In the latest Rorate Coeli Report contains pictures of:

1) A Harley Davidson trike, painted in flames, with "Ora Pro Nobis" painten on the rear.  It is touted favorably as being a unique apostolate;

2) Pics of the priest from the Syracuse (Warners) Academy posing with the boys, ALL of whom are dressed in shorts before running the Academy marathon fundraisere;

3) Fr. Novak celebrating Mass on the hood of a Jeep to "reenact" Fr. Kapuan having donee so during wartime in Korea.  Is it appropriate to celebrat Mass on a Jeep without necessity?

Is any of this problematic?

Absolutely not.  This speaks to an extremely Novus Ordo mentality.

As for the Harley, that speaks to a Protestant mentality of blending the holy with the banal and worldly, believing that by intermingling with the world, the world can be elevated, when it's usually the other way around.  When Roncalli and Montini opened the windows of the Vatican, the putrid pollution of the world flowed in.

As for the shorts, if they were near the knee, then probably OK given what they were doing.  But I'm not sure it belongs on the cover of anything ... and that again speaks to trying to hard to be "of the world".

Father Novak Novus Ordo? PUHLEASE!  He is a man's man priest and should not be slandered in any way! That priest exudes complete tradition!

Father Novak Novus Ordo? PUHLEASE!  He is a man's man priest and should not be slandered in any way! That priest exudes complete tradition!

Could it be that you are confusing his robust personality for tradition?
I can’t think of any other traditional priests voluntarily offering to say Mass on vulgar or profane objects without necessity.
I don’t even like portable Mass kits + Greek corporal for visiting priests, but at least can understand the necessity of it.
I suppose Fr. Novak knows better than me, and maybe I am a bit scrupulous in this regard, but it seems to me that a sentimental reenactment is insufficient cause to degrade the Mass.
I am open to being corrected here.
The boys in shorts thing never would have happened in the 1900s.
And the Harley/Ora Pro Nobis plus 7 Sorrows swords surrounded by flame struck me as an uncomfortable mixture of sacred and profane (degrading the latter), but I have conflicting thoughts on this one.

I received it in the mail, and the RCR website is two months behind.

I am intimately acquainted with the Novus Ordo attitude to the Mass in having served as the lead altar boy in my Novus Ordo parish growing up.

Here is the Harley photo (need to be logged in to see).

Here is the Harley photo

This to me is just chessy and corny.  Like all those lame Protestant T-shirts.

Here’s the boys all in shorts:

I don't find this to be a big deal per se.  Shorts go to their knees and in some cases cover them.  I just think that the SSPX is going too far to show themselves to be "with it" and "cool" and not totally hostile toward secular reality.  There's a fine line between this and becoming worldly.  So, for instance, let's advertise all the "fun" we have at seminary, and all the "cool" things our priests do.  None of this stuff ever draws people to the Church.  Why?  It's because people have enough of the world in their daily lives.  They are drawn to the Church precisely because it draws them and lifts them OUT OF and ABOVE the world.  I don't go to Mass to experience crappy third-rate music.  I'd rather listen to "good" music at home.  There used to be a cartoon series called King of the Hill.  One of the most memorable lines from that show came when the main character's son decided to start a Christian rock band.  His father replied:  "Bobbie, you're not making Christianity better.  You're making rock-n-roll worse."  All you get here is a very bad imitation of the world.

And here's the lesson that these new generations of SSPXers do not get ... because they did not grow up with it.  Listen well, youngsters:  THE NOVUS ORDO ALREADY TRIED THIS, and it was an EPIC FAILURE that not only did not draw people into the Church, but even had the opposite effect, of losing countless souls back to the world.  I think this is the fruit of a younger generation of Trads who grew up knowing only Tradition.  They have not learned the lessons from watching the Novus Ordo play out ... and implode in slow motion before their very eyes..  So they are doomed to repeat it ... naturally speaking.  I remember being shown a video during my Novus Ordo High School days where the narrator was mocking the Tridentine Mass over how the priest had his back turned to the people and "mumbled" in a language they couldn't understand.  But they made the mistake of showing footage from a Tridentine Mass.  And I was absolutely awe-struck by the Mass.  This, I knew, was what my soul and my mind had always longed for.  So it had the opposite effect on me from what was intended.  From that point on, I went in search of this Mass.

I've also known some younger priests who play basketball with the young men of the parish.  Does this ever draw people to the Church?  No, it usually leads to a loss of respect for the priest and the priesthood.  I've known priests who palled around with their parishioners.  But people don't need another drinking buddy.  They need a spiritual director, someone they can look up to and respect, not someone that they lose respect for by seeing all their faults up close and personal.  I used to say to my brother, who, like myself, was an ex-seminarian, that it's a good thing lay people don't ever spend time living at the seminary, since they'd never again have any respect for priests.  It's not easy to maintain that respect when you see people with all their warts and their failings.