itsjustdave's Catholic Blog

New blog site: Catholicus Maximus

2009-12-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

I created a new blog site called Catholicus Maximus, and will be posting there from now on.
For more, see here:
http://catholicus-maximus.blogspot.com/

Benedict XVI's Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans Entering into Full Communion with the Catholic Church

2009-11-10T10:18:00.004-07:00

"... complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind" -- St. Paul the Apostle

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BENEDICT XVI
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS
PROVIDING FOR PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING INTO FULL COMMUNION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favorably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches,[1] could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization.

The Church, a people gathered into the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,[2] was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, as “a sacrament – a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all people.”[3] Every division among the baptized in Jesus Christ wounds that which the Church is and that for which the Church exists; in fact, “such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages that most holy cause, the preaching the Gospel to every creature.”[4] Precisely for this reason, before shedding his blood for the salvation of the world, the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father for the unity of his disciples.[5]

It is the Holy Spirit, the principle of unity, which establishes the Church as a communion.[6] He is the principle of the unity of the faithful in the teaching of the Apostles, in the breaking of the bread and in prayer.[7] The Church, however, analogous to the mystery of the Incarnate Word, is not only an invisible spiritual communion, but is also visible;[8] in fact, “the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, the visible society and the spiritual community, the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be thought of as two realities. On the contrary, they form one complex reality formed from a two-fold element, human and divine.”[9] The communion of the baptized in the teaching of the Apostles and in the breaking of the eucharistic bread is visibly manifested in the bonds of the profession of the faith in its entirety, of the celebration of all of the sacraments instituted by Christ, and of the governance of the College of Bishops united with its head, the Roman Pontiff.[10]

This single Church of Christ, which we profess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside her visible confines. Since these are gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.”[11]

In the light of these ecclesiological principles, this Apostolic Constitution provides the general normative structure for regulating the institution and life of Personal Ordinariates for those Anglican faithful who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner. This Constitution is completed by Complementary Norms issued by the Apostolic See.

I. §1 Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church are erected by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith within the confines of the territorial boundaries of a particular Conference of Bishops in consultation with that same Conference.

§2 Within the territory of a particular Conference of Bishops, one or more Ordinariates may be erected as needed.

§3 Each Ordinariate possesses public juridic personality by the law itself (ipso iure); it is juridically comparable to a diocese.[12]

§4 The Ordinariate is composed of lay faithful, clerics and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally belonging to the Anglican Communion and now in full communion with the Catholic Church, or those who receive the Sacraments of Initiation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate.

§5 The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the authoritative expression of the Catholic faith professed by members of the Ordinariate.

II. The Personal Ordinariate is governed according to the norms of universal law and the present Apostolic Constitution and is subject to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the other Dicasteries of the Roman Curia in accordance with their competencies. It is also governed by the Complementary Norms as well as any other specific Norms given for each Ordinariate.

III. Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Ordinariate has the faculty to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical celebrations according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared.

IV. IV. A Personal Ordinariate is entrusted to the pastoral care of an Ordinary appointed by the Roman Pontiff.

V. V. The power (potestas) of the Ordinary is:

a. ordinary: connected by the law itself to the office entrusted to him by the Roman Pontiff, for both the internal forum and external forum;

b. vicarious: exercised in the name of the Roman Pontiff;

c. personal: exercised over all who belong to the Ordinariate;
This power is to be exercised jointly with that of the local Diocesan Bishop, in those cases provided for in the Complementary Norms.

VI. § 1. Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law[13] and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments[14] may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42[15] and in the Statement In June[16] are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§ 2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.

§ 3. Incardination of clerics will be regulated according to the norms of canon law.

§ 4. Priests incardinated into an Ordinariate, who constitute the presbyterate of the Ordinariate, are also to cultivate bonds of unity with the presbyterate of the Diocese in which they exercise their ministry. They should promote common pastoral and charitable initiatives and activities, which can be the object of agreements between the Ordinary and the local Diocesan Bishop.

§ 5. Candidates for Holy Orders in an Ordinariate should be prepared alongside other seminarians, especially in the areas of doctrinal and pastoral formation. In order to address the particular needs of seminarians of the Ordinariate and formation in Anglican patrimony, the Ordinary may also establish seminary programs or houses of formation which would relate to existing Catholic faculties of theology.

VII. The Ordinary, with the approval of the Holy See, can erect new Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, with the right to call their members to Holy Orders, according to the norms of canon law. Institutes of Consecrated Life originating in the Anglican Communion and entering into full communion with the Catholic Church may also be placed under his jurisdiction by mutual consent.

VIII. § 1. The Ordinary, according to the norm of law, after having heard the opinion of the Diocesan Bishop of the place, may erect, with the consent of the Holy See, personal parishes for the faithful who belong to the Ordinariate.

§ 2. Pastors of the Ordinariate enjoy all the rights and are held to all the obligations established in the Code of Canon Law and, in cases established by the Complementary Norms, such rights and obligations are to be exercised in mutual pastoral assistance together with the pastors of the local Diocese where the personal parish of the Ordinariate has been established.

IX. Both the lay faithful as well as members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally part of the Anglican Communion, who wish to enter the Personal Ordinariate, must manifest this desire in writing.

X. § 1. The Ordinary is aided in his governance by a Governing Council with its own statutes approved by the Ordinary and confirmed by the Holy See.[17]

§ 2. The Governing Council, presided over by the Ordinary, is composed of at least six priests. It exercises the functions specified in the Code of Canon Law for the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors, as well as those areas specified in the Complementary Norms.

§ 3. The Ordinary is to establish a Finance Council according to the norms established by the Code of Canon Law which will exercise the duties specified therein.[18]

§ 4. In order to provide for the consultation of the faithful, a Pastoral Council is to be constituted in the Ordinariate.[19]

XI. Every five years the Ordinary is required to come to Rome for an ad limina Apostolorum visit and present to the Roman Pontiff, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a report on the status of the Ordinariate.

XII. For judicial cases, the competent tribunal is that of the Diocese in which one of the parties is domiciled, unless the Ordinariate has constituted its own tribunal, in which case the tribunal of second instance is the one designated by the Ordinariate and approved by the Holy See.

XIII. The Decree establishing an Ordinariate will determine the location of the See and, if appropriate, the principal church.

We desire that our dispositions and norms be valid and effective now and in the future, notwithstanding, should it be necessary, the Apostolic Constitutions and ordinances issued by our predecessors, or any other prescriptions, even those requiring special mention or derogation.

Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, on November 4, 2009, the Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo.

[1] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 23; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Communionis notio, 12; 13.
[2] Cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 4; Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 2.
[3] Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 1.
[4] Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 1.
[5] Cf. Jn 17:20-21; Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 2.
[6] Cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 13.
[7] Cf. ibid; Acts 2:42.
[8] Cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 8; Letter Communionis notio, 4.
[9] Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 8.
[10] Cf. CIC, can. 205; Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 13; 14; 21; 22; Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 2; 3; 4; 15; 20; Decree Christus Dominus, 4; Decree Ad gentes, 22.
[11] Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 8.
[12] Cf. John Paul II, Ap. Const. Spirituali militium curae, 21 April 1986, I § 1.
[13] Cf. CIC, cann. 1026-1032.
[14] Cf. CIC, cann. 1040-1049.
[15] Cf. AAS 59 (1967) 674.
[16] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Statement of 1 April 1981, in Enchiridion Vaticanum 7, 1213.
[17] Cf. CIC, cann. 495-502.
[18] Cf. CIC, cann. 492-494.
[19] Cf. CIC, can. 511.

source: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apc_20091104_anglicanorum-coetibus_en.html

Offer the bandage of consolation

2009-09-19T08:02:00.002-06:00

Excerpt from St Augustine's Sermon On Pastors

Offer the bandage of consolation

Scripture says: God chastises every son whom he acknowledges. But the bad shepherd says: “Perhaps I will be exempt.” If he is exempt from the suffering of his chastisements, then he is not numbered among God’s sons. You will say: “Does God indeed punish every son?” Yes, every one, just as he chastised his only Son. His only Son, born of the substance of the Father, equal to the Father in the form of God, the Word through whom all things were made, he could not be chastised. For this reason he was clothed with flesh so that he might know chastisement. God punishes his only Son who is without sin; does he then leave unpunished an adopted son who is with sin? The Apostle says that we have been called to adoption. We have been adopted as sons, that we might be co-heirs with the only Son, and also that we might be his inheritance: Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. Christ gave us the example by his own sufferings.

But clearly one who is weak must neither be deceived with false hope nor broken by fear. Otherwise he may fail when temptations come. Say to him: Prepare your soul for temptation. Perhaps he is starting to falter, to tremble with fear, perhaps he is unwilling to approach. You have another passage of Scripture for him: God is faithful. He does not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Make that promise while preaching about the sufferings to come, and you will strengthen the man who is weak. When someone is held back because of excessive fear, promise him God’s mercy. It is not that temptations will be lacking, but that God will not permit anyone to be tempted beyond what he can bear. In this manner you will be binding up the broken one.

When they hear of the trials that are coming, some men arm themselves more and, so to speak, are eager to drain the cup. The ordinary medicine of the faithful seems to them but a small thing; for their part they seek the glorious death of the martyrs. Others hear of the temptations to come, and when they do arrive, as arrive they must, they become broken and lame. Yet it is right that such things befall the Christian, and no one esteems them except the one who desires to be a true Christian.

Offer the bandage of consolation, bind up what has been broken. Say this: “Do not be afraid. God in whom you have believed does not abandon you in temptations. God is faithful. He does not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. It is not I who say this, but the Apostle, and he says further: Are you willing to accept his trial, the trial of Christ who speaks in me? When you hear this you are hearing it from Christ himself, you are hearing it from the shepherd who gives pasture to Israel. For of him it was said: You will give us tears to drink in measure. The Apostle says: He does not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. This is also what the prophet intends by adding the words: in measure. God rebukes but also encourages, he brings fear and he brings consolation, he strikes and he heals. Do not reject him.”

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God bless,

Dave

"Lord in my zeal for the love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love."
-- St. Thomas Aquinas

My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed

2009-08-08T19:29:00.005-06:00

The Gospel reading for Sunday (19th Sunday in Ordinary Time) is from John, chapter 6, verses 41-51. St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century assembled ancient commentaries on this passage of Sacred Scripture in what came to be called the Catena Aurea ('the golden chain').

The abbreviations use are follows:

CHRYS - St. John Chrysostom (d. AD 407)
AUG - St. Augustine of Hippo (d. AD 430)
BEDE - The Venerable Bede (d. AD 735)
ALCUIN - Blessed Alcuin, Benedictine monk (d. AD 804)
THEOPHYL - Theophylactus of Achrida (d. ca. AD 1107)

From St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea... [source]

John 6:41. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

42. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he said, I came down from heaven?

43. Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves.

44. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to me.

46. Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God, he has seen the Father.

CHRYS. The Jews, so long as they thought to get food for their carnal eating, had no misgivings; but when this hope was taken away, then, we read, the Jews murmured at Him because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. This was only a pretense. The real cause of their complaint was that they were disappointed in their expectation of a bodily feast. As yet however they reverenced Him, for His miracle; and only expressed their discontent by murmurs. What these were we read next: And they said, Is not this Jesus, the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that He said, I came down from heaven?

AUG. But they were far from being fit for that heavenly bread, and did not hunger for it. For they had not that hunger of the inner man.

CHRYS. It is evident that they did not yet know of His miraculous birth: for they call Him the Son of Joseph. Nor are they blamed for this. Our Lord does not reply, I am not the Son of Joseph: for the miracle of His birth would have overpowered them. And if the birth according to the flesh were above their belief, how much more that higher and ineffable birth.;

AUG. He took man's flesh upon Him, but not after the manner of men; for, His Father being in heaven, He chose a mother upon earth, and was born of her without a father. The answer to the murmurers next follows: Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves; as if to say, I know why you hunger not after this bread, and so cannot understand it, and do not seek it: No man can come to Me except the Father who has sent Me draw him. This is the doctrine of grace: none comes, except he be drawn. But whom the Father draws, and whom not, and why He draws one, and not another, presume not to decide, if you would avoid falling into error. Take the doctrine as it is given you: and, if you are not drawn, pray that you may be.

CHRYS, But here the Manichees attack us, asserting that nothing is in our own power. Our Lords words however do not destroy our free agency, but only show that we need Divine assistance. For He is speaking not of one who comes without the concurrence of his own will, but one who has many hindrances in the way of his coming.

AUG. Now if we are drawn to Christ without our own will, we believe without our own will; the will is not exercised, but compulsion is applied. But, though a man can enter the Church involuntarily, he cannot believe other than voluntarily; for with the heart man believes to righteousness. Therefore if he who is drawn, comes without his will, he does not believe; if he does not believe, he does not come. For we do not come to Christ, by running, or walking, but by believing, not by the motion of the body, but the will of the mind. You are drawn by your will. But what is it to be drawn by the will? Delight you in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desire. There is a certain craving of the heart, to which that heavenly bread is pleasant. If the Poet could say, "Trahit sua quemque voluptas" ["His own especial pleasure attracts each one," Vergil Eclogue 2], how much more strongly may we speak of a man being drawn to Christ, i.e. being delighted with truth, happiness, justice eternal life, all which is Christ? Have the bodily senses their pleasures, and has not the soul hers? Give me one who loves, who longs, who burns, who sighs for the source of his being and his eternal home; and he will know what I mean. But why did He say, Except my Father draw him? If we are to be drawn, let us be drawn by Him to whom His love said, Draw me, we will run after You. But let us see what is meant by it. The Father draws to the Son those who believe on the Son, as thinking that He has God for His Father. For the Father begat the Son equal to Himself; and whoso thinks and believes really and seriously that He on Whom He believes is equal to the Father, him the Father draws to the Son. Arius believed Him to be a creature; the Father drew not him. Thomas says, Christ is only a man. Because he so believes, the Father draws him not. He drew Peter who said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God; to whom accordingly it was told, For flesh and blood, has not revealed it to you, but My Father which is in heaven. That revelation is the drawing. For if earthly objects, when put before us, draw us; how much more shall Christ, when revealed by the Father? For what does the soul more long after than truth? But here men hunger, there they will be filled. Wherefore He adds, And I will raise him up at the last day: as if He said, He shall be filled with that, for which he now thirsts, at the resurrection of the dead; for I will raise him up.

AUG. Or the Father draws to the Son, by the works which He did by Him.

CHRYS. Great indeed is the Son's dignity; the Father draws men, and the Son raises them up. This is no division of works, but an equality of power. He then shows the way in which the Father draws. It is written in the Prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. You see the excellence of faith; that it cannot be learnt from men, or by the teaching of man, but only from God Himself. The Master sits, dispensing His truth to all, pouring out His doctrine to all. But if all are to be taught of God, how is it that some believe not? Because all here only means the generality, or, all that have the will.

AUG. Or thus, When a schoolmaster is the only one in a town, we say loosely, This man teaches all here to read; not that all learn of him, but that he teaches all who do learn. And in the same way we say that God teaches all men to come to Christ: not that all do come, but that no one comes in any other way.

AUG. All the men of that kingdom shall be taught of God; they shall hear nothing from men: for, though in this world what they hear with the outward ear is from men, yet what they understand is given them from within; from within is light and revelation. I force certain sounds into your ears, but unless He is within to reveal their meaning, how, O you Jews, can you acknowledge Me, you whom the Father has not taught?

BEDE. He uses the plural, In the Prophets, because all the Prophets being filled with one and the same spirit, their prophecies, though different, all tended to the same end; and with whatever any one of them says, all the rest agree; as with the prophecy of Joel, All shall be taught of God.

GLOSS. These words are not found in Joel, but something like them; Be glad then you children of Sion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you a Teacher. And more expressly in Isaiah, And all your children shall be taught of the Lord.

CHRYS. An important distinction. All men before learnt the things of God through men; now they learn them through the Only Son of God, and the Holy Spirit.

AUG. All that are taught of God come to the Son, because they have heard and learnt from the Father of the Son: wherefore He proceeds, Every man that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to Me. But if every one that has heard and learnt of the Father comes, every one that has not heard of the Father has not learnt. For beyond the reach of the bodily senses is this school, in which the Father is heard, and men taught to come to the Son. Here we have not to do with the carnal ear, but the ear of the heart; for here is the Son Himself, the Word by which the Father teaches, and together with Him the Holy Spirit the operations of the three Persons being inseparable from each other. This is attributed however principally to the Father, because from Him proceeds the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore the grace which the Divine bounty imparts in secret to men's hearts, is rejected by none from hardness of heart: seeing it is given in the first instance, in order to take away hard-heartedness. Why then does He not teach all to come to Christ? Because those whom He teaches, He teaches in mercy; and those whom He teaches not, He teaches not in judgment. But if we say, that those, whom He teaches not, wish to learn, we shall be answered, Why then is it said, Will you not turn again, and quicken us? If God does not make willing minds out of unwilling, why prays the Church, according to our Lord's command, for her persecutors? For no one can say, I believed, and therefore He called me: rather the preventing mercy of God called him, that he might believe.

AUG. Behold then how the Father draws; not by laying a necessity on man, but by teaching the truth. To draw, belongs to God: Every one that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to Me. What then? has Christ taught nothing? Not so. What if men saw not the Father teaching, but saw the Son. So then the Father taught, the Son spoke. As I teach you by My word, so the Father teaches by His Word. But He Himself explains the matter, if we read on: Not that any man has seen the Father, save He which is of God, He has seen the Father; as if He said, Do not when I tell you, Every man that has heard and learnt of the Father, say to yourselves, We have never seen the Father, and how then can we have learnt from Him? Hear Him then in Me. I know the Father, and am from Him, just as a word is from him who speaks it; i.e. not the mere passing sound, but that which remains with the speaker, and draws the hearer.

CHRYS. We are all from God. That which belongs peculiarly and principally to the Son, He omits the mention of, as being unsuitable to the weakness of His hearers.

John 6:47. Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes in me has everlasting life.

48. I am that bread of life.

49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51a. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.

AUG. Our Lord wishes to reveal what He is; Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes in Me, has everlasting life. As if He said; He that believes in Me has Me: but what is it to have Me? It is to have eternal life: for the Word which was in the beginning with God is life eternal, and the life was the light of men. Life underwent death, that life might kill death.

CHRYS. The multitude being urgent for bodily food, and reminding Him of that which was given to their fathers, He tells them that the manna was only a type of that spiritual food which was now to be tasted in reality, I am that bread of life.

CHRYS. He calls Himself the bread of life, because He constitutes one life, both present, and to come.

AUG. And because they had taunted Him with the manna, He adds, Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. Your fathers they are, for you are like them; murmuring sons of murmuring fathers. For in nothing did that people offend God more, than by their murmurs against Him. And therefore are they dead, because what they saw they believed, what they did not see they believed not, nor understood.

CHRYS. The addition, In the wilderness, is not put in without meaning, but to remind them how short a time the manna lasted; only till the entrance into the land of promise. And because the bread which Christ gave seemed inferior to the manna, in that the latter had come down from heaven, while the former was of this world, He adds, This is the bread which comes down from heaven.

AUG. This was the bread the manna typified, this was the bread the altar typified. Both the one and the other were sacraments, differing in symbol, alike in the thing signified. Hear the Apostle, They did all eat the same spiritual meat.

CHRYS. He then gives them a strong reason for believing that they were given for higher privileges than their fathers. Their fathers eat manna and were dead; whereas of this bread He says, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. The difference of the two is evident from the difference of their ends. By bread here is meant wholesome doctrine, and faith in Him, or His body: for these are the preservatives of the soul.

AUG. But are we, who eat the bread that comes down from heaven, relieved from death? From visible and carnal death, the death of the body, we are not: we shall die, even as they died. But from spiritual death which their fathers suffered, we are delivered. Moses and many, acceptable of God, eat the manna, and died not, because they understood that visible food in a spiritual sense, spiritually tasted it, and were spiritually filled with it. And we too at this day receive the visible food; but the Sacrament is one thing, the virtue of the Sacrament another. Many a one receives from the Altar, and perishes in receiving; eating and drinking his own damnation, as said the Apostle. To eat then the heavenly bread spiritually, is to bring to the Altar an innocent mind. Sins, though they be daily, are not deadly. Before you go to the Altar, attend to the prayer you repeat: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. If you forgive, you are forgiven: approach confidently; it is bread, not poison. None then that eat of this bread, shall die. But we speak of the virtue of the Sacrament, not the visible Sacrament itself; of the inward, not of the outward eater.

ALCUIN. Therefore I say, He that eats this bread, dies not: I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

THEOPHYL. By becoming incarnate, He was not then first man, and afterwards assumed Divinity, as Nestorius fables.

AUG. The manna too came down from heaven; but the manna was shadow, this is substance.

ALCUIN. But men must be quickened by my life: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live, not only now by faith and righteousness, but for ever.

51b. - And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

AUG. Our Lord pronounces Himself to be bread, not only in respect of that Divinity, which feeds all things, but also in respect of that human nature, which was assumed by the Word of God: And the bread, He says, that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

BEDE. This bread our Lord then gave, when He delivered to His disciple the mystery of His Body and Blood, and offered Himself to God the Father on the altar of the cross. For the life of the world, i.e. not for the elements, but for mankind, who are called the world.

THEOPHYL. Which I shall give: this shows His power; for it shows that He was not crucified as a servant, in subjection to the Father, but of his own accord; for though He is said to have been given up by the Father, yet He delivered Himself up also. And observe, the bread which is taken by us in the mysteries, is not only the sign of Christ's flesh, but is itself the very flesh of Christ; for He does not say, The bread which I will give, is the sign of My flesh, but, is My flesh. The bread is by a mystical benediction conveyed in unutterable words, and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, transmuted into the flesh of Christ. But why see we not the flesh? Because, if the flesh were seen, it would revolt us to such a degree, that we should be unable to partake of it. And therefore in condescension to our infirmity, the mystical food is given to us under an appearance suitable to our minds. He gave His flesh for the life of the world, in that, by dying, He destroyed death. By the life of the world too, I understand the resurrection; our Lord's death having brought about the resurrection of the whole human race. It may mean too the sanctified, beatified, spiritual life; for though all have not attained to this life, yet our Lord gave Himself for the world, and, as far as lies in Him, the whole world is sanctified.

AUG. But when does flesh receive the bread which He calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ, if they labor to be the body of Christ. And they become the body of Christ, if they study to live by the Spirit of Christ: for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ, is the body of Christ. This bread the Apostle sets forth, where he says, We being many are one body. O sacrament of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of love! Whoso wishes to live, let him draw nigh, believe, be incorporated, that he may be quickened.

Catholic congressman: I'd rather save my soul than vote for the health care

2009-08-08T13:39:00.003-06:00

Wow...a Catholic politician who is...well...authencitally Catholic!

Catholic congressman: I'd rather save my soul than vote for the health care bill

New Orleans, La., Aug 3, 2009 / 02:06 pm (CNA).- Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, (R-New Orleans), the first Vietnamese-American congressman and a Catholic, announced this past weekend that, because of the “stealth mandate” for abortion still present in the Health Care bill, he prefers to “save his soul” rather than vote in favor of it.
More...

Jail officials censored mother's letters over religious content

2009-08-08T13:16:00.004-06:00

Eeegaaads! You'd think the ACLU would be up in arms!! ;)

Jail officials censored mother's letters over religious content

Richmond, Va., Aug 8, 2009 / 10:06 am (CNA).- Civil rights and religious freedom groups are criticizing the Rappahannock Regional Jail in northern Virginia, charging that the jail illegally censored the letters a Christian mother sent to her jailed son for being “too religious.” Jail authorities cut out so many Bible passages that her letters resembled “Swiss cheese,” the groups said.

The letters of inmate mother Anna Williams were stamped for censorship with the words “Religious Material from Home,” a press release from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty reports. On at least one occasion, all that was left of a three-page letter was its salutation, its first paragraph, and its signature “Love, Mom.”

A July 9 letter from civil and religious liberty groups to the jail’s superintendent, Joseph Higgs, Jr., protested the alleged censorship.

“Ms. Williams, a devout Christian, wanted to support her son spiritually during his confinement at the Jail by sending him religious language, including passages from the Bible,” the letter reports.

“Rather than delivering these letters to Ms. Williams’ son, the Jail expurgated the religious material, citing variously as the reason for censorship ‘Internet Pages’ and ‘Religious Material from Home.’

“Such censorship destroyed the religious messages Ms. Williams sought to convey to her son and reduced her letters to something resembling Swiss cheese. Using scissors or a hobby knife, Jail officials literally cut the religious portions out of Ms. Williams’ letters and delivered only the snippets that did not quote the Bible.”

Sources for the censored passages included the Book of Proverbs, the Book of James and the Book of Matthew. Jail officials also refused to deliver a Christian article titled “Coping with Loneliness.”

The censored portions of the letters were placed in the “personal property” of Williams’ son and were not given to him until he was transferred out of the jail.

“Even the novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky had ready access to Scripture while incarcerated in a Siberian prison camp in tsarist Russia,” the letter to jail officials said.

The letter to the superintendent was signed by officials from the Becket Fund, the Rutherford Institute, Prison Fellowship, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, the Friends Committee on National Legislation and several local and national American Civil Liberties Union officials.

The letter, expressing hope that the issue could be resolved “without resort to litigation,” requested revisions to jail policy and written guarantees that Biblical passages in letters to detainees would not be censored.

Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director at the Becket Fund, was a signatory to the letter. “The citizens of Rappahannock County should be alarmed that their government has decided to join North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in treating the Bible as dangerous contraband,” he said in a statement.

“Although the Bible says, ‘the truth shall set you free,’ prison authorities shouldn't treat the Bible as a security risk,” he added. “In censoring this mother's letters, the prison violated the First Amendment rights of both the prisoner and his mother.”

Kristina A. Arriaga, communications director with the Becket Fund, in a Friday e-mail told CNA that the jail superintendent has said he will start an investigation.
Prison authorities may legitimately censor writings that affect prison security, but U.S. courts have ruled that inmates may have access to religious materials.

Why is partaking of Holy Eucharist not the same as cannibalism?

2009-08-02T08:33:00.001-06:00

When I was a teenager, my Protestant friends told me that because I was Catholic, I practiced cannibalism since I believed that the bread and wine of Holy Eucharist was the real flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. At the time, all I could say was "nuh-uh." However, it was weird accusations like this that got me interested in the study of theology.

Ironically, as early as Pliny the Younger (c. AD 110), there are indications that rumours were circulating about the early Christians which included allusions to the crime of cannibalism (Ep. 10.96.7; cf. Tacitus, Ann. 15.44.2). Around AD 150, Justin Martyr mentions the accusations of eating of human flesh (Apol. 1.26.7). Theophilus of Antioch (ca. AD 180-185) wrote of "the prevalent rumor wherewith godless lips falsely accuse us, who are worshipers of God and are called Christians, . . . that we eat human flesh." [To Autolycus, Bk III, Ch. IV].

So, it seems I'm in good company. ;)

So why isn't partaking the Holy Eucharist the same thing as cannibalism?

Short explanation...

Cannibalism = (1) eating of human flesh by a human being; (2) eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of the same kind.

Holy Eucharist (partaking of) = eating the accidents of bread and wine, having the substance of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of a divine person, Jesus Christ.

Cannibalism is evil because it causes unjust injury to human beings (i.e. unjustly injuring them so as to use them for food). Historically, cannibalism has been done ritually after victory in battle, when they ritually eat the flesh of their enemy, for example.

Christians do not do injury to a living Incarnate God by sacramentally consuming the accidents of bread and wine whose substance metaphysically becomes the incarnate body and blood of the same living God.

Cannibalism is an injustice to humanity, whereas Holy Eucharist is faithful obedience to Jesus Christ who told his disciples to eat his body "as true food."

Longer, metaphysical explanation...

If one thinks transubstantiation amounts to cannibalism, this may be due to not having understood what substance is, and how it is related to accidents, metaphysically speaking.

I'll begin by defining some theological and philosophical terms...

Transubstantiation - The complete change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood by a validly ordained priest during the consecration at Mass, so that only the accidents of bread and wine remain.... After transubstantiation, the accidents of bread and wine do not inhere in any subject or substance whatever. Yet they are not make-believe; they are sustained in existence by divine power. (Etym. Latin trans-, so as to change + substantia, substance: transubstantiatio, change of substance.) [Fr. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary].

Metaphysics = the philosophical study of the nature of being (ontology), the nature of the universe (cosmology), and the nature of knowledge (epistemology).

Accidents = (1) a nonessential property or quality of an entity. [Merriam-Webster] (2) things whose essence naturally requires that they exist in another being. Accidents are also called the appearances, species, or properties of a thing. These may be either physical, such as quantity, or modal, such as size or shape. [Fr. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary].

Substance = (1) essential nature; ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations [Merriam Webster]. (2) A being whose essence requires that it exist in itself.... It is commonly distinguished from an accident, whose essence is to exist in another, that is, in a substance. (Etym. Latin substantia, that which stands under, principle, foundation.) [Fr. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary].

Something naturally must either exist in its own right, such as water, a tree, a cat: or else it naturally must exist in something else, such as color or shape. The substance is the essence, the nature, of a thing which exists in its own right. The accidents depend on it for their existence and their operation.

We can't see a substance or touch it or taste it. Yet, it is real nevertheless.

Comparatively, Scripture describes angels who "appear" to be men. Does that necessarily mean that they stopped being, in "substance" angels? No. God can change the accident of a thing without changing its substance. Likewise, God can change the substance of a thing without changing its accident. Angels may appear (i.e. accident) to be men, but remain in "substance" angels. Likewise, bread may appear (accident) to remain bread, yet in substance become the body, blood, soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Both would have to be miracle. We believe in such miracles.

Moreover, when we naturally eat something, we eat its "accidents" which inheres to its "substance." In the case of mere bread, both the accidents and the substance are bread. However, like the appearance of holy angels as men, Holy Eucharist is something miraculous, something supernatural, the real (substantive) presence of God in a way beyond physics (meta-physics). Once the bread and wine are consecrated, it is no longer normal bread and wine, but as Jesus called it, "my body." Consequently, when we eat the consecrated bread, that which Jesus calls in John ch. 6 "true food," that food which gives eternal life, we really eat the accidents of bread and the miraculous or supernatural substance of Christ's body (ie. his real body, blood, soul and divinity).

The dogma of transubstantiation teaches that the whole substance of bread and the whole substance of wine is changed into Christ's body, blood, soul and divinity, leaving the accidents of bread and wine unaffected. Reason, of course, can't prove that this happens. But it is not evidently against reason either; it is above reason, it is beyond physics (like all miracles). Our senses, being confined to phenomena, cannot detect the change: we know it only by faith in God's word.

God bless,

Dave

"Lord, in my zeal for the love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love."
-- St. Thomas Aquinas

"Caritas in veritate" - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI

2009-07-08T04:46:00.000-06:00

"Caritas in veritate" - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
CARITAS IN VERITATE
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS
PRIESTS AND DEACONS
MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS
THE LAY FAITHFUL
AND ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL
ON INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
IN CHARITY AND TRUTH

INTRODUCTION

1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22). To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity. Charity, in fact, “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor 13:6). All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person. The search for love and truth is purified and liberated by Jesus Christ from the impoverishment that our humanity brings to it, and he reveals to us in all its fullness the initiative of love and the plan for true life that God has prepared for us. In Christ, charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan. Indeed, he himself is the Truth (cf. Jn 14:6).

What is RCIA?

2009-06-27T23:18:00.001-06:00

What Is RCIA

View more documents from David Jensen.

You are NOT pro-life if you murder an abortionist

2009-06-07T15:15:00.003-06:00

St. Paul the apostle taught that it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it (cf. Romans 3:8).

Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver and Most Rev. James D. Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver gave the following clear statement:

"The violence at the heart of every abortion and the abortion industry itself will never be ended by counter-violence. The killing of George Tiller is an inexcusable crime that cuts against everything pro-life Americans, and especially religious believers, stand for.”

See more here: Catholic bishops condemn Tiller slaying

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

2009-06-07T11:08:00.004-06:00

I love this Catholic priest! Father John Zuhlsdorf or "Fr. Z" lives in Rome and has his own blog, here: http://wdtprs.com/blog/

Here's what he says about the Liturgy and its importance...
Link: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/01/save-the-liturgy-save-the-world/

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

Not only is this fun, from a pop-culture point of view, it is true.

The Eucharist, its celebration and itself as the extraordinary Sacrament, is the “source and summit of Christian life”.
If we really believe that, then we must also hold that what we do in church, what we believe happens in a church, makes an enormous difference.

Do we believe the consecration really does something? Or, do we believe what is said and how, what the gestures are and the attitude in which they made are entirely indifferent? For example, will a choice not to kneel before Christ the King and Judge truly present in each sacred Host, produce a wider effect?

If you throw a stone, even a pebble, into a pool it produces ripples which expand to its edge. The way we celebrate Mass must create spiritual ripples in the Church and the world.

So does our good or bad reception of Holy Communion.

So must violations of rubrics and irreverence.

Mass is not merely a “teaching moment” or a “celebration of unity” or a "tedious obligation". Our choice of music, architecture, ceremonies and language affect more than one small congregation in one building. We are interconnected in both our common human nature and in baptism. When we sin we hurt the whole Body of Christ the Church.

If that is true for sin, it must also be true for our liturgical choices. They must also have personal and corporate impact. Any Mass can be offered for the intentions of the living or the dead.

Not even death is an obstacle to the efficacy of Holy Mass.

Celebrate Mass well, participate properly – affect the whole world. Celebrate poorly – affect the whole world.

In each age since Christ’s Ascension, people have felt they were in the End Times. They were right. In any moment, when the conditions are right, the Lord could return. Considering at what is happening in the world now, I am pushed to think about the way Mass is being celebrated, even the number of Masses being celebrated. Once there were many communities of contemplatives, spending time before the Blessed Sacrament or in contemplation, in collective and in private prayer. There were many more Masses. Many more people went to confession.

Who can know how they all lifted burdens from the world and turned large and small tides by their prayers to God for mercy and in reparation for sin?

A single droplet of Christ’s Precious Blood consecrated at Holy Mass is the price of every soul ever created in God’s unfathomable plan.

So I repeat:

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

Pope calls for Internet evangelists

2009-05-23T10:14:00.001-06:00

Pope calls for Internet evangelists

Vatican City, May 20, 2009 / 11:21 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI is calling upon young people to evangelize using the Internet as the Church prepares to celebrate the World Day for Social Communications.

At the end of his Wednesday general audience, the Holy Father launched an appeal asking that cyberspace be a place that promotes a "culture of respect, dialogue and authentic friendship where the values of truth, harmony and understanding can flourish."

Speaking English, the Holy Father recalled how in his message for this year's celebrations, "I am inviting all those who make use of the new technologies of communication, especially the young, to utilize them in a positive way and to realize the great potential of these means to build up bonds of friendship and solidarity that can contribute to a better world.

"Young people in particular, I appeal to you: bear witness to your faith through the digital world!" the Pope urged.

"Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the Good News of God’s infinite love for all people, will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world!"

The World Day for Social Communications will be held on Sunday, May 24 this year.

Bishop Sheridan - letter to Notre Dame President

2009-05-16T10:14:00.000-06:00

Bishop of Colorado Springs on the Notre Dame scandal...

-----------------

May 15, 2009 A letter to Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, CSC
Bishop Michael J. Sheridan, S.T.D.

If we consider the many threats to our faith and the practice of religion that come from outside the Catholic Church (e.g., the increasing civil legislation that seeks to redefine marriage; the proposed rescinding of health care workers’ right of conscience; the mounting efforts to make contraception and abortion-on-demand ever more available — even to the very young), it is particularly disturbing to witness the scandalous turmoil within the Catholic Church over the invitation from the president of the University of Notre Dame to President Barack Obama to speak at this spring’s commencement and be awarded an honorary degree.

Several months ago, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, announced that he had invited President Obama — the most radical and ardent pro-abortion president ever elected — not only to speak at the university’s commencement exercises, but also — incredibly — to receive an honorary Doctor of Law degree.

The invitation was given and its acceptance announced without any prior consultation with the local bishop, John D’Arcy. Bishop D’Arcy immediately responded by telling Father Jenkins that his invitation flew directly in the face of the 2004 teaching of the American bishops, Catholics in Political Life, which stated that "the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor whose who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." Bishop D’Arcy asked Father Jenkins to rescind his invitation. Father Jenkins replied that he would not do so.

The uproar over this whole affair is not unexpected. Many bishops, as well as students and alumni of Notre Dame, and countless Catholics throughout the country, have made their outrage known. The sad fact is that it was a majority of people who claim to be Catholics who helped elect President Obama. But this does not excuse Father Jenkins’ disobedience toward his own bishop, as well as the United States bishops as a whole. I do not suggest that Father Jenkins’ invitation was done out of malice, but his continued intransigence is not befitting a Catholic priest.

Last month I wrote to Father Jenkins with my own plea that he cancel the president’s appearance at Notre Dame. I did not make the letter public at that time, but, having received a number of questions from the faithful of our diocese, I have decided to do so now. My letter follows:

April 11, 2009

Rev. John L. Jenkins, C.S.C.

President

University of Notre Dame

300 Main Building

South Bend, IN 46556

Dear Father Jenkins,

I join my voice to those of many of my brother bishops and those of hundreds of thousands of lay faithful to ask that you rescind your invitation to President Obama to speak at the Notre Dame commencement and receive an honorary degree. As you know, the priests and brothers of Holy Cross have long been associated with this diocese. In the years of my service here, I have found them to be among the very finest of our clergy. This unfortunate decision of yours now reflects negatively on these good men.

I have read your apologia in defense of your action. It is not convincing. Your attempt to justify your invitation by appealing to the title of the 2004 publication of the USCCB is little more than an exercise in legalism. We Catholics must be about the business of standing unambiguously and always on the side of life. Regardless of the title of the document, Notre Dame, arguably the premier Catholic university in the United States, has sent a message to countless Catholics that you will not take this stance. I am convinced that this will prove to be most unfortunate for the university and for the faith of many, many Catholics. And your invitation to the president speaks far more loudly than your disclaimer that you disagree with him on the life issues.

Even though you have made it very clear that you will not withdraw your invitation to the president, my conscience demands that I express my profound disappointment.

May Our Lady, patroness of the university and Mother of the church, seek the graces needed for you to reverse the action you have taken.

Fraternally yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Michael J. Sheridan

Bishop of Colorado Springs

source: The Colorado Catholic Herald

Whether the Church should excommunicate anyone?

2009-05-10T12:30:00.000-06:00

According to St. Thomas Aquinas:

"The Apostle (1 Corinthians 5:5) ordered a man to be excommunicated.

Further, it is written (Matthew 18:17) about the man who refuses to hear the Church:: "Let him be to thee as the heathen or publican." But heathens are outside the Church. Therefore they also who refuse to hear the Church, should be banished from the Church by excommunication.

I answer that, The judgment of the Church should be conformed to the judgment of God. Now God punishes the sinner in many ways, in order to draw him to good, either by chastising him with stripes, or by leaving him to himself so that being deprived of those helps whereby he was kept out of evil, he may acknowledge his weakness, and humbly return to God Whom he had abandoned in his pride. In both these respects the Church by passing sentence of excommunication imitates the judgment of God. For by severing a man from the communion of the faithful that he may blush with shame, she imitates the judgment whereby God chastises man with stripes; and by depriving him of prayers and other spiritual things, she imitates the judgment of God in leaving man to himself, in order that by humility he may learn to know himself and return to God." (Summa Theologica, suppl., q. 21,. a. 2).

The Church Militant continues to be attacked...
Bishop Blair bans New Ways homosexual ministry workshop

God bless,

Dave

Diocese issues ‘Q & A’ to explain termination of dissenting catechist

2009-05-10T11:57:00.000-06:00

More house cleaning. ;)

----------------

Madison, Wis., May 8, 2009 / 03:53 pm (CNA).- In response the backlash that occurred following the termination of a Madison catechist due to her "serious dissent" from Church teachings, the diocese has produced a "Q & A" document to clarify any confusion or rumors which have surfaced following the incident.

Ruth Kolpack, a 35-year employee of the Diocese of Madison, was fired in March by Madison Bishop Robert Morlino for failure to "present the complete and authentic teaching of the Church." The bishop’s office also noted that Kolpack is in "serious dissent on fundamental doctrinal issues" and should not be in a role where she is entrusted with teaching the Catholic faith to others.

Some groups such as Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful have organized support for Kolpack saying that she was fired due to a graduate thesis that she wrote calling for "women’s ordination." They also claim that Bishop Morlino has plans to shut down St. Thomas Parish. Both of these allegations were strongly denied by the diocese in their document.

Before Kolpack was fired, the bishop offered her the opportunity to "assure him that she would faithfully carry out her role as a catechist of the Roman Catholic faith."

Kolpack said that she could not "in good conscience" comply.

More... Diocese issues ‘Q & A’ to explain termination of dissenting catechist

Diocese of Phoenix excommunicates priest

2009-05-10T11:42:00.000-06:00

Bishop of Phoenix Thomas J. Olmstead is cleaning house, thanks be to God!

God bless,

Dave

-----------------------------

Phoenix, Ariz., May 9, 2009 / 05:54 am (CNA).- A priest from the Diocese of Phoenix has been excommunicated for joining a breakaway sect, it was announced on Monday.

The excommunication of Rev. Chris Carpenter, who had been on leave from the diocese for three years, was issued in April but made public on Monday. According to the Arizona Republic, Bishop of Phoenix Thomas J. Olmstead said the decision came because Father Carpenter had joined an offshoot church, the Reformed Catholic Church.

Father Carpenter is banned from participating in Mass, Communion or other religious ceremonies either as a participant or a celebrant. He was well-known as the movie reviewer for the Catholic Sun newspaper. Citing health reasons, he took a leave of absence in 2006 after 10 years at Christ the King parish in Mesa, Arizona.

Rev. Carpenter, who is openly homosexual, has long disputed with the diocesan leadership over ministry to the homosexual community, the Arizona Republic reports.

In an e-mail to friends, Father Carpenter said the Reformed Catholic Church supports ordination of women, full participation of homosexual members and a married priesthood. He reportedly plans to begin a parish in California.

Rev. Gene Young, another former Phoenix priest excommunicated by Bishop Olmsted, is also a member of the church.

A third priest of the diocese, Monsignor Dale Fushek, was excommunicated last year.

source: Diocese of Phoenix excommunicates priest

Pope's Holy Thursday Homily

2009-04-11T19:11:00.001-06:00

Easter has come! The following homily is from Pope Benedict XVI's Holy Thursday Chrism Mass: (source)

------------------

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the Upper Room, on the eve of his Passion, the Lord prayed for his disciples gathered about him. At the same time he looked ahead to the community of disciples of all centuries, “those who believe in me through their word” (Jn 17:20). In his prayer for the disciples of all time, he saw us too, and he prayed for us. Let us listen to what he asks for the Twelve and for us gathered here: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, so that they also may be consecrated in truth” (17:17ff.). The Lord asks for our sanctification, our consecration in truth. And he sends us forth to carry on his own mission. But in this prayer there is one word which draws our attention, and appears difficult to understand. Jesus says: “For their sake I consecrate myself”. What does this mean? Is Jesus not himself “the Holy One of God”, as Peter acknowledged at that decisive moment in Capharnaum (cf. Jn 6:69)? How can he now consecrate – sanctify – himself?

To understand this, we need first to clarify what the Bible means by the words “holy” and “sanctify – consecrate”. “Holy” – this word describes above all God’s own nature, his completely unique, divine, way of being, one which is his alone. He alone is the true and authentic Holy One, in the original sense of the word. All other holiness derives from him, is a participation in his way of being. He is purest Light, Truth and untainted Good. To consecrate something or someone means, therefore, to give that thing or person to God as his property, to take it out of the context of what is ours and to insert it in his milieu, so that it no longer belongs to our affairs, but is totally of God. Consecration is thus a taking away from the world and a giving over to the living God. The thing or person no longer belongs to us, or even to itself, but is immersed in God. Such a giving up of something in order to give it over to God, we also call a sacrifice: this thing will no longer be my property, but his property. In the Old Testament, the giving over of a person to God, his “sanctification”, is identified with priestly ordination, and this also defines the essence of the priesthood: it is a transfer of ownership, a being taken out of the world and given to God. We can now see the two directions which belong to the process of sanctification-consecration. It is a departure from the milieux of worldly life – a “being set apart” for God. But for this very reason it is not a segregation. Rather, being given over to God means being charged to represent others. The priest is removed from worldly bonds and given over to God, and precisely in this way, starting with God, he must be available for others, for everyone. When Jesus says: “I consecrate myself”, he makes himself both priest and victim. Bultmann was right to translate the phrase: “I consecrate myself” by “I sacrifice myself”. Do we now see what happens when Jesus says: “I consecrate myself for them”? This is the priestly act by which Jesus – the Man Jesus, who is one with the Son of God – gives himself over to the Father for us. It is the expression of the fact that he is both priest and victim. I consecrate myself – I sacrifice myself: this unfathomable word, which gives us a glimpse deep into the heart of Jesus Christ, should be the object of constantly renewed reflection. It contains the whole mystery of our redemption. It also contains the origins of the priesthood in the Church, of our priesthood.

Only now can we fully understand the prayer which the Lord offered the Father for his disciples – for us. “Sanctify them in the truth”: this is the inclusion of the Apostles in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the institution of his new priesthood for the community of the faithful of all times. “Sanctify them in truth”: this is the true prayer of consecration for the Apostles. The Lord prays that God himself draw them towards him, into his holiness. He prays that God take them away from themselves to make them his own property, so that, starting from him, they can carry out the priestly ministry for the world. This prayer of Jesus appears twice in slightly different forms. Both times we need to listen very carefully, in order to understand, even dimly the sublime reality that is about to be accomplished. “Sanctify them in the truth”. Jesus adds: “Your word is truth”. The disciples are thus drawn deep within God by being immersed in the word of God. The word of God is, so to speak, the bath which purifies them, the creative power which transforms them into God’s own being. So then, how do things stand in our own lives? Are we truly pervaded by the word of God? Is that word truly the nourishment we live by, even more than bread and the things of this world? Do we really know that word? Do we love it? Are we deeply engaged with this word to the point that it really leaves a mark on our lives and shapes our thinking? Or is it rather the case that our thinking is constantly being shaped by all the things that others say and do? Aren’t prevailing opinions the criterion by which we all too often measure ourselves? Do we not perhaps remain, when all is said and done, mired in the superficiality in which people today are generally caught up? Do we allow ourselves truly to be deeply purified by the word of God? Nietzsche scoffed at humility and obedience as the virtues of slaves, a source of repression. He replaced them with pride and man’s absolute freedom. Of course there exist caricatures of a misguided humility and a mistaken submissiveness, which we do not want to imitate. But there also exists a destructive pride and a presumption which tear every community apart and result in violence. Can we learn from Christ the correct humility which corresponds to the truth of our being, and the obedience which submits to truth, to the will of God? “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth”: this word of inclusion in the priesthood lights up our lives and calls us to become ever anew disciples of that truth which is revealed in the word of God.

We can advance another step in the interpretation of these words. Did not Christ say of himself: “I am the truth” (cf. Jn 14:6)? Is he not himself the living Word of God, to which every other word refers? Sanctify them in the truth – this means, then, in the deepest sense: make them one with me, Christ. Bind them to me. Draw them into me. Indeed, when all is said and done, there is only one priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ himself. Consequently, the priesthood of the disciples can only be a participation in the priesthood of Jesus. Our being priests is simply a new and radical way of being united to Christ. In its substance, it has been bestowed on us for ever in the sacrament. But this new seal imprinted upon our being can become for us a condemnation, if our lives do not develop by entering into the truth of the Sacrament. The promises we renew today state in this regard that our will must be directed along this path: “Domino Iesu arctius coniungi et conformari, vobismetipsis abrenuntiantes”. Being united to Christ calls for renunciation. It means not wanting to impose our own way and our own will, not desiring to become someone else, but abandoning ourselves to him, however and wherever he wants to use us. As Saint Paul said: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). In the words “I do”, spoken at our priestly ordination, we made this fundamental renunciation of our desire to be independent, “self-made”. But day by day this great “yes” has to be lived out in the many little “yeses” and small sacrifices. This “yes” made up of tiny steps which together make up the great “yes”, can be lived out without bitterness and self-pity only if Christ is truly the center of our lives. If we enter into true closeness to him. Then indeed we experience, amid sacrifices which can at first be painful, the growing joy of friendship with him, and all the small and sometimes great signs of his love, which he is constantly showing us. “The one who loses himself, finds himself”. When we dare to lose ourselves for the Lord, we come to experience the truth of these words.

To be immersed in the Truth, in Christ – part of this process is prayer, in which we exercise our friendship with him and also come to know him: his way of being, of thinking, of acting. Praying is a journey in personal communion with Christ, setting before him our daily life, our successes and failures, our struggles and our joys – in a word, it is to stand in front of him. But if this is not to become a form of self-contemplation, it is important that we constantly learn to pray by praying with the Church. Celebrating the Eucharist means praying. We celebrate the Eucharist rightly if with our thoughts and our being we enter into the words which the Church sets before us. There we find the prayer of all generations, which accompany us along the way towards the Lord. As priests, in the Eucharistic celebration we are those who by their prayer blaze a trail for the prayer of today’s Christians. If we are inwardly united to the words of prayer, if we let ourselves be guided and transformed by them, then the faithful will also enter into those words. And then all of us will become truly “one body, one spirit” in Christ.

To be immersed in God’s truth and thus in his holiness – for us this also means to acknowledge that the truth makes demands, to stand up, in matters great and small, to the lie which in so many different ways is present in the world; accepting the struggles associated with the truth, because its inmost joy is present within us. Nor, when we talk about being sanctified in the truth, should we forget that in Jesus Christ truth and love are one. Being immersed in him means being immersed in his goodness, in true love. True love does not come cheap, it can also prove quite costly. It resists evil in order to bring men true good. If we become one with Christ, we learn to recognize him precisely in the suffering, in the poor, in the little ones of this world; then we become people who serve, who recognize our brothers and sisters in him, and in them, we encounter him.

“Sanctify them in truth” – this is the first part of what Jesus says. But then he adds: “I consecrate myself, so that they also may be consecrated in truth” – that is, truly consecrated (Jn 17:19). I think that this second part has a special meaning of its own. In the world’s religions there are many different ritual means of “sanctification”, of the consecration of a human person. Yet all these rites can remain something merely formal. Christ asks for his disciples the true sanctification which transforms their being, their very selves; he asks that it not remain a ritual formality, but that it make them truly the “property” of God himself. We could even say that Christ prayed on behalf of us for that sacrament which touches us in the depths of our being. But he also prayed that this interior transformation might be translated day by day in our lives; that in our everyday routine and our concrete daily lives we might be truly pervaded by the light of God.

On the eve of my priestly ordination, fifty-eight years ago, I opened the Sacred Scripture, because I wanted to receive once more a word from the Lord for that day and for my future journey as a priest. My gaze fell on this passage: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth”. Then I realized: the Lord is speaking about me, and he is speaking to me. This very same thing will be accomplished tomorrow in me. When all is said and done, we are not consecrated by rites, even though rites are necessary. The bath in which the Lord immerses us is himself – the Truth in person. Priestly ordination means: being immersed in him, immersed in the Truth. I belong in a new way to him and thus to others, “that his Kingdom may come”. Dear friends, in this hour of the renewal of promises, we want to pray to the Lord to make us men of truth, men of love, men of God. Let us implore him to draw us ever anew into himself, so that we may become truly priests of the New Covenant. Amen.

Obama's candidates for Vatican ambassador failing 'simple standard'

2009-04-11T12:47:00.000-06:00

Rome, Italy, Apr 9, 2009 / 04:29 pm (CNA).- The Obama administration has seen three possible candidates it floated for the position of U.S. ambassador to the Holy See sunk due to their views on abortion. Additionally, a source at the Vatican confirmed to CNA that Professor Douglas Kmiec will not become the ambassador due to his stance on life issues.

With the President traveling to Rome in July, when he hopes to meet Pope Benedict XVI, not filling the position would be a major gaffe.

The news that the Vatican has balked at Obama's first three nominees was first reported by the Italian journalist Massimo Franco. According to Franco, a columnist for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, papal advisers told Mr. Obama's aides privately that all three nominees failed to meet the Vatican's most basic qualification on the abortion issue.

See more here.

Notre Dame Scandal

2009-04-04T16:14:00.002-06:00

The President of the University of Notre Dame must be the most incompetent priest in America today. I signed a petition and wrote him an email. See here:

Notre Dame Scandal

I also sent a letter to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington DC, asking for an intervention from the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education.

Holy Mother of God, please pray for better Catholic identity in our Catholic schools.

Ask the Bishop, Show #7

2009-03-31T07:33:00.000-06:00

AUDIO: ASK THE BISHOP - Show 7

"Ask the Bishop," is a show on KFEL-970 AM where Bishop Michael Sheridan answers questions about his life and the faith. The show is produced by The Colorado Catholic Herald and Catholic Radio Network/KFEL.

This episode, recorded in February 2008, is the first of two parts about the topics of sin and penance.

Ask7.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)

Obama embryo research policy ‘a step backward,’ bioethics council members say

2009-03-30T19:08:00.000-06:00

It seems the President's own council for bioethics have pointed out some ethical contradictions inherent in Obama's policies. One member of the president's council stated, "Ethically, I cannot support any policy permitting deliberate production and/or destruction of a human fetus or embryo for any purpose, scientific or therapeutic."

See more here: Obama embryo research policy ‘a step backward,’ bioethics council members say

God bless,

Dave

Polish press reports John Paul II to be beatified on April 2, 2010

2009-03-20T11:20:00.000-06:00

Polish press reports John Paul II to be beatified on April 2, 2010

Rome, Italy, Mar 19, 2009 / 12:28 pm (CNA).- Pope John Paul II could be beatified on April 2, 2010, exactly five years after his death, according to a report in the Polish newspaper Dziennik, which claims the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has already made the decision.

At the beginning of this month, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow said the beatification process of Pope John Paul II was about to be concluded and that Benedict XVI himself wanted to close the process “as soon as possible” because that “is what the world is asking for.”

The beatification process of John Paul II began on June 28, 2005, two months after the death of the Pontiff thanks to a dispensation granted by Pope Benedict. The dispensation waived the normal five-year waiting period after a person dies that the Church requires before a cause for canonization can be opened.

Sebelius nomination ‘source of greatest embarrassment,’ Archbishop Burke says

2009-03-15T14:00:00.002-06:00

Astonishing. The person nominated to be responsible for the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services has a record of promoting the destruction of human life.

"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
-- Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Democratic Party

See more here:

Sebelius nomination ‘source of greatest embarrassment,’ Archbishop Burke says

San Diego, Calif., Mar 14, 2009 / 06:08 am (CNA).- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services is "sad" and "the source of greatest embarrassment" because she has repeatedly betrayed her Catholic faith through her "well known" support for legal abortion, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has commented.

The archbishop, formerly of St. Louis, Missouri, is now Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. His duties in that office include ensuring that the Church operates correctly under canon law.

In a written interview with Thomas J. McKenna of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, Archbishop Burke remarked that the governor’s nomination to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet "saddens me on several scores."

"First of all, it is sad for our nation to have a person who favors the right to kill the unborn in the womb placed in charge of the federal office with responsibility for health and human services. No matter how good Governor Sebelius’ record regarding other human life concerns may be, if she is not committed to the safeguarding of human life from its very inception, she should not be entrusted with the questions of health and human services for our nation."

As a Roman Catholic, Gov. Sebelius’ appointment is "the source of the greatest embarrassment because she has publicly and repeatedly betrayed her Catholic faith, in the most fundamental tenet in the most fundamental tenet of the moral law, that is, the law to safeguard and foster human life from the moment of its inception to the moment of natural death."

"Her position on the question of procured abortion is the source of the greatest scandal to Catholics and to all who uphold the natural moral law," he continued.

Additionally, Archbishop Burke said, the governor "obstinately remained in her moral error" despite being admonished by at least three of her bishops, including Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph Naumann. More...

Despite increasing foes, U.S. funding ban for human embryo killing endures

2009-03-15T10:25:00.001-06:00

This is rather confusing. Pres. Obama is *FOR* embryonic stem cell research, but then he signs this bill opposing embryonic stem cell research. Did he sign it by mistake? Talk about confusing messages coming from the Obama administration.

Addendum: Ah...now I get it. Embryonic stem cell research using federal funding is OK, so long at they are derived from embryos DESTROYED with non-federal funding. Still, experimenting with human beings is an abomination no matter if private funds destroy human life or federal funds are used.

See here:

Despite increasing foes, U.S. funding ban for human embryo killing endures

Washington D.C., Mar 13, 2009 / 10:20 pm (CNA).- A longstanding amendment banning federal funding for research in which human embryos are destroyed, discarded, or "knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death" was part of an omnibus bill signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. However, some backers of embryo-destructive research are advocating the amendment’s repeal.

The provision, known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 1996. According to CNSNews.com, it is located in Section 509 of Title V, on page 280 of the 465-page H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act 2009.

Barring repeal, the amendment will be in force through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The amendment defines the human embryo as "any organism… that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells."

On March 9 President Obama overturned President George W. Bush’s executive order barring federal funding for new stem cell lines derived from destroying human embryos. While embryonic stem cell researchers may not use federal funds to create and destroy human embryos for their stem cells, they may acquire stem cells from human embryos destroyed with non-U.S. government funding.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who has sponsored the House version of a bill that would have legalized federal funding of embryonic stem cell research using embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics, has said she is considering the possibility of repealing the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.

"Dickey-Wicker is 13 years old now, and I think we need to review these policies," Rep. DeGette told the New York Times on Monday. "I’ve already talked to several pro-life Democrats about Dickey-Wicker, and they seemed open to the concept of reversing the policy if we could show that it was necessary to foster this research."

However, other pro-life Democrats are against the embryo-destructive research. More

President Clinton’s ‘confused’ embryo remarks raise credibility questions

2009-03-15T10:19:00.000-06:00

President Clinton’s ‘confused’ embryo remarks raise credibility questions

Washington D.C., Mar 14, 2009 / 02:06 pm (CNA).- Former President Bill Clinton’s recent comments about embryo fertilization and stem cell research have been “confused” and call into question his credibility on the issue, two bioethicists say. The president has made interview remarks incorrectly implying that embryos are not fertilized. more

Universalis: Morning Prayer (Lauds)

2009-03-15T09:48:00.000-06:00

Universalis: Morning Prayer (Lauds)

O Lord, open my lips.

– And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Antiphon: Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.

(repeat antiphon*)

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world and all who live in it.

He himself founded it upon the seas

and set it firm over the waters.

(repeat antiphon*)

Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who will stand in his holy place?

The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,

who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.

He will receive the blessing of the Lord

and be justified by God his saviour.

This is the way of those who seek him,

seek the face of the God of Jacob.

(repeat antiphon*)

Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,

and let the king of glory enter.

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord of might and power.

The Lord, strong in battle.

(repeat antiphon*)

Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,

and let the king of glory enter.

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord of hosts

– he is the king of glory.

(repeat antiphon*)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

(repeat antiphon*)

* If you are reciting this on your own, you can choose to say the antiphon once only at the start of the psalm and not repeat it.

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 92 (93)
The magnificence of the Creator
Over the sound of many waters, all your promised are to be trusted, O Lord.
The Lord reigns! He is robed in splendour, clothed in glory and wrapped round in might. He set the earth on its foundations: it will not be shaken. Your throne is secure from the beginning; from the beginning of time, Lord, you are. The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voices. The rivers have raised their clamour. Over the voices of many waters, over the powerful swell of the sea, you are the Lord, powerful on high. All your promises are to be trusted: and holy is your habitation, O Lord, to the end of time. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Over the sound of many waters, all your promised are to be trusted, O Lord.

Canticle	Daniel 3
All creatures, bless the Lord
Springs and fountains, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all his works, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, you heavens; all his angels, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, you waters above the heavens; all his powers, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, sun and moon; all stars of the sky, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, rain and dew; all you winds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, fire and heat; cold and warmth, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, dew and frost; ice and cold, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, ice and snow; day and night, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, light and darkness; lightning and storm-clouds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, all the earth, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, mountains and hills; all growing things, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, seas and rivers; springs and fountains, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, whales and fish; birds of the air, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, wild beasts and tame; sons of men, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O Israel, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, his priests; all his servants, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, spirits of the just; all who are holy and humble, bless the Lord. Ananias, Azarias, Mishael, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever. Let us bless Father, Son and Holy Spirit, praise and exalt them for ever. Bless the Lord in the firmament of heaven, praise and glorify him for ever.
Springs and fountains, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever.

Psalm 148
An anthem to the Lord, the Creator
Kings of the earth, and all peoples, praise God!
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest heavens. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his powers. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all stars that shine. Praise him, waters of the heavens, and all the waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were made. He set them firm for all ages, he made a decree that will last for ever. Praise the Lord from the earth, sea-serpents and depths of the sea, fire, hail, snow and fog, storms and gales that obey his word, mountains and hills, fruit-trees and cedars, wild beasts and tame, serpents and birds. Kings of the earth, all peoples, all leaders and judges of the earth, young men and women, old people with the young – praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His splendour is above heaven and earth, he has raised up the strength of his people. This song is for all his chosen ones, the children of Israel, the people close to him. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Kings of the earth, and all peoples, praise God!

Short reading	Nehemiah 8:9,10 ©
This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.

Canticle	Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
‘Destroy this sanctuary,’ says the Lord, ‘and in three days I will raise it up.’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
‘Destroy this sanctuary,’ says the Lord, ‘and in three days I will raise it up.’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body.

Prayers and Intercessions	?
Let us bless our Redeemer, who in his goodness has given us this time of salvation. Let us turn to him in prayer: – Lord, create a new spirit in us. Christ our life, in baptism you have mystically united us to your death but also to your resurrection: give us the gift of living our new life today. – Lord, create a new spirit in us. Lord, you did good for everyone: make us also care for the common good of all. – Lord, create a new spirit in us. Grant that we may work in harmony to build the earthly city while always seeking the heavenly one. – Lord, create a new spirit in us. Healer of body and soul, heal the wounds of our hearts: may your holiness still support us. – Lord, create a new spirit in us.

Prayers and Intercessions

Let us bless our Redeemer, who in his goodness has given us this time of salvation. Let us turn to him in prayer: