Caritas in Veritate

Baptism of Logan Michael Tregembo

2012-02-17T15:24:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Sarah and Dan Tregembo on the baptism last Sunday of their little son Logan Michael. The baptism was celebrated according to the Extaordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist Issue Statement on President Obama’s So-Called Compromise

2012-02-13T14:03:00.002-05:00

Ann Arbor, MI - In response to President Obama’s remarks regarding the final rule for individual and group health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist released the following statement:

“Regarding the so-called compromise by President Obama on the Department of Health and Human Services rule for “preventative” services that mandate coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception for their employees, the mandate still compromises religious, economic, and political liberty.

Despite the assurances by President Obama that separating the premiums paid by religious institutions to insurance companies somehow protects the religious liberty of Catholic and other religious institutions, the bottom line is these institutions will still have to pay the insurance company that is mandated to provide these services for free to any employee who wants these services. It is insulting for President Obama and his administration to suggest the so-called compromise “should be net cost neutral.” It is simply impossible to ensure that the insurance companies will not pass on those costs to the organizations and individuals who conscientiously object to their insurance policies covering abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception. In short, not only does the Administration not comprehend Catholic moral reasoning and the full-meaning of the principle of religious liberty, it does not even understand the basic economics of health-care insurance. The fact that Planned Parenthood has so quickly expressed satisfaction with these arrangements only confirms that nothing has changed in substance.

As the Second Vatican Council declared in paragraph four of its Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae:
“religious communities rightfully claim freedom in order that they may govern themselves according to their own norms, honor the Supreme Being in public worship, assist their members in the practice of the religious life, strengthen them by instruction, and promote institutions in which they may join together for the purpose of ordering their own lives in accordance with their religious principles.”

Moreover, as citizens of the United States we are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to fully and vibrantly live our Catholic faith according to the teachings of the Church. We as Catholics demand that our institutions not be required to formally or materially cooperate in acts that the Church has always taught to be intrinsically evil.

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist plead with God to protect the ability for all Americans to freely exercise their religious liberty. The Dominican Sisters of Mary will offer up daily prayers with the intention that this unjust mandate be overturned, and we will do so until it is overturned.”

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic community of women religious based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our primary apostolate is the education and formation of young people. We remain open to engaging the modern culture with new forms of evangelization in order to preach the Gospel and teach the Truth. In 15 years, the Sisters have grown to over 100 in 14 years, the average age is 28 and the average age of the women who enter is 21. Sisters represent most of the States across the U.S., various Provinces in Canada, and countries in Europe and Asia.

St Augustine's Abbey Ecclesiastical Treasures Saved

2012-02-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

Recusant chalice

The following press release from the English and Welsh Catholic Communications Network was published today:

The Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev Peter Smith, and the Abbot of Farnborough Abbey, the Rt Rev Dom Cuthbert Brogan OSB, are delighted to announce that through a private treaty sale a number of key historic items from the former Benedictine Abbey at Ramsgate in Kent are to remain in Catholic hands. The majority will return to the church of St. Augustine in Ramsgate, the magnificent Grade I church which Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) designed and built next to his own house, The Grange. Pugin designed and fitted out the church in every detail and the items returning to St. Augustine’s church complement the rich collections already there. Equally, the items acquired by Farnborough Abbey complement the Abbey’s important collections of sacred silver.

The Archbishop of Southwark and the Abbot of Farnborough would particularly like to thank Abbot Paulinus Greenwood, Abbot of the Benedictine Community formerly based in Ramsgate, and auctioneers Dominic Winter for their full cooperation and support in facilitating this happy outcome.

Amongst the historic items returning to St. Augustine’s is a beautiful monstrance of around 1850 which is very similar to one which Pugin designed for his other famous church, St. Gile’s, Cheadle, and a watercolour sketch by Pugin of the interior of St. Augustine’s, Ramsgate. This sketch was a preparatory study for a large drawing which Pugin sent for display at the Royal Academy in 1849. The monks at Benedictine Farnborough Abbey have acquired an important silver recusant chalice dating from 1633. English recusant silver of this early period is extremely rare due to the prohibition on Catholic worship following the Reformation. This chalice is engraved with scenes from the Passion of Christ. It was given to the monks at Ramsgate in the nineteenth century by a member of the Hales family, who were recusants. It had been in the Hale family for generations.

The sale of contents from Ramsgate Abbey came about because of the Ramsgate monks’ recent move to smaller premises at Chilworth in Surrey and on account of their need to raise sufficient funds to continue their work and mission. The Archdiocese of Southwark took back responsibility for St. Augustine’s church from the monks in 2010 and has instigated a major programme of repair with generous grant support from English Heritage. An appeal was launched last November in the River Room at the House of Lords, a room also designed by AWN Pugin. The parish priest, Fr Marcus Holden, has established a Friends of St. Augustine’s and patrons of the appeal include the broadcaster, Alistair Stewart, and the architectural writer, Clive Aslet. With the new acquisitions added to the existing collection, the Friends are planning to put on an exhibition.

Father Marcus Holden, said, “We have a major programme to bring St. Augustine’s back to as it was in Pugin’s day and the acquisition of these items contributes in a significant way to what we are seeking to achieve here in Ramsgate. Pugin decided to build this church here because St. Augustine had landed nearby in 597AD. We want St. Augustine’s to become a fitting place to commemorate both the towering achievements of Pugin and the coming of Christianity to England which captivated him. As we recall Pugin’s bicentenary on March 1st we will be celebrating not only an iconic national architect but a central figure of the Catholic revival”.

Nathan Winter of Dominic Winter Book Auctions said, “We are delighted to have been of assistance to the Archdiocese of Southwark in the retention of a number of key historic objects from St. Augustine’s Abbey in Ramsgate and to know that they will feature in the important restoration project now underway at the wonderful Pugin church there, widely regarded as one of the architect’s greatest achievements”.

The Abbot of Farnborough said, “Dominic Winter Book Auctions, the auctioneers, are to be commended for their professionalism and patience in negotiating this sale and for their sensitivity to the concerns of the wider Catholic community. All sacred vessels are important. The recusant chalice communicates with a particular eloquence the hardships suffered by Catholics in what are described in the inscription on the chalice as ‘cruel times’. We are relieved that this chalice will remain in appropriate hands.”

A couple of other photographs can be seen at the Conference's flickr page.

For more information about the controversy caused by the auction, see Fr Ray Blake's blog . While these articles have been saved, Fr Blake asks: But What is Lost?

"Center for the Protection of Children" Symposium, Munich

2012-02-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Sandro Magister reports on the opening day of an international symposium entitled "Toward healing and renewal" organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University, with the participation of other Vatican authorities and representatives of 110 episcopal conferences and more than 30 religious orders.

The objective of the symposium was to move from juridical norms to widespread practice, ensuring the implementation throughout the world of measures to bring about healing and renewal, even where the scandal has not yet exploded.

An Irish victim, Marie Collins (pictured above), recalls the abuse she experienced at age 13 and how it affected her life, and her faith in the Church in the light of the covering up of the abuse she reported.

Those fingers that would abuse my gody were the next morning offering me the Sacred Host.

Marie's testimony can be read here. It's not pleasant!

Our Lady of Lourdes - Day of Prayer for the Sick

2012-02-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

He who in suffering and illness prays to the Lord is certain that God’s love will never abandon him, and also that the love of the Church, the extension in time of the Lord’s saving work, will never fail. (Pope Benedict, Message for World Day of the Sick 2012)

With parishioners from St Simon Stock parish, South Ashford, Oct. 2007

US Bishops say again to Obama: "No!"

2012-02-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

I learn from Diane at Te Deum Laudamus that the US Bishops have issued a powerful statement rejecting President Obama's HHS "compromise". He really must have some dumb CINO's in his Administration who think the bishops can be fobbed off so easily.The Bishops' complete statement is as follows (emphases as per the original):

February 10, 2012
Regulatory changes limited and unclear
Rescission of mandate only complete solution
Continue urging passage of Respect for Rights of Conscience Act
WASHINGTON – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the "preventive services" regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2011.

First, we objected to the rule forcing private health plans — nationwide, by the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen—to cover sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion. All the other mandated "preventive services" prevent disease, and pregnancy is not a disease. Moreover, forcing plans to cover abortifacients violates existing federal conscience laws. Therefore, we called for the rescission of the mandate altogether.

Second, we explained that the mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such "services" immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of "religious employers" that HHS proposed to exempt initially.

Today, the President has done two things.

First, he has decided to retain HHS's nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients. This is both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question of religious liberty.

Second, the President has announced some changes in how that mandate will be administered, which is still unclear in its details. As far as we can tell at this point, the change appears to have the following basic contours:

·It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write. At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.

·It would allow non-profit, religious employers to declare that they do not offer such coverage. But the employee and insurer may separately agree to add that coverage. The employee would not have to pay any additional amount to obtain this coverage, and the coverage would be provided as a part of the employer's policy, not as a separate rider.

·Finally, we are told that the one-year extension on the effective date (from August 1, 2012 to August 1, 2013) is available to any non-profit religious employer who desires it, without any government application or approval process.

These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer's plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. This, too, raises serious moral concerns.

We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch. But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today's proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services. [emphasis added]

We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

See Te Deum Laudamus for further comments. The Bishops are to be commended for their swift and emphatic rejection of this "compromise". Let us keep them all in our prayers that they may be guided to teach not with a spirit of timidity, but with one of power and love and sound judgement. (2 Tim. 1:7)

Lazy Cow syndrome. Is this funny, or is it funny? (It's certainly not PC)

2012-02-10T20:43:00.002-05:00

If you cannot cope with satire, you had better not watch it. (H/T Damian Thompson)

The HHS compromise will not wash

2012-02-10T20:31:00.001-05:00

As this amusing poster illustrates.The Church's institutions will still pay for insurance that covers the immoral practices of contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.Is it not equally dictatorial of the Government to demand that insurance companies provide these services free of charge? No insurance company provides anything "free". It has to be paid for.And what about the ordinary Catholic or other employer with conscientious objections to buying insurance for his/her employees that cover these services? How is his/her religious liberty respected?It will be interesting to learn the bishops' considered view on this "compromise".H/T: Fr Jeff Lorig.

New blog by young English school student

2012-02-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

Brad Jacobs, a year 10 student (i.e. age 14/15) from St Helens, Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire (NOT Lancashire), has launched a new blog entitled Corpus Christi Catholic. He hopes to be a priest one day. Let's pray that God might be calling him.

Nancy Pelosi deserves to be deprived of Holy Communion

2012-02-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Eminent canonist Dr Ed. Peters writes:

As a canon lawyer, my view is that Nancy Pelosi deserves to be deprived of holy Communion as the just consequence of her public actions; as her fellow Catholic, my view is that Nancy Pelosi deserves to be deprived of holy Communion to bring home to her and to the wider faith community the gravity of her conduct and the need to avoid such conduct altogether or, that failing, at least to repent of it. Quickly.

See his coherent explanation at his In the Light of the Law blog.

Bishop Baraga's Heroic Virtues Approved

2012-02-07T12:58:00.000-05:00

Bishop Sample, still in Rome at the conclusion of his ad limina visit, has this morning posted on his facebook page:

Well...............? The news we have all been waiting for these days. I spent the day taking care of business in Rome that was interrupted by the snow. I was having lunch with Cardinal Raymond Burke when the phone call came to me from our Postulator for Bishop Baraga's Cause. The Cardinals and Archbishops who are members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints met today and gave a POSITIVE vote on Bishop Baraga's heroic virtue! This means this will now go to the Holy Father who will declare his heroic virtue and give him the title "Venerable"! A HUGE step in the Cause for his beatification. Now if the miracle is approved, we could have a beatification before too long. Thank you for your prayers and sacrifices. It is customary in the Church to celebrate great news with a solemn "Te Deum". Enjoy the attached YouTube recording from Westminster Cathedral as we celebrate this wonderful news. May God be praised!

Pastor gets political and supports Green Bay's Bishop Rickens

2012-02-07T11:09:00.001-05:00

Pastor Ryan Kibbe of Life Church has written this blog in which he explicitly supports the Bishop Rickens (and, by impliction, all the Catholic bishops). Silence shows complicty, he says.

Six Things Everyone Should Know about the HHS Mandate

2012-02-07T10:54:00.002-05:00

The USCCB continues its campaign against the HHS Mandate that forces religious employers and institutions to purchase services that go against their religion.Here is the text that can be found at the USCCB website:

1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. These institutions are vital to the mission of the Church, but HHS does not deem them "religious employers" worthy of conscience protection, because they do not "serve primarily persons who share the[ir] religious tenets." HHS denies these organizations religious freedom precisely because their purpose is to serve the common good of society—a purpose that government should encourage, not punish.

2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers to write policies that violate their beliefs; forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs; and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs.

3. The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception. Though commonly called the "contraceptive mandate," HHS's mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And, by including all drugs approved by the FDA for use as contraceptives, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such as "Ella," a close cousin of the abortion pill RU-486.

4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate. Catholics who have long supported this Administration and its healthcare policies have publicly criticized HHS's decision, including columnists E.J. Dionne, Mark Shields, and Michael Sean Winters; college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

5. Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate. Many recognize this as an assault on the broader principle of religious liberty, even if they disagree with the Church on the underlying moral question. For example, Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jewish groups--none of which oppose contraception--have issued statements against the decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y. Daily News, Detroit News, and other secular outlets, columnists, and bloggers have editorialized against it.

6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates. HHS chose the narrowest state-level religious exemption as the model for its own. That exemption was drafted by the ACLU and exists in only 3 states (New York, California, Oregon). Even without a religious exemption, religious employers can already avoid the contraceptive mandates in 28 states by self-insuring their prescription drug coverage, dropping that coverage altogether, or opting for regulation under a federal law (ERISA) that pre-empts state law. The HHS mandate closes off all these avenues of relief.

Which is why it is important the everyone contacts their senators and representatives and petitions the White House about this matter.

Bishop of Miami celebrates Candlemas in the Extraordinary Form

2012-02-06T16:16:00.000-05:00

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Archbishop of Miami, celebrated Candlemas (The Purification of Our Lady or Presentation of the Lord) on February 2nd in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. I feel that this is the only form of the feast's celebration that really brings to light (no pun intended) the splendour and significance of this feast as the Virgin Mary bears her divine Son, the Light of the World, into the temple forty days after His birth.

Nearly 75 priests and seminarians took part in the liturgy, as well as the assembled congregation.The Archbishop's homily is here and the diocese's report on the Mass is here.

South African Bishops commemorate 15 years of legalized abortion

2012-02-04T22:37:00.002-05:00

The following letter was written by the Catholic Bishops of South Africa. The Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Stephen Breslin, directed that it be read at all Masses last Sunday.

Fifteen years have passed since abortion ondemand was legalized in South Africa. Since then it is estimated that over onemillion unborn children were denied the most fundamental of rights, the rightto life. We remember those one million babies. Those aborted fifteen years ago would now be in grade 9 or 10, bringingjoy to their families and planning their own futures. Those whose lives were‘terminated’ ten years ago would now be playing on the streets of our towns andvillages in the evenings and singing and praying with us in our churches onSunday. We regret that those children of God were denied the right to be borninto God’s world and to enrich it with their own unique gifts and talents. We will never fully realize what we havemissed because the law says “abortion is fine”.

When the legislation was being discussedthose in favour of it said it would save some mothers from the dangers of whathas become known as “back-street abortions”. We question if this has in factbeen the case. On almost every electricity pole along the streets of our citiesand towns there are advertisements for ‘safe and painless’ abortions. They areoutside the Head Office of the Department of Health in Pretoria and on theboundary walls of our schools. If the advertising is so public and sowidespread, then the demand for those” back-street abortions” must be high.

The position of the Catholic Church onabortion is clear and unambiguous .Just because the law says it is legal doesnot make it morally right. Each unborn child is created by God, “knit togetherin (its) mother’s womb” (Ps139.13) .That unborn child is a human being with ahuman life that must be protected. He or she has a right to life, a right thatmust be respected by the mother and protected by the state.

Another right that must be respected by thestate and its agents is that of conscientious objection. Those who believe thatabortion is morally wrong have a right to refuse to participate in the medicalprocedures.

Allof us, parents, teachers, members of the Church, must understand what a younggirl is going through when she realizes she is pregnant. She needs our love,our support, our understanding and sometimes our forgiveness. We in the Churchare committed to helping unmarried pregnant girls and couples tempted to takethe abortion route in whatever way we can. We will never condemn, just as Jesusrefused to condemn (John8.11)

As we remember the many children who have beenaborted since February 1997, we also remember the mothers of these children.Just as we do not condemn a pregnant young girl, we do not condemn her if shemade the mistake of procuring an abortion. Only she knows how much she hassuffered as a result. She needs help and healing. We invite her to come andspeak to one of our priests or counselors so that we can be part of reconcilingher to God and bringing about healing.

Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, OMI,
On behalf of the Southern AfricanCatholic Bishops’ Conference
30^th January 2012

The Gay Mass Scandal in London

2012-02-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

Like my friend Father Ray Blake, I was sent a link to this video and hesitated before publishing it. I do not want to unnecessarily scandalise my readers. I think particularly of some of my younger readers. But Father Blake and Father Finigan, who has also published it, are priests whose judgement I respect highly and trust implicitly. They have published it, and so do I.

"God", not "Lord", and prayers that the Church may change teachings she cannot change. References to the "season of Pride" as if a liturgical season rather than a one-day secular rally. This is a clear politicization of the Mass and must come to an end.

A correspondent has also sent me a link to the following video which he made, interviewing one of the prominent parishioners, who openly advocates homosexual relationships.

The interviewee is in fact Martin Pendergast, who entered into a civil partnership with Julian Filochowski, former head of the English and Welsh Bishops major overseas aid charity CAFOD (Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, mentioned elsewhere in this blog here). Father Finigan refers to the Pendergast/Filochowski union at his blog. Pendergast wrote in The Guardian on April 28, 2009:

Marriage is a variable and culturally conditioned social institution with no inherent religious inspiration, but subsequently clothed with meaning by various faiths. In many cultures it was rooted more in property contracts or ways of social engineering through annexing others into extended family networks.

which tells you all you need to know about his understanding of Christian marriage and how it is totally at odds with the Church's understanding.

A worrying claim by Mr Pendergast is that the Vatican is aware of these Masses and seems to think fit not to intervene.The teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality and chastity is contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church ##2357-2359:

Chastity and homosexuality

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Pendergast clearly equates homosexual unions with marriage. He says that those who enter into such unions are prayed for at these Masses and on their anniversaries. He distinguishes between celibacy and chastity in the homosexual, as if one in a homosexual union is not called to live in the celibate state. This is contrary to Church teaching.One thing is clear: if you are a "liberal" in the terms described by the interviewee, you do not hold the Catholic faith.

Belated Baptism Congratulations

2012-02-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

To Austin James Michael Hooker and his parents and family. Austin was baptized in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on January 8.

Candlemas Extaordinary Form Mass at St Anthony, Gwinn

2012-02-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

We had a good attendance. Thanks to Matthew, a regular attendee at EF Masses, who did the chanting solo. Thanks to servers who did a good job. The weather permitted a brief excursion out of the church for the procession. And thanks to one of our parishioners for the photos.

Faithful Helpers of God's Precious Infants at Maidstone, Kent, UK

2012-01-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

My friend Carole Smith who co-ordinates the prayer vigils outside the Marie Stopes abortion provider in Maidstone Kent sent me these photographs of yesterday's (Friday) prayer vigil at which my brother Fr Stephen led prayers, after celebrating Mass in the local parish church. As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I too led prayer vigils there as Maidstone was just 30 miles from my previous parish in South Ashford. Carole writes:

He was the main celebrant at the Mass and he gave us an honest and thorough homily on the spirituality of the Helpers. He must have touched a few hearts because a couple of the parishioners came and joined us in the rosary at the 'death camp'.

The pro-life battle in the UK is hard and thankless. They do not have the consolation of massive pro-life demonstrations such as the Washington DC March for Life. However, lives are saved and hearts are touched. Please keep Britain, possibly the most secularised nation on earth, in your prayers.

Belfast school students launch internet prayerclub

2012-01-27T20:24:00.001-05:00

Some of the boys on a pilgrimage to Rome give a gift to a young deacon
seminarian at the Irish College.

Students at De La Salle College, Belfast, have launched an internet prayerclub: De La Salle College Prayer Club Belfast! I happen to know that they (or at least some of them) are from Year 9 as they regularly check my blog and sometimes leave comments too. Their teacher (I'm not sure if she would like to be named) found my and, since then, even though we have never met, we keep in regular touch, corresponding on matters to do with faith and education. She takes the boys on pilgrimages to Rome, ensures they meet priests and seminarians capable of inspiring them to an authentic Catholic life and, God willing, a response to a calling to be priests themselves, etc.In his 2010 message for World Communications Day, Pope Benedict spoke about the importance of using the modern media, including the internet, as a means of evangelisation:

Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor9:16) The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.

Among these young men might be some future priests who will harness the rich possibilities that modern communications techonology offers for evangelisation.

March for Life Verizon Centre Homily

2012-01-26T23:37:00.000-05:00

Found at the Archdiocese of Washington website.

Bishops call Catholics' Attention to threat to Religious Liberty

2012-01-26T13:59:00.000-05:00

Bishop Sample praying outside Marquette's Planned Parenthood
facility March 25th 2011 (From 40 Days for Life Marquette Lent 2011)

[UPDATED January 26th 4:15pm to reflect the fact that Bishop Sample's letter is based on a model letter sent out by the USCCB.]

The Most Reverend Alexander K Sample, Bishop of Marquette, has published a letter to be read at all Masses this coming weekend. It follows the lines of a model letter suggested by the USCCB (United States Conferene of Catholic Bishops) that all the bishops have been asked to send to their priests and comes in the wake of the Obama Administration's decision to force all employers, including Catholic employers, to offer health coverage that includes sterlization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception thereby denying Catholics and the Catholic Church the freedom to practise and live according to their religious beliefs.
Letter from Bishop Sample on Religious LibertyThe US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a web page dedicated to the issue of the protection of conscience in the light of the US Department of Health and Human Services announcement. Visit it to see how you can contact Congress to protest this directive. (As a non-US citizen I don't believe I can do this myself.)

Cardinal Di Nardo also preached powerfully about this attack on religious liberty in his homily at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception during the Mass in the evening before the Washington DC March for Life.

March for Life Washington DC

2012-01-25T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have just returned from the Washington DC March for Life having travelled in the company of over one hundred fantastic people - the majority of whom we would call "young" - by bus, a journey of almost 24 hours each way. No doubt the media gave it very little coverage. Here are my photos - look at the them and tell me that the Church is finished and irrelevant to our young people today!

I could write at length - but I am too full of impressions to begin to express them. What hope there is for the future. This battle will not be overcome in a year - and even if surgical abortion becomes illegal, there is still the battle over "emergency contraception", the restoration of chastity and the re-building of marriage and the family. But our Church looks to have healthy future if our young people are anything to go by. The sheer number of seminarians and young religious present gives one cause for a sure and well-founded hope in the future.

Pope Benedict on the Neo Catechumate's Liturgy - call to unity with the parish community

2012-01-20T10:32:00.002-05:00

In an audience with members of the Neocatechumenal Way this morning Pope Benedict said the following concerning the celebration of the Eucharist:

Ciò vale in modo specialissimo per la celebrazione dell’Eucaristia, che, essendo il culmine della vita cristiana, è anche il cardine della sua riscoperta, alla quale il neocatecumenato tende. Come recitano i vostri Statuti, "L’Eucaristia è essenziale al Neocatecumenato, in quanto catecumenato post-battesimale, vissuto in piccola comunità" (art. 13 §1). Proprio al fine di favorire il riavvicinamento alla ricchezza della vita sacramentale da parte di persone che si sono allontanate dalla Chiesa, o non hanno ricevuto una formazione adeguata, i neocatecumenali possono celebrare l’Eucaristia domenicale nella piccola comunità, dopo i primi Vespri della domenica, secondo le disposizioni del Vescovo diocesano (cfr Statuti, art. 13 §2). Ma ogni celebrazione eucaristica è un’azione dell’unico Cristo insieme con la sua unica Chiesa e perciò essenzialmente aperta a tutti coloro che appartengono a questa sua Chiesa. Questo carattere pubblico della Santa Eucaristia si esprime nel fatto che ogni celebrazione della Santa Messa è ultimamente diretta dal Vescovo come membro del Collegio Episcopale, responsabile per una determinata Chiesa locale (cfr Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Cost. dogm. Lumen gentium, 26). La celebrazione nelle piccole comunità, regolata dai Libri liturgici, che vanno seguiti fedelmente, e con le particolarità approvate negli Statuti del Cammino, ha il compito di aiutare quanti percorrono l’itinerario neocatecumenale a percepire la grazia dell’essere inseriti nel mistero salvifico di Cristo, che rende possibile una testimonianza cristiana capace di assumere anche i tratti della radicalità. Al tempo stesso, la progressiva maturazione nella fede del singolo e della piccola comunità deve favorire il loro inserimento nella vita della grande comunità ecclesiale, che trova nella celebrazione liturgica della parrocchia, nella quale e per la quale si attua il Neocatecumenato (cfr Statuti, art. 6), la sua forma ordinaria. Ma anche durante il cammino è importante non separarsi dalla comunità parrocchiale, proprio nella celebrazione dell’Eucaristia che è il vero luogo dell’unità di tutti, dove il Signore ci abbraccia nei diversi stati della nostra maturità spirituale e ci unisce nell’unico pane che ci rende un unico corpo (cfr 1 Cor 10, 16s).

Basically:

... for the celebration of the Eucharist which, being the summit of the christian life and also the hinge of its rediscovery, to which the neocatechumenate tends. As you Statutes say: "The Eucharist is essential in the Neocatechumenate, as in so far as it is a post-baptismal catechumenate, lived out in small communities." Precisely to favour the coming close once again to the richness of the sacramental life on the part of persons who are far from the Church, or who have not received an adequate formation, the neocatechumens can celebrate the Sunday eucharist in small communities, after the first Vespers of Sunday according to the disposition of the diocesan bishop. But every eucharistic celebration is an action of the one Christ together with his one Church and therefore essentially open to all those who belong to this his Church. This public characteristic of the Holy Eucharist es expressed in the fact that every celebration of the Holy Mass is ultimately directed by the Bishop as member of the Episcopal College, responsible for a determined local Church. The celebration in small communities, regulated by the liturgical Books, which must be followed faithfully, and with the particularities approved in the Statutes of the Way, has the purpose of helping all who follow the necatechumenal itinerary to perceive the grace of being inserted into the salvific mission of Christ, who makes possible a christian testimony capable of assuming a certain radicality. At the same time, the progressive maturation in the faith of each of the small communities must favour their insertion into the life of the great ecclesial community, which is found in the liturgical celebrations of the parish, in which and for which the Neocatechumenate acts, and which is its ordinary (normal) form. But also during the way it is important not to separate oneself from the parish community, particularly in the celebration of the Eucharist which is truly the place of the unity of everyone, where the Lord embraces us in the diverse states of our spiritual maturity and unites us in the one bread which renders us one body.

Cause of beatification of British Nun who hid Jews from Nazis moves forward

2012-01-15T18:43:00.000-05:00

This from the Daily Telegraph today:

A file on Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough has been sent to the Vatican to be studied by historians and theologians.

Her cause for sainthood was opened in July 2010 by the Diocese of Rome along with that of Sister Katherine Flanagan, marking the first phase of the investigations.

In a significant development, the causes of both women have together been sent to the Holy See’s Congregation of Causes for Sainthood, marking a significant, but early, step forward in the long road to becoming saints.

If it is concluded that the pair lived lives of “heroic virtue”, the Pope will declare the London-born nuns to be “Venerable” and the search will begin for two miracles to first declare them Blessed and then saints.

Both nuns belonged to a revived order of Bridgettine sisters nicknamed “the hot cross bun nuns” because of the distinctive crosses covering the tops of their wimples.

Mother Riccarda helped to save the lives of about 60 Jews by hiding them from the Nazis in her Rome convent, the Casa di Santa Brigida.

She born in 1887 and was baptised in St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Brighton, at the age of four years after her parents converted to the Catholic faith.

Yesterday Father Ray Blake, the parish priest of St Mary’s welcomed the progress of her cause. “I think it is fantastic,” he said.

“Here is Brighton we are following her cause with great enthusiasm and see her very much as our local saint.

“When I tell people at Mass that that her cause is going forward I’m sure that they will be overjoyed.”

While Mother Riccarda spent most of her life in Rome, eventually becoming the head of the order, Sister Katherine was at the forefront of efforts to open Bridgettine convents around the world some 400 years after the Reformation nearly wiped out the order.

Judith Whitehead, a niece of Sister Katherine, said she was astonished that the first phase had concluded so quickly.

“I am surprised that it has moved to the next stage in my lifetime,” said Mrs Whitehead, 73, of Shaftesbury, Dorset, who had given evidence to the initial inquiry.

“I thought that the progression of looking into her life would take about 10 years,” she said.

“It is amazing to have someone in your family who was so revered by everybody … the Bridgettines obviously think that she is going to become a saint.”

Father Simon Henry, the parish priest of St Gregory’s Church, Earlsfield, south London, where Sister Katherine was baptised, said: “To have a possible saint from the parish is wonderful.”

Born Florence Catherine in Clerkenwell in 1892, Sister Katherine trained as a dressmaker before she left the family home for Rome at 19 years with the aim of becoming a nun.

She went on to become the first prioress of new convents in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire; Lugano, Switzerland; and Vadstena, Sweden - where she died in 1941.

A year after Sister Katherine joined, the future Mother Riccarda - born Madaleina Catherine - also journeyed to Rome.

Because of her talent and intelligence she soon became deputy of the Order, called the Most Holy Saviour of St Bridget, and remained at the mother house in the Italian capital.

When the Nazis took control in Rome in 1943, and began to round up the Jews of Rome for deportation to Auschwitz, Mother Riccarda risked her own life by smuggling fugitives into her convent.

Some Jews who gave evidence to the initial inquiry spoke of Mother Riccarda's kindness, saying they nicknamed her “Mama”.

She died in Rome in 1966 at the age of 79 years.

To achieve Christian Unity we must be authentically Catholic

2012-01-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

The following is my weekly "Desktop" from my parish bulletin for January 15th.

A priest colleague in Britain recently related how a drunk man came banging on the door of the church asking for a blessing. He duly gave him the blessing in English. The drunk man accused him, with the help of some choice expletives, of being a protestant. The priest assured him that he was Catholic. The drunk man asked him to prove it. So the priest said: “Benedicat te omnipotens Deus Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.” The man then said: “So you are a real one then. God bless Father” and staggered up the road. I was also interested to note that the Mining Journal recently recalled the anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther on January 3rd 1521.

On January 18th we commence the annual Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity which concludes on the feast of the Conversion of St Paul, January 25th.

The Church has suffered many crises throughout its relatively short 2,000-year history, but by far the most serious was the rending asunder of the Mystical Body in the protestant reformation of the sixteenth century. It sometimes seems difficult to hope that the Church will ever be one again, and yet we must be confident in the prayer of Jesus Christ to His Father: “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn 17:22-23)

An encouraging bit of history occurred here in the US on January 1st when Pope Benedict established the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter under the patronage of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Ordinariate is a kind of diocese that extends over the whole of the US with its base in Texas. It is specifically for those who were previously Anglican/Episcopalian and who are received into the full communion of the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate will have its own priests, usually former Anglican/Episcopalian priests or bishops, or men who have been raised in Ordinariate families, many of them married (although in the future celibacy will be the norm), and its own parishes preserving their own distinctive Anglican/Episcopalian liturgical traditions. They are as much Catholic as we are: they can participate in our Masses and we in theirs. Pope Benedict has established this Ordinariate, the second of its kind (the first, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, was established in England a year ago today), in response to requests from Anglicans around the world who deeply desired to be one with the Pope, to be Catholic! Australia could be the next country to have such an Ordinariate.

Last weekend a good number of our parishioners joined our Christian brothers and sisters at Grace Lutheran Church for a service of evening prayer. It is good for us to take up opportunities to pray with and for one another. But we best serve the cause of Christian Unity, not by ignoring or covering over our differences, but by being truly and authentically Catholic. Perhaps we have been reticent about boldly proclaiming who we are as Catholics. With all the changes in the Church over recent decades, perhaps we have forgotten who we really are. Sometimes we might even disown our traditions. Think of the drunk man at the top of this piece who recognized the priest as Catholic when he heard him say the blessing in Latin!

One of the reasons for Pope Benedict’s promotion of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (commonly known as the Latin Mass) was to reconnect the Church with its history, to reconcile the Church of today with its tradition. You will notice a more “traditional” style in the celebration of the Mass since the advent of the new English missal, with greater use of Latin. Tradition is often considered a dirty word, but if we are not traditional, we are not Catholic. To be Catholic, we must always remain in continuity with the living tradition we have inherited.

May the Lord keep us united in love for one another. Fr John.

Vatican approval coming for Neo Cat liturgy?

2012-01-14T15:12:00.001-05:00

Other blogs are carrying the comments of Sandro Magister who reports that the Holy Father is due to hold an audience with thousands of members of the Neocatechumenal Way on January 20th and that this could be the occasion for the approval of the rather strange liturgical practices observed during the Mass.

If Magister's analysis is correct, I think any approval of the manner in which "The Way" celebrates the Mass would be a serious set back for the work of liturgical reform. We would, in effect, have three approved forms of the Roman Rite: the Ordinary Form, the Extraordinary Form and the Neocatechumenal Form. I can't see why The Way shouldn't conform to the universal norms of the Church.

Magister describes some of the peculiarities of the Mass celebrated by "The Way" ("Placet" or "Non placet"? The wager of Carmen and Kiko):

1. They are celebrated in small groups, corresponding to the different stages of advancement on the catechetical journey. If in a parish, for example, there are twelve Neocatechumenal communities, each at a different stage, there will be twelve Masses, celebrated in separate places more or less at the same time, preferably on Saturday evening.

2. The surroundings and furnishings trace out the image of a banquet: a table with the participants seated around it. Even when the Neocatechumenals celebrate the Mass not in a parish hall but in a church, they often ignore the altar. They put a table in the middle and sit around it in a circle.

3. Each of the biblical readings of the Mass is preceded by an extensive "monition" on the part of one or the other of the community and is followed, especially after the Gospel, by "resonances," or personal reflections by a substantial number of those present. The priest's homily is added to the "resonances" without being distinguished from them.

4. Communion also takes place in banquet form. The consecrated bread – a large unleavened loaf, two thirds white flour and one third whole wheat flour, prepared and baked according to detailed rules established by Kiko – is broken and distributed to those present, who remain in their places. After the distribution, it is eaten at the same time by all, including the priest. After this, the priest goes from one person to the next with the chalice of consecrated wine, which everyone drinks.

There are also other peculiarities, but these four are enough to understand how different in form and substance the Masses of the Neocatechumenals are from those celebrated according to the general liturgical rules. A difference that is certainly more pronounced than that between the Masses in the ancient Roman rite and in the modern rite.

The Vatican authorities have repeatedly sought to bring the Neocatechumenals back to greater fidelity to the "lex orandi" in effect in the Catholic Church. But with a weak pulse and almost no results.

The strongest reminder came with the promulgation of the definitive statutes of the Way, approved in 2008.

In them, at article 13, the Vatican authorities established that the Masses of the communities must be "open also to other faithful"; that communion must be received "standing"; that for the biblical readings, only "brief monitions" of introduction are permitted, apart from the homily.

There is no trace of the "resonances" (permitted in the previous, provisional statutes of 2002) in this same article 13 dedicated to the celebration of the Mass. It is mentioned only in article 11, which, however, concerns the weekday celebrations of the Word, which each community holds with its own catechists.

The fact is that there has been very little change between the way in which the Neocatechumenals celebrate the Mass today and the way in which they celebrated it until a few years ago, when, moreover, the cups of consecrated wine were passed festively from hand to hand.

It is only in theory that their group Masses have been opened to other faithful as well.

Standing or seated, their convivial way of distributing communion is still the same.

The personal "resonances" of those present continue to invade and overwhelm the first part of the Mass.

Anyway, read Magister ("Placet" or "Non placet"? The wager of Carmen and Kiko) for yourself and decide.

See also:
Catholic Culture: Vatican acceptance coming for Neocatechuman liturgy?
New Liturgical Movement: Magister on the Neocatechumenal Way Liturgy
Pertinacious Papist: Bugnini's Dream: Will Pope approve Neocatechuman liturgy?
Rorate Coeli: Reform of the reform...

Bishop of Lancaster launches Lenten Confession campaign in preparation for Year of Faith

2012-01-09T15:10:00.000-05:00

I recently wrote about the Bishop of Lancaster here. Here's the text of a Press Release from the Lancaster Diocese:

Diocese of Lancaster Launches
‘The Light Is On For You”
Confession Initiative
Lancaster – The Bishop of Lancaster, Rt Rev Michael Campbell OSA has already followed on from his New Year’s Day Pastoral Letter and announced in a letter to his priests and Catholic schools the launch of an important initiative this Lent for the Diocese of Lancaster called The Light Is On For You - a diocesan-wide and high-profile celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Every Wednesday of Lent, from 29th February to the Wednesday of Holy Week, 4th April, every Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lancaster will be open from 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. for Catholics to go to Confession.

Leading this outreach initiative of the ‘New Evangelisation’ as termed by Pope Benedict, Bishop Campbell added, “During the Lenten season, in a particular way we will invite those who seek to strengthen their relationship with the Lord to join us in this celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our priests are here to welcome you home, to pray with you, to be of service in the name of Jesus Christ, who offers all of us forgiveness for our sins and the gift of His mercy and love.”

A new The Light Is On For You! section of the diocesan website: www.lancasterdiocese.org.uk has been recently added which includes information on the Sacrament of Confession including various Examinations of Conscience, the Act of Contrition, videos about the sacrament, and parish resources for promoting the initiative. Initial resources, posters and flyers have already been sent to all parishes and Catholic schools of the Diocese seeking their direct engagement. In February adverts will be placed in local newspapers and the other local media will be contacted.

Bishop Campbell states, “Confession gives us the chance to start over, to hit the ‘reset’ button of our lives. It shows how forgiving and compassionate our God is and it helps us to grow in concern and love for others. Come to Confession this Lent and receive God’s mercy, for peace of mind and to deepen your friendship with Jesus, to receive spiritual healing and to increase your sense of joy and to experience Christ’s saving grace.”

As a preliminary to the upcoming Year of Faith (October 2012 to November 2013) announced by Pope Benedict XVI last year, The Light Is On For You! is part of the Diocese of Lancaster’s practical attempt to reach out to those who may have wandered from the life of the Church.

In response to those who feel it has been too long since their last confession or that God could not possibly forgive them, Bishop Campbell also said, “God’s love for you is greater than all the sins you’ve committed or could ever commit. Now is the time to come and have God take away the burdens of guilt that can often weigh us down. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to return to the Church or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this is your chance to re-establish and strengthen a relationship with God that will last forever”.

About the Diocese of Lancaster: The Diocese of Lancaster was founded in 1924.Currently serving the needs of over 111,000 Catholics in Lancashire north of the Ribble and all of Cumbria, the Diocese of Lancaster is a spiritually enriching faith community consisting of 99 parishes, educating thousands of students in its 12 Catholic secondary and 86 Catholic primary schools, and ministering to the needs of many others through its pastoral and social service outreach, and several Catholic nursing and residential homes.

For more details please visit: www.lancasterdiocese.org.uk
Contact:
Fr Robert Billing
Bishop’s Secretary
Bishop’s Office
The Pastoral Centre
Balmoral Road
LANCASTER
LA1 3BT
T: 01524 596050 E: robertbilling@yahoo.co.uk

Cardinal Elect Timothy Dolan - a nice, fun TV interview

2012-01-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mandy Smith, ex-wife of Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, and her return to the Catholic Faith

2012-01-07T09:10:00.001-05:00

A very touching radio programme from the BBC World Service. I think every young person should listen to this.

Heart and Soul: Fame, Blame and Shame.

The resignation of Bishop Gavino Zabala

2012-01-05T23:45:00.000-05:00

Bishop Zavala (CNS/Bob Roller)

The resignation of this auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles was covered in its customary two line announcement by the Vatican News Service yesterday:

Il Santo Padre ha accettato la rinuncia all’ufficio di Ausiliare dell’arcidiocesi di Los Angeles (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. Gabino Zavala, Vescovo tit. di Tamascani, in conformità ai canoni 411 e 401 §2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

Which, translated, says:

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the office of Auxiliary for the archdiocese of Los Angeles (USA), presented by His Excellency Msgr Gabino Zavala, titular Bishop of Tamascani, in conformity with Canons 411 and 401 §2 of the Code of Canon Law.

The mention of Canon 401 §2 means that the resignation is submitted for reasons other than reaching the age limit of 75:

A ... bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.

The very sad reasons constituting the very grave cause for Bishop Zavala's resignation have been disclosed by LA's Archbishop Jose H Gomez.

Before reading the CNS news service, you might find it helpful to refer to Canon Lawyer Dr Ed Peters' notes on the matter: Why Bp. Zavala’s situation is irrelevant to the debate on clerical celibacy.

It is always a shame to hear of any cleric, let alone a bishop, failing to live up to his commitment to chastity. Whilst one prays for the sinner, one wonders why someone in such a high position cannot see that some "pecados" are far from "pecadillos" and that they should either resign immediately (the Canon quoted above says a bishop in this situation "is earnestly requested to present his resignation") or, if they have been guilty of such infidelities in their earlier priestly life, not accept promotion to the episcopate. For, in the end, the Church's image (in terms of being the Bride of Christ) and all her members suffer.

The Abbey Roads blog doesn't fail to point out Bishop Zavala's discontent with the orthodox blogosphere.

Anyway, with that thought, here's the CNS item:

Bishop Zavala resigns after disclosing he is father of two children

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala has resigned after disclosing to superiors that he is the father of two children.

The Vatican announced the bishop's resignation Jan. 4 in a one-line statement that cited church law on resignation for illness or other serious reasons.

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez announced the "sad and difficult" news in a letter to Catholics in the archdiocese. He said Bishop Zavala, who was auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel pastoral region, had informed him in early December that he is the father of two minor teenage children who live with their mother in another state.

Archbishop Gomez announced early Jan. 4 that Msgr. James Loughnane, a native of Ireland, was appointed episcopal vicar for the pastoral region.

Bishop Zavala told Archbishop Gomez that he had submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. Since that time, Bishop Zavala has not been in ministry and "will be living privately," Archbishop Gomez said.

"The archdiocese has reached out to the mother and children to provide spiritual care as well as funding to assist the children with college costs. The family's identity is not known to the public, and I wish to respect their right to privacy," Archbishop Gomez said. He asked prayers for all those affected by the situation.

Bishop Zavala's resignation leaves a vacancy in the chairman's position of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Communications. Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, had no immediate announcement about who would assume the chairmanship.

"There won't be anything here for a day or two," she said.

Tod Tamberg, Los Angeles archdiocesan spokesman, said the archdiocese had received questions about the possible usage of archdiocesan funds by the bishop to support his children and their mother. He said a financial audit of the San Gabriel pastoral region budget found everything in order.

"There's been no indication of mismanagement or misuses of archdiocesan funds," Tamberg told Catholic News Service.

"This is unexpected, sad and disorienting news for many who know and like him," he said.

Bishop Zavala has been a long-time social justice advocate. He became the bishop-president of Pax Christi USA, the American arm of Pax Christi International, in 2003.

In a letter to members posted on its website Jan. 5, Pax Christi USA said a search had been under way for a new bishop-president prior to the announcement from Los Angeles because Bishop Zavala had served three three-year terms.

"We are grateful for his past leadership and for his longtime witness to peace and justice as a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Zavala consistently brought the power of the Gospel to bear on issues like immigration, worker rights, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and nuclear disarmament," wrote Sister Josie Chrosniak, who chairs the national council and is a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, and Sister Patty Chappell, executive director and a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

The organization also offered prayers that the privacy of Bishop Zavala and his family would be respected.

Throughout his tenure in Los Angeles, Bishop Zavala has spoken on behalf of working-class Americans, immigrant rights, ending the death penalty and reforming the criminal justice and prison systems. He also co-chaired Encuentro 2000, the U.S. bishops' jubilee year gathering to celebrate and better understand the ethnic diversity of the U.S. church.

Born in Guerrero, Mexico, Bishop Zavala grew up in Los Angeles. He was ordained in 1977 and was named a bishop in 1994.

- - -

Contributing to this story was Dennis Sadowski in Washington.

- - -

Editor's Note: The full text of Archbishop Gomez's letter can be read at http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/bishop-zavala-resigns-after-disclosing-he-is-father-of-two-children/.

END

Caught in the act!

2012-01-05T22:36:00.000-05:00

Deer make regular visits to my backyard, especially if there are sunflower seeds in the bird feeder! See the rest of my photos from yesterday evening on my facebook page.

Bishop of Lancaster asking tough questions

2012-01-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

Bishop Campbell of Lancaster is following in his predecessor's footsteps in calling to account those schools - and other institutions - that claim the name of Catholic but are CINO (Catholic in Name Only). Here's what The Tablet Blog reports:

Lancaster's hermenuetic of continuity
Posted by Christopher Lamb, 5 January 2012, 9:00
The Bishop of Lancaster has set a cat among the pigeons. Can the Church, he asks in a New Year Pastoral letter, continue to fund Catholic schools which he defines as being Catholic in name only? By this Bishop Michael Campbell means those schools where Catholic pupils and teachers are in a minority.

Bishop Campbell is also asking a much wider question: can a diocese continue to fund any school, parish or initiative that is not actively engaged in the new evangelisation?
All this, people may observe, sounds remarkably similar to the ideas of the bishop's immediate predecessor, Patrick O'Donoghue.
"POD", as he is affectionately known, wrote a series of documents called Fit for Mission? which looked at every area of the Church's life stressing that each exists to evangelise and must have a strong, visible Catholic identity.
In the document on education, which consistently stressed the importance of a school's Catholic ethos, he wrote: "every Catholic school in the diocese should be engaged in catechesis and evangelisation. There must be a clear, courageous, and comprehensive proclamation of the Church's doctrinal and moral tradition, to staff as well as pupils, and appropriate to different age groups."
These documents received fulsome praise from Vatican officials but there was a deafening silence from his brother bishops. There was a feeling that POD was out on a limb and he told me - though he later denied it - that the Archbishop of Westminster to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor should come from outside the current bishops of England and Wales.
When Bishop Campbell succeeded POD in 2009 we heard little about Fit for mission?. Bishop Campbell is a good and holy man and initially seemed happier giving homilies on the exegesis of a scripture passage than on dealing with how the Church faces up to the hard, practical task of running itself in the twenty-first century. Now things have changed and he appears to have aligned himself in a "hermeneutic of continuity" with his successor.
Whatever the politics, the bishop is addressing tough questions that other dioceses cannot ignore.
Christopher Lamb is the Assistant Editor (Home News) of The Tablet.

H/T: Protect the Pope.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminarians launch new journal "Vox Christi"

2012-01-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

I received this information recently which I gladly pass on:

Allow me to introduce you to a new and exciting project from Kenrick–Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri calledVox Christi, a quarterly publication of the seminarians of Kenrick–Glennon Seminary created in response to the Holy Father’s call to develop a life cultivated by art and prayer. Vox Christi seeks to share with the world the spiritual, the academic and the artistic fruits of our community to people of all ages and academic abilities in a manner that assists in building up the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Vox Christi is written with the larger public reading audience in mind and has received a considerable amount of feedback already. A wide range of interested institutions and individuals have expressed their desire to subscribe to our journal, from high-schools, Catholic College Student Centers, Universities, Seminaries, priests, and individuals have subscribed to our journal. I ask you first and foremost for your prayers as the seminarians join you in spreading the New Evangelization. We would also greatly appreciate any publicity you could give to our publication if only just a quick mention of it.

You can reach our own blog at http://voxchristilive.blogspot.com/ or check out our Facebook page under the same name. We can be contacted at voxchristi@my.kenrick.edu or by mail at 5200 Glennon Dr. St. Louis, MO 63119.

Know of our prayers for you as you continue to spread Christ. Please keep us in yours.

The man who learns to believe learns also to kneel

2012-01-03T18:05:00.001-05:00

This will be my "Desktop" item for this coming weekend's parish bulletin for the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

“Going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” (Mt 2:11 - RSV)

This is a very striking phrase from Matthew’s Gospel. These wise men fell to the ground when they encountered “the child”.

Many would consider kneeling, or prostration, beneath man’s dignity. We should not be humbled before anyone, not even our God. We should not demean ourselves by falling down. We should stand face to face before our God. This is folly! The Magi - pagans! - of today’s feast teach us true wisdom.

Bishop Sample gave all the priests of the diocese a Christmas present: a book by the then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, entitled The Spirit of the Liturgy. Our bishop clearly desires that we priests study the Pope’s book and apply it to our liturgy today. I first read this book soon after it came out in 2000 and consider it a charter for renewal of our Catholic worship.

Pope Benedict writes about the gesture of prostration or kneeling. He says that kneeling, of its very nature, “does not come from any culture.” In other words, those who protest that kneeling does not belong to their culture do not understand that kneeling “comes from the Bible and from knowledge of God.” “We now kneel before that humility” of Christ “which went as far as the Cross”. “The kneeling of Christians is not a form of inculturation into existing customs. It is quite the opposite, an expression of Christian culture, which transforms the existing culture through a new and deeper knowledge and experience of God.”

Pope Benedict stresses the importance of the unity of our spiritual dispositions and our bodily postures. “The bodily gesture itself is the bearer of the spiritual meaning, which is precisely that of worship. Without the worship, the bodily gesture would be meaningless, while the spiritual act must of its very nature … express itself in the bodily gesture… When kneeling becomes merely external, a merely physical act, it becomes meaningless. On the other hand, when someone tries to take worship back into the purely spiritual realm and refuses to give it embodied form, the act of worship evaporates, for what is purely spiritual is inappropriate to the nature of man. Worship is one of those fundamental acts that affect the whole man. That is why bending the knee before the presence of the living God is something we cannot abandon.”
Pope Benedict gives Holy Communion to communicants
kneeling and on the tongue. “The man who learns to believe
learns also to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar
with kneeling would be sick to the core. Where it has been lost,
kneeling must be rediscovered…” (Pope Benedict, Spirit of the Liturgy)
Sadly, this gesture of bending the knee has been abandoned by many who either simply ignore the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle, or who bow rather than genuflect. Obviously one understands those whose knees are weakened by ill health or old age and for whom kneeling/genuflecting would be painful. But for the rest, Pope Benedict says that “the Hebrews regarded the knees as a symbol of strength; to bend the knee is, therefore, to bend our strength before the living God.” He relates a story that comes from the Desert Fathers according to which the devil showed himself to a certain Abba Apollo. “He looked black and ugly, with frighteningly thin limbs, but, most strikingly, he had no knees. The inability to kneel is seen as the very essence of the diabolical.”

Pope Benedict concludes his consideration of kneeling as follows:
“The man who learns to believe learns also to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick to the core. Where it has been lost, kneeling must be rediscovered, so that, in our prayer, we remain in fellowship with the apostles and martyrs, in fellowship with the whole cosmos, indeed in union with Jesus Christ himself.”

O come, let us adore him!

Teenage mother gives her life for her unborn child: a legacy of sacrifice, not tragedy.

2012-01-02T12:24:00.000-05:00

A young teenage mother, when diagnosed with cancer, refused any further treatment once she discovered she was pregnant and died soon afterwards. The story has, apparently gone round the world. May others be inspired by Jenni's example.

See LifesiteNews for the full story.

The following video is from kpvi.com

You either get it or you don't - Rick Santorum on marriage

2012-01-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

Go to Catholic Bandita for further comment.

Benedict XVI has not the temperament of a ruler - BBC World Service on Vatican Foreign Policy

2012-01-01T19:33:00.001-05:00

At one moment people want the Church to disappear and lose its international profile. Now there is a complaint that Pope Benedict is not sufficiently a ruler - he "has no geopolitical vision" according to Marco Politi in the excerpt from this morning's Newshour from the BBC World Service. I don't know how long this link will be available. I made a recording but it does not appear to be possible to upload it.

The above found at Marco Foppoli

Should Pope Benedict not have discarded the tiara - the sign of temporal power - from this papal shield? Perhaps the next Pope will restore it! Pope John Paul II had it.

One thing we can take from this, however, is that the world does, after all, look to the Papacy for direction. Pope Benedict, of course, was not a diplomat but a pastor and an academic. His domain, prior to becoming Pope, was the Faith. He appears to be putting most of his effort directly into restoring faith within the Catholic Church. He has also appointed non-diplomat priests to certain key nunciature positions. History will judge the wisdom of this approach in the light of the current times in which we live.

Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter

2012-01-01T14:58:00.001-05:00

It is most unusual for anything official to come from the Vatican on January 1st but today the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has erected the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter within the territory of the United States Episcopal Conference. This juridical structure, equivalent to a diocese, will welcome former Anglicans in the US who wish to be or are already members of the Catholic Church.

The decree of erection can be found at the website of the US Ordinariate. The Ordinariate has its principal church at Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas. The British Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham does not yet have a church. Their American counterparts clearly have an advantage here having been able to make use of a pastoral provision which enabled former Anglicans to worship as Catholics but with a so-called Anglican use liturgy and their own churches.

The Ordinary is Father Jeffrey Steenson. The Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter has as its patron the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Walsingham. It is wonderful that this little shrine in Norfolk, England, is a uniting focus. May Our Lady of Walsingham's prayers bring about the unity of Anglican and Catholics.

The Ordinariate has a very smart looking website with lots of information. Of interest is its mission page which describes the Ordinariate's mission under the three headings of liturgy, ecumenism and evangelism.

Other places with news of this historic event:

Catholic Online
Rorate Caeli
Fr Stephen Smuts Blog
Ordinariate Portal
And many others - just google Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter.

US Anglican Ordinariate to be established tomorrow

2011-12-31T22:15:00.000-05:00

As announced by the USCCB on Nov. 15th. We await the announcement tomorrow. Reluctant Sinner writes about a prediction and gives further background. It will be a historic day for the Church in the USA.

Pope Benedict places his hopes in the youth

2011-12-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

Educating Young People in Justice and Peace: the theme of the 2012 World Day of Prayer for Peace, January 1st.

Now, this isn't a message about an end to wars. In fact, the Pope states that "Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries." The Pope's message is about fraternity, solidarity, the nature of man.

Pope Benedict asks us to help young people to acquire an "integral formation of the person including the moral and spiritual dimension focused upon man's final end." In other words, to understand the truth about man, it would be helpful to know why he exists or to answer the question: who is man?

The message is deeply philosophical. While he says that the "Church looks to young people with hope and confidence," he does not admit that they have all the answers. Rather, while there must certainly be a willingness to listen to young people:

Attentiveness to young people and their concerns, the ability to listen to them and appreciate them, is not merely something expedient; it represents a primary duty for society as a whole, for the sake of building a future of justice and peace

the older generation must educate young people:

It is a matter of communicating to young people an appreciation for the positive value of life and awakening in them a desire to spend their lives in the service of the Good.

The Holy Father continues:

Educating ... means leading young people to move beyond themselves and introducing them to reality... This process is fostered by the encounter of two freedoms, that of adults and that of the young. It calls for responsibility on the part of the learners, who must be open to being led to the knowledge of reality, and on the part of educators, who must be ready to give of themselves. For this reason ... we need authentic witnesses [I presume the Holy Father refers to adults here witnessing to the young], and not simply people who parcel out rules and facts; we need witnesses capable of seeing farther than others because their life is so much broader [because of acquire wisdom perhaps?]. A witness is someone who first lives the life that he proposes to others.

Pope Benedict's complete message may be found here.

New Year Blessing

2011-12-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

It isn’t possible to be Christocentric if we are not solidly Marian. Mary: destroyer of all heresies.

2011-12-28T18:25:00.000-05:00

Photo from eclectic imaging. Lady altar of the Church of San Carlo in Corso with
a variation on the antiphon quoted in this post. "You only have destroyed
all heresies."

This might seem a rather extreme notion and yet it is referred to in a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy on the occasion of the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God.

The letter quotes the antiphon from the old Roman Breviary and the Tract in the Mass Salve sancte parens from the 1962 Roman Missal:

‘Gaude, Maria Virgo, cunctas haereses tu sola interemisti in universo mundo – Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, thou only hast killed all heresies in the universal world’.

But here is the letter in full (with some addedcemphases):

The connection between the Lord’s birth and Mary’s Divine maternity is clearly expressed in one of St Cyril of Alexandria’s (†444) twelve anathemas, which was accepted by the Council of Ephesus (431) and defined the dogma of the faith that Mary of Nazareth is the Mother of God: ‘If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God, for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God made flesh, let him be anathema’. (Denz-Schonm, 252 - www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/dfi.htm#cg ) Only a few days ago we adored the presence of the Word Incarnate in the humble manager at Bethlehem. Now, the Church invites us to turn our gaze towards that other magnificent figure in the crib, the Mother of God, God made flesh.

In recent times the devotion to the Mother of God has weakened in some sectors of the Church. There were concerns, by some, that honouring Mary too much may turn our attention from the adoration of Christ. It was therefore deemed appropriate the radicalise the Christo centricity, highlighting only the uniqueness of Christ’s salvific mediation to the detriment of the participative mediation of the angels, saints and the Mother of God. In doing so they have forgotten the ancient adage: ad Jesum per Mariam – ‘to Jesus through Mary’. The Mother always leads us towards her Son, and never further away from Him. The II Vatican Council expressed this teaching through the following words: : ‘For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ.’ (Lumen Gentium, n.60 www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/8cjb1.htm ).

In reality we must recognise that Mary’s role does not constitute an obstacle, but rather is an efficacious aid the admission of faith in Christ. The Mother of God, with her virginal purity also represents and defends the purity of Christian doctrine. The following beautiful Marian antiphon is found in the breviary: ‘Gaude, Maria Virgo, cunctas haereses tu sola interemisti in universo mundo – Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, thou only hast killed all heresies in the universal world’. The renowned biblical scholar, Ignatius de la Potterie, commented on this antiphon as follows: ‘It is not that Mary had done something in her life against heresies, but the recognition of Mary in the Marian dogmas, that is a sign and bulwark of the steadfastness of the faith’.

Cardinal Ratzinger, in his book-interview with Vittorio Messori, (Report on the faith) highlighted that ‘Mary triumphed over every heresy’. If we grant Mary the place that is suggested in Tradition and dogma, we find her already truly central to the Christology of the Church. The first dogmas, regarding her perpetual virginity and divine maternity, and also the ultimate dogmas (the Immaculate Conception and her bodily Assumption into heavenly glory), are the secure basis for the Christian faith in the incarnation of the Son of God. The Marian Dogmas implicitly confess both faith in the living God, who can intervene in the material world, and also, the faith regarding the ultimate realities (resurrection of the flesh and therefore the transfiguration of the same material world). Also, one hopes for the realisation of the project to re-introduce, preferably on the feast of Mary’s bodily Assumption to heaven on the 15^th August, the beautiful antiphon put aside for the liturgical reform.’ (in 30 Giorni, 12 [October 1995], p.71).

It isn’t possible to be Christocentric if we are not solidly Marian. In these days the Church prays in a particular way for peace. It is appropriate that the faithful turn to the ever Virgin Mother of God, to obtain from the Lord, through her intersession, the gift of peace for every one of us, for the Church, and the world.

A bloody Christmas Day in Nigeria

2011-12-25T21:28:00.002-05:00

Two Catholic churces attacked, almost forty dead, many more wounded. Militant Islamist group Boko Haram claims responsibilityl

See BBC News.

See Fox News.

The candy cane, as I have recently learned, illustrates that the Christmas feast is a prelude the shedding of His blood by Our Lord Jesus. The three thin red stripes represent the scourges inflicted upon Christ in His Sacred Passion, and the thick red stripe represents His Sacred Blood shed upon the Cross. The cane is in the shape of a shepherd's crook - the shepherds sought their Good Shepherd in the Babe in the manger.

Christian brothers and sisters of ours shed their blood and died today, as did St Stephen whose martyrdom we celebrate tomorrow and the Holy Innocents whose sacrifice we celebrate on Wednesday.

Let us pray for the security of our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria, and for PEACE!

Christmas - not so peaceful for the Christians of Iraq

2011-12-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

This was the scene in a Baghdad church October 31st last year.

At that time the US Bishops said the US has a moral obligation to help Iraq. Now the troops have come home. What will happen?

Vatican Radio: Chaldean Catholic officials have cancelled traditional Christmas Eve midnight Masses in Iraq because of security risks. They said Iraqi Christians will spend Christmas in "great fear" because of the risk of new attacks.

“We have many difficulties because of the situation that there is no peace and no security, permanent security,” said Bishop Mar Shlemon Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Babylon, Iraq, of the Chaldean Catholic Church. “So for these days of Christmas and the New Year, we hope to celebrate the feast, but not Midnight [Mass], because there are too many difficulties.”

Bishop Warduni said that, despite many difficulties, for Christians in Iraq, “Our duty is to pray for peace.” He spoke of his prayer during this holy season: “And so we ask the Child of Bethlehem to give us this security and peace, to give us joy and peace, and we cry with angels ‘Glory be to the Lord in the highest heaven, and peace on the earth. We ask him this only, and not only for the Iraqi people, for Christians in Iraq, but for everybody in the Middle East.”

Thanks to 9A at De La Salle College, Belfast

2011-12-22T16:44:00.000-05:00

Thank you 9A for your kind Christmas card. Be assured of my prayers for you and for your teacher. May you have a Happy and Holy Christmas, and every blessing in the New Year.

The Wonder of Life at Christmas

2011-12-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

This video by Youth Defence

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to be canonised - the first Native American Saint!

2011-12-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

I was delighted to hear this news on local Public Radio this morning. I have blogged before about Blessed Kateri.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty/NPR. Jake Finkbonner, shown with his
father, Donny, and mother, Elsa, nearly died after contracting
a flesh-eating bacterium. His family and friends prayed for a
miracle, and now the Vatican has declared that his recovery
was considered a miracle by the church.

The canonisation can take place thanks to a miracle attributed to Blessed Kateri's intercession by which a young American boy of Native American descent Jake Finkbonner recovered from a flesh-eating bacteria that nearly killed him. Further details can be read at The Bellingham Herald (h/t to The Deacon's Bench).

Here is the Vatican's Press Release:

VATICAN CITY, 20 DEC 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (four women and three men) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new blesseds is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars.

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, U.S.A.). Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Roman Catholic Algonquian who had been educated by French missionaries. At the age of four she lost her family in a smallpox epidemic which also left her disfigured and with poor eyesight. Adopted by a relative, the chief of neighbouring clan, she continued to nurture an interest in Christianity and was baptised at the age of 20.

The members of her tribe did not understand her new religious affiliation and she was marginalised, practising physical mortification as a path of sanctity and praying for the conversion of her relatives. Having suffered persecutions which put her life at risk, she was forced to flee to a native American Christian community in Kahnawake, Quebec where she made a vow of chastity and lived a life dedicated to prayer, penance, and care for the sick and elderly. She died in 1680 at the age of 24. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you". According to tradition, Kateri's scars disappeared after her death to reveal a woman of great beauty, and numerous sick people who participated in her funeral were miraculously healed.

The process of canonisation began in 1884. She was declared venerable by Pius XII in 1943 and beatified by John Paul II in 1980. As the first native North American to be beatified she occupies a special place in the devotion of her people. Her feast day falls on 14 July.

Bishop Mark Davies to restore central position of Tabernacle?

2011-12-19T20:58:00.001-05:00

I have heard from a good priest friend of mine from another continent (not Europe) that he was watching Bishop Davies' recent Advent reflection on EWTN during which he announced that the tabernacle at Shrewsbury Cathedral would be placed in a central position.

Has this been announced anywhere else?

It would certainly be in keeping with what Pope Benedict wrote in his post synodal apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis:

"The correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, the place where the eucharistic species are reserved, marked by a sanctuary lamp, should be readily visible to everyone entering the church. It is therefore necessary to take into account the builiding's architecture: in churches which do not have a Blessed Sacrament chapel, and where the high altar with its tabernacle is still in place, it is appropriate to continue to use this structure for the reservation and adoration of the Eucharist, taking care not to place the celebrant's chair in front of it."

In some cathedrals, there is a very prominent Blessed Sacrament Chapel, but if a Cathedral is no bigger than a large church, it would seem to me far more preferable to have the Tabernacle in a central position. (For liturgical rigour, the Blessed Sacrament could, of course, be removed when the Bishop celebrates. Liturgists would have to advise as to whether this is a possibility, a recommendation, something advisable or something required. I don't have the law on this matter readily available.)

If you visit the Cathedral's website, you will notice that the good Bishop will make himself available for confessions from 11pm to 11:30pm Christmas Eve, prior to the Midnight Mass.

UPDATE: This reflection will be repeated Friday December 23rd on EWTN UK at 09:30 and 19:00 hours GMT and on EWTN in the US on Wednesday December 21st at 11pm PT/Thursday 22nd 2am ET.

Bishop Mark Schmitt Funeral Arrangements

2011-12-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

The following details were communicated to the diocese by Bishop Sample today:

It is with extreme sadness that I inform you of the death of the Most Reverend Mark Francis Schmitt, Tenth Bishop of Marquette. Bishop Mark Schmitt died December 14, 2011, in DePere, Wisconsin. He was 88 years of age. Requiescat in pace!

The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit and Metropolitan of the Province of Detroit, will celebrate the Funeral Mass on Tuesday, December 20, 2011, at 11:00 AM ET, in St. Peter Cathedral, Marquette, Michigan. Bishop Alexander K. Sample, and Bishop James H. Garland, will concelebrate along with other attending bishops and priests. Deacons in attendance are invited to dress in cassock and surplice and participate in the procession.

The schedule is as follows:
Monday, December 19, 2011:
The body of Bishop Mark Schmitt will be received in St. Peter Cathedral at 10:00 AM ET by Bishop Alexander Sample, Bishop James Garland and clergy
The body of Bishop Schmitt will lie in state in the Cathedral from 10:30 AM until 9:00 PM ET
A rosary will be prayed at 3:00 PM ET
The Vigil Prayer Service will be celebrated at 7:00 PM ET
Tuesday, December 20, 2011:
Bishops, Priests and Deacons are invited to pray the Office for the Dead in the Cathedral at 9:30 AM ET prior to the Funeral Mass
Following the Office for the Dead, Bishops are invited to vest for Mass in the Bishops’ Meeting Room in the Cathedral gathering area
Priests and Deacons will vest for Mass in the Media Room on the lower level of the cathedral. Priests will vest in diocesan chasubles, but please bring your white diocesan stole in the event that we run short on the number of chasubles
Knights of Columbus and the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre will dress in the Pope John Paul II Meeting Room on the lower level of the Cathedral
The Rite of Committal will be celebrated in the Cathedral Crypt immediately following Mass
Bishop Mark Schmitt was born on February 14, 1923, in Algoma, Wisconsin. He was the fifth of eight children born to Charles Jerome Schmitt and Anna (Netzer) Schmitt. He is survived by his sister, Marge Schmitt and numerous nieces and nephews.

Bishop Schmitt was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1948, in St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Following his ordination Bishop Schmitt served as pastor in several parishes before being consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay on June 24, 1970. On May 8, 1978, Bishop Mark Schmitt was installed as the Tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Marquette in St. Peter Cathedral, Marquette, Michigan, where he faithfully served the people for 14 years. He retired on November 11, 1992.

Bishop Schmitt was beloved by his brother priests and deacons, his diocesan staff and the people of the diocese. He was a dedicated and loving priest, friend and bishop.

Please remember him in your prayers and at your Masses.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Bishop of Marquette

Bishop Mark Schmitt RIP

2011-12-14T15:23:00.000-05:00

Bishop Schmitt, bishop of Marquette from 1978 - 1992, died today. May he rest in peace.

Church of the Holy Ghost, Tiverton, Rhode Island

2011-12-12T20:51:00.000-05:00

Is this not a beautiful sanctuary? Found it by chance while googling "adoration candles". Visit the parish.

"Two people talking stop forty people praying"

2011-12-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to berenike for drawing my attention to Bishop Hugh Gilbert's pastoral letter for yesterday.

Silence in church is vital. There is the Great Silent One in the Tabernacle who cannot be heard if we talk in church.

After complaints from people about levels of noise in the church, instead of the recessional hymn I asked everybody after the 11am Mass to kneel for some moments in silent recollection and thanksgiving. After priest and servers had observed their silence on their knees, the people were invited to depart in silence and, if they wanted to socialise/visit with others, to do so either in the narthex or in the room where coffee was provided. The atmosphere was transformed.

Bishop Gilbert's letter will be a very helpful text for my homily next Sunday!

See Prayer - Divine Silence and homesickness for the tabernacle and altar...

Accepting the chant as normative for liturgical celebrations

2011-12-12T10:39:00.000-05:00

Glory To God In The Highest And On Earth Peace To People Of Good Will from Church Music Association of Amer on Vimeo.

Here is an excerpt from a presentation by Msgr Andrew Wadsworth.

Cardinal Foley dies

2011-12-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

From News.va:

Cardinal John Patrick Foley, former Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem died today. He was 76. The Cardinal had been suffering from Leukaemia and had returned to Philadelphia in the US.

In his comments to Vatican Radios Italian service, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi said “everyone who had ever met Cardinal Foley admired and loved him for his kindness and for his spirituality.”
Father Lombardi also recalled the Cardinal’s work in the field of communication as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications saying, he was always well prepared and very competent.
He added, that he had just received in the last few days a letter from Cardinal Foley thanking him for a copy of the newly published book on the History of Vatican Radio.

May he rest in peace.

Bishop Sample on the Lost Generations - and the need for a renewal in the catholic faith

2011-12-09T21:09:00.001-05:00

Bishop Alexander Sample during his January 2006 episcopal ordination at
St. Peter Cathedralin Marquette. Photo from Catholic World Report

“I was taught the faith in Catholic schools using materials that were weak and insubstantial. I wasn’t being taught my faith. The liturgy suffered from experimentation as well. … My generation raised up the next generation. Since we weren’t taught the faith, we raised children who weren’t either.”

This is how Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan—who, at age 50, is one of the US’ youngest bishops—describes the damage done to the American Church by decades of weak catechesis.

Exclusively at Catholic World Report, Bishop Sample shares how his experiences growing up in the 60s and 70s have given focus to his efforts to offer future generations of Catholics faith formation that is “solid, substantive, [and] systematic.”

He also shares the surprisingly positive fruits of the priestly sex abuse scandals that he has seen spring up in his diocese, as many young men have come forward “to become part of the solution, to rebuild the Church.”

Click here to read Bishop Sample’s interview, exclusively at Catholic World Report.

Bishop Sample's Christmas Message to His Priests

2011-12-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's it. With his Christmas card to priests, the Bishop enclosed this gift. I think it tells all the clergy very clearly where he wants to lead us and where he wants us to lead our parisioners: right behind our Holy Father, Pope Benedict.

Society of St Pius X rejects a "Preamble"

2011-12-01T23:20:00.000-05:00

Pope Benedict with SSPX leader Bishop Bernard Fellay

For some time the Vatican (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) has been in talks with the Society of St Pius X. Here Zenit reports that the SSPX has rejected the "doctrinal preamble" presented to them by the CDF. Well, I suppose they consider it important to get the "preamble" (the before walk) right before proceeding on the walk!

I have to say that they probably have a point about "the sterility of 50 years of openness to the modern world." I am glad the Church is looking in on itself now, concentrating on getting the liturgy right, restoring right teaching, etc.

ROME, NOV. 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The superior-general of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, has declared that his group is not in full agreement with the content of a "Doctrinal Preamble" offered to them by the Vatican.

The preamble is the first part of a document designed to bring the Society of St. Pius X back into communion with Rome. It was sent to the group in September, by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Bishop Fellay made his opinion known in a Monday interview posted on the organization's Web site. He said that a note accompanying the preamble explained that the text was not definitive, so that is why they are proposing some changes.

He claimed the preamble needed "many modifications" but added that for the moment he was not going to make public the text itself or what changes the group is requesting. He did say that once talks with the Vatican have taken place following the society's proposed amendments, the text of the preamble will be made public.

The interview made clear that the path to reconciliation between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X will not be easy. Bishop Fellay spoke openly of his dissatisfaction with some of the documents of the Second Vatican Council and of "the sterility of 50 years of openness to the modern world."

The preamble sent to the society by the Vatican continues a series of conversations begun in 2009. The rupture was formalized when the society's founder and then leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, illicitly ordained four bishops in 1988 without the authorization of the Roman Pontiff.

Irish Dominicans Interactive

2011-12-01T23:06:00.000-05:00

Another wonderful sign of renewal in the Church in Ireland - an initiative of student Irish Domincans. Their audio series Ears to Hear promises to be a rich source of Catholic tradition - with short audio clips from the Fathers of the Church to inspire us in this season of Advent and always, giving a voice to the Saints in the internet age.

Worth checking out.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass at Gwinn - and a request

2011-12-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

Bishop Sample celebrating Mass in the Extraordinary Form
at St Peter Cathedral

I celebrated the Extraordinary Form of the Mass for the first time in the parish this evening. A goodly congregation was present considering some serious snow had fallen - 14 communicants, plus some little children. Two of our young servers did extremely well considering they had only had one hour's practice yesterday. They were assisted by an adult who regularly attends the weekly EF Mass at St Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

My intention is to celebrate this form of the Mass on the evenings of my day off, Thursday, and maybe on other occasions if the faithful request it.

This evening I celebrated with my small travel edition of the Missale Romanum which I brought with me from England and which you can find reviewed by Fr Z.

Whilst I don't mind celebrating with this Missal privately - it is a very worthy publication - for a public Mass it has its drawbacks. I did not notice any damage to the tabs as Fr Z did but the glue binding the tabs to the page also binds pages to pages, so that one has to use two hands to carefully separate the pages during the celebration of Mass. This evening I slightly tore one of the pages of the Canon. Also, I now notice my age: my sight is not as good as it was and I found myself struggling with the smaller print.

So, I need to buy a new Missal.

I could get the 1962 Missal published with the approval of the late Cardinal O'Connor. The lowest price I have found it available for is $110.00 (s/h included) from Roman Catholic Books or $99.99 plus $12.25 s/h from Fraternity Publications i.e. the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP). This is the Missal I bought for (and donated to) my previous parish in South Ashford, England. My verdict on this Missal is that is quite adequate - it does the job and would be fine.

However, there is a much nicer one: a 2008 reprint of the well-known and beautiful Benziger Brothers Missal approved by the late Cardinal Spelman, with ad libitum prefaces that were approved in July 1962, including a restored Advent preface, and Masses approved for use in the dioceses of the USA.

Fr Z reviews it here.

The lowest price I have found it available for is $320.00 plus $17.00 s/h from Preserving Christian Publications. The website of Biretta Books gives further details, including examples of the beautful type setting and artwork (far superior to the O'Connor Missal above) shown below:

My question: would anyone like to help me get either of these Missals for the parish? See About Me if you would like to email me.

Keys of the Kingdom on Fox UP Premieres Sunday Dec. 11th 11:30am

2011-12-01T13:46:00.002-05:00

KinGdomLOWERHarbor from Gchild Productionz on Vimeo.

The above is a trailer. Kevin Branson is founder of "Claves Regni Ministries" and Father Ryan Ford is Associate Pastor at St Peter Cathedral, Marquette.

St Andrew's Day pro-marriage rally in Edinburgh

2011-11-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

BBC News carries this report on a rally protesting against same-sex marriage held today outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Cardinal O'Brien's stance seems to be somewhat different than that of a prelate in a neighbouring episcopal conference. Let's not kid ourselves about civil partnerships being different from same-sex marriages. They amount to the same thing and those promoting civil partnerships clearly want to move in the direction of "marriage."

The cardinal said: "As an institution, marriage long predates the existence of any state or government.

"It was not created by government and should not be changed by them. Instead, recognising the innumerable benefits which marriage brings to society, they should act to protect and uphold it, not attack or dismantle it."

Archbishop of Westminster backs civil partnerships

2011-11-30T20:06:00.001-05:00

“We would want to emphasise that civil partnerships actually provide a structure in which people of the same sex who want a lifelong relationship [and] a lifelong partnership can find their place and protection and legal provision,” Archbishop Vincent Nichols said at a press conference after the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales’ meeting last week.

and

“As a Church we are very committed to the notion of equality so that people are treated the same across all the activities of life … The Church holds great store by the value of commitment in relationships and undertakings that people give. Stability in society depends upon the reliability of commitments that people give. That might be in offering to do a job but especially in their relationships with one another. Equality and commitment are both very important and we fully support them.”

As quoted in The Tablet, London, UK.

He's wrong. Civil partnerships are deeply discriminatory. A brother may not enter into a civil partnership with a brother, or a sister with a sister. Or a man may not enter into one with a woman. The impediments of consanguinity to entering into a partnership are analogous to, if not exactly the same as, those of marriage.

Let us keep the question of chastity out of it for a moment. Let us not even enquire into the nature of the relationship between the parties to a (potential) civil partnership. Why do these need the protection of the law? One can be in a committed and stable relationship of friendship which, it could be argued, is good for society. But these neither need nor merit any legal recognition.

As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith pointed out in its 2003 document Considerations regarding Proposals to give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons:

By putting homosexual unions on a legal plane analogous to that of marriage and the family, the State acts arbitrarily and in contradiction with its duties. The principles of respect and non-discrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions. Differentiating between persons or refusing social recognition or benefits is unacceptable only when it is contrary to justice. The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it. (No. 8)

If it is true that all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians. Faced with legislative proposals in favour of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are to take account of the following ethical indications.
When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.
When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is already in force, the Catholic politician must oppose it in the ways that are possible for him and make his opposition known; it is his duty to witness to the truth. If it is not possible to repeal such a law completely, the Catholic politician, recalling the indications contained in the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, “could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality”, on condition that his “absolute personal opposition” to such laws was clear and well known and that the danger of scandal was avoided.(18) This does not mean that a more restrictive law in this area could be considered just or even acceptable; rather, it is a question of the legitimate and dutiful attempt to obtain at least the partial repeal of an unjust law when its total abrogation is not possible at the moment. (No. 10)

See comment by William Oddie of the Catholic Herald, and Father Ray Blake, and His Grace's interventions in the following interview:

No holding hands during the "Our Father" - Bishop decrees.

2011-11-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

I am grateful to a correspondent who has drawn my attention to The Deacon's Bench blog reporting the letter and decree of the Bishop of Covington, the Most Reverend Roger J Foys, issued on the occasion of the implementation of the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

In his letter the Bishop points out that

The rituals of the Roman Church, of which we are a part, call for specific words to be used as well as particular actions and gestures, both on the part of the priest and the faithful who join their hearts with his in their worship of God.

He reminds his people:

As we continually give ourselves to the Lord, to His Word and to His Church, as your bishop I ask for your cooperation with the implementation process and to take to heart the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, in the decree Sacrosanctum Concilium (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), that no one on their own authority, for any reason, may add to, remove or change anything in the Sacred Liturgy (emphasis added).

In a recent memo to priests in his diocese, Bishop Alexander K Sample of Marquette also reminded us of this very point. Bishop Sample is currently preparing a pastoral letter on the liturgy.

Amongst some of the points in Bishop Foys' decree that I was glad to read:

The music used in the Sacred Liturgy be theologically sound and properly composed in accord with the teaching of the Church on Sacred Music.

Would this seem to imply that not all hymns in our hymnals fulfill this condition? I have already given my parish music director a list of hymns from our hymnal that I do not consider appropriate.

Music for the Ordinary Parts of the Mass (also known as Service Music – e.g. Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) must have the approval from the Diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy.
i. From November 27, 2011, until June 30, 2012, only the following three English settings are permitted for use:
1. The Chant Mass of the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal (mandatory)
a. This one setting is mandatory so as to foster a unified participation of the faithful at Mass throughout the Diocese.
2. The Heritage Mass (optional)
3. The Mass of Renewal (optional)
ii. Other Mass Settings will be approved for use on July 1, 2012.
iii. Please note: Hymns that are theologically sound and properly composed are not restricted.

Note that the bishop is only speaking about the English settings. All the Latin Gregorian Chant settings are permitted, nay encouraged, by the universal law of the Church and have been repeatedly proposed for use by the Supreme Pontiffs before and after Vatican II.

In Marquette, Bishop Sample has asked all parishes to learn the Mass of Resurrection, in addition to the chant settings.

Bishop Foys reminds the faithful that

“Songs or hymns may not be used in place of the responsorial Psalm.”(GIRM 61)

(How often has one heard hymns in stead of the psalm, or paraphrasing of the psalms - Because the Lord is my shepherd...)

He reminds people that the people should kneel from the end of the Sanctus through to the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, that deacons are to kneel from the epiclesis through to the showing of the Chalice, that priests (presumably concelebrants - for it is normally the case that priests and other clergy attending in choir kneel when the people kneel) should remain standing, and that the people should kneel after the Agnus Dei.

Concerning the Our Father, the bishop writes:

Special note should also be made concerning the gesture for the Our Father. Only the priest is given the instruction to “extend” his hands. Neither the deacon nor the lay faithful are instructed to do this. No gesture is prescribed for the lay faithful in the Roman Missal; nor the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, therefore the extending or holding of hands by the faithful should not be performed.

The bishop makes these important observations about silence:

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal reminds us: “Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times…. Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence is observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.” (GIRM 45) Silence following the Mass is also encouraged for those who might want to remain in the church to pray.

I am very pleased to say that in this parish there is always a reverent silence before Mass. However, since I have arrived a number of people have brought my attention to the rather noisy atmosphere afterwards, hoping that I will "do something about it". A group of parishioners has organized coffee in an adjacent room to encourage visiting there rather than in the church. I haven't yet preached on this matter but the time is coming soon when I shall do so. The fact that a bishop has mentioned this point obviously adds some strength to my position.

Other things I have drawn attention to here in this parish are:

the striking of the breast during the I confess
the bowing during the words referring to the incarnation in the Creed
the sign of peace to be made in a sober fashion and only with persons next to you, the words "The peace of the Lord be with you always" being permitted with the reply "Amen"
that communicants receive on the tongue or, in those places where it is permitted, on the hand, and how communion on the hand is to be received.

It is most encouraging to hear news from so many places that the liturgy is being restored to what was really intended by the Second Vatican Council.

Great story about a Downs Syndrome child and her parents

2011-11-29T21:11:00.001-05:00

Gemma decided against having any tests that would disclose whether her baby had Down’s. She knew they could increase the risk of miscarriage; besides, she and Robbie had resolved to love whatever child they were blessed with.

A good attitude to have, surely? But not everything turned out as hoped. This is a very touching account of the disappointment that the parents felt but of the acceptance of their child and their determination to do all they could for her.

Read it at the Daily Mail.

How did the new English Mass go today?

2011-11-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

The Regal Edition of the Roman Missal available from Midwest Theological Forum.

Here, there were a few stumbles - but by and large it went well. For me as a priest, it was like learning the Mass once again. The Missal - we have the MTF Regal Edition pictured above - is beautifully bound and illustrated. It will take a little while to become familiar with both the layout and the new words, and to discover the richness of what is on offer. Check the appendices for music for the presidential prayers and dialogues, sample prayers of the faithful, etc.

The language is uplifting and - as sacred language should - veils the mystery that we must penetrate with the eyes of faith through prayer and contemplation.

For me, the Mass will never be the same again.

Today we veiled the Tabernacle with a new purple veil made by our parishioner Bonnie Hurkmans. Bonnie is also going to make veils in the other liturgical colours: white, green and red. We are blest to have people like her - and many others in the parish - who put their talents at the service of the Lord. Rosie King has made linen cloths to go under the top altar cloth and on the credence table, and she is working on one for the shelf on which the tabernacle rests. As I mentioned in my homily this morning, the veil over the Tabernacle indicates that there is Mystery beyond the veil that we are called to meditate upon, a Mystery that the Lord will reveal to those who keep silence before it in reverence and awe.

It is a beautiful Tabernacle in itself, as you can see from this previous photograph:

The new purple vestments got their first proper outing today.

Although they look a bit blue in this picture, this is the effect of night lighting
and flash. See the tabernacle above for a better idea of the colour.

The tabernacle veil is made from the same material. The vestments were purchased from House of Hansen with money donated by parishioners and include all the five parts: chasuble, stole, maniple, chalice veil and burse (these last three are not included in the price shown at the House of Hansen website). I shall use them in the Extraordinary Form for the first time this coming Thursday evening at 7pm. Parishioners have generously funded the purchase of new rose vestments which have been purchased from Luzar Vestments and red vestments which are now on order from House of Hansen. We have also received donations towards a new white set and these are now also on order from House of Hansen. Thank you to all our generous parishioners.

During this time of Advent, we consider the Mystery concealed within Mary and await - in silent conemplation - Its revelation.

I was struck by - and preached on - the orations (Collect, Prayer of the Offerings, Prayer after Communion) of today's Mass.

Prayer after Communion:

May these mysteries, O Lord,
in which we have participated,
profit us, we pray,
for even now, as we walk amid passing things,
you teach us by them to love the things of heaven
and hold fast to what endures.
Through Christ our Lord.

By what does the Lord teach us "to love the things of heaven"? By "these mysteries" or by our "walk amid passing things"? Probably the former, but the passing things of this world are also created by God and should lead us beyond them to the appreciation of the beauty of their Creator and Lord.

Indeed, the sacraments, too, are "passing things". A time will come when there is no time and no sacraments. We will no longer see Christ veiled in the Eucharistic "vestments" of the appearances of bread and wine but we shall see Him "immediately", without the mediation of sense, sign or symbol. As ecstatic as our union with the Lord in Holy Communion can be, it is a mere foretaste of the heavenly union.

The new, more sacral language, also veils a mystery. If we now find some words of the Mass a little more difficult to "get" at first, this might indicate that perhaps the previous translation was not up to the mark in showing forth the mysterious nature of the Mass. If, now, we must exert ourselves in thinking and - preferably - contemplating in prayer, this is a grace given us by the Lord. As we prayed in the Collect today:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming...

We are called to "run forth" out of our comfort zone, out of our worldly way of seeing things, into the realm of mystery through prayer and contemplation. There are many "righteous deeds" that we can accumulate in readiness for the coming of the Father's Christ, but perhaps prayer and contemplation are the more important.

Wishing everyone a blessed Advent.

I'm not ashamed to publish this email regarding Tesco and Gay Pride

2011-11-26T17:59:00.004-05:00

But I'm not going to watch the videos. Even if children are being exposed to this sort of evil (and I know they are) I don't want to watch it myself - I saw a bit of one from another website and found it offensive and disturbing - spiritually! But if you are not aware that this sort of thing happens, then maybe you should take a look. Ensure, however, you pray before, during, and after to Our Lady conceived without sin that she might keep your body pure and your soul holy, to St Michael the Archangel to safeguard you against evil, and to your Guardian Angel.

Since making the Conscecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary last Lent and since being in this remote part of the world, I have found it a great grace to have been protected from this sort of stuff for so long. There are those called to fight the battles, and this part of the world is not without them, but there is great wisdom - if I may venture to suggest - in keeping a wall around one's mind, one's heart, one's will, one's passions, and have Our Lady keep you as an enclosed garden. I think I have reached the stage in life where I do not need to see the evil to be able to know it exists.

Parents need all the support they can get to keep their children protected also.

(Since publishing and after a comment from Damask Rose, I took a look at the three videos. I had to stop the reading of the poem: not only blasphemous but pornographic. And the others just made me think: what has London come to? There is nothing benign in this at all: it is in-your-face exhibitionism.)

Parents: exercise your discretion.

Dear Friends
I am writing again to Tesco about its links with London and World Pride. Complaint has thus far been futile.
By Tesco leading this year’s London Pride, with Tesco staff carrying the rainbow flag and promising money and resources for next year --- providing a “safe, relaxed and chilled out place with family-friendly entertainment and activities aimed at younger children” --- it may attract the Pink pound, but badly damages its public image.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060559/Outrage-Tesco-backs-gay-festival--drops-support-cancer-charity-event.html
The public will soon need to accept not just homosexuality but an increasingly extreme range of sexual orientations. The main resistance to this pressure to conform comes from Christians who, apart from losing their jobs, having their businesses shut down, being dragged through the courts and threatened with physical violence, are being held up for public ridicule.
It seems that Tesco is already experimenting with this tactic. The Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com, Nick Lansely, did a dramatic reading of James Kirkup’s “The Love That Dares to Speak its Name”, videoed and posted it on Youtube.
It is a description of a necrophilial (an ‘orientation’) soldier having sex with/on the crucified body of Christ. [WARNING EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE; but remember before you avert your eyes, judging by what our children are already exposed to in schools, this, in time, is what they will be led to accept.]
“The Love That Dares to Speak its Name”
http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100045
Nick Lansely, Head of R&D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7lf2tlkKk
Nick Lansley, reading the Blasphemous poem on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=0mGBJsTJDbs
Nick Lansley is on the team of Out at Tesco that organised Tesco’s leading this year’s London Pride 2011
http://home.outattesco.com/newsletter/index.php?page=newsletter-manua
Nick Lansley is clearly visible at the 2-minute mark on this Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOYJhMSZjA
Nick was also on hand to record an event held in June 2008, when the National Secular Society (NSS) gathered in a London restaurant to celebrate the repeal of the Blasphemy Laws. Here Sir Ian McKellen OBE gave a spirited rendition of the above poem and boasted of ripping pages from the Bible – something he proudly confesses to doing whenever he finds one in a hotel room. At the bottom of the NSS web site we read: “Nick Lansley recorded the event.” http://www.secularism.org.uk/bbbpartyreport.html
Had McKellen distributed cartoons of the dead body of Mohammed being sodomised, whilst tearing pages out of the Q’ran all hell would have been let loose - globally.
Why is it that Christian employees and customers don’t have the same human right to feel that they are victims of incitement to religious hatred as are Muslims? Why are Muslims protected from such hatred by Tesco and Sir Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and yet the sensibilities of Christians can be openly mocked and trampled on?
Why can Nick be publicly identified with promoting Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transsexual (LGBT) rights whilst simultaneously encouraging what many people of faith (and others) would consider profoundly blasphemous --- even an incitement to religious hatred?
Other Tesco employees, especially Christians cannot make a critical remark of the LGBT for fear of being sacked. I received this recently from a concerned Tesco employee:
“Let me open by apologizing for my going through the absurd necessity of using a fake email address – my employer (Tesco) has been known to take action against members of staff who are identified as making any remarks online which could be considered derogatory. (This is advice handed out by our union, USDAW – never, ever mention Tesco on Facebook, Twitter, etc). I simply cannot run the risk that my real name would be associated with the comments I am about to make. (which is not meant to question your personal integrity, it is simply a risk I cannot take).”
Tesco should be in the business of providing essential goods and services. Homosexuality is not a state of being like being black; it is an emotional and psychological disorder. When a black woman goes to sleep she is no less black than when she is awake. There is nothing that a black woman can do to make herself either less or more black. On the other hand a homosexual is only homosexual when his imagination leads his emotions, desirers, actions, habits and character to become homosexual. This orientation can either become stronger or weaker. Movement into and out of homosexuality can and does travel in both directions. But it seems that this travel is only allowed in one direction: from heterosexuality to homosexuality – never the reverse.
In 2 Peter2 it describes how God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. It says that “He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” Are we prepared to be distressed or do we wish to bury our heads in the sand?
Please write to Tesco letting them know your views and intentions:
richard.broadbent@tesco.com: Chairman of Tesco
philip.clarke@tesco.com: International and IT Director
richard.brasher@tesco.com: Commercial and Marketing Director
Andrew.higginson@tesco.com: Chief Executive of Retailing Services and Group Strategy
cr.enquiries@uk.tesco.com
customer.service@tesco.co.uk
ceo.customerservice@tesco.co.uk

I am
Yours in Jesus Christ
David Skinner

http://www.notashamed.org.uk/

Bishop John Jukes dies

2011-11-21T09:04:00.001-05:00

Please remember in your prayers Bishop Jukes who died today aged 88. May he rest in peace.

Bishop Jukes was auxiliary bishop in Southwark (my home diocese) with pastoral responsibility for the Kent area of the diocese from 1980 to 1998.

See the Southwark diocese website for further details.

Christ the King and the Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2011-11-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

In 1925, in his encyclical Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI directed that the Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ the King be made annually on this feast.

Pope Pius XI

It is a great shame that this is not done nowadays. We did it this morning before the Blessed Sacrament exposed after the principal Mass here at St Anthony's. I think the prayer manifests a sorrow for those souls who have departed from the Church and faith in Christ together with a yearning on the part of those making the consecration for their return. In other words, this Consecration promotes apostolic zeal. We have lost so many souls. And we just shrug shoulders. The ditching of such customs - mandated by Papal authority - has not helped.

Here is the text of the Consecration:

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before your altar. We are yours and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known you; many too, despising your precepts, have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them all to your Sacred Heart. Be King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. Grant O Lord, to your Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever. Amen.

In the above-mentioned encyclical, Pope Pius points to the good effects that will ensue if leaders govern with the consciousness that their authority comes from God (the tyranny that results when they do not can also be inferred from the Pope's remarks):

If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects... Men will see in their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man.(n.19)

The Pope describes the manner in which Christ should reign over us:

He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls... (n.33)

Regnare Christum volumus!

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury to Promote Renewal with St Jean Vianney Relic

2011-11-04T22:48:00.001-04:00

SHREWSBURY, England, NOV. 4, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The heart of the patron saint of parish priests will tour the Diocese of Shrewsbury this July, providing an occasion to pray for the renewal of the priesthood.

The relic of St. John Vianney will be in the diocese for a four-day visit.

Priests venerate the heart of the Cure of Ars during a priests retreat I attended
at Ars in September 2005.
Three intentions are being proposed for the occasion: the renewal of the ministerial priesthood, new and generous vocations, and the renewal of the missions and life of all parishes in the diocese.

The relic will be accompanied by Bishop Guy Bagnard of Belley-Ars, France, and two priests of his diocese.

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury requested the relic tour when he met with Bishop Bagnard in September. The English bishop had taken young Shrewsbury clergy and the diocese's three seminarians to Ars.

"I am delighted we can welcome this relic of St. John Vianney to England," Bishop Davies said. "The Scriptures speak of the saints as those 'witnesses' who encourage us in our faith. This visible reminder of the heart of a simple and extraordinary pastor will encourage us to look to that love and truth found at the heart of the Catholic priesthood, for St. John Vianney said simply: 'The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.'"

The Monarchy becomes "inclusive" - should we be glad?

2011-10-28T23:28:00.002-04:00

It has been announced today that the "discrimination" against women and Catholics in the Royal Family will be brought to an end. The Monarch's first born will be first in line to the throne, regardless of sex. And a member of the Royal Family will be able to marry a Catholic without losing his/her right to succession.

The Archbishop of Westminster issued the following statement:

“I welcome the decision of Her Majesty's Government to give heirs to the throne the freedom to marry a Catholic without being removed from the line of succession. This will eliminate a point of unjust discrimination against Catholics and will be welcomed not only by Catholics but far more widely.”

“At the same time I fully recognise the importance of the position of the Established Church in protecting and fostering the role of faith in our society today.”

On the face of it this seems like progress. But I'm not so sure.

The Archbishop's statement contains within it the problem: can a monarch marry a Catholic and still take an oath to uphold the Protestant religion? Will the Catholic consort be dispensed by the Catholic Church from the obligations required by Canon Law under normal circumstances in a mixed marriage:

Can. 1125 The local ordinary can grant a permission of this kind [i.e. for a Catholic to marry a baptised non-Catholic] if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions have been fulfilled:

1/ the Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith and is to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power so that all offspring are baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church;

2/ the other party is to be informed at an appropriate time about the promises which the Catholic party is to make, in such a way that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and obligation of the Catholic party;

3/ both parties are to be instructed about the purposes and essential properties of marriage which neither of the contracting parties is to exclude.

It is obvious that any children would have to be brought up in the Church of England since they would have a place in the line of succession and would be potential monarchs who would have to pledge to uphold the Protestant Religion. The establishment of the Church of England depends on this.

Any member of the Royal Family who converted to Catholicism would still have to renounce his/her right to the throne.

I happen to have a high regard for the Royal Family but I wonder if this attempt to make the Royal Family "relevant" will actually result in them becoming irrelevant and, eventually, to the disestablishment of the Church of England.

From the BBC:

On scrapping the ban on future monarchs marrying Roman Catholics, Mr Cameron said: "Let me be clear, the monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is the head of that Church. But it is simply wrong they should be denied the chance to marry a Catholic if they wish to do so. After all, they are already quite free to marry someone of any other faith."

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said the elimination of the "unjust discrimination" against Catholics would be widely welcomed.

"At the same time I fully recognise the importance of the position of the established church [the Church of England] in protecting and fostering the role of faith in our society today," he said.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond also welcomed the lifting of the ban but said it was "deeply disappointing" that Roman Catholics were still unable to ascend to the throne.

"It surely would have been possible to find a mechanism which would have protected the status of the Church of England without keeping in place an unjustifiable barrier on the grounds of religion in terms of the monarchy," he said.

"It is a missed opportunity not to ensure equality of all faiths when it comes to the issue of who can be head of state."

Mr Salmond's observation also has its problems: if every Act passed by Parliament requires the monarch's signature to become law, would a Catholic monarch refuse to sign into law Acts that are contrary to the moral law? Or would they do a Juan Carlos?

A large family just got larger

2011-10-25T16:51:00.001-04:00

Way back in August, I received an email from Tania, then a mother of nine expecting twins. As I recall, I picked up her email at Marquette International Airport as I was waiting for a flight to Chicago which would connect me to a flight to Burlington, Vermont, for my vacation in Stowe with my English priest friend Father Benedict Kiely, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church.

Well, the email stayed in my inbox in spite of my assurance that I would give publicity to Tania's book entitled Larger Family Life - Living life the large family way. Now I have received an email about the birth of the twin daughters pictured above. Read more at Tania's blog.

Tania and her family attend Holy Family Catholic Church in Hoo, Kent, which is a satellite church of English Martyrs, Strood, which happens to be where my brother served as curate (assistant priest/parochial vicar/associate pastor) for a number of years before becoming parish priest (pastor) at Good Shepherd Church, New Addington.

So, congratulations to Tania and her husband on their beautiful babies.

"All are welcome" - a Bishop begs to differ

2011-10-25T00:02:00.000-04:00

Bishop Morlino of the Diocese of Madison has written a column on beauty and the liturgy which Fr Z has posted and commented on. Hopefully we will get more episcopal statements like this. Bishop Sample recently gave his opinion on "Gather us in".

Bishop Alexander Sample on the Orientation of the Sacred Liturgy

2011-10-24T23:23:00.001-04:00

Bishop Sample preached this homily during the celebration of the Extraordinary Form Mass at St Peter Cathedral Marquette on September 4th.

Pope Benedict Announces a Year of Faith

2011-10-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict processing into this morning's Mass on the mobile platform
that the media seem to be making so much fuss over.

At Mass today (which may be watched in its entirety here) Pope Benedict announced a year of Faith to commence on October 11th 2012, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It will end on November 24th 2013, Solemnity of Christ the King.

The aim of the year is to give a renewed impulse to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves towards the place of life and friendship with Christ who gives us life in its fullness. The year will be, the Holy Father said, a moment of grace and of commitment to an ever fuller conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and to announce Him with joy to today's humanity.

The month of October is traditionally dedicated to prayer for the missionary activity of the Church. Now, however, the Church turns its attention to those lands which once were Christian but have lost the initial joy of faith in Christ. The New Evangelisation is directed to those lands and peoples that, having been evangelised in the past, now need to be re-evangelised.

The Holy Father will introduce the year with an Apostolic Letter.

See The Vatican Today and the Holy Father's homily (currently only in Italian).

If I'm not mistaken, the bishop on the right with hands joined in the traditional
manner is Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, England.

I would ask for prayer for Bishop Finn at this time

2011-10-15T09:41:00.000-04:00

As everyone knows - it has made the news worldwide - Bishop Finn of the diocese of Kansas City - St Joseph and the diocese have been indicted on charges of failing to report child abuse. You can read about it here, for instance.

As Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said:

“This has nothing — nothing — to do with the Catholic faith. This is about the facts"

It is a matter of law, not the Catholic faith, and it appears to me that Bishop Finn is anxious to do all he can to co-operate with law enforcement authorities.

The diocese's statement is here.

53 year old father of 14 battling with cancer

2011-10-15T09:16:00.001-04:00

Lifesite News always carries wonderfully edifying stories. This one is too even as it calls us to pray for Jim Littleton and his family. Not only are there the fourteen children in the picture above but they lost five others due to miscarriages.

“[T]hanks to God, we have been consoled by the reality of our crosses having a redemptive value,” they say. “In and of itself the cross would be worthless, a great loss, but the crosses and difficulties, crises, and disasters of our lives all have the capacity to bear much fruit, and culminate in our own growth and purification as well as in the overall redemption of mankind.”

The greatest cross the Littleton’s are now bearing is Jim’s illness, which has affected his ability to work and provide for his family. The extensive demands of his medical treatment as well as 6 hospitalizations have consumed his family’s resources.

Read their story at Lifesite News. There is also the opportunity to contribute to a benefit fund to help the family pay for Jim's continuing treatment.

Courageous - a movie for Dads

2011-10-13T20:22:00.000-04:00

It's showing in Marquette starting tomorrow.

Find out where it is showing near you.

Church renovations at Crystal Falls, MI

2011-10-11T22:29:00.001-04:00

Father Jeffrey Kurtz, pastor of Guardian Angels Church, Crystal Falls, MI in the diocese of Marquette has sent me these photos of the renovations currently underway at his parish church and has said he is happy for them to be published. A sign of the times...

More pictures will be available on completion of the work. Father Kurtz has received

a bit of exciting news today. The parish is to receive a substantial bequest and the man's family has asked that part of the money be used to construct the "shrines" to the Sacred Heart and Blessed Virgin. Plan to go with the same company for the marbles and will consult with Affiliated Artists for the design of the decorative painting in those areas. We are truly blessed.

Father, you are! And may God bless you in your work of restoring beauty to your church and to the liturgy.

Bishop Sample shares his Vision and Program for the New Evangelisation

2011-10-11T00:33:00.002-04:00

At the final session of the Convocation of Priests serving in the Diocese of Marquette, Bishop Alexander Sample spoke about his vision or program for the New Evangelisation. He summed it up by saying: It's the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

This is very much in line with Pope John Paul II's view: that there is no need for any new program. However, Bishop Sample highlighted two central themes that are, as it were, coming over the horizon:

the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
the work of the New Evangelisation.

The Sacred Liturgy
Bishop Sample suggested that the new English translation of the Mass was an opportune time for the Church, for us, to set about the work of renewal and reform of the Sacred Liturgy, and that this is central to the work of the New Evangelisation.

The bishop placed himself clearly in the camp of Pope Benedict who spoke of the need for a reform of the reform long before becoming Pope. Some might say that the bishop just wants to take us back to the way things were before? The fact that he celebrates the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at the Cathedral every month has apparently created some waves. And the positioning of the Crucifix on the altar facing the celebrant has also provoked some comment. But there could be nothing further from the truth. Pope Benedict allowed a greater flourishing of the Extraordinary Form so that it would stand side by side with the Novus Ordo, that both forms might enrich one another.

It is a good time to take a step back and to examine: what has been good, what has been lost, what can we recover. "I'm following, I'm listening to Benedict XVI. I trust that the Holy Spirit guides our shepherd" Bishop Sample said.

Priests pray silently before Mass.

A forthcoming Pastoral Letter
Bishop Sample referred to a letter concerning the liturgy that he - with the help of others - is working on. In this letter he will examine:

The Essence of the Liturgy
What is the Holy Mass? We do not create Liturgy. It is what it is. It has an objective and intrinsic meaning as both
- Sacrifice
- Sacred Banquet (as per St Thomas Aquinas - Sacrum Convivium).
The Cosmic nature of the Liturgy
Pope Benedict discussed this in his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy". The Mass has an eschatological orientation. In the Mass we celebrate and commemorate what already is but await what is to come.

The offertory

A clear understanding of these points informs the celebration of the Mass. In Pope Benedict's book "The Light of the World" the Holy Father reminds his readers that the liturgy is not the expression of the community. It is not to be tinkered with.

Ars celebrandi
The Mass is the Sacramentum Caritatis.There is an art - ars - to its celebration. It should be beautiful, reflecting the beauty and greatness of God. We should appreciate the purpose and meaning of the words, gestures, vessels, the Cross on the altar, the orientation of prayer. The East is connected very much with the Cross. Our gaze - especially in the Eucharistic Prayer - must be fixed on Christ glorified on the Cross as we await his coming.

Sacred Music
The renewal of the Sacred Liturgy is intimately connected with the renewal of Sacred Music and Bishop Sample will address this in his letter.

Also to be addressed are some practical points:

some do's and don'ts;
some things that need correcting;
not to invent options.

The bishop advised us all to re-read the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) and the rubrics. He quoted Fr Z's blog, What Does the Prayer Really Say, and Fr Z's motto: "do the red, say the black." Chances are that if we re-read the GIRM and the rubrics, we will probably notice something that we either had not known, had forgotten or had overlooked.

We must celebrate the liturgy well. Then it will be the Church's liturgy, celebrated with beauty, prayerfully, reverently. "If we don't have the Liturgy, what do we have?"

Bishop sample offering the chalice

The New Evangelisation
Bishop Sample referred the priests to his Holy Thursday Letter.

The letter of Pope John Paul II Novo Millennio Ineunte reminded us that the program for the New Evangelisation is contained in the Gospels. But there were seven pastoral priorities:

the call to holiness
prayer in the Church
Sunday Mass
Penance/Confession
the primacy of grace (not just our own efforts)
listening to the Word
proclaiming the Word.

As regards the call to holiness: Are we serious about prayer in our own lives? We must live what we proclaim. When he was elected bishop one of the priests of the diocese presented Bishop Sample with a poster of the movie "The Lord of the Rings" with the quotation of Frodo saying: "I wish the ring had never come to me." The bishop recalled Gandalf's reply: "So do all who live to see such times. That is not ours to decide, but ours is to do the best with the time that has been given to us."

Concerning prayer, the bishop commended the practice of the Holy Hour. "I beg you," he said, "to be men of prayer."

Confession:

go!
preach about it.
be available.

On the primacy of grace, it is less about numbers and more about fidelity. The Church is His Church. Novo Millennion Ineunte refers to the discouragement that can result with the instigation of yet another new program following on the heels of others that have either fizzled out or that have not produced results. It's not us. In other words, it's not a question of dreaming up new programs. The Lord does not want us to be successful but faithful.

Pope Benedict has established a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation and there is an upcoming Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation. Whilst we await guidance from these ecclesiastical organs, for us it is time to stop talking about the New Evangelisation and rather make it happen.

Whilts it is not about a new program we do need a strategic plan, and we need to develop it together. So perhaps there might be established a task force to focus on a diocesan plan, a strategy for the New Evangelisation, focussed on the 7 headings of NMI.

Our personal holiness really matters as priests. It makes all the difference in the Body of Christ. In the year of priests we were reminded that the effectiveness of the priestly ministry relies on the holiness of priests. If the priest is holy, the people are good. If the priest is good, the people are ok. If the priest is mediocre, God help the people!

We must be serious in our life of prayer, in our sacrifice, etc. The bishop confided to the priests that he prays and offers sacrifice for each priest in the diocese. His Friday Mass, fast, prayer, abstinence are all offered for the priests of the diocese. He asks Our Lady to pour out the Precious Blood and Water that flowed from her Son's side upon all the priests and that she would hold us close to her Immaculate Heart.

Bishop Sample also encouraged us to reach out to one another, to foster priestly friendships, to reach out to one whom we notice to be isolated, reclusive, etc. He encouraged support groups, and exhorted us to do all we can to be present at ordinations, the Chrism Mass, the funerals of our brother priests and of their parents.

Bishop Sample preaching on the feast of St Bruno

In his homily at the Mass that followed the final session, Bishop Sample, commenting on the gospel appointed for the Mass of St Bruno, encouraged us to serve the Lord with undivided hearts, to be men of hope. We are blest because we hope in the Lord, that we should teach our people to place all their hope in him.

On the previous day, Bishop Sample invited all the priests to make the following Act of Consecration after the homily:

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO MARY

Mary, Mother of Jesus and Queen of Peace
since Jesus from the Cross
gave you to me,
I take you as my own.

And since Jesus gave me to you,
take me as your own.
Make me docile like Jesus on the Cross,
obedient to the Father,
trusting in humility and love.

Mary, my Mother,
in imitation of the Father,
who gave His Son to you,
I too give myself to you;
to you I entrust all that I am,
all that I have
and all that I do.

Help me to surrender ever more fully to the Spirit.
Lead me deeper into the Mystery of the Cross and Resurrection
and the fullness of the Church.

As you formed the heart of Jesus by the Spirit,
form my heart to be the throne of Jesus
in His glorious coming.
Amen!

As a final thought, perhaps it is worth recalling Bishop Sample's coat of arms:

You can read about it at the Bishop's Page of the Marquette diocesan website. Concerning his motto, we read the following:

For his motto, Bishop Sample uses the Latin phrase, “VULTUM CHRISTI CONTEMPLARI” (“to contemplate the face of Christ”). This theme is taken from the writings of Pope John Paul II (Novo Millennio Ineunte and Ecclesia de Eucharistia), in which the Holy Father reminded us that it is the task of the Church to make the face of Christ shine before the generations of the new millennium. The Holy Father further reflected: “Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.”

So the New Evangelisation has been at the heart of Bishop Sample's vision: that all may be led to the contemplation of the face of Christ.

I need lots of these cards

2011-10-10T22:49:00.002-04:00

Does anyone know where I can buy them?

Priests of Marquette Diocese gather for convocation on New Evangelisation

2011-10-06T23:48:00.001-04:00

Father Alfred Bradley with Bishop Alexander Sample after Mass on our final morning.

From Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th October over 50 priests attended the Marquette Diocese Priests Convocation at the Four Seasons Island Resort in Pembine, Wisconsin.

The guest speaker was Redemptorist Father Alfred Bradley C.Ss.R, Director and Pastor of the Shrine of St John Neumann in Philadelphia.

The theme of the New Evangelisation is very dear to the heart of the Bishop of Marquette, the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample. Father Bradley covered key areas of the priest's role in the New Evangelisation:

On the New Evangelisation, Father Bradley described it as

showing others the face of Christ (after John Paul II)
witnessing by our lives that God exists (after Benedict XVI)
showing people "the art of living" (after Benedict XVI)

Referring to the writings and sayings Pope Benedict (for whom he expressed the highest regard and admiration), he described the true problem of our times as a "Crisis of God", the absence of God which is disguised as an empty religiosity. Unfortunately, we Christians can also behave as if God does not exist.

We need to proclaim God as

Creator
Sanctifier
Judge (not a very popular notion).

Unltimately our work of evangelisation must be Theocentric, i.e. the basic thrust is that GOD EXISTS, and all that follows from this.

Key documents that Father Bradley referred to:

Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI)
Novo Millennio Ineunte (John Paul II)
Ubicumque et semper (by which Benedict XVI established the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation)
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers on the occasion of the Jubilee of Catechists, 12 December 2000
Archbishop (now Cardinal) Donald Wuerl's pastoral letter Disciples of the Lord: Sharing the Vision. A Pastoral Letter on The New Evangelization.

Father Bradley quoted the well-known phrase from Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi n.41:

"Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."

Pope Paul VI elaborated on the importance of the witness of Christians in the midst of the world:

Through this wordless witness these Christians stir up irresistible questions in the hearts of those who see how they live: Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them? Why are they in our midst? Such a witness is already a silent proclamation of the Good News and a very powerful and effective one. Here we have an initial act of evangelization. (EN n.21)

On Confession: Father Bradley said that the goal of any parish mission that Redemptorists carry out is to get people to go to Confession. He quoted extensively from Pope Blessed John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia and the priest's role as pontifex (bridge builder), describing the Church's mission as reconciling people with God, neighbour, themselves and creation. Father Bradley reminded us of the Pontiff's comment that, from seeing sin everywhere we appear to have passed to seeing it nowhere, and that the modern notion of respect for consciences appears to exclude the duty to tell others the truth, and that priests too can fall into this trap. Father Bradley reminded the priests that it is not possible to bear witness to Christ unless they reflect his image. Therefore priests themselves must celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, i.e. they must also go to Confession.

Father Bradley also spoke powerfully about the Eucharist and the sacrifices that have been and are made by men and women with real faith in the Eucharist. (For example the priests in Priest Block 25487 in Dachau, movie version The Ninth Day.)

Servant Leadership was also a theme that Father Bradley developed. In oder to be servant leaders, we priests need to be people of character

able to make insightful, ethical, principle-centred decisions;
honest, trustworthy, authentic, humble;
leading by conscience and not by ego;
filled with depth of spirit and enthusiasm;
committed to desiring to serve something beyond oneself.

Ultimately it means to be like Christ.

Father Bradley is rightly in demand as a mission preacher. He certainly inspired the priests at the convocation by his evident devotion to the Lord, real appreciation of the mystery and wonder of the priesthood, his frank description of some of the crazy things that have gone on in the past that undermined people's faith and particularly the priesthood.

Father Bradley also used some very moving youtube movies to inspire us or that might be helpful in inspiring others:

Click on the picture to play.

And what did the Bishop say? Another post will deal Bishop Sample's inspiring address on the final morning.

Meanwhile, if you want to see priests relaxing, visit my facebook page and that of Father Ben Hasse. My photo of a bald eagle on the Menominee River seems to have caught people's attention:

The Fall colours were amazing!

Steve Jobs: Inspirational!

2011-10-06T21:28:00.001-04:00

I think so. His Stanford University 2005 Commencement Speech is inspirational. OK, I think we can interpret his words concerning "dogma" in a way that we can accept: if someone tells you you can't fulfil your dream, ignore them.

I was particularly drawn by his comments on "joining the dots of the past" (you can't join the dots of the future - you have to trust - in God, we would say), beauty and death. If a man who clearly has no faith in God can inspire in this way, what ideals shouldn't we Catholics be able to inspire in our young people?

His life started off on a completely wrong footing, yet he achieved so much.

Perhaps not all in his life was consistent with how a Christian would seek to model his life, but whoever enjoys using an ipod, ipad, iphone, apple computer... has an opportunity - and an obligation - to pray with hope for the repose of the soul of this man.

Assisi 2011

2011-10-06T20:16:00.002-04:00

As mentioned yesterday, some are concerned about the risk of the appearance of syncretism at the forthcoming Assisi event.

Pope Benedict wishes to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first Assisi meeting held by Pope Blessed John Paul II that took place on 27th October 1986.

A bulletin from the Vatican Information Service of 2nd April this year outlines Pope Benedict's vision for this anniversary. It says:

Believers too are constantly journeying towards God: hence the possibility, indeed the necessity, of speaking and entering into dialogue with everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, without sacrificing one’s own identity or indulging in forms of syncretism. To the extent that the pilgrimage of truth is authentically lived, it opens the path to dialogue with the other, it excludes no one and it commits everyone to be a builder of fraternity and peace.

It appears that there will no public recitation of prayers, no "ceremonies" but rather dialogue and moments for private prayer and reflection. Not only leaders/representatives of other religions but also people from the world of science and culture who might not profess any belief in God will be participating. Here is what is envisaged:

The image of pilgrimage therefore sums up the meaning of the event. There will be an opportunity to look back over the path already travelled from that first meeting in Assisi to the following one in January 2002, and also to look ahead to the future, with a view to continuing, in company with all men and women of good will, to walk along the path of dialogue and fraternity, in the context of a world in rapid transformation. Saint Francis, poor and humble, will once more welcome everyone to his home town, which has become a symbol of brotherhood and peace.

The delegations will set off from Rome by train on the morning of 27 October, together with the Holy Father. Upon arrival in Assisi, they will make their way to the Basilica of S. Maria degli Angeli, where the previous meetings will be recalled and the theme of the Day will be explored in greater depth. Leaders of some of the delegations present will make speeches and the Holy Father will likewise deliver an address.

There will follow a simple lunch, shared by the delegates: a meal under the banner of sobriety, intended to express fraternal conviviality, and at the same time solidarity in the suffering of so many men and women who do not know peace. There will follow a period of silence for individual reflection and prayer. In the afternoon, all who are present in Assisi will make their way towards the Basilica of Saint Francis. It will be a pilgrimage in which, for the final stretch, the members of the delegations will also take part; it is intended to symbolize the journey of every human being who assiduously seeks the truth and actively builds justice and peace. It will take place in silence, leaving room for personal meditation and prayer. In the shadow of Saint Francis’ Basilica, where the previous meetings were also concluded, the final stage of the Day will include a solemn renewal of the joint commitment to peace.

To me this seems a most laudable project and deserving of our prayerful support.

In preparation for this Day, Pope Benedict XVI will preside over a Prayer Vigil at Saint Peter’s the previous evening, together with the faithful of the Diocese of Rome. Particular Churches and communities throughout the world are invited to organize similar times of prayer.

Theme of World Communications Day 2012: Silence!

2011-10-05T14:38:00.001-04:00

St Anne inviting us to be silent (as found at Reluctant Sinner).

Well, actually: "Silence and Word: Path to Evangelisation".

Silence is very difficult to achieve in our day. Last week much of Gwinn, MI, experienced a power outage following 70+ mph winds which brought trees down over power lines, resulting in loss of power. The lack of electricity certainly was not without its inconveniences: no hot water, no lighting, no possibility of cooking, loss of food in the freezer, etc. But one blessing it did bring was silence: no radio, no TV, no internet... just the possibility of reading by candle light (or kindle-light!) and working quietly during the day. One was able to listen more to one's thoughts and the voice of nature.

Pope Benedict has chosen a very important theme concerning communication. Communication is thought to be all about words. But how important silence is too.

The Vatican's news release on the subject states:

The extraordinarily varied nature of the contribution of modern communications to society highlights the need for a value which, on first consideration, might seem to stand in contradistinction to it. Silence, in fact, is the central theme for the next World Communications Day Message: 'Silence and Word: path of evangelisation'. In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterises society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favours habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelisation. It is clearly the desire of the Holy Father to associate the theme of the next World Communications Day with the celebration of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops which will have as its own theme: 'The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith'.

How quickly people react to sound bites. The Pope himself has experienced misunderstanding of statements he has made, the result of a lack of that "discernment and reflection" that is mentioned above.

Silence is also key to prayer, as I have mentioned recently. I look forward to reading the forthcoming message of Pope Benedict which is customarily published on the memorial of St Francis de Sales (January 24th), patron saint of writers. World Communications Day itself is kept on the Sunday before Pentecost (May 20th in 2012).

Reluctant Sinner has further comment.

"That I may see you" - this is the essence of prayer!

2011-10-05T10:21:00.001-04:00

Pope Benedict, since May, has been dwelling on the subject of prayer in his weekly Wednesday Audiences. Having a little bit of relaxation time as I attend the Marquette Diocese Priests Convocation, I am catching up a little and have just read the first audience given on May 4th.

Pope Benedict refers to ancient civilizations and their intuition of the existence of God, the desire to have real communion with God, and even their sense of bondage to sin and the need for liberation and God's mercy.

Some examples:

I shall start with ancient Egypt, as an example. Here a blind man, asking the divinity to restore his sight, testifies to something universally human. This is a pure and simple prayer of petition by someone who is suffering. This man prays: “My heart longs to see you.... You who made me see the darkness, create light for me, so that I may see you! Bend your beloved face over me” (A. Barucq — F. Daumas, Hymnes et prières de l’Egypte ancienne, Paris 1980). That I may see you; this is the essence of the prayer!

In the religions of Mesopotamia an arcane, paralyzing sense of guilt predominated, but which was not devoid of the hope of redemption and liberation on God’s part. We may thus appreciate this entreaty by a believer of those ancient cultures, formulated in these words: “O God who are indulgent even in the greatest sin, absolve me from my sin.... Look, O Lord at your tired servant and blow your breeze upon him: forgive him without delay. Alleviate your severe punishment. Freed from bonds, grant that I may breathe anew, break my chains, loosen the fetters that bind me” (M.-J. Seux, Hymnes et Prières aux Dieux de Babylone et d’Assyrie, Paris 1976). These are words that demonstrate how the human being, in his search for God, had intuited, if vaguely, on the one hand his own guilt and on the other, aspects of divine mercy and goodness.

In the pagan religion of ancient Greece, a very significant development may be seen: prayers, while still invoking divine help to obtain heavenly favours in every circumstance of daily life and to receive material benefits, gradually became orientated to more disinterested requests, which enabled the believer to deepen his or her relationship with God and to become a better person.

For example, the great philosopher Plato records a prayer of his teacher, Socrates, held to be one of the founders of Western thought. This was Socrates’ prayer: “Grant to me that I be made beautiful in my soul within, and that all external possessions be in harmony with my inner man. May I consider the wise man rich; and may I have such wealth as only the self-restrained man can bear or endure” (Plato, Phaedrus, English trans.: Loeb, Harold North Fowler). Rather than to possess plenty of money, he wanted above all to be beautiful within and wise.

In reading these words, I wonder if Pope Benedict is preparing the ground for the next Assisi gathering which is often considered controversial by traditionally minded Catholics. The Pope wants to be present to ensure that the event has a proper orientation. Some will want him to preach to the adherents of other religions that Jesus Christ is the only Way. Maybe he will, but surely nothing but good can come in gathering men and women who believe that there is a Being to whom we must pray if we are to be truly human. They may not yet know that Being but they are acknowledging Him nonetheless and their dependence on Him, that they are not self-sufficient.

As the Holy Father says:

In the examples of prayer of the various cultures which we have considered, we can see a testimony of the religious dimension and of the desire for God engraved on the heart of every human being, which receives fulfilment and full expression in the Old and in the New Testament. The Revelation, is in fact purifying and brings to its fullness man’s original yearning for God, offering to him, in prayer, the possibility of a deeper relationship with the heavenly Father.

Today's audience is on Psalm 23 which happens to be this coming Sunday's Responsorial Psalm.

Mothers and Fathers removed from British Passport Application Forms

2011-10-04T09:37:00.000-04:00

Firstly, a new blog to check out: Defend Marriage in Scotland. It's going straight to my sidebar and Google Reader subscriptions.

And this blog brings to our attention an article in yesterday's Daily Telegraph which says:

Following pressure from gay rights campaigners, the Home Office is modifying the application process to make it more politically correct.

Instead of an applicant naming their mother and father, they will be asked for details of “parent 1” and “parent 2”.

The change has been made following claims the original form was “discriminatory” and failed to include same-sex couples looking after a child.

When you enter the world of political correctness you end up discriminating against those who have natural rights, the right of a father and a mother to be recognised as such, not simply as a parent. "Parent" is a term that includes both father and mother but does not distinguish between them. Each has a right to be recognised. Feminists should protest about the lack of recognition of the woman as mother. In this sense, all distinction between the sexes is denied, which is of course one of the fruits of the denial of the purpose of sex: the generation of offspring. This denial begins at contraception.

Second Missionaries of Charity house in Moscow threatened with demolition

2011-10-04T00:10:00.000-04:00

The Moscow authorities demolished one house just over a week ago because of lack of permits, and now the city has initiated criminal proceedings against the MC's over the remaining property.

The Archbishop in Moscow, Mgr Paul Pezzi, refers to a "dictatorship of law".

See AsiaNews.it for more.

See how America Magazine mis-represents Vatican II

2011-10-04T00:02:00.000-04:00

In a post dated October 10th 2011 (it's only October 3rd as I write) entitled Save the Altar Girls, the editorial reports on the decision by the rector of Ss Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona to restrict serving at the altar to boys. This, of course, was always the Church's practice until a 1994 decision to permit girls to serve.

Now, the Second Vatican Council was concluded in 1965 and it made no mention of allowing girls to serve at Mass. Yet America Magazine writes:

These moves to limit laywomen’s access to the altar threaten to drag the church back into the pre-Vatican II world. One wonders if next the altar rail will return, another barrier between the priests and the people.

Where was the removal of altar rails mentioned in Vatican II? It wasn't.

This is a so-called "Spirit of Vatican II" article which bears no resemblance to the letter of the Council.

The editorial makes the following case:

The key issue is the status of the baptized: that the laity may be called by the Spirit to offer their talents in various roles. The rejection of altar girls disregards the counsel of the Second Vatican Council that the charisms of the baptized “are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation.” By virtue of baptism, the council reminds us, “there is neither male nor female. For you are all ‘one’ in Christ Jesus.” There is “a true equality between all with regard to the dignity and activity which is common to all the faithful in building up the Body of Christ” (“Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,” Nos. 12, 32).

But this argument could be used in support of a campaign for the admission of women to the ranks of the priesthood, yet this is clearly not possible. There is no distinction between male and female in terms of their equal dignity before God, but male and female not only have different physical attributes (only one can be father/husband and only the other mother/wife), they have distinct sacramental attributes to, signs of Christ as bridegroom and the Church as bride respectively.

Clearly America magazine is worried that the Phoenix decision might lead to a trend, and I think they are right to be worried as many of the innovations made over recent decades are being re-examined and rolled back. Whatever their views on girls and altar serving, they should not be invoking the spirit of Vatican II. Altar rails are making a come back too.

New Personal Parish for the Traditional Mass and Sacraments

2011-10-03T23:15:00.000-04:00

From Rorate Caeli:

America is fast becoming the nation of Personal Parishes for the Traditional Roman Mass and Sacraments. This Sunday, the creation a new Personal Parish, to be established by the Ordinary of Fort Wayne-South Bend, was announced - a decision of Bishop Kevin Rhoades, as foreseen by Summorum Pontificum, art. 10. As reported by D. Werling, the existing Sacred Heart parish will cease being a territorial parish and is to become a personal parish for those attached to the "Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite" in Fort Wayne, Indiana (with its former territory attached to that of another territorial parish).

The parish will be administered by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP).

The Oath against Modernism

2011-10-02T22:48:00.000-04:00

Fr Z and Fr Ray Blake have put this Oath on their blogs. Here it is. Naturally I would have no hesitation in signing this if asked. Would you?

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM
Given by His Holiness St. Pius X September 1, 1910.

To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.

I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated:

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas.

I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion.

I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful.

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm.

Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles.

I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God and these holy Gospels (which I touch with my hand).