Modesty at Mass

I now present to you this past Sunday's note from our pastor. It was very good! I feel it was no coincidence that this appeared on Labor Day weekend.

My Dear People,

Recently, I came across a striking news item. Dateline: MEXICO CITY: "A priest's condemnation of miniskirts on an official church website is causing outrage among some Mexican women, who say the Roman Catholic Church is making it easier to justify sexual violence against women."

"When we show our body without prudence, without modesty, we are prostituting ourselves," wrote Rev. Sergio Roman, head of a church family values forum next year in Mexico City.

Women dressed in miniskirts and low-cut shirts have rallied at Mexico City's cathedral carrying signs that read: "Clothed and naked, I am the same".

Father Roman is addressing a very real concern among the Catholic clergy. Many of us can remember when people came to Mass in their Sunday finest. We wore "dress" clothing to show our respect and reverence for what we were doing. My mother taught us to shine our shoes on Saturday night in preparation for Sunday Mass.

This value is being lost in our day. Some take the attitude that "You are lucky I am here so don't criticize my attire." That really is not the point. We are always pleased to have you here but the importance of the gathering is usually expressed in how we dress. If it is of similar importance as going to a Mall, then where what you would usually wear to a Mall. If you see this gathering as important and sacred, you will dress to reflect that attitude.

Recently, this problem has taken another step in the wrong direction. Instead of just being comfortable in daily clothing, we now see a "very sexualized" way of dressing. Showing tattos on the lower back and displaying navels, as well as our favorite team on derrieres is distracting.

If the Pope visited our beautiful church, we would "dress up". In this way we express how important the gathering is to us. We would be there well before the beginning of the celebration. We would certainly wait for the Pope to leave the Church first. We have much greater than the Pope here when we break bread together.

A Note from Our Pastor

My Dear People,

This coming Friday is a Holy Day of Obligation, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Over the last 40 years the bishops and priests have become painfully aware that the Catholic people we are shepherding do not see Holy Days of Obligation as very important. The Bishops have moved some of these feasts to Sunday so the people will be exposed to the mystery being celebrated. Ascension Thursday is a good example. Because this feast fell on a Thursday, people didn't think it important to attend. The result is that we have members of the community who never celebrated this great feast with the community. We now celebrate Ascension Thursday on Sunday.

"But Father, I work." If you are working at both the 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Mass times [the mass times for our parish], that is an excuse, unless you are willing to talk to your boss or manager to come in a little late or leave a little early. Most of our bosses don't even know we are Catholic. The group that cannot make either time is small. Then people give a list of things that are obviously more important than gathering with the community and hearing God's Word and Breaking Bread together.

The Church still believes that not attending Mass on Holy Days of Obligation is a serious matter which requires the Sacrament of Reconciliation to get ourselves back on the track that leads to the Lord.

I have had people ask why we do this for a feast like the Assumption. The Assumption is a unique tenet of our Catholic faith. Gathering on a special day to celebrate a unique belief draws attention from those around us and invites them to ponder this wonderful mystery.

Please join us THIS Friday and celebrate the uniqueness of our Catholic Faith.

May the Lord continue to bless each of you and your families.

- Fr. Tom

Fr. Tom is the new pastor of the parish I attend, the replacement for Fr. Ariel, who - if you remember my mentioning - was sadly was moved far away. I am excited about Fr. Tom, as are many people I believe, because he has proved to be very similar to Fr. Ariel. Which could be explained by the fact that Fr. Ariel served as associate pastor to Fr. Tom for several years thus learning from him. I look forward for what Fr. Tom has to teach us in the future.

Why You Should Read the Bulletin...

The Latest from "The Lion's Roar"

Every once in a while I hear the expression "Who reads the bulletin anyway?" when we talk about people who miss important parish events. We should realize that our parish bulletin is the primary way we inform everyone about what's happening in the parish. And it is not just a bunch of information. We can also get some laughs out of it. The following are samples of bulletin bloopers.

"The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in the church basement Friday at 7pm. The congregation is invited to attened this tragedy."

"Wieght watchers will meet at 7pm at St. Teresa's Catholic Church. Please use double door at side entrance."

"Don't let worry kill you - let the Church help."

"Ladoes, don't forget the rummage sale! It is a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husband."

"The peacemaking committee meeting scheduled for next week has been canceled due to a conflict."

"The pastor will preach his final sermon next week, after which the choir will sing 'Break Forth into Joy'"

"Low Self-esteem Support Group will be meeting next Wednesday at 6pm. Please use the back door."

The moral of the story. Please do take home a bulletin when you leave the church. You never know what you might be missing.

This one caused a lot of laughs after Mass, which we all needed. After communion, we recieved the news from Father, that the Bishop is making him the pastor... of a different parish. Two and a half hours away. We are all very sad, because during the one year that we've had Father Ariel as our parochial administrator, we have become very attatched to him. He is such a wonderful, vibrant, friendly, holy and reverant priest, and has done so much to make our parish blossom. It was quite a blow to hear that he will be leaving in one short month. Please pray that his replacemnt will be just as good of a priest, and that we may accept God's will in this. Thank you.

Not all Compasses Point in the Right Direction

Especially, "The Golden Compass".
Very soon a movie entitled "The Golden Compass" will be shown in theaters. This movie is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Mr. Pullman is a noted English atheist and his objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism to kids. Hence his stories appeal to kids, but with a sinister objective. In these books God is not the Almighty but a powerful "angel" who has deceived the world. In an interview, Pullman said, "I don't know whether there is a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say."
I certainly do not want to excite your curiosity about this film. As you parochial administrator, I only want to save you from an occasion of sin and to discourage you from supporting a production that is contrary to our Catholic beliefs. Our goal should be to use the media in helping our children grow in their knowledge of Catholic beliefs and morals.

Kudos to Father Ariel, pastor of the parish I attend for writing the article in the weekly bulletin! If only all pastors would warn their parishioners about 'occasions of sin'. And not just near occasions of sin, but occasions of sin! I have seen a preview for this movie and it is disturbing that they are trying to make it appear like "The Chronicles of Narnia" and the "Lord of the Rings" by showing animals helping the main character; and the preview opening with the words "From the producers who brought you Middle-Earth".

I won't go into more detail since many of you have already heard about this terrible film, but in case you haven't, follow this link to a great website explaining in further detail what is wrong with this production.

So head over to http://www.catholicleauge.com/ to read more.