a public service message from the Kat

sing a new song unto the Lord

I am just getting around to the August issue and have been pondering the articles on liturgy.

It seems to me "reverence" is a code word for "quiet."

I am registered in what I think is the largest parish in my diocese 6000 families (give or take), 2/3 Spanish speaking. I have been in multi-lingual / multi-cultural parishes before. Most non-US and non-European liturgies are quite lively. Emotion is on the surface. I have heard criticism of that and "reverence" is one of the words in the conversation. Are we afraid of the "otherness" that goes beyond mere language and into culture?

While I dislike music with excessive percussion, I find all music styles appropriate for worship. As the choir director in the parish I sing at says, "as long as it is good music."

The article by Ted Rosean appears to be dismissive of diversity of worship styles. I surprised that in IL he has not experienced the various Byzantine liturgical styles. While I lived in Pittsburgh, the Byzantine archeparch lived just down Perrysville Ave. The Roman Rite bishop lived on the other side of the Allegheny River.

Our church has wonderfully diverse history from Jesus to the present. Would that we would not disown any of it.

coming attraction - another culture war

http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/slavishly-literal-translation-missal-criticized

after reading the article, search for the word Joseph as in St Joseph Missal.

my reply to that post (which was suppressed) was roughly:

roflmao

I would buy such a book as described for my children and grandchildren. We could call it the Bl. Angelo Giuseppe Roncali Missal.

Or maybe try one of those new churches that use the Book of Common Prayer. They take liturgy VERY seriously.

further thoughts

Nothing can stop this steamroller except Ruah - the Spirit of God. Oremus!

pax Christi resurrexit (probably wrong ending) vobiscum

have a cow man!

http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2009/10/simpsons-vs-donohue-whos-gone-too-far

so if the music were really music

how could it be used to torture people?

comment on work

There's nothing more dangerous than a resourceful idiot. - Scott Adams q.PhilGlowatz@VERIZON.NET uga2009Oct14

Why is it that excellence in education scares some people?

Not frustration with you! Rather, frustration with the powers-that-be here at the middle school where I work. For over a year, I've shared my love for A.Word.A.Day with my students and I have had much positive feedback regarding the words, the clever and creative weekly themes, and the downright interesting, thought-provoking word choices. But a single parent has complained and now I find myself in a morass of having to justify what I do in the class, provide documentation that shows there is, indeed, value to what we do in class, to ultimately prove that our attempts to "control" language via ANY vocabulary program will always be imperfect because the evolution of communication is ongoing and, in the end, best experienced rather than caged. Sigh. It seems that there's no incentive to think outside boundaries or to innovate. It appears that people want something simple, quick, and cut and dried. Well, whatever may be, I will continue to anticipate the words with eagerness. I guess I must accept that at times, my views are "antipodal" to those of others.

Ironically, the parent's complaint is based on the argument that the words are not usable for the kids, that they're not grade appropriate, which I know is something similar that you all at Wordsmith.org have experience with. Also, that the use of the Wordsmith.org material is from a website "not approved", by the district, and that it is not entirely in line with the school curriculum. And the entirely laughable notion that the kids may be exposed to "inappropriate material"! I thought that the basis of ANY language arts curriculum is an exploration of language and the interesting patterns that we notice along the way. Is there anyone in this world who is 100% fluent with any language?

Really, if this is examined closely, this incident is not about vocabulary, or curriculum or any of the other stated things. Rather, it's about authority and power. It's about people whose self-esteem and confidence level are based solely on how high they can make people jump. Sad.

The kids and I discussed "Beau Brummell" the other day and they created visual representations of the word.

Update:

Having had a one and a half hour meeting with our school's language arts supervisor, a meeting replete with many, many examples of students' work that clearly demonstrates an active interaction with the vocabulary words from Wordsmith.org, I was told that administration in the building, "will not approve your vocabulary program". I am flabbergasted at such a statement given that administration has no clue as to what my vocabulary program entails, nor have they shown the least bit of interest in finding out in the past 1+ years that I've been running my program. So, I am writing to you for advice. I need to know a really terrific word that is synonymous with, "manufactured", since it seems that the so-called leaders of the school are devoted, lock, stock, and barrel to such an approach. I am stunned that such obtuseness has become so prevalent and in my 17 years as an educator I am speechless regarding the state of middle school education in my neck of the woods. - James Eng q.wordsmith.org

If you agree ths is outrageous, spread the word and send the guy some encouragement.