What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

I already wrote about this little piece on the Vatican website before, but in light of the departure of His Holiness for Turkey I reviewed it and am driven to ask you a question. Here is the first line of the piece on the website "presenting" the papal trip:

1. The Significance of the Apostolic Journey

In the footsteps of his predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to honour the land of Turkey with one of the first Apostolic Journeys of his Pontificate.

This was written by the Papal M.C., His Excellency Piero Marini. It was widely thought (and not without substance) that His Excellency was going to be removed by Benedict from his present role and either give him a diocese to shepherd (some say he declined more than once) or a curial desk to shepherd (rumors had him going to … well… enough of that). However, after all this time, His Excellency is still running the liturgical show.

It is my dream to see His Excellency M.C. a pontifical Mass with the "Tridentine" Rite at the main altar of St. Peter or in the Lateran… heck… in Hoboken, New Jersey for all I care, just as long as he does it. Marini would do the thing perfectly despite his antipathy for the older rite. After all, he likes his job, right?

Does the text above strike you as having been written by someone who really wants to keep his job? I would say so.

Just to remind you, this also appears in that same piece on the Vatican website.

The Byzantine Divine Liturgy, like that of all the Eastern Churches, is celebrated facing East. The priest and all the faithful look to the East, whence Christ will come again in glory. The priest intercedes before the Lord for his people; he walks at the head of the people towards the encounter with the Lord. At different moments the priest turns to the people: for the proclamation of the Gospel, for the dialogue preceding the anaphora, for the communion with the holy gifts, and for all the blessings. These symbolize moments in which the Lord himself comes forth to meet his people.

This, too, was authored by His Excellency.

It is amazing how a little anxiety can produce greater clarity of thought, no?

I had lunch today with a great Marian expert from Syria, a Greek Melkite Antiochian Catholic who is a professor at the Oriental Institute here in Rome.   I asked him about the Eastern teachings and traditions about Mary’s giving birth to Jesus. 

He responded that the tradition of a painful birth of the Lord by Mary comes from the Koran, not from the Eastern Christian tradition.

He said (in Italian) that the Koran speaks of "dolore del parto… the pain of childbirth".  Also, the Koran leaves the issue of Mary’s viriginity in partu very vague.  Clearly the issue of "pain" and "virginity" are conceptually connected in regard to the miraculous birth of the Lord.  It is miraculous not merely by virtue of Mary’s virginal conception, but also miraculous by virtue of something very unusual in the moment of birth itself: painlessness.

In any event, since our faith seeks understanding and since we want to know what the Church really believes, we shall continue to dig away at this.

The Holy Father is on his way to Turkey.  Have a caption?

"Don’t worry. See you next Friday … my place!"

In October 2006 I decided to look at the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a slightly different way. I searched out some passages from the Fathers of the Church which had something to do with the different mysteries of the Rosary. Here are some links to the 20 different entries I came up with.

Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation

The Visitation

The Nativity

The Presentation

The Finding in the Temple

Luminous Mysteries

The Baptism of Jesus by John

The Wedding at Cana

Proclamation of the Kingdom

The Transfiguration

Institution of the Eucharist

Sorrowful Mysteries

The Agony in the Garden

The Scourging

The Crowning With Thorns

The Carrying of the Cross

The Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection

The Ascension

Descent of the Holy Spirit

The Assumption

The Coronation of Our Lady

 

As I have told you, Rome has been foggy… and YES, I am aware of the irony of that statement.

As I was writing another entry, I saw that the basilica dome was slowly becoming visible as the morning mists burned off.  Here is a little sequence, just a few seconds apart.  Note how the light plays on parts of the basilica, but not all…

From the the Enchiridion of Indulgences, #25:

A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, in a spirit of filial devotion, devoutly recite any duly approved prayer for the Supreme Pontiff (e.g., the Oremus pro Pontifice):

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

Amen.

I stumbled on an interesting blog called The Lair of the Catholic Cavemen where some tough talk is going on. It’s refreshing. The entry that caught my eye concerned parish "mission statements" which I have always found pretentious and silly, for a parish at least. I am ready to be convinced otherwise. Good luck with that.

In any event, here some excerpts from that blog … then I have a mission for you (below).

What general feeling/impression did you get as you read some of their well thought through comments?

 

Immaculate Conception, Wilmington, NC We live Jesus Christ by proclaiming the Gospel, by celebrating the Eucharist, by nourishing our faith and by loving and serving all God’s people.

St. Mary’s, East Islip, LINY Centered in the Word of God and the gift of Jesus in our midst… a welcoming community which proclaims through word and action the dignity of every person.

St. Charles Borromeo, San Diego, CA Our mission is to provide a place of welcome and refreshment to all who cross our threshold, a sense of family belonging for those who remain, and the challenge of discipleship to all who believe in the saving power of Christ.

OK, you’ve all had a chance to read an example of their pearls of wisdom. Here’s the impression I got.
1. I’m not sure who gets top billing…. God, or the "community’.
2. They’re big on "luv". Hmmm… interesting title for an encyclical ~ Deus Luv Est.
3. I’m confused. When God is mentioned, is He God our Lord and Master, or God My Big Buddy in the Sky?
4. Shouldn’t the Salvation of Souls be mentioned someplace?

I equate this "mission statement" drivel to the outlandish homosexual drag queens that come out of the woodwork every so often. They’re so over the top in their garishness, no thinking individual could ever confuse their antics with anything even remotely resembling real femininity.

And "faith communities" like the above mentioned are so over the top in their being neck-deep in sickening sweet sentimentality, no thinking Catholic could ever take their saccharine-laced faux-theology serious. If anyone ever went to Mass there, they’d be diabetic before you could say "culturally aware".

Okay, folks. I would say this was a "No" vote from this guy on mission statements. At least that sort of mission statement.

With all this in mind, can you find some interesting mission statements out there and then come up with a good and super brief parish mission statement of your own?

How about this:

This parish exists…

 

... to provide the sacraments when called upon through dignified observance of the law while preaching the full doctrine of the Catholic Church expressed with common sense and concrete action in such as way as to help you and your neighbor live your vocation and then enjoy the glorious reward of the Beatific Vision and avoid the anguished torments of everlasting hell.

Pray for the Pope and that the trip will have a good outcome.