THE SYMBOLISM OF THE PREPARATION OF THE OFFERINGS IN EITHER FORM OF THE ONE ROMAN RITE

Msgr. Bruce Harbert writes the following; who knew? It may be helpful to recall that the prayer beginning ‘With humble spirit . . . ‘ is an allusion to Daniel 3, 39-40, part of the ‘Song of the three holy children’, which is used in Morning Prayer on Sundays and on Tuesday of the fourth week of the Liturgy of the hours.

The situation is this: three Jewish lads have been thrown by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, into a furnace for failing to obey him. They are far from Jerusalem, and so cannot offer sacrifice in the temple. Moreover, they have no rams, bulls or lambs to offer. so one of them, Azariah, prays that, in place of a normal sacrifice, God will accept them themselves. The whole passage is well worth reading.

On the lips of the celebrant of a Christian Eucharist, then, Azariah’s prayer indicates that he is offering himself along with bread and wine.

The people too offer the sacrifice of themselves, and each person’s sacrifice is different : one has been working hard, another bearing sickness, another looking after children and so on ad infinitum. That is why he speaks of ‘my sacrifice and yours’.

In their reply, they speak of ‘the sacrifice’ in the singular because, as VII said in Presbyterorum Ordinis 2 (also worth a read) ‘by the ministry of presbyters, the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is completed in union with the sacrifice of Christ, the one Mediator’. That is, at Mass all our sacrifices become one.

SO SAD AND ON PRESIDENTS' DAY NO LESS!

Magnolia Lane at Augusta National after ice storm:

The Eisenhower's at Mamie's Cabin at Augusta National:

The Master's landmark, the Eisenhower Pine Tree was damaged beyond saving during Augusta's iceageddon this past Wednesday and Thursday. Those of you who keep up with the Masters will feel this loss on Presidents' Day. Read the Augusta Chronicle story here.

But perhaps Saint Ike of the Augusta National may have interceded to have his way with this tree that he wanted chopped down anyway. Read the story here.

But of course Augusta experienced a 4.2 magnitude earthquake Friday night felt and heard by many even in Macon, two hours away. An aftershock yesterday of 3.2 was felt at 3:20 PM yesterday. Iceageddon and earthageddon; what else will happen?! Maybe the tree fell from the earthquake?

President Eisenhower with my former parishioner in Augusta and now deceased Eileen Stulb a great women golfer in her day, taken at the Augusta National:

And this is the scene today all over Augusta, tree branches and trees all over the place ripe for removal!
Most of Augusta without electricity for about three days because of this kind of scene:

POPE FRANCIS VISITS A NEW MODERN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ROME TODAY

I like it and looking at it you'd think you are in America. I especially love how the "Benedictine" altar arrangement looks, which is the pre-Vatican II altar arrangement, but with low candles that allow for a clearer view of the actions of the Mass when facing the congregation. The tabernacle is centered directly behind the altar:

POPE FRANCIS ON SIN GOING BEYOND TO CORRUPTION AND SPIRITUAL WORLDLINESS

My Comments first: This is a very good article on Pope Francis and his preaching against being corrupt Catholics. It reminds me of the spirituality of "My Imitation of Christ" which was so mocked in the early post-Conciliar period. Worldliness was seen as a good and thus all the corruption we have seen in the clergy and laity was given encouragement by clergy and laity in the Church operating from the corrupt spirit of Vatican II rather than the letter of Vatican II. 

 I think this is the most important contribution Pope Francis is making to modern Catholicism today, calling us back to our roots and away from spiritual and material worldliness!

Sinners, yes! Corrupt, no!

Fr. Antonio Ucciardo
Celebrant of the Traditional Mass in the 
Archdiocese of Catania

from  Porta Santa Anna

One of the recurrent themes of the preaching of Pope Francis is that of corruption.  In our view, this should be read from the viewpoint of that spiritual worldliness that represents perhaps the key to understanding this papacy. 

We know that the Holy Father is referring to that worldliness that was described by Henri de Lubac in his most significant works.  This Jesuit theologian, later made Cardinal by Pope John II, spoke of this worldliness as the greatest danger for the Church.  He wrote: “None of us is totally safe against this evil.  A subtle humanism, the adversary of the living God, and, in a deep way, no less an enemy of man, is able to insinuate itself in us by thousands of devious ways. That ‘original crookedness’ in us is never definitively straightened.  The ‘sin against the Holy Spirit’ is always possible.”

De Lubac owes his use of this category to Anscar Vonier, a Benedictine who died in 1918.  He makes a distinction between the spirituality of the world and a material spirituality:  “Even if men were full of every spiritual perfection, but these perfections were not in relation to God (supposing that such a thing were possible), we would be talking about a worldliness incapable of redemption.”  And again: “ If Christianity ever had to lower itself to the level of a perfect ethical society whose only purpose was to promote human prosperity, or even the promotion of human morality, the Church would, following this path, become completely apostate, like Lucifer himself.  The Church in doing this would be denying the Spirit, would be refusing to follow the Spirit wherever it wants to lead her. The Church would be trying to please men rather than Christ, and human applause would be her highest recompense.”

Why are we saying these things?  For the simple fact that the way of thinking of the world, always ready to find enthusiastic admirers among Catholics, understands corruption as an evil bound to riches, weakness, honors, and obsession with a career.  When this understanding is applied to a priest, the evidence of his corruption may be that he owns a luxury car.  From here comes the message that the reform, strangely having become a preoccupation dominated by whether someone knows how to distinguish between a curate or a catechist, is within reach. It is enough to get rid of the corrupt men in the Curia, to reduce priests and dioceses to a state of poverty, to abolish some titles, and the game is over and done. But this is not the intent of the Pope, who does not hide from himself or the Church the duty of making sure that we have pastors who live according to the Heart of Christ.  Benedict spoke of secularized priests.  Francis speaks of corrupt priests.  We need to be grateful to the Pope for this continuing and healthy shaking up of the pastors. Their conversion must begin with their realization that they have been called to be heralds and ministers of conversion for others.  Among other things, for decades now there has been an emphasis from all quarters on the priesthood of all believers. This is a good thing, when, following the teaching of Vatican II, one recognizes the dignity of every person who has been baptized.  But it becomes something negative when it is used to democratize the Church and bring everyone down to the same level, and in this way shows disrespect for the Council.  Why does one, when speaking of corruption, shrink back from applying the need for conversion to the laity, instead thinking that it applies only to the ministerial priesthood?

Secularization and corruption are categories that do not apply only to priests, especially if it is true that the Church is not made up only of priests.  The spirit of the world calls everyone to its cause, because it consists of a constant temptation that has existed throughout history, beginning with the scene in the Gospels of the temptations of Christ.  This worldly spirituality offers a human redeemer, who would marry the cause of a hazy humanism and who would satisfy all the aspects and all the pretenses that are those of a man who chooses the darkness so that he does not have to look at the light of truth.  These pretenses the world has never put aside.  In a few days our national song festival will host a singer who includes in his repertory a song called “Gay Messiah”.  We hope that at least in Italy the song will not be on his program, even though the invitation offered this singer seems to follow closely that preoccupation that is becoming the sole obsession of politics, of institutions and men of culture.

There exists also a corruption of faith, which can be the cause of yielding to the spirit of the world or that can be a direct reflection of it, depending on the perspectives that one assumes when looking at the unfolding situation.  And we should not necessarily think of heresy in this context.  If heresy is truth gone haywire, corruption is the obfuscation of truth.  If the heretic, as the great Chesterton would say, affirms his partial truth at the expense of the whole truth, the corrupt man says nothing about the whole truth by emphasizing his partial truth in the everyday life of the Christian. 

One cannot be a Christian without love of one’s neighbor, without wanting to clothe all forms of poverty with this love.  There have been so many appeals on the part of the Pope, so many warnings about having to open the eyes of the heart when confronted with that indifference that is the mark of our time, so satisfied and yet so unsatisfied.  But let us beware of those who separate the neighbor and the poor from the love of God, as if everything should be done on this earth according to the parameters of perfect efficiency of charitable institutions.  And let us beware of those who sow confusion in the hierarchy of truths by emphasizing only that aspect that makes them more comfortable.  One is not a Christian, even less a Catholic, if one chooses a single value and separates it from truth.  This is the mixed-up thinking that is today found everywhere and is so ably to falsify the truth by meeting supposed needs that originate from those who think with the world. Perhaps it is necessary to be Christians “on the street” but with the proviso that the street lead to Paradise.  History does not show that living a simple life produces Christians.  It leaves us as simply men.  And in no Gospel is there written that a man must just live simply per se.  But the worldly redeemer does not have to trouble himself to let a man into his way of life.  It is he, rather, who chooses a man’s way of living.  That is how it is.

De Lubac spoke about a subtle humanism.  He spoke in this way in the 1950s. Today because this humanism has taken off its mask and has shown itself to have become solidly entrenched and has penetrated our culture so deeply as never before, we need to turn to the faith of the Church in its integrity.  These uncontrollable elements that respect no authority other than themselves have produced a paradoxical situation that is beneath our own eyes, and they are preparing to gain success in new places. Not content to have obtained the applause of the world, they would like that of the Church as well, which they see as something for which they should take credit as the logical consequence of the changing times.   Many indications of this are coming together with an adamantine clarity.

The Body of Christ is made up of members.  The Church is built through the work of all her members, not only some of them.  Temporal realities are entrusted to the faithful laity, not to priests.  The Church of the pure does not exist, save in Paradise. On earth we have a Church made up of poor sinners, who have only one pure thing that they can accept and retain:  grace.  The purity of the Faith, transmitted by our Mother, pure and without stain, is the only antidote to corruption, as much as for our personal lives as for the life of the Church in this hour.

The Pope has reminded us of this: “Sinners yes, all of us, that is what we are! But betrayers, no! Corrupt, no! Always within! And the Church is so much a mother that she wants us as we are, so many times dirty, but the Church cleanses us: she is Mother.”  (February 6, 2014)

If the distinction is between sin and corruption, the Pope is not speaking of material worldliness.  He is speaking of spiritual worldliness.  He is not speaking about moral fragility but about corruption in the heart and in the mind.  And since we must love God with all our heart and all our mind, he is speaking about our personal conversion and about the corruption of faith and morals in the presence of a worldly fiction that flatters us, applauds us, and welcomes us if we present those who invent this fiction with a redeemer that is in accord with their pretenses.  And to betray Christ is the ultimate corruption.

THE SEASON OF SEPTUAGESIMA (FEBRUARY 16-MARCH 4) BEGINS TODAY NOT ONLY FOR THE EF CALENDAR BUT ALSO FOR THE ANGLICAN ORDINARIATE CALENDAR!

The Anglican Ordinariate Calendar! Look familiar? It is almost identical to the Extraordinary Form Calendar except the Anglican Ordinariate Calendar matches our current Ordinary Form Roman Missal and Lectionary:

Why or why are the former Anglicans who have come into the full communion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church given more of the good stuff than us cradle Catholics of the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite? Why or why? Their revised Roman Calendar which I print below has all the good stuff of the Extraordinary Form Roman Calendar but calibrated to our 3 year revised lectionary.

In other words, the lectionary for the Sundays of Septuagesima is exactly as the one we use these next three Sundays and weeks, not to mention the orations of the Roman Missal and prefaces. The Magisterium has simply allowed the Anglican Ordinariate to call these Sundays by  the traditional name that was swiped from us in the Ordinary Form and for no apparent good reason!

My clairvoyance tells me that our Ordinary Form Calendar will be revised according to the Anglican Ordinariate Calendar since there is not one thing different that needs to be done to the current Ordinary From Missal and Lectionary we both use. Reprints of these books can list the proper names as the Anglican Ordinariate names the Sundays of the year!

Here's their calendar but still using our 3 year lectionary and the normal Roman Missal that we all use in the Ordinary Form:

Liturgical Calendar for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter

Temporale

The date of Easter being moveable, Sundays marked * are not needed in every annual cycle.

Advent

First Sunday of Advent
Second Sunday of Advent
Third Sunday of Advent
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Christmas Eve
Christmas
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity:
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
(if there is no Sunday, December 30)

The Octave Day of Christmas:

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
*Second Sunday after Christmas

Epiphany

The Epiphany of the Lord (The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles)
(January 6, or the Sunday between January 2 and 8)
The Baptism of the Lord
(Sunday after Epiphany, or on Monday, January 8 or 9)

Time after Epiphany

Time after Epiphany begins usually with Monday of Week 1 on the day following the the
Baptism of the Lord. For the weekdays following the Baptism of of the Lord, the propers
for the Week after Epiphany (Week 1) are used. Even when the Baptism of the Lord is
transferred to the Monday, the Sunday after the Baptism of the Lord is
observed as the Second Sunday after Epiphany. For the purposes of the lectionary, this is Sunday 2 in Ordinary Time and the Sundays thereafter Sundays 3, 4, 5 &c. until Lent begins.

Second Sunday after Epiphany
*Third Sunday after Epiphany
*Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
*Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
*SixthSunday after Epiphany
__________________
Feast of the Lord

The Presentation of the
Lord (Candlemas)-2 February
__________________
Third Sunday before Lent (Septuagesima)
Second Sunday before Lent (Sexagesima)
Sunday next before Lent (Quinquagesima)

Lent

Ash Wednesday
First Sunday in Lent
Second Sunday in Lent
Third Sunday in Lent
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday)
Fifth Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday)
Palm Sunday

Monday of Holy Week
Tuesday
of Holy week
Wednesday of Holy Week
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
(Easter Eve)

Easter

Easter Sunday
Monday of Easter Week
Tuesday of Easter Week
Wednesday of Easter Week
Thursday of Easter Week
Friday of Easter Week
Saturday of Easter Week
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
Third Sunday of Easter
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Scheme A

Ascension Day (Thursday of Week 6 of Eastertide)
From Friday after Ascension Day
begin the nine days of prayer before Pentecost
Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension)
Pentecost (Whit-Sunday)

Scheme B

Ascension of the Lord (Sunday 7 of Eastertide)
Pentecost(Whit-Sunday)

Pentecost Octave

The ancient Octave of Pentecost began with Whit-Sunday and continued until Trinity
Sunday. For the midweek ferias following Pentecost the weekday lectionary is used, as
prescribed for Ordinary Time, but the mass propers and red as the liturgical colour may
sustain the themes of Pentecost.

Time after Trinity

This begins on Monday of the week following
Trinity.

For the purposes of the Roman Lectionary, the numbering of Sundays
(Sunday 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) resumes either on the First Sunday after
Pentecost or on the first Sunday thereafter on which a solemnity is not
celebrated. Sunday numbers remain in sequence until Sunday 33. Sunday 34 is Christ the
King and Week 34 the final six days of the liturgical year.


Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday) (Sunday after Pentecost)
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
(Thursday after Trinity Sunday, or as appointed on the First Sunday after Trinity)
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Friday after the First Sunday after Trinity)

Sundays after Trinity

First Sunday after Trinity (if not kept as Corpus Christi)
Second Sunday after Trinity
Third Sunday after Trinity
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Eighth Sunday after Trinity
Ninth Sunday after Trinity
Tenth Sunday after Trinity
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
Twentieth Sunday after Trinity
Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity
Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity
*Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity
*Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
*Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity
*Twenty-
sixth Sunday after Trinity
*Twenty-seventh Sunday after Trinity

Last Sunday of the Church Year:

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

The propers of the Sunday next before Advent are used during the final week of the
liturgical year, Week 34.

THE GENIUS OF BEING FIRST OF ALL THE BISHOP OF ROME IN ADDITION TO ALL THE OTHER SECONDARY TITLES

The Bishop of Rome on His Holiness throne at the Cathedral Church of Rome, The Patriarchal Basilica of Saint John Lateran

 
I just watched Pope Francis give his Sunday Angelus to a piazza jam packed with Romans and other pilgrims. All of Pope Francis' audiences are packed and even bad weather doesn't keep the Italians away.

Prior to Pope John Paul II who traveled the globe as the "Supreme Pastor" of the Catholic Church and to a lesser extent, Pope Paul VI who began to leave the confines of his Diocese of Rome, and even though Pope Benedict valiantly went around the world, popes generally stay in their home Diocese, that of Rome to build up the Church of Rome, the Diocese of Rome, the primary see of the Roman Catholic Church.

Secularism in Europe and thus in Italy and in Rome itself has diminished the role of the Diocese of Rome as the Faithful became tepid and no longer practiced their Catholic Faith and the heritage handed on to them by Saints Peter and Paul! They seldom went to Mass.

Pope Francis, by recovering and making central his role as the Bishop of Rome, the Primal See of the Roman Catholic Church, is bringing us back to 1950's Catholicism in Rome where the Bishop of Rome stayed home and ministered to the Romans and other pilgrims that came to see him.

Perhaps it is time for the Bishop of Rome to be the Bishop of Rome and thus create a Diocese of Rome that is exemplar for the entire Church, meaning that the majority of Catholics in this Diocese are practicing Catholics and attending Mass each Sunday and bringing their faith to bear in the public square.

Popes are the Bishop of Rome and they should stay at home to take care of their diocesan family. We all know church workers who throw themselves into their churchy work and let their families fall apart. Popes can do that too when they travel the world and forget their diocese isn't the world, it is the Diocese of Rome. Take care of Rome and let the other bishops take care of their dioceses in union with the Bishop of Rome who sets the example of what it means to be a good Bishop!

IS THERE CONTINUITY OR RUPTURE BETWEEN THE MAGISTERIUM AND THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH IN TERMS OF THE PRE-VATICAN II AND POST VATICAN II TEACHINGS ON THE ORDAINED PRIESTHOOD AND THE HOLY MASS?

The priest, the Mass, the Church, one and the same since Christ founded His Church and showed forth His High Priesthood and instituted both the ordained priesthood and the Mass as well as the other sacraments:

Are progressive, heterodox Catholics, either heterodox by choice or by ignorance, using the Ordinary Form of the Mass to denigrate not only the other legitimate form of the Mass, the 1962 Missal, but also the orthodoxy of the role of Holy Orders, that of the ordained priest, as linked to the Old Testament Aaronic priesthood which is a prefigurement of the New Testament Catholic priesthood?

But post-Vatican II heterodox Catholics promote a false teaching, based upon Protestant Reformation theology of ministry (cannot use the term "sacrament of Holy Orders" since Martin Luther did away with all sacraments except two Baptism and Communion) to eliminate the character of the Catholic priesthood as "the mediator between God and Man and Man and God" through the sacramental character of the ordained priest showing forth the One, Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ who is the Mediator between God and Man and Man and God.

Take a look at what one commenter had the temerity to write in the most condescending way at another blog about this:

"Just look at the whole structure of the (1962 Missal) celebration, including the priest using a language almost no one else knows, and with his back to the people (or ad orientem or whatever your term), and the people having little or no vocal role in the rite. Would anyone among the laity every come up with the idea that the priest is the one offering the sacrifice, and he’s doing it for the people and on behalf of the people?"

Is there not a continuity between the pre-Vatican II priesthood and the post-Vatican II priesthood, just as there is a continuity between the pre-Vatican II Mass and the post-Vatican II Mass? Yes, of course there is continuity, except in the minds of the heterodox "spirit of Vatican II Catholics" of my 1970's generation who are shooting into their veins  their last drops of adrenalin in a drug-like induced fashion to recover their lost youth. The name of the game of the post-Vatican II Church for these junkies is rupture with what preceded it. The name of the game for these silly Catholics is "re-imagining the Church, the priesthood, the Mass, Religious Life and the laity. They wish to construct in the most creative way possible a "church" that is quite ontologically different than what Vatican II envisioned quite explicitly in its words and documents.

If we take our understanding of the Catholic Priesthood from post-Catholic drivelists, we go astray and become post-Catholic ourselves. Pope Francis has consistently called us to fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church and the Deposit of Faith, especially as enunciated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Taking our cue from these sources rather than the authoritarians who usurp legitimate authority and shove their own down our throats (usually the most clerical of all in the Church, academics) we find the truth: 

II. THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION
The priesthood of the Old Covenant
1539 The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."⁶ But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance.⁷ A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are "appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."⁸
1540 Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer,⁹ this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish.¹⁰
1541 The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders,¹¹ a prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays in the consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops:

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . .
by your gracious word
you have established the plan of your Church. From the beginning,
you chose the descendants of Abraham to be your holy nation.
You established rulers and priests
and did not leave your sanctuary without ministers to serve you. . . .¹²

1542 At the ordination of priests, the Church prays:

Lord, holy Father, . . .
when you had appointed high priests to rule your people,
you chose other men next to them in rank and dignity
to be with them and to help them in their task. . . . you extended the spirit of Moses to seventy wise men. . . .
You shared among the sons of Aaron
the fullness of their father's power.¹³

The one priesthood of Christ
1544 Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men."¹⁵ The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek";¹⁶ "holy, blameless, unstained,"¹⁷ "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,"¹⁸ that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.
1545 The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. The same is true of the one priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood: "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers."¹⁹
 
Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ
1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father."²⁰ The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are "consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood."²¹
 
1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ." While being "ordered one to another," they differ essentially.²² In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace --a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit--, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.

In the person of Christ the Head . . .
1548 In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis:²³
 

It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).²⁴ Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.²⁵

1549 Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the community of believers.²⁶ In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop is typos tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father.²⁷
 
1550 This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the apostolic fruitfulness of the Church.

1551 This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service."²⁸ It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a "sacred power" which is none other than that of Christ. The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made himself the least and the servant of all.²⁹ "The Lord said clearly that concern for his flock was proof of love for him."³⁰
. . . "in the name of the whole Church"
 
1552 The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice.³¹
 
1553 "In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that priests are the delegates of the community. The prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable from the prayer and offering of Christ, her head; it is always the case that Christ worships in and through his Church. The whole Church, the Body of Christ, prays and offers herself "through him, with him, in him," in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. The whole Body, caput et membra, prays and offers itself, and therefore those who in the Body are especially his ministers are called ministers not only of Christ, but also of the Church. It is because the ministerial priesthood represents Christ that it can represent the Church.

JUST WHAT SAVES US? THE MASS OR THE ACTIONS OF JESUS ON BEHALF OF HIS BODY, WE HIS PEOPLE?

Of course this will send those traditionalists who dislike Pope Francis into a tizzy because it seems to contradict what Pope Benedict said about the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

But does it really?

This is what the Holy Father said as reported by Rorate Caeli:

In the visit, as it usually happens in such cases, other than the formal address, the Pope heard the questions and comments of the bishops. Archbishop Jan Graubner, of Olomouc, told the Czech section of Vatican Radio what the Pope told him:

[Abp. Jan Graubner speaks:] When we were discussing those who are fond of the ancient liturgy and wish to return to it, it was evident that the Pope speaks with great affection, attention, and sensitivity for all in order not to hurt anyone. However, he made a quite strong statement when he said that he understands when the old generation returns to what it experienced, but that he cannot understand the younger generation wishing to return to it. "When I search more thoroughly - the Pope said - I find that it is rather a kind of fashion [in Czech: 'móda', Italian 'moda']. And if it is a fashion, therefore it is a matter that does not need that much attention. It is just necessary to show some patience and kindness to people who are addicted to a certain fashion. But I consider greatly important to go deep into things, because if we do not go deep, no liturgical form, this or that one, can save us."

Now, granted, Pope Francis in some of the things he writes and says makes you scratch your head wondering exactly what does he mean. He is not precise as Pope Benedict and opens himself up to being spinned by the right, the left and everyone else in between.

So here is my spin.

The most important thing he says is that young people are drawn to fads and fashions. There is no surprise here and I suspect some people do this with religion and liturgy, especially the styles of music in the Ordinary Form and some styles of creativity that make the Mass oh so horizontal and diminishes the vertical.
 
But the real import of what the Holy Father says is this:  But I consider greatly important to go deep into things, because if we do not go deep, no liturgical form, this or that one, can save us."

And of course, how many times have I lamented those who turn the liturgy into some kind of idol? Progressives do it with the Ordinary Form of the Mass refusing to see the validity and beauty of the 1962 Roman Missal. And then there are those radical traditionalists who see nothing good in the Ordinary Form of the Mass as Pope Francis, Pope Benedict and many good and holy priests celebrate it according to the books and following the rubrics. The exclusive focus on the EF Mass can be a form of idolatry too!

So it seems to me that he isn't slamming those who prefer the Extraordinary Form of the Mass if it goes beyond pure liturgical style or some kind of fad or fashion, but asking that we go deep into the liturgy, whatever form, this or that, (meaning, EF or OF, and I suspect Eastern Rite or Orthodox could be thrown into the mix). The Holy Father wants everyone, in no matter what liturgy, this or that, to enter the Mystery of Jesus Christ, His word, His Sacrifice, His Sacrificial Banquet and His commissioning us to go out and Glorify Him with our lives.

We must go to the heart of the liturgy which is Jesus, no matter which form. And I would suggest to the Holy Father, that more people are into fads and fashions as it regards the Ordinary Form and forget precisely why we celebrate it which is, as Pope Francis has taught about Jesus on our altars: the Lord makes himself present on the altar in order to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world."

But didn't Pope Francis say the basically the same in a recent daily homily as just recently reported by Sandro Magister of Chiesa:

 ROME, February 14, 2014 – Fifty years after the promulgation of the document of Vatican Council II on the liturgy, the Vatican is solemnizing the event with a three-day conference at the pontifical university of the Lateran, organized by the congregation for divine worship from the 18th to the 20th of this month.

So far the liturgy has not seemed to be one of the top priorities in the vision of Pope Francis. In the long interview-confession with "La Civiltà Cattolica" last summer he reduced the conciliar liturgical reform to this dismissive definition: " a service to the people as a re-reading of the Gospel from a concrete historical situation."

Not a word more, if not for the "worrying risk of the ideologization of the Vetus Ordo, its exploitation."

But on Monday, February 10, with no forewarning Jorge Mario Bergoglio broke the silence and dedicated to the liturgy the entire homily of the morning Mass in the chapel of Santa Marta. Saying things he has never said before, since he became pope.

That morning the passage was read from the first book of Kings in which during the reign of Solomon the cloud, the divine glory, filled the temple and "the Lord decided to dwell in the cloud."

Taking his cue from that "theophany," pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio said that "in the Eucharistic liturgy God is present" in a way even "closer" than in the cloud in the temple, his "is a real presence."

And he continued:

"When I speak of the liturgy I am mainly referring to the holy Mass. The Mass is not a representation, it is something else. It is living once again the redemptive passion and death of the Lord. It is a theophany: the Lord makes himself present on the altar in order to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world."

Further on the pope said:

"The liturgy is the time of God and space of God, and we must put ourselves there in the time of God, in the space of God, and not look at our watches. The liturgy is nothing less than entering into the mystery of God, allowing ourselves to be carried to the mystery and to be in the mystery. It is the cloud of God that envelops us all."

And looking back on one of his childhood memories: (and recall this is the pre-Vatican II liturgy he is referring:)
"I recall that as a child, when they were preparing us for first communion, they had us sing: 'O holy altar guarded by the angels,' and this made us understand that the altar was truly guarded by the angels, it gave us the sense of the glory of God, of the space of God, of the time of God."
Coming to the conclusion, Francis invited those present to "ask the Lord today to give all of us this sense of the sacred, this sense that makes us understand that it is one thing to pray at home, to pray the rosary, to pray many beautiful prayers, make the way of the cross, read the bible, and the Eucharistic celebration is another thing. In the celebration we enter into the mystery of God, into that path which we cannot control. He alone is the one, he is the glory, he is the power. Let us ask for this grace: that the Lord may teach us to enter into the mystery of God."

_________


The February 10 homily of Pope Francis in the summary provided by "L'Osservatore Romano":

AT MASS, EITHER THE 1962 VERSION OR THE REVISED ORDINARY FORM MISSAL, DOES THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS RESACRIFICE JESUS?

At another blog, there is a bizarre accusation made of the 1962 missal and the missals prior to it and here's the money quote:

The loss of the patristic heritage and its replacement with Scholastic theology in the thirteenth and subsequent centuries created an appalling mystique to the Mass where it was claimed that Christ died anew and again day after day upon the altars. You can read the rest of the drivel HERE.

Yet, as a child growing up in the Bible Belt, where Protestants taught that Catholics resacrificed Christ on our altars everyday, because the one Sacrifice of Calvary wasn't enough, we children and adults were given an "apologetic" to fight against this nonsense with our well-meaning but proselytizing Protestant friends.

It was the one Sacrifice of Calvary offered anew in an "eternal" way and unbloody, as Christ was not killed or sacrificed again! I heard many sermons on that in the deep south in my parishes!

This is what the Baltimore Catechism #2 taught us as well, and the Sisters of Mercy of this time as well as the Sisters of Corondelet who taught me would have taught this about the Sacrifice of the Mass:

"The Mass continues the Sacrfice of the Cross. Each time Mass is offered, the Sacrifice of Christ is repeated. A new sacrifice is not offered, but by divine power,, one and the same sacrifice is repeated...The Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the Cross...

The manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the Cross Christ physically shed His blood and was physically slain, while in the Mass there is no physical  shedding of blood nor physical death, because Christ can die no more; on the cross Christ gained merit and satisfied for us, while in the Mass he applies to us the merits and satisfaction of his death on the cross.

My final comment: In this, there is absolutely no difference between the two forms of the one Latin Rite!

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT THE CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP DOES THESE DAYS AT THE VATICAN? STOP WONDERING AND READ

Anglican Use Catholic Mass:

The Chant Cafe is reporting on some significant developments at the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship as it regards music and chant for the Mass. It sounds like an examination of conscience for the last 50 years since Sacrosanctum Concilium and that perhaps this Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship will strive actually to implement SC which has not actually been done according to its letter for the past 50 years. You can read their article Here.

The supposed outgoing head of this congregation, Cardinal Canizares Llovera said the following:

"With regard to “gratitude” and “commitment”, the prelate added, “We must, indeed, thank God for this first fruit of the Council … not only for the Constitution itself, but also for the renewing dynamism of the Church that it has given rise to, and continues to provide. At the same time, urgent commitment on our part to the continuation and deepening of the liturgical renewal hoped for by the Vatican Council II is now called for. It is true that much has been done, but there remains much still to do”.

I've written this before and I'll write it again. Pope Francis is going to allow the Congregation for Divine Worship to proceed in continuity with what it has thus far accomplished and the ground work it has laid for future accomplishments, the "much has been done, but there remains much still to do." 

Part of what the new initiative that the Chant Cafe reports will certainly revolve around the recovery of the Official Chants of the Mass, meaning not only Gregorian and Polyphony, in Latin or the vernacular, but also the Entrance Chant (Introit) and Offertory and Communion Antiphons. To mandate these as in the EF Mass will solve a whole host of silly problems currently experienced in the OF's music at these times!

We know for a fact that this Congregation along with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has worked together to present to the Holy Father for his approval, and it was the approval of Pope Francis, not Pope Benedict, the revision of the Roman Missal for the Anglican Ordinariate.

This revised Anglican Use Roman Missal brings their missal closer to the Ordinary Form of the Mass although allowing for many Anglican adaptations that do not go against the Roman tradition of the Mass.

But most peculiar and greatly appreciated is what is in the Appendix of this new Roman Missal for the Anglican Ordinariate. And here it is again!

1. The restoration of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar as an option, with its corresponding revision of the order of the Introductory Rite making it exactly the same as the EF's order for this.

2. The option of using the EF's Offertory Rite including the psalm for incensing the altar, the prayer for infusing blessed water into the wine and the longer prayer for the washing of the hands, not to mention the actual Offertory Prayers--this is mind-blowing to say the least and a bombshell!

3. The allowance of the somewhat modified EF's rubrics for the praying of the Roman Canon (in an audible voice, as the exception) but with the other more complicated rubrics!

4. The option of the Last Gospel

As I have written before and write again, this is what Pope Benedict envisioned for the Ordinary Form of the Mass when he issued Summorum Pontificum allowing for the generous celebration of the EF Mass as one of the two forms of the Latin Rite.

Apart from the issue of the Latin and vernacular, if the Ordinary Form's Mass was celebrated entirely in English with the options of the EF's parts of the Mass included as listed above, the Ordinary Form would look and feel like the Extraordinary Form. The differences only being in the English (vernacular) language, the Liturgy of the Word and the simplified "Rite of Holy Communion" of the Ordinary Form.

Allow for kneeling at Holy Communion (and this alone without any of the more radical allowances of the EF influences, would restore sanctity and sanity to the reception of Holy Communion and the reverence due our Risen Lord at this time of Mass) and there would be almost no difference!

AND NOW FOR MY CLAIRVOYANCE! I BELIEVE THE CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP WILL REVISE THE APPENDIX OF THE CURRENT ORDINARY FORM'S MISSAL TO ALLOW FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE. I WILL GO ONE STEP FURTHER, THE OLD ENGLISH WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS AS AN OPTION AS WELL!

WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN? WITHIN THE NEXT THREE YEARS!

The genius of this revision of the Appendix to allow for these EF options in the Ordinary Form's current Roman Missal is that it will undercut the objections of the left-wing liturgical progressives in that they will still be able to have the Ordinary form as it is in the main body of the Missal.


Thus those of us who are progressive with an "organic renewal" of the OF Mass without tossing out the good work of the last 50 years along with the bathwater, will be able to use these EF options at our normal Ordinary Form Sunday Mass and bring about a truly organic development of the Ordinary Form Roman Missal in the next 50 years without tossing out the current Ordinary Roman Missal altogether, but simply developing it along the lines of the EF Mass. This is simply genius! And this should be the goal of the "reform of the reform!"

SNOWQUAKES, ICEQUAKE AND NOW AN EARTHQUAKE! OH, MY!

WJBF-TV ABC 6 Augusta-Aiken News, Weather, Sports
I returned to my parish in Macon, Georgia yesterday afternoon. Macon only received a light dusting of ice that brought down a few trees but the ice disappeared quickly.

Not so Augusta, my home town where my sister lives and I still maintain my mother's townhouse (for days off, vacation and retirement, but I digress). The ice storm there was and is truly iceageddon. My sister tells me that trees are down all over the city bringing with them power lives and a significant part of the metro Augusta area has been without electricity going on for three days now. Georgia Power and crews from Florida are working feverishly to restore power.

As you know, I reported on our snow storm two weeks ago and how ill prepared Atlanta was, compared to the Augusta and Macon. The day before that storm it was 75 degrees in Augusta and Macon. You can read my previous blogs on that storm HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE.

A day or so before the latest ice storm it was the same in the low to upper 70's.

But if snowquakes and icequakes aren't enough, metro Augusta was hit with an earthquake, yes, an earthquake a little after 10:00 PM last night! The media is reporting that it was felt as far away as Atlanta, but evidently not here since it didn't wake me from a sound sleep. But what would?

There is some concern for a man-made dam west of Augusta that is on the Savannah River. If that dam fails and the huge man made lake, and I mean huge, floods the Savannah River downstream where Augusta is, it will be a national tragedy to say the least!

Earthquake shakes storm-damaged Augusta area

By Travis Highfield

Staff Writer

Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 10:39 PM

Last updated Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 2:22 AM

Comments (15)

When the ground started shaking Friday night, Sandy Quarles thought it was the old oak tree tumbling over in the front yard of her Edgefield home.

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She was one of thousands of residents – from Thomson to Aiken to Fort Gordon to downtown Augusta – asking the same question: Did we just have an earthquake?

Yes, we did.

About 10:23 p.m., an earth­quake centered 12 kilometers west-northwest of Edgefield, with a preliminary magnitude of 4.1, shook an Augusta area still recuperating from a major ice storm, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site. Many people, still hunkered down without power, went outside to see what new calamity had befallen them.

“We were asleep before we heard what sounded like a loud explosion,” Quarles said. “All the windows started to shake and we thought that old oak tree had fallen over. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

The earthquake was felt as far away as Athens, Ga.; Atlanta; Spartanburg, S.C.; Columbia; and Charlotte, N.C.

There were no reports of damage. A spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said such a quake would wake people, shake dishes, maybe knock a painting off a wall, but wouldn’t cause structural damage.

Pam Tucker, Columbia County’s emergency management director, said she had contacted control room operators at Thurmond Dam and Hartwell Dam and there were no initial reports of damage. Personnel had been called in to do more detailed inspections.

Mie Lucas, the disaster preparedness coordinator for Richmond County, said no damage had been reported.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the largest quake felt in the area was a recorded 4.5 that took place March 5, 1916. Located 30 miles southwest of Atlanta, it was felt across an area of 5,000 miles.

The largest recent quake in the lake area occurred in Lincoln County on Aug. 2, 1974, and registered 4.2, according to Augusta Chronicle archives.

Staff writer Doug Stutsman contributed to this story.

VERO BEACH YESTERDAY, NEW YORK CITY TODAY

WHO ARE THE ONES THAT CANNOT COPE WITH CHANGE AS IT REGARDS THE LITURGY? I REPORT YOU DECIDE!

Who are the ones who cry crocodile tears about 7/7/07's SP and simply refuse to accept that there are now two equal forms of the one Roman Rite?

Who have the most difficulty with the reform of the reform of the OF Mass and more use of Latin?

Who have the most difficulty with ad orientem, kneeling for Holy Communion and the Cultic aspect of the exclusively male ordained priesthood?

Who are having the most difficulty with chanting the actual Mass and eliminating trendy, secular sounding hymns and contemporary songs?

Who in the contemporary Catholic world can't cope with these changes and are digging in their heels and using poor Pope Francis as their crutch against these changes?

I DON'T BUY IT! THE REFINEMENT OF THE OF ACCORDING TO THE TEMPLATE OF THE EF IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

Some are saying the OF is irreformable! The only wave of the future is a return to the EF. I don't buy it because it is't going to happen. The OF Mass as Pope Francis celebrates it at the Vatican is the wave of the future.

At the Vatican there is an opening preludal hymn prior to the prescribed Introit while the altar is incensed and the pope goes to his chair. The other proper antiphons are chanted too.

I still hold out hope that the privileges accorded the Anglican Ordinariate in terms of an EF-like calendar as well as the PATFOTA, the EF Offertory Prayers, the EF rubrics for the Roman Missal and the Last Gospel will be extended throughout the Latin Rite thus accomplishing the "mutual enrichment" that Pope Benedict XVI foresaw and planned with SP.

WITH ICEAGEDDON LOOMING IN ATLANTA WHERE MY CAR IS, I BLOG IN SOUTH FLORIDA WHERE IT IS ABOUT 80 POOLSIDE!

A YEAR AGO TODAY!

But first for a little levity, because you can't make this stuff up! Yes, lightening actually struck St. Peter's hours after the Holy Father told the world what he was giving up for Lent!

And yes, this is an actual image, no kidding, of lightening striking St. Peter's after the Holy Father's bombshell!

HAS THE WORLD AWAKENED TO THE TRUTH ABOUT POPE FRANCIS: THAT HE IS CATHOLIC?

The recent UN report on the Vatican City State shows the world for what it is. It wants to control Christ and His Church when it comes to moral truths. It sees itself as the "magisterium" that shall be obeyed, the inquisitor that will investigate, the judge and jury that will condemn and issue anathemas and define heresy.

The true Magisterium however will not bow before this worldly power, the principalities of the devil in his final hour moving ahead as with an adrenalin rush realizing the final defeat has already occurred. Vanity is the worlds name.

Pope Francis in this time calls the Church a field hospital for the wounded. But more importantly he calls for fidelity to the true and legitimate Magisterium. He calls corrupt Catholics traitors. Who are the corrupt Catholics? Those who obey the world and think the true Church is out of date for not doing so. There is a bit of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit here in the sense the the Holy Spirit is identified with the world and thus should be obeyed. This is the unforgivable sin! This is hell!

MASS IS NOT A SOCIAL EVENT--POPE FRANCIS

Feb. 10, 2014
You do not attend Mass looking at your watch, as if you were attending a performance and counting the minutes. You go to participate in the mystery of God. This was the theme of Pope Francis' homily during the Mass he celebrated on Monday morning, 10 February, in the Chapel of Santa Marta. This “is not a tourist excursion. No! You came here, we are gathered here, to enter into the mystery. And this is the liturgy”.



To explain the meaning of this encounter with the mystery, Pope Francis said that the Lord has spoken to his people not only with words. “The prophets”, he said “recounted the Lord's words. The prophets proclaimed them. The great prophet Moses gave the commandments, which is the Word of God. Many other prophets too have told the people what the Lord wanted”. However, “the Lord”, he added, “also spoke in another way and in another form to his people: with teophanies. That is, when he comes close to his people and makes them feel, makes them feel his presence among them”. The Holy Father referred to the First Reading (1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13) which refers to other prophets.

“The same thing happens in the Church”, the Pope said. He does this through his Word which is recounted in the Gospels and in the Bible; he speaks through the catechesis, through homilies. He not only speaks to us but “He makes himself present”, the Pope said, “in the midst of his people, in the midst of his Church. The Lord's presence is there. The Lord draws close to his people; he is present with his people and shares his time with them”. This is what is taking place during this liturgical celebration, which is certainly “not a social affair”, he said, “nor a gathering for the faithful to pray together. It is something else”, because “in the Eucharistic liturgy God is present” and, if possible, he makes himself present in “the closest way”. His presence, the Pope said, “is a real presence”. “When I speak of liturgy”, the Pope explained, “I am mainly referring to the Holy Mass. When we celebrate the Mass, we are not representing the Last Supper”. The Mass “is not a representation; it is something else. It trulyis the Last Supper; is truly living again the redemptive passion and death of Our Lord. It is a visible manifestation: the Lord makes himself present on the altar to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world”.

Pope Francis then proposed, as he usually does, actions that are common among the faithful: “We hear and we say, 'I cannot now, I have to go to Mass, I have to go to listen to Mass'. But you do not listen to Mass, you participate in it. And you are participating in a visible manifestation, in the mystery of the Lord's presence among us”. It is something that is different from all other forms of our devotion, he pointed out, using the example of the living nativity scenes “that are organized by parishes at Christmas time, or the Way of the Cross that we do during Holy Week”. These, he explained, are representations; the Eucharist is “a real commemoration, a theophany. God draws near and is with us as we participate in the mystery of redemption”.

The Pope then referred to another very common behaviour among Christians: “How many times”, he noted “do we count the minutes... 'I only have a half an hour, I have to go to Mass...'”. This “is not the right attitude that the liturgy asks of us: the liturgy is God's time and space, and we must put ourselves there in God's time, in God's space, without looking at our watches. The liturgy is precisely entering into the mystery of God; bringing ourselves to the mystery and being present in the mystery”.

The Holy Father continued, looking at the faithful who were gathered there for the celebration, saying: “For example, I am sure that all of you here have come to enter into the mystery. But perhaps someone has said 'I have to go to Mass at Santa Marta, because it is one of Rome's touristic excursions, to go and visit the Pope at Santa Marta every morning... No! You came here, we are gathered here, to enter into the mystery. And this is the liturgy, God's time, God's space, the cloud of God that surrounds all of us”.

Pope Francis went on to share some childhood memories: “I remember as a child, when we were preparing for our First Holy Communion, they made us sing 'O holy altar guarded by angels', and this made us realize that the altar is guarded by angels, and it gave us a sense of God's glory, of God's space, and of his time. Then, when we were practicing for our First Communion, we brought forward the hosts and said 'these are not the hosts which you will receive; they are not worth anything, because the consecration comes later'. It was good for us to distinguish one from the other: it is a memory of the commemoration”. Therefore to celebrate the liturgy means “to be willing to enter into the mystery of God”, in his space and his time.

Concluding his homily, the Pope invited those present to “ask the Lord today to give us all this sense of what is sacred, to understand that it is one thing to pray at home, to pray in Church, to pray the rosary, to pray many beautiful prayers, to do the Way of the Cross, and to read the Bible; but it is quite another to celebrate the Eucharist. In this celebration we enter into the mystery of God, on that path which we cannot control: he is the only one, he is the glory, he is in power. We ask for this grace, that the Lord may teach us to enter into the mystery of God”.

MASS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN WHAT VATICAN II SOUGHT BUT FAILED IMMEDIATELY

the choir was excellent and the music was classic and beautiful. One could overlook the fact that the proper antiphons were omitted.The 20 something year old cathedral like church was also classic in design and well executed. And then the fly in the ointment that so many priests like honey attract that defiles the Mass. After the first prayer of the Mass, the Entrance Chant, after the praise to the Most Holy Trinity and the religious greeting, there was three minutes of secular greetings, welcoming visitors and asking where they were from as people shouted out Florida, Georgia, Brazil, Chile, and on and on. Then two cheer leading groups were acknowledged to happy applause. Then after this intermission from the prayerful beginning of Mass all were invited to recall their sins and the Mass was fine until...

The wonderful professional stipended choir concluded their wonderful post communion song and someone began applause!

Then after the Prayer after Communion there were more announcements, advertisements, and acknowledgements of the various actors of the Mass. And more applause was invited for the deserving paid choir.

This is what is wrong with the OF Mass and needs reform and the recovery of the unified approach to a prayerful experience of Mass starting with the prayerful gathering prior to Mass as is the case with the EF Mass. There should be continuity in this regard between the two forms of the Mass.

And now the sad fact that we know is the disease of my generation of 1970's prepared priests deformed by the liturgical theology of Fr. Eugene Walsh and the like, the priest celebrant who high jacked an otherwise lovely OF Mass with his theology of welcome was slightly older than me. How is it that I was cured of this same disease?

YOUR IDEA OF PURGATORY?

I have discovered a new metaphor for purgatory. It is standing in line for space mountain for more than an hour only to get on a ride that no 60 year old priest in his right mind should ever ride and doing this until modern Catholics who don't pray for the happy repose of the soul of the Faithful Departed anymore pray me out of this recurring scene.

ANY WAY TO RECOVER OUR UNITY THROUGH A STRONG CATHOLIC IDENTITY?

As a Catholic old enough to remember the elements that made for a strong Catholic identity with that unity in Christ, then the Pope and then our bishops and priests, we seem to be today very fragmented and divided and only loosely united in our belief in Christ.

Do we need a strong catholic identity and unity a la 1950's or is the way things are today better than then and thus the status quo should be seen as the ideal?