Per Christum

Last night I went to a youth gathering called Xlt. Our diocese will be implementing the program starting next school year. These will be monthly youth gatherings at different parishes, consisting of music, preaching, and adoration, modeled after what takes place at World Youth Day and other Church-sanctioned events for youth. I am always a little cautious when participating in programming like this, but I thought the event was well-done. Why am I cautious? Because in the past I have seen programming that was so silly and trendy compared to regular parish worship that it was embarrassing.  At any rate, we started out with singing, then two priests talked about Eucharistic adoration, and the evening concluded with actual adoration (including singing the Divine Praises). This was a preview for parish and school leaders, although we brought some youth along.

I think Xlt is a good idea, even if it may be a tad trendy. The more I actually deal with youth on a regular basis, the more I think young people need to be able to connect with Catholic peers, and have Catholic teaching reinforced at events like this. Ideal or not, many teens are not learning the faith in the home, and events like this may be the only exposure they get to solid Catholic Teaching. Also, it is good to see young people getting into adoration, even if it takes a special event like a monthly gathering to get them into it. There was even quite a bit of Latin included in the songs. On the way home a few students asked about the Latin, and what the phrase meant. It was a good springboard for discussing Latin and Latin prayers. I admit that I am a teacher, and could never make it as a youth leader, but I applaud the youth leaders that planned this event!

One common complaint I hear from many Catholics is that the Church actually expects us to attend Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. There are legitimate reasons for missing Mass, like being too ill to attend, or being snowed in, but I suspect that most Catholics who miss Mass regularly do so because it is not high on their list of priorities, and soccer games, sleeping in, and other activities take precedent. It is even more difficult to claim there is no time for Mass these days, since the Saturday night Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation.

Now, I admit that it is not always exciting to go to Mass, and the pull of TV, running, or something else is strong. Nonetheless, I go to Mass every Sunday because not only does the Church expect it of me, but because I know that if I have time for all sorts of activities unrelated to the eternal fate of my soul, I can give a little time each week to the heavenly banquet that our Lord established. Plus, when considered objectively, the time the Church expects from us for Mass is a small percentage of the week.

I decided to figure it out. I will warn you in advance that math was not my best subject, so if I have made a mistake, please let me know.

There are 168 hours in a week. If Mass lasts about one hour, and we assume 30 minutes travel time to get there and back, Mass takes up 1.5 hours per week of time. This amounts to giving 0.9% of our week to the miracle that is the holy sacrifice of the Mass, i.e. less than one percent of our time. And this, along with a few holy days of obligation, represent the mere minimalism that is expected of us! Compare this with the time we Americans spend watching TV each week, around 5 hours of TV a day; this amounts to 35 hours in a week, or 21% of the hours in a week. So whenever getting up for Mass doesn’t excite me, I just think of the time I give joyfully to TV, exercise, and the internet, and I am reminded that I most definitely have time for the Holy Eucharist!

The Sunday of so many, many names:

Second Sunday of Easter. Since the reforms of the 1960’s, this is the common name in all the liturgical texts such as the Sacramentary, Lectionary, etc.

Octave of Easter. Once the Church had many octaves throughout the year. The Octave of Easter can refer to either the eighth day or all eight days of the Feast of Easter which ends today.

In the Eastern Churches, this is known as Thomas Sunday as the gospel is always taken from John 20 and the story of doubting Thomas which occurred one week after the day of the Resurrection. Read the rest of this entry »

As much as I love hearing the Gospel readings proclaimed in the liturgy, sometimes they are hard to hear. Usually this is because something Our Lord says cuts to the heart of my own self-righteousness and pride. The Passion narrative read today, however, is the hardest reading for me all year. And not just because of what I hear, but for what I and the rest of the congregation say:

“He deserves to die!”

“Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?”

“Let him be crucified!”

And as I say these things, I’m wishing that this was the only time I said them…wishing I hadn’t said them with my life and sins many times over.

But, miracles of miracles, after this I am given the grace to stand and confess my faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in the Church, the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection. I am invited to call God Father and pray as Jesus taught us. Christ, the betrayed, abused and crucified Lord, does not turn me away, but gives me his peace. He gives Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and dwells with one who is not worthy to receive him.

These gifts make the Passion narrative bearable in the same way Easter Sunday makes Good Friday good.

“Truly, this was the Son of God!”

There are presently 9 Eucharistic prayers now in use in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Twas not always thus, however. For four hundred years prior to the Second Vatican Council, there was only one Eucharistic Prayer in general use in the Latin Church (others such as the Ambrosian Rite of Milan and the Dominican Rite are not for general use, but for particular settings).

Through a complicated maze of scholarship, popular demand, and political pressures, the 1960’s saw the multiplication of the Eucharistic prayers for general use from one to four, each called by its Roman numeral, I-IV . In the 1970’s five other particular use Eucharistic Prayers were added to the sacramentary namely the Eucharistic Prayers for Children I, II, III and for Reconciliation I and II.

Eucharistic Prayer I: The Roman Canon

The Roman Canon is the longest and perhaps the most ancient of the Eucharistic prayers. St. Ambrose had quoted portions of it in the mid 300’s. Among the ancient Eucharistic prayers of the various rites, East and West, it has a strikingly unique structure with a heavy emphasis on the sacrificial nature of the sacrament and the role of the priest in offering it. Read the rest of this entry »

Where I grew up, Eucharistic Prayer 2 held sway in grade school, weekday, funeral, and Sunday Masses… I don’t think I ever heard the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer 1) until I was at least 16. There has been an interesting and ongoing combox discussion on the matter over at Bonfire of the Vanities.

Where I attend weekday Mass on occasion EP 1 is the norm (out of 13 different approved prayers) and I find that pleasing for one simple reason: It offers the following brief exhortations to pray for the living and the dead:

For the living:“Remember, Lord, your people, especially those for whom we now pray, N. et N.”

For the dead:“Remember, Lord, those who have died and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, especially those for whom we now pray, N. et N. May these, and all who sleep in Christ, find in your presence light, happiness, and peace.”

It is a true mercy to take a moment to remember the dead and the living whose intentions I bring to place on the altar - it is a reminder to fix my intentions at the offertory and then fix my intentions at communion.

Prayer for the dead has been so utterly neglected in the Catholic Church today. This is something we may all, one day, come to see the tragedy of in a most uncomfortable light.

 (NOTE: I am making an effort to better understand how to play with the size of graphics on WordPress - be patient with me! )

Since September 14, 2007, the Sunday when general permission was given for the celebration of the the traditional rite of the Mass, Latin Rite Catholics whether they know it or not have been living in a very new era.

Now is as good a time as any to take a look at our current Eucharistic prayers and come to appreciate all of them for their beauty and power to bring us the greatest gift in this life as well as understand some of their limitations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Christ is born!
Glorify Him!

As the Nativity Season has now hit, I take time to wish you all a merry one!

I was thinking, while chatting with another contributor here, what the Nativity meant, that year, so long ago…

Mary had a vocation: to be the Theotokos, the God-Birther, the Mother of our God. What did this mean?

Well, for the previous 9 months, it meant the grievous risk of execution, should Joseph have chosen to put her out, or at best, being excluded from the community as a harlot… Not a happy thought.

Then, for the next several years, to live a life hunted by the crown. To go wherever her son’s safety required. To do what was needed. To help him be fully human. To do the things his body could not yet do. To feed and clothe him. To care for and nurture this most adept of children.

Then, for several years, spent in obscurity, to simply be mom to a precocious child who could kill wih a word, should he have chosen to. Oh, what a constant stress that could be!

And then, at his coming of age, to find him not where he “should” have been but teaching the rabbis and priests! Again, putting it all at risk.

And then, to take him down from the cross, body broken, naked, battered, and bloody. And to trust another to hurry him to a tomb.

Did she know?
How did she cope?

Joseph, too, had a vocation…
To keep a woman who bore a child not his own, to raise that child as his own, to flee with them from Herod, to let him experience being the one not in charge, and to finally let him go. We know little of his role past the temple… and not much about him, either. But his calling, as the angel came to him, was to change his life. And not just his, but all of our lives.

Vocations are many and varied…
Just because one isn’t called to be a priest, deacon, hermit or monastic does not mean one has no vocation.

Each of us has a role to play in the salvation of others, even if it is just singing joyfully that song one hates, but the parish loves. To be the best Christian we can be.

To know that, 2 milenia ago, God chose to beget his only son, who was both fully god and fully man, and to have him live as one of us for some 30 years… and then to be the last blood sacrifice required of mankind. God chose his own son to be sacrificed, knowing that he could not intervene in his own plan as he had for Abraham. God, the great I Am, had made the law, and now had to fulfill it. He did…

And so also, we, the poor banished children of Eve, take his mother as our own. And praise her willingness to take on the unknown risks as she did so long ago, culminating in the Holy Family.

So, I ask you, Brothers and Sisters, to pray for me, and that you find your vocation, that thing that God wants you to do to aid in the plan of salvation. Even if it is nothing more than to Give Glory to God by participating in the Divine Liturgies of our Holy Catholic Church, be it the Roman Mass, the Holy Quorbono, the DL of St Basil or St John, or any of the other expressions of our Catholic Faith.

And He is born unto us! God is now with us! We have found him in the cave at Bethlehem!

I thought this altar/chapel arrangement as found at the Washburn University Catholic center was the norm everywhere… but maybe not…

Cutting edge 1970s theologian Father Richard McBrien has recently been talking about the Traditional Latin Mass. More specifically he has been quoted as saying “But if such Catholics are under the ages of 45 or 50, they have little or no hands-on experience of the pre-Vatican II Mass. It is a mystery how one can be nostalgic for something one had never experienced.”

If this is a true quote, Father McB is a remarkably disingenuous on this matter.

The FSSP has been around for 19 years since the promulgation of Ecclesia Dei.

Notre Dame freshman are 18. Do the math.

Some kids in fact DID grow up with the TLM as it has been offered in some places without stop for the past 40 years. Others have converted or reverted to the Catholic faith into communities that offer it. Some just need no better reason than plain good taste. More than a few grew up with the wildest liturgical aberrations as standard fair, and simply wish to leave it in their childhood.

If Fr. McB is so utterly confounded by why youth have an affinity for this liturgy, he can quite easily do a little due dilligence. He can stop by the chapel at NDU where the 8am TLM brings out 200+ students and ask them “Hey you kids, why are you doing this? Don’t you know you are too young to want this or know what this is?”

The funny/sad thing is the lipservice liberals and dissidents give to multi-culturalism is just so much hot air. All things being equal, why not let these folks “do their thing”? Why be bothered by their affinity for traditions? What are these folks hurting? Only a small (although growing) percentage of Masses in the world will take this form. The ordinary form is not going anywhere.

“On October 18, 2007 the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter celebrated the 19th anniversary of its canonical erection as a society of apostolic life of pontifical right by His Holiness of happy memory, Pope John Paul II. We began humbly with 11 priests and 1 deacon.

“Who would have thought that this small group of traditional, Latin rite priests would so quickly grow to over 300 members working and studying on 5 continents in the 17 different countries serving over 85 dioceses … and then become THE main force for the implementation of a papal decree expressly promoting the return of the traditional Latin Mass, now known as the “extraordinary form” of the Roman missal, as well as all the sacraments and devotions that go along with it?” (from: http://www.fssp.com/main/News071019.htm)

19 is old enough for a beer in Canada. If you are in Canada and see the FSSP wandering about, buy FSSP a beer and wish FSSP a happy birthday!

If you happen to find some old penny loafers with holes in the bottom, before throwing them out, take out the coins and consider sending them to these fellas. They have certainly proven to offer an excellent return on investment in the past 19 years.

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter
North American Headquarters
Griffin Rd, PO Box 196
Elmhurst, PA 18416

H/T: Roman Catholic Blog where one commenter writes:

“This looks a lot like my daughter’s Confirmation last May, presided over by Bishop Barnes and attended by some 4th Degree Knights. It was just a silly hootenanny — an old ’60s and early ’70s term that seems to fit. Guys like Bishop Barnes are trying to be cool and relevant, but I don’t think even the kids they’re trying to attact find it cool. They just endure it. I doubt that anybody really likes it, with the possible exception of the garage band up in front — because this is the only gig they’re good enough to get… the “entertainment” level is akin to that of a cheap dinner theater on the edge of some small town. Our good Lord deserves so-o-o-o-o much more!”

Well said.

I am just embarrassed by stuff like this. I know a priest in Tanzania who comes back to the US every couple of years… I am told that when the bishop comes to the villiage, there IS dancing to greet him - outside of the parish, welcoming when he first arrives. Then they put their shirts on, go into the parish and celebrate Mass.

H/T: Roman Catholic Vocations Blogspot

“Church short on U.S.-born ministers”
By Erin McKeon The Facts.Com ( A Texas News website???)

Published October 7, 2007In Catholic churches nationwide, immigrants are being counted on to take on a job fewer Americans have been willing to do. (Read all…)

A fair enough article overall. Not really big news to people that have been following it for some time. The article fails to mention how very typical this is of the US situation historically - we have ALWAYS had a goodly number of priests from “the other side” (as one Melkite Bishop used to refer to his Lebanese-born priests)…
In all fainess, our current American ratio of priest to laity is darn near the same as it was 100 years ago.

In actuality, our current American ratio of clergy to faithfyl - when counting America’s 16.6K perm. deacons, it is far better than it was 100 years ago.

It is also worth noting that there are about two-dozen exceptionally strong formation programs in the US at the diocesan and religious level. Should they continue to grow in the ways they have and inspire likewise among the other diocese and orders around them, I EASILY foresee a lowering of the median presbyteral age significantly in the next 20 years.

But of course, there is always room for one more soul.

I used to think that we would do well to open every bed we had in near-empty and half empty seminaries here in the US for African, Asian and Latin American Seminarians. But there is a reason a lot of those joints are half or near empty - it is probably best we don’t spread their malaise to Africa, Asia or Latin America. Americans have given VERY generously for decades and decades to the missions. It is only fitting that we now become a sort of mission territory ourselves - served by the very sons and daugters of the converts we have for decades been praying and paying to support.

But could we take a moment to consider the importance and effect of population growth on vocations? Namely, the family population.

I think there is more than a casual correlation between the rise in vocational numbers outside the US where birth rates are higher and (presumably) artificial birth control is less embraced. Humanae Vitae seems to strike again.

If we could look at some of the birt rates in some of the predominately Catholic countries that are non-European.

(births per 1,000 population)
Venezuela 21.22Argentina 16.53
Ecuador 21.91 births
Brazil 16.3 births
El Salvador 26.13 births
Belize 28.34 births
Costa Rica 18.02 births
Honduras 27.59 births
Nicaragua 24.12 births
Panama 21.45 births
Bolivia 22.82 births
Chile 15.03 births
Colombia 20.16 births
Ecuador 21.91 births
Guyana 18.09 births
Paraguay 28.77 births
Peru 20.09 births
Suriname 17.31 births
Uruguay 14.41 births
Philippines 24.48 births

CIA Factbook on birthrates