Sunday, August 28, 2016

REALLY? YOU COULDN'T FIND A PICTURE...

... with his collar in someplace other than his pocket? Makes him look like Edivaldo.


9 comments:

  1. This offering at the archdiocese level, of a single, annual, one-day “conference" (scheduled a week or two before the CCD programs actually begin at the parish levels) and which traditionally and typically targets the participation of parish CCD instructors -- supposedly as a way of satisfying the archdiocese’s responsibility and duty to provide catechetical instructors’ training so that CCD catechists in the parishes are trained and equipped to teach CCD at the various class levels they are recruited or volunteer to take on and teach -- just does not cut it. Not only is this format an unacceptable and an inadequate CCD teachers’ training and preparation program for our parishes’ volunteer-based CCD instructors, but certainly a negligible one considering that the archdiocese knows our parishes do not have the resources to provide “a training for volunteers to be adept CCD teachers or versed in instructing in the various religious class levels” -- unless of course, our archdiocese’s goal is merely to fill our parish CCD programs with “warm bodies” as opposed to catechetically- trained, knowledgeable and skilled CCD instructors!

    Yet, this annual conference is all that is available and offered by the Archdiocese in assuring and ascertaining that our parishes’ CCD instructors are equipped to teach CCD; furthermore, it appears that our archdiocese is satisfied with how most CCD parish programs simply “happens” every year!

    Yes, I agree and acknowledge that religious formation begins at home and should happen in the home; but let’s be realistic here. More than the majority of our young parents today are not catechized so definitely they are not equipped nor knowledgeable, themselves, to be able to carry out the religious instruction at home! Unfortunately, I don’t foresee that any formal, structured and adequate training for CCD teachers and for family formation will come out of our archdiocese any time soon -- not for a long long while, at least; therefore, in the meantime it’s up to us, the Church Militant to get personally involved.

    Tim, and many others on this site have said it before: encourage, suggest and push for adult formation and faith-renewal programs in your parishes for parents, child sponsors even for foster parents. I suggest further that, for those of us knowledgeable and catechized, retired seniors and manamku -- why not volunteer as CCD teachers, yourselves? Been there? Done that, you say? If we truly want to take back our Church, our Faith and assure the continuation of our authentic Catholic Traditions and Teachings, this is just part of what we need to be seriously concerned about and be committed to doing; it’s what we need to pro-actively take on, ourselves, at least for now -- in order to prevent the demise of our authentic Catholic Faith and the demise of our island’s Catholic religious culture and traditions.

    Are we willing to do what it will take to protect and preserve our local authentic Catholic Faith and Church? A genuine and proactive concern and initiative about how our island’s Catholic children and our young adults and young parents are catechized in the Truth, is what it will take. The exciting thing is -- and I’m convinced it’s Providential -- we’re “in a spring time of our Catholic Faith and Church on Guam” a perfect opportunity to embark on taking this on, ourselves!

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  2. This is a big waste of time and money. A once a year bone, force fed to all the parishes. Wave a magic wand and everyone becomes a great catechist. No comprehensive plan to really teach the faith. Check the block and send them on their way, that's the plan! Not sure how many have "voluntarily" signed up, but our parish was given a quota.

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  3. Yes, I always found the event a laugh. A once a year feel good deal. And then a race to the lunch line. However, the point of my post was my finding it ironic that the keynote speaker is supposed to be addressing "better worship," and the picture used on the front page of the Umatuna is emblematic for why we don't have better worship in the first place: a casual approach to the faith.

    Now before you get bent out of shape, I don't have any problem with a priest "chillin," but the choice of this particular picture on the front page of the Umatuna, and given the subject of the event????

    Oh, and P.S. you can't even blame the neo's.

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    Replies
    1. And the lunch provided is unhealthy and insufficient-one would expect better for $30 a head.

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    2. I hear that it's the same menu that AAA had for his $200.00 b-day fundraiser. Pathetic.

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    3. Any truth to the rumor that the CCD workshop for parish CCD instructors that took place about 3 months ago by University of Santo Tomas staff had "NCW basics" in its content. There was a picture in the Umatuna about 2-3 months ago of the graduates. Please tell me that these teachers were not being trained in NCW heresy to pass on to our youth.

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  4. the words in the headline, "passion for culture," really does leave you perplexed, when you see that collar in the pocket.

    some people believe that a casual approach to the faith makes it more accessible, especially to younger people. but regarding one's appearance, does it really make the faith more accessible? does a u.s. marine wearing his uniform in a "casual" way make him more accessible and approachable? what about women and men religious who've dumped the habit altogether (and the veil for women)?

    regarding worship, shouldn't the things we do, and how we wear our clothes, be aimed toward worship? isn't the point of doing those things to elevate us to that holy mountain where we will meet God?

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  5. If you want to be a priest, look like a priest. Unfortunately, for some, the wardrobe is but an affectation to conceal a corrupt heart.

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  6. This is by no means a rush to judgment of our clergy. I was just reminded when wearing the clergy garment daily, though inconvenient and uncomfortable, was the norm for our priests back then, because it came with the territory, with his vocation and lifework! Curiosity led me to finding out about what the Church does say about cleric’s attire on a daily basis when not celebrating the Liturgy.

    The Church dictates are not sheathed in armor and does offer reasonable exceptions for not needing to wear the cleric attire as when engaging in physical work outdoors where one gets dirty or doing car or house maintenance, cooking or lounging in private with other clergy, etc; but, it does explain clearly what the Church expects the “usual” attire to be as the clergy goes about his daily duties and lifework as the Minister for Christ.

    The following was promoted by Pope John Paul II and reinforced by Pope Benedict XVI in their “The Congregation for the Clergy, Directory for the Ministry and the Life of Priests, New Edition, Copyright 2013”

    “The Importance and Obligatory Nature of Ecclesiastical Attire
    61. In a secularised and basically materialistic society where the external signs of sacred and supernatural realities tend to disappear, deeply felt is the need for the priest – man of God, dispenser of his mysteries – to be recognisable in the eyes of the community by his attire as well, and this as an unequivocal sign of his dedication and identity as holder of a public ministry247. The priest must be recognisable above all through his conduct, but also by his attire, which renders visible to all the faithful, and to each person248, his identity and his belonging to God and to the Church.

    … Outside of specific exceptional cases, the non-use of ecclesiastical attire may manifest a weak sense of one’s identity as a pastor dedicated entirely to the service of the Church254 .

    Moreover, in its form, colour and dignity the cassock is most opportune, because it clearly distinguishes priests from laymen and makes people understand the sacred nature of their ministry, reminding the priest himself that forever and at each moment he is a priest ordained to serve, teach, guide, and sanctify souls mainly through the celebration of the sacraments and the preaching of the Word of God. Wearing ecclesiastical attire is also a safeguard for poverty and chastity.”

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