The beauty of the liturgy strikes again. Here is a post from an area man who recently attended a Knights of Divine Mercy Night of Knights, and was deeply touched. Keep on, its worth the read. ------------------------- The ship is a sailing! Let me explain. A few weeks ago, I attended a Night of Knights in Pine Bluff. We had the opportunity for mass, confession, a talk by Fr. Greg Ihm, and a gathering of Catholic men seeking to become greater men by communing silently with Jesus Christ. The mass was beautiful; incense, bells, candles, latin choir, and chanting prayer. I cannot remember a time that the world that I knew with all the anxieties, fear, and worries took the back seat. Mankind responds the most by the draw to beauty. I had left the church that night with the firm conviction that this was the way mass was supposed to be celebrated in all parishes. I know receiving the Eucharist is the most powerful means to draw graces from God. What this evening had done was to prepare for Jesus in the eucharist by elevating my heart to heaven. I grew up in a Catholic Church in America that experimented with the mass. I still have flashbacks of learning hippie jingle songs on guitar during music lessons from a nun at our Catholic school. Then, as of now, those songs did nothing for me then and nothing for me now. Most of my classmates from Catholic school have left the Church and are as confused as everyone else what the meaning of life is. This has made me bitter as I see souls lost as well as minds. However, the New Springtime of the Church predicted by Pope John Paul II is happening. In our diocese, we are blessed to have Bishop Morlino as our bishop. Our seminarians have grown from 4 to I think now up to 35. What changed with this new bishop? He simply made the Church Roman...not American! A tree is known by its fruit. Masses are beginning to resemble what they were intended to: To draw us to a beautiful mystery which is heaven meeting earth. There is no mystery when we see our parishes reflecting our culture, music, and even latte stands. Churches now compete who can give us the most entertainment and NOT what best gives glory to God by exclaiming his majesty, beauty, and honor. I have noticed my girls as they attended a latin mass in Roxbury. The other families in attendance wore veils and were dressed up to the gills. My kids realized something special was happening and they behaved very formally. Other masses not done with such reverence they act they are at a buffet. This gave me pause. If the mass is said with beauty in word, song, and dress, my kids UNDERSTOOD! If it is a club or social event, they seem to think Summer Fest is taking place! My wife and I made a vow to God when we baptised our kids. That vow was to bring them up in the faith. If our faith is Roman Catholic...then, we should celebrate mass as the Holy Father does in Rome. There is a group of people that say we cannot change too quickly. This is a lie of the devil. Souls are being lost, kids are lost, parents are lost. Priest are afraid to implement the changes in the mass back to the sacred for fear of the backlash of parishiners who are used to the way it is. Guess what? The way it is, is not working!!! It hasnt worked for 44 years!!! What has worked in every diocese that has an increase in vocations and young people coming back to mass has been giving God his do by treating Him as if He is God...omnipotent, awesome, and full of mysterious beauty that our hearts long for! I rarely share what I am thinking on Facebook. Some of you may ask why now. Well, I am tired of being sick and tired. Albert Einstein once said, The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. History shows that when we treat the Divine Liturgy as it ought to be celebrated, Gods grace can change the culture. Throughout all the past few decades with political battles, talk shows, and the coming of the internet, man has gone further away from God. Maybe the fastest and closest way back, is through his Divine Mercy. We enter that when we enter into mass with awe, splendor, and with reverence as it should be. God Bless, Marc Ganser
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:36:23 +0000