Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 5th Sunday after Pentecost (N.O.: 13th) 2023

Posted on 2 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Share the good stuff.

It’s the 5th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo and the 13th Sunday of the Novus Ordo.

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Sunday Mass of obligation?

Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.

Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?

I have some thoughts about the Sunday Epistle reading posted at One Peter Five.

A taste:

I was recently reminded of something from the life of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower. When in choir, there was an older nun that was behind St. Thérèse, the seniors being in the upper stalls and the juniors below. This older nun drove St. Thérèse crazy with noise that she would make, sounding like “two shells being rubbed together.” What would make such a noise? Perhaps ill-fitting dentures or rosary beads drawn across her teeth. St. Thérèse found it vexing until she determined that what was so annoying perhaps sounded like music to Christ. She was surely acting under the influence of grace in that, but it was also an act of her will. She made a choice about how she would deal with the annoyance.

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“Days in Rome” Project – October 2023

Posted on 1 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It’s time for another Days in Rome appeal.  Long-time readers know that I try to get back to Rome in April/May and in October.

Why?  This is my way to keep my brain alive, my priestly identity strong and – having been cancelled in significant ways – my liturgical batteries recharged.  Last April and May were a truly graced time.  I was happy for the first time in a long time.  Since I was last there, as a matter of fact.

My plan is to arrive in Rome on 1 October, spend the whole month and into November so I can be there for my birthday, which coincides with the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage, as well as for All Saints and All Souls.  I’ll be at my adoptive parish, Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, daily, of course.  I’ll be back in the apartment I’ve had several times, which is in “my neighborhood”.  This time I’ll again search for a possible pied–à–terre which would also provide a place for priest friends who visit.  Ask St. Philip and St. Joseph and Ven. Mary Ward to help.

Mostly, I need simply to live.

I do these fundraisers in terms of “days in Rome”, which will cover my best estimate of airfare, rent, food, getting around, etc.  Eating “out” in Rome is expensive, so I’ll save a great deal by having my own kitchen.  Besides, it’s hard to beat what I make anyway especially with those great ingredients, and it’s a pleasure to shop the shops I’ve known for years, decades really.

Please give me a hand with this?    

I’ll record the names of everyone who donates for this, large and small, and remember you at daily Mass, pray for you at the tombs of saints, and say Mass for your intention often.  During April and May it was pretty much every other day.

I also remember my regular monthly donors and keep days open for emergency intentions and Requiems.

The usual ways of donating are available.  Some of you know them already.    Zelle, through your bank works well. For international donations there is a service called WISE which is very good and has the lowest fees and best conversion rate I’ve seen and I can accept any currency with it, convert it, and either move it or withdraw it using an ATM in Rome.  Try WISE. HERE

There’s also waaavy flag.

Add a note “Days in Rome” and your email if you want me to write back.

Once again, as I start this up I suspect the Enemy will start to screw around with my life in annoying ways.  This is what happens each time.  Last March the attack was on my mother, which really pissed me off.  I ask your continuing prayers for her: mother of a priest.  The Enemy does not want me in Rome, happy.  I really didn’t want to leave last time.

Venmo - no fees<br>Use your smart phone's camera.

Venmo – no fees
Use your smart phone’s camera.

NB: Services like PayPal take a fee. For larger donations checks by snail mail could be better.  This is the best way for any significant amount.  It isn’t as fast, of course, but it saves money.  Contact me HERE about that or about other ways, like Zelle, etc.  There is a faster mailing address than through the old P.O. Box on the side bar, though that works (it’s slow because it has to be forwarded).

My best arguments for support for this project are as they were before: Masses celebrated for the donors for the project, enhanced content here, and the knowledge that often, when walking about, I suddenly realize that I am smiling.

UPDATE 11 August:

The original goal has been reached.  THANK YOU.   Anything more that comes in will go to this trip… because things are always more expensive than you originally think.  Also, it can roll-over into next spring.  Easter 2024 falls on 31 March.   So, I would hope to head to Rome (after my mother’s birthday in mid March) and stay for some time.

Thanks … PS: A lot of you are using Chase/Zelle and Venmo.  Fast and easy.

DD, MD, JL, AKP, LP, JS, TE, JPMcG, JW, DE, LD, GB, AC, VF, MF, JS, DH, JS, JW (no email address), AB, JP, JT, TB, MAB, SC, EG, HL, RM, SB, JP, MH, TB, NB, LG, JC, JF, AN, MH, TO’R, CP. TP. JM. CS, ML, JM, MP, LP, WH, JN, MH, PG, AD, DvdH, MM, AT, DC, DF, MMcC, KB, E&PS, W&K, AK, AH, JH, AS, EC, MH, TG, GG, JN, HS, TY, EP, JH.

And more…

EC, JE

 

I am so grateful to those who sent some snail-mail donations.  I finally got them.

KK, WM&MH, D&PC, D&JH

 

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1 July – Most Precious Blood and the Feasts of St. Junipero Serra and St. Aaron, brother of Moses

Posted on 1 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A thought for you:

Though we all may be different in height or sex or shape of eye and color of skin, we all bleed the same red Our Savior bled for our sins.

Our unifying human blood, divinely infused, courses ruddy within His risen veins, His glorious and still lacerated Sacred Heart!

What a powerful proof of the unity of our entire race.

Today is the Feast of the Most Precious Blood… in the older, traditional calendar of the Roman Rite.  Thus we inaugurate the month of July, during which in a special way, fire up our devotion to the Most Precious Blood of the Lord.

Every even tiny drop is worth the salvation of the souls of everyone who has ever lived.

While many have and will accept the gift Christ won by the pouring out of His Precious Blood, not all will.

Here is the Collect:

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui unigénitum Fílium tuum mundi Redemptórem constituísti, ac eius Sánguine placári voluísti: concéde, quaesumus, salútis nostræ prétium sollémni cultu ita venerári, atque a præséntis vitæ malis eius virtúte deféndi in terris; ut fructu perpétuo lætémur in coelis.

Here is someone else’s translation:

Almighty, eternal God, Who made Your only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be reconciled by His Blood, grant us, we beseech You, so to worship in this sacred rite the price of our salvation, and to be so protected by its power against the evils of the present life on earth, that we may enjoy its everlasting fruit in heaven.

And… by the way… today is also the feast of St. Aaron, brother of Moses.

Some people may not realize that many great figures of the Old Testament are considered saints and are listed in the Roman Martyrology.

Here is his entry in the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum:

1. Commemoratio sancti Aaron, de tribu Levi, qui a Moyse fratre oleo sacro unctus est sacerdos Veteris Testamenti et in monte Hor depositus.

Who wants to translate this for the readers?

Also, today is the, in the Novus Ordo calendar, the feast of St. Junipero Michael Serra Ferrer, whose memory is being attacked, sacrilegiously, these days. I was so pleased when Archbp. Cordileone read the Title XI, Chapter 3 exorcism at Golden State Park where the demoniac influenced mob tore his statue down.

Here is his Collect (Notitiae 269 Vo. 24 (1988) p. 928:

Deus, cuius ineffabili misericordia plurimas Americae gentes Ecclesiae tuae per Sanctum Iuniperum Serra, aggregare dignatus es; da nobis, eius intercessione, ita corda nostra tibi in caritate coniungere ut imaginem Unigeniti Filii tui coram hominibus semper et ubique portare valeamus. Qui tecum vivit et regnat.

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Daily Rome Shot 734 – and an opportunity

Posted on 1 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online. Thanks in advance. US HERE – UK HERE  These links take you to a generic “catholic” search in Amazon, but, once in and browsing or searching, Amazon remembers that you used my link and I get the credit.

The wonderful Benedictines of Norcia make three types of beer. They are excellent. You can get some.

Chesscomshop Banner

Also, I heard from the great folks at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (Scott Hahn’s group). They are holding a conference for priests soon, 11-13 July, and I plan to go. However, you can participate virtually, online. https://stpaulcenter.com/july2023virtual/ Priests, Deacons, Religious Educators are probably the target audience, but anyone can join and benefit from the talks. I have gone several years now and I wouldn’t do that if it weren’t worthy the time and expense. It is great to get together with so many good priests.  There are discounts for clergy and seminarians. Speaking of expense… should anyone like to pitch in for my travel…

Donate with PayPal

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The Synod (“walking together”) office wants poems about The Synod (“walking together”). Be careful about what you ask for!

Posted on 1 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE: I’ve been told that people who don’t have Twitter accounts can no longer read tweets?  True?

In any event, I’ll post the long poem that Fr V zapped up using ChatBox.  It’s… on the nose.

Originally Published on: Jul 1, 2023 at 13:30

 

I am not making this up, though I harbor the hope that we’ve been drawn into a stunt.   I would say, joke, but the whole thing is a joke.

The Synod (“walking together”) office has – I am not making this up – invited people to write poems about what the Synod

Here a couple tweets that pertain…

First, the great Father V:

Next Damian Thompson:

UPDATE:

As per above:

In the realm of faith, a gathering unfolds,
But caution whispers, as the story unfolds.
A synod, they call it, with intentions unclear,
A path diverging, from truths held dear.

Beware, oh faithful, for danger may lie,
In the shadows of this heretical sky.
For wolves may hide, dressed in sheep’s attire,
Seeking to lead astray, with cunning and desire.

The synod’s purpose, a veiled disguise,
To challenge doctrines, that we recognize.
To question the teachings, that have stood the test,
And sow seeds of doubt, in hearts at rest.

But hold fast, dear souls, to the ancient creed,
The truths handed down, in word and deed.
For heresy may dance, with enticing allure,
But the rock of faith, remains steadfast and pure.

Let not the winds of change, sway your belief,
In the timeless truths, that bring us relief.
Stay rooted in Scripture, in tradition’s embrace,
For there lies the path, to God’s eternal grace.

So guard your hearts, with vigilance and care,
Against the whispers, that may lead you elsewhere.
Stay true to the faith, that has stood the test,
And let not heresy, disturb your soul’s rest.

For in the face of challenges, we shall endure,
With faith as our shield, and truth as our cure.
The heretical synod, may come and go,
But the Church, unshaken, will continue to grow.

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New Prefect of DOCTRINE

Posted on 1 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The new Prefect of the Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith is… incredibly…

Archbp. Víctor Manuel Fernández

You will know him as a ghost writer for his boss.  Questions of plagiarism were raised in regard to Amoris laetitia.  HERE

He is also the author of that great 1995 hit…

Heal me with your mouth. The art of kissing

When on 1 July, today, the Holy See released a list of his previous works, for some reason that one wasn’t on the list.

He is 60 years of age. When made a Cardinal, it’ll be 20 years before he cannot vote.

A recent tweet.

Posted in What are they REALLY saying?, You must be joking! | Tagged
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Bp. Schneider: Prohibition of the Traditional Latin Mass is an Abuse of Ecclesiastical Power

Posted on 30 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

If in baseball there was recently a perfecto, in the ecclesial world a certain bishop has been hitting dingers.

I posted about the piece by Bp. Athanasius Schneider at The Catholic Thing HERE.

Today I note that at One Peter Five there is another piece by Schneider which has been published also elsewhere.  It is important to disseminate, so I’ll respectfully lift it.

These are good “talking points” for conversations about the issue.  You might do well to read them over frequently.  Repetita iuvant.

The Prohibition of the Traditional Latin Mass is an Abuse of Ecclesiastical Power

The prohibition of the traditional Latin Mass is an abuse of ecclesiastical power and noncompliance with its prohibition does not in fact constitute disobedience

Bishop Athanasius Schneider

    1. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass was the liturgy of our Catholic ancestors. It was the form of the Mass with which most of the European nations (except some Eastern European countries and the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites), all American nations, and most of the African, Asian, and Oceanian nations were evangelized.
    2. “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too” (Pope Benedict XVI).
    3. “The problem with the new Missal lies in its abandonment of an ever-continuous history, before and after St. Pius V, and in the creation of a thoroughly new book (albeit compiled of old material)” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
    4. The new Missal’s “publication was accompanied by a kind of prohibition of all that came before it, which is unheard-of in the history of ecclesiastical law and liturgy” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
    5. “I can say with certainty, based on my knowledge of the conciliar debates and my repeated reading of the speeches made by the Council Fathers, that this [i.e., the reform as it is now in the new Missal] does not correspond to the intentions of the Second Vatican Council” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
    6. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass was the liturgy of all the Latin-rite Saints whom we know at least during the entire last millenium; hence its age is millennial. Although commonly called the “Tridentine” Mass, the exact same form of the Mass was already in use several centuries before the Council of Trent, and that Council asked only to canonize that venerable and doctrinally sure form of the liturgy of the Roman Church.
    7. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass has the closest affinity with the Eastern rites in bearing witness to the universal and uninterrupted liturgical law of the Church: “In the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V, as in several Eastern liturgies, there are very beautiful prayers through which the priest expresses the most profound sense of humility and reverence before the Sacred Mysteries: they reveal the very substance of the Liturgy” (Pope John Paul II).
    8. The Pope and the bishops do not have, therefore, the authority to forbid or to limit such a venerable form of the Holy Mass, which was offered by the Saints for over a thousand years, in the same way as the Pope or the Bishops would not have the authority to forbid or significantly reform the venerable form of the Apostolic or Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, precisely because of their venerable, continuous, and millennium-old use.
    9. Complying with the abusive prohibition of that venerable form of the Mass of the Saints, issued unfortunately by current churchmen in a time of unprecedented ecclesial crisis, would constitute a false obedience.
    10. Noncompliance with the prohibitions of the traditional Mass does not make one, by that fact, schismatic, provided one continues to recognize the Pope and the bishops and continues to respect them, and pray for them.
    11. In disobeying formally such an unheard-of prohibition of an inalienable patrimony of the Roman Church, one in fact obeys the Catholic Church of all ages and all the Popes who diligently celebrated and commanded the preservation of that venerable and canonized form of the Mass.
    12. The current prohibition of the traditional rite of the Mass is a temporary phenomenon and will cease. The Roman Church is experiencing today a kind of liturgical exile, i.e., the traditional Latin Mass has been exiled from Rome; yet the exile will, for sure, one day come to an end.
    13. Since the traditional Latin Mass has been in uninterrupted use for more than a millennium, sanctified by universal reception over time, by the Saints and by the Roman Pontiffs, it belongs to the inalienable patrimony of the Roman Church. Consequently, in the future the Roman Pontiffs will without doubt once again recognize and re-establish the use of that traditional liturgy of the Mass.
    14. Future Popes will thank all priests and faithful who, in difficult times, notwithstanding all pressures and false accusations of disobedience, and in a spirit of sincere love for the Church and for the honor of the Holy See, maintained and transmitted the great liturgical treasure of the traditional Mass for future generations.
Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, The Drill | Tagged ,
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Daily Rome Shot 733 – perfection

Posted on 30 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In other news, Yankees (boooo!) starter Domingo Germán threw the 24th perfecto in Major League history in Oakland.  It was the first perfect game since 2012 (Félix Hernández).    There were only a few tense moments, going deep in the count and a couple of good defensive plays. This is the 4th perfecto for the Yankees (boooo!): Dave Cone (1999, David Wells (1998), Don Larsen (the 1956 World Series).

I guess it helps to have a first name starting with D.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Meanwhile, white to move and win material.  Another player with a D had white in 2022: Ding Liren, now official World Champ.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

Your use of my Amazon affiliate link is a major part of my income. It helps to pay for insurance, groceries, everything. Please remember me when shopping online. Thanks in advance.  US HERE – UK HERE

Again, I recommend From Fr. James Mawdsley…

Crucifixion to Creation: Roots of the Traditional Mass Traced back to Paradise

US HERE – UK HERE

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Sending out an “SOS”! Message in a bungle!

Posted on 30 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Feel like a castaway these days?  Feel like those who should have the greatest care of you have sloughed you off for the sake of the ways of the world?  You are not alone.

With that as a preamble, if you have not seen it yet, go to The Catholic Thing and read the piece by Bp. Athanasius Schneider about the working document or Instrumental Laboris for the upcoming Synod (“walking together”) on Synodality (“walking together-ity”) or SOS (and, truly, SOS… HELP US!).

A bishop gave it to me before it was publicly released.  After I threw up in mouth a few times, I decided not to write much about it.  On reflection, people need to know what is being perpetrated in their name.  You see, all sorts of shenanigans will be attempted at the SOS in the name of the faithful which the hierarchy is supposed to “confirm”.    If not, clerics who don’t go along are “against the Spirit” and own “restitution”.  What could go wrong?

Go over the The Catholic Thing and have a look, even a cursory look.

That “restitution” thing.  I’m not making that up.   The Instrumentum includes a “Question for discernment” under the heading

B. Communion, participation, mission. Three priority issues for the synodal Church.

[..]

B 3.2 How can we develop discernment practices and decision-making processes in an authentically synodal manner, that respects the protagonism of the Spirit?

So, the premise you are to admit … you ARE – TO – ADMIT!! – is that the Holy Spirit is the protagonist.  Originally a term from ancient drama, the protagonist is the “main character” or, by extension, the leader or principal person in a movement, cause.   Don’t you dare dissent.

Get this:

7) How can we deal constructively with cases in which those in authority feel they cannot confirm the conclusions reached by a community discernment process, taking a decision in a different direction? What kind of restitution should that authority offer to those who participated in the process?

Their role is to “confirm” what the “community” comes up with. Never mind if this community in this SoS (and who chose them?) come up with wacky stuff.  They must “confirm”.

When does one offer “restitution”?

Consultation of a dictionary reminds us.

The point of restitution is to return what has been lost or stolen or to repair the damage or injury that has been done so that things can be returned to how they originally were or as close as possible.

Firstly, this is hilarious.   If there is anyone in the Church who, in justice, ought to be offered restitution it would be those who desire traditional Catholic worship and doctrine.   Yes, please, gimme some of that “return to how things were”.

However, note that restitution is given to those who are harmed.  In this case, the “community” that came up with whatever goofy thing they came up with that serious bishops still having the Three Bs can’t go along with… because it’s a) stupid and b) not Catholic?

Say the SoS – which will be comprised now of a kind of Mos Eisley diverse mixture of people from various walks of life – never mind that this is supposed to be a meeting of the Synod (“walking together”) of BISHOPS – determines that, according to the Question for discernment under B 1.2 should be made concrete…

6) How can we create spaces where those who feel hurt by the Church and unwelcomed by the community feel recognised, received, free to ask questions and not judged? In the light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?

That part about polygamous marriages was frisky.  They forget bestiality, however, which is speciesist.

Again, you are simply to accept the premise that “concrete steps are needed”.  So, you are now to confirm the kind of concrete steps the discerning community came up with.

The questions are not questions.

Say that the SoS votes, or whatever it is they will do in a post-Pachamama Synod (“walking together”), perhaps consults entrails of former nuns booted from terminated backwardist convents, that Communion is not to be denied to the civilly divorced and remarried.  Say, then, that some bishops disagree and do not go along with the concrete steps demanded by the Spirit through the discerning community.

Those un-confirming bishops should offer restitution.  Why? Because people who put in tens, hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of hard work were denied what they wanted… er um… what the Holy Spirit told them we must have.   Since they and the whole Church – which is groaning not for the revelation of the sons of God but rather (pace St. Paul) for untrammeled distribution of the white thing during the gathering.   Those obstructionist bishops are hurting people.  Consequently, they must be made to pay.

Perhaps they should have a couple of right-thinking bishops sent on the sly for a visitation of their diocesan finances.

Check out Bp. Schneider’s piece.

BTW… S.O.S. a “prosign” used in Morse Code to call urgently for help. It is usually remembered mnemonically as being “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship”. “Our Ship”. The Barque of Peter?

Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. In your field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of your Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures. Have mercy on your Church; within her too, Adam continues to fall. When we fall, we drag you down to earth, and Satan laughs, for he hopes that you will not be able to rise from that fall; he hopes that being dragged down in the fall of your Church, you will remain prostrate and overpowered. But you will rise again. You stood up, you arose and you can also raise us up. Save and sanctify your Church. Save and sanctify us all. All: Pater noster … Eia mater, fons amoris, me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam.

Joseph Card. Ratzinger – Via Crucis – 2005 – 9th Station

And I have a proposal for a much more effective “SOS”, one surely more pleasing to God.

“State buoni se potete… Be good if you can” (St. Philip Neri)

Take on some penances.

Go to confession.

Posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Pò sì jiù, Synod, The future and our choices, What are they REALLY saying?, You must be joking! |
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Daily Rome Shot 732

Posted on 29 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Welcome new registrants:

Nac
Shimpusan

White to play, mate in 2.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

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