The Practical Parson

 Recently, the Vatican issued a reprimand of 2 Argentinian bishops who deprived the faithful in their dioceses of the canonical right to receive Holy Communion while kneeling.  While that is something one would not EXPECT to hear ordinarily, it is sadly a sign of the times in the modern era of sacramental Christianity.  Ever since the accursed "council" in the 1960's, the Roman Church's modern proclivities towards sacrilege have sadly infected the other sacramental churches as well; in the spirit of ecumenism, of course.  Yes, rather than being bold in tradition and liturgical worship, our churches have abandoned centuries old practices and observances, in favor of the new and innovative concepts of faith; which are ever-changing and never the same from day to day.  There is an old Latin expression which says "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi" or "As you pray, so you believe".  If we do not worship the Lord with respect, with honor, and with dignity; what ...

 In recent weeks, there has been a growing obsession with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX), due to the announcement that they will be pursuing the consecration of new bishops for their society in July.   Ever the fraternal, loving, ecumenical, "God wants us all to be together in love" crowd; the mainstream Roman Catholic Hierarchy have taken to staunch denouncements of the society, proclaiming them schismatics, heretics, and worse.  For daring to presume that they have the right to have their own bishops; a number of otherwise intelligent and decent Christian people are quite legitimately threatening the SSPX with the fires of eternal damnation.  The crux of the matter is the breakdown in communications between the society and the prefect for the congregation of the doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Fernandez.  Specifically, it is known that Cardinal Fernandez himself has prevented the SSPX from being able to meet with the Roman Pontiff themselves...

 There is a malignant ideology that pervades our society today; wherein man considers that all that is old, traditional, and past, must be swept away in favor of a new approach to life.  That all that has been before is somehow ignorant, outdated, or invalid; in light of the modern pursuit of the modern concept of "unity".  This is true not only of our churches, but also of our secular society as well. Millennia of Human history and civilization, law and order; we are urged to cast aside in order to "free" the modern man from the perceived bonds of the past.  Yet if one casts aside what has gone before, is one truly Free?  Consider the example of cultures that seek to erase what came before them.  When the system that they establish on this principle is unleashed, it spends a vast amount of time and effort almost solely focused on suppressing the past and oppressing the people until they accept it.   This can be demonstrated in the Draconian estab...

 Recently in Rome, the Bishop of Rome was wheeled into an audience hall to admire a nativity scene given the title "The Nativity of Bethlehem".  In true heretical fashion, the scene itself as well as those who gifted it and the fat man in white receiving it; glossed over the truth of what the scene represents.  THIS scene depicts the Holy Family as Palestinian people, with textual and visual representations of a purely "Palestinian" design.  Nativity scenes have always been an expression of the people and places in which they are created, so that fact might ordinarily be forgivable; if not for the one, glaring and obvious thing in the scene which makes it disgusting:  the figure of the newborn Christ resting on a Palestinian Keffiyeh.  For those of you who may be unaware, the Keffiyeh is an Arabic headdress worn by Arabs, and was known as the "crown of the Arabs"; and in previous generations, was forbidden for Jews to wear on pain of death.  The Arabs ...

 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...

  If you've lived in the south long enough, you've been pulled over for a traffic stop at some point most likely.  When the officer/ trooper explains their reason for stopping you, there is always a "tell" that indicates they really only pulled you over because they could: and that is the famous point, usually given at the end of a brief list, that you "were swerving a little".  It's the accusation that gives a ground for every other thing they may want to write you a ticket on, because it is the one point which NO ONE is capable of proving incorrect.  Simply put, there is no human being on the face of this earth who is capable of driving a motor vehicle perfectly parallel to the street lines at all times.  Even if every other accusation they level at you falls by the wayside; they still have that one "gotcha" they can fall back on. Recently, the Bishop of Rome decided to sack the Bishop of Tyler, Texas.  When giving his justifications for doin...

 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 ...

  Ever since the Pan-Amazonian synod in Rome, which saw Idols of pagan deities especially the one known as "Pachamama" carried in procession to one of the holiest places in Christendom; there has been a concerted effort on behalf of the Vatican and South American bishops and cardinals to pagan-ize the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.  The latest brain child to come of this is a recommendation for the Vatican to approve so-called "Mayan Rites" for South American priests to include; which demote the central act of Christian worship in the Eucharistic service, and would focus more intently on pagan inspired prayers, dances, and lay-led activities in the sanctuary.  The cardinal who has been pushing these rites has even gone so far as to claim that these are the only ways in which the indigenous people are able to encounter the Divine.  So, 5 centuries plus of missionary work, sweat, blood, and effort have done... Nothing? your Eminence?   Do you...