The good Professor will also speak at St. Apollinaris Church in Napa and at the Religious Education Congress of the Diocese of Santa Rosa.
Visit CalCatholic for full details and registration/tickets.
Showing posts with label Theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theology. Show all posts
Friday, August 5, 2016
Dr. Peter Kreeft in SF Aug. 20: "What I shall do with atheism is refute it!"
The good Professor will also speak at St. Apollinaris Church in Napa and at the Religious Education Congress of the Diocese of Santa Rosa.
Visit CalCatholic for full details and registration/tickets.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Joseph Sciambra Gets It, Accepts It, Preaches It!
The passionate and committed Catholic Joseph Sciambra has a vitally important (one of many, actually) column on his website, also reprinted on LifeSiteNews. All Catholics should listen. Excerpts:
"Yes, the Catholic Church should apologize to gays. But not
for the reason you think.
When I was a conflicted and scared boy growing up within the
confusing confines of the post-Conciliar Church of the 1970s, I needed someone,
anyone, to teach me and to tell me that Jesus wanted to be more than just my
friend, that He wanted to be my Savior – that He wanted to save me from myself.
I knew, even from a young age, that something was going incredibly wrong within
me – I was terrified and I needed help. However, the Jesus they offered was a
mere historical figure; a guy who meant well, but who was dead and distant; he
was the hippie-Christ from “Godspell” in a Superman shirt – with the Bible as a
superhero comic-strip.
When I was teenager, quickly swerving towards homosexuality,
a few noticed, but did nothing to help. At school, a sort of pandemic
relativism was extolled as an individual rule of life: custom-made for every
human person on earth. The detached Jesus from my youth cared little about our
daily drudgery or our personal proclivities.
On the verge of accepting my homosexuality, I was told by a
Catholic priest that I needn’t worry as every homosexual is born gay; he sent
me on my way with a socially responsible warning about the dangers of unsafe
sex.
In the near devastation of AIDS, and my own worsening
realization that gay wasn’t what I hoped it would be – the sole Catholic
presence in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood was the hotly affirmative
parish of Most Holy Redeemer. Although the priests who were stationed there
kindly buried the lifeless and wasted bodies of our friends, in an age when few
were willing to do so, they confused a compassion for the sick and the dead
with a total renunciation of any semblance to Catholic teaching about
homosexuality. They wanted to be our friends, not our Fathers...."
Mr. Sciambra concludes:
Recently, during one of my several outreaches to the “gay”
community in San Francisco, I spoke with a young Catholic “gay” man about my
life after homosexuality; we discussed how and why I left gay and the
contentment and happiness I experienced when I embraced chastity. He
immediately said, “Oh no, but that is not what they tell us at Most Holy
Redeemer.”
Therefore – Dear Pope Francis: apologize for bad catechesis,
for bad pastoral programs, for bad priests, and for the apathetic Bishops who
do nothing to correct them. As for the long dead who passed from this life, far
too young, because no one ever bothered to tell them the Truth – no amount of
apologizing will ever bring them back."
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
"The Gospel that once transformed cultures is now in danger of being transformed by them"
This is so important, so lucid, and so obviously inspired by and faithful to the Holy Spirit, and to Jesus Christ, we reproduce it in full. This is the voice of the Church!
Your Holiness, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, participants of the Synod,
I propose these three thoughts:
1. More transparency and respect among us
I feel a strong need to invoke the Spirit of Truth and Love, the source of parrhesia in speaking and humility in listening, who alone is capable of creating true harmony in plurality.
I say frankly that in the previous Synod, on various issues one sensed the temptation to yield to the mentality of the secularized world and individualistic West. Recognizing the so-called “realities of life” as a locus theologicus means giving up hope in the transforming power of faith and the Gospel. The Gospel that once transformed cultures is now in danger of being transformed by them. Furthermore, some of the procedures used did not seem aimed at enriching discussion and communion as much as they did to promote a way of seeing typical of certain fringe groups of the wealthiest churches. This is contrary to a poor Church, a joyously evangelical and prophetic sign of contradiction to worldliness. Nor does one understand why some statements that are not shared by the qualified majority of the last Synod still ended up in the Relatio and then in the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum laboris when other pressing and very current issues (such as gender ideology) are instead ignored.
The first hope is therefore that, in our work, there by more freedom, transparency and objectivity. For this, it would be beneficial to publish the summaries of the interventions, to facilitate discussion and avoid any prejudice or discrimination in accepting the pronouncements of the synod Fathers.
2. Discernment of history and of spirits
A second hope: that the Synod honor its historic mission and not limit itself to speaking only about certain pastoral issues (such as the possible communion for divorced and remarried) but help the Holy Father to enunciate clearly truths and real guidance on a global level. For there are new challenges with respect to the synod celebrated in 1980. A theological discernment enables us to see in our time two unexpected threats (almost like two “apocalyptic beasts”) located on opposite poles: on the one hand, the idolatry of Western freedom; on the other, Islamic fundamentalism: atheistic secularism versus religious fanaticism. To use a slogan, we find ourselves between “gender ideology and ISIS”. Islamic massacres and libertarian demands regularly contend for the front page of the newspapers. (Let us remember what happened last June 26!). From these two radicalizations arise the two major threats to the family: its subjectivist disintegration in the secularized West through quick and easy divorce, abortion, homosexual unions, euthanasia etc. (cf. Gender theory, the ‘Femen’, the LGBT lobby, IPPF …). On the other hand, the pseudo-family of ideologized Islam which legitimizes polygamy, female subservience, sexual slavery, child marriage etc. (cf. Al Qaeda, Isis, Boko Haram …)
Several clues enable us to intuit the same demonic origin of these two movements. Unlike the Spirit of Truth that promotes communion in the distinction (perichoresis), these encourage confusion (homo-gamy) or subordination (poly-gamy). Furthermore, they demand a universal and totalitarian rule, are violently intolerant, destroyers of families, society and the Church, and are openly Christianophobic.
“We are not contending against creatures of flesh and blood ….” We need to be inclusive and welcoming to all that is human; but what comes from the Enemy cannot and must not be assimilated. You can not join Christ and Belial! What Nazi-Fascism and Communism were in the 20th century, Western homosexual and abortion Ideologies and Islamic Fanaticism are today.
3. Proclaim and serve the beauty of Monogamy and the Family
Faced with these two deadly and unprecedented challenges (“homo-gamy” and “poly-gamy”) the Church must promote a true “epiphany of the Family.” To this both the Pope (as spokesman of the Church) may contribute, and individual Bishops and Pastors of the Christian flock: that is, “the Church of God, which he has obtained with his own blood” (Acts: 20:28).
We must proclaim the truth without fear, i.e. the Plan of God, which is monogamy in conjugal love open to life. Bearing in mind the historical situation just recalled, it is urgent that the Church, at its summit, definitively declare the will of the Creator for marriage. How many people of good will and common sense would join in this luminous act of courage carried out by the Church!
Together with a strong and clear Word of the Supreme Magisterium, Pastors have the mission of helping our contemporaries to discover the beauty of the Christian family. To do this, it must first promote all that represents a true Christian Initiation of adults, for the marriage crisis is essentially a crisis of God, but also a crisis of faith, and this is an infantile Christian initiation. Then we must discern those realities that the Holy Spirit is already raising up to reveal the Truth of the Family as an intimate communion in diversity (man and woman) that is generous in the gift of life. We bishops have the urgent duty to recognize and promote the charisms, movements, and ecclesial realities in which the Family is truly revealed, this prodigy of harmony, love of life and hope in Eternity, this cradle of faith and school charity. And there are so many realities offered by Providence, together with the Second Vatican Council, in which this miracle is offered.
Translation from Italian by Diane Montagna.
I propose these three thoughts:
1. More transparency and respect among us
I feel a strong need to invoke the Spirit of Truth and Love, the source of parrhesia in speaking and humility in listening, who alone is capable of creating true harmony in plurality.
I say frankly that in the previous Synod, on various issues one sensed the temptation to yield to the mentality of the secularized world and individualistic West. Recognizing the so-called “realities of life” as a locus theologicus means giving up hope in the transforming power of faith and the Gospel. The Gospel that once transformed cultures is now in danger of being transformed by them. Furthermore, some of the procedures used did not seem aimed at enriching discussion and communion as much as they did to promote a way of seeing typical of certain fringe groups of the wealthiest churches. This is contrary to a poor Church, a joyously evangelical and prophetic sign of contradiction to worldliness. Nor does one understand why some statements that are not shared by the qualified majority of the last Synod still ended up in the Relatio and then in the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum laboris when other pressing and very current issues (such as gender ideology) are instead ignored.
The first hope is therefore that, in our work, there by more freedom, transparency and objectivity. For this, it would be beneficial to publish the summaries of the interventions, to facilitate discussion and avoid any prejudice or discrimination in accepting the pronouncements of the synod Fathers.
2. Discernment of history and of spirits
A second hope: that the Synod honor its historic mission and not limit itself to speaking only about certain pastoral issues (such as the possible communion for divorced and remarried) but help the Holy Father to enunciate clearly truths and real guidance on a global level. For there are new challenges with respect to the synod celebrated in 1980. A theological discernment enables us to see in our time two unexpected threats (almost like two “apocalyptic beasts”) located on opposite poles: on the one hand, the idolatry of Western freedom; on the other, Islamic fundamentalism: atheistic secularism versus religious fanaticism. To use a slogan, we find ourselves between “gender ideology and ISIS”. Islamic massacres and libertarian demands regularly contend for the front page of the newspapers. (Let us remember what happened last June 26!). From these two radicalizations arise the two major threats to the family: its subjectivist disintegration in the secularized West through quick and easy divorce, abortion, homosexual unions, euthanasia etc. (cf. Gender theory, the ‘Femen’, the LGBT lobby, IPPF …). On the other hand, the pseudo-family of ideologized Islam which legitimizes polygamy, female subservience, sexual slavery, child marriage etc. (cf. Al Qaeda, Isis, Boko Haram …)
Several clues enable us to intuit the same demonic origin of these two movements. Unlike the Spirit of Truth that promotes communion in the distinction (perichoresis), these encourage confusion (homo-gamy) or subordination (poly-gamy). Furthermore, they demand a universal and totalitarian rule, are violently intolerant, destroyers of families, society and the Church, and are openly Christianophobic.
“We are not contending against creatures of flesh and blood ….” We need to be inclusive and welcoming to all that is human; but what comes from the Enemy cannot and must not be assimilated. You can not join Christ and Belial! What Nazi-Fascism and Communism were in the 20th century, Western homosexual and abortion Ideologies and Islamic Fanaticism are today.
3. Proclaim and serve the beauty of Monogamy and the Family
Faced with these two deadly and unprecedented challenges (“homo-gamy” and “poly-gamy”) the Church must promote a true “epiphany of the Family.” To this both the Pope (as spokesman of the Church) may contribute, and individual Bishops and Pastors of the Christian flock: that is, “the Church of God, which he has obtained with his own blood” (Acts: 20:28).
We must proclaim the truth without fear, i.e. the Plan of God, which is monogamy in conjugal love open to life. Bearing in mind the historical situation just recalled, it is urgent that the Church, at its summit, definitively declare the will of the Creator for marriage. How many people of good will and common sense would join in this luminous act of courage carried out by the Church!
Together with a strong and clear Word of the Supreme Magisterium, Pastors have the mission of helping our contemporaries to discover the beauty of the Christian family. To do this, it must first promote all that represents a true Christian Initiation of adults, for the marriage crisis is essentially a crisis of God, but also a crisis of faith, and this is an infantile Christian initiation. Then we must discern those realities that the Holy Spirit is already raising up to reveal the Truth of the Family as an intimate communion in diversity (man and woman) that is generous in the gift of life. We bishops have the urgent duty to recognize and promote the charisms, movements, and ecclesial realities in which the Family is truly revealed, this prodigy of harmony, love of life and hope in Eternity, this cradle of faith and school charity. And there are so many realities offered by Providence, together with the Second Vatican Council, in which this miracle is offered.
Translation from Italian by Diane Montagna.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Archbishop Cordileone: Our duty is to speak the truth on marriage
What a blessing it is to be living in the Archdiocese of San Francisco under Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone! I feel like I am with Athanasius: one man and the truth against all the powers of the world.
Here is an excerpt from His Excellency's speech to his brother bishops at last week's USCCB meeting, as reported by LifeSiteNews:
"If the US Supreme Court decides to redefine marriage in the next couple weeks it will not stop the nation’s bishops from proclaiming the truth, says the archbishop serving as point man on the issue.
'Regardless of what happens at the end of this month, nothing the court says can change what marriage truly is and we will continue to promote and defend it,' said San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, chairman for the USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.
The archbishop quoted Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to illustrate the point for his fellow bishops at their Spring Assembly earlier this month in St. Louis.
'Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me,' said Archbishop Cordileone. 'The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.'
'We may have to suffer this lie about marriage in the law,' he continued, 'but we must not participate in it or keep silent about it.'
He suggested to his fellow bishops that the faithful can offer up small hardships in this regard for the Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere who are being killed and exiled for the faith.
The archbishop knows something about taking heat for the Catholic faith, with the attacks on him over the last several months for working to strengthen the Church’s identity in San Francisco Catholic high schools. His fellow bishops applauded him fervently at the end of his presentation after USCCB President Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz thanked him for his courageous leadership for the Church."
It is a strange but good experience for me as a man born in America to learn the age-old message of the Church, that any country, no matter how good, can never completely be our home. We've been historically spoiled by living in America because it has been so wonderful--so much so that it almost became a religion of its own. Our home is Holy Mother Church.
Bless the Archbishop!
Sunday, June 14, 2015
"We are running the real risk of leaving no place for God in our celebrations"
A beautiful and important piece by Cardinal Robert Sarah.
The translation is from Rorate Caeli. The opening paragraphs are reproduced below. What a marvelous understanding His Eminence shows of the Liturgy is about.
THE SILENT ACTION OF THE HEART
Cardinal Robert Sarah
L'Osservatore Romano
June 12, 2015
[Exclusive Rorate translation by Contributor Francesca Romana]
Fifty years after its promulgation by Pope Paul VI will the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy from the Second Vatican Council be read? “Sacrosanctum concilium “ is not de facto a simple catalogue of reform “recipes” but a real “magna carta” of every liturgical action.
With it, the ecumenical council gives us a magisterial lesson in method. Indeed, far from being content with a disciplinary and exterior approach, the council wants to make us reflect on what the liturgy is in its essence. The practice of the Church always comes from what She receives and contemplates in Revelation. Pastoral care cannot be disconnected from doctrine.
In the Church, “that which comes from action is ordered to contemplation” (cfr. n. 2). The Council’s Constitution invites us to rediscover the Trinitarian origin of the liturgical action. Indeed, the Council establishes continuity between the mission of Christ the Redeemer and the liturgical mission of the Church. “Just as Christ was sent by His Father, so also He sent the Apostles” so that “by means of sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves” they accomplish ”the work of salvation”. (n.6).
Actuating the liturgy is therefore nothing other than actuating the work of Christ. The liturgy in its essence is “actio Christi”. [It is]the “work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God.” (n.5) It is He who is the great Priest, the true subject, the true actor in the liturgy (n.7). If this vital principle is not accepted in faith, there is the risk of making the liturgy into a human work, a self-celebration of the community....
We run the real risk of leaving no space for God in our celebrations. We risk the temptation of the Hebrews in the desert. They attempted to create worship according to their own stature and measure, [but] let us not forget they ended up prostrate before the idol of the Golden Calf."Emphasis added.
Read the whole thing.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
More Wisdom from Fr. James Schall: On Multiculturalism
What a great teacher he is! This essay was published at The Catholic Thing. Excerpts:
"The modern notion that all cultures and nations can and should live together in harmony requires either: a) a general agreement about the basis of virtue and truth, or b) the elimination of any difference between good and evil, truth and falsity. “Multiculturalism,” itself a construction of the mind, is what happens when the latter alternative is accepted, not as “true,” but as “workable” or “practical.”
Cultures, however, are not philosophically or morally neutral. Within each is found a certain configuration of good and evil habits, laws, and customs. In earlier ages, though massive migrations and invasions occurred, it was difficult to pass from one country to another. Each culture or nation worked out the norms of how it was to live...
The only kind of multiculturalism that is possible is one that recognizes a transcendent order. A multiculturalism that denies it ends up by establishing and enforcing a world order in which only what is objectively true is disallowed. The “fear” is precisely that truth does exist. The refusal to look for such truth recalls the scene in the Gorgias of Plato where the politician refuses to listen to argument, lest he be forced to admit its logic."
"The modern notion that all cultures and nations can and should live together in harmony requires either: a) a general agreement about the basis of virtue and truth, or b) the elimination of any difference between good and evil, truth and falsity. “Multiculturalism,” itself a construction of the mind, is what happens when the latter alternative is accepted, not as “true,” but as “workable” or “practical.”
Cultures, however, are not philosophically or morally neutral. Within each is found a certain configuration of good and evil habits, laws, and customs. In earlier ages, though massive migrations and invasions occurred, it was difficult to pass from one country to another. Each culture or nation worked out the norms of how it was to live...
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Bishop Vasa Demands Catholicism From Catholic School Teachers
Santa Rosa's great Archbishop is leading the way!
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has the story:
"The Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese is requiring its 200 schoolteachers to sign an agreement affirming that 'modern errors' such as contraception, abortion, homosexual marriage and euthanasia are 'matters that gravely offend human dignity.'
The move is an effort by Bishop Robert Vasa to delineate specifically what it means for a Catholic-school teacher -- whether Catholic or not -- to be a 'model of Catholic living' and to adhere to Catholic teaching.
That means means abiding by the Ten Commandments, going to church every Sunday and heeding God's words in thought, deed and intentions, according to a private church document that is an 'addendum' to language in the current teachers' contract...."
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has the story:
"The Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese is requiring its 200 schoolteachers to sign an agreement affirming that 'modern errors' such as contraception, abortion, homosexual marriage and euthanasia are 'matters that gravely offend human dignity.'The move is an effort by Bishop Robert Vasa to delineate specifically what it means for a Catholic-school teacher -- whether Catholic or not -- to be a 'model of Catholic living' and to adhere to Catholic teaching.
That means means abiding by the Ten Commandments, going to church every Sunday and heeding God's words in thought, deed and intentions, according to a private church document that is an 'addendum' to language in the current teachers' contract...."
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
Thursday, June 21, 2012
"The Church's Worst Enemies"
From Fr. James Schall, S.J., writing at The Catholic Thing:
The Church's Worst Enemies
Somewhere back in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War, and facing other issues in Germany and Italy, Pius XI asked this very question: 'Who are the Church's most dangerous enemies?' His answer was as follows:
'The Church's worst persecutors have been her own unfaithful bishops, priests, and religious. Opposition from outside is terrible; it gives us many martyrs. But the Church's worst enemy is her own traitors.'
Why is this, we wonder? The mission of the Church ad extra has much to do with the witness to the truth by Christians themselves, especially those in high places, both clergy and laity.
In an analogous manner, John Paul II remarked to European bishops in 1982 that 'the crises of European man and of Europe are crises and temptations of Christianity and of the Church in Europe.' We are wont to think that the drama of the world takes place outside of the redemptive plan of God. It doesn't.
C. S. Lewis remarked, in Mere Christianity, I think, that the greatest evil we can do is to call what is evil good and what is good evil. It does not matter whether this calling is shrouded in the form of relativism, diversity theory, or the will to power. The effect is the same.
In the end, we now call, by various sophisticated names, what is evil good. We make laws to justify this reversal of good and evil, which, as such, do not change. We penalize those who hold that the 'thou shalt not's' are correct. ...
But the key point remains: the "enablers" who justify and make evil possible by their own disordered souls. Repentance remains the only way to stop this reversal, repentance and, as Benedict says, judgment. ...
When asked why he entered the Church, Chesterton, in a famous passage, replied: 'To get rid of my sins.'
The New Testament also makes it clear that this riddance of sins is the central purpose of redemption. Christ did not come so much to define what sins were — we have to be pretty obtuse not to have an inkling of what they are — but to forgive them."
FATHER JAMES V. SCHALL, S.J.
FATHER JAMES V. SCHALL, S.J.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Bishop "Disappointed and Annoyed" at "Creativity" in Mass
You're not the only one, Excellency!
From Father Z comes a remarkable post from the blog of His Excellency Chris Coyne, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He was attending a Saturday morning Mass as a visitor to a parish. If this is how daily Mass is celebrated in that parish, I won't imagine what the Sunday Mass is like.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Why I Didn't Go to Confession Today.
This morning I attended Mass rather than concelebrated Mass. Earlier in the week I was unable to find a Saturday morning Mass anywhere in the area so I was pretty much going to have to miss Mass today. But late last night on the internet I found a church abut a half an hour away that had an 8:00 AM Mass. This was doubly good for me because I wanted to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation if the priest had time after Mass since it and been a few weeks since my last confession. But it was a little late to make any arrangement for concelebration.
I left around 7:15 AM and got there in plenty of time to spend some time preparing for Mass and, hopefully, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When Mass began, the priest, a guy about my age, came out and said, "Hello," and then proceeded with the Mass. The only problem was he had forgotten the Sign of the Cross. Well, maybe he was just a little distracted. I think we did the penetential rite but I'm not sure. There was no "Gloria" so I was beginning to think we weren't going to be celebrating the Feast of the Transfiguration since it hadn't been mentioned yet but eventually we got there when he "prayed" a spontaneous opening prayer that did mention the Transfiguration.
Things kind of went downhill from there. I'll spare you the details. I will say I'm pretty sure it was still a valid Mass even though he changed the words of the Eucharistic institution - a lot, not just a few. There is a theological practice of the Church called "Ecclesia supplet" ("the Church provides") where if a priest inadvertently forgets some of the words of the ritual form or changes them, the "Church" recognizes the good faith of those gathered and their right to valid celebration of the sacraments and provides sacramental validity in the case of a human error or priestly malpractice. This is done for the sake of the people of God and not as an excuse for the sloppy or 'creative' celebration of the priest or bishop. Even though the priest went way over the the line in terms of his 'creativity' this morning, I think the intention of those us who came to Mass was to celebrate the Eucharist as the Church intends and so it was.
As "Mass" progressed I was both disappointed and annoyed. I wasn't angry. I learned the trick long ago of moving into emotional "cruise control" when this stuff starts to happen. I also began to wonder if I should say something to the priest afterwards. I mean, I was just there as a visitor not as his bishop or vicar general. I was also on vacation so ... Nevertheless, I didn't let it go. What I did or did not do, I will leave between me and the priest. I hope it was helpful.
I do know one thing. I certainly wasn't going to ask him to hear my Confession. If he changed the words of the Institution Narrative, there's no telling what he might do with the words of Absolution. I suppose I could have asked him before we began the sacrament if he would be so kind as to use the Church's rite and not his own but then that opens a whole can of worms. So I didn't go to Confession. I'll try and make an appointment with a priest and go Monday. But isn't it a shame that I couldn't go to Confession?
Every time people ask my why some in the Church have a desire for the "extraordinary rite," the traditional Latin Mass, I guess I can give them at least one good reason. Masses like this. When one attends the Mass according to the Tridentine Rite, you know what you are going to get. There is no one being 'creative,' no one making up their own prayers or rite, and no question of validity. I am a chid of Vatican II. From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening at Mass, it has been the Mass of Pope Paul VI. I have been formed in it. I have studied it. I love it. Out of it, I have been ordained a deacon, a priest, and a bishop to celebrate it for the people of God. I have no desire to celebrate the Tridentine Rite but any time I hear people criticize those who want the "traditional" Mass, I am more inclined to understand why they want this form of the Mass. Perhaps if each priest were committed to the correct celebration of the present Mass of Paul VI - the Church's rites and not the rite of Fr. X - then maybe there would be less clamor for the "traditional" rite. Just a thought.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
"You weren’t looking at me. We were looking at God."
Fr. Z has some lovely reflections from a Priest celebrating his first Tridentine Mass. Excerpt:
"The Mass is a prayer addressed to the Father, and despite our best intentions, we clergy address it to the congregation at whom we are looking. You cannot help it. The human face is a powerful thing. Last Saturday night I realized for the first time that I was part of a family of faith directed toward the same heavenly Father. I felt as if I was part of a church at prayer. It was not my job. It was my church. I never realized how very lonely it is to say Mass facing the people. I am up there looking at you. I am not part of you. For 13 or 14 minutes. You weren’t looking at me. We were looking at God."
Read the whole thing.
"The Mass is a prayer addressed to the Father, and despite our best intentions, we clergy address it to the congregation at whom we are looking. You cannot help it. The human face is a powerful thing. Last Saturday night I realized for the first time that I was part of a family of faith directed toward the same heavenly Father. I felt as if I was part of a church at prayer. It was not my job. It was my church. I never realized how very lonely it is to say Mass facing the people. I am up there looking at you. I am not part of you. For 13 or 14 minutes. You weren’t looking at me. We were looking at God."
Read the whole thing.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Google Translator Better than ICEL
Probably, at some time or another, we've all laughed when using Goggle translator. But this is the first time I've laughed because Google is better than an official translation.
Fr. Z had some fun last week with an ICEL translation of the Collect for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary time:
Here's the Latin original:
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui abundantia pietatis tuae
et merita supplicum excedis et vota,
effunde super nos misericordiam tuam,
ut dimittas quae conscientia metuit,
et adicias quod oratio non praesumit.
Via Google translator:
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in the abundance of Thy goodness
and exceed the proper and just punishment and vows,
pour it out upon us mercy,
‘so that the consciousness of forgive
what they fear him and will add to what we do not dare to ask.
Via Fr. Z's "Slavishly literal version":
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the abundance of Your goodness
surpass both the merits and the prayerful vows of suppliants,
pour forth Your mercy upon us,
so that You set aside those things which our conscience fears,
and apply what our prayer dares not.
Via the "Lame Duck ICEL" :
Father,
your love for us
surpasses all our hopes and desires.
Forgive our failings,
keep us in your peace
and lead us in the way of salvation.
As one commenter said:
How in the world did they go from “Omnipotens sempiterne Deus” to “Father”??
Fr. Z had some fun last week with an ICEL translation of the Collect for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary time:
Here's the Latin original:
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui abundantia pietatis tuae
et merita supplicum excedis et vota,
effunde super nos misericordiam tuam,
ut dimittas quae conscientia metuit,
et adicias quod oratio non praesumit.
Via Google translator:
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in the abundance of Thy goodness
and exceed the proper and just punishment and vows,
pour it out upon us mercy,
‘so that the consciousness of forgive
what they fear him and will add to what we do not dare to ask.
Via Fr. Z's "Slavishly literal version":
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the abundance of Your goodness
surpass both the merits and the prayerful vows of suppliants,
pour forth Your mercy upon us,
so that You set aside those things which our conscience fears,
and apply what our prayer dares not.
Via the "Lame Duck ICEL" :
Father,
your love for us
surpasses all our hopes and desires.
Forgive our failings,
keep us in your peace
and lead us in the way of salvation.
As one commenter said:
How in the world did they go from “Omnipotens sempiterne Deus” to “Father”??
Monday, June 14, 2010
Another Traditional Latin Mass in San Francisco!
A fifth TLM will be celebrated in the Archdiocese, and the second in the actual city of San Francisco!
It will now be celebrated for a period of three months, after which it will be "assessed," at Holy Name Church, in San Francisco's Sunset District, where the great Bishop Emeritus Ignatius Wang resides.
From Holy Name's parish bulletin of June 13:
"LATIN MASS & SEMINAR
The traditional Latin Mass also known as Tridentine Mass will be offered on a provisionary period starting with its first Mass on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 7:15 PM and every third Sunday of each month thereafter for three months, after which it will be assessed. In order for everyone to be acquainted with the rubrics and liturgy of the Latin Mass, all are invited to a Seminar/Workshop about Latin Mass in the Flanagan Center from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on
Saturday, June 19, 2010."
Here is the Holy Name's contact info:
1555 39th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122-3015
(415) 664-8590
Other TLM's in the Archdiocese:
First Friday of the month at 7 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1425 Bay Rd. at Glen Way in East Palo Alto. For more information, call (650) 322-2152.
On Sundays at 12:15 p.m. at Holy Rosary Chapel at St. Vincent School for Boys in San Rafael. For more information, call St. Isabella Parish at (415) 479-1560.
On the first Sunday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Mater Dolorosa in South San Francisco The parish is on 307 Willow Ave. South San Francisco, 94080. For more information call (650) 583-4131.
On the second Sunday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at St. Finn Barr, 415 Edna St., San Francisco, CA 94112(415) 333-3627.
It will now be celebrated for a period of three months, after which it will be "assessed," at Holy Name Church, in San Francisco's Sunset District, where the great Bishop Emeritus Ignatius Wang resides.
From Holy Name's parish bulletin of June 13:
"LATIN MASS & SEMINAR
The traditional Latin Mass also known as Tridentine Mass will be offered on a provisionary period starting with its first Mass on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 7:15 PM and every third Sunday of each month thereafter for three months, after which it will be assessed. In order for everyone to be acquainted with the rubrics and liturgy of the Latin Mass, all are invited to a Seminar/Workshop about Latin Mass in the Flanagan Center from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on
Saturday, June 19, 2010."
Here is the Holy Name's contact info:
1555 39th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122-3015
(415) 664-8590
Other TLM's in the Archdiocese:
First Friday of the month at 7 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1425 Bay Rd. at Glen Way in East Palo Alto. For more information, call (650) 322-2152.
On Sundays at 12:15 p.m. at Holy Rosary Chapel at St. Vincent School for Boys in San Rafael. For more information, call St. Isabella Parish at (415) 479-1560.
On the first Sunday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Mater Dolorosa in South San Francisco The parish is on 307 Willow Ave. South San Francisco, 94080. For more information call (650) 583-4131.
On the second Sunday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at St. Finn Barr, 415 Edna St., San Francisco, CA 94112(415) 333-3627.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
"The Common Good and the Lay Apostolate"
That's the subject of a recent talk given by Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology over in Berkeley.
The talk is broken down into nine videos on YouTube. This is number three of nine. The other parts can be found on the right hand menu of this YouTube page.
The talk is broken down into nine videos on YouTube. This is number three of nine. The other parts can be found on the right hand menu of this YouTube page.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
"New Jesuit Review"
A new Jesuit publication has just released its first issue. It's called, aptly enough, "The New Jesuit Review"
"The New Jesuit Review has as its goals the recovery of Jesuit spirituality from its authentic sources and reflection by contemporary Jesuits on its significance for their lives. The writings of St. Ignatius and the First Companions, the lives of Jesuit saints and martyrs, and classics of Jesuit spirituality are examined in the spirit of Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life of the Second Vatican Council:
It redounds to the good of the Church that institutes have their own particular characteristics and work. Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims they set before them as well as their sound traditions -- all of which make up the patrimony of each institute -- be faithfully held in honor. (Perfectae Caritatis, 2)"
In addition to the articles, each issue of the NJR will feature excerpts from the Founding Documents of the Society, the works of St. Ignatius and other Jesuit saints, and classic works on Ignatian spirituality.
God bless 'em!
h/t Father Z.
"The New Jesuit Review has as its goals the recovery of Jesuit spirituality from its authentic sources and reflection by contemporary Jesuits on its significance for their lives. The writings of St. Ignatius and the First Companions, the lives of Jesuit saints and martyrs, and classics of Jesuit spirituality are examined in the spirit of Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life of the Second Vatican Council:
It redounds to the good of the Church that institutes have their own particular characteristics and work. Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims they set before them as well as their sound traditions -- all of which make up the patrimony of each institute -- be faithfully held in honor. (Perfectae Caritatis, 2)"
In addition to the articles, each issue of the NJR will feature excerpts from the Founding Documents of the Society, the works of St. Ignatius and other Jesuit saints, and classic works on Ignatian spirituality.
God bless 'em!
h/t Father Z.
Monday, July 20, 2009
New English Liturgical Translations Approved
From the USCCB:
All Four Pending Liturgical Items Pass; Work On The Translation Of The New Roman Missal Continues
WASHINGTON—All four liturgical item actions whose votes were inconclusive at the June general assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are now approved. Support for the action items continues the work for the English translation of the new Roman Missal for use in the United States.
All Four Pending Liturgical Items Pass; Work On The Translation Of The New Roman Missal Continues
WASHINGTON—All four liturgical item actions whose votes were inconclusive at the June general assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are now approved. Support for the action items continues the work for the English translation of the new Roman Missal for use in the United States.
Read the whole thing.
And Catholic World News reports:
"The bishops engaged in heated debate over the translations during their June meeting in San Antonio. Each of the revised translations required a two-thirds vote (163 bishops) for approval. None of the them gained the required number of votes in San Antonio, requiring the mailing of ballots to the 55 bishops who were absent from the meeting.
In the end, the revised translation of the Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Intentions gained the minimum number of votes for approval; it was approved by a 163-53 margin, with five abstentions. The other translations passed by wider margins."
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Vatican's unofficial synopsis of Caritas in Veritate
"Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness" is "the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity": Thus begins Caritas in Veritate, the encyclical addressed to the Catholic world and "to all people of good will."
In the introduction, the Pope reminds us that "charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine." On the other hand, given "the risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living," it is linked with truth. And he cautions us: "A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance" (§ 1-4).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation" (§ 5). Benedict XVI dwells upon two "criteria that govern moral action" that come from the "charity in truth" principle: justice and the common good. Every Christian is called to love through an "institutional path" which has an incidence on the life of the pólis, of life in society (§ 6-7). The Church, he insists, "does not have technical solutions to offer"; however, she has "a mission of truth to accomplish" for "a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation" (§ 8-9).
The first chapter of the document is about Paul VI's message of Populorum Progressio. "Without the perspective of eternal life -- the Pope warns us -- human progress in this world is denied breathing space." Without God, development becomes negative, "dehumanized" (§ 10-12).
Paul VI, one can read, stressed on "the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice" (§ 13). In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI "shows the strong ties between life ethics and social ethics" (§ 14-15). He explains the concept of vocation in Populorum Progressio. "Development is vocation" because "it derives from a transcendent call." He goes on to underline that it is thus "integral," that is, it has to "promote the good of every man and of the whole man." "Faith -- he adds -- does not rely on privilege or positions of power," "but only on Christ" (§ 16-18). Paul VI shows that "the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order." They are above all in the will, thought and even more "in the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples." "As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbors but does not make us brothers." We must, therefore, mobilize ourselves so that economics evolves "towards fully human outcomes" (§ 19-20).
In the second chapter, the Pope deals with human development in our time. Profit as the exclusive goal, "without the common good as its ultimate end, risks destroying wealth and creating poverty." He goes on to mention some distortions of development: financial dealing that is "largely speculative," migration of peoples "often provoked" and then insufficiently attended to, and "the unregulated exploitation of the Earth's resources." Before such interconnected problems, the Pope calls for "a new humanistic synthesis." The crisis "obliges us to replan our journey" (§ 21).
Development today, says the Pope, "has many overlapping layers." "The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase," with new forms of poverty emerging. Corruption, he fears, is present in countries rich and poor; too often, multinational enterprises do not respect the rights of the workers. Besides, "international aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions" both of donors and of beneficiaries. At the same time, says the Pope, "there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge on the part of rich countries, through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care" (§ 22).
Since the end of the "blocs," John Paul II had been asking for a global "re-examination of development," but this "has been achieved only in part." There is today "a re-evaluation" of the roles of the "state's public authorities," and one can foresee an increase in the "political participation in civil society, nationally and internationally." The Pope then turns his attention to the search, by rich countries, for areas in which to outsource production at low cost. "These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems," with "grave danger for the rights of workers." To this, one has to add that "the cuts in social spending, often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks." In any case, one can observe that "governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom of labor unions." Those who rule are reminded that "the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity" (§ 23-25).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation"
On a cultural level, the possibility of interaction opens new perspectives of dialogue, but with a double danger. First, there can be a cultural eclecticism in which all cultures are viewed as "substantially equivalent." The opposite danger is that of "cultural leveling," "the indiscriminate acceptance of types of conduct and lifestyles" (§ 26). The Pope then turns his attention to the scandal that hunger represents. What is missing is a "network of economic institutions" capable of confronting this emergency. One must hope for "new possibilities" in the techniques of agriculture and land reform in developing countries (§ 27).
Benedict XVI then underlines that the respect for life "cannot in any way be detached" from the development of peoples. Various parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control which "go as far as to impose abortion." In economically developed countries, there is "an anti-birth mentality, frequent attempts (being) made to export this mentality to other states as if it were a form of cultural progress." In addition, there is "reason to suspect that development aid is sometimes linked" to "specific health-care policies which de facto involve the imposition" of birth control. The "laws permitting euthanasia" are another matter for concern: "When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good" (§ 28).
There is another aspect connected to development: the right to religious freedom. Violence "puts the brakes on authentic development," and this "applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism." At the same time, promotion of atheism in many countries "obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources" (§ 29), for development needs the interaction of the various levels of knowledge, put in harmony through charity (§ 30-31). One must hope that the economic choices continue "to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment" for everyone. Benedict XVI warns us against "short-term -- sometimes very short-term -- economy, which leads to "lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers" in order to "increase the country's international competitiveness." For this, he exhorts us to correct some dysfunctions of the development models, as is required today by the "Earth's state of ecological health." He concludes with globalization: "Without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions." Therefore, we have to deal with "a new and creative challenge" (§ 32-33).
Fraternity, economic development and civil society is the theme of the third chapter of the encyclical, opening with a praise of the experience of giving, often unrecognized "because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life." The conviction that economics are free from the "influences of a moral character" "has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way." Development, "if it is to be authentically human," must "make room for the principle of gratuitousness" (§ 34). This is particularly relevant regarding the market.
"Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfill its proper economic function." The market "cannot rely only on itself"; it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource." The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak." Commercial logic needs to be "directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility." The market is not negative by nature. Therefore, what is to be challenged is man, his "moral conscience and responsibility." The present crisis shows that the "traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated." At the same time, the Pope reminds us that economics do not eliminate the role of the state and requires "just laws." Calling to mind Centesimus Annus, he points to the "necessity of a system with three subjects: the market, the state and civil society" and calls for ways of "civilizing the economy." We need "economic forms based on solidarity." The market and politics need "individuals who are open to reciprocal gift" (§ 35-39).
In the fourth chapter, the encyclical deals with the development of people, rights and duties, and the environment. One can notice the "claims to a ‘right to excess'" in the affluent societies, while food and water are lacking in certain underdeveloped regions. "Individual rights when detached from a framework of duties can run wild." Rights and duties are in connection to an ethical context. If, on the other hand, their basis is only "to be found in the deliberations of an assembly of citizens," they are liable to be "changed at any time." Governments and international bodies must not forget "the objectivity and ‘inviolability' of rights" (§ 43). On this matter, one can dwell upon the "problems associated with population growth." It is a "mistake" to "consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment." The Pope reaffirms that sexuality cannot be "reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment." One cannot regulate sexuality through "strategies of mandatory birth control." He then goes on to underline that "morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource." "States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family" (§ 44).
"The economy," he adds, "needs ethics in order to function correctly -- not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centered." The same centrality of the human person must be the guiding principle "in development programs" of international cooperation, in which the beneficiaries should always be involved. "International organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic machinery," "often excessively costly." The Pope notices that too often "the poor serve to perpetuate expensive bureaucracies." Hence his call for a "complete transparency" concerning funds received (§ 45-47).
The market "cannot rely only on itself"; it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource." The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak."
The last paragraphs of the chapter are devoted to the environment. For the believer, nature is a gift of God to be used in a responsible way. In this context, our attention is brought to consider the energy problem. The fact that some states and power groups "hoard nonrenewable energy resources" constitutes "a grave obstacle to development in poor countries." Therefore, the international community should "find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of nonrenewable resources." "The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption," while at the same time "encourage research into alternative forms of energy."
Basically, "what is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new lifestyles." A style which, up to now in most parts of the world, "is prone to hedonism and consumerism." The decisive issue, therefore, is "the overall moral tenor of society." The Pope goes on to caution: "If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death," "the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology," including that of environmental ecology (§ 48-52).
The cooperation of the human family is at the heart of the fifth chapter, in which Benedict XVI shows that "the development of peoples depend above all on a recognition that the human race is a single family." On the other hand, one can read that the Christian religion can contribute to development "only if God has a place in the public realm." By "denying the right to profess one's religion in public," politics "takes on a domineering and aggressive character." The Pope warns: "Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue" between reason and religious faith, a breach that "comes only at an enormous price to human development" (§ 53-56).
The Pope then examines the principle of subsidiarity, which offers a help to the human person "via the autonomy of intermediate bodies." Subsidiarity "is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state" and is well-suited to direct globalization towards its authentic human development. International aids "can sometimes lock people into a state of dependence," hence all subjects of the civil society, and not only the rulers, should be involved. "Too often, aid has served to create only fringe markets for the products" of these countries (§ 57-58). The Pope exhorts the economically developed nations to "allocate larger portions" of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations undertaken. He then advocates a greater access to education and more towards "the complete formation of the person," for relativism makes everyone poorer. An example is given by the perverse phenomenon of sex tourism. "It is sad to note that this activity takes place with the support of local governments, with silence from those in the tourists' countries of origin, and with the complicity of many of the tour operators" (§ 59-61).
The Pope then deals with the phenomenon of migration, with "epoch-making" proportions. "No country can be expected to address today's problems of migration by itself." Every migrant is "a human person" who "possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance." The Pope asks that the foreign workers not be considered as merchandise and shows the "direct link between poverty and unemployment." He pleads for a decent employment for all and invites the authorities other than those in politics to focus their attention on the workers of countries where their social rights are violated (§ 62-64).
Finance, "after its misuse which has wreaked such havoc on the real economy, needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards development." "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity." In addition, the Pope calls for a "regulation of the financial sector" to safeguard weaker parties (§ 65-66).
He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth." And he concludes by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
The last paragraph of the chapter deals with the "strongly felt need" for a "reform of the U.N." and of the "economic institutions and international finance." There is an "urgent need of a true world political authority," which seeks to "observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity," an authority vested with "effective power." The Pope concludes with a call to establish "a greater degree of international ordering" for the management of globalization (§ 67).
The sixth and final chapter is centered on the development of peoples and technology. The Pope cautions us against the "Promethean presumption" which would have us believe that "humanity can re-create itself through the wonders of technology." Technology cannot have an "absolute freedom." "The process of globalization could replace ideologies with technology" (§ 68-72). Connected with technological development are the "means of social communications," called to promote "the dignity of persons and peoples" (§ 73).
A particularly crucial battleground in "today's cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics." The Pope goes on to add: "Reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence." The social question has become an "anthropological question." Research on fetuses and cloning is "being promoted by today's culture," believing it has "mastered every mystery." The Pope expresses his fear of a "systematic eugenic programming of births" (§ 74-75). He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth." And he concludes by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
In his conclusion, the Pope underlines that development "needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer"; it needs "love and forgiveness, self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace" (§ 78-79).
Catholic Education Resource Center
In the introduction, the Pope reminds us that "charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine." On the other hand, given "the risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living," it is linked with truth. And he cautions us: "A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance" (§ 1-4).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation" (§ 5). Benedict XVI dwells upon two "criteria that govern moral action" that come from the "charity in truth" principle: justice and the common good. Every Christian is called to love through an "institutional path" which has an incidence on the life of the pólis, of life in society (§ 6-7). The Church, he insists, "does not have technical solutions to offer"; however, she has "a mission of truth to accomplish" for "a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation" (§ 8-9).
The first chapter of the document is about Paul VI's message of Populorum Progressio. "Without the perspective of eternal life -- the Pope warns us -- human progress in this world is denied breathing space." Without God, development becomes negative, "dehumanized" (§ 10-12).
Paul VI, one can read, stressed on "the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice" (§ 13). In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI "shows the strong ties between life ethics and social ethics" (§ 14-15). He explains the concept of vocation in Populorum Progressio. "Development is vocation" because "it derives from a transcendent call." He goes on to underline that it is thus "integral," that is, it has to "promote the good of every man and of the whole man." "Faith -- he adds -- does not rely on privilege or positions of power," "but only on Christ" (§ 16-18). Paul VI shows that "the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order." They are above all in the will, thought and even more "in the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples." "As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbors but does not make us brothers." We must, therefore, mobilize ourselves so that economics evolves "towards fully human outcomes" (§ 19-20).
In the second chapter, the Pope deals with human development in our time. Profit as the exclusive goal, "without the common good as its ultimate end, risks destroying wealth and creating poverty." He goes on to mention some distortions of development: financial dealing that is "largely speculative," migration of peoples "often provoked" and then insufficiently attended to, and "the unregulated exploitation of the Earth's resources." Before such interconnected problems, the Pope calls for "a new humanistic synthesis." The crisis "obliges us to replan our journey" (§ 21).
Development today, says the Pope, "has many overlapping layers." "The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase," with new forms of poverty emerging. Corruption, he fears, is present in countries rich and poor; too often, multinational enterprises do not respect the rights of the workers. Besides, "international aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions" both of donors and of beneficiaries. At the same time, says the Pope, "there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge on the part of rich countries, through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care" (§ 22).
Since the end of the "blocs," John Paul II had been asking for a global "re-examination of development," but this "has been achieved only in part." There is today "a re-evaluation" of the roles of the "state's public authorities," and one can foresee an increase in the "political participation in civil society, nationally and internationally." The Pope then turns his attention to the search, by rich countries, for areas in which to outsource production at low cost. "These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems," with "grave danger for the rights of workers." To this, one has to add that "the cuts in social spending, often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks." In any case, one can observe that "governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom of labor unions." Those who rule are reminded that "the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity" (§ 23-25).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation"
On a cultural level, the possibility of interaction opens new perspectives of dialogue, but with a double danger. First, there can be a cultural eclecticism in which all cultures are viewed as "substantially equivalent." The opposite danger is that of "cultural leveling," "the indiscriminate acceptance of types of conduct and lifestyles" (§ 26). The Pope then turns his attention to the scandal that hunger represents. What is missing is a "network of economic institutions" capable of confronting this emergency. One must hope for "new possibilities" in the techniques of agriculture and land reform in developing countries (§ 27).
Benedict XVI then underlines that the respect for life "cannot in any way be detached" from the development of peoples. Various parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control which "go as far as to impose abortion." In economically developed countries, there is "an anti-birth mentality, frequent attempts (being) made to export this mentality to other states as if it were a form of cultural progress." In addition, there is "reason to suspect that development aid is sometimes linked" to "specific health-care policies which de facto involve the imposition" of birth control. The "laws permitting euthanasia" are another matter for concern: "When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good" (§ 28).
There is another aspect connected to development: the right to religious freedom. Violence "puts the brakes on authentic development," and this "applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism." At the same time, promotion of atheism in many countries "obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources" (§ 29), for development needs the interaction of the various levels of knowledge, put in harmony through charity (§ 30-31). One must hope that the economic choices continue "to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment" for everyone. Benedict XVI warns us against "short-term -- sometimes very short-term -- economy, which leads to "lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers" in order to "increase the country's international competitiveness." For this, he exhorts us to correct some dysfunctions of the development models, as is required today by the "Earth's state of ecological health." He concludes with globalization: "Without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions." Therefore, we have to deal with "a new and creative challenge" (§ 32-33).
Fraternity, economic development and civil society is the theme of the third chapter of the encyclical, opening with a praise of the experience of giving, often unrecognized "because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life." The conviction that economics are free from the "influences of a moral character" "has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way." Development, "if it is to be authentically human," must "make room for the principle of gratuitousness" (§ 34). This is particularly relevant regarding the market.
"Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfill its proper economic function." The market "cannot rely only on itself"; it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource." The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak." Commercial logic needs to be "directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility." The market is not negative by nature. Therefore, what is to be challenged is man, his "moral conscience and responsibility." The present crisis shows that the "traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated." At the same time, the Pope reminds us that economics do not eliminate the role of the state and requires "just laws." Calling to mind Centesimus Annus, he points to the "necessity of a system with three subjects: the market, the state and civil society" and calls for ways of "civilizing the economy." We need "economic forms based on solidarity." The market and politics need "individuals who are open to reciprocal gift" (§ 35-39).
In the fourth chapter, the encyclical deals with the development of people, rights and duties, and the environment. One can notice the "claims to a ‘right to excess'" in the affluent societies, while food and water are lacking in certain underdeveloped regions. "Individual rights when detached from a framework of duties can run wild." Rights and duties are in connection to an ethical context. If, on the other hand, their basis is only "to be found in the deliberations of an assembly of citizens," they are liable to be "changed at any time." Governments and international bodies must not forget "the objectivity and ‘inviolability' of rights" (§ 43). On this matter, one can dwell upon the "problems associated with population growth." It is a "mistake" to "consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment." The Pope reaffirms that sexuality cannot be "reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment." One cannot regulate sexuality through "strategies of mandatory birth control." He then goes on to underline that "morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource." "States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family" (§ 44).
"The economy," he adds, "needs ethics in order to function correctly -- not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centered." The same centrality of the human person must be the guiding principle "in development programs" of international cooperation, in which the beneficiaries should always be involved. "International organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic machinery," "often excessively costly." The Pope notices that too often "the poor serve to perpetuate expensive bureaucracies." Hence his call for a "complete transparency" concerning funds received (§ 45-47).
The market "cannot rely only on itself"; it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource." The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak."
The last paragraphs of the chapter are devoted to the environment. For the believer, nature is a gift of God to be used in a responsible way. In this context, our attention is brought to consider the energy problem. The fact that some states and power groups "hoard nonrenewable energy resources" constitutes "a grave obstacle to development in poor countries." Therefore, the international community should "find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of nonrenewable resources." "The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption," while at the same time "encourage research into alternative forms of energy."
Basically, "what is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new lifestyles." A style which, up to now in most parts of the world, "is prone to hedonism and consumerism." The decisive issue, therefore, is "the overall moral tenor of society." The Pope goes on to caution: "If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death," "the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology," including that of environmental ecology (§ 48-52).
The cooperation of the human family is at the heart of the fifth chapter, in which Benedict XVI shows that "the development of peoples depend above all on a recognition that the human race is a single family." On the other hand, one can read that the Christian religion can contribute to development "only if God has a place in the public realm." By "denying the right to profess one's religion in public," politics "takes on a domineering and aggressive character." The Pope warns: "Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue" between reason and religious faith, a breach that "comes only at an enormous price to human development" (§ 53-56).
The Pope then examines the principle of subsidiarity, which offers a help to the human person "via the autonomy of intermediate bodies." Subsidiarity "is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state" and is well-suited to direct globalization towards its authentic human development. International aids "can sometimes lock people into a state of dependence," hence all subjects of the civil society, and not only the rulers, should be involved. "Too often, aid has served to create only fringe markets for the products" of these countries (§ 57-58). The Pope exhorts the economically developed nations to "allocate larger portions" of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations undertaken. He then advocates a greater access to education and more towards "the complete formation of the person," for relativism makes everyone poorer. An example is given by the perverse phenomenon of sex tourism. "It is sad to note that this activity takes place with the support of local governments, with silence from those in the tourists' countries of origin, and with the complicity of many of the tour operators" (§ 59-61).
The Pope then deals with the phenomenon of migration, with "epoch-making" proportions. "No country can be expected to address today's problems of migration by itself." Every migrant is "a human person" who "possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance." The Pope asks that the foreign workers not be considered as merchandise and shows the "direct link between poverty and unemployment." He pleads for a decent employment for all and invites the authorities other than those in politics to focus their attention on the workers of countries where their social rights are violated (§ 62-64).
Finance, "after its misuse which has wreaked such havoc on the real economy, needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards development." "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity." In addition, the Pope calls for a "regulation of the financial sector" to safeguard weaker parties (§ 65-66).
He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth." And he concludes by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
The last paragraph of the chapter deals with the "strongly felt need" for a "reform of the U.N." and of the "economic institutions and international finance." There is an "urgent need of a true world political authority," which seeks to "observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity," an authority vested with "effective power." The Pope concludes with a call to establish "a greater degree of international ordering" for the management of globalization (§ 67).
The sixth and final chapter is centered on the development of peoples and technology. The Pope cautions us against the "Promethean presumption" which would have us believe that "humanity can re-create itself through the wonders of technology." Technology cannot have an "absolute freedom." "The process of globalization could replace ideologies with technology" (§ 68-72). Connected with technological development are the "means of social communications," called to promote "the dignity of persons and peoples" (§ 73).
A particularly crucial battleground in "today's cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics." The Pope goes on to add: "Reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence." The social question has become an "anthropological question." Research on fetuses and cloning is "being promoted by today's culture," believing it has "mastered every mystery." The Pope expresses his fear of a "systematic eugenic programming of births" (§ 74-75). He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth." And he concludes by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
In his conclusion, the Pope underlines that development "needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer"; it needs "love and forgiveness, self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace" (§ 78-79).
Catholic Education Resource Center
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Pope: It is a Childish Faith to Oppose the Church Teaching on Life and Family
Excerpts from The Holy Father's closing homily for the year of St. Paul. From LifeSiteNews, h/t American Papist.
By John-Henry Westen
ROME, June 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Closing the Year of St. Paul yesterday evening, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the writings of the famed convert to Christianity. With reference to Paul's letter to the Ephesians (4:14), the Pope explained what Paul meant by his statement that Christians should not remain "children at the mercy of the waves, transported here and there by every wind of doctrine."
"Paul wants the Christian faith have a 'responsible', an 'adult faith," said the Holy Father. "The word 'adult faith' has in recent decades become a popular slogan. It is often used to refer to the attitude of those who no longer adhere to the Church and her pastors, but choose for themselves what they want to believe and not believe - a kind of do-it-yourself faith."
Benedict XVI continued: "Speaking against the Magisterium of the Church is presented as courageous. In reality, however, it does not take courage for this, since you can always be sure of audience applause."
"Rather it takes courage to adhere to the faith of the Church, even if it contradicts the 'scheme' of the contemporary world," said the Pope. "It is this non-conformism of the faith that Paul calls an 'adult faith.'"
The Holy Father gave two examples of an 'adult faith'. First, "to commit to the inviolability of human life from the very beginning, thus radically opposing the principle of violence, in defense of the most defenseless humans." And second, "to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for life as a law of the Creator, restored again by Christ."
For Paul, said Benedict XVI, "following the prevailing winds and currents of the day is childish."
By John-Henry Westen
ROME, June 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Closing the Year of St. Paul yesterday evening, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the writings of the famed convert to Christianity. With reference to Paul's letter to the Ephesians (4:14), the Pope explained what Paul meant by his statement that Christians should not remain "children at the mercy of the waves, transported here and there by every wind of doctrine."
"Paul wants the Christian faith have a 'responsible', an 'adult faith," said the Holy Father. "The word 'adult faith' has in recent decades become a popular slogan. It is often used to refer to the attitude of those who no longer adhere to the Church and her pastors, but choose for themselves what they want to believe and not believe - a kind of do-it-yourself faith."
Benedict XVI continued: "Speaking against the Magisterium of the Church is presented as courageous. In reality, however, it does not take courage for this, since you can always be sure of audience applause."
"Rather it takes courage to adhere to the faith of the Church, even if it contradicts the 'scheme' of the contemporary world," said the Pope. "It is this non-conformism of the faith that Paul calls an 'adult faith.'"
The Holy Father gave two examples of an 'adult faith'. First, "to commit to the inviolability of human life from the very beginning, thus radically opposing the principle of violence, in defense of the most defenseless humans." And second, "to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for life as a law of the Creator, restored again by Christ."
For Paul, said Benedict XVI, "following the prevailing winds and currents of the day is childish."
Friday, May 29, 2009
Third TLM to be Celebrated in the Archdiocese of San Francisco
A friend sends us this news:
"After more than six months of preparation, organization, planning and seeking authorization from the Archdiocese, we have finally received permission to hold a Traditional Latin Mass at Mater Dolorosa on June 7, 2009 (Sunday) at 6:30 PM and every first Sunday of the month thereafter."
Because some may have forgotten or never attended a TLM, the organizers have thoughtfully provided help:
"On May 30, Saturday, we will be conducting a two hour orientation classon 'THE RUBRICS OF THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS' which will be conducted by Fr. William Young. The class starts at 10:00 AM at the Mater Dolorosa hall."
"Finally, please invite your friends, family, parents, grandparents, children and young people especially."
Contact info for Mater Dolorosa is here:
Mater Dolorosa Catholic Parish
307 Willow Avenue,
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Tel: (650) 583-4131
That makes three TLM's now being celebrated in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Information about the other two, at Holy Rosary Chapel in San Rafael and at St. Francis of Assisi in East Palo Alto can be found here. Those locations are in the far north and south of the Archdiocese, respectively, so having a TLM a little more centrally located is nice.
"After more than six months of preparation, organization, planning and seeking authorization from the Archdiocese, we have finally received permission to hold a Traditional Latin Mass at Mater Dolorosa on June 7, 2009 (Sunday) at 6:30 PM and every first Sunday of the month thereafter."
Because some may have forgotten or never attended a TLM, the organizers have thoughtfully provided help:
"On May 30, Saturday, we will be conducting a two hour orientation classon 'THE RUBRICS OF THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS' which will be conducted by Fr. William Young. The class starts at 10:00 AM at the Mater Dolorosa hall."
"Finally, please invite your friends, family, parents, grandparents, children and young people especially."
Contact info for Mater Dolorosa is here:
Mater Dolorosa Catholic Parish
307 Willow Avenue,
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Tel: (650) 583-4131
That makes three TLM's now being celebrated in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Information about the other two, at Holy Rosary Chapel in San Rafael and at St. Francis of Assisi in East Palo Alto can be found here. Those locations are in the far north and south of the Archdiocese, respectively, so having a TLM a little more centrally located is nice.
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