Ubi Petrus

I’ve been looking for a three-column template for quite a while now and finally stumbled on Blogcrowds. For those of us to whom XML is YALWDU (Yet Another Language We Don’t Understand) Blogcrowds is a great resource. First, they provide all sorts of three-column templates absolutely free – but even better is the forum for Q&A for anyone trying to tweak their blog just so. The question is, do you like the three-column look or not?

I should also apologize to anyone who may have stumbled on this blog while I was in the midst of my gyrations of trying to get it all to work. There were some very trying times, and some downright ugly goof-ups in the process. Forgive me if you got caught up in one of them. So…should I keep the three columns or go back to the old template? Speak now or forever hold your peace…

From CWN:

Feb. 23, 2007 (CWNews.com) – The University of Regensburg– where Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) once taught theology and where he made the most controversial speech of his pontificate to date– is planning to publish a complete set of the Pontiff’s written work.

The Regensburg project would include all of the books and essays written by Joseph Ratzinger from his early days as a theology professor through his work as Roman Pontiff. The collection, which would span many volumes, would be annotated by scholars at Regensburg. The university, with support from the Regensburg diocese, is creating a faculty position to study the Pope’s work.

Pope Benedict taught theology at Regensburg from 1969 until 1977, when he was named Archbishop of Munich. He remains on the faculty roster as an honorary professor, and still owns a home near the university.

Because, you know, I don’t have enough reading to do already… Truth be told, by the time they’re able to publish the set, I may actually be done with my to-be-read pile. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you… Even so, I’m very excited someone is taking on this voluminous task.

From CWN:

Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) has announced that he will soon release the apostolic exhortation summarizing the work of the Synod on the Eucharist, which concluded its deliberations 16 months ago.

The appearance of the apostolic exhortation is “imminent,” the Holy Father told priests of the Rome diocese, during a traditional early-Lenten meeting in the Hall of Benedictions at the Vatican on Thursday morning.

The only downside is this:

Pope Benedict did not mention the motu proprio that he is also expected to release in the near future, allowing broader use of the pre-conciliar Latin liturgy. Several Vatican journalists have suggested that the motu proprio is likely to appear in conjunction with the apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, although the Holy See has not confirmed that speculation.

But, as they say, it is expected they will be released close together, if not simultaneously. I had just been thinking about writing that I didn’t expect to see anything on either of these issues during Lent so as to not distract from the season, nor immediately after Easter for the same reason (and think of the diocesan offices having to deal with new requests for TLM masses during the already busy Lent and Easter seasons). It’s possible I’m still right in that thought, or it’s possible that pastoral concern makes it prudent to issue one or both sooner for the fullness of Easter. Either way, both the fact of the word “imminent” and the fact it came from Pope Benedict’s own lips are rather significant developments.

According to this story on Fox News there are those who won’t even leave Catholics alone in their own churches. Someone (or some people) apparently got the bright idea it would be a good idea to tape CD players to the bottom of pews and time them to start playing pornographic material in the middle of Mass on Ash Wednesday yesterday.

The players were set to turn on at 12:22 p.m. as parishioners were in the middle of Mass, police Capt. Gary Johnson said.

The recordings were filled with people using foul language and “pornographic messages,” Johnson said. He would not elaborate because of the ongoing investigation.

And these are probably the same people who insist the Catholic Church is hung up on sex. Right. Or something like that. Pick a different group and this would probably be prosecuted as a hate crime.

Via this story at Ignatius Insight I found the Hans Urs von Balthasar Reading Group. They are attempting to read the famous Trilogy by von Balthasar, starting with Seeing the Form. If you only know of von Balthasar from the (relatively) well-chronicled discussion between Alyssa Pitstick and Fr. Edward Oakes via First Things regarding von Balthasar’s view on Christ’s descent to hell, this might be a good way to expand your knowledge of the theology of a man repeatedly referred to by Pope Benedict in his writings.

I signed up yesterday and I can only hope to catch up and maybe even understand some of this with all their help. From what I have seen the membership ranges from people with doctoral degrees to people with no formal training in theology and in the notes I’ve read thus far I’ve found a great deal of willingness to help those who will be slower starters. Perhaps something to start as your Lenten reading if you haven’t found something yet?

It seems strange to have a feast the day after Ash Wednesday, but today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. The collect for the feast says it all:

All-powerful Father, You have built Your Church on the rock of Saint Peter’s confession of faith. May nothing divide or weaken our unity in faith and love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

But, since this is my blog I’ll add something from the Divine Office for the feast, from Matins, from a sermon by St. Leo the Great:

But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.

Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replies, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You are blessed, he means, because my Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed me out to you, but the one whose only-begotten Son I am.

He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has reveled to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your preeminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.

I should mention, of course, that I take this as one of my Name Days. Being named after Peter has been a source of many moments of reflection over the course of my life.

Image from Catholic Culture.

Causa Nostrae Laetitiae points us to a story from LifeNews that should just make your stomach turn. From the story:

An Italian judge has ordered a thirteen year-old girl to have an abortion because her parents are opposed to their daughter giving birth. The decision relies on laws in Italy that allow parents to make the pregnancy decisions for their teenage children.

The girl, from Torino, did not want to have an abortion but the ruling will compel her to do so.

Roman Catholic Blog points us to a story from WFAA-TV which suggests the abortion has already happened and the girl involved “went into a frenzy and threatened to kill herself”. And people say post-abortion syndrome doesn’t exist. Right.

So in this country we have children who can decide not to tell their parents they’re going to have an abortion (and the Governor of this fine state of New Hampshire has promised to push to repeal the parental notification law that was the center of Supreme Court controversy last year. Ugh.) but in Italy the parents can legally force the child to have the abortion. At least here the child would have a legal chance to defend herself in court. We have both messed it up, in two totally different ways, each getting part right and part wrong. The culture of death never sleeps…

Against All Heresies points us to a nicely done blog at These Forty Days. The reflections are top-notch and I like the pleasant, unimposing layout. Much different than this hodgepodge here. I’ll clean this up one of these days, honest. Perhaps a good Lenten penance?

Also, Jimmy Akin is kind enough to lay out the rules for us, in case we had forgotten (or never learned) any. It’s always useful to re-read the rules to make sure you haven’t slipped along the way; every once in a while they can be inspiring too.

Finally, Mike Aquilina is starting a series of Lenten reflections on the three aspects of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. His reflection on prayer is, as always, moving. Once again he’s making me shuffle my reading order to try to find a way to fit more patristic reading in earlier. I need more time in the day…

Update: Mike Aquilina has posted part two of his series of Lenten reflections on fasting. Again, absolutely insightful. You know something is good when it makes you really, truly reflect on your own efforts and Mike has done just that.

Update 2: And part three of the series has been posted. If you read this and don’t feel like you’re not giving enough, either you’re already giving the widow’s mite or you probably need to read it again.

Shouts in the Piazza reminds us that counting to forty isn’t always as straightforward as they taught you in grammar school. But do read the rest, there’s some good back-story in the post. Of course, you knew it all already, right?

So, if we begin counting the forty days on the First Sunday of Lent and end on Holy Thursday we see it’s easy. We begin counting on the evening of the Saturday after Ash Wednesday. (Remember? The sabbath begins at sundown the night before a Sunday.) So, starting on the Saturday eve of the First Sunday of Lent we count forward until the eve of the Second Sunday of Lent. That’s seven days or one week. There are five weeks of Lent (five times seven is Thirty-five) bringing us up to the Saturday eve of Palm Sunday. From there we simply count forward: Palm Sunday, Monday of Holy Week, Tuesday of Holy Week, Spy Wednesday and Holy Thursday morning. That’s five more days. Thirty-five plus five equals…FORTY!