ad altare dei

The Distributist Thinking of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

2012-01-15T18:10:00.000-06:00

As a Distributist myself, I found this article at the Distributist Review about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's prominent criticism of Socialism and Capitalism to be very apropos and well written. Indeed, distributist thinking, in which economics is subjected to human life (and not the other way around), has completely changed the way I view contemporary politics over the years. As my wife recently put it, we are essentially caught in a war between two fatally flawed ideologies, seemingly powerless to overcome either of them. Yet, there is a way out, and it must begin at home and in your local community. Here is an intro from the article:

Through books like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Gulag Archipelago, [Aleksandr] Solzhenitsyn exposed the cold realities awaiting those willing to stare down the Soviet regime. And he did not fail to deliver. Solzhenitsyn described the human cost of Communism: detentions, murders, lies, and forced labor camps for the innocent and the brave, including the author himself.

For Europeans and Americans, Solzhenitsyn was a hero.

But when Solzhenitsyn committed the sin of criticizing the West in front of the 1978 Harvard graduating class, and dismissed Western social and economic policies as false alternatives for the world, those same European and American thinkers once cheering Solzhenitsyn as a champion for freedom consequently berated his scrutiny and ignored Solzhenitsyn’s social, political, and economic analysis, as well as any of his proposed reforms.

Read the whole article.

Faith, Reason, and Natural Law

2012-01-15T17:53:00.000-06:00

Attention Houston area Catholics, Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P., will be visiting us this Thursday at St. Theresa's in Sugar Land, TX, to speak as part of our ongoing Faith and Reason lecture series. I began organizing this lecture series two years ago, and it has been very successful. As you know, Natural Law is a very important, foundational topic pertinent to the question of human reason -- especially relevant today as we debate questions of law, bioethics, marriage, and human life.

"Faith, Reason, and the Natural Law"
Presented by Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P.

Thursday, January 19th, 7:30pm
St. Theresa Catholic School Library (upstairs)
705 St. Theresa Blvd., Sugar Land, Texas

Fr. Mullady is a well known professor and itinerant preacher of missions and retreats, and he has had several series on EWTN. He received his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome and was a professor there for six years. He has taught at several colleges and seminaries around the country and is an academician of the Catholic Academy of Science. The lecture is free and is open to the public.

Please spread the word!

Holy, Holy, Holy

2011-10-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

Br. Athanasius Murphy, O.P., of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, reflects on the Sanctus (English: Holy, Holy, Holy) of the mass.

When I was in college I was invited to attend an Armenian divine liturgy. While the whole celebration of the rite in the classical Armenian language was beautiful, there are only three words that I distinctly remember from that liturgy – or rather the same word said three times: “Sorph, Sorph, Sorph!”

Whether it is the Armenian Sorph, the Greek hagios, or the Latin Sanctus, Christian liturgies around the world have derived their prayer of “Holy, Holy, Holy” from the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah. In one of his visions, the prophet Isaiah is confronted by the Lord, whom Isaiah sees in a temple, high and lifted up upon a throne (Is 6:3). Above the Lord are six-winged seraphim, or angels, calling to one another and saying:

“Holy, Holy, Holy LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

This angelic prayer can be found as early as the 4th century in the liturgies of Alexandria and Jerusalem, mentioned by Athanasius and Cyril, bishops respectively of those cities.

The translation of the Sanctus will change slightly with the new English translation of the Roman Missal that will come into use on the First Sunday of Advent (November 27th, 2011). Read the whole post.

On the Propers of the Mass

2011-10-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby of the Vultus Christi blog has a very engaging post about the origin and development of the propers of the mass: those prayers and elements of the mass that change depending on the liturgical feast or season. For example, concerning the Introit:

The purpose of the Introit in the tradition of the Roman Rite is not didactic; it is contemplative. The Introit ushers the soul into the mystery of the day not by explaining it, but by opening the Mass with a word uttered from above. The text of the Introit signifies that, in every celebration, the initiative is divine, not human; it is a word received that quickens the Church-at-Prayer, and awakens a response within her.

Read the whole post.

On Silence and Solitude

2011-10-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

Over the last several months, I have been thinking more and more about the simple concept of silence. What's interesting is that Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Silence to be the theme for the 2012 World Communication Day. Why silence?

In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterises society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favours habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelisation.

Recently, Pope Benedict XVI was visiting a Carthusian monastery and had this to say about silence:

Technical progress, markedly in the area of transport and communications, has made human life more comfortable but also more keyed up, at times even frantic. Cities are almost always noisy, silence is rarely to be found in them because there is always a lingering background noise, in some areas even at night. In the recent decades, moreover, the development of the media has spread and extended a phenomenon that had already been outlined in the 1960s: virtuality that risks getting the upper hand over reality. Unbeknown to them, people are increasingly becoming immersed in a virtual dimension because of the audiovisual messages that accompany their life from morning to night.

The youngest, who were already born into this condition, seem to want to fill every empty moment with music and images, as for fear of feeling this very emptiness. This is a trend that has always existed, especially among the young and in the more developed urban contexts but today it has reached a level such as to give rise to talk about anthropological mutation. Some people are no longer capable of remaining for long periods in silence and solitude.

Anthropological mutation? Sounds very serious. I think that last paragraph is key and bears great reflection. Naturally, this isn't to say that leisure is bad, or that listening to music is harmful. On the contrary, what it says is that these things are elevated above and beyond everything else. We are a society that is generally very uncomfortable with silence, and the average attention span is often very short. Further, there appears to be a tendency in our society to equate long periods of silence with a lack of amusement, i.e. boredom, and so we are constantly seeking distractions. If we aren't doing something, watching something, or listening to something, there is a sense that we aren't making good use of our free time. I find this to be true in my own life, for sure. I attempt to devote time to reflection and prayer, but it is quite difficult. My mind is so tempted by so many other things.

What I love about the film, Into Great Silence, is that it gives you a true insight into the daily routine of those for whom silence is a major part of life. Indeed, the film itself is very difficult to watch unless you are truly prepared to enter into it. If you allow yourself to be subdued by the film without falling asleep or becoming distracted by something else, you find that you are given an extraordinary encounter with something almost otherworldly. You are able to take time to really notice the most simple of things, and you are much better able to live in harmony with the changing seasons of the world rather than seek to be distracted from them.

Also related to this, as the pope points out, is the concept of solitude. This is something that transcends personality traits (whether one is an introvert or an extrovert). Consider that even the most introverted of persons struggles to find comfort with solitude in a public place without some distraction, whether it be music, or a book, etc.

Nature and Design

2011-10-04T18:32:00.000-05:00

One of many great observations given by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn from his excellent book, "Chance or Purpose: Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith (p.98)"

The never ending debate, as to whether there is something like a "design" in creation, thus goes round in circles, perhaps because nowadays, whenever people talk about "design" and a "designer", they automatically think of a "divine engineer", a kind of omniscient technician, who -- because he must be perfect -- can, equally, only produce perfect machines. Here, in my view, lies the most profound cause of many misunderstandings -- even on the part of the "intelligent design" school in the U.S.A. God is not clockmaker; he is not a constructor of machines, but a Creator of natures. The world is not a mechanical clock, not some vast machine, nor even a mega-computer, but rather, as Jacques Maritain said, "une republique des natures", "a republic of natures."

In order to talk meaningfully about the Creator having a "design", we have to retrieve the concept of "nature", an understanding of which we have largely lost today, and which has been replaced by a technical and mechanistic understanding of living things.

The Renaissance Priest

2011-10-04T11:26:00.000-05:00

Great story from the Catholic News Agency on the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

The Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio has been undergoing a renaissance of its own in the past few years, with enrollment increasing significantly and seven dioceses sending seminarians there for the first time. They are learning how to be what the Josephinum’s rector, Father James Wehner, STD, describes as a priestly, 21st-century version of a Renaissance man.

As Fr. Wehner defines it, “The Renaissance priest is both a man of culture and a man of faith, propagating the mission of the Church in a language, method, and ministry accessible to the people of God.”

That vision has attracted an increasing number of young men to the Josephinum since Fr. Wehner was appointed rector in 2009 after being pastor of a large church in suburban Pittsburgh and spending six years as rector of the Pittsburgh diocesan seminary.

Enrollment at the Josephinum has increased 53 percent since his arrival, growing from 118 to this year’s total of 185, the seminary’s highest total since the 1970s. Students range in age from 17 to their early 50s. Since the Josephinum is a national seminary, they come from nearly 30 dioceses in the U.S.

Who are these men?

Several, such as first-year student Nathaniel Glenn of Phoenix, had their pick of schools from throughout the nation. They chose the Josephinum because they felt a possible calling to be a priest and believed it was the best place to discern God’s will.

“A lot of my friends said to me, ‘You’re too smart and too talented to be going to a seminary,’” said Glenn, a National Merit Scholarship finalist who turned down nearly $450,000 in scholarship offers from schools such as Texas Tech, Alabama, Arizona, and Arizona State “I told them they had the wrong idea of what a seminary is. It’s somewhere we should be sending our best men. We need smart priests.”

Yes! But what about formation and the true vocation of a priest?

Fr. Wehner said the Josephinum’s mission is defined by three main concepts: Renaissance priesthood as described above, spiritual fatherhood, and the new evangelization as proclaimed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

He explained spiritual fatherhood by saying “priests don’t surrender the natural vocation all men have to provide nuptial, generative, spousal love. Priestly celibacy consecrates the natural order of man to the supernatural love of God. It does not deny the masculinity that is part of a man’s nature, but places it in a special context. This is important in today’s culture, where sexuality is defined in a perverse way.”

Fr. Wehner said that a Renaissance priest, “as the initial new evangelizer, exercises pastoral ministry in culture, with an understanding of what the Church is asking from him and of what the faithful expect from their priest. He can’t be afraid of meeting people wherever they can be found, but has to go beyond the world of the parish and into areas like the marketplace, prisons, or the places where addicts are. The 21st-century priest needs to be man enough to bring the Gospel everywhere people need to hear it.”

Students at all levels of the Josephinum go into the secular world every Thursday afternoon during the school year, teaching at Columbus-area Catholic schools, taking part in activities such as the Special Olympics, and paying visits to the sick in hospitals and nursing homes and to prisoners at the Marion Correctional Institution.

And what about the daily prayer life and spiritual formation?

Besides classroom time, the weekly apostolic works program, and daily meals, the weekday schedule includes practice sessions for those involved in the Josephinum choir and schola or other musical organizations, one-hour weekly formation conferences one night a week with Father Wehner or faculty members speaking in depth on a particular topic, Evening Prayer at 5:45 p.m., and Night Prayer (optional on most evenings but required on some) at 9.

A Holy Hour is offered seven days a week and also is optional most days and required occasionally, In addition, there are ample opportunities to receive the Sacrament of Penance or to meditate in any of the institution’s four chapels, dedicated to St. Turibius, St. Rose of Lima, St. Joseph, and St. Pius X.

The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the “Latin Mass”) is celebrated twice a month, and there is a weekly Mass in Spanish that’s part of a larger Hispanic formation program. An English-immersion program is offered for international students.

Seminarians also are exposed to a wide range of devotions including Eucharistic processions and weekly recitation of the Rosary, and they can join fraternities such as the Knights of Columbus, which recently began a campus chapter.

Please pray for these men and for vocations.

Faith and the Scientific Imagination

2011-10-03T18:26:00.000-05:00

Interesting article by science fiction writer John C. Wright.

Science fiction is not science. Science fiction is the imaginative attempt to investigate (and, yes, to play with) the ideas suggested by the modern, scientific, Darwinian world-view. Science fiction is a game of the imagination: it asks us to extrapolate the wonders of a naturalistic universe. There are no gods and no magic in a science fiction story properly so-called. Adding these elements makes it a fantasy, or, at least, a space opera or some other “soft” form of science fiction. Hard science fiction, the core of the genre, is naturalistic, and based on the Darwinian view of an evolving universe, ruled by chance, but explicable through reason.

... Now, it is no condemnation of science fiction to say it is naturalistic. For that matter, detective stories and Westerns are naturalistic, or, at least, I can think of no whodunit solved through prayer and miracle, and I never read a Western where ghosts were banished by an exorcist armed with bell, book, and candle. What makes science fiction an oddity in naturalistic fiction is this frequent tendency to seek out supernatural themes.

Read the whole article.

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

2011-10-02T21:28:00.003-05:00

How we celebrate the liturgy in our parish communities is of utmost importance. With the disintegration of the liturgy comes a disintegration of Catholic identity, and with that, a community that tears itself apart. Fortunately, proper celebration of the liturgy was and is something very close to the pope's heart. From Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), from "Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977":

I am convinced that the crisis in the [Roman] Church that we are experiencing today is to a large extent due to the disintegration of the liturgy, which at times has even come to be conceived of "etsi Deus non daretur": in that it is a matter of indifference whether or not God exists and whether or not He speaks to us and hears us. But when the community of faith, the world-wide unity of the Church and her history, and the mystery of the living Christ are no longer visible in the liturgy, where else, then, is the Church to become visible in her spiritual essence? Then the community is celebrating only itself, an activity that is utterly fruitless. And, because the ecclesial community cannot have its origin from itself but emerges as a unity only from the Lord, through faith, such circumstances will inexorably result in a disintegration into sectarian parties of all kinds - partisan opposition within a Church tearing herself apart. This is why we need a new Liturgical Movement, which will call to life the real heritage of the Second Vatican Council.

Have I been a witness to this? Absolutely, yes. I am utterly humbled that I am now a witness to this liturgical renewal and new Liturgical Movement about which the pope speaks - to see the real heritage of the Second Vatican Council blossom.

What is the Church?

2011-10-02T18:21:00.000-05:00

Paragraph 760 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church." God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church.

And the Church is the primary means through which Christ gives us, by grace, the supreme gift of Himself, making us partakers of His own Divine Life.The Catechism here references the The Shepherd of Hermas (Vision 2, Ch. 4), a document of the early church written sometime in the 1st or 2nd century:

Now a revelation was given to me, my brethren, while I slept, by a young man of comely appearance, who said to me, "Who do you think that old woman is from whom you received the book?" And I said, "The Sibyl." "You are in a mistake," says he; "it is not the Sibyl." "Who is it then?" say I. And he said, "It is the Church." And I said to him, "Why then is she an old woman?" "Because," said he, "she was created first of all. On this account is she old. And for her sake was the world made."

Blessed Jacinta Marto

2011-09-11T20:26:00.001-05:00

I believe that the Fatima message is reflected in microcosm by the life of little Jacinta Marto. Jacinta, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000, was Lúcia's cousin and the sister of Francisco Marto. She was only seven years old when the Fatima events took place in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. I say that the Fatima message is reflected by her in microcosm, because, even as a playful and affectionate young girl, her life was deeply transformed by God's call to repentance and reparation as delivered by Mary, the great Mother of God who shows us her Son. Little Jacinta died at the age of nine, just a few days before her 10th birthday, a victim of the Spanish Flu Pandemic.

According to those who knew her throughout these events, including Lúcia, both Jacinta and her brother Francisco had developed a keen sense of propriety with regard to prayer. She loved to play and dance, yet Jacinta also knew when it was time to be serious. She understood, as all of the children did, the importance of serious prayer and the call to holiness, and she impressed this upon everyone around her. She willingly embraced sacrifices and mortifications for the sake of others. There is a story that is told about the time when the little Jacinta was imprisoned by the local officials along with her brother, Francisco, and their cousin, Lúcia. The three children were placed in a common cell along with other criminals. Lúcia tells the story of what happened:

[The prisoners] asked if we knew how to dance. We said we knew the "fandango" and the "vira". Jacinta's partner was a poor thief who, finding her so tiny, picked her up and went on dancing with her in his arms! We only hope that our Lady has had pity on his soul and converted him.

And what happened later:

Jacinta took off a medal that she was wearing around her neck, and asked a prisoner to hang it up for her on a nail in the wall. Kneeling before this medal, we began to pray. The prisoners prayed with us, that is, if they knew how to pray, but at least they were down on their knees... While we were saying the Rosary in prison, [Francisco] noticed that one of the prisoners was on his knees with his cap still on his head. Francisco went up to him and said, "If you wish to pray, you should take your cap off." Right away, the poor man handed it to him and he went over and put it on the bench on top of his own.

Jacinta was often moved to tears when the Passion was retold and also loved to contemplate the Crucifixion. She was keenly aware that something had changed inside of her. She is recorded to have said:

I love Our Lord so much! At times, I seem to have a fire in my heart, but it does not burn me.

And before her death, she explained:

I wish I could put into everybody the fire that I have here in my heart which makes me love the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary so much!

Jacinta knew that she would eventually die alone in the hospital. Dr. Enrico Lisboa, a Lisbon physician, submitted the following deposition following her death:

On the evening of that 20th of February, at about 6 o'clock, Jacinta said that she felt worse and wished to receive the sacraments. The parish priest (Dr. Pereira dos Reis) was called and he heard her confession about 8 o'clock that night. I was told that Jacinta had insisted that the Blessed Sacrament be brought to her as Viaticum but that Dr. Reis had not concurred because she seemed fairly well. He promised to bring her Holy Communion in the morning. Jacinta again asked for Viaticum saying that she would shortly die and, indeed, she died that night, peacefully, but without having received Holy Communion.

I think we would do well to meditate on the brief life of little Jacinta Marto and fervently seek her prayerful intercession. She is a particularly special model for young children to look to. She understood more about the deep mysteries of the Faith before age ten than most people do before age 50. Echoing the Lord in Matthew's Gospel, all I can say is, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes."

Dappled Things: counter, original, spare, strange

2011-07-31T23:12:00.000-05:00

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

-- "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Irenaeus: The Eucharist Establishes Our Opinion

2011-07-30T11:29:00.004-05:00

The witness of St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century) in his epic work "Against Heresies" is one of my favorite texts of the Early Church. I have blogged many times on the subject of Irenaeus, and every time I study his work, I am always surprised with what I find. His writing provides a very unique perspective into the life of the Church in the 2nd century.

Man is created body and soul, a complete union of flesh and spirit. "Against Heresies" was composed largely to treat the question of the Gnostics who posed a duality and denied the inherent goodness of the flesh: the flesh, which is evil, could never be brought to partake in eternal life. However, Irenaeus points out their inconsistency by pointing them toward the Eucharist. Just as God can transform created things (bread and wine) into his own Body and Blood for our nourishment, so too can God transform our bodies when we receive that nourishment, giving it a divine character and a share in divine life. The Eucharist is proof of this, and the Resurrection is its culmination.

Central to this is the understanding that when the Church offers the Eucharist, it offers a true Sacrifice, something it received from the apostles who received it from Christ. Like Melchizedek, we offer bread and wine, the first-fruits of created things, and God transforms them into the Body and Blood of Christ who was offered once for sin and who was resurrected, the first-fruits of the New Creation, in which we are made partakers. In that way, we participate in and proclaim the One Sacrifice of Christ and also His Resurrection from the dead. From Ch. 17 of Book IV of "Against Heresies":

Again, giving directions to His disciples to offer to God the first-fruits of His own, created things (not as if He stood in need of them, but that they might be themselves neither unfruitful nor ungrateful), He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, This is My body. And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world...

Picking this up into the next chapter, Irenaeus turns toward the Gnostics (Ch. 18):

.... But how can [these Gnostics] be consistent with themselves, [when they say] that the bread over which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup His blood, if they do not call Himself the Son of the Creator of the world, that is, His Word, through whom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush forth, and the earth gives first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

Then, again, how can [the Gnostics] say that the flesh, which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption, and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter their opinion, or cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Bingo. Why are the Gnostics wrong? Because the Eucharist confirms their inconsistency and their incoherency. Let them therefore either alter their opinion, or cease from offering the Eucharist. St. Irenaeus of Lyons, pray for us!

Second Grade Chant Schola

2011-07-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a really short video featuring the Second Grade Chant Schola at St. Theresa Catholic School in Sugar Land, TX (my parish school). Latin isn't so hard... for kids these days :)

Catholic Studies at Aquinas College

2011-06-29T20:04:00.002-05:00

I would like to call your attention to the very excellent Catholic Studies program at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The program was developed by Dr. John Pinheiro, professor of history, who also just so happens to have been one of my high school religion teachers (15 years ago now). The Catholic Studies program looks quote solid and truly fun, from the looks of it, with classes and colloquia exploring a variety of topics (including "Mathematics and Theology" and also the thought of J.R.R. Tolkien). The program also has a Facebook page. Dr. Pinheiro blogs at History for Smarties. Check it out!

The New Roman Missal and Restoration of Metaphor

2011-06-26T18:50:00.000-05:00

On April 25th at the Midwest Theological Forum in Valparaiso, Indiana, Bishop James Conley (Denver) delivered a speech concerning on the forthcoming New Translation of the Roman Missal, which will be launched officially on the First Sunday of Advent of this year. Bishop Conley has much to say concerning the importance of the new translation in restoring themes and metaphors that were obscured or eliminated in the translation currently in place. He makes several good points:

There is a banal, pedestrian quality to much of the language in our current liturgy. The weakness in the language gets in the way and prevents us from experiencing the sublime spiritual and doctrinal ideas woven into the fabric of the liturgy.
The translators had well-meaning pastoral intentions. They wanted to make the liturgy intelligible and relevant to modern Catholics. To that end, they employed a translation principle they called “dynamic equivalence.”

In practice, this led them to produce an English translation that in many places is essentially a didactic paraphrase of the Latin. In the process, the language of our Eucharistic worship — so rich in scriptural allusion, poetic metaphor and rhythmic repetition — came to be flattened out and dumbed down.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra, Australia has observed that our current translation “consistently bleaches out metaphor, which does scant justice to the highly metaphoric discourse” of the liturgy.

This describes the problem well.

Archbishop Coleridge, by the way, is a translator by training. He headed the committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) that produced the new translation we will begin using in Advent. He has pointed out serious theological difficulties with our current translations, including problems related to ecclesiology and the theology of grace.

The key point here is that the words we pray matter. What we pray makes a difference in what we believe. Our prayer has implications for how we grasp the saving truths that are communicated to us through the liturgy.

For instance, our current translation almost always favors abstract nouns to translate physical metaphors for God. If the Latin prayer refers to the “face” of God, “face” will be translated in abstract conceptual terms, such as “presence.” References to God’s “right hand” will be translated as God’s “power.” This word choice has deep theological implications. The point of the Son of God becoming flesh is that God now has a human face — the face of Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Whoever sees him sees the Father. Yet if in our worship we speak of God only in abstract terms, then effectively we are undermining our faith in the Incarnation.

Indeed. I fully expect that the new translation will produce very interesting results. My hope is that parish priests and administrators will use the opportunity to teach about the beautiful theology unlocked by the new translation rather than let people fall into confusion and alienation.

So what is the real problem with the current translation? Essentially it is less mystical and far too didactic. Bishop Conley continues:

I think the root problem with the translations we have now is that the translators seriously misunderstood the nature of the divine liturgy. Our current translations treat the liturgy basically as a tool for doing catechesis. That’s why our prayers so often sound utilitarian and didactic; often they have a kind of lowest-common-denominator type of feel. That’s because the translators were trying to make the “message” of the Mass accessible to the widest possible audience. But Christ did not give us the liturgy to be a message-delivery system. Of course, we pray what we believe, and what we pray shapes what we believe. Lex orandi, lex credendi. But the liturgy is not meant to “teach” in the same way that a catechism teaches, or even in the same way that a homily teaches.

Precisely. What then is the purpose of liturgy?

On this point, the words of the great liturgical pioneer, Father Romano Guardini, are worth hearing again: The liturgy wishes to teach, but not by means of an artificial system of aim-conscious educational influences. It simply creates an entire spiritual world in which the soul can live according to the requirements of its nature. …. The liturgy creates a universe brimming with fruitful spiritual life, and allows the soul to wander about in it at will and to develop itself there. …. The liturgy has no purpose, or at least, it cannot be considered from the standpoint of purpose. It is not a means which is adapted to attain a certain end — it is an end in itself. This is the authentic spirit of the liturgy.

As Guardini says, the liturgy aims to create a new world for believers to dwell in. A sanctified world where the dividing lines between the human and the divine are erased. Guardini’s vision is beautiful: “The liturgy creates a universe brimming with fruitful spiritual life.”

This is why the words we use are important, and why the new translation is an essential step in authentic liturgical reform.

The new translation of the Mass restores this sense of the liturgy as transcendent and transformative. It restores the sacramentality to our liturgical language. The new translation reflects the reality that our worship here joins in the worship of heaven. The new edition of the Missal seeks to restore the ancient sense of our participation in the cosmic liturgy.

Conley mentions several examples of this, but I particular favor the one concerning the epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer II

Currently we pray:
Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The new translation restores the repetitive language and the biblical metaphor found in the Latin text:
Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Restoring the Latin here gives us a much richer prayer. It also stresses that the liturgy is not our work, but the work of God, who sends down his Spirit from heaven. The key word is “dewfall,” rore in the Latin. It is a poetic metaphor that is filled with Scriptural significance. Of course, the allusion here is to how God fed his chosen people with manna that he sent down from heaven with the morning dew. We are also meant to associate this with Christ calling the Eucharist the true manna, the true “bread which comes down from heaven".

Read the whole speech. It definitely seems there is a resistance to the mystical and incomprehensible in today's world, particularly in the West. If you've ever participated at an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic liturgy, you see right away just how different the approach is to the mystical and ineffable. Eastern liturgy captures this very well. In the West, folks expect to be able to see and comprehend everything they experience and have great difficulty embracing mystery... those things that aren't easily grasped or are impossible to comprehend.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us

2011-06-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

From the very ancient Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom:

Holy God, You dwell among Your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshiped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being. You have created man and woman in Your image and likeness and adorned them with all the gifts of Your grace.

You give wisdom and understanding to the supplicant and do not overlook the sinner but have established repentance as the way of salvation. You have enabled us, Your lowly and unworthy servants, to stand at this hour before the glory of Your holy altar and to offer to You due worship and praise.

Master, accept the thrice holy hymn also from the lips of us sinners and visit us in Your goodness. Forgive our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, sanctify our souls and bodies, and grant that we may worship and serve You in holiness all the days of our lives, by the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints who have pleased You throughout the ages.

For You are holy, our God, and to You we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Blessed are You on the throne of glory of Your kingdom, seated upon the Cherubim, now and forever and to the ages of ages!

More True than the Truth?

2011-06-21T21:45:00.001-05:00

There are too many who put their faith in their own understanding of things, or who seek with intellectual pride to propose that they have found something more true than the simplest of truths. Some ancient Christian wisdom from early writer St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century):

Some people abandon the teachings of the Church and fail to understand how a simple and devout person can have more worth than a philosopher who blasphemes without restraint. Heretics are like that.

Heretics are always wanting to find something more true than the truth. They are always choosing new and unreliable ways. Yet like the blind led by the blind, they will fall into the abyss of ignorance by their own fault.

The Church is like paradise on earth. ‘You may eat freely of the fruit of every tree in the garden,’ says the Spirit of God. In our case he means: Feed on the whole of Scripture, but do not do it with intellectual pride, and do not swallow the opinions of the heretics. They pretend to possess the knowledge of good and evil, but they are impiously elevating their own intelligence above their Creator.

Beware! By devouring the ideas of the heretics we banish ourselves from the paradise of life.

Excerpted from Against Heresies, Book V, Ch. 20

Who do you say that I am?

2011-06-21T21:34:00.000-05:00

From an essay written by philosopher Peter Kreeft, courtesy of Ignatius Insight. I can't tell you how many folks I have encountered over the years who, while withdrawing from Christianity and from any profession of Jesus as divine, nevertheless insist that Jesus was still a good man. Yet, these folks don't consider that either Jesus was who He said He was, namely, God, or He was, quite simply, a liar and a fraud - anything but a good man. It's as simple as that. Peter Kreeft gives an analysis:

The doctrine of Christ's divinity is the central Christian doctrine, for it is like a skeleton key that opens all the others. Christians have not independently reasoned out and tested each of the teachings of Christ, received via Bible and Church, but believe them all on his authority. For if Christ is divine, he can be trusted to be infallible In everything he said, even hard things like exalting suffering and poverty, forbidding divorce, giving his Church the authority to teach and forgive sins in his name, warning about hell (very often and very seriously), instituting the scandalous sacrament of eating his flesh-we often forget how many "hard sayings" he taught!

When the first Christian apologists began to give a reason for the faith that was in them to unbelievers, this doctrine of Christ's divinity naturally came under attack, for it was almost as incredible to Gentiles as it was scandalous to Jews. That a man who was born out of a woman's womb and died on a cross, a man who got tired and hungry and angry and agitated and wept at his friend's tomb, that this man who got dirt under his fingernails should be God was, quite simply, the most astonishing, incredible, crazy-sounding idea that had ever entered the mind of man in all human history.

The argument the early apologists used to defend this apparently indefensible doctrine has become a classic one. C. S. Lewis used it often, e.g., in Mere Christianity, the book that convinced Chuck Colson (and thousands of others). I once spent half a book (Between Heaven and Hell) on this one argument alone. It is the most important argument in Christian apologetics, for once .in unbeliever accepts the conclusion of this argument (that Christ is divine), everything else in the Faith follows, not only intellectually (Christ's teachings must all then be true) but also personally (if Christ is God, he is also your total Lord and Savior).

The argument, like all effective arguments, is extremely simple: Christ was either God or a bad man.

Unbelievers almost always say he was a good man, not a bad man; that he was a great moral teacher, a sage, a philosopher, a moralist, and a prophet, not a criminal, not a man who deserved to be crucified. But a good man is the one thing he could not possibly have been according to simple common sense and logic. For he claimed to be God. He said, "Before Abraham was, I Am", thus speaking the word no Jew dares to speak because it is God's own private name, spoken by God himself to Moses at the burning bush. Jesus wanted everyone to believe that he was God. He wanted people to worship him. He claimed to forgive everyone's sins against everyone. (Who can do that but God, the One offended in every sin?)

Read the whole thing.

Where have I been

2011-06-19T23:25:00.001-05:00

Wow, I am sorry for allowing my blog to languish here for so long! I just realized that my last post was posted before Easter! I have been very busy over the last few weeks, but I do intend to post more soon. Thank you for your patience, those of you who still follow this blog :)

Dominicans: At the Foot of the Cross

2011-04-22T09:49:00.001-05:00

The Dominican History blog has a very good post on the famous painting by Flemish painter Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596-1675), "Christ on the Cross Adored by Eight Saints of the Dominican Order". It is truly a masterpiece of art. The painting is presently housed at the Louvre in Paris. From the museum website:

"This grisaille work was a model for an engraving by Adriaen Lommelin (c. 1616-after 1673). It is dated 1652 and dedicated to the newly appointed bishop of Ypres, the Dominican Ambrosius Capello. The saints represent the qualities a bishop should aspire to: doctrinal wisdom, Marian devotion, courage, rectitude, zeal in pastoral work and in preaching, charity, and intelligence - all under the sign of the cross, Verbum Crucis...

Dominican iconography

The identity of each saint is indicated by his or her attributes. Each illustrates a particular quality that should inspire Capello in his ministry. Saint Thomas Aquinas, representing doctrinal wisdom, is about to begin writing, directly inspired by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Saint Hyacinth of Krakow, representing Marian devotion, is pointing at a statue of the Virgin. Saint Peter of Verona, tortured with daggers and cutlasses, represents courage. Saint Catherine of Siena, wearing a crown of thorns and bearing the stigmata, is the image of pure devotion. Saint Dominic, carrying a Marian lily, represents zeal in pastoral work. His name, domini canis, the Lord's dog, explains the presence of the black-and-white dog at his feet. Saint Vincent Ferrer's zeal in preaching is evident as he points towards Heaven to remind us of the Last Judgment, while the little child is an allusion to one of the miraculous cures he effected. The elderly Saint Raymond of Peñafort, the theologian of the sacrament of penitence, is the symbol of vigilance and rectitude. Finally, Saint Antoninus, archbishop of Florence, symbolizes just intelligence and charity. His scales are tipped towards the paper bearing the words Deo Gratias (legible only on the engraving), which are thus heavier than the fruit offered to the saint by a peasant in the hoping of winning his good favor."

Read more at Dominican History and the Louvre website.

His blood be upon us and upon our children

2011-04-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Eric Sammons has an excellent post regarding the Holy Father's reflections on these infamous words "His blood be upon us and upon our children":

One of the most profound insights from Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week is his meditation on the words of the crowd when they condemned Jesus to crucifixion: “His blood be upon us and upon our children” (Matthew 27:25). This passage has famously been used throughout history to condemn the Jewish race for the crime of deicide, but Benedict sees something far deeper at work here. Unlike the blood of other innocent men, it does not condemn, it redeems. The truth is that we all have his blood on upon us, for every time we sin, we crucify our Lord. But this is the blood of mercy, which cleanses us of our sins. This is the blood which Christ tells us we must drink or we do not have eternal life. This is the life-giving blood which pours out from the pierced side of Christ and forms the Church. This is the blood which is our salvation.

May it be upon us and upon our children.

Holy (Maundy) Thursday in Rome

2011-04-22T09:22:00.000-05:00

Sulpicia, Ancient Roman Poetess

2011-04-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

We don't hear a lot about the female Roman poets. However, for our literary education, the Latin Blog introduces us to the ancient poetess Sulpicia and to one of her poems, shown here:

inuisus natalis adest, qui rure molesto
(Birthday is here, I hate it.)

et sine Cerintho tristis agendus erit
(It will be melancholy without Cerinthus)

dulcius urbe quid est?
(What is sweeter than a city?)

an uilla sit apta puellae atque Arretino frigidus amnis agro?
(Is a farmhouse on a cold stream on the Arretine what a girl needs?)

iam, nimium Messalla mei studiose, quiescas;
(Now Messala, you’re too anxious about me, rest a bit)

non tempestiuae saepe, propinque, uiae
(Your excursions are often ill timed)

hic animum, sensusque meos, abducta relinquo,
(This is where I relinquish my heart, feelings; snatched away)

arbitrio quam uis non sinit esse meo.
(It won’t let me act as I wish)

It seems... well... no comment. The translation seems a little sharp to me. I understand that only six of her poems can be found today. You can read them here. Interestingly, the omnipotent Wikipedia speaks of two women poets named Sulpicia.

Fire by suspected arsonist at Sagrada Familia

2011-04-19T21:44:00.002-05:00

According to the Telegraph (UK)

Four people were treated for smoke inhalation, according to Catalan regional police, who added that around 1,500 people had been evacuated from architect Antoni Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece.

The towering basilica is one of the top draws in Spain's second-largest city and in all of Spain, receiving more than two million visitors a year.

The official said some tourists saw smoke coming from inside the sacristy and alerted authorities, and the suspected arsonist was arrested.

Thomas Peters adds further:

The damage tally at this point is:

- smoke damage/smell throughout the entire building but particularly in the crypt
- all of the vestments and furniture in the sacristy destroyed (none by Gaudi)
- walls of the sacristy have been blackened
- speculation that all or part of the basilica’s electrical system will have to be replaced due to smoke damage.

Fortunately, it looks like nobody was hurt badly. There seems to be an uptick of anti-religious fervor in Spain as there have been many other reports of church vandalism. The pope is going to Madrid this summer for World Youth Day. It will be interesting to see what happens then. Having had the opportunity to visit beautiful Spain last year, it was awesome to experience its rich tapestry of religious history.

Benedict on Holiness

2011-04-16T19:21:00.001-05:00

Holiness is important. In fact, it's why we're here. Holiness, theosis, divine sonship. And more to the point: it's available to everyone! Did you know that you are called to be a saint? Shouldn't that change your perspective on everything in your life? Zenit reports from Pope Benedict's latest papal audience in Rome:

What does it mean to be saints? Who is called to be a saint? Often it is thought that holiness is a goal reserved for a few chosen ones. St. Paul, however, speaks of God's great plan and affirms: "[God] chose us in him [Christ], before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us" (Ephesians 1:4). And he speaks of all of us. At the center of the divine design is Christ, in whom God shows his Face: the Mystery hidden in the centuries has been revealed in the fullness of the Word made flesh. And Paul says afterward: "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19). In Christ the living God has made himself close, visible, audible, tangible so that all can obtain his fullness of grace and truth (cf. John 1:14-16).

Because of this, the whole of Christian existence knows only one supreme law, the one St. Paul expresses in a formula that appears in all his writings: in Christ Jesus. Holiness, the fullness of Christian life does not consist of realizing extraordinary enterprises, but in union with Christ, in living his mysteries, in making our own his attitudes, his thoughts, his conduct. The measure of holiness is given by the height of holiness that Christ attains in us, of how much, with the strength of the Holy Spirit, we mold all our life to his. It is our conforming ourselves to Jesus, as St. Paul affirms: "For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). And St. Augustine exclaimed: "My life will be alive full of You" (Confessions, 10, 28). In the Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council spoke with clarity of the universal call to holiness, affirming that no one is excluded: "The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one -- that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God, and who ... follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to be worthy of being sharers in His glory" (No. 41).

Did you see that? No one is excluded from the universal call to holiness. But how to we achieve holiness? The pope continues:

However, the question remains: How can we journey on the path of holiness, how can we respond to this call? Can I do so with my own strength? The answer is clear: A holy life is not primarily the fruit of our own effort, of our actions, because it is God, the thrice Holy (cf. Isaiah 6:3), who makes us saints, and the action of the Holy Spirit who encourages us from within; it is the life itself of the Risen Christ, which has been communicated to us and which transforms us. To say it again according to Vatican Council II: "The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace. They are justified in the Lord Jesus, because in the baptism of faith they truly become sons of God and sharers in the divine nature. In this way they are really made holy. Then too, by God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in their lives this holiness they have received" (ibid., 40).

Awesome! In baptism of faith we become sons of God and sharers in God's own divine nature. Incredible. Magnificent. The pope then expounds on this even more:

Hence, holiness has its main root in baptismal grace, in being introduced into the paschal mystery of Christ, with which his Spirit is communicated to us, his life as the Risen One. St. Paul points out the transformation wrought in man by baptismal grace and even coins a new terminology, forged with the preposition "with": "We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). However, God always respects our liberty and asks that we accept this gift and that we live the demands it entails. He asks that we allow ourselves to be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, conforming our will to the will of God.

How can we make our way of thinking and our actions become thinking and acting with Christ and of Christ? What is the soul of holiness? Again Vatican II specifies: It tells us that holiness is none other than charity fully lived. "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (1 John 4:16). Now God has amply diffused his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (cf. Romans 5:5); because of this, the first and most necessary gift is charity, with which we love God above all things and our neighbor out of love for him. For charity to grow as a good seed in the soul and fructify us, every faithful one must listen willingly to the Word of God, and with the help of his grace, realize the works of his will, participate frequently in the sacraments, above all in the Eucharist and in the holy liturgy, constantly approach prayer, abnegation of oneself, in the active service to brothers and the exercise of all virtue. Charity, in fact, is the bond of perfection and fulfillment of the law (cf. Colossians 3:14; Romans 13:10); it directs all the means of sanctification, gives them their form and leads them to their end.

In essence, holiness is none other than "charity fully lived", that which is brought about in us by God's grace, incorporating us into God's own divine life. Laudetur Iesus Christus! Therefore, let us hasten to the sacraments, particularly during this Holy Week. Embrace the Sacrament of Confession! Receive Holy Communion worthily. Pray daily. And serve one another, not for your glory, but for God's glory. Read the whole speech and pray for the pope daily.

Benedict's Birthday

2011-04-16T19:07:00.002-05:00

Today is the pope's birthday :) Take a minute and pray for him and for strength in mind, heart, body, and soul.

The Biblical Art of the Roman Catacombs

2011-04-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

Bring the Shuttle Home, Houston!

2011-04-11T20:39:00.000-05:00

I can't think of any other place, except perhaps Kennedy Space Center in Florida, that deserves to have one of the retired space shuttles more than Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. In fact, I'm quite surprised that we have to even have such a discussion. After all, Mission Control is in Houston. Most of the astronauts live in Houston. The astronauts who died in shuttle disasters - they lived here along with their families. The astronauts train in Houston. Most of the design, development, and overall planning for each project has been done in Houston. It only makes sense! Join the BringTheShuttleHome.com movement!

Members of the task force weigh in at the Houston Chronicle:

As part of its commitment to housing a flown orbiter, Space Center Houston will develop a new state-of-the-art, 53,000-square-foot orbiter exhibit featuring interactive, educational experiences that will encourage student interest and commitment to STEM education. The theme for the exhibit will be the human side of shuttle operations, including astronaut activities and what they accomplished on the shuttle.

Houston will also establish a new Space Shuttle Education Foundation to fund the attendance cost of all validated education groups. There are tremendous educational benefits to all the children who visit NASA Johnson Space Center daily. Space science is abstract and a challenge for many students to comprehend. The presence of a space shuttle would serve as the catalyst to promote understanding and inspiration. National science standards prescribe aviation and solar science in many states as a basis of state curricula.

None of us should forget the amazing NASA families who have made Houston their home and who have dedicated, and in some instances, given their lives to human space flight. They know what we all know and what our president and NASA administrator must also know - that the iconic shuttle belongs in Houston, where it can be a catalyst for generations to come to explore the human frontier of space and science.

Last and certainly not least as reasons that Houston should be at the top of any list to house a retired orbiter is the city's commitment to pay for it. Unlike other contenders, Houston does not need a handout to cover all the costs associated with housing an orbiter.

Bring it home!

Matt Maher "Alive Again" for STS-132

2011-04-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

This is a few months old now, but I still think it's cool. The astronauts of Shuttle Mission STS-132 Atlantis, docked to the International Space Station last May, waking up to "Alive Again", a song by Catholic singer/songwriter Matt Maher... and a greeting from Houston to Mission Specialist Michael Good.

Blogger template

2011-04-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

Over the last few weeks, I have been revamping the template a bit...

Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood

2011-04-09T11:54:00.001-05:00

My wife and I support breast cancer research, but we do not give money to Susan G. Komen in light of the fact that Komen has given money to Planned Parenthood in the past, ostensibly for breast cancer screening and mammograms. It now appears that, in spite of statements to the contrary, Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms at any of its facilities. Lifenews reports:

Now that an expose’ has revealed Planned Parenthood abortion centers do not do mammograms on site but merely refer women to legitimate medical centers that do, a key organization that funds it is facing questions.

After concerns earlier this year that Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards made false claims in defending its taxpayer funding that it provides mammograms for women, the organization Live Action released videotaped footage of calls to 30 Planned Parenthood centers nationwide in 27 different states where abortion facility staff were asked whether or not mammograms could be performed on site. Every one of the Planned Parenthood centers admitted they could not do mammograms. Every Planned Parenthood, without exception, tells the women calling that they will have to go elsewhere for a mammogram, and many clinics admit that no Planned Parenthood clinics provide this breast cancer screening procedure... That information is now raising questions about the millions of dollars the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has given in grants to the abortion business, which it says is partly for mammograms.

Komen’s own figures show 20 of Komen’s 122 affiliates have made donations to Planned Parenthood and, last year, those contributions totaled $731,303. Komen spokesman John Hammarley also confirmed Komen affiliates contributed about $3.3 million to the abortion business from 2004-2009.

In a March 2011 statement about Planned Parenthood, Komen claims the grants to the Planned Parenthood abortion business are meant to help women with breast health.

“Early screening through mammograms and education is critical to end the suffering from this disease: 98 percent of women treated for early stage breast cancer, before it spreads, are alive five years later. The widespread use of mammography and heightened public awareness of breast cancer both contribute to these favorable statistics,” Komen says. “And while Komen Affiliates provide funds to pay for screening, education and treatment programs in dozens of communities, in some areas, the only place that poor, uninsured or under-insured women can receive these services are through programs run by Planned Parenthood.”

With Planned Parenthood not offering mammograms for women, SusanAnne Hiller of the conservative website Big Journalism wonders why Komen is making the grants...

Hiller also notes that Planned Parenthood only provides breast exams of the self-exam type women can do on their own or with a trusted friend or family member at home.

“However, the Komen memo links mammography, screenings, education, and treatment of breast cancer as their list of reasons it contributes to PP. It’s perpetuated all across the media without validation,” she says. “The Komen Foundation needs to come clean on specifically what those PP contributions are designated for and why they really continue to support Planned Parenthood.”

Former Planned Parenthood director, Abby Johnson, recently stated that if any type of cancer is diagnosed at Planned Parenthood, the patients are always referred out - Planned Parenthood doesn't actually provide cancer treatment. Rather than give money to Susan G. Komen, consider donating instead to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute or the Polycarp Research Institute.

The Inadequacy of Intelligent Design

2011-04-09T11:33:00.003-05:00

Professor Francis Beckwith (Baylor) weighs in on an ongoing discussion between Edward Feser and Jay Wesley Richards on Intelligent Design theory and classical Thomism.

My friends Edward Feser and Jay Wesley Richards, both fellow Catholics, are engaged in an online dispute about whether contemporary Intelligent Design theory (ID) runs counter to classical Thomistic understandings of nature and final causality. On this matter, I am with Ed. For I believe that ID, as defended by Michael Behe and William A. Dembski, is a view that in the long run serves to undermine rather than advance the cause of Christian theism. Of course, I see why some of my fellow Christians, both Protestants and Catholics, are so attracted to ID. For it promises to beat the apologists of atheism at their own game with the only tools they believe are epistemically appropriate, the methods of the empirical sciences. But this posture, it seems to me, uncritically accepts this first premise, which is inherently hostile to the sort of metaphysical thinking on which large swaths of the Christian worldview depend.

Naturally, I agree with Frank and Ed on this. Though without getting into some of the more explicit, philosophical details here, I would just echo what I have said before: In general, ID theory (and the movement behind it), and, in particular, notions such as "irreducible complexity" (Behe), tend easily toward a "God of the Gaps" view; such a view is not consistent with the Catholic intellectual tradition or understanding of God. We do not believe a God whose existence is somehow demonstrated by our ignorance of what isn't presently known or understood. On the contrary, we believe and profess a God who created and upholds the universe and who has purposely and intentionally imbued it with intelligibility. The universe is rational, and our growing comprehension of it only further demonstrates God's hand, not the other way around. I echoed Christoph Schönborn on this before (emphasis mine):

A great deal that was previously incomprehensible in natural processes, because we did not know how to explain it, can be explained today through scientific research and has thereby become comprehensible... The more that is explained, the less there remains that is inexplicable. Is the "room" for God becoming steadily "smaller"? It is no wonder that Der Spiegel closes the article ["God versus Darwin: a religious war over evolution"] with the words, "It's becoming cramped for the creator."

Yet belief in the Creator does not begin at the point where we do not yet know something, but precisely where we do know very well. The proper approach is to look at what we already know today. That, thank God, is a great deal. We are not looking where there is still something unexplained to see if there is still room for God, but looking at what we know and asking, "What is this based on?"

Read the Beckwith's whole treatment and follow the discussion.

The Dead Yeast Society

2011-04-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., molecular biologist at Providence College (Rhode Island), speaks about teaching biology and the Dead Yeast Society research lab. :)

Why we need the new English translation of the Missal

2011-03-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

There are many reasons why the upcoming new English translation of the Roman Missal is so sorely needed. The new translation will take effect in Advent of this year. I think the most compelling reason is that it will unlock for us many profound theological treasures that are present in the original Latin and are simply obscured or ignored by the present translation. Many of these prayers go back to the 4th and 5th centuries. Fr. Zuhlsdorf, of the wdtprs blog, points out a very good example. The Post Communion prayer for the 3rd Sunday of Lent in the Ordinary Form, according to the translation presently in use, is this:

Lord,
in sharing this sacrament
may we receive your forgiveness
and be brought together in unity and peace.

The original Latin for the prayer is this:

Sumentes pignus caelestis arcani,
et in terra positi iam superno pane satiati,
te, Domine, supplices deprecamur,
ut, quod in nobis mysterio geritur, opere impleatur.

The new English translation, which will be in effect starting in Advent of this year, renders the Latin this way:

As we receive the pledge
of things yet hidden in heaven
and are nourished while still on earth
with the Bread that comes from on high,
we humbly entreat you, O Lord,
that what is being brought about in us in mystery
may come to true completion.

There is simply NO COMPARISON here. The translation currently in use bears little-to-no resemblance to the beauty and truth preserved in the Latin. While it is true that some of the prayers may sound clumsy in English at first (no translation can ever be perfect; we are human beings, after all), I am convinced that what we will hear in terms of content and theological truth will benefit us immensely.

Ash Wednesday

2011-03-09T20:09:00.000-06:00

Today, Pope Benedict was at Santa Sabina in Rome, as is the annual tradition, to mark Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent:

And for another memory of Ash Wednesday, the Dominican History blog has an excellent excerpt from the Libellus of Bl. Jordan of Saxony on his reception of the Dominican habit with two of his companions on Ash Wednesday, February 12, 1220.

From the Libellus of Jordan of Saxony:
The Entrance of Brothers Jordan, Henry and Leo into the Order of Preachers

75. On Ash Wednesday, when the imposition of ashes reminds the faithful of their origin from and return to dust, we decided that a suitable way to begin the season of penance would be to fulfill the vow we had made to the Lord. Now none of our companions where we lived knew of our plan. So when Brother Henry left his lodgings and one of his companions asked him where he was going, he answered, "To Bethany." He did not understand what Henry meant, but later on he did, when he saw Henry enter Bethany, which means "the house of obedience." The three of us met at Saint-Jacques and, while the brethren were chanting "Immutemus habitu," we presented ourselves before them, much to their surprise, and, putting off the old man, we put on the new, thus suiting our actions to what they were singing.
Immutemur habitu, in cinere et cilicio: ieiunemus et ploremus ante Dominum: quia multum misericors est dimittere peccata nostra Deus noster.

Let us change our garments for ashes and sackcloth: let us fast and lament before the Lord: for plenteous in mercy is our God to forgive our sins.

Reparte com alegria, como a Jacinta

2011-01-29T23:21:00.001-06:00

"Share with joy, like Jacinta"

This was the theme chosen (in Portuguese) by the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, Portugal, for the year 2010: a reflection that was intended to commemorate the centennial of the birth of Fatima visionary Blessed Jacinta Marto while also offering a simple reflection on the 10th commandment against coveting our neighbor's goods and having a spirit of charity and generosity. This particular focus received a "thumbs-up" from me, as I shall explain. The Shrine's Rector explained:

In fact, Jacinta Marto possesses this quality. She is that child who is always available for God and for others, namely, in the practice of sacrifices, in prayer and in almsgiving. We think that, with that key phrase in mind, we can make a reflection, a catechesis, which would, at different levels, appeal to sharing, to love of neighbor, to generosity, solidarity, amongst other things.

During our pilgrimage to Europe last November/December, we made a visit, albeit brief, to Fatima. Naturally, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. There is so much drama and controversy surrounding Fatima, to actually visit the site seemed to me almost like visiting Dealey Plaza or the site of some major historical event.

As a Catholic, I have never been one to succumb to "apparition fever" as many others have. The Church has naturally cautioned against this. One need only read the text and theological explanation of the Fatima message to ascertain this. When it comes to "revelation", everything necessary for salvation was communicated in the God-man Jesus Christ. It is helpful to refer to the mystical theology of St. John of the Cross, as the Church has done, in order to keep our head straight:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more to say... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

The Church is also quick to add, however, that even with this in mind, there is still a place, albeit assuming one proceeds with extreme prudence, for such a thing as "private revelation" in the life of the Church and the life of the believer. What could this possibly be? The Catechism explains (paragraph 67):

It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

The Church's theological explanation of the Fatima message elaborates on this further:

How can [private revelations] be classified correctly in relation to Scripture? To which theological category do they belong? The oldest letter of Saint Paul which has been preserved, perhaps the oldest of the New Testament texts, the First Letter to the Thessalonians, seems to me to point the way. The Apostle says: “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything, holding fast to what is good” (5:19-21). In every age the Church has received the charism of prophecy, which must be scrutinized but not scorned.

It is with this eye that we have to proceed. Private revelation, while not obligatory for salvation, can in some cases be helpful to the nurturing and cultivation of faith and devotion, particularly in difficult times. It necessarily involves popular piety, but it must not depart from the Magisterial authority of the church -- which, in my opinion, must come first, lest folks become like those who elevate private revelation (even revelation that which does not seek to supplement public revelation) above and against the reflective guidance of Christ's church, the instrument and sacrament through which Christ leads us by grace to salvation.

So what, then, is the "Fatima message"? Essentially it is a call to conversion, repentance, penance, redemptive suffering, and grace for the salvation of souls. This is what Rome's explanation has to say:

“To save souls” has emerged as the key word of the first and second parts of the “secret”, and the key word of this third part is the threefold cry: “Penance, Penance, Penance!” The beginning of the Gospel comes to mind: “Repent and believe the Good News” (Mk 1:15). To understand the signs of the times means to accept the urgency of penance – of conversion – of faith. This is the correct response to this moment of history, characterized by the grave perils... Sister Lucia said that it appeared ever more clearly to her that the purpose of all the apparitions was to help people to grow more and more in faith, hope and love—everything else was intended to lead to this.

Now, back to my story. It's true: Fatima, like Lourdes, has a lot of kitschy shops that are not run by the Church nor officially associated with the shrine. Once you leave the streets of the town and enter the grounds of the sanctuary, you no longer observe these things. To be honest, I was not put off too much by such things. We will continue to find such things in a fallen world driven by the desire to make money. The Fatima message isn't about those things. While we were there, we participated in Holy Mass at the Capelinha, spent time in humble adoration, walked the Stations of the Cross in the vast pasture and woods across town where the children often took their sheep, and my wife and I were even asked to lead a decade of the rosary in English during the nightly International Rosary and procession.

So now I come full circle to what I stated in the beginning of this post. What pleasantly surprised me about being at Fatima was that while much of the rest of the world is caught up in the controversies and dramas of the Fatima encounter, Vatican politics, and the "Third Secret", the Shrine itself has in mind only the Fatima message: the call to conversion, repentance, and redemptive suffering. How does it do this? By challenging us to meditate on Christ at work in the Fatima visionaries as evidenced by their profound virtues, particularly those of the youngest children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, now beatified by the Church. And this is exactly how it should be -- this is where the core of the Fatima message is to be found. Naturally, whatever it was the children experienced comes to us only through their own subjective, child-like perception. Yet, we should also naturally expect to see the fruit of the Fatima message in their lives. From a study of their lives, we can glean volumes of such depth and richness, it could put any adult to shame. As adults, we can only praise God, echoing our Lord who prayed, as recorded in Matthew's Gospel, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes". I plan to write more about this in the coming weeks.

Reparte com alegria, como a Jacinta

The point of Christmas...

2011-01-06T23:26:00.000-06:00

From Pope Benedict XVI's most recent papal audience:

It is necessary to liberate this Christmas period from an overly moralistic and sentimental wrapping. The celebration of Christmas does not only present us with examples to imitate, such as the humility and poverty of the Lord, His benevolence and love for mankind; rather it is an invitation to let oneself be transformed totally by the One Who entered our flesh... The aim of God becoming manifest was that we might participate in divine life, and that the mystery of His incarnation might be realized in us. This mystery is the fulfillment of man's vocation.

I love this pope! :)

On Online Arguments

2010-12-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

There is a pithy little piece over at The Atlantic on winning online arguments.

What I often see in religious arguments in comment boxes on blogs and so forth thoroughly disgusts me. In the past, I have been on both ends of the rail, but I can barely stand to write comments on blogs anymore, especially when I do take the time (too much time, in some cases) to understand someone's argument only to have my very time consuming response rebuffed, brushed off, or summarily deleted. It's the time of thing that can send any person into a frenzy. I've encountered this quite a bit on many Catholic blogs. Grr!

Just seeing what my online friend Hugo goes through at the SDA2RC blog is interesting. He can humbly make a succinct, balanced, and intelligent point that is devastating to someone's argument, and instead of being engaged in a serious manner, he is subjected to relentless browbeating ("Oh, well, you just haven't taken this class or read this book - how can you possibly expect to be right about X?" or "How dare you question or challenge me? You don't have my superior education"). And then there's also deliberate obfuscation in a feeble attempt to deflect a striking blow ("Oh, well, when I said X, I was really talking about Y and Z, and therefore you're a fool for not seeing that"). And Hugo is probably one of the most humble, balanced, respectful, and educated Christians I have ever met (online, certainly), and he is treated this way by people in positions of ministry who clearly should know better.

I can only think of when I went to hear Fr. Michael Crosby, OFM Cap., speak back in 2003. Of course, this was not a blogging venue, but the attitude was the same. He laughed as he boasted about how great of a scholar of scripture he was, his vast educational background and ministry experience. Then he proceeded to brag about how he once publicly humiliated a couple of young adults who dared to question something he once said in a talk (something he was clearly wrong about, by the way). And I've seen this done elsewhere in other contexts as well, by Catholics and non-Catholics, by priests, protestant pastors, campus ministers, and atheists. These people are not concerned with what is true or good or holy. They are only concerned about themselves. I suppose it's a temptation any of us can fall into. Let us meditate on that today.

Pilgrimage

2010-12-29T17:26:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we returned from an amazing pilgrimage to Europe. It will take us a long time to unpack all of the insights and graces we received through the experience. We spent time in Portugal, France, and Italy, but most of our time was spent in Spain. We stayed just outside of Madrid near to the village of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, and we made day trips to Avila, Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, Toledo, Segovia, Loyola, and Javier (the latter two locales of course being the birthplaces of the notable Jesuits Ignatius and Francis Xavier, respectively). I very much enjoyed Toledo, particularly its massive cathedral, and I would love to return to Salamanca in order to explore its historic university.

Throughout our journey, we stayed in hospederias run by convents and monasteries, and we were very well taken care of with lots of good food, drink, and company. We were also very fortunate to have been traveling with a good priest who graced us with daily mass in every location, from deep within the papal tombs of St. Peter's in Rome to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Lourdes, from places both lofty and large to simple and understated. It's also amazing where you can spontaneously find opportunities to spend time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. There are churches in even the darkest alleys of Toledo that have the Blessed Sacrament exposed. How awesome is that! We also were able to pray with our beloved Holy Father in Rome both at the Sunday Angelus as well as at the papal audience and listen to him preach.

On the whole, we learned a great deal and developed an even greater appreciation for the local culture as well as the complex history of Christianity in Europe. But more than that, as a pilgrimage, it was a profound spiritual experience. I will try to unpack that a little bit more on the blog in the coming weeks.

Christmas!

2010-12-24T23:41:00.000-06:00

O Magnum Mysterium! O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!

... the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.

- St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century), Against Heresies, Preface to Book V.

The Reason for the Season: Theosis

2010-12-18T20:27:00.004-06:00

Eric Sammons has a fine post about deification ("theosis" in the East) as being the whole point of Christmas. St. Peter asserts (2 Peter 1:4) that in Jesus Christ, God has enabled us to become "partakers in the divine nature". That is why God assumed our humanity in Jesus Christ: so that we might come to share in His divinity. Indeed, through grace via the sacramental life, God makes us sharers in His own divine life. We receive divine sonship, becoming God's own sons and daughters. The fullness of salvation will entail being completely united to Him. Eric writes, quoting from the Catechism:

The Son of God shares in our human nature so that we can share in his divine nature. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, drawing from Scripture and the Catholic Tradition, emphasizes this connection between God becoming man and our being made like God:
The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4): “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”(St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939) “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” (St. Athanasius, De inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B) “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57, 1-4) (CCC 460)
Too often we look at Heaven as just a really great earth: we eat whatever we want, we hang out with whoever we want and we never get sick or hurt. But Heaven is less about what we do and more about what we become. When we enter into Heaven we are transformed into a new creation: while keeping our human nature we participate in the divine nature.

Well said. As Eric has said, we must not read the wrong idea into this notion of deification. It is not a confusion of humanity and divinity, such as one might find in the Eastern non-Christian religions. It is also not as Mormons might suggest: We do not become beings with our own divine nature or ability. What we become is solely dependent upon the one true God, for the divine life in which we partake is His. I am reminded of one of the sermons of one of my favorite Dominican mystics, Johannes Tauler, who preached:

What God has in himself by nature, that he now imparts to the soul by grace, the divine being, unnamed and without form or manner of existence that we can express. And now everything that is done in that soul God himself does, acting, knowing, loving, praising, enjoying, all of which the soul has and does as if it were a passive instrument of God's activity. One can no more speak of this state clearly than he can speak clearly of the divine life itself. To men and angels it is far too high for expression.

I wish you all a blessed 4th week of Advent as we prepare for that most awesome celebration.

Aλήθεια

2010-12-17T08:36:00.001-06:00

The Byzantine Rambler has something to say, and I wish to echo that. Click here.

Fr. McDermott on Catherine of Siena

2010-12-15T23:16:00.000-06:00

Fr. Thomas McDermott, O.P., was recently featured on "EWTN Bookmark" discussing his new book on the spiritual life and teaching of St. Catherine of Siena. I recently acquired this book, coincidentally, and I am looking forward to beginning it soon!

St. Catherine, pray for us!

Mary and the Nativity

2010-12-11T20:42:00.000-06:00

From a sermon by Ephrem of Syria (Sermo 3 de diversis, Opera omnia, III), 4th century:

The titles of Mary are many, and it is right that I should use them: she is the palace where dwells the mighty King of kings; not as he entered her did he leave her, for from her he put on a body and came forth. Again, she is the new heaven, in which there dwells the King of kings; he shone out in her and came forth into creation, formed and clothed in her features. She is the stem of the cluster of grapes, she gave forth fruit beyond nature's means, and he, though his nature bore no resemblance to hers, put on her hue and came forth from her. She is the spring whence flowed living water for the thirsty (ex quo sitientibus fluxerunt aquae vivae), and those who have tasted its draught give forth fruit a hundred fold.

Mary is the preeminent preacher of the Word; her very life proclaims Christ, the Eternal Word, for she bore Him in her womb and brought him to birth in the world. And even if she dares not say a word from her mouth, her very life is a model for all who preach Christ. Let us meditate on that today.

Scripture and the Sacred Liturgy

2010-11-19T12:45:00.001-06:00

From Part Two of Pope Benedict XVI's postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Verbum Domini," concerning Scripture and the Sacred Liturgy:

The Church has always realized that in the liturgical action the word of God is accompanied by the interior working of the Holy Spirit who makes it effective in the hearts of the faithful. Thanks to the Paraclete, "the word of God becomes the foundation of the liturgical celebration, and the rule and support of all our life. The working of the same Holy Spirit ... brings home to each person individually every-thing that in the proclamation of the word of God is spoken for the good of the whole gathering. In strengthening the unity of all, the Holy Spirit at the same time fosters a diversity of gifts and furthers their multiform operation".[185]

To understand the word of God, then, we need to appreciate and experience the essential meaning and value of the liturgical action. A faith-filled understanding of sacred Scripture must always refer back to the liturgy, in which the word of God is celebrated as a timely and living word: "In the liturgy the Church faithfully adheres to the way Christ himself read and explained the sacred Scriptures, beginning with his coming forth in the synagogue and urging all to search the Scriptures".[186]

Here one sees the sage pedagogy of the Church, which proclaims and listens to sacred Scripture following the rhythm of the liturgical year. This expansion of God's word in time takes place above all in the Eucharistic celebration and in the Liturgy of the Hours. At the centre of everything the paschal mystery shines forth, and around it radiate all the mysteries of Christ and the history of salvation which become sacramentally present: "By recalling in this way the mysteries of redemption, the Church opens up to the faithful the riches of the saving actions and the merits of her Lord, and makes them present to all times, allowing the faithful to enter into contact with them and to be filled with the grace of salvation".[187]

Thank you, Benedict!. And as I have said before on this blog, the liturgy is the proper context for scripture. The scriptures were canonized precisely for the purpose of proclamation within the context of the liturgy. Liturgy is naturally the primary context through which Christians, like those before, have always encountered the scriptures. And, of course, the liturgy would not be what it is without the scriptures.

Fr. Thomas McGlynn, O.P, and the Fatima Statue

2010-11-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

I recently ran across an interesting story recently about Fr. Thomas Matthew McGlynn, O.P., an American priest and artist who is best known for sculpting the large statue of Our Lady of Fatima that currently stands in the niche above the main entrance of the basilica in Fatima, Portugal. The large statue is based on a smaller statue that is said to be the most accurate representation of the Virgin from the apparitions, as it was constructed with the careful consultation of Lúcia Santos, whom we of course know as one of the three children who claimed to have witnessed the apparitions at Fatima in 1917. What is most striking about the statue is how simple it is. Apparently Fr. McGlynn had originally produced a version of the statue according to his particular interpretation of the apparitions and had gone to Portugal in order to acquire the approval of Lúcia. However, when he consulted with Lúcia (Lucy), she convinced him that he had to start from scratch apparently because she was not pleased with many of the details:

After examining the [first, original] statue for some time, [Lúcia] said,"It's not the right position. The right hand should be raised and the left, lower down. The garments in the statue are too smooth. The light was in waves and gave the impression of a garment with folds. She was surrounded by light and she was in the middle of light. Her feet rested on the azinheira (a small holm oak tree). The leaves of the azinheira were small as it was a young tree. The leaves did not bend down." This was a shock to Tom who thought that Our Lady had appeared on a cloud, a form he considered to be appropriately artistic. Lucy added, "She always had a star on her tunic. She always had a cord with a little ball of light,' and she indicated an imaginary pendant around the neck falling down near the waistline.

She explained that there were only two garments visible, a simple tunic and a long veil or mantle. The tunic had no collar and no cuffs. Nor was there a cincture or a sash around the waist, although the tunic was drawn in at the waist. The sleeves were not wide, and the mantle and the tunic were a wave of light. When Tom (McGlynn) asked her how one distinguished between the mantle and the tunic, she said,"There were two waves of light, one on top of the other." When Tom asked her if there was a line of gold on the mantle, she explained "It was like a ray of sunlight all around the mantle." She further explained that this ray around the mantle was like a thin thread. The mantle in Tom's sculpture was a long, oval contour which he treasured. Lucy said, "It seemed to be straighter. It was a thing all made of light and very light, but it fell straight down. The clothing was all white. The cord was a more intense and yellow light....The light of Our Lady was white and the star was yellow."

Tom had added hair around the neck to fill out the form, but Lucy insisted that she never saw any hair. Nor did she see whether Our Lady was wearing sandals because she never looked at her feet. Tom asked her if the face and hands and feet of Our Lady had the color of light or the color of flesh. She answered,"Flesh colored light; light which took on the color of flesh." As to Our Lady's expression, she commented,"Pleasing but sad. Sweet but sad." She told Tom that the face of his statue seemed too old...

Thus, it was agreed that Tom would remain at the convent to do a new statue under Lucy's direction. What happened is something unique in the life of the Church and the history of sculpture: a documentary of a spiritual experience that one had with the Other World. Lucy was the narrator and Tom the instrument through which Lucy would express what she saw.

... With the statue completed, Tom returned to the Bishop of Leiria to thank him for this opportunity to see Lucy and to correct the statue. Since Lucy had participated in the new statue, Tom asked the Bishop permission to do a large figure of it for the niche on the facade of the Shrine. Tom suggested that the funds for it execution might come from American Catholics as a perpetual symbol of American Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin at this, her newest shrine.

The final, completed statue was presented as a gift to the Sanctuary of Fatima from the Catholics of North America in 1958 and placed in the niche the following year.

The Ancient Law of Love

2010-11-11T22:12:00.000-06:00

Suffering is the ancient law of love; there is no quest without pain, there is no lover who is not also a martyr. Hence it is inevitable that he who would love so high a thing as Wisdom should sometimes suffer hindrances and griefs.

-Blessed Henry Suso, O.P.

To go on pilgrimage...

2010-11-07T16:09:00.000-06:00

To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where He has revealed Himself, where His grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.

Pope Benedict XVI at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Norbertine Life

2010-11-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

The Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County in Southern California produced this very nice video:

Hat Tip Anglican Patrimony blog.

Perhaps, A Better Life

2010-09-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

So my wife and I recently decided to cut the cable line (i.e. we canceled our cable service). We did this largely because we were concerned with how much control we gave to television over our daily lives -- not that we are opposed to TV, we aren't. In fact, with Internet streaming, Netflix (check out the 2nd generation Apple TV), and iTunes, we will still have access to movies and current (and classic) television shows. The only difference here is that we will have much more control over what we watch and when we watch it. Ultimately I had to face the reality that cable television, with its constant background chatter and inane selection of programming, simply could not be made to compete with more important things, like prayer and study.

New Master of the Order of Preachers

2010-09-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Fr. Bruno Cadoré, O.P., of France has been elected the new Master of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and will serve this role for the next nine years. The previous Master was Carlos Azpiroz Costa of Argentina. The Friar blog has more information on him:

On Sunday, September 5, 2010, the Dominican friars gathered together in Chapter in the city of Rome elected Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, of the Province of France, as the new Master of the Order of Friars Preachers and the 86th successor to St. Dominic.

Fr. Cadoré was trained as a physician and has taught especially in the area of bio-medical ethics. Before becoming Provincial of the Province of France, he taught at the Catholic University of Lille. In 2008, the President of France appointed Fr. Cadoré to the French National AIDS Council as an advisor.

Please join the whole Dominican Order in praying for Fr. Cadoré, that by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Dominic, he may serve the Order and the Church with wisdom and prudence.

Ancient Secrets for a Sharper Mind

2010-09-01T23:50:00.001-05:00

A very excellent article written by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph. Check it out.

How often have you, after a day of multi-tasking, felt scattered and dissipated? Man is supposed to be homo sapiens, but there is a difference between genuine knowledge and information, between the concentration of a true scholar and the bleary-eyed absorption of the chronic web surfer.

The ancients grasped this, even before the internet age, and recovering their secrets can sharpen your mind, and even help you better your grades.

The key, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is not just a matter of study habits - and it certainly isn't a matter of having unlimited access to the internet. Rather, it is a matter of training your desire for knowledge, so that you develop the virtue of studiousness and not the vice of curiositas.

Aquinas takes his starting point from Aristotle: Everyone desires to know. Though knowledge can be put to a bad use (you can use it for evil purposes, like defrauding your neighbor, or even killing an unborn baby in the name of scientific research), all true knowledge, considered in itself, is good. The desire to know is a spiritual desire for a spiritual good, the truth, and it comes with its own pleasures (and true pleasures they are!)

... Still, as every high school freshman is acutely aware, even the delights of the spirit don't suppress our bodily desires, which often pull us in a different direction. "Because of his bodily nature, man avoids the labor involved in seeking knowledge," says Aquinas. Studiousness is the virtue that strengthens our perseverance in pursuing the higher but harder-to-reach pleasures of worthy knowledge.

Read the rest!

On Waldensians and Dominicans

2010-08-28T11:02:00.000-05:00

I rather liked this brief little tale written by Gerald de Frachet, an early Dominican friar, concerning Peter of Aubenas and his entrance to the Dominicans. This story is also recorded in the Lives of the Brethren:

Brother Peter of Aubenas, who served as prior and as lector in Provence and who ran his course in the Order happily to its end, has described how he came to join the Order. When he was practicing medicine in Genoa and had already made a promise to join the Order, the Poor Men of Lyons, also called the Waldensians, had such a disturbing effect on him that he was in great doubt which of the two he ought to follow. He was rather more drawn to the Waldensians he found there, because he saw in them more outward signs of humility and of the virtues of piety, while he considered the friars too cheerful and showy.

So one evening, when he was brooding unhappily about this, not knowing what to do, he knelt down and asked God with all his heart, weeping profusely, to reveal to him, in his mercy, what he ought to do in this dilemma. After his prayer he went to sleep, and shortly afterward he imagined that he was walking along a road with a dark wood on the left hand side of it, in which he saw the Waldensians all going their separate ways, with sad, solemn faces. On the right side of the road was a very long, high wall, which was extremely beautiful. He walked along it for some time and at last came to a gate. Looking in, he saw an exquisite meadow, planted with trees and colorful with flowers. In it he saw a crowd of Friars Preachers in a ring, with joyful faces raised towards heaven. One of them was holding the Body of Christ in his upraised hands. This sight delighted him and made him want to join them; but an angel who was guarding the gate blocked his way and said, "You will not enter in here now." He started to weep bitterly. Then he woke up and found himself bathed in tears and his heart joyful instead of his previous distress. After some days, when he had dispatched some business he was obliged to do, he entered the Order.

I heard this and a great deal more from his own lips. He was a very contemplative man, and the Lord revealed many things to him in the Order and about the Order.

Fr. Rutler on Ad Orientem

2010-08-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

Fr. George Rutler has a commentary concerning liturgical reform in First Things, brought to us courtesy of the New Liturgical Movement (and others). Among his many points, he writes:

While I am glad for the new and more accurate translation of the Mass, which is not perfection but closer to it than one deserves in an imperfect world, a far more important reform would be the return of the ad orientem position of the celebrant as normative. It is the antidote to the tendency of clerisy to impose itself on the people. When a celebrant at Mass stops and says, “This is not about me,” you may be sure he thinks it may be about him. It would be harder for him to harbor that suspicion were he leading the people humbly to the east and the dawn of salvation.

My thoughts exactly. Ad orientem, which refers to the posture of both the congregation and the celebrant facing East during the celebration of the Eucharist, was largely done away with in most parishes after the Second Vatican Council. However, the council never called for this, and there is a growing awareness that doing away with it was a grave mistake. It should once again be made normative, with, of course, proper catechesis so that the people understand what it means and why it is important.

Jordan of Saxony

2010-08-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

Concerning Jordan of Saxony, I thought this was apropos. From the Lives of the Brethren:

[Jordan] was asked once why arts men came thronging to join the Order [of Preachers, the Dominicans], while theologians and canon lawyers held back. He answered, "Country people, who are used to drinking water, get drunk on good wine much more easily than noblemen and townspeople, who do not find wine very strong because they are used to it. Arts men drink the plain water of Aristotle and other philosophers all week, so when they are offered the words of Christ or his disciples in a Sunday sermon or on a feast day, they fall victim at once to the intoxication of the Holy Spirit's wine, and hand over to God not only their goods but themselves. But these theologians are always listening to the words of God, and they go the same way as the country sacristan who passes the altar so often that he loses his reverence for it and frequently turns his back on it, while outsiders bow reverently towards it."

Interesting...

When the Church Was Young

2010-08-28T10:22:00.002-05:00

From an article written by Mike Aquilina concerning youth ministry in the early centuries of the Church.

... in all the documentary evidence from all the ancient patriarchates of the East and the West, there's not a single bulletin announcement for a single parish youth group.

Yet the Fathers had enormous success in youth and young-adult ministry. Many of the early martyrs were teens, as were many of the Christians who took to the desert for the solitary life. There's ample evidence that a disproportionate number of conversions, too, came from the young and youngish age groups.

How did the Fathers do it? They made wild promises.

They promised young people great things, like persecution, lower social status, public ridicule, severely limited employment opportunities, frequent fasting, a high risk of jail and torture, and maybe, just maybe, an early, violent death at the hands of their pagan rulers.

The Fathers looked young people in the eye and called them to live purely in the midst of a pornographic culture. They looked at some young men and women and boldly told them they had a calling to virginity. And it worked. Even the pagans noticed how well it worked.

I have often found that we are afraid to challenge youth. Too often youth ministry and campus ministry are focused solely on social gatherings than they are about forming the soul and the conscience. Yet, we can't be afraid to challenge youth and young adults, giving them an invitation to a truly radical way of life. Embracing the Gospel is radical and counter-cultural. They should be taught honestly the truths of the Faith by people who aren't ashamed of them, especially concerning matters in which the Church is indeed counter cultural, such as when it comes to artificial contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Yet, they also need to be challenged to be charitable and to live out their vocation with a truly compassionate concern for others: for the prisoner, for the poor, and for the salvation of souls. Yes, the Gospel is radical!

Stark Mad and Senseless: Fire and the Holy Spirit

2010-08-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

Picking up from my post from last week, On Sacrifice and Holy Fire, I want to point out that the parallel between that blessed Fire of God that descended upon and consumed Elijah's sacrifice and the Holy Spirit that descends upon the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar at Mass was quite apparent to others. St. John Chrysostom (4th century) writes in Book III of On The Priesthood:

Picture Elijah and the vast multitude standing around him (Kings 18:36-39), and the sacrifice laid upon the altar of stones, and all the rest of the people hushed into a deep silence while the prophet alone offers up prayer: then the sudden rush of fire from Heaven upon the sacrifice:— these are marvelous things, charged with terror. Now then pass from this scene to the rites which are celebrated in the present day; they are not only marvellous to behold, but transcendent in terror. There stands the priest, not bringing down fire from Heaven, but the Holy Spirit: and he makes prolonged supplication, not that some flame sent down from on high may consume the offerings, but that grace descending on the sacrifice may thereby enlighten the souls of all, and render them more refulgent than silver purified by fire. Who can despise this most awful mystery, unless he is stark mad and senseless? Or do you not know that no human soul could have endured that fire in the sacrifice, but all would have been utterly consumed, had not the assistance of God's grace been great.

Chrysostom is here writing about the awesome calling of priesthood, but what he writes here is striking. By grace, we are purified as by fire and made partakers in God's own divine life. He writes it better than I can: Who can despise this most awesome mystery, unless he is stark mad and senseless?

On Sacrifice and Holy Fire

2010-08-15T22:11:00.000-05:00

I have always been impressed by the image of sacrifice shown to us in the book of Kings (18:36-39):

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O LORD, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back." Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God."

I can picture this scene in my mind very vividly. After witnessing this scene in which Elijah calls God down upon the sacrificial offering, perhaps we might expect that God would greet us in a similar fashion every time we experience the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the event in which we encounter, face to face, the One Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. After all, God indeed descends upon our gifts in the divine fire of the Holy Spirit. And yet, what we see is not a display of magnificence, but rather a display of ultimate humility as God gives of Himself for us and shares with us the eternal Gift of Himself, inviting and making us by grace to be partakers of His own divine nature and life. And in the face of THAT, what else can we do but fall on our faces also, exclaiming, "The Lord, he is God!"

The Epiclesis and the West

2010-08-15T22:00:00.001-05:00

Eastern Orthodox priest Fr. J. Guy Winfrey notes that there is something that just isn't right about the ancient Roman Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great as celebrated by the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church:

One of the strangest things that exists in the WRV Liturgy of St. Gregory is an epiclesis following the words of Institution. It simply does not belong. When the WR was first authorized by the Holy Synod of Moscow, they required the addition of the epiclesis in the Mass of St. Peter (the old Latin Canon of the Roman Rite) so as not to scandalize Orthodox who were ignorant of the WR and its authenticity. They made clear that it was not done for any theological cause at all and that the old Roman Canon stood as completely valid as it was.

I am very happy that that Fr. Winfrey posted this because the question of why the Orthodox would have tinkered with something they acknowledged as ancient and venerable disturbed me.

On Embryonic Stem-Cells

2010-07-17T11:21:00.001-05:00

Biologist Fr. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., responds to Bill Tammeus' recent article in the National Catholic Reporter.

In his essay, Mr. Tammeus claims that the Catholic Church misrepresents the science behind somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which is the scientific procedure commonly called cloning. He claims: “The problem comes when people adopt the unwavering position that there’s no essential difference between a tiny ball of early stem cells produced by SCNT and a fully developed human being.” From his arguments, it appears that Mr. Tammeus is scientifically and philosophically confused.

Read the whole article.

Music in the Divine Liturgy

2010-07-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Good article from David Petras in Spero News.

For the Christians, the hymns had to have words. Liturgical hymns are not just hummed, they are absolutely not only a matter of melody, notes and meter. They are not just beautiful sounds, but they convey a truth and a concept. This is perhaps why the church early on accepted only the human voice in song and forbade musical instruments. Eusebius of Caesaria was to write, "more sweetly pleasing to God than any musical instrument would be the symphony of the people of God, by which, in every church of God, with kindred spirit and single disposition, with one mind and unanimity of faith and piety, we raise melody in unison in our psalmody" ("On Psalm 91, 4"). The Eastern Church accepted this principle as its tradition. The rejection of instruments, however, was not universal, for the Western Church later allowed their use in the church.

Read the whole article.

New Orleans

2010-06-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, my wife and I were presented with an opportunity to visit New Orleans for the first time. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip! In addition to visiting various historical locations, we also made several visits to antique and used book stores in the area. I was able to find a used edition of the Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary (second in fame and content only to the mammoth Oxford Latin Dictionary) for only $40.00. Of course, I snagged it, since the cheapest I could ever have found it used online was $125.00.

Visiting the place, one can't help but recall the hundreds of years worth of destruction and suffering that lingers in the area due to fires, hurricanes, poverty, and other things. Yet the city and its people seem simultaneously joyful and appreciative of life. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and the resiliency is contagious.

When you are there, particularly in the French Quarter, you can't help but feel a palpable connection to the Old World (Europe, most particularly France and Spain) while not losing sight of the fact that you are also in a modern American city. Culture, art, music, food, and good drink abound, and no, I am not referring to the excesses of Bourbon Street. The city's strong Catholic history is also ubiquitous and inescapable. I can't wait until we can return.

My apologies!

2010-05-25T21:06:00.002-05:00

I got pretty carried away over the last month with work and various other projects that I haven't blogged even once.

The Octave Day of New Birth

2010-04-10T11:49:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, which is also known by various names, including Whit Sunday, Dominica in albis, Quasimodo Sunday, and (recently) Divine Mercy Sunday. It is the Sunday of the Octave of Easter. The morning's Office of Readings presents to us words from St. Augustine's Eighth Sermon in octava Paschae given to the newly baptized:

I speak to you who have just been reborn in baptism, my little children in Christ... [Baptism] is a sacrament of new life which begins here and now with the forgiveness of all past sins, and will be brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. You have been buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, as Christ has risen from the dead, you also may walk in newness of life...

This is the octave day of your new birth. Today is fulfilled in you the sign of faith that was prefigured in the Old Testament by the circumcision of the flesh on the eight day after birth. When the Lord rose from the dead, he put off the mortality of the flesh; his risen body was still the same body, but it was no longer subject to death. By his resurrection he consecrated Sunday, or the Lord's day. Though the third after his passion, this day is the eighth after the Sabbath, and thus also the first day of the week.

And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realized, is sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit.

This is an octave. Augustine here demonstrates the great significance of the number eight as a sign of redemption and new life as well as resurrection, as our own resurrection is secured by Christ's, in whose body we are incorporated by way of our baptism by water and the Spirit. Baptism into Christ is baptism into his death and is intrinsically linked to his resurrection.

It is not uncommon to find baptismal fonts that are octagonal in shape for this very reason, as we find in the ancient baptistery in Milan where St. Augustine himself was likely baptized:

As Augustine also references, the number eight also applies to why the Church observes the Lord's Day, Sunday, as the eighth day, a day of new creation and birth in Christ, which, as Augustine writes, will be brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. The work of Redemption is of greater significance and splendor than that of the first Creation, as the Catechism points out (CCC 349):

But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendour of which surpasses that of the first creation.

I hope that you are having a blessed Easter!

(originally posted in April, 2009)

Resurrexit sicut dixit!

2010-04-04T09:40:00.006-05:00

Today is Pascha Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord!
Dominica Paschae in Resurrectione Domini

We spent the evening at our 4-hour Easter Vigil liturgy where we were privileged to join our parish community in welcoming 14 catechumens into the Church through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. I could not help but recall my own reception into the church in 1997. The mystery of Christ's Church on Earth always moves me. The backdrop of human sin in the world and even in the Church cannot destroy us and cannot destroy our hope because we who seek Him belong to Him. The power and the glory of His suffering, death, and resurrection and Our Lord's victory over sin and death confirms that. How awesome that is! How awesome Christ is!

Last night's liturgy was awesome. Of course, every mass is inherently awesome. Our pastor preached a powerful sermon, touching on many points concerning baptism and justification, confirmation, and of course, the most intimate communion we share in the Holy Eucharist. What we share and live out in the sacraments is nothing less than God's own divine life at work in us. Peter assures us of this fact (2 Pet 1:3,4):

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.

And, in response, I can only echo Paul's assertion to the Galatians (Gal 2:20):

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Peace be with you.

Good Friday in Houston

2010-04-02T13:55:00.005-05:00

Good Friday at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston

The photo above is provided courtesy of Fr. Joseph Huneycutt. We are fortunate this year in that the dates of Catholic and Orthodox Easter from both calendars coincide.

A reading from St. John Chrysostom from today's Office of Readings:

If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.

Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.

Holy "Maundy" Thursday

2010-03-31T22:22:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday, also known as "Maundy Thursday". First and foremost, Holy Thursday is the feast at which we commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. In Church Latin, which numbers weekdays from Sunday (the 1st day of the week), Holy Thursday is actually Feria Quinta in Caena Domini, or Thursday (5th day) of the Lord's Supper. It is also the feast on which we commemorate Our Lord's washing of the Apostles' feet.

But why "Maundy"? Its use is common among traditionalist Catholics as well as Christians of other liturgical churches (e.g. Lutheran, Anglican). I actually haven't heard a complete explanation for the name. There are a few competing theories as to its derivation. The most common explanation seems to be that it derives from the first word of the Latin antiphon from John's Gospel that is sung during the washing of the feet: Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos. In English: I give to you a new commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.

However, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod disagrees:

The explanation usually given for the word "Maundy" is popular, even in most dictionaries. But, it is incorrect. According to the popular notion, the term "Maundy" is from the Latin, "mandatum," which means "commandment." Most dictionaries say the same thing, thus proving that there is only one book without errors, and, as you shall shortly see, that one inerrant book isn’t one of most dictionaries.

If the name of this night were to have come from the "mandatum," it would Mandy Thursday, or Mandate Thursday, or even Mandatum Thursday. But, the term comes to us from the Medieval English royal practice of given alms to the poor on this Thursday. There is an English term from the Middle Ages, maund. It is both a noun and a verb. The verb, to maund, comes from the Old French, mendier, which in terms comes from the Latin, mendicare, to beg. To "maund" is to beg. And the noun, maund, refers to a small basket, held out by maunders as they would maund. On Holy Thursday, the extended Royal Family of Great Britain would give alms to the poor prior to attending Holy Thursday mass. These alms were presented to each of the gathered poor in a small velvet bag called the "maundy purse." You see, term Maundy Thursday refers to this practice, and we get this name from the Anglicans, not the Romans, who also now call this day Maundy Thursday as well as Holy Thursday because of the influence of English-speaking Roman churches!

Either way, it's coming!

RIP Jaime Escalante

2010-03-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

Jaime Escalante of "Stand and Deliver" fame died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. Requiescat in pace.

The Pope and the New York Times

2010-03-30T19:32:00.005-05:00

It now appears to be clear that recent attempts on the part of the New York Times to link Pope Benedict with the horror of what has happened to children under the influence of priest-abusers have been woefully misdirected. I think Jimmy Akin has the clearest portrayal of the facts of the situation involving the horrible Fr. Murphy in Wisconsin, including the actions of the archdiocese, the local authorities, Rome, and what role Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) actually had. Read Jimmy here. What the New York Times has attempted to do is capitalize on abuse cases in order to launch a smear campaign. How can this possibly be considered honest journalism?

And one more thing: Just yesterday, Fr. Thomas Brundage, JLC, who was Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and who presided over the case of Fr. Murphy, has now spoken out to clear things up with the facts of this case that have been completely distorted by the New York Times. Smear campaigns do nothing to bring justice to abuse victims:

The fact that I presided over this trial and have never once been contacted by any news organization for comment speaks for itself.

My intent in the following paragraphs is to accomplish the following:

-To tell the back-story of what actually happened in the Father Murphy case on the local level;

-To outline the sloppy and inaccurate reporting on the Father Murphy case by the New York Times and other media outlets;

-To assert that Pope Benedict XVI has done more than any other pope or bishop in history to rid the Catholic Church of the scourge of child sexual abuse and provide for those who have been injured;

-To set the record straight with regards to the efforts made by the church to heal the wounds caused by clergy sexual misconduct. The Catholic Church is probably the safest place for children at this point in history.

And there is still much work to do.

Scientific Study, a Hymn of Praise to God

2010-03-29T21:29:00.002-05:00

Last week, Pope Benedict spoke about St. Albert the Great, Dominican scholar and bishop. St. Albert is one of my influences as a Dominican involved in science. Benedict said:

Above all, St. Albert shows that between faith and science there is no opposition, notwithstanding some episodes of misunderstanding recorded in history. A man of faith and prayer, as St. Albert the Great was, can cultivate serenely the study of the natural sciences and progress in the knowledge of the micro and macro cosmos, discovering the laws proper of matter, because all this concurs to feed the thirst for and love of God. The Bible speaks to us of creation as the first language through which God — who is supreme intelligence, who is Logos — reveals to us something of himself. The Book of Wisdom, for example, states that the phenomena of nature, gifted with grandeur and beauty, are as the works of an artist, through which, by analogy, we can know the Author of creation (cf. Wisdom 13:5). With a classic similarity in the Medieval Age and the Renaissance one can compare the natural world with a book written by God, which we read on the basis of several approaches of the sciences (cf. Address to the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Oct. 31, 2008).

How many scientists, in fact, in the wake of St. Albert the Great, have carried forward their research inspired by wonder and gratitude before a world that, in the eyes of scholars and believers, seemed and seems the good work of a wise and loving Creator! Scientific study is transformed then into a hymn of praise. It was well understood by a great astrophysicist of our times, whose cause of beatification has been introduced, Enrico Medi, who wrote:
Oh, you mysterious galaxies ... I see you, I calculate you, I understand you, I study you and discover you, I penetrate you and I am immersed in you. From you I take the light and I do science, I take the motion and do science, I take the sparkling of colors and make poetry; I take you stars in my hands, and trembling in the unity of my being I raise you beyond yourselves, and in prayer I hand you to the Creator, that only through me you stars can adore (The Works. Hymn to Creation).
St. Albert the Great reminds us that between science and faith there is friendship, and that the men [and women] of science can undertake, through their vocation to the study of nature, a genuine and fascinating journey of sanctity.

Deus, fons et origo totius sapientiae, qui in illam exquirendam sanctum Albertum effecit magnum, gratiam vobis concedat, benedictionis suae largitatem infundat, atque suae tribuat sapientiae abundantiam.

Blueberry Wine

2010-03-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, we were given a bottle of blueberry wine from Teixeira Ranch winery in the Santa Maria Valley of California where we grew up. They call it Heavenly Blue. Let me say right up front: this wine is good, friends. An excellent dessert wine. Great with ice cream. Ok, so it was a tiny splurge before Holy Week. I reasoned that this dark blue wine was appropriately close to the penitential purple of the Lenten season, and since I was still in a mood after observing the Solemnity of the Annunciation last Thursday, I also reasoned that this pleasant blue wine called forth meditation on the Blessed Mother and her beautiful Fiat. Of course, you believe me, right?

Solemnity of the Annunciation

2010-03-24T23:00:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the great Solemnity of the Annunciation. There is no end to the meditation on the profound mystery of the Incarnation: God becoming man, taking on human flesh. It is rich in its profundity, yet it is also as simple as is expressed in the ancient antiphon used for the Magnificat today in the Proprium Ordinis Praedicatorum for the Liturgy of the Hours:

Oriétur sicut sol Salvátor mundi, et descéndet in úterum Vírginis, sicut imber super gramen.

The Saviour of the world shall arise like the sun, and He shall descend into the womb of the Virgin as rain upon the grass.

On that note, Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P., will be celebrating mass at 7:30pm Thursday at my parish, St. Theresa's in Sugar Land, in honor of this great feast day. He will also be wrapping up the Lenten parish mission. Come and join us!

The Dominican Rite Liturgy

2010-03-24T21:56:00.002-05:00

The Eastern Dominican Province has produced a most excellent website providing a tutorial and a history of our beautiful liturgy of the Dominican Rite.

The ancient Dominican liturgy, largely unchanged since 1256, beautifully expresses the distinctive charism of the primitive Dominican Order. This site, a project of the Liturgical Commission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, makes accessible the riches of the ancient Dominican liturgy – not as a rival to the Novus Ordo, which remains the Ordinary Form of the Mass, but as a supplement to enrich our liturgical life with the treasures of our tradition, consistent with the express wishes of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium 4).

Hat tip Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P.

Fasting in the East and in the West

2010-03-23T21:01:00.002-05:00

I think that Eric Sammons makes a good point over at his blog regarding the differences in "Fasting regulations" between Eastern and Western Christianity:

Some people might know about the vast difference in the fasting regulations between the two great churches. In the West, we are told to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (which means one normal meal and two small meals not to equal that one normal meal) and abstain from meat on the Fridays of Lent and Ash Wednesday. In the East, on the other hand, a common tradition is that every day of Lent is a day of fasting and abstinence, and abstinence applies not only to meat, but also includes items such as fish, wine and oil. Why such a difference in these practices? Is it because the East is just more holy or more serious about Lent? I think the reason is due more to the underlying attitudes towards rules and regulations in the East and the West.

- In the West, a regulation is seen as the minimum requirement and failing to follow it is perceived as a serious failure, perhaps even a sin.

- In the East, a regulation is seen as an ideal to strive for and failing to follow it is perceived as an opportunity to do better in the future.

So in the West, the regulations for fasting are much less stringent than in the East, because a failure to follow them is seen as a more egregious action. In the East, the regulations are much more strict, but failing to live up to them is not seen as serious of a failure.

Of course, for those of us in the West, the minimum requirement had been a bit more stringent. But this point still holds. I see the benefits of both mindsets, and I share Eric's opinion that each attitude has its advantages and disadvantages:

The advantage of the Western attitude is that regulations are always taken seriously, but the disadvantage is that one can become legalistic or even prideful if he follows the law. The advantage of the Eastern attitude is that one always sees the ideal as something to strive for and this keeps you humble, but the disadvantage is that the wide gap between practice and regulation might be so wide as to seem insurmountable or make the regulation appear unrealistic.

All Christians should work, with the help of God’s grace and a good spiritual director, to make sacrifices that are in keeping with their state of life. The worst thing to do, at any time, is to compare one’s own sacrifices with anyone else’s.

Amen to that. In fact, I believe that as we practice whatever disciplines are proper to our spiritual tradition, be it Eastern or Western, our particular attitude can nevertheless be informed and nourished by that of the other. East and West can certainly learn from each other and work together in such a way. As a Western Christian, I am inspired by the practice of the East to attempt to exceed what is for me the minimum requirement imposed by the Church. In fact, the Church doesn't fail in encouraging us to do precisely this.

Passiontide

2010-03-21T13:04:00.002-05:00

On the 5th Sunday of Lent we begin the period of the final two weeks of the season traditionally referred to as Passiontide. Crucifixes and other sacred images and statues are traditionally veiled during this time. We had never encountered this practice before until we moved to Texas. Other liturgical churches (e.g. Anglicans, Lutherans) also maintain this practice, although I understand that even there it isn't universal. What is the point of veiling? It is admittedly a good question - after all, why wouldn't one earnestly desire to gaze upon the Crucifix during this time? According to the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia:

The crosses are veiled because Christ during this time no longer walked openly among the people, but hid himself. Hence in the papal chapel the veiling formerly took place at the words of the Gospel: "Jesus autem abscondebat se." Another reason is added by Durandus, namely that Christ's divinity was hidden when he arrived at the time of His suffering and death. The images of the saints also are covered because it would seem improper for the servants to appear when the Master himself is hidden.

The crucifix is typically unveiled after the Lord's Passion is observed on Good Friday. Fr. Z reflects on this more:

We lose things during Lent. We are being pruned through the liturgy. Holy Church experiences liturgical death before the feast of the Resurrection. The Alleluia goes on Septuagesima. Music and flowers go on Ash Wednesday. Today, statues and images are draped in purple. That is why today is sometimes called Repus Sunday, from repositus analogous to absconditus or “hidden”, because this is the day when Crosses and other images in churches are veiled. The universal Church’s Ordo published by the Holy See has an indication that images can be veiled from this Sunday, the 5th of Lent. Traditionally Crosses may be covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and images, such as statues may be covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil. At my home parish of St. Agnes in St. Paul, MN, the large statue of the Pietà is appropriately unveiled at the Good Friday service...

The pruning cuts more deeply as we march into the Triduum. After the Mass on Holy Thursday the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the main altar, which itself is stripped and bells are replaced with wooden noise makers. On Good Friday there isn’t even a Mass. At the beginning of the Vigil we are deprived of light itself! It is as if the Church herself were completely dead with the Lord in His tomb. This liturgical death of the Church reveals how Christ emptied Himself of His glory in order to save us from our sins and to teach us who we are.

The Church then gloriously springs to life again at the Vigil of Easter. In ancient times, the Vigil was celebrated in the depth of night. In the darkness a single spark would be struck from flint and spread into the flames. The flames spread through the whole Church.

If we can connect ourselves in heart and mind with the Church’s liturgy in which these sacred mysteries are re-presented, then by our active receptivity we become participants in the saving mysteries of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.

Amen.

Stabat Mater dolorosa iuxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.
Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius.

Christopher Lee and Metal Music

2010-03-15T20:42:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure I get this. Melissa Snell of the About.com Medieval history blog brings us news that the infamous Christopher Lee (Dracula, Count Dooku, Saruman the White) has produced a "symphonic metal music" album entitled Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross. Apparently it tells the story of Charlemagne looking back at his life on his deathbed. Melissa notes:

Far and away the best thing about the album is Lee's performance. Now that he's in his 80s, his voice doesn't have the clarity it once had, but it still has extraordinary power and depth. The narration by his daughter, Christina, is quite good. The music is listenable, although there isn't a single track I felt compelled to listen to again, and some of the melodies stay with you. And, miracle of miracles, the content is historically accurate. I don't want Mr. Lee thinking I doubted his and his associates' ability to pull together an accurate portrayal of a medieval figure; it's just that I'm so used to popular culture falling short that it's a delightful surprise when somebody gets it right.

Unfortunately, although the lyrics were interesting as well as factual, they lacked poetry; and while the music was enjoyable, it wasn't as exciting as I'd anticipated. Of course, this is only my own personal opinion; music critics who know more about these things will probably think differently. I'm simply an extreme history enthusiast, and as such I can only tell you that, yes, Charlemagne did have trouble with his brother Carloman in the early years of his reign; and yes, according to Einhard he was betrayed by the Gascons on his Spanish expedition; and yes, he did have more than 4000 Saxons brutally executed when they refused to convert to Christianity.

A taste over at Christopher Lee's website:

It is interesting. But clearly not my thing. ;)

SXSW & The Big Deal Down South

2010-03-13T21:55:00.004-06:00

What do a bunch of livestock, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Mary J. Blige, the Jonas Brothers, Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, the Black Eyed Peas, Brooks & Dunn, and Selena Gomez have in common? They are all featured at this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. And which local band is notably missing from this list for the first time in I don't know how long? ZZ Top. What's up, guys? The Eliminator must be in the shop. We've been here almost four years now, and we still have only made it to one Rodeo event: the 2007 opening BBQ cook-off.

And what's the other big deal down south? The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) live music festival in Austin. It's not too far away from here.

Faith and Reason Lecture Series (#2)

2010-03-10T21:41:00.003-06:00

Our monthly Faith and Reason lecture series at St. Theresa's in Sugar Land continues next Tuesday, March 16th. Our last lecture with Fr. Jeff Reed was quite excellent and well attended. In our next lecture, Joseph Magee, Ph.D., will explore the rational limits and requirements of faith with regard to the individual and the community. Can we believe anything we want to believe? If you are in the Houston area, come on down Tuesday evening to Sugar Land (705 St. Theresa Blvd.) and check it out! Everyone is invited and bring a friend!

The lecture begins at 7pm and will take place in the new school library of the St. Theresa Catholic School building (upstairs and at the end of the hallway through the double doors). I look forward to seeing you there!

Also, by way of a preview, Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P., will be at St. Theresa's on Monday, March 22nd, to give our annual Lenten parish mission. Details to come, everyone invited.

The Anglican Church in America

2010-03-07T08:20:00.005-06:00

Last week, the big news was that the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America (ANA - belonging to the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion) voted to implement the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus, which means they will join many others worldwide who have elected to enter full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This group looks to include about 3000 members in 120 or so parishes. As they report on their website:

We, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion have met in Orlando, Florida, together with our Primate and the Reverend Christopher Phillips of the "Anglican Use" Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) and others.

At this meeting, the decision was made formally to request the implementation of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States of America by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The National Catholic Register has more:

The bishops of the Anglican Church in America have voted to accept Pope Benedict XVI’s invitation to bring their 3,000 members into the Catholic Church.

The unanimous vote of eight members of the House of Bishops, who met in Orlando, Fla., brings 120 parishes in four dioceses across the country into the Church.

Also present at the March 3 vote and in support of it were representatives of “Anglican use” parishes admitted on a one-by-one basis to the Catholic Church in accordance with the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II in 1980.

The move is seen as significant for both the “AngloCatholics” in the Anglican Church in America and the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion — and the Catholic Church.

“We are returning to the Roman Catholic Church as community with a common past and a common future,” commented Christian Campbell, a Florida lay member of the Anglican Church in America and coordinator of a blog called theanglocatholic.com.

There are those who have ignorantly sought to downplay the significance of Anglicanorum Coetibus, describing it as merely "an extension" of the pastoral provision already in existence. It's certainly rooted in that effort, but this is proof that what the pope has done here is truly something new, as we now have the means to implement meaningful structures to allow for significantly large groups of Anglicans to become Catholic. But I'm just glad that it looks like the Anglican Church of St. Mary of the Angels in Los Feliz, CA, will finally be Catholic. Several years back, it looked like the community was ready to join via the pastoral provision as an Anglican Use parish, but for several reasons (some trivial, some not), that fell through. Ut unum sint.

UPDATE: I just want to correct a point here. It is now my understanding that even though the Anglican Church in America has voted to implement Anglicanorum Coetibus, it is still the responsibility of each parish to vote on whether it will join the movement or not. Thus, it is not a fait accompli that all 120 or so parishes will automatically join the Anglican ordinariate that is set up.

Consecration of Sagrada Familia

2010-03-04T21:49:00.004-06:00

So the pope is planning to visit Spain in November and will consecrate the infamous Sagrada Familia.

Regarding the stop in Barcelona, Cardinal Martínez Sistach already last month said the Holy Father had expressed interest in consecrating the church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family).

The cardinal noted that the church's architect, Antoni Gaudí, has a cause of canonization being studied.

The church is also important to the Holy Father, according to the cardinal, because of its title, "given the maximum importance that the family has for the Holy Father, since the good of people, society and the Church is directly related with the protection, defense and promotion of the family."

Awesome! Thank you, Benedict!

7 Reasons why...

2010-03-04T21:31:00.002-06:00

... you should go to confession during Lent. Courtesy of Taylor Marshall.

1. Priestly absolution is an awesome gift that Jesus gave us.
2. You are a sinner.
3. Confession is a means of grace.
4. You may have committed mortal sin.
5. Guilt is unpleasant.
6. Confession unites you more fully to the Church.
7. Receiving the Eucharist becomes even more powerful.

Speaking of which, I plan to go this weekend :)

The 5th Marian Dogma

2010-03-04T21:10:00.003-06:00

In light of a recent forum in Rome concerning the so-called "Fifth Marian Dogma" (which hasn't yet been formally declared as such), Eric Sammons has an excellent post explaining the implications of what a formal, dogmatic declaration would entail as well as a couple reasons why one might want to oppose such an act. I am speaking, of course, of the understanding of Mary as Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces. Is it time for the pope to formally define this as dogma?

I first encountered speculation concerning this dogma not too long after I entered the Church in 1997. A sensationalistic article was published in Newsweek, I believe, and I spent much of the following year correcting and explaining the issue to my Evangelical friends who thought Catholics wanted to make Mary a fourth person of the Godhead. Being a new Catholic who was still making sense of all things Catholic, I remember feeling a bit angry and left out that the Church was moving too fast - but since when is that ever true? I came to realize that I wasn't angry at the Church but rather at the stupid article. Nevertheless, while I acknowledge Mary as coredemptrix, I'd have to place myself in the "not-right-now" camp insofar as a formal declaration of dogma is concerned. I suspect that this is where Pope Benedict XVI is as well. It is my opinion that such a move would have series ramifications on our relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, and this has been a significant theme of his pontificate. That said, I understand also why one might want the pope to act.

The Bell

2010-03-02T22:25:00.002-06:00

Every time I hear the bell on my cat's collar ring, I can't help but think of John Donne: therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Memento mori. I hope Lent has been a formative experience for all of you!

The Profession Approaches...

2010-02-27T19:03:00.004-06:00

This is what I will profess during tomorrow's liturgy:

To the honor of Almighty God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of St. Dominic, I, Alan Phipps, before you, the Moderator of this group, and Fr. N, the religious promoter, representing the Master of the Order of Friars Preachers, promise to live according to the Rule and Directory of the Dominican Laity for three years.

I will then receive the scapular, which is a sign and a reminder of dedication to God, to the Church, and to the Order. The scapular should serve more precisely as a reminder, as the Moderator will say during the Rite, "to preach the message of Jesus' love through your thoughts, words, deeds, and life."

O.P. First Profession

2010-02-25T21:27:00.004-06:00

This Sunday, I will officially complete my candidacy (aka "novitiate") as a Lay Dominican and will make my first profession, which is a 3-year temporary profession. Superficially, it means that I will no longer be a novice and, in committing myself to live out the Rule of the Laity, I will also have also been granted the privilege of adding the "O.P" post-nominal initials to my name. The spiritual reality, however, it is much more deep. This is my vocation. This is my mission: to preach - in every way a person can really preach without actually mounting a pulpit. In studying and reading the writings of so many great Dominicans, I am truly humbled to have even made it to this point. I pale in comparison to so many of the great giants of the Dominican Order, particularly those of the Third Order such as Catherine of Siena and Rose of Lima. It's almost as though I'm sneaking in the back door. Who am I to even ask? Please pray for me!

Yves Cardinal Congar, O.P.

2010-02-25T21:12:00.004-06:00

I attended a lecture downtown last night on the inimitable and controversial 20th century theologian Yves Congar, O.P. (pictured above, at right, speaking with Josef Ratzinger (aka Benedict XVI) at the Second Vatican Council) I confess that while I was peripherally aware of Congar's theology, and his often being lumped together with the likes of Rahner, Schillebeeckx, and Küng, I wasn't really aware of the influence his theology had on the theology of the laity expressed at the Second Vatican Council. It was quite extraordinary. Even in his on-again-off-again relationship with Rome, and many of his controversial ideas concerning ecumenism, I find him to be a fascinating figure, and I'm actually more curious to spend some time studying some of his treatises on church reform - We shall see!

The Eleventh Doctor

2010-02-24T08:56:00.003-06:00

As an anxious schoolboy, I await the coming of the Eleventh Doctor, who, I am told, will be making his appearance around Easter of this year. I have to say I am personally attached to the Tenth Doctor, but who knows what can happen. Having a Doctor who is younger than I am is a bit off-putting, I must say.

If you have no idea what I am talking about - don't worry too much about it. All will be made clear :)

Early Morning Adoration

2010-02-20T09:43:00.002-06:00

A friend from my church recently moved, and so I took over his early morning weekly Holy Hour for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our parish's perpetual adoration chapel. I have known for a long time that this was something I wanted to do - I frequent the adoration chapel often as it is. But I guess you could say I was waiting for a little guidance as to what time was actually right when this opportunity presented itself. I wasn't sure at first how it would work out, but it has turned out to be quite awesome. I am amazed at how lucid my prayer is during that time, and there's something about being with Our Lord in the midst of the night's hush as the rest of the city rests. Thank you, my Lord and My God. Thank you.

Fr. Robert Barron on the Discipline

2010-02-18T21:54:00.004-06:00

Fr. Barron comments on the controversy surrounding the revelation that Pope John Paul II frequently took the discipline and the subject of mortification and redemptive suffering.

In the light of Da Vinci Code mania, the practice of mortifying the flesh in any fashion has been highly misunderstood. In fact, as Fr. Barron states, mortification has been a treasured part of Catholic spiritual practice for centuries. This is certainly true of St. Dominic and the Dominicans -- it is one of the treasured Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic, as related in early manuscripts about St. Dominic based on testimonies of his contemporaries:

AT THE END of the prayer which has just been described, Saint Dominic would rise from the ground and give himself the discipline with an iron chain, saying, "Thy discipline has corrected me unto the end" [Ps. 17:36]. This is why the Order decreed, in memory of his example, that all the brethren should receive the discipline with wooden switches upon their shoulders as they were bowing down in worship and reciting the psalm "Miserere" or "De Profundis" after Compline on ferial days. This is performed for their own faults or for those of others whose alms they receive and rely upon. No matter how sinless he may be, no one is to desist from this holy example which is shown in the drawing.

Extreme cases such as this are rare today, and taking the discipline, even with a lightweight rope like the one Fr. Barron describes (which is also what the numeraries of Opus Dei utilize), should be done in full consultation with a spiritual director. Now, it has to be acknowledged that there are many ways to embrace suffering and mortification. Denying the physical urges and keeping them in check can be as simple as getting up on time in the morning, foregoing that next helping of food at dinner, or skipping dessert. Otherwise our passions can easily enslave us.

Blessed Reginald of Orleans

2010-02-13T14:42:00.002-06:00

We observed the Memorial of Blessed Reginald of Orleans yesterday according to the Dominican calendar. Blessed Reginald had an inspirational zeal for the salvation of souls and was given to teaching and preaching in a very convincing manner. He is associated with a well known miracle that is recorded by his friend and later Master of the Order, Blessed Jordan of Saxony:

While Master Dominic was in Rome in 1218, Master Reginald, then dean of St. Aignan in Orleans, arrived there, intending to go overseas. He was very highly thought of, a most learned man and a prominent public figure. He had taught canon law in Paris for five years.

On his arrival in Rome, he fell seriously ill, and Master Dominic went to vist him several times, urging him to follow the poverty of Christ and to join his Order. He prevailed upon him to agree, fully and freely, to enter the Order, so much so that he bound himself to it by vow.

So he was rescued from the serious, well-nigh desperate peril of his illness, not without a miracle of divine power. While he was feverish, with a high temperature, the queen of heaven and mother of mercy, the Virgin Mary, came to him visibly and anointed his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, navel, hands, and feet with a healing balm which she had brought wth her, saying as she did so things like, “I anoint your feet with holy oil to make them ready to spread the gospel of peace.” She also showed him the complete habit of the Order.

He was cured immediately, and his whole body was restored to perfect health. It happened so suddenly that the doctors, who had more or less given up hope of his recovery, were astonished to see him looking so well. This remarkable miracle was made known afterwards by Master Dominic to many people who are still with us today. I was present myself on one occasion when he told the story publicly during a conference he was giving in Paris.

His health restored, Master Reginald fulfilled his desire to go overseas, although he was already bound to the Order by profession. On his return, he went to Bologna, which he reached on December 21, and at once he threw himself utterly into preaching. His fervent eloquence fired the hearts of all who heard it as if it had been a blazing torch; hardly anyone was rock-like enough to be proof against its heat. The whole of Bologna was in ferment; a new Elijah seemed to have arisen among them.

During this period he received many people into the Order in Bologna, and the number of the disciples began to grow, as more and more were added to them.

Brother Reginald, of holy memory, came to Paris and preached Christ Jesus and him crucified. But God soon took him from the earth. Finishing his course in a short time, he had accomplished a full life’s work.

Brother Matthew, who had known him when he was living in honor and luxury in the world, several times asked him, in some amazement, “Do you ever fell depressed, Master, that you put on the habit?” With his eyes lowered, he replied, “I very much doubt if there is any merit in it for me, because I have always found so much pleasure in the Order.”

Faith and Reason Lecture Series

2010-02-07T13:53:00.003-06:00

If you are in the Houston area, be sure to come down Tuesday evening to St. Theresa's in Sugar Land where Fr. Jeff Reed will be presenting a lecture on the complementarity of Faith and Reason through the mind of Pope John Paul II - largely reflecting on the late Holy Father's brilliant encyclical, Fides et Ratio. Everyone is invited, even if the topic is completely new to you!

The lecture begins at 7pm and will take place in the new school library of the St. Theresa Catholic School building (upstairs and at the end of the hallway). I look forward to seeing you!

Eucharistic Adoration at St. Mark's

2010-01-29T21:51:00.003-06:00

I was very happy to discover recently that the new pastor of my former parish of St. Mark's in Isla Vista, CA, which is associated with UC Santa Barbara, has started offering regular Eucharistic exposition and adoration for the student community in a big way, including more opportunities for confession and concluding with Benediction!

This is quite a significant development. Absolutely awesome. I came upon that old monstrance they're using back in 2001 in the sacristy and, after I polished it up, I requested permission from the staff to start evenings of Eucharistic adoration with friends and others who wanted to join. We did this for two years, and for reasons that continue to frustrate me, we decided to stop, and I put the monstrance back in the cupboard where it remained for more years. The tide has definitely turned...

Join with me...

Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi caeli et universae Potestates...

On St. Martin de Porres, Obedience, and Charity

2010-01-10T22:39:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I finished Giuliana Cavallini's excellent biography of St. Martin de Porres of 16th/17th century Lima, Peru. Rather than focus on many of Martin's apparent spiritual gifts, for which there exists much testimony, I want to focus in on a couple aspects of Martin's virtue and sanctity. Often when we discuss things like obedience and service today, the understanding of these things is usually distorted. Obedience, for example, is shunned in our society. On Martin's obedience, Cavallini writes:

Obedience is not a "passive virtue," as many seem to think who look at it in the grayish perspective of such expressions as "blind obedience," "obedient as a corpse" and the like. These expressions are often used and abused in contemporary spiritual literature. Obedience is certainly the renunciation of one's own will, but a renunciation effected by a free act of the will...

In other words, true obedience is a willful act, something we choose to do that still involves the active engagement of our intellect. Nevertheless, it recognizes a humility to put a desire for our best interest over our own personal satisfaction and indulgence.

Martin often described himself as a "poor mulatto". For those who don't know what "mulatto" means, I refer to wikipedia. He actively sought to serve those around him, be they poor or rich. Yet he stands in stark contrast to our present culture. Martin did not see himself as an instrument of shame for the rich or special empowerment of the poor. His aim was not social warfare but spiritual awakening. Cavallini notes:

Martin's whole apostolate of charity had only one purpose: to awaken the love of God in souls; in all souls, without exception, in the souls of the rich as well as those of the poor. Some people do not know how to love the poor without hating the rich. They really love only themselves, and are the hypocrites who sound the trumpets when they give alms so that they may be honored by men... In Martin's eyes, the rich and the poor were not two irreconcilable opposites, two extremes of opposition. They were simply two different ways of life in the infinite variety of the universe, two states willed by uncreated Goodness so that men might exercise the divine work of charity among themselves.

And it so was the case that Martin inspired many of the rich to freely give of themselves to the causes of the poor and sick without desiring to call attention to themselves. Yes, the rich can succumb to greed, but in the cultivation of good virtue, they may also become wise stewards of their wealth, seeing it as something to be shared rather than to be hoarded.

I promise that I do live...

2010-01-10T22:19:00.003-06:00

I know that I haven't posted much in the last month or so. I apologize for that. I do intend on continuing to post, but like most of you, I have a number of projects going on simultaneously at work, church, and with the Dominican Laity.

On the Dominican front, I am in the final run preparing for my first profession as a Lay Dominican at the end of February. If you recall, I was admitted to the Order in January of 2009. The final run of the novitiate formation involves a lot of reading, including getting into a bit of St. Thomas' Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles, which I am doing now.

Abortion and Health Care

2009-12-19T09:22:00.002-06:00

Fr. Robert Barron on Abortion in the Health Care Debate:

Film: The 13th Day

2009-12-07T20:30:00.004-06:00

My wife and I attended a screening of the recently released film, The 13th Day: a film that portrays the events surrounding the legendary apparitions of Mary in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. I largely agree with Steve Greydanus' review. While at times, we found the acting to be a bit hollow and contrived, the cinematography of the film is simply amazing. The film does not portray every detail of the story, but it is still quite effective. Here's a clip:

It helps to be familiar with our theology of redemptive suffering to understand the many references to suffering in the film and its importance.

Vietnamese Dominican Martyrs

2009-11-24T22:22:00.002-06:00

Today we remember the 117 martyrs who suffered for their faith during the 18th and 19th centuries in Vietnam, 59 of which were Dominicans. In particular, we remember Dominican friars Ignatius Delgado and Vincent Liem and Lay Dominican Dominic An-Kham.

O God, you watered the country of Vietnam with the blood of St. Ignatius Delgado and his companions. Through their intercession may the knowledge of Christ continue to flourish there. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

De Lisle's Dream Come True

2009-11-12T20:51:00.005-06:00

Beware the Litanies of the Dominicans!

Fr. Brian Mulcahy, O.P., of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Province) posts an article written by Leon Pereira, O.P. entitled, "De Lisle’s Dream Come True". It concerns the desire of Ambrose Philips de Lisle, founder of Mount St. Bernard's Abbey in England, for Anglican unity with the Catholic Church and its fulfillment with the new Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, which provides for the reception of large portions of the Anglican Communion into Full Communion with the Catholic Church.

Two hundred years ago an extraordinary man was born in Leicestershire, Ambrose Philips de Lisle. He was a scion of the ancient De Lisle family, and the founder of Mount St. Bernard's Abbey. His descendants still come to Mass at Holy Cross. Ambrose de Lisle was a visionary ahead of his time. A convert to the Catholic faith, he dreamed of Christian unity. He wrote a pamphlet in 1876, voicing the idea of a corporate re-union of the Anglican Communion with the Catholic Church, whilst retaining Anglican juridical structures, liturgy and spirituality. When his friend Cardinal John Henry Newman read it, he wrote to him,
Nothing will rejoice me more than to find that the Holy See considers it safe and promising to sanction some such plan as the Pamphlet suggests. I give my best prayers, such as they are, that some means of drawing to us so many good people, who are now shivering at our gates, may be discovered.
The plan was doomed to be thwarted in De Lisle's lifetime. To console him, Newman said:
It seems to me there must be some divine purpose in it. It often has happened in sacred and in ecclesiastical history, that a thing is in itself good, but the time has not come for it ... And thus I reconcile myself to many, many things, and put them into God's hands. I can quite believe that the conversion of Anglicans may be more thorough and more extended, if it is delayed - and our Lord knows more than we do.

Indeed! Read the whole article.

It should also come as no surprise that Dominicans also played an important role in this effort to respond to the requests of Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. Pereira notes:

On 21 February this year, our brother Fr. Augustine DiNoia, O.P., then Under-secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, asked all Dominicans to pray the Litany of Dominican Saints from February 22 (the Feast of the Chair of St Peter) till March 25 (the Solemnity of the Annunciation) for an at-the-time undisclosed intention - it was for this intention. It is no wonder that in our history people have remarked, 'Beware the Litanies of the Dominicans!'

Hat tip to Mark at Dominican Idaho

The Reform of the Roman Liturgy

2009-11-12T20:43:00.003-06:00

... and the Position of the Celebrant of the Altar.

An article by Uwe Michael Lang, taken from his book, "Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer". Excerpt:

Cardinal Ratzinger is equally emphatic that the celebration of the Eucharist, just as Christian prayer in general, has a trinitarian direction and discusses the question of how this can be communicated most fittingly in liturgical gesture. When we speak to someone, we obviously face that person. Accordingly, the whole liturgical assembly, priest and people, should face the same way, turning towards God to whom prayers and offerings are addressed in this common act of trinitarian worship. Ratzinger rightly protests against the mistaken idea that in this case the celebrating priest is facing "towards the altar", "towards the tabernacle", or even "towards the wall". The catchphrase often heard nowadays that the priest is "turning his back on the people" is a classic example of confounding theology and topography, for the crucial point is that the Mass is a common act of worship where priest and people together, representing the pilgrim Church, reach out for the transcendent God.