A mass to celebrate 150 years of the Sisters of Mercy in Hull.

I might have gone, only it was held during working hours and by invitation only (it being in a school and all). Ella got an invitation though because she works there.

In the presence of several diocesan priests two students from the school (young people, not priests) gave the homily.

This evening Fr Stephen asked Fr Massie if he knew who would have been responsible. Neither of them knew but the names of some of the school staff were suggested.

So... is it possible for a lay person to be 'responsible' for what happens at a mass? If not who was responsible?

...or am I right in thinking that none of the diocesan clergy think this is important enough to worry about?

From last Sunday's gospel (which every one of them would have read outloud): The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great.

Update (30th Sept): I don't know how they got the idea, but I've heard that some folk have interpreted this blog entry as me "having a go" at Fr Stephen. This was definitely not my intention. If anything, I have portrayed him as caring about what goes on. He is definitely a good man and if I have accidentally defamed him here then I apologise. Also, another eyewitness to the conversation between Fr Stephen and Fr Massie tells me that I have it the wrong way around - apparently it was Fr Massie who asked Fr Stephen. Again, apologies if I got it wrong.

I think most people are familiar with the "legend" of St. Francis of Assisi. He was the saint who could speak to animals, for this reason he is often portrayed conversing with birds or beasts.

But if people are incredulous when it comes to a man who can speak the gospel to animals, then they will be shocked to hear the other claim...

He could speak the gospel to Children.

It is only fitting then, that Fr. Massie took the opportunity to take the youth of his parish(es) to the Franciscans Friars of the Renewal in Bradford. The Fransiscan Friars of the Renewal may not speak to animals (at least, not in public) but they speak the Gospel to me, and I hope, to the kids Fr Massie brought from West Hull.

Before we could begin our journey however, Della (who we were giving a lift), Ella and I had to call in to P. Immison butchers on Boothferry Road to book a Goose (our Goose is Booked) for next week's Michaelmas celebraitons. That done, we were on our way. The journey to Bradford wasn't a race (that would have been dangerous) but everybody was trying to get there first. We nearly got lost in Bradford but had a jammy moment when I recognised the positioning of a couple of fields from a google maps aerial photo and knew the way. We got there second. Michelle foolishly tried to follow Fr Massie.

We arrived early and had our lunch in the street outside the St. Pio friary. Then we wandered in for orange juice and biscuits and to meet a couple of friars. It was like guess the accent. There was a very Italian sounding monk from Brooklyn and then a monk who looked very Eastern European but then said "hello chief" in a northern accent.

We kicked off with a talk about holiness and were told "it's not enough to pray while your driving to work or in the shower, you need to set aside time for prayer". It's a little sad to think that it's radical to talk about working your life around prayer (rather than fitting prayer in to your life) but it is radical and certainly something Ella and I need to work on. He also talked about love as being about giving yourself and not about feelings which again, is radical but sound.

We had a short break and then piled back in to the church for mass. We celebrated the feast of St. Padre Pio (another fransiscan). The guy with the Italian accent gave the homily which was all about sainthood and how it's about personal holiness and not working miracles or supernatural phenomena. He talked about the universal call to holiness. He talked, like the guy before the mass, about the importance of making time for prayer.

Then we wandered over the road so the male youths could get their football fix, Leona liked watching the football flying high in to the air and coming down again. Because things had been running a little late the football lasted all of three minutes and then it was back to the church for Holy Hour.

For those who don't know, a Holy Hour is an hour of Eucharistic adoration. We began with evening prayer (sung in the Gregorian style) and then knelt and prayed in silence (occasionally interrupted by the singing of songs from the youth200uk songbook). All the while confession was available and a steady stream of young people went to confession. A surprising number actually. To spend an hour in front of the blessed sacrament is a wonderful thing to do.

The day ended with food. Chilli con carne, soup, cakes, all good. Leona made lots of friends and Fr Massie asked me what I thought of the day... I said it was a good thing. It's difficult not to make the following paragraph controversial, because Fr Massie asked me why I thought it was so good when I often do not think things back home are good.

To understand why it's good you have to get away from the aesthetics of the thing. Forget whether it's traditional (monks in habits) or modern (youth200uk song book) or even if it's conservative or liberal. The reason this is good and so much else is pap is simple. Jesus Christ. The whole point of the Church is to meet Christ. It's an icon, a window, a painting, a lens. That's why these faith sharing things are so poor, because the window has become a mirror and Christ is left out of the picture. With the Fransicans in Bradford the window is open and the light is so bright you have to shield your eyes. This is why I call this and this good religious art and this bad. Because the former are windows to God and the latter is puke on a wall.

Anyways, a great day was had by all and I think the kids got a lot out of it. I hope we can go again next month.

It's probably fair to say I was a bit harsh about Fr Massie and his digital ways. Tonight he did good. Firstly, we had a new rite latin mass. Later, he continued to teach us Gregorian Chant.

We are working through the Missa de Angelis in the plainsong for schools book. It's quite challenging when you don't know any of it but after several runs through we are getting somewhere. Fr Massie's friend Fr Augustine from Pluscarden was down for the night on his way to a meeting of novice masters (he's a monk and a novice master) and he was able to give us tips as well.

All in all, it's great to see that progress is possible and that Fr Massie is serious about getting this stuff in to some proper masses.

The Infamous floods of old Hull Town delayed the barbecue season... but we're making up for it. Last week we went to Frances' BBQ, today was Michelle's.

Michelle has had a rough time of it lately, what with her house flooding and all. Not only that, but she had to endure a Digital Homily this weekend. You might think with all that her BBQ might suffer. Well, let me tell you, Michelle does a cracking good BBQ complete with cheesy Doritos (mmm), Cherry Tomatoes (where did they go so fast?) and Meat.

Did I mention there was meat?

Fr. Massie displayed classic priestly cheek by suggesting Michelle offer coffee and then being the only person to want it and then to let her go to all the bother of brewing proper coffee. Then, he said "is there anything for desert?" shortly followed by "that raspberry pavlova looks nice" indicating he knew full well there was desert when he asked.

Then, when Michelle asked if anybody needed anything he said "Yes, a Phillips screwdriver". After the high-tech shenanigans of this morning he had to ask Ella's sister for help changing a light bulb in his car.

A great time was, as they say, had by all.

There's an old joke. There are 10 types of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.

It's a joke that usually has to be explained (and consequently, not a very funny one). Counting in binary begins with 0, then 1, then 10 (because there is no 2). Therefore, 10 is binary for 2. There are 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary and those who don't. If at this point you are laughing then you are very easily amused.

We live in what some have called 'the digital age'. It started with music stored digitally on CD (okay so arguably it started with Morse Code or even more arguably scratches on a cave wall) and before you knew it we had Digital Watches, Digital Cameras, Digital Television, Digital Hymnals...

...wait a moment, did he just say Digital Hymnal?

Now a Digital Hymnal, if it was what you might think it was, would be great. If everybody collected a hymn book on the way in to mass and when they opened it up the pages cleverly displayed the next hymn then we would be free from the limits of a paper hymnal. Nobody would need to find pages, we wouldn't need numbers on the wall, just glance in the book and sing what you see. Ella could select good hymns instead of the limited selection from one particular edition Hymns Old and New. People with arthritis wouldn't need to fumble with pages and you could have a switch on the side allowing a large print/high contrast view for those with impaired vision. Hey, you could even pipe different words depending on the location of the singer in the room for antiphonal singing.

Unfortunately, that's not what a Digital Hymnal is. The kind of Digital Hymnal I'm talking about, the kind employed by Fr. Massie in the West Hull Parishes (St. Wilfrid's, Corpus Christi and St. Joseph's) is more like an electric keyboard without the keys. Remember those awful demo songs where you type in the number and you can hear Fur Elise on the harpsichord, piano or barked by a not particularly convincing dog? Fr. Massie's Digital Hymnal is like one of those. It has a keypad and you type in the hymn number and it plays the hymn.

Personally, I find this deeply troubling and not because it sounds bad either. My problem is this: Playing an instrument during the mass constitutes an act of worship. Using an electronic device to play music does not. The existence of a box that makes music discourages human beings from making music themselves and as such discourages worship. God gives people gifts to produce music and in doing so they glorify Him.

I am fully aware that I stand in the minority on this one. The general consensus even among usually sensible sound Catholics is that any music is better than no music. I disagree, I think people singing without music (even badly) is more glorifying to God than the tone being set by machine.

So what to do? Well, for some time I've been considering a blog entry in which I would parody a service offering to replace all the parts of the mass with digital components. Why have extraordinary ministers cluttering up the altar when a simple mechanical dispenser can do the job? Why have humans do the readings when a recording could be used, who want's to hear some old woman when you can have a recording of Brian Blessed or Peter Dickson (who?). Why have a priest resident when the Pope himself can transubstantiate a vast supply and have it shipped out. Surely people would prefer Papal Eucharist to the regular kind? Speaking of the Pope, why have homilies by local priests when you could pop a TV on the lectern and have the Pope himself, live!

If all that seems a bit irreverent that's because it is! I'm not suggesting it. I'm not the one with a Digital Hymnal.

Calm down James. This isn't going any further. Your silly imagined situations are just that, silly imaginations. Nobody is going to, say, do a Digital Homily. No priest in his right mind would replace the Homily with a CD recording of some girl from Blackpool doing a talk at a conference.

Would they?

Today. Sunday 5th August 2007. Parody became reality.

Before mass this morning Fr. Massie draped unsightly orange extension cable across the sanctuary and when I gave him an inquisitive look remarked 'Digital Homily'. I thought he was joking. When the time for the Homily came, Fr. Massie took a frankly huge ghetto-blaster and placed it on the lectern, explained what we were about to hear and (after we waited through a bit of fast-forwarding) played us a talk on CD.

It's worth noting that the contents of the CD were sound enough. Amy from Blackpool didn't say anything untoward though it did feel quite long. I agree with Fr. Massie on this: it was a good talk and it was good for people to hear it.

What I don't agree with is replacing the Homily with a talk by a lay person, digital or otherwise. Certainly, that a Homily must never be be given my a lay person is clear. Redemptionis Sacramentum states:

[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself, "should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson."

...

[74.] If the need arises for the gathered faithful to be given instruction or testimony by a layperson in a Church concerning the Christian life, it is altogether preferable that this be done outside Mass. Nevertheless, for serious reasons it is permissible that this type of instruction or testimony be given after the Priest has proclaimed the Prayer after Communion. This should not become a regular practice, however. Furthermore, these instructions and testimony should not be of such a nature that they could be confused with the homily, nor is it permissible to dispense with the homily on their account.

Whether a homily can be given by a layperson as long as it is pre-recorded so the priest can vet it is highly suspect. So, frankly, I don't know what Fr. Massie is thinking. If he carries on like this and things go really well he might end up with 1000 people in his Church (that's 8 by the way).

Still, he could always invest in some Digital Parishoners.