Author: Steve

We’re in the middle of this Steve-only week on Catholic Light. John said I’d never make it solo! So far, so good! Traffic is up after a slow holiday weekend. Yesterday we had about 180 visitors. That means we now have 10 loyal readers who stopped by 18 times. I’d love to give each and every one of you a big hug. Good thing the internet is non-tactile medium. I have a surprise for everyone – I got a postcard from John today and I am scanning it right now. I’ll post it in a few minutes. It’s pretty funny!

Just got this email via the inTARnet:

At our annual “Haitian” mass in support of our sister parishes in Haiti we have dancers from a local parish with a Haitian priest and many
Haitian members (really, all they do is sway on their way up to the altar to present the gifts), and everyone I’ve talked to swears that dancing
is part and parcel of all kinds of communal celebrations in Haiti. Not only do I not identify dancing with the sacred, I most definitely
consider it to be part of the decidedly secular, if not outright profane. In fact, I consider dancing to be integrally related to courtship and
coupling, which is not the direction I want my mind to be wandering in during the Eucharistic celebration. So the dancing drives me crazy. I
won’t look at it. But I do acknowledge that in other cultures (perhaps African based) dancing might serve a more ritual and communal purpose.
By the way, the Haitian priest delivers homilies that are orthodox, profound and inspiring, in the midst of the kind of music that would drive
the average blogger up the tree (never mind the dance). And I am assured that confession is very organized in our sister parishes, where the
priests every so often (like monthly) set up a chair at the end of mass and everyone stops by on the way out the door. So they may not be up to
our standards liturgically, but they run a tight ship. Our quest for perfection is depressing and regrettable.

Again I ask our readers for some help – is liturgical dancing a post-Vatican II activity in the liturgy? I know there are a ton of people out there reading this blog who are more learned than I am. Well, I’ve got email from two of you today so that leaves three other readers who might know.

Amy Welborn posted part of this story from the LA Times on the new Cathedral. Many thanks to Amy for posting this – it is truly inspiring. I think Gerard Serafin posted a picture of the Crucifix. Of all the bad things that has been said about this Cathedral, I think the accessibility of the Crucifix is wonderful. The image of our suffering Savior is the most powerful reminder of Christ’s sorrowful passion. Contrast that Crucifix with the one in the Cathedral in Milwaukee – what a difference. I’ll dig up pictures and post them later. If anyone wants to put links to pictures in the comments please do so!

I don’t want to have a conniption over liturgical dancing, but I want you to take notice of the comments in the “When the wood is dry” post below. Mark Sullivan is my hero. I fully expect the crankiest of professors to give us more support on liturgical dancing being a modern liturgical innovation. Does anyone know where liturgical dancing might have an older tradition in other cultures? What about other rites? I’m looking for facts here in the interest of having a discussion. I’m trying to repress my urge to unload on all of you about how I loathe the practice of humans worshipping humans rather than worshipping God. Oops. Looks like I just unloaded.

Another interesting question for anyone who might have been at the dedication – what music did they sing? Anyone reading who was there or who has a program? Let us know!

on a letter from a reader

Pete Vere posts his take on legal recourse for those who wish to worship with the Tridentine Rite. Interesting stuff. And though I just cancelled cable, I would consider paying for TV again if he had his own TV show. “Next week on Pete Vere, Canon Lawyer – the Curia puts a world of hurt on some dancing nuns! Stay tuned for When Good Faith Goes Bad only on Fox!”