<DIV>Art,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is a lot of information about the Church at <A href="http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/qview1.html#us">http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/qview1.html#us</A>. Including websites and addresses.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dianne<BR><BR><B><I>Art Kelly <arthurkelly@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Karl Keating's e-letter is SATIRE. But it is so<BR>believeable that it took a moment for me to be sure.<BR><BR>I strongly agree with him. I am sick of the U.S.<BR>bishops eliminating Holy Days of Obligation!<BR><BR>If anyone knows the Bishop's e-mail address, please<BR>send him Karl Keating's e-letter.<BR><BR>Art<BR><BR>Note: forwarded message attached.<BR><BR><BR>ART KELLY, ATM-S<BR>13524 Brightfield Lane <BR>Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360 <BR>(703) 904-3763 home<BR>(703) 396-6960 work<BR>arthurkelly@yahoo.com<BR>ArtK135@Netscape.net<BR>art.kelly@cox.net<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><!DSPAM:1051DED829C570369241330><BR><BR><BR><BR>--===============1891196056==<BR>X-Apparently-To: arthurkelly@yahoo.com via 206.190.39.128;<BR>Tue, 28 Jun 2005 11:20:33 -0700<BR>X-YahooFilteredBulk: 70.84.183.2<BR>X-Originating-IP: [70.84.183.2]<BR>Return-Path:
<OWNER-NOLIST-KKWK121-050628A-E70Z1LC2*ARTHURKELLY**YAHOO*-COM@SMTP.IMCOMONLINE.COM><BR>Authentication-Results: mta186.mail.dcn.yahoo.com<BR>from=imcomonline.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)<BR>Received: from 70.84.183.2 (EHLO smtp.imcomonline.com) (70.84.183.2)<BR>by mta186.mail.dcn.yahoo.com with SMTP; Tue, 28 Jun 2005 11:20:33 -0700<BR>Received: from C23768_43743 (127.0.0.1) by smtp.imcomonline.com (LSMTP for<BR>Windows NT v1.1b) with SMTP id <7.0000016A@smtp.imcomonline.com>;<BR>Tue, 28 Jun 2005 13:00:04 -0500<BR>To: arthurkelly@YAHOO.COM<BR>Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 13:00:01 -0500 (CDT)<BR>From: karlkeating_eletter <KARLKEATING_ELETTER@IMCOMONLINE.COM><BR>Reply-To: <KARLKEATING@CATHOLIC.COM><BR>Subject: Karl Keating's E-Letter<BR>Mime-Version: 1.0<BR>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1<BR>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable<BR>Content-Length: 4791<BR><BR>KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER<BR><BR>June 28, 2005<BR><BR>TOPIC:<BR><BR>FEASTS AND FAMINE<BR><BR>Dear Friend of
Catholic Answers:<BR><BR>Maybe you missed this news release:<BR><BR>"At the conclusion of their spring general meeting, held in Chicago June 18=<BR>-19, the Catholic bishops of the United States voted to petition the Vatica=<BR>n for permission to change the days on which three prominent liturgical eve=<BR>nts are celebrated.<BR><BR>"If Rome approves the request, beginning in 2006 Ash Wednesday will be tran=<BR>sferred to the following Sunday, and Holy Thursday and Good Friday will be =<BR>combined and will be observed on the Saturday before Easter.<BR><BR>"'This will streamline the liturgical process and will help those with sens=<BR>itive consciences,' said Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the Unite=<BR>d States Conference of Catholic Bishops.=20<BR><BR>"'Many American Catholics are confused about which days of the week Ash Wed=<BR>nesday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday fall on,' he said. 'The bishops do n=<BR>ot want lay people to worry about missing out on these
important liturgical=<BR>celebrations.'=20<BR><BR>"'Besides, nowadays important secular events, such as sales at malls, occur=<BR>on weekdays, and we do not want to undercut the Church's preferential opti=<BR>on for the poor by inducing our people to skip sales just to attend liturgi=<BR>cal functions.'"<BR><BR>"The bishops tabled a proposal to transfer the celebration of Christmas to =<BR>the nearest Sunday, if the feast otherwise would fall on a weekday or Satur=<BR>day.=20<BR><BR>"'We will revisit that at our November meeting,' said Skylstad. 'Many bisho=<BR>ps expressed concern that the present arrangement interferes with wintertim=<BR>e vacation plans. Besides, such a change would reduce the workload on pries=<BR>ts and therefore would foster vocations.'"<BR><BR>BOGUS BUT BELIEVABLE<BR><BR>Now let me make this clear:<BR><BR>There was no such vote at this month's USCCB meeting, and Bishop Skylstad m=<BR>ade no such comments. The bishops did not vote to move Ash Wednesday, Holy
=<BR>Thursday, and Good Friday, and there was no discussion about changing the d=<BR>ate of Christmas.=20<BR><BR>This news release is fake. I made it up. But, given changes in the liturgic=<BR>al calendar over the last few decades, such a news release seems distressin=<BR>gly plausible.=20<BR><BR>Consider what has happened to holy days of obligation.=20<BR><BR>Many of them no longer are obligatory at all, though that may depend on whe=<BR>re you live. In some regions of the country Catholics are dispensed from ha=<BR>ving to show up at Mass on certain holy days, while in other regions the tr=<BR>aditional obligation still applies.=20<BR><BR>Alternately, sometimes holy days that would fall on a weekday or Saturday a=<BR>re transferred to the nearest Sunday, making that Sunday's Mass a twofer.<BR><BR>REASONS AND EXCUSES<BR><BR>What has been the rationale for such manipulations of the liturgical calend=<BR>ar? Proponents of the changes have made several arguments:<BR><BR>1. Turnout for
weekday holy days is low. Holy days are established by the C=<BR>hurch because they are important; they tell us something about what we beli=<BR>eve. If people fail to show up for Mass on holy days, they miss out on that=<BR>element of their faith.<BR><BR>2. If a holy day is transferred to Sunday, more people can be instructed ab=<BR>out the day's meaning.=20<BR><BR>3. Many Catholics miss Mass on holy days, either because they forget to go =<BR>or because they can't get off work. Some of them feel unnecessarily guilty =<BR>for having done so, and they bring this false sense of guilt into the confe=<BR>ssional.<BR><BR>These reasons are said to be "pastoral," in the sense that word so often is=<BR>used nowadays. A more accurate word might be "accommodating."=20<BR><BR>Changing the days on which holy days are observed takes into account what m=<BR>any Catholics really do (which is to say: they stay home if they can) and t=<BR>ries to make participation in the Church's liturgical life
as convenient fo=<BR>r them as possible.<BR><BR>This is bad psychology. What is easy is not valued. When the Church makes a=<BR>weekday holy day not obligatory or moves it to a Sunday, what message is s=<BR>ent to the laity? Aren't the folks in the pews told, though not in so many =<BR>words, that the belief or event behind the holy day isn't important?<BR><BR>FAST FASTS<BR><BR>Consider a parallel: the fast before Communion. I wonder whether it is poss=<BR>ible to reduce it much further and still call it a fast.<BR><BR>The present rule is that you must fast for one hour before reception of Com=<BR>munion (not for one hour before the start of Mass). If Communion comes abou=<BR>t 45 minutes after the beginning of Mass, then you must fast for 15 minutes=<BR>before entering the church door.=20<BR><BR>For many that means the fast needs to begin when they get into the car to g=<BR>o to church. In other words, if you don't snack on the drive to Mass, you h=<BR>ave fulfilled the fasting
obligation.<BR><BR>This empties the fast of its meaning because no real effort is needed to ob=<BR>serve it. If the fast were made any shorter--say, 45 minutes--it would be i=<BR>mpossible to violate it unless you brought munchies right into the pew.<BR><BR>The previous regimen was a three hours' fast, and before that the fast was =<BR>from midnight. Has the "dumbing down" of the requirement heightened Catholi=<BR>c sensibilities? Do Catholics nowadays see more value in mortification than=<BR>did their grandparents? Can the mini-fast be shown to have increased rever=<BR>ence for the Eucharist? Has Catholic esprit de corps gone up now that recei=<BR>ving Communion has been made easier?<BR><BR>Only an airhead or a liturgical expert could answer "Yes" to these question=<BR>s. (I hope that doesn't come across as rude. I don't mean to insult anyone =<BR>by calling him a liturgical expert.)=20<BR><BR>I think the most one can say about the shortened fast is that it removed wh=<BR>at a few
considered to be a burden. I don't think anyone can claim that by =<BR>shortening the fast anything more positive has been accomplished.<BR><BR>WHY THESE CHANGES?<BR><BR>Some disgruntled lay folks think they have found the real reason for the ch=<BR>anges. In their eyes, the changes have not been for the benefit of the lait=<BR>y but for the benefit of the clergy.=20<BR><BR>When holy days are made non-obligatory or are moved to the nearest Sunday, =<BR>priests have fewer Masses to celebrate. When fasts are made almost impossib=<BR>le to violate, fewer people complain to priests about not being able to rec=<BR>eive Communion, and fewer show up for confessions.=20<BR><BR>I suppose there is something to such notions--I have run across priests who=<BR>, I suspected, would have been happy not to be saddled with celebrating Mas=<BR>ses or listening to parishioners' confessions or complaints. But I am unawa=<BR>re of any concerted action by priests to push for shorter fasts and
transfe=<BR>rred holy days.=20<BR><BR>The changes came from the top. They were instituted by well-intentioned bis=<BR>hops who, for whatever reason, had an odd understanding of human motivation=<BR>s and psychology. These kindly men thought they were doing their flocks a f=<BR>avor by rounding off hard edges. In fact, they were doing them a disservice=<BR>.=20<BR><BR>"No pain, no gain," says the athlete. Much the same can be said for the fai=<BR>th. What is worth having is worth working for. What is not worth working fo=<BR>r is understood to be not worth having.<BR><BR>CRUISIN'<BR><BR>As I mentioned in earlier E-Letters, this year we will have more people on =<BR>the Catholic Answers apologetics cruise than ever before. Even so, it won't=<BR>be a mob scene.=20<BR><BR>The way we organize the week at sea, it would make no sense to have 500 or =<BR>1,000 people in our group. With that many, it would not be possible to have=<BR>small-group sessions, and these are a key to what we
do.=20<BR><BR>On other cruises, guests listen to speakers at plenary sessions, and then t=<BR>he speakers disappear into their staterooms. We do things differently.<BR><BR>We do have big-group sessions, but we have even more small-group sessions w=<BR>here guests have a chance to talk on a more personal level with speakers. T=<BR>hey also sit with them at dinner and can have private conversations with th=<BR>em just about any time.<BR><BR>We make our speakers earn their honoraria. Not only must they give talks at=<BR>plenary sessions, but they also must participate in multiple small-group m=<BR>eetings. Beyond that, they are obligated to make themselves available throu=<BR>ghout the day so guests can meet with them one-on-one.<BR><BR>No wonder people are signing up so quickly for this year's cruise to the Me=<BR>xican Riviera! It looks as though we will have to turn people away. When we=<BR>reach our limit, that's it.=20<BR><BR>If you're one of those who waits until a month or two
before to plan your v=<BR>acation, I wish you a happy time, wherever you may be going. It just won't =<BR>be with us because if you wait until September or October to book our Novem=<BR>ber 6-13 cruise, you'll discover that it has been sold out.<BR><BR>For more information, visit http://www.catholicanswerscruise.com<BR><BR>Until next time,<BR><BR>Karl<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>If you have a comment about anything appearing in this E-Letter, please do =<BR>not hit your Reply button. Instead, go to Catholic Answers' discussion foru=<BR>ms at http://forums.catholic.com, where you may post your comment in the fo=<BR>rum dedicated to the E-Letter. You will find a thread devoted to this issue=<BR>of the E-Letter. Feel free to add your comment in the form of a reply to t=<BR>hat thread.<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>To subscribe to Karl Keating's E-Letter, send an e-mail to eletter@catholic=<BR>.com and write "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line or go to
http://www.catholic=<BR>.com/newsletters.asp.<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>If you do not wish to receive Karl Keating's E-Letter, send an e-mail to el=<BR>etter@catholic.com and write "CANCEL" in the subject line.<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>To change your e-mail address, send an e-mail to eletter@catholic.com and w=<BR>rite "ADDRESS CHANGE" in the subject line. Important: In the body of the me=<BR>ssage, be sure to give both your old and new e-mail addresses.<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>To learn more about the Catholic faith and about Catholic Answers, visit us=<BR>at http://www.catholic.com.<BR><BR>********************<BR><BR>The content of this E-Letter is copyright 2005 by Karl Keating.<BR><BR>--===============1891196056==--<BR>--===============1891196056==--</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><DIV>
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<DIV><EM><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000bf>Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.</FONT></EM></DIV></FONT></EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000bf><EM><FONT face="comic sans ms">Ps 42:1</FONT></EM></FONT></DIV>
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