The secularists and atheists are now not just protesting but attacking World Youth day! "Blessed are you when they persecute you, and utter every kind of curse against you." Let the world battle with the Catholic Faith... it has already lost...
This weekend some protested the Pope , and the pilgrims who came to pray with him, for things that make no sense. But in spite of it all, an army of youth, dedicated and dedicating their lives to Christ has now been sent forth.
Monday, August 22, 2011
HOLY TOLEDO?!?!?!
Michael Voris, over at RealCatholicTV.com has been covering the World Youth Day celebrations in Spain. In the run-up to the Sunday Mass with the Pope, however, he has been doing some reporting on life and culture of the Catholic Church in Spain. I found this report about receiving the Holy Eucharist on the hands particularly interesting:
To be sure, this practice has been allowed for by the Vatican in the document Memoriale Domini. Of particular note, is that the Congregation makes quite clear that: "However, the Church's prescriptions and the evidence of the Fathers make it abundantly clear that the greatest reverence was shown the Blessed Sacrament, and that people acted with the greatest prudence." Given the crisis in faith in the Holy Eucharist today for many people, one wonders whether this might not be of concern again today in 2011. In general, there has been a desacralization of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as one need only look at the attire that has changed and become the norm over the last 50 years. What was once shirt and tie for men has become shorts and a t-shirt/tank top many times.
Again, to be absolutely fair, in this document which is the basis for the Church allowing for Communion on the hands, the Congregation for Divine Worship also noted historically that:
Looking around today, one rarely sees people maintaining this practice, however. It is unfortunate, i think, because nature itself demonstrates the beauty of being fed by one's mother. Consider the little baby birds, before they can fly they merely open their mouth for their mother who has flown the heights and depths of the sky and has wisdom to share merely open their mouth to receive what is being offered to them so that they too can one day fly.
Fr. Z over at the blog called "What does the Prayer really say?" had an interesting article about his take on the allowance for Reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. To sum it up: he is against it. It is important to note that Communion on the hand is not an absolute right, and in fact, as the article Fr. Z is commenting on points out in the document Redemptionis Sacramentum the church made it clear that it is only allowed in places where the permission has been granted. We do live in a place (The good ole US of A) where this permission has been granted, by the way. Nevertheless, it is worth re-considering the weight of the Tradition and the significance of allowing ourselves to be taken care of by Holy Mother Church. To be fed by our Lord is always a good a thing, and never more excellent than at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with his own Body & Blood.
Perhaps, by our choice, we might consider receiving Holy Communion on the tongue as a sign of personal submission and humility to Christ and His Church which feeds us with the Sacrament of Redemption, the Holy Eucharist.
To be sure, this practice has been allowed for by the Vatican in the document Memoriale Domini. Of particular note, is that the Congregation makes quite clear that: "However, the Church's prescriptions and the evidence of the Fathers make it abundantly clear that the greatest reverence was shown the Blessed Sacrament, and that people acted with the greatest prudence." Given the crisis in faith in the Holy Eucharist today for many people, one wonders whether this might not be of concern again today in 2011. In general, there has been a desacralization of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as one need only look at the attire that has changed and become the norm over the last 50 years. What was once shirt and tie for men has become shorts and a t-shirt/tank top many times.
Again, to be absolutely fair, in this document which is the basis for the Church allowing for Communion on the hands, the Congregation for Divine Worship also noted historically that:
Later, with a deepening understanding of the truth of the eucharistic mystery, of its power and of the presence of Christ in it, there came a greater feeling of reverence towards this sacrament and a deeper humility was felt to be demanded when receiving it. Thus the custom was established of the minister placing a particle of consecrated bread on the tongue of the communicant.
This method of distributing holy communion must be retained, taking the present situation of the Church in the entire world into account, not merely because it has many centuries of-tradition behind it, but especially because it expresses the faithful's reverence for the Eucharist.
Looking around today, one rarely sees people maintaining this practice, however. It is unfortunate, i think, because nature itself demonstrates the beauty of being fed by one's mother. Consider the little baby birds, before they can fly they merely open their mouth for their mother who has flown the heights and depths of the sky and has wisdom to share merely open their mouth to receive what is being offered to them so that they too can one day fly.
Fr. Z over at the blog called "What does the Prayer really say?" had an interesting article about his take on the allowance for Reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. To sum it up: he is against it. It is important to note that Communion on the hand is not an absolute right, and in fact, as the article Fr. Z is commenting on points out in the document Redemptionis Sacramentum the church made it clear that it is only allowed in places where the permission has been granted. We do live in a place (The good ole US of A) where this permission has been granted, by the way. Nevertheless, it is worth re-considering the weight of the Tradition and the significance of allowing ourselves to be taken care of by Holy Mother Church. To be fed by our Lord is always a good a thing, and never more excellent than at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with his own Body & Blood.
Perhaps, by our choice, we might consider receiving Holy Communion on the tongue as a sign of personal submission and humility to Christ and His Church which feeds us with the Sacrament of Redemption, the Holy Eucharist.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Assumption Novena 2011!
I am joining over 2800 Catholics to pray the Assumption Novena in preparation for the Feast of the Assumption.
I’m pretty excited to pray this with so many faithful Catholics around the world and I thought you’d like to join too!
There are thousands of people praying through this novena website and there will be millions praying around the world.
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+ Sign up for handy email reminders to get the the novena prayers here: http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifAssumption Novena
+ If you have a website, post about it there!
+ Email your friends and family and get them praying too!
Let’s get all the Catholics we know to pray this novena together for the Assumption!
Friday, August 5, 2011
The score: Sisters 1, sin 0!
And now a quick video from WYD!
You gotta love it when sisters enjoy themselves for the glory of God!
You gotta love it when sisters enjoy themselves for the glory of God!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Knights, oh, Knights.... WHY!?!?!??!
I don't have much to say about this. I am disturbed by this reality, and will definitely be needing to reconsider my membership...
if you want the link to the article.. it is here.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Because we will spend eternity with them...
I thought, for those who have never read Modern Day Saints Part I or II by Ann Ball, that all of us could benefit from this video I found today while trying to find something else. It is a video of many of the modern saints, and most beautifully, it holds many of their actual photographs! I love that because Saints are no longer in the distant past, great though they were in their day (and really they still are today), but for all of us we can come to know their earthly faces and consider the story of their lives by more means than merely reading about them.
I hope you enjoyed this short montage of pictures, because one day, should we be obedient to God's grace, we too will meet these folks in heaven. May they pray for each of us!
By the way, this is a little bit out of date as I had the great blessing of being at the Canonization of both St. Damien of Molokai and St. Andre Bisette! Thanks be to God!
I hope you enjoyed this short montage of pictures, because one day, should we be obedient to God's grace, we too will meet these folks in heaven. May they pray for each of us!
By the way, this is a little bit out of date as I had the great blessing of being at the Canonization of both St. Damien of Molokai and St. Andre Bisette! Thanks be to God!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
RATS!!! or ... not...
The funny thing about Michael Voris, if you haven't noticed yet, is that sometimes you secretly want him to be "too harsh" so that you can disagree with what he is saying. Praise God that those seem to be the times when he is dead on. Consider today's episode of The Vortex over at RealCatholicTv.com:
Are you and I one of those "contemporary Catholics" he is speaking about? Do you understand the difference between belief and acceptance by your experience of Jesus Christ?
In the Catholic Church today, one must wonder how we have got to a point today where only 25% (or so, depending who you ask) of self-identifying Catholics believe in the most fundamental of all Catholic teachings: the Real Presence of Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Holy Eucharist. What many of our Protestant brothers and sisters exclaim about Catholics is that we worship "the bread god". Sadly, they don't seem to understand and/or believe the unity of the Gospels, since Jesus himself explained this both in John chapter 6 and then later at the Last Supper, when he prayed over the bread and wine and said, "this IS my body" and "this IS my blood." You can't argue it in the Greek in which the New Testament was written. Jesus is not explaining a symbol, but it is actually, substantially and really his own body and blood. We can know this from the fact that he did not dissuade some of his followers from leaving his company (including his own Apostles!!!) because they had difficulty accepting this teaching [see Jn 6:66 and following). It is important for us as Catholics, no matter where we are in our pilgrimage to Heaven to reassess whether we "BELIEVE" or whether we "accept" the Lord's teachings. Perhaps, we can remember this when a priest offers the Holy Eucharist to us. Instead of a half hearted or mumbled response, we can say with clarity and conviction: "AMEN!"
Are you and I one of those "contemporary Catholics" he is speaking about? Do you understand the difference between belief and acceptance by your experience of Jesus Christ?
In the Catholic Church today, one must wonder how we have got to a point today where only 25% (or so, depending who you ask) of self-identifying Catholics believe in the most fundamental of all Catholic teachings: the Real Presence of Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Holy Eucharist. What many of our Protestant brothers and sisters exclaim about Catholics is that we worship "the bread god". Sadly, they don't seem to understand and/or believe the unity of the Gospels, since Jesus himself explained this both in John chapter 6 and then later at the Last Supper, when he prayed over the bread and wine and said, "this IS my body" and "this IS my blood." You can't argue it in the Greek in which the New Testament was written. Jesus is not explaining a symbol, but it is actually, substantially and really his own body and blood. We can know this from the fact that he did not dissuade some of his followers from leaving his company (including his own Apostles!!!) because they had difficulty accepting this teaching [see Jn 6:66 and following). It is important for us as Catholics, no matter where we are in our pilgrimage to Heaven to reassess whether we "BELIEVE" or whether we "accept" the Lord's teachings. Perhaps, we can remember this when a priest offers the Holy Eucharist to us. Instead of a half hearted or mumbled response, we can say with clarity and conviction: "AMEN!"
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