And podcasts as well:
Fr. JC Maximilian: My Homilies and Spiritual Reflections
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The "Leaked" Motu Proprio?
From someone who received it via email, Telegraph Blog, says that it says:
1. Any priest wishing to say the Tridentine Mass (effectively outlawed after the Second Vatican Council) will be able to do so privately without asking his bishop.
2. Any group of parishioners who want to attend the Tridentine Rite – in which the priest says the Mass with his back to the people – will be able to go to their parish priest asking him to say it in public.
And he can say yes without asking his bishop. That is a major departure from current practice. At the moment, bishops have to give permission for the Old Rite, and they are often very stingy about doing so.
3. If the priest does not want to say the Old Rite, he can make arrangements for another priest to do so. (Whether "can" means "must" is a good question.)
4. If Catholics who want to attend the Old Rite are blocked by their bishop, they can write to the Vatican Commission Ecclesia Dei, which will try to find them a priest.
(Picture from Yahoo.com, Rainbow over Northern Germany)
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Pope: Cesar is not everything, the truth has the right to be heard even by the State
From Asia News Italy:
By praying for the civil authorities, even when they are persecuted by them, Christians follow Christ’s teaching on the cross and recognise the legitimacy of the political institutions. But “Cesar is not everything, another sovereignty emerges” born of the truth that God is coming, and thus “is worthy of being heard even by the State”.
After having dedicated past general audiences to the lives of the single apostles and witnesses, starting today Benedict XVI will centre his Wednesday catechesis on the “the apostolic fathers of the church, that is the first and second generation after the apostles”. First among those “fathers” is St. Clement, third of St Peter’s successors who St Irenaeus tells us “had seen the apostles he had met them”.
Examining Clements letter to the Corinthians, defined by the Pope as “the first act by the Roman primate following St Peter’s death”, in his audience address Benedict XVI, underlined that the Church’s structure is “sacramental and not political”. Indeed the letter was motivated by “grave problems” which had arisen in Corinth, where “the priests had been deposed by a group of young contesters”.
In the document, first and foremost is the joyful news of the grace which saves and Gods gift to Christians is underlined. News which “fills the heart with joy” and “gives certainty to our lives”. But we must coherently dedicate ourselves to this gift and to a journey of conversion. Clement states that if there have been abuses it is due to the undermining of charity, he recalls the faithful to humility and fraternal love, the fundamental elements of the Church. Moreover for the first time the term laikos, layman, member of Gods people, different from religious, appears in Christian writings. But the distinction must not mean opposition, because it is the same Spirit which breaths through the diverse members of the one body of Christ.
The letter, underlined Benedict XVI, shows that the Church “is neither confusion nor anarchy, in which each person can do as they wish” and Clement clearly explains the doctrine of apostolic succession: the norms which rule this are on analyses derived from God himself. The Father sent Jesus, he the apostles and they in their turn their successors. “Everything proceeds from the will of God”. This explains why the Church’s structure is “sacramental and not political” and that the sacramental structure guarantees the precedence of the divine gift. The Church “is Gods gift not our creature”.
Written in the shadow of Diocletian’s persecution, circa 96 AD, the Pope underlined that it also shows that Christians did not cease in their prayers for the authorities, even when they were unjustly oppressed by them. This text “has guided the Christian attitude to politics and the State down through the centuries”: “in the aftermath of persecution Christians still prayed for those same authorities who unjustly condemned them. The reason is primarily found in the Christological order: we must pray for our persecutors as Christ did on the cross”. “By praying for the authorities Clement recognises the legitimacy of the political authorities in the order established by God; at the same time, he expresses the concern that the authorities are open to God and that they use the power which He has granted them in peace and with pity”. But, beside “Cesar”, “another sovereignty emerges, whose origins and essence are not of this world, but come from above: it is the sovereignty of truth which bears the right to be heard even by the State”.
By praying for the civil authorities, even when they are persecuted by them, Christians follow Christ’s teaching on the cross and recognise the legitimacy of the political institutions. But “Cesar is not everything, another sovereignty emerges” born of the truth that God is coming, and thus “is worthy of being heard even by the State”.
After having dedicated past general audiences to the lives of the single apostles and witnesses, starting today Benedict XVI will centre his Wednesday catechesis on the “the apostolic fathers of the church, that is the first and second generation after the apostles”. First among those “fathers” is St. Clement, third of St Peter’s successors who St Irenaeus tells us “had seen the apostles he had met them”.
Examining Clements letter to the Corinthians, defined by the Pope as “the first act by the Roman primate following St Peter’s death”, in his audience address Benedict XVI, underlined that the Church’s structure is “sacramental and not political”. Indeed the letter was motivated by “grave problems” which had arisen in Corinth, where “the priests had been deposed by a group of young contesters”.
In the document, first and foremost is the joyful news of the grace which saves and Gods gift to Christians is underlined. News which “fills the heart with joy” and “gives certainty to our lives”. But we must coherently dedicate ourselves to this gift and to a journey of conversion. Clement states that if there have been abuses it is due to the undermining of charity, he recalls the faithful to humility and fraternal love, the fundamental elements of the Church. Moreover for the first time the term laikos, layman, member of Gods people, different from religious, appears in Christian writings. But the distinction must not mean opposition, because it is the same Spirit which breaths through the diverse members of the one body of Christ.
The letter, underlined Benedict XVI, shows that the Church “is neither confusion nor anarchy, in which each person can do as they wish” and Clement clearly explains the doctrine of apostolic succession: the norms which rule this are on analyses derived from God himself. The Father sent Jesus, he the apostles and they in their turn their successors. “Everything proceeds from the will of God”. This explains why the Church’s structure is “sacramental and not political” and that the sacramental structure guarantees the precedence of the divine gift. The Church “is Gods gift not our creature”.
Written in the shadow of Diocletian’s persecution, circa 96 AD, the Pope underlined that it also shows that Christians did not cease in their prayers for the authorities, even when they were unjustly oppressed by them. This text “has guided the Christian attitude to politics and the State down through the centuries”: “in the aftermath of persecution Christians still prayed for those same authorities who unjustly condemned them. The reason is primarily found in the Christological order: we must pray for our persecutors as Christ did on the cross”. “By praying for the authorities Clement recognises the legitimacy of the political authorities in the order established by God; at the same time, he expresses the concern that the authorities are open to God and that they use the power which He has granted them in peace and with pity”. But, beside “Cesar”, “another sovereignty emerges, whose origins and essence are not of this world, but come from above: it is the sovereignty of truth which bears the right to be heard even by the State”.
Everything is Ready to Launch
From the Vatican:
Sacramentum Caritatis (March 13, 2007)
[English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish]
Sacramentum Caritatis (March 13, 2007)
[English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish]
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Newark Archdiocese Finds Ways Not to Close Churches
From The Star Ledger:
But while many Catholic schools in the archdiocese have closed since 2004 as planned, the parish of St. Mark, like several other churches targeted for possible closure, has been spared.
The archdiocese has kept these churches open but made them share a pastor with another church. Archdiocese leaders now say they expect fewer closures, overall, than the dozens predicted three years ago.
In May 2004, a task force proposed closing as many as 25 of the archdiocese's 235 parishes in the following two years, with the prospect of additional closures through 2008. Yet so far, Archbishop John J. Myers has approved just six clo sures and mergers, plus six other arrangements in which a pair of parishes share one pastor.
But while many Catholic schools in the archdiocese have closed since 2004 as planned, the parish of St. Mark, like several other churches targeted for possible closure, has been spared.
The archdiocese has kept these churches open but made them share a pastor with another church. Archdiocese leaders now say they expect fewer closures, overall, than the dozens predicted three years ago.
In May 2004, a task force proposed closing as many as 25 of the archdiocese's 235 parishes in the following two years, with the prospect of additional closures through 2008. Yet so far, Archbishop John J. Myers has approved just six clo sures and mergers, plus six other arrangements in which a pair of parishes share one pastor.
Apostolic Exhortation “Sacramentum Caritatis to be Released Next Tuesday
"Sacrament of Love(Charity)" On the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life and the mission of the Church.
Lots of rumors circulating as to what it will say, but thankfully we can find out what it actually does say next week.
Lots of rumors circulating as to what it will say, but thankfully we can find out what it actually does say next week.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)