Fr. Z's Blog

Pentecost Thursday.

The Roman Station is St. Lawrence outside the walls, which is where it was in the Easter Octave on Wednesday.

In the Gospel from Luke 9, Jesus sends the Apostles out with authority to heal and cast out demons. In the Epistle from Acts 8, Deacon Philip is in Samaria doing the same.

For the rest, the remaining Mass Propers are like those of Pentecost Sunday.

I note in the Epistle, “And the crowds with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip… So there was great joy in that city.”

I note in the Gospel, “And whatever house you enter, stay there, and do not depart from thence. And whosoever will not receive you – go forth from that town, and shake off even the dust from your feet for a witness against them.”

A common thread here is docility and acceptance of the Good News.

Where there is acceptance there is healing.

Where there is not, there is no joy in “dustville“.

The Lord Himself established the attitude that the Apostles (bishops and priests today?) should have.

In Latin, “étiam púlverem pedum vestrórum excútite in testimónium supra illos“. The Greek says, “kai koniortos“. In Greek, kai is a conjunction, a copulative like “and”.   It is also a form of karate associated with a particular kind of snake practiced in the Receda area of L.A. where the vampires pass by on Ventura Boulevard. Sometimes I just want to see if anyone really reads this stuff.  However, kai, the Greek particle, not the karate, can also lend greater force to what follows, which is how we get that Latin etiam that comes into English as ” don’t just leave that town but even shake the dust off your feet”. Leave it and forget it and the dust – whence all of them were made and to which they will return – will remain there as a reminder of what they lost: life, joy.

I am compelled to digress a little about “dust”. I could have entitled this “No Joy in Mudville” also. In Hebrew, the Genesis 2:7 verse that describes God creating man from dust reads (phonetically) “vayitser Adonai et ha-adam ‘afar min ha-adamah … then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground (RSV)”. The Hebrew word for dust used here, “afar”. It can also refer to clay, mud, or ashes. The name “Adam” is from the Hebrew word “adamah… ground”. Also, just to be entirely pedantic, that Hebrew more precisely reads something like “God formed dust man”.  If there are “super heroes” maybe we are mostly “under heroes” beginning with “Dustman”!

That places man in a tension between the lowliness of earth and the heights of Heaven.

However, when dust is in the picture, something is up. Or rather, down.

This points to consequences for all of us when we reject something from God.

What pops into my mind is the rejection of a vocation.

For example, say someone has a vocation to marry, but… won’t. That person will be restless. Say someone doesn’t have the vocation to marry, but… does… and then abandons the marriage. Sorry, can’t do that.

Say the same about religious life or about priesthood.

Yes yes, there are ways to deal with “being in the wrong place”.

In canon law there is acknowledgement that marriages at times don’t work. The innocent one of the couple could in, for example, cases of infidelity, adultery, seek a separation from the other (not divorce, mind you).  Canon Law even states that the bishop can be involved in this decision.  This can be misunderstood by the poorly informed as asking a bishop to grant something so there can be a civil divorce, which clearly is a misunderstanding of the law: bishops aren’t going to be involved in divorces. Or they shouldn’t be. Similarly, there are paths for clerics to be relieved of the obligations of the clerical state.

However, both of these are exceptions and exceptions are … well… exceptions. They, by definition, are not the norm.

In most cases the better path forward is to bear the crosses that flow from the obligations one has chosen, that come from choosing that fork in the road rather than the other, and apply oneself with humble perseverance for the sake of saving one’s soul.

Life is short and eternity is long.

This pretty much flies in the face of the squishy messaging in certain documents with infamous footnotes that present the hard aspects of vocations as nearly impossible “ideals” that no one can be expected to be able to reach. Hence, there ought to be even greater and multiple paths “out” of whatever hard situation one finds oneself in.  It’s a manifestation, I think, of a Christian-lite, one without the Cross, and maybe a dose of … wokey confusion about reality.  However, recently our new Pope Leo XIV subtly walked back that wokey corrosive ambiguity fostered over the last dozen or so years when he stated that marriage is “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman”.

It is an aspect of fallen human nature to tend toward the easy path and to avoid the crosses life brings. We should be wary of this tendency. I do NOT mean that must always choose the way of greater suffering. But I think it is good to double-check oneself, even to consult, to determine what God wants.

Going back to Luke 9, when the Lord sent the Apostles out with His authority, He also told them not to take those things along by which they could possibly make a living or easily obtain creature comfort: they were to rely only on “the sending” … which was from Jesus alone. That probably entailed hunger and thirst during their mission. Not to mention anxiety and danger.

It was a harder path. But it was one which brought them their joy later.

It also provided an opportunity for people to be generous to the Apostles, in gratitude for their instruction, healing and the life of freedom as children of God.

When, you ask, was sunrise in Rome? It was at 5:38. And you will likely ask when the sunset was, too. It was at 20:37.

The Ave Maria for the Curia is in the 21:00 cycle.

In the New Fangled calendar, it is the Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury.

WELCOME REGISTRANTS:

Dom Anselm Marie
Odile-Lyllian

A couple things.

Firstly, I stupid, when planning this sojourn, didn’t consider that I’d be departing during the Octave of Pentecost.  The Octave finishes with the great feast of The Parish™.   However, that means that their celebration of St. Philip Neri with it’s Triduum is pushed out to next week.   Moreover, next week we would have Corpus Christi, both on Thursday and externally with the procession about the area.   “Duh”, quoth I in the mirror.

Also, every once in a while I have something flair up in my upper back and neck, especially upper and middle trapezius and which feels rather like they are on fire if I think about moving them or disturbing them by activities like breathing.  This has precisely flared up a couple days ago, really bad yesterday.  BUT… I scheduled my departure from Rome for tomorrow Thursday 28 May.

I got on the horn and then the interwebs and I changed my flights to NYC and then for “home”.   Since mom is no-longer there, I have no pressing human reason to delay my return.   Hence, I will stay in Rome through Corpus Christi.

CLICK

That said, were any of you of a mind to contribute to my flight change charges, I’d be grateful.

[UPDATE Okay… that was fast.  A few of you popped in right away and my ticket change was covered, with an upgrade.  Thank you.  If anything else comes, I will apply it to travel expenses for the upcoming conference for priests which Scott Hahn’s St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology holds every July.  

For the ticket change (in fact, given the dates a couple of those were for my anniversary, but I’ll take them for my ticket change: Thanks to DM, SS, DS, IG, SN.]

And that said, on Monday I literally finished all of my Mass stipends.  Sundays and some other days are always dedicated for my benefactors in general and also for my Roman donors in particular.  However, I’ve worked through all the intentions which had from before I came to Rome.  Therefore, I can take some intentions.  HERE I’m only in Rome for another 10 full days and I’ll say Mass for my benefactors on this Sunday 31 May and 7 June Trinity Sunday (external Corpus Christi at The Parish™) and for Roman Donors on Thursday 4 June (real Corpus Christi). So, I don’t have that many slots. However, I’ll finish whatever intentions I have remaining when I am again Stateside. Please get in touch with me through the form I linked and don’t jump the gun, even if you have asked for Masses before and know the drill.

White mates in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Original Notes from :

In this PODCAzT I dissect the Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, also used during the Octave of Pentecost in the traditional Roman calendar.

I give you some background on what a sequence is, what an octave is and then we start drilling.

First we hear the Latin text and a good translation.   Then see start looking at the structure of the prayer.

That is when things get interesting.  I found a few things I had never noticed.

087 09-06-03 Veni Sancte Spiritus – The Pentecost Sequence dissected [The link probably won’t work… but there is the old page from 2009]

Booklet for the Mass

Many priests observe the anniversary of their ordination at this time of year. It is a common time for ordinations, probably because Ember Days were common times for ordinations and Ember Days fall during the Pentecost Octave.

In any event, today is my turn.  Today is my anniversary of ordination, 35 years ago, by St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.  That might make me a 2nd class relic.

When this date rolls around, I usually say to myself:

“Well… I made it this far.”

And so begins the 35th year.

On 26 May 1991, the Feast of St. Philip Neri, it was also Trinity Sunday.

It is a wonderful synchronicity that The Parish™ in Rome to which I am so attached, is both the place of St. Philip Neri’s great work and also in honor of the Most Holy Trinity.

It was a perfect Roman May day.

I got up that morning, ate breakfast, said my prayers, and walked alone across town to the basilica, where I entered through the main doors with the rest of the crowd. After that, however, I went to the right, to the nave near the Pietà, where we ordinands vested and waited for the Holy Father. My family members came separately from a different part of town. They had special tickets which brought them very close to the altar.  St. Theresa of Calcutta was there, just in front of where my folks sat.

Since we were 60 in number, and from many countries, the basilica was absolutely jammed with people from all over the world who had come for the ordinations, probably some 50k.

You have not experienced the Litany of Saints until you have heard it sung by that many people in a space like that.

I arranged for my grandmother, a convert to Catholicism in her 80’s, to receive Communion from the Holy Father, St. John Paul.

I often wonder what happened to the other men with whom I was ordained. I only knew a few of them personally, since I had been at the Lateran University with them.

It was the first year that the Iron Curtain was raised a bit.  A few men were permitted out Romania to come to Rome to be ordained by the Pope. There were some Opus Dei guys ordained with us.  Another of the group was John Corapi of the SOLT group, though I didn’t know him at the time. Pray for him.  One priest was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark in England. I know that one fellow is now a bishop in Haiti.

This day, especially when I review some of these videos and think about what has happened between then and now, underscores the fact that God doesn’t choose men who are worthy. He chooses those whom it pleases Him to choose.

I ask for your prayers today and in an ongoing way for my cares, my health, and my future.  Pray for canceled priests.

And please, in a special way, pray for the late mother of a priest, my own.

The sermon from the Mass. The sermon is in Italian and the text is HERE.

I really miss him.

Here are some excerpts from the broadcast of the ordination, which was on national television in Italy.  We have the interrogation, litany and the prayer (form).

Imposition of hands.

Liturgically busy day, just as it was in life.  I’m getting behind.  By the end of the day, I’m…. ugh.

The Roman sun rose at 5:39.

The Roman sun set at 20: 36.

In the Curia the Ave Maria Bell is in the 21:00 cycle.  However rang on my phone app while we were having supper last night.    Such a great app.

Along with being the 145th day of the civil calendar, it was the Feast of Mary Mother of the Church, of St. Gregory VII, Venerable Bede and Maria Maddalena de Pazzi.

Jammed.

I read the new encyclical.  It is not without problems.   There are some inconsistencies in it, demonstrating that it was a committee work (they all are now) but also that the editor wasn’t very good.  I was disappointed at the overriding anthropocentric turn and the seeming watering down about abortion as being “gravely wrong” rather than “intrinsically evil”.   I don’t see how the Church’s “just war” doctrine can be thinned out into “outdated”, given the fact that states have a right to defend its citizenry at several levels and that force must be used to end obvious evil.  I’m reminded of Francis once saying that there should never be bombing and then soon after saying that the allies should have bombed to train tracks to the concentrations camps.   As a Latininst, I note that who ever worked on this does understand the impact of “novae” in “res novae” as seriously negative in connotation (not neutrall) and that the name of the document Quadragesismo anno is throughout called Quadragesima anno.  Really?   It is fun to see Tolkien quoted, but one wonders if the author of that section realizes that Gandalf is a fictional character.   I also wonder if the contributor to the theme of Nehemiah knew that the workers rebuilding the walls were also armed.  Also, how did Nehemiah, who essentially engaged in ethnic cleansing and the disfigurement of those who married outsiders as a paragon of synodality?   I could go on.

However, there were some interesting passages and some fair warnings about unbridled use of AI by those who are not responsible to anyone else.   And yet, the encyclical, if I got this right, suggests strong oversite by the state.  Oh?  China?

Enough of that.  Many people will look at this in the next few days.  Will it succeed in the view of authentic experts in the Church’s social teaching as being integrated into that body?   It is economically a little thin, for example.   I really didn’t like the suggestions about redistribution.  Who is supposed to do that?

Friends, including The Great Roman™ and The Great Roman Wife™ with Midwest Travelers™ and I sought to fend off death by starvation.

Great salad.

That’s grated bottarga.

Goodies.

Really good steak tartare.

Black mates in 4.