Catholic and Loving it!

One of the more exciting challenges that every parent looks forward to is getting the children to go to bed.

Every night I leave work at six and after an evening meal (tea, dinner or supper depending on your taste) I spend a bit of time playing with our eldest Leona, aged two. I try to get a bit of good honest play in every night, sometimes she likes building blocks and sometimes she likes to make me a cup of tea (imaginary of course) and sometimes she likes to play what Ella calls "rough and tumble" which generally consists of me swinging/flinging/throwing her around (all perfectly safe of course) and her laughing ecstatically. It usually ends with us both tired out in a heap on the floor having a hug.

It's over so quickly, by half past seven it's time for bed and I have to be the big bad dad and get her to tidy the toys away and some to brush her teeth. Leona often gets very upset because she wants to play and play and play forever. In fairness to her, a few hours later I will be resisting bed time myself.

So every night we play the "coax Leona to bed" game. It starts with me saying "okay then, let's go upstairs and toodle our broodles" and on the occasional (very rare) night Leona will run off upstairs and stand by the sink and cooperate in some toodle broodling. Most nights she pretends not to hear me. I say it again, she responds by picking up a toy and trying to continue the play "choo choo" she says, pointing at a train. "Yes, very good, but it's time to toodle your broodles".

After I ask again I usually say (in a slightly stern voice) "Leona, I know you can hear me, now it's time to toodle your broodles" and sometimes that works. Sometimes not. Some nights we have to play the "one, two, three" card though I don't use that one so much these days. Sometimes things go on and on and on until eventually I have to pick her up and she screams and screams until we get to the bathroom where I basically brush her mouth when she opens it to scream some more.

Where am I going with this?

Well, this process rather reminds me of what is going on in the Church these days.

To any good little children who are listening to the Holy Father, it's very clear and obvious what he is trying to do. He doesn't want us to go to bed, he want's us to have a reform of the reform. We've had the nicely suggesting that going to bed might be a good idea stage (c/f spirit of the liturgy) and we've had the "well I'm going to brush my teeth" stage (c/f ad orientem in the sistine chapel) and we're rapidly approaching the "I know you can hear me" stage.

That's because for a while now we've been in the "pretending we can't hear" stage. I mean, how obvious do you have to make your hints? Only giving communion to people who are kneeling is quite obvious, but saying Mass in Latin at World Youth Day?? That's like standing halfway up the stairs with a toothbrush in your hand shouting "Leona! It's time to brush your teeth"

Now the news come from Rome that the Congregation for Divine Worship have had a vote and recommended a number of changes to the ordinary form Mass. The following is a translation (by Rorate Caeli) of an article appearing in the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale.

The Cardinals and Bishops members of the Congregation voted almost unanimously in favor of a greater sacrality of the rite, of the recovery of the sense of eucharistic worship, of the recovery of the Latin language in the celebration, and of the remaking of the introductory parts of the Missal in order to put a stop to abuses, wild experimentations, and inappropriate creativity. They have also declared themselves favorable to reaffirm that the usual way of receiving Communion according to the norms is not on the hand, but in the mouth. There is, it is true, and indult which, on request of the [local] episcopates, allows for the distribution of the host [sic] also on the palm of the hand, but this must remain an extraordinary fact. The "Liturgy Minister" of Pope Ratzinger, Caņizares, is also having studies made on the possibility to recover the orientation towards the Orient of the celebrant, at least at the moment of the eucharistic consecration, as it happened in practice before the reform, when both the faithful and the priest faced towards the Cross and the priest therefore turned his back to the assembly.

[link]

This is the ecclesiastical equivalent of picking up the toothbrush and putting the toothpaste on it, yet all across England and Wales our Bishops are studiously pretending to be so interested in wooden trains and building blocks that they just can't quite hear. The Pope sings Youth Masses in Latin, but our Bishops don't. The Pope gives communion to people who are kneeling, but our Bishops don't. The Pope celebrates Mass ad orientem but our Bishops don't.

We should't get too excited about this, I highly doubt Pope Benedict is ever going to get to the point of physically dragging anybody upstairs to bed.

But I do think we can expect plenty of kicking and screaming.