I love Russian cinema, I thought you might enjoy this little lesson in prayer from Aдмирал (The Admiral 2008)
Now lads, it looks bad, it is bad, so PRAY!
Friday, September 7, 2012
I am not entirely convinced by the religious freedom arguments put forward by the Strasbourg 4, it could be that I am not entirely familiar these arguments and should read further but it strikes me that a Christian doesn't work in a brothel or a Jew work in bacon factory.
Because we are Christians some jobs are closed to us. More interestingly is the Cologne courts ruling that bans Jewish parents from circumcising their boys, I am not sure even Hitler forbade this. It is going to mean the expulsion, albeit a "voluntary" one of Jews from this part of Germany. On a rational level cutting skin off of a child's body is totally irrational, obviously it is objectionable for black adolescent Sudanese girls, even if they consent, even if it happens under a compliant matriarchy, of course western girls of a similar age can choose contraceptive implants or to have an abortion, but that is a different issue, isn't it?
But back to German Jews and circumcision, because it is Germany and because of the holocaust and because it is the Jews there is something deeply distasteful in a court or a government forbidding it and yet rationality tells us the courts are right. And yet..., and yet because it is Germany and it is the Jews etc...
The problem is that human behaviour cannot be reduced to the merely rational, religion is always the X factor, humanity cannot be constrained by law or rationality. At the most basic level it is a reminder that mankind is not entirely rational, we are more than our DNA. The law cannot be used to codify every human action, we cannot reduce mankind to a machine where every human peculiarity is reduced to the average, the mean man. Diversity is important, it is about the richness of humanity. In our religion, in our politics, in our sexuality, in our values we are diverse, and diversity produces a society in which ideas challenge one another and is creative, ultimately we learn to live alongside one another.
The exclusion of religion from the public sphere is a worrying sign of a growing totalitarianism, and though on the one hand we acclaim diversity there is the growing tendency to outlaw the diverse, rendering it perverse. The first step is to exclude Christians from the caring professions, but what comes after that. The Cologne court ruling gives us a clue, it is about the restriction of the rights of parents over their children, making the state a child's ultimate guardian. Hitler introduced introduced compulsory state schooling and outlawed home schooling, to ensure that only state approved values were passed on to the nations offspring. In most western countries the introduction of same-sex marriage is going make a significant change to what a child may or may not be taught about human relationships. The values of the state will take precedence over the values of Faith groups or of individual parents. Already strong Christian views on sexuality bar prospective foster parents from fostering, how long until they bar parents from parenting?
Giving the state such a role is indeed worrying, again returning to Germany, here the 1930s/40s a perverse scientific rationality rendered some people less than human, it was the irrationality and unscientific nature of religion that was the feint that voice challenged that totalitarianism.
Already Christians feel uneasy about involvement with many areas of medicine, of social work, how long before they excluded from other areas of public life. And after Christians and members of other faiths are excluded, which other groups will be pushed to the sidelines?
Thursday, September 6, 2012
There is a very interesting article on dear old Tina Beattie and Roehampton University on Deacon Nick's excellent blog. Fr Marsden has a very good comment on what the relevant authorities ought to be doing about her anyone who styles themselves a Catholic theologian, not of course that she does, she teaches "Catholic studies", but it is not her that concerns me. It is another matter than should concern "the relevant authorities" both here and in Rome, it purports to be from someone called John Paul Ng.A countryman was frightened to return to Beda College, Rome this year where he is studying for priesthood.I don't know if this true, if it is not, I, and I am sure Deacon Nick would be pleased to be informed, especially if it is untrue but if students are afraid to return to one of our seminaries because of a culture of violence, of all things, this is a very serious matter indeed and the "relevant authorities" must do something, and do something quickly.
Last year one student almost killed by another there in a drunken fight. His jaw was dislocated, his skull fractured, his life and his sight was almost lost.
It seems like a very bad place.
I just get reports that the Beda reflects the "Catholic studies" department of Roehampton and in general the staff there seem to be pro-female ordination and against the Magisterium, in that vague 1970s way seminaries used have.
Both these are related it seems to me, both orthodoxy and charity (in the sense of beating your brother to a bloody pulp) in our Catholic institutions are the responsibility of our bishops and ultimately of the Congregation for Eduction.
One of the problems of being an aging and solitary celibate is not having a wife or superior to nag you about visiting the doctor; I wasn't too well the other week, in fact I had a few symptoms that suggested I might be quite ill but they have passed now but these things get one thinking a bit about death. Most priests either die in a nursing home or are found dead when parishioners turn up for Mass and there is no one to say it. Death is the only certain fact in all of our lives.
Father Hugh Thwaites used to tell priests, "most priests go to hell", it is not original it is patristic. St Theresa apparently said that the road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops, and presumably after an encounter with an obdurate Parish Priest, also said that their skulls too served the same purpose.
Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell have passed from the thinking of most Catholics, I don't think Eschatology features highly in the theological formation of most priests. Christ as the dredde Lord with woundes redde will come to judge the quick and the dedde is not an idea at the forefront of contemporary Christology.
Judgement is the bite of Jesus' own teaching, it seems to be the subject of half of his parables, and so much of the rest of the New Testament is about Heaven and union with Christ. In contrast neither seems to be a significant part of either preaching or evangelisation today. The reason is obvious: today most people do not believe in a personal God and for most belief in this life is all, and for those who do believe in God, God is love and will not reject anything he has created. Therefore any talk of anything beyond death is unreal, obscurantist, rather hard, so much for Christ!
Father Lucie-Smith discusses a letter of Fr Andrew Pinsent, both are priests of my diocese, in which Fr Andrew suggests that this presents a serious problem in our participation in the “drama of salvation”. I agree with both and would add that a loss of eschatogical teaching is indicative of a lack of hope in today's Church.
The great divide between Christians and the rest of mankind is, or should be, our hope. Christ does something momentous, he changes our very anthropology. Life for us does not end in decomposition or an urnful of ash but in our eternal Life: Death is not the end! Neither is our life, or what we do in it, inconsequential but each decision, each action has momentous consequences.
A loss of the eschatological really does mean we have nothing to say to anyone, for ultimately our message is about redemption and salvation. centred not just on the Resurrection of Christ but ours too and his coming as judge of the living and the dead. If we are evangelise effectively then we need to clarify our message of what salvation means
I received this email
Dear Father,
The FIUV has recently approved the creation of ‘Friends of the International Federation Una Voce’. We hope that individuals of good will across the world will take the opportunity to support the work of FIUV and to keep themselves informed about its activities. We are inviting them to send us a few contact details: name, e-mail address, Country of residence, and to make an annual donation through the FIUV website. In return, we will put them on a circulation list for FIUV publications and regular news bulletins and Mass will be offered for them each month, whether living or dead.
It would be extremely kind if you could let the readers of your excellent blog know about this initiative. This text might be a useful summary:
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Become a ‘Friend of the International Federation Una Voce’. It’s an easy way to support the work of the Federation for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and to keep yourself informed about its activities. You can become a Friend by e-mailing your details to friends@fiuv.org and making an annual donation using the PayPal button on http://www.fiuv.org Please give your name, e-mail address and Country of residence.
You will be included on the mailing list for publications and regular bulletins but your details will not be shared with others.
Two Masses will be offered in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite each month, one for living and one for deceased 'Friends of the International Federation Una Voce’.
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In case you haven’t seen it, I recently gave an interview, as the official spokesman for the Coetus Internationalis pro Summorum Pontificum, about the pilgrimage to Rome in November in support of the Holy Father. You and the readers of your blog are, of course, especially welcome to come.
http://www.fiuv.org/news.html
God bless,
Thomas
Thomas Murphy
SecretaryFœderatio Internationalis Una Voce
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Sometime ago a friend was rebuked by his bishop for saying the Corpus Domini nostri .... and the Sanguinis Domini nostri ... before receiving Holy Communion at a concelebrated Mass. He had to show the bishop that it was in the Missal, the bishop had obviously never bothered to read the texts of the Mass he said daily, let alone read the rubrics! His ignorance is perhaps a reason why one hears from those who should know better that Liturgical Law is somehow less binding than the rest of Canon Law. For those who believe Lex Credendi, Lex Orandi, Liturgical Law is the safeguard of what we believe, when the law breaks down so inevitably will the faith, so Liturgical Law obviously must have a certain primacy.
The Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Raymond Cardinal Burke recently underlined this in the conclusion to an address to the Kenya Canon Law Convention:
[L]iturgical law must enjoy the primacy among canonical norms, for it safeguards the most sacred realities in the Church. It is interesting to note that in his first Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, Blessed Pope John Paul II confronted the abuse of general confession and general absolution, of the essentially personal encounter with Christ in the Sacrament of Penance, reminding us both of the right of the penitent to such an encounter and the right of Christ Himself,[xlvii] and that, in his last Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, he urgently addressed abuses of the Church’s discipline regarding the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.[xlviii] In Ecclesia de Eucharistia, he declared:
I consider it my duty, therefore, to appeal urgently that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never anyone’s private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated. The Apostle Paul had to address fiery words to the community of Corinth because of grave shortcomings in their celebration of the Eucharist resulting in divisions (schismata) and the emergence of factions (haereses) (cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34). Our time, too, calls for a renewed awareness and appreciation of liturgical norms as a reflection of, and a witness to, the one universal Church made present in every celebration of the Eucharist. Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church.[xlix]
As is always the case, knowledge and observance of canonical discipline frees us from the false impression that we must make the Sacred Liturgy interesting or stamp it with our personality, and frees us to be the instruments by which the presence of Christ, the Good Shepherd, among His people is rendered more visible, and the action of the Sacred Liturgy bears His stamp alone. ....
Monday, September 3, 2012
Pray for the soul of Cardinal Martini.
There has been a bit of media hype about the late Cardinal.
All that stuff about being a contender for the Papacy, but for his poor health, is quite true, I am sure, as I understand it that there were few other prominent contenders from the left who could garner the necessary support. There is a story about a pre-conclave soiree held by a certain English speaking Cardinal in a certain Roman seminary, prominently in the window of a restaurant opposite was another English speaking Cardinal making a list of those entering. Subsequent fraternal visits from this Cardinal really showed that there was no one name other than Martini that stood out as leader of the liberal faction and probably even Martini's support was somewhat limited.
The problem for Martini, as for the left in general, is that he was well able to present a critique of the Church's problems but not to offer any realistic solutions, unless criticism itself can be deemed a solution. The posthumously published interview is hyperbolic, in the "something must be done" style but there actually no answers or solutions. In areas of the admission of the "some" divorced people to Holy Communion, of the perception of those outside the Church to its teaching on sex and sexuality, practically everyone with a heart would agree that there is problem, Pope Benedict himself has often spoken on such issues. The problem is dealing with these particular and personal problems through the general and universal law of the Church; difficult cases do not make for good law. On evangelisation, on the involvement of the laity in diocesan government or diocesan bishops in the universal Church are issues that Pope Benedict has addressed. Solving the problems are a little more difficult than merely identifying that there is a problem.
There are many contradictions in Martini's thought, on the one hand he speaks about the "loss of future generations of Catholics", he seems to mean cultural Catholics and yet he demands a radical following of the Gospel. He seems unable to understand that the radical break with traditional Catholicism also breaks the connection of cultural Catholics.
There is a Marxist sense of cultural struggle, or even low level war, in Martini's writings, which marks out the left (left in bot the theological and political sense). There is need to attack, an attempt to destroy "the institution" of presenting the "institutional" Church in opposition to the Church of the masses. Once those things which are attacked are destroyed, they are replaced by another left leaning institution that is far tyrannical than that which went before. In classic Marxist terms there is a continuous process of purification that goes on until such time as perfection is achieved. In the case of the Church of course, until such time as the institutional Church is destroyed and replaced by a perfect human society, which of course will be something quite contrary to Church of the Gospel or Revelation.
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