A Treasure To Be Shared

Russell Nelson NYTimes screenshot The current President of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints has decreed that the terms 'Mormon' and 'LDS' are not adequate and should no longer be applied in official and common discourse. In the wake of that 2018 decision, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has changed its name to conform to their president-prophet's recommendation. After more than 100 years, the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir is changing its name to “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.” The name modification, which drops the long-standing word "Mormon," follows an August 2018 statement by President Russell M. Nelson requesting the use of the full name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the choir’s sponsoring organization. All those sporting tattoos reading 'Mormon Tabernacle Choir' should make the necessary changes to any offending body art. As of 4APRIL2020, Mormons have a new logo, too. ...

From the information provided by Mr. Tony Cherniawski, from the Guadalupe Shrine site: https://www.guadalupeshrine.org/events/holy-shroud-exhibit 3)  Did you know that evidence was taken from the Shroud that not only corroborates the Gospels, but much more: Limestone dust has been taken from the Shroud that comes only from the northwest quadrant of Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate where Jesus was crucified, called Aragonite Limestone. This dust appears on the back of the Shroud where it lay on a limestone slab in the Tomb. The same dust appears on the cloth at the soles of His feet. Likewise, that dust appears on the right knee, mixed with blood, cartilage and particles of skin. The same dust appears at the tip of His nose, with abraded skin, which was broken. It also appears on a swelling on His forehead, indicating a probable concussion. In addition, there is a massive bruise on His right shoulder blade. This is evidence of multiple falls while carrying a heavy...

NCRegister Image An excerpt from the Unofficial Primer found here at this blog. Click on the title/link below for a full read. An Unofficial Ordinariate Primer Of the liturgical patrimony, Fr. James Bradley has said that "(t)he 'ingredients', we might say, have been weighed and measured into something which is altogether “new”, and yet instantly recognizable as an authentic expression both of the Roman Rite and the Anglican liturgical patrimony.  "With this in mind we might conclude with two simple points. First, the preservation of the Anglican liturgical patrimony within the Catholic Church is definitively achieved in the texts of Divine Worship. To be sure, other means of expressing this may be found within the life of the ordinariates and, as we have said, this discernment is not over—how can it be? However, it is the liturgical books of Divine Worship that must now be considered the principal, and even essential means of transmitting the An...

LA Times As you know, dear Reader, the Train Man or Mr. Bruise, same guy, has a major hate-on for the Ordinariate. Heavy Sigh Mr. Bruise's mean-spirited 17APRIL rant attacks Prof. Sir Clinton A. Brand, KSG, scholar, professor, gentleman and member of the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission (ATIC), the body that gave to the Church and the world the Ordinariate Missal. That is, Divine Worship: the Missal. In his letter, Cardinal Müller expresses his own gratitude for Dr. Brand’s contribution (to the work of the ATIC): “Your expertise in Reformation and post-Reformation English religious literature and culture has been of invaluable assistance to the Holy See.” Cardinal Müller continues: “Your work has already born fruit in the publication of Divine Worship: Occasional Services, a ritual book which I was indeed pleased to present both to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and to Pope Emeritus Benedict. The forthcoming publication of Divine Worship: The Missal wil...

An excerpt from an article by David Fagerberg, Ph.D. https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/04/16/on-doctrinal-development-and-a-western-appreciation-of-eastern-christianity/ (3) An apophatic emphasis. Do not begin any theological enterprise without confessing the transcendent distance between God and man. God is beyond knowing. Augustine’s Latin phrase would satisfy any Eastern theologian: si comprehendis, non est deus – if you comprehend it, it is not God. The creature cannot know the Creator, and yet the Creator has made himself knowable, describable, circumscribable. God has done so first through revelation in the cosmos (where tracks of the Logos are imprinted as the creature’s logoi ), second through revelation in Scripture (which Ephrem the Syrian said is the “first incarnation” because God clothed himself in our metaphors), and third through revelation in person, whom the Holy Spirit continues to make present in the mystical body of the Church. The gol...

The Healing Of The Ten Lepers by El Greco Fr. Tomlinson Easter is not a day but a season of joy within the Church during which we celebrate the great event of faith; the resurrection of Christ. So do make sure the chocolate eating, wine bibbing and general revelry is kept up even amidst the lockdown. Laugh, enjoy yourselves and be of good cheer. For we are a resurrection people and alleluia is our song! We are called to live by faith and hope in life eternal and not in gloom and fear of death. Bishop Steven J. Lopes He who is risen is a person, not a proposition. And so, we will keep vigil, we wait for a person, to be embraced by Him, so as to embrace Him. To be loved by Him, so as to love Him. To be called by Him, so as to respond. And to be saved by Him because, without Him, sin and death reign. The Resurrection is simply too big, too wonderful, and too new to encapsulate one word, one phrase, one image, one gesture. But, with the poetic memory of the Church, tonig...

Vatican News David Bonagura has a thought provoking article at The Catholic Thing, which reads in part: Will Catholics Return to Mass? By David G Bonagura, Jr. https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/04/15/will-catholics-return-to-mass/ Now, with Mass taken away from them and a new Sunday routine established, how have their lives changed spiritually? Likely, not much. Since (many Catholics) do not fully understand the Mass, they will go by what they feel: “I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, so why go back?” Second, consider teenagers and young adults, who tend to view religion through a legalistic lens. For their whole lives, they have heard that they must go to Mass on Sunday: “It’s God’s law.” Suddenly, they learned that they must not go to Mass; that attendance is regulated not by God, but by bishops. When the contagion passes, what are we supposed to say to convince them to return? “The bishops say we have to go to Mass again.” Given the low opinion of A...

Say a prayer for our priests, our beloved spiritual fathers who daily offer Divine Worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, for us and the whole world! Our priests are stationed on the front lines of a spiritual battle for the well being of souls. Pray the Holy Rosary! Entrust our priests to the care of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia!

Today, Holy Saturday, we remain in isolation. We recall Jesus laid to rest in the Tomb. The Holy Sepulchre is closed today, as it was when a great stone was rolled across its entrance to seal the Tomb. passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; A dawn of gold brightly beaming. Clouds rapidly slid their way in; a grey canvas framed the sky. Threads of blue tempt one to hope. The sun returns; it never left. Clouds merely obscured it. Patience. The prison cannot contain the Son. The Virus has enabled a solemn and uneasy quiet for this day, as it did yesterday, Good Friday. Mind you, grocery stores were relatively busy; queues were slow. Conversations - at the required two metres - were quite enjoyable; not trite. Today is Holy Saturday. 624 "By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". In his plan of salvation, God ord...

Dr. Robert Schuller delivering his sermon at a drive-in "church" By Phil Lawler Apr 09, 2020 https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/silence-closed-churches-and-mixed-messages/ A great silence spreads over the Christian world each year on Good Friday, to be broken by the explosive joy of the Gloria at the Easter vigil. But this year the silence has been with us already for a few weeks, with churches closed and public liturgical celebrations banned. Many zealous pastors have tried to fill the void with drive-in liturgies and livestreamed private Masses. God bless them for those efforts. But they aren’t the same. A car is not a sacred space, and for anyone who believes in the Real Presence ( see Father Pokorsky’s comments on that topic ), pixels on a screen provide a comfort but not a substitute. Yet when some of us have chafed at restrictions and urged bishops to make the liturgy more accessible, we have been chastised, described as “irresponsible,” a...

Communicants this Easter must be content with remote participation. Where two or three aren't gathered... . We are stuck in the catacombs. We dare not risk a reprimand (or worse) for congregating to assist at Mass. Perhaps the experience of being confined to a crypt (apartment, condo, house, garage...) will better dispose us to the silence of the Tomb this Holy Saturday. Of course, there is that annoying retort - "Well, at least you have an apartment or house or [fill in the blank] to dwell in." Those who reduce the argument to material security are missing the point. Let's make good use of these days to review the text of the Mass, especially the propers for each day of the Sacred Triduum and Easter Day. My hope is that the first Mass I am permitted to serve at will be slow... very very slow, as in a crawl. Next to a desecration, a rushed Mass would be the worst form of negligence to inflict upon those who have suffered the agony of liturgical ...

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II , Queen of Canada I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country. The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future. Churches are closed; Mass is prayed in private. From the isolation of their homes, if they have homes, people are watching Mass online (...if they have the means) and making acts of spiritual communion (...if they have a will to pray). Will the absence of Masses with congregation effect a longing for its return among those deprived of its celebration? Will the suppression of public Masses renew liturgical fervour and possibly kindle zeal for more reverent liturgies? Is the Faith in decline? It certainly was before the de...

7 April 2020  PELL v THE QUEEN https://cdn.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2020/hca-12-2020-04-07.pdf [2020] HCA 12 Today, the High Court granted special leave to appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria and unanimously allowed the appeal. The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place. On 11 December 2018, following a trial by jury in the County Court of Victoria, the applicant, who was Archbishop of Melbourne at the time of the alleged offending, was convicted of one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16 years and four charges of committing an act of indecency with or in the presence of a child under the age of 16 years. This w...