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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- on Daily Rome Shot 1221 – mistreated: “Black to move and mate in 3. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
- on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Holy Family (N.O. Baptism of the Lord) 2025: “first and foremost, your observation about the young Lord at the Temple is priceless. attendance at the Cathedral’s 1230 today…”
- on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Holy Family (N.O. Baptism of the Lord) 2025: “When we don’t live up to our baptismal mission we put our salvation at risk.”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1220: “Black to move and mate in 5. 1. … Qh4 2. g3 Ng5+ 3. Kg2 (if Bxg5 then 4. Qe4#)…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1218 – I’m confused.: ““The objective of the formation of the candidate for the priesthood in the affective-sexual sphere is the ability to accept…”
- on YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS: “Asking prayers for friends with young child who has cancer. They have been pursuing prayer all the way along, along…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1217 – “Why”, you may be asking? Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Archdiocese of the Five Boroughs? Archdiocese of Three Boroughs and a couple of counties heading north, maybe… it being a…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1217 – “Why”, you may be asking? Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Some Orthodox and Greek Catholics process on their knees”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1219 – on the other hand…: “This calls for the ultimate sacrifice: 1. Qxc2+! RxQ 2. Nxd3+ Kb1 (or a1) 3. Re1+ Rc1 4. RxR mate”
- on Young men are converting to serious, “muscular” Christianity.: “Apologies for coming late to this conversation. I would like to add that most women of a traditional leaning dislike…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1219 – on the other hand…: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
- on From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 03-01-25 – Chewrows: “Don’t worry, as we have seen in NO parishes that pray the TLM, people will kneel and take the Host…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1218 – I’m confused.: “That’s a kind of confusion I could live with. Getting a cone of pistacchio and stracciatella at a good Italian…”
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Our long-time Low Mass in the EF is now sometimes a Missa Cantata. And thanks be to God, my kids like it even better that way. The saying “if we don’t see beauty, we won’t know what it is” certainly applies to kids.
I have discovered a foolproof method of making both soft boiled and hard boiled eggs that works every time, doesn’t over-cool the yolk and makes the shells super easy to come off.
The trick is to not boil them, but rather to steam them using a vegetable steamer.
Our Novus Ordo Pastor has learned the Traditional Latin Mass himself in order to pray it for us, because our usual Parish Priest who prayed it was transferred. Well, it turns out that he really likes it a lot and even encourages the faithful at the NO Masses to try it! He has told us at Mass to invite others to the TLM also. We were relieved because we thought they might be trying to get rid of the TLM when they transferred our other TLM Priest. Deo Gratias!
I have recently started serving the Traditional Latin Mass. I’m awestruck by its beauty and the high standard of preaching you get there.
In this time of division, sometimes based on religious differences, our pastor together with a local rabbi and our city’s imam, today stood in front of a nearby city hall in our county to stand for solidarity. Many of our parish members are joining in. I hope this will show unity with our brothers and sisters of different faiths in the midst of so many questions on immigration. It will be interesting to see how our local paper covers this event.
While at the University of Pittsburgh our youngest daughter sang with the Heinz Chapel Choir. The director retired and later developed cancer in several forms, each going into remission until recently. When he became very ill our daughter notified former choir members on Facebook, inviting them to join her in serenading him . Forty -five alumnae from various graduation years showed up and together with another forty or so on conference call from all over the country and even Europe sang in four part harmony (never having sung together) a Valentine greeting and Brother James’ Air (The Lord is My Shepherd). That was Sunday afternoon; Thursday the director died. Visit the sick, comfort the dying–these corporal acts of mercy were lived out by so many as witnesses to neighbors and his family in tribute to a man with whom they had made music together.
I’ve been in sore need of good news for a long time, and I’m finding having discovered Cardinal Sarah to be so refreshing, and his new book is my good news. I’d read “God or Nothing” last year and loved it, so I ordered “La Force du Silence” (Power of Silence) from amazon.fr because I didn’t want to wait for the English. I don’t actually know French, but I’ve studied lots of Latin and know some Italian, so I figured I could pick my way through the French. Happy decision. Reading it not in English is forcing me to read it very slowly, and not only am I learning another language in the process, but the book is wonderful. To know that there’s at least one Cardinal in Rome who does not mince words, truly lives silence (one must love it to speak of it the way he does!), and, well, he’s a breath of fresh air. And I’m only 1/10 of the way through the book and already am finding much food for thought, meditation, and prayer. He has some very profound points on silence.
Y’all gotta get this book when it’s released in April! And get it through Fr. Z’s Amazon link. Sorry, Fr. Z, your link didn’t work for amazon.fr. :-(
US (French) HERE – US (English) HERE – UK (French) HERE – UK (English) HERE
This: “To offer clearly and accurately the Catholic Church’s positions on abortion, contraception, genetic engineering, fertility treatments, vaccines, frozen embryos and other life issues, the Vatican released an expanded and updated guide of the Church’s bioethical teachings” http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/02/07/vatican-releases-updated-guidelines-for-bioethical-questions/
And this, which strongly reaffirms the Church’s teaching against homosexual acts, from a little while back: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/congregation-for-clergy-re-affirms-that-homosexual-men-may-not-be-priests
My knee is improving and both my stability and strength are increasing, although stairs are still a concern. Less than two months to pilgrimage in the Holy Land and God willing, I’ll be able to walk as much as necessary.
Adoration is a wonderful thing. Tonight I began read Henri Nouwens book on The Prodigal Son, which focused on Rembrandt’s painting, which he first saw as a poster of a detail, then was able to spend hours in front of the original at the Hermitage. I have also seen the original, but only for moments on a tour. I had no idea the book existed.
We have a US president not named Obama (or Clinton) and the possibility of some pro-life legislation in the near future. Time will tell.
Here at home, I recently started reading Anthony Esolen’s new book “Real Music – A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church”. He does to hymns what Fr. Z does to the Sunday collects – he might have titled it “what does the hymn really say?”. It also includes a CD of some of the hymns, sung by the incomparable St. Cecelia Choir of St. John Cantius Church, Chicago. The CD alone is worth the price of the book. You can get it via Fr. Z’s Amazon link.
US HERE – UK HERE
I very unexpectedly received an encouraging answer to a prayer on Saturday evening, for something that had burdened my heart for over three years!
I had pretty much given up, thinking that my answer from God was “No”, and had decided to stand up straight, smile, and carry on. I read something in a Catholic blog (Abbey Roads) which promoted the prayer, “Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Please take care of everything.” I also asked God to take my will away, to clearly show me His will, and to show me where He wants me to be and what He wants me to do for Him. I prayed this every day whenever I thought about it, several times per day.
Honestly, I was shocked by the outcome. I shouldn’t be, knowing our good God, but it was overwhelming!
Also, of interest to you, Father, – my husband and about 4-5 other men have formed a schola under the direction of our good pastor. We are a Novus Ordo parish, blessed with a stunning circa-1905 church that was meant to be a cathedral, modeled on a German abbey. The men sing about once per month, a cappella, at Mass. They are practicing for Ash Wednesday and the Triduum at the moment.
God is so good, all the time!
Pax et bonum to you, Father, and your good readers! Susan, ofs
Perfectly chanted Gregorian propers? At the Cathedral of the Diocese of Richmond?
Yessiree….the late Bp. Walter Sullivan is spinning madly. Somewhere…
The fight with my firstborn over where she will go to college is over, and I claim partial victory! She will not be attending either of the dissident ‘Catholic’ universities she had at the top of her list. While I was unable to convince her that she should attend Christendom or any other from the very short list of faithful Catholic schools, she has chosen a large SEC school. Not great, but if she’s being taught garbage, I’d rather it come from someone not claiming authority with the Church, as it would be at the big name ‘Catholic’ schools.
Now I’m off to hit Father Z’s amazon link so I can order Disorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind Hopefully I’ll be able to convince her to read it. Pray for us!
Fr. Z: Interesting! When I ordered (before Christmas), the French version wasn’t available at either the US or UK Amazon sites, so amazon.fr was the only option. I guess I was just a little too quick on the draw. Oh, well — c’est un fait accompli, or something like that. :-)
After several rounds of illness (including two of our children suffering from a mild case of food poisoning) our family appears to be on the mend. Deo gratias!
I got a new job in my field. It’s currently a temp job but there is a good chance I could get hired permanently. And I get to learn every day.
Pannw,
If it’s any comfort when your daughter goes away, going to a very secular university pushed me deeper into the faith rather than pulling me away from it. In a Catholic home and Catholic schools, I had little with which to compare Catholicism. It was easy to take it for granted, and to hold it at least partially responsible for various flaws I saw in the world around me. It couldn’t have been more than two days into orientation before I was very sure that Catholicism had more to offer than the clowns in the university administration did, and by the end of orientation week, I was already running to the priest for a dose of sanity. I will say that I’m grateful that my parents saw to it that I got to Mass on the weekend when they dropped me off. That way, I had met the campus priest, knew he wasn’t scary, and had a bulletin with the church schedule so that the Church was easy to turn to when I knew that I knew that I needed a reprieve from the asylum. (Also, despite the grave flaws in the philosophy pushed by the administration, the people there were quite nice to me even when they were struggling not to give me eye rolls for my worldview, and the education provided was excellent).
Different people need different things at different times… One of my best friends went to one of the “real” Catholic schools and had an excellent experience that certainly seems to have brought him closer to Christ, my brother went to a Jesuit university (albeit one of the less weird ones), and one of the Jesuits there was able to corral him in as a then-unlikely Knight of Columbus and he’s grown from there… In retrospect, though, I think that had I gone to Christendom or Franciscan, I would have rebelled against the Catholicism, and had I gone to Georgetown, I would have settled for a lazy Catholicism and would have drifted further with time, while instead I ended up in a place that made me appreciate the Faith, galvanized me to fight for it, and ended up having wonderful priests and a wonderful community of Catholics on hand to help me find my way closer to Christ.
The Church in South Korea continues to grow well. No vocation shortage there. They just ordained 27 new priests. (Video of full mass here)
Last year, they ordained 20. Here’s a video of the solemn and emotional ceremony.
According to this blogpost, “the Archdiocese of Seoul celebrates an Ordination Mass every year, with an average of 30 new priests ordained. Over the past 20 years, Ordinations in Seoul have always been higher than twenty priests a year. The statistics of the last three years are: 21 new priests in 2013; 36 in 2014; 25 in 2015.”
Pannw, I’m with Mike on this.
My parish is home to the Newman Center from the secular university across the street. If I had college-aged children, I would much rather they attend a university such as the one associated with my parish, with a strong, active Newman Center, than an unfaithful, scandalous “catholic” university, as many of them seem to be.
The students are considered part of our parish. We are their home away from home. They read scripture at Mass, are altar servers, attend Adoration as a group monthly (at least 40-50 at a time), do jobs around the parish such as pulling weeds, and serve the poor who come to our doors daily. Their idea of spring break is to go on mission trips to Appalachia, or to big cities like New York, serving the poor with supplies they collect throughout the year. God bless them!
My husband is a member of our parish K of C. He normally takes off work to attend the March for Life, and has a standing invitation to join the bus the Newman Center sends. Last year, they joyfully participated in the “blizzard Mass”, ignoring the storm, cold, discomfort, and hunger they experienced. This year, the bus was so completely filled with students, my husband had to go on a bus with another group. It was a good problem to have!
This is the result of a strong Newman Center with faithful leadership. Please do not fear sending your beloved child to a secular college. If there is a good Newman Center at the school, and a good parish home which welcomes him or her, your child may become a better Catholic there than at a dissident Catholic school. It also teaches how to unashamedly be a Catholic in the secular world, and to value the Faith.
Be at peace! Susan, ofs
@ Cafea Fruor – impressive!
I have joined the Nineveh 90 Challenge (Fr Heilman)
https://www.nineveh90.com/100th-anniversary-fatima-may-13-time-nineveh-thing/
We have a squad of people holding each other accountable and I realized (after joining) that it coincides perfectly with Septuagesima this Sunday. I’m so grateful for the support group to get through Lent++ (it’s 90 days of penance and prayer, 13 Feb to 13 May, 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima)
pannw,
I went to a large SEC school, and I found my faith again while at that school. Some of the large SEC schools have great Catholic student organizations and great priests.
MikeM, Chiara, and CrimsonCatholic, THANK YOU! You have me all choked up and feeling more hopeful. That is all very good news! Deo gratias.
Thanks for the link, Fr. Z. It’s on the way. I plan on reading it, myself, before I give it to her.
And CrimsonCatholic, Roll Tide!
New Sister :
I am with you; also praying and discerning in preparation for Ninevah 90 on Monday Feb 13. I’m planning to re-read Meditation on the Passion ( compiled from various source with an intro by Rev. Reginald Walsh, O.P.) during this upcoming lent. I will pray for a holy and prayerful lenten season for all and will keep your Ninevah 90 efforts in my prayers . Please do the same for me.
pax et bonum
@FloridaJoan – thank you & will do! I’m getting enrolled in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity next week; just went over the penances with my Confessor. Our Lady keep us ~