The Duty to Maintain Communion

Because I have been asked I am recording some of my homilies. This is today's offering. Have a blessed day and week.

The Way to Fly

There really is no other way!

Bishop Thomas J Paprocki on troubling issues of Democratic Party Policy

Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, (watch video above or read his article) addresses the "platforms" of the Democratic and Republican Parties. He points out the following intrinsic evils in the platform of the Democratic Party:

• Abortion should be safe and legal and should be a right "regardless of the ability to pay", which can only happen if taxpayers are required to fund abortion, or insurance companies can will be required to pay for them, or hospitals will be forced to perform them for free.
• support for same-sex marriage, recognizing that "gay rights are human rights", calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law signed by President Clinton in 1996 that defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman.

He also addresses the troubling conflict over whether or not the name of God should be included in the party platform, pointing out that if it was only included at the will of the The Party Leader, then it could also just as easily be removed at the will of The Leader, which does not bode well for democracy in the Democratic Party.

Bishop Paprocki looks at the Republican Party platform and finds party support for no intrinsic evils.

On other matters, a Catholic can hold a variety of opinions, such as how "to address the needs of the poor, feed the hungry, solve the problems of immigration, but these are prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils."

Bishop Paprocki is concerned for the salvation of the souls of his flock when he concludes his piece as follows:

I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against, but I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.

I pray that God will give you the wisdom and guidance to make the morally right choices.

May God give us this grace. Amen.

"A Consequential Election" - Bishop Alexander Sample

Bishop Sample of Marquette, Michigan, is contributing a 4-part series of articles in the diocesan newspaper The UP Catholic to guide his diocesan faithful in the November General Election.

His first article entitled "A Consequential Election" deals in general with the Church's social teachings describing her rich and well-developed social doctrine as "one of the 'best kept secrets of the Church'".

In his second article Bishop Sample writes about the Church's teachings on life. "From the very moment of conception, a unique and irreplaceable member of the human family comes into existence."

The UP Catholic, published twice monthly, is available free on line, and you can subscribe to receive a free email notification when a new edition is published by clicking on the enotify button at the top of the page.

Who and what are we offering at Mass?

When ... the bread and the wine are placed on the altar we are symbolically hidden in them, united to Jesus Christ and offered with him. (Blessed Columba Marmion, Christ: the Ideal of the Priest, Ignatius Press, p.217)

So when the priest says the following prayer at the Offertory:

Suscipe, sancte Pater, omnipotens ætérne Deus, hanc immaculátam hóstiam, quam ego indígnus fámulus tuus óffero tibi Deo meo vivo et vero, pro innumerabílibus peccátis, et offensiónibus, et neglegéntiis meis, et pro ómnibus circumstántibus, sed et pro ómnibus fidélibus christiánis vivis atque defúnctis: ut mihi, et illis profíciat ad salútem in vitam ætérnam. Amen.

Receive, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this spotless host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for mine own countless sins, offenses and negligences, and for all here present; as also for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may avail both for my own and their salvation unto life eternal. Amen.

what is the "immaculate (or spotless) host"? Is it the bread that lies on the altar? Maybe. But surely it is also the Church, all of us. The Church is spotless, we no doubt are sinners, and yet we are all that the Son has to offer to the Father. The priest, standing in persona Christi, professes the fact that he is servant and unworthy, that he has countless sins that require the Father's mercy. In some senses, he is Christ taking upon Himself all the sins of the Church so that the Church can be offered pure and spotless.

I am reminded of the first time I celebrated Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Even though I had read and rehearsed the prayers, it was only when standing at the altar that the force of the following words said in preparation for Holy Communion after the Lord's Prayer became apparent to me:

Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti Apostolis tuis: Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis: ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem Ecclesia tua; eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris: Qui vivis et regnas Deus per omnia saecula saculorum. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst to Thy Apostles, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe to grant her peace and unity according to Thy will: O God who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

The faith of the Church is pleasing to God, even if the priest is sinful and unworthy. Even though the Mass is effective even if the participation of the faithful is lacking, think dear Catholic faithful of how the priest asks the Father to look upon your faith and upon you as members of the immaculate Bride of Christ, a spotless victim offered to the Father in union with His Son.

Pray for me as I go now to offer the Holy Sacrifice. I'll make a special memento for all my readers.

Bishop Sample's Homily at Mass in Honor of Venerable Frederic Baraga

Bishop Sample preaches on the New Evangelization and how the life of Bishop Baraga exemplifies the seven priorities of the New Evangelization as set out by Blessed Pope John Paul II in Novo Millennio Ineunte.

See more at Bishop Sample's Facebook page.

We proclaim the death of the Lord...

Why? Shouldn't it be His Resurrection? My reading from Christ the Ideal of the Priest has provided a neat insight.

We must realize that, at the consecration, the whole drama of Calvary, with all the consequence of sufferings and humiliations which it involved for Jesus, is present before God. It may be said in all truth truth that we are displaying before the eyes of the Eternal One all this divine past; that is why the Apostle says so aptly that at every Mass "we announce to the Father the death of His Son."
...

Every time that a priest celebrates Mass, he is presenting (to the Father) the Son Himself under the sacred species making, for love, a true immolation, though in sacramental form.

Let us dwell a little on this thought. What does the Father see on the altar stone on which the holy sacrifice is offered? He sees the body and blood of the Son of His love: Filius dilectionis suae (Col. 1:13). And what is that the Son is doing on the altar? Anuntiat mortem: He is placing before the eyes of the Father His love, His obedience, His suffering, the oblation of His life. And the Father casts on us a look of mercy.

We really do need to try to acquire a "God's eye view" of the Mass.