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Post by cato on Dec 5, 2018 20:03:36 GMT
I was impressed by the snippets I saw of the funeral coverage of former US president George Herbert Walker Bush this afternoon. The US Episcopalian Church do ceremonial occasions well. The periods of silence (almost sinful in normal catholic liturgies) were powerful and dignified.
I wasn't a fan of Bush senior back when he was president, coming after Ronald Reagan he seemed a drab colourless anti climax. In hindsight he was right not toppling the ghastly Iraqi dictatorship after the first gulf war without a proper rebuilding campaign. We learned this to our cost post 9/11. Most on the right got this wrong.
His refusal to humilate the Russians after the fall of communism was wise and prudent. Rather than indulge in crude triumphalism his statesmanship helped ensure the fall of marxist tyranny was largely bloodless. I was always impressed by his bravery in combat against the Japanese and the great personal modesty and humility he displayed in his public addresses. A true conservative. May be rest in peace.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Dec 5, 2018 22:48:17 GMT
Regarding silence: there are two Catholic chaplains in UCD. Both are very good priests. One tends to celebrate a fifteen minute lunch-time Mass, the other a twenty minute Mass. I much prefer the fifteen minute Mass since it makes it more practicable to get back to work on time. The priest who celebrates the longer Mass tends to go in for long and (to my mind) ostentatious silences at particular points of the Mass. I get the point, but it seems a bit silly to me. Is twenty seconds of silence really so much better than five seconds? I find it all a bit affected and even embarrassing. I guess my taste is for understatement. Increasingly, I squirm at anything that seems mannered or overdone in prose, liturgy or anything else.
Rest in Peace, George Bush senior.
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Post by cato on Dec 6, 2018 11:03:58 GMT
Regarding silence: there are two Catholic chaplains in UCD. Both are very good priests. One tends to celebrate a fifteen minute lunch-time Mass, the other a twenty minute Mass. I much prefer the fifteen minute Mass since it makes it more practicable to get back to work on time. The priest who celebrates the longer Mass tends to go in for long and (to my mind) ostentatious silences at particular points of the Mass. I get the point, but it seems a bit silly to me. Is twenty seconds of silence really so much better than five seconds? I find it all a bit affected and even embarrassing. I guess my taste is for understatement. Increasingly, I squirm at anything that seems mannered or overdone in prose, liturgy or anything else. Rest in Peace, George Bush senior. The point you make about a short lunch time mass is fairly valid. However I find the mass normally consists of noise with no space whatsover for reflection. Either the priest is speaking , we are responding , we are listening to music , or coughing to end what little silence there is. It is almost assumed something has gone wrong if there is no sound. Mass often resembles a conversation were everyone talks and no one listens in my opinion anyway. Arguably the he old mass has the opposite flaw were the silence can be overwhelming and there is insufficient dialogue. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Dec 6, 2018 11:26:54 GMT
Regarding silence: there are two Catholic chaplains in UCD. Both are very good priests. One tends to celebrate a fifteen minute lunch-time Mass, the other a twenty minute Mass. I much prefer the fifteen minute Mass since it makes it more practicable to get back to work on time. The priest who celebrates the longer Mass tends to go in for long and (to my mind) ostentatious silences at particular points of the Mass. I get the point, but it seems a bit silly to me. Is twenty seconds of silence really so much better than five seconds? I find it all a bit affected and even embarrassing. I guess my taste is for understatement. Increasingly, I squirm at anything that seems mannered or overdone in prose, liturgy or anything else. Rest in Peace, George Bush senior. The point you make about a short lunch time mass is fairly valid. However I find the mass normally consists of noise with no space whatsover for reflection. Either the priest is speaking , we are responding , we are listening to music , or coughing to end what little silence there is. It is almost assumed something has gone wrong if there is no sound. Mass often resembles a conversation were everyone talks and no one listens in my opinion anyway. Arguably the he old mass has the opposite flaw were the silence can be overwhelming and there is insufficient dialogue. It could just be a quirk of my own. I hate long pauses. I get frustrated when people take a long time to answer me! |
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Post by cato on Dec 6, 2018 14:06:43 GMT
I do get looks at times at work when I say i need a few minutes of peace and silence to work on something.
I love the way this blog wanders at times.....
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Post by Tomas on Dec 7, 2018 12:14:38 GMT
I have always admired George Bush for the virtues mentioned above ("personal modesty and humility he displayed in his public addresses") and especially the prudence he showed towards Europe during the Cold War. Hope the Lord will forgive the sins and let him rest in peace after his tremendous achievements.
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