New Mass Translations

The USCCB has set up a great website that gives a sneak-preview of the upcoming changes to the ordinary form of the Roman Rite.

A lot of blog commentators have bemoaned the changes; but they are necessary, because many parts of our current translation is out of step with the Latin original - to which all translations must be faithful - which is itself in harmony with the Roman liturgy as celebrated since antiquity.

Personally, I think a lot of time, energy, & money is spent on translation work that simply isn't necessary. Latin works pretty well in the Roman liturgy. God speaks it fluently.

On Furlough with St. Augustine

This week of the liturgical calendar features an all-star cast of heavy-hitting saints (ah, but aren't they all!): St. Rose of Lima, St. Bartholomew, St. Louis, St. Monica, St. Augustine, ending with the memorial of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. What better day to go to confession!?!

As I am on furlough this week, I will probably not write anything here for a while, so I leave you with a couple of acts of contrition I've taken from Confessions to use at Confession:

Lord, all my goods are things that you have established & they are your gifts; my evils are my own misdeeds & your judgments upon me. May my brothers who love me sigh for the one & sigh over the other. May hymns & weeping ascend in you sight from the hearts of my brethren, your censors. Be pleased, O Lord, with the odor of your holy temple, & have mercy on me according to your great mercy for your name’s sake. Do not abandon in any way what you have begun in me, but make perfect my imperfections. Amen.

- Adapted from The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book 10, Chapter 4

Struck with terror at my sins & at the burden of my misery, I am tormented at heart & pondered flight into the desert. But you forbade me, & comforted me, saying, “Therefore, Christ died for all, that they who live may now live not to themselves but to him who died for them.” Behold Lord, I cast my cares upon you, so that I may live, & “I will consider the wondrous things of your Word.” You know my lack of wisdom & my infirmity. Teach me & heal me; for, Jesus Christ, your only Son, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge” has redeemed me by his blood. Amen.

- Adapted from The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book 10, Chapter 43

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I know there are many Monicas out there; may bring from your unceasing prayers a rich harvest of Augustines.

Covenant, Communion, & the Coming Storm

Looks like the covenant's still holding up. Snapped this in between showers yesterday. See the second bow? Does it look like the colors are reversed to you?

Today is the feast of St. Pope Pius X, who is perhaps most remembered in the Church today as the Pope who encouraged a lower age for First Holy Communion. As a consequence, the saraments of initiation in the Latin Church now fall somewhat out of order; at least compared to the vast weight of tradition. Although the order is restored for adults entering the Church at Easter Vigil, I think this remains unresolved for the moment for children & adolescents.

St. Pius also known for his waging of war againt Modernism, which was called the sum of all heresies. One need not look far to see the tragic consequences that result from this evil. It seems that the Church's 40-year period of flirting with Modernism are coming to a close. As long as the Church was somewhat neutralized & relatively ineffective in its living & spreading of the Gospel, the world tolerated Christianity & the Church (think Anglicanism). When it can no longer be reconciled, I have no doubt that the forces of the world will turn on the Church with an unimaginable fury.

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But not to worry, we know how the story ends.

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… I looked, & behold a door was opened in heaven… And behold, there was a throne set in heaven, & upon the throne one sitting. And he that sat was to the sight like the jasper & the sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats, & upon the seats, four & twenty ancients sitting, clothed in white garments. And on their heads were crowns of gold… And in the sight of the throne was, as it were, a sea of glass like to crystal… & round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, & the second living creature like a calf, & the third living creature, having the face, as it were, of a man, & the fourth living creature was like an eagle flying. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings, & round about and within they are full of eyes. And they rested not day and night, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was & who is & who is to come. Rev 4:1-8

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (†1153)

Today is the memorial day of one of the most astounding men of the European Middle Ages. In his homily this morning, Father said that Bernard would have been Man of the Year or even Man of the Century. Today, people are considered off their nut when they express a more-than-average joy & devotion to Christ Jesus, his Church, his Mother & his saints, even in church! We need to stir up again the fervor that once converted a continent of barbarous pagan tribes into a unity called Christendom, & reclaim the world for Christ today.

Here is an article I wrote for the bulletin, but was sadly cut to make room for a pancake breakfast announcement or something...

All Christians should feel some tension between prayer in solitude & activity in the world, one leading to the other, then back again. Bernard joined the Cistercian Order in the year 1111 & later became abbot of the monastery in Clairvaux, France. He was seeking solitude, but was continuously called into the world: to found monasteries all over Europe, to advise popes & bishops, to reconcile quarrels, to refute errors, & to end schisms. In all things, he humbly sought the will of God, entrusting the care of his soul to the Blessed Mother as a sure way of remaining a true disciple of her Son, Jesus.

"Mary means star of the sea... Rightly she is likened to a star, for as a star sends forth its ray without loss to itself, so does the Virgin bear her Son without hurt to herself... She is that noble Star of Jacob, whose Ray gives light to all the world, the Ray whose splendour shines in heaven & penetrates to hell. She is that star I say, uplifted over the ocean of this world... O you who struggle in this stormy sea, do not turn your eyes from this star, if you would escape shipwreck! When the winds of temptation arise & you run on the rocks of tribulation, look at that star, think of Mary, call on her by name. If you follow her, you will not go off course; if you cry to her, you will not give up hope; if you think of her, you will not go astray. So will you own experience teach you how rightly it is said that 'the Virgin's name was Mary.'"

On the Feast of the Assumption...

... last Saturday, as at most Masses, I sat near the front - partly so as to be closer to 'the action', but also to minimize my tendency to be distracted during Mass. As a by-product of this, I never really know how many people are present (once at a Mass in Dublin, Ireland, I turned around at the sign of peace to find that there was NO ONE behind me!). A friend commented afterwards that aside from 2 children & myself, that the assembly consisted of about 50 people "of a certain age". I know this wasn't a Day of Obligation, but it seems that if people believed what Catholics believe that they would be there anyway. It's great that we had a nice Mass, with choir even, but I'm just wondering about this...

On Sunday, however, the external solemnity of the Assumption was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in all its beauty & majesty (corner of Baxter & Central, Mass at 1:30pm, Confessions immediately before & after). It's nice to have Msgr. Mankel there, as well. See many wonderful photos at www.knoxlatinmass.net/gallery/gallery.htm

Today began with a glorious sunrise. Here's hoping that your day is just as glorious.

Bishop Richard

The word is out (see here), but please keep Bishop Richard Stika in your prayers - for his health & safety, for his Church in Knoxville, & that God's will be done in all things.

St. Maximillian Mary Kolbe (†1941)

The story of Fr. Kolbe’s heroic sacrifice is well known – how as prisoner #16670 in Auschwitz, he volunteered to take the place of another man who was condemned to death by starvation. What is not as well known is his life as a Franciscan friar, his interior mystical life & total devotion to the Blessed Mother, & his founding of the Crusade of Mary Immaculate to fight against the evils of his day, especially Freemasonry, against which his pamphlets & newspapers were especially effective.

Seeing the need to spread the Gospel abroad, he departed for the Far East, establishing a base of operation on a mountain side near Nagasaki, Japan. He saw opportunities to make God’s love & redemption known wherever he traveled, trusting that God would provide whatever was needed through the hands of Our Lady.

Growing increasingly ill, he was recalled to Poland shortly before WWII. We may remember Fr. Kolbe’s final act of martyrdom, but we must never forget that his whole life was one of total self-offering to God.

Book Review: Letter to the Church in China by Pope Benedict XVI

While not exactly a "book", Pope Benedict XVI explores & explains what is a church in the context of the Chinese government’s suppression of the independent, Rome-aligned church & the upholding of a government-run state church. Although written to the Church in China, the pope obliquely addresses the eaves-dropping Chinese government with the message that the Church is good for man & society, and that the attempt of government authorities to stifle & control it run counter to the very purposes of government – the betterment of its constituents.

The letter is also of interest to all Christians & Catholics because it deals not only with the characteristics proper to a church within itself, but also the obligations of the church to engage society, lessons that are always worth repeating. The letter particularly focuses on the role of the bishop as the visible head of the local church & insists that the state has no right to attempt to control the bishops & their message. History has shown time & time again that no human power can appease, stifle, or eliminate the Gospel.

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Perhaps the world will yet witness the rebirth of China as the next great Christian nation. Perhaps attending to this message would help western Christendom to rediscover its greatness, as well.

Life at the Feeder

I've added a finch feeder to the array of sustenance dispensers for the little flying dinosaurs. As you can see, it looks like a mesh bag with some black stuff in it. The stuff is tiny seeds that the finches' little beaks are just perfect for getting to. It's taken a while for them to find it & get comfortable feeding from it, as close to the house as it is, but now they come by for a snack on a regular basis.

In other feeder news, the squirrels chewed through the cord holding up one of the tube feeders & dropped it to the ground. Their plan back-fired a bit, as it was mostly empty anyway & it took a few weeks to get around to putting it back up (with a chain this time).

I am still fascinated by these little fellows. I really could just sit & watch them all day long.

In the Spirit II

A few years ago, I bought a collection of books on eBay, & among them was a little book by a German priest named Romano Guardini, who died in 1968. Little did I know that he was a heavyweight in the fields of philosophy, theology, & spirituality, whose work influenced the likes of Josef Ratzinger. There is an excerpt from his writings on the Holy Spirit in today's Magnificat meditation:

"The Holy Spirit has come to us to be in us, so that we may learn from him how to utter the name of Jesus, how to pray, and how to profess our faith. He has come to us and in us, that we may be renewed and born again in him... He is the Creator creating from the freedom of the pure fullness of love...

"'Send forth your Spirit and all things will be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.' Do you realize that that is true... 'you hear the sound thereof but cannot tell whence it comes, and where it goes' and that he can touch your soul and make everything different? ...You become aware that you have a heart and that you, too, have recieved the ability to love, and things are filled with a gentle and holy meaning, and you know that everything is good and that it is worthwhile - divinely worthwhile - to be alive and to persevere."

In the Spirit

A few years ago, when Fr. Corapi came to speak in Chattanooga, I, like a lot of people that weekend, availed myself of the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Rec-room was sort of an open space, where priests were positioned at various points about the room. I waited in line a while, then was called over to an open space where a priest was waiting. Anxiety set in as I approached, as I realized that this priest was really old, probably could not hear very well, & that I would likely need to speak loud enough to broadcast my failings to the whole room & beyond. As it happened, he could hear just fine; & as I poured out my soul to this wizened old vicar, he stopped me in the middle of my thoughts & declared rather definitively, "Your problem is that you don't have a relationship with the Holy Spirit!" And I've been pondering that ever since.

Now, lots of people claim to be "spiritual" rather than religious; but, doesn't spirituality infer the presence of a spirit, & of living a life according to that spirit? Here a word of warning: St. Paul lists discernment of spirits among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, because there is more than one spirit out there. Have you ever thought about the sorts of spirits that are out & about these days? Which spirit do you follow?

Christianity makes a strikingly bold - even astonishing- claim that God has revealed himself to be a unity of 3 persons: Father, Son, & Spirit, & that this Spirit of God lives within & among those who enter the faith through baptism, & who guides those that allow him through life with a celestial light toward Truth, Beauty, & Goodness - even Godness - that is invisible to those standing outside.

Again, if we are spiritual or follow a certain spirituality, are we truly aware of the presence & action of the Spirit of God as the origin, the means, & the goal of our entire Christian life?

News

Seems like there's been a lot of strange & hard news lately...

- Syro-Malabar Catholic priest slain in southern India

- Muslem violence against Christians in Pakistan

even in our own backyard...

- Planned Parenthood's expansion in Bearden

But don't forget that there are some really good things going on (try to picture all of these guys trying to sleep on a trampoline!)...

- Franciscans spread God's love in 300 mile walk to Washington D.C.

If all else fails, just watch the sunrise.

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What good news have you had lately?

Inexhaustible

I have read the Gospels a thousand times, but every time I read them I find something new, because it is the Truth itself that is speaking to me.

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- a paraphrase of Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.