It starts pouring at the Universal Prayers, which included one for Pope Benedict, and then by the Roman Canon it is sunny.
Mass in Latin, Sistine Choir, marvelous, decorations/flowers the best I've seen for Easter. Pope Francis gives a stunning off-the-cuff homily and earns applause which is not encourage at Mass under this pontiff. The crowds are told, in fact, prior to Mass not to applaud the pope when he enters.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 2017
EASTER, EASTER, EASTER, ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!
Easter has arrived! Alleluia! The splendid Papal Mass for the Vigil of Easter at St. Peter's Basilica:
LITURGICAL NEGATIVITY AS DESCENDING INTO HELL
It is easy to be negative and cynical about the state of the crisis of the Church today. Many want to bury their heads in the sand and simply be grateful that at least 12 % of Catholics in some American dioceses actually practice the Faith by attending the Liturgies of the Church.
For Holy Thursday and Good Friday, my new church that can seat up to 1,200 people, was less that half full which is about 500 people. It looked half full, but if the same number were at the previous church that seats 500 it would have looked packed. So it is all a matter of perspective. And Richmond Hill, Georgia only has about 30,000 people but is a fast growing bedroom community of Savannah, if that many, compared to Macon with over 150,000 people, but a declining population.
I am not as negative about the modern liturgies of the Church as some are. I am not negative at all about the extraordinary form liturgies either. I've only celebrated Mass, baptisms and Nuptial Liturgies in the ancient form, never Holy Thursday, Good Friday or the Easter Vigil. I would find that I would be a fish out of water if I had to do it now after 37 years of the modern forms of these liturgies.
I think where ultra-traditionalists miss the mark is in their negativity about the modern forms which can be celebrated well if there is attention to detail, rehearsals when needed, and doing it by the book, meaning that old cliche, do the red and read the black, but without being robotic.
I know from experience that prior to the reforms of the Mass, most priests were not robotic with the ancient form of the Mass. Younger priests today, and maybe it is scrupulosity that also existed in the pre-Vatican II Church, seem so robotic, as though the liturgy is foreign to them, not integrated into their very soul and they are trying just a bit too much to disengage their humanity from the divinity they celebrate, not realizing that the Mystery they celebrate is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, one Divine Person, with two natures, human and divine and the human part comes from the humans that God created in His image and likeness, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary who was no robot!
The hope for the Church is coming from not only our Emeritus Pope's liturgical legacy, but from the likes of Cardinal Sarah and Bishop Morlino. They recognize the crisis in the Church and have a "Marshal" plan to fix it beginning with the Liturgy of Vatican II celebrated in continuity with the Liturgy of the Church from all times, with beauty, care, solemnity and sobriety.
Friday, April 14, 2017
JESUS TOOK ON HIS BODY THE SINS OF UN-EMPATHETIC BISHOPS AND CRIMINAL PRIESTS AND OUR LORD FELT AND KNEW THE ASSAULTS OF EVERY KIND OF ABUSE
Healing prayer service for survivors of abuse held at Cathedral
Originally Appeared in : 9708-4/13/17
Following
is the homily Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM. Conv., gave March 29 at
the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah during the
diocese’s first Lenten prayer service for survivors of abuse.
The suffering of the innocent has mystified and bewildered people of Faith long before Isaiah the Prophet wrote the moving description of God’s suffering Servant that we just heard in our first reading.
The suffering of the innocent goes back to Cain killing his brother Abel out of jealously; out of a complete lack of respect for the sanctity and the preciousness of human life.
Christians have always envisioned Jesus as the unique Innocent One whose suffering is a unique source of healing and life for all of us. Yet we also know that Christ is not the only innocent person ever to have suffered.
Recently we have had to admit that far too many innocent ones have lived with the pain of abuse at the hands of those who should have protected them, nurtured them, and sanctified them.
Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant, while it was perfected in Christ, remains a source of mystery and confusion in the world that Christ has already redeemed.
The suffering of the innocent is the reason that we are gathered this evening in prayer in our Cathedral; the mother church of our diocese. It is the reason that you and I are here in God’s house at this moment in time.
A light yoke placed on the shoulders of two oxen makes for an easier burden – what a fascinating image the Gospel of Matthew offers us. Most of our yokes are very heavy and the burdens that some of you carry are extremely difficult to endure. Too many people carry yokes and bear burdens of which few people may be aware.
This is especially true of people who have suffered the violence of abuse – sexual, physical, emotional or the dreaded combination of all three of those forms of brutality. And the yoke and burden are made infinitely more difficult to endure because so many people feel that they must bear them all alone.
Some of you are here because you have had your innocence taken from you, others are here because they have endured domestic violence – physical or psychological, some are here because they have been abused in ways that they alone know, still others have come to this prayer service because you want to support those whose lives have been damaged by any form of violence.
For more than three decades the Church of Christ has been compelled intensely to find ways to comfort, to heal, to console, to support our people who bear such burdens and who labor under such yokes of pain and isolation.
And the most important part of this challenge has been the duty of all of us to acknowledge that the Church herself has too often added to the burdens and weighed down the yokes of too many people through the deeds of some of her ministers and colleagues, through the negligence and regrettable decisions of some of her Shepherds and through reactions that have added to the feelings of isolation of those who were bent low with the burdens and yokes that events in the past had placed upon their shoulders and most importantly within their hearts.
The Church in South Georgia gathers this evening in prayer and in solidarity with some of the people who bring these yokes and burdens with them in hopes of finding some peace, finding some understanding, and in God’s grace……… perhaps discovering a bit of closure.
As the Shepherd of this local Church, I acknowledge a few things before all of you this night. First, there is much pain and sorrow that fills the hearts of many in our Church that I do not fully realize.
There are yokes and burdens that are beyond my meager ability to grasp. Therefore, I cannot pretend to comprehend the depth of sorrow that so many people have and continue to endure.
I do not want anything that I might say in our prayer this evening to suggest that I know more or that I understand more than I do about the pain that fills too many hearts.
I also want to apologize for people that I may never have met and for events that occurred before I became your bishop or in places far removed from Savannah or Georgia. I do that from the heart and I do that in justice and in love because these people deserve to hear no less than those words spoken sincerely and from the heart of the Church.
I am truly sorry for any pain that a Church minister might have inflicted upon any person here or upon any relative or friend of anyone gathered here in prayer this evening.
I am sorry that a spouse or a child has had to live with domestic violence of any kind or form. I am sorry for those who have been abused by a teacher, a coach, an organizational leader, a parent or family relative or a stranger.
These words of apology need to be spoken and to be heard many times in the future because the residual hurt that so many people may continue to feel requires that the Bishop of a local Church offer these words again and again.
I must do more, however, than speak a word of apology, I must continue to assure people that the Church is doing everything within our power to provide a safe environment for the vulnerable, comfort for the injured and a compassionate heart for those who seek to share their sorrow with us.
Some of you are present because you are counselors and the therapists who have assisted people who have endured abuse. I thank you sincerely for all that you have done to bring comfort to broken hearts. I thank especially the families of survivors of all forms of violence for the understanding and the compassion that you have extended to your loved ones, for the tears that you have shed for them, for the hope that you offer them as they continue their journey of healing.
I thank my brothers priests and deacons both those in attendance this evening and those who have worked quietly, generously, and effectively to comfort and console the victims of violence and abuse.
Some of you may be at this prayer service with heavy hearts because you have been alienated from your own families and friends because of what you have endured. I assure you that Christ, who in His Passion, was betrayed and abandoned by many of His own friends and loved ones, understands the pain of alienation and isolation and He stands with you.
May Christ heal all the hearts and spirits of the survivors of violence of all types. May the truly Innocent One who endured suffering for all of us bring healing and comfort to all here, gathered in prayer and especially to those whose burdens and pains still weigh them down.
May the Lord grant you his peace. Amen.
The suffering of the innocent has mystified and bewildered people of Faith long before Isaiah the Prophet wrote the moving description of God’s suffering Servant that we just heard in our first reading.
The suffering of the innocent goes back to Cain killing his brother Abel out of jealously; out of a complete lack of respect for the sanctity and the preciousness of human life.
Christians have always envisioned Jesus as the unique Innocent One whose suffering is a unique source of healing and life for all of us. Yet we also know that Christ is not the only innocent person ever to have suffered.
Recently we have had to admit that far too many innocent ones have lived with the pain of abuse at the hands of those who should have protected them, nurtured them, and sanctified them.
Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant, while it was perfected in Christ, remains a source of mystery and confusion in the world that Christ has already redeemed.
The suffering of the innocent is the reason that we are gathered this evening in prayer in our Cathedral; the mother church of our diocese. It is the reason that you and I are here in God’s house at this moment in time.
A light yoke placed on the shoulders of two oxen makes for an easier burden – what a fascinating image the Gospel of Matthew offers us. Most of our yokes are very heavy and the burdens that some of you carry are extremely difficult to endure. Too many people carry yokes and bear burdens of which few people may be aware.
This is especially true of people who have suffered the violence of abuse – sexual, physical, emotional or the dreaded combination of all three of those forms of brutality. And the yoke and burden are made infinitely more difficult to endure because so many people feel that they must bear them all alone.
Some of you are here because you have had your innocence taken from you, others are here because they have endured domestic violence – physical or psychological, some are here because they have been abused in ways that they alone know, still others have come to this prayer service because you want to support those whose lives have been damaged by any form of violence.
For more than three decades the Church of Christ has been compelled intensely to find ways to comfort, to heal, to console, to support our people who bear such burdens and who labor under such yokes of pain and isolation.
And the most important part of this challenge has been the duty of all of us to acknowledge that the Church herself has too often added to the burdens and weighed down the yokes of too many people through the deeds of some of her ministers and colleagues, through the negligence and regrettable decisions of some of her Shepherds and through reactions that have added to the feelings of isolation of those who were bent low with the burdens and yokes that events in the past had placed upon their shoulders and most importantly within their hearts.
The Church in South Georgia gathers this evening in prayer and in solidarity with some of the people who bring these yokes and burdens with them in hopes of finding some peace, finding some understanding, and in God’s grace……… perhaps discovering a bit of closure.
As the Shepherd of this local Church, I acknowledge a few things before all of you this night. First, there is much pain and sorrow that fills the hearts of many in our Church that I do not fully realize.
There are yokes and burdens that are beyond my meager ability to grasp. Therefore, I cannot pretend to comprehend the depth of sorrow that so many people have and continue to endure.
I do not want anything that I might say in our prayer this evening to suggest that I know more or that I understand more than I do about the pain that fills too many hearts.
I also want to apologize for people that I may never have met and for events that occurred before I became your bishop or in places far removed from Savannah or Georgia. I do that from the heart and I do that in justice and in love because these people deserve to hear no less than those words spoken sincerely and from the heart of the Church.
I am truly sorry for any pain that a Church minister might have inflicted upon any person here or upon any relative or friend of anyone gathered here in prayer this evening.
I am sorry that a spouse or a child has had to live with domestic violence of any kind or form. I am sorry for those who have been abused by a teacher, a coach, an organizational leader, a parent or family relative or a stranger.
These words of apology need to be spoken and to be heard many times in the future because the residual hurt that so many people may continue to feel requires that the Bishop of a local Church offer these words again and again.
I must do more, however, than speak a word of apology, I must continue to assure people that the Church is doing everything within our power to provide a safe environment for the vulnerable, comfort for the injured and a compassionate heart for those who seek to share their sorrow with us.
Some of you are present because you are counselors and the therapists who have assisted people who have endured abuse. I thank you sincerely for all that you have done to bring comfort to broken hearts. I thank especially the families of survivors of all forms of violence for the understanding and the compassion that you have extended to your loved ones, for the tears that you have shed for them, for the hope that you offer them as they continue their journey of healing.
I thank my brothers priests and deacons both those in attendance this evening and those who have worked quietly, generously, and effectively to comfort and console the victims of violence and abuse.
Some of you may be at this prayer service with heavy hearts because you have been alienated from your own families and friends because of what you have endured. I assure you that Christ, who in His Passion, was betrayed and abandoned by many of His own friends and loved ones, understands the pain of alienation and isolation and He stands with you.
May Christ heal all the hearts and spirits of the survivors of violence of all types. May the truly Innocent One who endured suffering for all of us bring healing and comfort to all here, gathered in prayer and especially to those whose burdens and pains still weigh them down.
May the Lord grant you his peace. Amen.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
WHEN I WAS ORDAINED IN 1980 AND READ SOMETHING LIKE THIS BELOW, I WOULD HAVE STUCK A CROWN OF TORNS ON HIS HEAD, A REED IN HIS HAND AND MOCKED HIM AS A PRE-VATICAN II THROWBACK, THE ECCLESIAL VERSION OF THE "N" WORD!
What this great bishop is asking and leading by example is the only way to authentic reform of a broken Ordinary Form Mass. I would love to know how many of his brother apostles, bishops, are mocking and deriding him?
So much for "Resoursement" and a return to the "home Church" style of celebrating the Mass in the first few decades after the Resurrection!
So much for "Resoursement" and a return to the "home Church" style of celebrating the Mass in the first few decades after the Resurrection!
Bishop Morlino Calls for All to Receive Communion on Tongue While Kneeling
For I have learnt for a fact that nothing so effectively obtains, retains and regains grace, as that we should always be found not high-minded before God, but filled with holy fear. –St. Bernard of Clairveux
Bishop Morlino at the 2017 Chrism Mass for the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin.
On April 11, 2017, the Diocese of Madison joined with Bishop Morlino at the Chrism Mass. It was a glorious evening, with many of our priests in attendance.
During Bishop Morlino’s homily, he alluded to a recent March 31 address by Cardinal Sarah, the “Vatican Liturgy Chief” (Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments). In his address, Cardinal Sarah was forthright in calling for a recognition of “the serious and profound crisis” which, since the Council, has affected the liturgy by placing man and not God at the center of worship:
“The serious crisis of faith, not only at the level of the Christian faithful but also and especially among many priests and bishops, has made us incapable of understanding the Eucharistic liturgy as a sacrifice, as identical to the act performed once and for all by Jesus Christ, making present the Sacrifice of the Cross in a non-bloody manner, throughout the Church, through different ages, places, peoples and nations,” he said.“There is often a sacrilegious tendency to reduce the Holy Mass to a simple convivial meal, the celebration of a profane feast, the community’s celebration of itself, or even worse, a terrible diversion from the anguish of a life that no longer has meaning or from the fear of meeting God face to face, because His glance unveils and obliges us to look truly and unflinchingly at the ugliness of our interior life. But the Holy Mass is not a diversion. It is the living sacrifice of Christ who died on the cross to free us from sin and death, for the purpose of revealing the love and the glory of God the Father,” he added.
The notion that the Church is in crisis is not new. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy.”
In his Chrism Mass homily, Bishop Morlino highlighted the fact that the Catholic Church is very good at social issues at every level – Catholic organizations, dioceses, parishes and individuals – but, ours is a crisis of faith, revealed by less than 25% of Catholics attending Mass any longer (less than 5% in many parts of Europe). Where we are failing is in a lack of fervor in our faith, Bishop stated. This is most evident in how we, as priests, are offering the Mass, and how the faithful are praying the Mass.
Bishop Morlino went on to speak about “actuosa participatio” as being more about “actual participation” than “active participation.” Bishop lamented that we seem to feel everyone needs to be busy “doing something” at the Mass, when it is more important that we are deeply contemplating what is being done at the Mass … that God is made Present – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. This should stir our soul and fill us with awe and wonder. But, are we too busy to take notice?
A year ago, Bishop called for all tabernacles to be in church and in the center of the sanctuary. Last Fall, as part of the Bishop’s overall plan to add sacred beauty and reverence to all Masses in his diocese, Bishop Morlino encouraged all of his priests to strongly consider Cardinal Sarah’s call to offer the Mass ad orientem. Bishop Morlino then announced he would, from now on, be offering all of his Masses ad orientem.
Now, during last evening’s Chrism Mass, Bishop Morlino concluded his homily by appealing to all of his priests in his diocese to strongly encourage their parishioners to begin receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling, beginning this September.
Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
PRAISE BE JESUS CHRIST! WHAT BETTER DAY THAN HOLY THURSDAY!
I love these kinds of Catholic mysteries and once approve, how good is that! This is Catholic piety and devotion at its best, the pious blessing for the devout and believing devoid of the dry, bookish, intellectual form of Catholicism that tried to nix this kind of popular piety.
Bishop investigates alleged Eucharistic miracle in Argentina drug rehab home
- Catholic News AgencyApril 13, 2017
The host allegedly began to bleed during adoration. (Credit: AICA photo agency.)
As a group of young people prayed before the Blessed Sacrament at the San Miguel drug rehabilitation home in Argentina, they noticed a “deep red color, coming out of the host." Now the bishop is investigating the event and the necessary discernment has begun in order to establish whether it was in fact a miracle.
HOLY THURSDAY IS SUPPOSE TO HAVE TWO MAIN MASSES; DOES YOUR DIOCESE?
For that dreaded convenience in a world where transportation is quick, comfortable and affordable, the Church nonetheless in many dioceses has corrupted the Liturgies of Holy Week by offering the Chrism Mass on a day that is alien to its purpose.
In our diocese for the convenience of priests, it is celebrated on Holy Tuesday night. But it is actually meant to be celebrated on Holy Thursday at the Cathedral to point out that ON HOLY THURSDAY, NOT HOLY TUESDAY, The Lord Jesus Christ instituted two sacraments and in this order: Holy Orders first (which on Holy Thursday with our bishop, we celebrate as the oils that we use in our ministry are blessed and Chrism consecrated).
Then on Holy Thursday Evening, the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper celebrates the instituion of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Mass as Sacrifice, which of course needs a bishop or priest and in the EF's Solemn High version, a deacon and subdeacon. Are we going to move it to the morning for early rising priest's and their convenience in the future, or so more people can come, move it to the Sunday following????????
At least the Vatican as far as this year, at least, still keeps Holy Thursday's two Masses on Holy Thursday. Good for them.
Here is Holy Thursday's splendid celebration of the Chrism Mass at St. Peter's with Pope Francis and his homily below the video. The majority of the Mass is in Latin! Why? What is the Holy Father's logic in using Latin for some papal liturgies and Italian for others? For example, last Sunday, Palm Sunday, which would have had a huge international participation of a variety of language groups. the Palm Sunday Papal Mass was entirely in Italian:
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Holy Thursday Chrism Mass
13 April 2017
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Lk 4:18). Jesus, anointed by the Spirit, brings good news to the poor. Everything he proclaims, and we priests too proclaim, is good news. News full of the joy of the Gospel – the joy of those anointed in their sins with the oil of forgiveness and anointed in their charism with the oil of mission, in order to anoint others in turn.
Like Jesus, the priest makes the message joyful with his entire person. When he preaches – briefly, if possible! –, he does so with the joy that touches people’s hearts with that same word with which the Lord has touched his own heart in prayer. Like every other missionary disciple, the priest makes the message joyful by his whole being. For as we all know, it is in the little things that joy is best seen and shared: when by taking one small step, we make God’s mercy overflow in situations of desolation; when we decide to pick up the phone and arrange to see someone; when we patiently allow others to take up our time…
The phrase “good news” might appear as just another way of saying “the Gospel”. Yet those words point to something essential: the joy of the Gospel. The Gospel is good news because it is, in essence, a message of joy.
The good news is the precious pearl of which we read in the Gospel. It is not a thing but a mission. This is evident to anyone who has experienced the “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing” (Evangelii Gaudium, 10).
The good news is born of Anointing. Jesus’ first “great priestly anointing” took place, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of Mary. The good news of the Annunciation inspired the Virgin Mother to sing her Magnificat. It filled the heart of Joseph, her spouse, with sacred silence, and it made John leap for joy in the womb of Elizabeth, his mother.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus returns to Nazareth and the joy of the Spirit renews that Anointing in the little synagogue of that town: the Spirit descends and is poured out upon him, “anointing him with the oil of gladness” (cf. Ps 45:8).
Good news. A single word – Gospel – that, even as it is spoken, becomes truth, brimming with joy and mercy. We should never attempt to separate these three graces of the Gospel: its truth, which is non-negotiable; its mercy, which is unconditional and offered to all sinners; and its joy, which is personal and open to everyone.
The truth of the good news can never be merely abstract, incapable of taking concrete shape in people’s lives because they feel more comfortable seeing it printed in books.
The mercy of the good news can never be a false commiseration, one that leaves sinners in their misery without holding out a hand to lift them up and help them take a step in the direction of change.
This message can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is completely personal. It is “the joy of the Father, who desires that none of his little ones be lost” (Evangelii Gaudium, 237). It is the joy of Jesus, who sees that the poor have the good news preached to them, and that the little ones go out to preach the message in turn (ibid., 5) The joys of the Gospel are special joys. I say “joys” in the plural, for they are many and varied, depending on how the Spirit chooses to communicate them, in every age, to every person and in every culture. They need to be poured into new wineskins, the ones the Lord speaks of in expressing the newness of his message. I would like to share with you, dear priests, dear brothers, three images or icons of those new wineskins in which the good news is kept fresh, without turning sour but being poured out in abundance.
A first icon of the good news would be the stone water jars at the wedding feast of Cana (cf. Jn 2:6). In one way, they clearly reflect that perfect vessel which is Our Lady herself, the Virgin Mary. The Gospel tells us that the servants “filled them up to the brim” (Jn 2:7). I can imagine one of those servants looking to Mary to see if that was enough, and Mary signaling to add one more pailful. Mary is the new wineskin brimming with contagious joy. She is “the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises” (Evangelii Gaudium, 286), Our Lady of Prompt Succour, who, after conceiving in her immaculate womb the Word of life, goes out to visit and assist her cousin Elizabeth. Her “contagious fullness” helps us overcome the temptation of fear, the temptation to keep ourselves from being filled to the brim, the temptation to a faint-heartedness that holds us back from going forth to fill others with joy. This cannot be, for “the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus” (ibid., 1)
A second icon of the good news is the jug with its wooden ladle that the Samaritan woman carried on her head in the midday sun (cf. Jn 4:5-30). It speaks to us of something crucial: the importance of concrete situations. The Lord, the Source of Living Water, had no means of drawing the water to quench his thirst. So the Samaritan woman drew the water with her jug, and with her ladle she sated the Lord’s thirst. She sated it even more by concretely confessing her sins. By mercifully shaking the vessel of that Samaritan women’s soul, the Holy Spirit overflowed upon all the people of that small town, who asked the Lord to stay with them.
The Lord gave us another new vessel or wineskin full of this “inclusive concreteness” in that Samaritan soul who was Mother Teresa. He called to her and told her: “I am thirsty”. He said: “My child, come, take me to the hovels of the poor. Come, be my light. I cannot do this alone. They do not know me, and that is why they do not love me. Bring me to them”. Mother Teresa, starting with one concrete person, thanks to her smile and her way of touching their wounds, brought the good news to all.
The third icon of the good news is the fathomless vessel of the Lord’s pierced Heart: his utter meekness, humility and poverty which draw all people to himself. From him we have to learn that announcing a great joy to the poor can only be done in a respectful, humble, and even humbling, way. Evangelization cannot be presumptuous. The integrity of the truth cannot be rigid. The Spirit proclaims and teaches “the whole truth” (cf. Jn 16:3), and he is not afraid to do this one sip at a time. The Spirit tells us in every situation what we need to say to our enemies (cf. Mt 10:19), and at those times he illumines our every small step forward. This meekness and integrity gives joy to the poor, revives sinners, and grants relief to those oppressed by the devil.
Dear priests, as we contemplate and drink from these three new wineskins, may the good news find in us that “contagious fullness” which Our Lady radiates with her whole being, the “inclusive concreteness” of the story of the Samaritan woman, and the “utter meekness” whereby the Holy Spirit ceaselessly wells up and flows forth from the pierced heart of Jesus our Lord.
In our diocese for the convenience of priests, it is celebrated on Holy Tuesday night. But it is actually meant to be celebrated on Holy Thursday at the Cathedral to point out that ON HOLY THURSDAY, NOT HOLY TUESDAY, The Lord Jesus Christ instituted two sacraments and in this order: Holy Orders first (which on Holy Thursday with our bishop, we celebrate as the oils that we use in our ministry are blessed and Chrism consecrated).
Then on Holy Thursday Evening, the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper celebrates the instituion of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Mass as Sacrifice, which of course needs a bishop or priest and in the EF's Solemn High version, a deacon and subdeacon. Are we going to move it to the morning for early rising priest's and their convenience in the future, or so more people can come, move it to the Sunday following????????
At least the Vatican as far as this year, at least, still keeps Holy Thursday's two Masses on Holy Thursday. Good for them.
Here is Holy Thursday's splendid celebration of the Chrism Mass at St. Peter's with Pope Francis and his homily below the video. The majority of the Mass is in Latin! Why? What is the Holy Father's logic in using Latin for some papal liturgies and Italian for others? For example, last Sunday, Palm Sunday, which would have had a huge international participation of a variety of language groups. the Palm Sunday Papal Mass was entirely in Italian:
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Holy Thursday Chrism Mass
13 April 2017
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Lk 4:18). Jesus, anointed by the Spirit, brings good news to the poor. Everything he proclaims, and we priests too proclaim, is good news. News full of the joy of the Gospel – the joy of those anointed in their sins with the oil of forgiveness and anointed in their charism with the oil of mission, in order to anoint others in turn.
Like Jesus, the priest makes the message joyful with his entire person. When he preaches – briefly, if possible! –, he does so with the joy that touches people’s hearts with that same word with which the Lord has touched his own heart in prayer. Like every other missionary disciple, the priest makes the message joyful by his whole being. For as we all know, it is in the little things that joy is best seen and shared: when by taking one small step, we make God’s mercy overflow in situations of desolation; when we decide to pick up the phone and arrange to see someone; when we patiently allow others to take up our time…
The phrase “good news” might appear as just another way of saying “the Gospel”. Yet those words point to something essential: the joy of the Gospel. The Gospel is good news because it is, in essence, a message of joy.
The good news is the precious pearl of which we read in the Gospel. It is not a thing but a mission. This is evident to anyone who has experienced the “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing” (Evangelii Gaudium, 10).
The good news is born of Anointing. Jesus’ first “great priestly anointing” took place, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of Mary. The good news of the Annunciation inspired the Virgin Mother to sing her Magnificat. It filled the heart of Joseph, her spouse, with sacred silence, and it made John leap for joy in the womb of Elizabeth, his mother.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus returns to Nazareth and the joy of the Spirit renews that Anointing in the little synagogue of that town: the Spirit descends and is poured out upon him, “anointing him with the oil of gladness” (cf. Ps 45:8).
Good news. A single word – Gospel – that, even as it is spoken, becomes truth, brimming with joy and mercy. We should never attempt to separate these three graces of the Gospel: its truth, which is non-negotiable; its mercy, which is unconditional and offered to all sinners; and its joy, which is personal and open to everyone.
The truth of the good news can never be merely abstract, incapable of taking concrete shape in people’s lives because they feel more comfortable seeing it printed in books.
The mercy of the good news can never be a false commiseration, one that leaves sinners in their misery without holding out a hand to lift them up and help them take a step in the direction of change.
This message can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is completely personal. It is “the joy of the Father, who desires that none of his little ones be lost” (Evangelii Gaudium, 237). It is the joy of Jesus, who sees that the poor have the good news preached to them, and that the little ones go out to preach the message in turn (ibid., 5) The joys of the Gospel are special joys. I say “joys” in the plural, for they are many and varied, depending on how the Spirit chooses to communicate them, in every age, to every person and in every culture. They need to be poured into new wineskins, the ones the Lord speaks of in expressing the newness of his message. I would like to share with you, dear priests, dear brothers, three images or icons of those new wineskins in which the good news is kept fresh, without turning sour but being poured out in abundance.
A first icon of the good news would be the stone water jars at the wedding feast of Cana (cf. Jn 2:6). In one way, they clearly reflect that perfect vessel which is Our Lady herself, the Virgin Mary. The Gospel tells us that the servants “filled them up to the brim” (Jn 2:7). I can imagine one of those servants looking to Mary to see if that was enough, and Mary signaling to add one more pailful. Mary is the new wineskin brimming with contagious joy. She is “the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises” (Evangelii Gaudium, 286), Our Lady of Prompt Succour, who, after conceiving in her immaculate womb the Word of life, goes out to visit and assist her cousin Elizabeth. Her “contagious fullness” helps us overcome the temptation of fear, the temptation to keep ourselves from being filled to the brim, the temptation to a faint-heartedness that holds us back from going forth to fill others with joy. This cannot be, for “the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus” (ibid., 1)
A second icon of the good news is the jug with its wooden ladle that the Samaritan woman carried on her head in the midday sun (cf. Jn 4:5-30). It speaks to us of something crucial: the importance of concrete situations. The Lord, the Source of Living Water, had no means of drawing the water to quench his thirst. So the Samaritan woman drew the water with her jug, and with her ladle she sated the Lord’s thirst. She sated it even more by concretely confessing her sins. By mercifully shaking the vessel of that Samaritan women’s soul, the Holy Spirit overflowed upon all the people of that small town, who asked the Lord to stay with them.
The Lord gave us another new vessel or wineskin full of this “inclusive concreteness” in that Samaritan soul who was Mother Teresa. He called to her and told her: “I am thirsty”. He said: “My child, come, take me to the hovels of the poor. Come, be my light. I cannot do this alone. They do not know me, and that is why they do not love me. Bring me to them”. Mother Teresa, starting with one concrete person, thanks to her smile and her way of touching their wounds, brought the good news to all.
The third icon of the good news is the fathomless vessel of the Lord’s pierced Heart: his utter meekness, humility and poverty which draw all people to himself. From him we have to learn that announcing a great joy to the poor can only be done in a respectful, humble, and even humbling, way. Evangelization cannot be presumptuous. The integrity of the truth cannot be rigid. The Spirit proclaims and teaches “the whole truth” (cf. Jn 16:3), and he is not afraid to do this one sip at a time. The Spirit tells us in every situation what we need to say to our enemies (cf. Mt 10:19), and at those times he illumines our every small step forward. This meekness and integrity gives joy to the poor, revives sinners, and grants relief to those oppressed by the devil.
Dear priests, as we contemplate and drink from these three new wineskins, may the good news find in us that “contagious fullness” which Our Lady radiates with her whole being, the “inclusive concreteness” of the story of the Samaritan woman, and the “utter meekness” whereby the Holy Spirit ceaselessly wells up and flows forth from the pierced heart of Jesus our Lord.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
A MARVELOUS TRIBUTE TO THE 90 YEAR OLD POPE BENEDICT XVI
A Church teacher of modernity
Peter Seewald has been conducting long talks with Joseph Ratzinger / Benedikt XVI for 25 years. The publicist finds that the emeritus pope in his homeland is not yet appreciated enough.
Benedict XVI | Bonn - 12.04.2017
(My comment: this is the hope for the Church of the future especially through the powerful intercession of Pope Benedict now in the Church Militant but more importantly, one day in the Church Triumphant): Above all, I wish him many imitators who are inspired by his work, his message, his love of God and his love, his poetry, and his authentic life following Christ and thus find their own way to God. I agree with Pope Francis, who said, Benedict XVI. Was a great pope whose spirit, from generation to generation, will appear ever greater and more powerful. Let us hope that his work is appreciated and respected in his homeland as well. With him, everyone knew that what he proclaimed-even though it may seem uncomfortable or not contemporary-always faithfully corresponds to the doctrine of the gospel, and is in continuity with the doctrine of the Church Fathers and the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. This reliability is invaluable in a time of upheaval and disorientation.
GOOD GRIEF
Even when one meets the pope today, casualness is the order of the day.
One of the great horrors of the "spirit" of Vatican II is the loss of Catholic formality, sense of visible reverence and proper liturgical attire, such as choir dress for priests which is almost completely absent today.
How we handle our Lord under the form of bread and wine has suffered as well especially in the lack of proper protocol all meant to uphold the dignity of our Sacramental system and the Signs which convey our Lord's divine presence in a visible way.
It was brought to my vivid attention that in some places, even when priests are gathered for Solemn Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, that the actual "exposition" is carried out in a less than beautiful way, very perfunctory and uninspiring of no visible devotion and reverence.
For example a priest or deacon will "expose" the blessed sacrament not wearing choir dress or even an alb or stole, but simply a clerical shirt, pants but no coat. Reposition is the same way.
If I saw that, and I won't say I have or haven't, I think I would be offended by the casualness and lack of visible reverence in attire no matter how reverent the deacon or priest actually is. Sacramentals are by nature visible not invisible.
How we handle our Lord under the form of bread and wine has suffered as well especially in the lack of proper protocol all meant to uphold the dignity of our Sacramental system and the Signs which convey our Lord's divine presence in a visible way.
It was brought to my vivid attention that in some places, even when priests are gathered for Solemn Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, that the actual "exposition" is carried out in a less than beautiful way, very perfunctory and uninspiring of no visible devotion and reverence.
For example a priest or deacon will "expose" the blessed sacrament not wearing choir dress or even an alb or stole, but simply a clerical shirt, pants but no coat. Reposition is the same way.
If I saw that, and I won't say I have or haven't, I think I would be offended by the casualness and lack of visible reverence in attire no matter how reverent the deacon or priest actually is. Sacramentals are by nature visible not invisible.
THE GREAT CLARIFICATION IN GOD'S PROVIDENTIAL WAY
[The Second Vatican]Council wishes "to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion". And he continues: "Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of us...". It is necessary that "adherence to all the teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness..." be presented in "faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which, however, should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and through the literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another...", retaining the same meaning and message. --Pope Saint John XXIII
For the first 13 years of my life, the Catholic Church was like a rock, sure, consistent, sober, united, and proud of her 2000 year history with all the cultural additions in that period of time, some down right fun, others silly but all contributing to our Catholic identity and sense of being a worldwide community of believers connected sacramentally through a Latin Liturgy celebrated somewhat consistently and the same way throughout the Latin Rite.
Then Vatican II happened which could have led to a new springtime for Catholicism worldwide but hijacked by those who had their own "spirit" of Vatican II Council that often had little or nothing to do with what the Documents of Vatican II claimed or the paradigm it promoted.
And for the next 14 years, the Catholic Church in her chaotic division became a marshmallow rather than a rock and many left the Church disappointed in the changes or the lack of changes depending on the Pandora's Box that was opened for individuals more concerned about "me" than "we" and less concerned about the common good.
Then Pope Saint John Paul II came around in 1978 and charted a new course and the recovery of the "Great Discipline" of the Church. Pope Benedict XVI continued that course.
In fact emerging from 1978 to 2012 was the great ideological divide between prelates of the same age, John Paul II and Benedict on the side of reform in continuity in light of what Vatican II actually taught and Kasper and Kung who wanted to refashion the Church into a worldwide ecumenical experience open to the fierce individualism of the age based on Vatican II's "spirit" not intent.
And now the successor of Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, ordained well after Vatican II in the most turbulent time of 1969 has brought back that period of time in a Twilight Zoneish time warp.
But maybe it is all in God's divine providence to separate the chaff from the wheat.
I firmly believe that Pope Francis is creating, even if unwittingly, a strong desire for a Church that is true to herself, unembarrassed by her great patrimony, doctrinally, morally and culturally.
I happen to think the school of thought, the only correct one, by the way, is the one that sees reform in continuity and Pope Benedict set the agenda at his Christmas talk to the cardinals in 2005 which you can read here. Pope Benedict will one day be appreciated and extolled for all His Holiness did to lead the Church back to a sound and credible witness and to win the spiritual battle of the two schools of thought represented by those of the same age, John Paul II/Benedict school and Kasper/Kung school.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
SERIOUS BUSINESS, NO NONSENSE, NO CREATIVITY, AND VERY PRIESTLY
Archbishop Sample has said, and I agree from personal experience, that he feels most priestly, or like a priest, when celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in this direction and in this way.
This article is from The New Liturgical Movement, press the title for the complete post with photos:
This article is from The New Liturgical Movement, press the title for the complete post with photos:
Photos of Pontifical Mass at Rolduc with Archbishop Sample
The 18th Liturgische-Tagung in Herzogenrath, Germany — now rather well-known in the news, due to Cardinal Sarah's remarkably impassioned address that was read aloud to the participants — featured as its closing liturgy on Saturday, April 1, 2017 a solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, held at the former 12th-century abbey church of Rolduc in the Netherlands (just a few minutes' drive from Herzogenrath).
Monday, April 10, 2017
SUNDAY AT AUGUSTA!
Although I grew up in Augusta and have been to the Masters many times, I am not a golfer and find it boring on TV except for Sunday at the Masters! Last night did not disappoint! The last few moments of the game are always exciting and emotional especially when the win comes down to "sudden death" as it did yesterday! And what great sportsmanship too! And I have a first cousin in Livorno named Sergio a name I would have loved to have had!
Sergio’s Sunday
Spaniard takes playoff to win Masters, first major
By David Westin Staff Writer
MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF sergio Garcia celebrates his Masters tournament victory – and his first major championship in 74 starts – after defeating Justin Rose in the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
MAKE NO MISTAKE, WHAT THIS JESUIT SAYS IS 1970'S CRAP, TO USE A TERM POPE FRANCIS APPRECIATES
We were fed this crap in the Sulpician seminary of the 1970's. It is not a method to build up faith or devotion but to destroy the faith of those who eat it. Out of a class of 60, four years later only 23 remained, the majority gone having had their faith assaulted by this Jesuit's mentality! Read the full Crux article HERE.
Jesuit chief rejects charges of ‘heresy’ for views on Gospels
- Crux StaffApril 10, 2017
Pope Francis meets Arturo Sosa Abascal, superior general of the Society of Jesus, at the Vatican Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. (Credit: L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP.)
Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, the Superior General of the worldwide Jesuit order, spoke to an Italian news program on Sunday to reject charges that he was 'relativizing' the Gospels or committing doctrinal heresy when he suggested in February that the words of Jesus on marriage in the New Testament have to be 'contextualized.'
Sunday, April 9, 2017
PALM SUNDAY AT ST. PETER'S SQUARE
I don't know if this is the first time for a papal Palm Sunday Mass, but the Vicariate of Rome has a mass choir with another visiting choir singing today, not the Sistine Choir and it is completely in Italian, even the parts of the Mass:
And this from the Associated Press from Saturday, April 8th the Vigil of Palm Sunday:
ROME
- Pope Francis urged young people to lead the church’s future Saturday,
even as he voiced doubts that he’d be around much longer to see it.
The 80-year-old pope referred to his own mortality twice in the span of a few minutes during a vigil service to rally enthusiasm for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day, to be held in Panama in 2019.
“I don’t know if it will be me, but the pope will be in Panama!” he told the crowd gathered at the St. Mary Major basilica.
A few minutes earlier, he drew gasps from the pews when he teased: “At my age, we (old people) are about to pass away.”
Sensing their pained reaction, he added: “Who guarantees life? No one. At your age, you have the future ahead of you.”
Francis is known for his casual, self-deprecating remarks and has said repeatedly he didn’t expect to be pope for very long. Early on in his four-year papacy he predicted two to five years would do it. He has also not ruled out the possibility of resigning like his predecessor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, did.
At the same time, there’s nothing indicating that Francis is slowing down.
Later this month, he begins the first of his 2017 foreign travels that are expected to bring him to Egypt, Portugal, Colombia, India, Bangladesh and perhaps South Sudan. He is also gearing up for the next big meeting of the world’s bishops this fall, dedicated to young people.
The Vatican has solicited direct input from young people to inform its work and participate in the synod. Francis took that request further Saturday, saying he wanted to involve not just dedicated Catholics but all young people, atheists included.
“The future is in your hands,” he said.
In his April 8 speech, the pope noted how the prayer vigil marked the “double-beginning” of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on “Faith, Young People and the Discernment of Vocation,” as well as the upcoming 2019 global World Youth Day encounter in Panama.
The journey of WYD is being taken from “Krakow to Panama, and in the middle the synod,” he said, explaining that the synod is an event “from which no young person should feel excluded.”
“We are holding this synod for Catholic youth, but also youth who come from Catholic associations, so then it’s stronger? No. This synod is a synod for all youth!”
“Young people are the protagonists,” he said, explaining that this includes agnostics, those who are far from the Church or struggle with their faith, and even those who consider themselves to be atheists.
The synod, he stressed, “is a synod for youth, and we all want to hear you. Every young person has something to say to others, has something to say to adults, to priests, to sisters, to bishops and to the pope! We all need to listen to you.”
Recalling what he told youth during the 2016 International WYD in Krakow, Francis said that “it’s terrible to see a young person ready to go into retirement at the age of 20. It’s terrible. And it’s terrible to see young people who spend their lives on their couch.”
What is needed instead are young people who walk, who go out on the street and “move forward beside others, but looking toward the future.”
He pointed to the Gospel ready read during the encounter, which recounted how Mary “went in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth after learning that she was pregnant in her old age.
Like Mary, “the world today needs young people that go with haste, who don’t get tired of going with haste. Of young people who have that vocation of feeling that for them, life offers a mission,” he said.
As he frequently has in the past, the pope emphasized the importance of experiencing life as a journey, saying that the world and the Church need youth who participate in this journey and who are engaged in the process.
“But what drama there is in the world today,” he said, noting that unfortunately, today “young people are often discarded; they don’t have work, they aren’t given an ideal for their lives, they don’t have education, they lack integration. Many are forced to flee and live as refugees in in other lands.”
“It’s hard to say this, but often times young people are treated as garbage,” he said, explaining that the goal of the synod is to show the world that “young people are here. We are going to Panama to say that we are here, on a journey, we don’t want to be garbage, we have value to give.
However, participating in the journey involves risks and the possibility of making mistakes, he said, but cautioned that if a young person doesn’t take risks, “they have grown old. We must take risks.”
Catholic News Agency also contributed to this report.
And this from the Associated Press from Saturday, April 8th the Vigil of Palm Sunday:
Pope Francis hints he may not be around in 2019
- Associated Press April 9, 2017
Pope
Francis gestures in at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome as he presides
over a vigil prayer, Saturday, April 8, 2017. (Credit: AP
Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)
During a youth vigil on Saturday to rally enthusiasm for the Catholic Church's next World Youth Day, to be held in Panama in 2019, Pope Francis told young people they're the future even if he may not be around to see it. "I don't know if it will be me, but the pope will be in Panama!" he told the crowd at the St. Mary Major basilica.
The 80-year-old pope referred to his own mortality twice in the span of a few minutes during a vigil service to rally enthusiasm for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day, to be held in Panama in 2019.
“I don’t know if it will be me, but the pope will be in Panama!” he told the crowd gathered at the St. Mary Major basilica.
A few minutes earlier, he drew gasps from the pews when he teased: “At my age, we (old people) are about to pass away.”
Sensing their pained reaction, he added: “Who guarantees life? No one. At your age, you have the future ahead of you.”
Francis is known for his casual, self-deprecating remarks and has said repeatedly he didn’t expect to be pope for very long. Early on in his four-year papacy he predicted two to five years would do it. He has also not ruled out the possibility of resigning like his predecessor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, did.
At the same time, there’s nothing indicating that Francis is slowing down.
Later this month, he begins the first of his 2017 foreign travels that are expected to bring him to Egypt, Portugal, Colombia, India, Bangladesh and perhaps South Sudan. He is also gearing up for the next big meeting of the world’s bishops this fall, dedicated to young people.
The Vatican has solicited direct input from young people to inform its work and participate in the synod. Francis took that request further Saturday, saying he wanted to involve not just dedicated Catholics but all young people, atheists included.
“The future is in your hands,” he said.
In his April 8 speech, the pope noted how the prayer vigil marked the “double-beginning” of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on “Faith, Young People and the Discernment of Vocation,” as well as the upcoming 2019 global World Youth Day encounter in Panama.
The journey of WYD is being taken from “Krakow to Panama, and in the middle the synod,” he said, explaining that the synod is an event “from which no young person should feel excluded.”
“We are holding this synod for Catholic youth, but also youth who come from Catholic associations, so then it’s stronger? No. This synod is a synod for all youth!”
“Young people are the protagonists,” he said, explaining that this includes agnostics, those who are far from the Church or struggle with their faith, and even those who consider themselves to be atheists.
The synod, he stressed, “is a synod for youth, and we all want to hear you. Every young person has something to say to others, has something to say to adults, to priests, to sisters, to bishops and to the pope! We all need to listen to you.”
Recalling what he told youth during the 2016 International WYD in Krakow, Francis said that “it’s terrible to see a young person ready to go into retirement at the age of 20. It’s terrible. And it’s terrible to see young people who spend their lives on their couch.”
What is needed instead are young people who walk, who go out on the street and “move forward beside others, but looking toward the future.”
He pointed to the Gospel ready read during the encounter, which recounted how Mary “went in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth after learning that she was pregnant in her old age.
Like Mary, “the world today needs young people that go with haste, who don’t get tired of going with haste. Of young people who have that vocation of feeling that for them, life offers a mission,” he said.
As he frequently has in the past, the pope emphasized the importance of experiencing life as a journey, saying that the world and the Church need youth who participate in this journey and who are engaged in the process.
“But what drama there is in the world today,” he said, noting that unfortunately, today “young people are often discarded; they don’t have work, they aren’t given an ideal for their lives, they don’t have education, they lack integration. Many are forced to flee and live as refugees in in other lands.”
“It’s hard to say this, but often times young people are treated as garbage,” he said, explaining that the goal of the synod is to show the world that “young people are here. We are going to Panama to say that we are here, on a journey, we don’t want to be garbage, we have value to give.
However, participating in the journey involves risks and the possibility of making mistakes, he said, but cautioned that if a young person doesn’t take risks, “they have grown old. We must take risks.”
Catholic News Agency also contributed to this report.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
IN THE MIDST OF MASSIVE CONFUSION A MIDDLE OF THE ROAD CARDINAL BRINGS SOME CLARITY TO AMORIS LAETITIA BUT IT WOULD BE BETTER, WOULDN'T IT, THAT THE HOLY FATHER HIMSELF PROVIDE THIS PASTORAL SOLICITUDE TO A CONFUSED CHURCH WHICH HIS HOLINESS HAS FOMMENTED?
On ‘Amoris’ anniversary, let’s appreciate its beauty and relevance
- Cardinal Donald Wuerl April 8, 2017
You can read Donald Cardinal Wuerl's commentary on Amoris Laetia from Crux here.Many believe that Cardinal Wuerl is a progressive. I don't. I have never found any of his teachings to be anything but orthodox and traditional. But the good Cardinal is certainly not far right or far left but squarely within the Tradition of the Church, mainline Catholicism that is respectful of different insights.
Cardinal Wuerl came to my attention in the late 1980's when he was sent by Pope St. John Paul II to be the coadjutor bishop with Archbishop Hunthausen in Seattle, Washington. That archbishop can rightly be called a far left progressive and that is why Cardinal Wuerl was sent there. The liberal progressives chewed up and spit out the the Coadjutor Bishop and he left Seattle and Hunthausen remained until his death.
Thus I find Cardinal Wuerl's commentary on Amoris Laetia very good and very unifying. I only wish that Pope Francis would be so clear!
Here are some soundbites:
In the document, Pope Francis approaches his teaching ministry as a pastor of souls. Without claiming to present an entire pastoral plan, the Holy Father calls for a family apostolate that offers more adequate catechesis and formation, not only of engaged and married couples and their children, but also priests, deacons, seminarians, consecrated religious, catechists, teachers, social workers, medical professionals, and other pastoral workers.
The pastoral implications of Amoris Laetitia have been the object of much attention, and some controversy. The hermeneutic required for a fruitful appropriation of the document’s teaching on this point is based on the understanding that none of the teaching of the Church has been changed: This includes the doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage, the directives of the Code of Canon Law, and also the role of individual conscience in the determination of personal culpability.
The exhortation does not create some sort of internal forum process in which a marriage can be annulled, or in which the objective moral order can be changed. Instead, the exhortation places greater emphasis on the role of the individual conscience in appropriating those moral norms in the person’s actual circumstances.
The judgment of conscience of an individual believer does not replace or change the objective teachings of the Church, but it does address his or her culpability before God for their actions.
THE LIVING STATIONS OF THE CROSS--DID YOU HAVE THEM?
You are cordially invited to attend the Living Stations of the Cross
We have had the St. Alphonsus Ligurori Stations of the Cross each Friday of Lent with the chanting of the Stabat Mater between the Stations.Using the same book and Stabat Mater, our youth under the direction of our CRE, posed each station in costume last night. It was prayerful and reverential.
As with the other normal Stations, we concluded with Exposition and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Prior to the recession after Benediction to "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" I thanked our director and youth. Because all had been quite solemn and reverent as well as devotional, I was quite pleased that no one applauded because it was an experience of worship and adoration not entertainment.
AS AN ASIDE, DO YOU EXPERIENCE BENEDICTION TO CONCLUDE THE STATIONS?
MORE SERIOUS AND LESS SERIOUS MORTAL SINS
Under the Obama regime, 400,000 Syrian men, women and children died because of the dictator Assad. Of that number, 100,000 died from chemical weapons. Did the liberal media obsess on Obama's negligence, who btw, won a Nobel Peace Prize within his first year as president!
And in addition to this slaughter ignored by the Obama administration, an additional 5 million people fled their country of Syria creating the destabilizing refugee crisis facing Europe and America. This too only brought pious rhetoric from President Obama.
Children and babies died from conventional weapons and bombs. Are these less serious mortal sins?
And speaking of children, specifically babies, liberal, pro-choice America, is the slaughterhouse abortion clinics which also use chemicals to kill babies, less serious of a mortal sin than the babies killed by the chemicals in Syria?
Friday, April 7, 2017
HOLY MOTHER CHURCH ALLOWS FOR SUPPORT OF LIMBO FOR CHILDREN WHO DIE PRIOR TO BAPTISM AS WELL AS THE HOPE OF HEAVEN FOR THOSE BABIES WHO DIE PRIOR TO BAPTISM
As I have repeatedly stated, limbo for children is a theological proposition based upon pastoral solicitude for those who have lost a child prior to Holy Baptism. Limbo for children is not a formal doctrine of the Church and neither is it a formal doctrine of the Church that babies who die before baptism go to hell. One, though, if one is a Sola Scriptura person, might make a case for anyone who is unbaptized through no fault of their own, will go to hell. But they cannot use the Catholic Church or her 2000 year tradition or Magisterial statements for supporting such an argument. They can however, use limbo and make an argument for it from the theology of the Church.
This is the most balanced approach supported by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI:
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ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH
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Adds It's a Theological Opinion That Can Be Defended ROME, 3 MAY 2007 (ZENIT) The theory of limbo is not ruled out, says a member of the International Theological Commission, commenting on a study from the panel. Sister Sara Butler, a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity, has served on the commission since 2004. The commission is an advisory body comprised of 30 theologians chosen by the Pope. Its documents are not considered official expressions of the magisterium, but the commission does help the Holy See to examine important doctrinal issues. On April 20, the commission released a document, commissioned under Pope John Paul II, called "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized." Benedict XVI approved it for publication. In an interview with Inside the Vatican magazine, Sister Butler, who teaches dogmatic theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, says "the report concludes that limbo remains a 'possible theological opinion.' Anyone who wants to defend it is free to do so. This document, however, tries to give a theological rationale for hoping that unbaptized infants may be saved." "The [International Theological Commission] wants to give more weight to God's universal salvific will and to solidarity in Christ than to the necessity of baptism, which is not absolute but is qualified in certain ways," she said. Principles of faith Sister Butler cited No. 41 of the document: "[B]esides the theory of limbo — which remains a possible theological option — there can be other ways to integrate and safeguard the principles of faith outlined in Scripture." She added: "The commission is trying to say what the Catechism of the Catholic Church — Nos. 1260, 1261, 1283 — has already said: that we have a right to hope that God will find a way to offer the grace of Christ to infants who have no opportunity for making a personal choice with regard to their salvation." The document "is trying to provide a theological rationale for what has already been proposed in several magisterial documents since the council," Sister Butler said. "Generally, the [commission] documents offer a point of reference for bishops and theology professors in seminaries, for example, to offer an explanation for the development of doctrine. "But I doubt whether this would lead to a further statement from the magisterium, because it says no more than what has already been said in the [Catechism], in the funeral rites for infants who have died without baptism in the 1970 Roman Missal, and in 'Pastoralis Actio' — the document from 1980 from the [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] on the baptism of infants. "It says nothing new; it is simply trying to make explicit the theological grounding for this hope. 'Gaudium et Spes,' 22, and 'Lumen Gentium,' 14 and 16, at the Second Vatican Council, opened the way for this development. Actually, some wanted the teaching on limbo formally defined at the council, but the topic was excluded from the agenda." Extra-sacramental gift The theological commission's document, she said, "just indicates that given our understanding of God's mercy and the plan of salvation which includes Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Church, we dare to hope that these infants will be saved by some extra-sacramental gift of Christ." "We do not know what the destiny of these children is," she said, "but we have grounds for hope." Sister Butler spoke of the plight of aborted babies. "I'm sure we never considered suggesting that these infants be declared martyrs," she said. "We were, of course, aware that in many places Catholics remember the unborn babies who have been aborted on the feast of the Holy Innocents. We didn't propose a solution." She added: "In this particular instance, death is the way these children might be united with Christ: Through the violent circumstances of their deaths, they may be united to his paschal mystery. "The Council explicitly taught that God provides a way of salvation for those who are invincibly ignorant of the Gospel and therefore have no access to sacramental baptism. "The [commission] report extends the logic of this teaching to infants. We suggest that the Holy Spirit offers to them, in a way known to God, the possibility of being made partakers in the paschal mystery." Sister Butler nevertheless warned that "the ordinary means of salvation is baptism, and that infants should be baptized; Catholic parents have a serious obligation." "God is not bound to the sacraments," she said, "and therefore, just as we understand there are other possible ways for adults who are in invincible ignorance of the Gospel to achieve salvation, so we presume there are other ways, known to God, open to infants who unfortunately die without baptism." ZE07050301 |
MY "WHAT VATICAN II TAUGHT" POST TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME HAS BEEN EXACERBATED IN A RUFF WAY
Progressive post-Catholics hijacked what Vatican II's documents actually taught or implied and then falsely, maliciously and deviously taught their own ideologies and "spirit" of Vatican II heterodoxy by saying this is what Vatican II taught. And the laity who did not read the documents of Vatican II or understand the theological terms employed in these documents bought what was being sold to them hook, line and sinker.
How many times I heard this over and over from the beginning of the end of the Council in 1965 and through my seminary training in the late 1970's knowing full well that what I read of the Vatican II documents, especially on the Liturgy, did not match what those claiming the authority of the Vatican II documents were teaching us.
And they did and do it so glibly and pathologically as in "liar." For example take what the liturgist and musician expert in Gregorian Chant wrote recently about Robert Cardinal Sarah in the UK's The Tablet:
Cardinal Sarah attaches excessive weight to Summorum Pontificum as if it is the fulfillment of Vatican II, when it is contrary to the intent and clear directives of the Vatican II liturgy constitution. His claim that Vatican II did not abandon the Missal of Pius V is simply mistaken.
We can add this lie, falsehood and downright malicious false news that Vatican II abandoned the Missal of Pius V to other lies and falsehoods shoved down our Catholic throats the last fifty years by a variety of post-Vatican II ideologues such as:
--old churches had to be stripped of artwork such as high altars, statues and the like because Vatican II said these were distraction.
--altar railings had to be removed because Vatican II said these were a barrier to the laity's participation and made them feel like second class citizens.
--Vatican II taught that the laity are to stand to receive Holy Communion and to receive "it" in their hand and because they are a part of the priesthood they have a right to distribute Holy Communion
--Vatican II taught that the laity have a right to be readers, communion ministers and that the choir must be a part of the sanctuary and face the congregation in order to lead the congregation and that cantors need to compete with the priest at the altar in extending their arms in a priestly fashion to lead the congregational singing.
--Vatican II ordered that altars be reoriented so the priest can face the people and that the pews be oriented around the altar and the altar be lower to the congregation's level so the laity will feel like they are celebrating Mass with the priest.
--Vatican II taught that Latin must be abandoned in favor of the vernacular, the propers can be substituted with hymns of the choir director's choosing, that the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar need to be removed as it is too clerical, that the Mass's order must be revised, the Gradual and Tract be eliminated in favor of a responsorial Psalm, that the older offertory prayers are redundant to the Eucharistic Prayer and need to be completely revised and that the Last Gospel is out of date and must be removed as it delays the conclusion of the Mass by adding to its false endings.
--Vatican II taught that the priest should let his personality shine through especially his gregarious and welcoming smile and actions as well as ad libbing all parts of the Mass for pastoral reasons.
--Vatican II taught that all Catholics must receive Holy Communion when they attend Mass because the priest does and they should too, no matter what or else they are second class citizens.
--Vatican II taught that the organ and Gregorian Chant must be done away with to allow additional instruments especially pianos and guitars as well as contemporary music which is a sign of the times, Sacred words set to Broadway melodies or rock, rap or the like are most preferable as is worship and praise music from our non denominational brothers and sisters.
--Vatican II taught that we must go back to the way things were done in the Church during the first two centuries because they got it right, especially how they celebrated the Eucharist and everything that developed after the first two centuries especially after Constantine were a corruption that needed to be eliminated. Updating the Church means going backwards to the Apostolic Period.
--What else have you been taught that Vatican II said?????????
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