Catholics have a double standard too

But the problem is that most so-called Catholics already are!.
There are two problems here: (1) The Obama administration's HHS Mandate runs rough shod over the freedom of Catholics to practice their religion, which includes -- for those Catholics who give a fig about Church teaching -- abstaining from complicity in the sins of abortion and sterilization ... all of which flies in the face of Democratic principles of individual liberty and freedom of conscience; and (2) most nominal Catholics, and even many that go to Mass more often than Easter and Christmas, don't find anything wrong with Obama's HHS Mandate, because they already support a "woman's right to choose" and covertly (or sometimes not-so-covertly) practice contraception themselves.

Is there a message here the Church leadership can take to heart about the consequences of neglecting to offer a clear catechesis and stalwart defense of Church teaching?

Co-chair of Obama's budget-deficit commission, Erskine Bowles' endorsement of ... Paul Ryan

That is, he came out with this ringing endorsement of him in 2011:

Absolutely hilarious Onion article on Paul Ryan

[Advisory: some off-color language] The remarkable thing about this article is that although intended to mock Ryan (I think), at face value, it's nearly all factually accurate. As Christopher Blosser, who sent the link to me said: "You can just imagine Obama reading this": READ IT HERE >>

Urgent prayers requested

... for a special intention of consequence to my family, today through Friday of this week.

Kind regards, P.B.

President proposes pushing Grandma over cliff

• "Obama proposes cuts to Social Security" (Political Hotsheet)
  
• "Obama Campaign Defends President's $700 Billion Cuts to Medicare" (Weekly Standard, August 12, 2012).
  
• "National Review's Rich Lowry Puts MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in the hot seat over Obama SS cuts on Meet the Press" (MRCTV, August 12, 2012).

But wait ... there's more! Now the President wants to repeat his bailouts with every other ailing industry! In Pueblo, CO, the President declared (Politico 44, August 9, 2012):

“Now I want to do the same thing with manufacturing jobs, not just in the auto industry, but in every industry."

Step in line, CEO's! Let the Fed ramp up those printing presses and print more dollars! It's funny money time!

The other side of the story in Syria

Patsy McGarry, "Media coverage of Syrian violence partial and untrue, says nun" (The Irish Times, August 13, 2012). Excerpts:

A NUN who has been superior at a Syrian monastery for the past 18 years has warned that media coverage of ongoing violence in that country has been “partial and untrue”. It is “a fake”, Mother Agnes Mariam said, which “hides atrocities committed in the name of liberty and democracy”.

... When it was put to her this suggested the whole world was out of step except for Syria, Russia and China, she protested: “No, no, there are 20 countries, including some in Latin America” of the same view.

... Christians make up about 10 per cent of Syria’s population, dispersed throughout the country, she said. The Assad regime “does not favour Christians”, she said. “It is a secular regime based on equality for all, even though in the constitution it says the Koran is the source of legislation.”

But “Christians are less put aside [in Syria] than in other Islamic countries, for example Saudi Arabia,” she said. “The social fabric of Syria is very diverse, so Christians live in peace.”

The “Arab insurrection” under way in that country included “sectarian factions which promote fundamentalist Islam, which is not genuine Islam”, she said.

The majority of Muslims in Syria are moderate and open to other cultural and interfaith elements, she said. “Wahhabism (a fundamentalist branch of Islam) is not open,” she added.

[Hat tip to New Catholic]

Card. Burke: Summorum Pontificum & worship as key to reform

On his own blog, Fr. Z. comments that Cardinal Burke here touches on something that he (Fr. Z.) has been "harping on incessantly" for years:

I have been saying that we must revitalize our Catholic identity. We cannot do that if we don’t know who we are. We cannot know who we are or be who we are called to be without a proper liturgical worship of God. For there to be any renewal of the Church, a new evangelization – call it what you will – we must first of all revitalize our worship of God. This is why Summorum Pontificum was such a great gift. We cannot revitalize our worship without striving to reestablish continuity with how Catholic have always worshiped and brought petitions to God.

What is "Traditionalism"? CNS interviews John Rao

Professor John Rao, president of the Roman Forum, is interviewed by the USCCB Catholic News Service (CNS) about the Church today, Tradition, and the Roman Forum, an organization founded by the eminent Catholic philosopher, Dietrich von Hildebrand, in 1968 -- full playlist below (just play and all parts will load automatically):

If the sequels to Part I do not load automatically, you can continue your viewing of those parts at YouTube or Rorate Caeli.

[Hat tip to Rorate Caeli, August 10, 2012)]

Extraordinary Community News

Tridentine Community News (August 12, 2012):

Treasures of the Roman Ritual: The Blessing for Wedding Anniversaries

The 1961 Colléctio Rítuum contains blessings for 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries. These are to be prayed in Latin after Mass, immediately after the Last Gospel. Optional exhortations, or short homilies, and English prayers may be added before and after the ceremony. Below is the 25th Anniversary version; the 50th is similar. An adapted, non-formalized version in English is also provided in the Colléctio for other anniversaries. These and other blessings from the Extraordinary Form Roman Ritual are available to you by prior arrangement with a priest.

Ant. Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.

Psalm 127

Happy are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork: happy shall you be, and favored.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants around your table.
Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Sion: May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.

V. Send them help, O Lord, from Your sanctuary.
R. And sustain them from Sion.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto You.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.


Let us pray. O Lord, we implore You, extend to Your faithful servants the right hand of Your divine assistance, so that they may seek You with their whole hearts and receive from You whatever they ask for that is right.
R. Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty, everlasting God, look with kindness upon these Your servants, who are with gladness approaching Your holy temple to give thanks, and grant that after this life they may (with their children) attain to the joys of eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

Te Deum

We praise You, God; we acclaim You Lord of all creation.
Everlasting Father, all the world bows down before You.
All the Angels, all the Hosts of heaven, and the myriad Powers;
All the Cherubim and Seraphim call out with tireless voices:
Holy, holy, holy: the Lord God of heavenly Hosts!
The heavens and the earth are filled with Your majesty and glory.
Your praises are proclaimed by the illustrious Apostles;
And by all the prophets, Your most admirable heralds;
By the white-robed army who shed their blood for You.
And throughout the world holy Church attests Her faith in You:
The heavenly Father, Whose Majesty is boundless; the true and only Son, Whom we adore;
And likewise the Holy Spirit, sent to be our Advocate.
You, O Christ, are the King of glory!
Only You, O Christ are the Father’s everlasting Son.
In taking flesh and becoming mankind’s Savior, You did not disdain the Virgin’s womb.
In destroying by Your might the sting of death, You opened up to believers the kingdom of heaven.
Now You sit at God’s right hand, in the Father’s glory.
And so we firmly believe that You are the Judge Who is to come.
(Kneel for the following verse:) We therefore implore You to save Your servants whom Your Precious Blood redeemed.
(Then stand again.)Add them to the number of Your Saints in everlasting glory.
Save Your faithful people, Lord; bless all who belong to You.
Be their Shepherd and rule over them, and exalt them forever and ever.
Day by day we praise You, and never cease to worship You.
We will continue to praise Your holy Name, in time and in eternity.
In Your great mercy, Lord, keep us today from all sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
May Your mercy, Lord, remain with us always, for we put our whole trust in You.
My hope is in You alone, O Lord; may I never be disappointed.

V. Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
R. Let us praise him and exalt him above all forever.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to You.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.

Let us pray. O God, Your mercy is unlimited and Your goodness is inexhaustible. We thank You for all that You in Your loving Majesty have given us, ever asking that You, who always answer those who ask, may in Your mercy not abandon them, but prepare them to receive eternal rewards.

God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, guide us by Your Spirit to desire only what is good and so always to find joy in His comfort.

God, You allow no one who trusts in You to be afflicted beyond measure, but give a hearing to the pleas of Your fervent petitioners; thus we give You thanks for having heard our requests and prayers, and we continue to call on Your loving kindness to protect us ever from all adversities. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

The priest sprinkles the couple with holy water.

V. May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.
R. Amen.
V. Go in peace, and may the Lord be with you.
R. Amen.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Mon. 08/13 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Daily Mass for the Dead [Requiem Mass with Absolution at the Catafalque])

Tue. 08/14 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Vigil of the Assumption)

Tue. 08/14 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea, Jackson, Michigan (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary [anticipated])

Wed. 08/15 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Sun. 08/19 Noon: High Mass at St. Albertus (Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost)

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth" [Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 12, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Why Romney picked Ryan

Watch the President's eyes from the first frame and tell me what he's thinking as Ryan takes apart his fiscal policy in 6 minutes:


Now, tell me, does it really make sense to suppose that Grandma in her wheelchair will be SAVED from being pushed over the cliff by the President's fiscal policy?

Political spin: an illustration

1. A pro-Obama poster showing a smiling president and states:

"Imagine if a Republican President:

• Pulled us out of the worst recession in over 80 years
• Produced over 2 straight years of private sector job growth
• Created over 4 million jobs
• Saved the American auto industry
• Killed Osama Bin Ladin
• Aided in helping kill Gaddafi without a single American casualty
• Ended the war in Iraq
• Championed the lowest taxes in decades

"He'd be considered a conservative legend. Instead it was a mixed-race Democrat. So that means he's a socialist, anti-American foreign born Muslim who hates Christians and wants to destroy capitalism. Funny how that works."

2. A recent appeal by Sen. Rick Santorum notes by contrast:

Since Obama took office, we've had:

• 41 months of unemployment greater than 8 percent. 
• 23 million Americans struggling to find work.
• 1 in 6 Americans in poverty. 
• 1 in 4 children on food stamps.
• Our national debt has grown by over $5.2 trillion to $16 trillion.
• We have had 4 consecutive years of deficits exceeding $1 trillion. 
• Gas prices have increased an average of $1.65 a gallon, at a time when real wages are stagnant.
• On President Obama's watch, 5.7 million residential mortgages are either 30 days delinquent or in foreclosure. 
• President Obama has put us at a disadvantage versus China. In the last year alone, China has increased its manufacturing base by 18 percent and grown its economy by $2 trillion.

Of course, this only scratches the political surface of spin. Draw your conclusions.

Book Notice: Origin's Doctrine of the Soul

A comprehensive analysis of the
theological anthropology of one of
the early church's finest theologians

Become Like the Angels
Origin's Doctrine of the Soul

Benjamin P. Blosser

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185-245), a catechist, presbyter, and confessor of the ancient Church was a foundational figure in the establishment of early Christian theology. Today he is commonly referred to as "the first Christian theologian" and is widely known as a master of biblical exegesis, rational inquiry, and spiritual formation. Yet his legacy remains somewhat ambiguous in part because of the posthumous condemnation of certain propositions from his works. Become Like the Angels explores Origen's legacy and, in particular, his teachings about the origin, nature, and destiny of the human person. By way of a historical critical approach, Benjamin P. Blosser discusses the influence of Middle Platonic philosophy on the human soul and then compares it with Origen's teaching.

This study finds that, while Origen was highly aware of Middle Platonic speculations on the soul and does borrow extensively from their vocabulary, he never accepts their underlying, philosophical assumptions and is in fact subtly critical of Middle Platonic theories of the soul. His anthropology remains from first to last a biblical, Christian, and even mystical one, the fruit of a remarkable effort to synthesize faith and reason in the ancient Church.

“An ambitious and very well researched book on the way in which Origen deals with a fundamental issue in ancient philosophy—the position, state, and function of the soul in a living being. It is a topic at the core of all anthropological and cosmological thinking in Late Antiquity. In elegant, lucid prose, Blosser takes the reader gently through the minefield of previous scholarship and presents a very clear and skillful exposition of Origen as religious philosopher.”

—John A. McGuckin, professor of Byzantine church history, Columbia University, and editor of The Westminster Handbook to Origen of Alexandria

Benjamin P. Blosser is associate professor of theology at Benedictine College where he teaches courses in church history, ecclesiology, and New Testament studies.  He received his Ph.D. in historical theology from the Catholic University of America.

But wait ... there's more!!! Benjamin, a.k.a. Jamie, is also a fitness nut case, and here is a photo of him in a 450 lb. raw hex-bar deadlift at an amateur Dumb Ox Gym strongman competition on July 30, 2012. Look Dad: no neck! What an Origen scholar! What a man! That's my boy!

Extraordinary Community News

Tridentine Community News (August 5, 2012):

Treasures of the Roman Ritual: The Rite of Betrothal

We continue our occasional series on excerpts from the Extraordinary Form Roman Ritual with a rite not often mentioned: The Rite of Betrothal, or engagement, of a couple. This optional ceremony speaks beautifully of God’s plan for the man and the woman. Interestingly, the Rite of Betrothal is slightly lengthier than the actual Rite of Matrimony.

1. The priest (vested in surplice and white stole) with his assistants (vested in surplice) awaits the couple at the altar rail. At hand are the stoup with holy water and the altar missal. As the man and woman come forward with the two witnesses they have chosen, the following antiphon and psalm are sung on the eighth psalm tone: Antiphon: To the Lord I will tender my promise: in the presence of all His people.

Psalm 126
Unless the house be of the Lord’s building, in vain do the builders labor. Unless the Lord be the guard of the city, 'tis in vain the guard keeps his sentry. It is futile that you rise before daybreak, to be astir in the midst of darkness, Ye that eat the bread of hard labor; for He deals bountifully to His beloved while they are sleeping.

Behold, offspring result from God’s giving, a fruitful womb the regard of His blessing. Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, are children begotten of a youthful father. Happy the man who has filled therewith his quiver; they shall uphold him in contending at the gate with his rival. Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and forever, through endless ages. Amen. Antiphon: To the Lord I will tender my promise: in the presence of all His people.

2. The priest now addresses them:

Allocution
Beloved of Christ: It is in the dispensation of Divine Providence that you are called to the holy vocation of marriage. For this reason, you present yourselves today before Christ and His Church, before His sacred minister and the devout people of God, to ratify in solemn manner the engagement bespoken between you. At the same time you entreat the blessing of the Church upon your proposal, as well as the earnest supplications of the faithful here present, since you fully realize that what has been inspired and guided by the will of your heavenly Father requires equally His grace to be brought to a happy fulfillment. We are confident that you have given serious and prayerful deliberation to your pledge of wedlock; moreover, that you have sought counsel from the superiors whom God has placed over you. In the time that intervenes, you will prepare for the sacrament of matrimony by a period of virtuous courtship, so that when the happy and blessed day arrives for you to give yourselves irrevocably to each other, you will have laid a sound spiritual foundation for long years of godly prosperity on earth and eventual blessedness together in the life to come. May the union you purpose one day to consummate as man and wife be found worthy to be in all truth a sacramental image and reality of the union of Christ and His beloved Bride, the Church. This grant, Thou Who livest and reignest, God, forever and evermore. R. Amen.

3. The priest now bids the couple to join their right hands, while they repeat after him the following:

The man:

In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., promise that I will one day take thee, N.N., as my wife, according to the ordinances of God and holy Church. I will love thee even as myself. I will keep faith and loyalty to thee, and so in thine necessities aid and comfort thee; which things and all that a man ought to do unto his espoused I promise to do unto thee and to keep by the faith that is in me.

The woman:

In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., in the form and manner wherein thou hast promised thyself unto me, do declare and affirm that I will one day bind and oblige myself unto thee, and will take thee, N.N., as my husband. And all that thou hast pledged unto me I promise to do and keep unto thee, by the faith that is in me.

4. Then the priest takes the two ends of his stole and in the form of a cross places them over the clasped hands of the couple. Holding the stole in place with his left hand, he says: I bear witness of your solemn proposal and I declare you betrothed. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,  and of the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen.

As he pronounces the last words, he sprinkles them with holy water in the form of a cross.

5. Thereupon he blesses the engagement ring:

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord. R. Who made heaven and earth. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray. O God almighty, Creator and Preserver of the human race, and the Giver of everlasting salvation, deign to allow the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, to come with His blessing upon this ring. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for endless ages.

R. Amen.

The ring is sprinkled with holy water.

6. The man takes the ring and places it first on the index finger of the left hand of the woman, saying: In the name of the Father, (then on the middle finger, adding): and of the Son; (finally placing and leaving it on the ring finger, he concludes): and of the Holy Spirit.

7. The priest opens the missal at the beginning of the Canon, and presents the page imprinted with the crucifixion to be kissed first by the man and then by the woman.

8. If Mass does not follow (or even if Mass is to follow, if he deems it opportune), the priest may read the following passages from Sacred Scripture:

Tobias 7: 8
Tobias said: I will not eat nor drink here this day, unless thou first grant me my petition, and promise to give me Sara thy daughter… The angel said to Raguel: Be not afraid to give her to this man, for to him who feareth God is thy daughter due to be his wife; therefore another could not have her… And Raguel taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it into the right hand of Tobias, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and may He join you together, and fulfill His blessing in you. And taking paper they made a writing of the marriage. And afterwards they made merry, blessing God… Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day; because for these three nights we are joined to God; and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them.

R. Thanks be to God.

John 15: 4-12
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is My Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled. This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ!

9. Lastly, the priest extends his hands over the heads of the couple and says:

May God bless your bodies and your souls. May He shed His blessing upon you as He blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May the hand of the Lord be upon you, may He send His holy Angel to guard you all the days of your life. Amen. Go in peace!

10. Before leaving the church, the betrothed couple as well as the witnesses will affix their signatures to the document previously prepared for this purpose. [The Ritual goes on to provide an example document.]

11. If Mass does not follow immediately, it would be appropriate to sing at this time the seasonal anthem of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
Mon. 08/06 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Transfiguration of Our Lord)

Tue. 08/07 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Cajetan, Confessor)

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth" [Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 5, 2012. Hat tip to A.B.]

"VIDEO: Craven, narcissistic, bullying slubberdegullion liberal (redundant, I know) harasses Chick-fil-A employee"

"Cowardly liberal berates young woman at Chick-Fil-A" (CMR, August 2, 2012). Disgusting. Via WDTPRS.

"Exec Bullies Chick-Fil-A Worker, Then Promptly Gets Fired For It" (Business Insider, August 2, 2012).

"Chick-fil-A 'kiss' day marred by 'Tastes like hate' graffiti" (L.A. Now, August 2, 2012)

Who is guilty of hate speech here? Who? This is classic. Those who cry "Hate speech!" of course. Another face of the culture of death.

"Archbishop Wenski: acquiescence to threats to religious liberty is 'not an option'"

From EWTN (August 1, 2012):

In a homily preached to state Catholic conference directors, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami contrasted the "healthy secularity" of America's founding documents with the "radical" and "reductive secularism" that threatens religious liberty today.

"For much of our nation's history, Catholics were regarded by many of their neighbors with suspicion if not with hostility because of the prevailing prejudice towards the Catholic faith in a predominantly Protestant America," he preached in his July 31 homily. "Yet because of a healthy secularity promoted by our civil order and the Bill of Rights' first freedom, the freedom of religion, Catholics were able to prosper in America: We built parishes, schools, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable institutions; we started businesses; we served honorably in our nations wars and held public office."

"Today, that healthy secularity that provided for the separation of Church and State but not of religion from society, that healthy secularity that guaranteed the freedom of people of faith to serve the common good, is increasingly under siege in America," he continued. "A radical secularism has emerged that seeks to reduce religious belief to just a "subjective opinion" and to privatize faith by denying it any public expression ... These efforts to restrict religious liberty are seemingly founded in a reductive secularism that has more in common with the French Revolution than with America's founding."

Archbishop Wenski added:

To acquiesce is not an option. To adapt to the prevailing mentality, out of human respect or convenience, to fail to warn our brothers and sisters against ways of thinking or acting that are contrary to truth and right conduct, is to fail in the charity that we owe them.

Spirituality in our Catholic tradition is more than just narcissistic navel-gazing or an over-simplified sentimentalism that reduces spirituality to a one-time acceptance of Jesus. It is not a self-absorbed seeking after self-fulfillment found through esoteric teachings or practices. Christianity's invitation is to look outwardly and beyond. The heart of Christian life is "charity" ...

Most of you, I suppose, were involved in one way or another in the various observances of the Fortnight of Freedom called for by the US bishops ... It reminded us, in this election year, that religious freedom is under threat for the first time in American history employers will be forced to provide services they consider morally objectionable.

"We bishops have not told anyone who to vote for nor should we; nor will we," he concluded. "We are, however, seeking to form consciences, and seeking to protect our right to do so ...The stakes are high. Separation of Church and State does not require the exclusion of religion from society. To exclude people of faith from making their contributions and their proposals in the public square would impoverish us all."

[Hat tip to C.G.-Z.]