Patricius at Singulare Ingenium asks "What are the seven things that we as Catholics want or would like to see happen?"
Clearly trying to save this blog from drifting into the random musings of a holidaying teacher obsessed with plums, (but with a mind drifting in the direction of apple chutney...anything to put off the moment of having to mug up on Controlled Coursework for GCSE, the ICT security implications of which will, I am certain, not be addressed by the exam board, actually I'm sure they aren't, I went on the INSECT course, but I digress.)
Mm having had a sneak look at Fr Tim's answers....
1 Send all the Music Directors of the Dioceses (whoever they are???) to Solesmes and give them the Gregorian Missal for Sundays and Feast Days. Buy lots of copies of Plainsong for Schools and start teaching the infants the Missa de Angelis. Get rid of hymns written by Protestants. ICEL worried about the new English translation sounding like Cranmer? Too right, but we don't seem sensitive to music written by heretics. So, music is just a vehicle to which you attach words and has no inherent meaning then? Purcell in a Catholic Church? I've heard it. Get some qualified like, MA( Oxon), FRCO, LRAM, ARCM music editors to go through the hymn books and where needed provide two versions of hymn accompaniments, one for organ and one for piano. (rant warning) Just as there are practising Catholic teachers out there in non-Catholic schools, there are practising Catholic musicians out there driven to insanity who will not involve themselves in parish music because the repertoire and the way they are treated is so awful.
2 Put a choir loft in the new Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary Blackfen with of course a stellar organ, trumpet stops, the lot. Have also a chamber organ for smaller music too.
3 Commission Catholic artists and musicians to produce beautiful works of art for churches and cathedrals and ignore the people who say it's a waste of money. They are just closet puritans.
4 Get every diocese to follow the lead of Bishop O'Donoghue and implement his Fit for Mission documents.
5 Challenge anti-Catholic legislation and do not go for the compromise. It never works.
6 I used to think that we could just wait 20 years til the dodgy stuff had gone out of fashion, but that will be too late to save things so I'm afraid some people are going to need to be put out to grass. Sorry folks but, lay chaplain is an oxymoron. If your chaplain can't celebrate Mass, they need to go.
A GCSE Catholic RE needs to be introduced which takes in the Catechism, Scripture and Catholic Culture. That would mean Saints, the liturgical calendar, some sacred art and Catholic music. My Grandfather's text book - 'Red Letter Feasts for Catholic Schools, with illustrations from the old masters', published in the late 50s shows that it can be done.
6 1/2 Have a campaign to encourage us all to support Catholic religious orders, charities etc even more, to generally build up the Church in this country. (Pop over to The Sisters of the Gospel of Life and buy them a buggy and get your Xmas cards from ACN.)
6 3/4 Free up lots of time, energy, people and money by getting rid of committees and boring meetings. Support people who are doing stuff, not talking about it.
6 7/8 Priests say the black, do the red.
Laity bask in the unfussy silence, whichever the Form of the Mass.
7 Celebrate Feast Days in a Boglesque manner, with Masses, Processions, Food and Fun.
Implement a Fit for Mission: Merry England programme.
6 comments:
Thanks for posting Leutgeb! I especially liked nos 1 and 3. As regards the chaplain business, our university chaplain is not only not a priest but is not even Catholic. In an institution practically run by priests I find that especially hard to deal with...
(of Porta Caeli)Best list I've seen.Can only say Yes, yes, yes....
Definitely a brilliant list. I may have to abdicate some of my choices and implement your's instead...
Re the "controlled coursework"...Senior Management have not thought this through in most schools. I worked out in June that all subjects (not just my own - IT) will be competing for computer room slots and invigilators over the year as never before - especially at peak times for coursework (whenever that is for most - usually Year 11 post Christmas). Of course with limited computer rooms, and IT teachers needing them day in day out.
The mature approach is to go to management in writing with all HODs and sit down NOW, write and agree a schedule between you all, and stick to it, so you can plan ahead.
The sneaky approach is to book the rooms and people you need now (and a dry run day as well), before alerting the others. I am but a humble class teacher, but my boss is tearing her hair out about it already.
Thanks dilly.
I should say that my school no longer does many GCSEs with c/w and I think this will only affect Music and Class Civ.
Also, *goes red* the Music Dept has its own Music Tech Room running 28 Macs with Sibelius and Logic.
It will only affect Composing and there are a few things I need to think out, so that the whole experience is not a nonsense for the pupils.
I'm not loosing sleep, I'm building myself up. It's a long term folks, so stay in bed now whilst you can!
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