Abbey-Roads2

Catholic News headline:

“Pope dons green vestments for eco-fest at Loreto.”  And that brilliant piece is from Catholic News.

 Huh?

Hey, guess what - it’s Ordinary Time… that’s the color.  LOL! 

Those filthy monks.

At the company where I once worked, my vice-president happened to be Greek as well as a devout and active member of the Greek Orthodox Church.  At lunch one day we were talking about Greece and I asked enthusiastically if he had ever been to Mt. Athos.  He said, “Heavens no!” and went on to describe the monks he’d seen from there.  He described them as filthy, foul smelling parasites.  He said they were always greasy and untidy.  His wife agreed and said they should stay on the mountain and not come into the city.

Though I was surprised, I considered how complimentary their descriptions might be to the likes of a John of the Cross, or Francis of Assisi.  St. Francis would probably have included such an attitude in his description of ‘perfect joy’.

It also ties in well with the day’s Gospel, when the people of the synagogue took such offense at Jesus, “they rose up, drove him out of the town… and led him to the brow of the hill, to hurl him down headlong.” - Luke 4.  Some of Jesus’ contemporaries also thought he was out of his mind.

Yet we can often become quite offended and defensive whenever we meet with the least opposition, contradiction, or criticism.

“Jesus walked in peace through the midst of them.” - Luke 4.

A “no-obligation to do anything”  holiday. 

Now this is a public holiday which is essentially all about taking a day off from work and having a good time.  That’s pretty much it.  The origins of the holiday go back to the late 1880’s, and the sole purpose was to honor the working man, and to give he and his family a holiday in which to rest and recreate.  Other countries celebrate May 1st, but that was much too Socialist for the U.S., so the 1st Monday in September was maintained.  Only later did it become politicised with the politicians and Union leaders butting in, making speeches at various rallys after the parades.  It has never been a Church thing either, or a Liturgical observance.

Local parish closed for the holiday.

Labor Day is a national, secular holiday, so my local parish is closed today, the Church locked up tight.  Monday’s are the pastor’s day off, so it would have been Liturgy of the Word today anyway.  Since parish churches have become such ‘mega-employers’ and the staff must have similar benefits to secular institutions and businesses, it is to be expected they get their paid holidays as the rest of us.  But there are other businesses open today, and many people are working today and will either be compensated for it with holiday pay or another comp-day off.

Entitlements and leisure.

The priest of my parish has been gone a lot this summer.  Vacations, days off, other assignments in the archdiocese, 2 retreats - one with the Archbishop and priests of the archdiocese. and last week he was gone again to finish his vacation time.  While he was gone, at least the Church was open, and Communion Services were made available.

Elsewhere, some parishes will have one mid-morning Mass today, with patriotic music and the proper Mass for the Blessing of Human Labor.  Even though this is not a liturgical feast for labor, “God Bless America” will most likely be sung.  At least these churches are having Mass, even though all parish offices will be closed.  If the parish happens to have an adoration chapel, that will most likely be open of course.  But in parishes like mine, Jesus must be on holiday too - I guess he went to the lake or something,  he maybe had to get away too.

I’m just wondering.

Is the Church too secularized?  Is the priesthood just like any other job?  Are parishes a business?  Is it a good thing that pastors commute to their ‘jobs’ rather than live on the parish campus?  Maybe Sunday Catholics really only need a Sunday pastor?  I’m not bitching about this, I’m just wondering out loud.

When I first entered the monastery, I asked if we got to sleep in on Sundays (we rose at 3AM for vigils), the Father Master looked at me curiously and said, “This is a monastery, not a country club.”