Do you remember the story I posted about flash “Mass mobs” being organized to inject some life into dying parishes in Buffalo, NY? ¡Vaya lío! Flash ‘Mass Mobs’ help struggling parishes.
There is an update story from AP.
Mass mobs fill pews, lift prayers at NY churches
Check it out.
Pope Francis has made it clear that he considers dimly women religious who are not fruitful. He has admonished nuns not to be “zitelle… spinsters, old maids, biddies”. To be called “una zitella” isn’t a compliment in Italian.
“But Father! But Father!”, you feminist-leaning Pope Fluffy fans are now nervously whimpering, “What does the Most Wonderfullest Pope Ehvur mean b… b… by … fruitful?”
From the site of Vatican Radio.
Pope Francis: a Church without nuns is “unimaginable”! [I think it is “imaginable”. We don’t see many recognizable sisters around. How long has it been since they have been present in significant numbers in our schools, hospitals, missions. No wait! They’re on buses! Platforms of the DNC!]
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday highlighted the great value that nuns bring to the Church. “What would happen” – the Pope said – “if there were no nuns? [Here we go!] No nuns in hospitals, in missions, in charitable institutions, in schools… Can you even imagine a Church without nuns…? No it is unthinkable!”. [What’s missing? Hierarchy. Holy Orders. Nope. Not there. Won’t be there… ehvurrrr.]
And speaking on the day in which we celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life, the Pope said that nuns are great women. He said “they are a gift, the leaven that carries the message of Christ”. “These women – he said – are great!”
The Pope’s words came before the Sunday recitation of the Angelus in St Peter’s Square, after having presided over Mass in the Basilica on the Feast Day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, a Feast which is traditionally dedicated to Consecrated Life.
To those gathered in the Square Pope Francis said that consecrated persons in different sectors are “the leaven of a more just and fraternal society”. [Nice phrase. I wonder if he has been reading materials from Acton Institute?] He said that “Consecrated Life is a gift of God to the Church and to His people”.
The Pope said that the Church and the world needs the witness of religious and consecrated lay people to the love and the mercy of God, and he asked for prayers so that many young people may say “yes” to God who calls them “to consecrate their lives to Him and to be of service to their brothers and sisters”.
Pope Francis recalled that the year 2015 will be dedicated to Consecrated Life and asked for prayers for this initiative. After the recitation of the Angelus Prayer, Pope Francis reminded those present that in Italy “The Day for Life” is celebrated today with the theme “Generating the Future”. He sent his greetings and encouragement to those committed to the defence of life from its conception to its natural end.
At this point I can’t help but think of one of the darlings of the LCWR type nuns in these USA, Sr. Donna Quinn, who was featured in my post Nuns Gone Wild!
Donna Quinn an advocate for legalized abortion. As late as 2009 she was engaged in escorting women to abortion clinics in the Chicago area so they could abort their babies safe from pro-life protesters. She is now a coordinator of the radically liberal National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), which stands in opposition against the Catholic Church’s position on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and the exclusively male priesthood. In a 2002 address to the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as “immoral”: “I used to say: ‘This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,’” she said. “Then later I said, ‘This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I’d better work to change it.’ More recently, I am saying, ‘All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.’” Quinn called gender discrimination “the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world,” and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for “the sisterhood.”
The Pope doesn’t want nuns as escorts at abortion clinics. He doesn’t want them in radical feminist causes. He doesn’t want them in the hierarchy.
Meanwhile, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the help of Archbps. Sartain and Blair, is still watching the LCWR.
Lastly, please consider buying some fine soap from the great Dominican sisters in Summit, NJ.
Also, you can pre-order a music CD of music for Lent from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. You know their CD for Advent.
Fr. Z endorsed!
I have been urging you not to let up. Liberals think they have the big mo. HA!
Do not give out. Do not give up. Do not give in. Press forward. Be encouraging to your priests. Be supportive. Give and provide anything and everything they will need. Make the pitch. Make it again. Make it again. Be cheerful. Be persistent. And pray pray pray.
At Regina Magazine, a new traditional online monthly which you should all check out… see their ad on my sidebar here… there is a good piece about a priest who learned how to say the older, traditional form of Holy Mass, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
What Happens When a Novus Ordo Priest Learns the Latin Mass
by Rosa Kasper
Although the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass had always been the center of Father Paul Sumler’s priestly life, the truth is that he hadn’t considered celebrating Mass in the Extraordinary Form. That is, until one Sunday when John Morrell and Mark Holly from the Latin Mass Society of Beaumont, Texas approached Father to ask if he would be willing to do so. [Good for them!]
”At the time, I was still recovering from major surgery, so I asked them to call me in three or four months,” Fr. Sumler explained. “And then I promptly forgot about my brief encounter with them until they again approached me three and a half months later.”
He invited the men to lunch with him at the rectory, so he could hear their story. [Good for him!]
“At this point I was perplexed as to why they wanted a Latin Mass, but I was willing to listen to their reasons,” the priest added. “The luncheon meeting ran almost two hours as they spoke and I asked question after question. [Be prepared!] They told me they had approached a number of priests in the Beaumont Diocese and each priest gave various reasons for not wanting to offer the Traditional Latin Mass.” [pfffft]
“I was perplexed as to why they wanted a Latin Mass, but I was willing to listen to their reasons. After they left, I wondered what I had gotten myself into.”
Impressed with their articulate, authentic Catholic spirituality and love for the Church, Fr. Sumler told the two young men that although 50 years before he had been an altar boy for the Latin Mass, he would now be starting from scratch if he should offer this Mass.
As it turned out, [Watch this…] the Latin Mass Society covered the expenses of training workshops, including his travel expenses so in June 2011, he spent five days with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Neb., under the tutelage of Father Joseph Lee.
Father Sumler describes the time as a “spiritual boot camp,” involving eight and a half hours days for five days straight. He offered his first Sunday Low Mass one month later. He then attended a Missa Cantata High Mass training workshop in 2012. Since then he has been offering a Sung High Mass every Sunday at 9:30 am.
A small number of his parishioners attend the Extraordinary Form Mass, Sumler explained, but most come from various other parts of the Beaumont Diocese, including many young people and home schooling families. [What a surprise.]
“Thanks to the Augustinian Fathers who pastored my parish for 60 years, I inherited a beautiful church,” Fr. Sumler observed. “During my time as pastor, we have renovated a number of lovely statues and placed them back in the church, much to the happiness of the people. [Get that you wreckovators?] The interior is quite beautiful and conducive to prayer. The Rosary is prayed before each Sunday Masses.”
Fr. Sumler characterized his Latin Mass congregants as deeply spiritual, committed Catholics, the integrity of whose faith had been damaged by liturgical abuses so common in many Novus Ordo parishes.
[And here is another thing I have been saying for years now…] “The spiritual impact of the Extraordinary Form has had a major impact on me as well,” Fr. Sumler noted. “I have learned to let Jesus say the Mass. I don’t have to worry anymore if I’m holding people’s attention. Jesus, through the Mass and liturgical actions, can speak for Himself, and the people do not have any need for my innovations. [The change in the priest’s self-perception, and the way he says even Mass in the Novus Ordo, must eventually produce a knock-on effect in the congregation.]
“I cannot imagine my life without this beautiful Mass. In addition to the Sunday Sung Mass, I offer a Low Mass Tuesday through Friday at 12:10 pm,” Fr. Sumler concluded. “I will always be indebted to encountering John Morrell and Mark Holly. To them I say ‘thank you.’” [And we say “Thank you!”, too!]
Pretty good, huh?
Fr. Z Kudos to everyone.
How grateful we should be to Benedict XVI for Summorum Pontificum.
With a big hug for Reese and Winters over at National Schismatic Reporter, there is an article from the NY Post that deserves your attention.
Also, I ask you readers for a favor, below.
My trademark emphases and comments:
Meet the new pope — same as the old pope
By Kyle SmithSorry, liberals: Pope Francis is not the Barack Obama of the Vatican. [You might recall that some even on the conservative side of things call him that. HERE]
The media’s fantasy that the new pope is a revolutionary determined to steer the Church left reached a new level of fatuousness this week when Rolling Stone gave Francis the full Lady Gaga treatment, placing him on its cover with the headline, “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
No, they ain’t. [RIGHT!]
Rolling Stone joined Time (which crowned Francis its Person of the Year for 2013), The Advocate (ditto) and The New York Times in a group self-delusion [well said] that the pope is coming around to their views on economics, homosexuality and ordination of women.
The basis for all this is a misreading of a few out-of-context quotations, ignorance of longstanding church doctrine and (perhaps most of all) a frenzy to enlist the pope against the left’s favorite bogeymen, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. [I wouldn’t make the list that narrow.]
In Rolling Stone, writer Mark Binelli swooned, [Thrills up your leg will do that to you I hear.] noting that Palin called Pope Francis “kind of a liberal” (before backtracking) and Limbaugh denounced the pope’s views as “pure Marxism.” With enemies like those, the left thinks, Francis must be OK.
But MSNBC shouldn’t go booking the pope to co-host the Rachel Maddow Show just yet.
It’s hard for liberals (and maybe some conservatives) to wrap their heads around this, but Catholic doctrine doesn’t line up neatly with American views of left and right. The church is steadfastly pro-life on abortion (we associate that with conservatives) but equally pro-life on capital punishment (a view we call liberal). Nor has the Vatican altered its commitment to uplifting the poor or its related suspicion of capitalism.
Yes, Pope Francis critiqued “trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market alone, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice.” [Alas, here the writer stumbled. We are back to that faulty English translation. That “inevitably” should read “by themselves”.]
But (pace Limbaugh), Francis also blasted Marxism, if not in the same speech: “The ideology of Marxism is wrong,” he said in December.It’s not like Benedict XVI (whom Binelli compared to Freddy Krueger) was an apostle of Milton Friedman either: “Both capitalism and Marxism promised to point out the path for the creation of just structures,” he said in 2007. “And this ideological promise has proven false. [The former Pope probably veered toward Socialism.]
Capitalism, Benedict continued, left a “distance between rich and poor” and is “giving rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity.”
Pope John Paul II showed perhaps the most enthusiasm for capitalism of any pope, yet even he said, “There are many human needs which find no place on the market. It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain unsatisfied.” He warned against a “radical capitalistic ideology” that lacks an “ethical and religious” core. [How refreshing. He bothered to do some homework!]
Did Francis (as the Times proclaimed last September) complain that the church was “obsessed” with gays, abortion and birth control? Not quite. [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]
Here’s what he said: “The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.”
Nothing new here, either: The pope was just focusing on the big picture. [PAY ATTENTION…]Benedict said the same thing, [Winner! Winner!] albeit more directly, in 2006, noting that, for press interviews, “I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion.?.?. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears.” [It’s official. The next time I am in NYC, if that is where he is, I’ll buy this guy a beer.]
Yes, Pope Francis said, “Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?” But this is consistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that gays “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
In 2010, while still just a cardinal, he called gay marriage “a destructive attack on God’s plan” and last year Francis was “shocked” by a gay-adoption bill, according to a bishop who discussed the matter with him. [I wrote about that HERE. I am not sure, but I don’t think Fishwrap mentioned that story.] Ordination of women? Francis said in November that this was “not a question open for discussion.” Abortion? “Horrifying,” he said on Jan. 13.
There is a Bob Dylan song that encapsulates the media’s coverage of Pope Francis, but it isn’t “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” It’s “Idiot Wind.” [Perfect.]
Take it away Bob! HERE
“Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press….
Fr. Z kudos, Kyle. Well done.
Do me a favor. Go right now to visit this fellow’s personal blog HERE and spike his numbers a bit. Tell him Fr. Z sent you.
Finally, please show this piece to your liberal acquaintances.
And now for you young’uns, “Idiot Wind” is on the album Blood On The Tracks… which could be his best album.
Gotta love that Hammond organ!
In contrast with the rest of the Reps of the Party of Death, 6 Democrats [Cuellar (D-TX28), Lipinski (D-IL3), Matheson (D-UT4), McIntyre (D-NC7), Peterson (D-MN7), Rahall (D-WV3)], voted for and co-sponsored HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act. Full roll call HERE.
You might take moment to contact your Representative and give positive or very negative feedback. To find your Congressman, go HERE. One courageous Republican Broun (D-GA10) took the Obama-Way-Out and voted “present”. Some didn’t vote, so double-check the roll call.
It looks like one Republican joined the Party of Death and voted against HR 7, Richard Hanna (R-NY24). I guess he didn’t want Gov. Andrew “Beat It!” Cuomo to pay him a visit.
When will Canon 915 be applied in the case of pro-abortion Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi?
It is not enough that she may, perhaps, from time to time, choose on her own not to go forward for Communion.
It must be made clear by the Church’s pastors that she is not to receive.
From Townhall:
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been selected to receive Planned Parenthood’s “highest recognition of leadership, excellence, and outstanding contributions” to the abortion movement. Pelosi will accept the award at Planned Parenthood’s annual gala in Washington D.C. March 27.
The award is named after the organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger. Sanger’s 1914 publication “The Woman Rebel” was found illegal due to the “obscene and immoral materials” found therein.
Sanger believed women had the basic right to abortion: “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.” Perhaps she was not aware that this freedom has already been called chastity.
It comes as no surprise that the current president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, acknowledged Obamacare as the “greatest advancement for women’s health in this generation.” The Obama Administration has touted the abortion pill mandate enshrined in the bill as being both “lawful and essential to women’s health.”
Richards said Pelosi has been an unwavering abortion supporter:
No one is more deserving of this honor than Leader Pelosi, who has fought tirelessly throughout her career to protect and expand women’s access to health care. [abortion = health care] As the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, Leader Pelosi recognized that women’s health is a mainstream issue impacting women and families. Her leadership in passing the Affordable Care Act and her ongoing commitment ensures that the promise of the law is realized for millions of women as the greatest advancement for women’s health in a generation. [It’s all great for Big-Business-Abortion.]Previous award winners have included Hillary Clinton and actress Katharine Hepburn.
Nancy Pelosi creates terrible public scandal. By her manifest scandal in the public square she does harm to the Church.
From NewsBusters:
Pedophiles Are Not National News — When They’re Gay Rights Pioneers
The PJ Tatler recently reported on the case of Larry Brinkin, for many years an “icon” on the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco: “A former high-ranking San Francisco government employee convicted of felony possession of child pornography will continue to receive his government pension because, according to city regulations, evidence of ‘moral turpitude’ is required to revoke a pension yet viewing violent kiddie porn does not qualify as moral turpitude.” (Emphasis theirs.)
Michael Chapman of CNSNews.com also noted shocking racist remarks in Brinkin’s e-mails about “nailing” black toddlers. [NB] The media that loves riffing on pedophile Catholic priests have done nothing on this pedophile story. But 25 years ago, Brinkin was hailed as a gay-rights hero for instituting the “domestic partnership” rules in San Francisco.
Apparently, the liberals only publish the materials that fit their smug narrative of progressivism on the march, with no villains on the Left. A Nexis search shows that on July 5, 1989, The Washington Post published an almost 4,000-word Brinkin appreciation by reporter Cynthia Gorney, which began:
[…]
Read the rest there.
From American Life League:
‘RADICALIZED’ GIRLS SCOUTS OF AMERICA TRIGGERS NATIONAL COOKIE BOYCOTT
The leadership of Girl Scouts of America, once a trusted purveyor of American values, has been moving to the left for over a decade. However, GSUSA’s local and national growing partnership with abortion industry leader Planned Parenthood has raised the ire of local and national pro-life leaders to the point that they are now calling for a boycott of the iconic Girl Scouts’ annual cookie sale.
“I am offended that the Girl Scouts honor pro-abortion activists like Wendy Davis and Kathleen Sebelius and hold them up as leaders to be emulated by our young women and girls,” said John Pisciotta, director of Pro-Life Waco, who is spearheading the effort.
[…]
Radical social movements strive to infiltrate organizations trusted by the opposition and convert them into proxies for their own agenda. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger did it with her “Negro Project” that used trusted black leaders like Mary McLeod Bethune, W. E. B. DuBois, and Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to promote contraception and abortion as bettering the plight of poor blacks. In reality, the Negro Project was, from the start, largely based on eugenics. It was indifferent to the needs of the black community and more concerned with unchecked black fertility.
Today, we have what some might call Planned Parenthood’s “Girl Scout Project.” From local councils to senior leadership, GSUSA is becoming heavily involved in promoting what Judie Brown, president of American Life League, calls the contraceptive mentality—sex without conscience or consequence.
The organization MyGirlScoutCouncil.com offers dozens of links to events hosted by or promoted by local councils connected to pro-abortion advocacy. For example, on page 41 of the GSUSA publication Your Voice Your World, girls are encouraged to explore such organizations as the Population Council, a group that works internationally to increase access to abortion.
Many pro-family and pro-life groups feel GSUSA has been radicalized by liberal progressives and can no longer be trusted with the shaping of young girls.
[…]
Read the rest there.
From a reader…
Quaeritur:
My family has accumulated over many years lots of religious items, many of them now broken i.e. rosary’s, statues, loose medals.
We’ve never really thrown them out because we’ve been unsure as to whether you can throw out religious items, especially if they may have previously been blessed. What’s the best thing to do? There’s quite possibly boxloads…
One of the simplest solutions could be to bury them. Once upon a time, before synthetic fabrics and plastics, vestments and wooden and otherwise combustible objects could be safely burned and the ashes them buried in the earth.
I can think of a lot of vestments and other objects which ought to be burned, but beware of polyester: melts before it burns. And the fumes are nasty.
It could be that where you are there are local laws about burning things outdoors, and you may have drought conditions.
Another solution which could be a little more complicated to achieve could be to contact those in charge of construction of a new church and have your items incorporated somehow in the foundation. I heard of cases of this when people were trying to figure out how to dispose of obsolete liturgical books after the current English translation came into force.
I am glad that you have a sense that the sacrality of blessed objects is to be respected. Blessed objects should not be simply cast onto the rubbish heap.
Let me get this straight.
The news outlet of three African nations which form a single conference, Southern Cross, publishes an editorial against the “anti-gay” legislation underway in some African countries, which the Nigerian bishops back.
Then Fides, a news agency associated with a dicastery of the Holy See, Propaganda Fide, republishes the Southern Cross piece.
There’s more.
And now some people want to say “Nigerians back “anti-gay” legislation but “THE VATICAN” supports the protests against the legislation”.
So, I got that straight, right?
Who am I to judge.
And our take way from this is…. what….?
¿Vaya lío?
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
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