The Priest: Servant of the Liturgy

After a nice blogging hiatus, I would like to return to a subject that, in my opinion, is rarely spoken of, but, nevertheless, needs great attention: the priest as the servant of the liturgy. Basically, the priest is not meant to be a liturgical MC, he is not there to entertain the congregation, and he should not change, add, or remove actions or words based on his own authority. The priest is there to prayerfully offer the sacrifice of the mass, celebrating reverently the wedding feast of the Lamb. I could easily use some Ratzinger essays to argue for this, but, I think that using documents shows more authority.

Sacrosanctum Concilium 22.3 "No other person whatsoever, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on their own authority."

Now this is the Vatican II document, so it holds A LOT of weight. Now why shouldn't priests or "liturgical planners" be able to alter things in the liturgy such as words or actions? Because the mass, is at the heart of Christian life: "the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the source from which all its power flows." (SC 10).

Moreover, we are "catholic" in our actions. How we celebrate the liturgy here, should be essentially how we celebrate the liturgy there: "liturgical services have to do with the whole body, the Church" (SC 26" and "As far as possible, notable differences between the rites used in neighboring regions should be avoided" (SC 23). How many of our parishes differ drastically from mass to mass on a given Sunday? There will be a "youth" mass with bad music, an "old person" mass that is subdued, a "family" mass with trite and cliche music, and, possibly a "Hispanic" or "Vietnamese" or any other kind of mass. This is not the spirit of Vatican II. We are ALL Catholics, we all celebrate the same mass, we worship the same God. Although we come from different racial, economic, and social backgrounds, how we worship God in mass shouldn't be different from how our brothers and sisters in Christ worship God in mass. We can see that, in a sense, there is a false egalitarianism that is evident in the diversity of masses on a given Sunday. Instead of uniting groups of people around the Table of the Word and Body, we are cutting ourselves into groups and factions.

Ok, so in the Spirit of Vatican II, we shouldn't make things up during the Liturgy, and our masses should be relatively similar from place to place and from day to day, what about how the priest acts during mass? Coming from several documents, namely Sacramentum Caritatis, we see a strong note regarding the disposition of the priest.

Sacramentum Caritatis 23: "Priests should be conscious of the fact that in their ministry they must never put themselves or their personal opinions in first place, but Jesus Christ. Any attempt to make themselves the centre of the liturgical action contradicts their very identity as priests. The priest is above all a servant of others, and he must continually work at being a sign pointing to Christ, a docile instrument in the Lord's hands. This is seen particularly in his humility in leading the liturgical assembly, in obedience to the rite, uniting himself to it in mind and heart, and avoiding anything that might give the impression of an inordinate emphasis on his own personality."

"Uh Oh!" some might think. "Uh Oh" indeed! The priest, besides not being able to change anything in the mass, unless he assault the unity and catholicity of the Body of Christ, the Church, should not, moreover, insert himself as a liturgical MC or an entertainer. He is there to lead the people to Jesus in the Word and Body, because he himself, by virtue of ordination, is marked by being able to act in persona christi. This is why, from Apostolic times until Vatican II, the priest and the people faced the same direction during the mass, in a position called ad orientem. This was not the priest "turning his back" on the people, as liturgically and historically confused people might think, but a shocking and strong sign that the priest was not important, that he and the people together were approaching the Good Shepherd. In fact, ad orientem was never abolished, and masses today in the Ordinary Form can still be offered in this beautiful and community-building manner.

When the priest turns towards the people and puts on a show, the point of the liturgy is defeated. Turning towards the Lord with open hearts has been disfigured into turning towards ourselves in vain affirmation. The priest should not be seen as the "other" in mass; he should not be, in a sense, opposed to , or seen as strongly different from the people, but, on the contrary, he should offer the mass for and with the people: "Offering the immaculate victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they [the laity] should learn to offer themselves." (SC 48)

Clericalism is basically abusing the power of one's priesthood. For a priest to change actions or words in the Liturgy, or to call attention to himself, to insert himself and his personality into the mass is exactly an abuse of his power to act in persona Christi. In fact, one may say that, in such cases, he acts not in persona Christi, but in persona ipsius, in person of himself. This is clericalism, and during the mass, it is perhaps one of the worst forms of clericalism since the Liturgy is the source and summit of Christian life. This is not what the Church asks for, and this is not what the Church needs. Let us pray for our priests, that their selfless following of Christ may continue, so that, by being lead by the Good Shepherd, they may shepherd God's people as instruments of grace, healing, and conversion.

Heart-melting Liturgical Correctness

Need I say anymore?

Love

In the West, we have the unfortunate dichotomy of mind and heart. We see them as almost opposites, one cold and calculating, the other warm and fuzzy.  However, we need both mind and heart; a mind without a heart to guide it seeks nothing, and a heart without a mind to guide it finds nothing. For Saint Thomas Aquinas, love is exactly this combination of mind and heart, since it is a desire for union and, at the same time, a willing of goodness for another. Our mind recognizes the good, and our heart moves us towards it. Love, then, combines our mind and our heart: it is a full action of a human individual. I found this very nice quote on the object of love by Aquinas during one of my random Summa perusals.

"For it is our duty to hate, in the sinner, his being a sinner, and to love in him, his being a man capable of bliss; and this is to love him truly, out of charity, for God's sake"


A man capable of bliss is a man who can know God, who has the potential for entering heaven. So recognizing goodness with our intellect, directing ourselves to and for it with our heart, we love, and we love truly. 

You think?

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/icels-executive-director-new-missal-translation-long-overdue/

Nice little article in the Register on the new translation.

Liturgical Music Game Changers

Some of you may know that I am slightly obsessed with liturgical music. This situation has not been helped by my recent acquisitions of the "Simple Choral Gradual" by Richard Rice and the "Simple English Propers" by Adam Bartlett, both of which are available on an Amazon website near you.

We all know, of course, that antiphons are the preferred option for music at a mass, but we also know that it is hard to find anything besides boring ol' hymns from huge music corporations. Well fear no more brethren and sistren! These two books are exactly what we need! They contain the propers (not including the Responsorial Psalm) for all Sundays and Feasts for the Ordinary Form of the mass. They are both free to download online (read my "Mysterious Antiphon" article) and the books themselves are relatively inexpensive and built to last. I am particularly impressed by the Bartlett book, as it is a very well-bound hardcover edition. Of course, with any change, people will need a bit of time to get used to reading the chant notation of Bartlett, or the different feel of Rice's antiphon settings. Nevertheless, at what price liturgical fidelity and full participation?

This last Sunday I was the Schola director for a Corpus Christi mass and Eucharistic procession (videos and pics to come soon, hopefully), and a choir of 15 or so 20-somethings had no problem learning and beautifully executing the Bartlett propers.

This might sound all too good to be true, and I would say, "you're right". There is one issue that I have with these books: they don't have settings for weekday masses or for commons. The book "By Flowing Waters" (BFW) does a very good job of having weekday mass settings and commons, so it could suffice until more options come out. I like BFW, but the translation is very odd; it tries to be gender inclusive, and the English they use it fairly awkward sometimes.

So, in conclusion, I really like these new books, and I think that they have a lot to offer for parishes and communities preparing to enter more fully into the sacred mysteries as we pine with quivering anticipation for the coming of the new (awesome) English mass translation.

St. Irenaeus-Truth, Love, Peace

Today is the feast of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who is one of my favorite saints. I have been slowly working through his massive work Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies), and I have read  his delightful shorter work On the Preaching of the Apostles. If you want really clear evidence that, roughly 100 years after the death of Christ, the Church had a pretty solid grasp on Tradition as handed down by the Apostles, on the importance of Orthodoxy of belief and Scriptural interpretation, and on the importance of using the intellect, especially through theology, look no further than St. Irenaeus.

Here is the Adversus
Here is the the Preaching

It is very interesting to note that the name "Irenaeus" means "peace", hence the adjective "irenic" which means directed towards peace. And, as Aquinas notes, and the Church frequently has to reiterate, peace is not an absence of conflict or war, but it is union, it is a just and balanced relationship. In St. Irenaeus' day, the Gnostic heresy (let us all shudder) was drastically tearing apart and dividing the Church. Hence, where there is heresy, apostasy, or schism, there is no longer any peace, since division is the opposite of the unitive power of peace. And we know well from the writings of St. Paul, that division is completely unbecoming of the Body of Christ, the Church. We also know, again from Aquinas, that peace is the proper effect of love (II-II.29.3), so where there is division, there can be no love, and, hence, there can be no peace.

St. Irenaeus, in the 2nd century (the Council of Nicea was much later), puts forward this staggering summation of the faith as a counter to the division caused by the Gnostics.

"The Church, though dispersed through out the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: She believes in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His future manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father to gather all things in one, and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, every knee should bend, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send spiritual wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning, and others from their repentance,  and may surround them with everlasting glory...She also belives these points of doctrine just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth." (I.X.1-2, Adv. Haer.)

What we see from the example of this great saint, is that faithful adherence to the revealed truth of faith, the humble acceptance of what has been handed on to us ([T]radition and [t]radition), is the greatest means to acheive peace within the Body of Christ, the Church, as well as eternal glory with Christ in heaven. Where so many divisions occur between liberals and conservatives, there is no love, and, hence, no peace. As Catholics we must seek with hearts and minds open to the grace of God and the movements of the Holy Spirit, to adhere to Truth, to Christ, and only then may we hope for peace to be established among ourselves and in the world. Truth gives way to Love, and Love gives way to Peace. We are all called then, by Christ, to hold fast to the Truth (which is Himself), to express that with our love, and thus become peace-makers. As Christ himself says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Mt. 5:9)

I would like to argue, based on what has been said, that to be a peacemaker is essentially to be an evangelist. As Paul VI notes in Evangelii Nuntiandi, evangelization is the primary mission and the foremost identity of the Church, and, thus, of all Her members.  Peace (union and right-relationship) is the product of love, and love and truth come together from a relationship with Christ. Evangelization (the Greek, eu-good, angelos-message/decree, think of the Latin derivative Angelus, whereby we get the word "angel") is done by messengers, Angeli, the message is that of the person of Jesus, and all Christians are called to be evangelizers, literally, good message-ers. Christians share Jesus with the world, and that is pure evangelization. Now, if Jesus is the Truth, and the Truth begets love, and, hence, peace, and if Christians are sent (apostellein) to share Jesus with the world, then Christians, as evangelizers, are peacemakers. And as Pope Benedict (God protect him!) is wont to argue, true peace, true justice, comes not from governments alone, but from following the natural law of Jesus as written in the hearts of all people. We must look at all the conflict in the world, physical and spiritual, and see that only Jesus, the infinite self-giving of the God, can offer healing. We as Christians, following the example of St. Irenaeus, must radically adhere to the Truth of our faith, Jesus, and share it with others, so that, as evangelizers, we may also be peacemakers, and thus be worthy of the title, "Sons of God".



                                                             St. Irenaeus, pray for us!

Dominican Liturgy of the Hours

For those of you looking to "spice up" your Liturgy of the Hours prayer-life this summer, and want to improve your singing/Latin skills, as well as wanting to deviate from the Roman way of doing things, look no further than praying the Dominican Liturgy of the Hours! The Dominican Liturgy blog has the Breviary free to download on pdf: download them, find the day, and pray! Compline (night prayer), however, unfortunately, is not available to download, it is only available in print.

We are currently in the 12th Week of Ordinary Time, so use Vol. 3. We are in Week 4 of the breviary, Feria V (Thursday), so you would go to page 647. Enjoy!

Here are the links
Vol. 1: Tempus Adventus et Nativitatis
Vol. 2A: Tempus Quadragesimale
Vol. 2B: Tempus Paschale
Vol. 3: Tempus Per Annum I
Vol. 4: Tempus Per Annum II
Vol. 5: Completorium

Word

Aquinas notes that prayer is foremost an intellectual act since it is, at its heart, conversation with God. Conversation means speech, speech means words, words mean mind. When we pray, we speak to God, but, like any good conversation, we must also listen. When we listen to God, we hear His Word. The Word of God is Christ. And when we know things, Aquinas notes, there is a likeness between the knower and the thing known. So when we listen to the Word, and the Word becomes more familiar to us in our minds and hearts, then we become more like the Word, as we participate more in His likeness. How lucky are we Catholics! We have the mass where, to paraphrase St. Jerome, Christ's Body and Blood are poured into our ears during the reading of the Gospel! We have Sacred Scriptures, where we hold the Word of God in our hands, and readily encounter Him with open minds and hearts! We have Tradition, where we learn from Christ speaking to everyday Christians for two thousand years! In a sense, the Platonic music of the spheres  isn't so far fetched; we are surrounded by the Word of God, but, as Mark the Evangelist is wont to say, we must have ears to hear. He who has ears, let him hear!

I Don't Cry at Movies

I don't cry at movies.... unless their movies about dying saints. The movie Therese, while quite cheesy at parts, contains some wonderful moments, that, admittedly, made me choke up (that does not happen very often). I once had a very good discussion with other seminarians about the nature of art, and we all ended up saying that true art inspires virtue. I have not studied aesthetics formally, but I think this definition rings true in many cases. This movie was definitely inspiring, as it made me want to get on my knees and pray. How often does a movie do that? How often do we nurture ourselves with entertainment that is spiritual? Deo Gratias for good movies!

The Christian Individual

I thought that I would simply share a couple of quotes from "Introduction to Christianity" by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) regarding the individual and the whole in respect to Christianity.

"Being a Christian means essentially changing over from being for oneself to being for one another."

"Christian faith is not based on the atomized individual but comes from the knowledge that there is no such thing as the mere individual, that, on the contrary, man is himself  only when he is fitted into the whole: into  mankind, into history, into the cosmos..."

"The depths we call hell man can only give to himself. Indeed, we must put it more pointedly: Hell consists in man's being unwilling to receive anything, in his desire to be self-sufficient. It is the expression of enclosure in one's own being alone."

"Hell is wanted only to be oneself; what happens when man barricades himself up in himself."

My thoughts: Just as Christ died for all, Christ lived, and does live, for all as well. If we are united to Christ through his Body, Church and Sacrament, then we too live and die for all. This is an essential characteristic of the saints, of those who imitate Christ: they are selfless. This ties directly into many aspects of our lives, in politics we seek the common good, not the individual good. In spirituality, we are united to the Church militant and the Church triumphant, in praying for the coming of God's kingdom in our lives. By wanting to be alone, to be that rugged individual, that independent monad, we miss the point: happiness, the fulfillment of life, comes from others.

As Timothy Radcliffe points out, the greatest sorrow, the most troubling pain that we as humans can experience is radical solitude. Prisoners in isolation are devastated. Infants and children that are neglected suffer for the rest of their lives. Being alone is a psychological, physical, and spiritual sickness that distorts the image and dignity of a human. If happiness comes from others, and sickness comes from isolation, why do we seek to become these radical individuals? Why do we try to cut ourselves off, when what we really seek is to be with, to be for another?

Christianity, because it joins men and women together to be for and with one another, is a dangerous idea in the world today, since the world wants to separate, to distinguish, to set up the individual as the one who can determine his or her own good, her own "truth".  Jesus is the Truth since he is the "infinite self-expenditure of God". (Ratzinger)  Jesus lives with and for the Other, so truth is to be found in living, like Jesus, with and for others. We cannot make ourselves our own authority for defining truth, just as we cannot be happy living only for ourselves.

Missal-licious

I know you all have been pining in quivering anticipation for the New (Awesome) Mass Translation (NMT) to liturgically hit you in the face, so I thought I would slake some of your Liturgicam Authenticam thirst by teasing you with a new Daily Roman Missal that is available by pre-order through Our Sunday Visitor. I currently have a OSV daily missal, and I look forward to the new improvements of this missal: all readings are on the page for the day (occasionally in the old OSV missal you have to skip to different pages for recurrent readings), the 16 new saints in the calendar, and pictures from illuminated manuscripts!

There is something wrong with the OSV site, so you can pre-order it at Aquinasandmore.

One little concern I have is whether they will use the RSV or the NAB translations, we can only hope and pray that they will do the honorable thing and use RSV.

Wetshaving

Do you feel like a man after you shave? Do you beam with a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and thankfulness for being alive after you slice off clump of stubble? If you answer 'no', then you need to put down that silly fixed-head octuple blade and jump on the wetshaving bandwagon. What is this wetshaving? It is shaving with a safety razor, those little razor blades that coke-dealers use to make "lines", and the little blades that will slice you open without you even feeling it. You put one of those razor blades on a stick and shave your face with it. Intimidating? Yes. Worth it? Yes x 2!

Why would I want to do that? I like my jugular uncut! I am comfortable with my 12-blade, vibrating, lubricated, anti-slip grip, mechanical monster! (that sounds odd...) Why should I shave with a safety razor?

First of all its a skill, a techne, to get all Greek on you. We live in a world of mediocrity, where traditional crafts and skills are dying out, so why not learn a man-skill and set yourself apart from hoi poloi.

Secondly, you know those annoying little bumps you get on your neck after you shave? You know ingrown hairs? Those are caused by your silly 8-blade razor cutting so close that the hair begins to grow under the skin. Who needs that? With a safety-razor, the hair is cut close, but not as freakishly close as your Gillette Fusion, so you don't get ingrown hairs.

Thirdly, you know that burning sensation after you shave? That's razor burn. Imagine a rug-burn, and put that on your face, that's what razor burn is. Your Shick or Gillette multi-blade razor cut so close to the skin that it actually takes some of the skin off with it, and that's why you get razor burn. With a safety-razor, you don't get razor burn.

Fourthly, you know how expensive buying replacement blades for your razor is? You can easily spend $15-20 for 4 meager blades that will last you a month or two. That's easily $100 a year! With safety-razors, you can buy a pack of 10 blades for an average of $5, and each blade can last you a week (if you shave maybe 3 or 4 times). So if you would only spend about $25 a year for all the razors you need! Why waste your money? Thrift is another traditional man-skill. Huzzah!

Canonical Status of the Dominican Rite

Here is a great article from New Liturgical Movement, written by Fr. Pius Pietrzyk O.P. of the Eastern U.S. province. Here is the link.

Liberal? Conservative?

I have been called a liberal Catholic by some, and conservative Catholic by others. I myself have called some people liberal Catholics, and others conservative.  In any case, I have come to regard the titles of "liberal" or "conservative" as both incomplete means of belief with regards to Catholicism. A liberal is a closet aristocrat, and a conservative is a person who prefers the past, to borrow from the writer Frank Herbert. There, of course, are exceptions and derivations to this aphorism. But, regardless, in either case, there is the common error of placing the authority for the determination of orthodoxy (or -praxy) on oneself. Conservatives can as easily pick and choose pithy quotes or obscure documents to fit their needs as  liberals can. Liberals can be as hard-hearted and close-minded with regards to beliefs as conservatives can. But, overall, the individual picks and chooses what to take as authoritative, out of the entire corpus of Christian disciplines and doctrines as handed down in Tradition (containing tradition with a little "t", and Scripture). While we all have opinions, it is evident that the liberal/conservative divide, and all such polemics within the Church, do not contribute to the growth and unity of the body of Christ. As Aquinas notes, love is a desire for union, so when we engage in liberal/conservative politics within the Church, we ultimately cause division, and this, in turn, squelches love.

So what is one to do? Turning to Scripture, we can find sound and holy advice from St. Paul as he addressed conflict within the communities that he was working to cultivate in the ways of Faith:

"Live in harmony with one another" (Rom 12:16)

"If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all." (Rom 12:18)

"Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor 1:12)

"For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? (1 Cor 3:3)

"The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Cor 10:16-17)

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one, so it is with Christ." (1 Cor 12:12)

So if liberals and conservatives are causing dissension and harming the body of Christ, what is the alternative? Being a bland Catholic? Being a boring person with no viewpoints? I would respond with a resounding "No!" The healthy alternative between being liberal or conservative is being a "faithful" Catholic. Now, that doesn't mean that libs or cons are unfaithful, but that, by causing dissension, or making themselves their own magisterium, there is, in a sense, a lack of fidelity, not to particular truths, but to the whole Truth that is taught by the Church.  As evidenced by the etymology of "faith", the Latin word fides, means such things as trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, and belief. The word, and the adjective "faithful" imply that an individual is placing hope or authority in something beyond themselves. When we have faith in God, we place our trust in Him, and not in ourselves. When we have faith in a politician, we have belief that he or she will do what is right. Faith involves decreasing the self for the other. We may look at John the Baptist as an exemplar of faith as he says, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). We may also look at St. Paul as he says, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

Faith, then, involves a very unpopular word in today's self-centered Western culture: submission. Faith, especially in Christ, involves submission to Christ, and that is exactly what Paul and John reference. They themselves decrease, submit, so that Christ may increase and live in their hearts. And as the Church is the body of Christ, to submit to Christ necessarily involves submission to the Church. That is why the phrase "Jesus: yes, Church: no", makes little sense, because to deny one is to deny the other, as Ratzinger points out. This submission does not make us automatons or mindless zombies, but it frees us, as Paul writes:

"But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have becomes slaves of righteousness... yield your members to righteousness for sanctification" (cf Rom 6:17, 19)

Submitting to Christ and to the Church which is His body, we are freed to lives of righteousness and salvation.

So what does a "faithful" Catholic look like? A faithful Catholic seeks to know what the Church teaches ( recall Christ speaking to the 12 Apostles, whose successors, the Bishops, comprise the Church's teaching authority, "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." (Lk 10:16) ), a faithful Catholic embraces what the Church teaches, and a faithful Catholic puts these teachings into practice in their everyday lives. A faithful Catholic does not pick and choose what to believe, but embraces the whole truth of faith, and is set free to live in imitation of Christ. A faithful Catholic, also, is not a rubricist who seeks to meticulously follow minute laws, but submits to the Church's laws because, ultimately, it is done for the love of Christ.

Australia embraces new translation

A nice article on the new translation in Australia, which is now in partial use.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/new-translation-of-liturgy-launched-to-mass-applause/story-e6frg6nf-1226073971091

Rationale for the Ordinary Form

I read this address by Paul VI, and, I must admit, I am still grappling with it. It presents a very interesting rationale for the Ordinary Form mass, and that is that it is primarily an innovation meant to be apostolic. The Ordinary Form ought to encourage each member of the congregation to pray the mass, not merely be a spectator. I think, at this point in Church history, we may be approaching an era where both the Extraordinary Form (EF) and the Ordinary Form (OF) may be offered side by side as both encouraging prayer. Certainly the error of rubricism in the EF and the error of de-sacralization in the OF are to be addressed, but, in any form, mass deserves to be done well, with the laity assisting the priest by prayerful participation. It is wonderful to see Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae allowing greater freedom, and the new OF English translation: these moves by the Church give the form of a great liturgical renewal. However, it is up to all of us, lay and religious, to provide the spiritual substance for this form. The kitchy elements imposed upon the OF in certain places ought to be removed, so that the focus is not an individuals or on a false sense of participation, but that the focus may be directed, as are our Christian lives, towards God the Father, through Jesus, in the Spirit.

This is a brief summary of what I interpret to be the intended direction for the liturgy of the Roman Rite:
OF- Restoration of Sacrality, remove the kitchy, the campy, and promote true participation.
EF-Wider accessibility, both in terms of being more widely offered and being more widely understood.


Here is the Paul VI article...
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6691126.HTM

Traditional Genetics

Tradition is, in a sense, like our genes or genetic material; it is given to us from our predecessors, it helps to determine who we are and what we do, and we pass it on to our offspring.  There are, of course, limitations to this analogy, but I think it captures something very important about how we understand Tradition. Tradition is the lived experience and world-view of community, so we cannot help but be born into a tradition. But what of Christian Tradition? With any lived experience and world-view, we can make the distinction between practices and beliefs. Christian Tradition, then, is the practices and beliefs that have been lived and passed on from one generation to another since the time of the Apostles. The beliefs we receive govern how we see the world and assign value, and the practices help us to manifest these beliefs in our everyday lives. Tradition, we can see, is not something static and vehemently forced upon us, but is something living and life-giving. We take tradition from our ancestors, we live it in our own time and place, and then pass it on to our children. We cannot abandon tradition just as we cannot abandon the fact that X is my mother and Y is my father. But, at the same time, in order for tradition to be alive, it must be lived within our own time, and must be expressed in our own culture. Traditionalism, then, is dangerous since it prevents the life of faith to continue. As Jaroslav Pelikan writes, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living."

What about change? Can we change tradition? Many people today are upset with the Church because it condemns sexual immorality (sodomy, contraception, cohabitation, fornication, masturbation, etc.) , and it doesn't allow women to be priests. Since these things are acceptable in the secular world, why can't the Church simply change its beliefs and adapt itself to the desires of society?

In a sense we cannot change tradition because by its nature, it is meant to be continuity in human experience. However, in the Church, we know that we can develop and define tradition. The early Christians spent centuries trying to explain the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. The celebration of the Eucharist has undergone many developments in both the East and the West. But still, in whatever we do, we must check ourselves with the original authorities of our faith: Sacred Scripture and Apostolic teaching. Our guarantee that we are authentic Christians comes from the fact that our practices and our believes are concomitant with the Scriptures and with the Apostolic traditions that are handed on by another very important part of tradition: the Magisterium.

We can turn to the Vatican II document Dei Verbum to learn more of this:

"Both scripture and tradition must be accepted and honored with equal devotion and reverence." #9

"The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This magisterium is not superior to the word of God, but rather its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it." #10

Yves Congar O.P., in his book The Meaning of Tradition writes,

"All Christians are collectively responsible for Christianity, just as, collectively, they all form a holy priesthood and spiritual fabric. They carry and transmit Christianity and the Gospel from generation to generation.  Within the body of Christians, that is, the Church, the hierarchy, following the apostles, have received the mandate, authority and corresponding power to keep the apostolic deposit and Gospel and to explain them authentically. The mere transmission is one thing; at least in a certain way it concerns everyone; keeping, judging, and defining it with the authority of the Magisterium is another: it is the function of the hierarchy, comprising the college of bishops united to the Pope, who is the head of this college as Peter was head of the apostolic college. Collectively and organically the faithful and hierarchy form the subject of tradition."

We cannot change tradition because it is not up to use to change it. We cannot abandon tradition because it is not ours to abandon. We receive what has been handed down and we hand it on with our lives. The Church does not have the authority to change tradition, because tradition has as its origin Jesus Christ and his teachings, who the Apostles saw with their own eyes and lived with, and spread that good news, the Gospel, that they experienced in the person of Christ, to all people. We are therefore responsible not only to know tradition, but to live in accordance with it, in our own times, and pass it on, since it is the authentic faith that comes to us from those who ate, prayed, and traveled with Jesus Christ.

We cannot allow sexual immorality, in any of its forms, we cannot ordain women to the priesthood, and we cannot succumb to the passing ideological whims of the majority (the dictatorship of relativism that Pope Benedict is fighting), because like Peter clinging to Christ while falling into the water, we must cling to the authentic Christian beliefs and practices, handed down from generation to generation, that allow us to claim the dignified title of "Christian".

New Vocation Vid from English OPs

God come to my assistance

Every day throughout the world, men and women begin their day with the prayer, Domine, labia mea aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam (O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise) at the Invitatory psalm before the Liturgy of the Hours. 


At all other hours, they being by saying Deus in adjutorium meum intende, Domine ad adjuvandum me festina (God come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me) while making the sign of the cross. After this, the minor Trinitarian doxology is spoken, Gloria Patri et Filio and Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum, amen (Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning and now, and forever amen). The first prayer comes from the great penitential Psalm 51, and the other comes from Psalm 70. The Doxology is a great hymn of prayer coming to us from the early Church.


It's very easy, over time, to simply mumble these prayers and wait until we get to the meaty part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the Psalms themselves. So why not just begin with the sign of the cross and get going? Well, let's take a look at the significance of each of these prayers.


1. O Lord, open my lips....
   In his commentary on Psalm 51, Aquinas notes on this verse...

       

 "But it must be noted that in the opening of the mouth is understood the depth of instruction, wherever in the Scriptures is found the opening of the mouth; as in Job 3. "After this Job opened his mouth." And Mattthew 5. "Opening his mouth, Jesus." that is, in the depth of Scripture. And then my mouth shall declare thy praise; as if he were saying: What I hold in my heart, I shall confess with my mouth." 

    
As we begin the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer of the Church, we call upon God to instruct us in how we ought to pray, to guide us in our attempt to render Him praise. As the disciples found after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is the one who opens lips, and pours forth the glory of God from the mouths of men. It is just as Paul writes, "for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us"(Rom 8:26).  Before we pray, we must ask God, through the movement of the Spirit, to inspire our prayer, so that what we wish to render God in our hearts, comes forth clearly with our mouths.


2. God come to my assistance...
    In his commentary on this verse, St. Augustine notes...

 "For we have need for an eternal aid in this world. But when have we not? Now however being in tribulation, let us especially say, “O God, to my aid make speed."

This call for divine assistance is necessary for all Christians, because daily we are involved in the competition of faith, as Paul writes, 

"Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand... Pray at all times in the Spirit [O Lord open my lips], with all prayer and supplication." (Eph 6:10-13, 17)

Calling upon the Lord at the beginning of prayer while making the sign of the cross is marking ourselves as Christians, setting us apart and preparing us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, to run so as to win. As Christians, we require divine assistance in all we do, so that we may glorify God, become sanctified, and edify our brothers and sisters. No wonder, then, we make this prayer as we begin the Liturgy of the Hours!

3. Glory to the Father...

We read in the Catholic encyclopedia that a doxology is typically used at the end of a rite or a hymn. Why do we say a doxology after praying, "God come to my assistance"?  Doxologies are used to praise God (the etymology of Doxology is "glory" and "saying") so it is no wonder that, after invoking the divine assistance, we give praise to the Trinity, by whom we receive assistance and the ability and dignity to pray. 

4. All together....

So let's put everything together. At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Hours, a great exchange is committed: we receive assistance, the Holy Spirit, from God, and in return we offer praise. Herein lies the essence of prayer! Aquinas notes that prayer is a speech act (cf. II-II.83ff), as does Von Balthasar, and countless other theologians and mystics. In a speech act, or in any form of communication, there involves a giving and a receiving. We speak to someone, and then we listen to them. What we are doing at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Hours is not some simple ritual, but a great expression of Christian prayer. We receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit who opens our lips to pray and who is our advocate against evil, and in return, we can do nothing but offer a simple hymn of praise to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Moved by the Spirit, contemplating the Word for the Glory of the Father, we then proceed to pray the Psalms, the Fifth Gospel. Is that awesome or what!

      

Pentecawesome

What an awesome day Pentecost is! The celebration of the Lord and Giver of Life (Dominum et Vivificantem) entering the hearts of the faithful for the continued salvific work of Christ, of bringing all men to God. Below I am posting a whole bunch of quotes about the Holy Spirit. Enjoy!

"Jesus is the way and the Spirit is the guide who enables man to gor forward on that way."-Swete

"Pentecost was and is a paschal feast. There is one single liturigcal cycle, which is Christological and paschal. What is celebrated [on Pentecost] is the making present, through faith and the sacrament and in praise and thanksgiving, of the Christian mystery as such."-Congar

"The Spirit makes it possible for us to know, recognize and experience Christ. This is not simply a doctinral statement. It is an existential reality which comes from a gift and involves us in our lives."-Congar

"The Spirit-Breath is first and foremost what causes man to act so that God's plan in history may be fulfilled."-Congar

"The Holy Spirit comes after him [Jesus] and because of hium, in order to continue in the world, through the Church, the work of the Good News of salvation."-JPII

"The supreme and most complete revelation of God to humanity is Jesus Christ himself, and the witness of the Spirit inspires, guarentees and convalidates the faithful transmission of this revelation in the preaching and writing of the Apostles..."-JPII

"The Holy Spirit, then, will ensure that in the Church there will always continue the same truth which the Apostles heard from their Master."-JPII

"He is Person-Love. He is Person-Gift."-JPII

"On that day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was sent to sanctify the Church forever, so that believers might have access to the Father through Christ in the Spirit."-JPII

"The Holy Spirit is the gift that comes into man's heart together with prayer. In prayer he manifests himself first of all and above as the gift that 'helps us in our weakness.'"-JPII

"At Pentecost everyone understood each other because they had forgotten about themselves."-Cantalamessa

"The Church has always demonstrated its greatest strength and vitality when it has acted on this charismatic and pnuematice level, that is, when it has performed actions that have the explicit mark of the Spirit."-Cantalamessa

"All day long, and even all through the hours when consciousness is asleep, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us in many ways."-Jarrett

"The perfection of a soul is measured by its docility to the movement of the Spirit, by the promptitude and fidelity with which its strings produce the divine notes of the song of love."-Martinez

"The Holy Spirit brings to our souls the fruitfulness of the Father and binds us lovingly to the Son."-Martinez

"To enjoy the Holy Spirit is to love; to enjoy the Word is to know. But just as the divine Persons are inseparable, those divine joys are also intimately bound together. Intimate knowledge produces love; profound love is a source of light."-Martinez

"The Holy Spirit takes us to Jesis; He makes us Jesus by transforming us into Him. This is His work; nobody can be conformed to Jesus except in the unity of the Holy Spirit."-Martinez

"When a temple is consecrated to God, it is a place set apart for Him alone...Every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit; every Christian is consecrated to Him; and nothing else may be done in that temple in which God dwells except that which will give glory to Him."-Martinez

"To be a devotee of the Holy Spirit is to comprehend the august dignity of the Christian, his holy mission, and his arduous duties that are sweetened by love. It is to establish oneself in truth, to be faithful to the sacred promises of Baptism, to be what one ought to be, and then to strive for that perfection to which every Christian should aspire."-Martinez

"He [Holy Spirit] is said to be our Comforter in trouble and our Advocate in blessings."-Aquinas

"The Holy Spirit is the author of all grace, since He is the first in Whome all gifts are given gratis"-Aquinas

"The soul's life is union with God, inasmuch as God is the life of the soul. Now, the Holy Spirit unites us to God by love, for He is Himself God's love, which is why He gives life."-Aquinas

"Charity is not something created in the soul, but is the Holy Spirit Himself dwelling in the mind."-Aquinas

New Mass Translation Videos

Are you ready for when the (awesome) new mass translation drops on the first Sunday of Advent?

Check out these videos from the USCCB.

The Mysterious Antiphon

Did you know that hymns are the last option for music at a Catholic mass?! When you read Church documents, you find that when a series of options are given, it is always in sequential order of preference, from most preferable to least preferable. If you look at documents such as the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), you will find that the antiphons are the most preferable option for all the musical parts of mass, while hymns are the last. For example, you can look at #48 in the GIRM, here, and see that the antiphon is the first preference.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!", you might say to me, "my parish only uses hymns, that's what I'm familiar and comfortable with.  What is all of this antiphon mumbo jumbo?"

Good question, I would reply.

What is all of this antiphon mumbo jumbo? The word "antiphone" comes from the Greek "anti"=in return + "phone"=sound. So an antiphon is to "sound in return". This is because antiphons are sung in a verse and response format, and this can be done between cantor and choir, cantor and people, choir and people, or any other option you can think of. Antiphons, therefore, are a great way for full and active participation since it involves both listening and responding!  And a congregation that listens and responds is a congregation that will grow together as a community in the prayer of the mass.

"Well that's nice, but antiphons seem like some pre-Vatican II institution that is cold and outdated" you might say.

Rubbish! I would respond with fervor and vigor. Every single mass has its own set of antiphons that are proper to it (that is why they are called mass "Propers") and they are all based on scriptures, or from the great prayers of the Church! How many times do we have to recycle the same old hymns when each mass deserves to be celebrated with its own special music! What's more, hymns can often be based on scripture, but will often end up simply being poems set to music, which is nice, but how much more awesome is it to sing the word of God!  Not only that, but for centuries, dating back to the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries, Christians sang antiphons for their worship. When we sing antiphons, we not only become full and active participants at mass, not only do we grow closer as a community, not only do we make each mass a special celebration, not only to we sing the word of God, but we also grow closer to the greater Christian community of all the men and women, saints and sinners, throughout the ups and downs of history, in an unending song of praise to God in the great prayer of the mass! Whoa!!!

At this point, you will say, "OK, I am sold. But I have such an expensive contract with a diabolical money-grabbing music factory, where can I find antiphons for my parish?"

"The internet!" I would respond. There are so many good options available for singing antiphons!

If you want to sing the Proper antiphons in English FOR FREE(!!!!!!) you can look at this site
http://musicasacra.com/simple-propers-of-the-mass-ordinary-form/
if you want an easy choir setting, you can use this site,
http://www.musicasacra.com/books/simplechoralgradual.pdf

If you get tired of printing these out, they are available on Amazon.

If you want to sing the Proper antiphons in Latin (oooooooohhh) FOR FREE(!!!!!!) you can look at this site
http://www.institute-christ-king.org/latin-mass-resources/sacred-music/
this site
http://isaacjogues.org/chants/
this site
the Gregorian Missal

or you can just order this book.

"Wow! Not only is it liturgically correct and spiritually awesome to use antiphons, but I can also save money!" you would say.

"Huzzah!" I would respond.

Cantate Domino Canticum Novum!

Ascension

For those of you that don't have/pray the liturgy of the hours, I am posting the 2nd reading from the Office of Readings for today. If you would like to pray the liturgy of the hours, but don't want to dish out for the 4 volume set this website works really well...

From a sermon by Saint Augustine

No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven

Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.

  Christ is now exalted above the heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? and when he said: I was hungry and you gave me food.

  Why do we on earth not strive to find rest with him in heaven even now, through the faith, hope and love that unites us to him? While in heaven he is also with us; and we while on earth are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power and his love. We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love.

  He did not leave heaven when he came down to us; nor did he withdraw from us when he went up again into heaven. The fact that he was in heaven even while he was on earth is borne out by his own statement: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

  These words are explained by our oneness with Christ, for he is our head and we are his body. No one ascended into heaven except Christ because we also are Christ: he is the Son of Man by his union with us, and we by our union with him are the sons of God. So the Apostle says: Just as the human body, which has many members, is a unity, because all the different members make one body, so is it also with Christ. He too has many members, but one body.

  Out of compassion for us he descended from heaven, and although he ascended alone, we also ascend, because we are in him by grace. Thus, no one but Christ descended and no one but Christ ascended; not because there is no distinction between the head and the body, but because the body as a unity cannot be separated from the head

New Mass Translation

For many Catholics, the new mass translation will bring confusion, mainly due to the slow pace at which parishes are making preparations. This is too bad since the translation is an incredible improvement; it brings English-speaking Catholics closer to brothers and sisters of different languages, it follows much more carefully the beautiful Latin of the ordinary form, and brings out the scriptural content of the mass, and it is more adaptable to chant. Many people, even ones in favor of the translation, however, are unaware of specifically why this translation is being brought about... The answer lies in a pretty awesome document called Liturgicam Authenticam, which hit the stands in 2001. Because of this document, we are seeing, and will see in the future (the Liturgy of the Hours e.g.) much better translating being done for English-speaking nations.

If you have a few minutes, take a look at this document.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20010507_liturgiam-authenticam_en.html

Universae Ecclesiae

For those of you interested in the Liturgical Renewal that is blossoming under Pope Benedict, you might find it useful to read the latest awesome-bomb from the Vatican concerning the Extraordinary Form of the Mass....

http://www.romereports.com/palio/Instruction-Universae-Ecclesiae-on-the-implementation-of-the-Motu-Proprio-Summorum-Pontificum-Full-Text-english-4123.html    (the video is dorky)

This document clarifies this document....

http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16summorumpontificum.htm

LOOONG TIME

Well, it has been many moons since I last posted. Since then I have been accepted to the Western Province Dominicans! Huzzah!

I will now list a ton of links that I find extremely pertinent....
http://musicasacra.com/simple-propers-of-the-mass-ordinary-form/
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/
http://www.neatorama.com/
http://www.stjosephmonastery.com/newsletter_forms/orientem.pdf
Catholic Culture : News Features
A Catholic Life: Bishop Slattery of Tulsa: Ad Orientem Novus Ordo
Dominican Rite Low Mass (Commentary) A1 Prep Book
Pope upholds primacy of Gregorian chant :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Homosexuality and Catholicism.

For those of you interested, this is an article that was posted in Gonzaga's newspaper last week. Please read it, and then read by following response, here. Veritas Bomb!

Monologues

Sorry it's been a while gang! Here is a letter I wrote to the editor of the Gonzaga Bulletin regarding the Vagina Monologues


In her letter explaining her decision to allow the performance of the "Vagina Monologues," Academic Vice President Dr. Patricia Killen cites the Church document, "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," which is the official document concerning Catholic Universities. The section she cites (section 7) says that Catholic Universities have the character of impartially searching for the truth.  I would, first of all, like to thank Dr. Killen for attempting to make Gonzaga more Catholic by following the directives of "Ex Corde Ecclesiae."  I would, however, strongly disagree that, under this document, and any other official Church document, provisions are made that would support the performance of the "Vagina Monologues." 

What Catholics and those supporting the Monologues have in agreement is the dignity of women.  What they disagree about, however, is how this dignity is realized, and how it is lived.  Upon further reading of "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," beyond the generalized introduction, it says that Catholic Universities must follow the teachings of the Church: "One consequence of its essential relationship to the Church is that the institutionalfidelity of the University to the Christian message includes a recognition of and adherence to the teaching authority of the Church in matters of faith and morals. Catholic members of the university community are also called to a personal fidelity to the Church with all that this implies. Non-Catholic members are required to respect the Catholic character of the University, while the University in turn respects their religious liberty," (27), So the issue now is, what does the Church say about faith and morals? 

In the Monologues, as can be either read online, or seen on YouTube, there is, in a sense, the glorification of masturbation, of sexual relations outside of marriage and of other such activities.  There are even sections where "Cunt Power!" is chanted.  We can see clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is the official compilation of the teachings of the Church regarding faith and morals, that masturbation (CCC 2352), fornication (CCC 2353), and the identification of people as mere sexual objects (cf. CCC 2337 through 2350), are contrary to the faith and morals of Catholics.  We read further on in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," that, "the education of students is to combine academic and professional development with formation in moral and religious principles and the social teachings of the Church." (50) We can see, clearly, that the content of the Monologues is contrary to the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Church. The Monologues, therefore, do not have a place in a Catholic institution or in the education of its students.

This does not mean, however, that we cannot have discussion about the dignity, respect, and vocation of women, which is a part of the Catholic commitment to truth.  Pope John Paul II wrote an incredible document called, "On the Dignity and Vocation of Women."  He also treats human sexuality in his "Theology of the Body" writings.  The Catechism, especially in sections 2331 through 2336, as well as the Vatican II constitutions "Gaudium et Spes" and "Lumen Gentium," all speak of the equality of men and women, and the inherent dignity of humanity and sexual identity.  Instead of having performances of controversial plays or other events that polemically divide more than they unite, why can't we simply have speakers, lectures, and events based around these documents that truly represent the Catholic position?  Events like these are already planned, I believe, and present a more reasonable, Catholic approach toward dialogue with the truth. These events would also be more agreeable to students and faculty regardless of political or ideological affiliation.  They would also affirm the commitment that Gonzaga has to its Catholic identity, and to the Jesuit identity, which, itself, is still subordinate to the directives of the Catholic Church.  We at Gonzaga should, first, read, and be able to cite, the official documents of the Church regarding these issues, otherwise we have no way of saying whether or not an opinion is Catholic.

There is no question about the dignity, respect, and vocation of women.  The Monologues, however, present such issues in a way contrary to the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church (recall "Ex Corde Ecclesiae,"27, above).  To allow, even unofficially, its performance on a Catholic campus, is to throw into doubt Gonzaga's commitment to "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" and the teachings of the Church.

And, in case you were wondering, here is the original letter sent out by Dr. Killen.

Memorandum

TO:                 Gonzaga Faculty, Staff and Students

FROM:           Patricia O’Connell Killen, Academic Vice President

RE:                  Upcoming Programming on Women, Violence, and Catholic Teaching

DATE:                        March 17, 2011

Each year, the Gonzaga community hosts a series of events focused on increasing awareness about, and eliminating acts of violence against, women.  Incidents of violence against women are an issue for college campuses in particular; Gonzaga has this year put focus on these behaviors and the situations that give rise to them through activities such as the Green Dot program.

During the week of April 4-10, 2011, the Women & Gender Studies Program, the English Department, the Sociology Department, the Honors Program, and the Institute for Hate Studies are together sponsoring an academic series entitled: “({Monologues, Dialogues, & Stories}): An Interdisciplinary Academic Discussion on Women’s Narratives, Catholic Theologies, Violence Against Women and ‘The Vagina Monologues’.”  

The week will include three interrelated events: (1) a panel presentation and discussion entitled “Voices on ‘The Vagina Monologues’, Catholic Tradition, and Jesuit Identity” [April 4]; (2) “Learning to Speak: the Power of Narratives” -- an exploration of the power of storytelling and the place of stories in movements toward social justice [April 6]; and, (3) a reader’s theatre presentation of “The Vagina Monologues” followed by a faculty-moderated “talk back” with cast and crew [April 10]. More information about the three events, including auditions for the story slam that follows “Learning to Speak” and roles in “The Vagina Monologues” will be available by week’s end.

It is widely acknowledged that “The Vagina Monologues” is considered by many a provocative, if not controversial, play.  This reader’s theatre presentation of “The Vagina Monologues” will not be a public event.  The play is being performed in the context of an interdisciplinary academic exploration, using a model of mutual learning by doing and reflecting that is employed regularly in classrooms at the university.  This performance of “The Vagina Monologues” is exclusively by and for Gonzaga students, faculty and staff.   Attendance at this event, as with each of those planned, is entirely voluntary.

“The Vagina Monologues” contains raw language and explicit descriptions of sexual behavior.   The particular monologues in the play are composites developed from experiences of actual women. They are, for many, disturbing.  As is the case for much activist art, significant numbers of people have found the subject matter and language to be offensive. The faculty and students who have organized this week view the play as an opportunity to engage in a cultural dialogue that explores women’s experiences of identity, sexual assault, the role of power in relationships and the social structures and attitudes that affect and shape all of these, and the place of disruptive art in movements for social justice.

The seriousness of the issue the week highlights -- violence against women, and Gonzaga’s responsibility as a Jesuit, Catholic university to engage critically at the boundaries of culture where “the burning exigencies of humanity and the perceived message of the Gospel” are joined -- led to my decision to support this project (Address of Pope Benedict to General Congregation 35).  If, as Ex Corde Ecclesiae (“From the Heart of the Church”) states, “ . . . by its Catholic character, a University is made more capable of conducting an impartial search for truth, a search that is neither subordinated to nor conditioned by particular interest of any kind,” then faculty, staff and students at Gonzaga are called to attend to and reflect on their own assumptions and presuppositions, and to engage in discourse about experiences of sexual violence, controversial art, ideas and events with scholarly charity (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Introduction, Section 7).  Difficult and unpleasant human experiences cannot be denied in a Catholic university’s engagement with the larger culture.

This week of programming is focused primarily on narrative and voice as a means for exploring issues of violence against women.   Equally important to understanding the issue of violence against women are the themes of Catholic theologies of the body and Catholic teaching on sexuality.  These will be explored by a series of speakers later this spring and in the fall.  The first of these presenters, moral theologian Dr. James Halstead, O.S.A., chair of the Department of Religious Studies at DePaul University, will be at Gonzaga on Monday, April 18, speaking on Catholic perspectives on violence and broken bodies.  More information on his lecture and on subsequent speakers will be forthcoming. 

The presentation of “The Vagina Monologues” on campus in no way implies that the University condones or supports particular values and behaviors expressed in the play or by its author.  However, it is not in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education to avoid ideas or attitudes that are different from our own, but instead to critically engage them in respectful dialogue so that everyone may come to a deeper understanding of the truth.  It is in this spirit that the faculty have chosen to evaluate issues of women’s violence and empowerment through this series of events.  Thank you.

The Pope on Lent

Here is a very nice article from Zenit (a primo Catholic news site) about Lent.

http://www.zenit.org/article-31981?l=english

On the lighter side....

Here is a fun/interesting/crazy/intriguing way of going about fasting during Lent. It's giving me some ideas.....

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/03/09/man-vows-to-fast-on-beer-during-lent/

Ash Wednesday-The Renewal of our Spiritual Athleticism

Well, today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I was struck by the first reading from the Office of Readings for today, which is Isaiah 58:1-12. To be honest, and to expose my scriptural ignorance, I had never read this passage before, so, I was very impressed by how pertinent it was to Lent. We have to recall that the purpose of Lent is to draw closer to Christ.

This drawing closer to Christ is fundamentally eschatological, that is, it is fundamentally linked to the death and resurrection of Christ, and our own death, judgment, and resurrection at the end time.  As we journey towards the cross of Good Friday, we prepare ourselves for our own Christian death and judgment. As we journey towards the resurrection of Easter, we prepare ourselves to be worthy of our own bodily resurrection at the end time.

This journey and preparation begins now. Every day is an opportunity for conversion, every day we must either pray with our whole hearts, do good works for the love of God and neighbor, and participate in the life of the Church, or fall behind, succumbing to our own egotism, pride, and vanity. We fast, pray, and give alms during Lent (the three forms of penance), not to beat ourselves up and say "woe is me!" (which often is pride in disguise), but to direct our life towards the Cross.  Lent is a time to ask ourselves the tough questions:

"Am I daily living a Christian life?",

"Do I truly pray, or do I just say words?

"Is my life directed towards God, or towards my own self-interests?"

"Have I listened to the Word of God and born fruit, as the parable of the seed and the sower? Or do I see my Christian duties as a burden?"

"Do I separate my faith from my life? Do I see my faith and spirituality as purely private matters? Or do I live as a genuine Christian no matter where I am or what I am doing?"

Paul loves the analogy of athletes and runners as the rigor, training, and practice of Christian life.  Just as athletes endure hardships, train for hours, control their diet and what they put into their body, and are extremely focused on obtaining their prize, so must Christians readily endure hardships by emptying our selves, train for hours in prayer and good works, control our diet and desires by fasting, and must be extremely focused on obtaining our prize of eternal life.  We Christians, must be athletes, not necessarily of the body, but of the spirit.

Christ journeyed to the Cross, and there emptied himself for love of the world. So must we journey towards the eternal Cross, and daily empty ourselves for love of Christ.

Here is the passage from Isaiah.

1 "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3 'Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.