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

I picked up from Twitter that the White House announced that Doug Kmiec will be the new Ambassador to Malta.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts:

• Jonathan Addleton, Ambassador to Mongolia
• Gayleatha Beatrice Brown, Ambassador to Burkina Faso
• Earl M. Irving, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland
• Douglas Kmiec, Ambassador to the Republic of Malta
• Fay Hartog-Levin, Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

President Obama said, "I am confident that these fine individuals will represent our nation abroad with distinction, and strengthen our diplomatic efforts to meet 21st century challenges. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

 

UPDATE:

I wonder… proximity to Rome, where there will be a rather unprepared, not overly impressive ambassador…. 

hmmmm

I got this from a reader.   I love the image and had to share it.

Father Jason Jones, Rector of the National Shrine of Wales, Our Lady of the Taper, celebrated a Missa Cantata on the Feast of the Most Precious Blood in the Priory Chapel within the Monastery on Caldey Island off the coast of Wales.

Swallows swooped over Fr Jones’s head, diving through the clouds of incense – a wonderful occasion.

 

I am presently dissecting a dialogue in the Catholic Herald and I am wondering if I should do so on the blog.

The excellent Catholic Herald of the UK has an interesting feature: an exchange of letters between Moyra Doorly, and author of No Place For God, which I haven’t read, and Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP, theologian and author of many books, including The Realm: An Unfashionable Essay on the Conversion of England which I recommend.

This is long.  It would be a long entry.  But it is worth some effort.  There is some interesting commentary here about classical theology and new theology.

Dunno… lotta work.

From CNS:

Obama holds round table with religion writers

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Barack Obama told a morning round table with religion writers [but why?] July 2 that he was profoundly influenced by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago when he worked in community organizing there in a project partially funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  [An interesting detail to include.  You can read about the CHD here.]

Obama said his encounters with the cardinal continue to influence his approach to social issues that are important to the church.  [How does this square with his approach to denying medical care to children who survived an abortion attempt.]

He also told reporters to expect a conscience clause protection for health care workers that will be no less protective than what existed previously.  [Sooo… this was the reason for the meeting.  He was suborning writers.]
 
The round table was held in anticipation of Obama’s audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican July 10.  [Trying to soften the coverage?]

This President is very shrewd and does not do things like this for no small reasons.

The late Card. Bernardin was key player in support of the Campaign for Human Development which he helped to found in 1969.

The CHD gave $7.3 million to the Saul Alinsky-style group ACORN.  In 1998 some Catholics raised their voices against what the CHD was doing.  The CHD changed its name to Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).

In 2007 the CCHD gave ACORN $1,037,000.

Another wonderful article from this week’s Catholic Herald of the UK.    

Let me give you just a couple of the good bits… go there and read the whole thing.

‘Good Hebridean food – it’s so easy’
Carolyn Reynier meets one of Britain’s oldest priests who rises at five and does all his own cooking in his remote island parish

3 July 2009

‘I’m an old man of 85.

I live on fish and potatoes – we grow the loveliest potatoes in the world. I grow all my own crops; we grow them on raised beds of seaweed called lazy beds."

The speaker is the Very Reverend Canon Angus John MacQueen, the place is the Outer Hebridean island of Barra where he has been a parish priest since 1952.

...


Does he have other priests visiting? He laughs.

"Yes, oh yes! You can’t keep them away _- friends from my theology days, even cardinals. When I was in one of the other parishes here on the islands, I had Cardinal Hume. He asked: ‘What do I have to do?’ I said: ‘You have to look after the sheep.’ He was an angler and on my croft in South Uist I had one of the finest trout lochs on the whole island, so he had the sheep to look after on the croft and he could fish the rest of the day. ...

...


He still grows his own crops – carrots, onions, early potatoes, main crop.

"The potatoes we like best are something like Maris Piper for a main crop. The people in England they like wet potatoes. The people in the highlands of Scotland only eat dry potatoes. We were quite surprised when that war was on and people came to build airport runways here on the bigger islands. We thought we would sell them potatoes and we grew potatoes for them but they didn’t like them because they were dry. Now, our idea of a potato is something that throws off its jacket once it’s boiled, and is dry and you eat it with your fingers by preference. Those of us who are very old, we eat all our fish with our fingers. We forgive Queen Margaret of Scotland, God rest her soul, for bringing knives and forks from France."

...

Canon MacQueen does all his own cooking using old-fashioned iron pots, frying pans and griddles. "Good Hebridean food, it’s so easy because we have the best ingredients." His six hens keep him supplied in eggs for his scones. "I do a lot of baking. The fish factory is just down the road. We have the largest red crabs you ever saw, we have lobsters, crayfish sometimes weighing up to six to seven pounds. I can wander along the shore and knowing the fishermen I can always find a fish to eat or a bit of lamb. During the hard time of the winter, we have barrels of herring and mackerel with potatoes. We are potato people.

Reminds me of….

"We are noodle folk!"

Really great article.  I would love to meet this priest, after reading this.

From The Catholic Herald, the best weekly in the UK, comes this from the keyboard of the charming and persistent Anna Arco with my emphases and comments.

Bishop: disobedience is harming the Church
By Anna Arco

Bishops who have deep theological differences with the Pope are undermining the unity of the Catholic Church, a prominent English bishop has claimed.

Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue said that such differences prompted parish priests to ignore the authority of their bishops.  [In other words, those bishops commit the sin of scandal?]

He said: "The idea that there could be theological differences between a bishop and the Pope is just an incredible thing to admit but it is the truth. I suppose if priests see bishops showing disloyalty to the Pope, it is hardly surprising that they in turn should show disloyalty to their bishop. We all know what Jesus said about a divided house."

He added: "It is not uncommon for cliques to grow up among priests against the current bishop that ignore with disdain directives and advice from their bishop. [Very true.  I have seen that especially in one particular place.]  Sometimes it seems that the parish priest and parish declare UDI [Unilateral Declaration of Independence] from the bishop and the diocese. There is also a danger of this developing in a group of bishops’ attitude to the reigning Pope."

The bishop said this disunity created a "conspiracy of silence" in the Church.  [Silence?  I wonder.  It seems to me they become outspoken, in a braying sort of way.]

He said: "This cocktail of dissent, disobedience and disloyalty has resulted in what I call ‘a conspiracy of silence’ amongst groups in the Church. There is no real dialogue or willingness to talk openly and honestly about our differences.  [Ah… okay… I think I am getting his drift.]

"For example, I don’t know why my Fit for Mission? documents hit a wall of silence among the bishops in this country. All I did was reiterate the teaching of the Church, but this has been treated as unacceptable and unspeakable. Why?"  [Because like good Rawlsians they don’t want to permit a different voice to be heard.]

Bishop O’Donoghue offered his analysis at a retreat for priests of the Diocese of Northampton in Ars, the parish of St John Vianney in France in May. He called attention to the fact that "countless individual priests, and laity, even bishops, believe they are free to decide what it means to be Catholic for themselves". He suggested that accepting the Church’s teaching on sexual morality was a "litmus test" for Catholics. [Probably pretty close to the mark.  I would also look at their Marian and Eucharistic devotion.]

"For example, we have witnessed a wholesale rejection of the Church’s perennial teaching against contraception. This is the litmus test of the acceptance of the obedience in the Church. How many priests support Gaudium et Spes’s crystal-clear rejection of contraception, upheld by successive popes – Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI? If we reject their teaching on this matter we are saying as priests that we know better than the successor of Peter! Is this tenable in a priest?"  [NB: He didn’t mention Humanae vitae, but GS.  Very good.]

Bishop O’Donoghue not only criticised liberal dissent but also had sharp words for traditionalists who he said were in danger of falling into "liturgism".  [Good!]

He said: "By this I mean the tendency among clergy and some laity to solely focus on the liturgy and sacramental life, ignoring our mission to go out of the church building into the world where suffering humanity lives. For a century the Church has been saying that social justice should be a concern of Catholics equal to attending Mass on Sunday. How many believe this? How many priests encourage this?"  [See Rule #4]

Bishop O’Donoghue also discussed the life of St John Vianney, whose 150th anniversary is being celebrated this year and who is the patron of the Year for Priests, drawing parallels between the challenges faced by the saintly parish priest and the priests today.

He argued that St John Vianney had a "keen sense of the need for salvation" which he expressed in his "whole being as a priest". Bishop O’Donoghue urged the priests who were taking part to reflect on a number of questions about their roles and identity as priests in the modern world. This included questions about attitudes to consumerism, alcohol, confronting evil and true repentance.

He also asked them: "Is it possible to talk to young people about salvation today? And is it necessary to go to confession regularly? What do you think the Curé d’Ars would say?" Fr Paul Hardy, a priest who took part in the retreat, said: "He was very good. He talked about the challenges facing us – do we duck them or do we face up to them."

 

WDTPRS kudos to Bp. O’Donoghue!

I received this from a reader:

I write at the request of Father Prior of Clear Creek Monastery in the Diocese of Tulsa.

Father Francois de Feydeau, the subprior of Clear Creek, bravely continues his fight for his life on earth, while being as ready as one can to make the "long walk" (as he calls it, referring to a book recently read in the refectory at Clear Creek) to the other side of things, if that be God’s will.  The monks are going to pray a novena to Dom Gueranger, founder of the Benedictine congregation to which Clear Creek belongs, beginning TODAY, the 30th (I apologise for this tardy notice – for 24 hours I could not get access to my email account).  This novena leads up to the feast of Our Lady of Providence, on July 9th, linked to the history of the restoration of Solesmes by Dom Gueranger in 1837.

Father Prior wrote to me, "You may do what you like as far as sharing it.  Maybe we have already tired our friends with the last one.
Whatever you think appropriate."

To borrow a phrase from an old friend, what I think appropriate is that we all of us should pray our guts our for Father Subprior.

Please circulate this novena among your parishioners & friends.



June 30-July 8, 2009

Almighty and eternal God,

Humbly and with confidence, we implore from Thy goodness the cure of our brother, who is gravely ill.  Deign to bestow this miracle upon him, through the intercession of Thy servant, Dom Prosper Gueranger, for Thine own glory, for the advancement of his cause of beatification, for the sanctification of our monasteries, and for the good of the entire Church.

Through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Saint John Marie Vianney, pray for us.

Our Blessed Father, Saint Benedict, pray for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

From National Catholic Register:

President Obama Meets With Catholic Press Tomorrow

Posted by Tim Drake

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 3:39 PM

Tomorrow morning at 10:45 Eastern time the president is hosting a roundtable at the White House for members of the Catholic press.

The National Catholic Register’s publisher, Father Owen Kearns, will be among eight religion reporters and editors in attendance at that gathering.

The purpose of the gathering, according to Chris Hensman, press secretary with the National Security Council, is a “preview of the president’s upcoming visit with Pope Benedict XVI.” The president is meeting with the Pope on July 10.

Father Kearns just received the invitation to the meeting yesterday via e-mail. At this point, there isn’t a complete list of the media who will be in attendance, but our understanding is that it’s strictly Catholic print media, not radio or television.

According to Father Kearns, the meeting is unprecedented. He has not previously met a sitting U.S. president, nor has he been previously invited by the president to a White House gathering for members of the Catholic press.

When Father Kearns asked the purpose of the roundtable, he was told, “It’s for the president to inform us, to listen to concerns, and to answer questions.”

The meeting is not a press conference.

“It sounds like what we would call a listening session,” said Father Kearns.

We’ll have an update about the meeting on the blog tomorrow.