Fr. Z's Blog | Catholic commentary by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Video of a 1st Mass in 1954

Posted on 28 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

One of you kind readers sent me a link to a video of the 1st Mass on Trinity Sunday in 1954 of Fr. Gerald Coates. The video was posted by the Tower Convent School (in West Sussex, founded in 1903 by the Sisters Of The Blessed Sacrament).

You may want to mute your audio.

What may strike you, if you know the Extraordinary Form, is how consistent our liturgical worship was then and still is now.

It would be interesting to know what became of Fr. Coates, whether he is still among the living or not. Say a prayer for him, either way.

The assault on religious liberty continued today at SCOTUS

Posted on 28 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The assault on religious liberty, indeed on the first two Amendments, continues today with another SCOTUS decision.

From LifeSite:

Just one day after issuing a major ruling striking down a portion of a pro-life law in Texas saving thousands of babies from abortion and closing unscrupulous abortion clinics, the Supreme Court has made a second anti-life decision.

Today, the nation’s highest court refused to hear an appeal from pro-life pharmacists in Washington state who are challenging a state law forcing them to sell the morning after pull and abortion-causing drugs that violate their conscience as Christians instead of allowing them to refer customers to nearby pharmacies.

A pro-life family that runs pharmacies in Washington State has been at the center of an epic battle over religious rights for years. In 2007, abortion activists convinced the Washington Board of Pharmacy to pass regulations that force pharmacists in the state to dispense abortion causing drugs. This caused a major dilemma for the Stormans family, owners of a third-generation pharmacy. Their religious convictions prevented them from selling drugs that destroy innocent human life. Yet the State insisted they do so.

[…]

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented from the denial and would have agreed to hear the case. They wrote:

“This case is an ominous sign. At issue are Washington State regulations that are likely to make a pharmacist unemployable if he or she objects on religious grounds to dispensing certain prescription medications. [“unemployable” That’s indeed ominous. “And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand, or on their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”] There are strong reasons to doubt whether the regulations were adopted for—or that they actually serve—any legitimate purpose. And there is much evidence that the impetus for the adoption of the regulations was hostility to pharmacists whose religious beliefs regarding abortion and contraception are out of step with prevailing opinion in the State. Yet the Ninth Circuit held that the regulations do not violate the First Amendment, and this Court does not deem the case worthy of our time. If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern…. Ralph’s has raised more than ‘slight suspicion’ that the rules challenged here reflect antipathy toward religious beliefs that do not accord with the views of those holding the levers of government power. I would grant certiorari to ensure that Washington’s novel and concededly unnecessary burden on religious objectors does not trample on fundamental rights.”

Read the rest there.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged abortifacients, SCOTUS
13 Comments

Benedict XVI’s address for his 65th anniversay, Francis’ response

Posted on 28 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Benedict XVI, cent’anni, doesn’t appear in public very often. He just gave his first public address since his resignation in the Sala Clementina (alas, not from the central, raised chair). Benedict appeared on the occasion of his 65th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.

From CNA:

Vatican City, Jun 28, 2016 / 06:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday Benedict XVI gave his first public speech since his final day as Pope, expressing gratitude for a lengthy priesthood and for Pope Francis’ “goodness,” which he said moves him deeply.

Speaking to Pope Francis and the College of Cardinals gathered inside the Vatican’s small Clementine Hall for the 65th anniversary of his priestly ordination, Benedict said the Greek word “Efkaristomen (let us give thanks),” expresses “all that there is to say” for the occasion. [That smacks of Modern Greek. Better is eukaristomen. In his address, Benedict said both versions.]

“Thank you, thank you everyone! Thank you Holy Father – your goodness, from the first day of your election, every day of my life here moves me interiorly, brings me inwardly more than the Vatican Gardens.”

“Your goodness is a place in which I feel protected,” he said, and voiced his hope that Francis would be able to “move forward with all of us on this path of Divine Mercy, showing Jesus’ path to God.” [Very gracious.]

Since his resignation from the papacy in 2013, Benedict XVI has made only a handful of public appearances, none of which he spoke at. The celebration inside the Vatican Palace, then, marks not only another rare public appearance, but also the first time he has spoken in public since his resignation Feb. 28, 2013.

The June 28 celebration was held for Benedict in honor of the 65th anniversary of his ordination as a priest, which took place June 29, 1951 – the feast of Saints Peter and Paul – in the cathedral of Freising. His older brother Georg, who is still living today and was present for the ceremony, was ordained with him.

After the choir singing sacred polyphony had finished, Benedict listened to brief speeches made by Pope Francis; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Cardinal Muller gifted [ = gave] Benedict several copies of a book containing his homilies on the priesthood printed specifically for the occasion of his anniversary. Benedict in turn gave one to Pope Francis.

In his brief, off-the-cuff speech, Benedict thanked both Cardinal Sodano and Cardinal Muller for their speeches, and for the book. [And he didn’t say anything confusing.]

He told Cardinal Sodano that his address, which quoted scripture from the day of Benedict’s ordination and his speech during his visit to Freising in 2006, “truly touched my heart.”

Benedict then returned to the word “Efkaristomen (let us give thanks),” which he recalled a fellow priest ordained on the same day had written on the memorial card for his first Mass.

This word, he said, hints not only at “the dimensions of human thanksgiving,” but also “the deepest word that is hidden,” and which appears in both the liturgy and Scripture in the expression “gratias agens benedixit fregit deditque,” meaning “having given thanks, he broke it and gave it.”

“Efkaristomen sends us again to that reality of thanksgiving, to that new dimension that Christ has given,” Benedict said, explaining that Jesus has transformed into thanksgiving “the cross, suffering and all of the evil in the world.”

In doing so, Jesus “fundamentally transubstantiated” life and the world, he said, adding that the Lord both has given and continues to give us daily “the bread of true life, which overcomes the world thanks to the strength of his love.”

Benedict closed his address by expressing his hope that all would, with the help of God, help in the “transubstantiation of the world: that it be a world not of death, but of life; a world in which love has overcome death.”

In his brief speech, Pope Francis told Benedict that “you continue to serve the Church, you do not cease to really contribute with vigor and wisdom to her growth.”

By contributing to the Church and her mission from the small monastery of Mater Ecclesiae inside the Vatican, Benedict represents “anything but these forgotten corners in which today’s culture of waste tends to relegate people when, with age, their strength becomes less,” Francis said.

He prayed that the retired Pope would continue to feel the hand of “the merciful God who supports you,” that he would continue to both experience and bear witness to the love of God, and that alongside Peter and Paul, he would “continue to exult with great joy while walking toward the goal of our faith.”

From ZENIT comes the English translation of Francis’ address to Benedict:

Benedict XVI's address for his 65th anniversay, Francis' response

Holiness, [i.e., Benedict]

Today we celebrate the history of a call that began sixty-five years ago with Your Priestly Ordination, which took place in the Cathedral of Freising on June 29, 1951. But what is the underlying note that runs through this long history and that from that first beginning up to today dominates it ever more?

In one of the many beautiful pages that you dedicate to the priesthood, you underscore how, at the hour of Simon’s definitive call, Jesus, looking at him, basically asks him only one thing: “Do you love me?” How beautiful and true this is! Because it is here, you tell us, it is in that “do you love me,” that the Lord founded the feeding, because only if there is love for the Lord can He feed through us: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:15-19). This is the note that dominates a whole life spent in priestly service and true theology that you have not accidentally described as “the search for the Beloved”; it is this that you have always witnessed and still witness today: that the decisive thing in our day – of sun or rain – that alone with which all the rest comes, is that the Lord be truly present, that we desire Him, that we be close to Him interiorly, that we love Him, that we truly believe profoundly in Him and believing that we truly love Him. It is this loving that truly fills our heart, this believing is what makes us walk safely and calmly on the waters, even in the midst of a storm, in fact as happened to Peter; this loving and this believing is what enables us to look to the future, not with fear and nostalgia, but with gladness, also in the now advanced years of our life.

And so, precisely by living and witnessing today, in such an intense and luminous way, this only truly decisive thing – to have our gaze and heart turned to God – you, Holiness, continue to serve the Church, do not cease to truly contribute with vigor and wisdom to her growth; and you do so from that small Mater Ecclesiae Convent in the Vatican, which reveals itself to be altogether something other than one of those forgotten corners in which the disposable culture of today tends to relegate individuals when, with age, their strength fails. It is altogether the opposite; and allow your Successor to say this forcefully, who chose to call himself Francis! Because Saint Francis’ spiritual journey began at San Damiano, but the true place he loved, the beating heart of the Order, there where he founded it and where finally he rendered his life to God was the Porziuncola, the “small portion,” the little corner near the Mother of the Church; near Mary that, because of her very firm faith and her living so entirely of love and in love with the Lord, all generations call Blessed. Thus, Providence willed that you, dear Brother arrive in a place so to speak precisely “Franciscan” from which emanates a tranquillity, a peace, a strength, a trust, a maturity, a faith, a dedication and a fidelity that do me so much good and give strength to me and to the whole Church.

The wish with which I desire to conclude is therefore a wish that I address to you and together with all of us and with the entire Church: that you, Holiness, be able to continue feeling the hand of the merciful God that supports you, that you be able to experience and witness to us the love of God; that, with Peter and Paul, you be able to continue to exult with great joy while you journey toward the goal of the faith (cf. 1 Peter 8-9; 2 Timothy 4)!

Here is Francis’ discourse/response.

Posted in Benedict XVI | Tagged anniversary of ordination, Benedict XVI
18 Comments

Quotes from Justice Thomas’ dissent in WHOLE WOMAN’S HEALTH v. HELLERSTEDT

Posted on 27 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented today.

In his dissent to the SCOTUS majority opinion in WHOLE WOMAN’S HEALTH v. HELLERSTEDT Thomas wrote about the false principles they are using, and have been using.

Here are a few excerpts from his 16 page dissent:

Ultimately, this case shows why the Court never should have bent the rules for favored rights in the first place. Our law is now so riddled with special exceptions for special rights that our decisions deliver neither predictability nor the promise of a judiciary bound by the rule of law.

[…]

The majority’s furtive reconfiguration of the standard of scrutiny applicable to abortion restrictions also points to a deeper problem. The undue-burden standard is just one variant of the Court’s tiers-of-scrutiny approach to constitutional adjudication. And the label the Court affixes to its level of scrutiny in assessing whether the government can restrict a given right—be it “rational basis,” intermediate, strict, or something else—is increasingly a meaningless formalism. As the Court applies whatever standard it likes to any given case, nothing but empty words separates our constitutional decisions from judicial fiat.
Though the tiers of scrutiny have become a ubiquitous feature of constitutional law, they are of recent vintage.Only in the 1960’s did the Court begin in earnest to speak of “strict scrutiny” versus reviewing legislation for mere rationality, and to develop the contours of these tests. See Fallon, Strict Judicial Scrutiny, 54 UCLA L. Rev. 1267, 1274, 1284–1285 (2007). In short order, the Court adopted strict scrutiny as the standard for reviewing everything from race-based classifications under the Equal Protection Clause to restrictions on constitutionally protected speech. Id., at 1275–1283. Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, then applied strict scrutiny to a purportedly “fundamental” substantive due process right for the first time. Id., at 162– 164; see Fallon, supra, at 1283; accord, Casey, supra, at 871 (plurality opinion) (noting that post-Roe cases interpreted Roe to demand “strict scrutiny”).

At about this point in the post you might need some.

Then the tiers of scrutiny proliferated into ever more gradations. See, e.g., Craig, 429 U. S., at 197–198 (intermediate scrutiny for sex-based classifications); Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U. S. 558, 580 (2003) (O’Connor, J., concurring in judgment) (“a more searching form of rational basis review” applies to unpopular group”); Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1, 25 (1976) (per curiam) (applying “‘closest scrutiny’” to campaign-finance contribution limits). Casey’s undue-burden test added yet another right-specific test on the spectrum between rational-basis and strict-scrutiny review.
The illegitimacy of using “made-up tests” to “displace longstanding national traditions as the primary determinant of what the Constitution means” has long been apparent. United States v. Virginia, 518 U. S. 515, 570 (1996) (Scalia, J., dissenting). The Constitution does not prescribe tiers of scrutiny. The three basic tiers— “rational basis,” intermediate, and strict scrutiny—“are no more scientific than their names suggest, and a further element of randomness is added by the fact that it is largely up to us which test will be applied in each case.” Id., at 567; see also Craig, supra, at 217–221 (Rehnquist,J., dissenting).
But the problem now goes beyond that. If our recent cases illustrate anything, it is how easily the Court tinkers with levels of scrutiny to achieve its desired result. …

[…]

Eighty years on, the Court has come full circle. The Court has simultaneously transformed judicially created rights like the right to abortion into preferred constitutional rights, while disfavoring many of the rights actually enumerated in the Constitution. But our Constitution renounces the notion that some constitutional rights are more equal than others. A plaintiff either possesses the constitutional right he is asserting, or not—and if not, the judiciary has no business creating ad hoc exceptions so that others can assert rights that seem especially important to vindicate. A law either infringes a constitutional right, or not; there is no room for the judiciary to invent tolerable degrees of encroachment. Unless the Court abides by one set of rules to adjudicate constitutional rights, it will continue reducing constitutional law to policy-driven value judgments until the last shreds of its legitimacy disappear.

* * *

Today’s decision will prompt some to claim victory, just as it will stiffen opponents’ will to object. But the entire Nation has lost something essential. The majority’s embrace of a jurisprudence of rights-specific exceptions and balancing tests is “a regrettable concession of defeat—an acknowledgement that we have passed the point where‘law,’ properly speaking, has any further application.” Scalia, The Rule of Law as a Law of Rules, 56 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1175, 1182 (1989). I respectfully dissent.
[…]

Meanwhile, I received a book which I am looking forward to digging into… after Thursday. Russell Shaw’s new book, American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, The Coming Storm, The Drill | Tagged abortion, Justice Thomas, SCOTUS
15 Comments

“Keep calm and carry on!”

Posted on 27 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I enjoyed my visits to Tokyo immensely. Especially fun was coming up with captions for the public safety posters in the subway.

For example:

Not to be outdone, LA has this safety video.

Note that the other passenger looks down at the dismembered body, steps over the detached arm, and gets on the train.

One person on Twitter responded to me, “the very essence of keep calm and carry on”.

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged Los Angeles, metro, subway, Tokyo, train
3 Comments

Another papal trip, another papal presser, another papal kerfuffle

Posted on 27 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The usual unusual suspects are over the moon that Pope Francis made comments about “gays” (I detest the twisting of that once fine word) where else but on an airplane. Other suspects are shredding their garments.

Frankly, this is much ado about very little in comparison with the bizarre off-the-cuff comments from that recent pastoral congress in Rome.

And in making this comment about “gays”, Pope Francis knocked the press off what really mattered in Armenia: the issue of genocide.

What did the Pope say that has everyone in a tizzy… this time? The full text is HERE.

Let’s review.

Cindy Wooden, CNS: Holiness, within the past few days Cardinal Marx, the German, speaking at a large conference in Dublin which is very important on the Church in the modern world, [I would respond that none of the entities she mentioned are important for the Church in the modern world, but I digress.] said that the Catholic Church must ask forgiveness to the gay community for having marginalized these people. In the days following the shooting in Orlando, many have said[many wrong people may have said] that the Christian community had something to do with this hate toward these people. What do you think? [And we’re OFF!…]

Pope Francis: I will repeat what I said on my first trip. I repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally. [Actually, they must be discriminated against when it comes to admission seminary. Right? There’s just discrimination and there’s unjust.] One can condemn, but not for theological reasons, but for reasons of political behavior…Certain manifestations are a bit too offensive for others, no? [Ummm…] … But these are things that have nothing to do with the problem. The problem is a person that has a condition, [Italian: “quella condizione”, which isn’t exactly felicitous if you have “that condition”. Yes, in Italian that sounds about like what it is in English.] that has good will and who seeks God, who are we to judge? And we must accompany them well…this is what the catechism says, a clear catechism. Then there are traditions in some countries, in some cultures that have a different mentality on this problem. [Yah… like the “cultures” and “countries” where homosexuals are killed… which is what Orlando was about.] I think that the Church must not only ask forgiveness – like that “Marxist Cardinal” said (laughs) [Jokes are funny because they contain some truth. But here it comes…] – must not only ask forgiveness to the gay person who is offended. But she must ask forgiveness to the poor too, to women who are exploited, to children who are exploited for labor. [So, “gays” are just one group among many!] She must ask forgiveness for having blessed so many weapons. [I’m pretty sure we are better off for having blessed weapons before the Battle of Lepanto.] The Church must ask forgiveness for not behaving many times – when I say the Church, I mean Christians! The Church is holy, we are sinners![YES!] – Christians must ask forgiveness for having not accompanied so many choices, so many families…I remember from my childhood the culture in Buenos Aires, the closed Catholic culture. I go over there, eh! A divorced family couldn’t enter the house, and I’m speaking of 80 years ago. The culture has changed, thanks be to God. Christians must ask forgiveness for many things, not just these. Forgiveness, not just apologies. Forgive, Lord. It’s a word that many times we forget. Now I’m a pastor and I’m giving a sermon. No, this is true, many times. Many times … but the priest who is a master and not a father, the priest who beats and not the priest who embraces, forgives and consoles. But there are many. [?!? There are?] There are many hospital chaplains, prison chaplains, many saints. But these ones aren’t seen. Because holiness is modest, it’s hidden. Instead it’s a little bit of blatant shamelessness, it’s blatant and you see so many organizations of good people and people who aren’t as good and people who … because you give a purse that’s a little big and look at you from the other side like the international powers with three genocides. We Christians – priests, bishops – we have done this. [I lost track there for a bit… what have we done? “look at you from the other side like the international powers with three genocides”? Is that it?] But also we Christians have Teresa of Calcutta and many Teresa of Calcuttas. We have many servants in Africa, many laity, many holy marriages. The wheat and the weeds. And so Jesus says that the Kingdom … we must not be scandalized for being like this. We must pray so that the Lord makes these weeds end and there is more grain. But this is the life of the Church. We can’t put limits. All of us are saints, because all of us have the Holy Spirit. But we are all sinners, me first of all! Alright. I don’t know if I have replied.

I had a hard time following that. Thus, I don’t blame most newsies for focusing on the “sexy” comment about apologizing to “gays” (I detest that term).

But the Pope also referred back to the Church’s catechism, indeed the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He didn’t even suggest that any change in the Church’s teaching was in order, as if an airplane presser were the place to do that.

Here’s the video from Ed Pentin:

What does the CCC say?

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. [It’s “psychological”.]

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. [But it is a small minority.] This inclination, which is objectively disordered, [The inclination is “objectively disordered”, that is, “it inclines a person toward something that is objective not meant for a person by its nature”] constitutes for most of them a trial. [Probably an understatement.]They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. [Don’t bully them, beat them up, harass them, etc. But that doesn’t mean that “gays” (I detest that term) get a pass on everything just because they have “quella condizione”.] These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives [ALL people are!] and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. [ALL people are, within the sphere of their vocation.] By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, [Many same-sex relationships are friendships that have gone wrong.] by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

2360 Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. [NOT same-sex acts.] In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion. Marriage bonds between baptized persons are sanctified by the sacrament.

So, let’s not be mean to “gays”. That’s also what the CDF wrote. Right?

But the Pope also spoke about other things during this presser!

He also said that, although Luther intended reform, which wasn’t wrong, “maybe some of his methods were not right.” And that the church in the 16thc “was not exactly a model to imitate.” He used the word “genocide” for the massacre of Armenians in the early 20th c. Regarding the “two Popes at once” lunacy that has been floating around, he told Elisbetta Piqué of La Nacion, that Benedict XVI can no longer be considered to be exercising papal ministry. “There is only one pope.” On Brexit he was guarded, but didn’t seem pleased with the result. And with a measure of anger he slammed the door on deaconettes.

But, by all means, focus on the “gay” thing if that makes your socks roll up and down.

I’ve already state my position on question of whether Popes should give interviews.

Another question that one could rehash, as it has been every since the Millennium, is “Should the Church apologize to anyone?”

UPDATE:

The whole thing. The Orlando question is at about 45:00.

Posted in Francis, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged Armenia, homosexuality, kerf, presser
61 Comments

REQUEST FOR INFO: Mass Cards

Posted on 27 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader… which I am turning over to the readership!

QUAERITUR:

Whenever someone passes away, I obviously get them a Mass card. What’s weird is lately rectories do not have them anymore. I understand having a mass said for someone is all that matters, but I wanted to send the family a card assuring them of our prayers.

Do you recommend any societies that do offer Mass cards? What’s the difference between a regular Mass card and an enrollment? Do You have a preference?

Anyone?

Some of you might not know what a “Mass card” is.

A Mass offering card, or memorial card, is similar to a greeting card which you send to someone after one of their loved ones dies to let them know that you will pray for and have Mass said for the deceased. You can get these at religious goods stores. Some religious orders make them. Some parishes have them.

And this doesn’t apply only to someone’s death. You can have Masses said for many reasons, including birthdays or name days, ordinations, confirmations, etc. And we don’t have to wait for people to die to pray for them. Right?

Perhaps some of you have had good experiences with sources for Mass cards. Let us know.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes | Tagged Mass cards
23 Comments

Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Posted on 26 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard for your Mass of Sunday obligation? Let us know.

In the EF, in reference to the effectiveness of God’s blessings, I spoke of Holy Water.

In the OF, I also spoke of Holy Water, but I tied in the prophet Elisha, for obvious reasons.

And, wow, is 2 Kings 2 a cool chapter or what?

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged 2 Kings 2, Elisha, holy water
24 Comments

JUST TOO COOL! “Beating of the Bounds!”

Posted on 25 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is for your Just Too Cool file.

My friend and a commentator here, Fr. Martin Fox has on his blog a post about starting the custom of the “Beating of the Bounds”. In times past, around Ascension or the Rogation Days parishes would have a procession around the boundary of the parish, asking God to bless them and crops, etc. This was useful in times when maps were rare: boundaries were remembered.

Since Fr. Fox’s parish has a really long boundary, they will break up the “beating” over several years. This is a great solution. I had wondered how to revive the custom given really large parish territories.

Do go to visit Fr. Fox’s blog and read about it.

Here is a taste:

Yesterday afternoon, Saint Remy Parish revived a tradition from medieval England, and brought it to the fields surrounding the farm community of Russia, Ohio.

Over 100 men and boys answered my invitation to exercise spiritual leadership and guardianship over the parish with a “Men’s Prayer Walk.” So, yes, this was specifically pitched to men. (One girl did make it, however: a father brought his infant daughter along.)

[…]

I involved several men of the parish as my “wise men”: one took charge of transportation; one took responsibility for food and drink, and a third handled set up and clean up. Several others pitched in with help and ideas — such as games for the boys (what a great idea!).

My hope and plan was for 50 participants; we more than doubled that. Several men who took part didn’t walk; instead, they rode in a golf cart. A number of the boys were in strollers, and some ended up riding their dads’ back part or most of the time.

One of the ideas I came up with was to give the boys chalk, and a diagram for them to draw on the street as we went along. What I came up with looked like this:

S. R.
2 | 0
1 | 6
O. P. N.

And in case you are wondering, that is meant to show a cross, surrounded by this year’s date, and the words, Sancte Remigii, ora pro nobis, or in English, Saint Remy, pray for us.

[…]

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, Be The Maquis, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests | Tagged beating of the bounds, Fr. Martin Fox
11 Comments

“Let the Supreme Court send bishops and priests to jail … the Church cannot go against the law of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Posted on 25 June 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Mexican Catholics know something about persecution.

From LifeSite:

Mexican bishop and his clergy: We will go to jail rather than bless gay ‘marriages’

June 25, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Following a declaration by the Mexican Supreme Court nullifying state laws prohibiting “marriage” to people of the same sex, Nuevo Laredo Bishop Gustavo Rodríguez Vega has issued his own declaration along with the clergy of his diocese, assuring the faithful that he will suffer imprisonment rather than cooperate with such unions.

“They can’t require an institution like this Church to go against its principles,” the archdiocesan clergy are quoted as saying in various local and national news reports. “Let the Supreme Court send the bishops and the priests to jail, whomever they want, but the Church cannot go against the law of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“We know that we can go to jail, if some couple decides to marry civilly, but we won’t give it a blessing. This law cannot obligate the Church, the Church cannot go against its principles and in fact the only ones who will come to the Church will be those who share our principles,” they add.

The clergy of the diocese affirm that their position is “based on scientific, anthropological, social, and religious reasons” which prove that marriage is between “a man and a woman (…) as the juridical tradition of thousands of years of the West affirms, a tradition of two thousand years; it is the union of one man and one woman who wish to procreate.” They call the decision of the Supreme Court to create homosexual “marriage” a “parting of the waters, and the whole world is not going to be in agreement and the Church is not in agreement with this definition.”

[…]

Read the rest there.

Fr. Z kudos to Bp. Rodríguez Vega!