Ubi Petrus

Just in time for the Christmas season, both as gifts and as therapy for the stresses caused by searching therefore, comes news of The Catholic Music Shop, an online site specializing in the best of Catholic music. Far better than just typing “gregorian chant” into an Amazon search, the selections listed have been chosen by two people who clearly know how to offer the best. With categories ranging from “Advent and Christmas” and “Blessed Sacrament” to “Gregorian Chant” and “Renaissance Polyphony” you can easily find what you’re looking for. Shawn Tribe at NLM has their full press release if you’re curious enough to find out more.

Wow, according to Blogger this will make my 500^th post. I suppose it’s probable that at least some of them are still stuck as likely-never-to-be-published drafts, but I won’t quibble. That aside, I’d not expected when I started this little endeavor to have this much to say, nor that anyone would really be all that interested anyway. Pleasant surprises are the best kind. But enough about me.

Today is the 60^th anniversary of Pope Pius XII’s Encyclical Mediator Dei, on the Sacred Liturgy. I just pulled my copy off of the printer so that I might finally remedy the fault of my never having read it. I am simply amazed both at the language (we just don’t write that way any more!) and the insight of this document.

Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred liturgy. For research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigation of the significance of feast-days, and of the meaning of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion. But it is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in Churches; were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer’s body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See. (paragraph 62).

Shawn Tribe’s review at NLM, from whence I snipped the above quote, points out that what can often be seen as prophetic in Mediator Dei can also be seen rather as insightful, given that much of what it speaks out against was already in practice or in the trajectory of the Liturgical Movement. Even if not purely prophetic, however, it provides rich insight that we, at a time of great moment in the history of liturgy in the Church, would do well to familiarize ourselves with. So, in the waning hours of this day or in the full of the day to come do yourself, the Church and the world a great favor and start reading.

Fr. Z has posted a partial translation of an interview with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the Secretary of the CDWDS that has already been making the rounds of St. Blog’s. Unfortunately my reading the whole of it is foiled by my utter lack of knowledge of Italian – it’s on the list, I assure you. Has anyone seen a full translation into English? This man clearly has much keeping him busy these days, and from what I’ve seen he seems to be a friend of the reform-of-the-reform. It is in reading people like this that I realize how much I still have to learn.

Fr. Tim Finigan of The Hermeneutic of Continuity has a very intriguing proposal:

So the campaign starts here. Someone reading this blog must know someone who knows Mel Gibson. 1. Encourage him to read Evelyn Waugh’s stirring account of St Edmund Campion (if indeed he has not already read it); 2. Challenge him to find a good reason not to make a thrilling, spectacular and emotionally-charged blockbuster movie about the Saint which would inspire anyone with an open mind; 3. Emphasise that this will counter the black legend, whig history propaganda of “Elizabeth. The Golden Age”.

I’m certain there are viewpoints all over the map about Mel Gibson and I’m not intending to side with any of them. This is a very interesting idea indeed, and it may well be that Gibson is the only person in Hollywood who would have both interest in this project and the ability to see it through. I think the good Saint would smile indeed on a project to help those oppressed and persecuted by the wrong-headed on account of their faith.

By now you’ve likely heard or read at least one story about how The Golden Compass is an attempt by an avowed atheist to fool the unsuspecting and sow seeds of doubt among the faithful. You may have also heard or read someone saying that they don’t think it’s really all that big of a deal, that they’ve read the book and didn’t have their faith shaken. I’m not here to diagnose the veracity of the former statement – Pullman has already done that for himself. I’m here to talk a little bit about the latter. But first a little story.

Back during the drama that was the DaVinci Code I attended the First Communion of the son of a friend of the family. At the celebration afterwards two, shall we say, older ladies were going on and on about DVC and how they had read it and were going to see it (remember, these are all good Catholics – the kind that would be glad to tell you themselves). Suddenly one of them saw me sitting there and decided to ask my input on the matter. My statement that I would not offer the man one red cent for an inferior product that attacks my faith was met with giggles, an mutual elbows to the ribs and an “I told you so”. Apparently the fact I actually wore a tie to Mass tipped them off that I’m one of those POD-types. Since we PODs don’t really understand our faith, they regaled me for a time with how well-written the book was an how it “didn’t shake my faith” and that they believed exactly what they believed before then. Being unable to come up with a polite response that didn’t involve reminding them of their unrepentant and manifest public sins (like I said, the Good Catholic(TM) types) I merely smiled at them and waited for the subject to change. I know, what a wimp. But that is not the story.

This morning I was listening to The Catholic Channel as I worked and heard the exact same words being used about The Golden Compass. These are not bad words, they are exactly what one would hope would happen when someone is faced with a challenge to their faith. They are, however, incredibly short-sighted. We are not called to be Catholics, to be Christians – to be witnesses of Christ, His death and His Resurrection only for ourselves. We are called and have a specific duty to those who are weaker in their faith than are we. It is not merely our responsibility to keep spotless our garment – that is not the story of the suffering servant to whom we are called to conform ourselves. If there is something which is a danger to those whose struggle in the faith is more difficult than ours we have a right, an opportunity and a duty to do whatever we are able to help provide the most prudent protection from this danger. The mistake they make at our silence could drag them down.

We must never, ever forget Christ’s affirmation that “to whom much is given, of him will much be required” (Lk 12:48). If we’re so good, so strong in our faith that a whirlwind of controversy cannot shake it that strength is a gift from God Himself, and gifts are not given to be hidden away and stored up for tomorrow – they are given to be used. We, if you will, do not have the right to waste our strength solely on ourselves. The time will come when that talent is demanded of us, and woe be it to the servant who buried his talent in the ground for fear.

Pray-as-you-go, the downloadable daily reflections for ipods, MP3 players and other portable audio devices, will be devoted each weekday during the run-up to Christmas to a theme from the Pope’s first encyclical, published in 2006.

H/T to Gashwin Gomes.

There are some Bishops who Just Get It(TM) when it comes to leading their priests. Bishop Serratelli of Patterson, NJ is one of them. We should make a point to mention that he is replacing Bishop Trautman of Erie, PA as the chair of the former Bishops’ Committee on Liturgy. This letter to his priests holds out tremendous hope for that newly reorganized committee.

In each particular Church, the diocesan bishop has a most serious responsibility before God for the faithful celebration of the liturgy. He is the first steward of the mysteries of God in the particular Church entrusted to him. He is the moderator, promoter and guardian of her whole liturgical life (Christus Dominus, 28; Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41; Code of Canon Law, can. 387 and can. 835.1). Recognizing this serious duty placed upon me, I ask every priest in this diocese to follow The General Instruction of the Roman Missal as well as Redemptionis Sacramentum, issued in 2004 by the mandate of Pope John Paul II. A careful reading and attention to these instructions can only increase the individual priest’s appreciation of the Eucharist and his own special role within the Church. The Eucharist “is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity or depreciation” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 10).

and

Following the instructions that the Church lays down for the proper celebration of the Eucharist is not a burden, but a joy. For it enables us to enter into the spirit of the Liturgy with greater freedom and less distraction. It may take a child-like humility to do as the Church asks in the celebration of the Liturgy. However, true love is never proud. “Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to these norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 52).

Let me repeat that last bit – “Following the instructions that the Church lays down for the proper celebration of the Eucharist is not a burden, but a joy.” Amen, Bishop.

H/T to Argent, who has her own highlights.

Ignorant Redneck (who, while quite possibly the latter, is certainly not the former) has a piercing insight on chastity for the non-celibate:

Chastity isn’t just not sleeping around, or avoiding looking at people as tasty side dishes or whatever. It’s about human respect. It’s not a passive or negative virtue–it’s not about what you don’t do. Chastity, it turns out (or I could be really, really wrong about this!), is an active positive virtue, where we deal with people, see, or try to see, people as god would. As subjects of the highest love, Agape. Not as objects of exploitation or playthings. This is why Good Catholic couples can be Chaste while making and raising ten kids, as my parents-in-law did.

This is a subject of great confusion for many when they first start contemplating what it means to live a chaste life. It’s also yet another case where we, for some reason, seem to have a plethora of word pairings which are similar but distinct and often cause confusion – in this case, chastity and celibacy. We could probably spend an entire class just on such issues.

In the latest of her multi-directional missives, Amy gets to the real heart of the issue in her conclusion:

Saints are those who get this: who understand that they are loved, treasured and forgiven by God, but who are not satisfied with where they are either, who are willing to look, every day at their lives and choices, and go deeper and deeper, towards more and more freedom and more radical love of God and those whom God loves – which is, you know, everyone.

Saints are restless. They don’t sit still. They are not complacent and self-satisfied, assuring themselves that it’s all really complex and they’re doing their best, after all. What more does God want from me, anyway?

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

It is complex. And we do think we are doing our best. I ask, however – so what? Jesus did not tell us to analyze the complexities of the moral issues or reassure ourselves of our good intentions. He told us that “You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).