Holy Mother Church
My parish, Holy Redeemer, has a new pastor. Father Tim McDonald, who rescued Holy Redeemer from some very hard times—crises that could well have led to the dissolution of the parish—has been assigned to head a parish near Jackson. Father Tim is only a few years older than me, one of that generation of youngish old-school priests inspired by the conservative dedication to Church tradition of the late Pope John Paul II. He was a rock exactly when Holy Redeemer needed one, and he will be sorely missed. I join my fellow parishioners in wishing him well in all his future ventures.

Our new pastor is Father Steve Anderson… who has a wife and kids, and an infant grandchild. Father Steve is a convert to Catholicism, having joined the Church in 1999 and been ordained as a priest in 2003. Prior to this, he was a minister in some heretical fringe denomination called the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which of course isn't a church at all, but like all Protestant "churches" only a denomination. This means that prior to 2003 Father Steve wasn't in any way a man of the cloth, he was just another jumped-up layman like all Protestant clergy. As a Charismatic Episcopal "priest," he took a wife and sired children. Eventually, he recognized the heresy inherent to the Protestant creed and sought to join Holy Mother Church. Special procedures set up on instruction of John Paul II by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the prefect of which was then-Cardinal Ratzinger—today His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI—allowed Father Steve to be ordained as a priest while preserving the sanctity of his marriage. I know so much about Father Steve's road to Holy Redeemer because he described his journey in detail in a letter in the bulletin his first week at the parish. He, Mrs. Anderson, and the children were all treated to a round of applause upon introduction to the parish. It's weird having a married priest, but of far larger concern is the shaky quality of Father Steve's homilies. Here's hoping he'll improve rapidly.

"If I promise to go to church on Sunday,
Will you go with me on Friday night?
If you live with me I'll die for you,
And let's compromise."
—Green Day, "Church on Sunday" from Warning

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Bad in Plaid" from More Noise and Other Disturbances (T.L.A.M.)