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{]:¬)

QUAERITUR: Can we write down notes and thoughts during Holy Mass?

Posted on 5 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

I tend to think of some of my best ideas during Mass. I keep a small notebook and a pen in my pocket. Is it permissible to jot down quick thoughts?

Sure, I think that is okay… occasionally.

That said, remember that the Actor at Holy Mass is Christ Himself. Were He suddenly to come to you more apparently, would you not give Him your full, undivided attention? I suspect that were you to be given a preview of heaven, you would focus on what you saw while it was going on, not taking your attention away to make notes.

Of course our memories, especially as we get older, are not what they used to be. Making a note helps. A good point in a sermon (or maybe even a really bad one!), a flash of insight, a memory of something from that past that you need to confess….

I think it is okay to jot something down, but Mass is not a didactic moment. Mass is not the same as Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament wherein, over the course of an hour, you might go from an intellectual exercise to meditation to contemplation and back.

An occasional note during Mass, sure. But you probably shouldn’t be sitting there regularly with pen and pad in hand.

Catholic League about Hell’s Bible’s attack on Bp. Finn

Posted on 5 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

If Christmas or Easter are on the horizon, we can be sure that Hell’s Bible (and the Fishwrap) will find someone in the Church to bash. Right now, that would be Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Putting aside what you think about the issue of Bp. Finn’s need to resign or to remain in place, the New York Times should not have a free pass to spread inaccurate information.

From the Catholic League:

The Catholic Left has been trying to unseat Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn for well over a year. Their effort received another boost today from the New York Times. It deserves a response.

The Times says that Finn’s conviction of a misdemeanor “stemmed from his failure to report the Rev. Shawn Ratigan to the authorities after hundreds of pornographic pictures that Father Ratigan had taken of young girls were discovered on his laptop in December 2010.”

[NB] That statement is factually wrong. On October 15, 2011 the Times mentioned there was “a single photo of a young girl, nude from the waist down,” and “hundreds of photographs of children” showing “upskirt images and images focused on the crotch.”

Now anyone who takes such pictures is clearly disturbed. But it also needs to be said that crotch shots are not pornographic. Moreover, the diocese described the “single photo” of a naked girl to a police officer who served on the diocesan sexual review board, and he said it did not constitute pornography. So why would the Times say that “hundreds of pornographic pictures” were found two years ago this month? The record shows that it was not until after the diocese called the cops in May 2011 that porn pictures were found on Ratigan’s computer.

On February 23, 1998, a Times editorial railed against those who try to equate “nude photographs of children” with child pornography. So it is more than just a little hypocritical of the Times to now feign indignation over a single photo of a nude child. [That was then and this is now. Moreover, the Times types happily exalts all manner of filth in the entertainment industry and upholds the creators of that filth.]

Under Bishop Finn, the review board was contacted, the authorities were notified, and an independent investigation was ordered (the Graves Report). In short, Bishop Finn deserves better. The attack on him, coming exclusively from the Catholic Left, smacks of an agenda.

Contact our director of communications about Donohue’s remarks:
Jeff Field
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail: cl@catholicleague.org

Could the situation in Kansas City, with that sick priest, have been handled better? Sure. Does that justify the spread of false information?

Pray for Bp. Finn, that he make the correct decisions.

Pray against Hell’s Bible and the Fishwrap, that they rapidly change their ways or go out of business.

Psalm 5 (RSV):

1 To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my groaning. 2 Hearken to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to thee do I pray. 3 O LORD, in the morning thou dost hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for thee, and watch. 4 For thou art not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not sojourn with thee. 5 The boastful may not stand before thy eyes; thou hatest all evildoers. 6 Thou destroyest those who speak lies; the LORD abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful men. 7 But I through the abundance of thy steadfast love will enter thy house, I will worship toward thy holy temple in the fear of thee. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of my enemies; make thy way straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is destruction, their throat is an open sepulchre, they flatter with their tongue. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against thee. 11 But let all who take refuge in thee rejoice, let them ever sing for joy; and do thou defend them, that those who love thy name may exult in thee. 12 For thou dost bless the righteous, O LORD; thou dost cover him with favor as with a shield.

Posted in Green Inkers, Liberals, The Last Acceptable Prejudice, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged Bp. Finn, Catholic League, D. Kansas City-St. Joseph, Fishwrap, Hell's Bible, National Catholic Reporter
36 Comments

It’s Winter Festival time!

Posted on 4 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was walking by a building in Manhattan last night and saw in their lobby a Christmas tree, a menorah, and an Islamic crescent moon.

“Where’s the parity in that?”, quoth I.

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged ACLU, winter festival
40 Comments

The Feeder Feed: Attic Black-Figure Edition

Posted on 4 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I haven’t been able to post feeder updates because … well … because. Here is a variation I use when on the road.

Behold an Attic Black-Figure pelike, or wine jar.

This probably shows a variation on the theme of Achilles and Ajax playing a board game. Here however we see musicians. Note the flute case and lyre on the wall.

And the spiffy water bird!

Also in the case is an amphora depicting, by way of prophetical allegory, me battling the proponents of women’s ordination.

Hint: I win.

In the meantime, the young man on this plate seems to be riding a chicken…

I’m not sure what this symbolizes, but it might have something to do with the NCR.

Posted in On the road, The Feeder Feed, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged attic black-figure, birds, pelike
5 Comments

Secret Shadow Government Latin Space War Patch!

Posted on 4 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I don’t get to write titles like that very often.

From a reader:

I don’t know that the story about the Secret Shadow Government and the Secret Space War (with ETs) has any logical home on WDTPRS (although I did recently see a late-night show titled something like “Secrets Revealed” that spent 30 minutes exposing the “truth” that the Vatican has been in communication with ETs for at least 500 years, if not a millennium — what a hoot!), but I figured you’d especially appreciate the patch with Latin motto:

Fun!

Okay… there are better ways to get that idea across in Latin. For one thing, I think that similis needs a genitive or a dative, here probably dative. Aside from the need to attach an adjective to pullus, which is pretty generic, thus pullus gallinaceus, I would make that a plural and rearrange it a little. Perhaps GUSTATUS PULLIS SIMILIS. Variations abound. What we are trying to say doesn’t go directly from English: “Tastes like chicken” into Latin words. We are saying “The taste/flavor of this flesh reminds me of the taste of the flesh of a chicken”, or even “Their taste/flavor is like to that of chickens” or, briefly, “The taste is chicken-y”

I think we might be able to get away with the simple GUSTATUS GALLINACEUS.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Lighter fare | Tagged aliens, chicken, dative, ET
19 Comments

Are Christ’s mission and Holy Church well-served by “me-tooism”?

Posted on 4 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

My friend Fr. Tim Finigan, His Hermeueticalness, has written with a touch of irony about the recent launch of the Holy Father’s Twitter account, @pontifex.

Among Father’s observations is an amusing bit about how the Holy See’s explanatory announcement of this Twitter thing, bloggers such as he and I are referred to as “early adapters”. Father also posts a photo of old bakelite sockets and plugs. That in itself is reason enough to visit his blog and be amused. He also added, correctly, that this move by the Holy See, and the measure of cooperation among different dicasteries, suggests that, finally, some in the Curia realize that they have to adapt or die. To put it another way, it isn’t quite good enough to, as I have in the past sardonically described the Holy See’s approach to technology, “Update our equipment every 75 years, whether it needs it or not.”

This morning I was talking to a priest friend about the propriety/wisdom of the Holy Father having a Twitter account.

As you can by now tell, I have my reservations.

I focused on the question from the point that Tweeting seems – for a Pope – to be infra dignitatem. At least right now.

Yes, yes. I know all the points about St. Paul writing letters to communities and bishops using the Imperial postal system. I know about stained-glass and the printing press and radio and all those other things. I was the one who came up with the image of Christ being the first to use technology, to perform “on line ministry”, when he had Himself but let out on the water in a boat on the end of a line so that more people could hear him as the stood on the shore. Yes, yes. I know that.

But my friend raised a good point.

As we watch the hierarchy at home and abroad lurching around trying to figure out what to do in the face of social comms, are we not seeing one example of “me-tooism” after another?

“Hey! Did you know that young people go to rock concerts!?! Let’s have one too!”

The Holy See would do well to focus on a theology of communication.

Christ is the Perfect Communicator (Communio et progressio, 11). Let’s start there.

IDEA: Let the Social Communications types in the Curia sponsor another meeting in Rome for bloggers and bring in people to talk about a theology of communication.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Benedict XVI, Brick by Brick, Linking Back, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Communio et progressio, Communio et progressio 11, me-tooism, Pontifex, theology of communication, Twitter
36 Comments

2013 Comet to be a “once in a civilization” event?

Posted on 4 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader alerted me to this from Scientific American:

Next year’s “brightest comet in modern times” to be “once in a civilization” event

As it flares out of the distant Oort Cloud, the newly discovered comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) appears to be heading on a trajectory that could make for one of the most spectacular night-sky events in living memory. Why is this comet expected to be so unique? Two reasons:

Astronomers predict that the comet will pass just 1.16 million miles from the Sun as it swings around its perihelion, or closest approach. (This may seem like a lot, but remember – the Sun is big. If we were to scale the Sun down to the size of Earth, the comet would pass well within the orbits of dozens of satellites.) The close approach will melt enormous amounts of the comet’s ice, releasing dust and gas and forming what should be a magnificent tail.

After it loops around the Sun and forms this tail, the comet should then pass relatively close to Earth – not near enough to cause any worry, but close enough to put on a great show. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will get the best view as the comet blooms in the weeks approaching Christmas 2013. The comet could grow as bright as the full moon.

Of course, comets have a habit of not living up to expectations. This one could be sucked into the Sun during its close approach, or not grow as much of a tail as astronomers hope.

But that hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for what Astronomy Now is awkwardly calling “a once-in-a-civilisation’s-lifetime” event.
The comet expert John E. Bortle is already comparing ISON with the Great Comet of 1680, which, according to contemporary accounts, caused the people of New York’s Manhattan Island to be “overcome with terror at a sight in the heavens such as has seldom greeted human eyes…. In the province of New York a day of fasting and humiliation was appointed, in order that the wrath of God might be assuaged.” [We could use a little more of that, frankly.]

[…]

The piece goes on to quote another author:

The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America by John Fiske

Chapter XI, ‘New York in the Year 1680’

Late in the autumn of 1680 the good people of Manhattan were overcome with terror at a sight in the heavens such as has seldom greeted human eyes. An enormous comet, perhaps the most magnificent one on record, suddenly made its appearance. At first it was tailless and dim, like a nebulous cloud, but at the end of a week the tail began to show itself and in a second week had attained a length of 30 degrees; in the third week it extended to 70 degrees, while the whole mass was growing brighter. After five weeks it seemed to be absorbed into the intense glare of the sun, but in four days more it reappeared like a blazing sun itself in the throes of some giant convulsion and threw out a tail in the opposite direction as far as the whole distance between the sun and the earth. Sir Isaac Newton, who was then at work upon the mighty problems soon to be published to the world in his Principia, welcomed this strange visitor as affording him a beautiful instance for testing the truth of his new theory of gravitation. But most people throughout the civilized world, the learned as well as the multitude, feared that the end of all things was at hand. Every church in Europe, from the grandest cathedral to the humblest chapel, resounded with supplications, and in the province of New York a day of fasting and humiliation was appointed,in order that the wrath of God might be assuaged. [Like I said, above, we could use more of that all the time and not just in moments of crisis.]

Posted in Global Killer Asteroid Questions, Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged 1680, Astronomy, C/2012 S1 (ISON), comet, ISON, Oort Cloud
6 Comments

Maternal Lunch

Posted on 3 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am having lunch in NYC… with my mother, who happens to be here.

UPDATE:
After an afternoon at MoMA we really needed a drink.

UPDATE:
The wrap…

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged lunch, Veselka
32 Comments

@Pontifex

Posted on 3 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Holy Father’s new Twitter account is up and running: @Pontifex

He has not tweeted anything yet, at the time of this writing.

From VIS:

The Pope’s presence on Twitter is a concrete expression of his conviction that the Church must be present in the digital arena. This initiative is best understood in the context of his reflections on the importance of the cultural space that has been brought into being by the new technologies. In his Message for World Communications Day 2009, which was published on the same day as the Vatican’s Youtube channel was opened, Pope Benedict spoke of the necessity of evangelizing the ‘digital continent’ and he invited young believers, in particular, to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives.

In 2010, he invited priests to see the possibility of sharing the Word of God through their engagement with new media: the new media offer ever new and far-reaching pastoral possibilities, encouraging them to embody the universality of the Church’s mission, to build a vast and real fellowship, and to testify in today’s world to the new life which comes from hearing the Gospel of Jesus, the eternal Son who came among us for our salvation. In his Message for 2011, he specified that: The web is contributing to the development of new and more complex intellectual and spiritual horizons, new forms of shared awareness. In this field too we are called to proclaim our faith that Christ is God, the Saviour of humanity and of history, the one in whom all things find their fulfilment (cf. Eph 1:10). In this year’s Message, the Holy Father was even more precise: Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God. In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives.

The Pope’s presence on Twitter can be seen as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ that is the Church’s presence in the world of new media. The Church is already richly present in this environment – there exist a whole range of initiatives from the official websites of various institutions and communities to the personal sites, blogs and micro-blogs of public church figures and of individual believers. The Pope’s presence in Twitter is ultimately an endorsement of the efforts of these ‘early adapters’ to ensure that the Good News of Jesus Christ and the teaching of his Church is permeating the forum of exchange and dialogue that is being created by social media. His presence is intended to be an encouragement to all Church institutions and people of faith to be attentive to develop an appropriate profile for themselves and their convictions in the ‘digital continent’. The Pope’s tweets will be available to believers and non-believers to share, discuss and to encourage dialogue. It is hoped that the Pope’s short messages, and the fuller messages that they seek to encapsulate, will give rise to questions for people from different countries, languages and cultures. These questions can in turn be engaged by local Church leaders and believers who will be best positioned to address the questions and, more importantly, to be close to those who question. Amid the complexity and diversity of the world of communications, however, many people find themselves confronted with the ultimate questions of human existence: Who am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope? It is important to affirm those who ask these questions, and to open up the possibility of a profound dialogue (Communications Day Message, 2012).

Part of the challenge for the Church in the area of new media is to establish a networked or capillary presence that can effectively engage the debates, discussions and dialogues that are facilitated by social media and that invite direct, personal and timely responses of a type that are not so easily achieved by centralized institutions. Moreover, such a networked or capillary structure reflects the truth of the Church as a community of communities which is alive both universally and locally. The Pope’s presence in Twitter will represent his voice as a voice of unity and leadership for the Church but it will also be a powerful invitation to all believers to express their ‘voices’, to engage their ‘followers’ and ‘friends’ and to share with them the hope of the Gospel that speaks of God’s unconditional love for all men and women.

In addition to the direct engagement with the questions, debates and discussions of people that is facilitated by new media, the Church recognizes the importance of new media as an environment that allows to teach the truth that the Lord has passed to His Church, to listen to others, to learn about their cares and concerns, to understand who they are and for what they are searching. When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary. Deeper reflection helps us to discover the links between events that at first sight seem unconnected, to make evaluations, to analyze messages; this makes it possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic body of shared knowledge (Message, 2012). It is for this reason that it has been decided to launch the Pope’s Twitter channel with a formal question and answer format. This launch is also an indication of the importance that the Church gives to listening and is a warranty of its ongoing attentiveness to the conversations, commentaries and trends that express so spontaneously and insistently the preoccupations and hopes of people.

[01618-02.01] [Original text: English]