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Jun
30
Co-Workers of the Truth 6/30
Filed Under Co-Workers of the Truth, Pope Benedict XVI, Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
Recognition of the papacy does not belittle the role of Christ, the Head of the Church; it is rather a recognition of the triumphant power of his grace; it is a recognition of what he effects through human beings, of what only he can effect. It may be objected here that theoretically this is all fine and good, but how does it work in practice? How can we claim that our sole focus is Christ when the Pope is the visible focus of the Church’s unity? The answer is perhaps nowhere so clearly evident as in the fundamental prayer of the Church, the Eucharist, in which the center of her life is not only expressed, but consummated day after day. Christ is profoundly and solely the center of the Eucharist. He prays for us, he puts his prayer on our lips, for only he can say: “This is my Body…; this is my Blood”. In this way he incorporates us into his life, into his act of eternal love. Following an ancient tradition, we, for our part, say at each celebration of the Eucharist: we celebrate it together with our Pope. Christ gives himself in the Eucharist and he is, in every place, the one Christ; therefore wherever the Eucharist is celebrated the whole mystery of the Church is present. Precisely because the whole, undivided, and indivisible Christ is present in the Eucharist, the Eucharist can be properly celebrated only when it is celebrated with the whole Church. We have Christ only when we have him with others. Because the Eucharist is solely about Christ, it is, for that reason, the sacrament of the Church. And, for the same reason, it can be celebrated only in the unity of the whole Church and with the fullness of her power. That is why the Pope has a place in the eucharistic prayer. Communion with him is communion with the whole; without it, there is no communion with Christ.
From: Ordinariatskorrespondenz, June 5, 1977
Jun
29
Solemnity of Peter & Paul
Filed Under Saint of The Day | Leave a Comment
From: Catholic Culture
Veneration of the two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, has its roots in the very foundations of the Church. They are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides. To them Rome owes her true greatness, for it was under God’s 
providential guidance that they were led to make the capital of the Empire, sanctified by their martyrdom, the center of the Christian world whence should radiate the preaching of the Gospel.
St. Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried on the hill of the Vatican where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the basilica of St. Peter’s. St. Paul was beheaded in the via Ostia on the spot where now stands the basilica bearing his name. Down the centuries Christian people in their thousands have gone on pilgrimage to the tombs of these Apostles. In the second and third centuries the Roman Church already stood pre-eminent by reason of her apostolicity, the infallible truth of her teaching and her two great figures, Sts. Peter and Paul. Read more
Jun
29
At a glance: Differences between Tridentine Mass, Mass said today
Filed Under Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Here at a glance are the basic differences between the Tridentine Mass, promulgated in 1570, and the Roman Missal published in 1969 in response to the reforms called for by the Second Vatican Council:
– While Latin is the original language of both liturgical texts, the new missal permits use of the vernacular language; because it called for full, active participation, the use of a local congregation’s language became customary.
– With the exception of readings for the feast days of individual saints, the Tridentine Mass has a one-year cycle of Scripture readings. The Vatican II liturgy has a three-year cycle for Sunday readings and a two-year cycle for weekday readings. Read more
Jun
29
Co-Workers of the Truth 6/29
Filed Under Co-Workers of the Truth, Pope Benedict XVI, Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
It is not true that the Church has ceased to be Catholic. Nothing that is truly Catholic, nothing that is comfortable to Catholic belief, has lost its place in the Church, and we must all strive together to make that fact apparent to every person who joins the living congregation of the Church without clinging obstinately to his own preconceived idea of what is thereby entailed. Nothing can be preserved, nothing can be gained, by division. For when the very quality that was once the form of the Church is now used against her, it is no longer the same. It has been cut-off, has become the expression of someone’s own self-will and, in the process, has been profoundly changed. Only unity can be fruitful. Augustine has illustrated this with great forcefulness with respect to the experiences of his African homeland…He exclaimed to the Donatists: Even though you have all these: the same Amen, the same Alleluia, that means the same canon and same hymns, the same Credo, there is one thing you do not have: by rupturing unity, you have destroyed love; but it is in love that the Holy Spirit dwells, and without him you have but an empty form.
From: Ordinariatskorrespondenz, July 10, 1977
Jun
28
Catholic Church urged to help promote breastfeeding campaign
Filed Under News & Current Events | Leave a Comment
6/28/2007 Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
MANILA, Philippines (Catholic Online) – The Catholic Church has an important role in play in promoting mothers’ return to breastfeeding in a Filipino society where milk substitutes have gained a stronghold due to aggressive advertising campaigns, said a United Nations official.
In a late June interview with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Dr. Shigeru Omi, director for the Western Pacific region for the World Health Organization, said “the church is still very influential in many societies and it could help our advocacy.” Read more
Jun
28
Co-Workers of the Truth 6/28
Filed Under Co-Workers of the Truth, Pope Benedict XVI, Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
The fact that it is Peter who is called the “rock” is not due to any achievement on his part or to anything exceptional in his character; it is simply a nomen officii, a title that designates, not a service rendered, but a ministry conferred, a divine selection and commission to which no one is entitled solely by virtue of his own character -least of all Simon, who, if we are to judge by his natural character, was anything but a rock.
By nature he is that Peter who sinks into the waves when his faith fails; it is by the Lord and through the grace of the Lord that he is the rock on which the Church stands. We have grown accustomed to make a clear distinction between Peter the rock and Peter the denier of Christ - the denier of Christ: that is Peter as he was before Easter; the rock: that is Peter as he was after Pentecost, the Peter of whom we have constructed a singularly idealistic image. But, in reality, he was at both times both of these.
The pre-Easter Peter is already the Peter who, when many of the disciples were abandoning Jesus, spoke for those who remained faithful; who walked on the water to meet his Lord; who uttered the inexpressibly beautiful words: “Lord to whom can we go? You have the words of the eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68-69).
The post-Pentecost Peter, on the other hand, is that same Peter who, for fear of the Jews, belied his Christian freedom (Gal 2:11-14); he is at once a rock and a stumbling block. And has it not been thus throughout the history of the Church that the Pope, the successor of Peter, has been at once Petra and Skandalon -both the rock of God and a stumbling block? In fact, the faithful will always have to reckon with this paradox of the divine dispensation that shames their pride again and again -this tension between the Rock and Satan, in which the most extreme opposites are so strangely interwoven.
From: Das neue Volk Gottes, pp.80ff
Jun
27
CYRIL: CATECHESIS THAT EMBRACES BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT
Filed Under General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI | Leave a Comment
VATICAN CITY, JUN 27, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis during today’s general audience to St. Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-387), whom he described as a bishop of a great “ecclesiastical culture, centered on the study of the Bible.” The general audience, Benedict XVI’s hundredth, began with his greeting pilgrims in St. Peter’s Basilica, then continued in the Paul VI Hall. It was attended by around 7,000 people.
Cyril, the Pope explained, was consecrated a bishop in 348 by Acacius, metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine and a supporter of Arianism. However, soon afterwards the two men came into contrast, “not only in the doctrinal field, but also in the area of jurisprudence, because Cyril claimed the autonomy of his see from the metropolitan see of Caesarea.” He was exiled thee times and only in 378, following the death of the emperor Valens, could Cyril return to his see, “restoring unity and peace among the faithful.” Of this saint we have his “Catecheses,” 24 catechetical lectures introduced by a prologue. “Catechesis,” the Holy Father explained, “was an important moment, inserted into the broad context of the entire life - and especially the liturgical life - of the Christian community” where “the future faithful were gestated, accompanied by the prayer and witness of their brethren. This was a very important moment, it was not just an intellectual catechesis, but a way of learning to live in the Christian community.
As a whole, Cyril’s homilies constitute a systematic and pragmatic catechesis on the rebirth of Christians through Baptism.” From a doctrinal point of view, Cyril uses his work - through “a ’symphonic’ relationship between the two Testaments” - to reach “Christ, center of the universe.” In his moral catechesis, he invites people “to transform pagan forms of behavior on the basis of the new life in Christ.” In his “mystagogic” catechesis, he brings the newly baptized “to discover the hidden mysteries … contained in the baptismal rites.” “The mystery to be understood is the design of God which is accomplished through the salvific action of Christ in the Church. The mystagogic dimension is, in turn, accompanied by the dimension of symbols which express the spiritual experience they bring about.” “This is, then,” the Pope concluded, “an integral catechesis which - involving body, soul and spirit - remains emblematic for the catechetical formation of Christians today. Let us ask the Lord to help us understand a Christianity that truly embraces all of our existence and makes us credible witnesses of Christ, true God and true man.”
AG/CYRIL OF JERUSALEM/… VIS 070627 (440)
Jun
27
Co-Workers of the Truth 6/27
Filed Under Co-Workers of the Truth, Pope Benedict XVI, Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
In an address to the College of Cardinals in the Sala Clementina of the Vatican, the Pope spoke very earnestly to us. He reminded us that the scarlet robe of the cardinals is a symbol of their readiness to undergo martyrdom. The Church explains this in the formula: “He who wears it must be willing to defend the faith usque ad effusionem sanguinis -even to the shedding of blood.” He spoke then of the English cardinal, John Firsher, who received the scarlet robe in the prison where he was confined for having opposed the king’s power over the universal Church, as whose representative he regarded the Pope, the Bishop of ROme. He was beheaded one month after he was raised to the cardinalate. We are reminded here also of a second aspect of this pontificate, which the Holy Father described in the Sistine Chapel in his first address to the world as “fidelitas” -fidelity. In saying this, he opposed to the superficial dichotomy of conservatism and progress the so-often-forgotten other dimension: fidelity, which is creative in its preservation of the Faith.
From: Ordinariatskorrespondenz, no. 36, November 9, 1978
Jun
26
What’s Blogging?
Filed Under Raison d’être | Leave a Comment
One of the many reasons why I like reading blogs by priests is their sense of humour. Fr. Joe has something about The Power of Beer and Fr. Justin of Nova et Vetera has his take on why the recent Motu Propio is not about what the people have been waiting for.
On a different note Cardinal Sean’s blog has a link to the movie trailer of Bella.
On a serious note, Fr. Dwight Longnecker of Standing on My Head has some honest questions on the Latin Mass which are answered by Shawn Tribe of National Liturgical Movement (NLM). It is worth reading.
(Thanks again to Fr Tim Finigan of The Hermeneutic of Continuity for the links.)
Jun
26
MOTU PROPRIO CONCERNING ELECTION OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
Filed Under News & Current Events | Leave a Comment
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was a “Motu Proprio,” written in Latin, with which the Holy Father Benedict XVI restores the traditional norm concerning the majority required for the election of the Supreme Pontiff. According to this norm, in order for the election of a new Pope to be considered valid it is always necessary to reach a majority of two thirds of the cardinals present.
With this document, Benedict XVI substitutes the norm established by John Paul II who, in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici gregis,” laid down that the valid quorum for electing a new Pope was initially two thirds but that, after three days of voting without an election, there would be a day dedicated to reflection and prayer, without voting. Thereafter, voting would resume for seven additional ballots, another pause for reflection, another seven ballots, another pause and yet another seven ballots. After which an absolute majority was to decide how to proceed, either for a vote by absolute majority or with balloting between two candidates. This was to happen only in the event that the cardinals arrived at the 33rd or 34th ballot without a positive result.
MP/ELECTION SUPREME PONTIFF/…
