Catholic Blog Awards

Once again it is time for the Catholic Blog Awards.  You can nominate your favorite blogs in any number of categories here. 

I Feel Good!!!

In honor of Justice Alito's confirmation I once again offer (via the Curt Jester) the Amazing Dancing Alito:

 

Homily:  4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our first reading we hear that God promised to send to the People of God a prophet, and God promised that He will put His words into the mouth of this prophet, who will tell them all that God commands him.  This prophet was to be a sure guide for the people of …he would speak to them the very truth of God.  What a great blessing to the to the people of Israel that must have been, to have a man appointed by God to tell them what it is that God desires of them; to tell them how God wants them to live their faith and to teach them what morally acceptable. 

Oh that we, in our modern era, would also have such a man who would always be inspired by God when he taught us about faith and morals.  Who because of a singular gift of the Holy Spirit could never teach anything contrary to the will of God.  Someone who was invested with the very authority of Jesus Christ and who could speak in His name.  That would almost be too good to be true.

But guess what.  It is true.  In our day we do have a man, chosen and appointed by God to watch over the Church and to guide Her as a father.  He is a man entrusted with a great gift, the gift to teach in the name of and with the authority of Christ Himself.  He is a man inspired by the Holy Ghost, so much so, that whenever he teaches us in the areas of faith and morals he teaches the truth.  This man is our Holy Father, the Pope; the successor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ on earth.  He is the prophet in our midst speaking the truth, which begs the question, “are we listening?”

Are we, as members of the flock, listening to our shepherd here on earth?  Many of us do, but so many do not.  Many people in our world today dismiss the teaching of the Pope and the bishops in union with him as oppressive teachings contrived by a bunch of crusty old men sitting in the Vatican who have nothing better to do than come up with rules and regulations to keep us in a constant state of submission.  Believe it or not, people have actually said that to me, but my brothers and sisters, it is so far from the truth.

What the Pope teaches is not His own teaching, it’s not something he just makes up; it is the teaching of Christ.  What the Pope teaches he does not come out of anger, disgust, or a desire to oppress us, but rather it flows out of His love for Christ, the Church, and each and every one of us.  That is why we call him Father, because he cares for us with a father’s love and concern for his children.

So let’s respond to that love and that concern. Let us take to heart what our Holy Father speaks to us.  This past week Pope Benedict XVI released his very first encyclical or letter to us, the faithful.  Far from what many expected, It is not a list of rules and regulations to be imposed upon Catholics, but rather it is a beautiful exhortation about God’s love for us.  In it the Holy Father says this, “In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant. For this reason, I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.”

Since this encyclical is addressed to all the faithful, not just bishops and priests, let’s pick it up read it.  Sure there may be parts that are theologically deep and hard to understand, but trudging through those parts are well worth it.  Right now  you can find it on the Vatican website and other places on the internet.  It will be out in booklet form sometime next month.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, our first reading is a clear challenge to listen to the prophet the Lord has sent us.  If we do not listen we will only be hurting ourselves, for we will never have heard or lived the fullness of live we could have.  So together, as one family, listen to our Father, the Holy Father.

Could It Possibly Be True???

William  Henry Cardinal Keeler said earlier today:

"When I was in Rome two weeks ago, I inquired and I already had the suspicion that the pope's schedule was filling up so much that he would not be able to respond positively to my invitation to come this year. When I inquired, they said that this is exactly right -- he has a very full schedule of commitments hither and yon in Europe, responding to various invitations that were extended to him, but that he is planning to come to the United States next year, and that the visit to Baltimore was part of the program that he looked forward to participating in."

Praise God!!!!

Via Whispers in the Loggia

Immersion

Since the previous two posts have been on a liturgical theme I thought I would continue by posting a picture of a baptism I recently had.  It was somewhat out of the ordinary since the parents requested baptism by immersion.  I think it's a wonderful picture and so thought I might share it with you.

In Other Sacred Music News

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "On Eagle's Wings," the musical reworking of the 91st Psalm by Father Michael Joncas, topped all other songs in an online poll asking which liturgical song most fostered and nourished the respondent's life.

Two songs made popular by the St. Louis Jesuits -- "Here I Am, Lord" and "Be Not Afraid" -- came in second and third, followed by "You Are Mine," by David Haas.

The online poll was sponsored by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. The poll was featured last year in an issue of its membership magazine, Pastoral Music, and announcements about the poll were distributed to diocesan newspapers in an effort to get the input of "rank-and-file Catholics," said J. Michael McMahon, the association's president.


Of the 25 liturgical music songs mentioned most, songs written after the Second Vatican Council took not only the top four positions, but six of the top nine, and 12 of the top 25. The fourth-ranked song, "You Are Mine," received 138 votes, 81 percent more votes than the fifth-ranked song, "How Great Thou Art," which got 76.

Rounding out the pastoral musicians association's top 10 was, in sixth place, the traditional Catholic hymn "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name," whose lyrics are ascribed to Ignaz Franz, followed by John Newton's "Amazing Grace," Marty Haugen's "All Are Welcome," Sebastian Temple's "Prayer of St. Francis," and "Ave Maria."

Other contemporary Catholic songs in the top 25 were "We Are Called," 11th place; "I Am the Bread of Life," 13th; "The Summons," 14th; "Shepherd Me, O God," 19th; "One Bread, One Body," 22nd, and "Hosea," which tied for 24th place with the traditional Catholic hymn "Pange Lingua."

Also making the list were "Let There Be Peace on Earth," in 12th place, and "Lord of the Dance."

Could it possible be that the reason more traditional hymns didn't make the list because the have effectively been rooted out from the minds and hearts of the average parishioner?  I think that sadly, that is the case.  I don't understand how anyone who is familiar with such beautiful and moving hymns such as "Soul of My Savior" or "Jesus, my Lord, My God, My All" could even compare them to musical and theological disasters such as "All are Welcome" or "Lord of the Dance."

What Does The Future of Sacred Music Hold?

Apparently it holds a good amount of Gregorian Chant.  At least that's what Monsignor Valenti Miserachs Grau, the President of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music thinks.  In an interview with Zenit  he said a few things that may have some parish musicians in a tizzy.

In answer to a question as to whether Msgr. Miserachs thinks that the applause at his proposal to recover Gregorian Chant means that there is a general consensus that Gregorian Chant and Latin in the Liturgy should be recovered he answered that "...this means that there is a general opinion that coincides on the necessity of recovering Latin and Gregorian chant, which is the chant proper to the Church.  Gregorian Chant has been abandoned and left to concert hall and CD's when it's proper place was and is the liturgy."

Asked whether he thought that the lay faithful have the capacity to learn latin melodies, he said "It was thought that they were incapable, but this was wrong.  Before, people know how to sing the basic songs in Latin.  Today, it seems that efforts are bing made to make them unlearn what they knew...To launch Gregorian chant into the assembly agian, we could begin remembering the Pater Noster, the Kyrie, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei.  If they were invited, given the music and then properly trained, the people would be completely capable of following and singing easy Gregorian melodies, even if it were the first time they heard them.

Amen!  I often time wonder what the congregation would think if they knew that some parish musicians and priests thought they were incapable of singing simple Gregorian melodies, yet sadly, that is the opinion of so many priests and parish musicians.  I, for my part, know that the parishioners at my parish are indeed bright enough to learn a little Latin and a little Gregorian Chant.

You can read the whole interview here.

Deus Caritas Est

The Holy Father's first encyclical was released today in Rome.  You can find the English text here.  I glanced over it this morning and it looks like it covers a whole range of topics from sexuality to the relationship between the Church and State.  More to come later.

UPDATE:  In some of the spare moments of my day I have been doing some encyclical reading.  So far here is one of my favorite excerpts:

The Greeks—not unlike other cultures—considered eros principally as a kind of intoxication, the overpowering of reason by a “divine madness” which tears man away from his finite existence and enables him, in the very process of being overwhelmed by divine power, to experience supreme happiness. All other powers in heaven and on earth thus appear secondary: “Omnia vincit amor” says Virgil in the Bucolics—love conquers all—and he adds: “et nos cedamus amori”—let us, too, yield to love.[2] In the religions, this attitude found expression in fertility cults, part of which was the “sacred” prostitution which flourished in many temples. Eros was thus celebrated as divine power, as fellowship with the Divine.

The Old Testament firmly opposed this form of religion, which represents a powerful temptation against monotheistic faith, combating it as a perversion of religiosity. But it in no way rejected eros as such; rather, it declared war on a warped and destructive form of it, because this counterfeit divinization of eros actually strips it of its dignity and dehumanizes it. Indeed, the prostitutes in the temple, who had to bestow this divine intoxication, were not treated as human beings and persons, but simply used as a means of arousing “divine madness”: far from being goddesses, they were human persons being exploited. An intoxicated and undisciplined eros, then, is not an ascent in “ecstasy” towards the Divine, but a fall, a degradation of man. Evidently, eros needs to be disciplined and purified if it is to provide not just fleeting pleasure, but a certain foretaste of the pinnacle of our existence, of that beatitude for which our whole being yearns.

Two things emerge clearly from this rapid overview of the concept of eros past and present. First, there is a certain relationship between love and the Divine: love promises infinity, eternity—a reality far greater and totally other than our everyday existence. Yet we have also seen that the way to attain this goal is not simply by submitting to instinct. Purification and growth in maturity are called for; and these also pass through the path of renunciation. Far from rejecting or “poisoning” eros, they heal it and restore its true grandeur.

This is due first and foremost to the fact that man is a being made up of body and soul. Man is truly himself when his body and soul are intimately united; the challenge of eros can be said to be truly overcome when this unification is achieved. Should he aspire to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity. On the other hand, should he deny the spirit and consider matter, the body, as the only reality, he would likewise lose his greatness. The epicure Gassendi used to offer Descartes the humorous greeting: “O Soul!” And Descartes would reply: “O Flesh!”.[3] Yet it is neither the spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves. Only when both dimensions are truly united, does man attain his full stature. Only thus is love —eros—able to mature and attain its authentic grandeur.

Nowadays Christianity of the past is often criticized as having been opposed to the body; and it is quite true that tendencies of this sort have always existed. Yet the contemporary way of exalting the body is deceptive. Eros, reduced to pure “sex”, has become a commodity, a mere “thing” to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity. This is hardly man's great “yes” to the body. On the contrary, he now considers his body and his sexuality as the purely material part of himself, to be used and exploited at will. Nor does he see it as an arena for the exercise of his freedom, but as a mere object that he attempts, as he pleases, to make both enjoyable and harmless. Here we are actually dealing with a debasement of the human body: no longer is it integrated into our overall existential freedom; no longer is it a vital expression of our whole being, but it is more or less relegated to the purely biological sphere. The apparent exaltation of the body can quickly turn into a hatred of bodiliness. Christian faith, on the other hand, has always considered man a unity in duality, a reality in which spirit and matter compenetrate, and in which each is brought to a new nobility. True, eros tends to rise “in ecstasy” towards the Divine, to lead us beyond ourselves; yet for this very reason it calls for a path of ascent, renunciation, purification and healing.

This reminds me of many converstations that I had in the past with our resident athiest Joe London who over and over again would claim that Catholics poo-poo the body and focus only on the soul.  This is finally put to rest, once again, here in this document.  The Holy Father makes it clear, in no uncertain terms that this is not the case.  The body is made to be united with the soul and that together as one unity, although distinguishable, to love.

I also am very impressed with the way that the Holy Father speaks of how we must not reduce eros to pure "sex."  If we do, we run the risk of seeing it become "a commodity, a mere 'thing' to be bought and sold, or rather, man  himself becomes a commodity."  Although many people would say that the unbridled and uninhibited exercise of eros is an exercise in human freedom and that exults the human body, the Holy Father points out that  "Here we are actually dealing with a debasement of the human body: no longer is it integrated into our overall existential freedom; no longer is it a vital expression of our whole being, but it is more or less relegated to the purely biological sphere. The apparent exaltation of the body can quickly turn into a hatred of bodiliness. Christian faith, on the other hand, has always considered man a unity in duality, a reality in which spirit and matter compenetrate, and in which each is brought to a new nobility. True, eros tends to rise “in ecstasy” towards the Divine, to lead us beyond ourselves; yet for this very reason it calls for a path of ascent, renunciation, purification and healing."

I could go on and on, and realistically, I eventually will.  I am not far into the document, but as you can see I am quite fired up about what I have read so far.  I will post more snippets and commentary as I read more.

Sick, Wrong, and Disgusting:

Just a sign of how much idiocy there is out there.

Via Amy Welborn.

Americans Dismayed as Pope Remains Catholic

Via Mark Shea

My Retreat

As you may already be aware I recently made a retreat, which was quite unique.  Not your run of the mill type retreat.  The meditations were based on preparation for death...preparation to meet the Lord.  As part of those meditations I did some wookworking.  Coffin building to be exact.  There is something about doing that...building the coffin in which you will be buried that helped me to think about preparation for death.

Since this was a unique experience I thought you might enjoy some pictures.  In case you are wondering I did have some help in this endeavor from an experienced woodworker and monk wanna be, as well as a friend of mine who was also making the same retreat.

Here are the pictures:

Using a big saw...and yes, I still have all ten fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clamping the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting on the lid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished product.

Question

I have some great pictures from my recent retreat and some other events that I would like to post.  I am looking for somewhere to post the pictures.  Anybody know and good, preferable free, places where I could post the pictures?

Oh Oh

I hope this isn't his meeting with the new head of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Homily:  2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The story of Samuel and Eli that we heard in the first reading is a favorite of many priests and religious, it’s one of my favorites.  I think this is the case because in some way every priest or religious can see themselves in young Samuel and his call from God.  Every priest or religious has come to hear, deep within their hearts, the voice of God speaking to them…calling them to follow Him.  But priests and religious are not the only ones who should be hearing the voice of God calling them to follow Him. 

Everyone…yes, everyone, is called by God to a specific vocation through which they sanctify themselves and build up the Body of Christ.  Our vocation, the way of life that God has called us to live will be our salvation.  The more faithfully we live our vocation, the holier and happier we will be.

We know from scripture and the teachings of the Church that there are four general vocations.  They are marriage, generous single life, religious life, and the priesthood.  All four of these are holy vocations – holy callings from God.

Those who are called to marriage have a very, very important mission entrusted to them by God.  They are called to mirror for all people the very love that Christ has for His Church.  When we look at a married couple, their love for each other should immediately remind us of God’s love for us…a love so great that Jesus was willing to die in order to prove it…a love strong as death. 

This strong and faithful love is embodied and infleshed in the gift of children, who should always be embraced as  true gifts from God.  As Scott Hahn, a scripture scholar and theologian once said, “The love between husband and wife is so real that nine months later you have to give it a name.” 

Married life, like all vocations, has but one goal.  Heaven.  The married couple is called to lead one another and their children close and closer to God each day.  That being the case, if you, as a married couple cannot honestly say that you are leading your spouse and your children closer to God, then a conversion of heart may be in order.

The vocation of the generous single life is one that is all too often misunderstood in our society.  But for those of us who believe that God calls people to live the generous single life we know that this vocation, like all the others is an opportunity to give of oneself for the sake of others.  The generous single person is called to move out of themselves and give generously of their time and talents in order to draw others closer to the Lord Jesus.  They are in a special position to do this because they do not have the time consuming responsibility of nurturing a family or raising children.

The vocation to the religious life, whether as a brother or sister, a monk or nun, is one of generous imitation of the life of Christ.  Religious men and women are called to mirror Jesus in their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience so that they might be witness to the whole world that following Jesus in this way is not burdensome, sad, or boring, but rather it is fruitful, happy, and truly exciting.  So many people think that following Jesus closely, and avoiding all sin can only be boring and cause us to loose the freedom to choose what we will or will not do.  Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict addressed this very issue recently by saying that “the person who abandons himself totally in God's hands does not become God's puppet, a boring "yes man"; he does not lose his freedom. Only the person who entrusts himself totally to God finds true freedom, the great, creative immensity of the freedom of good.”

The vocation to the Holy Priesthood is a vocation of service to the people of God.  The only reason for the existence of the priesthood is to serve you, the people of God.  Priests do not exist for their own glory, or to win the esteem of people, or to gain power.  Priests exist only to bring Christ to the lives of those whom they serve.  They are called to be the very presence of Christ in the midst of the world.  They are called to be the hands, and the voice, and the ears of Christ.  They are called to lay hands on the sick and embrace the sorrowing, they are called to speak words of comfort and challenge, they are called to listen to the sins, hurts and troubles of God’s people.  In other words they are called to be “other Christ’s”  who stand in His place, doing His work.  They are called to share in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, and thus they themselves are called, like Jesus, to be both priest and victim offering their lives as a sacrifice on behalf of the people they serve.

The priesthood, like all vocations, requires sacrifice…but it is only through sacrifice that we can know the true joy and peace that comes from being united with Christ.

Vocation.  It’s a gift and a calling from God specifically designed and tailor fit for each of us.  Some of us all called to married life, others to the single life, still others to the religious life or the priesthood. 

But no matter what your vocation, be sure of this: if God calls you to it, then it must be good.  God never calls us to something that is bad for us or will lead us to sadness.  God always leads us toward happiness, in fact one can only find true and lasting happiness by following the vocation to which they are called.

Mary is the perfect example of this.  God called her to be the mother of His Son.  Without a doubt it was a life of sacrifice, but it was also a life of joy and happiness near Jesus.  In the words of our Holy Father, “Mary thus stands before us as a sign of comfort, encouragement and hope.” “She turns to us, saying:  ‘Have the courage to dare with God! Try it! Do not be afraid of him! Have the courage to risk with faith! Have the courage to risk with goodness! Have the courage to risk with a pure heart! Commit yourselves to God, then you will see that it is precisely by doing so that your life will become broad and light, not boring but filled with infinite surprises, for God's infinite goodness is never depleted!’.”

Amen.

God Bless Pat Buchanan

This is what he said in an article in Human Events Online:

Why has the Democratic Party become a party of fanatics on abortion? Because the feminists of NARAL and NOW regard abortion as a sacrament and will cut dead any Democrat who fails to protect a woman's "right to choose" to kill her unborn baby.

Which brings us to the unspoken issue here. Judge Alito is Catholic. If confirmed, he will join three other Catholics on the bench: Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, who have already voted to overturn Roe.

On the Senate Judiciary Committee sit four Catholic Democrats: Leahy, Kennedy, Biden and Durbin. All have 100 percent pro-abortion voting records. All have attacked Alito out of fear he may overturn Roe.

Query: Why is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops so deathly silent in this war of Catholics to decide if abortion on demand is to remain the law of the land forever in God's Country?

Where are the Catholic echoes of John Paul II's condemnations of the Culture of Death?

Where is Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, who was designated to address the moral obligations of Catholic politicians? When John Kerry ran as the Democratic nominee, McCarrick's task force refused to tell priests to deny him Communion. Suddenly, pro-abortion Kerry was seen at the altar rail and won half the Catholic vote.

Said McCarrick, "Our task force does not advocate the denial of Communion for Catholic politicians," for, otherwise, the "sacred nature of the Eucharist could be trivialized and might be turned into a partisan political battleground."

What should bishops do when Catholic politicians fight to uphold a decision that has caused the slaughter of thousands of times as many Holy Innocents as were massacred by King Herod?

Cardinal McCarrick urged "new efforts to teach clearly, advocate effectively, organize and mobilize Catholic laity, and to engage, persuade and challenge Catholic politicians to act on the moral teaching of our church."

Fair enough, Your Eminence.

Sixty-six years ago, Bishop Clemens von Galen took to the pulpit of Munster Cathedral to damn Hitler's regime at the peak of its power for "plain murder" in its euthanasia program and to direct Catholics to "withdraw ourselves and our faithful from their (Nazi) influence so that we may not be contaminated by their ... ungodly behavior."

Cardinal von Galen is headed for sainthood.

What is asked of you, Cardinal McCarrick, and your fellow bishops is less heroic. Just issue a statement before the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, 2006, declaring:

"We pray to God that Roe v. Wade is overturned. We commend all Catholics and fellow citizens working toward that goal. We condemn any Catholic politician who would deny a seat on the Supreme Court to a fellow Catholic -- on the grounds that he might vote to overturn this abomination."

That too much to ask, Your Eminence? As Dante said, there is a special place in hell for those who, in times of moral crisis, fail to take a stand. By the way, Dante put a lot of bishops in there.

You can read the whole article here.

Happy Epiphany

Today is one of my favorite feasts, and it is also the day that I am beginning my retreat.  That being said, things will be pretty slow around here until Saturday.  Please keep me in your prayers so that my retreat may be fruitful.

Traditionalist Humor

Dies Irae

Day of wrath, O Day of mourning!
Earth to ashes now returning!
Gather, by the millions, burning!

Cleansed at last by cataclysm
Butchered rhyme and battered rhythm,
Neopagan narcissism!

On that day, Lord, when thou comest,
And our dreadful hymnals thumbest,
Smite the ugliest and dumbest.

Smite them, Lord, yet of thy pity
Take their songsters to thy city:
Even Haugen, Haas, and Schutte.

Spare them on the stern condition
That they feel a true contrition
for the Worship III edition.

Doom them not to loss and ruin
While the darker storm is brewing!
They knew not what they were doing.

On that day when Palestrina
Dare not touch a celestina,
What will Sister Ballerina?

With thine eyes that pierce like lances
Still her heathen silly dances
And her flirting with Saint Francis.

Purge us of the prim and prissy,
Ditties fit for Meg or Missy,
Not for Francis, but a sissy.

Cantors who thought nothing grander
Than a sheaf of propaganda
Writ like office memoranda,

Raise them to thy room to bide in
Where their hearts and ears may widen
To the strains of Bach and Haydn.

Let their hearts within them falter,
Hearing, as they near thine altar,
Seraphs sing the Scottish Psalter.

Seize those devils set to pen a
Hymnal neutered of its men, ah,
Fling 'em all to black Gehenna!

Fling them one and all to mangle
Their pronominals, and wrangle
Lest a participle dangle!

Who held manhood in derision,
Preaching double circumcision,
Suffer now their own revision.

Though the songs of Hell are naughty,
None by Handel or Scarlatti,
At the least they'll have castrati.

Pitch, O Lord, the bald and raucous
Slogans of a leftist caucus
Down to Sheol, or Secaucus!

Save their singers, though: restore 'em
To a silent sweet decorum,
Saecula per saeculorem.

Various are the throngs of heaven:
Some were lump, and some were leaven,
Some as lame as six or seven.

When the demons hear thy curses,
And this world's dense fog disperses,
Heal the hobbled, not their verses.

Hush me too, Lord, when I grumble:
In thy mercy make me humble,
Lest On Turkey's Wings I stumble.

Though Haugen sing "Hosea" evermore,
Save me, I pray! but keep me near the door. Amen.