Animi caussa: Some spittle-flecked nutty lib reactions to Benedict XVI’s latest

Posted on 11 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

How are the papalotrous reacting to Benedict XVI’s reflections?

Let’s look at Twitter.

And

 

This fellow seems to be reading a different letter…

Nut jobs…

Here’s Beans!

Other loons.

Posted in Benedict XVI, Green Inkers, Liberals |
17 Comments

Initial reaction to Benedict XVI’s latest essay: a cri de coeur

Posted on 10 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Initial reaction to Benedict XVI's latest essay: a cri de coeurBenedict XVI has released a three part essay address, firstly, it seems, to the clergy of Germany. It is a scolding. However, it is also clearly for the whole watching world.

The MSM will be excited about the title: The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse

The MSMS will latch on to his criticism of the oh-so-golden-halcyon 60’s, which, for Benedict were the turning point.

Benedict doesn’t give specific, curiosity pleasing solutions and he left a lot of things unsaid… that he could have said. He approached a few issues, such as homosexuality in formation of priests in seminaries. He doesn’t make explicit connections, which will leave some unsatisfied and others delighted.

However, there is a poignant cri de coeur in this piece, which leads the attentive reader to his point. He describes the Church as going through her Job period of testing and purification and serious down-sizing. I wonder if he had an experience like Leo XIII, who overheard God and the Devil dickering over the Church for a century of trial. Benedict points to the loss of the sense of Mystery in worship, especially regarding to Eucharist, and the Church. He underscores the importance of natural law in moral theology and the connection of doctrine and law. Hence, he interconnects, Cult, Code, and Creed. His underlying foundation is lex orandi, lex credendi and lex vivendi. It has to be. But these are out of sorts, because weeds in the field and evil fish in the nets have disconnected them and tried to rebuild the Church in human terms. I especially liked his shot: “What must be done? Perhaps we should create another Church for things to work out? Well, that experiment has already been undertaken and has already failed.”

Against those who would tear everything down, he contextualized the genesis of Veritatis splendor and then defends it against the German attacks on theology which would have resulted in disaster.  He has, surely, the papalotrous in mind.

Benedict includes in this piece, which rambles in and out of his familiar tropes, a poignant cri de coeur. And he calls for radical recovery of the love of God, our love for him and our recognition of His for us, and the establishment of “habitats of faith”, where Faith can dwell.

As I read it, I sensed Benedict’s great pain.

More tomorrow.

Posted in Benedict XVI, Cri de Coeur | Tagged
13 Comments

CQ CQ CQ – #HamRadio Wednesday – More DMR and THE MOON

Posted on 10 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Be sure to catch up on ZedNet progress.  HERE

Also, as a follow up to the fascinating tale of the Israeli Moon lander Beresheet (Hebrew for “In the beginning…” (1st word of the Genesis, and also of Gospel of John) HERE – there is a special station for the event

4Z1MOON

Right now, as I type, I can hear him on 20m – 14.265.000 – way down in the noise.  There is a pileup, of course.

CQ CQ CQ - #HamRadio Wednesday - More DMR and THE MOON

 

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
1 Comment

A public “Amoris Laetitia” celebration of getting around adultery

Posted on 10 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It has been some time since we’ve looked into issues arising from the ambiguity laden Ch. 8 of Amoris laetitia.  Remember that those who wish to distort the words of the Lord and Catholic moral theology will read it one way, while those who want to be true to the same will read it another way.  I suspect very few people changed positions.

I read at the ultra-liberal La Croix edited by the ultra-lib Robert Mickens, about now “happy” divorced and remarried couple joyously receiving Communion after some “accompaniment” by a French priests. The piece was originally from a French outlet, Le Pèlerin.

Divorced and remarried, they receive communion once again This is one of the first concrete outcomes of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia

“This couple, deprived of the sacraments for many years, will receive communion once again today,” proclaimed the priest at the beginning of the celebration.

On Pentecost 2018, Benoît and Chantal walked down the nave alongside other members of the congregation in their Church in Eu, Normandy to receive the Eucharist. Neither of them made a “great fuss,” but all were well aware of the day’s significance.

This is one of the first concrete outcomes of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, published three years ago. In Chapter 8 there is a footnote (no. 351) that encourages pastors to accompany divorced and remarried couples if they want to return to the sacraments.

Benoît was a widower and Chantal a divorcee when they married in a civil ceremony seventeen years ago. As members of the Church, they knew that this meant renouncing the sacraments.

In the eyes of the Church, the indissoluble marriage bond between man and woman is a reflection of the union between Christ and the Church. It therefore does not recognize Chantal Vivant’s second marriage with another man, which left her and Benoît in an “irregular situation.”

With the publication of Amoris laetitia in 2016, the Church’s approach shifted, placing greater emphasis on the notion of mercy.

It didn’t go as far as fully reinstating the right to communion or reconciliation, but as Pope Francis noted, encouraged us to remember that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

It is up to priests to interpret the text as they see fit, and so far, most have been reluctant to champion it. But Chantal and Benoît live in the diocese of Rouen, which is particularly keen to explore the topic, as are those of Lyon, Évreux and Annecy.

[…]

This is the definition of scandal, by the way. The priest even announced it.

A public celebration of getting around adultery.

Nobody wants people to be perpetually sad and cast down.  However, false mercy is not the way to avoid sadness.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Pò sì jiù, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
9 Comments

First photograph of a real Black Hole

Posted on 10 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

No, this is not a photo of the HQ of the Fishwrap, a place so dense that no light can escape it. Nor is it a pic of the Jesuits’ Generalate in Rome.  This isn’t an artistic rendering of the Democrat Party.  This is the first ever snapshot of a black hole.

First photograph of a real Black Hole

NASA used a gizmo called the Event Horizon Telescope (a collaborative venture) to capture the image.

The linked article is pretty interesting.

Posted in Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged ,
8 Comments

Ultra-cool video about Thursday’s Moon landing!

Posted on 9 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

As you know, Beresheet is the Hebrew word for “In the beginning”.

It also is the name of Israel’s unmanned moon-landing mission!

The landing is scheduled for Thursday.

Here is an ultra-cool video about how they are doing it without a massive engine like the Saturn-V, etc.

I cannot even begin to imagine the math that went into this plan.

Play video

Beresheet Twitter feed:    https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beresheet?src=hash

How to watch!  HERE

 

Posted in Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged
7 Comments

ASK FATHER: I’m angry! Father’s sermons are boring, lack joy!

Posted on 9 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

ASK FATHER: I'm angry! Father's sermons are boring, lack joy!From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Our priest’s sermons are dull, dry, predictable, boring, , too
serious (they lack joy) don’t speak to the heart and are uninspiring. It’s like listening to a student teacher stand at the pulpit and give a 10 minute lecture on some topic except the priest has been ordained for 9 years. They’ not convicting, nor are they uplifting. They make me angry because I’m too spiritually dry to motivate myself in the spiritual life.

Our previous priests have been very good at homeletics, and every once in awhile God throws me a bone and said priest needs to go somewhere for the weekend and we get a different priest to fill in on a Sunday, but that’s becoming a rarity. I’ve been praying for this priest every day since we found out we were getting him over three years ago but nothing has really improved. Things have actually gotten worse. His Superior has set in place a policy forbidding their priests from posting their sermons online so I can’t even just rely on the sermons of other priests from his fraternity.

I want him to be better at homeletics, and I wish his brother priests could/would help him, but that doesn’t seem like a reality. What do you recommend? I feel terrible about how I feel, but I’m so frustrated and fighting the urge to write his Superior to do something to help him/us.

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. T. Ferguson

It seems that the best way to ensure better preaching would be to harangue the homilist – after Mass, surrounded by a crowd of other troubled parishioners. Pitchforks and torches are optional, but encouraged especially during the Easter season. There must be a commitment to keeping it up throughout the week – rallies in front of the rectory, with egg-throwing and chants.  Try…

“Ho Ho, Hey Hey / you should preach like Bossuet!”

or

“You’re too boring / we’re all snoring / flames of insight aren’t downpouring!”

or

“We’re not trying to be mean / why aren’t you like Fulton Sheen!”.

Bribery sometimes has effect – buy Father a new car, but only give him the keys if his preaching improves.

Angry letters to the bishop are also a good suggestion – the angrier and less grammatically precise, the better.

More seriously, in this day and age, if you’re not able to self-motivate in the spiritual life and you don’t find yourself spiritually fed by your parish priest, there are tons of resources out there to fill up the gap. You mention that this particular religious community forbids the posting of sermons online – an odd mandate, but hey, suum cuiusque – there are hundreds, if not thousands of other priests who are not members of that community who do so.

Spend the ten minutes that Father is preaching praying the rosary, and then go home and listen to a sermon online to motivate yourself spiritually, if you need to.

Not all priests are gifted homilists, it is, and always has been a simple fact, and that’s okay. Of the 12 Apostles, only two wrote Gospels, and an additional two wrote epistles – that doesn’t mean that the other 8 were bad Apostles. Similarly, a bad preacher does not necessarily make a bad pastor.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Priests and Priesthood | Tagged , ,
35 Comments

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

Posted on 8 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a priest…

QUAERITUR:

I was at a church this week and this is the gluten-free stuff they’re passing out.  Look at the ingredients.  How can this be valid matter?

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

Just so that you can see it more clearly.

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

NO!  This is invalid.

The pastor should be informed immediately.  If nothing is done, the local bishop and then then the Congregation in Rome.

This is serious.

The hosts “consecrated” are NOT consecrated.  Hence, sacrilege and idolatry are taking place.

Even if the hosts are low gluten, they must have originated from wheat.  Other flours are INVALID.

UPDATE:

At the USCCB website there is a page with companies that make approved hosts and the company in question, Cavanaugh, is on the list… for LOW GLUTEN hosts, not Gluten Free, which are in the photo above.

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

Lest anyone think that that company is not clear about their product, this is from the company website:

They say explicitly: “The gluten free wafers are considered to be invalid material for the Catholic Mass.”

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

UPDATE:

ASK FATHER: Valid or invalid gluten free hosts?

 

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , ,
27 Comments

Reader Feedback: Internet Prayer Funny and Thank You!

Posted on 8 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is from a reader…  great story about the Internet Prayer (always linked on the top menu)!

I am a vice principal and theology teacher at a Catholic K-12 school in Texas. Last week I printed your post about St. Isidore and the very appropriate prayer you composed regarding one’s use of the internet. I always begin my 8th grade class with a story of the day’s saint. Unfortunately I had come across your post the day after St. Isidore’s feast, whom I had already discussed with the kids. I printed the post and read it in class. “Boys and Girls, allow me to read the prayer Fr. Z. composed. Almighty and Eternal God,” I said before I was immediately cut off by the sound of 18 teenage voices in unison… “Who created us in Thine image…” Turns out their computer teacher had already taught it to them! Imagine my surprise. “Did she tell you who wrote it?” I asked. “No,” they replied. You’ll be happy to know that now the students not only know the prayer but proper attribution has been assigned. Thanks again for your informative and entertaining posts.

Fun story!

It’s nice to get some good feedback like that once in a while.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes | Tagged
4 Comments

“Here comes the choochoo!”

Posted on 8 April 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At NLM, Peter Kwasniewski easily handles the facile notions of Msgr. M. Francis Mannion at the ultra-progressivist Pray Tell about Latin and vernacular in the Church’s sacred liturgy.  In a nut shell, if people can’t understand the language (Latin) they will stop going to Mass, hence we have to have the vernacular.  Also, even if young people today seem to be attracted to Latin, that’ll soon pass.   I’m a little surprised that Mannion would go to the zoo like this.  Perhaps he was writing for a particular audience.

Peter ably dismantles Mannion.   I don’t have to do that here.

I would add, however, that reducing the language of our sacred rites the equivalent of a spoonful of pureed carrots and “Here comes the choochoo!” played a decisive role – not exclusive – in the constant drift of people out of our churches, men into anything but our seminaries, and respect for the Church in the public square down the drain.

As Peter touches, what is it that we are trying to “understand” in our rites?  Mystery.  Also, the content of our rites properly grasped (not twisted into the usual modern enclosed circular mutual affirmation hour it has become in so many places) is really hard.

What about Mass is easy?

If we can admit that, yes, this is really hard stuff (NB: my use of choochoo language for Pray Tell readers… and choochoo is better than airplane because of global warming) then perhaps we can take the next step and admit that the signs and gestures and language of Mass might help us encounter Mystery if it is hard.  There is an apophatic dimension of our rites that is mostly neglected.

I often say here, “We are our rites.”

If our rites are facile, then what are we?

 

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 |
28 Comments