A Sunday Thought About 2014 - At Least So Far
For 2014, so far so good, I suppose. Well, there's a bit of "holiday" hangover as the rest of creation turns its back on Christmas and moves on with the "ordinary." I remind myself it's the 12th Day of Christmas, tomorrow is January 6th, the feast of the Ephiphany - the day the Three Wise Men visited the Holy Family. Oh, right, the "new" (Novus Ordo) calendar puts the traditional January 6th observation of the Three Kings on January 5th - today!
Frankly, I don't get moving this feast around, just as I don't get monkeying with holy days of obligation that fall on weekends or Mondays. You know what I mean, don't you? Like when the Immaculate Conception fell on a Sunday this year, and it was observed on the following Monday, December 9th, but it wasn't a holy day of obligation - or was it? Or when Ascension Thursday is observed on a Sunday in many parts of the U.S. (So I guess it's not appropriate to call it "Ascension Thursday" anymore, but just "The Ascension.") Or when January 1st, the feast of the Mother of God, (or the Circumcision in the old rite - take your pick) falls on a Monday, like it recently did, and our U.S. bishops declared that it was not a holy day of obligation, so you didn't have to go to Mass.
Yes, I know it's got something to do with them not wanting to place an undue burden on us poor benighted creatures: How demanding it would be, especially in consideration of our oh-so-busy lives to ask us to attend Mass two days in a row! Of course, the result of all this manifested itself this year in the sparse attendance at the 7 PM vigil Mass for New Year's - the feast of the Mother of God - a Mass that used to be pretty well attended in our parish, but now was maybe double the number of Mass-goers than you'd find on a weekday. Something about that kind of got me down this year, even in the face of the good things that have gone on both in my life and the Church in the face of all the nonsense (and worse) we've put up with for decades now.
But that's just the way things go when you're not one of those "positive thinkers" I guess. The least little thing drags you down. And so the New Year arrived with that "negative" weight tugging at an otherwise pleasant start.
I'm reminded, at times like this, that I tend to react too strongly to things that I think are "wrong" with the Church these days, rather than focus on things that are hopeful signs, and there are many, like the plethora of "Extraordinary Right" Masses celebrated in our area for All Soul's Day, many celebrated by younger priests whom I have found are open to that beautiful old rite - definitely a good sign.
Okay, I've perked myself up a bit now, thinking of some of the good stuff. But in the end, it's really important to just trust in God, to know that His plan for us is what matters, and to place our hope in Him and not in this world or its creatures.
Of course, if I really want to straighten myself out, I'd take the advice of centuries of Holy Mother Church's wise teaching and meditate on the Four Last Things to start the year right: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. So what am I waiting for? Let's start with Death.
If you've never spent time meditating on the Four Last Things, or just don't know what to do with the thought of "Death," let's turn to yet another selection from Handel's Messiah, continuing as we have done these Sundays of Advent and the Christmas Season. Take ten minutes or so and listen to "The Trumpet Shall Sound" from Messiah. It takes Death from that fearsome event each of us will face someday to its glorious conclusion at the Last Judgment when, as St Paul teaches us, "we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." I like this live version for its wonderful sound, and simple, straightforward presentation. I hope it helps you meditate on the first of the Four Last Things to start off this New Year. As I listened to it, I was reminded that glory awaits us all - "this mortal must put on immortality" - if we but put our trust in Him and do His Holy Will each day of life that He give us here on earth.
2014 is looking much better now.
Frankly, I don't get moving this feast around, just as I don't get monkeying with holy days of obligation that fall on weekends or Mondays. You know what I mean, don't you? Like when the Immaculate Conception fell on a Sunday this year, and it was observed on the following Monday, December 9th, but it wasn't a holy day of obligation - or was it? Or when Ascension Thursday is observed on a Sunday in many parts of the U.S. (So I guess it's not appropriate to call it "Ascension Thursday" anymore, but just "The Ascension.") Or when January 1st, the feast of the Mother of God, (or the Circumcision in the old rite - take your pick) falls on a Monday, like it recently did, and our U.S. bishops declared that it was not a holy day of obligation, so you didn't have to go to Mass.
Yes, I know it's got something to do with them not wanting to place an undue burden on us poor benighted creatures: How demanding it would be, especially in consideration of our oh-so-busy lives to ask us to attend Mass two days in a row! Of course, the result of all this manifested itself this year in the sparse attendance at the 7 PM vigil Mass for New Year's - the feast of the Mother of God - a Mass that used to be pretty well attended in our parish, but now was maybe double the number of Mass-goers than you'd find on a weekday. Something about that kind of got me down this year, even in the face of the good things that have gone on both in my life and the Church in the face of all the nonsense (and worse) we've put up with for decades now.
But that's just the way things go when you're not one of those "positive thinkers" I guess. The least little thing drags you down. And so the New Year arrived with that "negative" weight tugging at an otherwise pleasant start.
I'm reminded, at times like this, that I tend to react too strongly to things that I think are "wrong" with the Church these days, rather than focus on things that are hopeful signs, and there are many, like the plethora of "Extraordinary Right" Masses celebrated in our area for All Soul's Day, many celebrated by younger priests whom I have found are open to that beautiful old rite - definitely a good sign.
Okay, I've perked myself up a bit now, thinking of some of the good stuff. But in the end, it's really important to just trust in God, to know that His plan for us is what matters, and to place our hope in Him and not in this world or its creatures.
Of course, if I really want to straighten myself out, I'd take the advice of centuries of Holy Mother Church's wise teaching and meditate on the Four Last Things to start the year right: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. So what am I waiting for? Let's start with Death.
If you've never spent time meditating on the Four Last Things, or just don't know what to do with the thought of "Death," let's turn to yet another selection from Handel's Messiah, continuing as we have done these Sundays of Advent and the Christmas Season. Take ten minutes or so and listen to "The Trumpet Shall Sound" from Messiah. It takes Death from that fearsome event each of us will face someday to its glorious conclusion at the Last Judgment when, as St Paul teaches us, "we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." I like this live version for its wonderful sound, and simple, straightforward presentation. I hope it helps you meditate on the first of the Four Last Things to start off this New Year. As I listened to it, I was reminded that glory awaits us all - "this mortal must put on immortality" - if we but put our trust in Him and do His Holy Will each day of life that He give us here on earth.
2014 is looking much better now.
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