Pray this week

Pray for the American bishops, meeting in plenary session.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. danphunter1 says:

    Dear Lord in Heaven, Thou hast set these men apart from others so that they may offer sacrifice an propitiation for our sins.
    In Thy infinite Mercy Lord, please through the sanctification of the Holy Ghosts Power may these, our shepherds, be truly holy and wise and teach what Thou, our Sacred Saviour has taught all mankind through His Body, the Church, that all must bow down and obey our Creator, in everything He has commanded us to do.
    Especially let these the descendants of the twelve, teach all ministers of the Blessed Sacrament whether ordained priests, deacons or lay distributers of the Blessed Sacrament that they must never give the Body of Christ to any man who obstinately maintains in a public manner a sinful and atheistic stance on non-negotiable truths of Holy Mother Church.
    Such as public support for such inherant evils as abortion, doctor assisted suicide, human embryo research and homosexuality.
    Sweet Monarch of the Ages keep these, Thy Apostle’s close to the bosom of Thy flaming Heart and enlighten their minds with that Wisdom that only Thee can impart. Amen.

  2. Matthew Mattingly says:

    These people need as many prayers as they can get.

  3. Jamie says:

    May I ask why they are meeting?

  4. Henry Edwards says:

    These people need as many prayers as they can get.

    It’s hard to resist the response that, with them meeting, we ourselves need all the prayers we can summon. A la the perennial warning in every state where I’ve lived to keep you hands on your wallet when the legislature is in session.

    Having not been able to resist it, let me hasten to add that I think the majority of our bishops are nowhere near as bad as their national conference has made them look for the last 2 or 3 decades. It’s a case of the whole being much less than the sum of its parts.

    I recall one of our many good bishops remarking that he felt he had no more influence on what the conference did than do you or I as simple laymen. That it was set up so the agenda and outcomes were controlled not by the majority of the bishops but by the super-liberal administrative and bureaucratic structure of the conference.

    An example was the attempted prohibition on kneeling for communion that allegedly the majority of the bishops would never have approved on their own initiative, but it was part of a package set in concrete as it came to the bishops from the liturgical establishment, and these packages are almost impossible to amend from the floor.

  5. Derik Castillo says:

    I pray for the plenary session of the Bishops, that
    they find the best way to acheive all their objectives.
    May they by example lead us into the virtue of doing
    what our Lord Jesus wants for us, and forget about what
    we want for us. I also pray for the Seven Gifts of the
    Holy Spirit to descend on them.

    Amen

  6. danphunter1 says:

    Father,
    The USCCB just shelved their whole project on music in the Divine Liturgy.
    They call it,”Sing to the Lord”.
    They have so many disagreements and amendments to this project that Bishop Trautman just announce from Baltimore, that the bishops are not going to deal with correctly implementing mandated sacred music at this time.
    Also horribly enough, the bishops have glossed right over the refusing, under canon law, to give the Blessed Sacrament to obstinate purveyors of anti- Catholic teachings,ie:abortion, homosexuality.
    What a cop out.
    The bishops just beat around the bush and said nothing new or efficacious for three hours.
    The highlight of the morning session was the recitation by all of the Angelus at 1230 eastern time.
    That was edififying.
    God bless our Shepherds.

  7. Jon says:

    Can someone tell me, will Bishop Trautman’s successor at BCL actually be elected tomorrow?

    The list of committees up for a new chairman was published in a CNS story a few weeks ago, but His Excellency of Erie was nowhere mentioned. I know it’s a three-year stint, and that Cardinal George’s last tenure in that position ended in 2005. But if memory serves, wasn’t Bishop Trautman elected in November, 2004, which means we’ll be free of his glorious liturgical reign come morning?

  8. Henry Edwards says:

    Jon: I read somewhere a remark (without documentation) that the Committee on the Liturgy ends this year, or is renamed or replaced by a newly-constituted Committee on Divine Worship (if I recall the title correctly).

    And that it’s chairman will be Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson (NJ). How he would get to be the chairman without USCCB election was not specified.

    Bishop Serratelli is said to be strongly in favor of the new more accurate English translation of the Missale Romanum, and recently celebrated a TLM following Summorum Pontificum.

  9. Jon says:

    Henry,

    I hadn’t read that the Committee would be renamed after its Roman counterpart. A rechristening with interesting implications. Why not just then do the easy thing and make Archbishop Ranjith head of both? But I digress…

    I had read that Bishop Serratelli was pegged to succeed H.E. of Erie, but I was under the impression that it was in the same way that Cardinal George is pegged president-elect – he still must be elected. This is indeed good news if in fact the liturgical election isn’t subject to the possible machinations of floor workers from St. Cloud.

  10. Henry Edwards says:

    Jon: This is indeed good news if in fact the liturgical election isn’t subject to the possible machinations of floor workers from St. Cloud.

    You\’re referring to ballot boxes stuffed with more votes than the number of eligible bishops in the room?

    Dan: The bishops just beat around the bush and said nothing new or efficacious for three hours.

    If indeed the bishops have shelved “Sing to the Lord”, I suggest (taking a hint from the current anti-spam word “Te Deum”) that we all stand and sing “Te Deum laudamus” to the Lord. (More generally, who recalls when something was done at one of these national meetings, than which doing nothing would not have been preferable?)

    Surely better that the restoration of sacred music in the U.S. be delayed till a new day with new leadership — assuming the previous report is correct — after the fresh new Benedictine wind has blown a bit longer.

  11. Kim Poletto says:

    I wonder if they read “Courage to be Catholic” before they left. If danphunter1-12 is correct, it would appear not. Nonetheless our prayers continue.

  12. Patrick says:

    What a beautiful prayer by danphunter. I’ll use this all week. Thanks.

  13. Tom says:

    I for one wish the US bishop’s Conference had never come into existence. I don’t care how many times they change its name, there is no need for it. Bishops, I believe, are required by God to direct their dioceses in union with Rome. Anything less would be sinful. Time after time various USCCB comities which have zero authority, release some off the wall lame brain idea to the press and you would have thought it came from God Him Self. Agenda after agenda aud nauseum. I write from Cincinnati and our dioceses has probably had more impute in the conference than any other but this is not something to be proud of. Now is the time for The Good Lord to raise up saints to lead The Church in America. JMJ Tom

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