A Treasure To Be Shared

[ Read time: 9 minutes ] In highlighting the passages below, attention is drawn to the relationships between beings of a higher and lower order. In the Mass, if we are humble and call upon God's enabling grace, and if God so wills it, we are drawn into a sublime encounter with the Lord, illuminated to attend to God with the knowledge granted us. In the Mass, "the angels influence people to enter more profoundly into prayer." Excerpt from The Celestial Hierarchy by Dionysius the Areopagite |  msu.edu 3. The theologians therefore clearly show that the lower ranks of the Celestial Beings receive the understanding of the divine works from those above them in a fitting manner, and that the highest are correspondingly enlightened in the Divine Mysteries by the Most High God Himself. For some of them are shown to us as enlightened in holy matters by those above them, and we learn that He who in human form ascended to heaven is Lord of the Celestial Powers and King of Glory. An...

[ 6 Minute Read ] A conversation the other day with a good friend revealed a shared experience. We both admitted to experiencing (tolerating?) Masses celebrated by a "Father Broadway". That is, a priest whose liturgical personality - actions, attitude, preparation or lack thereof - obscures the nature of the Mass. We struggled with being forced into the orbit of a priest whose wayward antics were wounding. We continue to pray for those priests in most need of God's mercy. We learned during our conversation that we both agree that, during the most frustrating moments, the obstacle or factor limiting our attentiveness to the worship of God was ours to own. We acknowledged that our inability to bear what we perceived as an insurmountable distraction required prayer for the graces needed to avoid unfair judgement and various unholy grudges. It is far too easy to find fault with another's behaviour. That said, sometimes one has to call it like he sees it. Leaving the Churc...

[ READ TIME 7 minutes ] The Preface Dialogue is a three part exchange between people and celebrant in the Mass that acknowledges the movement of prayer toward the Father in glory. The practice of having the people - not just the Master of Ceremonies, for example - respond to the priest, became prevalent in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The practice of the people praying aloud the Preface was not unknown prior to the Council. Dialogue Masses, typically Low Masses, witnessed the involvement of the congregation making the responses together with the servers. preface (n.) Online Etymological Dictionary late 14c., "an introduction to the canon of the Mass," also "statement or statements introducing a discourse, book, or other composition; series of preliminary remarks, written or spoken," from Old French preface "opening part of sung devotions" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prefatia , from Latin praefationem (nominative praefatio ) "fo...

[ Estimated read time 5 minutes ] Yes and no. We are present to all of history in the Mass. Christ makes all of history and eternity present to us. The past, present and the future become "now" in the Mass. Or, perhaps the "now" becomes past and future. Perhaps the past and future expand into the present. And... . Catechism of the Catholic Church - Sacrifice of Calvary 1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church 1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God f...

  [ 5 minute read ] The Jesuits are a clever bunch. Intelligent, often proud - and not always in the best sense of the word. Today's Church has seen the best and worst of what the Jesuits have to offer: Mitch Pacwa versus James Martin; Fr. Hardon versus Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. ℣. How judgemental! ℟. Just calling the behaviours as we see 'em. We have a Jesuit Pope, a Bishop of Rome whose off-the-cuff remarks have created considerable confusion among the faithful, and offered fuel to bolster dissidents. One could hope he might mind his tongue more often, but he is who he is: he is the Vicar of Christ. In his hands are the keys of Saint Peter. That does not mean everything he says merits absolute obedience. As noted, at times he speaks his mind - his mind, not the mind of the Church - and we must carefully distinguish between the voice of Bergolio and the voice of Peter. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. What is good for t...

[ 5 minute read ] All the minutiae of religious life are given the deference they deserve as symbols of a great reality, though of themselves they might appear as exaggerated, cumbersome, or formalistic; maybe as mere nuisances. This is where so many of the errors that beget Impassioned Authors to correct them originate—on the surface. “Tuus sum.” I am yours, God. Not, “I must loosen the collar of this regulation-shirt so that I can really do something for You, God.” What mental strutting about we do when we talk of doing something for God! What can we do for Him but love Him? And how can we love Him more profoundly or comprehensively than simply by being His? https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/casting-down-the-strange-gods We report here the solution structure of several repetitive DNA sequences containing d(TCGTTCCGT) and related repeats. At physiological pH, these sequences fold into i-motif like quadruplexes in which every two repeats a globular structure is stabilized by two h...

Let us support our beloved priests by helping them to live the dignity of their office. Provide for their daily needs and for their retirement:  https://ordinariate.net/give-to-rfp Almighty and everlasting God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thou dost provide to Thy Holy Church the ministry of presbyters ordained to serve Holy Mass, that Jesus our Saviour and Redeemer may be Present among us in a most sublime manner. Grant to priests every grace to sustain them and to help them fulfill their calling. As Thou didst send an angel to succour Thy Son in the Garden of Gethsemane, provide in Thy mercy solace to Thy sons, our shepherds, and grant to them every blessing in their service. Help us to support our beloved spiritual fathers with our love and care, respect and gratitude. We beseech Thee, Father, grant these requests and all good gifts through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of Pries...

Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC [Estimated read: 8 minutes] If you, dear reader, are not bothered by the downward trajectory of the celebration of the Mass, or actively contribute to liturgical abuse (e.g., by disregarding the prescribed text of the Order of Mass), you might stand to benefit from reading this post. SC 22:3. Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. For those who acknowledge, affirm and defend the Mass and promote its solemn celebration, this post will likely amount to preaching to the choir. Even we members of the choir can profit from a tune-up as the need arises. This is a brief meditation on the beauty of solemn liturgy, the necessity of reverence, and the truth that compels honest God-loving and God-fearing folk to worship God in the beauty of holiness. Grace We rely on God for the grace that sustains our faithful witness to His glorious Presence. We rely on His grace for the ab...

  Eucharistic Renewal As we enter Passiontide and seek to meditate more deeply upon the Lord's rescue of mankind from the darkness and death of sin, we would do well to recall the witness of those who minister(ed) in shadowed places where the Lord Jesus in distressing disguise, as Saint Teresa of Calcutta reminds us, makes His home among the lost and forgotten, those needing the light and bread, beauty and goodness of the Gospel to rescue them from despair. The place and time where all these ideas and relationships come true is in the Eucharist. Here is the pattern and the power. Here in the Offertory is the time and place to offer all that each life takes on in its special environment of poverty or wealth, of sickness or health. Here, as Charles Williams would say, is the time and place for an exchange – an exchange of my burden for yours, an exchange of our burdens for the light yoke of Christ, an exchange of sin and penitence for forgiveness. And in the Consecration of the bread...

  Blessed by Association Saint Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I (Jesus) in the midst of them. Baptized Christians are continually formed by the Sacred Liturgy into the Body of Christ. In Ordinariate communities, that formation finds substantial expression in the hospitality extended to friend and stranger in the fellowship that follows Divine Worship (Mass). We lovingly speak of that fellowship as the "Eighth Sacrament", intending no diminishment of nor prejudice toward the Seven Sacraments that the Church teaches and celebrates. We merely acknowledge what the Church teaches. The Eucharist informs our habits of mind and body. With the grace of God, we dispose ourselves to the Eucharistic Lord who configures our hearts and actions to Himself, so that we may participate in the redemptive action of Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls. The dismissal that concludes the Mass reminds us that we who are eucharisted are sent to proc...