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{]:¬)

Homosexual sex obsessed Jesuit v. Bp. Paprocki of Springfield, IL – ACTION ITEM!

Posted on 26 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

ACTION ITEM at the end!

A little while ago, His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, issued a Decree “Regarding Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and Related Pastoral Issues.”

This Decree reaffirmed Catholic teaching that a marriage is only possible “between one man and one woman.”

The Decree included the following directives:

No member of the clergy or representative of the Diocese should assist or participate in a same-sex marriage;
No Church property should be used to host same-sex marriage ceremonies or receptions;
Persons in a same-sex marriage should not present themselves for Holy Communion, nor should they be admitted to Holy Communion;
Those in a same-sex marriage can be restored to communion with the Church through the Sacrament of Reconciliation;
In danger of death, a person living in a same-sex marriage may receive Holy Communion “if he or she expresses repentance for his or her sins.”

You saw how Ed Peters handled one critic HERE.

Immediately, homosexual sex obsessed Jesuit James Martin blasted Bp. Paprocki HERE:

If bishops ban members of same-sex marriages from receiving a Catholic funeral, they also have to be consistent. They must also ban divorced and remarried Catholics who have not received annulments, women who has or man who fathers a child out of wedlock, members of straight couples who are living together before marriage, and anyone using birth control. For those are all against church teaching as well. Moreover, they must ban anyone who does not care for the poor, or care for the environment, and anyone who supports torture, for those are church teachings too. More basically, they must ban people who are not loving, not forgiving and not merciful, for these represent the teachings of Jesus, the most fundamental of all church teachings. To focus only on LGBT people, without a similar focus on the moral and sexual behavior of straight people is, in the words of the Catechism, a “sign of unjust discrimination” (2358).

This, friends, is the raving of a lunatic.

For a complete review of homosexual sex obsessed Jesuit James Martin v. Bp. Paprocki, try HERE, a blog by a Catholic man who suffered with same-sex affliction and is now striving to live a holy life.

URGENT: In his post he makes a great suggestion: drop Bp. Paprocki a supportive note! The diocese’s contact form and addresses:

>>HERE<<

Posted in ACTION ITEM!, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged Bp. Paprocki, Fr. James Martin SJ, homosexualist agenda
30 Comments

UPDATE: Challenge Coin – THEY’RE HERE!

Posted on 26 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATED BELOW:

Originally Published on: Apr 7, 2017

I had mentioned a while back that I resolved to have a challenge coin made. I figured I’d start with one for my 25th anniversary. This is what we have come up with so far. The graphics are from Zuhlio’s official album cover designer. The stemma is from D Burkart.

They will be polychrome on silver. 1.75″

So… that’s an update what what I’ve got so far. I’ve sent the images for estimates.

I’m not especially good at this sort of project, so it is a learning experience.

UPDATE 26 June 2017

After MANY delays, my challenge coins have finally arrived! I had to nudge the company a few times, but they eventually came through.

The first, the obverse, is close to actual size.

These are numbered along the edge, so I can keep track of their destinations.

Now I will be able to fulfill my IOUs to NYPD cops and a longtime reader here… for starters.

Posted in ¡Hagan lío! | Tagged Challenge Coins
28 Comments

Wherein another reader does indeed “throw in the towel”

Posted on 26 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

In light of your rather depressed email correspondent [HERE], I want to share a more uplifting story.

[…]

I have again become a Roamin’ Catholic. After decades as a “Novus Ordo Catholic,” I have thrown in the towel and decided to attend the Latin Mass. I understand almost nothing. But I know there must be a reason why this Mass existed for so long, and continues to persist despite so much hatred.

Last weekend, I traveled home to Milwaukee for a wedding. I attended Mass at St. Stanislaus, which I am sure you have visited.[Indeed I have.]In a way, I felt like I was attending Mass itself for the first time ever. This was my first Latin Mass outside of my new small Latin Mass parish.

Again, I don’t understand the Latin Mass. But I feel dedicated and energized by my experience to understand it the way so many in my generation understand it.

If we want to fix the world, we have to [with reliance on the grace of God] fix ourselves. I have known for a long time that this is something I needed to do. And I am going to figure it out.

Amen, brother.

Do I hear an “Amen”?

How about a “¡Hagan lío!”?

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Hard-Identity Catholicism, HONORED GUESTS, New Evangelization | Tagged Novus Ordo, TLM
21 Comments

ASK FATHER: Sunday obligation and sick child at home

Posted on 26 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I have read that caring for the sick (i.e. children) lifts the Sunday Obligation to hear Holy Mass.

Does caring for a sick child lift it for the entire day, or would parents be required to go to Mass “in shifts”?

Thank you for all that you do in Our Lord’s Vineyard. Be assured of my family’s prayers.

As parents, your obligation to your children overrides just about everything else. Of course you must, as we all must, love God even more than you love your spouse and children, but in terms of your vocation and its duties, taking care of your children is at the top of the heap.

If a child’s illness requires your presence at home, then you do not have the obligation to go to Mass on Sunday.

However, I like the fact that you brought up going “in shifts”, which I take means going alternately rather than in long, loose-fitting garments worn with or without a belt.

Sure! If that is a viable solution, spouses, especially parents with lots of kids who might be at a difficult age to manage in church, can always go in shifts. As a matter of fact, that might give parents a chance to pray at church.

While I understand that parents – often deprived of lots of facetime with their children during the week because of the restraints of jobs and so forth – like going to church all together as a family, it might be that the Shift Solution could also be helpful, not only for the individual parent, but also for fellow congregants who may not be as filled with joy at the antics of your little stupor mundi.

However, this is now verging toward The Third Rail™.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged Sunday Mass Obligation
8 Comments

ASK FATHER: When do traditional Catholics throw in the towel?

Posted on 25 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I have been engaged in a deep theological and spiritual crisis for 10 years now, struggling to remain Catholic or finally cross the Bosphorus and convert to Orthodoxy. [pffffft] It seems that with every passing day, Modern Catholicism continues its precipitous decline. How do we reverse it all? What outreach is being performed to open the closed minds of modern conservative Catholics?

Here is the point of my question: when do traditional Catholics throw in the towel? When is there a moment of realization that the Roman Church will never return to traditional worship, praxis, and teaching?

When is there a realization that no matter what they do, traditional Catholics wil not turn the tide?

I am fearful, anxious, and confused. Thank you and God bless.

Throw. In. The. TOWEL?!?

NEVER!

NEH-VER!

Christ, God Man, Second Person of the Trinity, Eternal Word, Truth, Love and Light Itself founded the Catholic Church. Why would you want to belong to any other?

Is there dysfunction? Sure. Do you think there isn’t dysfunction among the Orthodox? Don’t make me laugh. I’ll take our dysfunction any day.

Hell attacks the Church – the CATHOLIC Church -that GOD FOUNDED with all its relentless fury and the Devil is very good at what he does. The very fact that Hell attacks the Church so furiously is a demonstration of WHO and WHAT the Church is.

Today in the Traditional Form of the Roman Rite we heard St. Peter warn us that the Devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour. It is the sole desire of the Enemy to steal souls from heaven so that God will have just that much less glory, that there will be just that much less joy. Therefore, the Enemy targets the Church that Christ founded, through whose mediation every soul is saved.

“But Father! But Father!, some trads whimper. “Things are – *sniffle* – going so wr-wr-wrong now! I need a s-s-safe space and hug.” And the Libs, agents of the Enemy that they are chortle back “HA HA FATHER! You and your stupid Zed Heads hate VATICAN II! And we know what the spirit of Vatican II wants. Enough with sin and guilt! Enough with verticality! Enough with oppressive patriarchalism! Enough with claims of ‘truth’! Aren’t all faiths the same? We are all grown up now and don’t need any controls. In the spirit of Vatican II go ahead and leave. Make our job of tearing everything down that much easier.”

B as in B, S as in S. Toughen up and RESIST what they are do to our Church. Such enemies of God have always been in the Church. If there are enemy armies occupying our fatherland then be the maquis! To conscript the language of the Left we need to form our own base communities and resistance bands and fight back.

If we see someone wounded, we run fast to help. We open our veins to give blood in times of emergency. When we see people who are on fire or being attacked, we run towards the gunfire, towards the blaze.

Prepare for battle!

Some of you are in the front lines where the clash is. Some will be in the supporting ranks, where the binding of wounds takes place. Some will be on supply lines. Some will provide QRF. Some will be on oversight. Some will provide command and control. We all have to step up and own who we are as Catholics and own our vocations.

We must own our missions and our roles.

If we focus on our individual pain – boo hoo hoo! – we won’t serve our cause well and we’ll let our brother beside us down..

So, put aside some food and fast. Set aside some money for almsgiving. Turn off some program, dig that Rosary out of your pocket and PRAY – its a mighty weapon. GO TO CONFESSION!

Let us be warriors together, not worriers separated.

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "But Father! But Father!", ASK FATHER Question Box, Be The Maquis, Hard-Identity Catholicism, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged apostasy, schism
62 Comments

VIDEO Edward Pentin and Fr. Murray on the Five Dubia of the Four Cardinals

Posted on 25 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is a great video for your information.

Ed Pentin, arguably the best English-language Vaticanista in Rome right now is interviewed.

Fr. Murray begins his remarks at 10:00 (don’t miss it).

Posted in The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Amoris Laetitia, Edward Pentin, Fr. Gerald Murray
2 Comments

Is Communion now “we get the white thing in our hands and then we sing the song”?

Posted on 25 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. US HERE – UK HERE Also in SPANISH – HERE

There is a virus-like fixation pandemic in the Church today that everyone has to go to Communion at every Mass. Therefore, even if there are people present manifestly in living in a state of mortal sin, spectacular contortions of doctrine and law are pretzeled together to justify what has NEVER been justified in the history of the Church: saying openly that the unconfessed Catholic in the state of mortal sin who does not have a firm purpose of amendment can be admitted to the sacraments. If there is a mega-Mass, such as a papal Mass, astonishing lengths are attempted to get a Host out there to every single sincere and pious communicant, as well as the reacher-grabber and souvenir collector.

Of all the words I can think of to describe this, “reverent” isn’t one of them.

I don’t blame the unquestioning organizers… much. They are infected with this aforementioned virus. No… I guess I do blame them. They should know better.

Today I reminded that The Great One, His Eminence Robert Card. Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (which covers how Mass should be celebrated, how to preserve its reverent character, its holiness, its power to communicate what the Perfect Communicator wants to give to the world) has remarked on mega-Masses.

From InfoVaticana comes this with my usual treatment (not my translation but touched up):

Cardinal Sarah denounces mega-masses “with thousands of attendees”

“Men and women in adultery and unbaptized tourists who participate in eucharistic celebrations of anonymous crowds can receive without distinction the Body and Blood of Christ.” This is the situation that warns Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in his book The Force of Silence. [Also in SPANISH – HERE]

Cardinal Sarah emphasizes the need for the Church to study with urgency “the ecclesial and pastoral suitability of these multitudinous eucharistic celebrations with thousands of attendees.” For the Guinean cardinal, today there is an immense danger of converting the Eucharist “into a vulgar verbena [open-air dance]” and of desecrating the Body and Blood of Christ.

“The priests who distribute the sacred species without knowing anyone and give the body of Jesus to anyone, without distinguishing Christians from non-Christians, participate in the profanation of the Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice,” says in his book The Force of Silence. [The priest in large parishes can’t know every person who comes to Communion, but in that context it is often easy to tell who isn’t Catholic (by their behavior). But the situation of mega-Masses… well. Also, I note that Eastern congregations are often small enough that the priest can say people’s names as they present themselves for Communion.]

The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship warns that “with some voluntary complicity,” those who exercise authority in the church are guilty of permitting the sacrilege and desecration of the Body of Christ “in those gigantic and ridiculous self-celebrations, where there are very few who realize that the death of the Lord is announced until he comes.”

Sarah also regrets that some “priests unfaithful to the memory of Jesus” insist more on the festive aspect of the Mass than on the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. [ANAXIOS!] “The importance of the interior dispositions and the necessity to reconcile with God accepting to allow us to be purified by the sacrament of the confession are no longer in fashion,” concludes the prelate.

I’m afraid that, for many – even for many priests and even bishops – Communion is now the moment we get the white thing in our hands and then we sing the song.

The “White Thing” is a sign that people like me here. Hence, if I can’t have the “White Thing” before we sing the song, I don’t feel good about myself in this setting… and that’s bad. The “White Thing” in the hand is the token that this is a “safe space”.

The moderation queue is ON.

Just as a reminder, here’s Communion at a mega-Mass in Manila in 2015 during Pope Francis’ visit.

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Distribution from plastic cups at Rio for Pope Francis’s World Youth Day Mass 2013.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged Communion, mega-Masses
25 Comments

Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Posted on 25 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard during the Holy Mass in fulfillment your of Sunday Obligation? Let us know.

Here’s what I said (below). This Sunday took me by surprise. I had assumed that I didn’t have this Sunday’s TLM since I was supposed to be out of town. Probably at the prompting of my guardian angel, I doubled checked the schedule! “Well!”, quoth I, “let’s see what happens!”. I read the orations. I read the readings. I penned three notes and I promptly went to bed in preparation for a 6 am rising. This was on pretty much on the fly. I don’t recommend this method for younger priests, by the way.

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Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, PODCAzT | Tagged green vestment, Season of Pentecost
13 Comments

His Hermeneuticalness on St John Fisher

Posted on 24 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

With delight I report that my good friend, His Hermeueticalness, Fr. Tim Finigan has taken up his electronic pen more regularly than before his heart problems knocked him down… slacker.

Here’s a bit of his great offering about St. John Fisher, whose feast with St. Thomas More, we observed a couple days ago.

[…] I do agree with Thomas Craughwell at the National Catholic Register that “Fisher needs is his own version of A Man for All Seasons—a big, gorgeously filmed, beautifully written, destined-to-be-a-classic film, with an all-English cast.” [With an of film credit role song by Adele? NOT.]

I would suggest Mel Gibson, but somebody would have to stop him from reducing it to a piece of anti-English propaganda with gallons of blood spurting from the holy bishop’s neck at the crucial point. [Maybe people need to see what happened to the English Martyrs.] Perhaps Sir Ridley Scott (Gladiator etc.) could do something, or Peter Weir (Master and Commander.) Now that Russell Crowe is a little old for the action hero role, could he do a gutsy elderly bishop? Or maybe Sean Bean could graduate from his new priestly persona?

To help film directors understand the dramatic potential of such a film, here are some of my previous posts on St John Fisher: [Useful!]

Feast of St John Fisher
Hymn to St John Fisher
St John Fisher’s cell
Cardinals’ badge of honour
Titular Church of Cardinal Fisher
If St John Fisher and St Thomas More were bloggers
“Alone of thy peers”
St John Fisher’s prayer for holy bishops

I note with pleasure that Rorate Caeli have today recalled the detail of St John Fisher’s final hours: when he was told that the writ of execution had arrived, he asked the gaoler to let him have another couple of hours’ sleep. That’s what a clear conscience looks like.

One important lesson from the lives of St John Fisher and St Thomas More is their response to scandal given in high places in the Church. Here’s a link to something I wrote on it some time ago: How to respond to scandal in the Church.