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

1 Jan: Mass for Benefactors

Posted on 31 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tomorrow I will celebrate my Holy Mass for the intention of all those who have been benefactors during the year, people who have sent donations and anything from my wishlists. I am very grateful to all of you.

In a particular way, I will remember at the Memento of the Dead, any who have passed away during the year.

You have been very good to me. Your positive notes have also been a real boost.

That said, here is something fun. One of you, also a monthly donor, sent a photo of some Z-Swag in the wild!

This is a good use for the thermal travel mug!

Cheers!

UPDATE:

A few more donations have crept in. Thanks! You’ll be included, of course. The last time I’ll be able to check is at about 0850 CST (1450 GMT), before Mass begins.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Plenary Indulgences 31 Dec and 1 Jan

Posted on 31 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today, the last day of the year, you have an opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, by taking part in the recitation or singing of the Te Deum in a church or oratory.

Tomorrow, 1 January, you can obtain a plenary indulgence by taking part in the singing or recitation of the Veni Creator Spiritus.

I recommend warmly that you review and excellent post by my friend Fr. Tim Finigan, the parish priest in marvelous Margate, about obtaining indulgences. HERE

Tomorrow, we will sing the Veni Creator immediately after 9 a.m. Mass.

If there were ever a year in which we needed the help of the Holy Spirit, I sense that this upcoming year is it.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged plenary indulgence, Te Deum, Veni Creator Spiritus
9 Comments

German bishops pushing hard to overturn the Church’s doctrine

Posted on 30 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Over at The Spectator, Damian Thompson has a good summary piece. He recaps what happened at the last Synod of Bishop, where controversy over the Kasper proposals about Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried dominated the proceedings. Damian is reacting to a wretched, pandering piece in The Bitter Pill (aka The Tablet) about how a majority of the German bishops are making a full court press in favor of Communion for the divorced/remarried.

The German bishops are calling the Church’s teaching and practice “incomprehensible”. Clearly the comprehend it. They just don’t believe what the Church teaches and they are revolting against it.

The Germans intend to put huge pressure on Pope Francis to make the changes they want, and they wield a lot of clout. As Damian points out, the German Church receives money from taxes to the tune of £4.6 billion a year! The Bishops Conference’s charity, Caritas, “employs 560,000 staff – the country’s second largest employer after Volkswagen”. Damian also points out that Churches in mission countries, such as in Africa, receive a great deal of their financial support from the Germans.

The African bishops, who are far more faithful to Catholic teaching, are not inclined to go along with the revolting ideas of the Germans, but the Germans have the money. If they can bully the African bishops into at least silence, they can probably have their way with the next Synod, with the full complicity of Card. Baldisseri, who runs the Synod.

Be sure to read all of Damian’s good summary. He doesn’t add too much more new information and he makes some points that I made here while the Synod was underway and after. But his summary is useful and timely. HERE

His piece is too long to reproduced with my usual commentary, but here are some samples with my emphases and comments:

Communion for divorced Catholics: the German bishops twisting Pope Francis’s arm

[…]

Just before Christmas, virtually unnoticed by the media, the German Catholic bishops made a plea for the readmission of divorced and remarried Catholics (or Catholics married to divorcees) to Holy Communion.

That it should be the Germans, led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx – Archbishop of Munich, president of the German bishops’ conference and coordinator of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy – is no coincidence. In 1993, the future Cardinals Kasper and Lehmann asked the Vatican to admit couples in irregular marriages to Communion – indeed, to allow these couples to make up their own minds as to whether they should receive the sacrament. Cardinal Ratzinger kicked that proposal, and with it the liberal German Church, into the long grass.

Now Pope Francis has revived the German plan, by inviting Kasper to set the agenda for the first session of the Synod on the Family last October. That ended in disarray (my accounts here and here), leaving everyone confused about what the full Synod, meeting this coming autumn, had the authority to decide. [Answer: NOTHING. They can decide NOTHING. However, with complicity of the press, they can give the impression that they are a governing body. That creates confusion. Liberals know this, so they are creating expectations so that when the next Synod revs up, the pressure will increase.]

[…]

These vast budgets create a mindset in which German bishops feel entitled to dictate pastoral practice for Third World dioceses whose churches are overflowing but can’t afford to replace a lightbulb. The bishops of these dioceses, who will again encounter the likes of Marx and Kasper in October, are very conservative on the matter of divorce. You might think that is hypocritical, given the prevalence of priests’ mistresses in Africa, to say nothing of polygamy, but such chaos makes bishops in the developing world all the more determined to hold the line. [Polygamy, etc., is irrelevant. Sinners will always be with us. We must defend doctrine.] Also, they suspect Kasper et al of subtle racism, seeking to ‘enlighten’ people of darker skin. [Remember Card. Kasper’s recorded comments about how the African bishops should be able to tell them what to do?]

[…]

Francis’s opinions are mystery – possibly to himself, one Vatican source tells me. Yes, he wants Kasper’s ideas debated. But, although he’s become more liberal with time, he’s still a 78-year-old Argentinian Jesuit who recoils at the notions of women priests and gay marriages, neither of which innovation is entirely unacceptable to the semi-protestant German liberals. [semi?]

[…]

[NB] The danger for the Pope is that the German-led liberals will turn on him if he fails to deliver radical change, much as their predecessors turned on Paul VI when he refused to allow them to abandon the Catholic stances on birth control, married priests or transubstantiation. At which point Francis may wish that he’d made a few friends in conservative and traditionalist circles. [That is my great fear. The same atmosphere that surrounded the debate about contraception is present, except that today it is far more volatile. Today we have social media and far great, far more widespread ignorance of anything Catholic in the rank and file.]

Be sure to read Damian’s whole piece.

Posted in Francis, Liberals, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged blackmail, Card. Marx, church tax, Communion, Damian Thompson, Die Kirchensteuer, divorced and remarried, German Bishops, Synod of Bishops, The Spectator
90 Comments

Pontifical Council for Culture’s strange video about women #LIFEOFWOMEN

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A while back the Pontifical Council for Culture (PCC) posted a video about women. Actually, it is of a woman asking women to send photos, tweets, videos, social media stuff by women about women to the same Pontifical Council. The 2 minute long video is a plug for a conference in Rome in February on the theme“Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference”.

The video caused a little stir because it was, frankly, a bit… strange. I’m not the only one who thought so. Here is one commentatrix at CWR.

What makes me post today is that the same PCC pulled the English language flick from Youtube while leaving the Italian version. Same women in the video. Same text. Different language.

What’s up with that?

I suppose they must’ve gotten flack from the Anglophone world, whereas no one in Italy really noticed.

So… my question is:

Does anyone out there still have the English language version? Did anyone download it? (Not that it’s … suggestive… or anything like that….)

As of today for the English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioA8DCPTjOA

As of today for the Italian version:

Meanwhile here is the English text:

#LIFEOFWOMEN
At the Pontifical Council for Culture, in the Vatican, they have taken inspiration from Pope Francis’ openness and are reflecting on women’s cultures and the place for women in societies today, between equality and difference.
At what point are we today, as women?
I am sure you have asked yourself many times, who you are, what you do, what you think about your being a woman, your strengths, your difficulties, your body, and your spiritual life. If you want to, you can share your vision.
Why not tell it with a one-minute film, or in a photo. Put your work online with the hashtag #LifeofWomen, and send a link to lifeofwomen2015@gmail.com
It could be chosen to be part of the opening event of a great meeting of cardinals and bishops in Rome in February 2015 and as part of a crowd-sourced film on YouTube.
You have until 4 January to send in your materials.
You are important!

I wonder what a parallel video about men for men would look like? Could it possible involve, I dunno, an unshaven guy in a wifebeater shouting “Stellllaaaaaa” at a second story window? I am straining here. Would it be some metrosexualized guy who does things with wax? What age would be be? Would he have “product” in his hair? Would he have a shaved head, which is popular in Italy now? What would be the male equivalent of false eyelashes and puffy lips?

A really smart women to whom I spoke to about this, at first asked if the person in the video was really a woman or someone in drag. Then, after she saw it, she commented that she might have taken it more seriously had she had dark hair (the woman in the video, that is). And then she offered that the women in the video looks like Dharma from the TV series Dharma and Greg. I don’t know that show, but I am informed that that Dharma is the antithesis of what the PCC was looking for… probably. I don’t know what the PCC was looking for. But, hey! Who am I to judge?

To my interlocutrix, the video seemed, at first, like a parody.

Perhaps that’s why the English version was pulled? Everyone thinks of Dharma from the TV show and, therefore, doesn’t take it seriously? Is that why the Italian version is still there?

Talk about cultural differences!

The moderation queue is definitely turned on for this one!

I will let some comments stack up before I release them, lest you just start a feeding frenzy.

UPDATE:

Someone sent me a link to an active video in ENGLISH:

Posted in The Drill, You must be joking! | Tagged #LIFEOFWOMEN, Pont. Council Culture, women
66 Comments

Fr. Rutler interviewed. Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Interior of St. Michael’s and the Pastor

Speaking of Hell’s Kitchen, over at CWR there is a dynamite interview with Fr. George Rutler, Pastor of St. Michael’s in Manhattan.

He speaks on a range of issues, from the decision of the Church of England to “ordain” women as “bishops” (which they can’t do because they are a) not really a Church and b) they have no valid orders and c) women can’t be ordained to any grade of Holy Orders. He talks about the state of Catholic education in New York, though his comments apply equally to other places. He talks about the need to evangelize rather than sell off our patrimony, which could apply to many places. He speaks about Islam, which we do need to discuss more seriously than we have. He offers thoughts about Benedict and Francis.

I’d enjoy reposting the whole thing and doing my own color commentary, but … I’m busy. Go HERE and read the whole thing. Meanwhile, here’s a sample, which touches on liturgy with my emphases:

CWR: Your Manhattan parish is in “Hell’s Kitchen,” an area once known for its high crime rate. Is it a difficult parish to serve?

Fr. Rutler: Every parish has its pluses and minuses. Mine was founded in 1857 for Irish immigrants. The site of the church has since moved, but it once included a massive church and school which served 10,000 parishioners.

By the 1960s and ’70s, the area was crime-ridden and poor, but still home to many immigrants. The “Westies,” or Irish mafia, ruled the area. They were notorious not just for their crime, but for being sadists. The parish virtually evaporated; there were almost no parishioners. It was questionable whether the parish could continue.

But the area has revitalized and undergone a big real estate boom. We have many building projects going on, bringing many new people into the area. Property values have risen. A subway stop will soon open near the church to serve the rapidly growing neighborhood.

[QUAERITUR…] But the question is, how many will we make Catholic? Our job is not to just serve ethnic communities with large concentrations of Catholics, but to fulfill the great evangelical commission of Christ: make disciples of all nations. He didn’t tell us to just go out into the Catholic neighborhoods. I think we need to resist the financial temptation to sell the property during this economic upturn, and see that there is a tremendous potential for converts here. [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]

CWR: The Archdiocese of New York has closed a net 31 parishes, with perhaps more closures on the way. Why are fewer and fewer residents making participation in the life of the Church a part of their lives?

Fr. Rutler: New Yorkers are part of Western culture, which is in the midst of being secularized. Our religious instinct has faded, and our traditionally Catholic families are moving out of the City. [This could be said about many large cities.]

Part of the problem is the need for effective catechesis. [Emphasis on “effective”.] The ignorance of the Faith among the young is stunning. Our Catholic schools have been in a state of decline. In some of our schools we’re covering up our religious symbols so we can receive money from the state.

Also, [Here we go…] there has been a liturgical failing. The liturgy is a prime means of evangelizing people, but our liturgies are often banal.

Rem acu tetigit.

As I have written a thousand times, unless there is a renewal of our sacred liturgical worship of God, no other initiative of “New Evangelization” will succeed. It all comes back to worship. That’s the activity, according to the virtue of Religion, that coordinates the hierarchy of our relationships with persons (Divine, angelic, human) and our loves (making sure that GOD has the throne of our hearts and minds). If our relationship with God isn’t squared away, and that must include liturgical worship, everything else will be on shaky ground. How can we who accept the claim that the Eucharist (the Sacrament and Its celebration) are the “source and summit” of our Catholic lives think that we can undertake something as sweeping as a New Evangelization apart from a renewal of Holy Mass, the Divine Office solemnly celebrated, and all our other rites? And yet when we hear our leaders, our shepherds, go on and on and on about this or that project or initiative, how often do they connect it – heck, even mention – the centrality and urgency of sacred liturgical worship of God?

New Evangelization? Promote and apply Summorum Pontificum.

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged Fr. Rutler, Hell's Kitchen, New Evangelization
12 Comments

NYC – Holy Innocents’ Feast Day! Great News!

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Holy Mass on 28 December,
the Patronal Feast
with their new pastor.

How I would like to have been in Manhattan on Sunday at Holy Innocents parish for their Patronal Feast!

Holy Innocents, once considered for the guillotine, was given a reprieve by His Eminence Timothy Card. Dolan. Many people expressed their dismay that such a vibrant – well-situated – church should close, especially because there you find the only daily Traditional Latin Mass in Manhattan. Attendance has been steadily growing and the community has achieved international fame.

It seems that, with promptings, Card. Dolan received their petitions favorably.

In the wake of all that drama, and the decision, Holy Innocents was assigned a new pastor. Hitherto, in the interim, the famous Fr. George Rutler has been the administrator, simultaneously taking charge of St. Michael’s in Hell’s Kitchen after he was moved from Our Savior on Park Avenue.

Now the people at Holy Innocents have a strong new hand to guide them, Fr. Len Villa, an outstanding priest whom I know. He is an exceptionally good choice for Holy Innocents.

It just goes to show how anxiety and deprivation, a desert experience, can lead to amazing new fruits.

But, wait! There’s more!

While the hidden decision making process for Holy Innocents was underway, the people of the parish were praying 54 Day Rosary Novenas. As a matter of fact, they started with the first one for the intention of the preservation of their parish. Silence. Then they did another, and then a third, which they concluded on 31 October. On 2 November, it was announced that Holy Innocents would stay open. At that point they started another 54 Day Rosary Novena for whomever was to be the pastor of the parish, changes or not. That Novena began on 3 November and ended on 26 December – 54 Days. As it happened, Fr. Villa’s appointment was dated 26 December, in time for the Patronal Feast on 28 December.

I detect the hand of Our Blessed Mother.

And now you know the rest of the story.

In any event, there are photos available of the Mass for the Patronal Feast, which is also when Fr. Villa presented his vision, his “battle plan”(!) for the parish. I’m impressed. Daily Rosary, reverence and adoration to the Eucharist, prayers for Priests, devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart, Confession, reparation to God.

I am told that part of the “battle plan” could be to make Holy Innocents into a center for CONFESSION.

Lots of great photos HERE and HERE

Fr. Villa, explaining the situation.

UPDATE:

Fr. Villa’s sermon has been posted.

At the time I post it here, it has one 1 (one) view! I bet that’ll change.

He starts on the vision of the parish at about 5:30. Outstanding. He talks about consecrating the parish to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At about 10:00 he begins to explain reverence to the Eucharist, the Real Presence, especially through Adoration for the purpose of reparation. At 12:30 he gets to confession. Crisis of the Eucharist extends to the other sacraments. He often cites Ven. Pius XII in his sermon.

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged Card. Dolan, confessions, Holy Innocents, sacrament of penance
13 Comments

The “Francis Effect” and remembering to talk about God

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Be sure to check out Andrea Galiarducci’s latest Monday Vatican analysis.

“A must today as ever: Talking about God in light of Pope Francis’ missionary push”

Galiarducci opines that Pope Francis has had some success in polishing the Church’s image. Francis has even been able to say some tough things to the European Parliament and not get blasted in the press for it. You will recall that he tackled the problem of abortion and infertility, calling Europe a “grandmother”, that is, no longer able to bear children. He inspired the wrath of the Fishwrap’s feminists, but the secular press gave him a pass. Similarly, the UN launched a couple nasty attacks on the Church, but they didn’t stick. Teflon seems to be part of the “Francis Effect”.

On the other hand, the way that Pope Francis speaks may be taking us away from serious, or deeper talk about God, which I think we can all recognize is important.

Thus, Galiarducci points out that Benedict XVI (Emeritus) has suggested as a topic for his annual Schülerkreis (study meeting with former students held in August): “How to speak about God in the contemporary word.”

Even while the Church is getting a PR boost, in large part because of Pope Francis’ style, we can’t stop talking about God. As a matter of fact, how can we use the present positive upswing in order to talk about deeper issues?

It is possible that Benedict XVI has been watching what is going on in the world and the Church in this pontificate and has put his finger on a weak spot.

I am mindful of something Card. Sarah said in November. HERE

“It’s very important to express that the hunger we are suffering today is not having God in our life, in our society,” the cardinal said Nov. 7. He explained that Benedict XVI’s encyclical insists that charity is the way we express our faith. Although giving food is necessary, “the main food is God.”

He recounted a story from one of his two trips to Syria to visit refugees. He met a small child who asked him: “does God really exist? Why did he let my father be killed?”

This child had everything, the cardinal observed, including food and medicine, but still lacked the most essential thing, which is the assurance that God exists and is close to him.

“(So) charity today is not only to act for social work, for material assistance, but really to bring the Gospel to the people.”

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Andrea Galiarducci, Card. Sarah, Fishwrap, Pope Francis, Schülerkreis
6 Comments

Belgian Archbishop advocates Catholic recognition of same-sex stuff

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Certain elements in the Church are lately emboldened. They have sensed that they have a window of opportunity. The iron is heating and they are striking.

Today we read of a bishop in Belgium who has been touted as, perhaps, the next Archbishop of Malines-Brussels. He came out publicly in favor of Catholic recognition of same-sex unions. HERE Translation HERE

Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said (not my trans.):

“We have to look inside the church for a formal recognition of the relationality which is also present in many gay couples. As there are a variety of legal frameworks in society exists for partners must arrive recognition form a diversity in the church.”

Moreover, he argues that a homosexual relationship as well the criteria of a religious marriage can satisfy.“The intrinsic values ??are more important to me than the institutional demand. The Christian ethic is based on lasting relationships where exclusivity, loyalty and care are central to each other.”

The article goes on to quote the Rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, who opines that this suggestion by Bonny is a “turning point” that would not have been possible in the “dogmatic” pontificates of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

I’ll say.

The world is going mad.

Moderation queue is on.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Archbp. Johan Bonny, homosexual activists, homosexualist agenda, homosexuality, same-sex unions
48 Comments

27 Dec: Today we bless WINE!

Posted on 27 December 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today we bless WINE!

The liturgical year guided and nourish and shaped Catholics for centuries. It does so far less now. But once, people not only followed the turning of the earth and the wheeling of the stars and the rising and setting of the sun and moon with serious attention for the sake of planting and harvesting – a life and death matter – but they also marked the passage of time with sacramentals and blessings and other customs.

Today is the Feast of St. John the Evangelist and Apostle. In the older, traditional Rituale Romanum, which priests of the Latin Church may use, there is a blessing today for wine.

Let’s have a look at the texts, which I found in a handy form on the site of the Canons of St. John Cantius in Chicago.

There is a story that an attempt was made to poison St. John. He was protected, however, and his enemies thwarted when the poison extracted itself from the wine and crawled out of the chalice in the form of a snake.

I have had some wine I would like to be able to do that to, just to get the attention of a careless waiter or wine steward. But I digress.

BLESSING OF WINE

on the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

At the end of the principal Mass on the feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, after the last Gospel, the priest, retaining all vestments except the maniple, blesses wine brought by the people. This is done in memory and in honor of St. John, who drank without any ill effects the poisoned wine offered to him by his enemies.

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

If it please you, Lord God, bless + and consecrate + this vessel of wine (or any other beverage) by the power of your right hand; and grant that, through the merits of St. John, apostle and evangelist, all your faithful who drink of it may find it a help and a protection. As the blessed John drank the poisoned potion without any ill effects, so may all who today drink the blessed wine in his honor be delivered from poisoning and similar harmful things. And as they offer themselves body and soul to you, may they obtain pardon of all their sins; through Christ our Lord.

Lord, bless + this creature drink, so that it may be a health- giving medicine to all who use it; and grant by your grace that all who taste of it may enjoy bodily and spiritual health in calling on your holy name; through Christ our Lord.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come on this wine (or any other beverage) and remain always.

It is sprinkled with holy water. If the blessing is given privately outside of Mass, the priest is vested in surplice and stole and performs the ceremony as given above.

4. ANOTHER FORM FOR BLESSING WINE

on the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

At the end of Mass, after the last Gospel, the following is said:

(for this psalm see Rite for Baptism of Children)

After the psalm: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Save your servants.

All: Who trust in you, my God.

P: Lord, send them aid from your holy place.

All: And watch over them from Sion.

P: Let the enemy have no power over them.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm them.

P: Then if they drink anything deadly.

All: It will not harm them.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, who willed that your Son, co-eternal and consubstantial [apparently “consubstantial” wasn’t tooo haaard back then!] with you, come down from heaven and in the fulness of time be made flesh for a time of the blessed Virgin Mary, in order to seek the lost and wayward sheep and carry it on His shoulders to the sheepfold, and to heal the man fallen among robbers of his wounds by pouring in oil and wine; may you bless + and sanctify + this wine which you have vintaged for man’s drink. Let all who taste or drink of it on this holy feastday have health of body and soul; by your grace let it be a solace to the man who is on a journey and bring him safely to his destination; through Christ our Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke of yourself as the true vine and the apostles as the branches, and who willed to plant a chosen vineyard of all who love you, bless + this wine and empower it with your blessing; so that all who taste or drink of it may, through the intercession of your beloved disciple John, apostle and evangelist, be spared every deadly and poisonous affliction and enjoy bodily and spiritual well-being. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.

God, who in creating the world brought forth for mankind bread as food and wine as drink, bread to nourish the body and wine to cheer the heart; who conferred on blessed John, your beloved disciple, such great favor that not only did he himself escape the poisoned potion, but could restore life by your power to others who were dead from poison; grant to all who drink this wine spiritual gladness and everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.

It is sprinkled with holy water.