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

ASK FATHER: Son married in another church without a dispensation

Posted on 29 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

My son left the Catholic Church And now belongs to the Church of England. he is getting married in C of E without a dispensation as he no longer considers himself a Catholic. I know he will not be married as far as the Catholic Church is concerned but will he be married in the eyes of God?

God Himself gave His Holy Church, the Catholic Church, the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18). The Church, with this God-given authority, has mandated that all those who are baptized into the Catholic Church are obliged to observe the Catholic form of marriage. That means that they are to marry in the presence of a duly authorized minister of the Church.

I don’t think God can be of two different minds on the matter.

That said, please don’t despair of your son’s condition. It is tragic that he has stopped practicing his Catholic Faith. Perhaps, in time, the loving example (and prayers – certainly prayers!) of his mother will draw him back.

The Church’s law might seem harsh, but is intended to bring about the good of all the faithful by upholding and protecting the integrity of matrimony, which is so under assault today.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged Commandments of the Church, dispensation, marriage, matrimony
13 Comments

Happy Birthday St. Teresa of Avila!

Posted on 28 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the 500th birthday of St. Teresa of Avila (28 March 1515 – 4 October 1582).

She is a great saint, reformer and Doctor of the Church.

Perhaps you readers could contribute your own favorite quotes of the quotable St. Teresa.

One of my favorite tidbits is how her feast day wound up where it did in October.

Teresa died in 1582 on the night that the Gregorian Calendar took over from the previous Julian Calender, which was off several days. With the implementation of the Gregorian calendar 5–14 October were skipped. So, Teresa died either on 4 October (if she died before midnight) or on 15 October (if she died after). Very often saints’ feasts are the day they died and were “born” into heaven. Teresa’s feast, in any event, is on 15 October… her other birthday.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged St. Teresa of Avila
25 Comments

An especially virulent case of Burke Derangement Syndrome™

Posted on 28 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is an especially venomous case of Burke Derangement Syndrome™ from the Wile E. Coyote of contemporary liberal catholicism, Michael Sean Winters of National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap).

He reacted to an interview Card. Burke gave to LifeSite. HERE

When it comes to Card. Burke it seems that there are no limits to decorum. Winters assumes he can write any sort of trash and not commit a transgression.

You can read MSW’s hit piece yourselves, but here is the bottom line:

Card. Burke says that homosexual sex is sinful and MSW has a spittle-flecked nutty.

Posted in Self-absorbed Promethean Neopelagians, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged Burke Derangement Syndrome, Card. Burke, Michael Sean Winters
1 Comment

ASK FATHER: Could a Bishop be consecrated with the “Usus Antiquior”?

Posted on 28 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Could a diocesan Bishop be consecrated in the “usus antiquior”?

Because, only in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life which are under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is permitted to use 1962 Pontificale Romanum for ordination (cf. Instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” art. 31).

Of course a bishop could be consecrated with the older form. I wish that were the case all the time, as a matter of fact. The older form of consecration was much richer and more explicit in what it intended.

Permission would have to be granted by the Holy See.

Likely?

Odds are that you are more likely to win the Powerball on a day with a Blue Moon during the Transit of Venus.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged consecration of a bishop
1 Comment

From a Father of the Church to everyone who texts and tweets

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A note from a Father of the Church to everyone who texts and tweets. Tip o’ the biretta to the Laudator.

Basil, letter XII (to Olympius; tr. Roy J. Deferrari):

You used to write us little enough, but now you do not write even that little; and if your brevity keeps increasing with the time, it seems likely to become complete speechlessness.

ἔγραφες ἡμῖν πρότερον μὲν ὀλίγα, νῦν δὲ οὐδὲ ὀλίγα· καὶ ἔοικεν ἡ βραχυλογία προϊοῦσα τῷ χρόνῳ παντελὴς γίνεσθαι ἀφωνία.

Posted in Lighter fare, Patristiblogging | Tagged SMS, St. Basil, texting, Twitter
3 Comments

ACTION ITEM! POLL ALERT! Wisconsin Judge strikes down law requiring abortion docs to have hospital privileges

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel there is a poll about a recent decision of a federal judge (an Obama appointee, probably raised Catholic HERE) to strike down a law requiring that doctors performing abortions (aka infanticide) also have admitting privileges to hospitals.

After all… what could go wrong?

Click HERE for the article and voting page.

The voting box is on the sidebar.

And at the time of this posting.

I suspect that the readership might have some input for this poll.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, POLLS | Tagged abortion, poll, right to life, Wisconsin
26 Comments

Monthly donations: a request

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I had posted this back on 3 December and 13 February (which had been “lean” days) and there was a great response. Let’s give it another try.

I am always grateful when donations come in, either ad hoc (one offs) or on a regular, monthly basis through the subscription option (at the bottom of the blog). I keep track of everyone’s name and remember them in my prayers and in intentions for Holy Mass. It is important that we remember our benefactors in prayer.

That said, some days of the month have quite a few regular subscribers signed up and other days very few. Today, the 27th of the month, is one of those days! (There are others, too, believe me.)

There are only two (2) people subscribed for today, the 27th of the month. [It turns out that only 1 was signed up!]

If you are using the blog regularly, please consider subscribing today to send a monthly donation. That way I have steady income I can plan on, and you wind up regularly on my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I periodically say Holy Mass.

UPDATE

Some of you have signed up or shifted your monthly donation. Thanks! So far…

27 March – DG, MK, MC, SB, SD, ARCLLC, DLaG, WG, MS

28 March – SS, MK, JW, TS, GS

29 March – AP, SZ, GG

BTW… I had a few of my “thank you” notes bounced back to me as undelivered. FYI

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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ASK FATHER: Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit?

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I have known many people who will change “Holy Ghost” to “Holy Spirit” the moment they come across it in a prayer, about as readily as they may switch “thee, thou and thy” to “you, you, and your.” I know that changing the words of a prayer because you don’t like something is wrong, but this goes both ways. Can a person legitimately revert back to the use of “Holy Ghost” in, say, private use of the Divine Office, or public praying of the Rosary? And is there an objective superiority of the one term over the other, other than the fact that one is a clearer cognate of the Latin, while the other is more traditional and frankly more English?

As far as I’m concerned we can use both, interchangeably.

I’m pretty sure that we English speakers have traditionally used Holy Ghost because of early translations of Holy Writ, namely the King James Bible and the Douay Rheims, even though both those Bibles use both Ghost and Spirit (fewer times). It became a matter of common parlance. People memorized traditional prayers with Ghost. We sang hymns with Ghost.

Ghost, related to German Geist (which is used today for the Holy Spirit), in its roots is any sort of spirit. Ghost often translated Bible Greek pneuma and Latin spiritus.

I think we should also use archaic words in our prayers, private and congregational. Prayer should be from and of the heart, but we can use he richness of our language to express ourselves, even in solidarity with our forebears.

Any way, I don’t think all the old words are about to give up the ghost quite yet.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged Geist, Ghost, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Spirit
40 Comments

ASK FATHER: Delaying baptism until after Lent

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

The pastoral associate at our NO parish makes a point of insisting every year that we don’t do Baptisms during Lent, supposedly as a way of showing unity with the Catechumens. A couple of years ago, for my daughter that was born in late February, I effectively demanded the sacrament for her based on on CCC 1250, which tasks both the Church and the parents to “confer Baptism shortly after birth” without noting any exception based on the liturgical calendar. Our pastor was on my side and so obviously the Baptism occurred (during Lent, much to the PA’s chagrin). This practice of delaying the sacrament continues at our parish unless one gets the pastor involved.

The question is: Is there a tradition of such a practice as delaying Baptism until after Lent? Is such a practice documented anywhere?

In the ancient Church, baptisms most often involved adults. They were done at the Easter Vigil, after a lengthy period of catechesis.

While it’s always good to look back to the foundations of our faith for guidance and direction, it’s also good to look at why our forebears stopped doing what they did.

Once Christianity was legalized and being Christian didn’t automatically subject one to suspicion, probable arrest and likely execution, we could be a bit more open about how we welcomed newcomers into the faith. Coupled with Christ’s clear command to baptize, we started baptizing new believers, including children, more frequently. No longer a once-a-year event, baptism came to be relatively commonplace.

Fast forward to today. There is no prohibition in the law against baptizing during the season of Lent. None.

Canon 867 in the 1983 CIC places on parents the obligation to have their infants baptized “in the first few weeks.”

The ritual books place a preference on baptizing adults at the Easter Vigil, but even that is not mandatory.

Baptism should come when the adult has “manifested the intention to receive baptism, been instructed sufficiently about the truths of the faith and Christian obligations, and been tested in the Christian life through the catechumenate.”

Baptism. It’s not a thing to be trifled with. It should not be delayed too long, especially out of what might sometimes be but a sentimental reason.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged baptism, can. 867, delaying baptism, LENT
21 Comments

ASK FATHER: Do vestments really matter?!?

Posted on 27 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Building the kingdom, one yellow chasuble at a time.

From a deacon…

QUAERITUR:

Does the kind, shape, color, and texture of vestments worn to celebrate the Mass really matter? Or, is it the person wearing the vestment is about building God’s Kingdom here on earth?

Wow… interesting.

I am reminded of John 12.

Jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried the things that were put therein. Jesus therefore said: Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always.

Actually, the kind, shape, color, and texture of the vestment really doesn’t matter.

Nor does the person wearing the vestment matter.

The only thing that matters is Him. Everything else is contingent. There is one thing necessary (cf Luke 10: 41-42).

When, during Holy Mass, we are in attendance upon the one Who is necessary, then our feeble attempts to put forth our best foot become all-important.

Have you ever seen a child picking a bouquet of dandelions for his mother? He is careful to pick only the most beautiful ones, in full flower and not yet gone to seed. He meticulously finds the largest blossoms, arranges them carefully and presents them to the object of his affection proudly with a puffed-out chest and beaming smile.

They are worthless. Mere weeds that, under the best circumstances, will last for a few hours in a vase. Yet, they are the most precious things in the world because of the love and care that has gone into their selection. The boy gave his best to find the best possible dandelions for his mother.

Should we put less effort into our gift of worship to Almighty God?

So, yes, the vestments matter, and, no, they don’t matter at all.