THE NOSTALGIA OF A PASSING GENERATION'S FINAL BREATHES OR THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH, PAST, PRESENT AND TO COME?

Archbishop Pierro Marini, former Master of Ceremonies for Pope John Paul II and the early pontificate of Benedict XVI is nostalgic for the "spirit of the Second Vatican Council!" He says that the Council was just the beginning but that it was not a template to be frozen in time but a catalyst  to future reforms of the Liturgy and ultimately of the Church and by way of jumping to conclusions, of dogma and doctrine.

His nostalgia is what precisely causes so many to feel as though they will upchuck their recently eaten breakfast. Dear God, what in the world is he nostalgic for in terms of future reforms of the Mass in the sphere of the "spirit of Vatican II?" 

I know precisely what that means from my experience of the "spirit of Vatican II" in the seminary between 1976 and 1980 as well as the early years of my priesthood. The nostalgia of going back to that is like the nostalgia some have for rotary phones, party line and houses without microwave ovens!

The reform and interpretation of the Second Vatican Council which Pope Benedict promoted speaks of continuity in reform but does not throw out reform with the bathwater.

I think what we have seen with the approval of the new Anglican Ordinariate's revised Mass of the Roman Missal speaks well of this reform in continuity and may well speak of future reforms or options for the normative Latin Rite. This is from Pope Francis who must have given approval of it by the nod of the head since it was approved under his pontificate. 

I'm speaking of the Anglican Ordinariate having an English Mass using old English and parts of the Anglican tradition for the Mass, but more importantly I am speaking of the Tridentine aspects allowed in the appendix of their missal that allows for the options of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, the traditional Offertory Prayers and the Last Gospel and more specific rubrics similar to the Tridentine Mass for the Roman Canon and Masses celebrated ad orientem and kneeling for Holy Communion!

The Anglican Ordinariate's "spirit of Vatican II" I think is the wave of the future, but those nostalgic for the 1960's version of the spirit of Vatican II only want to go backwards and not walk forwards. 

Pope Benedict brought us forward with a recovery of common sense, proper tradition and Tradition and a keen intellect about the true teachings of Vatican II which in no way did he ever repudiate. 

Archbishop Marini's vision of the spirit of Vatican II leaves much to be desired and has the odor of a swamp with rancid water. We cannot go back into that seward 

THE SSPX SHOWS ITS TRUE SCHISMATIC, ANTI-SEMITIC COLORS

Please press this sentence for the story on the former German Nazi Erich Priebke who helped to arrange and participated in the massacre of 335 Romans 69 years ago here in Roma at some caves on the outskirts of town.

The death of this criminal has caused some consternation in Rome as he was also a holocaust denier. The video at the end the story is interesting to watch.

Perhaps it is by God's grace that the reconciliation between Rome and the SSPX failed and that Pope Benedict had strict prerequisites for any sort of reunion based upon accepting Vatican II properly interpreted and the  Mass of the post Vatican II period. 

Fortunately we have FSSP who can offer traditionalist Catholics an experience of the Mass and valid celebrations of the Sacrament of Penance and Holy Matrimony within the context of the Full Communion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church with Peter as her visible head and the Vicar of Christ. 

My father, 69, years ago was in Rome with his Army division when this massacre happened at the order of Erich Priebke. At the time, my father would have been 34 years old and Priebke 31! Priebke died at 100 this past Friday in Rome and the Vicar of Rome representing the Holy Father, Pope Francis, denied him a Catholic funeral as it would give scandal to the Faithful.

My father died in 1987 but would be 103 today if living. He helped with the recovery of bodies and seldom spoke of his war experiences except this one which he said was the most gruesome that he experienced from North African to Livorno, Italy.  How ironic that I am here in Roma when this war criminal dies and apparently as a Holocaust denier and innocent in his mind because he was simply carrying out orders. He personally shot to death several innocent civilians apart from organizing the round up and having them all executed including women and children. 

MORE OF MY REFLECTIONS ON SUNDAY'S CONSECRATION OF THE WORLD TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA AT MASS IN SAINT PETER'S PIAZZA WITH POPE FRANCIS AND THE NORMATIVE MASS OF THE LATIN RITE

I think I had a religious experience of the extraordinary type which I'm only now coming to understand and process as it concerns the Mass with Pope Francis on Sunday before 150,000 to 200,000 pilgrims and a sun washed Sunday morning in Roma.

It was a pure gift to me and has many unusual facets that I have never experienced at Mass as a priest or a lay person.

First, just the majesty of St. Peter's Basilica, completely lighted and closed to the pilgrims with almost 200,000 outside the magnificent doors. To be in there getting ready for Mass and being instructed on how to distribute Holy Communion was absolutely awesome.

Then having the most perfect seat in the whole wide world for a papal Mass and waiting for Mass to start with about 200,000 others as we all prayed the Rosary and were asked to keep sacred silence prior to the Entrance Chants. Yes, all of us did keep quiet! 200,000 or so, kept quiet!

Then seeing the Pope and his austere, ad orientem way of praying the Mass, his reverence and introspection as though he was celebrating for a small crowd rather than the hundreds of thousands there.

But the most moving part of the Mass is the Liturgy of the Eucharist which I did not see as all of us who wore cassock, surplice and stole, were ushered back into the empty, completely lighted Basilica during the offertory or what some call the Preparation of the offerings.

We received the ciborium with hosts already consecrated and about 100 of us formed two lines directly in the center aisle of the Basilica with our backs to the main papal altar facing the back of the pope and the altar outside. The only thing is that the doors were closed to the basilica, so we couldn't see what was happening and the sound was not piped into the Basilica and so we only heard the muffled tones of the pope praying the Eucharistic Prayer and 200,000 singing the Sanctus, Mystery of Faith and Great Amen.

The entrance to the Basilica was like a giant rood screen or iconostasis hiding us from what was going on in the holy of holies beyond us, with the pope and a couple of hundred thousand of his closest friends.

The only hint of where the pope was in the Mass was the giant "bong" of the bell as it rang out for the epiclesis and the elevations as we priests in the basilica stood reverently quiet in awesome expectation of emerging from their to bring Holy Communion to the Faithful.

This was a new way for me to participate in the OF Mass, with a giant rood screen and a silent canon, but I knew what was happening and it was a religious experience for me in a new way that I have never experienced in the Ordinary Form and it was powerful!

Then at the intonation of the  Pater Noster, we fanned out from the Basilica to the far periphery of the Piazza bringing Holy Communion to the fringes as pilgrims reached out to receive Holy Communion.

I have already mentioned in a previous post that this freaked me out as I have never experienced this in a parish setting. People wanting to come forward to receive but not able to, because those in front would not give up their place. And so people acted as communion ministers making sure that those who desired to receive toward the back of the disorganized mob could.

I know it sounds irreverent, but it wasn't. It was very moving to me as I hesitated to comply with the wishes of the faithful who were willing to act as intermediaries or intercessors to pass the host to someone who couldn't not possibly come to the fore.

I've stated that they reminded me of starving people in third world countries reaching out for a morsel of food that would sustain them.  Is Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar food for those starving for salvation?

It was a splendid day and this religious experience, the totality of it before Mass, during Mass and after Mass will remain with me forever.

DIVINE MERCY, REPENTANCE, FORGIVENESS, AND RECONCILIATION FOR THE MOST GRIEVOUS OF MORTAL SINS AND CRIMES? DO WE LET SECULARISTS DICTATE WHAT THE CHURCH SHOULD DO?

Pope Francis has been calling the Church to show forth the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ who died for us poor miserable sinners.

Yet most of the last two generations of Catholics, because of the generation before them who corrupted the Church's teachings, were handed on "coloring book Catholicism" and thus know very little about sin and how awful it is to the holiness of God. These coloring book Catholics and those of my generation and older who taught them it, failed to teach how awful sin is not only to God but to us for if we remain unrepentant in our sins we cannot enter into the holiness of God in heaven, where sin is vanquished and we are made holy, as holy as God is holy by God's grace.

These coloring book Catholics thus do not know how valuable forgiveness is, as well as reconciliation, because they do not understand the horror of sin. They appreciate the horror of civil crimes though and the punishment due the criminal especially through civil processes that lead to prison, fines and lawsuits that bankrupt individuals and institutions. 

Yet they do not promote "rehabilitation" of anyone, especially those who might not have committed the actual crime, but did little or anything to prevent it or to stop further experiences of it.

This is especially true of the sex abuse scandal in the Church. We know certainly that the perpetrators of these crimes against young people should be prosecuted. That is the domain of the civil justice system and certainly no one in the Church, bishop, priest, parishioner or family member should stand in the way of such justice. 

But we know that bishops, priests, laity and family members have shielded perpetrators and often have enabled further crimes. 

What about the legitimate "repentance" of the more serious aspect of this failure, the sin aspect and then secondly the legal factor if laws were in place at the time nothing was done, for those who are guilty of enabling the sins of child and teenage molestation?

How would Pope Francis describe such a repentance that lead to forgiveness both on the individual level of the one abused and those who are alienated from the Church by the actions of abusing priests and those who enabled further abuse by no action or blind inaction? 

And interesting controversy was brewing in Rome this past week. John Allen of the National Chismatic Reporter, NCR, captures it in an article yesterday when he writes the following:

"As a pastoral matter, however, it's not always easy to determine what "mercy" implies in concrete cases. In Rome right now, debate over whether a Catholic funeral ought to be held for Erich Priebke, a former Nazi SS officer responsible for the massacre of 335 Italians in 1944, including 57 Jews, illustrates the point."

What is interesting about this is my own connection to it through my father. In 1944 some 70 years ago, 10 years before I was born, my father as a part of the U.S. Army was in Rome finishing the victory over Nazis. The massacre of these 335 Italians happened shortly before my father and his group of soldiers arrive here, but he was able to see the place and the dead bodies of these Italians. He said it was one of the worst things he saw during the war.

John Allen continues:

"Priebke died Friday at the age of 100, having lived the last 17 years of his life in Italy under house arrest. Ironically, his death came the same day that Pope Francis received a delegation from the Jewish community of Rome, insisting, as he has before, that "a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic."

Priebke was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 by an Italian court for organizing the infamous Ardeatine caves massacre, in which 335 Italians were executed in reprisal for an attack on German troops by antifascist resistance forces. By his own admission, Priebke personally shot two of the prisoners and supervised the deaths of the others.

Priebke never expressed public remorse, insisting he was following orders, and after his death, his lawyer released a seven-page testament in which the former SS official essentially denied the Holocaust, claiming that alleged crematoria in Nazi concentration camps were actually large kitchens for feeding inmates.

Today's debate boils down to this: Given that Priebke apparently identified himself as a Catholic, though there's little evidence he ever practiced the faith, should a funeral for him be celebrated in a Catholic church?

Francis may well take a personal interest in the matter, given that Priebke fled to Argentina after the war and spent 50 years living comfortably in a Buenos Aires suburb prior to his extradition to Italy in 1996.

On Saturday, the Vicariate of Rome under Italian Cardinal Agostino Vallini, which administers the Rome diocese in the name of the pope, issued a statement saying no funeral for Priebke would be held in a Roman church."

MY FINAL COMMENT: I realize that I am mixing apples and oranges. Priebke who died at 100 never admitted his guilt, does not seem to have practiced his faith ever, not even in the last 17 years under house arrest and has not or did not ask for forgiveness, especially public forgiveness. Perhaps a public decree of excommunication from the Bishop of Rome could have led to a public reconciliation. But there was no public excommunication.

But what about bishops who actually broke no civil laws in not reporting priests who had abused minors and broke no civil laws in sending them off to treatment and then reassigning them to parishes?

Today with 20/20 hindsight and new civil and canonical laws, we know that what was done all the way up to the late 80's and even into the early 2000's was wrong morally and after civil laws were enacted and this sort of thing done, there would be criminal negligence as will as mortal sin.

When a bishop apologizes for poor judgement and seeks forgiveness in a diocese, should that forgiveness be granted. Should we encourage those who were abused by priests or relatives, even parents, or others in authority over them, to seek to forgive their abusers? Seek reconciliation through God's Divine Mercy? Is this too radical for Catholicism today and do we fear the special interests groups, such as SNAP, who would crucify the Church for suggesting such a thing?

For example, when I was ordained in 1980 in Georgia, there were no laws in the state of Georgia that stated that clergy who learned that a parishioner was abusing children (outside of the confessional) had to report these crimes to the authorities. We did not have to do so if we entered into a counseling situation with such a person outside of the confessional. But that changed in the very early 80's maybe around 1982 or 83, I can't remember.

Would a priest who was under no obligation to report what he knew about someone who came to him, maybe not the perpetrator, but a family member, be guilty of not doing more to report the sinner to the civil authorities when no civil laws required it either of the priest or the family member who indicated what was happening?

Do we go after these people now with a vengeance as special interests groups, such as lawyers who are making mega bucks on civil laws suits and those who support these lawyers, such as SNAP, would urge or do we seek reconciliation and forgiveness in the Church and apply the salve of healing to this sad chapter, the salve of Divine Mercy?

I report, you decide!

MORE REFLECTION ON SUNDAY'S MASS FOR THE CONSECRATION OF THE WORLD TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AND POPE FRANCIS STYLE

Today I would like to reflect more on Pope Francis' liturgical style. I've already described it as austere when compared to Pope Benedict but only in terms of vestments and vesture. I must admit I miss Pope Benedict's flair for style and the use of the variety of vestments that the papal closet over the centuries has acquired. In this sense, Pope Benedict was and is much more liberal than Pope Francis in that Pope Francis's tastes and use of vestments is very, very narrow and now becoming a bit boring.

Of course he wants to show forth a poor Church. But let's face it, that is rather difficult to do in the Vatican with all the splendor that is there which is to remind us of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is meant to transport us to the other worldly in the midst of our struggles and good works here on earth.

So I am concerned that Pope Francis in trying to show a "poor Church" might make us look impoverished. There is a difference.

For example, I will visit my mother's birthplace and home until she was about 35 years old, Livorno, this coming week to celebrate what would have been her 94th birthday. My mother and her family were very poor as was most of Italy in the post World War I period which was magnified a bit in the post World War II period. Yet they were not impoverished. They appreciated the finer things in life even if they didn't have them and had a sense of style with what they had. They were clean also.

I suspect the Church culture of Italy with its magnificent churches and art helped to instill in them the appreciation   for that which is beautiful, including family life and taking care of each other and others outside the family but also the nicer material things.

I hope Pope Francis doesn't throw the baby out with the bathwater and for the bathwater he thinks is bathwater really isn't!

Now for Pope Francis' liturgical style, apart from vestments is quite similar to Pope Benedict. In fact, I would say that Pope Benedict was a bit more "flamboyant" that Pope Francis during Mass in two slight ways that really aren't flamboyant. When Pope Benedict arrived at the altar to kiss and incense it, especially at out door Masses, he would always extend his arms to acknowledge the faithful who would cheer and applaud him. This is true also when he was in procession in the Basilica in and out.

The other is Pope Benedict always chanted his parts of the Mass for better or for worse, which quite frankly, added to the solemnity.

Pope Francis does neither of these. Once the procession begins, he is very somber, introspective and focused only on the Mass and not what is going on outside of him during the liturgy. He never acknowledges the faithful prior to Mass or during the processions as Pope Benedict did and certainly as Pope John Paul II.

His voice in speaking the Mass is subdued and somber and sometimes difficult to hear. It is like the closed door of the iconostasis and adds to the "Mystery" of the celebration and turns the focus vertical and not horizontal. He has entered the "holy of holies" as he begins Mass. This is why I say that he celebrates Mass in an "ad orientem" sort of way while facing the congregation.

He has maintained the Benedictine altar arrangement and in a sense when the Mass is in the Piazza it is the same arrangement as when in the Basilica and the altar is actually facing the geographical East.

The only exceptions to the somberness and inwardness the pope exhibits during the actual Mass is a bit during his homily, but certainly not too much and of course his homilies are less theological and doctrinal and more practical and devotional that Pope Benedict's.

The other is when the gifts are presented to him. Yesterday it was very moving to see the amount of time he spent with the family with very young children who brought the offerings to him. He stood to receive the offerings and spent a bit of time acknowledging the family and speaking to them. This was the only "horizontal" touch to the liturgy and an appropriate way to show it at this particular time.

The music was wonderful for the Mass with much of it in Latin, from the Kyrie (Greek of course) to the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Mystery of Faith, Great Amen, Pater Noster and Agnus Dei.

The final blessing was in Latin, but no other parts of the Mass spoken by the Holy Father. To be honest with you, I think that the parts of the Mass should be mandated to be in Latin and the other parts of the priest and congregation optional, while still promoting Latin as the official liturgical language of the Church.

Finally, prior to the Mass, the Holy Rosary was prayed by all and led by priests and laity. This was a wonderful way to get the immense crowd of people into a more prayerful and solemn mood for the Mass.

I think Pope Benedict started to get people to refrain from making this out door Masses into a sort of pep rally which was normal during Pope John Paul II and had really gotten out of hand with banners and all kinds of other things waving in the congregation during Mass. There is a concerted effort now and I think Pope Francis has increased that effort to make the large congregations to be more like worshipping communities rather than raging concert goers.

Finally just a bit of speculation. After Mass, the Holy Father undresses at the foot of the altar with a retinue of people around him so that it is more discreet. Then in his white cassock he greets people who have been pre-arranged. After this, I saw him speak for a bit with Monsignor Guido Marini. He's done this before, but this time I saw it in person. I couldn't help but wonder what in the world the Holy Father was saying to him. Was he praising him for a suburb liturgy, or making a critique of this, that or the other?  It was an animated discussion but nothing that I think bodes ill for Msgr. Marini but for him I empathize and have much compassion during this startling transition of popes and style of being pope, especially in the liturgy sense. I do believe that Msgr. Marini is a brave martyr in this regard.

Then after the pope left and went to greet others, Archbishop Ganswain went and had a little pow wow with Msgr. Guido Marini and the other MC. Msgr. Ganswain (spelling?) is Pope Benedict's personal secretary and still lives with him but is also the head of the Pontifical Household. This makes him I think the most interesting person in the Catholic Church and in her history second only to the Popes themselves.

I would love to know how this transition has affected the old guard. But in a sense, that happens all the time in dioceses and parishes when a new bishop comes or a new pastor. I know it was my experience at St. Joseph Church in Macon, when in 2004 I replaced an icon and much beloved pastor who had been pastor since 1974 and is still visible in the parish to this day.

People, some, not all, had a hard time with me and my different style and personality. That's human. But I might add, I had a hard time with the different style and personality of my new parish compared to my old. We all have to adjust and by God's grace and the virtue of our "adulthood" we do. We are not children living in the past but need to live in the present with what we have with an eye on the future.

Archbishop Gaenswain wearing the lacy surplice which Pope Francis has apparently banned for his MC's to wear at his Masses. Is there a message in this to the pope?

WHAT AN AWSOME CONSECRATION OF THE WORLD TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA AT TODAY'S PAPAL MASS, SUNDAY OCTOBER 13

As dumb luck or Divine Providence would have it, I had the perfect seat at today's Mass with the Holy Father where he consecrated the world to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Fatima! I was on the front row directly to the right of the papal throne.

We distributed Holy Communion to the faithful toward the end of the Piazza and there must have been 200,000 there!

We were told to be very concerned about the reverence for Holy Communion and to be careful how we distributed. We were told to give Holy Communion on the tongue, but it was nearly impossible to do so with such large crowed and people reaching forward to receive.

I just don't know about giving Holy Communion indiscriminately in these situations. I saw people taking the host and passing it to loved ones.

The Hosts we distributed were not consecrated at the Mass but a previous Mass. During the Offertory, we we ushered into the Basilica to take our ciborium with already consecrated hosts and then we stood in solemn line waiting for the Lord's Prayer at which point we headed out and fanned to the remotest part of the Piazza. It was impressive.

The Mass was beautiful. The altar was the Benedictine arrangement and with the candles straight across as Pope Benedict had them, not angled as these had been more recently.

The chants were great and the Mass was the Mass of the Angels. And of course the proper Introit was chanted as the pope arrived at the altar to incense it.

Enjoy my pictures:

LAST NIGHT'S VIGIL WITH THE STATUE OF "OUR LADY OF FATIMA" AND HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCI AND MSGR. GUIDO PIERRO

I wasn't going to go last night, but at about 5:30 PM I had a change of heart and put on my walking shoes and headed down the steep hill to St. Peter's Piazza. It was full of pilgrims and many were singing the very singable Italian songs in honor of Our Lady. It was a very moving devotional. The pilgrims all waved white handkerchiefs at the statue of Our Lady from Fatima which contains the bullet that passed through John Paul II in its crown.

Today, I walk down the steep Geniculum hill in cassock with my ticket to St. Peter's Basilica to get ready to distribute Holy Communion at this papal Mass. I've been to a papal Mass a couple of times with Pope John Paul II. In fact as a seminarian I distributed Holy Communion at the papal Mass on the Mall in Washington, DC in 1979. I attended the papal Mass for priests and religious in Philadelphia on that same trip. It was in an auditorium and more manageable.  I've never been to a papal Mass in Rome, although about 6 years ago with our church choir we attended the beatification of Spanish Martyrs at an outdoor Mass in St. Peter's Piazza. But a cardinal, not Pope Benedict, celebrated it and it was jammed packed with Spaniards. 

More on the papal Mass later. Here are a few photos I took last night:

THE ONLY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO POPES ARE IN STYLE, PERSONALITY AND TASTES, NOT IN MATTERS OF FAITH!

This is copied from the "Tablet", Great Britain's equivalent to the National Chismatic Reporter:

Gänswein ‘tried to stop Benedict resigning'

11 October 2013

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the personal secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, says he tried to persuade Benedict to stay on and continue his work as Pope.

Asked in an interview in the German weekly Buntewhether then Pope Benedict had talked to him about his intention to resign, Archbishop Gänswein said he had known about the Pope's intention for "quite some time beforehand" and had tried to change his mind, but failed. "Pope Benedict had reached a decision. He was not to be shaken", he said.

The VatiLeaks affair in which private documents were leaked to the press had nothing to do with Benedict's decision, Archbishop Gänswein insisted. He had come to the conclusion that he lacked the necessary strength to go on leading the Church in such turbulent times and that "a new, strong helmsman was required to take control of the situation".

Asked how close the relationship between Pope Francis and his predecessor was, Archbishop Gänswein differences lay in certain matters of style and taste but not in matters of faith.

The biggest difference between them was the way they approached people, Archbishop Gänswein said. Pope Francis walked straight up to people and loved to embrace everyone while Pope Benedict was more reticent, loved peace and quiet and tended to withdraw from crowds, he said.

IT'S GOOD TO BE KING, I MEAN, A PRIEST IN ROMA! BUT I AM NO OLDER BROTHER TO THE PRODIGAL SON!

These are historic days for the Church of Roma! What a privilege to be living next to the Vatican, actually on Vatican terroritory, and have two popes as next door neighbors, and good popes and neighbors they are!

Another privilede that I will have with many other priests on Sunday is that I will be able to distribute Holy Communion at Pope Francis' outdoor Mass in Saint Peter's Piazza for the "Consecration of the World to Our Lady of Fatima!" The statue from Portugal is here. This afternoon at 5PM Roma time, she will be processed into St. Peter's Piazza with great fanfare fitting for our Queen of Heaven. Rumor has it that Pope Emeritus Benedict will be present to offer veneration, but I don't know how trustworthy this news is, but it is circulating around here.

Then tomorrow which is suppose to be mostly sunny with a high of 75, will be the glorious open air Mass. I don't know if Pope Benedict will concelebrate, but wouldn't that be cool!

The priests of our Continuing education program here at the NAC have tickets to distribute Holy Communion to the Faithful at Mass and I have my ticket now! A photo of it is above
We are to wear our cassocks to the Mass and enter through a special side gate and go to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to receive our surplice and stole and instructions. I hear that the priests wearing cassaocks are given Hosts from the tabernacle consecrated at a previoius Mass and we begin processing into the Piazza during the Agnus Dei.

We are told to distribute Holy Communion only on the tongue, not in the hand. But few seem to follow this instruction if you watch what happens at these outdoor Masses. Distributing Holy Communion to so many who are forcing their way to the one distributing is, well, down right chaotic and somewhat irreverent.

But this enigma of a Pope, who is very conservative when it comes to Marian devotions and recognized private revelations of her throughout the world, is also being considered a throw-back to the 1970's by paranoid older brothers and sisters of the Prodigal son.

John Allen that great and insightful reporter for that awful newspaper, The National Chismatic Reporter (NCR), had some great comments on his Friday column. The following are some quotes:

Yet that's basically today's situation, as Francis continues to garner acclaim and admiration from almost every , most recently for a moving Oct. 4 visit to Assisi and for confirming his desire to reach out to divorced and remarried Catholics by announcing a Synod of Bishops in October 2014 dedicated to the family and marriage.

The "almost" in that sentence, however, is important because while Francis remains a smash hit overall, he's also got a budding "older son" problem.

The reference is to the parable of the prodigal son, a template many observers are now applying to Catholic reaction to the new pope. Over his first eight months, Francis basically has killed the fatted calf for the prodigal sons and daughters of the post-modern world, reaching out to gays, women, nonbelievers, and virtually every other constituency inside and outside the church that has felt alienated.

There are an awful lot of such prodigals, of course, which helps explain the pope's massive appeal.

One can spot at least three such groups:

Some Vatican personnel who have tried to do their best over the years in service to the successor of Peter and who may feel a bit demoralized hearing the pope describe their work environment as infested with careerism, "Vatican-centrism," and the "leprosy" of a royal court.

Some pro-life Catholics who feel like they've carried water for the church on controversial and sometimes unpopular issues such as abortion and gay marriage and who now get the sense the pope regards some of their efforts as misplaced or over the top.

Some evangelical Catholics, both clergy and laity, who've tried to reassert a strong sense of Catholic identity against forces they believe want to play it down, who now feel the pope may be pulling the rug out from under them.

Some leaders in the reborn genre of Catholic apologetics, for instance, weren't thrilled recently to hear Francis call proselytism "solemn nonsense."

For the moment, whether those perceptions are justified, and to what extent, isn't really the point. They're out there, and people with their ear to the ground in these circles seem worried about it.

On Tuesday, renowned Italian Catholic writer Vittorio Messori published a front-page essay in Corriere della Sera, Italy's paper of record, acknowledging the "nostalgia" some people in his circles are feeling for Pope Benedict XVI. He reminds them that for believers, loyalty to the pope, whoever he is, "is based on something very different from personal sympathy."

Messori first came to prominence as the author of The Ratzinger Report, a blockbuster interview with the Vatican's then-doctrinal czar, and also produced Crossing the Threshold of Hope with Pope John Paul II in 1994. That history gives him strong credibility, especially in more conservative Catholic circles.

Indirectly, Messori's message seemed to be: You may not like it, but Francis is the pope, so get in line.

MY FINAL COMMENT: AS everyone who reads my blog knows, I am a papist. I personally liked Pope Benedict's style of bng pope and his measured ways of addressing the Faithful better than what Pope Francis has shown, but this is superficial. And if one's Catholicism and loyalty to the Holy Father is built upon the superficial, what does that say of our Catholic Faith?

I had hoped that Pope Benedict would have named the heresies that are recurring in the Church today. But it has been Pope Francis who has been calling out the heretics but in a gentle way to bring them home like the Prodigal son, but the son had to recognized his sin and return, but the father was waiting as does God the Father with us. The current Holy Father is modeling this for us too and making us who are like the elder son feel like, well, the elder son!

If this Holy Father is able to bring Italy and the rest of Europe back to the practice of the Catholic Faith and to make the Church relevant once again in this very secular culture, then more power to him and the Holy Spirit. Idn't want to get in the way of the Holy Father's leadership as the Supreme Pontiff.

I hope you will get behind this Holy Father too even if the humility that God will give you to get over your sin of pride kills you!

POPE FRANCIS' MOST EXPLICIT TEACHING ON THE DEVIL TO DATE!

This is the synopsis of Pope Francis' homily for Friday morning. If this isn't conservative and traditional, I don't know what is!

Pope: Guard against deceit of the devil

(Vatican Radio) Christians must always guard against the deceit of the devil, said Pope Francis at Friday’s morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. The Pope underlined that Christians cannot follow the victory of Jesus over evil “halfway”, nor confuse or relativize truth in the battle against the devil. 

Jesus casts out demons, and then someone offers explanations “to diminish the power of the Lord,” he said. The Pope focused his homily on the day’s Gospel and immediately underlined that there is always the temptation to want to diminish the figure of Jesus, as if he were “a healer at most” and so as not to take him “so seriously”. It is an attitude, he observed, that has “reached our present day”.

“There are some priests who, when they read this Gospel passage, this and others, say: ‘But, Jesus healed a person with a mental illness’. They do not read this, no? It is true that at that time, they could confuse epilepsy with demonic possession; but it is also true that there was the devil! And we do not have the right to simplify the matter, as if to say: ‘All of these (people) were not possessed; they were mentally ill’. No! The presence of the devil is on the first page of the Bible, and the Bible ends as well with the presence of the devil, with the victory of God over the devil.” 

For this reason, he warned, “we should not be naïve”. The Pope observed that the Lord gave us certain criteria to “discern” the presence of evil and to follow “the Christian way when there are temptations”. One of the criteria is “not to follow the victory of Jesus” only “halfway”. 

“Either you are with me, says the Lord, or you are against me,” the Pope said. Jesus, he added, came to destroy the devil, “to give us the freedom” from “the enslavement the devil has over us”. And, he cautioned, this is not “exaggerating”. 

“On this point,” he said, “there are no nuances. There is a battle and a battle where salvation is at play, eternal salvation; eternal salvation” of us all. 

There is criteria for watchfulness. “We must always be on guard,” exhorted the Pope, “on guard against deceit, against the seduction of evil”. 

“And we can ask ourselves the question: Do I guard myself, my heart, my feelings, my thoughts? Do I guard the treasure of grace? Do I guard the presence of the Holy Spirit in me? Or do I let go, feeling secure, believing that all is going well? But if you do not guard yourself, he who is stronger than you will come. But if someone stronger comes and overcomes, he takes away the weapons in which one trusted, and he shall divide the spoil. Vigilance! Three criteria! Do not confuse the truth. Jesus fights the devil: first criterion. Second criterion: he who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. There are no attitudes in the middle. Third criterion: vigilance over our hearts because the devil is astute. He is never cast out forever. It will only be so on the last day.”

When the impure spirit leaves man, the Pope pointed out, “it wanders in deserted places, and seeking rest and finding none, says: ‘I will return to my house, from which I left’.” 

And when he finds it “swept clean and adorned”, then he goes, “takes another seven spirits worse than he, who come and make their homes”. And, this way, “the last state of man becomes worse than the first”.

“Vigilance,” he said, “because his strategy is this: ‘You became Christian. Advance in your faith. I will leave you. I will leave you tranquil. But then when you are used to not being so watchful and you feel secure, I will come back’. The Gospel today begins with the devil being cast out and ends with the devil coming back! St. Peter would say: ‘It is like a fierce lion that circles us’. It is like that. ‘But, Father, you a little ancient. You are frightening us with these things…’ No, not me! It is the Gospel! And these are not lies: it is the Word of the Lord! 

“Let us ask the Lord for the grace to take these things seriously. He came to fight for our salvation. He won against the devil! Please, let us not do business with the devil! He seeks to return home, to take possession of us… Do not relativize; be vigilant! And always with Jesus!”

 

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/10/11/pope:_guard_against_deceit_of_the_devil/en1-736378
of the Vatican Radio website 

SUNRISE OR SUNSET?

I took these photos from my balcony at the Casa O'Toole here at the Pontifical College North American. Are they sunrise or sunset photos?

From the Blog, Chiesa, we have the following statement:

"And it must also be recalled that on the return flight from Rio de Janeiro Pope Francis expressed admiration for the Eastern liturgies, dense with sacrality and mystery and very faithful to tradition. With these words:

"The Orthodox Churches have preserved that pristine liturgy that is so beautiful. We have lost a bit of the sense of adoration. They preserve it, they praise God, they worship God. We need this renewal, this light of the East."

Among the five new advisors of the office of papal celebrations Francis has in fact also included a monk of the Eastern rite, Manuel Nin, rector of the Pontifical Greek College in Rome. Alongside advisors of a completely different vision, like the Servite Silvano Maggiani and the Montfortian Corrado Maggioni, both of the team of Piero Marini.

In short, there is in Bergoglio an oscillation in appointments, in actions, and in words that makes it difficult to interpret his decisions and even more to foresee his future moves."

MY COMMENTS: As far as the "Mass" of the Catholic Church, the status quo will prevail during this pontificate. Those who like the reform of the reform will continue to do it but it will focus more on music. I see the Church Music of America Association continuing its very fine work of promoting Gregorian Chant and other forms of chant in the vernacular and in Latin.

These groups will continue to push for the singing of the Mass as prescribed in its pristine form, that of singing the official chants, the Entrance Chant, the Offertory Chant, the Chant at Communion. This is the biggest reform that we have seen since the 70's apart from the more liberal allowance of the EF, but if not for the EF, I don't think I would be completely on board with doing with the Sung Mass in the OF as it is prescribed in the EF.

Pope Francis seems to be more into the "reform of the reform" of other things liturgical and devotional.

He is calling for people to go to confession frequently. I think when people go to confession frequently, they will have a higher regard for the Mass and receiving Holy Communion worthily. There will be a greater sense of the sacred when people examine their conscience and realize how often they fall short and need God's mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation.

For those who never go to confession or examine their conscience in light of the various models there are for this, what is their sense of reverence toward the Mass and receiving our Lord in Holy Communion?

And the popular devotions that Pope Francis is encouraging is, well, very encouraging. Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction--how many parishes actually have this today in the USA?

The recitation of the Holy Rosary, not only privately, but communally, this is a wonderful development.

And processions with statues, such as will occur tomorrow here at the Vatican and St. Peter's Square as the pope consecrates the World to Our Lady of Fatima. Does it get any better than that devotionally?

And tied into the new consciousness about sin and confession is the teachings the pope has given us on the devil. How many times have you heard the devil mentioned by your parish priest? I've lost track of the number of times that Pope Francis has referred to the devil. I can't remember Pope Benedict every doing so, although I might be wrong.

What Pope Francis seems to be doing is shoring up the personal faith of the laity and calling them to practice their faith daily with devotions and to go to confession regularly.

This has to be good.

Along the way, we'll continue to celebrate the Mass as we have and that will be a mixed bag depending where you live, but the foundation is being laid for something better in the future and with a new emphasis from a new pope.

THE GLORY OF THE ORDINARY FORM SOLEMN SUNG MASS

Yesterday at Pranzo, what you Americans call lunch, the new organist and choir director for the Pontifical North American College sat at my table. He is an American too and I told him where I was from in the Diocese of Savannah and stationed in Macon, Georgia. Then he said, oh yes, didn't the Church Music Association have their winter intensive chant there last January? And doesn't a priest from that area write a blog called "southern orders?"

Well, of course I blushed and told him to keep his mouth shut about that as I don't think any of the priests in the program I am in read my wonderful blog and some might not appreciate it if they did.

At any rate, I was able to tell him how wonderful the choir and music was for the deacon ordination last Thursday at St. Peter's Basilica. Indeed it was splendid and I thought to myself if parishioners could have just a simple taste of what he did each Sunday in their own churches would there be the same clamoring for something more traditional and reverent.

The music director certainly realizes that the course for the future reform of the Ordinary Form of the Mass lies not so much in a radical revamp similar to the EF, but in recovering as normative what unfortunately was made optional. And I've said this before and I say it again, it is the chanting of the chants of the Mass prescribed for any particular Mass and not substituting these with banal hymns of some sort that the choir director or priest likes.

Thus all the official chants of the Mass were chanted, the Introit, the chants associated with the ordination rite as well as the Offertory and Communion antiphons all taken from the Graduale Romanum.

This is where we need real leadership from Rome and our local bishops!

The deacon ordination was as reverent as any Mass I've celebrated in the Extraordinary Form.

The following is the music for that Mass:

The Processional Chant: Laudate Dominum--for about 200 in the procession and extended to cover this procession.

The Introit: (As the Cardinal approached the altar, the choir shifted to the official Introit for the Mass chanted in Latin) "O God, our Protector, look and see the face of your Anointed: for one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere."  Additional verses were added to cover the incensation of the altar.

The Kyrie: Mass VIII--Missa de angelis

The Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 117 by D. Champoli and N. Vaskov

The Alleluia: Festival Alleluia by R. Proulx

Vesting of new deacons: Psalm 83/84, from the Rite of Ordination

The Fraternal Kiss to each new deacon: Psalm 145 (146), From the Rite of Ordination

Offertory Antiphon by Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, "My faithfulness and my kindness shall be with him, and through my name shall his horn be exalted."

Followed by "Ave Maria" by F. Biebl

Sanctus: Mass VIII

Mystery of Faith, Roman Missal, We proclaim...

Great Amen, chant

Pater Noster, chanted in English with its Doxology

Agnus Dei: Mass VIII

Communion Antiphon, from Graduale Romanum in Latin "Whoever serves me should follow me, and where I
am, there my servant shall be also."

Communion chants: Father Make them Holy--C. Thompson

Ave Verum--W. A. Mozart

Recessional: O God Beyond All Praising, M. Perry/G. Holst

GIVE THIS POPE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT AND GET BEHIND HIM SO HE CAN LEAD!

Are we at the precipice of the actual "springtime" for the Church that so many in the 1960's thought for sure, by way of the mortal sin of presumption, would occur immediately after Vatican II? I'm not clairvoyant, but maybe I am, and I think that we might just be and this is no sin of bragging, just fact. 

I know may traditionalists are very, very discomforted by Pope Francis style of being pope and being almost like a loose canon, but I think he knows what he is doing and I think he is following what the Holy Spirit is telling him to do. 

John Allen of the National Chismatic Reporter, (NCR)interviewed Pope Francis sister and she states that he was always a person who did not like big crowds and would avoid them and not draw much attention to himself. She is shocked at his new personality and the fact that he seems to relish what he is doing. It is also said that Pope Francis as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires was boring and sometimes gave long boring talks. But this has not been the case thus far.

So it appears that the charism of the Office of the Chair of Peter has been handed onto this pope and in a rather unique way for the unique times in which we live.

What the Holy Father is modeling is what the Church in every diocese and parish must do also. We must engage with the world to bring them the good news. We can't do it as we did it in colonial times and force everyone to be baptized, as in South America, but we can do it through the power of love, persuasion and convincing signs and symbols which Pope Francis has done marvelously in the past 7 months.

The first thing he did, which shocked so many of you traditionalists, is that he celebrated Holy Thursday's Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper at that youth prison where he washed the feet of convicted juvenile delinquents including those who are not even Catholic, a muslim or two and several females. 

Is not the Church's mission to go to the whole world with the Good News of Jesus Christ? And when Jesus washes the feet of Saint Peter does He not tell him that He will not share in His life if Jesus does not wash Him? Of course Peter will share in Jesus' crucifixion too, which the washing of his feet foretells. But that is the mission of the Church that we must all share in the cross of Jesus to be bathed clean in His Blood. 

Now the Pope's most controversial style of teaching is the interview. First it was on a plane and unscripted, then there was the one with the Jesuit publication and the latest with the left leaning La Republica Newspaper. The atheist founder of this newspaper will be a changed person for this experience and those who read it, usually leftists in the Italian government and civilian life, will see the papacy and the Church in a new and more positive light and that the pope actually cares about these people to take the time to give this interview.

Shouldn't every parish and every Catholic talk to their friends, Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and non believers with love, respect and the desire to lead them to Christ, which they must choose to do so in completely freedom, not through manipulation or coercion?

So, is a new springtime about to occur in the Church in Europe and America? I am quite willing to give this pope the time he needs to do what he thinks the Holy Spirit is asking him to do. In five or ten years we can evaluate what is going on. Just remember, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. We may have to suffer this, that and the other, like the confusion that reigned in the Church during the so-called "spirit of Vatican II" so many of us experienced in the 1970's. But even there, God's plan is to bring good out of evil, resurrection out of death. And keep in mind, we are here on earth and in the Church Militant only for a short time, this isn't our true home, so we shouldn't act like it is. Heaven is our true destination and all we need to do is to cooperate with God in bringing about what He wants to give us as a pure gift. 

While the Pope is shaking things up, keep in mind the following:

He's told biblical scholars not to use methods of interpretation that call into question the Church's teachings and to be faithful to the Magisterium--that is big news and he said it within the first month of his papacy.

He's told all Catholics to be faithful to the Magisterium, the pope and bishops in union with him--this is Catholic folks and I fear that many Catholics and even some who comment here, are still Protestant congregationalists at heart when it comes to Catholicism.

He's reinvigorating the devotional life of the Church in a "hermeneutic of continuity" sort of way and insisting on Marian devotion, calling the Church, Holy Mother and inviting devotions to the other saints as well. The Holy Rosary, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, processions and a myriad of other traditional popular devotions are going to be recovered and this is good news indeed.

While he is not opposed to the EF Mass, he does not want the Extraordinary Form imposed on anyone or anyone to think that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is the normative form of the Mass. It isn't--it is for those who request it and should be under the supervision of local bishops. This bothers traditionalists who thought that the normative Mass of Vatican II would be suppressed. It won't and not even Pope Benedict advocated such silliness.

But Pope Benedict wanted the EF to influence the OF in terms of ethos and spirituality. Pope Francis is cracked open that very real possibility for the entire Latin Rite Church by allowing the Roman Missal of the Anglican Ordinariate to have in its appendix the options of "The Prayers at the Foot of the altar" to replace the Penitential Act (and thus a revised order of Mass for the Introductory Rite) as well as the EF's Offertory Prayers and the Last Gospel and rubrics for the Roman Missal more in keeping with the EF missal. This is big news folks and under Pope Francis' watch. He could have easily have excluded these things from the Anglican Ordinariate. I think it is a sign of things to come for our revised Roman Missal in the Ordinary Form which may well include these options in the Appendix!

Every formal Mass I've seen with Pope Francis has been beautiful. The Benedictine altar arrangement remains, the Introit is always chanted, as well as the Offertory and Communion Antiphons. There is always a bit of Latin somewhere in his Masses, although not in the consistent ways as Pope Benedict.

He doesn't distribute Holy Communion to the laity and he certainly isn't opposed to people standing to receive. At the Vatican, we are told when we distribute Holy Communion at papal Masses by one of the MC's not to give Holy Communion in the hand--that is a specific instruction. I know you see priests giving Holy Communion in the hand at papal Masses, but that is in contradiction from what we are told to do.

The Holy Father continues at St. Peter's to distribute Holy Communion to the deacons who kneel to receive from the Holy Father and by way of intinction.

This Pope is pastoral and most of his life as a priest and bishop has been pastoral, not academic. We are not use to this kind of pope and I don't think we've had one like this in centuries. Thus he speaks as a pastor, not an academic and knows what Catholics experience in the messiness of their lives as I do as a pastor.

He is going to develop a pastoral theology on the papal level which we have not seen and I think this too will lead to the "new springtime" that so many thought would happen in the 1970's.

So, my concluding remarks to anxious traditionalists is give this pope and the Holy Spirit time, don't carp, and be happy (blessed) not sad (cursed)!

THE GLORIES OF ITALIA

If Fr. Z can do it, so can I! Be jealous, very jealous!

POPE FRANCIS PRACTICAL CATHOLICISM AND CATHOLIC OPTIMISM ABOUT PEOPLE

The young couple who were my hosts in Trani, Italia, former parishioners of mine from Macon, commented on some of their new Italian friends. Matt told me that many of them do not practice the Catholic faith, in terms of knowing the content of the Faith or attending Mass, but they have hearts of gold.

We both agreed that while many, many Italians do not practice the Faith, they live it out in their personal goodness. This must be attributed to the ancient Catholic culture here that they inherit from their families and the culture in general. But of course all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God and we all have God's goodness imprinted in our very being. Thus this awareness, this positive teaching of the Church on the goodness of God's creatures, we human beings, was elucidated by Pope Francis in his Monday morning homily at the chapel of his place of residence at the Vatican Motel 6:

(Vatican Radio) “Open up your heart and listen to what God is saying to you. Allow your life to “written” by God”. Just as the Good Samaritan did when he stopped to help the stranger, we must all listen to God’s voice and sometimes put our own projects on hold to do his will.

Speaking to those present for morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Monday, Pope Francis pointed out that it can happen that Christians, Catholics, priests. Bishops and even the Pope sometimes turn away from God!

Not to listen to his voice, not to take heed in our hearts of his proposal and his invitation– the Pope said – is a daily temptation. And he said there are many ways in which one can turn away from God, polite, sophisticated ways… And to better illustrate his message, Pope Francis recalled the parable recounted in the Gospel in which there is a half-dead man lying in the road. A priest walks by – a zealous priest wearing a cassock and on his way to say Mass. The priest looks at the man and says to himself “I will be late for Mass” and goes on his way. “He didn’t hear the voice of God” – Pope Francis pointed out.

Then a Levite passes by – the Pope continued – and perhaps he thinks “If I get involved and the man dies, then tomorrow I will have to before the judge and give testimony…” so, the Pope continued “he too goes on his way. He too – Francis points out - “turns away from the voice of God”…

Only the Samaritan, a sinner, someone who habitually turns away from God had the capacity “to hear God and to understand his request”. Someone – the Pope observes – “who wasn’t used to participating in religious rites, who didn’t lead a “moral” life, who was theologically “wrong”, because – Pope Francis explained – Samaritans believed that God should be adored elsewhere, not where the Lord had said”. And notwithstanding,“the Samaritan understood that God was calling him and he did not turn away. He went to the man, bound up his wounds, poured on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him”. He gave up his whole evening for him.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis said, the priest was on time for Mass and the faithful were happy; the Levite’s schedule was not upset…. And the Pope asked: “why did Jonah run away from God when the Lord asked him to go to Ninevah and he boarded a ship to Spain? Why did the priest turn away from God? Why did the Levite turn away from God? Because their hearts were closed, and when your heart is closed you cannot hear the voice of God. Instead the Samaritan - said - “saw and was moved with compassion”: his heart was open, he was human, and humanity brought him close to God.

Those – Pope Francis said – who have a design for their lives, who want to map out their own stories – do not allow God to write their lives.

“I say to myself, and I say to you: do we let God write our lives? Or do we want to write it ourselves?” And he exhorted those listening “to be docile to the Word of God. To have the capacity to hear His voice and to listen to it.

MY FINAL COMMENT: We also spoke of why so many Italians are no longer engaged with the institution of the Church, especially their parishes. For a very large number it is because the Catholic Church in Italy, all the way from the Vatican to the local bishops involve themselves in the politics of Italy too much. There is and has been for
decades resentment toward the Church because of this and a very powerful anti-clerical attitude in many Italians.

I know this to be true of my Italian relatives here, most of whom do not practice the faith either. They do not like the Church meddling in Italian politics.

I would say the strength of the USA up until President Obama is the respect the state had for the Church and the Church for the state in the sense of the so-called "separation of Church and State." However, as our politics have become more divisive and the our culture more intimately involved in promoting the "culture of death" and disdain for Orthodox Judaism and Christianity, there is more involvement by the clergy of the Church, especially bishops, in terms of politics. This may have a deliterious effect on USA Catholicism in the long run making us more like our Italian counterparts. But I am not clairvoyant or am I?