A Treasure To Be Shared

Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. Therefore let him who desires peace get ready for war. Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Psalm 43 Judica me, Deus. The Prayers of Preparation (said in the sacristy or at the foot of the altar), from Divine Worship. Priest : Give sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people; O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man. Ministers : For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me? Priest : O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling. Ministers : And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; and upon the harp will I give thanks unto...

Links to Live Mass sites can be found at the Mass [Divine Worship] Live Streaming Page at the top of the blog. https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/p/live-mass-streaming.html

Edward Feser https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-lockdown-is-no-longer-morally.html As I have said before, I think that the lockdown that was put in place in the United States two months ago was morally justifiable given the circumstances at the time. In my opinion, under current circumstances, it is no longer morally justifiable. To be sure, I am not denying that some social (physical) distancing measures are still justifiable and even necessary. I am also not denying that a more modest lockdown may still be defensible in some localities. But the draconian total lockdown that was put in place across most of the country is at this point no longer defensible, and state and local authorities who are relaxing it are right to do so. [...] The original rationale for the lockdown was to “flatten the curve” so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed and crucial medical equipment such as ventilators would not become scarce. Ordinary work like running a clothin...

Fr. George Rundle Prynne Schneider @LsNews by Paul Smeaton HT/Fr. Hunwicke There is a touching witness from the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church in the 19th century, about the value of the beauty of the liturgy and the zealous administration of the sacraments in the time of the dangerous and highly contagious cholera epidemic in England. The Catholic Church does not recognize these sacraments as valid, but the fact that these ministers placed such importance on pastoral care during an epidemic should be a witness to us now. http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/snow/medhist21_32_42_1977.pdf In 1866 pandemic Cholera attacked Britain for the fourth and final time in an epidemic which struck with extreme ferocity in the East End of London. “The ritual innovations of (which) they were accused were entirely rooted in the desperate pastoral needs they encountered. Sisters of Mercy worked with the clergy of St. Peter’s Plymouth in the cholera epidemics of the late 1840s,...

Minnesota [...] The bishops of Minnesota are united in our conviction that we can safely resume public Masses in accordance with both our religious duties and with accepted public health and safety standards. We can worship in a way that reflects both the love of God and the love of our neighbors (cf. Mark 12:30-31). Therefore, we are giving our parishes permission for the resumption of the public celebration of Mass on Tuesday, May 26, which will give us time to be ready for the celebration of Pentecost on May 31. Parishes will be required to follow the strict protocols we have published for sanitation and social distancing and will have to limit attendance to one-third of the seating capacity of the church. No one will be obliged to attend, as the bishops of Minnesota will continue to dispense from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. [...] We are blessed to live in a nation that guarantees the free exercise of religion. This right can only be abridged for a c...

John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The world hates Christians; the world hates Catholics most of all. There is little threat to the progressive (socialist? liberal?) agenda from nice Episcopalians/Anglicans or from the congenial United Church of Canada (the NDP at prayer) and its Lutheran bedfellows. Sadly, those groups have drunk the Kool-Aid of religion-lite, the same bitter cocktail being served up in too many Catholic parishes. gut·ter  /ˈɡədər/ verb past tense: guttered ; past participle: guttered (of a candle or flame) flicker and burn unsteadily. "the candles had almost guttered out" Dom Cingoranelli at Catholic Stand has written “Nonessential” Churches – What’s Next? , a concise analysis of the status quo and a rejection of complacency ...

AFP/Getty "A problem shared is a problem halved." The pandemic is testing people's resiliency. For many, present circumstances have overwhelmed their capacity to adapt. The tight and wearied faces of people, whether lined up to shop for groceries or wandering aimlessly, hint that a significant number of folk are finding it difficult to cope with adversity. Many faces tell a story of resignation and fear. Physical distancing and economic paralysis are, for many, a wall. That wall is part of a prison complex. There is no key to unlock its gate. Little light reaches into its cells. Solitary confinement is prescribed for all, or so it seems at times. Acts 12:6-11 So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison; and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and...

CMHA Image Amy Banks, MD, at Psychology Today , has written a concise and balanced article entitled Social vs. Physical Distancing: Why It Matters . She writes: Social distancing, as it has been presented, can feel like that. In fact, in my work with trauma survivors during this time, I have heard people describe feeling trapped and threatened again. That is not sustainable. Becoming socially isolated may keep the majority of us alive, but not well. By naming the national strategy as physical distancing rather than social distancing and emphasizing the need for human connection, we can stay safe from the virus but also hold onto the heightened need we all have for one another right now. Dr. Banks acknowledges what this blogger and many others have shared: The few times I have ventured out to a grocery store or for a walk around my neighborhood, I've seen people not only keeping distant from one another but also seeming afraid. They pass each other on the stree...

'It': 1) constructive living and a healthy society; 2) an alternative to indifference and barbarism. manners (n.) external behavior (especially polite behavior) in social intercourse, late 14c., plural of manner in a specific sense of proper behavior, commendable habits of conduct (c. 1300). Earlier it meant "moral character" (early 13c.). For all the talk of a 'new norm', there are few details about it and much myopic blathering by wannabe pundits who seem far too eager to acquire another 15 minutes of fame at the expense of clarity and reason. Let's investigate the 'new norm', shall we, as some are anticipating will characterize the post-covid19 experience. Non-prediction What is the 'new norm'? Who ... can say? No, not the WHO , i.e., the World Health Organization that in the early stages parroted China's dubious narrative that the Virus could not jump from animals to humans, or from humans to humans, but then join...

Chant Cafe image https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/05/01/dr-peter-kreeft-beauty-is-the-first-thing-we-notice-and-love/ CWR: The three transcendentals are the true, the good, and the beautiful. How are these all intertwined? Kreeft: The intertwining of truth, goodness, and beauty is based on being. Non-being is neither true nor good nor beautiful. And neither is destruction, unless it is destruction of falsehood, paving the way for truth; of evil, paving the way for good; or ugliness, paving the way for beauty. The triad corresponds to the three distinctively human powers of the soul, of course: mind, will, and heart (spiritual feelings, which animals lack). That is why our literature is full of this triad of protagonists: prophet, king and priest. Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo; Spock, Captain Kirk, and “Bones” McCoy in Star Trek; Ivan, Dmitri, and Alyosha Karamazov; Quint, Hooper, and Brodie in Jaws, etc. There are dim Trinitarian echoes here, of course. The S...

Procession to High Altar, Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish The Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Esquimalt, BC, is host to four communities worshiping according to three forms of the Mass. Though there are clear and zealous preferences among parishioners for one of the three liturgical forms, parishioners navigate the busy times - high holy days - with a shared sense of accommodation and respect. Of course, this past Lent and Holy Week didn't present any management challenges given that there were no public Masses which would have required adaptation to avoid intersecting or overlapping liturgies. In past years, however, liturgical prescriptions have been observed in a way where each liturgical tradition finds expression. Priests and people have found ways to enact liturgies according to a schedule that serves each community and the common good. N.B. - Dear non-Catholics reading this post, you are invited to embrace (or at least acknowledge) the Catholic understanding th...