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

Any good news for the readers?

Posted on 13 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Do you have any good news to share?

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
49 Comments

Pentecost: some music and a sermon

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was at Assumption Grotto in Detroit for Mass for Pentecost Sunday. The Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form was intended to be dovetailed into the Call To Holiness Conference, held this weekend… with the blessing of Archbishop Vigneron.

Armed with my little mp3 recorder I caught some of the sounds of the Mass.

In the first audio file, you will hear some excerpts. First, the Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, sung by a capable schola of women only. I quite enjoy chant sung by women. It has a different quality altogether. Then there is the Preface of the Mass, with a bit of the Sanctus. It was an orchestral Mass by Franz Schubert. At the end, since someone had carried the recorder from where it had been left near the pulpit into the sacristy even before the recessional returned, you will hear the “Prosit” and response, with the blessings for the servers. One little kid was obviously keyed into the Latin. He received a cordial impromptu quiz about a word, which he passed with flying colors!

Then, in the second file, there is the sermon for the Mass, with a focus on the nine-fold fruit of the Holy Spirit Paul speaks about in Galatians 5. [UPDATE: For the sermon, go HERE.]

Posted in What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Pentecost
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More American Catholic Council joy in Detroit! A local TV report.

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There was a story on the local news about the American Catholic Council… Council… get it? Council?

(This video is no longer available.)

Several points in the report were misleading. For example, there could only be canonical consequences, realistically, for clerics of the Archdiocese of Detroit who participated in their “liturgy”, in direct defiance of the written communication of the Archbishop.

And the “arguments” used by the people who gave sound bites…. well… not really that compelling.

The people who attended this are … how to put this in language they might understand readily and accept… well… they are “on the wrong side of history”.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged American Catholic Council
45 Comments

Life imitates art! The American Catholic Council’s “Litany of Lament”

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the American Catholic Council’s program. On the opening day they had a moving and meaningful paraliturgy which included the

Litany of Lament.

Here it is from their program. I add some comments:

(When the female lector reads, FROM THE FOUR WINDS COME, O SPIRIT, Spirit-bearers waving banners enter the assembly from four directions. As they pass by your seat, please rise up!). [Rise up… get it? Huh?]

Presider [a woman. Should that be “presideress”?]: O Holy God hear us as we cry to you. Our Church is filled with dried bones in a world hungering for your Life. [Correction: Cobo Center was filled with dry bones.]

Litany of Lament:

Refrain from the Veni Sancte Spiritus [Which turns this whole thing into a form of blasphemy, actually.]

1. Weakened by structures that ignore your Wisdom [I suspect they are using this as a kind of code or shorthand. Feminists call the Spirit “Sophia”, which they say is feminine, and therefore the Spirit is feminine. Get it? Huh?] speaking through the people of god, we cry…

2. Angered by church leaders who protect pedofiles and persecute prophets, we cry…

3. (In Spanish): Denied Eucharist because of the failure to address the priest shortage, we cry.

4. Aching for the Eucharist to be celebrated as nourishment for sinners, not a reward for good behavior, we cry…

5. Wondering why we are closing parishes rather than opening ordination, we cry…

6. (In German): Longing to celebrate creative theologians rather than mourn their marginalization, we cry… [Remember… Hans Kung was supposed to be there. This is pure sucking up.]

7. Oppressed by rigid structures of racism, we cry…

8. Blind to the beauty of God’s image in gay and lesbian people we cry…

9. Betrayed by church structures that promote sexism and misogyny, we cry… [Wow. Things are pretty bad in these structures. At this point in the Litany you expect someone is going to bring in razor blades so they can all slit their wrists.]

10. Outraged by bishops’ refusal to use structures of their own creation to be accountable to survivors of clergy sex abuse, we cry…

11. Dismayed by our own guild and failure to confront the structures of abuse, we cry… [They really have a thing about structures, don’t they?]

12. Amidst the shattered images of godliness and ministry, we cry…

[Then after 2 minutes of silent prayer a women presider in white says :]

In silence, please join in the ancient Christian gesture signifying the presence of the Holy Spirit, the laying on of hands. Place your hands on the head of your neighbor and pray silently, acknowledging the gift of the Spirit within them. The allow your neighbor to pray silently over you.

Then they prayed a prayer composed by Pope John XXIII used at the beginning of all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

It’s a Council.. get it? They are the one’s taking the roles of bishops at a Council? Huh? GET IT?

I wonder if that blue rinse stuff comes off on your hands. Dunno.

Dismayed… Outraged… Aching… Wondering… Longing…Oppressed…Angered… Weakened….Denied….Blind… Betrayed… Amidst… oppps that one didn’t fit.

Once again I am reminded of the Little Rascals films where the kids have a show in the big barn. You know… Darla, Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa.

They too, those little rascals, in their little films, played the role of the poor and the oppressed. They too struggled against the rich kids of the neighborhood. They broke boundaries of sexism and racism.. and speciesism. They had their canine pal with a ring around … ummmm… its eye named… I am not making this up… named “Pansy“.

So, breaking all sorts of barriers!

It was a spirited group. And this is what most of the participants of the ACC watched when they were kids! Errr… height-challenged, Mother-Earth-annual-orbit-deprived autonomous persons.

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Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged American Catholic Council, Detroit
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Canadian teens stand up to heresy in their Catholic High School

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The other day we learned from Archbishop Hon, the Chinese-born Secretary of Propaganda Fide, that an illicit episcopal consecration was averted, probably because the people stood against it.

Here is another example of resistance “from below” properly offered in the face of improper use of authority and promotion of heresy.

On LifeSite there is a story about a girl who stood up for the faith in the face of a dreadful and erroneous old chestnut that, in the Resurrection, Jesus did not physically rise from the dead. My emphases and comments.

NORTH BAY, Ontario, June 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “If Catholic students are required to go to so much trouble with their Catholic teachers to defend a teaching as simple as the resurrection, what do they have to do in their Catholic schools to defend teachings on abortion, homosexuality, or same-sex ‘marriage’?” asked Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Catholic commenting on the case of Francesca Sinicrope.

A Grade 12 student of North Bay, Ontario, Sinicrope has recently gone to battle with a teacher and principal at her Catholic High School over the truth of Christ’s Resurrection.

“He told us people have taken the Bible too literally,” Sinicrope told LifeSiteNews in a recent interview. “He began saying that it was like a metaphor that you follow…He said that Jesus never resurrected.”

While the principal says an investigation has cleared the teacher of wrongdoing, another classmate has corroborated Sinicrope’s account.

During the week leading up to Easter this year the Catholic High School decided to place crosses in every classroom, recounted the teen. Following Holy Thursday Mass, Francesca’s sociology teacher provided an explanation of the crosses to the whole class, saying that the same message would be given to all the classes.

Francesca’s video footage, posted on YouTube, recounts the events. “He told my whole class that Jesus had never resurrected,” the 17 year-old said. “That is so unbelievable to me in a Catholic school.”

“My really good friend asked him, ‘So you’re saying that Jesus never resurrected?’ and he answered ‘yes’,” Francesca continued. “My teacher went against the Catholic faith and the school mission statement.”

A friend and classmate, Celine Giroux, backed up Francesca’s account. “He began talking about how we as Catholics took the understanding of the Resurrection too far,” Celine told LifeSiteNews. When the teacher told students the Resurrection had never happened, Celine says she challenged his statement.

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that what I’ve believed in all my life is wrong, that Jesus never resurrected?” Celine asked. The 18 year-old recalled that the teacher answered: “The moral is right, it’s just the story is wrong.”

[Get this…] “Because He died in our honour we should be nice to each other,” was the teacher’s moral, according to Celine. Francesca’s earlier recollection agreed, “He told us the crucifix represents helping others, when we look at it that’s all it’s supposed to mean.”

According to Francesca, the event should never have happened. As she notes in her video account, her parents submitted a detailed “Traditional Values” form to the school at the beginning of the semester. The form specified requirements for parental notification or exemption from certain areas of teaching when “concepts or values” conflicting with the family’s values were presented.

[…]

Read there for the rest of the story.

WDTPRS KUDOS to these kids. Good for them!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices | Tagged Canada, denial of the resurrection, Lifesite, resurrection
33 Comments

Hello Detroit! ACC UNDERWAY!

Posted on 11 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

See who’s speaking!

http://americancatholiccouncil.org/files/2009/05/ACC_convention_brochure_3-2011.pdf

UPDATE:

A priest friend just asked if the was a special cargo plane for the big puppets.

UPDATE:

Do the airlines charge extra for all the extra baggage the speakers are hauling around?

UPDATE:

Here’s Joan Chittister’s intro to her prayer for Pentecost as published here

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sister-joan-chittister-osb/pentecost-prayer_b_872130.html

“The Holy Spirit embodies the life force of the universe, the power of God, the animating energy present in all things and captured by none. On this great feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Spirit of God, I invite you to pray with me”

It reminded me a lot of Obi-Wan Kenobi:

“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”

UPDATE:

A paragraph from the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/article/20110611/NEWS01/110611007/Catholics-Cobo-blast-leaders

Kung, who could not attend in person because of health reasons, was applauded by the audience, a mostly elderly crowd disappointed at what they see as the church’s rightward turn.

You know…. couldn’t have put it better myself!

UPDATE:

I was looking for a Twitter hashtag for this ACC conference. All I could find was #geriatric

UPDATE:

Some swag:

UPDATE:

An action shot!

Better: Call To Action shot!

UPDATE:

There are helpful volunteers in case you get even more lost and confused.

UPDATE:

The Cobo Center is a huge venue with many and diverse groups.

UPDATE

I wonder if this is what Charles Marlow felt like.

UPDATE

Made it out alive.

Posted in Lighter fare, Our Catholic Identity, SESSIUNCULA, The Drill, Throwing a Nutty, What Fr. Z is up to |
120 Comments

Prayer on the Vigil of Pentecost

Posted on 11 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Last Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension.

Today is the Vigil of Pentecost.

The original novena is underway.

Pray to the Holy Spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.V. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created,

R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of Your faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Vigil of Pentecost
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ALERT! DISCLAIMER! ALERT!

Posted on 10 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I note with concern on the site of the Wall Street Journal that the European Court of Justice, in one of 11 decisions released on Thursday, ruled that France needs to do more to protect Cricetae cricetae, the Great Alsatian Hamster, which is endangered.

It’s not my fault!

Before anyone complains, “Basil” the hamster on the right sidebar is not Cricetae cricetae.

Ehem…. as if I know.

He might be.

It is still not my fault.

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged Cricetae cricetae, Great Alsatian Hamster
22 Comments

The Feeder Feed: colors

Posted on 10 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Just a few interesting colors today. A couple of the pics are from when the crab apple tree was in bloom.

This Bunting is styling in the direct sun.

Team Finch.

House Finch.

Crouching Woodpecker, Hidden Mourning Dove. They had a real stare down.

Mr. Oriole is about to be driven off by the Missus, just behind him.

Mr. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

Posted in The Feeder Feed |
11 Comments

Fishwrap owes Bp. Finn an apology for their insulting analogy

Posted on 10 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The writers and editors of the National catholic Fishwrap owe Bishop Robert Finn an apology.

Columnist Phyllis Zagano, whose skills in reading carefully and thinking through argument haven’t been entirely evident to me (for example in this), drew a moral equivalence between five figures.

Testosterone is in the news again from coast to coast. The new reality TV follows the misadventures of over-sexed men, their victims, and their defenders. It looks like a cartoon about a dysfunctional high school.

Reading from the left, in California Arnold Schwarzenegger (football coach), gets a housekeeper pregnant and lies about it for 15 years or so while his wife raises their son, born a few days earlier.

In the Mid West, Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn (chaplain) earnestly defends not reading a year-old, four-and-a-half-page Catholic school principal’s memo detailing weird behavior by one of his priests, even after finding pornography on the priest’s computer.

In the nation’s capitol, Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (assistant principal) weepingly admits he is so enamored of his physical endowments that he Tweets photographs of them to total strangers.

And, in New York, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar (language department) strenuously defend against sex abuse claims by hotel maids.

As we watch the stories unfold, we are left sitting in the school cafeteria wondering how these stereotypes got in charge in the first place.

[…]

This is disgusting and unworthy even of the Fishwrap.

Schwarzenegger, Wiener, Strauss-Kahn, Omar and FINN?

National catholic Fishwrap owes Bishop Robert Finn an apology for this insult.

The rest of her column, obvious condoned by the editors, is also an insulting personal attack.

They should not run Zagano’s stuff and nonsense again until she apologizes for drawing a moral equivalence between Bp. Finn and those other three figures.

Stuff and nonsense is one thing, and in stuff and nonsense Zagano’s and NCFishwrap‘s columns will surely abound. We can differ and even bicker about stuff and nonsense.

This was a vile smear.

Posted in Biased Media Coverage, The Last Acceptable Prejudice |
20 Comments