St Mary of the Cross - Diocesan "Mass" Tomorrow

ANOTHER WIN STADIUM EXTRAVAGANZA

Whilst I have enormous sympathy for the life and work of St Mary of the Cross, I have little or none for the current incarnation of her spiritual daughters the "Brown Joeys".  Sr Carmel Piltcher one of the liturgical luminaries subjected us to an excrusiating performance (liturgy) including, a pagan (aboriginal) rite of cleansing (evoking, God knows, what demons from the nether world) - then liturgical dance (of the seven veils) at the beatification and something along the same lines on the night before the canonisation in Rome - Not one drop of which is in any authentic sense liturgy but theatre.  It was perhaps scenes like this in recent years that lead one parishioner to comment after Mass the other day that he would be attending the Wollongong St Mary of the Cross Mass at Win Stadium for the spectacle or show which he said "afterall the Catholic Church does best".  No doubt.

Undoubtley, theatre is what will be happing at Win Stadium at strategic intervals during a Mass.  The populus will know doubt be moved by the popular tributes to St Mary and leave the event with a warm glow not dissimilar to that which one experiences after an excellent performance at the theatre or opera.  This "feeling" is as ephemeral as it deep - leaving no profound or lasting impression.  "Mary our ozzie saint walked our soil, knows our land and our ways" - so what!

The real St Mary of the Cross may well be kept hidden from the vast bulk of Australians - her writtings upon any close inspection are more like the views of Traditionalist Roman Catholics than sisters of the congregation she founded - perhaps we will see a Josephite reform group - I hope so.  I wait to hear news of the Win Stadium Makillop Extravaganza (or Josephites on Parade) - perhaps everyone will get a little blue scarf to take home with them to be united with the sisters in their new habit!

Wollongong Diocese Pastoral Plan

Third Plenary Session Cancelled! Because the Second one was so sucessful.  Well if I was synical I might have dismissed this as a cost cutting measure - On the optimistic side perhaps it will have the same kind of lasting success that the Renew Programme had!  There they go again mistaking the Church for a corporate business - plans, steering committees - statistics - where did the religion go?

I suppose by implicating the laity in the plan, it will be even harder to point the finger when the whole thing fails, as it will.  The question is how can we get them to do something really novel like just teaching the Catholic faith for a change - You know the hard stuff; Fasting, Penance, Mortal Sins, Purgatory, Contraception, Abortion, Hell to name but a few - remember those?

Unity and diversity and the Synod of the Eastern Churches

Suggestions that Easter should be celebrated on the same day across rites seems, in my humble opinion, to show a distinct lack of respect for tradition.  As to updating outmoded liturgical forms - such notions are really so passé - a transcendant liturgy stands outside of time and must be perennial not updated at a whim.

It seems the East has been busy looking at the lassitude of the West - We Latins however are not unaware of the corruptions which have already seriously erroded the traditions of the East - particularly the Maronites.

Prayer Intentions

Of your charity please pray for the Synod of Eastern Rite Catholics and those Anglicans who embark on the path to Rome through the Ordinariat it must be a difficult and heart renching time.

Cardinals Nominated

Congratulations to Archbishop Burke, Archbishop Ranjith and Mgr. Bartolucci.