Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sacriledge in Catholic Church
A cheap and distasteful attempt by a baptist 'street preacher' to convert the Catholics. I admire the celebrant and congregation for ignoring what was taking place.
Notice that the Mass continues as the people rise for a hymn, probably the Pater Noster, indicated by the holing of hands.
This sacriledge took place in July 2007. Let us recite the Divine Praises as a reparation for this great offence against the Instituition of the Catholic Church, the Mass, the Priesthood and our Blessed Mother (these are issues the 'preacher' brought up).
Labels: News, prayer Request, Protestants, Sacrilege, Video
Saturday, July 14, 2007
One, Holy, Catholic, & Apostolic Church
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
RESPONSES TO SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTS
OF THE DOCTRINE ON THE CHURCH
RESPONSES TO SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTS
OF THE DOCTRINE ON THE CHURCH
INTRODUCTION
The Second Vatican Council, with its Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, and its Decrees on Ecumenism (Unitatis redintegratio) and the Oriental Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum), has contributed in a decisive way to the renewal of Catholic ecclesiology. The Supreme Pontiffs have also contributed to this renewal by offering their own insights and orientations for praxis: Paul VI in his Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam suam (1964) and John Paul II in his Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint (1995).
The consequent duty of theologians to expound with greater clarity the diverse aspects of ecclesiology has resulted in a flowering of writing in this field. In fact it has become evident that this theme is a most fruitful one which, however, has also at times required clarification by way of precise definition and correction, for instance in the declaration Mysterium Ecclesiae (1973), the Letter addressed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Communionis notio (1992), and the declaration Dominus Iesus (2000), all published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The vastness of the subject matter and the novelty of many of the themes involved continue to provoke theological reflection. Among the many new contributions to the field, some are not immune from erroneous interpretation which in turn give rise to confusion and doubt. A number of these interpretations have been referred to the attention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Given the universality of Catholic doctrine on the Church, the Congregation wishes to respond to these questions by clarifying the authentic meaning of some ecclesiological expressions used by the magisterium which are open to misunderstanding in the theological debate.
RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONS
FIRST QUESTION
Did the Second Vatican Council change the Catholic doctrine on the Church?
RESPONSE
The Second Vatican Council neither changed nor intended to change this doctrine, rather it developed, deepened and more fully explained it.
This was exactly what John XXIII said at the beginning of the Council.[1] Paul VI affirmed it[2] and commented in the act of promulgating the Constitution Lumen gentium: “There is no better comment to make than to say that this promulgation really changes nothing of the traditional doctrine. What Christ willed, we also will. What was, still is. What the Church has taught down through the centuries, we also teach. In simple terms that which was assumed, is now explicit; that which was uncertain, is now clarified; that which was meditated upon, discussed and sometimes argued over, is now put together in one clear formulation”.[3] The Bishops repeatedly expressed and fulfilled this intention.[4]
SECOND QUESTION
What is the meaning of the affirmation that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church?
RESPONSE
Christ “established here on earth” only one Church and instituted it as a “visible and spiritual community”[5], that from its beginning and throughout the centuries has always existed and will always exist, and in which alone are found all the elements that Christ himself instituted.[6] “This one Church of Christ, which we confess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic […]. This Church, constituted and organised in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him”.[7]
In number 8 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium ‘subsistence’ means this perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church[8], in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth.
It is possible, according to Catholic doctrine, to affirm correctly that the Church of Christ is present and operative in the churches and ecclesial Communities not yet fully in communion with the Catholic Church, on account of the elements of sanctification and truth that are present in them.[9] Nevertheless, the word “subsists” can only be attributed to the Catholic Church alone precisely because it refers to the mark of unity that we profess in the symbols of the faith (I believe... in the “one” Church); and this “one” Church subsists in the Catholic Church.[10]
THIRD QUESTION
Why was the expression “subsists in” adopted instead of the simple word “is”?
RESPONSE
The use of this expression, which indicates the full identity of the Church of Christ with the Catholic Church, does not change the doctrine on the Church. Rather, it comes from and brings out more clearly the fact that there are “numerous elements of sanctification and of truth” which are found outside her structure, but which “as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic Unity”.[11]
“It follows that these separated churches and Communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church”[12].
FOURTH QUESTION
Why does the Second Vatican Council use the term “Church” in reference to the oriental Churches separated from full communion with the Catholic Church?
RESPONSE
The Council wanted to adopt the traditional use of the term. “Because these Churches, although separated, have true sacraments and above all – because of the apostolic succession – the priesthood and the Eucharist, by means of which they remain linked to us by very close bonds”[13], they merit the title of “particular or local Churches”[14], and are called sister Churches of the particular Catholic Churches.[15]
“It is through the celebration of the Eucharist of the Lord in each of these Churches that the Church of God is built up and grows in stature”.[16] However, since communion with the Catholic Church, the visible head of which is the Bishop of Rome and the Successor of Peter, is not some external complement to a particular Church but rather one of its internal constitutive principles, these venerable Christian communities lack something in their condition as particular churches.[17]
On the other hand, because of the division between Christians, the fullness of universality, which is proper to the Church governed by the Successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him, is not fully realised in history.[18]
FIFTH QUESTION
Why do the texts of the Council and those of the Magisterium since the Council not use the title of “Church” with regard to those Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century?
RESPONSE
According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery[19] cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called “Churches” in the proper sense[20].
The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ratified and confirmed these Responses, adopted in the Plenary Session of the Congregation, and ordered their publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 29, 2007, the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
William Cardinal Levada
Prefect
Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary
Labels: Catholic Belief, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Holy Father, Protestants, Reply, Second Vatican Council, Vatican
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Conversion’s storm – Evangelical returns to the faith after not be able to explain why he wasn’t a Catholic
(By Tim Drake)
Emphasis in red completely mine
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (National Catholic Register) – Until a few weeks ago, Francis Beckwith served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), an association of 4,300 Protestant theologians. That was until he made the announcement on the Right Reason blog of his return to the Catholic faith of his youth.
Beckwith returned to the church after 32 years as an evangelical. The online “storm” that followed led Beckwith to resign as president of the prestigious society.
He serves as associate professor of church-state studies at Baylor University. He spoke recently to National Catholic Register from his home in Waco, Texas.
National Catholic Register: It’s been a while now since your announcement. Can you believe your reversion is still generating so much online discussion?
No, it’s beyond remarkable. Prior to my announcement, our blog averaged 1,500 hits per day. The weekend after my announcement, it hit 20,000. We’re still getting between 5,000 and 7,000 per day.
National Catholic Register: You were born into a Catholic family. When did you leave the Catholic Church?
I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1960. My mother, Elizabeth, also born in Brooklyn, is Italian-American. My father, Harold Beckwith, was born in Connecticut. I’m the eldest of their four children. In the mid-1960s we moved to Las Vegas, Nev., where my father worked as an accountant and internal auditor at a number of hotels. In the late 1970s, both he and mother founded Sweets of Las Vegas, a candy business that had two retail stores in the area.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was part of the first generation of Catholics who would have no memory of the church prior to Vatican II. This also meant that I grew up, and attended Catholic schools, during a time in which well-meaning Catholic leaders were testing all sorts of innovations in the church, many of which were deleterious to the proper formation of young people.
On the other hand, there were some very important renewal movements in the church at the time.
The Catholic Charismatic Movement had a profound impact on me.
During my middle school years, while attending Maranatha House, a Jesus People church in downtown Vegas, I also frequented a Catholic Charismatic Bible study. Some of the folks at that Bible study were instrumental in bringing to my parents’ parish three Dominican priests who offered a week-long evening seminar on the Bible and the Christian life. I attended that seminar and was very much taken by the Dominicans’ erudition and deep spirituality, and the love of Jesus that was evident in the way they conducted themselves.
But I was also impressed with the personal warmth and commitment to scripture that I found among charismatic Protestants with whom I had interacted at Maranatha House.
Looking back, and knowing what I know now, I believe that the church’s weakness was presenting the renewal movements as something new and not part of the church’s theological traditions.
For someone like me, who was interested in both the spiritual and intellectual grounding of the Christian faith, I didn’t need the “folk Mass” with cute nuns and hip priests playing “Kumbaya” with guitars, tambourines and harmonicas. And it was all badly done.
After all, we listened to the Byrds, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and we knew the church just couldn’t compete with them.
But that’s what the church offered to the young people of my day: lousy pop music and a gutted Mass. If they were trying to make Catholicism unattractive to young and inquisitive Catholics, they were succeeding.
What I needed, and what many of us desired, were intelligent and winsome ambassadors for Christ who knew the intellectual basis for the Catholic faith, respected and understood the solemnity and theological truths behind the liturgy, and could explain the renewal movements in light of these.
National Catholic Register: You spent 32 years in the evangelical world. What could Catholics learn from evangelicals?
I learned plenty, and for that reason I do not believe I ceased to be an evangelical when I returned to the church. What I ceased to be was a Protestant. For I believe, as Pope Benedict has preached, that the church itself needs to nurture within it an evangelical spirit. There are, as we know, too many Catholics whose faith needs to be renewed and emboldened.
There is much that I learned as a Protestant evangelical that has left an indelible mark on me and formed the person I am today. For that reason, it accompanies me back to the church.
For instance, because Protestant evangelicals accept much of the great tradition that Catholics take for granted – such as the Catholic creeds and the inspiration of scripture – but without recourse to the church’s authority, they have produced important and significant works in systematic theology and philosophical theology.
Catholics would do well to plumb these works, since in them Protestant evangelicals often provide the biblical and philosophical scaffolding that influenced the church fathers that developed the Catholic creeds as well as the church’s understanding of the Bible as God’s word.
But these evangelicals do so by using contemporary language and addressing contemporary concerns. This will help Catholics understand the reasoning behind the classical doctrines.
In terms of expository preaching, as well as teaching the laity, Protestant evangelicals are without peers in the Christian world.
For instance, it is not unusual for evangelical churches to host major conferences on theological issues in which leading scholars address lay audiences in order to equip them to share their faith with their neighbors, friends, etc. Works by evangelical philosophers and theologians such as [J.P.] Moreland, [Paul] Copan, and William Lane Craig, should be in the library of any serious Catholic who wants to be equipped to respond to contemporary challenges to the Christian faith......
......National Catholic Register: What can evangelicals and Catholics learn from one another?
As I have already noted, I believe that Catholics can learn from evangelical Protestants how to preach, teach and offer support for doctrines and beliefs that Catholics often just leave to authority.
Evangelicals can learn from Catholics that Christianity is a historical faith that did not vanish from the earth between the second and 16th centuries. That is what I mean by “learning from the great tradition.”
Much of what evangelicals think of as the odd beliefs of Catholics have their roots deep in Christian history. This, of course, may not convince a Protestant that these views are correct.
But what it will do is help the Protestant to appreciate that the very same Christians that deliberated over the content of the biblical canon also believed in the Real Presence, purgatory, intercession of the saints and indulgences.
If these Christians, who knew the Bible far better than us, did not think these practices and beliefs “unbiblical,” one should not be so quick to dismiss these practices and beliefs simply because they are outside of one’s Protestant experience.
On the other hand, the fact that many Catholic parishes do not offer the expository preaching and theological teaching to their members found in the best Protestant churches should force Catholics to critically reflect on whether they are adequately evangelizing and equipping their own people to enter a world hostile to the Christian worldview.
We have much to learn from each other.
(Read the entire article here.)
Emphasis in red completely mine
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (National Catholic Register) – Until a few weeks ago, Francis Beckwith served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), an association of 4,300 Protestant theologians. That was until he made the announcement on the Right Reason blog of his return to the Catholic faith of his youth.
Beckwith returned to the church after 32 years as an evangelical. The online “storm” that followed led Beckwith to resign as president of the prestigious society.
He serves as associate professor of church-state studies at Baylor University. He spoke recently to National Catholic Register from his home in Waco, Texas.
National Catholic Register: It’s been a while now since your announcement. Can you believe your reversion is still generating so much online discussion?
No, it’s beyond remarkable. Prior to my announcement, our blog averaged 1,500 hits per day. The weekend after my announcement, it hit 20,000. We’re still getting between 5,000 and 7,000 per day.
National Catholic Register: You were born into a Catholic family. When did you leave the Catholic Church?
I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1960. My mother, Elizabeth, also born in Brooklyn, is Italian-American. My father, Harold Beckwith, was born in Connecticut. I’m the eldest of their four children. In the mid-1960s we moved to Las Vegas, Nev., where my father worked as an accountant and internal auditor at a number of hotels. In the late 1970s, both he and mother founded Sweets of Las Vegas, a candy business that had two retail stores in the area.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was part of the first generation of Catholics who would have no memory of the church prior to Vatican II. This also meant that I grew up, and attended Catholic schools, during a time in which well-meaning Catholic leaders were testing all sorts of innovations in the church, many of which were deleterious to the proper formation of young people.
On the other hand, there were some very important renewal movements in the church at the time.
The Catholic Charismatic Movement had a profound impact on me.
During my middle school years, while attending Maranatha House, a Jesus People church in downtown Vegas, I also frequented a Catholic Charismatic Bible study. Some of the folks at that Bible study were instrumental in bringing to my parents’ parish three Dominican priests who offered a week-long evening seminar on the Bible and the Christian life. I attended that seminar and was very much taken by the Dominicans’ erudition and deep spirituality, and the love of Jesus that was evident in the way they conducted themselves.
But I was also impressed with the personal warmth and commitment to scripture that I found among charismatic Protestants with whom I had interacted at Maranatha House.
Looking back, and knowing what I know now, I believe that the church’s weakness was presenting the renewal movements as something new and not part of the church’s theological traditions.
For someone like me, who was interested in both the spiritual and intellectual grounding of the Christian faith, I didn’t need the “folk Mass” with cute nuns and hip priests playing “Kumbaya” with guitars, tambourines and harmonicas. And it was all badly done.
After all, we listened to the Byrds, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and we knew the church just couldn’t compete with them.
But that’s what the church offered to the young people of my day: lousy pop music and a gutted Mass. If they were trying to make Catholicism unattractive to young and inquisitive Catholics, they were succeeding.
What I needed, and what many of us desired, were intelligent and winsome ambassadors for Christ who knew the intellectual basis for the Catholic faith, respected and understood the solemnity and theological truths behind the liturgy, and could explain the renewal movements in light of these.
National Catholic Register: You spent 32 years in the evangelical world. What could Catholics learn from evangelicals?
I learned plenty, and for that reason I do not believe I ceased to be an evangelical when I returned to the church. What I ceased to be was a Protestant. For I believe, as Pope Benedict has preached, that the church itself needs to nurture within it an evangelical spirit. There are, as we know, too many Catholics whose faith needs to be renewed and emboldened.
There is much that I learned as a Protestant evangelical that has left an indelible mark on me and formed the person I am today. For that reason, it accompanies me back to the church.
For instance, because Protestant evangelicals accept much of the great tradition that Catholics take for granted – such as the Catholic creeds and the inspiration of scripture – but without recourse to the church’s authority, they have produced important and significant works in systematic theology and philosophical theology.
Catholics would do well to plumb these works, since in them Protestant evangelicals often provide the biblical and philosophical scaffolding that influenced the church fathers that developed the Catholic creeds as well as the church’s understanding of the Bible as God’s word.
But these evangelicals do so by using contemporary language and addressing contemporary concerns. This will help Catholics understand the reasoning behind the classical doctrines.
In terms of expository preaching, as well as teaching the laity, Protestant evangelicals are without peers in the Christian world.
For instance, it is not unusual for evangelical churches to host major conferences on theological issues in which leading scholars address lay audiences in order to equip them to share their faith with their neighbors, friends, etc. Works by evangelical philosophers and theologians such as [J.P.] Moreland, [Paul] Copan, and William Lane Craig, should be in the library of any serious Catholic who wants to be equipped to respond to contemporary challenges to the Christian faith......
......National Catholic Register: What can evangelicals and Catholics learn from one another?
As I have already noted, I believe that Catholics can learn from evangelical Protestants how to preach, teach and offer support for doctrines and beliefs that Catholics often just leave to authority.
Evangelicals can learn from Catholics that Christianity is a historical faith that did not vanish from the earth between the second and 16th centuries. That is what I mean by “learning from the great tradition.”
Much of what evangelicals think of as the odd beliefs of Catholics have their roots deep in Christian history. This, of course, may not convince a Protestant that these views are correct.
But what it will do is help the Protestant to appreciate that the very same Christians that deliberated over the content of the biblical canon also believed in the Real Presence, purgatory, intercession of the saints and indulgences.
If these Christians, who knew the Bible far better than us, did not think these practices and beliefs “unbiblical,” one should not be so quick to dismiss these practices and beliefs simply because they are outside of one’s Protestant experience.
On the other hand, the fact that many Catholic parishes do not offer the expository preaching and theological teaching to their members found in the best Protestant churches should force Catholics to critically reflect on whether they are adequately evangelizing and equipping their own people to enter a world hostile to the Christian worldview.
We have much to learn from each other.
(Read the entire article here.)
Labels: Catholic Belief, Liturgy, Protestants, Second Vatican Council, Testimonials
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Protestant 'Liturgy'... In Bad Taste
My hair stood at once upon viewing this video:
The clip is from the Protestant Megachurch, City Harvest, Easter 2007 Service/Celebration.
Now, compare that to the ancient proclaimation of the Roman Catholic Church- the Exultet:
Here's the text to the Exultet:
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!
My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.
Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!
This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.
This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!
This is night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.
This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.
What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.
O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!
Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!
Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."
The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.
Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!
Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.
(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)
Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!
May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
A beautiful composition, as compared to City Harvest's, "Jesus must be superman... etc..."
Labels: Easter, Hymns, Music, Protestants, Video
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Another example of the sea of change
"Father Bob Griffith, the Episcopal blogger of hypersync, comments on a phenomenon we have noticed, too, in Roman Catholicism: the younger generations are interested in the old liturgical forms and the old liturgical music that prevailed before the unfortunate experiments of recent decades." Rev. Fr. Jim Tucker. "Give Me That Old-Time Religion!"
I've been saying for the last 10 years or so that there is a generational sea change being realized in North America, particularly in the U.S. To be honest, I'm less familiar with what is going on in Canada, but I suspect something similar.
I've said over and over again that the tail end of Generation X, Gen Y, and whatever is next, are of a different temperament when it comes to what resonates with them within the whole Christian melee and spirituality more generally. The Social Gospel of liberal, mainline Protestantism is dead (not to suggest working with the poor is dead, however!), the Baby-Boomer Seeker church experience has run its course, the liberal "god is dead" or perhaps "Process" theological perspectives have shown themselves to be not very satisfying to most people. The younger generations, so demographers and generationalists suggest, seek after something more solid and ancient (read, not trendy), something that restores a sense of mystery, and something that is respectful and none-condescending - unlike much of what passes for "modern" church.
I've said before that I hear more and more from younger people that they prefer the language of Rite I (Elizabethan English), they like the more formal liturgies, that they find resonances with contemplative and monastic-like spiritual experiences.
Now, I know that what I hear does not represent all young people and there are those who want absolutely nothing to do with High Church liturgy, old sounding English, or contemplative quiet. That's fine and good, but on the whole, there is a difference between our parents’ generation and the younger generations. I find that older people in the Church (the 1928 Prayer Book generation) and the young seem to have much more in common then the big group in the middle that now controls the Church. Funny, how that works. But, it is a good thing that within The Episcopal Church, and Anglicanism at least as it has been traditionally practiced, there is an allowance for the flourishing of different forms to meet the differing needs of various peoples.
I've also found that young people tend to want to be challenged to think and seek, but not told what to think or do by "authorities." They respect the authorities generally, but want them to help them seek and find rather than to indoctrinate them. No easy believe-ism for these folks!
Groups that do challenge, that take seriously the young people's wants and desires and NEEDS, that provide a way to the faith that shows seriousness and respect, are growing. Those that pander to political and social whims are not. I believe we will shortly witness a migration out of the neo-conservative political and social "Culture War" churches.
So, I found it interesting today when I took two young seminarians to lunch. One is 23 (or 22, I don't remember) and will probably be our seminarian this fall. The other is a young married guy. A lot of our conversation revolved around the Church, the young, what is happening, and what the future may hold. I listened, mostly (at least I think I listened, mostly).
These are smart guys. They go to General. They talked about their class and the attitudes and desires of their classmates. They even talked about an obvious difference between themselves and the "1960's hold-overs" that reign right now in the Church. "If the church can survive past the baby-boomer generation, there might be hope," from a rector friend of theirs who is a baby-boomer but recognizes both the good his generation has enabled and the baby they threw out with the bathwater.
I look at what is happening among the Emergent Church crowd (See the Episcopal/Lutheran Church of the Apostles in Seattle, Washington). Anyone who does not recognize the sea change either doesn't want to acknowledge what is happening or is truly blind. Again, not all are going to like High Church liturgy, etc., but there is a fundamental change nevertheless.
These two guys said there is even a semi-secret group at General that is regularly saying the Rosary. The Oxford Tradition of General is not dead, despite the 1960's "reformers" who want it to be so. How frustrating it must been for these folks whose life work has been to remake the Church into something else (what, I don't know), only to see young people raising the hands in front of them saying, "NO!" The "reformers" are now "The Man," and they are experiencing the rebellion of the youngsters and they don't know what to do with it (after all, aren't they the ones who are supposed to cast down tradition and authority and institutions?). Their work for naught, perhaps. Who knows...
One guy talked about his wife at Yale. An Episcopal Church in Newhaven has a regular chanted, candlelit Compline and the sanctuary is packed with young people. The rector doesn't know what to do - totally surprised by the result. I'm not.
Today, in the New York Times, an article entitled "Monks Who Play Punk," about a relatively new Roman Catholic monastic order in the Bronx.
"Upstairs, a 100 or more young people lingered in the quiet, candle-lighted sanctuary after an hour of prayer and song in front of the Eucharist. Brother Columba Jordan strummed his guitar and sang in a soft voice.... Two friars with heads bowed sat on either side of the alter, listening to the confessions of men and women waiting patiently in line."
This is New York City, folks. I see this kind of thing all over the place! And, then, there is also Revolution Church, which gets at the same thing in a very different way.
"The monthly holy hour of prayer and song and ensuing music festival are part of an event called Catholic Underground..." [By the way, some of the monks have a Funk and Punk band, complete with long beards and gray, hooded habits.] "...the creation of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a religious order founded two decades ago this year in the Melrose section of the Bronx. Members own no personal possessions and beg even for their food. Nevertheless, the order's 10 friars are bursting with new recruits at a moment when many Roman Catholic religious orders are struggling simply to maintain their current numbers."
"Yet despite the simplicity of the order's lifestyle, the Fr4iars of the Renewal see their message as one othat has a powerful appeal to young people in the 21st century.
'We don't advertise, we don't promise you glow-in-the-dark Frisbees, none of that," said the Rev. Bernard Murphy, the order's head. 'Young people are idealistic, and so we live in a community that lives a high ideal.'"
"'The millennial generation is a spiritual generation,' said Brother Paul Bednarczyk, of the vocation conference. 'I think they are searching for meaning in their life, and I think they are looking to do something that is going to have an impact on the world.'"
In the article, as it ends, the are a couple comments made by people who the order ministers to. We read comments like, "When you're running on an empty tank, they're pretty much there to fill up the tank;" or this from a women who lost hear let when she had an encounter with a fire truck, "Ever since I starting coming here, I feel better about myself. I want to live again. Everything I eat here is spiritual."
Interesting, ah?
I'm afraid a good many people in The Episcopal Church (and within many churches!) still don't get it. Not only do they not get it, they actively try to keep their heads in the sand. As a seminary friend of mine used to say, "I can't wait until this generation of leaders in the Church retires. Then maybe we can get back to being the Church." I understand the point and count-point between all generations. There is always idealism among the young and a reaction to their parent's generation. This is nothing new. Yet, I still say there is as much of a profound change in this generation and the Boomers as we saw between the War II generation and the Boomers. We shall see what happens.
Labels: Links, Protestants, Sociology, Traditionalism
Friday, April 27, 2007
The Cross First, Then the Crown
Many non-Catholic Christian friends often ask me why the Catholic Church places much focus and emphasis on the sufferings of Christ. I often answer in a teasing manner, "so I suppose you rather attend the funeral of a loved one than be with him/her in the hospital during his/her last (suffering) moments."
Dear brothers and sisters, it is no different when it comes to our Christian worship. How can we experience the real Christian joy on Easter if we do not follow Christ through His sufferings? It is imperative than we have devotion to the passion of Christ; we need to constantly delve profoundly into the sufferings of our Lord. It is only by appreciating the sufferings and death of our Lord that can have joy on Easter. This appreciation is prerequisite.
Craddle Catholics would have lived through many many Lenten Seasons while converts may have lived through much less. However, the number of times is not important and perhaps even insignificant (if one chooses just to follow the motion). Why do I say so? Because there is always something more to learn and appreciate about the Price of our Redemption- gained through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. From the instituition of the Most Holy Eucharist on Maundy Thursday- the last meal Jesus would share with His diciples- to the passion and death of our Lord on Good Friday, we can be more convinced of His infinite love for us. Love becomes more real, more spiritual, more refined.
"God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son."
When asked by Larry King on CNN why there was suffering in the world, (Protestant Evangelist) Billy Graham simply replied, "Larry, I really don't know." Very often suffering cannot be found in Protestant Theology. The Roman Catholic Church however has the answer! Suffering is the embodiment of God's love. It is also the way back to the Father.
None of us can escape suffering in this life. Everyone from prince to pauper has to suffer. Some more than others. For some suffering comes mostly in a physical form, while others experience emotional or psychological suffering. Some suffer in all the abovementioned areas.
Do we give up hope? Never! Our Lord suffered too. Jesus was like us in all things except sin. In His passion, Jesus shows us how to suffer, he shows us how to accept suffering, he shows us that suffering in itself is not an evil or curse. Most of all, Jesus shows us that suffering is but a key to our own sanctification and salvation. Our sufferings are meritorious for ourselves and others for others because it has been perfected and sanctified by our Lord's sufferings.
Mother McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, once said: "Without the cross, the real crown cannot come."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrated the Feast of the Ressurection no less than three weeks ago, did we really take time to remember at great depth, the price of our salvation?
If we didn't then, our joy may have been more of a social joy than that of a spiritual joy. But do not worry, let us continue to keep in mind that the cross has to come before the crown as we await the next Lenten Season, Holy Week, and Easter Tridum.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Jesus, Our King reigns. He wears the crown and will share it with us! God is with us. Amen!
HE IS RISEN! HE HAS CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH!
WE HAVE HOPE! OUR HOPE AND HELP ARE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!
Labels: Catholic Belief, Easter, Passion, Protestants, Suffering, Thoughts
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Gay-marriage split would hurt church: top Anglican
(By Scott Valentine)
TORONTO (Reuters) - Everyone would lose if the Anglican Church splits in two over the issue of gay marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury said on Monday.
Dr. Rowan Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Church, told a news conference in Toronto it was worth trying to preserve the unity of the church as long as possible.
"We may come to a point where people feel there are irreconcilable differences," said Williams. "But when there is an overlap between human rights and what the church can endorse, it does no good to isolate ideas... If the Anglican church divides, everyone will lose."
Williams has been walking a fine line of late in the raging debate over gay rights within the Anglican Church.
Last month, leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church rejected a demand by conservative bishops for the American communion to give up authority over parishes that wish to remain closed to same-sex unions.
That irked several influential bishops in Africa and elsewhere who have staked out a conservative stance on homosexuality, which one has described as "an aberration unknown even in animal relationships."
The archbishop was quick to distance himself from that perspective on Monday, saying "I have consistently opposed any idea that gay and lesbian people are anything less than human and fully baptized members of the church."
But Williams also cautioned against any movement to muffle the conservative voice within the church.
"It is not just a case of nice people who want to include gay people in the church and nasty ones who do not," said Williams. "It is a question of what marriage is according to church doctrine and what types of behaviors that the church has the power to bless."
As the argument builds, discussion within the church has turned to a possible restructuring of sorts.
A "pastoral scheme" proposed by the Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of the Anglican communion, would see individual dioceses having the option of aligning themselves with the church's more conservative elements via a regional representative to traditionalist bishops.
That idea has Williams concerned that the 77-million strong Anglican Church is close to ripping itself to pieces.
"There is a very deep political element to all of this," said Williams of the diverse range of opinions on gay marriage around the globe. "The danger is that people feel like someone else is making a decision which they then have to live by."
Same-sex marriage is legal in Canada, though religions are not obliged to perform such ceremonies.
Williams' visit to Toronto, his first in seven years, coincides with a meeting of senior bishops in Canada. The archbishop will lead a one-day retreat of that group as they prepare to elect the new primate for the church in Canada and begin discussions ahead of the church's general synod in Winnipeg this June.
"The communion has to face the fact that there is a division in our church and it's getting deeper and more bitter," said Williams. "I think the goal of maintaining the highest degree of unity has to be the number one concern."
Williams shot down rumors of a rift with the U.S. Episcopals, saying he will attend the fall meeting of the U.S. House of Bishops set for New Orleans, September 20-25.
"These are complicated days for our church internationally and it's all the more important to foster personal relationships and conversations," he said.
"My aim is to keep people around the table for as long as possible on this and to understand one another."
Labels: News, Protestants
Friday, March 30, 2007
Episcopalian Bishop Joins the Roman Catholic Church
The Rt. Rev. William H. Love, Bishop of Albany, has appealed for unity following news that his predecessor has entered into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog retired as Bishop of Albany Jan. 31. Bishop Love said he learned of Bishop Herzog’s decision in a letter dated March 19 which he received upon his return from the spring retreat of the House of Bishops.
“The recent retirement and subsequent departure of both Bishop Dan [Herzog] and Bishop Dave [Bena] from The Episcopal Church can’t help but have a major impact on each of us and our diocese,” Bishop Love stated in a letter. “One of my greatest concerns as your new bishop is that others in the diocese are also struggling with the current issues that threaten to divide the Church. Please know that I am here for you as we work through these issues.
“As your bishop and brother in Christ, I appreciate and give thanks to God for you and every member of our diocesan family. I need you as we move forward.”
In his letter to Bishop Love, Bishop Herzog stated that his decision was based on more than three years of focused prayer and study.
“My sense of duty to the diocese, its clergy and people required that I not walk away from my office and leave vulnerable this diocese which I love,” he wrote. “I believed that it was my responsibility to provide for a transition to the future. Your subsequent election and consecration discharged that duty and has given me the liberty to follow my conscience, and now resign my orders and membership in the House of Bishops.
“It is certainly no reflection on you or your ministry which Carol and I both admire and respect and for which we pray daily. Needless to say, we have only fondness and appreciation for you and the diocese in whose ministry Carol and I have invested the past 35 years of our lives.”
Bishop Herzog’s departure comes less than a month after it was revealed that before his retirement, Bishop Herzog had agreed to transfer the canonical ministry license of Bishop Suffragan David Bena to the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Bishop Love said both former bishops remain “good friends” and will continue to be welcome at all diocesan functions.
Labels: News, Protestants
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Calls to unite Anglicans and Catholics under Pope
According to some Anglicans, YES. From The Times. Andrew has commented on this in his post.
5 Reasons why I feel the Anglicans should reunite with Rome:
- First, I am convinced that The Lord's will for His Church is that it should be one (John 13:34-35, John 17:11, John 22-23). Historically, the Catholic influences and traditions within Anglicanism has always sought to bear witness to that truth; from that tradition they have come.
- Second, the distance between official Anglicanism and what might be termed historical faith and order have grown very rapidly. Increasingly unorthodox belief and practice has crept in, so that both Catholic and Protestant ways of understanding the Gospel have become incongruent with it.
- Third, the present disarray of Anglicanism is, in itself, clear evidence of the need for a defined focus of authority in the life of the Church on earth, and that such a magisterium is to be found in the person of Peter and his successors in the Holy See; The Pope.
- Fourth, the ordination of female priests and Homosexual Clergy and the blessings of same-sex unions- such an act is sinful and has “consequences”; wrath of God (Romans 1:18-32, Leviticus 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
- Fifth, I thank God for the good and beauty that can be found in the Anglican tradition. As Anglicanism continues to decay around the world, I believe that it can best and “most safely be preserved within the household of the Roman Catholic Church and form a Single Eucharistic Community” (Archbishop John Hepworth, the Anglican Communion’s highest-ranking cleric. He is a key personnel in leading the Anglican Church in the USA to reunification with Rome.)
Labels: Churches, Communion, Eucmenism, Holy Father, News, Protestants, Thoughts, Vatican
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Protestant Doctrine
(via Memoirs of a Neophyte)
The entire Protestant theological system rests on one single doctrine: Sola Scriptura. The other core Protestant doctrine, Sola Fide, is somewhat derived from Sola Scriptura, so demonstrating how Sola Scriptura is self-contradictory discredits Sola Fide as a Biblical doctrine.
Sola Scriptura, which is Latin literally meaning "Scripture Alone", hinges mainly on denying two things: history, and logic.
The entire Protestant theological system rests on one single doctrine: Sola Scriptura. The other core Protestant doctrine, Sola Fide, is somewhat derived from Sola Scriptura, so demonstrating how Sola Scriptura is self-contradictory discredits Sola Fide as a Biblical doctrine.
Sola Scriptura, which is Latin literally meaning "Scripture Alone", hinges mainly on denying two things: history, and logic.
Labels: Links, Protestants, Quote
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Spreading the Gospel
Last night, the C.I.C.M. Fathers celebrated their 75th anniversary here in Singapore. The Thanksgiving Mass was celebrated by none other than our Apb. Msg. Nicholas Chia. His grace mentioned something in his homily that I think is worth sharing. He said, "lay Catholics can play a missionary role like the C.I.C.M. Fathers by speading the Gospel as reaveled by the Roman Catholic Church non-Christians (Pagans) and Christians (Protestants) alike."
As Catholics we have a mission not only to spread the Gospel to pagans, but to our seperate bretheren as well. What is at stake here? Souls! As our late Holy Father John Paul II said during one of his audiences; refering to the 7 valid Sacraments given by Christ to the Roman Catholic Church: "Some religions (refering to Protestants) can offer you salvation but only the Catholic Church offers the fullness of Salvation." Pope John Paul II is absolutely correct! Jesus gave our first Pope- St. Peter- the keys to heaven and the authority to bind and lose.
As Catholics we have a mission not only to spread the Gospel to pagans, but to our seperate bretheren as well. What is at stake here? Souls! As our late Holy Father John Paul II said during one of his audiences; refering to the 7 valid Sacraments given by Christ to the Roman Catholic Church: "Some religions (refering to Protestants) can offer you salvation but only the Catholic Church offers the fullness of Salvation." Pope John Paul II is absolutely correct! Jesus gave our first Pope- St. Peter- the keys to heaven and the authority to bind and lose.
Pray for us O' Holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Labels: Homily, Protestants
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Protestant Reformation
Well, for those of you who did not know, yesterday 31 October, was Reformation Day. It is on this day that Protestants celebrate their 'liberation' the when heretic, Martin Luther nailed to the cathedral doors at Wittenburg his 95 Theses; many of which opposing Catholic Doctrine.
Chapter 9 of the Apocalypse opens with Saint John’s terrifying vision:
Chapter 9 of the Apocalypse opens with Saint John’s terrifying vision:
“And the fifth Angel sounded the trumpet; and I saw a star fall from Heaven upon
the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the
bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit ascended as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air with the smoke of the pit: And
from the smoke of the pit, there came out locusts upon the earth, and power was
given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” (Apoc: 9:1-3).
For over 500 years, many Devout Catholic Scriptural commentators have seen this vision as a prediction of Luther and his Protestant revolt. The whole description of the locusts fits down to the last detail the kings and princes who established by force the heresy of the 16th Century.
In his book, The Book of Destiny, Rev. Fr. Herman Bernard Kramer explains that:
"When Luther propounded his heretical and immoral doctrine, the sky became as it
were obscured by smoke. It spread very rapidly over some regions of the earth,
and it brought forth princes and kings who were eager to despoil the Church of
her possessions. They compelled the people of their domains and in the
territories robbed from the Church to accept the doctrines of Luther. The
proponents of Protestantism made false translations of the Bible and misled the
people into their errors by apparently proving from the ‘Bible’ (their own
translations) the correctness of their doctrines. It was all deceit, lying and
hypocrisy. Bad and weak, lax and lukewarm, indifferent and non-practicing
Catholics and those who had neglected to get thorough instruction were thus
misled; and these, seeing the Catholic Church now through this smoke of error
from the abyss and beholding a distorted caricature of the true Church, began
both to fear and hate her."
Luther, did everything to instill hatred of the [Catholic] Church into the hearts of his followers. This was done through terrorism! Lutheranism was imposed upon the people by the power of the sword and by lying, deceit and hypocrisy. They left the altars in the churches and had apostate priests use vestments and external trappings of the Catholic Church to mislead the people. Back then, it was a felony to remain Catholic.
The Haydock Commentary of the Douay Rheims contains a similar explanation of Apocalypse 9:2:
“Luther and his followers propagated and de-fended their new doctrines with such
heat and violence as to occasion everywhere seditions and insurrections which
they seemed to glory in. Luther openly boasted of it. ‘You complain,’ said he,
‘that by our gospel the world is become more tumultuous; I answer, God be
thanked for it; these things I would have so to be, and woe to me if such things
were not’.”
Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton, the eminent American theologian, rightly observed that Martin Luther’s alleged Reformation of the Church “consisted in an effort to have people abandon the Catholic Faith, and relinquish their membership in the one true Church militant of the New Testament, so as to follow his teaching and enter into his organization.”
This is what the Protestant revolt was, the tearing away of millions of souls from the one true Church of Christ, and probable consignment of millions to eternal hellfire.
This is what the Protestant revolt was, the tearing away of millions of souls from the one true Church of Christ, and probable consignment of millions to eternal hellfire.
This is the true legacy of Protestantism, the shattering of the Social Kingship of Christ (which we celebrated last week). Because, Protestantism rejects the entire notion of a visible Church established by Christ to teach, govern, sanctify and offer worship to the Father in His name. For the Protestant, there is no visible Church, there is only the lone Protestant and his Bible. There is no external ecclesiastical authority that the Protestant must obey for salvation. If the individual Protestant disagrees with his minister’s interpretation of Scripture, he is free to adopt one of his own, and even start his own sect (many evangelical churches started of like this).
Saint Teresa of Avila called Lutheranism "that wretched sect," and established her first Carmelite foundation of nuns at Avila to help “cure this terrible evil” by bringing “some comfort to our Lord.”
“Thus,” said Saint Teresa, “being all of us employed in interceding for the champions of the Church and the preachers and theologians who defend her, we might, to our utmost, aid this Lord of mine Who is attacked with such cruelty ...”
But who cares what Saint Teresa thinks. For ecumenical, modernist Catholics, dancing on the graves of the saints is a necessary ritual of their new religion.
Ecumenism should not exist in the Churh's vocabulary. Protestantism was the Death Knell of Christendom back in the middle ages, ecumenism will be the Catholic Church's today.
Here are parting words from Pope Leo X, in his papal bull, 'Exsurge Domine':
"Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause. Remember your reproaches to those who
are filled with foolishness all through the day. Listen to our prayers, for
foxes have arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have
trod..."
The Sleepless Eye has more on Luther's life and the events that led up to the Reformation.
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
Labels: Eucmenism, Protestants, Reformation
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