A Few More Questions

You know how it is: you intend to do something (Thing A), other things take over (Things B through to J, say) and Thing A gets left and done in a rush, when you are tired and not able to give it your full attention.

So it was with yesterday's post. So here are a few more of the questions that have been rattling around in what passes for a brain at the top end of my body.

Given the context, the Year of Mercy, one question that strikes me is: will there be ample opportunities for Confession before and after Mass, and exhortation to those attending to seek mercy for any serious sins on their conscience in the way in which Our Lord offers it?

Will there be booklets available with a proper Examination of Conscience in them, to help those who come seeking mercy truly to embrace it?

And then there is the question asked of Brentwood Cathedral by @dolphinmaria on Twitter: When will you be celebrating Mass welcoming the victims of adultery as part of the #YearOfMercy?

Another is: when is the Mass for paedophile priests? For are they not in need of mercy? And if not a Mass for them, why not? Is it only groups of whom the Guardian would approve who merit Welcoming Masses? Or is it that in this case (as opposed to the others) the powers that be in Brentwood believe that some harm has really been done? Or is it simply that it would be a PR disaster?

Which leads me onto another question: how do we distinguish this series of Welcoming Masses from virtue signalling? Or is there (terrible thought) no distinction to be made in this case?

And perhaps the most troubling question of all: is this using the Mass for something other than its true purpose? For that would be the gravest sin of all.