Annual Footwashing Controversies

First a note from the Vatican, via Zenit:

No. 51 of the circular letter states: "The washing of the feet of chosen men which, according to tradition, is performed on this day, represents the service and charity of Christ, who came 'not to be served, but to serve.' This tradition should be maintained, and its proper significance explained."

About a year ago, however, the Holy See, while affirming that the men-only rule remains the norm, did permit a U.S. bishop to also wash women's feet if he considered it pastorally necessary in specific cases. This permission was for a particular case and from a strictly legal point of view has no value outside the diocese in question.

The Pope will wash the feet of 12 laymen (not priests)

Oratory Priest won't wash anyone's feet

Catholic's United for the Faith give their view

Charlotte priest apologizes to women for not washing their feet

While I'm like Peter, I don't want my feet washed and can't imagine who would--including most of the women I know who have very clean feet.

Talk about distractions in the liturgy, why does everything have to take the focus off of Christ? He's about to be crucified and the modern disciples (unlike the original ones) are all worried about who is going to be allowed to have their feet washed!

National Geographic and Gospel of Judas

Actually my favorite part of the presentation was how they mimiced Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ when do the re-enactments of the Last Supper.

Emergence of the Gospel of Judas Offers a Tangled Tale of Its Own

William Sloane Coffin dead at 81

Former Yale Chaplain.

The Latest

A short note, one commentor on the Good Friday for Liberals wondered about my "headline" for it, saying they identified themselves as a "liberal"...like anything it is a little tongue in cheek as was my choice of a resurrected Christ for the image...there are those who'll pick up on it right away and those who've entered the game rather late who won't have a clue...obviously it'll be Good Friday for everyone this week, but for some the participation in Our Lord's crucifixion may be felt a little easier.

From Catholic World News:

The silence from Rome is getting downright noisy.

The rumor mills have provided dozens of reports that Pope Benedict will soon issue a document regarding the Latin Mass. But the stories are invariably laced with words like "could" and "perhaps." There has been no confirmation from the Vatican, nor any denial.

Vatican officials who might ordinarily provide useful insights are ducking questions. They are not saying that the reports are wrong. They are simply... not saying.

In his own blog Father John Zuhlsdorf has neatly summarized the circumstantial evidence pointing to the likelihood that the Holy Father will soon confirm the right of every priest to use the 1962 Missal. To his impressive collection of evidence, let me add this: the Congregation for Clergy is still leaving open the possibility that Pope Benedict will issue a statement on Holy Thursday-- which is now less than 36 hours away!

Taken all together, the evidence suggests that Church leaders know there is a statement ready for release, but the exact nature of that statement, and its timing, is known only to Pope Benedict and his closest associates, who (as we already know) don't leak stories to the media.

Good Friday for Liberals?

Could this signal the crucifixion of those in the Church of "what's happening now"?

From Catholic News Agency:

According to the source, the announcement could come “between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday,” but the exact day has not yet been set. Nevertheless, the source said the decision has already been made by the Holy Father and that it’s “only a matter of time” before it is publicly announced.

“A minor official gesture by the Holy Father would be enough to allow the Mass according to the 1962 Missal to celebrated by whoever desires to do so, thus reiterating that this rite is still valid today simply because it was not abolished,” the source told CNA.

The announcement would be in the context of “the reform of the reform” that Pope Benedict XVI is promoting, which includes norms and principles that will be made public in the upcoming post-synod Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist.

Amy's Citadel Talk

Christian Historian Decodes DaVinci

The Truly Great "Yes"--Pope on Palm Sunday

From Asia News Italy:

The Cross, a sign of contradiction and of life, was at the heart of the pope’s homily, given after the dramatic account of the Passion by the evangelist Mark. Benedict XVI said: “There was a time, and it is still not entirely over, when Christianity was rejected precisely because of the Cross. The Cross talked about sacrifice, it was said, the Cross is a sign of denial of life. We, on the other hand, want life without restrictions and without renunciation. We want to live, nothing more than to live. Don’t let’s be limited by precepts and bans: we want richness and fullness – this is what was said and is still being said. All this sounds convincing and seductive, it is the language of the serpent, who tells us: ‘Don’t let yourselves be afraid! Eat serenely from all the trees in the garden!’ Palm Sunday, however, tells us that the truly great ‘Yes’ is precisely the Cross, that the Cross is the true tree of life. We are not alive to become masters of life, but to give it. Love is a giving of self, and this is why it is the way of true life, symbolized by the Cross.”

The Cross is “the road”, the “way” along which Jesus wants to lead us, a royal way at odds with the mentality of the world. Meditating on the episode of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, astride a donkey, Benedict XVI said: “Jesus entered the Holy City riding a donkey, that is, the animal of simple peasants, and what’s more, a donkey that did not belong to him, but one He borrowed for the occasion. He does not turn up in an opulent, royal carriage, or astride a horse, like the world’s great men, but on a borrowed donkey.”

Thus, in him is fulfilled the promise made by the prophets of Israel, the “king of the poor”, the king of peace”, the king “of universality”. Even these terms contradict the prevailing overstated mentality.