In my fervent blogorial* solicitude for participants, I added a comment preview function.
This will give you the chance to make … adjustments… before posting: to content, not just spelling!
Enjoy!
*A neologism based on the frequent error made by people who really mean "pastoral".
The Eucharist, its celebration and itself as the extraordinary Sacrament, is the “source and summit of Christian life”.
If we really believe that, then we must also hold that what we do in church, what we believe happens in a church, makes an enormous difference.
Do we believe the consecration really does something? Or, do we believe what is said and how, what the gestures are and the attitude in which they made are entirely indifferent? For example, will a choice not to kneel before Christ the King and Judge truly present in each sacred Host, produce a wider effect?
If you throw a stone, even a pebble, into a pool it produces ripples which expand to its edge. The way we celebrate Mass must create spiritual ripples in the Church and the world.
So does our good or bad reception of Holy Communion.
So must violations of rubrics and irreverence.
Mass is not merely a “teaching moment” or a “celebration of unity” or a “tedious obligation”. Our choice of music, architecture, ceremonies and language affect more than one small congregation in one building. We are interconnected in both our common human nature and in baptism. When we sin we hurt the whole Body of Christ the Church.
If that is true for sin, it must also be true for our liturgical choices. They must also have personal and corporate impact. Any Mass can be offered for the intentions of the living or the dead.
Not even death is an obstacle to the efficacy of Holy Mass.
Celebrate Mass well, participate properly – affect the whole world. Celebrate poorly – affect the whole world.
In each age since Christ’s Ascension, people have felt they were in the End Times. They were right. In any moment, when the conditions are right, the Lord could return.
Considering what is happening in the world now, I am pushed to think about the way Mass is being celebrated, even the number of Masses being celebrated. Once there were many communities of contemplatives, spending time before the Blessed Sacrament or in contemplation, in collective and in private prayer. There were many more Masses.
Many more people went to confession.
Who can know how they all lifted burdens from the world and turned large and small tides by their prayers to God for mercy and in reparation for sin?
A single droplet of Christ’s Precious Blood consecrated at Holy Mass is the price of every soul ever created in God’s unfathomable plan.
So I repeat:
In the Sunday Angelus address today, His Holiness lauded St. Thomas Aquinas and spoke of the necessity of reason for the sake of modern society.
He mentioned his speech in Regensburg. Benedict spoke of the way St. Thomas was able to harmonize "Arab and Hebrew thought of his day" with Christianity. Thus he can be considered a good model for modern times of dialogue between cultures and religions.
I am sure you will be reading the translation of the address when it is released. However, when Benedict mentioned his controversial speech at Regensburg I thought of something I posted in another entry, about Fr. Foster’s negative view of an eventual Motu Proprio to derestrict the older form of Mass.
Fr. Foster thought the problems caused in Regensburg with Arabs were part of a weight of difficulties making such an indult impossible. Foster said that Benedict wants to avoid negative reactions.
If Benedict was really afraid of negative reactions why would be mention his Regensburg Address and Arabs so often in public?
In the Sunday Telegraph there is an article by Malcolm Moore about famed Fr. Reginald Foster, OCD, long-time Latinist for the Holy See. In the article Moore quotes Foster about the so-called "Tridentine" indult. Foster is not positive (emphasis mine).
He said reports that Pope Benedict will reintroduce the Tridentine Mass, which dates from 1570 and is largely conducted in Latin, were wrong – not least because of the Pope’s desire to avoid more controversies. A speech last year offended Muslims and more recently he gave initial support to a Polish archbishop who was eventually forced to resign, after admitting that he had collaborated with the communist-era secret police.
"He is not going to do it," Fr Foster said. "He had trouble with Regensberg, and then trouble in Warsaw, and if he does this, all hell will break loose." In any case, he added: "It is a useless mass and the whole mentality is stupid. The idea of it is that things were better in the old days. It makes the Vatican look medieval."
I have great respect for Fr. Foster, whom I studied with for many years. My Latin experiences with him changed my life. I know him to be a very kind and generous soul. I consider him a friend.
I also know that he rarely speaks in moderate terms. Hyperbole characterizes nearly everything about him. Fr. Foster often makes very strong statements to make sure he is understood and, perhaps above all, to provoke reactions. I have heard him say entirely crazy things and observe the looks of disbelief on faces around him. I do not think that he is insincere. I believe this is the way a man with 200ghz more brain speed than anyone else in the room copes with what he sees going on in the Church and the world.
That said… I think Fr. Foster is wrong about this. But may be right in one respect.
I think the indult is going to happen. However, recent controversies may have made the Holy Father decide to wait for a good moment.
Right now in Rome (with the exception Foster, obviously) there is sepulchral silence about this document. Fr. Foster, though in the Secretariate of State, may not be in the best position to know the status of the Motu Proprio. He is a translator, not a policy maker. It may be that he will be the one to make sure the Latin text of the document is clean. Perhaps he hasn’t seen it, and so he thinks it won’t happen. Maybe his statement is motivated by wishful thinking.
If Fr. Foster doesn’t want to see a return of the use of the older form of Missale he is perfectly within his rights. Good men and differ on this matter. It is entirely okay that he voice his opinions. There is room for discussion. don’t want… don’t like the "Tridentine" Mass? Okay, fine!
What needs to be done to help Holy Church find her liturgical bearings for the future?
Biretta tip to Catholic Church Conservation for the heads up on a comment made by the director of the German section of Vatican Radio, Fr. Eberhard von Gemmingen SJ. (Emphasis mine)
In all probability Pope Benedict will give the permission to celebrate again the traditional or Tridentine Rite. It would however be completely wrong if Catholics started to quarrel over this, some of them full of joy about this reversal, the others full of anger. It is to be noted that the Pope will not on any account reintroduce the old liturgy or even make it compulsory. He is only of the opinion that the prohibition of the classical Rite after the Council is in contradiction to Church tradition, because according to his conviction, Rites can be further developed but cannot be abrogated.
Notwithstanding the above, Rome is pretty quiet about any forthcoming Motu Proprio. My usual suspects are hearing nothing. This brings me to conclude that the Pope has the document now. He will make the decision when it seems opportune.
What Does The Prayer Really Say? 4th Sunday In Ordinary Time
ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2007
I had a lovely experience. I went for supper with a priest and 13 sisters visiting Rome. The Sister Servants of the Eternal Word told me they pray every day in their community for accurate translations of the liturgy. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
You will remember last week’s report about the meeting of liturgists in Toronto where His Excellency Donald W. Trautman, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on the Liturgy (BCL), lamented in his keynote speech that the new translations being prepared will be too hard for people to understand and that everyone should raise their prophetic voices in protest. Bishop Trautman says that if the priest says Christ died “for you and for many” (pro vobis et pro multis) during the consecration of the Precious Blood, people will become confused and maybe even LEAVE THE CHURCH! In his words, “the new texts will contribute to a greater number of departures from the Catholic Church.” This is because the new translations are going to be reeeeally harrrrrd. He thinks priests are not capable of explaining what really hard things mean.
As His Excellency put it during an interview last June with John L. Allen Jr. of the lefty National Catholic Reporter, “I don’t think we’ll convince people that ‘consubstantial,’ for example, is better than ‘one in being,’ which has been used for 35 years. People say that England has been using it for all these years, but I think our priests are stretched too thin already.” Translating this, American priests just aren’t up to the task. They have neither the time nor ability to explain hard words, like “consubstantial.” Apparently we should get some English priests to cross the pond to shed some light on the language for the backward Americans.
I checked with a few English priests about what they say in the Creed. On their scepter’d isle they proclaim Christ to be “of one being with the Father,” not “consubstantial.” Anyhow, Brits know English. But if they can’t come, we can take a page from the troops in Iraq and write to the chair of the BCL: Pleeze help us biship troutman! We need eezee tra…transz…tranzayshins…tr…eezeur wurdz!
Folks, “one in being with the Father” isn’t merely theologically wrong; it’s boring. Everything that exists is “one in being” with the Father, since they are all in being. An ashtray is one in being with the Father: They both have being, granted in different ways, but both have being. Only a divine Person can be of one “substance with” the Father (“con-substantial”). The Second Person was of one substance with the First Person, the Father, from all eternity. After the Annunciation and Incarnation the Son has been of one substance also with His Mother, and therefore with all humanity. So, “one in being” is easy and wrong. Worse yet, it’s boring, provoking nothing interesting in the mind. It will not fire up a person’s passion to learn more about what it might possibly mean in its strangeness. One English priest told me how when he was a child the word “consubstantial” in a hymn fascinated him. In the hymn Christ Was Made the Sure Foundation we sing:
Laud and honor to the Father,
laud and honor to the Son,
laud and honor to the Spirit,
ever Three, and ever One,
consubstantial, coeternal,
while unending ages run.
Child abuse! How on earth did people, a child, sing that hymn?
“Laud…consubstantial…coeternal….” Look at the hard words! Is it possible that precisely because they sang hymns like that, with engaging lyrics, and followed Holy Mass in their hand missals, by slavish but accurate translations, they came to understand words like “consubstantial” and phrases like “for you and for many” quite well?
The Holy See got it right with the proper translation of pro multis (after over 30 years). I think we will see a proper translation of consubstantialis Patri in the Creed. In the meantime, we must raise our voices in support of accurate translations and the norms expressed in Liturgiam authenticam (LA). I like in particular this paragraph:
53. Whenever a particular Latin term has a rich meaning that is difficult to render into a modern language (such as the words munus, famulus, consubstantialis, propitius, etc.) various solutions may be employed in the translations, whether the term be translated by a single vernacular word or by several, or by the coining of a new word, or perhaps by the adaptation or transcription of the same term into a language or alphabet that is different from the original text (cf. above, n. 21), or the use of an already existing word which may bear various meanings.
Nota bene: LA 53 speaks not only of munus but also of consubstantialis. During the USCCB meeting in June 2006, His Excellency Bishop Trautman tried to argue from LA 53 that “one in being with the Father” ought to be retained in the new translation. I read LA 53 to mean that whatever solution is chosen to render difficult terms into English, the solution should aim at something accurate rather than something merely convenient, even if that means choosing a Latin cognate (read: hard word). LA 21 says (my emphasis):
Especially in the translations intended for peoples recently brought to the Christian Faith, fidelity and exactness with respect to the original texts may themselves sometimes require that words already in current usage be employed in new ways, that new words or expressions be coined, that terms in the original text be transliterated or adapted to the pronunciation of the vernacular language,…
That sounds like “consubstantial” to me. Or am I wrong?
Post Communionem (2002 Missale Romanum):
Redemptionis nostrae munere vegetati, quaesumus, Domine,
ut hoc perpetuae salutis auxilio
fides semper vera proficiat.
This was the Postcommunio for “Sabbato in albis,” the Saturday during the Octave of Easter. It is also in the ancient Veronese Sacramentary in the month of July, though slightly different:…fides semper vera perficiat. Here we read perficio rather than proficio. The pre-Conciliar Missale Romanum has proficio, just like the Novus Ordo.
ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
you invigorate us with this help to our salvation.
By this eucharist give the true faith continued growth
throughout the world.
Lewis & Short, great resource that it is, tells us the late-Latin verb vegeto means “to arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate.” Albert Blaise produced a very useful work revised by Antoine Dumas, OSB, called Le vocabulaire latin des principaux thèmes liturgiques….The Latin Vocabulary of the Principal Themes of the Liturgy. This is what we call Blaise/Dumas in these articles. Blaise/Dumas examines vegeto, giving it the meaning “fortify” or “strengthen” when it is associated with the Eucharist. It provides examples of liturgical texts having also forms of munus and the verb auxilior. This is similar to today’s prayer.
Proficio has a range of meanings. Basically, it is “to go forward, advance, gain ground, make progress.” In different contexts it is also, “to grow, increase” and “to be useful, serviceable, advantageous, etc., to effect, accomplish; to help, tend, contribute, conduce.” Think of the English “proficient.” We could say in our prayer “that the true faith may always grow,” which would be in keeping with the imagery invoked in vegetati (“quickened, enlivened, strengthened”) or perhaps we might say “that the true faith may always advance,” which would hark to how we are pilgrims in this world. Perhaps “gain ground” captures both. I am reminded of how my (vegetative) oregano and thyme plants “gain ground” over their neighbors. They creep and spread and take more and more surface as they grow.
We frequently see munus in our Latin prayers. There is the munus which refers to the “duty” or “office,” and also the munus which is “gift.” In liturgical language it is often God’s gift of the Eucharist received. Munus was singled out in Liturgiam authenticam, as we saw above.
Literal Translation:
Having been quickened by the gift of our redemption,
we beseech You, O Lord, that true faith may always gain ground
by means of this support for eternal salvation.
We have in this prayer two closely related words, redemptio (redemption) and salus (salvation). God created man in a state of original justice. By the sin of our first parents, the entire human race fell into enslavement to the Enemy of the soul, the Devil. By His Sacrifice on the Cross, Christ, both Priest and Victim, took our place and bought us back. His Sacrifice satisfied the justice due to God for our sins. The Redeemer won back for us the friendship of God. The concept of redemption, therefore, includes both our initial fall and then the price Christ paid to restore us.
Salvation goes somewhat beyond redemption. Salvation is the freeing of the soul from sin and, in consequences, the attaining of Heaven as our proper end. For our salvation we must cooperate with God and depend on His love and the mercy. God will give light and graces sufficient for every soul, but the ordinary path to our salvation is through membership in the Church Christ founded, the Catholic Church.
Formal membership in the Catholic Church gives us so much more help for our salvation (salutis auxilium) than we would otherwise have in this perilous world, for now so much the dominion of the Enemy. Of such value is our visible membership in the Church that She teaches “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus…outside the Church there is no salvation.” Properly understood, this means that all whom God saves are saved through His Church. He who recognizes what (Who) the Church is, but refuses to become a member, chooses the path to perdition. Someone who, through no fault of his own, does not belong to the Church will not be damned to eternal Hell on account of his ignorance, unless his ignorance is willed and culpable. Those who are ignorant of the true Faith, as Blessed Pius IX taught (Allocutio of December 9, 1854), will not be held guilty in the eyes of God provided their ignorance is invincible (oops, hard word: can’t be won over by correct information, good arguments, examples of charity, etc.).
The Eucharist is for our redemption and for our salvation. It is simultaneously our freedom and our hope. It is the source and the summit of our entire Christian identity. And yet many receive the Eucharist improperly. Many do not receive because they are not in unity with the Catholic Church. What shall we do about this?
Our prayer today asks that vera fides, true Faith, advance by the Eucharist. It advances within us by our good reception of Communion. Nourished and strengthened with the Eucharist, we then go directly out of Mass to live our vocations in the world. The Eucharist then advances the true Faith not only within us, but also in the world we influence by and for true Faith.
St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) regularly attaches the adjective vera to terms like iustitia (justice), pietas (devotion), and of course fides so as to differentiate what Christians have and do from the ways of the world. Our faith must be true Faith, rooted in the Eucharist, shaped by the Church, manifested in action.
Smoother Version:
Strengthened by the gift of our redemption, O Lord,
we entreat You that, by this assistance for our eternal salvation,
the true faith may always flourish.
What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2001
This prayer comes in a time when we see in the newsworthy activities being covered by the media that love of God and neighbor should be prayed for with great and intense fervor. The season of the liturgical year called “Ordinary Time” is particularly helpful in guiding us into a proper Christian approach to the nitty-gritty details of the routine of daily living through the year. It might not be an exaggeration to suggest that the two-fold great command of Jesus is to be found at the foundation of daily life.
COLLECT:
LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum)
Concede nobis, Domine Deus noster,
ut te tota mente veneremur,
et omnes homines rationabili diligamus affectu.
A probably not very significant detail: the phrase Domine Deus noster is used in only three collects of Ordinary Time, this week, the 5th and 33rd.
LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Grant us, O Lord our God,
that we may venerate you with our whole mind,
and may love all men with rational good-will.
We are asking God to permit us, to allow us as a great gift and favor granted, to “venerate” God with our whole mind. This veneror, as the great The Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary provides, has a deeply religious connotation and means, “to reverence with religious awe, to worship, adore, revere, venerate… to do homage.” Think of its use in the well-known Tantum Ergo, which describes us as cernui, “heads bowed to the ground.” To “venerate” as we should, it will be necessary to seek to know Him for we are to do this with our “whole mind.” But there is a close link between knowing and loving. More on this below.
What we are hearing in this collect is clearly an echo of the two-fold command of Jesus, teaching and expanding the repeated command in Deuteronomy (cf. especially 6:5, the Shema – “Hear, O Israel…”), to love God and neighbor (cf. Matthew 22:36-38; Mark 12:2-31; Luke 10:26-28 – which has omni mente rather than tota). In the three Synoptic Gospels where a version of the two-fold command appears we have the Greek word dianoia for “mind.” Jerome in the Vulgate used mens to translate the Greek dianoia. Dianoia is used in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint (usually abbreviated LXX). But looking at the Deuteronomy passage, we find in English translations “heart.” Dianoia translates the Hebrew lebab: heart…. and a lot more besides. Furthermore, in the Latin Vulgate for the Deuteronomy, we find for dianoia the word cor – “heart”. Like the English “heart”, Hebrew lebab can mean very many things, including “inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding, mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, determination (of will), conscience. “Heart” can mean the seat of moral character or courage. Biblical anthropology and the relationship of “mind, heart, soul” is a complicated study, and we do not have time and space for it here. By looking into that mens of our prayer we are digging for a road map to avoid the pitfalls and traps that the word “love” carries around today like so much baggage. “Mind” and “heart” are closely related faculties in man and cannot be separated from each other.
We are commanded by the Savior to love. Mother Church remembers this in this week’s prayer. But “love” can mean so many things today. Many of you reading this will remember C.S. Lewis’ book The Four Loves. Commonly used, “love” today usually refers not to the kind of love which is really Christian “charity”, that sacrificial love which in seeking always the good of the other resembles the sacrificial love of Christ, the theological virtue that permits us to love as images of God. Bob can “love” his Ferrari, Susie can “love” her kitty, and without doubt we all “love” baseball and spaghetti. We can talk about the different tenors of love, such as the love of benevolence, or of complacence, of enemies, concupiscence. But we are called to a special sort of love in this prayer… true charity: the infused virtue which makes it possible for us to love God for His own sake and love all those who are made in His image. This is more than benevolence or tolerance, more than appetitive desire. Love is not merely a response to some appetite, like seeing a beautiful member of the opposite sex, a well-turned double-play, or a plate of spaghetti all’amatriciana. It isn’t the sloppy gazing of passion drunk sweethearts or what we see on TV primetime. I call that luv. Real love is the adhesion of the will to an object which is grasped by the intellect to be good. Real love, the sort of love invoked in our prayer, is an act of will. This love delights in the other and is informed by a longing for the good of the other. It makes two resound with one spirit. Love, in the sense this prayer offers, is an act of will based on the work of a discerning intellect that is reshaped and informed by grace. This why we find in our prayer that phrase rationabilis affectus. Rationabilis is an adjective meaning: rational, reasonable. Our stupendous Lewis & Short Dictionary shows us that affectus indicates “A state of body, and esp. of mind produced in one by some influence, a state or disposition of mind, affection, mood: Love, desire, fondness, good-will, compassion, sympathy.” Rationabilis affectus reflects what it is to be truly human, made in God’s image and likeness, with faculties of willing and knowing and, therefore, loving.
We come back to the connection of knowledge and love, mentioned above. It seems to me that these two are so closely related that they cannot be easily distinguished at times. I am willing to bet that all of us have had the experience of getting to know something or someone and then, “falling in love.” Billy might be fascinated by bugs. From this love for bugs he simply must come to know everything there is to know about them, thus setting the stage for a brilliant career in entomology. On the other hand, we get to know a person or a city and, the more we learn about this complex object of our intellectual effort, we slowly come to appreciate their beauty and come even to a genuine love. Simply put, when we love someone, we want to know everything about him or her and the more we learn the more we love. This is how we must be with God: constantly seeking to understand Him more and more so as to love Him more and more, and by that very love coming to understand things about God that, without love, would not be possible for us to learn. The desire for both love and knowledge are built into who we are and we have a relationship with the objects of both love and knowledge. The great 13th century saint and doctor of the Church Bonaventure described “ecstatic knowledge.” This kind of knowledge is merely the product of abstract investigation. Rather, it starts first from standing back and contemplating. By contemplation, the knower becomes engaged with the object, becomes fascinated by it and wants to know it more deeply. This longing draws the knower into the object. Consider: we can study about God and our faith. But really the object of study is a living Person, not a set of abstractions. We need the sort of knowledge of God that draws us into Him. This is a “knowledge” which reaches into us, seizes us, pulls us into itself and transforms us. To experience God’s love is to have certain knowledge, more certain than any knowledge which can be arrived at by means of merely rational examination (but not in opposition to it).
And we are commanded to love our neighbor, all made in God’s image and all individually intriguing – fascinating, in a way that resembles the way we love God and ourselves. This we are to do with our minds, hearts, and our strength.
ICEL:
Lord our God,
help us to love you with all our hearts
and to love all men as you love them.
This version of the collect we examine this week leaves me a bit disappointed. The sound of it is really quite flat and uninteresting, repetitive, rather like the 1967 John Lennon/Beatles song: “Love… love… love… all you need is luv”. I wholeheartedly embrace the sentiment it expresses: “Help us to… love all men as you love them”, is a fine thing if we consider with what sort of love God loves. Also, there is a profound difference between concede (“grant”) and “help.” Concede indicates our dependance on God, whereas “help” indicates a much more limited role for God. God does more than “help” us and we fallen human beings need more than “help.” When I hear “help” over and over again in ICEL prayers, I get a whiff (imagined or not) of Pelgaianism. That said, I don’t see how this really translates the Latin original.
A long time ago, in a parish far far away, I got in terrible trouble on the feast of St. Angela Merici (+1540), foundress of the Ursulines in Brescia and a patroness of Catholic education.
I was asked to bless the school rooms of the K-8 parish school. This would clearly also involve talking with the children to make sure they knew what this was all about.
One reasonably expects some confusion in the very youngest children about, say, the difference between a sacrament and a sacramental. After 6-8 years of Catholic education, however, the older children ought to know this. To my astonishment, in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes I could not find a single child… not a single child… who could tell me even the name of ONE of the sacraments, much less what a sacrament is much less a sacramental. Seeing how things were going I spent some time in each room explaining what a sacrament is before I blessed the room and then asked some questions afterward. I figured that if the kids were going to HOLY COMMUNION at school Masses, they might as well know that "that piece of bread thing"* was a sacrament.
In most schools when the priest comes to the classroom, the teachers are pleased to see him and make sure the kids know that it is a special occasion. Not at this school! What was the reaction of the teachers? They got angry with ME for explaining to the children what sacraments are and what the difference is between them and sacramentals (like blessing the room). Leave aside the fact that it was THEIR responsibility in the school room to teach the basics of our Catholic faith.
To make a long story short, I always remember with bittersweet fondness the feast day of St. Angela Merici.
Here is the "opening prayer" for today’s great saint, St. Angela Merici.
COLLECT:
Pietati tuae, quaesumus, Domine,
nos beata virgo Angela commendare non desinat,
ut, eius caritatis et prudentiae documenta sectantes,
tuam valeamus doctrinam custodire
et moribus profiteri.
LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beg You, O Lord, let the blessed virgin Angela
not cease to commend us to Your mercy,
so that, closely following her concrete examples of charity and prudence,
we may be able to guard Your fundamental teaching
and make progess in a good conduct of life.
Here I think is in doctrina an echo of the Italian "dottrina", "teaching" in the sense of "catechism" for children, the fundamentals. When Italians call religious instruction for children "la dottrina". Since this prayer concerns a saint foundress of an order dedicated to teaching children, this seems a good choice.
I will thus put to you simple questions.
Take time to review the fundamental teachings of our Catholic Faith. We read in 1 Peter 3:15: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." A good way to make this review would be with your own copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Get one and give one to those whom you love.
*This was an actual response from a child two days before making their First Holy Communion. I was asked to show the kids the church and help them understand what to do. I showed them how to genuflect before the tabernacle. They were previously unaware of such a practice. Children like to know WHY they do things, right? I said we pay special attention to the tabernacle (pointing to it and explaining that I meant that beautiful box, etc. etc.) because that is where Jesus is present in the Host they were going to receive for their First Communion. Blank stares. So, we had a little quiz about Communion, and its meaning. Blank stares. I asked about Jesus and His being present in Communion. Blank stares. I asked about if they had ever noticed that their parents receive the Host during Mass. At that point one young boy said, "You mean that piece of bread thing?"
The Cardinal Secretary of State has a big job, to say the least. But these days, he is busy with book presentations.
He had one a couple days ago, for a book on people who helped Jews during WWII. Today he was at one (as was I) for a new book by Nicola Bux and Adriano Garuti, Pietro ama e unisce: La responsibilita personale del Papa per la Chiesa universale (Bologna: ESD, 2007) considering the Petrine ministry in a solidly Catholic way.
Also present at today’s presentation were José Card. Saraiva Martins (Prefect of Causes of Saints), H.E. Rino Fisichella (auxilliary of Rome) various other prelates and functionaries.
The advertised presence of Cardinal Bertone was sure to bring out some of the curial workers bees, seeking face time. You can always tell the careerists of the Secretariate of State, who came in through the finishing school, from their carefully planned hair and the peculiar walk that results from shoes that are too tight. But I digress.
On both occasions Cardinal Bertone spoke of Pius XII. In the first case it is an obvious thing to talk about Pius XII because of his amazing efforts to save the lives of thousands of Jews (a fact the mainstream media hates and therefore hides).
Today, however, Card. Bertone mentioned that Pius XII had received an apparition of the Lord, something His Eminence clearly believed, judging from the way he spoke about it.
I find it interesting that in a span of about 48 hours, His Eminence spoke at book presentations about Servant of God Pope Pius XII.
Today is the feast of St. Vitalian, Pope (657-672), who is also a co-patron of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni. He was born in Segni (where the finest chestnuts of Italy are found). I would be remiss if I did not mention him today, which is his die natalis.
In the Basilica of St. Peter there is a proper prayer for him used with the Common of Pastors (with the Mass Suscitabo):
COLLECT:
Deus, qui beatum Vitalianum divina caritate flagrantem,
fideque, quae vincit mundum, insignem,
sanctis Pastoribus mirabiliter aggregasti,
praesta quaesumus, ut ipso intercendente
nos quoque in fide et caritate perseverantes
eius gloriae consortes fieri mereamur.
LITERAL RENDERING:
O God, who wonderously included in the ranks of Shepherds blessed Vitalius,
burning with divine charity
and outstanding in the faith which refutes the world,
grant we beseech You, that as he intercedes,
we also, persevering in faith and charity,
may merit to become sharers of his glory.
St. Pope Vitalianus tried to put relations of Rome and Constantinople on a better footing even as he battled monothelitism (the heresy that Christ had only one will, and therefore lacked a perfect human nature). The other day we saw Pope Benedict bless lambs, the wool of which is destined for the pallia to be given to metropolitans. In 633 Constans gave golden pallium to Vitalian, dined with him after Mass, and then stole some of his bronzes, including some of the bronze from the Pantheon. Beware Greeks bearing gifts, I guess. Vitalian also defended the authority of the papacy when the Archbishop of Ravenna decided it was time to go autocephalic (he mutinied).
Claudio Card. Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, has written to all the priests of the world via the website of the Congregation. Let’s look at the central section and pull it apart. I have some obervations along the way.
Here are some excepts from the letter. Some of it sounds a little like gobbledegook, but we can sort it through:
… We are bearers of a specific identity that constantly characterizes us in our existence and in our activity. We are consecrated and incorporated into the activity of Christ. The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history to elicit in those who fulfill them "the same sentiments of Christ" and the same effects of salvation.
The Church, in conferring the sacrament of orders, ontologically constitutes the priest as an "alter Christus," or as some say, an "ipse Christus"; and it establishes him as a minister of the word and as a minister of the prophetic action and pastoral love of Christ. His function, therefore, is not to exhaust himself exclusively in the dimension of worship, but to fulfill himself in the prophetic dimension by proclaiming the word and in the pastoral dimension by being a guide for the community.
Among the beautiful expressions of the Second Vatican Council is the following statement, which synthesizes the functions of the priest while delineating his identity: "Priests, while engaging in prayer and adoration, or preaching the word, or offering the Eucharistic sacrifice and administering the other sacraments, or performing other works of the ministry for men, devote all this energy to the increase of the glory of God and to man’s progress in the divine life" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis," 2).
…
From the Vatican, Jan. 24, 2007
Memorial of St. Francis de Sales
More than one odd phrases cause us to scratch our heads. For example, "The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history".
The dicta et acta of the Lord, especially known through Scripture, are central. But, "reactualized"? What on earth does that mean? The Italian, "riattualizzati" is one of those jargon words Italians put together when talkin’ purty. In Italian "attuale" is "present, current". Thus, "attualizzare" means "to bring into the present, ripopose in modern terms", which makes perfect sense in this context. "Riattuallize" is just a fancier sounding way of saying this. The English translation is a bit to slavish in sticking to the Italian.
Let’s pull this apart at the seams:
… We are bearers of a specific identity that constantly characterizes us in our existence and in our activity. [The sacrament of Holy Orders changed who we are and effects all that we do.] We are consecrated and incorporated into the activity of Christ. [Because of that, we are "set apart" (clerus) and Christ acts through us in a particular way.] The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history to elicit in those who fulfill them "the same sentiments of Christ" and the same effects of salvation. [In priests, Christ’s words and actions are brought into the present and cause His will to be done in the ongoing salvation of souls.]
The Church, in conferring the sacrament of orders, ontologically constitutes the priest as an "alter Christus," or as some say, an "ipse Christus" [When the Church ordains a man, he is so conformed to Christ that he can be called "another Christ"]; and it establishes him as a minister of the word and as a minister of the prophetic action and pastoral love of Christ. [thus, he proclaims and explains the Word of God and preaches the Good news while being active in good works according to Christ command to love.] His function, therefore, is not to exhaust himself exclusively in the dimension of worship, but to fulfill himself in the prophetic dimension by proclaiming the word and in the pastoral dimension by being a guide for the community. [Therefore the priest should not remain only "in the sacristy" but should also be active in the community.]
Among the beautiful expressions of the Second Vatican Council is the following statement, which synthesizes the functions of the priest while delineating his identity: "Priests, while engaging in prayer and adoration, or preaching the word, or offering the Eucharistic sacrifice and administering the other sacraments, or performing other works of the ministry for men, devote all this energy to the increase of the glory of God and to man’s progress in the divine life" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis," 2).
Tha last part is fairly clear.
One of the things I find a bit odd in this piece is the way the liturgical role of the priest is so diminished in view of "pastoral" work, as if those two things are somehow not in harmony. Furthermore, while it is true that the letter does speak clearly about the ontological change Holy Orders makes in the soul, this dimension seems to take a back seat to "activity" and "functions". It almost sounds as if there is a zero-sum view at work: a focus on liturgy can’t be "pastoral", a priestly identity is more active than contemplative.
I find this dichotomy frequently among priests and prelates: if you are contemplative, you are not "pastoral"; if you are liturgical, you are not "pastoral"; if you are intellectual, you are not "pastoral" and therefore… if you are contemplative, liturgically minded and smart… you are suspect. You might even be dangerous. As a result, the model for modern priests shifts in formation and pressure from above and from peers to emphasize being constantly busy, not too interested in all that liturgy stuff, and being "just plain folks". Therefore, "pastoral" priests are constantly on the move, they delegate liturgical matters to lay people, and usually eschew being very challenging in preaching, counseling, and conversation.
I know I am just playing around with this to see what is going on, and maybe I am being too hard on the letter, but here is my rendering again, extracted from the original text above. See what you think:
The sacrament of Holy Orders changed who we are and effects all that we do. Because of that, we are "set apart" (clerus) and Christ acts through us in a particular way. In priests, Christ’s words and actions are brought into the present and cause His will to be done in the ongoing salvation of souls. When the Church ordains a man, he is so conformed to Christ that he can be called "another Christ"; thus, he proclaims and explains the Word of God and preaches the Good news while being active in good works according to Christ command to love. Therefore the priest should not remain only "in the sacristy" but should also be active in the community.
Today the great Sts. Timothy and Titus overshadow all others who are listed in the Roman Martyrology.
2. Hippone Regio in Numidia, sancti Theogenis, martyris, de quo sanctus Augustinus sermonem habuit. .. At Hippo Regius in Numidia (N. Africa), [the feast] of Saint Theogenus, about whom Saint Augustine gave a sermon.
Hmm…. I think not. St. Augustine mentioned St. Theogenus, but he doesn’t really give a sermon about him. And he mentions him in more than one sermon, and a letter also.
Let’s take a look at this fellow.
St. Theogenus was a former bishop of Hippo Regius. He was martyred. He may have been a contemporary of Cyprian and attended the Council of Carthage in 256. The very name "Theo-genus" harks to rebirth in God by baptism. In ancient times, the newly baptized, called infantes, took names which reflected their new state of spiritual rebirth and adoption, their new sonship, e.g., Adeptus, Regeneratus, Renatus, Deigenitus, Theogonus.
The Council of Carthage in 256 seems to have quoted St. Theogenus in Sententiae episcoporum numero 87 de haereticis baptizandis:
Theogenes ab Hippone Regio dixit: Secundum sacramentum dei gratiae caelestis, quod accepimus, unum baptismum, quod est in ecclesia sancta, credimus. … Theogenus from Hippo Regius said: According to God’s sacrament of heavenly grace, which we received, we believe to be one sacrament, which is in the Holy Church.
In one of Augustine’s newly discovered letters, ep. 26*,1 we find that there was a church of Hippo dedicated to St. Theogenus where a certain Donantius of Suppa, who had fraudulently attempted to get himself ordained a deacon, was placed as Porter, in order to keep him out of trouble, but when Augustine was gone, the priests threw him out. Oh well… moving right along….
In s. 272B shows that on the day of Pentecost, there was a service at the Church of St. Theogenus in Hippo, almost as at a Roman "station", and a passage was read from the Book of Tobit. Theogenus is probably connected with other martyrs, like St. Fructuosus.
In s. 273 St. Theogenus is mentioned among others by St. Augustine in order to make a point about how Christians actually honor God when the honor martyr saints. This is worth reviewing. We have heard the accusations of ignorant protestants about Catholic veneration of saints.
7. And yet, dearly beloved, while those [pagan] gods are in no way at all to be compared to our martyrs, we don’t regard our martyrs as gods, or worship them as gods. We don’t provide them with temples, with altars, with sacrifices. Priests don’t make offerings to them; perish the thought! These things are provided for God; or rather these things are offered to God, by whom all thigs are provided for us. Even when we make the offereing at the shrines of the holy martyrs, don’t we offer it to God? The holy martyrs have their place of honor. Notice please; in the recitation of names at the altar of Christ, their names are recited in the most honored place; but for all that, they are not worshiped instead of Christ.
When did you ever hear it said by me at the shrine of St. Theogenus, or by any of my brethren and colleagues, or by any priest, "I am offering to you, St. Theogenus"? Or, "I’m offering to you, Peter," or "I am offering to you, Paul"? You never did; it doesn’t happen, it is not permitted. And if you should be asked, "Do you, then, worship Peter?" answer what Eulogius answered about Fructuosus: "I do not worship Peter, but I worship God, whom Peter also worships." The Peter loves you. Because if you want to treat Peter as God, you stumble over the rock, and take care you don’t break your foot by stumbling over the rock.
Oh… by the way… today is also the anniversary of the death of St. Paula (+404), the friend and patroness of St. Jerome, living in Jerusalem.
In the Wall Street Journal story I wrote about in another entry the claim was made that "Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung became the first Communist head of state to visit the Holy See."
Blog participant RBrown reminded me of the visit of Mikhail Gorbachev on 1 December 1989, which we both witnessed. I did some digging and found the front page of the weekly English language edition of L’Osservatore Romano on that visit. Biretta tip to RBrown for reminding me about that: o{]:¬)
Something is up with the Holy See and East Asia. Some are taking notice.
There is story in the Wall Street Journal today (my emphasis).
Vietnam and the Vatican
January 26, 2007The Vatican has been home to many miracles, but yesterday’s was especially striking. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung became the first Communist head of state to visit the Holy See. Diplomatic relations may soon follow. Vietnam’s Catholics and the Church would celebrate such a reconciliation. So would China’s Catholics, to whom such a move might lend hope.
…
So, too, with religious freedom. Crackdowns on Protestants, while still far too common, are starting to ease. Vietnam’s six million Catholics can celebrate Mass, attend religious classes, and do community service without harassment. In an informal arrangement, the Holy See nominates bishops, and the government almost always approves them. The Vatican also maintains a regular dialogue with Hanoi.
We hope Beijing is watching. After a brief period of reconciliation last year, China’s official church reverted to unofficial ordinations and severe crackdowns, saying it didn’t want the Vatican interfering in its "internal affairs." China’s Catholics know that "internal affairs" are those of the soul, not the state. How wonderful — dare we say, miraculous — that Hanoi is moving in that direction.
Sandro Magister put this forth also (my emphasis):
Mission Asia: The Laboratory is South Korea
After the summit on China, the audience with the prime minister of Vietnam: Benedict XVI sees in the Far East the future terrain of the Church’s expansion.ROMA, January 26, 2007 – For the second time in a few days, Benedict XVI has called everyone’s attention back to the present and future of Christians in East Asia.
On Thursday, January 25 he received (see photo) the Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, the first top official of the regime of Ho Chi Minh City ever to visit the Vatican. Vietnam is one of the Asian countries with the highest percentage of Catholics, preceded only by the Philippines. And the Church is especially lively there, in spite of the absence of religious freedom.
A few days earlier, on January 19-20, Benedict XVI had convened a meeting in the Vatican on the Catholic Church in China. …
There are thought to be more than 12 million Catholics in China today. In 1949, before the advent of Mao Zedong, there were 3 million. Every year about 150,000 new baptized persons are added to their ranks, most of them adults. Many of these come from the professional classes and from the universities.
Another country of the Far East in which the Catholic Church is especially vigorous is South Korea. The faithful there have almost doubled in number over the past ten years, and now make up 10 percent of the population. …
John Paul II had already indicated Asia to the Church as "our common task for the third millennium." And Benedict XVI is showing that he is very determined to continue along this road.
Today Asia is the continent with the lowest number of Catholics. But with the emergence of great nations like India and China, it will be the axis of the world in the future. …
[…] South Korea is a laboratory of great importance for the present and future of the Catholic Church in Asia.
Here is today’s entry in the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum for the feast of Sts. Timothy and Titus:
Memoria sanctorum Timothei et Titi, episcoporum, qui, discipuli santi Pauli Apostoli et adiutores eius in apostolatu, alter Ecclesiae Ephesinae, alter vero Cretensi praefuit; quibus inscriptae sunt epistulae, quae sapientes praebent admonitiones pro pastorum et fidelium institutione. … The memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, who, as disciples of Saint Paul the Apostle and as helpers in his apostolate, presided one of them at the Church of Ephesus and the other at Crete; to them letters were addressed, which the wisely offered suggestions for the instruction of pastors and the faithful.
A few days ago Benedict XVI received as a gift to the Holy See from some Americans one of the most ancient manuscripts of the Gospels. the 14-15 Bodmer Papyrus (P75), dated between AD 175-225. The Egyptian papyrus contains about half of each of the Gospels of Luke and John. It might have been originally for liturgical use. It contains the older version of the Our Father.
Scripture is our life’s blood as Catholics, together with Tradition and the Magisterium. Catholics hear more Scripture in the liturgy than just about any other Christian group might hear or imagine.
Translations of Scripture affect our liturgical prayers. Think, for example, about the terrible damage inflicted on the English speaking Catholics of the world because of the odd approaches to translation we endured in the past. Think of the "pro multis" controversy, now happily resolved. Translating texts can be difficult and of vast importance for the life of the Church. Think of what we understand about the Blessed Virgin because of the Greek word kekaritomene in Luke 1:28!
Today’s German language Kathpress Online-Tagesdienst has a little blurb that the Bible has been translated into at least 2426 languages. Makes you wonder how much confusion of doctrine and interpretation can result.
Thank God we have a solid God-guaranteed point of authoritative reference in the Catholic Church! Catholics do not fall into the trap of the un-Scriptural theory of sola scriptura which most protestants hold.
Nevertheless, Scripture is of decisive importance.
Bibel weitweit in 2.426 Sprachen übersetzt
Stuttgart, 24.1.07 (KAP) In 2.426 Sprachen können
einzelne Schriften der Bibel oder die ganze
Heilige Schrift gelesen werden. Wie die Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft am Mittwoch in Stuttgart mitteilte,
kamen im vergangenen Jahr 23 Sprachen
neu hinzu. Die vollständige Bibel sei in 429 Sprachen
übersetzt. Das Neue Testament gibt es in
1.145 Sprachen. Die Bibel bleibe damit das am
häufigsten übersetzte Buch der Geschichte seit
Erfindung des Buchdrucks mit beweglichen Lettern
durch Johannes Gutenberg.
The 2005 Roman Martyrology has this entry today:
Festum Conversionis sancti Pauli, Apostoli, cui, apud Damascum cum iter faceret, adhuc spirans minis et caede in discipulos Domini, ipse Iesus in via se gloriosum revelavit eumque elegit, ut, Spiritu Sancto repletus, Evangelium salutis in gentibus nuntiaret, pro Christi nomine multa patiens. … The feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle, to whom, as he was making a journey to Damascus then breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, Jesus Himself revealed Himself as glorious and selected him, so that, filled with the Holy Spirit, he would announce the Good News of salvation amongst the Gentiles, while suffering great things for the Name of Christ.
And let us not forget that this is also the feast of St. Ananias, who came to Paul at the Lord’s urgin, overcoming his fears, and baptized him:
2. Commemoratio sancti Ananiae, qui, discipulus Domini, Damasci Paulum conversum baptizavit. The commemoration of holy Ananias, who, as a disciple of the Lord, baptized the converted Paul at Damascus.
You might be the instrument of God’s plan in the life of another who is now lost. Do not let fear thwart God’s will.
It sure sounds to me as if the Holy Father is saying that people who produce wretched stuff aimed at children are in risk of going to Hell.
The Holy Father issued his annual Message for World Day for Social Communion. This year he focuses on "Children and the Media: a Challenge for Education"
Here is an interesting paragraph (my emphasis):
3. This heartfelt wish of parents and teachers to educate children in the ways of beauty, truth and goodness can be supported by the media industry only to the extent that it promotes fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity. Thus, the need for the media to be committed to effective formation and ethical standards is viewed with particular interest and even urgency not only by parents and teachers but by all who have a sense of civic responsibility.
While affirming the belief that many people involved in social communications want to do what is right …, we must also recognize that those who work in this field confront "special psychological pressures and ethical dilemmas" (Aetatis novae, 19) which at times see commercial competitiveness compelling communicators to lower standards. Any trend to produce programmes and products – including animated films and video games – which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programmes are directed at children and adolescents. How could one explain this ‘entertainment’ to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse? In this regard, all would do well to reflect on the contrast between Christ who "put his arms around [the children] laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing" (Mk 10:16) and the one who "leads astray … these little ones" for whom "it would be better … if a millstone were hung round his neck" (Lk 17:2). Again I appeal to the leaders of the media industry to educate and encourage producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family.
This is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The Fathers of the Church comment on Paul’s conversion.
Cassiodorus, for example, addresses how God can bring good from our evil ways, revealing that He has a plan for us and knows us better than we know ourselves:
Often the merciful Lord does not allow us to perpetrate evil deeds so that pricked by remorse we should prostrate ourselves for our sins, just as Saul was checked when he was sent by the priests to Damascus to ravage the Church of Christ with the most savage persecution. He was not permitted to attain great success, for that could have been the cause of his receiving eternal punishment. [Exp. of the Psalms 53.9]
Ephrem the Syrian uses the event of Paul’s conversion to address the Lord’s two natures.
This is why the humble voice accompanied the intense light, so that from the combination of the humble and the sublime, our Lord might produce help for the persecutor, just as all his assistance is produced from a combination of the small and great. For the humility of our Lord prevailed from the womb to the tomb…. His nature is not simply humble, nor is it simply sublime; rather they are two natures, lofty and humble, one mixed in the other. [Homily on Our Lord 34]
Speaking of an intertwining of the Lord’s characteristics, St. Augustine uses the occasion to address the Lord’s omnipresence:
How can we show that He is there and that he is also here? Let Paul answer for us, who was previously Saul…. For of all, the Lord’s own voice from heaven shows this: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Had Paul climbed up to heaven then? Had Paul even thrown a stone at heaven? It was Christians he was persecuting, then he was tying up, them he was dragging off to be put to death, them he was everywhere hunting out of their hiding places and never sparing when he found them. To him the Lord said, “Saul, Saul.” Where is He crying out from? Heaven. So He’s up above. “Why are you persecuting me?” So He’s down below. [s. 122.6]
Of course you know that this voice of the Lord’s from heaven, also shows how Christ is present in His Body, the Church. Venerable Bede looks at this:
He did not say, “Why do you persecute my members?” but “Why do you persecute me?” Because He is still suffering from enemies in His body, which is the Church. He declared that kindness bestowed upon His members are also done to Him when He said, “I was hungry and you gave me to eat,” and He added in explanation, “So long as you did it to one of the least of mine, you did it to me.” [Commentary on Acts 9.4]
When we sin, we afflict the Lord, for our sins hurt our own person – which is a member of Christ’s Body – and also others. This is why in confessing our sins we must do penance. Penance is salutary for us, like the therapy we do after being injured and healed. It is also a matter of justice, because even hidden sins hurt everyone else. Sin is in a way a backward proof that we are not alone.
The humility of the Lord, the omnipresence of the Lord, His presence in the Church and thus with all the members of the Church firms up our confidence that He understands our sufferings. He shared our human state. Basil the Great says:
For it is written, “And when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be made subject to Him who subjected all things to Him.” Do you not fear, O man, the God who is called unsubjected? For He makes your subjection His own, and, because of your struggle against virtue, He calls Himself unsubjected. Thus, He even said at one time that He Himself was the one persecuted: for He says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” when Saul was hastening to Damascus, desiring to put in bonds the disciples of Christ. Against, He calls Himself naked, if anyone of His brothers is naked. “I was naked”, He says, “and you covered me.” And still again, when another was in prison, He said that He Himself was the one imprisoned. For He Himself took up our infirmities and bore the burden of our ills. And one of our infirmities is insubordination, and this He bore. Therefore, even the adversities that happen to us the Lord makes His own, talking upon Himself our sufferings because of His fellowship with us. [ep. 8]
Our knowledge that Christ is united in our infirmities, means that Christ knows what we need better than we know ourselves and He provides for it. It is not alway what we think we need of course. Sometimes the Lord’s assistance comes to us in unexpected ways. John Chrysostom says:
The eunuch was on the road and Paul was on the road, but the latter was drawn by no other than Christ Himself, for this was too great a work for the apostles. It was great indeed that, with the apostles at Jerusalem and no one of authority at Damascus, he returned from there converted. And those at Damascus know that he had not come from Jerusalem, for he brought letters that he might place the believers in chains. Like a consummate physician, Christ brought help to him, once he fever reached its height. It was necessary that he should be quelled in the midst of his frenzy, for then especially he would fall and condemn himself as one guilty of dreadful audacity. [Homilies on Acts 19]
Chrysostom’s passage also reminds us that your role in God’s plan is not limited to being small or great simply by your visible vocation. God used the eunuch, not the apostles, because the eunuch was suited to do what the apostles could not. In our lives, we must constantly remember that to do His work in this concrete time and place God does not choose those who are worthy, but those whom it pleases Him to choose, great or small, conspicuous or not.
The sudden realization of God’s will and plan, staring you in the face, can be a frightening and disorienting slap. God uses even unpleasant means to get our attention. Consider what Ambrose says:
Although Paul was struck and taken up and was terrified because blindness had befallen him, still he began to come near when he said, “Lord, what will you have me do?” For that reason he is called the youngest by Christ, so that he who was called to grace could be excused from the guilt of his hazardous years. Yes, Christ say him when the light shone around him; because young people are recalled from sin more by fear than by reason, Christ applied the goad and mercifully admonished him not to kick against it. [Joseph 10.58]
Oscar Wilde (not a Father of the Church) once said:
The only difference between saints and sinners is that every saint has a past while every sinner has a future [In Evil]
Echoing this, Bernard Malamud wrote:
“Experience makes good people better. We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering brings us toward happiness,” she tells Roy. [The Natural, ch. 7]
We are works in progress. Perhaps when we encounter annoying people, we could try imagining them as God intended them in the Resurrection. People can indeed change and it is a work of mercy to bear with them and then help them. You never know what interior motions of grace are in operation because of your good example. God can bring forth richness from sterility, so He can use you – little person that you are – for great works you might never see.
Again Ambrose:
Although he saw nothing when his eyes were opened, still he saw Christ. And it was fitting that he saw Christ present and also heard Him speaking. That overshadowing is not the overshadowing of blindness by grace. Indeed, it is said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. [On the Patriarchs 12.58]
The Redeemer is not removed from us. We are not here simply to drift, without guiding signs and helps. Holy Church speaks and, in her voice, Christ is teaching. We have the sacraments. We have actual graces. We have the Lord Himself in whom our humanity is now at this moment reigning in glory at the right hand of the Father.
Others have you.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
Not on 4 Sept: St. Moses, Old Testament prophet and lawgiver, forerunner of Christ: “I know this may sound petty. I love Catholic art and icons. I have studied icons and how they have…”
on YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS: “Intentions of and reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His Holy Face, the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of…”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: “Kenneth: Just to be clear, that truly beautiful prayer you cite, “May the Passion of our Lord…”, follows the form…”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: “I have never understood why this sacrament’s form/words had to be changed, from the old rite’s commands (May almighty God…”
on 5 September – St. Teresa of Calcutta: “Incredible to think she was at your ordination! What a blessing. I used to see the Missionaries of Charity in…”
on Daily Rome Shot 1113: “Isn’t it mate in 3? 1. Qc2+ Ka1 2. Rxa2+ Kxa2 3. Ra8# [Take another look. And, FWIW, your notation…”
on YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS: “Prayers for my wife A, who has abandoned our marriage, of which we have 5 beautiful children in ages from…”
on YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS: “I’m still looking for work so I don’t lose my car or default on my credit card. I have a…”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: ““May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of (all) our sins. Amen.” My missal does…”
on A video from Catholic Unscripted about the state: “Why Brits are interested in “uniting clans” is quite ironic.”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: “I noticed that that same phrase Indulgentiam, absolutionem… is used during Completorium of the Divine Office. If a lay person…”
on A video from Catholic Unscripted about the state: “Creative nonviolence is a powerful thing. It brought down Communism in Poland, British rule in India, and segregation in the…”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: “I imagine that neither the scrupulous nor those long absent from Confession would complain about this comforting repetition. Oh! And…”
on About the formula you hear in the Sacrament of Penance: “I hear the words of absolution in Ukrainian, so I am trusting the priest.”
Loading ...
A Daily Prayer for Priests
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful. Zelle and Wise are better, but PayPal is convenient.
A monthly subscription donation means I have steady income I can plan on. I put you my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I often say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
Loading ...If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
Loading ...
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
Use my code for a discount
Visits tracked by Statcounter
since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
