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{]:¬)

How liberal Chicago Politicians (chuckle) reacted to Card. George and Chick-fil-A. Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 3 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the Washington Times (the sane paper of the Capitol city):

Chick-fil-A still ruffling [Chicago alderman] Proco Joe Moreno’s feathers

By Peter V. Bella [retired Chicago Police Officer, freelance journalist and photojournalist, cook, and raconteur. WDTPRS likes retired cops… a lot.]

CHICAGO August 3, 2012— Chicago aldermen are not known for their intelligence, [And we’re off to the races!] intellectual abilities, critical thinking, or even horse sense, the sense horses have that keep them from betting on humans.

1st Ward Alderman Proco Joe Moreno proved that by trying to argue, through the media of course, with Cardinal George of Chicago’s Catholic Archdiocese. Proco Joe definitively proved any simpleton could and does get elected to office in Chicago. [Pace H.L. Mencken, no Chicago pol ever lost office by underestimating the intelligence of his constituents. Pres. Obama is, if I recall, a Chicago politician. His values included promoting infanticide. Now they include openly attacking the Catholic Church as he promotes his culture of death agenda.]

“Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the ‘values’ that must be held by citizens of Chicago,” Cardinal George wrote on the Archdiocese of Chicago’s blog Sunday. [HERE]

“I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city?”

To which Moreno responded:

“It’s unfortunate that the cardinal, as often happens, [As often happens… how? To whom? ] picks parts of the Bible and not other parts,” said Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno in response to Cardinal George/Chicago Tribune, who added that he was raised Catholic in western Illinois, [At a subsidiary of post-Vatican II Am-Church, I’ll bet.] attended a Catholic grade school and was an altar boy. Moreno said he now occasionally attends church. [And yet Moreno says, above, “as often happens”, suggesting that Card. George, and not just a generic “people out there”, proof-text from the Bible. No doubt this ex-altar boy (There’s a credential to impress!) hangs on every word the Cardinal writes and utters.]

“The Bible says many things,” Moreno said. “For the cardinal to say that Jesus believes in this, and therefore we all must believe in this, I think is just ingenuous and irresponsible. The God I believe in is one [Did he really write that? Ah the fruits of a Catholic edyucashun!] about equal rights, and to not give equal rights to those that want to marry, is in my opinion un-Christian.” [Do the parts of that sentence … never mind.]

All you need is the “blessing of the boys”, an ancient sacrament of the Holy Democratic Crime Family better known as the Democratic Machine. A mind is not necessary in the mindless machine.

It is evident Proco Joe never read the Bible, [Which clearly, resoundingly, condemns homsexual acts.] let alone paid attention in whatever parochial school he claims to have attended. It is apparent that Proco Joe picks and chooses what he believes in, except for the one true faith, the one religion, the one gospel – the Chicago Democratic Machine.

It is the theology of “money power”.

So Proco Joe sold his soul to Beelzebub and converted to the Democratic Chicago Way, the only true religion in Chicago. Their bible preaches vileness, avarice, greed, corruption, and criminality. Those are and always have been the values of Chicago politicians.

Money is power, power is money. That is the Chicago Way. The more money politicians amass they can run for reelection, they can also contribute to each help each other, and they amass more power.

If Chick-fil-A wrote a big check people would be stunned how fast Proco Joe could shove tasty chicken sandwiches down his gullet.

[…]

There’s more.

Let’s now start the count-down!

“But Father! But Father!”, someone will interject. “That’s a mean way to talk. You conservatives are mean meanies. I thought you were supposed to love people? Isn’t it time to tone down the rhetoric”?

No. It isn’t.

Why should they get a free pass to say anything they want in the public square? Why do they just get to kick faithful Catholics and the hierarchy with impunity? If they kill us – and it will get to that point – then we can be martyrs. Until then, we can and must defend ourselves.

And the only time liberals ever talk about toning down the rhetoric is when they are losing the argument.

No. These liberals who demonize the Church for teaching the truth do not get a free pass.

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", Biased Media Coverage, Blatteroons, Fr. Z KUDOS, Liberals, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged Card. George, Chicago, Chick-fil-A, Proco Joe Moreno, Rhetoric
32 Comments

3 August A.M.: Long-Awaited Olympic Hyper-Excitment Sporting UPDATE!

Posted on 3 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am settling in to review email, start an article for the paper, and, of course, probably just as you are, watch Team Handball (M – GER v IND, Match 33 in Pool B). I know you want your update.

But first, remember this?

[wp_youtube]HiYfWU4POsg[/wp_youtube]

Now to the important stuff.

(Germany just scored the 1st Goal, btw.)

The MEN:

The WOMEN:

Handball played outdoors as field handball. The sport first appeared at the Berlin 1936 Games.

Some say that Handball is like liturgical dance.

I know.. it’s not Curling.

Posted in What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged olympics, Team Handball
8 Comments

First Friday!

Posted on 3 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Don’t forget. Today is a First Friday.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, One Man & One Woman | Tagged devotions, First Friday
7 Comments

Pope Benedict completed Vol. 3 of “Jesus of Nazareth”

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I read at CWN:

Pope Benedict XVI has completed the 3rd and final volume of his work, Jesus of Nazareth, the Vatican has disclosed.

The Pope’s latest book, which focuses on the Gospel accounts of Christ’s infancy, was apparently completed while the Pontiff was vacationing at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict has regularly used his vacation time for writing projects, and there are rumors that he is now working on an encyclical to introduce the Year of Faith that starts in October.

The 3rd volume of Jesus of Nazareth is now being translated from the German of the original manuscript into several other languages. A publication date will be announced once the first translations are complete. Vatican officials cautioned that the process of translation will be painstaking.

The 1st volume of Jesus of Nazareth, covering the period of Christ’s life from the Baptism through the Transfiguration, appeared in 2007. The 2nd volume, with the subtitle Holy Week, covering the events from the entry into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, was published early in 2011.

Shortly after his election as Roman Pontiff, Benedict XVI indicated that he did not plan to continue the prolific pace of writing that he had previously maintained. His trilogy on the life of Jesus is the only book project he has written as Pope.

This last portion of the work will be about Our Lord’s infancy and childhood. It is expected to be shorter than the first two volumes.

Volume 1 of Jesus of Nazareth was published in 2007 and Volume 2 in 2011.

The first volume is HERE.

I found, in the first volume, the Holy Father’s exposition of the problems with an unbalanced “historical-critical” approach to Scriptures masterful and invaluable. Also, he has a succinct explanation of how we are to understand “inspiration” and Scripture. His reflections on the temptations of the Lord was rich.

The second volume of the Holy Father’s work Jesus of Nazareth focuses on the period the Lord’s life from the entrance into Jerusalem to His resurrection.

Click HERE.

Posted in Benedict XVI, Just Too Cool | Tagged Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth
23 Comments

Sorting and Throwing continues

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am still sorting and culling and throwing and organizing. Along the way I am finding interesting things! Well.. admittedly some of them have been in plain sight.

This, however, was not. The first biretta I ever used. Pretty worn.

I don’t know why I have two Rosaries with all the mysteries, but I do.

Now that I think of it, I have a bag full of rosaries somewhere with a really nice complete corona… somewhere.

The sorting of vestments continues.

What to do with enormous and very heavy tabernacles. They have to be heavy, of course, because they are intended to safeguard the Blessed Sacrament.

And if that wasn’t enough.

And on the the theme of the Blessed Sacrament, a procession canopy!

Here is something you won’t see everyday… I hope.

I found these in the basement when I moved in. I keep them in the guest room, for obvious reasons. They are simply too ghastly not to be wonderful!

Not just one, but two!

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing this:

I’ll take offers for those. No… no… get in line!

On a happier note, here is something with lots of memories. I actually bought this from a men’s clothing store when I was a kid.

This is a plaster statue of Cyrano, not quite 3′ high.

So sad.

You can’t quite see it, but in his right hand he has a rose, and his hat, held somewhat behind his back has the great plume… his panache (in case you younger readers didn’t know where the figure, the image of “panache” came from to indicate great and high style).

He has a few little dings to his finish, but no breaks or chips.

CYRANO:
Mais aussi que diable allait-il faire,
Mais que diable allait-il faire en cette galère ?. . .
Philosophe, physicien,
Rimeur, bretteur, musicien,
Et voyageur aérien,
Grand riposteur du tac au tac,
Amant aussi–pas pour son bien !–
Ci-gît Hercule-Savinien
De Cyrano de Bergerac,
Qui fut tout, et qui ne fut rien,
. . .Mais je m’en vais, pardon, je ne peux faire attendre:
Vous voyez, le rayon de lune vient me prendre !
(Il se retombé assis, les pleurs de Roxane le rappellent à la réalité,
il la regarde, et caressant ses voiles):
Je ne veux pas que vous pleuriez moins ce charmant,
Ce bon, ce beau Christian; mais je veux seulement
Que lorsque le grand froid aura pris mes vertèbres,
Vous donniez un sens double à ces voiles funèbres,
Et que son deuil sur vous devienne un peu mon deuil.

ROXANE:
Je vous jure !. . .

Did you know that there was a musical of Cyrano? I saw it in 1973 at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis with Christopher Plummer in the title role.

And so it goes.

Posted in What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Cyrano, owls, panache
33 Comments

VIDEO: Craven, narcissistic, bullying slubberdegullion liberal (redundant, I know) harasses Chick-fil-A employee.

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

CMR deserves thanks for letting us know about this video. Give him some traffic.

This is a great example of what liberals are really like. Talk about hate!

Brrrr…. I just had a flashback to my old seminary faculty. Brrrrrrr!

[wp_youtube]bPLNgkP9nzc[/wp_youtube]

What a craven slubberdegullion this narcissist is for bullying this employee, whom he had to know was unable to put up a fight. I think she handled herself pretty well. And he recorded himself because it was all about him and how wonderful he is. Otherwise, perhaps the blatteroon wanted to provoke her into something that could be used against the company.

Note to priests and bishops:

Reverend gentlemen, I have over the last few months posted several entries about liberals with video cameras confronting priests, in church and in front of church. We have to think about this and be prepared.

Perhaps dioceses could have some workshops for priests and seminarians on how to handle these moments.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Blatteroons, Liberals, O'Brian Tags, One Man & One Woman, Slubberdegullions, The Drill, The future and our choices, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged bullies, bullying, Chick-fil-A, haters, liberals, Pres. Obama, The First Gay President
95 Comments

At loggerheads over “pluck-buffet”

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Yesterday – I forgot to post this – the Oxford English Dictionary‘s Word of the Day was appropriate both for the Olympics but also -if you stumble into the pronunciation trap English sets for us all – for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. See if you can tell why.

By the way… one really doesn’t get many opportunities to write Chick-fil-A and Oxford English Dictionary in the same sentence.

pluck-buffet, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. /plʌkˈbʌfɪt/ , U.S. /pləkˈbəfət/
Forms: see pluck v. and buffet n.1
Etymology: < pluck v. + buffet n.1 rare (hist. in later use). Prob.: an archery contest, in which the loser received a buffet or blow from the winner. c1510 Gest Robyn Hode viii. 1695 in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 77 And they shote plucke-buffet, As they went by the way And many a buffet owr kinge wan of Robin Hode that day. 1833 Archer's Guide vi. 170 A sport called ‘pluck buffet’, in which (in the ‘Garland’, an old poem) Richard Coeur de Lion is made to engage with Robin Hood. 1916 G. L. Kittredge Stud. Gawain & Green Knight 121 The introductory incident, with the challenge to a game of pluck-buffet, serves to embark the hero on the adventurous journey. 1927 in Mod. Philol. (1936) 33 361 The game of alternating blows or pluck-buffet provided a story-pattern which was inconsistent..with the myth, but effective as entertainment.

And, just to extend the English fun, the buffeting Chick-fil-A has received shows that they have pluck!

That last entry reminded me of the scene in the Aubrey/Maturin books, The Commodore, when sailors report to Stephen to be repaired after having amused themselves at loggerheads.

These were the two invalids in the starboard sick-berth, whom Padeen had been sitting with. They had been sparring, in a spirit of fun, with loggerheads, those massy iron balls with long handles to be carried red-hot from the fire and plunged into buckets of tar or pitch so that the substance might be melted with no risk of flame. ‘They are sober now, sir; and penitent, the creatures.’

‘I shall look at them, when we have everything ready,’ said Stephen, beginning to range saws, scalpels, ligatures and tourniquets.

Stephen walked into the other berth, looked at his patients and asked them how they did. ‘Prime, sir,’ they answered, and thanked him kindly.

‘Well, I am glad of that,’ he said. ‘Yet although they were good clean breaks, immobilized at once, it will be long before you can go aloft, or dance upon the green, if ever we get home, which God send.’

‘Amen, amen, sir,’ they answered together.

‘But how did you ever come to be so indiscreet and thoughtless as to beat one another with those vile great loggerheads?’

‘It was only in fun, sir, like we sometimes do, meaning no harm. One has a swipe and the other dodges, turn and turn about.’

‘In all my experience of the sea I have never heard of such a dreadful practice.’

The patients looked meek, avoiding one another’s eyes; and presently Ellis said ‘It all depends on the ship, sir. We often used to play in the Agamemnon; and my father, which he was carpenter’s crew in the old George, had a real set-to, real serious, with a forecastleman that called him a …’

‘Called him what?’

‘I hardly like to say it.’

‘Murmur it in my ear,’ said Stephen, bending low. ‘A nymph,’ whispered Ellis.

‘Did he indeed, the wicked dog? How did it end, so?’

‘Well, sir, they were at right loggerheads, like I said – the whole forecastle agreed it was right – and my dad fetched him such a crack they had to take his leg off that very evening, much mangled. But it was a blessing to the poor bugger in the end. Having but one leg left, Captain the Honourable Byron, who was always very good to his men, got him a cook’s warrant, and he lived till he was drowned on the Coromandel coast.’

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged >Oxford English Dictionary, Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, e, English, Etymology, loggerheads, pluck, pluck-buffet
8 Comments

Fr. Z asks a favor for a priest

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Will some of you good readers out there get in touch with Fr. Byers of Holy Souls Hermitage to help him with something?

Specifically, aside from buying groceries which is no small deal, he has a technical problem.

Father is in the boonies and needs internet access. He has to use a wifi rebroadcaster. His rebroadcaster was struck by lightning. There is a deal right now whereby he can get some installed for less money. He needs help.

It is a little difficult to figure out how to write to Father or how to send money to him. That’s because his religious superiors have told him he can’t ask for donations.

BUT I CAN ASK FOR HIM.

You will find his email address on his blog also.

Father’s mission is prayer for priests and bishops. He occasionally prays for and says Mass for me, as a matter of fact, and I really need that sort of support. So, my asking is, in part, self-interested. Readers here have in the past been good to priests when I have made appeals for certain things (such as the great group of men in Platteville, WI). Perhaps some of you will also take Fr. Byers under your protective wing.

I always get a boost when a donation comes in or someone sends me something from my wish list. Even small gestures help me to keep going and also to make ends meet.

Click HERE for his explanation of what Father needs.

Click HERE for his very cool though grizzly post about naming two large spiders “Obama” and “Pavone” – in reference to Priests For Life refusal to obey the Obama Administration’s anti-Catholic HHS Mandate – and then putting them together for a little cage match, complete with an arachnidian victory dance!

Posted in Priests and Priesthood, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged Holy Souls Hermitage
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2 August until midnight: “Portiuncula” Plenary (or Partial) Indulgence

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From midnight tonight to midnight 2 August, you can gain the “Portinuncula” Indulgence.

Catholic Encyclopedia

St. Francis, as you know, repaired three chapels. The third was popularly called the Portiuncula or the Little Portion, dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels. It is now enclosed in a sanctuary at Assisi.

The friars came to live at the Little Portion in early 1211. It became the “motherhouse” of the Franciscans. This is where St. Clare came to the friars to make her vows during the night following Palm Sunday in 1212 and where Sister Death came to Francis on 3 October 1226.

Because of the favors from God obtained at the Portiuncula, St. Francis requested the Pope to grant remission of sins to all who came there. The privilege extends beyond the Portiuncula to others churches, especially held by Franciscans, throughout the world.

A plenary indulgence is a mighty tool for works of mercy and weapon in our ongoing spiritual warfare. A plenary indulgence is the remission, through the merits of Christ and the saints, through the Church, of all temporal punishment due to sin already forgiven.

To obtain the Portiuncula plenary indulgence, a person must visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels at Assisi, or a Franciscan sanctuary, or one’s parish church, with the intention of honoring Our Lady of the Angels. Then perform the work of reciting the Creed and Our Father and pray for the Pope’s designated intentions. You should be free, at least intentionally, of attachment to venial and mortal sin, and truly repentant. Make your sacramental confession 8 days before or after. Participate at assist at Mass and receive Holy Communion 8 days before or after.

BTW… the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence on a day of the year he designates (cf. Ench. Indul. 33 1.2.d). You might choose the anniversary of your baptism or of another sacrament or name day.

As an amusing tidbit, here is the page from my Roman Curia wall calendar indicating the indulgence.