A Study in Contrast

So, my liturgical experiences a couple weeks ago were...interesting.

First, I went to a parish that had no Mass. Now hold it! I wasn't there by my own decision; I was simply there because my parents wanted our family to be there for our cousin's first Holy Communion.

Of course, it wasn't really Communion, as the priest/sacristan/resident un-habited nun decided that it's a great idea to use invalid matter for the Eucharist!

You too, can choose to have invalid sacraments!

(Okay, that isn't really the nun who hangs out there. But you get my point)

Redemptionis Sacramentum states that:

The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.[123] It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat…does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.[124] It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist.

I tried to discuss it with the pastor, but he told a bald-faced lie to my face, saying that he uses a "USCCB approved recipe" and the reason it looks like gingerbread cookies is that they use whole wheat flour.

Now I dunno about you, but I know the difference between whole wheat and gingerbread. Shall I write to the bishop? Will anything come of it? I find it unlikely (see below), but I still hold out hope...

My heart aches for the people of that parish. It truly does. They are being so completely lied to.

Of course, who cares what the "old gray-headed" club in the Vatican says about the sacraments? It's not like Jesus used unleavened bread or anything! (So says the pastor.) Only, He did. Well that's awkward.

Unfortunately...it would seem like our bishop doesn't care! He has celebrated "Mass" at that parish. I don't know whether or not he used true altar breads or the communion cookies that are typical to the place. I can only think the best of him and hope that he, too, has been hoodwinked.

And yet, most people don't even care that they don't go to Mass when they go there on Sundays. Out of all of that congregation, who has thought that their practice is a problem?

As my aunt, who has baked the cookies, says, "the secret is in the honey." Maybe it is because, in today's culture, you attract more people with honey than with Jesus.

Y'know what I'm sayin'?

In stark contrast with that horrid experience, I attended a Latin Mass! No, no...not an Extraordinary Form Mass. The availability of that is rather sparse around here (more on that another time.) But at the parish at which I have been attending Mass lately, they have a Latin Novus Ordo Mass.

It was exquisite. It was beautiful. It was Catholic worship, in my humble opinion, according to the reforms and renewals made by the second Vatican Council. It's a beautiful beautiful parish with wonderful holy priests and devout and loving laity. I can't stop going back there; I can't do enough to extol their devotion to Christ, especially present in the Eucharist.

But the best reason for going there: I meet God. It is truly heavenly, in that it prefigures the liturgy of Paradise.

Adoration at aforementioned parish

(Okay, this isn't a Mass, but, again, you get my point, yes?)