Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 33

Is It a Food Pantry or a Poison Pantry?

My Article at CRUX this week questions the effectiveness of our charity efforts. The poor-whether they are genuine or not-congregate around Catholic churches because the needy know we care. Down through the ages Catholics, along with other Christians have rolled up their sleeves and got to work feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, healing the [Read More...]

Ten Things I Learned About Building a New Church

OK. This is a MUST READ if you or your parish are planning to build a new church or planning to renovate an ugly modern church. I learned these things through building the new Our Lady of the Rosary Church at OLR Beauty doesn’t need to be expensive – when we got started and I was [Read More...]

Mass? What’s the Point?

My article at Aleteia this week is a discussion of Cardinal Sarah’s encouragement of ad orientem celebration of the Mass. Last week the French publication Famille Chretienne published a lengthy interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in which he urges a return to Mass being celebrated ad [Read More...]

A Pipe Organ or Kumbayah?

What is it about a pipe organ that is so important that the fathers of the second Vatican Council actually recommended its use in worship? In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963, it is stated that “… [Read More...]

Mob Violence: It’s Going to Get Worse

Embed from Getty Images I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but the mob violence we are witnessing in the United States is going to get worse. Don’t imagine that this is a “right wing” or “left wing” problem. The mobs inside the Trump rallies and the mobs outside the Trump rallies are driven by [Read More...]

Be an Organ Donor of the Catholic Kind!

We’re building a new church in our parish and we’ve taken the bold step of buying a pipe organ. The pipe organ adds beauty and dignity to our Catholic worship. It’s a traditional instrument for the solemn significance of our Catholic Mass. We have factored the purchase price into our financial plan, but we need [Read More...]

Give More Money!

Don’t give it to me. Just give it. My blog post for the National Catholic Register this week explains why. Read that Gospel again. That’s exactly what the rich young man said to Jesus. He told Jesus how good he was. The underlying principle is very simple—“you cannot serve God and money”—and a sad majority [Read More...]

The New Mass Translation. Is It Worth the Effort?

My article at CRUX this week reflects on nearly five years since the new translation of the Mass into English started to be used. Some people find it awkward and distracting.  Out of the priests and lay leaders in the 6,000 parishes surveyed, 51 percent said they either liked the new translation or didn’t notice [Read More...]

Blood and Guts Catholicism

Go here to listen to my homily from Our Lady of the Rosary for Corpus Christi on Sunday.

Ten Ways I See Jesus in Pope Francis

The Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ, and every faithful pope in his own way, through his own personality and charism will reveal an aspect of Christ to the world. In saying this, I should add that this is also the calling of every priest who is called to be perfectly conformed to the [Read More...]