This article from the Daily Telegraph says priests in the Diocese of Leeds in England have been advised to stop saying ‘Good Morning’ to their congregations at the beginning of Mass.  We have to get rid of the Tonight Show approach to liturgy. Guy comes on stage, “Howya’all doing? Anybody heard any good jokes this week? The Lord be with you…” I knew one priest who would discuss the baseball games of the weekend, give out the birthdays in the... Read more

I arrived at the church office to find a pile of letters from the second graders whose first confessions I heard last week. Here’s one: Dear Father Longenecker, Thank you for helping me in first confession. You fill my heart with joy. God bless you. Amen. Love, Joey. The feeling’s mutual Joey. Read more

Once a month I visit Sister Mary Lucy–a hermit at a Poor Clare monastery to hear her confession. Today we got talking about prophecies and the end of the world. She asked if I thought the end of the world was nigh. I was skeptical. “I grew up in a fundamentalist church.” I explained “where we heard terrible prophecies about the Rapture and the tribulation and the end times and how there was a big computer in Brussels called ‘The... Read more

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After the last post on hell someone asked, “So did God create Hell just so there could be the cross?” No, the logical connection between the cross and hell assumes that hell already existed and that is why the cross was necessary. So did God create Hell? Not really. The Bible does say that hell was ‘prepared’ for the Devil and his angels, but I don’t think Hell is created in the same active way that God created the world.... Read more

Sorry for another thought about hell, but I’ve been wondering on the connection between the modern disbelief in hell and the financial crisis. If you believe in hell you believe that you have to pay what you owe. There will be a reckoning. There’s no free lunch. If you don’t believe in hell you think you’re going to get away with it. You can have what you want without paying for it and you can run up your debts and... Read more

Earlier this week I helped to hear the first confessions of our children at St Mary’s. This is the first I’ve done this, and what a sweet privilege it was! I was meditating not only on the privilege I had to hear these confessions, but on the advantages of first confession at a tender age. Here they are: 1. At an early age the child learns that he or she is not perfect 2. At the dawning of the age of accountability... Read more

A friend commented the other day, “I was doubting the reality of hell. I wondered how it could be that an all loving God would be able to allow for hell. Then, at Mass, I gazed at the crucifix and it all clicked. I had an ‘aha’ moment. If there were no hell there would be no need of the cross. Why the cross if we did not need salvation, and what were we to be saved from if not... Read more

The abortion crazy Episcopal woman priest says that a woman who is in a ‘loving, supportive, respectful’ relationship wants an abortion she should have one. Quite apart from the abortion issue, aren’t you sick of this ‘loving, supportive, respectful’ stuff being the criteria for a legitimate ‘partnership’? Forget about marriage. Forget about divorce and re-marriage. Forget about co habitation. Forget about lesbianism or homosexuality or transgendered freakery. Forget about fornication or adultery or the ten commandments. What really matters is... Read more

If that Episcopal priestess ‘abortion is a blessing’ story wasn’t enough, check out this from CatholicOnline.  Warning: Don’t read it if stories of cold hearted women killing babies keeps you awake at night. Read more