Pope writes: "Dear Friends, I just launched http://news.va"

The first "popetweet".

The sanction of Eros: when Christians divorce | LifeSiteNews.com

Along similar lines to my previous post, a good article on loving one's spouse with the right kind of love.

The sanction of Eros: when Christians divorce | LifeSiteNews.com

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Hello all, I just changed some of the settings for the blog.  Comments were previously limited to registered users, however they are now open to anyone.  Please note though, I will be moderating the comments.  As always, remember charity!

The Spirit of Detachment

As I approach my final day here in my current assignment I have been experiencing many endings.  There was my final homily last weekend, my farewell reception this coming weekend, dismantling my office and room to pack up.  Of course there are the very personal goodbyes as well, saying farewell to the parishioners, the staff, and those with whom I have worked closely while here in Guelph.  I'll admit, that I did get a little choked up trying to get my farewell message out the first time last weekend.  As I meet for the final time with certain individuals such as those for whom I have been providing spiritual direction, there is certainly a touch of sadness.  I'm reminded of a line from the prayers of final commendation from the Order of Christian Funerals (which I have just had to dig out of the box in which it was already packed to find the quote), "there is sadness in parting, but we take comfort in the hope that one day we shall see him again and enjoy his friendship."

Sadness in parting is very much a part of the human journey, as we form bonds and connections with those with whom we journey in this 'valley of tears', bonds which inevitably come to an end.  This morning though it also got me thinking about the spiritual nature of detachment.  There are many walks of life in which one is called upon to 'move on', and certainly the role of the diocesan priest is to be a pilgrim, never staying too long in one place, and in that too there is a witness to a deeper spiritual reality.  Some years ago I and friend of mine were speaking to a young seminarian in his first year about the notion of detachment, because of the very transitive nature of the ministry of the parish priest.  This seminarian was a little shocked, and thought we were talking about a very cold and distant approach to the people, that one couldn't be friendly with anyone because one day you would have to leave.  Of course that is not what we meant at all, we were talking about detachment.  Perhaps to explain a little better I might show off my geek credentials and quote from Anakin Skywalker as he describes love in the life of a Jedi, "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion -- which I would define as…unconditional love -- is essential to a Jedi's life. So, you might say that we are encouraged to love."

The life and ministry of the parish priest really is meant to show that same idea.  We are not bound to poverty, but we are encouraged to live simply without the need for many possessions, we don't have a family of our own, and as I have already mentioned, we don't normally stay too long in any one place, in fact today, a dozen years in one parish is becoming a rare thing.  As Christians, the one and only thing we need is God alone, indeed those true saints (if we are fortunate enough to encounter one in this life) have almost an other worldly quality about them, because the have all they need and desire in God.  Most of us who have not advanced to the heights of sanctity continue to develop attachments to things and people of this world.  Don't get me wrong, it a natural part of life that we form these attachments, but as Christians we are called to that higher calling to find all we need and desire in God alone.  Some months ago I shocked someone as I was teaching about Purgatory, that one of its purposes was to rid us of our attachments to the people and things of this world to prepare us for Heaven.  She couldn't believe it, the fact that she would one day have to detach herself from her husband and family in order to go to God unfettered.

Here is the rub, that just as Anakin Skywalker said, we are encouraged to love, but we are encouraged to do so in an unselfish way, to trust in God's providential care for everyone and everything, and not to make anyone or anything our own personal possession.  Any selfish attachments we have to creatures means our love for our Creator becomes divided.  We are encouraged to love, but to do it unselfishly, to grow daily in our charity, our compassion, and to remember that everything and everyone in our lives is a gift from God, and belongs to God alone.  We must never forget that all we ever need is God alone.

Fr Corapi: reflections from a priestly point of view

Another good analysis of the situation.

Fr Corapi: reflections from a priestly point of view

Father Corapi’s Bombshell

An analysis of the situation by the National Catholic Register, definitely worth a read.

The popular speaker announces plans to leave the priesthood amid an investigation into allegations of misconduct, and his religious superior breaks his silence on the investigation.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/father-corapis-bombshell.html#ixzz1PrO10WBR

Sunday Homily - The Most Holy Trinty, God's Life and Us (and a Farewell Message)

As I am due to leave my parish in the next week, my homily this Sunday includes a bit of a farewell message; it's a farewell to the parish, not to the blog, just to clarify.

Well, we are come to my final discourse this weekend.  I will still be with you for another week and a half, but next Sunday our soon-to-be-ordained-deacon John Redmond will be offering us his first homily as an ordained clergyman, and so this will be the last Sunday homily of mine which you will be able to enjoy, or have to endure as the case my be.

The Most Holy Trinity, it is one of those mysteries of our faith which seems to cause so much consternation to anyone who takes the time to reflect on it.  In fact there's a joke told at the seminary, that after you have taken the course in Trinitarian theology, you will leave with:  five notions, four real relations, three person, two processions, one essence, and ZERO comprehension.  This feast day, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, or as we often call it, Trinity Sunday often causes a great deal of consternation for preachers.  After all, how can one possible take something as abstract and theological as the Trinity, and make it applicable to our lives, how can you do the subject justice in the short space of a homily?  There's a story told of one of the priests of our diocese, this was many years ago now, and this priest was just newly arrived from Poland.  He was a young curate in a parish, still learning English, and one Sunday morning the pastor suddenly took ill.  So this young curate, with his tenuous grasp of the English language, and no time to prepare, was forced to give the homily, and it was Trinity Sunday.  He got up into the pulpit, and this is the homily he gave, "Trinity is great mystery.  If I speak about it, will be even greater mystery."  Thus ended the homily.

Understanding the Trinity, how it works really isn't important for us to understand this feast though.  In fact, for us human beings it is impossible to ever fully understand how the Trinity works anyway.  There is an account told from the life of St. Augustine, he was walking along the seashore, contemplating the mystery of the Trinity, in the midst of writing his work on the Trinity.  As he walked along he saw a young boy digging a hole, then running to fetch water from the ocean and pour it into the hole.  St. Augustine stopped and inquired what the boy was doing, the boy told him that he was attempting to put the ocean into the hole.  The saint replied that it would be impossible to put the ocean into a small hole, at which point the boy revealed himself to be an angel, who told Augustine, that just as it is impossible to fit the ocean into a hole, so it is impossible for the mystery of the Trinity to be contained in the human mind.  So it really is impossible for us to fully understand this great mystery, but as I already said, to understand this feast it's not important.

The Trinity ultimately is the life of God, the inner life of God, the life of God that we are called to share in, to participate in; that is what's important for us, this sharing in God's life, in this life we call it Grace, in the next life we call it Heaven.  This inner life of God is a relationship of love; theologians will tell us that the Holy Spirit is the love that exists between the Father and the Son, a love so perfect and so great, that He is Himself a person.  This is key for us, and for how we relate to our God.  If we look to many of the ancient religions, to the pagan religions we often find that the people created a whole pantheon of gods for themselves, because if you think about it, the idea of a single, solitary god is a rather scary thought.  A lonely god, who created us for the sake of having some companionship; how could we, limited, weak human beings that we are, how could we ever adequately return the affections of an all-powerful god?  But our God is not alone, our God is a community of persons, a relationship of love.  God does not need anything from us, God is perfectly content and perfectly complete in Himself, but like any relationship of true love, that love went beyond God, to us, God created us out of love.

So often though, as our first reading makes clear, we reject that love, that life that God offers to us, because we are a "stiff-necked" people as Moses says, a stubborn people.  We turn away from God in our sinfulness, we look at all that we have received from God, and we forget who it comes from.  But our God, in his love for us continues to give us opportunities to come back, to share in His life.  He even sent his Son into the world to offer Himself as a sacrifice to save us from our sins, to break down the barrier between us and God, that we might once again have that opportunity to share in his life.  Again though, so often we forget that everything we have comes from God, all of our possessions, our relationships, our gifts and talents, even the good works we do are by the grace of God.  We look at our possessions and we want more, we look at our talents, our good works, and we puff up our pride, we forget that they are all gifts from God, freely given out of love.  As many theologians would tell us, the only thing that we human being can do or achieve without God, is sin.  That is why we come here each and every week, to this Holy Eucharist, because this is the perfect way to offer our thanks to God for his love and his gifts.  By sharing in the sacrifice of the Son, we renew our relationship, and our resolve to persevere in the life of grace, so that by constantly living in that life of grace in the here and now, we might share forever in the life of the Holy Trinity, in the kingdom of heaven.

Just before I conclude, I do want to offer just a few short words of farewell.  There will still be opportunities for individual good-byes, but since this is my last opportunity to address all of you, I have just a few words of thanks.  First and foremost I must give thanks to God for all of the blessings I have received over these last two years, I thank God for all of the highs, the lows, and everything in between.  I wish to express my thanks to all of you as well, for your kindness, for your friendship, and for your prayers.  I will certainly continue to pray for all of you as I continue on to my new assignment in Hamilton.  Finally, I can think of no better parting words than those which St. Paul offers to us today, "Finally, brothers and sisters, put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."

Fr. Corapi becomes the "Black Sheep Dog"

As many of us are just becoming aware either last night or this morning, Fr. John Corapi has announced that he will be leaving public ministry.  I'm quite certain this will come as a shock to a great many people, it was a shock to me.  The video above is the statement he issued, it can also be found on his new website, under his new persona, the "Black Sheep Dog".  Our prayers are certainly with him at this time.  Fr. Corapi has done marvelous work in the course of the 20 years of his ministry.  I was first introduced to him through his series of videos explaining the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I know he has been and continues to be an inspiration to many, and has no doubt brought many people to the faith.

All that being said, I can't help but find this statement somewhat troubling, and I know I'm not the only one.  Many people in the history of the Church have been falsely accused of this or that, indeed some have drawn comparisons with Padre Pio and others.  The simple fact of the matter is, that to put on a Roman Collar makes one a target, it's sad, but very true.  You can do everything in your power to try and avoid it, but short of hiding in your room, periodically emerging to say Mass, you're never going to be totally off someone's radar screen.  For priests it goes with the territory, to be a priest means to be another Christ, and Christ was falsely accused and condemned, should we not expect the same treatment.  Of course it hurts all the more when it appears to come from within the Church itself, but it really shouldn't matter where it comes from, because God has permitted it for some reason.

St. Alphonsus Liguori in his short work, Uniformity with God's Will, says:

Furthermore, we must unite ourselves to God's will not only in things that come to us directly from his hands, such as sickness, desolation, poverty, death of relatives, but likewise in those we suffer from man -- for example, contempt, injustice, loss of reputation, loss of temporal goods and all kinds of persecution. On these occasions we must remember that whilst God does not will the sin, he does will our humiliation, our poverty, or our mortification, as the case may be. It is certain and of faith, that whatever happens, happens by the will of God: "I am the Lord forming the light and creating the darkness, making peace and creating evil." From God come all things, good as well as evil. We call adversities evil; actually they are good and meritorious, when we receive them as coming from God's hands: "Shall there be evil in a city which the Lord hath not done?" "Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches are from God."

Ultimately it is not yet clear what Fr. Corapi means by his statment, he has not directly said he is leaving the priesthood, though it seems to be implied.  He notes that given his present situation he had two options "1. I can quietly lie down and die, or 2. I can go on in ways that I am able to go on."  Are those really the only two options, is leaving the priesthood and maintaining his fanbase really the more appealing option rather than living a quiet life amongst his community.  Being suspended, he had lost his priestly faculties, and I'm sure that was and still is very painful, but nonetheless, he is still a priest, and even leaving the active ministry he will remain a priest.  I don't wish to judge, but sadly this seems more an act of pride, than a submission to God's will, even in an unjust situation.

Of course we all could only hope that faced with a similar situation that we would take the route of humility rather than trying to pridefully try to defend ourselves.  Let us continue to pray for Fr. Corapi, that he will make the right choices, for the right motives.  Let us pray for all priests that they will have the strength to stand up to the slings and arrows that come their way.  Let us pray for each and every one of us, that we might have to courage and strength to accept God's will in our lives no matter how difficult it might be; "if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10)

The Place of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

Fully aware that this particular subject has been written about ad nauseam, I still venture in to add my own two cents on the subject of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and its place and purpose in the life of the Church in the 21st century.

I was recently rereading the pertinent documents connected with the expansion of the usage of the Usus antiquior, and a couple of items do tend to jump out.  In the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae, issued by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, three reasons are given for the widening of the usage of the Extraordinary Form, and like any document of this type, it would not be too far fetched a notion to understand them as being in order of importance.  The first item on the list notes that by the Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, the Holy Father is "offering to all the faithful the Roman Liturgy in the Usus Antiquior, considered as a precious treasure to be preserved", only secondary is the consideration of those who specifically ask for this form of the Mass, and way down in third place is the notion of reconciliation with those groups who have separated from the Church over issues which include the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

This form of the Mass is offered to "all the faithful", but for what purpose, if the people are not asking for this form?  The answer can be found in the letter from the Holy Father to the Bishops explaining the Motu Proprio, in which he says, "The celebration of the Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI will be able to demonstrate, more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage. The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal."  This comes in the paragraph discussing the potential for the mutual enrichment of the two forms of the Roman Rite.  Notice the tense, the Holy Father writes in the future tense, "will be able...will bring out."  He notes that there is definitely spiritual richness and theological depth in the Missal of Paul VI, but with the way the Ordinary Form is currently celebrated, we have not seen it yet!

The Extraordinary Form is given as a gift to the Church, because we have forgotten what the Roman Rite is supposed to look like, our liturgy is celebrated in a way that does not show spiritual richness and theological depth, at least in the mind of the Holy Father, and many others.  This aspect however, continues to be overlooked as many argue that its primary purpose is to satisfy a few individuals on the fringe who like antiquated liturgy, or to foster reunification with the SSPX.  I fear too, that the way we are beginning to implement these directives is only furthering those notions.  The Motu Proprio allows for the celebration of the Extraordinary Form in any parish and every parish, but in many places it is still confined to one parish per region, and thus will only attract a limited number of people, and inspire only a few priests to bother with learning the older form of the Mass.  Often too, it is celebrated as an "event", a special occasion, a one time deal, for particular feast days.  This "event" mentality can even be found in the treatment of the Usus antiquior on EWTN.  Don't get me wrong, every praise to EWTN for broadcasting the Extraordinary Form, but if it is to have the effect which the Holy Father seems to have in mind, it must become a regular part of the life of the Church.

So here is my bold proposal in two parts.  The first part is perhaps a little more ambitious, that there should be a Mass in the Extraordinary Form in every urban centre on a regular basis, offered by diocesan priests, even if there is no great mass of people clamoring for it, priests need to learn it, in order to learn how to offer the Ordinary Form as the Missal intends.  The second part (perhaps also ambitious), that the Extraordinary Form needs to become a regular feature on television broadcasts, networks such as EWTN or Salt and Light in Canada should broadcast a Mass in the Extraordinary Form every Sunday, even if it is only a Low Mass, again to drive home the point that it is not just for special occasions, nor is it just for a select few, but for "all the faithful".

Perhaps some may think I've gone off the traditionalist deep end, but as I see more and more young people looking to recapture the sacred in our worship, as I see more and more Catholics drift away from the faith because the Mass "doesn't do anything for them", I wonder if perhaps the Reform of the Reform is indeed past due.  Our Mass is not about us, it is about God, but the way we currently celebrate the Ordinary Form does not say that (another post to come on that subject), we need to recapture the Sacred in our worship, and the Holy Father's plan is there to do just that, all we have to do is get on board.

Sunday Homily - The Spirit of Unity

The following is the text for my homily given this past Sunday at a Mass in the Extraordinary Form in St. Anne's, Kitchener:

Today we celebrate the glorious Feast of Pentecost, a day when we give our focus to the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, whichever you prefer to call Him.  So often it seems that the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Holy Trinity.  It's on occasions such as this one that I'm always a little envious of our brethren in the East.  The Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, and those in the Orthodox traditions generally have a much better developed theology of, and appreciation for the Holy Spirit, than those of us in the West.  We seem to put all of our focus onto Christ, and certainly it is fitting, since we are his followers, but the Holy Spirit accomplishes so much, but we only seem to remember him on Pentecost and at Confirmation time.

We can certainly take much time, say a great deal about the Holy Spirit, so I will have to confine my reflections today to just one area, and today I would like to reflect on the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Unity.  The cause of division after all is sin, and it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can achieve unity again, and I would like to look at three different areas, moving from the general, to the more specific.

In the reading from the book of Acts, we hear of the Apostles, who had been gathered in the upper room for nine days, in prayer, fearful of the Jewish authorities, suddenly going out to preach the message of Christ after receiving the Holy Spirit, and doing so in many different tongues, many different languages.  This hearkens back to the passage in the book of Genesis about the tower of Babel.  The many languages of humanity all brought about through human sin; sin causes division.  When travelling through the world, in order to communicate with our fellows, we need to find some way to overcome the language barrier, someway to translate.  Communication is difficult enough let alone trying to spread the faith of Christ and the Gospel message.  Through the power of the Spirit though, unity is restored, and indeed as the passage continues we hear that 3000 people were baptized that very day and became members of the Church.

It is often said that the greatest scandal in the Christian Church is the divisions within it.  So many thousands of different Christian denominations, how can we possibly proclaim the one truth of Christ when we are divided amongst ourselves.  For the past several decades, the Ecumenical movement has sought to bring about unity among Christians, but we often hear the old refrain, Ecumenism is not about making everyone Catholic again.  Well, I think our Holy Father, Pope Benedict would respectfully disagree.  After all we see the recent creation of the Anglican ordinariates to allow members of the Anglican Church to return to the Catholic Church while retaining some of the distinctiveness of their own liturgical traditions.  Quite recently too we saw a symbolic, but certainly a significant gesture, as our Holy Father was presented with a new Papal Tiara, by a group of Catholics and Orthodox Christians.  It is being called the Tiara of Christian Unity.  Catholics and Orthodox coming together to present the Holy Father with what is ultimately a sign of his authority as Successor of St. Peter.  We pray that the Holy Spirit continue to guide the work of Christian Unity and the efforts of the Holy Father to achieve it.

Turning a little more specific now, we can look at divisions even in our own personal relationships.  Once again, it must be said that divisions which come between us as persons have their origin in sin.  We can look at one specific example that is very prevalent in our own culture, that of divorce.  The statistics tell us that roughly 50% of marriages end in divorce, but that's the general number.  When we look at couples who share a faith, and practice that faith actively in their lives the number drops significantly.  Now, it's not possible to generalize in a homily about all of the specifics of human relationships, but the numbers point to something important, and that could very well be the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Unity, helping to overcome certain things that would otherwise lead to divorce.

Getting even more specific now, we can look within ourselves.  One of the consequences of Original Sin was a division within each one of us, as St. Paul reminds us, our Spirits thirst for the things of God, while our bodies and minds so often incline us to sin.  However, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace we receive from him, through prayer, through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation we are given the strength to fight against this division in ourselves.  Through the grace of the Holy Spirit we can turn our bodies and minds to the things of God.  Make no mistake, the division will continue to be there, at least until our souls are reunited with our glorified bodies in the resurrection, but the grace of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome our divisions, our inclinations to sin, and draw us to God.

So we pray that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Unity may come among us, to help us to overcome sin and the divisions it creates; that He may give us true unity, in our world, in our Church, in our homes, and in ourselves.

From the Lost Practices File - Meatless Fridays

Under this heading I hope to introduce another new (and ideally) regular feature, the Lost Practices File.  Since the Second Vatican Council there has been much confusion about what is still part of our Catholic life, many things have sadly been forgotten, things which contributed not only to our spiritual lives, but to our identiy as Catholics, I hope to offer some insights.

This post has been on the shelf since early in Lent (or should I say in the draft folder) but perhaps it is somewhat timely given the resolution which the bishops of the UK took last month.  Fairly early on in Lent some parishioners made a startling discovery in our bulletin.  We had printed the rules for Lenten fast and abstinence, but had accidentally printed the American rules, which includes mandatory abstinence from meat on all the Fridays of Lent.  The reaction was actually quite predictable, "Give up meat on Friday, I thought we didn't have to do that anymore."

Well, in fact here in Canada, according to Note 29 in the Liturgical Calendar, "Fridays are days of abstinence from meat, but Catholics my substitute special acts of charity or piety on this day."  Observing Friday as a day of special penance has been a part of Christian life since the beginning.  It is even mentioned in the Didache, a first century document of Christian teaching (look at Chapter 8).  Meatless Fridays did not disappear after Vatican II, they didn't disappear after the New Code of Canon Law came in either in 1983.  However we are given an option, we can perform some other penance.  Of course, it seems that allowing this option has given many the impression that the obligation simply does not exist.  Even for someone aware of it, you might ask on any given Friday, "Have you eaten meat today?"  After the answer comes back "yes", you might ask, "Oh, what do you usually do instead?"  The answer often, sadly is, "Well, nothing."

I would surmise that this is very much a manifestation of the pervasive notion that faith and religion are something that are best left in church, that our faith doesn't spill out into the rest of our week, or the rest of our lives.  Being Catholic, being Christian is not something we do on Sunday for an hour, it must be a part of who we are each and every day if it is to have true meaning, true significance, in our lives.  Penance as a spiritual discipline is one way we enact and embody our love for God (ask any parent, any spouse, and they will tell you that love means sacrifice), it is our way of uniting ourselves to the sufferings of our Lord on Calvary, the ultimate sign of his love for us.  Penance is part of our Christian life, Friday penance is part of our Catholic life.  So this Friday, put some fish on your fork.

Mobile View, Check it Out!

Blogger has just given us a handy new feature that allows for a mobile version of blogs to be viewed on smartphones.  Just scan the barcode!

Musings on the Mass - Reclaiming the Sacristy

The blog is back once again, and I thought I'd bring it back with a few musings on the Sacristy, more specifically, the Sacristy as it is before Mass.  I pondered whether it might be better to give this one a "rant" header, but in all seriousness, this subject is one that deserves a bit more thoughful attention.  Once again, these are some of my own musings, largely from prayerful reflection on personal experience, if you are looking for some practical points on how to achieve what I am going to propose, have a look here at an article over on the New Liturgical Movement Blog.

According to the Code of Canon Law #909, "A priest is not to neglect to prepare himself properly through prayer for the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice and to offer thanks to God at its completion."  The General Instruction of the Roman Missal paragraph 45 tells us, "Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence to be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner."

It seems the mind of the Church is in favour of silence, particularly before Mass, particularly in the sacristy, to allow all those involved (especially the priest) to prepare themselves in a prayerful and fitting manner.  This indeed is taken from the 1983 Code of Canon Law, and the 2002 General Instruction, these are not antiquated rules from the 12th Century, these are the most up to date you could get.  Sadly though, what is our normal experience, the sacristy is a hub of traffic, and conversation before Mass.  The various ministers chatting with each other, and saddest of all, the priest most often encouraging the chatter, often instigating it.  Before we go further, let's not fail to affirm the positive, no doubt my brother priests are being pastoral in their own way, trying to catch up on the latest developments among their parishioners, but one has to ask the question, is it the appropriate time and is it the appropriate way?

Many of these same priests are the ones who complain about those occasions when the church is filled with those who seldom attend Mass, and the noise in the church reaches deafening proportions.  Why the double standard, why should silence in the church be normal for those attending the Mass, but constant conversation rather than prayerful preparation be the norm for the ministers?  Sadly too, our modern architecture doesn't help matters.  Traditionally the sacristy took on the appearance of a small chapel, even the most mudane sacristies had a solemn appearance.  Today many sacristies resemble work rooms, the vesting table covered in paperwork, rather than the necessities for Mass.

Again, I appeal to my brothers, if we want to restore a sense of the sacred, if we want to restore reverence, we need to lead the way by our own example.  Let us keep silence in the sacristy, let us not criticize our brothers who want silence in the sacristy, let us show the importance of what we do when we put on the sacred vestments, by making the time before Mass a time of prayerful preparation rather than constant conversation.