A few mischievous thoughts.

Posted on 19 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A few mischievous thoughts.

If Pope Francis is truly interested in the environment, he should, without delay, ditch the cars he is driven around in and use the sedia gestatoria.  It’s for the planet!

Furthermore, to save the planet by reducing fossil fuel use (and planet killing Air Conditioning), Francis should immediately cancel World Youth Day.

One of my correspondents opined that “the antidote to Laudato si is Donald Trump for President“.  That oughta freak out some Fishwrapers.*

And, again, if everyone is going to be required by the elite liberal set to accept the Pope’s musings on the environment and markets as nearly infallible teaching, then perhaps we should give them all copies of … say… Mortalium animos… Humanae vitae… Ordinatio sacerdotalis… Summorum Pontificum… and hold them to their own standards.

Speaking of Air Conditioning, one of my priest correspondents sent …

Since the Pope has taken a dim view on air conditioning, the non-carbon producing  flabella are the ecological sound solution for all your cooling needs.

A few mischievous thoughts.

Come to think of it, both the flabella and the return of the sedia gestatoria help to alleviate  youth unemployment which His Holiness says is one of “the most urgent” problems facing the Church, and one of the “most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days.” HERE

*Some humorless lib will now claim that I endorsed Donald Trump.  Just watch.

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged ,
64 Comments

#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

Posted on 18 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This year’s Acton U has me teaching for the first time.  I’m doing two classes, one on the Fathers of the Church on Usury (which I didn’t really know much about, but seemed like an interesting topic – I go in as a student with the others) and on Augustine’s “City of God” (and – of Augustine – everyone remains but a student).

There are so many good people teaching for Acton (including famous teachers such as Peter Kreeft) that it is a little intimidating.  The participants themselves are pretty high test.  So, I’ll ask my Angel Guardian to help me out, especially on a day when I am distracted by this new encyclical.

This morning, at Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form, on the Feast of Ephrem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church, I reminded people to pray for Christians suffering in Syria… that God will protect them from temporal and spiritual harm… or at least spiritual harm, if it is not God’s will to save them from the rabid animal packs of murders that are killing them.

St. Pauls Epistle reading, common for doctors, was striking today:

Lesson from the secons letter of St Paul the Apostle to Timotheus
2 Tim. 4:1-8
Beloved: I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus, Who will judge the living and the dead by His coming and by His kingdom, preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and teaching. For there will come a time when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap up to themselves teachers according to their own lusts, and they will turn away their hearing from the truth and turn aside rather to fables. But be watchful in all things, bear with tribulation patiently, work as a preacher of the Gospel, fulfill your ministry. Be sober. [Sobrius esto! Keep your head in the game!] As for me, I am already being poured out in sacrifice, and the time of my deliverance is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will give to me in that day; yet not to me only, but also to those who love His coming.

After Mass I went to a breakfast for some invitees held to discuss the new encyclical.

#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

It was stimulating.  There was some strong and sober talk this morning, as well as some good-natured (though anxious) kidding around about Laudato si‘.   One comment by an Argentinian scholar stuck with me: it was amazing to him that an Argentinian could go one for 44K words without using the phrase “social justice” a single time!

The other day I posted the old fashioned mail chute.  Here’s the other end!

We used to make classy things, to last.

#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

 

As supper started we were shown the trailer for the new film Poverty, Inc.

Wow.

#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

If you have a chance to see this… go and take people with you.   Perhaps even have it shown in your parish or get a local theatre to run it.
#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

In the evening we had a talk from Joel Salatin… an edgy choice for an Acton U speaker.  He was engaging and entertaining and he provided food for thought.  However, I thought he went to the zoo on a few points.

 

#ACTONU – DAY 2 – Teaching

 

A couple ironic moments from the day:

As we were having the breakfast discussion about the Pope’s new encyclical, which comes down hard against air-conditioning, there was a maintenance guy in the room… fixing the air conditioning.

In the evening, we were told about an iPad giveaway for those who would promote the Acton’s resource page about the Pope’s encyclical using social media.  See what Francis says about stuff like that!  You’ve gotta smile.

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

Laudato si’ 75 and 77 – Creation has a Creator

Posted on 18 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

maitani creationIn another post I mentioned the Stream piece which points out 11 great moments in the new encyclical Laudato si’.

Here is one of the good moments.  Read:

(1) Creation has a Creator, and is more than just “nature-plus-evolution”:

(75) A spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable. That is how we end up worshipping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his creation underfoot. The best way to restore men and women to their rightful place, putting an end to their claim to absolute dominion over the earth, is to speak once more of the figure of a Father who creates and who alone owns the world. Otherwise, human beings will always try to impose their own laws and interests on reality.

(77) “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6). This tells us that the world came about as the result of a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this exalts it all the more. The creating word expresses a free choice. The universe did not emerge as the result of arbitrary omnipotence, a show of force or a desire for self-assertion. Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things: “For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it” (Wis 11:24). Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its few seconds of existence, God enfolds it with his affection. Saint Basil the Great described the Creator as “goodness without measure,” while Dante Alighieri spoke of “the love which moves the sun and the stars”. [The Poet really said “the love which moves the sun and other stars“, but that’s a small point.  It’s the last line of the Divina Commedia.  Did you know that each section ends with the word “stars… stelle“?] Consequently, we can ascend from created things “to the greatness of God and to his loving mercy.”

This is pretty good.  It isn’t ground breaking (in a metaphorical sense… let’s not harm Mother Earth), but it is good.  I like that point about how God knows, chooses, cherishes even the most fleeting of lives.

And then there are paragraphs 60-61, at the end of Chapter 1, wherein the Pope (or his writer) seems to call for dialogue between people with differing positions only to follow right way with a statement that seems to say that there isn’t really any room for debate, the issue is settled.   Really?

I’ll repeat what I wrote the other day, but in a different way.

When the catholic Left insist that you accept everything in this new encyclical because “the Pope said so!”, remind them to accept every word of Ordinatio sacerdotalis, St. John Paul’s definitive document that affirms the infallible teaching that the Church has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood.  Not only did “the Pope say so”, but he was merely repeating what the Church as always taught!

Remember: Some documents are more important, and better grounded, than others.

The combox is, now, open.  Keep in mind my guiding rule: I’d rather see thoughtful comments – though few – than the sort of stuff you see elsewhere in abundance.

Posted in Francis | Tagged , ,
25 Comments

Good news about the new encyclical Laudato si’ – #PopeForPlanet

Posted on 18 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Before anything else… don’t just bash the new encyclical.   Some people are having full-fledged spittle-flecked nutties today.  I suspect that some of them are people who are happy only when they are unhappy.

Dear readers… take a deep breath.

There are good things in it.   Yes, there are bad things in it too.   Pope’s don’t get all things right all the time.  Sometimes Popes are… GASP… wrong, especially when they stray onto unfamiliar turf.

Also, let me say that Popes can and should write about the environment.   It is the Pope’s job to explain the theological and spiritual dimensions of creation to the flock.   Whether it falls to them to talk about predictive models for environmental changes…

A link to the official text of the encyclical HERE

Since you may see in the interwebs some serious bashing of the encyclical, I bring to your attention a couple good resources to help you digest Laudato si’ … if you chose to bother with it.

First, check out the resource page that Acton Institute has provided.  HERE

The encyclical addresses issues that are solidly in Acton’s wheelhouse.  You cannot find more thoughtful and better informed commentators than those who are around Acton.

Also, at Stream, check out this piece: 11 Things You Probably Won’t Hear about Pope Francis’ Encyclical

These are 11 good things in the encyclical… which is why you won’t hear about them in the MSM.

Each point of the following is explained in the piece with quotes gleaned directly from the encyclical. Here are the bullet points:

The official version of Pope Francis’ eco-encyclical Laudato Si was released this morning. While much of the media focus will be on the sections devoted to climate change and global warming, here are eleven things from the encyclical you probably won’t see in the headlines.

(1) Creation has a Creator, and is more than just “nature-plus-evolution”:

[…]

(2) Human ecology means recognizing and valuing the difference between masculinity and femininity:

[…]

(3) Jesus sanctifies human work:

[…]

(4) Look up from your phones and encounter each other:

[…]

(5) Save the baby humans:

[…]

(6) Helping the poor requires more than just handouts:

[…]

(7) Overpopulation is not the problem:

[…]

(8) True ecology requires true anthropology and respect for human dignity:

[…]

(9) Real change requires a change in culture, not just politics:

[…]

(10) The Church does not presume to settle scientific questions, and we need an honest and open debate:

[…]

(11) Stop with the cynicism, secularism and immorality:

[…]

What the Stream piece does is emphasize the letter’s strengths.   That’s important for you to know.   Perhaps you might want to your look at the encyclical by reading the paragraphs the Stream piece provides before moving to a reading of the whole thing… if you bother with that.  I’m not saying that you should, by they way.

There are some things in the encyclical that don’t make the list of the 11 good points.  They are the less good things.   Some of them will obtain nearly infinite attention from the MSM and liberal catholics.  There are a few things in the encyclical that are face-palm inducing, such as the section on how we should not use air conditioners.   The theme of North v South is tired and pretty much wrong (clue: Australia is in the South and Russia is in the North).  The emphasis on predictive models is, it seems to me, a mistake.   Time and again predictive models wind up being wrong.  Blaming markets and wealth for environmental problems seems absurd to me.  Most Popes don’t, can’t, write everything they issue.   They rely on ghost writers.   I think the Pope needs a new staff.   The document isn’t all that coherent, across its sections.

Anyway… my point here is not to pick on the document. There may be time for that later. The point of this is to guide to some of the better aspects of the encyclical so that you are not immediately turned off to it because of the wiggy meltdowns some are going to have.

The combox is, now, open.  Keep in mind my guiding rule: I’d rather see thoughtful comments – though few – than the sort of stuff you see elsewhere in abundance.

Posted in Francis, The Drill | Tagged , , ,
55 Comments

#ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day

Posted on 17 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

We are getting into the swing of things now at Acton U.

This morning we began with Mass (in the Extraordinary Form.. OF is also offered). Then I joined a group of business leaders for breakfast and some discussion.   The view from the room where we met: that’s the Gerald Ford Library down there.  It is a great visit if you are ever in Grand Rapids.  Fascinating.

#ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day  #ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day

Just a cool thing.  I like these mail slots in older, city center buildings.  This one is in the hotel.  I’m on the top floor, so I won’t be able to see envelopes shooting down… not that anyone sends snail mail these days.

#ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day

 

It’s a study day today, for everyone here.  The first time participants are in their core courses.  I am working on a talk I am to give.

 #ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day 

UPDATE

After a long study day, supper and a talk by Gregory Thornbury of King’s College.

Is the hipster look coming in?

 #ACTONU – DAY 1 – Study Day 

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

One of Fr Z’s first reactions to the encyclical ‘Laudato si”

Posted on 17 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Italian was leaked and now there is an English version out.  There are some good moments in it.  There’s something for everyone.

However, it’s pretty hard on free markets.  I don’t care much for that discussion.

So, here’s an initial approach… the … “recyclical”?

Perhaps we can pay as much attention to the sections on markets and environment, as the catholic Left pays to Humanae vitae.

When the libs shove it in our faces and command us to accept every word, we can pay as much attention to it as they gave to Summorum Pontificum.

 

UPDATE:

In the new stage of Encyclileaks, I saw that the über-liberal Robert Mickens, who was fired by The Tablet (aka The Bitter Pill) for his nasty social media comments about the former Pope (HERE), opined that the English version was leaked in an effort by “conservatives” to embarrass the Pope!

It is to laugh.

One of Fr Z's first reactions to the encyclical 'Laudato si''

 

 

Posted in Francis, Liberals, The Drill | Tagged , ,
52 Comments

#ACTONU – DAY 0 – My View For Awhile

Posted on 16 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am off to Acton University today.  My view for a while today will involve a steering wheel and lots of interstate, including a goodly portion of Chicago, where I expect bad traffic.

Good for the Blackhawks, by the way.

So, it’s the long and dusty for me!  I want to get to there fairly early so that I can rest, clean up, and the get into the action.

Brick by brick for building a free and virtuous society.

 #ACTONU - DAY 0 - My View For Awhile
With Kishore Jayabalan and Scott Hahn.

 #ACTONU - DAY 0 - My View For Awhile

Samuel Gregg is speaking about Truth, Reason and the Quest for Equality.  

#ACTONU - DAY 0 - My View For Awhile 

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

No Mercy for Magister

Posted on 16 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

sandro magister embargo sala stamp letterYesterday I received a copy in Italian of the encyclical that has not yet been officially released, Laudato si’. It turns out that that copy was put on the interwebs by Sandro Magister, vaticanista. HERE

The Holy See’s spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, asked journalists to respect the “embargo”. I note that there was no indication of an embargo on the copy that I saw. That said, having spent a lot of time around the Holy See Press Office, it seems to me a solid and understood expectation not to jump out too far in advance of official releases. We just didn’t/don’t do that. Still, there wasn’t a clear indication of embargo that I could see. Perhaps it was included in some accompanying letter sent to Magister’s editor at L’Espresso.

Meanwhile, according to TIME (which I am not sure should be trusted with the time of day when it comes to what goes on in the Vatican), a Vatican official told Bloomberg News that the leak was a “heinous act.”

“Heinous”?  Like what ISIS does to children and women?

Also, the Holy See is saying that what was leaked is still just a draft.  We’ll see.  I doubt it.

I wrote a bit more about the encyclical yesterday.  HERE

So, Fr. Lombardi has suspended Magister’s press credential for the Press Office.

Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un journaliste pour encourager les autres.

 

Posted in Francis, SESSIUNCULA, The Drill | Tagged , , , , ,
59 Comments

ASK FATHER: 5.11 Tactical Clerical Shirts

Posted on 15 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

ASK FATHER: 5.11 Tactical Clerical ShirtsFrom a deacon…

QUAERITUR:

Anyway my main reason for contacting you regards the 5.11 Clericals. I was recently ordained a Transitional Deacon for the Diocese ___.  [Congratulations.] I am very interested in having a clerical shirt that I can play laser tag in and not worry about ripping, [Aren’t we all?] but I have absolutely no competence with tailoring or anything that involves arts and crafts, so to speak. Would it be possible for me to buy a 5.11 Clerical from you? [?!?] My size is XL and my neck is 17. If the shirt could be compatible with the plastic slide tab, that would be ideal, so that I could easily stow it in a pocket while playing a game in black light. [Yes.  I can see where that might be a tactical disadvantage.] I will take what I can get, however, if the wraparound linen collar is the only option.  [More on that below!]
I’m willing to pay you to compensate for the cost of the shirt, shipping, and what you feel is a fair price for labor. My current location for the summer is …

[…]

He is talking about these.  HERE  Tactical clerical garb for the serious priestly culture warrior and foe of Satan’s minions.

Okay… is this one of these St. Martin of Tours moments?

Nope!

So, my responses is… Reverend Mister X, I’m not your tailor and I’m not your FedEx guy.

Here’s what you do!

1) Buy your shirts using this link.  Long sleeve HERE and  short sleeve HERE with helpful concealed carry pockets (for, say… a Roman Ritual or something else).  Great pants for the tactical cleric HERE (mag pouch useful for stole, oil stock and rosary or… a spare mag).  HINT: You will want more than one, eventually.  Believe me.  … I mean both 5.11 shirts and spare mags!

2) Find a shirt in your closet which has the collar that you eventually want your 5.11 to be like.

3) Take them both to a neighborhood tailor shop.  Show them to the tailor or seamstress. Say: “Make this one look like that one.”  It shouldn’t cost too much.  Leave the shirt which is the model for the 5.11’s eventual outcome.  Don’t forget to show how the collar works and leave it.

4) Pick up your new tactical clerical shirts when they are ready.

5) Contact 5.11 Customer Support and tell them that they should have taken Fr. Zuhlsdorf seriously when he wanted to discuss an option for clerics.  It could be good publicity for them.

That’s the best way.

As far as the tab collar is concerned… I hope you know the prophecy that, at the end of days, the Lord will try to pull priests into heaven by their collars.  Those with a tab collar on at that moment… well… as the Lord’s finger hooks in, the tab will slip out. Thus, the hapless priest will fall back into the void, the long drop to Hell, with the diminishing scream, “But I usually wear the cassoooooock…..”

Yes, I know that most priests wear them now.  Even the undersigned does once in a while. Just so you know, my young Padawan, what you are getting into with that tab thingy.

BTW… I am in my clerical 5.11s right now as I type, including boots.  And if the Lord hooks my collar… BANG … straight to heaven!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Mail from priests, You must be joking! | Tagged , , ,
15 Comments

New encyclical leaked in Italian

Posted on 15 June 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

St. Francis Sacro Speco at SubiacoI am reading the Pope’s new encyclical, Laudato si’, leaked in Italian. HERE

You might want to look at Andrea Gagliarduci’ Monday Vatican on this.  He makes the point that everyone will find what he wants in this encyclical… except maybe those who are pro-transgender.

I direct the readership to par. 155 when you are able to get the text, about “human ecology” and the meaning of differences of sexes.

Also, 120 is good on abortion.  It is pretty much in your face for those who are worked up about protecting Gaia from global-warming but are not very interested in protecting human life in the womb.  However, the Pope only mentions abortion once, in par. 120.

There are 20 references to Benedict XVI, by name, either in the text or in the notes, and more if you count the ibids.  There are 21 references to St. John Paul II, by name, but many more where he is cited but not mentioned by name.

We’ll see how the text matches with the officially released version on 18 June (Fr. Lombardi says the leaked version is a draft), and then, subsequently, how that version matches up with the official final version in Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Since it is now getting around, I’ll remind everyone of the fact that “Laudato si'” is the line of a hymn by St. Francis.

But let’s not that Francis’ hymn ends with the real point of everything we do: salvation!

Laudato si mi Signore, per sora nostra Morte corporale,
da la quale nullu homo uiuente pò skappare:
guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;
beati quelli ke trouarà ne le Tue sanctissime uoluntati,
ka la morte secunda no ‘l farrà male.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing Your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.

 

Everyone…

GO TO CONFESSION!

UPDATE:

Meanwhile… the chuckle-heads are at it. How ridiculous is this going to get before things settle down? Example HERE.

As a meteorologist who works for Slate has it:

What’s going on here is nothing short of amazing. It’s probably the best video I’ve ever seen, on any topic, of any length (and yes, that includes Game of Thrones).

Put together by the Observatório do Clima, a network of Brazilian nongovernmental organizations and advocates for action on climate change, the video pitches the forthcoming message—which has attracted heavenly levels of hype—as a silver bullet in an epic battle between the pope’s forces of climate justice and the evil fossil fuel industry.

The opening quote—“If we destroy creation, creation will destroy us”—is an actual line from one of the pope’s recent sermons on the environment. It is expected to form the heart of his argument in the forthcoming letter to the world’s Catholic churches.

It just gets better from there.

At one point, Jesus appears in the corner of a boxing ring as the pope prepares, saying, “The power of me compels you.” You can’t make this stuff up—except apparently they did.
Seriously, just watch the video.

(This video is no longer available.)

Posted in Francis, GO TO CONFESSION, One Man & One Woman | Tagged ,
45 Comments