the heroic details

For the past 6 months, my oldest son has been receiving instruction at our parish for the sacrament of Confirmation.  His class consisted of 10 boys/men.  It worked out really well because Elijah's class at school is also preparing for Confirmation, so his religious instruction at school for this whole year has been focused on that.   Originally we did not think he would be Confirmed this year at all, but then our priest made the announcement about the classes and although Eli and his good friend, Finnian, are both only 11, the priest let them into the class.  They both did very well, and they were the two youngest confirmed yesterday at our church. During Mass Processing in The Bishop presiding over the ceremony was Eusebio Elizondo, one of our auxiliary bishops.  I had never had the pleasure of meeting him before, and I very much enjoyed his joyful and vibrant personality. His speech to the confirmadi was good and hilar...

I originally wrote this in 2017. I decided to modify and re-publish it. This is not meant to be a deep theological or liturgical study of the Mass, and I admit it’s hardly objective. This is an autobiographical sketch of my experiences growing up as an American Catholic with the Novus Ordo Mass, and what I experienced when I found and attended the Latin Mass. My family I have always felt very blessed to have been born into a Catholic family.  Even if I did not always appreciate, understand, or practice my Catholic faith very well, I still feel it was a privilege to be baptized as an infant into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.  I am so glad that I was raised from the very beginning with the Mass, the Eucharist, the sacrament of Confession, the Rosary, my Guardian Angel, and the Communion of Saints. My First Communion with Fr. Day and my brother, Joseph. I had a very average American upbringing; nothing special to report. I was a mostly worldly ch...