Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

Pope Francis and the cuillère à sauce individuelle and grand liturgy

Posted on 10 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Last night I watched a movie I haven’t seen in years from a brand new blu-ray disk (thanks CEF!) on the big hi-def screen: Babette’s Feast.

Scruple Spoon

This movie has it all.

I can say “everything” now because it is the Pope’s favorite film and it features a cuillère à sauce individuelle, a source of true delight. And since Pope Francis, with his low liturgical style is unlikely to use a scruple spoon, I surmise that the cuillère à sauce individuelle – which I saw in the movie – is the Pope’s favorite spoon. (Okay.. maybe a wooden spoon, but that doesn’t work for this post.)

See it? Sorry, these are snaps from my phone of the screen.

Since everything in Babette’s Feast is symbolic, what do we make of the sauce spoon?

Not much?

Au contraire!

“But Father! But Father!, you will immediately object, “The great final meal of the film is set around 1885. The cuillère à sauce individuelle was introduced in 1950.”

Yes. I wrote about that HERE. I have featured the CASI in posts about food HERE and HERE. So what?

Lessons.

Pope Francis has a lower liturgical style which has liberals taking victory laps. They will say, “See? SEE?!? He is doing it just like the Apostles, in the pristine way before all the medieval accretions gummed up the works. He’s so humbly wonderful, so wonderfully humble….”

I respond saying that his liturgical style may be just as much as an anachronism as the appearance of the French sauce spoon in the Pope’s favorite movie Babette’s Feast.

Thus, perhaps the Pope is really trying to signal some quite different. He is actually saying “I might like ‘Ol-brot’, but Mass should be like what Babette made. Use the sauce spoon!”

The anachronistic sauce spoon in the Pope favorite movie proves it.

The next step. He might be turn Roman liturgy into Ol-brot, but what he really wants us to have is the final meal. What’s better for Mass? What she made or… “let it soak”.

BLECH.

Once the general uses it, during the last supper, and people see what it is for, they all use it too.

Okay… everyone… get out there are promote the older, traditional form of Holy Mass in that Latin Rite.

That’s what Francis would want! The sauce spoon in Francis favorite movie proves it. Go ahead and argue that it is anachronistic. That makes it even better.

Now I need to look up recipes for Cailles en Sarcophage! I might need serious donations to make that one, given the huge slices of black truffle.

By the way, at the end of the movie, the two sisters -like the disciples walking to Emmaus – recognize Christ (Babette is the self-emptying Christ-figure) not in the soaking of the ale-bread, but in the wreck of dirty dishes and the flotsam of the kitchen, and what they ate, and how their hearts burned within them … and through the use of the cuillère à sauce individuelle.

^{(Someday remind me to tell you about the meal during which we sucked the brains out of the heads of little birds.)}

Posted in Fr. Z's Kitchen, Francis, Lighter fare, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged anachronism, Babette's Feast, cuillère à sauce individuelle, Pope Francis, sauce spoon
49 Comments

What does Fr. Z really say? A response to critics on the left and the right.

Posted on 9 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Back on 2 April – which in blog years is like a decade ago – I offered a brief manifesto about how I think we ought to approach Pope Francis.

In fact, there are any number of entries I have posted over the last few weeks that demonstrate what I am trying to do.

I am purposely, obviously, openly, repeatedly trying to rein in the hyper-trads – to get them to breath into paper bags – and also to remind liberals that tradition-scorning victory laps are waaaaay premature.

But my adversaries – liberals and conservatives – are trying to paint me as a Francis-bashing rad-trad, and therefore to take me down.

I want you readers to know that this is going on – not because I am concerned about myself – but because the position that I have taken over the past few weeks is highly nuanced and, therefore, should not be misrepresented, wittingly or unwittingly, as that of an extremist.

I have been consistent. For example….

19 March: Dear Traditionalists…

28 March: What Pope Francis is really saying.

Note also what I wrote on 2 April (full post there).

[A]s I have been saying all along, Pope Francis needs some time to learn how to be Pope. We also have to learn to have him be our Pope.

He has done things that I think are both strange and ill-considered. On the other hand, he minces no words about the warfare we are in with the Devil, to whom he refers clearly and boldly. He spoke about the need for priests to hear confessions, though that was in private. I’ll bet he speaks about it publicly too, before long. In his homilies he has entirely eschewed a modern biblical exegetical style in favor of a more Patristic, allegorical style… even as Ratzinger famously used. His use of the image of the garb of the Old Testament priesthood and the chasuble priests put on for Mass was like something Pope Benedict would have offered us, and he wrote it before he was elected: it was his own work and not that of some flunky in the Secretariate of State. There are a lot of things Francis is showing which traditional Catholics can sincerely applaud (if they can get over themselves long enough to see them).

Even though Francis has painted himself into a corner through his abrupt dramatic changes, he is more than likely going to adjust to the exigencies of his office, which include decorum at a different level and an awareness that he is more than the bishop of a diocese somewhere.

Time, friends. Patience. And pray for him. He must be wondering if he is going to wake up from some sort of long, strange dream.

Here is my point.

We must not pit Francis against Benedict right now. We find the continuity between them.

Read Francis through Benedict.

Does this sound like I am trying to trash Pope Francis?

I think not.

“But Father! But Father!”, some will rush in to shout, “you criticized him in places too!”

When I have been critical of some change the Pope has made, I have urged caution when interpreting him, and have advocated patience while we watch him clarify what his pontificate stands for. I have stressed the need not to lose the forest for the trees.

And I have been strongly critical of myself and traditionalists for sometimes doing just that.

For example, back on 28 March:

Some liberals live and breathe liberal liturgy. On the other end of the spectrum, such as the undersigned, traditional Catholics think that liturgy is critical but for different reasons (“Save The Liturgy, Save The World”, comes to mind). Francis isn’t invested in either of these camps.

For Francis, I think, it is more a matter of “a pox on both your houses”.

[…]

Bottom line.

Francis is pushing out to the world (ad extra) an image of compassion. I think he is correcting both sides, within the Church (ad intra), which may both be, both sides, losing the forest for the trees….

This is the position I have said is highly nuanced and that should not be misrepresented as that of an extremist.

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", Francis, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity, Reading Francis Through Benedict, The Drill, What are they REALLY saying?, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged critics, extremists, Pope Francis
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CNN insinuates that Archbp. Vigneron “dialed back” his words about promoters of same-sex marriage and Holy Communion

Posted on 9 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is a deeply flawed, perhaps even mendacious, piece on CNN about Archbishop Vigneron’s comments about Catholics who promote same-sex marriage and reception of Holy Communion. I posted about that HERE.

The CNN article suggests, implies, hints, that the Archdiocese of Detroit is now trying to “step back” from or “dial back” what Vigneron said, by “adding content”.

The problem with CNN’s claim is that, well, it’s wrong. The Archdiocese, by adding content, didn’t “step back” at all.

Here is the little of the CNN piece with my emphases and comments.

Detroit archdiocese dials back no Communion for same-sex marriage supporters [There’s the “dial back”.]

By Dan Merica, CNN

Washington (CNN) – The Archdiocese of Detroit tried to reframe a day-old statement by Archbishop Allen Vigneron that compared Catholics who advocate for same-sex marriage and receive Communion to people committing perjury.

After an academic with ties to the church [Pretty dismissive, no? The “academis” is Ed Peters.] wrote in a blog post that Catholics who advocate same-sex marriage should not receive Communion, Vigneron told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday that Catholics who support same-sex marriage and receive Communion would “logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.”

“For a Catholic to receive Holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: ‘I believe the church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the church teaches,’ ” Vigneron told the paper. “In effect, they would contradict themselves.”

On Monday, the archdiocese looked to step back and add context to the statement. [The implication, together with that “reframe” and “dial back” is that Archbp. Vigneron is changing his mind, saying something different. That’s not true.]

“The archbishop’s focal point here is not ‘gay marriage’; it is a Catholic’s reception of Holy Communion,” Joe Kohn, the archdiocese spokesman, wrote in an e-mail to CNN. [Uh huh. Fine. The issue of legalization of same-sex marriage isn’t the Archbishop’s focus in his statement. His focus is the state of the soul of the people who push for it. Going on…] “If a Catholic publicly opposes the church on a serious matter of the church’s teaching, any serious matter – for example, whether it be a rejection of the divinity of Christ, racist beliefs, support for abortion or support for redefining marriage – that would contradict the public affirmation they would make of the church’s beliefs by receiving Communion.” [I don’t see a “dialing back” there, do you?]

Kohn continued: “As the archbishop states, the pastors of the church are ready to assist Catholics to help them understand and avoid this conflict.” [Was the “dialing back” in part of the email that the writer chose not to share?]

[… some of the back story, which I will cut out…]

A majority of Catholics, according to polling, disagree with this view of Communion. [And now CNN tries to show how backward and out of step Vigneron is with the “majority”. Hopefully he’ll start listening to the Voz del Pueblo pretty soon and really “dial back” his medieval views.]

A 2011 survey by the National Catholic Reporter [ROFL!] found that 86% of Catholics said they believe a Catholic “can disagree with aspects of church teachings and still remain loyal to the church.” [I love this… CNN is pitting Archbp. Vigneron against the Fishwrap.]

The same survey found that 35% of Catholics said the church’s opinion on same-sex marriage was very important, a number that reporter William D’Antonio says is lower in previous years.

“What more and more Catholics are saying,” D’Antonio wrote in 2011, “is that my lived experiences are different than what the church is saying.”

[And that is where the article ends.]

This is biased reporting, if it is reporting at all.

Furthermore, here is the image that accompanied the piece, together with the caption CNN posted with it.

Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron gives communion to a parishioner.

Ummmm…. no. That is not what is happening in that picture.

The CNN writer or the editor can’t get that right. They didn’t get anything else right either.

UPDATE 21:58 GMT:

CNN has changed the title of their entry!

Ed Peters, the “academic” responded as well. HERE.

Posted in 1983 CIC can. 915, Biased Media Coverage, Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged Archbp. Vigneron, Archd. Detroit, can. 915, CNN, Ed Peters, homosexual activists, same-sex marriage
37 Comments

Comment Registration, Blank Pages, Banning, Thanks, and You

Posted on 9 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In order to comment here, readers must register and I must approve the registration.

This is for two reasons.

First, were I not to place this restriction, the combox would be a demonically crazy place. My traffic here would go to the stars, but that’s not worth the trouble and the evil result.

I had anonymous posting here for a while. It attracted evil blatteroons and the reason-challenged, low-information types who contribute so much to the internet.

Second, the blog is under constant attack by spammers (may they roast in the deep cinders of hell, as Dr. Maturin would say).

The registration form includes a place where I ask people to write about themselves. That is an important tool for me. I use it to sort out the well-meaning from nefarious ne’er-do-wells.

This morning I sorted through a couple dozen registrations and rejected a half dozen or so as obvious vile spammers and a few as too vague for me to be comfortable with at a quick glance.

It may be that some well-meaning people don’t get that that part of the registration is important. Thus, they might write something like “not much to say”, or “I like peanut butter”. If that is the sum total of what is included, I do not approve the registration. I do not send a note saying that it was rejected.

Just as you, I have only so much time and energy and no one is helping me with this. Therefore, I have to place limits and I sometimes have to be a bit draconian.

Many of you veterans here know all this, but there are a lot of new readers.

One more thing.

It may be that some of you have checked into the blog and found only a blank page.

I installed a new plugin which helps cut down spam attacks by checking incoming IPs against lists of known spamming slubberdegullions. It really helps me and I can’t imagine doing without it now.

It may be that your IP falls in a range similar to those of known spammers. I can “white list” your IP if you have problems.

I also occasionally ban people by IP address. These are usually blasphemous, profane, sacrilegious jerks, the irremediably stupid, people who seem determined to create lots of work for me, or the simply annoying for whom I as a sinner lack the charity and patience to deal with. I’m just sayin’. I have my bad days too.

Seriously bashing Pope Francis will get you banned here too.

If you have a problem getting to the blog from one location or computer, but not from your mobile phone or from another place, drop me a line. If you know yourself to be innocent of the aforementioned unwelcome chicanery, I might be able to white list your IP address and get you back to the fold.

And now that that is out of the way.

Please do the following.

Buy some Mystic Monk coffee right now. You’ll be glad you did.
Use my amazon search box whenever you shop online.
Send a donation. I’ll be grateful.
Look at Your Urgent Prayer Requests (top menu).
Click on the WCC ad and look at the CNS feed.
Follow me on Twitter.

Speaking of donations, many thanks to…

JB, RMcE, SDeS, SS, DD, ET, JPG, MK, RC, MC, NS, CD, ML, FH, RA, MF, GSM, CMB, AN, MP-P, BY, JB, MS, SA, BB, MK, C’OC, RD, DN, EL, JMJ, SM, SP, SV, SD, JV, CS, CG, JL, KS, AC, JV, BC, FW, AW, FV, AN, DK, JB, CM, JB, ER, PG, RA, SZ, SN, JL, ER, JW, MR, LS, KA, MD, LW, VS, Fr. RH, VW, JE, NA, MZ, GMcI, JN, DM, JN, AMcC, WH, CD, MR, CG, SS, BA, HS, DS, RM, MS, DW, MM, CP, TE, MCB, KL, GMcI, FN, KL, KL, NM, LC, AM, PAP, DP, AJG, LH, SS, CO’C, LS, MF, ZA, M-MC, SC, SS, RMcE, JB, PL UPDATE: EP (Rome), CS (Rome), BY (Rome), TMcG (Rome), EC, MK, FH (Rome), CH (Rome), AD (Rome), NA (monthly), MB (Rome), LM (Rome), MH (Rome), CG, AE (Rome), JK (Rome), CWvZ, MR (Rome), TE (Rome), WMR (Rome), LA (Rome), MG (Rome), LG (Rome), CEF, unknown, NW (Rome),

Also, thanks to the person who sent the amazon gift card, which came to today. There was no packing slip, so I don’t know who you are. And thanks to CEF for the DVD of Babette’s Feast! I’m looking forward to it.

I periodically say Mass for the intention of my benefactors (which always also includes DY, GS, and KA). I will do so again on Wednesday 10 April, in the morning.

Also, thanks to you who have sent Kindle books or things from my amazon wishlist. For example, I received a great new pad for when I clean my Glock, having a diagram of all the parts. I haven’t actually taken it completely apart yet, but I suppose I’ll have to do so some day. Moreover, occasionally it seems as if something was ordered from my wish list, but it wasn’t sent to me. I don’t know how that works, exactly, but it is a bit tedious. That is why sometimes I put things back on the list. Again, I just sayin’.

I’m planning to go back to Rome at the end of June for a very important conference on matters traditional. It is described as: “Sacra Liturgia 2013: Rome, 25-28 June 2013 – An international conference to study, promote and renew the appreciation of liturgical formation and celebration and its foundation for the mission of the Church.”

I think it is important to participate in these conferences, especially at the dawn of this new pontificate, if you get my drift. We need to close ranks and roll up the sleeves. Thus, I will be depending on your donations so that I can go. By myself, I can’t do it. With your help I can. The little waving Vatican flag is a donation link, earmarked for Rome expenses.

In any event, thanks to everyone. I am grateful and I remember you in prayer. Many of you were especially good to me when I was having my computer disaster in Rome around the time of the conclave. That experience was both supremely frustrating and also truly consoling.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, O'Brian Tags |
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Fishwrap’s Winters responds

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Over the National Schismatic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters has responded to something I wrote HERE.

Winters is mostly wrong about things, but he occasionally right and, when he is, I have happily said so here.

Winters opens with a little snark – fair enough – and then gets into it:

Zulhsdorf [sic] then opines, “Let’s see how the editors of the National Schismatic Reporter (akaFishwrap) and The Bitter Pill (aka The Bitter Pill… er um… The Tablet) report on this one… if they mention anything about it all.” Well, I am not an editor, but I do write for both NCR and for the Tablet, so I will take the bait.

I’m reminded of the story of Paddy the Irishman who sees a crowd around two guys beating the tar out of each in the street. When he pushes through the onlookers he shouts, “Is this a private fight or can anyone join?”

The rest of Winter’s response is actually not as dreadful as you might expect, though I sense that, after stating that “I do not think a catholic can, in good conscience, support abortion…” his “… but we can have many and varied positions on how to confront the evil of abortion, always alert to the fact that in the political realm, sometimes politicians pay lip service to a goal” is pretty much an appeal to the sort of seamless-garment approach used by some to excuse those who shove unborn under the bus for the sake of various social justice goals.

I’ll also give him points for writing:

I see this in my own life as I have gradually shed those attitudes and beliefs that were in contradiction with the Church’s faith. I have come to understand that when my initial perspectives are at odds with the Church, I should give the benefit of the doubt to the Church.

Would I have preferred “religious assent” or “submission of mind and will” rather than just “benefit of the doubt”? Sure. Still, if this is the direction he’s heading, I’m all for it. As you might expect there’s also a ‘but’ involved immediately after. Coming from a writer for the non-Catholic weekly Fishwrap, this is not bad.

Bottom line: I wrote. Winters responded. That’s a start.

BTW… if you do go over there, be sure to check out the comments under Winter’s piece. They’re a hoot!

Posted in Liberals, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill | Tagged Fishwrap, Michael Sean Winters, NSR
32 Comments

HELP! A liturgy nerd is building a digital-calendar-generator for the TLM

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Can you brilliant liturgy nerds help this… liturgy nerd cum computer geek?

Thanks!

From a reader:

Hi father Z!

I have spent the last two weeks constructing a digital-calendar-generator for the TLM/-62 (in Swedish, with celebrations according to the calendar found inside the new TLM handbook – that by the way even has a foreword by our bishop). It can now generate the entire liturgical calendar for any given year for at least the next 200 years (if I’ve constructed it correctly).

Now I’d be very happy to receive any help to correct the details in the generator – from you, someone you could direct me to, or through your blog commenters (if you choose to forward this to your readership).

As I am now finalising the generator I have come to doubt that I have treated the lower-rank celebrations correctly.

The printed calendar that I’ve taken my information from presents the lower rankings using the old system (S, Sd, D, Dm) and explains that all of them except S become ‘3rd class’ in the “new” JXXIII system. What I wonder is:

1. When a Simplex (or are they supposed to be referred to as ‘4th class’?) falls during Epiphanytide or ‘after Easter’

a. Is a proper liturgical color to be used or is the color of the season to be used (the latter is how I have interpreted Commemorations to work)?

b. is it a mandatory or optional celebration (like ‘opt. Mem’ in the new rite)?

2. If the same kind of celebration falls during Advent or Lent:

a & b as above

c. Does its rank somehow reduce to Commemoration (or do they even disappear) because of the higher rank of Lenten/Advent ferias?

3. Are ‘3rd class’ celebrations ever affected in other ways than being stricken (because of collision with a higher ranked celebration)?

My questions probably sound like I don’t know a thing about these things, which is not false – I mainly want to have a working digital calendar for the old rite, since I am a liturgical nerd, not expert :)

Pax, and forgive my bad English

Okay, friends! Get to work!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged liturgy, TLM
20 Comments

The Patristic Rosary Project Revisited – Annunciation

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Some years ago, I posted a series of entries here wherein I looked at the mysteries of the Rosary through some quotations by Fathers of the Church. Here is what I wrote about the Annunciation.

_________

Because October is dedicated in a special way to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, during the month I, as a dedicated patristiblogger, will work my way through the Mysteries of the Rosary offering some comments from the Fathers of the Church. Let’s jump right in!

1st Joyful Mystery: The Annuniciation

Commenting on Luke 1:26-38, the announcment of Jesus’ birth, St. Ambrose of Milan (+397) makes a connection between Mary and the Church. :

And, therefore, the Evangelist, who had undertaken to prove the incorrupt mystery of the incarnation, thought it fruitless to pursue evidence of Mary’s virginity, lest he be seen as a defender of the Virgin rather than an advocate of the mystery. Surely, when he taught that Joseph was righteous, he adequately declared that he could not violate the temple of the Holy Spirit, the mother of the Lord, the womb of the mystery. We have learned the lineage of the Truth. We have learned its counsel. Let us learn its mystery. Fittingly is she epsoused, but virgin, because she prefigues the Church which is undefiled (cf. Eph 5:27) yet wed. A virgin conceived us of the Spirit, a Virgin brings us forth without travail. And thus perhaps Mary, wed to one, was filled by Another, because also the separate Churches are indeed filled by the Spirit and by grace and yet are joined to the appearance of a temporal Priest. [Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.6-7]

The Marian thought of Ambrose has an ecclesiological dimension. The Second Vatican Council cited this important passage in Lumen gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church:

63. By reason of the gift and role of divine maternity, by which she is united with her Son, the Redeemer, and with His singular graces and functions, the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united with the Church. As St. Ambrose taught, the Mother of God is a type of the Church in the order of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ. For in the mystery of the Church, which is itself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar both of virgin and mother. By her belief and obedience, not knowing man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, as the new Eve she brought forth on earth the very Son of the Father, showing an undefiled faith, not in the word of the ancient serpent, but in that of God’s messenger. The Son whom she brought forth is He whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, namely the faithful, in whose birth and education she cooperates with a maternal love.

Because of Mary’s “Fiat mihi“, we can be members of the Church with Mary as our Mother. Our baptism integrates us into this wondrous bond.

St. Leo the Great (+461) in one of his glorious sermons says:

Each one is a partaker of this spiritual origin in regeneration. To every one, when he is reborn, the water of baptism is like the Virgin’s womb, for the same Holy Spirit fills the font, who filled the Virgin, that the sin, which that sacred conception overthrew, may be taken away by this mystical washing. [s. 24.3]

This is not merely a Western insight. While it is a little late for our patristic interests, here is a snip from fascinating Kontakion of the Annunciation by the 9th century Theophanes the Branded:

The Theotokos said: Thou bringest me good tidings of divine joy: that Immaterial Light, in His abundant compassion, will be united to a material body.and now thou criest out to me: all-pure one, blessed is the fruit of thy womb!
The Archangel said: Rejoice, lady; rejoice, most pure virgin! Rejoice, God-containing vessel! Rejoice, candlestick of the light, the restoration of Adam, and the deliverance of Eve! Rejoice, holy mountain, shining sanctuary! Rejoice, bridal chamber of immortality!

The Theotokos said: The descent of the Holy Spirit has purified my soul; it has sanctified my body: it has made me a temple containing God, a divinely adorned tabernacle, a living sanctuary, and the pure Mother of Life.

The Archangel said: I see thee as a lamp with many lights; a bridal chamber made by God! Spotless maiden, as an ark of gold, receive now the Giver of the Law, who through thee has been pleased to deliver mankind’s corrupted nature!

Here the Blessed Virgin represents the Temple, the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, images of the Church.

Posted in Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Patristiblogging | Tagged Annuciation, Fathers of the Church, Patristic Rosary Project, St. Ambrose, St. Leo
6 Comments

Archbp. Vigneron: Catholics who push same-sex marriage should not receive Communion

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A regular commentator here, the distinguish canonist Ed Peters, was quoted in an interesting article in the Detroit Free Press.

Archbp. Vigneron made a clear statement about receiving Holy Communion if you advocate same-sex marriage.

This is in the Freep:

Detroit-area Catholic leaders urge gay marriage supporters to skip Communion

A Detroit professor and legal adviser to the Vatican says Catholics who promote gay marriage should not try to receive holy Communion, a key part of Catholic identity.

And the archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron, said Sunday that Catholics who receive Communion while advocating gay marriage would “logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.” [Let’s use the other word: lie.]

The comments of Vigneron and Edward Peters, who teaches Catholic canon law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, are [Get this…] part of a polarizing discussion about gay marriage that echoes debate over whether politicians who advocate abortion rights should receive Communion. [I’d say the conclusion is obvious.]

In a post on his blog last week, Peters said that Catholic teachings make it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman. And so, “Catholics who promote ‘same-sex marriage’ act contrary to” Catholic law “and should not approach for holy Communion,” he wrote. “They also risk having holy Communion withheld from them … being rebuked and/or being sanctioned.”

Peters didn’t specify a Catholic politician or public figure in his post. But he told the Free Press that a person’s “public efforts to change society’s definition of marriage … amount to committing objectively wrong actions.” [The key here is “public”. If you are out there as an activist in the public eye or a politician, and you are Catholic, and you are promoting or supporting things that are contrary to the laws of nature, God and His Church, then you must not approach for Communion and the proper ministers of Communion should deny it.]

Peters, an attorney and the Edmund Cardinal Szoka chairman at Sacred Heart, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to be a referendary of the Apostolic Sinatura, which means he helps advise the top judicial authority in the Catholic Church. Peters’ blog, “In Light of the Law,” is popular among Catholic experts, but not everyone agrees with his traditional views. [Who would they be? Liberals, open advocates of sodomy, progressivists, etc.]

“Most American bishops do not favor denying either politicians or voters Communion because of their positions on controversial issues,” said Thomas Reese, [lupus in fabula] a Catholic priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. Reese said that Peters’ views are “in a minority among American canon lawyers.” [gratis asseritur, gratis negatur]

But, Reese added, “about 30 or so bishops have said that pro-choice or pro-gay-marriage Catholics should not present themselves for Communion.” [All that means is that 30 or so bishops have a backbone.]

Peters has said before that liberal Catholic Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, should be denied Communion because of their statements and positions.

In 2011, Peters said that Cuomo should not receive Communion because he is an outspoken proponent of gay marriage. Last month, Peters said, “Pelosi suffers from one of the most malformed consciences in the annals of American Catholic politics or … she is simply hell-bent on using her Catholic identity to attack Catholic values at pretty much every opportunity.” [Sounds about right.]

In 2002, Catholic Jennifer Granholm’s support of abortion rights became an issue in the gubernatorial race a month before the election, when Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida released a letter saying Catholic politicians had a “special moral obligation” to oppose abortion.

Last month, Vigneron said at a news conference that maintaining views that oppose abortion and support traditional marriage are important for Catholics.

“Were we to abandon them, we would be like physicians who didn’t tell their patients that certain forms of behavior are not really in their best interest,” said Vigneron, who oversees 1.3 million Catholics in southeastern Michigan. [If a doctor must tell a patient that certain things are detrimental, how much more ought a priest or bishop give warnings are spiritual harm? The former cares for the body, which inevitably passes. The later cares for the soul, which is eternal.]

On Sunday, Vigneron said about supporting gay marriage and receiving Communion: “For a Catholic to receive holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: ‘I believe the church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the church teaches.’ In effect, they would contradict themselves. This sort of behavior would result in publicly renouncing one’s integrity and logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.”

Vigneron said the church wants to help Catholics “avoid this personal disaster.”

Fr Z kudos to Archbishop Vigneron.

Hopefully other bishops will take heart at his example and make strong public statements such as this one.

Now we need some action as well. Speaking up is an action, but there are other actions as well.

Posted in 1983 CIC can. 915, Brick by Brick, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, New Evangelization, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged "gay", Archbp. Vigneron, Archd. Detroit, Communion. can. 915, homosexual activists, same-sex marriage
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The Honus Wagner card from “Sweet Caporal Cigarettes”

Posted on 7 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Now that the season of the sport God loves best is underway again, we turn to the really important news.

From MLB comes this!

The ‘Holy Grail’ of baseball cards just sold for $2.1 million in an online auction

If you have a friend who’s obsessed with baseball cards, you’ve no doubt heard about the T206 Honus Wagner card. Known colloquially as the “Holy Grail,” the Wagner card is widely acknowledged to be the most coveted and valuable baseball card in history. One happened to be listed in an online auction throughout March, and on Saturday it finally sold.

For $2,105,770.50.

That’s a lot of money to invest in something that could easily be destroyed by the washing machine — particularly when that kind of dough could be used for so many other worthwhile pursuits.

For example, if this guy really loves baseball, that $2.1 million could buy a season ticket behind home plate at Yankee Stadium every year for 50 years and he would still have a ton left over. [But he would have to watch the Yankees all the time… ugh…]

Having said that, who are we to judge what others do with their money? They earned it, and it’s their right to do with it whatsoever they wish, no matter if it might seem insane and whimsical.

He owns the T206 Honus Wagner card and we don’t. For him, that’s probably the only thing that matters.

If memory serves, I saw one of these rare cards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros in terra: ubi ærugo, et tinea demolitur: et ubi fures effodiunt, et furantur. Thesaurizate autem vobis thesauros in cælo: ubi neque ærugo, neque tinea demolitur, et ubi fures non effodiunt, nec furantur. Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum. (Matthew)

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged baseball, baseball card, Honus Wagner
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Pope Francis’ sermon for his “enthronement” at St. John Lateran

Posted on 7 April 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Pope Francis took possession of his cathedral church today. As Bishop of Rome his cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Mass today was for his “enthronement” (Italian “insediamento”).

I think that we might have a new challenge in the preaching of Francis: Can you identify the “three words” around which he builds his sermons? That’s an old Jesuit preaching technique and Francis generally sticks to it. He may not say what the words are up front, but we might be able to dig them out. I’ll give it a try as I go through the sermon. You might try your hand.

Here is his sermon, with my emphases and comments. I inserted his “drop-ins”, from when he went off text, without any brackets, etc.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

It is with joy that I am celebrating the Eucharist for the first time in this Lateran Basilica, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. I greet all of you with great affection: the Cardinal Vicar, the auxiliary bishops, the diocesan presbyterate, the deacons, the men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. Together let us walk in the light of the risen Lord.

Today we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as “Divine Mercy Sunday”. What a beautiful truth of faith this is for our lives: the mercy of God! God’s love for us is so great, so deep; it is an unfailing love, one which always takes us by the hand and supports us, lifts us up and leads us on.

In today’s Gospel, the Apostle Thomas personally experiences this mercy of God, which has a concrete face, the face of Jesus, the risen Jesus. Thomas does not believe it when the other Apostles tell him: “We have seen the Lord”. It isn’t enough for him that Jesus had foretold it, promised it: “On the third day I will rise”. He wants to see, he wants to put his hand in the place of the nails and in Jesus’ side. And how does Jesus react? With patience: Jesus does not abandon Thomas in his stubborn unbelief; he gives him a week’s time, he does not close the door, he waits. And Thomas acknowledges his own poverty, his little faith. “My Lord and my God!”: with this simple yet faith-filled invocation, he responds to Jesus’ patience. He lets himself be enveloped by divine mercy; he sees it before his eyes, in the wounds of Christ’s hands and feet and in his open side, and he discovers trust: he is a new man, no longer an unbeliever, but a believer.
Let us also remember Peter: three times he denied Jesus, precisely when he should have been closest to him; and when he hits bottom he meets the gaze of Jesus who patiently, wordlessly, says to him: “Peter, don’t be afraid of your weakness, trust in me”. Peter understands, he feels the loving gaze of Jesus, and he weeps. How beautiful is this gaze of Jesus – how much tenderness is there! Brothers and sisters, let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God!

Let us think too of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus: their sad faces, their barren journey, their despair. But Jesus does not abandon them: he walks beside them, and not only that! Patiently he explains the Scriptures which spoke of him, and he stays to share a meal with them. This is God’s way of doing things: he is not impatient like us, who often want everything all at once, even in our dealings with other people. God is patient with us because he loves us, and those who love are able to understand, to hope, to inspire confidence; they do not give up, they do not burn bridges, they

are able to forgive. Let us remember this in our lives as Christians: God always waits for us, even when we have left him behind! He is never far from us, and if we return to him, he is ready to embrace us.

I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful Father; it impresses me because it always gives me great hope. Think of that younger son who was in the Father’s house, who was loved; and yet he wants his part of the inheritance; he goes off, spends everything, hits rock bottom, where he could not be more distant from the Father, yet when he is at his lowest, he misses the warmth of the Father’s house and he goes back. And the Father? Had he forgotten the son? No, never. He is there, he sees the son from afar, he was waiting for him every hour of every day, the son was always in his father’s heart, even though he had left him, even though he had squandered his whole inheritance, his freedom. The Father, with patience, love, hope and mercy, had never for a second stopped thinking about him, and as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach: he is back! And that’s the joy of a father. And in the father’s embrace of his son there is all this joy. He has come back. God is always waiting for us, he never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence, hope – always! The German theologian Romano Guardini said that God responds to our weakness by his patience, and this is the reason for our confidence, our hope (cf. Glaubenserkenntnis, Würzburg, 1949, p. 28). [The mention of Guardini should prompt us to remember both Benedict XVI, who was deeply influenced by Guardini, and also that Francis himself had considered writing his thesis on Guardini. But did Guardini influence more Francis’ private prayer-life or his liturgical style of prayer?]

It’s like a dialogue between our weakness and God’s patience. A dialogue … when we have this dialogue it gives us hope.

I would like to emphasize one other thing: God’s patience has to call forth in us the courage to return to him, however many mistakes and sins there may be in our life. Jesus tells Thomas to put his hand in the wounds of his hands and his feet, and in his side. We too can enter into the wounds of Jesus, we can actually touch him. [The Gospel does not say that Thomas actually did what Jesus said, but it is certainly an acceptable reading.] This happens every time that we receive the sacraments with faith. Saint Bernard, in a fine homily, says: “Through the wounds of Jesus I can suck honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock (cf. Deut 32:13), I can taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (On the Song of Songs, 61:4). It is there, in the wounds of Jesus, that we are truly secure; there we encounter the boundless love of his heart. Thomas understood this. Saint Bernard goes on to ask: What can I count on? On my own merits? No, “My merit is God’s mercy. I am by no means lacking merits as long as he is rich in mercy. If the mercies of the Lord are manifold, I too will abound in merits” (ibid., 5). This is important: the courage to trust in Jesus’ mercy, to trust in his patience, to seek refuge always in the wounds of his love. Saint Bernard even states: “So what if my conscience gnaws at me for my many sins? ‘Where sin has abounded, there grace has abounded all the more’ (Rom 5:20)” (ibid.). Someone may think: my sin is so great, I am as far from God as the younger son in the parable, my unbelief is like that of Thomas; I don’t have the courage to go back, to believe that God can welcome me and that he is waiting for me, of all people. But God is indeed waiting for you; he asks of you only the courage to go to him. How many times in my pastoral ministry have I heard it said: “Father, I have many sins”; and I have always pleaded: “Don’t be afraid, go to him, he is waiting for you, he will take care of everything”. [Go to confession!] We hear many offers from the world around us; but let us take up God’s offer instead: his is a caress of love. For God, we are not numbers, we are important, indeed we are the most important thing to him; even if we are sinners, we are what is closest to his heart.

Adam, after his sin, experiences shame, he feels naked, he senses the weight of what he has done; and yet God does not abandon him: if that moment of sin marks the beginning of his exile from God, there is already a promise of return, a possibility of return. God immediately asks: “Adam, where are you?” He seeks him out. Jesus took on our nakedness, he took upon himself the shame of Adam, the nakedness of his sin, in order to wash away our sin: by his wounds we have been healed. Remember what Saint Paul says: “What shall I boast of, if not my weakness, my poverty? Precisely in feeling my sinfulness, in looking at my sins, I can see and encounter God’s mercy, his love, and go to him to receive forgiveness.

In my own life, I have so often seen God’s merciful countenance, his patience; I have also seen so many people find the courage to enter the wounds of Jesus by saying to him: Lord, I am here, accept my poverty,, hide my sin in your wounds, wash it away with your blood. And I have always seen that God did just this – he accepted them, consoled them, cleansed them, loved them.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us be enveloped by the mercy of God; let us trust in his patience, which always gives us more time. Let us find the courage to return to his house, to dwell in his loving wounds, allowing ourselves be loved by him and to encounter his mercy in the sacraments. We will feel his tenderness – so beautiful – we will feel his embrace, and we too will become more capable of mercy, patience, forgiveness and love.

____

I think that his three words for this sermon are patience, trust and courage.

There was no reference to Mary at the end, as Pope’s often have done. No mention of his present ministry, though he spoke about personal experience in his past ministry.

In the meantime, the imposition of a new liturgical style continues… though we must remember that this is at the Lateran, and therefore the Vicariate of Rome had a big hand in what is going on. Responsorial psalm sung with great … how to put it… feeling, rather than a Gradual. There is some Gregorian chant side by side with the sickly-sweet treacly goop that we usually hear around the Lateran and other Roman churches… o the sorrow and woe. There was also some polyphony from the Sistina. Francis carried with him the staff of John Paul II instead of the ferula of a Roman Pontiff.