Bloganimity

Like my friend Fr. Dwight, I've been far from the blogworld for a good few days, but it doesn't seem to matter, because I think I've returned to 'bloganimity' - my new word which indicates the distinct possibility that one has entered that strange state where you are talking to a mirror - and that's your only audience! I was never one for a diary, I could never keep it up - and I wasn't really interested in my thoughts, or recording my daily life. So..... the house is now completely empty, boxes, clothes etc., in the new place. Just my faithful computer, enough stuff to get me through the weekend and then I fly home (it's still home!) for two weeks. While cleaning out my desk I found something written in pencil on a piece of paper. When I'm reading, I often copy out a chunk of something good to put in my little book of quotes, but it's usually in quotation marks - and has the name of the author. This doesn't, so I'm assuming that I wrote it (that happens when you get close to forty-four)! If I didn't write it - apologies, but I thought it was spot-on, given a recent comment of a local Funeral Director (Undertaker for those who speak the Queen's English). He asked me how I'd be "doing the funeral, as all priests do things differently." I told him I would do it according to the Rite, as written in the book..... and then I read my little piece from wherever: The tragedy of contemporary Catholicism is that we really have become a Protestant Church. The personality and liturgical 'fancy' of the priest dominates the worship - a priest can spend several years building up the worship of a parish - good music, fine art, obedience to the rubrics and liturgical norms and then he is transferred. The new priest has 'different ways.' Some people are very happy, some very unhappy, some are bemused, most don't care. They know that "every Church has different rules." They don't - but that is contempoary Catholicism. - if I didn't write it, whoever did knows what's going on - at least here in this part of the Colonies.