Father Tim Finigan of the famous British blog Hermeneutic of Continuity recently (28 July) celebrated his Silver (25th) Jubilee (Anniversary) of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood. AD MULTOS ANNOS.
As we continue to celebrate the YEAR FOR PRIESTS it is edifying to see a full contingency of clergy and laity expressing profound joy and gratitude in the awesome gift of the Priesthood. Father Finigan has survived slander and ridicule for his uncompromising fidelity to the Magisterium and for his profound penchant for extreme reverence in the Sacred Liturgy, whether in the Extraordinary or the Ordinary Form of Latin Rite.
Note the absence of any LPN's (like to play nuns, i.e., without habit or veil) in the sanctuary. No political correctness at this Mass. And no political statements, either. Nowadays, many diocesan liturgies mandate a representative amount of Scripture readings and prayers be in said in Spanish and that a similarly representative per centage of 'ministers' (i.e., servers, readers, gift bearers, etc.) be women and minorities. Some so-called liturgists are in reality choreographers who manuever and manipulate the Mass to become a platform for social reform or to make a political statement. The public forum is the place for politics. The Church and especially its sancturary is meant for Divine Worship. PERIOD. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the zenith of all human activity as it unites heaven and earth; the divine and the human, via the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
I have often preached to my parishioners that every church is like an Embassy of Heaven here on earth. When we enter, we are on foreign soil, no longer of this earth but of the world to come. Entering church is crossing a thresshold into the dwelling of the Divine. We enter as GUESTS into the abode of our Divine HOST. After seeing Father Finigan's beautiful anniversary Mass, can anyone not discern that the the Sacred Liturgy is the nuptials which marries heaven and earth? I have been to some liturgical abberations where the sense was one of banal and pedestrian entertainment (and not even good entertainment at that). Bad taste and irreverence run amok in many Catholic areas, hence the timeliness of Pope B16's renewal of the sacred.
