Traditional liturgical vestments

Terry Nelson, from Abbey Roads, Part of the Minnesota Church Militant, posts in a particular way. If you have never read him, the subtlety of his references to past posts, other bloggers, and the point he is trying to make can easily be lost upon you.

His most recent post is an example. Terry, makes good and obvious points, but it is the FACT that he is making these points about this subject that drives home the message. That being said, I have ripped an excerpt from his post that can resonate with anyone, and should resonate whether you like it or not.

Therefore many of us no longer understand or conceive of our churches to be "the house of God and the gate of heaven" - which in turn may partly explain why the Dutch can play soccer at Mass, in a church, or why dancing and other forms of entertainment takes place during the liturgy elsewhere.
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Losing an authentic sense of the dignity and majesty of God, we easily disregard the proper decorum and dignity and protocol (ritual) in His Presence - which is due to His Majesty. We have vulgarized worship; overstepping our bounds, and we have made ourselves too familiar within the Holy of Holies. Therefore, the restoration of reverent liturgy, along with the revival of traditional liturgical vestments and decorum, can seem foreign and strange, even excessive to many of us steeped in contemporary culture, where the degenerate and profane has become commonplace and the comfort and ease of our casual lifestyle discourages any type of formalism.
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Nevertheless, whenever we are in church, and especially during the liturgy, we ought to be aware that we have "drawn near to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first born enrolled in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel." [Heb. 12: 22-24]

Link: The Majesty of the Cappa Magna

We must seek the Sacred - Part I

I have been thinking about the idea of Catechesis a lot recently. The way in which we educate children in the faith, and the concept of Catechesis in general, how we as humans learn our faith. I am not only talking about the precepts, or rules of the faith, but also how we learn to be spiritual beings - the unification of body and soul.

These fleeting thoughts were congealed by The Crescat's post yesterday. I finalized realized why my heart has been so restless lately. It is because of what I have witnessed in the way that our churches, by this  I mean individual parishes and not the greater CHURCH, interact with us, the faithful, and attempt to provide us with Catechetical training, especially our Children.

St. Augustine once said,

"You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."

So then why has my heart been restless? Is it because my heart has not seen proper Catechesis for our children and our parishes? Is it because when I go to church functions which purport to be Catechesis on some topic, they end up leaving so many unfulfilled? I think that my heart has been restless because I am yearning for more... and if I am not being fulfilled then, there must be others that feel the same.

So what is the fatal flaw? Where have we as a faith community, as the Body of Christ gone astray and neglected our duty in raising others in the faith? How have we arrived at a point where what we teach and how we teach it, has become so watered down that when we see something like the Pontifical Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception it appears foreign and confusing? How have we arrived at this point:

(Source: CARA - Georgetown)

This is part one.... I plan to do this in parts so that I may contemplate and pray about each part. Check later for PART II. I plan to explore what is the source of this restless, why it exists, and some possible solutions.