Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

ROME 22/10 – Day 21: Sirah, Sirloin and Sirleto

Posted on 21 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sunrise: 7:27. Sunset 18:22. Ave Maria 18:30.

It is the (new calendar) Feast of St. Gaspar del Bufalo, a great saint who fostered devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. An exorcist friend of mine describes how imploring a spiritual covering of the Precious Blood is effective against the Enemy. Try to get your mind around the fact that the least drop of Christ’s Most Precious Blood is of greater value than all of material creation. Now try to get your mind around how the Precious Blood of Our Lord is treated in some parishes.

White to move and win material.

Recently my feet hied me to San Lorenzo in Panisperna precisely to find a specific funerary monument. Arriving at said basilica, at an entirely proper hour, I found it to be dratted closed. Muttering, I continued over hill and no dale at all to find Santa Pudenziana similarly closed. The mumbling greatly increased.

I went to Santa Prassede and Santa Maria Maggiore. After which visits my feet wanted to go home and so we, together, sought out the Via Panisperna again. That a curious street has had the same name and course since the time of Augustus Caesar. Panis = bread and Perna = ham. Bread and Ham Street. And there is a connection with physics!

To my surprise, the church was open and NOT at an hour one expects churches to be open, dead in the middle of the customary siesta period that my feet longed for.

In the church there was a Mass, I assume for some specific group, with the usual hideous music, involving – I am not making this up – a red plastic ukulele, and a know-it-all modernist Scripture-deletant of a priest who wouldn’t shut up. Not to disturb too much, and to rest the barking dogs, I took a seat.

When we learned from him that Jesus never spoke about the End Times, I got up from the chair I’d occupied and went about my errand in regard to the this following funerary monument.

I introduce you to His Eminence Guglielmo Sirleto (1514-1585). His monument has seen better times.

Here’s the inscription. Someone could do us all a favor and transcribe it. Right click for a large version.

Who was this guy, and why did my feet take me to him? After all, there are oodles of churches in Rome and they are all lined and floored with lots of tombs and funerary monuments. When you walk the churches of Rome you are literally also walking on and by dead people. Do the math, oodles x lots = zillions. Many of them are of bishops and cardinals, so zillions / lots = scads. What’s one out of scads of prelatial monuments, anyway? What’s so special about this one?

As a young Calabrian Sirleto came to Rome, exquisitely prepared in classical languages (he talked in his sleep in Greek and Latin), philosophy and theology. St. Philip Neri sold his books and gave the money to Sirleto for his upkeep. Think about that. That in itself makes you wonder what Pippo Bbono saw in him.

Sirleto got to know Card. Cervini, the future Pope Marcellus II (of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli fame) and was a kind of peritus to him during the Council of Trent, as he was later also to Card. Seripando, second legate of the Pope at Trent and later first president of the same. Marcellus made him the head of the Apostolic Vatican Library where, among other things, he made an index of all the materials that would be used for a new edition of the Vulgate Bible. After the pontificate of Paul IV, he was teaching Greek and Hebrew and would up with a student named Carlo Borromeo. He remained a councilor to participants at the Council of Trent. Borromeo eventually suggested to Pius IV that Sirleto be made cardinal, and so he became the Cardinal Deacon of S. Lorenzo in Panisperna, and the builder of the present church.

Being a peritus at a Council is an important position. Think of the influence at Vatican II of Ratzinger, Congar, etc. Sirleto was peritus to the guys who ran Trent.

Want more influence?

He was the head of the commissions to “reform” the following:

Missale Romanum
Breviarium Romanum
Catechismus Romanus
Martyrologium Romanum
Vulgata
Corpus Iuris Canonici.

Imagine the impact.

When he died, St. Philip Neri was at his bedside and Pope Sixtus V buried him.

A fascinating guy.

What’s also fascinating is that when I start to drill into these tombs and monuments – figuratively, that is – I find that the bones have flesh – figuratively, that is.

Meanwhile, check this out. Hilarious and sad at the same time. HERE

To satisfy the food pic seekers, last night I made a wine reduction… to put on…

Sirloin (Italian: contrafiletto) rubbed with salt, pepper and thyme, done in a pan with clarified butter. In what was left I fried a couple slices of tomato that needed eating. I like my fries done. Steak: rare (except for the outside which was duly Maillard-ed).

The wine was a lovely Syrah from the region.

This morning, however, I was after some clams and found this wonderful chorus. I can hear them singing Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli.

The Missa Papae Marcelli has a fascinating history. It was used for the coronation Mass of Popes until Paul VI. Palestrina composed it for Marcellus I who reigned for three weeks. This was a time when at the end of the Council of Trent there was discussion of sacred music, especially music that was too secular sounding. There was even talk of suppressing polyphony, which – as parody Masses – often borrowed melodies from secular, sometimes even rather lascivious songs. However, many of the Roman participants in the Council – including St Charles Borromeo – had heard the Missa Papae Marcelli and they resisted the impulse to ban polyphony.

And at my usual stand where I’ve bought veg for 30 years, today puntarelle! I’ll feast on these with a sauce made of anchovy, garlic, oil and white wine vinegar. Puntarelle are chicory leaves that have been stripped and then put into ice cold water so that they get all curly and crunchy. The L.O.L at the stand was making them, with expert but truly red, rough raw and hard as nails hands, bless her. She’s very sweet. She isn’t there every day anymore, but I always stop and greet the family.

And to put an exclamation point on this post, here’s Palestrina’s Papae Marcelli. Try not to choke up.

GULIELMO SIRLETO CARDINALI STILIIN. CALABRIA NATO
HUIUS ECCLESIAE PRESB. S. SEDIS APOST. BIBLIOTHECARIO
HEBRAICAE GRAECAE LATINAEQ. LINGUAE PERITISSIMO
HUMANARUM DIVINARUMQ. DISCIPLINARUM SCIENTIA CLARO
FRUDITORUM ET PAUPERUM PATRONO AC PARENTI BENEFICIENTISS.
OB PROBITATEM EIUS PIETATEMQ. SINGULAREM A PIO III PONT. MAX.
SACRO INSTANT COLLEGIO CARDINALI CREATO
VIXIT ANN. LXXI OBIIT ANN. CIƆ. IƆ. LXXXV

Posted in Fr. Z's Kitchen, Latin, SESSIUNCULA |
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ROME 22/10 – Day 20: Pizzas, Postcards and Pipsqueaks

Posted on 20 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sunrise in Rome was scheduled for 07:26, and it happened. Sunset has been arranged by our Creator for 18:23. Today the Ave Maria bells moves up to 18:30 from 18:45. Time marches on. It is the Feast of St. John Cantius in the traditional calendar. He was famous in life for his great generosity to the poor. In the intellectual sphere his scientific work anticipated Galileo and Newton on the theory of impetus.

Anecdote: The other day I was at the Piazza der Fico when some real characters from central casting play chess, or was passes for it. They engaged me a bit, as Romans will, dressed as I was as a priest. One of the younger of the gang, sprawl carelessly in a plastic chair magisterially announced that the Catholic Church is against science. I asked for an example and he came up with the Church saying the world was created in six days and the Big Bang. In that context let’s just say that he “hanged mate”. Side-stepping the issue of creation and days, I asked him what his opinion was of the work of Fr. Georges Lemaître. “Who the (uncouth word) is he?” He’s the guy who came up with the theory that phenomenon of galaxies receding from each other is explainable by an expanding universe.” Blank stare. He’s the guy who came up with the Big Bang theory.

Anyway, St. John Cantius, who died in 1473, worked on Burdian’s theory of impetus, trying to describe motion against gravity.

Some of you might remember this. It seems a lifetime ago.

Meanwhile, to satisfy those who like the food pics. There is a piazza by the slice place in the Jewish “ghetto” quarter where the kosher pizza is spectacular. The pizza scene has over the last years been revolutionized. The game was kicked up about a hundred notches by Gabriele Bonci.

In the little S.M. di Loreto, next to Trajan’s Column, there is an altar dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, an amazing saint whose impact on the Church endures today. Above the altar is this image of the great Bishop of Milan. I believe it shows San Carlo giving Holy Communion to a victim of the Black Plague: the setting is outside and not in a church, there is a languish figure in the background. Note the figure carrying the tricerium, the three-fold candle.

In the same church we find a statue of St. Expeditus, about whom I wrote recently.

In Santa Prassede this guy saw the consistory list.

GO TO CONFESSION.

Here I am, mailing post cards to a few particularly helper donors for this Roman sojourn. This is to prove that I mailed them for, it being Italian post, I have no idea in which year they might reach there destination. You might have two questions. First, yes, those are scars. Second, I didn’t use Vatican Post because I avoid going there as much as possible: I find it very creepy over there, as if the very air is greasy with something wrong.

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

Right now I am reading Scott Hahn’s newest

Holy Is His Name: The Transforming Power of God’s Holiness in Scripture

It has a forward by Peter Kreeft. That’s a really good sign in itself. The book explores what “holiness” is. We often talk about holiness. But what is it?

The holy Benedictines of Le Barroux are making very good wine with an interesting story. How about some for Thanksgiving?

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Click

I have an affiliate program with a Chess GM with the terrific name of Igor Smirnov, which summons images. In any event, and I’ve related this before, I had a terrible OTB and online slump. One of his online courses pulled me out of that slump and I won a bunch of games in a row against some strong opponents. He is a good teacher. Not all online chess instructors are good teachers. Here’s a new course he has on the middle game.

And your puzzle. White to move for great material and positional advantage.

Some updates. I was asked by email what flowers I now have in the apartment. I still that that alstroemeria! It is getting to the end, but it is still lovely. All the blooms are well opened.

In other news, I retrieved a cassock that needed some work. My tailor is a wizard. Also, I spoke with the goldsmith about my chalice which, after over 30 years of use, needed refurbishing. I’ll go have a look at the progress early next week. However, he told me he was able to reset the gems on the node so that the now receive light! They no longer look like black solids, but sparkle (I hope) as the green garnets that they are. I look forward to seeing how he solved the problem.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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DIEBUS SALTEM DOMINICIS – 20th Sunday after Pentecost: Tempus fugit.

Posted on 20 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

“Brethren: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph 5:15-16 RSV)

True in St. Paul’s day. More so in our day. If the Apostle to the Gentiles was so urgent for his contemporaries to “make the most of time”, how much more urgent is it for us today?

A lot of sand has slipped through the hourglass since Paul wrote that, and yet for a great deal of that time, life was somewhat stable and comprehensible. From century to century there were, for example, important technical advances, but they developed at a pace which was rather more human than the way new things pop up now.

Consider that

The years of our life are threescore and ten,
or even by reason of strength fourscore;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away. (Ps 90:10)

Time flies, as Virgil wrote: “fugit inreparabile tempus … time flies, irretrievable”. Hourglasses are sometimes depicted with wings.

Speaking of flying away, in the Biblical span of a man’s life, we went from the first manned, powered flight at Kitty Hawk to a man walking on the Moon, which we could watch in real time in our living rooms.

Before the invention of telegraphy, news travelled on the average at about 5 miles per hour. It could happen that a Pope would die and his successor be named and people would have no idea of it until perhaps even the new one had gone to God and yet another had been chosen. They got along just fine not knowing. Now we have the internet, bringing news in 5 seconds. Now we know with inhumane speed far too much about everything Popes do, so much so that we can’t shut it out if we try.

Are we happier for that?

In a couple of centuries, we have gone from the rare treatments to create immunity of variolation (putting someone’s infection under the skin of another) for disease prevention, and insufflation (blowing the same up someone’s nose) to worldwide maniacal virtue signal charged pressure for global “vaccination”.

Today, TV screens, movies, hand-held devices are the ubiquitous vehicle for promotion of behaviors that, not long ago, weren’t topics for decent conversation much less universal, ideological, tyrannical advancement.

The Church herself, though clearly retaining her attributes of infallibility in matters of faith and morals and indefectibility, seems to be teetering on the edge of a demographic sink-hole and her highly visible leaders, high by position or by self-promotion, send messages to the world that are somewhat less than clearly Catholic.

Could anyone have imagined in, say, the Jubilee Year of 2000, that a papal document would insinuate that couples in the objective state of adultery could receive Holy Communion or that a Jesuit relentlessly promoting a homosexualist agenda would be celebrated and supported by Catholic bishops at every level?

Who would have believed in the 1950’s that what our forebears built, our schools, parishes, hospitals, seminaries etc., would in a few decades be empty, shut down, sold off.

Who would have conjectured that in a few fleeting years after the death of Pope St. John Paul II, there would be a wholesale attempt to cancel his Magisterium, especially major contributions such as Fides et ratio, his 1998 encyclical on the relationship of faith and reason? Remember how that one begins?

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.

The problem is that, back then, someone could and did imagine those things, in the general outline if not in the specifics. As true believers, they worked diligently, patiently, cleverly and they made it happen. And they still are.

There is a Latin phrase: Motus in fine velocior… As you approach the end, things go faster.” That’s certainly apparent to those with graying hair. You would have to be fairly numbed to idiocy by the incessant distractions of our surrounding, accelerating world not to have a sense that something big is coming because, well, things can’t go on like this much longer.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Christians have always had a sense that time was short. From the beginning they thought that the Lord was going to return very swiftly. Wise Christians live in a sense of urgency, a constant state of readiness, like the servants in the parables of the Lord, who await the return of their master at a time they do not know. The wise keep enough oil on hand and the wicks of their lamps trimmed. The foolish do not.

I have always thought that the parable of the wise and foolish virgins had one of most harrowing lines in all of Scripture. The foolish virgins arrive too late to enter into the wedding banquet – in Christ’s parables always a symbol of the bliss of Heaven. The door is closed. They pound and cry out to be let in only to hear a voice from the other side say, “I do not know you.”

Our Savior concludes, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).

Heaven is not automatic. We must prepare and strive for it with the grace of God to guide us.

For those who are somewhat awake, not woke but awake, this evil time into which God has called us according to His unfathomable plan should spur our desire for Heaven rather than depress, demoralize, or distract us from it.

The trials of the times can be stimuli for our constant conversion and attention to our vocations. Stimulus is from the Latin for “cattle prod”. God has His own saving jabs, his vaxes against the world, the flesh and the Devil.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (+1153) remarks that God draws us to Heaven, as if against our will, by means of trials (Sermones de diversis 99). He describes four different sorts of people who get into Heaven: “alii violenter rapiunt, alii mercantur, alii furuntur, alii ad illud compelluntur… some seize it by violence, some buy it, some steal it, and others are forced to it.”

What does the Doctor Mellifluus mean by these negative analogies? Some, Bernard says, are like volent soldiers who sacrifice everything, live austerely with many mortifications to lay siege to Heaven and thereby win entrance. Others buy Heaven through giving alms and gaining intercessors for themselves who ask God to bestow graces on them to live well and piously. Others steal Heaven, like thieves in the night, whom no one notices, humble and invisible concealing their good works from notice by others. On the other hand, Bernard says that the most numerous are those who must be “forced”. Think of the parable of the Lord we heard last week. The king compelled people to come into the wedding feast. Heaven, however, wasn’t automatic even for those whom the king dragged in. They, too, had to be clothed in the proper garment (charity, habitual grace) for the nuptial banquet.

Bernard’s thought is that when people experience calamities, being so compelled they come to God. Evil times ought to make the Christian more inclined towards the life God wants us to live, not less.

Paul teaches about evil days. Days mark the passage of time. Days are pretty short. The older you get, the shorter they seem.

The shortest unit of time ever measured, by the way, is the zeptosecond, which is the length of time it takes for a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule, a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1.

Our time in Heaven will be unbounded and unfettered by any sorrow. Time, eons or zeptoseconds, will stretch to eternity and will be filled with the greatest riches of meaning and joy in the presence of our infinite God, the Holy Trinity. On the other hand, time will have none of that meaning in Hell. If, in Heaven, the blessed make use of time in abundant happiness, a zeptosecond or an eon is pointless for the damned. Were they even to have a useful zeptosecond, they would use it for repentance… if they were able. Remember Dives and Lazarus in Luke 16: the rich man, suffering in the flames of Hell, begs Abraham to send from Heaven the poor man whom in life he spurned to obtain for him a single drop of water for his burning tongue. He didn’t get it.

I mentioned Kitty Hawk, above, where the first powered airplane flight famously took place. The precise place was south of the town at Kill Devil Hills.

Tempus fugit. Time is flying.

Knowing full well that sin makes us stupid, severing the connection between faith and reason, claim for your souls the wings God offers, especially if you have lost them.

If your soul is dead in mortal sin, take flight in the fight against the Enemy and “kill the Devil” in the confessional.

Afterward you will feel lighter than air and the ever-accelerating passage of time will have a whole new meaning.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Time
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ROME 22/10 – Day 19: Slices

Posted on 19 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Roman sun rose at 07:25 and it will set at 18:25, lest God determines otherwise. The forlorn Ave Maria bell should sound at 18:45. It is the Feast of St. Peter de Alcantara (+1562), a mighty Franciscan who was a friend of St. John of Avila and was admired by St. Francis Borgia. What an age of saints. Will we see such a time again? Let us ask God to raise up saints rather than what we have lately. I am reminded of a phrase from my old pastor, that at times God raised up liturgists so that people who had not yet had the opportunity to suffer for their faith could do so. We need saints.

Last night I met with friends for some chow at a nearby eatery. Some nibbles with bubbles by Tarlant started us out. That house has only been around since 1687, the year, as you know, of the publication of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

A bit of steak with lardo. It needed more lardo. And salt.

Here’s a fast spuntino – midmorning snack – before hitting the street. I have a list of agenda et videnda.

This seems a good place for the daily puzzle. Black to move and win material. This shouldn’t take you very long.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Thanksgiving isn’t all that far off. You might consider ordering some beer from the traditional Benedictine monks of Norcia, Italy. These guys are fantastic. So is their beer. They have a dark and a blond and they are both great with savory flavors. It would match splendidly with turkey and all the things usually made for these meals. As a matter of fact, it would have been perfect with the slices at the top of this post.

In the early afternoon…

He – unmistakable Benedict XIII – saw the consistory list.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Atheist, pro-abortion big-government advocate appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life

Posted on 19 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE: 21 Oct 22: Check this out. Hilarious and sad at the same time. HERE

Originally Published on: Oct 19, 2022

While bad news is unpleasant, and often we do well to sidestep the avalanche that hurtles at us everyday, sometimes we ought to know what’s going on. In the case of bad news in the Church, the same applies because we need to know for which things to make acts of reparation. Offenses to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady, for example, call for acts of reparation.

I read at National Catholic Register about someone appointed by Archbp. Paglia to the Pontifical Academy for Life. You will recall that Paglia has for some time presided over the dismantling of pretty much everything Pope St. John Paul II taught and did regarding the family and sanctity of life. Paglia, as Bishop of Terni, commissioned for the apse of their cathedral – not exactly inconspicuous – a fresco of what can only be described as a homoerotic scrum featuring himself, visible in a zucchetto and not much else. I won’t post an image.

Now for the NCReg news:

Pontifical Academy for Life Appoints Pro-Abortion Atheist Member
Mariana Mazzucato joins a growing list of members who hold views antithetical to the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY — The Pontifical Academy for Life has appointed to its list of full members a highly influential atheist economist who supports legalized abortion and whose views on the economy have in part been praised by Pope Francis.

Mariana Mazzucato, who teaches the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London and is a member of the World Economic Forum, was appointed on Saturday by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the academy, and Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro, its chancellor.

[…]

I was going to stop here and remand you to the article. But then I thought, it might be that they won’t click over. They should at least see what this person stands for. Just a little more! But then, there’s this too, and this… and this….

[…]

Mazzucato is one of 14 new ordinary members appointed to the academy. Others include Congolese-born Jean Marie Okwo-Bele, former director of the department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals of the World Health Organization (2004-2017) and now director on the board of trustees of the International Vaccine Institute; Muslim Mosaad Helaly Saad Al-Din, professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University; and professor Roberto Dell’Oro, formerly a corresponding academician who serves as director of the Bioethics Institute at Loyola Marymount University.

The pontifical academy under Archbishop Paglia has drawn controversy before for its choice of members. In 2017, it appointed a pro-abortion theologian to its ranks, along with choosing for the first time non-Catholic members.

Best known in her field for advocating more extensive state involvement with the private sector to drive innovation, Mazzucato is reportedly “admired by Bill Gates,” [Who wants us all eating crickets. And don’t mean the really bad liturgist.] widely consulted by governments worldwide, and has sought to “save capitalism” by trying, among other approaches, to make it more socially inclusive.

She has also made no secret of her sympathies for a right to abortion. In June, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe .v Wade, Mazzucato tweeted “so good!” in response to a rant by liberal commentator Ana Kasparian, who derided Christians for “dictating” how she should live her life when it comes to abortion and contraception.

In 2016, Mazzucato tweeted, “As an atheist, never thought I would love a Pope this much. What a star!” [Indeed.] in reference to two comments the Pope had made — when he suggested Donald Trump was not a Christian in 2016, and his speech a year earlier at the U.N. when he criticized the global banking system, warned about climate change and defended a “right to environment.”

In the U.S., Mazzucato is reportedly consulted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., while in Europe her approach to public policy serves as the foundation of the European Union’s €100 billion ($98 billion) research and innovation program.

Between 2015 and 2016, Mazzucato was a member of the British Labour Party’s Economic Advisory Committee, convened by Labour’s hard-left leaders at the time, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. In 2017, she also advised the U.K.’s Conservative government on industrial policy, including putting the U.K. at the forefront of the AI and data revolution.

In 2013, she wrote her first book, The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, in which she championed the role of state funding in biotech, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. She has also worked with NASA in providing an analysis on the emerging ‘economy’ in space.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 emergency was just beginning in the West, Pope Francis praised Mazzucato for her 2018 book The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy, in which the economist calls on wealth creators to re-prioritize “value” over “price.” The Pope said he believed her vision for the economy “can help to think about the future.” [Is a picture emerging? Pentin did his homework.]

In response, Mazzucato tweeted that she was “deeply honored” that the Pope had read her book and that “he agrees” that the future “must see this re-prioritization.”

The Vatican has tapped Mazzucato before: Last year, she was among the speakers at a conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences that proposed universal basic income, green politics and “zero-COVID” as viable policies. The speakers, many of whose views were diametrically opposed to Catholic Church teaching, discussed how denying the “very existence” of the COVID-19 virus and the “disastrous consequences” that followed could set a similar precedent for an “exacerbated climate breakdown, the migration crisis, the lack of intergenerational solidarity and intensified competitiveness over shrinking resources.”

Mazzucato, who is chairwoman of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health for All and a former member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Economics of Innovation, spoke on the topic: “What responsibility do political leaders have for healing ‘patient’ Europe?”

The Italian-American economist has close ties to the World Economic Forum, an international non-governmental and lobbying organization funded by many of the world’s wealthiest companies and which holds an annual meeting with politicians and other influential decision-makers in Davos, Switzerland.

In a recent interview which forms part of a new book by forum founder Klaus Schwab, Mazzucato believes the public sector has a bigger role to play in working with the private sector to address many of the issues facing society — a view contrary to many free-market advocates who argue for less government interference. [Big government control of the private sector… redistribution of wealth to a forcibly decreased population, also redistributed population… universal jab… abortion and contraception galore… ]

The Register asked the academy for comment on the appointment given Mazzucato’s views but it had not responded by press time.

Mazzucato’s appointment comes ahead of the academy’s next assembly, set for Feb. 20-22, 2023, on the theme “Converging on the Person: Emerging Technologies for the Common Good.”

The academy said the topic is of “great relevance” given the way the world is “profoundly changing before our eyes, a world where ethical reflection that speaks to women and men in search of meaning and hope for their lives is more necessary than ever.”

Said Archbishop Paglia and Msgr. Pegoraro, “In this sense, it is important that the Pontifical Academy for Life include women and men with expertise in various disciplines and from different backgrounds, for a constant and fruitful interdisciplinary, intercultural and interreligious dialogue.”

I bring this full circle with the suggestion that acts of reparation should be made. It seems to me that this sort of appointment, and others besides, would be an implicit insult to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

O blessed Virgin, Mother of God, look down in mercy from Heaven, where thou art enthroned as Queen, upon me, a miserable sinner, thine unworthy servant. Although I know full well my own unworthiness, yet in order to atone for the offenses that are done to thee by impious and blasphemous tongues, from the depths of my heart I praise and extol thee as the purest, the fairest, the holiest creature of all God’s handiwork. I bless thy holy Name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race. I bless the Eternal Father who chose thee in an especial way for His daughter; I bless the Word Incarnate who took upon Himself our nature in thy bosom and so made thee His Mother; I bless the Holy Spirit who took thee as His bride. All honor, praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity who predestined thee and loved thee so exceedingly from all eternity as to exalt thee above all creatures to the most sublime heights. O Virgin, holy and merciful, obtain for all who offend thee the grace of repentance, and graciously accept this poor act of homage from me thy servant, obtaining likewise for me from thy divine Son the pardon and remission of all my sins. Amen.

Would you consider the First Saturday devotion?

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity, Our Solitary Boast, Pò sì jiù, What are they REALLY saying? | Tagged Pontifical Academy for Life, Vincenzo Paglia
20 Comments

ROME 22/10 – Day 18: NEQUE HIC VIVUS. NEQUE ILLIC MORTUUS.

Posted on 18 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At 07:24 the sun rose and it will set soon at 18:26, not too long before the Ave Maria at 18:45. It is the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist.

It is important to reflect on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Along with the simple giving glory and worship to God, this four-fold complex is the motive for all we do. We go to Mass because we want to fulfill the virtue of Religion and give God what is His due, which is glory, honor and worship. However, we go to Mass, and perform works of mercy, strive to live our vocations because we are going to die. One day we shall go before our Just Judge, the King of Fearful Majesty. Having the Last Things in our minds every day, even for just a few minutes, is salutary in the deepest sense of the word. It ought to be a sobering remedy for those who have drifted into the slobbering acquiescence to the other side, the World, the Flesh and the Devil.

Here is a sobering monument in Santa Maria del Popolo. Above, the image of the man as alive. Below an image after death. Above, it says: NEQUE HIC VIVUS. Below, it says, NEQUE ILLIC MORTUUS.

This is Giovan Battista Gisleni, architect and musician who died in 1672. “I am neither alive, here, nor am I dead, there.” The idea is that in this life, we are not yet fully alive, fully whom we are intended to be. We have to pass through death to get to that. However, once “there” we are hardly dead, we are alive in the presence of God.”

GO TO CONFESSION!

White to move. Another end game puzzle.

Interested in learning? Try THIS.

3:16 isn’t just in John.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
3 Comments

ROME 22/10 – Day 17: Bad ideas and good ideas

Posted on 17 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sunrise was at 7:23 and sunset will be at 18:28 and the Ave Maria Bells should ring out, would that they would ring out, at 18:45. It is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose relics are at San Clemente here in Rome. He was the third Bishop of Antioch, a see founded by Peter, who was Vicar of Christ. He was Vicar of Christ and then he left Antioch to go elsewhere. That suggests that perhaps the office of Bishop of Rome and the office of Vicar of Christ as not so indivisible as some might think. Some will respond that the Peter dying in Rome “sealed the deal”, as it were, and that ever after Peter’s successors as Vicar of Christ would therefore also make them simultaneously and for always, Bishop of Rome. Others say, “Not so fast! You still have deal with the fact that Peter left one see for another.”

St. Ignatius is one of the so-called Apostolic Fathers, who had contact with living Apostles in the early years of the Church. Others are Clement of Rome and Polycarp. We have letters written by them, which are very important. Ignatius wrote letters as a prisoner on the way to Rome to be executed… by lions in the Colosseum. He dealt with the nature of the Church and of bishops.

He wrote:

“It is impossible for a man to be freed from the habit of sin before he hates it, just as it is impossible to receive forgiveness before confessing his trespasses…”

Hate your sins, which are the path to Hell and the scourge of others and…

GO TO CONFESSION!

People have written that they want more foody things in my posts. I’m trying, folks, but really! There’s only so much I can do!

Here’s something I did for lunch yesterday. When I was living here, in hotter weather for lunch I would often have a tramezzino, a sandwich cut on the diagonal, often tuna and tomato with a glass of iced tea. Yesterday I got some pizza bianca, and made my own rather than spending money at a bar. They were great.

I had some pizza left which, this morning I toasted and then treated with Patum Peperium. It doesn’t look great, but, I assure you, it has given me another reason to return to Rome! Toasted pizza bianca and Patum. Fantastic. Great idea.

Also fantastic is the courtyard of the Palazzo Spada.

Not fantastic is the appalling building surrounding the Ara Pacis of Augustus. What were they thinking? I remember the days when it was encased in a large glass shelter and was illuminated. You could see it as you walked or as you drove along the Tiber. Now… well… there are handsomer gas stations. Bad idea.

This is definitely not a gas station, but rather the humble abode of the Borghese Family.

I spotted this little jewel at Piazza del Popolo.

That little basket on the back. Good idea.

Your use of my Amazon affiliate link is a major part of my income. It helps to pay for insurance, groceries, everything. When it’s time to shop, remember Fr. Z’s links. Thanks in advance. US HERE – UK HERE

White to move. These end game puzzles can be hard. At least I find them to be hard. This took a while.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

More from Piazza del Popolo. A follow up. Good idea? You decide.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
2 Comments

It’s ‘ad orientEm’ not ‘ad orientUm’ and it’s what we need right now.

Posted on 17 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The great liturgical scholar Klaus Gamber said that the de-orientation of the altar was the more destructive change after the Council.

To make that clear: The priest celebrating Mass facing the people did more damage to the Faith than anything else, even changing the Rite.

I will add to that, right up there is Communion on the hand. For background on the permission for Communion on the hand, go HERE.

Fr. Raymond de Souza brings up ad orientem worship as a remedy for much that is going one. I have bashed away at this for decades but, oddly, not recently. It is good to see Father tackle it.

Celebration of Holy Mass ad orientem.

It’s ad orientem not ad orientum.

CLICK for “AD ORIENTEM” stuff!

The first part of Father’s piece recounts the massive growth of liturgical abuses after the Council and the vain attempts of Popes to get things under control (even though, I add, it was their permissiveness and obtuse view of the Novus Ordo that contributed to the problem).

Here’s the last part of the article.

[…]

After the turbulence in some parts of the Church arising from Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis issued a letter on the liturgy this past June 29, Desiderio Desideravi, which is in rather remarkable continuity with John Paul’s final encyclical on the Eucharist. [Some of it, perhaps.]

“There is no aspect of ecclesial life that does not find its summit and its source in the Liturgy,” writes Pope Francis (37). He speaks about the need to recapture an experience of “amazement,” “astonishment” and “wonder.” And he reiterates, like his predecessors:

Let us be clear here: every aspect of the celebration must be carefully tended to (space, time, gestures, words, objects, vestments, song, music …) and every rubric must be observed. Such attention would be enough to prevent robbing from the assembly what is owed to it; namely, the paschal mystery celebrated according to the ritual that the Church sets down” (23)”

Back to the Back

[QUAERUNTUR:] How then is the desire of Pope Francis in Desiderio to be achieved? Can an authentic “liturgical formation” be achieved? After all these efforts over these many years, can abuses be curbed and lead anew to wonder and amazement? The nearly 50-year complaint about arbitrary license being taken with the liturgy has not, evidently, been corrected entirely, even if the scale of the problem has diminished. [It is possible, but the RX is going to be hard.]

There is one step, a powerful short-cut, to the liturgical discipline that Pope Francis is demanding: ad orientem.

Sometimes derided as the priest “with his back to the people” — as if a drum major has his back to the marching band which he leads — it is surely true that nearly all liturgical abuses cease when the priest is not facing the people. It always remains possible to celebrate Holy Mass in a slipshod or sloppy manner, hurriedly or distractedly, but ad orientem removes most of the opportunity for taking liberties with the liturgy.

The abrogation of Summorum Pontificum means that Benedict’s strategy for “mutually enriching” forms of celebration is no longer an easily available option for liturgical reform. It also means that, practically, much of the energy that was absorbed in developing the extraordinary form will need another outlet. Ad orientem will absorb some of those energies. [Do NOT discount the spread of the TLM. It will keep spreading. It cannot be stopped.]

And after three popes over 40 years have attempted to correct abuses in the liturgy and restore a sense of wonder and awe, it is evident that another papal document or congregational instruction will do little good. [Repeated legislation shows that the law is ineffective.]

It’s time try something different, to go back to the liturgical future.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, SESSIUNCULA, Turn Towards The Lord | Tagged ad orientem, Klaus Gamber, Raymond de Souza
17 Comments

A “perpetual synodal” (“walking together”) Church? What could go wrong?

Posted on 17 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the National Catholic Register (the Catholic paper, not the other one, the Fishwrap).

Pope Francis announced on Sunday that the Synod (“walking together”) on Synodality (“walking together”) will be extended to 2024.

Speaking in his Angelus address on Oct. 16, the Pope shared his decision to divide the Synod of Bishops into two sessions that will meet in Rome in October 2023 and October 2024.

Pope Francis explained that he made the decision “in order to have a more relaxed period of discernment.”

“The fruits of the synodal process underway are many, but so that they might come to full maturity, it is necessary not to be in a rush,” Francis said.

“I trust that this decision will promote the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the Church and help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel,” he said.

Also from the NCReg by the best English language Vaticanista these days Ed Pentin. My emphases and comments. This is from 2021!

Permanent Synodal Church — A Progressive Jesuit Cardinal’s ‘Dream’ Come True

Today’s announcement of a two-year process for the upcoming synod on synodality (“walking together”) appears to reflect the ideas of Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who viewed synodality as a vehicle for questioning Church teaching.

May 21, 2021

The Vatican’s announcement today that Pope Francis has changed his plans for the next Synod (“walking together”) of Bishops and made it into a multiphase process over two years comes closer to fulfilling a “dream” of the late progressive Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. [Domine salva nos, perimus: impera, et fac Deus tranquilitatem!]

The former cardinal-archbishop of Milan, a favorite of those pushing for heterodox reforms in the Church, had envisioned a permanent synodal Church in which the idea of collegial governance introduced at the Second Vatican Council could be better realized.

The Jesuit biblical scholar, who died in 2012, “had a dream” in 1999 of a Church capable of being in a permanent synodal state, with a “collegial and authoritative exchange among all the bishops on some key issues.”

For Cardinal Martini, those key issues comprised “the shortage of ordained ministers, the role of woman in society and in the Church, the discipline of marriage, the Catholic vision of sexuality, penitential practice, relations with the sister Churches of Orthodoxy and more in general the need to revive ecumenical hopes, the relationship between democracy and values and between civil laws and the moral law.”

In a later interview in 2004, he said he also saw the Synod of Bishops — as Pope Francis does — as an important element in a less centralized form of Church governance. [It’s ironic that the more this “walking together” stuff is ballyhooed, the more autocratic the higher ups are becoming.]

Rather than argue for a Third Vatican Council, he believed his vision of a permanent synodal Church would not only be more in line with the Second Vatican Council’s call for collegial governance, but an effective vehicle for introducing the key issues he mentioned. [Vatican III would be too abrupt. Instead, incrementalism is needed, the “frog in the warming water” approach. That’s how you change the Church into something that is conformed to the “wisdom of this world”, like an NGO that goes with the visions of the trendsetters, such as population control for the sake of climate change, etc.]

Echoing a similar kind of synodal permanence, Pope Francis’ upcoming synod will be entirely devoted to synodality for two years (the official theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”) and follows almost-annual Vatican synodal assemblies during Francis’ pontificate.

Originally scheduled for October next year, the upcoming meeting will now consist of a “diocesan phase” running from this October until April 2022, a “continental phase” from September 2022 to March 2023, and a “conclusive phase” for the universal Church in October 2023. It will have two working documents (instrumentum laboris) instead of the usual one. [‘Cause that won’t be confusing at all.]

Referring to the extended synodal period, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, said in an interview with Vatican Media on Friday that it was consistent with Pope Francis’ 2018 apostolic constitution on the Synod of Bishops, Episcopalis Communio, which transformed the synod from being an “event into a process.”

That process, he added, is aimed at ensuring the “wider participation of the People of God” and, according to the Synod of Bishops’ announcement today, listening to what “all of the baptized” have to say. [Does anyone… anyone… really believe that?]

Given the tensions and acrimony associated with recent synods, and especially the national “Synodal Path” underway in Germany, which critics say could lead the country’s Church into schism, apprehension is growing about the disunifying effects of this kind of governance and its tendency to be used to introduce heterodoxy into the Church.

These concerns have also grown in view of the fact that so many of the faithful, especially in the West, have been poorly catechized for the past 60 years. [Bad catechesis or non (which could be better) and bad liturgical worship (liturgy is doctrine), the squandering of nearly all their moral capital by the bishops and many priests… all have created a crisis which, under the constant pounding of the world, the flesh and the Devil, have resulted in (in many places) a demographic sink hole. If people do not know who they are as Catholics, how can they affect the world around them, as Catholics? Why should anyone in the public square listen to us, as Catholics, if we can’t articulate what we believe and why? This is why Benedict XVI was so concerned about the “dictatorship of relativism” and why he tried – in my opinion – to spark a Marshall Plan against the same including liturgical renewal. Do we hear about concerns over “relativism” these days? No, quite the opposite.]

Cardinal Grech sought to allay such concerns in his interview, asserting that, for Pope Francis, “the sensus fidei [the sense of the faithful] best characterizes this people [of God] that makes them infallible in credendo. [Stop right here. The problem with this is that for the sensus fidei fidelium, the faithful’s sense of the faith to be operative, they first have to be the faithful. They have to know their Faith and live it. Is that what we see in the Church in the northern and western hemisphere? If people do not know who they are as Catholics, how can they affect the world around them, as Catholics? Why should anyone in the public square listen to us, as Catholics, if we can’t articulate what we believe and why? This is why Benedict XVI was so concerned about the “dictatorship of relativism” and why he tried – in my opinion – to spark a Marshall Plan against the same including liturgical renewal. Do we hear about concerns over “relativism” these days? No, quite the opposite. And what as the response rate been to the “synodal” (“walking together”) process actually been? 1%?]

“This traditional aspect of doctrine throughout the history of the Church professes that ‘the entire body of the faithful … cannot err in matters of belief’ by virtue of the light that comes from the Holy Spirit given in baptism,” he said.

“The Second Vatican Council teaches that the People of God participate in the prophetic office of Christ. Therefore, we must listen to the People of God, and this means going out to the local Churches.”

“The governing principle of this consultation of the People of God is contained in the ancient principle ‘that which touches upon all must be approved by all’ (Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbari debet),” he said. “This is not about democracy, or populism or anything like that. Rather, it is the Church that, as the People of God, a People who by virtue of baptism, is an active subject in the life and mission of the Church.” [Omnes? Sure. Except for people who want traditional liturgical worship and tried and true teaching from standard sources. Omnes! Right. This is straight from Yves Congar who meant it to be for all Christians in matters of faith, not all Catholic Christians. How is that going to work? The principle he invokes might just provoke. To be fair, Protestants were invited to the Council of Trent! I just learned that. (Trent: What Happened at the Council ]

Read:

THE ST. GALLEN MAFIA – Exposing the Secret Reformist Group Within the Church by Julia Meloni. US HERE – UK HERE

It is published by ever-faithful TAN Books.

One section that caught my close attention was a later chapter on the patience of the machinations and the individuals, wherein there popped in an important name: Yves Congar, an powerful influence at the Second Vatican Council and part of the Concilium group.

When Francis announced the Synod (“walking together) about Synods (“walking together”) he quoted Congar, saying:

“We must not make another Church, we must make a different Church”(Vera e falsa riforma nella Chiesa,Milan 1994, 193). And that’s the challenge. For a “different Church”, open to the newness that God wants to suggest to her, let us invoke the Spirit with greater strength and frequency and humbly listen to him, walking together, as he, creator of communion and mission, desires, that is, with docility and courage.

As Meloni points out, Congar “was obsessed by time”.

Congar wanted a patient transformation of the Church without rushing, causing breaks or schisms, moving in stages, patiently waiting through delays.

For his part, Francis has several guiding principles that he laid out in Evangelii gaudium which he in turn took from an Argentinian caudillo. I am not making that up. HERE for an explanation.

One of those principles was “time is greater than space”. It sounds vacuous, but it in essence means, “patience overcomes resistance”.

In this section, Meloni connects the influence of Card. Martini with the projects of Francis. They line up.

I am reminded of the patience that certain groups such as Masons, Communists, and Homosexualists had over decades of slow but steady infiltration of the Church at many levels, keeping relatively quite until the “tipping point” was finally attained. We are seeing the results now being played out before our horrified eyes.

This is a hard book to read, much as an autopsy is hard to watch. They are simultaneously fascinating and repulsive.

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, Pò sì jiù, Synod, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Card. Martini, Francis, St. Gallen Mafia, Synod of Bishops
17 Comments

ASK FATHER: Does a short homily or no homily invalidate the Mass?

Posted on 17 October 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

One would think having the bishop allow a diocesan priest to do the Tridentine Mass would fill the faithful with joy. However this priest (who strongly objects to the NO) also is angry with his TLM parishioners. The list of abuses is growing but today he — at the homily — took off the maniple, turned at the altar and said one sentence, then continued with Mass. He refuses to use a mic and has a deep accent which combined with the rapidity of his words and my hearing loss means I don’t have a clue what he said. I decided not to let it bother me. However a friend was livid, asked me if there was a minimum time limit for a homily for Mass to be valid. I said I didn’t think so. But the question of validity did flash through my and another friend’s mind. Going to the bishop is tricky and I hoped you could reassure me|us the Mass is indeed valid. I have no doubt whatsoever the priest intends consecration, btw. Since there aren’t any other priests and we live hours from the nearest TLM we are at his mercy. I’d like to know that at least the Mass is valid. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

There is so much going on in this that I had to respond.

Good preaching is important.

At this point, you may be saying: Fr. Z… Master of the Obvious.

Firstly, I am sorry for your hearing loss. I imagine that is really frustrating. Experiential knowledge from after Masses confirms this. Not a few times has a little old lady approached me after Mass to thank me for my “message”. Often, it goes, “Oh Father, thank you for that message. I didn’t understand it, but I could hear every word!”

The rudiments of good preaching have sometimes been summarized as The Three B’s: Be good, be brief, be gone.

Priests need to learn the basics of forensic speaking, including, in these sadder anti-McLuhan years, how to use a microphone, how to ‘hear yourself’ coming back in the space you are in, etc.

Refusal to use a mic. Well, that’s a hard thing to respond to. Some priests have big voices and know how to project. Some don’t. The aforementioned Marshall McLuhan had strong words about the corrosive effect the microphone had on the sacredness of Mass and the sense of the faithful. I think he was right. More HERE. And we have heard the “open mic” anecdotes. I once MC’d for a bishop who, over my protest, insisted on using a clip on transmitting mic for a live streamed Mass. He had to use the bathroom and left the mic on, which resulted in a whole new meaning of “live stream” for the congregation and those online. And there’s the famous confessional scene from Bless Me, Father (about min 19:00). I hate those mics.

The book I’ve been reading on the Council of Trent, which I have been repeatedly going back and rereading in parts (Trent: What Happened at the Council by John O’Malley. [US HERE – UK HERE]), describes how one of the important reforms undertaking by the Council Fathers was the teaching about and legislation about the importance of preaching, at least on Sundays and feasts: diebus saltem dominicis. That also meant other reforms: the bishop had to be in his diocese, the priest had to be in his parish, they had to have basic training and formation. The Council would eventually mandate a Catechism that they could use for Sunday preaching.

Ignorance of the faith on the part of the laity (and clergy) was a significant factor in the Protestant Revolt that incited the Council in the first place. I suspect it is an even worse problem now, frankly. And by that I DON’T mean that I want another Council! QUOD DEUS AVERTAT! I don’t think even the Lord would allow the Church to survive in any visible presence after a Vatican II².

Here’s what the 1983 Code says in Can. 767

§2. A homily must be given [habenda est] at all Masses on Sundays and holy days of obligation which are celebrated with a congregation, and it cannot be omitted except for a grave cause. [nec omitti potest nisi gravi de causa]

§3. It is strongly recommended that if there is a sufficient congregation, a homily is to be given even at Masses celebrated during the week, especially during the time of Advent and Lent or on the occasion of some feast day or a sorrowful event.

§4. It is for the pastor or rector of a church to take care that these prescripts are observed conscientiously.

Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium 52 says: “at those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the people on Sundays and feasts of obligation, [a homily] should not be omitted except for a serious reason.”

Look familiar? Can. 767 §2 was taken from SC 52.

So, Father may not, except for a grace reason, omit preaching on Sunday. The Canon says, “all Masses” on Sundays. Not some.

What could be a grave reason?

What would good reasons be? Father has laryngitis or a broken and wired jaw. A flaming cat ran screaming through the church setting pews on fire. There was an earthquake. Locusts.

Another reason might be that Father is a little stupid and the bishop has removed his faculty to preach without removing his faculty to say Mass. There used to be a use of ordaining a man as simplex, a “Mass priest”, who didn’t have permission to preach or to receive sacramental confessions because he was too poorly formed to deal with those tasks or perhaps for some other reason.

Your feedback is different from the complaint Augustine received from some preaching in his day. To wit:

“You have had to acknowledge and complain that often, because you talked too long and with too little enthusiasm, it has befallen you to become commonplace and wearisome even to yourself, not to mention him whom you were trying to instruct by your discourse, and the others who were present as listeners.”

Augustine addresses preaching in Book IV of De doctrina christiana. For some priests it just flows. For others it’s like pulling your own teeth. I have known priests who suffer from real “stage fright”. They have to man up. But put yourself in their shoes when you think their sermon should have been longer.

Anyway, not having a sermon does not invalidate Mass.

While on the topic, today there is among many priests a strong impulse, nay rather, fixation, on preaching every day. Thanks Vatican II. This seems to me to be a good impulse, born from the palpable hunger of the faithful to be formed and the fervor of the priest for the Faith he is engaged to form. However, this can have a downside. We can run the risk of shaping people’s notions that Mass is a didactic moment instead of a sacral moment. This “didacticism” crept in after Vatican II and the expansion of Lectionary, especially in respect to having three readings in the Novus Ordo on Sundays (a mistake).

Fathers, it is okay not to preach. “Strongly recommended”? Sometimes we must just let Mass be Mass.

Not have a sermon might be a blessing.

There is a wonderful word in Italian for irritatingly dopey things: stupidate (stu-pi-dá-te). This precisely characterizes the majority of homilies I have heard in pulpits of priests with whom I am not friendly. That said, even though the priest might be less than sharp or may be a poor speaker, there is invariably some good point you can extract from his “message”, no matter how ham-fisted it was blurted. This is one of the reasons why I post the “Your Sunday Sermon Notes” posts: to help people find the gold dust.

So, if Father doesn’t preach or just utters a sentence or two, count your blessings and work with what he said.

Meanwhile, if Father continues in this way, you might share with him what you find in Trent, Session 24, the 1983 Code, and Sacrosanctum Concilium 52.

You might jot down what you find in Trent, Session 24 – look it up in English, the 1983 Code, Sacrosanctum Concilium 52, and…

And for weary preachers, here’s the approach of St. John Chrysostom:

“Preaching improves me. When I begin to speak, weariness disappears; when I begin to teach, fatigue too disappears. Thus neither sickness itself nor indeed any other obstacle is able to separate me from your love….For just as you are hungry to listen to me, so too I am hungry to preach to you. My congregation is my only glory, and every one of you means more to me than anyone of the city outside….Oftentimes in my dreams I see myself in the pulpit speaking to you.”

Now, lest I go on and on and on… like some sermons, I’ll stop.