Another Step To Destruction

St. Paul: Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith. But if they would learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church. 1 Cor 14 (wouldn’t it be funny/sad/telling if this reading was in the N.O. lectionary, and was being read to the congregation by a woman?!)

Contra St. Paul: ***Probably the most newsy — and somewhat unexpected — item in the final propositions of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible was a proposal to allow women to be officially installed in the ministry of lector.

The issue was raised in Proposition 17 on “The ministry of the word and women,” and on Saturday morning it passed with 191 votes in favor, 45 opposed and three abstentions, according to our sources***.CNS article

Isn’t that special? I cringe when I hear people speak of Modernism in the past tense, as if it was some early 20th century heresy that was crushed, vanquished, and we can now breathe easy. Nonsense. Modernism has the Church in a strangle hold, and is slowly squeezing the life out of Her as we watch. These men with itchy ears are running the Church, and are the instruments of destruction. You never know what they are going to do, they’re almost totally untrustworthy. Another abuse becomes the norm.

Just a matter of time for Mothers instead of Fathers?:

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Makes Glad The Heart Of Man

What we eat and what we drink the Holy Spirit has elsewhere made plain by the prophet, saying, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that hopes in Him.”  In that sacrament is Christ, because it is the Body of Christ, it is therefore not bodily food but spiritual. Whence the Apostle says of its type: “Our fathers ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink,” 1 Cor10:3 for the Body of God is a spiritual body; the Body of Christ is the Body of the Divine Spirit, for the Spirit is Christ, as we read: “The Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord.” Lam 4:20 And in the Epistle of Peter we read: “Christ died for us.” 1 Peter 2:21 Lastly, that food strengthens our heart, and that drink “makes glad the heart of man,”  as the prophet has recorded. St. Ambrose: On the Mysteries

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Asperges Me

If the bishop be present, let the presbyter and deacon stand by, and let him say thus: O Lord of hosts, the God of powers, the creator of the waters, and the supplier of oil, who art compassionate, and a lover of mankind, who hast given water for drink and for cleansing, and oil to give man a cheerful and joyful countenance; do Thou now also sanctify this water and this oil through Your Christ, in the name of him or her that has offered them, and grant them a power to restore health, to drive away diseases, to banish demons, and to disperse all snares through Christ our hope, with whom glory, honour, and worship be to You, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.  Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII)   4th Century

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Pray for Priests

It’s got to be difficult sometimes .

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Hymn of Praise

When the priest conducts the Divine Sacrifice, angels station themselves about him and in a choir they chant a hymn of praise in honor of the Victim Who is sacrificed. St John Chrysostom

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Walk Honestly

Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences. Rom 13:13

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Elevation

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. John 12:32

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A Wing and a Prayer

Brought to you by a young Stanley Kubrick!..

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Think Upon Every Generation

Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee. (Deut 32:7)

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The Ways of our Fathers

Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. (John Paul II: ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS)

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When the One True God of the Universe was worshipped only by Abram and a small group of people who came from Chaldea the priest who offered sacrifice was the Father of the Family. Never adminstered to liturgically by female hands.

Then that same God manifested himself to Moses, and revealed to him how he was to be worshipped by the Chosen People. Aaron and his sons were to be the only ministers at the Altar. Never adminstered to liturgically by female hands.

Then that same God came down to Earth to save us sinners, and took the name Yeshua ben Yousef (Jesus son of Joseph). He established a Church with many disciples, but only 12 Apostles. He established the Sacraments, and gave them to the Apostles, and to their spiritual descendents (Bishops) in perpetuity. Yet, Christ Himself only ordained 12 Apostles, all of whom were men. This same God was: Never adminstered to liturgically by female hands.

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Orthodoxy = Vocations

Ordination: the largest St. Louis ordination class in 25 years and one of the largest in the U.S. It’s also the same number of ordinations in St. Louis as the last three years combined….. The student body at Kenrick-Glennon, which includes the undergraduate Cardinal Glennon College and graduate-level Kenrick Theological Seminary, is 112 students, the largest enrollment in two decades.

Why: At Kenrick, it’s not just Burke’s involvement that is cited for the turnaround in enrollment. The archbishop’s conservatism, too, is an appealing aspect to young seminarians.

“The people who are attracted to the priesthood today tend to be much more conservative than their peers,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese of the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington.

Seminarians say Burke’s conservatism helps him connect with them. The seminarians openly discuss how they see Burke as a spiritual father and embrace the traditional atmosphere Burke has championed in the archdiocese and the seminary. (Read the rest)

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The times, they are a-changin

Some news: At confession this past Saturday, at my regular parish on Staten Island (not St. Agnes in Manhattan). Sitting there with the usual sinners I see every few weeks (5-6 elderly people, that’s it in one of the largest parishes in the NY Archdiocese). Sitting in the back praying, and waiting for the priest to come in at 3:30. Then low and behold at 3:15, I hear the door to the chapel swoosh open. I did not look as I knew it was too early for the priest to show up. But, a couple of the older folks did turn around, and gestured that Father was here. Since I was there first they nodded for me to get going. As I got up, the priest was half way into the confessional. However, I did manage to glimpse a few things: 1: He was young, 2: He was an American (a causian at that!, I mention this as most of the newer priests in the diocese came from someplace else, and that someplace else is almost never Europe. Also, most of us in NY grew up with an almost entirely Irish priesthood. Now, an Irish priest younger than 60 would be as rare as hens teeth!) 3: He was wearing a Cassock!

You might say: So, Ken what’s the big deal? Well, outside of where I attend the Latin Mass, I have never seen a cassock on a priest. Certainly not at a typical suburban NY parish. 31 years in NY, and this is the first “non-trad” priest I have seen wearing a cassock. From what I gather he is a newly ordained Diocesean priest. And to top it all of, after the absolution, he said “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and His mercy endures forever”. I don’t know if I should have, but right before I left the box, I commented it was “nice to see a cassock”. He gave a cursory “thanks”, and that was that. The times indeed are a-changing.

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Firstfruits to God and to the Lamb

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And I beheld, and lo a lamb stood upon mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder; and the voice which I heard, was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients; and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb: (Apoc 14:4)

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of wisdom and divine love, impart Your knowledge, understanding, and counsel to youth that they may know the vocation wherein they can best serve God. Give them courage and strength to follow God’s holy will. Guide their uncertain steps, strengthen their resolutions, shield their chastity, fashion their minds, conquer their hearts, and lead them to the vineyards where they will labor in God’s holy service.  Amen. (Prayer for Vocations) (Financial Support for Vocations) (Hat Tip to Terry)

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The Peace of Christ in His Kingdom

If the desire for worldly possessions were kept within bounds and the place of honor in our affections given to the things of the spirit, which place undoubtedly they deserve, the peace of Christ would follow immediately, to which would be joined in a natural and happy union, as it were, a higher regard for the value and dignity of human life. Human personality, too, would be raised to a higher level, for man has been ennobled by the Blood of Christ and made kin to God Himself by means of holiness and the bond of brotherly love which unites us closely with Christ, by prayer and by the reception of the Sacraments, means infallibly certain to produce this elevation to and participation in the life of God, by the desire to attain everlasting possession of the glory and happiness of heaven which is held out to all by God as our goal and final reward. (Pius XI:On the Peace of Christ in His Kingdom)

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The Continual Sacrifice

The Priest cries aloud, “Lift up your hearts.” For truly ought we in that most awful hour to have our heart on high with God, and not below, thinking of earth and earthly things. In effect therefore the Priest bids all in that hour to dismiss all cares of this life, or household anxieties, and to have their heart in heaven with the merciful God. Then ye answer, “We lift them up unto the Lord:” assenting to it, by your avowal. But let no one come here, who could say with his mouth, “We lift up our hearts unto the Lord,” but in his thoughts have his mind concerned with the cares of this life. At all times, rather, God should be in our memory but if this is impossible by reason of human infirmity, in that hour above all this should be our earnest endeavour.

Then the Priest says, “Let us give thanks unto the Lord.” For verily we are bound to give thanks, that He called us, unworthy as we were, to so great grace; that He reconciled us when we were His foes; that He vouchsafed to us the Spirit of adoption. Then ye say, “It is meet and right:” for in giving thanks we do a meet thing and a right; but He did not right, but more than right, in doing us good, and counting us meet for such great benefits….

After this, we make mention of heaven, and earth, and sea; of sun and moon; of stars and all the creation, rational and irrational, visible and invisible; of Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Thrones; of the Cherubim with many faces: in effect repeating that call of David’s Magnify the Lord with me. We make mention also of the Seraphim, whom Esaias in the Holy Spirit saw standing around the throne of God, and with two of their wings veiling their face, and with twain their feet, while with twain they did fly, crying Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Sabaoth. For the reason of our reciting this confession of God, delivered down to us from the Seraphim, is this, that so we may be partakers with the hosts of the world above in their Hymn of praise. (St. Cyril of Jerusalem +386 A.D. : Cath Lecture 23)

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Holy Ministers of Your Altar

Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. (Matt 9:37)

O Father, raise up among Christians numerous and holy vocations to the priesthood, to keep the faith alive and guard the gracious memory of your Son Jesus through the preaching of his word and the administration of the Sacraments, with which you continually renew your faithful.

Give us holy ministers of your altar, who are careful and fervent guardians of the Eucharist, the sacrament of the supreme gift of Christ for the redemption of the world.
Call ministers of your mercy,who, through the sacrament of Reconciliation, spread the joy of your forgiveness.

Grant, O Father, that the Church may welcome with joy numerous inspirations of the Spirit of your Son and, docile to His teachings, may she care for vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life.

Sustain the Bishops, priests and deacons, consecrated men and women, and all the baptized in Christ, so that they may faithfully fulfill their mission at the service of the Gospel. This we pray You through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Mary, Queen of Apostles, pray for us
(Pope Benedict XVI Prayer for Vocations)

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It Is Not The Power Of Man

It is not the power of man which makes what is put before us the Body and Blood of Christ, but the power of Christ Himself who was crucified for us. The priest standing there in the place of Christ says these words but their power and grace are from God. ‘This is My Body,’ he says, and these words transform what lies before him. (St. John Chrysostom, “Homilies on the Treachery of Judas”) 

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By His Own Blood

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But Christ, being come an high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, that is, not of this creation: Neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. (Heb 9:11)

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The Lady

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