EDIT: OK. Don't know why this is pushing post so far down. But I am done editing/trying to fix it.

Found one of those online quizzes that asks questions and pigeon-holes you about over at Envoy Encore. This one tells you what kind of faith tradition your views fit best. Here's mine:

You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.

No really big surprise at the top. A bit surprised that the Evangelical thing came in ahead of neo-orthodox. Especially surprised about the 36% post modern. I suspect that was due to my disagreeing with the world being created in a literal 6 days and probably a couple of other things.

Obviously, there's no point, except to have fun.

So here we are, well into the new pontificate. Apparently B16 is not moving fast enough for some people to stamp out the dissenters in the Church. For others he's a return to the stone age. Which probably means he's doing OK. I think it's a good sign generally, though not always, if you tick off the far left and far right elements at the same time.

Jimmy Akin posts that B16 by his nature is not really a heavy-handed leader. In that same post he links to the Catholic Exchange article that George Weigel wrote about what to expect from the new Pope. Personally if we get just those few things Weigel mentions and only those, I suspect that the Church will see a renewal the likes of which we haven't seen in several lifetimes.

Weigel speculates, as have many, that the reform of the liturgy needs to be reformed and that it will be a priority for the new pontiff. Great! Just about everyone has some story about Mass that makes you cringe.

Personally I have not seen a clown Mass, nor a woman preach in place of a homily (which by definition can only be given by a deacon, priest or bishop). I do know that the latter happens in more than one parish in my archdiocese. I have personally heard a priest speculate that perhaps Christ didn't know that He was going to institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper when speaking in the Bread of Life discourse in John 6. I have seen people invited to stand around the altar during the consecration. I have seen children invited to sit around the priest as he gives his homily at their 1st Communion. I have seen what appeared to be leavened, homemade bread at the same service. I have seen brats snatch the Body of Christ from the hand of the priest as if he were ticked off for even having to be there at all. I have seen priests sit down before all the communicants were taken care of, leaving them to the "eucharistic ministers", which of course they aren't. There's the bad music that praises the people and forgets to even ask God who? There's the glass "chalices" and wooden bowls for ciboriums. There's the lack of a visible tabernacle, crucifix and kneelers. There's the lack of genuflection by the people and the incessant hand holding during the Our Father and so much more.

And those aren't necessarily the worst things I have seen reported. So what will start to cure these?

According to Weigel we will likely see a gradual change (as all Church change should be) back to certain practices and emphases. We are likely to see/hear more Gregorian chants for instance and the priest facing the East with his back to the people at appropriate times. New translations to replace the awful ones we have now might be given a kick in the pants to see them get to us faster. Maybe we will even see Holy Days of Obligation celebrated on the actual Holy Days! What a concept! Along with this, we hope to see an actual catechesis of what and why these things are changing.

That will be the harder part I think. Getting the bishops and priests to actually act on these things and then explain them. That seems to be where the Vatican II reform fell on its face. These changes may not seem like a big deal, but I think they would be a huge step in the proper direction. All of them would seem to restore an attitude of reverence and respect in some ways. Along with the meausres/reminders/prohibitions from Ecclesia de Eucharista, we would be well on our way I think.

Ah yes... The Maniacs.

Where have we all gone?

Well, that's a good question. I know Deacon is busy with family and... well, Diaconate classes as well as being a team member for a local group doing regular talks on the faith.

Heathenboy is also busy with family and his true passion in life. Football. He's busy studying all possibilities for the coming Fantasy Football Season and his Ronald Wilson Reagan Fantasy Football League.

Guvnur is busy with a new sitch in Indianapolis so we don't even get to see him much.

So... What's your excuse, Fric?

Huh? What? Me? Oh. Well... Ah. Hmmmmmmnnnnnn....

Thinking...

Thinking...

OK. Besides the 2.5 to 3 hours on the road to and from work, side projects and trying to get an adult catechesis series started at my parish, I really have no excuse. I long for the days when I worked from home mostly. I could post any time I felt like it. Now it takes serious mental effort. Plus I have been in something of a writing funk for a while. I had so much I wanted to say about the death of John Paul the Great and the election of the new Pope, Benedict XVI. But I just couldn't get coherent to do it.

I hope to get some projects in and posted here soon though. I am working on a defense and explanation of the Real Presence for the wife of a colleague at work. She is a lapsed Catholic, now a Southern Baptist. Her mom is desperate to get her back into the Church and keeps trying to get her to receive Communion. Of course this is a no-no and the daughter won't do it. But she did ask her husband about the RP and whether we think it's actually the flesh and blood.

So, I am going to put together what I hope will be a short tract and give her a copy. Maybe that will help them both understand the faith a bit more. I will post it here when done.

In addition I am working on the outline we will be using for our 4 part series, The ABC's of Being Catholic, that will kick off our adult catechesis series. We will be doing a quick overview of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and doing a Q&A after each session. If it goes decently, this will kick off a weekly series of talks. I will probably post that here as well.

Beyond that, I have bunch of other projects in mind, but don't think I will get to many of them this summer. Not unless I start working from home again. And that would be bad for the bank account since that usually means I am between major consulting gigs.