July 29th, 2008
We talk too much. We read too much. We hear too much. So much so, that we have lost the art of doing, of acting either as individuals or as a people. We no longer understand what it is to belong to a people who acts, who has “public action” of its own. We are no longer liturgical. For in our vernacularism and modernisation and reform, the very nature of the leiturgia – the nature of what is truly the work of the people – has been lost.
Fr. Dr. Alcuin Reid
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July 25th, 2008
When “Humanae Vitae” came out in July 1968 I thought I better read a copy of it. So I went up to my Newman Club chaplain at the University of Minnesota and I asked him where I could find a copy of “Humanae Vitae.” And his comment to me was, “What do you want to read that kind of trash for?”
This irritated me. It was not his role to make an editorial comment to me. He was a priest, a Catholic priest. He ought to at least be sharing what the Church was saying, and not be so afraid of it.
Dr. Thomas Hilgers, co-founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute
from a ZENIT article speaking about Humane Vitae, 40 years later.
July 22nd, 2008
Liturgical Calendar according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
iCal & Outlook users can download (.ics) this excellent open source Xform calendar. It’s awesome and acurate through 2010! Thanks to somebody!
July 22nd, 2008
More crazy ex-hippies have attempted ordination…Isn’t that sweet?
Photo of one of the ‘ordinands’ via National Geographic. All comic rudeness is intended.
July 19th, 2008
Fourteen Passive-Aggressive Appetizers
say, “I don’t like you” without really saying it…with food.
July 19th, 2008
Here is my homily for this Sunday’s Traditional Latin Mass (Xform) at Immaculate Conception. Same as before, I’ve only proofread once and I’m not good at grammar, forgiveness welcome (comments too). -Fr.R
The Offertory verse of today’s Holy Mass begins Ad Te Domine, Levavi animam meam, To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul…
And so what is the difference between lifting the soul to God and lifting the eyes to God… The beautiful spiritual message of today’s gospel is here… The eyes are all about possession… In a very real way, what we see we possess. We can bring that image to mind, we can manipulate it, we can alter it. What I see enters my memory and it is mine.
But the soul is an entirely different ‘animal.’ The soul is not connected to memory, the soul is eternal and it is much more feminine. The soul receives God’s grace, it senses God’s presence and it is wounded when God is wounded by our sin and our coldness.
To lift my eyes to God, in the spiritual sense, is to treat God casually, to think of Him as someone with whom I am familiar. To look upon His glory was forbidden to Moses and nearly blinded St. Paul. The parable in the Gospel today is about two men, one whose eyes were raised, the other whose soul was…
Practically speaking that means seeking intimacy with God, but not familiarity. When we pray, we should in physical posture and in spiritual humility avoid being too casual with the Lord. This doesn’t mean we can’t pray spontaneously or even that we must kneel by our beds at night although kneeling before a crucifix is an indulgenced devotion. It means that we must cultivate the disposition of the heart which bows before the Lord.
I’ve told the story often of Mother Angelica who founded EWTN. She recounts a story from her time as a novice sister. She received a simple pair of shoes from the prioress. She was excited and so she took them to the chapel and presented these shoes to the Lord… When asked by the novice mistress about her strange behavior, she replied that she wanted to show the Lord this thing which was important to her… When she entered the chapel, she undoubtedly genuflected on both knees before our Lord, she knelt in the pew and silent made her presentation to him… At the same time, she acknowledged her intimacy and friendship with Christ without abandoning the gesture and reverence owed to her God…
Here is the line we’re being asked to walk… When we pray we must cultivate intimacy and friendship with Our Lord but without ever setting aside reverence and devotion. It’s a path that the Lord will help us walk and a path that takes time and yet for those who walk it, it is the height of human experience…
July 19th, 2008
Hey gang, this has not been proofread very well, but I wanted to toss it up anyway, I may make corrections. Comments Welcome. – Fr.R
When we read the scriptures that Holy Mother Church gives us this Sunday, we have to be humbled. When St. Paul says: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought. When Our Lord reminds us that the weeds are left together with the wheat and that even though we’re here in this Church we have no guarantee that we are not those very weeds He’s talking about. Even King David in psalm 85 begs the Lord for pity…
The mystery that we are facing head on this week is the mystery of evil… Why is there evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? How could a loving God permit 9/11 or the Holocaust or the wounds of Slavery still present among us? Why doesn’t God just set everything right?
The answer comes to us from the very mouth of the Lord. “Mercy” Our Lord does not want the wheat harmed… Even though the wheat must suffer, it must fight all the harder for food and for light, the wheat must not be harmed… The most profound truth is that the Lord will sort out what really matters in the end…
Think about it: what matters more, suffering now or eternal happiness? Why do we come to this Church week after week – because of the good that it does for us now or because we believe that it is necessary for eternal life?
The constant Gospel message that Jesus came to deliver is that this world is passing away. It has been polluted by original sin and will continue to be inadequate. It is dying. But hope is not lost, even though eden is gone, the Lord has made more for us, he has prepared heaven for those who follow Him… And nothing can keep us from him – not fire or persecution or hatred or the sword – only our own sin.
The mystery of evil comes down to two questions… Why does it exist? How do we overcome it? The why is sin, original sin and our own continuing actual sin. The how is by trusting that all things in this world can work for the good of those who love the Lord…
Everything else is the result of taking our eyes off of Christ… The message for us today is to endure whatever suffering we face – whether it be large or small, urgent or distant, mundane or spiritual – we must face with eyes fixed on eternity… The eyes of this world can only see justice. They can only see weeds and wheat. Christian eyes see mercy – they see souls…
Let us ask God today for courage and for faith to look upon this world and our suffering in it as only a moment on the path to eternal life.
