best for the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles (that's us, folks). Furthermore, I think the feast reminds us that we need to constantly return to the Lord, asking for his help and seeking his mercy, and trying to love him in return.

Apropos of the new translation

Parish priest mentioned the upcoming new translation of the Mass today. He mentioned that correct liturgical worship flows from the fact that the Eucharist is the "source and summit" of our Christian worship, and so accordingly during Mass we should be apprpriately reverence with elevated language. He also connected this with silence during Mass and its importance. Overall, it was a good homily.

If you meet a good priest, pray for him.
If you meet a not-so-good priest, pray for him.

Pray for priests, in both senses.

When the cat's away...

... the mice will try and go to the EF of Mass in Edinburgh. Or at least that's what my younger brother's hoping. As soon as he found out the parental units will be away, leaving us under adelphacratic rule, he asked if we could go to another TLM in Ravelston. Let's see...

A Snapshot of Life Living Close to a Daily TLM

Nantes.
Wrapped up warm in my navy blue jacket with a detachable fleece inside (two coats for the price of one!), I set off for the tram stop Recteur Schmidt (really make the R as guttural as possible in Recteur). Waiting at the tram stop were some other students, mostly on my side, heading into the centre of Nantes. Getting on at the back (where there's usually more room), I looked around in vain for a seat. Never mind - it was more important that I was near the door for getting off, as the trams could get really busy at 5.30.
Jolted out of my reverie by the cheery announcement of "Saint Mihiel" (which I always thought sounded like she was saying "Holy Honey"), I squeeze past the young black woman with the huge handbag and the old biddie with the tons of shopping, repeating "Pardon!" the whole time. I really couldn't seem to lose that British way of apologising profusely for my existence.

Oh, how I shudder at the thought...

Not too long ago, Jeffrey Tucker over at the Chant Café blog wrote a bit on those terrible teenage bands who make a loud noise each Sunday and seem to be scattered all around the world. To my great embarrassment, I can recall my own involvement in such a group. Firstly, here's a snip of what Mr Tucker says:

Of course they have no idea what they are doing. No one has ever discussed with them anything about the musical demands of the Roman Rite. They know nothing about the proper orientation for making music at Mass. The liturgical calender is an abstraction. Terms like propers or dialogues are gibberish to them. Most of the players can’t even read music. To them it is an opportunity to see and be seen, a weekly talent gig, and they probably don’t mind it that people give them credit for their service to the parish.

The pastor and celebrant don’t like it any more than anyone else. But the parents of these kids are important people in the parish. The band doesn’t charge any money for their services, such as they are.

Sadly, this somewhat describes my own experience. I played keyboard, so I was the one who had to learn the actual tune. The other two just needed to either learn the chord sequence (i.e. super easy) or the drum beat (cringe!!). The whole experience was awful and, as you may have gathered, had a traumatic psychological effect on me.

This man seems to be happy playing the guitar. No such joy for me or my two friends, or the congregation, for that matter.

 
There were other reasons why the whole thing was terrible, not just the fact that the music was atrocious and messed up the whole thing. Mass no longer seemed about God - we were too preoccupied with ourselves and whether the amp was at the right settings. The (justified) disapproving looks from the congregation one Sunday upset me so much that I thankfully refused to carry on with it. I also protested that I had all the work to do (in my mind learning a chord sequence or a simple drum beat was much easier than learning a tune).
We were trying to fit a jigsaw piece from a Disney jigsaw puzzle for 5 year olds into a 5000-piece puzzle of the Sistine Chapel. It just didn't fit and was totally inappropriate.
I like to think this was God's way of making a point to me, namely that keyboards, drums and guitars are NOT suited to Catholic liturgy and that music should lift people to God. Somehow, I don't imagine singing Gregorian chant is nearly as distracting for the choir as strumming a guitar or playing drums is for those who play them at Mass. I can't even remember praying at those Masses I played at.

On the Most Holy Name of Jesus

The month of January is dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus. It is on the third of January that we celebrate the optional memoria of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and throughout the whole month we consider our veneration of the name given to Our Blessed Lord.

Throughout Sacred Scripture, we see that God gives those who are involved in his divine plan a name. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, and Jacob became Israel, right on through to Simon the fisherman, who was called Rock (Peter). In many cases, this new name reflected their new role. Our Lord’s name was designated even before his conception. This demonstrates that throughout every instant of his life, he had this purpose and role.

“Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.” (Lk 1:31)

The Glorification of the Name of Jesus by Antoine Sallaert.

“She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21)

In this latter passage, Gabriel points out what Jesus’ purpose is – to save people from their sins – to bring salvation. The name itself means “God saves”. At once, it echoes the mystery of the Incarnation, which the feasts of Christmas and the Epiphany highlight particularly, telling us that this child is God. Secondly, it reveals to us why God became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). He came to save us, as Gabriel tells us.

A consideration of the Holy Name of Jesus naturally leads us to consider the great veneration that the Jews have for the tetragrammaton, revealed to Moses at the sight of the burning bush. The name was considered so sacred that “Lord” was often used instead whenever it appeared in the Old Testament. While the name of Jesus is not given this reserved regard, it should nonetheless not be used profanely. After all, in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians he tells us that at the name of Jesus “every knee shall bow” (Phil 2:10). This sentiment is reflected in the liturgy as we all bow our heads at least whenever the Holy Name of our Blessed Saviour is mentioned. This attitude should not therefore be suspended outside of the liturgy. The name of Jesus should not be used lightly, let alone in outright blasphemous situations. Furthermore, since the rate of blasphemy as regards the holy name is increasing, acts of reparation for this should be undertaken by all who hold the name in great reverence. A good way of doing this would be to say the corresponding Divine Praise “Blessed be the name of Jesus”, preferably out loud so as to repair for the blasphemy said aloud.

Happy Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God/Feast of the Circumcision...

... and blessings for the year to come.