National Eggs Benedict Day … Coincidence?

Posted on 16 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A friend has informed me that, in addition to it being Pope Benedict’s 85th birthday, it is also.. and I didn’t know this… National Eggs Benedict Day.

Coincidence?  I think not.

Thus, I urge you all to make or to eat Eggs Benedict today.  If you wish, send in some photos.

I must go to the grocery store later and I will get ingredients.

To that end, I will shamelessly add my donation button because… I am shameless in the adding of my donation button.  I find that when I make it visible, donations come in.

[wp_youtube]IRoh62wRgkc[/wp_youtube]

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Fr. Z's Kitchen, Lighter fare | Tagged
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QUAERITUR: Priests, valid absolution of sins, and the faculty to receive sacrament confessions

Posted on 16 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader about something I raised HERE.

In a recent post you wrote, “bishops and priests have Christ’s own power to forgive sins and they do so validly with the Church’s permission, indicated by a ‘faculty.'” Does this mean that a priest who lacked the faculty to hear confessions could not validly absolve, or would such an absolution be valid but illicit?

The 1983 Code of Canon Law says that:

Can. 966 §1 For the valid absolution of sins, it is required that, in addition to the power of order, the minister has the faculty to exercise that power in respect of the faithful to whom he gives absolution.
§2 A priest can be given this faculty either by the law itself, or by a concession issued by the competent authority in accordance with can. 969.

From this we see that priests must have permission of the Church to absolve sins.  The Church, by the way, gets to determine how the sacraments are administered.

The business about “the law itself” giving the faculty to absolve validly pertains, for example, to situations of danger of death.  Consider the situation in which a priest who has, for any reason at all, no longer in active ministry and, therefore, no longer has any faculties to function as a priest.  If a person is in danger of dying, that ex-priest would in those circumstances have the faculty to absolve validly, even if there were another, active priest in good standing there present also.

But in normal circumstances, if a priest does not have the faculty to receive sacramental confessions, for whatever reason, the absolution is invalid.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Priests and Priesthood, The Drill | Tagged , , , , , ,
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SSPX options and the Pope of Christian Unity

Posted on 16 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.

From the intrepid Andrea Tornielli’s Vatican Insider of the Italian daily La Stampa.  My emphases and comments.

The Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X writes to his priests: “We are waiting, an agreement will happen if concessions which touch upon the faith are not asked from us and if we are assured true freedom“

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X , Bishop Bernad Fellay, in the evening of the 14th of April took hold of paper and pen to send a message reserved to the other three bishops and to all priests belonging to the Lefebvrist group, confirming the state of relations with the Holy See.

Fellay, in reference to the media rumours on a possible positive outcome of the dialogue with Rome, would have explained that, for the time being, nothing of a definitive nature has yet taken place, neither in the direction of a canonical recognition, not in the direction of a rupture, and it is therefore time to wait and see.

The bishop, according to the rumours gathered by Vatican Insider, wished to confirm to the priests of the Society that which he had already written a few days ago, recalling the two principles that guide the Lefebvrians in the relations with Rome: the first is that no concessions be asked from the Society that touch upon the faith and that which derives from it (liturgy, sacraments, morals, and discipline); [A possible problem here is that if hard-liners within the SSPX insist on some “deal-killer” this whole thing grinds to a halt.  The SSPXers have been doing their own thing for a long time now. Some of them have never known unity with the See of Peter.  Such a “deal killer” could be, for example, insisting that the Holy Father repudiate the Council’s documents which, obviously, ain’t gonna happen, thus freezing in amber the SSPX’s status.  If, however, they say that they want to have some freedom in the matter of interpretation of the Church’s teaching on religious liberty, I don’t see why that could not be conceded.  Fr. Feeney was reconciled over a very thorny question of salvation outside the Church without having to abjure his position.  Why not the SSPX on a question that is by no means cut and dried?] the second, that true freedom and autonomy of action be granted to the Society of Saint Pius X, which would allow it to grow and develop. [That could be accomplished fairly easily, with the provisos that somewhere along the lines they cannot just ignore diocesan bishops (who have, among other things, tribunals.]

How to interpret this message of the General Superior? Above all, it is interesting to note that the possibility of a positive outcome – which many sources, both those close to the Society of Saint Pius X and those within Vatican, consider at this moment probable and imminent – is not denied at all. Fellay, who is aware that there is a group within the Society that is outspokenly opposed to the agreement (approximately 25% of the Society, including the other three bishops, Williamson, Tissier de Mallerais and Galarreta, though with different positions among themselves), probably wanted to reassure his partners that the canonical setting and the re-entry into full communion will take place according to those two conditions already made public by him in the past few weeks.

In this time after Easter and bridging the liturgical year to Pentecost, ask the Holy Spirit to

Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.

Bend what is hard,
warm what is chilled,
correct what is astray.

Posted in Brick by Brick, Pope of Christian Unity | Tagged , , , ,
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A Titanic Fata Morgana

Posted on 15 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

By now most of you know that today was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic.

Astronomy Pic of the Day, which isn’t limited to covering things celestial, has a photo of a very curious natural phenomenon which is proposed as, perhaps, having something to do with Titanic’s collision with the iceberg and subsequent foundering.

Behold… Fata Morgana.

Did this mirage help sink the Titanic? The optical phenomenon called Fata Morgana can make strange shapes or a false wall of water appear above a watery horizon. When conditions are right, light reflecting off of cold water will be bent by an unusual layer of warm air above to arrive at the observer from several different angles. A conceptually comparable mirage can make a setting Sun appear strangely distorted or a distant pavement appear wet. One hundred years ago today, such a Fata Morgana mirage might have obscured real icebergs from the clear view of crew onboard the Titanic. Additional evidence for this distortion hypothesis arises from the nearby vessel SS Californian which reported sightings consistent with Fata Morgana mirages. The above Fata Morgana mirage was taken off the US Pacific coast in 2008.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged , , , , ,
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“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them…”

Posted on 15 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

From today’s Gospel reading (John 20:20-23).

Our Lord gave His own power to the Apostles to forgive or to retain sins.  Validly ordained bishops and priests have Christ’s own power to forgive sins and they do so validly with the Church’s permission, indicated by a “faculty”.

There is no sin so great that any of us can commit that a confessor cannot absolve, for it is Christ absolving as the confessor absolves.

The penitential season of preparation for Easter may be behind us, but we must still examine our consciences and go to confession when our examen has brought mortal sin into focus.  There are sins of commission and sins of omission, which as sometimes harder to discern.

Commenting on these verses of John 20, St. Jerome (+420) wrote:

You say that the Church was founded on Peter (Matthew 16:18), although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church depends on them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism. (Adversus Iovinianum 1.26).

Our Lord gives us what we need so that we know we belong to Him in His Body the Church and so that we know that our sins have been forgiven.

Say a prayer of thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the gift of certainty about both membership in the Church Christ founded and also confidence in forgiveness for our sins through the Sacrament of Penance.  And while you are at it, ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen the unity of the Church by bringing the SSPX into clearer unity with Peter and also to inspire a revitalization of the Sacrament of Penance.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, Patristiblogging | Tagged , , , , ,
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Spitfires! Very cool story.

Posted on 15 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I saw this at Sancte Pater from the Daily Mail.

One of the coolest airplanes evvvver.

The new Battle of Burma: Find 20 buried Spitfires and make them fly

By Kirsty Walker

(Mail Online) Twenty brand-new RAF Spitfires could soon reach for the sky following a deal reached with Burma yesterday.

Experts believe they have discovered the locations of around 20 of the Second World War fighters buried at airfields around the country.

David Cameron has secured an agreement that they will be returned to Britain

Historians say the Spitfires were shipped out to Burma in the summer of 1945, two weeks before atomic bombs were dropped on Japan which brought the war to a sudden end.

The British campaign to push the Japanese out of Burma was the longest and bloodiest of the war, beginning after the Japanese invaded in late 1941.

Spitfires helped to support the Chindit special forces on the ground – and proved a huge boost to morale. They played a crucial role in defeating the enemy and covering the subsequent Allied advance through Burma, protecting the ground troops and providing vital supplies.

But the Mark II Spitfires in the secret haul never saw action. Earl Mountbatten issued an order for them to be hidden in 1945 to prevent foreign forces from getting their hands on them as the British army demobilised. The aircraft, straight from the production line, were buried in crates at a depth of 4ft to 6ft to preserve them.

Their whereabouts became lost after the RAF struck off their locations from their records.

But aviation enthusiasts, aided by experts from the University of Leeds and a Second World War veteran who witnessed their burial, believe they have now discovered their locations using ground penetrating radar technology.

Downing Street said the Government wants to unearth the aircraft and restore them to their former glory.

The condition of the cargo boxes and aircraft, whose wings and body are buried separately, is unknown. But experts are hopeful that they are well preserved.

A Downing Street source said that Mr Cameron had secured an agreement from the Burmese president to help Britain excavate the aircraft in a joint heritage project.

‘The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in the Second World War.

‘It is hoped this will be an opportunity to work with the reforming Burmese government to uncover, restore and display these fighter planes and get them gracing the skies of Britain once again,’ they said.

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The Mercy of God: A truth for some uncomfortable, even offensive.

Posted on 15 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is no sin so horrible that we little mortals can commit which our infinite and willing God will not forgive, provided we truly repent and seek forgiveness.

The ordinary means of God definitively extending His mercy to us in a way which we can depend on is the Sacrament of Penance.

I picked this up from the blog Good Jesuit Bad Jesuit:

Soon after his appointment, Archbishop Wojtyla approached Jesuit theologian Ignatius Rozycki and asked him to review Sister Faustina’s writings. Initially skeptical, Fr. Rozycki spent ten years in an exhaustive study of the Sister and her notebooks, which the Vatican had condemned in 1958. Father Rozycki’s findings were published and the prohibition lifted in 1978. Beatified in 1992, St. Faustina was canonized in the year 2000; on the latter occasion Pope John Paul II declared the first Sunday after Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday.”
A few weeks ago I came upon a thought-provoking homily by Father Matthew Kelty, O.C.S.O., which was given on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2006. It seems that during the former Commandant’s solitary confinement in Krakow, where he awaited execution for his war crimes, Rudolph Hoess heard the bells of the local Carmel and was reminded of the Faith he had observed as a child but had long since rejected. He called for a German-speaking priest.

The local Jesuit provincial, Fr. Ladislav Lohn, S.J., went to the convent of Sister Faustina and asked the Sisters to pray earnestly while he went to hear the prisoner’s confession. In the end Hoess was reconciled with the Church and received Holy Communion. Later Hoess wrote his wife and five children, expressed sorrow for his crimes, and begged forgiveness of the people of Poland. Hoess was executed April 16, 1947.

In his homily, Father Kelty contends that, though he may rightly spend an eternity in Purgatory, by the mercy of God even a man like Rudolph Hoess could be saved. This is an uncomfortable truth for some, even offensive to those whose sense of justice could be satisfied with nothing less than eternal damnation for such a “monster.”

Link (here)

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Brick by Brick, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Non Nobis and Te Deum, Our Catholic Identity, Pray For A Miracle | Tagged , , , , , , , ,
44 Comments

Operation HOT MIC!

Posted on 14 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Perhaps this could be run as an ad from now until the election in November?

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Posted in Dogs and Fleas, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty | Tagged , , , , , ,
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US Bishops: Bloggers play ‘critical role’ in defending Church. Fr. Z makes a proposal.

Posted on 14 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

When the Obama Administration began to attack the 1st Amendment, Catholic bloggers rose up.

When the U.S. Bishops called for rallies for religious freedom, Catholic bloggers posted links and dates and places.

When the USCCB and Card. Dolan and Bp. Lori made statements or gave interviews, Catholic bloggers spread the word.

Catholic bloggers are to the establishment and the dissident Catholic media what talk radio and cable are to the old time news and entertainment establishment.

The great majority of Catholic bloggers would (and perhaps might have to) go to the wall for the Catholic bishops in a good cause and with good leadership.

From Life News:

US Bishops: Bloggers play ‘critical role’ in defending the Church
BY PATRICK B. CRAINE

Relations between Catholic bloggers and Church officials have at times been quite strained as the new media has developed in the last couple years. Some prelates, clergy, and chancery officials have expressed strong reservations about the Catholic blogosphere, with some even speaking quite derogatorily. [Is that a fact?  I am willing to let bygones be bygones.]

Church leaders have been angered by the penchant of many bloggers to call them out on their failures to expound and defend controversial Catholic teachings on moral issues like contraception, homosexuality, and abortion.

The difficulties got to the point that last year the Vatican convened a special conference for bloggersto try to build bridges and learn more about this new method for advancing the Gospel.

But now even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is saying Catholic bloggers have a “critical role” in defending the Church.

In a new statement on religious freedom released today they write:

The Catholic Church in America is blessed with an immense number of writers, producers, artists, publishers, filmmakers, and bloggers employing all the means of communications—both old and new media—to expound and teach the faith. They too have a critical role in this great struggle for religious liberty. [NB:]We call upon them to use their skills and talents in defense of our first freedom.

For a PDF of the bishops’ statement click HERE.

Okay, let’s double-down.

I, in turn, call upon the U.S. Bishops to do what the Holy See did: host a conference… call a meeting with bloggers.

I ask fellow Catholic bloggers to pick up and renew this proposal on their own blogs.  Propose that the bishops organize a blogger summit, a blogger confab, a blogger powwow, a blognic on steroids.

Do they mean it, or not?  Are Catholic bloggers valued, or not?  Are these just words?  Vapor?

Your Excellencies…

“Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. (Joel 2:15)

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Biased Media Coverage, Blognics, Brick by Brick, Dogs and Fleas, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
41 Comments

EXPLOSION ABOARD ODYSSEY! 42 years ago on Friday 13th

Posted on 13 April 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Jimmy Akin reminded me today that it is the anniversary of the day an oxygen tank exploded in the Service Module of Apollo 13 on its way to our great natural satellite’s Fra Mauro Highlands, named after the 15th c. Camaldolese monk and mapmaker.

Talk about time flying: 42 years ago! Can it be true?

It was also on a Friday 13.

I remember it so well.  This was one of those TV/space events that captivated and was burned into my young mind.

The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs fueled my youth and sparked my interest in natural sciences and heavenly spheres.

The aggressively pro-abortion Pres. Obama has aborted our space program, killed jobs and the imaginations of young people, and performed the infanticide he supported as state senator in Illinois for human babies also on NASA’s infant Constellation program with the Ares boosters and the Orion and Altair .

Three “BOOOOOs” for Pres. Obama!

I shall watch the movie tonight, if it is on.  I think I saw it in the TV/movie schedule.

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