Ronald Reagan, "A Time For Choosing" (October 26, 1964, Los Angeles) (American Rhetoric, Top 100 Speeches).
[Hat tip to Tatjana Kragh]
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Catholic-Muslim charter of rights
Sandro Magister, "Catholics and Muslims Have Signed a Charter of Rights. But Now Comes the Hard Part" (www.chiesa, November 10, 2008): "The hard thing is to move from theory to practice. Words, silences, and background of the first meeting of the Forum between the two religions, born from the lecture of Benedict XVI in Regensburg and the letter to the pope from 138 Islamic scholars."
Obama, the Bishops, and AmChurch's sacramentalized pagans
A reader writes:
Sometimes a woman can slap a man in the face to make him come to his sense. Sometimes she leaves him. I am not sure just what is taking place right now, but posts like these [see below] are signs of that maybe, just maybe a little fog is lifting amidst the cultural erosion ...He then quotes Mark Brumley's remarks in (Ignatius Insight Scoop, November 5, 2008):
Part of the problem is that while we now have some bishops willing to speak out in a clear and forceful fashion, we have a generation of churchgoing Catholics -- I'm talking about the churchgoers now, not the Catholics in name only -- who are clueless about their faith and who have little judgment about how to apply it to the world around them. They go along to get along. These are people who may not have been evangelized, and so they are sacramentalized pagans. These are people who have not been catechized so they are spiritual babies having to confront issues that require a mature faith.Then our correspondent refers to an article by Karen Hall, entitled "What An Obama Presidency Means to Catholics" (Some Have Hats, November 6, 2008), a title for which she gives credit to "A good article by Russell Shaw" (Our Sunday Visitor, November 16, 2008 issue). Hall begins by singling out a single sentence from Russell Shaw's article:
We need to make the most of this situation and do what we can to change things. Bishops will have to step up the plate. Priests will, too. And religious. And lay leaders. It is going to take an honest appraisal of the problem. No more happy talk about the Church in the U.S. Yes, we have a priest shortage. You want to know why? Because we have a Christian shortage and a Catholic shortage among Catholics. That's the unvarnished truth. The baptized pagans who occupy so much pew space in our churches have to be converted to Christianity. The liberal-Protestantish Catholicism-lite that substitutes for Catholicism has to be converted to real Catholicism. The bishops have to stop kidding themselves. And they have to be willing to take on their brother bishops when they're part of the problem and they have to be willing to confront their clergy when they are part of the problem.
There is more to be said but this will do for now. Let's all look at our own situation and ask ourselves what needs to be done in our own lives. That may require prayer and sacrifice on our part. It may involve having to confront others--charitably and lovingly, of course. It should get us involved more, if we're not already, in parish life.
I'd like to shed some light on this particular statement:[Hat tip to J.M.]For the Catholic Church, the election underlines serious questions about the bishops' ability to educate Catholic voters to the moral implications of political choices considered in light of Church teaching.The bishops have spent decades sending us the clear message that Rome is a long way away and what the Church teaches hasn't mattered since Humanae Vitae. Now they are puzzled as to why Catholic voters were hard to educate about the Church's teaching on abortion? Note to bishops: first you have to educate the Catholic voters as to why they should care what the Church teaches on any subject. Then you have to educate Catholics (me, for instance) as to why you have the authority to throw politically incorrect passages out of the Bible and/or ignore them as you see fit.
The bishops don't have a tough job ahead of them. They have an impossible job. They cannot explain why the Pope is right about abortion but wrong about female altar servers. They cannot explain why one bishop can read us the riot act and another can march down the aisle behind the rainbow Jesus fish banner. They cannot explain why "good Catholic" has a different definition in every diocese. They cannot explain why the priest in my parish could spend last Sunday playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on his clarinet (during the homily) and then make up his own Mass, or why the deacon could get up one Sunday and explain to Caleb that his favorite miracle (the loaves and the fishes) did not really take place. (That was the homily on the Feast of Corpus Christi. Hmmm... what other miracle might not take place?)
The bishops have created a Church that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There are as many answers to "what the Church teaches" as there are priests in my diocese. If I go for spiritual direction here or in Los Angeles, I will very likely be told what God really thinks, despite what the Pope might claim.
The bishops have created a situation so that, with the exception of the sacraments, I have no access to the Church. I can't send my child to a Catholic school because he will be taught that my friend Bob will come into his room at night and put his hands in Caleb's pajamas. (Yes, I could sign up for the "opt out" and buy the fairy tale that Caleb wouldn't ask his best friend, "What did you guys talk about when I had to leave the room?") I can't go to Mass without something setting my hair on fire week after week. I can't turn on my television without seeing the parade of famous pro-abortion Catholics who receive the occasional stern letter while the bishops continue to ignore Archbishop Burke and the Pope -- for reasons I absolutely cannot fathom -- continues to do nothing. Not even so much as to remove the three bishops who are leading the entire state of California into perdition. (One would think that the Pope would at least care about the souls of the bishops, if he doesn't care about the souls of my children.)
"What An Obama Presidency Means to Catholics" will be rough indeed. But Obama can't put a dent into what the bishops have done to Catholics, while the Church has done the equivalent of standing on the Titanic and yelling, "There's a big hole! A really big hole! The ship is taking on water! Bad things will happen if someone doesn't start bailing! Really, we mean it, we're telling the truth! Really really really!"
Really.
"Bereft of Reason and Hostile to Facts"
From an excellent column by Peter Hitchens: "The Night We Waved Goodbye to America...Our Last Best Hope on Earth" (MailOnline, November 10, 2008):
[Hat tip to Karen Hall at Some Have Hats]
Anyone would think we had just elected a hip, skinny and youthful replacement for God, with a plan to modernise Heaven and Hell – or that at the very least John Lennon had come back from the dead.The One Break, Part 2
The swooning frenzy over the choice of Barack Obama as President of the United States must be one of the most absurd waves of self-deception and swirling fantasy ever to sweep through an advanced civilisation. At least Mandela-worship – its nearest equivalent – is focused on a man who actually did something.
I really don’t see how the Obama devotees can ever in future mock the Moonies, the Scientologists or people who claim to have been abducted in flying saucers. This is a cult like the one which grew up around Princess Diana, bereft of reason and hostile to facts.
... Just look at his sermon by the shores of Lake Michigan. He really did talk about a ‘new dawn’, and a ‘timeless creed’ (which was ‘yes, we can’). He proclaimed that ‘change has come’. He revealed that, despite having edited the Harvard Law Review, he doesn’t know what ‘enormity’ means. He reached depths of oratorical drivel never even plumbed by our own Mr Blair, burbling about putting our hands on the arc of history (or was it the ark of history?) and bending it once more toward the hope of a better day (Don’t try this at home).
I am not making this up. No wonder that awful old hack Jesse Jackson sobbed as he watched. How he must wish he, too, could get away with this sort of stuff.
And it was interesting how the President-elect failed to lift his admiring audience by repeated – but rather hesitant – invocations of the brainless slogan he was forced by his minders to adopt against his will – ‘Yes, we can’. They were supposed to thunder ‘Yes, we can!’ back at him, but they just wouldn’t join in. No wonder. Yes we can what exactly? Go home and keep a close eye on the tax rate, is my advice. He’d have been better off bursting into ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony’ which contains roughly the same message and might have attracted some valuable commercial sponsorship.
Perhaps, being a Chicago crowd, they knew some of the things that 52.5 per cent of America prefers not to know. They know Obama is the obedient servant of one of the most squalid and unshakeable political machines in America. They know that one of his alarmingly close associates, a state-subsidised slum landlord called Tony Rezko, has been convicted on fraud and corruption charges.
... They grasped the real significance of this moment. They knew it meant that America had finally switched sides in a global cultural war. Forget the Cold War, or even the Iraq War. The United States, having for the most part a deeply conservative people, had until now just about stood out against many of the mistakes which have ruined so much of the rest of the world.
Suspicious of welfare addiction, feeble justice and high taxes, totally committed to preserving its own national sovereignty, unabashedly Christian in a world part secular and part Muslim, suspicious of the Great Global Warming panic, it was unique.
These strengths had been fading for some time, mainly due to poorly controlled mass immigration and to the march of political correctness. They had also been weakened by the failure of America’s conservative party – the Republicans – to fight on the cultural and moral fronts.
They preferred to posture on the world stage. Scared of confronting Left-wing teachers and sexual revolutionaries at home, they could order soldiers to be brave on their behalf in far-off deserts. And now the US, like Britain before it, has begun the long slow descent into the Third World. How sad. Where now is our last best hope on Earth?
[Hat tip to Karen Hall at Some Have Hats]
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Rome Report -- Part 2
Tridentine Community News, November 9, 2008
We continue last week's discussion of sights seen in Rome over the weekend of October 18, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Motu Proprio, Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, and the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
The Vatican Bookstore
Right outside the front entrance to St. Peter's Basilica is a gem of a shop, the official store of Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house. Here one can find all sorts of fascinating books that are not available elsewhere. For example, the original Latin 1994 edition of De Benedictionibus [Book of Blessings], which is the Novus Ordo vrsion of the Rituale Romanum; the 2004 edition of the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the Manual of Indulgences; and the 2008 edition of the Caerimoniale Episcoporum, the Ceremonial of Bishops, which details how episcopal liturgies are to be carried out. Even the often (and currently) out-of-print 2002 Novus Ordo Latin Altar Missal is there on the shelf.
But what does one find on the first shelf inside the front door, in the characteristic position of best-sellers, with many rows of copies of each book? The Vatican's recent reprint of the 1962 Tridentine Altar Missal, the Missale Romanum, plus the accompanying reprint of the 1952 [sic] Rituale Romanum, the book of blessings and sacraments. Interestingly, these two books are also featured on the home page of the Vatican Bookstore's Internet sales agent, www.paxbook.com. These hardcover books are called "study editions"; the Altar Missal is a little small to be used regularly, but might come in handy for a priest's traveling kit.
Church Supply Stores Galore
In Canada, there's a Tim Horton's every few blocks. In the United States ... check that, in many Western countries ... Starbucks has stores seemingly everywhere. In Rome, church supply stores dominate the landscape. And we're not talking about souvenir shops, but rather establishments where one can purchase vestments, chalices, monstrances, thuribles, and the like. Some are not quite what you'd expect: Gammarelli's, the "Pope's tailor" under John Paul II, is little more than a hole in the wall with rolls of fabric on the shelf. Other stores' inventory leans toward the modern. But in a sign of the times, every store we saw featured in its front window at least one Roman (fiddleback) chasuble, a sight unimaginable even a decade ago.
Who had the best array of goods for the Tridentine Mass? Euroclero, a store located adjacent to St. Peter's Square and directly across the street from the offices of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. What a coincidence.
The Not-So Beautiful
The Vatican is not immune to liturgical irregularities. Your correspondent happened upon a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at which the Our Father was followed by Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence sung in a foreign tongue. And speaking of silence, in the crypts under St. Peter's, there is a continually running recording in multiple languages imploring people to be silent in this sacred place. Sounds of silence, indeed.
Graffiti has become a major problem in Rome, covering building walls and subway trains everywhere. Traffic has always been aggressive in Rome, but with every tenth car nowadays a Smart Car, and motorbikes weaving in and out of the other cars, there are accidents waiting to happen. One has to admire the skill of tour bus drivers, who manage to defy the laws of physics and navigate the tight driving conditions and swarms of smaller vehicles with nary a dented bumper.
Tridentine Mass Sites in Rome
Last week we spoke of the Fraternity of St. Peter's new parish in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini. This full-fledged personal parish took the place of the FSSP's former home, the chapel-scale San Gregorio dei Muratori. In additional to being much smaller, San Gregorio was located down an alley, not easy to find. Clearly Ss. Trinita is an upgrade. The parish has a new web site: http://roma.fssp.it/
Masses in the Extraordinary Form are also offered by priests of the Institute of Christ the King on Sundays at 10:00 AM at the church of Gesu e Maria on the Via Corso. Unusual for the Institute, this parish is shared with a Novus Ordo Community.
Masses in the Extraordinary Form may now be celebrated at the side altars of St. Peter's Basilica. Visiting priests need only inform the sacristan as to their missal preference when arriving, although it would be prudent to bring as many of one's own supplies as possible.
The Grass Is Not Always Greener on the Other Side
For all of its history and architectural beauty, there are some things Rome is not. Rome is not a "liturgical city." If you are looking for inspiring Latin Masses, you would be better off going to London. If you are looking for clean old churches, try Chicago.
Perhaps the most important lesson learned is that we here in Detroit and Windsor enjoy music programs more impressive on a weekly basis than what Rome was able to deliver on a special occasion. Our historic churches are clean and (at least visually) well-maintained. Only the four major Roman basilicas truly outshine our local churches, yet they are not sites where the Extraordinary Form is celebrated on a regular basis with full ceremonial. We may be in the trenches here in the North American Midwest, but we are faithfully following Holy Mother Church's prescriptions to celebrate the Traditional Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the greatest devotion that our means allow.
[Comments? Ideas for a future column? Please email tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org.]
We continue last week's discussion of sights seen in Rome over the weekend of October 18, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Motu Proprio, Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, and the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
The Vatican Bookstore
Right outside the front entrance to St. Peter's Basilica is a gem of a shop, the official store of Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house. Here one can find all sorts of fascinating books that are not available elsewhere. For example, the original Latin 1994 edition of De Benedictionibus [Book of Blessings], which is the Novus Ordo vrsion of the Rituale Romanum; the 2004 edition of the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the Manual of Indulgences; and the 2008 edition of the Caerimoniale Episcoporum, the Ceremonial of Bishops, which details how episcopal liturgies are to be carried out. Even the often (and currently) out-of-print 2002 Novus Ordo Latin Altar Missal is there on the shelf.
But what does one find on the first shelf inside the front door, in the characteristic position of best-sellers, with many rows of copies of each book? The Vatican's recent reprint of the 1962 Tridentine Altar Missal, the Missale Romanum, plus the accompanying reprint of the 1952 [sic] Rituale Romanum, the book of blessings and sacraments. Interestingly, these two books are also featured on the home page of the Vatican Bookstore's Internet sales agent, www.paxbook.com. These hardcover books are called "study editions"; the Altar Missal is a little small to be used regularly, but might come in handy for a priest's traveling kit.Church Supply Stores Galore
In Canada, there's a Tim Horton's every few blocks. In the United States ... check that, in many Western countries ... Starbucks has stores seemingly everywhere. In Rome, church supply stores dominate the landscape. And we're not talking about souvenir shops, but rather establishments where one can purchase vestments, chalices, monstrances, thuribles, and the like. Some are not quite what you'd expect: Gammarelli's, the "Pope's tailor" under John Paul II, is little more than a hole in the wall with rolls of fabric on the shelf. Other stores' inventory leans toward the modern. But in a sign of the times, every store we saw featured in its front window at least one Roman (fiddleback) chasuble, a sight unimaginable even a decade ago.
Who had the best array of goods for the Tridentine Mass? Euroclero, a store located adjacent to St. Peter's Square and directly across the street from the offices of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. What a coincidence.
The Not-So Beautiful
The Vatican is not immune to liturgical irregularities. Your correspondent happened upon a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at which the Our Father was followed by Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence sung in a foreign tongue. And speaking of silence, in the crypts under St. Peter's, there is a continually running recording in multiple languages imploring people to be silent in this sacred place. Sounds of silence, indeed.
Graffiti has become a major problem in Rome, covering building walls and subway trains everywhere. Traffic has always been aggressive in Rome, but with every tenth car nowadays a Smart Car, and motorbikes weaving in and out of the other cars, there are accidents waiting to happen. One has to admire the skill of tour bus drivers, who manage to defy the laws of physics and navigate the tight driving conditions and swarms of smaller vehicles with nary a dented bumper.
Tridentine Mass Sites in Rome
Last week we spoke of the Fraternity of St. Peter's new parish in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini. This full-fledged personal parish took the place of the FSSP's former home, the chapel-scale San Gregorio dei Muratori. In additional to being much smaller, San Gregorio was located down an alley, not easy to find. Clearly Ss. Trinita is an upgrade. The parish has a new web site: http://roma.fssp.it/
Masses in the Extraordinary Form are also offered by priests of the Institute of Christ the King on Sundays at 10:00 AM at the church of Gesu e Maria on the Via Corso. Unusual for the Institute, this parish is shared with a Novus Ordo Community.
Masses in the Extraordinary Form may now be celebrated at the side altars of St. Peter's Basilica. Visiting priests need only inform the sacristan as to their missal preference when arriving, although it would be prudent to bring as many of one's own supplies as possible.
The Grass Is Not Always Greener on the Other Side
For all of its history and architectural beauty, there are some things Rome is not. Rome is not a "liturgical city." If you are looking for inspiring Latin Masses, you would be better off going to London. If you are looking for clean old churches, try Chicago.
Perhaps the most important lesson learned is that we here in Detroit and Windsor enjoy music programs more impressive on a weekly basis than what Rome was able to deliver on a special occasion. Our historic churches are clean and (at least visually) well-maintained. Only the four major Roman basilicas truly outshine our local churches, yet they are not sites where the Extraordinary Form is celebrated on a regular basis with full ceremonial. We may be in the trenches here in the North American Midwest, but we are faithfully following Holy Mother Church's prescriptions to celebrate the Traditional Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the greatest devotion that our means allow.
[Comments? Ideas for a future column? Please email tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org.]
The distinctives of Tridentine liturgies for All Souls Day
The following discussion has been adapted from the Tridentine Community News bulletin insert for St. Josaphat Catholic Church for October 26, 2008, changing the verb tense to appropriately reflect the past tense:
St. Josaphat Church Celebrates the Traditional Three Masses of All Souls Day on Monday, November 3[Hat tip to A.B.]
In the Ordinary Form calendar, All Souls Day was celebrated on November 2 as usual, even though that was a Sunday. In the Tridentine calendar, however, All Souls Day was moved to Monday, November 3 so as not to displace the Sunday feast on November 2.
For the first time in approximately 40 years, St. Josaphat Church celebrated All Souls Day according to the old tradition: On Monday, November 3, three Masses were said: Two Low Masses, simultaneously celebrated at each of the two side altars inside the sanctuary, beginning at 6:00 PM. Then, at 7:00 PM, a Solemn High Mass with Deacon and Subdeacon was celebrated at the high altar, followed by Absolution at the Catafalque, in commemoration of all the faithful departed.
Bination & Trination
Under normal circumstances, Monday through Saturday, a priest is permitted to celebrate no more than two Holy Masses. The celebration of two Masses on the same day is called "bination." On Sundays and Holy Days, a priest may celebrate three Masses ("trination") if he has the permission of his bishop or because of necessity, which is increasingly become the norm in these days of scarcity of priests.
As with many other laws of the Church, this limitation makes common sense. Priests should celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with attentiveness and devotion. The more Masses that a priest must say on the same day, the greater the possibility that he may lose focus and concentration. Holy Mass must not be celebrated distractedly, absent-mindedly, or in a bored fashion.
All Souls Day is the only non-Sunday/Holy Day in the Church Year on which a priest is permitted to celebrate three Masses. This permission is a vivid symbol by which Holy Mother Church encourages us to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. The Tridentine Missal contains three distinct sets of Mass Propers to be celebrated, should a priest be able to celebrate all three. Note that no matter how many Masses are celebrated, the faithful may receive Holy Communion at no more than two Masses per day.
Our own situation is somewhat nuanced: One priest celebrated his Low Mass at the First Mass of All Souls Day, as that was the only Mass he celebrated that day. Per the rubrics, the second priest celebrated his Low Mass as the Second Mass of All Souls Day, and then celebrated the Solemn High Mass as the First Mass of All Souls Day, as the Sung Mass of the day must be the First Mass ("First" and "Second" referring to the Mass Propers set, not the sequence in which the Masses are said). This second priest binated, while the first priest, who served as the Subdeacon at the Solemn High Mass, did not binate, because the Deacon and Subdeacon at the Solmen High Mass are not concelebrants. Indeed, they do not need to be priests at all. Thus, we had three Masses on All Souls Day, but we did not use all three sets of Mass Propers because we did not have a trinating priest.
Many if not most churches built prior to 1965 incorporated one or more side altars. We are fortunate that our churches have several. Today, these altars serve mostly devotional purposes, as shrines to our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, the Sacred Heart, and so forth. But they had and still have a primary purpose: To host the celebration of Holy Mass.
Side altar with Michelangelo's Madonna in Church of Our Lady in Bruges
Mass may only be celebrated on an altar containing consecrated relics. Those relics are contained within an altar stone, placed in the middle of the altar. In fact, the altar stone itself is actually the "altar," whereas the table surrounding it is properly termed the "mensa." All of our side altars contain altar stones.
Each side altar also contains a functional tabernacle. The purpose of these tabernacles is not to serve as a primary repository for the Blessed Sacrament; that function is reserved for the main tablernacle on the high altar. Rather, these tabernacles can temporarily hold a ciborium with Hosts consecrated at the Mass celebrated at that altar until those Hosts can later be transferred to the main tabernacle; can contain pre-consecrated Hosts to be distributed at a Mass celebrated at that alter; can contain pre-consecrated Hosts needed for distribution at major event Masses that fill the church; and can serve as temporary repositories when the high altar tabernacle must be kept empty, such as during a construction project or on Good Friday.
Every priest should celebrate one Mass per day. In the era when there were multiple priests assigned to a parish, and the parish may only have had one public Mass per weekday, the side altars were the places where the other priests in the parish would celebrate their daily Masses, often at the same time as Mass was being celebrated at the high altar. Nowadays, one only generally sees this happening at churches where there are many priests, such as St. Peter's Basilica in Rome; the Brompton Oratory in London, England; and at liturgical conferences.
This All Souls Day marked the first time that these two side altars have have been used for public Masses in approximately 50 years.
2008 Sacred Heart grad Fr. Lee Acervo celebrates Tridentine Mass at St. Josephat
We arrived just a bit late, in the midst of the Asperges, and it was heartwarming to see Fr. Lee Acervo making his way down the aisle, aspergillum in hand, cleansing the congregation before the Holy Sacrifice. I had not realized that our celebrant this Sunday, November 11th, was to be Fr. Acervo, one of our bright, articulate recent graduates from Sacred Heart Major Seminary, just ordained this past spring. I wasn't even aware that Fr. Acervo had mastered the rigorous demands of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite; but his diction was clear, confident and unfaltering. His homily, too, was well-organized and clearly delivered.
The Mass -- and what a magnificent Mass! -- was dedicated to the November 9th feast day honoring the Dedication of the Archbasilica of Our Savior (St. John Lateran). In his homily, Fr. Acervo rhetorically asked, "Why should we care about the dedication of an old building?" The original Archbasilica on the site of what is now St. John Lateran's in Rome was first dedicated, as he pointed out, in AD 324. This was only eleven years after Constantine's Edict of Milan, granting toleration to the Catholic religion after three centuries of persecution. We commemorate the dedication of the original building, Fr. Acervo said, because it represents a palpable token of God's providence and promise that He will always be with His people and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Mother Church. Think of it: although a succession of buildings has occupied the site since the first Archbasilica was dedicated in AD 324, the Archbasilica of our Savior, which is the official church of Christendom and of the Pope (not St. Peter's, contrary to widespread impression), has been standing on the site for 1684 years! Where was America 1684 years ago? Where was France? England? Germany? Russia? That's a long time.
Fr. Acervo also tied into his homily the readings of the day. The Epistle (Apocalypse 12:2-5) points us to "the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," pointing to the eternal reality of which our earthly Church is only a foreshadow and echtype. The Gospel (St. Luke 19:1-10) shows Jesus telling Zacheus to come down from the sycamore tree which he had climbed, being short of stature, in order to better see Jesus passing in the crowd: "Zacheus," says Jesus, "make haste and come down: for this day I must abide in thy house." This shows us that Jesus, as Immanuel ("God with us"), comes to make His habitation with us, in our hearts and in our midst. The wedding feast of the Church as the Bride of Christ is also an expression of God's Covenant with His people, in which each gives Himself to us, and we to Him, as He comes to dwell with us. Adoremus in Aeternum!
I've noticed two things about the Masses lately at St. Josephat. First, it's getting harder and harder to find a parking space if one arrives late. The congregation is growing. It's practically standing room only at the receptions following church, which, if you're going to have a problem, is a nice kind of problem to have. Second, numbers are being added to the choir, and with the increase in numbers is coming an expanded variety of musical offerings. Indeed, the music this Sunday was typical, with its rich and lovely presentation -- the propers in an ancient and hauntingly oriental-sounding form of Gregorian Chant (characteristic for Wassim Sarweh, whose vocalization of this form is peerless), the ordinaries in early Renaissance polyphany (Missa Octavi Toni "Venatorum"); the Offertory hymn an old favorite, from the ancient Italian seafarer's melody, O Sanctissima; the Communion hymn Melchor Robledo's Hoc Corpus; and the Final Hymn also a beloved favorite, Adoremus in Aeternum.
In recent weeks I have also counted between six to eight altar servers, including the Master of Ceremonies, who has been doing a masterful job of training the growing team of servers. Once one begins to learn all that is involved in the various roles of these servers, the responses they must learn by heart in Latin, the functions they must perform in perfectly synchronized and choreographed movement, he begins to look with newfound respect upon each man serving in the Sanctuary. Above all, the message communicated by their work is: this is a serious, solemn, reverent and profoundly joyous business, the worship of God. Deo gratias!
The Mass -- and what a magnificent Mass! -- was dedicated to the November 9th feast day honoring the Dedication of the Archbasilica of Our Savior (St. John Lateran). In his homily, Fr. Acervo rhetorically asked, "Why should we care about the dedication of an old building?" The original Archbasilica on the site of what is now St. John Lateran's in Rome was first dedicated, as he pointed out, in AD 324. This was only eleven years after Constantine's Edict of Milan, granting toleration to the Catholic religion after three centuries of persecution. We commemorate the dedication of the original building, Fr. Acervo said, because it represents a palpable token of God's providence and promise that He will always be with His people and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Mother Church. Think of it: although a succession of buildings has occupied the site since the first Archbasilica was dedicated in AD 324, the Archbasilica of our Savior, which is the official church of Christendom and of the Pope (not St. Peter's, contrary to widespread impression), has been standing on the site for 1684 years! Where was America 1684 years ago? Where was France? England? Germany? Russia? That's a long time.
Fr. Acervo also tied into his homily the readings of the day. The Epistle (Apocalypse 12:2-5) points us to "the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," pointing to the eternal reality of which our earthly Church is only a foreshadow and echtype. The Gospel (St. Luke 19:1-10) shows Jesus telling Zacheus to come down from the sycamore tree which he had climbed, being short of stature, in order to better see Jesus passing in the crowd: "Zacheus," says Jesus, "make haste and come down: for this day I must abide in thy house." This shows us that Jesus, as Immanuel ("God with us"), comes to make His habitation with us, in our hearts and in our midst. The wedding feast of the Church as the Bride of Christ is also an expression of God's Covenant with His people, in which each gives Himself to us, and we to Him, as He comes to dwell with us. Adoremus in Aeternum!
I've noticed two things about the Masses lately at St. Josephat. First, it's getting harder and harder to find a parking space if one arrives late. The congregation is growing. It's practically standing room only at the receptions following church, which, if you're going to have a problem, is a nice kind of problem to have. Second, numbers are being added to the choir, and with the increase in numbers is coming an expanded variety of musical offerings. Indeed, the music this Sunday was typical, with its rich and lovely presentation -- the propers in an ancient and hauntingly oriental-sounding form of Gregorian Chant (characteristic for Wassim Sarweh, whose vocalization of this form is peerless), the ordinaries in early Renaissance polyphany (Missa Octavi Toni "Venatorum"); the Offertory hymn an old favorite, from the ancient Italian seafarer's melody, O Sanctissima; the Communion hymn Melchor Robledo's Hoc Corpus; and the Final Hymn also a beloved favorite, Adoremus in Aeternum.
In recent weeks I have also counted between six to eight altar servers, including the Master of Ceremonies, who has been doing a masterful job of training the growing team of servers. Once one begins to learn all that is involved in the various roles of these servers, the responses they must learn by heart in Latin, the functions they must perform in perfectly synchronized and choreographed movement, he begins to look with newfound respect upon each man serving in the Sanctuary. Above all, the message communicated by their work is: this is a serious, solemn, reverent and profoundly joyous business, the worship of God. Deo gratias!
Media campaign: training us to love and hate
A reader sent me the link to "Palin calls criticism 'cruel'" (The Seattle Times, November 8, 2008), with the comment: "It’s about time someone used the word 'jerks' of those various 'aides' and 'strategists.'” He was referring, of course, to Palin's own words:
Let's get one thing straight. It has been frequently said that President Elect Barack Obama ran a brilliant campaign. It is true that his campaign was brilliantly run; but credit where credit is due: the Obama campaign was brilliantly coordinated by MSNBC, CNN, NYT, AP, Reuters and the rest of the usual suspects from the mainline broadcast and print media.
But -- let it be clear -- the same media campaign that generated the virtual apotheosis of the Illinois senator also succeeded in completely and reprehensibly demonizing Sarah Palin. The really stunning thing has been the brazen flat-out hatred and vitriol the media succeded in generating towards this good and decent career mother and champion of traditional family values. One could have easily forgotten that she was the superlatively competent Governor of Alaska with an unheard-of 80% approval rating and a NORAD security briefing clearance higher than any other individual outside the White House or Pentegon, let alone in the presidential campaign.
Rush Limbaugh may regularly joke about telling his listeners "what to think" about the news; but the "drive-by media" have actually undertaken and succeeded in what for him was only a joking matter. Otherwise intelligent members of the media audience have thus been led to conclude that this good and decent and, yes, intelligent woman is little more than a dim half-wit fanatic fundy ready to join Dr. Strangelove astride the bucking A Bomb as it's released over Moscow. Brilliantly spun by the media. Amazing, really. The astronomical hatred is so completely out-of-proportion to anything ordinarily found in partisan politics, that it speaks volumes more about the haters than it does about the hated. The phenomenon is well-deserving of a thorough study by someone with the resources to undertake it. I could hazard a guess as to the reasons animating the animosity among the trendy lefties (and especially the butch femi-fascists), but I guarantee it wouldn't be a pretty picture.
In the meantime, I'm inclined to reiterate my personal campaign as a charter member of the Society for the Defenistration of Television Sets. Destroy that Idiot Box, before it destroys your mind and freedom of thought.
Enough already.[Hat tip to K.K.]
"If there are allegations based on questions or comments I made in debate prep about NAFTA, about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context. And that's cruel, it's mean-spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away with it taking things out of context, then tried to spread something on national news."I know this is most directly about "aides" and "strategists" in the McCain-Palin campaign, yet the point I wish to make goes well beyond their particular sniping, which has been shaped by a particular malicious spin on Palin. I want to look at the larger spin of the media itself.
Let's get one thing straight. It has been frequently said that President Elect Barack Obama ran a brilliant campaign. It is true that his campaign was brilliantly run; but credit where credit is due: the Obama campaign was brilliantly coordinated by MSNBC, CNN, NYT, AP, Reuters and the rest of the usual suspects from the mainline broadcast and print media.
But -- let it be clear -- the same media campaign that generated the virtual apotheosis of the Illinois senator also succeeded in completely and reprehensibly demonizing Sarah Palin. The really stunning thing has been the brazen flat-out hatred and vitriol the media succeded in generating towards this good and decent career mother and champion of traditional family values. One could have easily forgotten that she was the superlatively competent Governor of Alaska with an unheard-of 80% approval rating and a NORAD security briefing clearance higher than any other individual outside the White House or Pentegon, let alone in the presidential campaign.
Rush Limbaugh may regularly joke about telling his listeners "what to think" about the news; but the "drive-by media" have actually undertaken and succeeded in what for him was only a joking matter. Otherwise intelligent members of the media audience have thus been led to conclude that this good and decent and, yes, intelligent woman is little more than a dim half-wit fanatic fundy ready to join Dr. Strangelove astride the bucking A Bomb as it's released over Moscow. Brilliantly spun by the media. Amazing, really. The astronomical hatred is so completely out-of-proportion to anything ordinarily found in partisan politics, that it speaks volumes more about the haters than it does about the hated. The phenomenon is well-deserving of a thorough study by someone with the resources to undertake it. I could hazard a guess as to the reasons animating the animosity among the trendy lefties (and especially the butch femi-fascists), but I guarantee it wouldn't be a pretty picture.
In the meantime, I'm inclined to reiterate my personal campaign as a charter member of the Society for the Defenistration of Television Sets. Destroy that Idiot Box, before it destroys your mind and freedom of thought.
Enough already.[Hat tip to K.K.]
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Al Qaeda calls upon Obama to convert to Islam
"Axis of evil countries 'open' to Obama" (AsiaNews.it, November 7, 2008):
Ahmadinejad congratulates the U.S. president-elect and asks for "fundamental and fair" changes on foreign policy. North Korea says it is ready "for dialogue," and calls upon Obama to relegate the errors of previous governments to the past. No official comment from Myanmar.[Hat tip to K.K.]
Tridentine Community News
The following issue is from the St. Josaphat Catholic Church Sunday bulletin insert of October 12, 2008:
Postscript to Holy Water Blessing Differences[Comments? Ideas for a future column? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. Hat tip to A.B.]
Following up on last week's column, the significantly greater length of the Extraordinary Form Blessing of Holy Water as compared to the Ordinary Form is more than simply additional verbosity. The traditional blessing involves an exorcism of the salt to be used, as well as an exorcism of the water, before the two are mixed. As with the traditional form of Baptism, these exorcisms are performed so that the people who are sprinkled or bless themselves with this water are ritually purified before the start of the Holy Mass. This is an entirely appropriate way to prepare souls for the august sacrifice about to take place.
In contrast, the Ordinary Form blessing is more about those who will use the Holy Water. Part of this orientation derives from the 1960s-era (and now dated-sounding) English translation.
Is There a Shorter Form Traditional Holy Water Blessing?
The Roman Ritual includes a shorter form of the Baptismal Water blessing formula, intended for use in mission territories. There is no shorter form blessing of conventional Holy Water.
What should we do in "emergencies"? For example, what should we do when a celebrant arrives late for Mass and cannot take the time to perform the full blessing? Here is a question we might ask the Ecclesia Dei Commission: What would be better in such a situation: 1) Delay the start of Mass to allow for the blessing; 2) Take Holy Water that has been blessed according to the Ordinary Form from a font [But does this not fall under the prohibited "mixing of forms"?]; or 3) Skip the Asperges altogether. Arguments can be made for all of these options. It would be risky to introduce a shortened form blessing, lest it become the norm, and lest the exorcism prayers become rarely utilized.
Candles at the Altar
You may have noticed a change in the use of candles at the altar at St. Josaphat and St. Joseph Church. After some investigation and consultation with liturgical expert Dr. Alcuin Reid, we have learned that no more than six candles are to be lit on the altar during a sung Tridentine Mass. Even the recent Extraordinary Form Ordination Mass at Lincoln, Nebraska's Cathedral of the Risen Christ only had six candles on the alter. In an effort to be faithful to the rubrics, we will no longer be lighting the various smaller candles at the altar before Mass.
For Benediction, we will light the seven -candle Benediction candelabras on either side of the altar that had formerly been lit before Mass. These actually contain the proper number of candles for Benediction; the rubrics specify a minimum of twelve (additional) candles to be lit for this ceremony. We will no longer use the two five-candle candelabras at St. Josaphat, as they are redundant and do not contain sufficient candles anyway.
At Assumption-Windsor, we have only been lighting the six high candles on the altar already, so no change will be made. However, we plan to acquire proper Benediction candelabras that sit on the altar, to replace the floor-standing candelabras that we have been using.
We do not know the specific rationale for this limitation on the number of candles, however we suspect that the objective may be to restrain distraction and crowding on the altar.
Tridentine Weddings
Congratulations to David Wolski and Susan Liss, who were married on Saturday, October 4 at St. Josaphat Church according to the Tridentine Form. The St. Josaphat Choir sang William Byrd's Mass for Three Voices.
The next Extraordinary Form wedding will be that of James Lasorda and Julie Hodgson, to be held on Saturday, November 15 at 1:00 PM at Windsor's Assumption Church. The Assumption Tridentine Choir and members of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra will perform Schubert's Mass in G.
Is the Tridentine Mass a Separate Rite?
Language that we take for granted or toss around casually may actually have specific meaning that deserves closer attention. Such is the case with the word "Rite."
Our Holy Father has taken care to refer to the Traditional Latin Mass as the Extraordinary Form, because he has identified the Tridentine Mass as one of two forms of the Latin Rite, the Novus Ordo being the Ordinary Form. For years, we have been used to referring to the Traditional Latin Mass as the Tridentine Rite. Even Ecclesia Dei Commission President Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos has recently taken to referring to the Traditional Mass as the "Gregorian Rite," a term which appears to conflict with our Holy Father's thinking.
Until official written clarification comes from Rome, our Holy Father's Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, remains the law on this subject, thus the Tridentine Mass cannot be considered a separate rite, no matter how easily the term slips off the tongue.
Tridentine Community News
Rome Report -- Part 1
On Saturday, October 18, 2008, hundreds of people from around the world converged on Rome to celebrate two landmark events: The 20th Anniversary of Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, the first Papal Motu Proprio granting (limited) freedom to, and indeed encouraging bishops to permit, priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. Coinciding with this was the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter ("FSSP"), the first papally-chartered community of priests to celebrate exclusively the Traditional Mass and sacraments.
Why celebrate a Motu Proprio that has (recently) been superceded? It was a landmark legislation that led to the creation of countless Tridentine Mass Communities, priestly societies, and religious orders devoted to the classic liturgy. We would not have Summorum Pontificum without Ecclesia Dei going before it.
The event began a week earlier, with an organized tour of various sacred places in Italy. The main weekend in Rome included numerous liturgical events based at the FFSP's new parish in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini (Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims). Highlights included a Pontifical Solemn Mass on Saturday celebrated by Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the President of the pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Cardinal Castrillon is our Holy Father's top official for matters concerning the Tridentine Mass. The church was standing-room only, which always makes for an inspiring environment, especially for the singing of the well-known Mass parts such as Credo III. Other events were divided up according to language groups: On Sunday, two solemn High Masses were celebrated, one for English-speaking pilgrims celebrated by Fr. John Berg, FSSP Superior.
As often happens at such events, familiar faces pop up. Widsor's Brother John Berchmanns, presently studying for the priesthood in Rome, attended in choir along with fellow members of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem.
On Sunday evening, a dinner was held for English-speaking pilgrims. The crowd included several noteworthy individuals, including Fr. Arnaud Devillers, who formerly served as North American Superior, and later General Superior, of the Fraternity; and Carl Horst, co-organizer of the San Diego Tridentine Mass, one of the first Traditional Mass Communities in North America.
First-time visitors to Rome are often amazed by the plethora of churches. Every block or two is another church. Many are open for visitation during mornings and late afternoons. The four main Basilicas, St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outisde the Walls, are landmarks that must be visited, with the last perhaps the most beautiful of all.
Ad orientem celebration of Holy Mass in both forms abounds. Many churches use their side altars, and some do not have freestanding altars at all. The ancient architecture of the chruches in central Rome leads to a seriousness about the liturgy that makes the occasional modern accoutrement in a church look out of place.
Where It All Happens
We could not consider our visit to Rome complete without stopping by the sanctum sanctorum, the Ground Zero of the Tridentine Mass scene, the Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio, home of the office of the pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. With paparazzi waiting outside to photograph any famous people who might be leaving the building, and security on entry to the building reminiscent of Get Smart, you know some important things must be happening inside these walls. This is where decisions are made concerning the Sacred Liturgy that concern readers of this column. Yes, the Holy Father has to sign off on all major issues, but the day-to-day decisions are left in the hands of a small staff that is equally concerned with maintaining harmony in the Church as it is with higher-profile issues such as negotiations with the SSPX.
Virtually all of the English correspondence handled by this office passes by the desk of Msgr. Arthur Caulkins, who graciously spent part of his day with your correspondent. A noted Mariologist in addition to his work at the Commission, Msgr. Calkins has always been concerned about us here in Windsor and Detroit. He continues to provide wise guidance on a spectrum of issues affecting us.
Fr. Josef Bisig, FSSP to Visit on Novermber 23
Speaking of the Fraternity of St. Peter, mark your calendars: On Sunday, November 23 at 2:00 PM at Windsor's Assumption Church, co-founder of the Fraternity of Guadalupe Seminary, Fr. Josef Bisig will be celebrant of a Solemn High Mass commemorating the 17th Anniversary of the Windsor Tridentine Mass. Deacon Richard Bloomfield will be Deacon, and Fr. Peter Hrysyk will be Subdeacon. A reception will follow in the Social Hall after the Mass.
Fr. Bisig will be making his fourth visit to our region. Priest, scholar, and entrepreneur of sorts, Fr. Bisig has done more to advance the cause of the Tridentine Latin Mass than most anyone alive today.
[This issue of Tridentine Community News is published by kind permission of the author from the November 2, 2008, Sunday bulletin insert for St. Josaphat Catholic Church, Detroit, Michigan. Hat tip to A.B.]
On Saturday, October 18, 2008, hundreds of people from around the world converged on Rome to celebrate two landmark events: The 20th Anniversary of Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, the first Papal Motu Proprio granting (limited) freedom to, and indeed encouraging bishops to permit, priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. Coinciding with this was the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter ("FSSP"), the first papally-chartered community of priests to celebrate exclusively the Traditional Mass and sacraments.
Why celebrate a Motu Proprio that has (recently) been superceded? It was a landmark legislation that led to the creation of countless Tridentine Mass Communities, priestly societies, and religious orders devoted to the classic liturgy. We would not have Summorum Pontificum without Ecclesia Dei going before it.
The event began a week earlier, with an organized tour of various sacred places in Italy. The main weekend in Rome included numerous liturgical events based at the FFSP's new parish in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini (Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims). Highlights included a Pontifical Solemn Mass on Saturday celebrated by Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the President of the pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Cardinal Castrillon is our Holy Father's top official for matters concerning the Tridentine Mass. The church was standing-room only, which always makes for an inspiring environment, especially for the singing of the well-known Mass parts such as Credo III. Other events were divided up according to language groups: On Sunday, two solemn High Masses were celebrated, one for English-speaking pilgrims celebrated by Fr. John Berg, FSSP Superior.As often happens at such events, familiar faces pop up. Widsor's Brother John Berchmanns, presently studying for the priesthood in Rome, attended in choir along with fellow members of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem.
On Sunday evening, a dinner was held for English-speaking pilgrims. The crowd included several noteworthy individuals, including Fr. Arnaud Devillers, who formerly served as North American Superior, and later General Superior, of the Fraternity; and Carl Horst, co-organizer of the San Diego Tridentine Mass, one of the first Traditional Mass Communities in North America.
First-time visitors to Rome are often amazed by the plethora of churches. Every block or two is another church. Many are open for visitation during mornings and late afternoons. The four main Basilicas, St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outisde the Walls, are landmarks that must be visited, with the last perhaps the most beautiful of all.
Ad orientem celebration of Holy Mass in both forms abounds. Many churches use their side altars, and some do not have freestanding altars at all. The ancient architecture of the chruches in central Rome leads to a seriousness about the liturgy that makes the occasional modern accoutrement in a church look out of place.
Where It All Happens
We could not consider our visit to Rome complete without stopping by the sanctum sanctorum, the Ground Zero of the Tridentine Mass scene, the Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio, home of the office of the pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. With paparazzi waiting outside to photograph any famous people who might be leaving the building, and security on entry to the building reminiscent of Get Smart, you know some important things must be happening inside these walls. This is where decisions are made concerning the Sacred Liturgy that concern readers of this column. Yes, the Holy Father has to sign off on all major issues, but the day-to-day decisions are left in the hands of a small staff that is equally concerned with maintaining harmony in the Church as it is with higher-profile issues such as negotiations with the SSPX.
Virtually all of the English correspondence handled by this office passes by the desk of Msgr. Arthur Caulkins, who graciously spent part of his day with your correspondent. A noted Mariologist in addition to his work at the Commission, Msgr. Calkins has always been concerned about us here in Windsor and Detroit. He continues to provide wise guidance on a spectrum of issues affecting us.
Fr. Josef Bisig, FSSP to Visit on Novermber 23
Speaking of the Fraternity of St. Peter, mark your calendars: On Sunday, November 23 at 2:00 PM at Windsor's Assumption Church, co-founder of the Fraternity of Guadalupe Seminary, Fr. Josef Bisig will be celebrant of a Solemn High Mass commemorating the 17th Anniversary of the Windsor Tridentine Mass. Deacon Richard Bloomfield will be Deacon, and Fr. Peter Hrysyk will be Subdeacon. A reception will follow in the Social Hall after the Mass.
Fr. Bisig will be making his fourth visit to our region. Priest, scholar, and entrepreneur of sorts, Fr. Bisig has done more to advance the cause of the Tridentine Latin Mass than most anyone alive today.
[This issue of Tridentine Community News is published by kind permission of the author from the November 2, 2008, Sunday bulletin insert for St. Josaphat Catholic Church, Detroit, Michigan. Hat tip to A.B.]
Friday, November 07, 2008
Catholics: robustly counter-cultural, or banal echoes of the world?
There were some bright spots in this election: the US bishops who stepped up to the plate to correct Biden and Pelosi on Church teaching concerning abortion, the Knights of Columbus and their strong clear voice on Church teaching, for example.
Whoever in the USCCB middle management was responsible for producing the "Novena for Faithful Citizenship" (2008), however, took a great idea (a novena before a presidential election) and smothered it under a fog of wanna-be-fashionable banalities. Like always, it's not that anything is explicitly wrong in what was said. Rather, it's what's in the subtext, which grandstands on issues that Hollywood would celebrate as moral high ground.
Take the following excerpts from the daily 'reflections' of the Novena:
Now granted, the novena did mention "the right to life especially of the unborn and those near death" on the Fourth Day. But it's clear that's not where the accent falls.
Now what do you suppose the writer(s) had in mind in referring to "unjust structures," the "oppressed," and the need to show respect for "others," in particular to "those ... who are not like me"? Do you suppose for a moment that the writer(s) had in mind unborn babies? Of course not.
It is no less reasonable to discern lurking somewhere in the subtext an insinuation of the following kind:
Whoever in the USCCB middle management was responsible for producing the "Novena for Faithful Citizenship" (2008), however, took a great idea (a novena before a presidential election) and smothered it under a fog of wanna-be-fashionable banalities. Like always, it's not that anything is explicitly wrong in what was said. Rather, it's what's in the subtext, which grandstands on issues that Hollywood would celebrate as moral high ground.
Take the following excerpts from the daily 'reflections' of the Novena:
- First Day: How will I praise God today? How will I show respect for others, especially my neighbor or those in my community who are not like me?
- Second Day: Who are the oppressed in your community? How am I helping secure justice?
- Third Day: How am I healing the wounds of my community?
- Seventh Day: What divisions exist in my community? What structures in society seem unjust? How am I striving to achieve justice and peace in my neighborhood, church, and nation?
Now granted, the novena did mention "the right to life especially of the unborn and those near death" on the Fourth Day. But it's clear that's not where the accent falls.
Now what do you suppose the writer(s) had in mind in referring to "unjust structures," the "oppressed," and the need to show respect for "others," in particular to "those ... who are not like me"? Do you suppose for a moment that the writer(s) had in mind unborn babies? Of course not.
It is no less reasonable to discern lurking somewhere in the subtext an insinuation of the following kind:
"Listen, you white Anglo-Saxon gun-toting backwater Republican fat cats, you need to learn to show some respect for DIFFERENCE, dammit; to celebrate DIVERSITY! You need to learn to grovel before the altar of the marginalized victims of your collective corporate oppression and show some respect -- well, yes, for African-American descendants of the slaves your ancestors probably owned, and for the women you've helped to unjustly exclude from priestly ordination; but, even more, for the new Negroes: gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals and queer families, and -- dammit -- Nobel laureate Al Gore and ... Nancy Pelosi!"
A difficult transition for Catholic supporters of Obama
"Congratulations, you won! How can we help" (Zippy Catholic, November 6, 2008):
I acknowledge that this is going to be a difficult transition for Catholic supporters of Obama. Now that he has become the President-elect y'all have the difficult job ahead of turning on a dime. As long as it was a matter of Obama vs. McCain you had the wind of proportionate reason in your sails; but now the seas are dead calm, and soon the winds of justified action will be a-blowing the other way.
Now that we have a President elect, you see, there is no longer any justification for remote material cooperation in his wicked policies. Justified remote material cooperation with evil may have (I think it objectively did not, but lets set that aside) made it possible to choose him over McCain; but now we have the absolute condition of a chosen President. If proportionate reason ever existed for remote material cooperation with his evil policies before the election, they no longer do now. Now your obligation is reversed, as I alluded to earlier. Now your obligation is to oppose his evil policies with all your heart, mind, and strength; all the more so because of your choice to vote for him.
But not to worry. This is a burden we can all bear together. When it comes to opposing Obama's policies on abortion, ESCR, gay "marriage", and other strains of wickedness, you can count on us, that is, those of us on the unreconstructed socially conservative side of the house. Yesterday we may have been political enemies, but today there is no longer any justification for that; which is to say, your justification for opposing us no longer obtains. We must all come together in unequivocal support of the criminalization of abortion, criminalization of the medical cannibalization of embryos, and the banishment of fictions like "gay marriage" from any form of public legitimization: we must come together because opposition to the legality of those things is not politics but doctrine, doctrine to which we all owe religious and intellectual assent. Byegones being byegones, disagreement over proportionate reasons in the Presidential election now a figment of the past, we must all come together.
Indeed, we no longer have any excuse for not coming together. And those of us who were not on your side in the electoral contest are here to help you discharge your grave obligation to publicly oppose Obama on all those things, without hesitation or equivocation or tergiversation.
Wins and losses
- Arizona: Voted 56 percent to 44 percent to approve an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
- California: Approved a ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent, but rejected measure requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent.
- Colorado: Voted 73 percent to 27 percent to reject amendment that would define human person from moment of conception.
- Florida: Approved a ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 62 percent to 38 percent.
- Michigan: Approved measure that would permit human embryonic stem cell research by 53 percent to 47 percent.
- South Dakota: By a 55 percent to 45 percent, voters rejected ban of all abortions except in cases where mother's life or health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest for pregnancies of less than 20 weeks.
- Washington state: Voted 59 percent to 41 percent to allow doctor-assisted suicide.
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