[Apologetics] Fwd: Karl Keating's E-Letter

Mon Jul 18 14:51:03 EDT 2005

Art,

There is a lot of information about the Church at http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/qview1.html#us.  Including websites and addresses.

Dianne

Art Kelly <arthurkelly at yahoo.com> wrote:
Karl Keating's e-letter is SATIRE. But it is so
believeable that it took a moment for me to be sure.

I strongly agree with him. I am sick of the U.S.
bishops eliminating Holy Days of Obligation!

If anyone knows the Bishop's e-mail address, please
send him Karl Keating's e-letter.

Art

Note: forwarded message attached.

ART KELLY, ATM-S
13524 Brightfield Lane 
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360 
(703) 904-3763 home
(703) 396-6960 work
arthurkelly at yahoo.com
ArtK135 at Netscape.net
art.kelly at cox.net

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To: arthurkelly at YAHOO.COM
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 13:00:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: karlkeating_eletter 
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Subject: Karl Keating's E-Letter
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KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER

June 28, 2005

TOPIC:

FEASTS AND FAMINE

Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:

Maybe you missed this news release:

"At the conclusion of their spring general meeting, held in Chicago June 18=
-19, the Catholic bishops of the United States voted to petition the Vatica=
n for permission to change the days on which three prominent liturgical eve=
nts are celebrated.

"If Rome approves the request, beginning in 2006 Ash Wednesday will be tran=
sferred to the following Sunday, and Holy Thursday and Good Friday will be =
combined and will be observed on the Saturday before Easter.

"'This will streamline the liturgical process and will help those with sens=
itive consciences,' said Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the Unite=
d States Conference of Catholic Bishops.=20

"'Many American Catholics are confused about which days of the week Ash Wed=
nesday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday fall on,' he said. 'The bishops do n=
ot want lay people to worry about missing out on these important liturgical=
celebrations.'=20

"'Besides, nowadays important secular events, such as sales at malls, occur=
on weekdays, and we do not want to undercut the Church's preferential opti=
on for the poor by inducing our people to skip sales just to attend liturgi=
cal functions.'"

"The bishops tabled a proposal to transfer the celebration of Christmas to =
the nearest Sunday, if the feast otherwise would fall on a weekday or Satur=
day.=20

"'We will revisit that at our November meeting,' said Skylstad. 'Many bisho=
ps expressed concern that the present arrangement interferes with wintertim=
e vacation plans. Besides, such a change would reduce the workload on pries=
ts and therefore would foster vocations.'"

BOGUS BUT BELIEVABLE

Now let me make this clear:

There was no such vote at this month's USCCB meeting, and Bishop Skylstad m=
ade no such comments. The bishops did not vote to move Ash Wednesday, Holy =
Thursday, and Good Friday, and there was no discussion about changing the d=
ate of Christmas.=20

This news release is fake. I made it up. But, given changes in the liturgic=
al calendar over the last few decades, such a news release seems distressin=
gly plausible.=20

Consider what has happened to holy days of obligation.=20

Many of them no longer are obligatory at all, though that may depend on whe=
re you live. In some regions of the country Catholics are dispensed from ha=
ving to show up at Mass on certain holy days, while in other regions the tr=
aditional obligation still applies.=20

Alternately, sometimes holy days that would fall on a weekday or Saturday a=
re transferred to the nearest Sunday, making that Sunday's Mass a twofer.

REASONS AND EXCUSES

What has been the rationale for such manipulations of the liturgical calend=
ar? Proponents of the changes have made several arguments:

1. Turnout for weekday holy days is low. Holy days are established by the C=
hurch because they are important; they tell us something about what we beli=
eve. If people fail to show up for Mass on holy days, they miss out on that=
element of their faith.

2. If a holy day is transferred to Sunday, more people can be instructed ab=
out the day's meaning.=20

3. Many Catholics miss Mass on holy days, either because they forget to go =
or because they can't get off work. Some of them feel unnecessarily guilty =
for having done so, and they bring this false sense of guilt into the confe=
ssional.

These reasons are said to be "pastoral," in the sense that word so often is=
used nowadays. A more accurate word might be "accommodating."=20

Changing the days on which holy days are observed takes into account what m=
any Catholics really do (which is to say: they stay home if they can) and t=
ries to make participation in the Church's liturgical life as convenient fo=
r them as possible.

This is bad psychology. What is easy is not valued. When the Church makes a=
weekday holy day not obligatory or moves it to a Sunday, what message is s=
ent to the laity? Aren't the folks in the pews told, though not in so many =
words, that the belief or event behind the holy day isn't important?

FAST FASTS

Consider a parallel: the fast before Communion. I wonder whether it is poss=
ible to reduce it much further and still call it a fast.

The present rule is that you must fast for one hour before reception of Com=
munion (not for one hour before the start of Mass). If Communion comes abou=
t 45 minutes after the beginning of Mass, then you must fast for 15 minutes=
before entering the church door.=20

For many that means the fast needs to begin when they get into the car to g=
o to church. In other words, if you don't snack on the drive to Mass, you h=
ave fulfilled the fasting obligation.

This empties the fast of its meaning because no real effort is needed to ob=
serve it. If the fast were made any shorter--say, 45 minutes--it would be i=
mpossible to violate it unless you brought munchies right into the pew.

The previous regimen was a three hours' fast, and before that the fast was =
from midnight. Has the "dumbing down" of the requirement heightened Catholi=
c sensibilities? Do Catholics nowadays see more value in mortification than=
did their grandparents? Can the mini-fast be shown to have increased rever=
ence for the Eucharist? Has Catholic esprit de corps gone up now that recei=
ving Communion has been made easier?

Only an airhead or a liturgical expert could answer "Yes" to these question=
s. (I hope that doesn't come across as rude. I don't mean to insult anyone =
by calling him a liturgical expert.)=20

I think the most one can say about the shortened fast is that it removed wh=
at a few considered to be a burden. I don't think anyone can claim that by =
shortening the fast anything more positive has been accomplished.

WHY THESE CHANGES?

Some disgruntled lay folks think they have found the real reason for the ch=
anges. In their eyes, the changes have not been for the benefit of the lait=
y but for the benefit of the clergy.=20

When holy days are made non-obligatory or are moved to the nearest Sunday, =
priests have fewer Masses to celebrate. When fasts are made almost impossib=
le to violate, fewer people complain to priests about not being able to rec=
eive Communion, and fewer show up for confessions.=20

I suppose there is something to such notions--I have run across priests who=
, I suspected, would have been happy not to be saddled with celebrating Mas=
ses or listening to parishioners' confessions or complaints. But I am unawa=
re of any concerted action by priests to push for shorter fasts and transfe=
rred holy days.=20

The changes came from the top. They were instituted by well-intentioned bis=
hops who, for whatever reason, had an odd understanding of human motivation=
s and psychology. These kindly men thought they were doing their flocks a f=
avor by rounding off hard edges. In fact, they were doing them a disservice=
.=20

"No pain, no gain," says the athlete. Much the same can be said for the fai=
th. What is worth having is worth working for. What is not worth working fo=
r is understood to be not worth having.

CRUISIN'

As I mentioned in earlier E-Letters, this year we will have more people on =
the Catholic Answers apologetics cruise than ever before. Even so, it won't=
be a mob scene.=20

The way we organize the week at sea, it would make no sense to have 500 or =
1,000 people in our group. With that many, it would not be possible to have=
small-group sessions, and these are a key to what we do.=20

On other cruises, guests listen to speakers at plenary sessions, and then t=
he speakers disappear into their staterooms. We do things differently.

We do have big-group sessions, but we have even more small-group sessions w=
here guests have a chance to talk on a more personal level with speakers. T=
hey also sit with them at dinner and can have private conversations with th=
em just about any time.

We make our speakers earn their honoraria. Not only must they give talks at=
plenary sessions, but they also must participate in multiple small-group m=
eetings. Beyond that, they are obligated to make themselves available throu=
ghout the day so guests can meet with them one-on-one.

No wonder people are signing up so quickly for this year's cruise to the Me=
xican Riviera! It looks as though we will have to turn people away. When we=
reach our limit, that's it.=20

If you're one of those who waits until a month or two before to plan your v=
acation, I wish you a happy time, wherever you may be going. It just won't =
be with us because if you wait until September or October to book our Novem=
ber 6-13 cruise, you'll discover that it has been sold out.

For more information, visit http://www.catholicanswerscruise.com

Until next time,

Karl

********************

If you have a comment about anything appearing in this E-Letter, please do =
not hit your Reply button. Instead, go to Catholic Answers' discussion foru=
ms at http://forums.catholic.com, where you may post your comment in the fo=
rum dedicated to the E-Letter. You will find a thread devoted to this issue=
of the E-Letter. Feel free to add your comment in the form of a reply to t=
hat thread.

********************

To subscribe to Karl Keating's E-Letter, send an e-mail to eletter at catholic=
.com and write "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line or go to http://www.catholic=
.com/newsletters.asp.

********************

If you do not wish to receive Karl Keating's E-Letter, send an e-mail to el=
etter at catholic.com and write "CANCEL" in the subject line.

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********************

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Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.

Ps 42:1

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