Hi! My name's Father Mike Schmitz and this is Ascension Presents.
So ... I keep getting some emails or the hashtag #AskFrMike, and I haven't done one of those in a long time
so I thought HEY let's do one today! All right?! So, let's do it!
One question is this: people have been writing to me and asking me about chapel veils.
I'm not sure is you know what Chapel Veils are, but they are ... they date back to the early centuries of Christianity
where, when women would go into a church, into Mass, into a chapel they'd put on a veil over their head.
And, St. Paul writes about this in First Corinthians chapter 11, where he talks about how a woman
going into prayer would cover her head as a sign of her dignity;
whereas a man would leave his head uncovered as a sign of his dignity.
Just kind of a custom basically.
but, the custom was not meant to say "Men are better, women are not."
It was meant to be, "No, these are two—male and female, male and female
praying at the same time ... equal in dignity.
And, as a sign of that, she has her head covered with a chapel veil.
Now, that was actually common practice and in fact it was pretty much I think as I understand it, required before the Second Vatican Council
But, kind of like, a lot of other things, during the Second Vatican Council, some things changed and people started not wearing chapel veils.
In fact, I even think the 1983 Code of Canon Law— correct me if I'm wrong—
it says it is no longer part of the required rite—or required garments? Whatever?
for the Novus Ordo Mass.
So, clarify. If a woman does not wear a chapel veil, at the Novus Ordo Mass,
which is like the English Mass, the one most of us are familiar with
or, even with the extraordinary form, it's not a sin.
If someone were to ask me "But, Father Mike, can I wear a chapel veil? What do you think about that?"
I would say, "Well, of course! You're free to do that! It's like any other sacramental in the Church."
We have sacramentals like rosaries and scapulars and holy water and you are free to make use of those as much as you want.
So ... yeah, you're free to do that!
But, I was trained (laughs)—"trained," I went to college—at a college that had a monastery on campus,
and Benedictines, and Benedictines have a long history when it comes to liturgy.
And, one of the things, I remember them wanting to do something kind of different than the rest of the community
at that monastery, at that college.
And, one of the monks, pulled me aside and said "Just here's a general rule of thumb. If you do something in communal prayer
that sets you apart from everyone else in a communal prayer, then think twice about doing it before you do it."
This is under the condition that what they're doing as a rest of them in a communal prayer is according to the rites and the rubrics of the Catholic Church, right?
So, as long as (laughs) that's all being taken care of, if I'm doing something that sets me apart in public worship or public liturgy
as distinct from everyone else, then ... just ... take a beat ... pump the brakes ... and ask "Why am I doing this?"
And, that's a great question to ask anytime ... like, why do I want to do this?
Why do I wanna have this drink? Why am I eating this right now?
Why did I just say that? Why do I have to exercise so much? It's great question to ask, what am I looking for in doing this?
It's a good question. And, if you say, "Well, I want to honor the Lord, and it's a great sign of my desire to kind of be clothed with dignity."
That's really beautiful!
And, if you say "I like that", then, OK!
Question #2!
Question #2 is "Father, what is the significance of dreams?"
What's the significance of dreams?
Well ... there's some SUPER smart people ... Thomas Aquinas, Augustine ... they talked about this a bit, and pretty much both of them
came to the conclusion that dreams are pretty much a psychological manifestations.
Right? So you've all, we've all seen ... it's a Christmas (laughs) "It's a Christmas Carol" (laughs) We've all seen "A Christmas Carol"
where Ebeneezer Scrooge says "You see more of gravy than of grave to me, Specter" or whatever he says!
And, there's a certain sense of, like, our dreams are typically our own psychological manifestations to ourself about something we've been thinking about
Or maybe something we ate the previous day!
Keeping that in mind, that are some occasions in the Bible where God speaks to someone through a dream.
God speaks to Joseph through a dream— Old Testament. He speaks to Joseph in a dream—New Testament.
(laughs) He speaks to ... Pilate's wife in a dream! He speaks in dreams sometimes!
In fact, he prophesized, the prophet says, back in the Old Testament
"The young men will dream dreams; the old men will have visions."
So, God does sometimes speak through dreams. It's possible.
It's not incredibly likely.
My own dreams, or one's own dreams, typically reveal what we've been thinking about, more than they reveal God's will.
If God wants to communicate something of himself to you through the medium of dreams
that dream—I am almost guaranteeing you this—that dream will be so significantly different than a normal dream,
that it will not be a question of "Was God speaking there or not?"
When Joseph, the husband of Mary, had in a dream, the angel come to him and say,
"Don't be afraid to take this Child into your home, or wife into your home, because, etc, etc."
My guess is, THAT dream was significantly different enough than any of Joseph's other dreams that he was able to say
"Ahh! This is coming from God and not just from the matzo I had yesterday".
Next step!! Is this.
Just because it seems significantly different to you, doesn't mean it actually is a message from God.
So, just like St. Paul says, we test everything. Discern the spirits. Put it under the scrutiny of the wisdom of the Church.
And, then let the Church and the Scriptures guide you,
rather than "Well, I had a dream once, and now I know."
No, no, no! Put that under the wisdom, the discernment, the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit working through the Church and through the Bible!
From all of us here (laughing) at Ascension Presents, my name's Father Mike. God Bless!