Was there a good point or two during the sermon at the Holy Mass you heard for your Sunday obligation? Let us know what it was!
For my part, I explained the Lord’s parable about the devious, cheating steward (TLM Gospel for 8th Sunday after Pentecost). Why does the Lord seem to praise a man who is a slick, cheating thief?
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Registered or not, will you in your charity please take a moment look at the requests and to pray for the people about whom you read?
Continued from THESE.
I get many requests by email asking for prayers. Many requests are heart-achingly grave and urgent.
As long as my blog reaches so many readers in so many places, let’s give each other a hand. We should support each other in works of mercy.
If you have some prayer requests, feel free to post them below.
You have to be registered here to be able to post.
I still have a pressing personal petition. Really.
In this PODCAzT we hear the the first of two parts of an interview I did with Fr. Richard Heilman, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Pine Bluff, WI a few minutes to the west of Madison. I’ve written about Fr. Heilman may times. I help out at that parish on weekends. I’ve seen some great things going on there. It occurred to me that what Fr. Heilman is doing there could provide some encouragement, especially in the wake of Card. Sarah’s appeal to priests to start saying Mass ad orientem.
In this first part, Father talks about a rather unusual situation he faced at the beginning of his pastorate. We speak about moving his parish to ad orientem worship for all Masses. He speaks about the influence learning the Traditional Latin Mass has had on him. He also talks about working with groups of men.
Fr. Heilman is the maker of the Combat Rosary which was recently in the world’s view with the Commandant of the Swiss Guard help one up and referred to it in his speech during this year’s Oath Taking Ceremony in May. I wrote on that HERE.
Fr. Heilman’s blog HERE.
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Along the way you hear some music by Zipoli. UK HERE
149 16-07-18 Interview with Fr. Richard Heilman – Part 2
Last week I wrote that I passed my Extra exam, to upgrade my license. Really. I did actually pass.
So, I patiently checked the FCC site every couple days to see if the upgrade was posted. No joy.
Then I was sent this by one of the VEs. It’s a blurb in the ARRL VE Newsletter July 2016.
ARRL VEC Exam and Application Files not being processed by FCC
FCC Investigating Amateur Radio, Commercial Application Processing Glitch [This is a bizarre new manifestation of Zuhlsdorf’s Law.]
07/07/2016
The FCC information technology staff is continuing to look into why the Universal Licensing System (ULS) Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) system has stopped processing at least some — and perhaps all — Amateur Radio exam session files and applications. The stoppage, which began on June 28, initially affected the handling of all Amateur Radio Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) and commercial license applications, said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, who alerted the FCC IT Department. Somma said that by June 30, it appeared that the FCC had corrected the broader problem, and processing of most Amateur Radio VEC and commercial applications and exam session files had resumed.
“The fix for the ARRL VEC remains elusive, however,” said Somma. “I assumed the issue would be cleared up quickly as the FCC has done in the past.” She added, that the FCC has been unwilling to reveal the extent of the problem, which she believes still could be affecting applications from outside the ARRL VEC. [I’m in the queue, that’s why.]
According to Somma, resolving the problem has been escalated to Priority 1 at the FCC, and resources have been reprioritized to address the issue.
“I have been in contact with the FCC every day inquiring about their progress and will continue to do so until the problem is resolved,” Somma said. “I have also asked them to provide us with an alternate filing option as soon as possible.”
Somma said that as of July 6, the ARRL VEC had more than 900 applications and nearly 275 exam sessions in the queue and awaiting FCC processing.
“As soon as the FCC staff discovers and corrects the EBF system problem, we will immediately file the backlog, which would take only a day or so to release,” Somma estimated. [It’s a government office. What could go wrong?]
She said a lot of candidates and volunteer examiners have begun asking why new call signs or license upgrades have not yet been issued, and she is sympathetic with their concerns. “We usually transmit the exam sessions to FCC as soon as possible, which is 24 to 48 hours from the day they are received in our office,” she said. “Therefore, questions from the field about the delay are understandable.”
This new story can be found on the ARRL Website.
We thank you and your candidates for being patient while we work through this issue with FCC.
So, there it is. I am in Extra Limbo.
But I DO have my ticket! I do!
But wait. There’s more.
I was chuffed about passing the exam, so the next day I loaded up my stuff and went out to my usual operating spot in the parish cemetery. It’s beautiful, I can pray for the dead, and they don’t mind that I’m around.
And, in that appropriate place, my radio died.
I’ll spare you the details, but as I was tuning up there was a whirrrrrr and now I can’t change frequency and the display doesn’t work.
“Caramba!”, quoth I. Or words to that effect.
Zuhlsdorf’s Law again.
Some of you may not remember it.
Murphy was an optimist. Therefore…
- Corollary 1: When you need your technology to work, that is when it will fail.
- Corollary 2: The extent of the failure is proportioned to the urgency of the need.
- Corollary 3: When you want to show someone the great gizmo or program you have, that is when it won’t work.
- Corollary 4: When the person to whom you wanted to show off your great gizmo or program departs, unimpressed, that is when it will once again begin to function properly.
Someone should update the Wikipedia list of eponymous laws. Of course that probably bust the website.
I got on the horn to my local Elmer who is always helpful. He had recently done some research on a new radio for his own use and, knowing my (lack of) experience made a recommendation. Frankly, I was ready to get a new rig. I really like the old Kenwood that one of you readers sent, but this is a good time for an upgrade. I’ll get the older transceiver repaired. I have a plan for it.
So, it was off to Milwaukee and the only Ham Radio store in any direction for hundreds of miles.
I now have a new rig.
BUT WAIT!
Zuhlsdorf’s Law wasn’t finished with me. I’m like the kiss of death these days.
I return from Milwaukee and find this in my email the next day.
From the ARRL letter…
“Caramba!”, quoth I anew.
Folks, don’t let me come near anything that you hold dear… at least for a few more days.
Anyway, I have ordered up some monel wire and insulators and, soon, will brew up an antenna with the help of my local Elmer.
But, Caramba!, it has been a tough ham radio week.
You know the one about the pessimist and the optimist, right?
The pessimist says, “Things can’t possibly get any worse!” To which the optimist replies, “Oh, yes they can!”
I created a page for the List of YOUR callsigns. HERE Chime in or drop me a note if your call doesn’t appear in the list.
I’ve just learned via RNS that the NUNS ON THE BUS are back!
Nuns really get around these days. They are also being summoned to Rome for chats. But I digress.
Nuns on the bus will ride to political conventions
(RNS) Disturbed by the language of exclusion that has characterized much of the 2016 electoral campaign, Sister Simone Campbell and a band of Catholic nuns[So… band of nuns? Is that the collective noun? I’ll bet we could find a better one.] will again board her bus to promote a vision of a more inclusive America. [“Language of exclusion”?]
The activist nun and 18 other sisters will begin their trip on July 11 in Janesville, Wis., hometown of House Speaker and Republican leader Paul Ryan, a fellow Catholic whose conservative policies Campbell has regularly criticized.
The bus tour, the latest in a series of election-year trips organized by Campbell’s Washington-based lobby, Network, will eventually travel to 13 states, making stops at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in mid-July and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later in the month.
[…]Though she has not specifically billed the upcoming tour as a protest against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been lambasted for stereotyping Muslims, Hispanics and other groups, Campbell has in the past called out politicians by name for neglecting the poor and disadvantaged.
I look forward to the reports.
Maybe I’ll make a field trip the Janesville for the event.
Card. Sarah’s appeal to priests and bishops on 5 July in London:
[…]
I want to make an appeal to all priests. You may have read my article in L’Osservatore Romano one year ago (12 June 2015) or my interview with the journal Famille Chrétienne in May of this year. On both occasions I said that I believe that it is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction—Eastwards or at least towards the apse—to the Lord who comes, in those parts of the liturgical rites when we are addressing God. This practice is permitted by current liturgical legislation. It is perfectly legitimate in the modern rite. Indeed, I think it is a very important step in ensuring that in our celebrations the Lord is truly at the centre.
And so, dear Fathers, I ask you to implement this practice wherever possible, with prudence and with the necessary catechesis, certainly, but also with a pastor’s confidence that this is something good for the Church, something good for our people. Your own pastoral judgement will determine how and when this is possible, but perhaps beginning this on the first Sunday of Advent this year, when we attend ‘the Lord who will come’ and ‘who will not delay’ (see: Introit, Mass of Wednesday of the first week of Advent) may be a very good time to do this. Dear Fathers, we should listen again to the lament of God proclaimed by the prophet Jeremiah: “they have turned their back to me” (2:27). Let us turn again towards the Lord!
I would like to appeal also to my brother bishops: please lead your priests and people towards the Lord in this way, particularly at large celebrations in your dioceses and in your cathedral. Please form your seminarians in the reality that we are not called to the priesthood to be at the centre of liturgical worship ourselves, but to lead Christ’s faithful to him as fellow worshippers. Please facilitate this simple but profound reform in your dioceses, your cathedrals, your parishes and your seminaries.
[…]
He also made an appeal to use more Latin and Gregorian chant. He asked for more silence and kneeling. He pointed to the work of Joseph Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy (UK HERE). Card. Sarah said: “Pope Francis has asked me to continue the liturgical work Pope Benedict began (see: Message to Sacra Liturgia USA2015, New York City).”
Sunday, July 3, 2016 at St. Mary of Pine Bluff – Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (Fr. Z) offers the Novus Ordo Mass facing east (ad orientem) – From Fr. Heilman – HERE
Friends, please spend time on your knees, perhaps with your Rosary, and ask the Queen of Peace to intercede with Her Son for graces for these USA right now.
I write this as I see reports on TV that, during protests in Dallas sparked by controversial recent shootings by police officers of black men, officers are now down, shot. Snipers.
When I say the Novus Ordo on Sundays – which, believe it or not, I do with some regularity at the parish where I lend a hand – I always add to the petitions
“For all those service in the military and in law enforcement, that God will protect them from spiritual and temporal harm….”
Fathers, perhaps you might do the same.
Remember, everyone: Bad things happen to other people in other places, until it’s your turn. So, PRAY for those who turn has come.
LEOs out there, please, keep your heads on a swivel, thank you, and…
GO TO CONFESSION!
At Fishwrap (aka National Schismatic Reporter) there is a reaction to the plea made by His Eminence Robert Card. Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship to priests around the world to say Mass ad orientem beginning with Advent.
Here is something that caught my interest:
[Fr. Andrew Menke, associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ divine worship office] said that as new editions of the Roman Missal are released, liturgical law is bound to shift, but he doubts anything would happen regarding the direction the priest faces, except perhaps more encouragement of “ad orientem” Masses in future missal editions.
Other experts agreed, saying neither bishops nor Sarah have the right to force priests to celebrate Mass “facing East” until there is an official change to the missal, the official liturgical law. [Who brought up “force”? Not Card. Sarah.]
Nice tie!
Jesuit Fr. Bruce Morrill, professor of Catholic studies at Vanderbilt University, said the cardinal’s office could issue a directive mandating “ad orientem” Masses without changing the whole missal.
A directive, he said, would require approval from the Vatican and would be released in an official statement from the Congregation for Divine Worship.
“This is not official; he was speaking to an annual meeting of an erratic conservative group. [So, by insinuation, what does that make Card. Sarah?] … Those directives don’t happen in speeches and interviews” like those Sarah has given, Morrill said.
I entirely agree. “Directives… don’t happen in speeches and interviews.”
Speaking of “erratic groups, are Morrill and his Jesuit brethren quick to point out to the press that the Pope doesn’t issue directives or change laws or mutate doctrine in off-the-cuff remarks given in interviews or pressers with newsies or in his daily fervorini?
What immediately popped into my head is a certain remark made by Card. Kasper about what African bishops should or shouldn’t be allowed to tell us what to do.
On a higher note, may I suggest to the readership a close reading of Card. Sarah’s book God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith? UK HERE
Read it and then place in the balance His Eminence’s comments about prayer with the reactions about Sarah from the Fishwrapers and sundry Jesuits.
Here is something from Card. Sarah’s book:
The almost constant underground struggle with the political authorities, from the dictatorship of Sékou Touré to the military regime of Lansana Conté, was undoubtedly trying. But these external difficulties were not what was gnawing away at my courage and determination to serve the Lord. Instead, it was the internal struggles that I had to face, that shattered me by showing me with increasing clarity that I was objectively incapable of leading the Church of Conakry.
In order to address the situation, I established a program of regular spiritual retreats. Every two months, I would leave, alone, for a completely isolated spot. I would subject myself to an absolute fast, with no food or water for three days. I wanted to be with God, to speak with him in private. When I left Conakry, I would take nothing with me except a Bible, a small traveling Mass kit, and a book of spiritual reading. The Eucharist was my only food and my sole companion. This life of solitude and prayer helped me to recharge and to return to battle. I think that a bishop, in order to fulfill his role, must do penance, fast, listen to the Lord, and pray for long periods of time in silence and solitude. Christ withdrew for forty days in the desert; the successors to the apostles must imitate Christ as faithfully as possible.
THIS, my friends, is the man who asks priests to say Mass ad orientem.
Get a copy for your parish priests along with copies of Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer UK HERE
And also Joseph Ratzinger Spirit of the Liturgy UK HERE
Moderation queue is ON.
Card. Schoenborn gave an interview about Amoris laetitia to Antonio Spadaro, SJ an excerpt of which is in Civiltà Cattolica. Almost before the excerpt was released MS Winters at the National Sodomitic Reporter issued a 1500 word fatwah proclaiming Schoenborn’s infallibility, while also taking pot shots at Card. Burke (of course) and Archbp. Chaput.
Most of what Winters wrote (and, darn, he can write fast – its almost as if he wrote it before it was released) – is of little interest.
But there is something that must be addressed immediately.
Pace MS Winters, Fr. Spadaro, SJ and Card. Schönborn, there really is a dispute about the magisterial authority of Amoris laetitia.
Liberals like Card. Schönborn simply assert that “of course it is magisterial!” However, if you read Schönborn closely (and he really should know better than to argue the way he did, which wasn’t really an argument at all) you will not find any explanations to back up his claims.
There is an adage, “Gratis asseritur, gratis negatur“. Something that someone simply asserts without proofs, can simply be denied by others.
Consider this. Francis himself sets aside the concept of magisterial teaching in Amoris laetitia in the THIRD PARAGRAPH. Allow me to quote it for you:
3. Since “time is greater than space”, I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. [Did you get that? If not, go back to the beginning and read it again.] Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it.
Nota bene: This is the only reference to “magisterium” in all of Amoris laetitia. Did you get that, too? Because “time is greater than space”, he sets aside the concept of magisterium in the THIRD PARAGRAPH.
This is what has led some to conclude that Francis is not invoking his magisterial authority.
It was Card. Burke who first pointed out this pesky, stubborn FACT, by the way.
“But Father! But Father!”, some of you liberals, lefties and “questioning” will blurt, “If what you say is true, then neither is Familiaris consortio magisterial! Neither is Sacramentum caritatis! But you can’t see that because you hate Vatican II!”
To which I respond, neither John Paul II nor Benedict XVI said anything in their Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations to distance their documents from their ordinary magisterium.
Benedict XVI wrote books about Our Lord while he was Pope. He said that these books weren’t part of his magisterium, rather like Francis did in Amoris laetitia.
So… please, someone… PROVE that Pope Francis and Card. Burke are wrong when Francis says in Amoris laetitia 3 that this document isn’t magisterial.
Moderation queue is ON.
My mailbox is filling with notes of disgust from readers who ask for my reaction to something posted at the Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) and about some other news items today.
How to put it…?
[No. Nope. I can’t write that.]
You might head over to Crisis to read the amazing Anthony Esolen’s entry today: The Uses of Disgust
It’s not a pleasant thing to ingest, his essay, but neither are most medicines.
Thank you, professor, for encapsulating what many of us feel right now.
UPDATE:
In case you missed it – HERE
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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