OLDIE PODCAzT: Friday in the Octave of Pentecost

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

OLDIE PODCAzT from Friday in the Octave of Pentecost in 2008.

___________

Today is Friday in the Octave of Pentecost, or at least it ought to be in in the Novus Ordo as it is in the older, Traditional Roman Calendar.

This is the fifth PODCAzT for the Pentecost Octave.

Today we will look at some customs associated with Pentecost, very beautiful.  These customs informed the rhythm of people’s lives for centuries.

Then we will drill into the image of the dew of the Holy Spirit. Which, as Preserved would put it, it isn’t as hard as some bishops think.  We enlist the help of a very wise Bishop, the great Ambrose of Milan (+397) who always explained hard things to his people rather than assume that they were too stupid to get the point.  Ambrose wrote a work On the Holy Spirit in which he explains the dew that descended on Gideon’s fleece in the Book of Judges.  So, we will hear Judges 6 and 7 and then Ambrose’s allegorical commentary.  Fascinating stuff.

This reading from Scripture and the Patristic commentary, gives a sense of how the Father’s worked with Scripture and how their reflections can be useful for us today.

Of course, I have lots of comments along the way.

For music, we have an antiphon for Pentecost in Gregorian chant, and a bitter sweet song Dancing at Whitsun, a folk song, which speaks of the rhythm of our lives and the challenges we endure.  I like this version best.  There is something right about it being sung by a woman.  There is a Fanstasia super Kom, Heiliger Geist BWV 651 by J.S. Bach on the pipe organ, which Holy Church recommends above all other instruments.  We hear a haunting Byzantine Communion for mid-Pentecost, in other words this very week and at the end a real change of pace, which you can listen to yourselves.

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Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Patristiblogging, PODCAzT, Preserved Killick | Tagged , , , ,
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Francis: “I get ‘existential hives’ when I see that everyone takes it out against the Church and Pius XII”

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I buried the lead.  When I wrote HERE about that Vanguardia story, recounted by CNA, I didn’t mention the most important thing.

Pope Francis stuck up for Ven. Pius XII:

[…]

One of your projects is to open the Vatican archives on the Holocaust.

They will bring a lot of light.

Does it worry you something could be discovered?

What worries me regarding this subject is the figure of Pius XII, the Pope that led the Church during World War II. They have said all sorts of things about poor Pius XII. But we need to remember that before he was seen as the great defender of the Jews. He hid many in convents in Rome and in other Italian cities, and also in the residence of Castel Gandolfo. Forty-two babies, children of Jews and other persecuted who sought refuge there were born there, in the Pope’s room, in his own bed. I don’t want to say that Pius XII did not make any mistakes – I myself make many – but one needs to see his role in the context of the time. For example, was it better for him not to speak so that more Jews would not be killed or for him to speak? I also want to say that sometimes I get “existential hives” when I see that everyone takes it out against the Church and Pius XII, and they forget the great powers. Did you know that they knew the rail network of the Nazis perfectly well to take the Jews to concentration camps? They had the pictures. But they did not bomb those railroad tracks. Why? It would be best if we spoke a bit about everything.

[…]

Pius XII should be declared as Righteous Among The Nations.

Also, for a great collection of primary source information about Pius XII, take a look at the great book by the Gary Krupp, Jewish, called Pope Pius XII and World War II: The Documented Truth: A Compilation of International Evidence Revealing the Wartime Acts of the Vatican.  ALERT: Every library, secular or religious, needs a copy of this book.  You might consider donating one to a seminary, a parish or college library.  Note also Ron Rychlak’s, Hitler, the War, and the Pope, and Rabbi David Dalin’s The Myth of Hitler’s Pope.

CLICK TO BUY

 

Posted in Francis, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill | Tagged , , , , , ,
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In this changing media landscape, who gets press credentials?

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader here recently sent a link to this, on Digital Media Law Project (my emphases):

Who Gets a Press Pass?

The Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Journalist’s Resource project at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy are pleased to present Who Gets a Press Pass? Media Credentialing Practices in the United States.

Who Gets a Press Pass? is a report of the Media Credentialing Working Group, including the Digital Media Law Project, Journalist’s Resource, Free Press, the National Press Photographers Association, the Investigative News Network, and the Nieman Journalism Lab. These organizations are deeply concerned about the effect of credentialing systems on all members of the journalism world, including both employees of journalism organizations and those who work independently.

Executive Summary

The journalism market in the United States is more diverse than ever before, with a wide array of independent newsgatherers complementing the work of institutional news organizations. But regardless of where journalists practice, it is essential to their mission that they have access to information about the activities of government and private organizations. In many cases, laws that grant the public rights of access to government (such as open meetings laws, freedom of information acts, and constitutional rights of access to judicial proceedings) also guarantee that members of the media can obtain information they need.
But when journalists need access to government or private spaces beyond what is allowed to the public at large, they must obtain special permission. This frequently takes the form of a media credential, an official document or statement from an organization that the journalist is permitted to be somewhere or engage in particular activity, regardless of rules applicable to the rest of the public. The issuance of credentials is, however, far less uniformly regulated than other interactions between press and government. Diverse standards imposed by federal, state, local, and private organizations have led to confusion over who should receive media credentials in different contexts, and raised questions about the definitions of journalism used by these organizations.

This study, the first of its kind to perform a quantitative examination of media credentialing in the United States, surveys the experience of journalists throughout the country in their efforts to obtain media credentials from different types of credentialing organizations from 2008 to 2013. The survey results show that one out of every five respondents who applied for a credential was denied by a credentialing organization at least once. Moreover, certain categories of applicants are more likely to be denied than others: freelance journalists were significantly less likely to receive media credentials than employed journalists; photographers were more likely to be denied than non-photographers; and respondents who identified themselves as activists were more likely to be denied than those who did not.

Click Here to Read the Report

I want everyone to know, or recall, that I, the good-natured and harmless little Fr. Z, was denied credentials by the LCWR.  Click HERE to review my pain.

Posted in Biased Media Coverage, Liberals, Magisterium of Nuns, The Drill, Women Religious | Tagged , , ,
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The Holy Father’s curious comment

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Click!

In a story on CNA we read that the Holy Father gave an interview to La Vanguardia.

Inter alia, His Holiness said,

I pray every day the divine office every day with the Psalms of David. We do the 150 psalms in one week.

This leads me to wonder if Pope Francis is using the older, traditional Roman Breviary rather than the newer Liturgy of the Hours.  In the LotH you don’t get all 150 psalms in a week.  As a matter of fact, I am not sure you get all 150 at all.

Of course it is entirely possible that His Holiness just got it wrong.  I think there are a lot of clerics out there who diligently say their office with the new books and have the notion that they say all the psalms in a week.  The important thing is that they say their prayers. on way or another, with an approved version of the office.

Posted in Francis, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, The Drill | Tagged , , , , ,
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ASK FATHER: Dispensation for the 4th of July?

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

The Fourth of July is on a Friday this year. I’ve been told that there used to be a dispensation from the requirement to abstain from meat on a Friday 4th. Is that true?

It would be easy to individually keep the penance, but what if you are inviting guests over (some Catholics who don’t eat meat on Friday, some Catholics who do, plus the non-Catholics)? Should one provide meat at the barbecue in this case to accommodate everyone? If so, should we warn our non-meat-eating-on-Friday friends that there will indeed be meat served?

I have not heard of a widespread dispensation from Friday abstinence for 4 July, but there once may have been one.  There was, I think, a dispensation given for the Friday after Thanksgiving, presumably for leftover turkey.

The dispensing authority is in the hands of the diocesan bishop.  A parish pastor can dispense on an individual basis for a good reason, but he can’t dispense the whole parish.

Remember that the US Bishops have permitted the faithful to substitute another penance for abstinence on Fridays.

NB: Penance is still REQUIRED on Fridays, either abstinence or some other penance. One could legitimately, without a dispensation, substitute another penance on Friday, 4 July, such as an additional rosary, stations of the Cross, abstinence from some other food or drink. For many, abstaining from coffee, or salt, or dessert is more difficult than abstaining from meat.

Listening to mainstream media news coverage of politicians that day would not be penitential because, though it would be painful, the purpose of penance is to bring us closer to Christ, not froth at the mouth in anger.  Ditto for reading the National Schismatic Reporter.

Regarding hosting a party…

I think when one hosts a party, one has a certain latitude to serve what one wishes. One should, of course, let one’s guests know at the time of the invitation, especially if the menu is to be outside of the norm: “Please come over to our home on Friday. We’ll be grilling some salmon!” or “I’d like to invite you over to our place this Friday for an all-mushroom extravaganza!” or “I hope you can make our stewed okra fiesta this Friday evening!” “We slaughtered Petey, the family hog, and will be roasting him this Friday. If you’d like to bring a side dish to pass around, come on over!”

Reasonable accommodations should of course be made, especially if one knows one’s guests well enough to know their dietary restrictions. Hosts should also be nonplussed if guests (especially those with pickier appetites) ask questions: “I’d like to bring along some wine. What’s on the menu so I can bring something appropriate?” or “I’d love to come. I hate to put you out, but I have a severe allergy to quail tongues.”

One need not justify one’s serving choices to one’s guests. If one’s fellow parishioners want to presume the worst and gossip (“Maureen’s serving sliced bread on the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist? I knew she had no respect for our ancient traditions!”) that’s on their heads.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged , ,
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PHOENIX: More about the murder of Fr. Walker

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP, 29, was shot to death by an unknown killer who also assaulted another priest, Fr. Joseph Terra, 56, who is in critical condition.

Fr. Terra was able to give Fr. Walker absolution.

The news coverage is strong in Phoenix and my contacts there tell me that the community is shaken.  The FSSP parish seems to be a really “smell of the sheep” place, in a poor area of Phoenix.  The priests were highly regarded.

And, as you may know, traditional Catholics tend to be strongly knit.

LEOs say that they have good physical evidence.

Also, I am told by my contacts say that the Diocese of Phoenix is also really stepping up.

HERE  for several videos including clips from the press conference.

Please do keep them in your prayers.

While horrible, I sense that God will do something good with this.

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, The Coming Storm | Tagged , , ,
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Libs should be tied to chairs and forced, to their shame, to watch this film about migrant workers

Posted on 12 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tonight I watched The Last Train Home.

UK link HERE

Long-time readers here know that I keep an eye on Chinese films.  This is a documentary about the 130+ million migrant workers in China who strive to return home for the important New Year observance.

The issue is viewed through the lens of a single family.

I had to stop it a couple times.

Among other themes it tackles, as much of Chinese film does, intergenerational conflict, city v country, the disparity of rural and urban life in the face of modernization, the plight of migrant workers (as THIS and THIS), but in a far more naturalistic and grittier way.

It is a documentary.  The people are not actors.

Every liberal and critic of what they, in their ravings, call unfettered capitalism should be forced to sit and watch this movie, while being sprinkled with Holy Water, while we chant “shame… shame…” in their ears, because, effectively, the life these people live is what they advocate with their lunatic ravings about the only economic system that can bring masses up from poverty.  Tie them to a chair and let them rant about libertarians while watching this.  Then let them consider what can come of limited and channeled government involvement, as opposed to the State control they advocate.  (No one.. no one… wants unfettered capitalism in the way libs paint it.  Read: straw man.  They seem these days to call anyone who doesn’t want the state to redistribute wealth a “libertarian”.)

Okay… I’m ranting a bit to make a point.  Thus endeth the rant.

Econ aside, the intergenerational dimension of the movie will be familiar to anyone who has ever been born.  It is also interesting to see their faith and prayer efforts in the face of adversity. (Hint: not Christian, but welling up as a basic human reaction to stress, etc.)

In any event, even if you are not so interested in larger economic questions, you parents out there should show this to your bratty teenagers.

And watch it for yourselves and learn about family and sacrifice and aspirations for the future.

UPDATE:

May I remind the readership that a migrant is a person who moves from point A to point B, while an immigrant is a person who moves from point A, that point being outside of a boundary, to point B, which is within the boundary.  The people in the film I am talking about are migrants.  They are migrating back home, within the borders of their nation.

They are not illegal immigrants from Mexico.   Okay?

Posted in Liberals, Pò sì jiù, REVIEWS, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged , , , , ,
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OLDIE PODCAzT 59: Leo the Great on Pentecost fasting; Benedict XVI’s Pentecost sermon

Posted on 12 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is an OLDIE PODCAzT from 2008

___

Today is Thursday in the Octave of Pentecost, or at least it ought to be in in the Novus Ordo as it is in the older, Traditional Roman Calendar.

This is the fourth PODCAzT for the Pentecost Octave.

Today we learn what St. Leo the Great (+461) thought about the fasting Christians should engage in after Pentecost, in other words on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of this very week!  These are our Ember Day’s those beautiful days which helped Catholics for may centuries regulate the rhythm of their lives in the consecration of the seasons of the year, and learn to use God’s creation with moderation.  Leo has a fascinating insight about how we cannot truly be Christians, in a deeper sense, without fasting and almsgiving.  These two necessary practices, shape in inner man in Wisdom…Sapientia.

Then we hear the Pentecost sermon of Pope Benedict XVI, [once] gloriously reigning.  He speaks about the diversity of our Church which must, as a necessary characteristic have unity, without which a group cannot truly be called a Church.  This has ecumenical implications, bet on it!

Of course, I have lots of comments along the way.

For music, there is a festive paschal Alleluia from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, just to remind us of the connection of Easter and Pentecost.  We have some Gregorian chant from the Monastery of Sant’Antimo is Tuscany, an Alleluia: Veni Sancte Spiritus and also the Sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus, which is one of my very favorite of all the chants of the year.  Also, there is a text of Hildegard von Bingen, an O Sapientia.  Moreover, Thomas Tallis‘s Loquebantur variis linguis helps us stay focused on what this Octave is about.

Finally, we have a prayer invoking the help of the Holy Spirit, appropriate in this Octave of Pentecost.

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Posted in Benedict XVI, Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, Patristiblogging | Tagged , , , , ,
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Reverend Fathers: It’s someone else, until it’s you. Wherein Fr. Z implores.

Posted on 12 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Reverend gentlemen, the murder of one priest and the assault on another in Phoenix compels me to remind you to…

GO TO CONFESSION.

Our schedules are busy.  Sometimes we have to drive even farther than lay people.  But go to confession.  Take the time to do this for yourself.  Much has been given to us.  Our accounting before God will be more severe than that of lay people.

Let us not forget the petition in the Litany of Saints:

“A subitanea et improvisa morte… From a sudden and unprovided death, spare us O Lord.”

Moreover, consider well your living conditions and security.

If you haven’t done so yet, begin to develop a situational awareness. Seek advice from professionals.

This is not just a matter of personal concern. It is also a concern for those who depend on you for the sacraments. A priest in the ground or in the hospital is one priest fewer to see to the spiritual needs of people in these darkening times.

You, Fathers, are a precious resource, only slowly “renewable”.

If you are not concerned for the sake of your own person, be concerned for the sake of those who need you.

Posted in Four Last Things, Global Killer Asteroid Questions, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Priests and Priesthood, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged ,
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PHOENIX: FSSP priest shot and killed, another critically injured

Posted on 12 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Prayers.

Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP was shot and killed in Phoenix. He was 29 years old, according to an email from the FSSP, ordained two years. HERE  The other priest, Fr. Joseph Terra, is in critical condition from blunt force trauma.

1 priest killed, 1 wounded in Phoenix attack

A 28-year-old priest was shot and killed and another wounded at a Catholic church Wednesday night near the state Capitol, a Phoenix police spokesman said.

Police were responding to a burglary call shortly after 9 p.m. near 16th Avenue and Monroe Street at the Mater Misericordiae (Mother of Mercy) Mission, Sgt. Steve Martos said.

The wounded priest is in critical condition at a local hospital, police said. Police said early Thursday morning that the surviving priest, a 56-year-old man, was “physically harmed” but not stabbed or shot.

The surviving priest called 911, police said.

A car that police were seeking in connection with the attack was found at 17th Avenue and Taylor Street, about four blocks north of the church, Martos said. It was spotted by 12 News reporter Chris Williams, who alerted police.

The car was unoccupied when it was found, and Martos said no suspects have been arrested.

UPDATE:

I learned that Fr. Terra was able to give Fr. Walker “last rites”.   I assume that, in that situation, he was able to absolve him and give him the Apostolic Blessing.

Posted in Urgent Prayer Requests | Tagged ,
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