A lot of Catholics complain about the music at their parish. The congregational singing is weak and half hearted, the choir members are trying hard, but they lack real training. Often the music choices are contemporary, drab, sentimental words with equally weak music. It’s not easy to change a musical tradition–especially when the music in the American Catholic Church took such a drastic wrong turn fifty years ago. However things can be changed. Brick by brick something new can be... Read more

Good news that Mary Magdalene’s memorial has been promoted to be a Feast. Go here for the info. I’ve always liked that detail from the film Jesus of Nazareth where Mary Magdalene tried to get through the cordon to stand at the foot of the cross. The Virgin and John have just got through, but the centurion pushes the Magdalene away saying, “Family only.” The Mother of God turns and looks at Mary Magdalene for a moment then says to the centurion,... Read more

I see that I have not blogged at The Suburban Hermit since February! Today’s Mass reading of Elijah in the cave at Mt Horeb has prompted the Suburban Hermit to break his four month silence and return to the keyboard. Go here to read today’s post about Elijah and  how the monastic tradition has its roots in his experience in the cave at Horeb.   Read more

The news is so uniformly bizarre and the world so amazingly insane and the storm clouds on the horizon so terrifying that I really would like to be a Catholic ostrich. In other words, I want to put my head in the sand, hunker down, mind my own business, try to do what I can to be a good priest and a faithful disciples of Christ. That seems to be enough. I have my work cut out for me with... Read more

My Article at CRUX this week questions the effectiveness of our charity efforts. The poor-whether they are genuine or not-congregate around Catholic churches because the needy know we care. Down through the ages Catholics, along with other Christians have rolled up their sleeves and got to work feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, healing the sick, educating the ignorant and tending the dying. It is one of the marks of Christian authenticity. We should be proud that the poor populate... Read more

OK. This is a MUST READ if you or your parish are planning to build a new church or planning to renovate an ugly modern church. I learned these things through building the new Our Lady of the Rosary Church at OLR Beauty doesn’t need to be expensive – when we got started and I was talking about a building a beautiful church I could tell my building committee was uneasy. When I said “beautiful” they saw dollar signs. However, very... Read more

My article at Aleteia this week is a discussion of Cardinal Sarah’s encouragement of ad orientem celebration of the Mass. Last week the French publication Famille Chretienne published a lengthy interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in which he urges a return to Mass being celebrated ad orientem and explains why. To get the right answer we must first ask the right question, and the question is “Mass? What’s the point?” There are... Read more

What is it about a pipe organ that is so important that the fathers of the second Vatican Council actually recommended its use in worship? In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963, it is stated that “… the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s... Read more

Embed from Getty Images I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but the mob violence we are witnessing in the United States is going to get worse. Don’t imagine that this is a “right wing” or “left wing” problem. The mobs inside the Trump rallies and the mobs outside the Trump rallies are driven by the same underlying forces. Are the mobs funded by hidden groups or individuals with an agenda? Maybe. Are they fueled by the politicians on one... Read more

We’re building a new church in our parish and we’ve taken the bold step of buying a pipe organ. The pipe organ adds beauty and dignity to our Catholic worship. It’s a traditional instrument for the solemn significance of our Catholic Mass. We have factored the purchase price into our financial plan, but we need some help to build the organ chamber for the organ pipes and mechanical stuff to fit into. Can you help? Think about it. I have... Read more