Newsletter of 11/13/05

Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo
Thoughts from Some Fellow Parishioners of Holy Spirit—November 13, 2005

Juxtapositions
1. There are three grades of monsignor: protonotary apostolic supernumerary, prelate of honor to his holiness, and chaplain to his holiness. Monsignors can be elevated from one rank to another.

A protonotary apostolic wears a fuchsia cape, or ferraiolo, as his insignia.

A prelate of honor, the second grade of monsignor, wears the bishop’s choir cassock—the cassock worn during liturgies. The fuchsia cassock has red buttons, red piping and red cuffs and is worn with a fuchsia sash. The prelate of honor also can wear the bishop’s black house cassock, which has red buttons and red piping, and the fuchsia sash.

Chaplain to his holiness is the third grade of monsignor. The chaplain wears a black cassock with fuchsia piping and fuchsia buttons and the fuchsia sash. From the Catholic Accent, newspaper of the Diocese of Greensburg, IN

2. “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. … All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi’.

As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master;’ you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant.” From the Gospel reading for October 30th

3. “Numerous monsignors were recognized in this week’s honors [awarded by Pope Benedict XVI]. [Among them] … The Rev. Monsignor Louis Brum, … From the McAllen Monitor, November 1st.

4. “Fuchsia is to die for!” From the fashion commentator for the Eternally Weird Television Network (EWTN)

“Discuss among yourselves—I'm too verklempt.” Linda Richmond

$$$$$ Update
According to the Sunday Bulletins, in the past four weeks parishioners have donated $4,437.56 less than the $58,000 the parish budget called for during that period. If the spending patterns of the last fiscal year have continued (13.4% over budget), then during this four week period an additional shortfall of $7,769.04 was created.

This gives a total of $12,206.60 of red ink (versus budget) for the four week period ending November 6th. Stretching that pattern for an entire year, the Parish would fall short by $158,685.80.

All Saints and All Souls
In this November, the month of all the saints and all the faithful departed, consider the following:

Raped and murdered by Salvadoran government death squads on December 2, 1980: Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel, and lay church worker Jean Donovan.

Murdered by the Salvadoran army on November 16, 1989: Jesuit priests Segundo Montes, Arnando Lopez, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno, Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin-Baro, and Julia Elba Ramos, a cook, and Cecilia Ramos, her 15 year old daughter.

The Salvadoran army and its death squads were under the command of officers trained by the United States at its notorious School of the Americas (SOA). In the long, bitter civil war in El Salvador, agents of the United States government, along with their SOA trained partners, led operations of terror and torture in the country.

The interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib within the last five years are referred to in official United States documents as the “Salvadoran Option.”

Is it any wonder that over ten thousand people gather each November outside the gates of Fort Benning, GA (site of the SOA) to protest the United States’ role in Central America and call for the closing of the SOA?

As in the past, several parishioners will be participating in the gathering at Fort Benning (November 19th)—pray for them and bless them and pray that our government will eventually see that the closing of the SOA is not only the moral thing to do, but is in the best interests of the nation.

Saints are our heroes and heroines—not because they intercede for us, but because their powerful witness to the Gospel inspires us as we face our own difficult set of choices in our following of Christ. These ten people (along with countless others) murdered in El Salvador are, in that sense, saints.

Time, Children, and Things Lectoral
Does anybody really know what time it is? Chicago

The parish’s employee time clock has been inoperative for over a month. The Reverend Monsignor has long been aware of this problem and has refused to approve getting the clock fixed or getting a new one. A small thing, of course, but part of a pattern of disrespect for the seriousness of the work that parish employees do—little scraps of paper tossed on a desk are a good enough record of their work—it’s all so trivial, really, why bother with professionalism?

Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them. Mark 10:14
The Reverend Monsignor has discontinued the Children’s Liturgy of the Word. This ministry, in which young children gather during Mass to hear a version of the Sunday’s scripture appropriate to their age, has been appreciated by many parents over a long period of time.

The Reverend Monsignor claims that he has a “better program” which he will initiate at some undisclosed time in the future. If such a program really exists, let’s see it. But why, in the meantime, discontinue a popular and successful ministry?

The Reverend Monsignor has been hostile to this ministry since his first days in the parish, and it seems as if yet another program of the formally vibrant parish has been cast aside, simply for the reason that it was a program of the formally vibrant parish.

Living in a state of constant vigilance is exhausting. Anonymous
“We would like to extend this invitation to participate in this ministry [lector] to anyone in good standing with the Catholic Faith.” From the Sunday Bulletin, November 13th.

No wonder the Reverend Monsignor is so exhausted that he can’t celebrate all the Sunday Masses each week—he spends his energy screening participation in Parish ministries, seeking out those “not in good standing.”

Applying such a designation to parishioners is not within the Reverend Monsignor’s job description and borders on the slanderous. The Eucharistic celebration is the ultimate sign of the Body of Christ, the Church, Us—it should not be used to divide Us.

News Commentary
The Reverend Monsignor will be deposed this Wednesday (11/16). I say it’s about time, maybe Holy Spirit can start to function as a Vatican II parish again, once he’s gone.
[Psst! It’s a deposition—testimony in a lawsuit—not a removal.]
Oh, that's very different..., never mind! Emily Litella

Prepared by RGV Parishioners for Progress and edited by Jerry Brazier. Copy this, and pass it on to fellow parishioners, either by e-mail or paper. If you want an opportunity for prayerful discussion of these and other issues about the parish or have any other comments, please contact us at gbrazier@rgv.rr.com.

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