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

Catholic organizations file religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government in a dozen jurisdictions

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

For a full list you can go here.

____

As you know, The First Gay President, Pres. Obama, has been undermining our 1st Amendment rights. He has been attacking the Catholic Church, directly and through his minions such as the deplorable Kathleen Sebelius, head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

I received this via email from the editor of Our Sunday Visitor, John Norton. What follows is from him, with my emphases:

At 11 a.m. Eastern time today, 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations — including Our Sunday Visitor and the University of Notre Dame — filed religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government in a dozen different jurisdictions around the country. [Notre Dame. The irony is rich. They fawned over The First Gay President, the most aggressive promoter of abortion we have ever seen in the White House against the clear dissatisfaction of the US Bishops. They shamelessly sucked up to the President. But now that it comes to something that affects what they have to pay for, they are lining up against Obama’s hostile directives. So, Fr. Jenkins! How’s that “common ground” working for Notre Dame now?]

At issue are regulations that require Catholic organizations, employers and insurers to provide or facilitate abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception — in violation of their consciences. [Liberals will say that Catholics are making this into a “contraception issue” and that Catholics shouldn’t be permitted to “impose their beliefs” on others. They will say that this is partisan politics and that the US bishops are just channeling GOP resistance to Obama and the Dems. No. This is about conscience and the 1st Amendment.]

Equally troubling is the extreme narrowness of the government’s new test for determining which religious organizations are exempt from this mandate — [NB:] which would appear to exclude Catholic schools, health care facilities, charities and others like Our Sunday Visitor.

In an editorial in OSV Newsweekly explaining why we’re filing suit, we write:

Today, Our Sunday Visitor stands proudly with our fellow Catholic apostolates and with our bishops in resisting this challenge. We ask all of our readers to stand with us – in charity, praying first and foremost for conversions of heart; in civility, arguing the facts of this case without recourse to bitter partisanship or political rhetoric; and in solidarity, knowing that whatever sacrifices we bear and whatever challenges we endure, we are only doing what is our responsibility as American citizens practicing our faith in the public square.

Our Sunday Visitor’s participation in the religious liberty lawsuit is consonant with our mission of service to the Church and the nation instilled by our company founder.

It seems to us hardly a coincidence that this suit is taking place in the centennial year of Our Sunday Visitor. Founded 100 years ago by then-Father John Noll, Our Sunday Visitor from its beginning sought to inform Catholics about the issues of the day, form them in the Faith, and defend that Faith from attack. It was Father John Noll who stood up to those who attacked Catholic immigrants as un-American and seditious. It was Father John Noll who faced down false preachers who spread slanders about the Church. It was Father John Noll who resisted the power of the Ku Klux Klan when it was such a powerful political force. And it is in his courageous spirit that we invoke as we engage in this great struggle today. [The Obama White House and their surrogates such as Nancy Pelosi as the KKK who must be resisted.]

For more information about this lawsuit — including a full list of the other litigant Catholic organizations, a link to the filing itself and a wealth of background material — go to www.osv.com/religiousliberty.

[WDTPRS kudos to OSV]

Here is a link to the PDF of their filing.

UPDATE:

FULL LIST (so far) HERE.

Meanwhile, here is a shot of the top of the filing as filed by the Archdiocese of New York:

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged HHS mandate, John Norton, Kathleen Sebelius, Notre Dame, Our Sunday Visitor, Pres. Obama, religious liberty, The First Gay President
33 Comments

QUAERITUR: Can I fulfill my Sunday Mass obligation by going to Mass on Monday evening?

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Does attending mass on a Monday evening fulfill my Sunday mass obligation? I was out of town and not able to attend mass on Sunday. I have a friend who regularly attend this mass when she does not attend on Sunday.

Sorry… but… Sunday is Sunday and Monday is Monday. Right?

“But Father! But Father!”, some will interject, “We can fulfill our obligation on Saturday evening and Saturday is Saturday, not Sunday. Right?”

Yes and no.

When we interpret the Church’s law, we interpret it in such a way that most favorable to people. Since we Catholics follow to a certain extent in the footsteps of our Jewish forebears, when we think about liturgical time, we accept that a liturgical day begins on the evening, the vigil, before the day. Therefore we say that an evening Mass on Saturday is really already on liturgical Sunday. However, since we interpret law favorably, we can also look at Sunday as extending beyond its own evening, Sunday evening, until midnight between Sunday and Monday. In fact, we can even consider it still “morally” Sunday in a way if you are up late, past midnight. Thus, a priest doesn’t have to stop his car and try to get his Office said while reading in front of the headlights or with the dome light because the minute had is at 11:53 pm. He can finish his Office before going to bed even through it is technically Monday. Let’s leave aside the issue of civil time and solar time.

Whichever way of legitimately calculating time that is favorable to the person is the one we can follow.

That said, I cannot imagine anyway that Monday evening is Sunday. Thus, NO, you cannot fulfill your Mass obligation on Monday evening.

Let’s keep in mind what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2181. The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

Note that the paragraph mentions being “dispense”.

According to the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church in canon 1245, pastors of parishes have the ability to dispense your obligation in individual instances or commute your obligation to some other pious work. That pious work might even be attending Holy Mass on Monday evening. In this case, you can’t just assume that you have the dispensation or commutation. You have to receive it. Moreover, the liturgical year and our obligations are important for our Catholic identity and spiritual lives. We should adjust our lives as much as way can according to the calendar and not adjust the calendar to suit our lives. Nevertheless, Holy Church recognizes that life is messy. That is why she has canons such as can. 1245.

Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It is important. Keep it as a holy day. Be part of the congregation and participate well at Holy Mass. We need to have everyone there.

Let Sunday be Sunday!

And just that we stress not only the obligation but also the benefits of Sunday observance, you might look at John Paul II’s Dies Domini.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged can. 1245, Dies Domini, Sunday, Sunday Mass Obligation
23 Comments

Catholic Herald: A priest on the loss of the sense of sacred time.

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I offered you a rant about the transfer of Ascension Thursday to Sunday. I think it is a mistake because, a) it is contrary to a liturgical tradition since the 4th century, b) it is contrary to Scripture, c) it lowers expectations of how people integrate the Church’s year of Faith into their daily lives and d) it gives people the impression that the mysteries of the Lord’s life aren’t that important.

That said, we all must nevertheless submit to and follow the liturgical calendar as it is established by legitimate authority.

I saw on the site of the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald (consider subscribing to the digital edition!), that another priest author has something to say about the transfer of the feast.

Celebrating the Ascension on a Sunday is a sad sign of creeping secularisation in the Church

We are witnessing the disappearance of the concept of sacred time

By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith

I hope all readers had a happy feast of the Ascension. For most people in this country it was Ascension Sunday that you celebrated; but for me and a small minority it was Ascension Thursday.

I have been away on retreat, staying in a strictly enclosed Benedictine monastery. On arrival I asked what was happening on the Thursday, and this is what I was told: “Here we celebrate the Ascension on Thursday, by special permission. Celebrating it on Sunday would mean that the novena between Ascension and Pentecost would make no sense.” [EXACTLY. But notice that they, laudably, obtained permission.]

Funnily enough, this aspect of the great question had never occurred to me. Given that Ascension is on a Thursday and the feast of Pentecost the Sunday after next, that means that there is a nine day gap between the two, and this nine day gap, traditionally the time when the Church waits in prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit, is the reason we keep novenas. This is the original ur-Novena.

It says in the Acts of the Apostles, 1:12-14:

Then [ after the Ascension] they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Not only was this the first ever novena in the history of the Church, and the pattern of all future novenas, it was also the most distinguished one in Church history, consisting of the eleven apostles, the holy women, and the Mother of God Herself.

Despite this, I have the distinct feeling that novenas are going out of fashion. [Okay… I’ll add it before someone else does. A man asks a Franciscan and a Jesuit if it would be proper to pray a novena so he could have a Maserati. The Franciscan asks, “What’s a Maserati?” but the Jesuit asks “What’s a novena?”] It is time they were revived, and the same goes for Octaves too, the custom of marking the eighth day after a feast and the period in between. The Easter Octave is still with us, but the Octave of the Assumption, which ends with the feast of the Queenship of Mary is one celebration that I have never witnessed. As a child, I do remember making a novena before the feast of the Immaculate Conception. [And WHAT about the Octave of PENTECOST?]

I suppose what we are witnessing here is the disappearance of the concept of sacred time; [yes] this is a huge pity, for a tradition once lost can only with great difficulty be restored. We can hardly complain about Christmas concerts and Christmas parties in the first weeks of December when we ourselves go along with this creeping secularisation. I asked last year about the restoration of the Ascension to the Thursday, and there was some talk of putting it back in its original place.

Is it worth asking again? [You have my ‘yes’ vote.]

Alexander Lucie-Smith is a Catholic priest and a doctor of moral theology. The author of several books, he was born in West Sussex, educated at Oxford and in Rome, and has lived in Malta, Italy, and Kenya

May I also add that, from the point of view of a parish and a parish priest, the elimination of a day of obligation also eliminates a collection! Banal, perhaps, but parishes need to pay bills in order to stay open.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Ascension Thursday, novena, Pentecost
20 Comments

BOOK REVIEW: Michael Coren – HERESY

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A while back I posted about a book by Michael Coren called Why Catholics Are Right, [Kindle HERE] an apologetics tool that provide readers with answers and responses to some questions and controversies which we hear in the news and conversations (e.g., anti-Catholic chestnuts, saws, canards, clichés).

He has a new book called HERESY: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity. [Kindle HERE. UK Kindle HERE and hardback HERE.]

I am about a third of the way into it and wanted to bring it to your attention.

One thing I noticed about this volume is that it lack an index (the first book didn’t have one either). I think that is a mistake. Perhaps some authors or publishers think an index makes a book look scary or too scholarly. An index is useful (something I hope that Ignatius Press will figure out too – many of their great books are weakened by the lack of an index). When you want to find something, you can find it. Otherwise, when I read these indices-challenged books, I read with a pen and make lots of margin notes and create a sort of running index in the back. That said, there are end notes and a bibliography.

I recommended Coren’s first book to a priest friend of mine who was engaged in some catechesis and apologetics with some people. He found it very useful.

After an Introduction, here are the titles in the Table of Contents:

There Is No God, Bad Things Happen To Good People, and So On
The Da Vinci Code
All the Clever People Are Atheists. Or, Christians Are Stupid
Hitler Was a Christian
Christians and Christianity Supported Slavery
Christians Are Opposed To Science
Christians Oppose Progress and Change
Christians Are Obsessed with Abortion
What Else Can We Throw at Christians?

Coren’s style is straight forward and you don’t have to have an advanced degree to follow him. You could use this book to prepare yourselves for conversations, to answer questions and doubts you might have, or you could put it into the hands of someone who has brought up some objections.

Since Coren digs with pointed tool into some topics, such as homosexuality, this is a good tool for adults rather than for kids.

Catholics need to know their Faith so that we can fulfill what we are asked to be and do in Scripture. “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.” (1 Peter 3:15) When we have the right perspective and answers to objections, we aren’t as likely to be angry, frustrated or impatient in dealing with others during conversations.

We need to be knowledgeable, articulate and charitable in the presentation of and defense of the Faith.

Finally, I picked up from the blog Etheldreda’s Place (by one of our frequent commentators here), that the author Coren was interviewed on EWTN. I am posting the video below. Coren is one of three people interviewed. I would also like to point out that an old acquaintance of mine is also interviewed: Andreas Widmer – a former Swiss Guard and author of The Pope and the CEO (about what he learned about leadership from his many years near John Paul II).

The Coren section starts at about 8:30.

[wp_youtube]rrIjMxttkoU[/wp_youtube]

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, REVIEWS, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged apologetics, heresy, Michael Coren
15 Comments

QUAERITUR: Social anxiety from Asperger’s and Sunday Mass obligation

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please use the sharing buttons! Thanks!

From a reader:

A friend has Aspergers which is on the autism spectrum but they usually pass for relatively normal if slightly batty (she OK’s this description!) but she has the typical extreme social anxieties and other hyper sensitivities and when they pile up she doesn’t make it to Mass because she is afraid of a meltdown (another inconvenience of Aspergers). Does this fall under the health reasons for missing Mass or not?

I don’t know what to tell her because if she feels it coming, she will dump everything on her schedule and hole up for a day or so in order to recover her balance enough to make it to Mass, but she isn’t always tuned in enough to see it coming and finds herself on the edge Sunday morning, already dressed to go and having anxieties over not going. [Poor thing.]

I have no clue how to answer her question as to if this is something that is excusable for health reasons or if she should confess it?

I am not any sort of expert on Asperger’s Syndrome and its attendant problems, but from what I do know, I will say yes, it seems to me that that intense social anxiety would excuse a person from going to Mass on a day of precept, such as a Sunday.

When people are ill or have an injury or very difficult circumstances, even an affliction of some sort, which makes it very difficult or ill-advised or even dangerous to go to Mass, the person’s obligation is excused.

It could be that a good line of communication with the pastor of the parish would be helpful in these cases so that the person could explain your situation to the priest. Can. 1245 gives to pastors (in England “the parish priest”) the right to grant a dispensation from the obligation in individual cases or else he can commute the obligation to other pious works. For example, you could text Father (with his permission in advance of course, don’t bombard his phone)

“Me again. Worried about melt-down in front row during sermon. Can. 1245, plz?”

A pious work could be, maybe going to Mass twice during the next week, reciting the Office, or praying an entire Rosary, or praying the stations of the Cross, or reading the Gospel passage for that Sunday, etc.

From a different angle, could Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form be an option? You don’t have people gaping at you and shoving their sweaty hands at you during the hand-shake of peace.

The bottom line is: In my opinion you can tell your friend that her condition when it flares up into an anxiety or panic attack would be a reason to stay home from Mass.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged Asperger's Syndrome, can. 12145, Sunday Mass
43 Comments

Have any good news?

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Let us know what your good news is!

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
35 Comments

ITALY: Earthquake in N. Central Italy and Bomb Attack on a school in S. Italy

Posted on 20 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From News.va:

Pope’s prayers as Italy reels from bomb attack and deadly quake

Pope Benedict prayed for Italy and the victims of two catastrophes that have struck the nation this weekend, one man made and one a natural calamity.
The first was a Saturday morning bomb attack on a Brindisi high school, which the Pope described as a “cowardly” act of “brutal violence”. Investigators say that the attack which killed a teenaged girl and wounded 10 others – prompting spontaneous demonstrations throughout Italy – was probably carried out by an individual with no links to the mafia, as had been feared at first.
The second catastrophe was a deadly earthquake early Sunday morning in the Emilia region. Registering magnitude 6 on the Richter scale, it was felt across northern Italy and as far away as Milan and Venice, forcing terrified residents into the streets.
Authorities report severe damage, with many collapsed buildings in ancient hill top towns and rescuers are still searching for survivors beneath rubble.
As he ended his midday appointment in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict’s last thoughts went to them: “We implore God’s mercy for those who have died”, he said “and relief from suffering for the injured”.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
5 Comments

Saturday Night Chicken, Game Shows, Hope for the Warriors

Posted on 20 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

You might remember for a Sunday Supper post I wrote about making soup using the cookbook by Lorraine Wallace, wife of Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Because of their busy Sunday schedule – for a long time – the Wallaces have had soups on Sundays. Soup is always, easy to make in large or small quantities, of infinite variety and provides great flexibility for serving times. Their custom of having soups helped them maximize the potential of having the whole family eat together.

That book is called Mr. Sunday’s Soups. “More than 75 delicious homemade recipes to bring your family together.”

I have used the book fairly often, and for guests. I made one of these soups for a large gathering of priests, as a matter of fact, and there was not a speck left over.

It seems that Lorraine Wallace has prepared a new volume called Mr. Sunday’s Saturday Night Chicken.

I have ordered a couple copies for myself as a gift to my father, to whom I gave an autographed copy of the first book. He is into soups.

Since I am momentarily focused on Mr. Wallace, he appeared recently on the long-running TV game-show Jeopardy! and absolutely clean his opponents’ clocks. His winnings were for Hope For The Warriors.

I didn’t see the show, since that is not the sort of TV I watch, but when looking around for information about that appearance I found this on Newsbusters:

The liberal media took another stunning defeat Tuesday as Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace totally demolished the BBC’s Katty Kay on Jeopardy!.

At the closing bell, Wallace had amassed $22,400 to Kay’s pitiful $8,000. Dr. Mehmet Oz came in third with $5,900.

And liberals claim they’re the smartest.

Ha!

This followed Monday’s abysmal performance by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews (video follows with commentary).

UPDATE:

Since frjim4321 made a spectacularly crass comment, below, I am posting this video.

[wp_youtube]NE6d5sJbAtw[/wp_youtube]

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Fr. Z's Kitchen, Linking Back | Tagged chicken, Chris Wallace, cookbook, Lorraine Wallace, soup, Sunday Supper
16 Comments

Your Sunday Sermon Notes & POLL: Which feast/day?

Posted on 20 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Is there some good point from the Sunday sermon which you heard? Share it.

Also, a quick WDTPRS POLL.

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Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, POLLS | Tagged Ascension Thursday Sunday
47 Comments

Author of “The Exorcist” building suit against Georgetown U for not living up to Catholic identity

Posted on 19 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is an interesting development. From CNA:

‘Exorcist’ author prepares canon lawsuit against Georgetown
By Michelle Bauman

Washington D.C., May 19, 2012 / 05:03 pm (CNA).- The author of the best-selling book and award-winning screenplay “The Exorcist” has announced that he is leading an effort to file a canon lawsuit against Georgetown University for failures to live up to the demands of the school’s Catholic identity.

William P. Blatty, who graduated from Georgetown in 1950, told CNA on May 18 that he believes there is a need for disciplinary action against the university.

“As I recall it, the Lord knocked over a few tables,” he said.

Blatty, who has been honored by Georgetown with the John Carroll Medal for alumni achievement, will lead other alumni, students and members of the university community in the newly-formed Father King Society to Make Georgetown Honest, Catholic, and Better.

The society is named for the late Jesuit Fr. Thomas M. King, a former theology professor at Georgetown who was rumored to be the inspiration for the priestly character in “The Exorcist.”

Its website encourages members of the Georgetown community to join the canon lawsuit and share their grievances against the university with Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Pope Benedict XVI.

It also asks them to withhold their donations from the school for one year.

Blatty believes that Georgetown has given scandal to the faithful on numerous occasions and has refused to comply with “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” the document issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990 to outline the functions of Catholic universities.

[…]