The Practical Parson

 Recently, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, NC has taken it upon himself to fully implement the Motu Proprio "Traditionis Custodie" of the late Bishop of Rome.  Apart from banishing all adherents of the Latin Mass to a single parish as of July 8th, which won't even open until late in the Fall; an even more disturbing document was leaked from the bishop's office this week.  In the letter that Bishop Martin had planned to issue to the diocese, he makes a multitude of uninformed and personal liable claims against traditional liturgy and people who worship in that manner; as well as theological arguments which have no basis in Catholic teaching, and would be more at home in a Baptist church than a sacramental one.  He has a desire and plans to ban every semblance of tradition from all parishes in the diocese: From banning altar rails, to telling priests they cannot cross their stoles or say vesting prayers for specific vestments (which he claims cau...

 The state of Washington today instituted a new law which claims to seek protection for victims of child abuse; however in reality is a bill that seeks to compel clergy to violate pastor-penitent privilege in order to gain information.  On the surface, and indeed according to the supposedly Catholic governor of Washington state; it would seem a noble thing that there is now a law which requires clergy to break the seal of confession to report any and all instances of abuse brought to the confessional.  In reality though, such a law not only violates federal law ensuring free practice of religion; it also violates the constitution of the United States, which ensures a separation of church and state and also freedom of religious observance.   The long and the short of the sacrament of confession is this- no matter what sins may be uttered, what horrors of a past life divulged; the sins that are brought to the foot of the cross in confession do not belong to the pr...

 Recently, a well known Anglican conservative commentator and clergyman named Calvin Robinson was dismissed from his position within the Anglican Catholic Church, after his appearance at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, DC.  He wasn't dismissed for attending the summit or even for speaking at the same; but rather for a (for him) unavoidable incident of public trolling those who disagree with his positions on things.  First and foremost, the action in an of itself was not terribly horrible; a simple mocking replication of Elon Musk's "my heart goes out to you" gesture from the night of President Trump's inauguration: which prompted accusations of "Nazi salute", despite it being a quite common gesture before large audiences.  The gesture of placing your hand on your heart and then extending it out towards the assembly is a widespread gesture; and has even been used by politicians on the Democratic side, from Hillary Clinton to Tim Walz, Kamala H...

 This evening after listening to some reports about illegal immigration to the United States, this question floated through my mind in the Julie Andrews sort of sing-song manner that some of you might have heard when you read the title of this post.  Whether the numbers are up or down at this point is completely immaterial, the truth is that over 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States over the past 3.5 years; and that number is only official encounters with Border Patrol, not including people who have entered undetected.  When one approaches members of the 2 prime political entities of the US and asks about immigration, you will usually get one of 2 manner of responses: 1. We need to scrap the immigration system as is and create something new where anyone can come in at any time for any reason.  2. We need to close all the borders and stop this here and now.    Perhaps unsurprisingly, these 2 mentalities spar furiously at the highest l...

 In Anglican Church circles today, as I suspect has been for some time; there is an ongoing debate as to the nature of the theology of provinces within the Anglican patrimony.  Some, like myself, tend more towards what might be called old-school Anglo-Catholicism; which others claim is a recent innovation.  Others tend more towards Calvinist theology; which the evangelicals in Anglicanism is the only "true" expression of the Anglican identity.  While I will not argue the value of churchmanship as part of theology, I have very good and solid friends on both sides of that spectrum who are theologically quite similar; it is worth noting that a principle cause for so many to claim Calvinism as Anglican has largely to do with an evangelical approach to the liturgy and church in general.  Being evangelical is not in and of itself a bad thing, nor does it denote an unnecessarily unfortunate tendency towards anarchy; however the notion of denying anything good about the...

  In a move that should come as little to no shock to many, the Arch-Heretic in white of Rome today announced that Roman Catholic priests would be permitted to bless same-sex couples- "provided they do not resemble marriages".   What the Lout has done is essentially what the United Methodist Bishops did, which caused the breaking up of the Methodist Union:  telling one group of people (heterosexual couples) that they must abide by the rules and regulations hereunto set forth in canon law and church doctrine; while telling another group of people (homosexual couples) that they don't have to follow those same rules, that they get a pass on it because "God loves them too".   The main issue at hand is not even whether same-sex couples/ marriage is morally right or wrong; but rather a man (or group of leaders) telling 2 groups of people to follow 2 diametrically opposed sets of rules, while claiming both are perfectly acceptable and equal.  NO.  If you...

Having an emotional connection with one's faith is a wonderful thing, but also one that can be deceptive and dangerous. Many people base their entire faith practice on the emotional feedback they obtain from worship or services, and lose hope when they start to lose their emotional "high" from such. Faith is more than a fevered emotional high experienced during church service with beautiful music and moving scenes; it is a day to day battle against the terror and difficulty of this world, towards a world of peace and hope. Faith is not an emotion to be enjoyed, it is as a child; that one straps to one's back at the start of their journey. Either the child grows and eventually takes you by the hand and helps you onward; or you throw it to the side the moment it begins to cause you discomfort. Faith requires dedication, even when we cannot understand. It requires us to press ever forward; knowing that where we are headed is a brighter day, a brighter hope than w...

 On the heels of celebrating the festival of sacrilege and unadulterated hedonism of World Youth Day, everyone's favorite Antipope and AntiChrist took full advantage of his media persona to attack priests.  Accusing any priest who shows care for the liturgy of being "rigid", declaring that all traditionalists are the true problem in the church, and proclaiming that due to the corruption that young traditionalist clergy bring, he himself has had to be personally involved in 'cleaning up the mess'.   Unless you consider "cleaning up the mess" to mean vilely oppressing and persecuting Nuns, parishes, and the catholic faith in general; then he hasn't been doing much of anything he claims.   In point of fact, the single case of priestly corruption he HAS been directly involved in of late, was in pampering and lifting all sanctions off of his brother Jesuit and known rapist of Nuns: Marko Rupnik.   Yes, the great Frankie of Rome, who proclaims to the wo...

 This past week, the Roman Catholic Church celebrated its "World Youth Day"; an event marketed as a way to get youth reinvigorated in their faith and to give them opportunities for worship.  What World Youth day is, or at least what it has become; is a festival of sacrilege and blasphemy against the sacraments of the catholic faith and Christ himself.   So-called "designer" vestments which look like they were made for a Halloween Costume shop, chalices and patens made from anything but dignified materials, glass bowls for consecrated hosts covered with saran wrap, stages that look like something out of apocalyptic film/ TV series rather than altars of worship of the most Blessed Trinity.  The list of sins World Youth day this year has committed against the dignity of the Christian faith is as long as one's arm; yet the most disgraceful, distasteful, and outright blasphemous act is the manner in which the sacred Body of the Divine Savior was both distributed and ...

  In light of the current President's administration and their ongoing insistence that sanctuary lamps in chapels of Catholic Hospitals are a "Fire danger" and need to be extinguished and removed; I have designed and hereby Christen the new Resistance Flag for Sacramental Churches:  

  In Church circles these days, one hears a lot of discussion about tradition, with particular emphasis on liturgical tradition and its effects on popular piety and faith.  The Latin Mass loving Roman Catholic faithful seemingly lead the charge in this, dedicating documentaries, podcasts, art; all for the sake of promoting a return to the traditions of holy faith, as known by our forefathers.   That being said, it is unfortunate that a number of the same Roman Catholic faithful seem to think that they somehow are the sole proprietors of sacred tradition; hardly surprising in light of numerous papal documents claiming so over the years.   Holy Tradition though is not the sole property of the Roman Church, nor is it only to be found within the confines of Rome; Holy Tradition can be found in all churches which maintain a line of patrimony to the first apostles.  These churches are those with historical ties to western or eastern Christianity, and co...

  This week, a number of Traditionalist Anglican clergy and their Bishop (of Fulham), are on retreat in Rome.  They were invited by the clergy in charge of St. John in Lateran to hold a mass in the "choir" of the cathedral, behind the main altar of the church.  What to many Christians might seem a point of fraternal generosity or a sign of mutual respect; has instead inflamed the passions of a number of Roman Catholic churchmen and laymen across the Christian world.    How dare those silly protestants hold their service in our church???  The claim that is referenced in defending such position, is the old argument that because Pope Leo XIII issued the Papal Bull Apostolicae Curae which claimed Anglican Orders as "utterly null and void"; that this means definitively that Anglican Apostolic succession is indeed null and void.  Unfortunately for my more conservative minded Roman Catholic friends, a Papal Bull is not the law of the church.  There ...

 Cardinal George Pell of Australia passed away in Rome this past week, and the media has shown its typical classless act of condemning his soul and memory to hell; because he was a Roman Catholic Bishop.  I must preface my opinions on this by reminding the reader that, as a survivor of many forms of abuse myself at the hands of evangelical Christian abusers when I was young; I have a particular insight into the matters at hand in this story.  That being said, here's my take on the BS that has surrounded the liberal outrage and delight on this poor man's passing into the next life: Cardinal Pell was the principle figurehead of the Australian Catholic Church for many years, before he was called to answer on trumped up charges of sexual abuse of 2 choir boys which allegedly occurred in the 1990's, in 2017.  He was convicted, and spent 404 days in solitary confinement before the charges were dismissed completely upon appeal.  Now when you take those facts in isolati...