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It’s the Feast of Christ the King in the Vetus Ordo and the 30th Sunday of the Novus Ordo.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Sunday Mass of obligation?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
I have some thoughts about the Sunday Epistle reading posted at One Peter Five.
Sometimes we speak loosely about the “head of the Church.” Most of the time that’s tolerable, since we are speaking somewhat casually. Very often people say that “the Pope is the head of the Church.” No. Christ is the head of the Church. The Pope, Successor of Peter, is Christ’s Vicar on earth. Vicar is from the Latin vicarius, “a substitute, deputy, proxy, a locum tenens.” The Successor of Peter is the visible, substitute “head” of the earthly Church. He is the visible figure of unity, one of the Church’s marks or attributes along with holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. The Petrine (having to do with Peter) ministry of the figure whom we call the “Pope” (papacy is an institution that over time developed around the office of the Bishop of Rome, Peter’s Successor) is a constitutive element of the Church that solidifies Christ’s gifts to the Church of indefectibility and infallibility.
Ultimately, however, the Pope is not the “head of the Church.” The head of the Church is Christ.
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We don’t usually go to the EF Mass (or whatever it’s called now), but we did today. It was fairly well attended. There are more people at the earlier NO Mass held in mid-morning, but still a decent crowd. There were far fewer young families (we are unusual in having a parish that’s growing), but that’s probably because the timing is awkward. It was a low Mass. Father quoted from Pius XI’s encyclical, and talked about the need to have Christ as the King in human affairs and in our hearts, or there will be no true peace. He also pointed out that the traditional placement of the feast is right before All Saints and All Souls Days, indicating that Christ is King of the living and the dead as well of those on earth.
At the SSPX Mass, the priest made the point that a King brings peace. This is what a King does. Christ the King brings peace par excellence.
Then he posed a provocative question: what do women want when they marry a man? It’s not necessarily good looks or money (he said).
Women want to marry a King, because a King brings peace, peace for them, peace for their children.
I thought this was profoundly insightful.
Pontifical Mass with Cardinal Raymond Burke at Assumption Grotto in Detroit. Gounod Mass. Standing room only. Was a great Call to Holiness weekend here in the Motor City.
Our parish (our whole diocese) is only NO by the priest filling in for our pastor did a lovely sermon on the teachings of the church regarding marriage, same-sex marriage, and other tough topics. He was truly being a pastor to the flock.
At the end of Mass he reminded people that clapping was not appropriate. He’s done this before to only reap defiance. This time I didn’t have to tell anyone how disrespectful they were being by clapping after they had been asked not to do so.
Because of the combination of icy/snowy streets and injuries sustained in a recent car crash, i assisted at a different time and place than is my custom. Fantastic young priest – nine years ordained IIRC – first met him in 2015 when he preached the first Mass of another great young priest of my acquaintance. He wasted not so much as a word today. My paraphrase won’t be as good as his brief address, but here goes.
Last week we heard of people asking the Lord a question as a trick. This week there’s another question, but it’s not a trick. It would have been a common question. The answer would say a great deal about any given teacher’s priorities. Not only was it a common question, but the answer would have been common too. The quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus – two of the most ancient portions of Scripture – would have undoubtedly been well known and well repeated since they are so obviously the foundations of all our other obligations.
What differentiates what the Lord said from what other teachers in that day would have meant is in the meaning of that word “love”. Holy Church uses the word “caritas” – that’s the root of our word “charity”. Too often we reduce charity to just addressing the material needs of those less fortunate than ourselves. Of course we must do that, but that’s only scraping the surface.
In nearly every wedding I’ve celebrated the reading is [long though redacted quote from I Corinthians 13]. That’s not a love that feels good. It’s a love that’s self-sacrificing. “Bears all things, endures all things”. We simply can’t do that on our own. It’s the love we see on this crucifix. Always patient, always kind. Forgiving not only those who love us, but forgiving our enemies.
Because we can’t do that on our own, God generously gives us His own love. First in baptism. Then in every absolution. Then even more when we receive the Eucharist in a state of grace.
As over the past few days I was thinking about what to say today, the image came to mind that God has set the bar impossibly high, but He raises us up to it.
A great celebration for this feast day of Christ the King at Assumption Grotto. A Pontifical High Mass in Latin celebrated by America’s greatest prelate, Raymond Cardinal Burke. He is a Cardinal not afraid to call out the apostasy and heresy being spread! Cardinal Burke gave a great homily centered on the story of St. Miguel Pro, a faithful priest murdered by the evil Mexican government in 1928 as that country tried to suppress Catholicism. Facing a firing squad for false trumped up charges fabricated by the president of that third world country, Father Pro’s last words were “Viva Christo Rey”, translated as “long live Christ the King”. Cardinal Burke is like St. Miguel Pro, fearless in speaking out in defense of the immutable magisterium of the Church in the face of modern day liberals avowed to destroy it. So blessed to have heard the preaching of Cardinal Burke within the splendor of an orchestral Tridentine Pontifical High Mass.
A great celebrant, a great orchestral liturgy, a great homily. Vivo Christo Rey!