Dearest
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
In the musical (and movie) “Fiddler on the
Roof”, the main character – Tevya, sings a song about tradition. He is pondering the problem of a daughter who
wants to marry some idealistic dreamer, and has become caught up in his
idealism herself, and who didn’t care about his permission to marry, they just
wanted his blessing. He ponders how
things have changed so and how these changes all go against the traditions of
his people. He is caught between
TRADITION! and his love for his daughter.
His love for his daughter wins out in the end and he gives his blessing and his permission.
I had been thinking about this a fair bit
this past week. It was only about 11
years ago that the bishops of the Province of Milwaukee (the State of
Wisconsin) voted to move the observance of the Ascension of our Lord to the
following Sunday. Their reasoning was
that, having celebrated the Resurrection, it was important that people be
present for the celebration of the Ascension (a Holy Day of Obligation) as an
integral part of our overall celebration of the Paschal Mystery. The bishops recognized that holy days of
obligation had less of a hold on people’s sense of obligation and, as a result,
many, many were not present for this important celebration.
Along with (then) Bishop Burke, the only
one of the six bishops to vote against this proposal, I questioned the wisdom
of this move. However, in obedience I
happily celebrated the Ascension on the Sunday following the 40th
day after the Resurrection. Like Tevya,
I have struggled in the years since with the tension between TRADITION! and the
love for my people. And, like Tevya, I
have come down in favor of the desire for my people to celebrate this very
important mystery of our faith – even if not on the “proper” day.
One of the graces in the years since has
been the rehabilitation of the “Extraordinary Form” of the Roman Rite (AKA: the
Latin Mass). In allowing for the
unfettered celebration of this form of the Roman Rite the Holy Father has, thus
far, retained also the traditional calendar.
Thus, Catholics with a desire not to give in to modernity are easily
able to do so.
Another wonderful tradition, kept alive by
the Extraordinary Form calendar has been the “Rogation Days”. I discovered
this when I all of a sudden heard chanting and discovered a procession going
past my house! The Rogation Days are
days of penance and supplication to almighty God for a fruitful growing
season and preservation from the forces of nature. In the spring they fall on the
three days beginning on April 25th (the major rogation days) and the
three days prior to Ascension Thursday (the minor rogation days). I have for many years tried to revive this
tradition, especially since I have typically been assigned to parishes with a
strong farming culture. However, once
gone, especially after 40 years, it is very hard to revive a communal tradition. Thankfully, in our little corner of the
world, the Latin Mass community has kept this tradition alive. Unfortunately, this year, it was not
publicized in our Tri-Parish bulletin. I
have asked Fr. Gardner to be sure and do this in the future so that we all may
have the opportunity to participate in these wonderful prayers and traditions.
It is my great hope that, as we rediscover
the wonderful and grace-filled traditions of our faith, our desire to celebrate
them with vigor will be restored. Who
knows? Maybe, with time, we will even
all be celebrating the Feast of the Ascension on the 40th day after
the Resurrection once again. However, whether
we do, or we don’t, let us remember that “Love of God above all things” and
“Love of our Neighbor as ourselves” is the reason for our existence and our
motive in all things. In love let us
celebrate the great mysteries of our faith on whatever day they fall, and God’s
great and gracious generosity to us in all things.
Pray Well!
