"Until the end of the Age"

My Personal Reflection for Ascension Day.

          In the pre-Vatican II Roman Liturgical Calendar, May 29 is supposed to be the Ascension Day counting forty days from the celebration of Easter.  But in the revised calendar Ascension Day is celebrated Sunday.  Whatever the reasons for such changes may not be as important for us now, but what is important is the eschatological significance of the Christ’s Ascension into heaven.  Allow me to share some of my personal reflections on this topic.

          The ascension of Christ into Heaven being the first fruit is of so much significance for us Christians.  Jesus of Nazareth the Christ was the new Adam prophesied in the Old Testament and by His testimony declared that He came to fulfil the Law and the prophets.  “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world!” exclaimed John the Baptist.  On that morning of the resurrection, Mary Magdalene was about to touch Jesus.  But Jesus forbade her and told her “touch me not for I have not yet ascended unto my Father and your Father, but go tell my Brethren.”   Like the ancient Hebrews Christians believed in the resurrection of the body.  There is a tendency among the heretics of ancient times and even today to spiritualize the resurrection because of the incomprehensibility of the idea that a corrupted body can still be restored to life.  Here lays, the call of faith. Only the apostles and a few others witnessed the resurrection.  Why was this important event exclusively given to a few? Perhaps the most obvious reason is to make us inheritors of the Kingdom of God by faith.   St. Paul, in his theology gave a primary role to the resurrection of the body and even said that without this central tenet of the gospel, we are the most miserable of all men.  For why would we accept suffering and humiliation for the sake of the gospel if we are not going to be rewarded with what we seek for? –eternal life.  We carry the cross not for the sake of carrying it but as a means to obtain what we seek for. Sometimes there is a tendency to relegate this very important doctrine to oblivion.  As if after death men and women would simply become disembodied spirits.  But this is not the case.  St. Thomas Aquinas, that erudite Dominican borrowed the hylophomorphic theory of Aristotle to give us a glimpse as to why the resurrection of the body is necessary.  The being of man is like matter and form.  Every form has matter and every matter should take on form.  So is man.  Man cannot be a man without the body.  Hence, there is the necessity of the resurrection.  This is the reason why we pray for the dead because we believe in the resurrection of the body. 

          The ascension of our Lord into heaven defines the hope that we have.  Just as the angels said, that the way you see Jesus ascended and taken up into the clouds so will be the second coming.  Christian living is more contextualized when we see things in the light of Christian eschatology or in the light of the end times.  Our Lord said: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  These parting words define the way we should live.  How easy it is be waylaid by the trivialities of this world.  How easy it is to be waylaid by the concerns for social justice that we forget that this world has been judged and that Christ commands us to look forward to the coming Kingdom of which He will finally inaugurate at Hs second coming – a time when we shall sit at the banquet of the supper of the Lamb. Have we forgotten that whatever things we do for others, the charities, the fight for justice and the way we defend the poor are suppose to be the reflection of the values of the Kingdom of God implanted in us and which we are hoping for?  Today some people think that the end of everything is on this earth.  That if we could make this earth better then we have established God’s Kingdom.  This is the pitfall that held some Christians trapped in worldly ideology.  Imagining as if Christ came to establish an earthly Kingdom.

          If only we could see what is stored for us in the new heavens and the new earth.  But human as we are, we simply cannot comprehend these things until we reach the beatific vision.  God, however, in His goodness has not left us helpless.  But He gives us the faith to comprehend and to cling to this hope in the promise given by God through Christ.  For there is a hell to shun and a heaven to gain.  Heaven was gained for us by Christ and that should be our goal.  May the Ascension of Lord remind us of the need to trust in Him, for He is with us till the end of the ages.  This promise is not in vain but a living promise that we affirm each time we partake of the Eucharist – Christ’s pledge of salvation for us.  Of which we are eternally grateful.

          

The Right of the Church to Proclaim the Truth

 His Grace, the Most Reverend Leonardo Z. Legazpi, O.P. wrote a pastoral letter on the role of the church in public life.  Here is an excerpt from the pastoral letter the full text can be read at this link.

"The teachings of the Church concerning prevailing social issues that affect people are not merely limited to renunciation of immoral acts, but in a more positive light, these teachings seek to form and illumine our conscience to enable us to choose the good and to genuinely decide in accordance with what is true.[18] In this sense, the Church is a vital contributor in the political debate, a transformative resource[19] insofar as she helps in purifying and shedding light upon the application of reason to the discovery of objective moral principles.[20] Ultimately, the right and duty of the Church to speak about the Truth and to form conscience in the Truth is rooted not so much in her doctrinal statements and pastoral letters but in her fidelity in following Jesus.[21]"

Is There a Need to Re-Emphasize the Use of Vernacular and Inculturation?

"Is there a need to re-emphasize the use of vernacular and inculcation in the liturgy when it is evident that these are in existence in the Catholic liturgical landscape of the Philippines???" I asked myself this question after reading the statement released by the National Meeting of the Diocesan Directors of Liturgy Silver Jubilee Statement.  I hold to the impression that some liturgists in our country may not be aware of the REFORM OF THE REFORMED  program of Pope Benedict XVI.  That's why most statements in relation to the liturgy either openly contradicts the program of the Holy Father or simply downplayed it.  Here are some of my comments.  These are my opinions and I stand corrected.

On the Vernacular

The National Meeting of Dicesan Directors of Liturgy Silver Jubilee Statement as published in the RCAM highlighted several points.  While I observe that there were several good points in that statement I want to offer my own observations on several points.  Let me quote point #1 

"The Use of the Vernacular. While we respect the option to use Latin and celebrate the Tridentine liturgy, we uphold the use of the vernacular in our parishes and communities and recommend translations that faithfully reflect both the spiritual doctrine of the texts and the linguistic patterns of our vernacular languages"

Let me offer some of my observation. (1) Tridentine Liturgy is not the correct word.  The Rite of Mass formulated by St. Pius V during the Council of Trent is not a new rite but rather it was the reformed  liturgy of the Roman Rite, standardized and made universal.  One should understand the liturgical landscape of the reformeation and post-reformation period in Europe.  There were the multiplicity of regional liturgies.  Almost every region or dioceses in Euope has its own local variation.  The multiplicity of rites created confusion and increased the chances that heretical ideas  could penetrate the liturgy.  Thus St. Pius V by the authority of the council revised the Roman Liturgy and made it universal.  However, liturgies aging 200 years old and above were exempted.  Whereas liturgies not reaching the age of 200 were deemed abolished.  This in the context of the saying that the Law of prayer becomes the law of faith.  For as we pray thus we will also believe.  Thus correct word should be Traditional Latin Mass or the Forma Extraordinaria. 

(2)  Why is there a need for the liturgists to uphold the use of the vernacular when there is no widespread demand for the Extraordinary Form?  To me it is absurd.  The framers of this statement should have read the accompanying letter of Pope Benedict XVI to explain the Summorum Pontificum which allay the fears of those who think that the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite will alter the liturgical landscape.

(3) The issue here is not about language. It is not about Latin versus the vernacular because the original text of the Roman Rite is in Latin, whatever vernacular that exists are mere translations of the basic Latin Texts.  There is a danger in spiritualizing the original texts because there are dangers of misinterpretations.  We should remember that language is a tool of communication.  It can also be a repository.  Thus the direct and faithful translations to the vernacular is to be preferred over the "spiritualized" translations. Direct translation will ensure orthodoxy. And the use of Liturgical language will ensure and promote sacrality, which is so much wanting in todays liturgies.  The liturgy is the public worship of the Church, there we enter into the sacred realm away from the profane.  Hence the use of profane language and music in the liturgy demotes the experience of the sacred.  The liturgy just like any other field of human endeavor has its own language that makes it her own.  Thus Christians who attends church regularly will not find it difficult to get acquinted with the nuances.  We won't even have any need for commentators, which often obstructs the flow of the celebration. In fact Vatican II documents on the liturgy only authorize the translation of the Mass in the vernacular on a partial basis.  But the self arbiters of the reform failed to recognize this.  Latin is the Language of the Roman Church and if this is totally eliminated from the liturgy it will create rupture and discontinuity.  This is somehting dificult to comprehend.  Even our Latin Texts contains the Greek Kyreie if only to emphasize that even there was a shift from Greek to Latin we recognize our rootedness in the Greek Church which is more ancient than the Roman.  The masses celebrated on EWTN is a very good example of a Vatican II mass.  They also have done a great job in featuring the Extraordinary Form on several occasions.

Is there a paranoia here vis-a-vis the Latin Mass?

On Inculturation

Liturgical Inculturation. The interest in recent times to revive the Tridentine Liturgy should not draw the attention, especially of the Church leaders, from the unfinished agenda of liturgical inculturation. We are of the persuasion that liturgical renewal, as envisioned by the Constitution on Liturgy of Vatican II, entails liturgical inculturation and that our rich cultural heritage has much to offer to make the Roman liturgy truly Filipino.

Why is there a constant mention of the Tridentine Liturgy??? Is the Tridentine Liturgy a threat to the on going so called inculturation agenda?  I wish that the framers of this statement would read the entire Apostolic Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Summorum Pontificum and its accompanying Letter to the Bishops.  The statement as quoted above reveals that they are aware of an interest in the use of the Tridentine Liturgy.  The question should be asked logically - WHY IS THERE AN INTEREST IN THE TRIDENTINE LITURGY 40 YEARS AFTER THE SO CALLED REFORM?  Is it because the current reforms which started in the 70s failed to capture the true essence of liturgical reform as envisioned by Vatican II? It seems to me that the statement above expresses sthe unfounded fear which the Holy Father in his accompanying letter to the motu proprio seeks to allay, and I quote the words of the Holy Father:

"In the first place, there is the fear that the document detracts from the authority of the Second Vatican Council, one of whose essential decisions – the liturgical reform – is being called into question. This fear is unfounded. In this regard, it must first be said that the Missal published by Paul VI and then republished in two subsequent editions by John Paul II, obviously is and continues to be the normal Form – the Forma ordinaria – of the Eucharistic Liturgy. The last version of the Missale Romanum prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were "two Rites". Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite."

As for the status of the Tridentine Liturgy here is what the Holy Father says:

"As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted."

(Clear as the sun!)

There is a UCAN article written by Archbishop Dosado that explains what the Reform of the Reform of Pope Benedict means.  Please follow the link to read the full article.  In this article Arcbihop Dosado offered his ideas abut the true meaning of the reform and he explained the intent of the Holy Father in promoting the Reform of the Reformed.  He also explained the problem of current state of liturgical renewal in this way:

"Looking back, some of the culprits for me for the gradual loss of the true reform of the liturgy were the so-called “liturgists” who were more like technicians and choreographers rather than pure students of liturgy. They had a peculiar affinity for refined liturgical celebrations coupled with disdain for the old rites and devotions. Unfortunately, some bishops, not pure students of liturgy either, gave in to their terrorist proclivities."

I would opine that the lack of interest in liturgical affairs in the Philippines have given reign to the self arbiters of the liturgical reform.   But its not too late.  The Holy Father has been pursuing quietly but steadfastly this project of genuine liturgical renewal based on the hermeneuics of continuity. 

In conclusion I would like to share with you my comments on the UCANarticle in support of the article.

I would like to reiterate my support for Archbishop Dosado. I was born in the Novus Ordo and I was witness to the gradual disfiguring of our liturgies in the Philippines. The deconstructionists and inculturation schools have done so much damage to the Catholic identity and worship of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Not only it has distorted the historical and legitimate development of the liturgy, the destruction is manifested even in the way religious art and architecture were treated. So much heritage and historical values were lost, all in the name of "renewal" using Vatican II as the card.  I hope that this INCULTURATION school should vanished in the mountains of Malaybalay and I hope that the REFORM OF THE REFORMED of Pope Benedict will find its way into this Catholic country and reestablish Catholic identity. AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS ARCHBISHOP DOSADO you are in our prayers always "Be not afraid... fear not the wolves in sheep's clothing".

Women Priests anyone???

I found this article interesting from UCAN, the title of the article is  "Nuns' attack Vatican on women's ordination".  Sometimes I wonder why nuns advocating positions contrary to the teaching of the Church advocating ideas and advocacies contrary to the teachings. of the church.  Feminism is a worldly ideology and sadly it has found its inroads in some religious orders.  They erroneously equate equality of the sexes with sameness.  Man and women are equal in the sight of God but they are not the same.  They have specific roles to play in the Church and in this world.  As one reader commented: "Church can commit no mistake because it is the Body of Christ. God choose man to be His priest and woman as His Mother. (Eccl 7: 28.29) " which my mind has shought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes" Respected Sr. we should try to follow the rule that God wanted us to follow. " Chastity. poverty and obedience" not activism."

Why I remain a Catholic

The recent scandals that rocked the Church in Europe is indeed something for us to be sad about.  This is because it involves the clergy and our Leaders.  Sometimes I do not understand why these problems were to resurface at a time that the Church is battling with various issues that involves morality, materialism and life issues.  Some of my friends wonder why I remain a Catholic.  My answer is very simple but loud: I AM CONVINCED OF THE CLAIMS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, it is apostolic, founded by Jesus Christ and on the apostles.  Nothing can shake that conviction from me.    

On Becoming a Shelter

This afternoon while taking my coffee for the mid afternoon break, I saw five little birds (mayas) sitting on top of our air-conditioning unit outside of the window.  It was a stormy afternoon as Typhoon "Basyang" took a landfall in the north.  The little birds were all wet and it seems that the heat generated by the motor of the air-conditioning unit served their need for heat.  I was amused and I took pity on the birds.  I thought I would take a photo of them.  But I did not want to scare them with the flash so I simply leave them.  But as I sat on my desk I began to reflect on how trouble some is life on earth.  We have troubles, trials and tribulations.  Often the best charity we can offer our neighbors in need are our love and care.  Like those little birds, there are hundreds of souls out there suffering.  They need shelter from the storm, they the heat of love and tender loving care, a place to hide themselves from the storm.  Are we ready to be a shelter for our neighbors in need?  Let us do works of mercy by making our lives shelter for others.  Kind words and encouragement may indeed suffice.  But when we give and give until it hurts that is the test of the fullness of our love for our neighbors.

With Faith in God Nothing is Impossible!

"With faith in God nothing is impossible," says Pope Benedict XVI.  In his homily on the vespers on the eve of the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul, he reiterated the need to trust and believe in God.  That things can be done not on our strength but it can be accomplished by our faith in God.  He also spoke of the need for the New Evangelization, to reach out to countries who has deep Christian root but now because of the influence of militant secularism has abandoned faith in God. Let me share with you this quote from the Holy Father's homily:

Taking up this legacy, I have been able to affirm, at the beginning of my Petrine ministry, that the Church is young, and open to the future. And I repeat it today, near the sepulcher of St. Paul: The Church is an immense force of renewal in the world, not because of her strength, but because of the force of the Gospel, in which the Holy Spirit of God breathes, the God Creator and Redeemer of the world. [emphasis supplied] The challenges of the present age are certainly beyond human capacities; they are the historical and social challenges, and with greater reason, the spiritual challenges. At times it seems to us pastors of the Church that we are reliving the experience of the Apostles, when thousands of needy persons followed Jesus, and he asked: What can we do for all these people? They then experienced their impotence. But Jesus had in fact demonstrated to them that with faith in God nothing is impossible, and that a few loaves and a few fish, blessed and shared, could satiate all. But it was not -- and is not -- only hunger for material food: There is a more profound hunger, which only God can satiate. (Source: zenit.org June 28,2010)

Today the profound challenge for the  pastors of the Church is how to respond to the need of the faithful who now in moder times are confronted with varied challenges.

On the Cross, Parables and Paradoxes

Cross marker in San Miguel Island, Tabaco City, Philippines

I am impressed by the homily delivered by the Holy Father in his mass at the Church of the Holy Cross in Paphos, Republic of Cyprus.  He spoke about the cross as form of capital punishment for the ancient Romans , on which our Lord Jesus was crucified.  Today we took on this symbol as a symbol of salvation and liberation.  It was carried by Christ and now carried forth by the Church as a symbol of God's saving power.  I wonder why our Lord often teach us precious lesson by means of parables and paradoxes.  Perhaps this is to challenge us and help us see that with God nothing is impossible.  Who would ever think that the instrument of cruel punishment will become the symbol of our salvation and freedom.  God works in many ways.  Our feeble mind will never be able to fathom such love.  God's ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts.  This brings us close to the core idea that we have to truly surrender our will to God's will.  This is our challenge, this is our battle.  We must overcome our "selves".  This may seem impossible at least for us but the Grace of the Lord is sufficient for us.  If only we will accept it with faith.

The Closing of the Annus Sacerdotalis

Tridentime Mass at Amaelianum College, Sorsogon City, Philippines.

Tridentine Mass at Aemelianum College:  The Priest as alter Christus becomes the Christ at the moment of the  Celebration of the Sacred Mysteries.  A minister and dispenser of the benefits of the altar.

The year for priests was concluded with a Papal Mass at St. Peters.  The Pope highlighted several issues and in general he has mentioned something about the blessing.  I would like to give emphasis on some points raised by the Holy Father.

"Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God’s gift, a gift concealed in "earthen vessels" which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes his love concretely present in this world. So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, his gift becomes a commitment to respond to God’s courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility. The word of God, which we have sung in the Entrance Antiphon of today’s liturgy, can speak to us, at this hour, of what it means to become and to be a priest: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart" (Mt 11:29)." (Zenit.org)

Despite of the scandals about clergy abuses in Ireland, Germany and other places, these tragic event did not ruin the Church.  The Holy Father is right when he said that priests are earthen vessels, there is a constant call for renewal and purification.  Even in deepest sin God can penetrate us.  Constantly we are called to look unto Christ and learn from Him.  As a Catholic layman I do am not discouraged.  This scandals and abuses can never dampen or destroy my relationship with the Church. 

I am ever grateful for my priests, to the priest who baptized me, to the Bishop who confirmed me in the faith, to the priest who heard my confession, the priest who says mass for us every day and every week.  Thank you Lord for these gifts.  Indeed it is through your priests that we approach the altar of sacrifice, that we are sanctified and renewed in the Church.  Lord send us holy priests who will love your house, who will love your ministry.

To the Unknown God

The Besaki Temple Complex in Bali.  The Mother Temple of Hinduism in this Island

While on a business trip to Bali, Indonesia and despite of the hectic schedule I found some little time to explore the beauty of this Island famed for its culture and for its tourism value.  I decided to visit one of the most renowned temple in Bali.  According to my tour guide there are 17 temples in this complex.  Every temple is dedicated to a particular use.  One section of the temple was dedicated for all members of other religions where they can also pray.  This reminded me of the passage in the Bible where St. Paul commended the religiosity of the Athenians and that a shrine was even dedicated to the "unknown god".  This conversation became the starting point for St. Paul to proclaim the message of the gospel.  St. Paul did not dare to insult the gods of the Athenians but focused his discussions on the Unknown God, which according to him was the One God who created the heavens and earth and all living creature and in this One God we derive all our being.   One impression I got is that even in places where the gospel of Christ is not known, the light of God's knowledge is not fully extinguished.  The various forms of religiousity can be a starting point for our search for God.  Thus for us Christians it is incumbent that our lives, deeds and words should reflect the values of the gospel in order to draw other people to the light of Christ's message of salvation.

Mercer on Pope Benedict XVI

Sometimes I wonder why some liberal Catholics seem to abhor our Pope, and it amazes me that Anglicans and Evangelicals can appreciate more our Pope more than the liberal Catholics.  Here is an excerpt from what Bishop Mercer had to say of the Traditional Anglicans.

It’s no wonder that this Pope appeals more and more to evangelical Christians, to Anglicans and to the Orthodox. Some of us have been deceived by the liberal media or even by liberal Roman Catholics into writing him off as “the rottweiler cardinal” or “the panzer cardinal”. But like another elderly pope who came to office late in life, John XXIII, this man is full of astonishing surprises.

More of this can be read from "A Man Sent From God Whose Name is Benedict".

"Mistaking the Woods with the Trees"

Pravda, the Russian News Agency Defends Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church.  Here are some excerpts.

Much of the news coming out, in the effort to disguise ideological propaganda, contains the fundamental error of mistaking the wood with the trees ... especially when the aim is to denigrate. That is, from an isolated case, preferably rough outlines, and generalized in order to induce the reader to think that the whole is of the same nature. This generalization obviously has ideological connotations and follows a political agenda that seeks to deconstruct traditional society and all its secular institutions and to impose a New World Order after the manner of the sinister interests of the international oligarchy, the same ones that handle the financial markets and through them, largely control the global economy. We refer to cases ofpedophilia within the ranks of the Catholic Church recently publicized by international news agencies.

and here is more:

The fury of the anti-clerical secular lobby goes so far as to revive old cases like that of Father Lawrence Murphy, back in 1975, to address the current Pope insidiously and in this way, the very Roman Catholic Church. On 25 March of this year, the prestigious New York Times published an article that allegedly accused Benedict XVI of covering up for the priest from Milwaukee in 1995 when the Pope was still Cardinal and responsible for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith It must be motivated by a very strong hatred of Catholicism to raise this issue 35 years afterwards...

The complaint is all the more insidious when it ignores all that this body has had is the specific function to monitor doctrinal deviations, heresies, so nothing to do with the Law, which deals with cases of indiscipline, as are the acts that violate the chastity of the clergy are required. It is ignored that this priest was acquitted by civil law, which did not find evidence of the practice of pedophilia on deaf boys who were protected. How aware are we made that the Catholic hierarchy kept him under surveillance and did so not so much for suspicion of sexual abuse of minors, but for doctrinal deviations. It was this and only for this reason that the then Cardinal Ratzinger, in 1995, sanctioned, and then limited his pastoral functions. Four months later Murphy died. We do not believe that the New York newspaper was absolutely unaware of these facts. From here, it follows that bad faith exists and a defamatory smear campaign has been articulated against the world Catholic hierarchy.

 Indeed in the field of ecumenical relations the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church will unite to defend our Judeo-Christian patrimony against the attacks of those people with ideological leanings and with a political agenda to destroy the Christian religion.

You can read more of this report at PRAVDA

Cardinal Levada Defends Pope Benedict XVI Against Calumnious Articles

William Cardinal Levada has written an excellent article to his former Archdiocesan paper.  The title of the article:The New York Times and Pope Benedict XVI: how it looks to an American in the Vatican.  Here is an excerpt"

In our melting pot of peoples, languages and backgrounds, Americans are not noted as examples of “high” culture. But we can take pride as a rule in our passion for fairness. In the Vatican where I currently work, my colleagues – whether fellow cardinals at meetings or officials in my office – come from many different countries, continents and cultures. As I write this response today (March 26, 2010) I have had to admit to them that I am not proud of America’s newspaper of record, the New York Times, as a paragon of fairness.

Read more of this On the Catholic San Francisco Online.  

Milwaukee Judicial Vicar Speaks Out His Mind

Here is an interesting article written by Fr. Thomas Brundage to defend himself and the Vicar of Christ.  Read HERE.

Defenders of the Faith

There is a CNS report defending the church here is an excerpt:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican defended a decision not to laicize a Wisconsin priest who sexually abused deaf children, despite the recommendation of his bishop that he be removed from the priesthood. In a statement responding to a report in the New York Times, the Vatican said that by the time it learned of the case in the late 1990s, the priest was elderly and in poor health. The Vatican eventually suggested that the priest continue to be restricted in ministry instead of laicized, and he died four months later, the Vatican said.

For the full story READ HERE




I also follow Fr.Z's comments on his blog and here is an excerpt.

I know that Holy Catholic Church in its human dimension has to undergo this purification.  It simply has to happen.  The Church will always be attacked from without and within, as part of a constant purification.  And I would be inconsistent indeed were I not to apply what I constantly mention to those going through a harsh purification.  St. Augustine said about Christ, Physician of the soul, who corrects us sometimes with nearly unbearable means: "The doctor doesn’t stop cutting just because the patient is screaming for him to stop."

You can follow through Fr. Z's article Here


All these events are sad indeed.  I feel that there is a concerted plan in the secular and anti-Catholic media to discredit the Holy Father and His collaborators.  God is great and on this month of St. Joseph, may this humble and great father intercede and protect our Pope, our leaders and the faithful ones.

Let Us Pray for Our Pope and Our Church-Christ's Church

The Holy Father was verbally abuse by a man at St. Peter's square.  Here is the excerpt from the  HERALD SUN :

A man, apparently in his early 50s, shouted "bulls***, bulls***" while stretching an accusatory arm towards Benedict XVI, after approaching the barrier in front of the Pope's podium.  Vatican police forcibly removed the man, still shouting, from the square.  The Pope went on to announce that he would "soon" send a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics over the paedophile priest scandal that has rocked Ireland.  

You can follow the link for the report.  Personally I feel very sad about the events in the Church.  The sex and pedophile scandals have been manipulated by the enemies of the Church to destroy the church.  Let us pray all the more about these events.  Let us never loose hope.  The Lord is good and may He grant healing for every one affected and may those who were affected learn also the meaning of forgiveness.  Let us pray for our dear Pope Benedict XVI.  Our Pope is a good man, he has a deep understanding of the problems of the church, and has done so much for the good of the Church.  I believe that his mind is all set for the good of the church.  I have never lost hope in our Pope.  I believe and support his program of unity and reconciliation.  The Church is a Divine organization, it will endure until the end of time.  Though she is made up of weak human beings, sinful as they are.  But the grace of God through the ministry of the church will continue to feed and nurture His children.  Viva il Papa.

As we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, husband of Mary, let us seek the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church.  

The Priesthood and the Hermeneutics of Continuity

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in an address to the participants in the International Theological Conference Organized by the Clergy expounded beautifully and poignantly on the meaning of the Priesthood and its connection with the Priesthood of Christ.  Here is an excerpt form zenit.org.

Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest

"For this reason, it is important to overcome dangerous reductionism that, in past decades, using categories that were more functional than ontological, has presented the priest almost as a "social agent," running the risk of betraying the priesthood of Christ itself. Just as the hermeneutic of continuity is increasingly revealed as urgent to understand in an appropriate way the texts of the Second Vatican Council, similarly an hermeneutic seems necessary that we could describe "of priestly continuity," which, starting from Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ, and going through the 2,000 years of the history of grandeur and holiness, of culture and piety, which the priesthood has written in the world, arrives at our days."

Holy Orders (Wikipedia, Priesthood Catholic Church)

I am delighted that here in this speech the Holy Father has underscored the need to understand the meaning of the Second Vatican Council through a hermeneutics of continuity.  By this it means that the Second Vatican Council is not a "super council" that overrides the other councils and magesterial pronouncements of Popes and the Church.  Rather it is a valid council and one among the many councils that the Church has had since the church was founded by Christ in Jerusalem and handed on to the apostles.  The Second Vatican Council did not define new dogmas, but of a fact it is a pastoral council and not a dogmatic council.  It simply reaffirmed what was already in existence.  Unfortunately the liberal elements and those with leanings on "modernism" have taken the wrong notion that the Second Vatican Council was a blanket authority to discard the old and to bring in the new.  The problems in Liturgy and moral teachings that resulted in the aftermath of the council stemmed from the hermeneutics of rupture.  All of a sudden it was as if the umbilical cord that connects the mother to the child was cut off thus resulting to serious problems.

This hermeutics of rupture is very much a problem in the priesthood.  The role of the priest has been reduced to a "social revolutionary", "politicians", "champion of the poor", "social worker", etc... While it is true that priests must defend and uphold the welfare of the flock in the social sphere, it is by no means a limitation on the role of the Priest.  The primary role of the Priest is to be a Priest-Mediator, Alter Christus, along the lines of the Order of Melchizedek.  To be a priest forever.  It is our fervent prayer that our priests will realize this need and once again reclaim their place in the house of the Lord and redefine their identity as identical with that of Jesus Christ the eternal priest.

The Text of the Holy Father's address can be read Here

"The Goal of Ecumenism is Union with the Catholic Church"

"In a lengthy address delivered in Canada on March 6, Cardinal William Levada, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that the reception of communities of Anglicans into the Catholic Church is consistent with Anglican-Catholic ecumenical dialogue because “union with the Catholic Church is the goal of ecumenism.' " Read More of These from Catholic Culture.Org

Is Politics Good for the Church?

Here is an exerpt from a news report from the CBCP News entitled "6 Bishops Now Backs JC, March 6, 2010.

"Four more Catholic bishops came out in the open endorsing the Ang Kapatiran party of presidential aspirant John Carlos “JC” de los Reyes, breaking with the tradition of offering commentary on election-related moral issues without endorsing candidates."

Sometimes, I wonder how bad the social situation here in the Philippines has become.  That even Bishops are moved to intervene in order to defend the principles and faith that has molded our Nation against the gigantic problems of corruption and seeming impunity for evils in our country.  I personally believe that it is not a good idea for clerics to be involve in politics.  Politics involves a struggle for power where individuals, groups and  parties jostle for control.  Often these contending parties wish to defeat their opponents.  Thus for religious leaders to be involve in politics is never a good idea.  It will compromise the mission of the Church.  The Hierarchy should stand above the situation.  Being pastors of souls they have to stand above the rest.  For they are a fathers to both the good and obedient as well as to the disobedient.  However, I could not blame some of our Bishops.  And I will never dare to criticize such moves, because this shows us that our society has gone the way of the wild.  Justice cries out to heaven, innocent blood spilled, the poor go hungry while their leaders enjoy the good life, the powerful continues to oppress the weak.  Our leaders have let us down.  Successive generations of leaders failed to live up to righteous governance.  Thus, Christians who live up to the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could not stand idle and pretend not to know.  For indeed, the true follower of Christ will be moved to do something to uphold justice.  The true religion as St. James said is to do mercy and to be kind to the poor.  Who will defend the flock against the ravening wolves?  Our Bishops are just doing their job.  So let us use our privileges and rights to choose good leaders who will uphold truth and justice and who will defend life against the culture of death and materialism.

A Layman's Reaction to the Paper of Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB

A simple layman like me dares not to presume to know more.  But reading the paper delivered by Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco entitled "Liturgical Studies and Liturgical Renewal" on the occasion on the launched of the Broken Bay Institute, I was moved to blogged my reaction.  And here it is. Please bear with me.  This are just my honest opinion.

On saying that the twenty years of Vatican II was the springtime of liturgical renewal...

Most of us agree that there is a need for a liturgical renewal.  But my perception is that the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council went far beyond the intentions of the council.  All of a sudden, many tried and tested usages were abolished or neglected.  When we were growing up we were made to think that Latin was obsolete.  And that was the line of thinking I had before I discovered the traditional liturgy.    As I was growing up in the seventies I have observed the following: (1) The disappearance of the ancient hymns and chants and now replaced with contemporary music akin to pop;   (2) The demolition of the high altars and the communion rails. (3) the Disappearance of tried and tested devotions and popular piety, (4) the disappearance of the confessionals, etc... and many other things too painful to recall.   How can the promoters of the novus ordo described the seventies as springtime. Does anyone today speak of springtime after the fruits of the drastic "reform" of the 70s??? or was there really ever a springtime?  Why were the reformers too eager to discard so many things?  Have they not thought of the value of the practices they abolished?  Were the practices associated with the pre-Vatican II deemed abolished?  


I am for the reform of the reformed.  I think we must go back to the real intention of Vatican II.  The speculation of the scholars and the fads of the time have been harmful to the church.  The church should not march with the times.  The Church must influence the times.  The church as a divinely instituted unit is called out from this world.  The eternal kingdom is the vocation of the church.  This world will never love Christ nor his church.  It has persecuted Christ and the Church.  Thus our liturgies must truly express that heavenly vocation.    

“The agenda is, to all appearance, an attempt to put the clock back half a century. It seems to conveniently forget that since Vatican II, the Church has been marching with the times, acknowledging the changes in social and religious culture, and adopting new pastoral strategies.”

I would opine that Fr. Chupungo missed the point of Pope Benedict’s agenda for liturgical reform.  I wish he would have read carefully the letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the world.  The reason for the reform of the reformed is stated very clearly by the Holy Father thus: “Many people who clearly accepted the binding character of the Second Vatican Council, and were faithful to the Pope and the Bishops, nonetheless also desired to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them. This occurred above all because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. (emphasis supplied)  I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion.  And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.” (From the Letter of the Pope accompanying the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.)  


The apostles were men who turned the world upside down.  They changed the culture of the Roman Empire. And not vice-versa.  The martyrs of the early church period willingly spilled their blood for Christ as a testimony.  Thus it was said that the blood of the martyrs were the seed of the church.  The theological giants of the medieval ages such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas endeavored to established the church with the sound teachings and combat the heresies of their times.  So today popular culture should not dictate what the church should do but that the church should be faithful in witnessing so that she could be an influence that would change culture to make it conform to the values of the gospel.  But when worldly popular culture influences the liturgical culture then that is something serious to think about.


Thus, the "reform of the reformed" of the ROR as it is called is meant not to turn back the clock but rather it is an attempt to connect the present with the past.  The deposit of faith is characterized by continuity and not rupture.  Because it is impossible to say that the practices of the past which has nourished the church for centuries all of a sudden would be forbidden or stopped.  If that happens there is a rupture.  Like an umbilical cord that connects the infant with the mother, continuity in tradition connects us with the life and spirituality of the church.  If only we read the documents of the Second Vatican Council in the light of tradition that there will be a realization of the good fruits.  We should consider Vatican II as part of the ongoing tradition, one among the many ecumenical councils of the Church and not a supra council that will supplant the other councils.  It is a pastoral council meant to guide the Church and not to teach a new doctrine.

“It is regrettable that today the word “inculturation” is spoken in some Church quarters in whispers and muffled voice.”

This is because inculturation as interpreted by some has led to unwanted creativity that has serious consequences for the dignified celebration of the Eucharist.  For example what about those young people dancing during the offertory and even during the consecration. Are these practices part of the liturgy??? Do they have traditional precedence or are these simple innovations purposely done to effect a feeling of "enculturation"?   For almost 400 hundred years of Christianity in the Philippines I have never heard that dancing was part of the Roman Ritual accepted by the Native Church.  Thus indeed no one will attempt to speak in loud voice about enculturation.  Yes its right, it has to be spoken in whispers and muffled voice because the deformation in the liturgy caused by innovations done in the name of enculturation is an embarrassment.   In the first place why introduced innovations when the Roman Liturgy and ritual has been assimilated and accepted by the native church?  Why would people speak about enculturation in hushed voices?  Perhaps because it has lost its appeal.  Perhaps "enculturation" is just one of the many "theological fads".  Thus we should discern the spirit of the times and not immediately accede to it.  We don't march with the times, we seek to influence the times so that by doing so we fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Christ - to make disciples of all Nations.  Christ did not tell us to dialogue  with the world.  Christ commanded us to preach the Gospel and to make disciples of all nations, and to wait for Him until He comes in glory.

“Will Latinised English make the liturgy more awesome? It will certainly sound mysterious, but will it be more prayerful? Will the silent recitation of the Eucharistic Prayer, preferably in Latin, evoke more vividly the Last Supper of Jesus? Is receiving Holy Communion on one’s knees and on the tongue more reverent than receiving it standing and in the hand? Will the priestly role of mediation be reinforced by praying at the altar with the back to the assembly?”

The purpose of direct translation is not to make it awesome.  The purpose is to make the rendering of the original text faithful to the original.  Because interpretative translations can cause problems especially in matters of faith and belief.  Direct translation will safeguard the integrity and meaning.  In the ecclesiastical province where I belong (Archdiocese of Caceres, the Bicol Translation has been revised to conform to the orginal and it is now being use and no ordinary faithful complains.).  Receiving communion on the tongue is the ordinary form or manner of receiving communion.  While receiving in the hand is the indult.  The irony is that the indult has now become the ordinary.  Let’s remember too that gestures can enhance the solemnity and it is our outward expression of faith.  Some faith groups outside of the Catholic Church receive communion in the hand because they do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  But for us who believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist must by all means show it by our gestures.  Our gestures are not only personal but it is our public affirmation and declaration of faith.  So when I receive communion in the tongue and kneeling, I adore the True God, like St. Thomas we say “My Lord and My God.”  When the priest turns his back on the assembly, he is leading them towards Christ, the hope of the resurrection.  Hence priest and people are directed to God.