Tag: father bob

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The Return of the Latin Mass

That wonderful chap Father Bob Maguire has written a piece on the return of the Latin Mass in Catholic churches. As usual, he’s saying things the Vatican probably won’t like. Excellent.

Church music became popularist [sic] in the 1960s [after Vatican II] because it had been exclusivist for centuries.

The “Masses” so often “oo’ed and ah’ed” over by concert-goers and listeners to the ABC FM stations were performance pieces for the ruling classes (including the senior clergy). The language was exclusivist, Latin, to remind lesser beings and nationalities that all roads lead to Rome.

Guess what? There’s a revisionist plot on, right now, to restore Latin on demand. A Brisbane priest was quoted last week as praising the move back because he felt much more comfortable and spiritually refreshed if he had his back to the congregation and was the only one knowing what was being said! (Read article here on Latin Mass)

The musical style of a Cathedral or posh church, supportable by heaps of money, comforts upwardly socially mobile church-goers.

Suburban and rural area churches make do with less. Which worship style creates/supports genuine parish centres, souls of their neighbourhoods, beacons of hope?

As I’ve said before, Father Bob is a Catholic priest who actually gives Christians a good name.

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It’s not a “space”, it’s a “market”

Of all the current corporate buzzwords, “space” shits me the most. I’ve been meaning to write about it, but web pioneer Marc Andreessen got there first:

There is no such thing as a “space”.

There is such a thing as a market — that’s a group of people who will directly or indirectly pay money for something.

There is such a thing as a product — that’s an offering of a new kind of good or service that is brought to a market.

There is such a thing as a company — that’s an organized business entity that brings a product to a market.

Marc’s article goes on to explain why there’s no such thing as “Web 2.0” either — in fact that’s its main thrust. It’s worth reading.

Hell, his entire blog is worth reading.

On the other hand, William Shakespeare is worth reading too.

So are P J O’Rourke, Daniel Petre, George Orwell, David Marr, John Birmingham, James Burke, George Lakoff, Brian Eno, Lao Tsu, Sherry Turkle, Steven Levy, Neal Stephenson, Umberto Eco, Richard Watts, Paul Graham, Bruce Schneier, Father Bob Maguire, Matt Ridley, Daniel Dennett, Zern Liew, Steven Levitt… but you’ve just got to draw the line somewhere!

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Explain your allegiances!

“I’m in hiding! I don’t want to be asked by Australian law enforcement agents whether I’m an Australian first and a Catholic second or vice versa,” writes Father Bob Maguire. Bob says that asking whether Australian Muslims put global Islam before local loyalty reminds him of the way Catholics were persecuted in the 1920. “That atmosphere is not good for clear thinking. You and I need to maintain the right to think deeply and clearly before we ratify political decisions to destroy lives and property.”