Bible Study: Witnessing on John 6:35ff

I attended the men's Bible Study at the Princeton Alliance Church near Queenship of Mary this past Thursday night. I got an email (along with the other regulars) out of the blue from the leader, Barry, which said "We'll kick off this week with Chapter 6, verse 35." No mention of the book of the Bible, but I'm a Catholic, so I know my Scriptures!

What other 6:35 would you start a Bible Study session with? John 6:35. The "Bread of Heaven" discourse! At a non-denominational Bible Study! As a Catholic, I felt compelled to go.

We didn't get to the verses about eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ until the very end of the evening, because there was much more discussion (and disagreement) over some of the verses before those. "All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. ... No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:37, 44) There was some discussion about predestination, why some people answer the call and others don't, whether God calls everyone or only some people.

My contribution to the discussion was to offer that God's desire that all men be saved (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9) is distinct from His sovereign will. I argued that we have free will in this way: 1) sin is a transgression against God, thus 2) sin is a transgression against the will of God, so 3) God cannot command or will a person to sin because He would be willing against His will, so 4) our choice to sin is determined by our free will. God is not the author of sin, even though He is the author of those who sin.

It would be utterly contrary to His nature for God to will someone to not do His will. That's a paradox, plain and simple: in disobeying God, that man would be obeying God! Another way to come to the same conclusion comes from the words of Christ: "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) If we have no free will, then that means we are all doing simply what God pre-ordained us to do: we are all doing God's will for us. That means all of us shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. That's absurd and is refuted soundly by Scripture. Thus, we have free will.

And again, we pray "Thy will be done". Why would we bother praying that if it's already being done?

God knows our free will decisions because He is God. He is outside of time, and so He knows what I'm doing before I go to bed, not because He commanded or willed it, but because He has already seen it by virtue of his omniscience.

With that out of the way, we finally moved onto John 6:53-58. I suggested that I was in the minority in my interpretation of these verses because I'm Catholic. Barry (who is such a gentle and kind man, and is newly engaged, so pray for him and his fiancée) asked me to give that Catholic interpretation.

So I did. I defended the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist several ways. I defended drinking Christ's blood against the commandment not to consume the blood of animals. I defended Christ's language, going from phago ("to consume" which could be philosophical, not physical) to trogo ("to gnaw", which is not used outside of the literal sense). I defended the context of this passage, which starts with the miraculous multiplication of fishes and loaves (a superabundance, an overabundance); which starts with mention of the Passover and ends with mention of Judas' future betrayal (as do the Last Supper accounts of the synoptic gospels). I defended the Church's "policy" on a "closed communion": receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is a sign of being in Communion with the Church and all she teaches and professes to be true. I defended against the argument of "it is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no avail", because Jesus does not say his flesh is of no avail, and the words that he spoke (which are Spirit and life) are quite plainly: "eat my flesh and drink my blood".

I also corrected a few misconceptions (voiced or not). The Church does not teach that Jesus becomes bread and wine: bread and wine become Jesus. The Church does not teach that mindless and rote consumption of Holy Communion saves us; on the contrary, she believes what St. Paul says on the subject, that those who receive unworthily receive condemnation! (cf. 1 Cor 11:27-30) I answered a question about whether a person has to receive Communion (such as a person who is baptized and dies before receiving Communion), although I didn't cite the Council of Trent (Session 21, Chapter IV).

We didn't finish the chapter, so I'll be going again next Thursday night for some "followup". Please pray for me, and pray for Barry, Steve, Kevin, Steve, John, Alan, Sidney, Joe, Yeol, and Gary.

The importance of music in Catholic worship

Another excellent (and brief) post by Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement:

At some point in my studies of Catholic liturgy, I concluded that you can't really understand liturgy without understanding or being exposed to the music of the Mass — that is, without the music, you miss important information that forms our tradition and faith. The text alone does not provide all. Critical signals and knowledge are embedded in notes and forms of notes. This is lost when we fail to sing what the Church's liturgy asks us to sing. We are missing out on the whole of the liturgical structure and the experience of the faith that liturgy provides.

Read the rest, which includes a commentary by William Mahrt on the propers for the First Sunday of Lent.

An exercise in Latin translation

I like the Super Smash Brothers series of games. I've played the N64 version, the GameCube version, and the Wii version. The Wii version has a theme song in Latin! However, the translations of this Latin theme song are often wrong. If you've seen Audi famam illius translated as "I have heard of his rumor", then you've seen a poor translation. Here is my attempt at an accurate translation of the theme song from Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Audi famam illius. Solus in hostes ruit et patriam servavit.
(Hearken to his tale! He alone rushed upon [into] the enemy and protected his native land.)

Audi famam illius. Cucurrit quaeque tetigit destruens.
(Hearken to his tale! He charged, destroying everything he touched.)

Spes omnibus, mihi quoque.
([He is] hope for all men, not only to me.)

Terror omnibus, mihi quoque.
([He is] fear for all men, even to me.)

Ille iuxta me.
(He is at my side.)

Socii sunt mihi qui olim viri fortes rivalesque erant.
(They are allies to me, who once were strong heroes and rivals.)

Saeve certando pugnandoque sprendor crescit.
([Our] splendor increases through vying and fighting fiercely.)

Abortion rhetoric

Diane from Te Deum laudamus posted on this, as did Patrick Madrid. The National Catholic Reporter, which stretches wider the definition of "Catholic" every day, has an article with the following title: "I am a prochoice Catholic".

Before I get into the meat of her argument, I want to speak briefly about how the author (who "serves on the Women’s Ordination Conference board of directors and the Call to Action Next Generation Leadership Team") describes her realization:

And thus started my process of discernment around the right to abortion. It took several years. I asked friends on both sides of the issue thousands of questions. I read book after book. I prayed. I studied what the church hierarchy had to say about the issue. I studied what the Catholic church — the faithful — had to say about the issue.

In the end, after months of avoiding my conscience as to not stir up any controversy in my life, I finally discerned that I am a prochoice Catholic.

I don't care what issue you're looking at. To distance the "church hierarchy" from "the faithful", as if one is the Church (to her, it's the faithful) and the other is not, is poor ecclesiology, and it's the root of her problem. She assumes the sensus fidelium ("the sense of the faithful") is simply the sense of those who call themselves Catholic; she takes the "faith" out of the "faithful". The sensus fidelium cannot be divorced from the sensus fidei ("the sense of the faith"). The sense of the faithful cannot be opposed to what has been revealed as the faith to the Church! Thus, the "sense of the faithful" which teaches that abortion is acceptable (a position against the faith of the Church) is not the true sense of the faithful. In order for the sensus fidelium to exist, one must sentit cum ecclesia ("think with the Church").

On to how she supports her prochoice stance:

Where abortion is prohibited or stigmatized, women do not all of the sudden decide to carry pregnancies to term.

This argument does not work for, say, murder. Should we legalize murder, then? Or give people the "right to choose" whether they murder someone who is already born?

Where it is illegal, more often than not abortions are unsafe. According to the World Health Organization, 19 million unsafe abortions occur each year and some 70,000 women die as a result.

70,000 women die as a result of 19,000,000 "unsafe" abortions. That statistic is, indeed, sad. Women die in "safe" abortions, too. But the point she has missed is that 19,000,000 babies die as a result of 19,000,000 "unsafe" abortions... unless, of course, the abortion is "botched", in which case the baby probably dies from some complication or from simple negligence on the part of the attendants.

[B]eing prochoice does not end at supporting the right to safe and legal abortion; it extends to discovering the best methods to prevent unintended pregnancies. Contraception promotion, comprehensive sexuality education, and access to affordable child care and healthcare are just some of the methods that are paramount to reducing the need for abortion.

Why should we be concerned with "reducing the need for abortion" if women should have "the right to safe and legal abortion"? Is it because abortions are more expensive than preventative measures? Then let's make abortions cheap! Or is it because abortions are a "necessary evil" (although they wouldn't use that e-word).

Supporting contraception is also against the teaching of the Church. (And, lest one get all "Spirit of Vatican II"-y on me, Vatican II decried abortion and infanticide as "nefanda ... crimina" (abominable crimes) in Gaudium et Spes 51.) There's nothing wrong with proper sex education (which should teach abstinence until marriage!), affordable child care and health care.

Finally, I am a prochoice Catholic because my Catholic faith tells me I can be. The Catechism reads, “[Conscience] is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.”

Ah, here's the problem. SQC, "Selective Quoting of the Catechism". If she were to read all of CCC 1776-1802 (it's not a lot, really!), she would notice that the Catechism teaches the following about conscience:

"Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings." (CCC 1783)

"In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path, we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church." (CCC 1785)

"A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed." (CCC 1790)

"Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct." (CCC 1792)

Why does she accept the one little snippet from the Catechism, but ignore what the Catechism has to say about abortion?

Since the Church, by her God-given authority, teaches against abortion (CCC 2322, cf. 2270-2274) and contraception (CCC 2399, cf. 2370), a conscience that is "formed" against these teaches is malformed. If the author has actually read what the Church teaches, then she cannot claim ignorance in this matter. In fact, she does not:

After years of research, discernment and prayer, my conscience has been well informed. Being a prochoice Catholic does not contradict my faith; rather, in following my well-informed conscience, I am adhering to the central tenet of Catholic teaching — the primacy of conscience.

It does not contradict her faith, but it does contradict the faith of the Church.

My hope is that together the hierarchy of the Catholic church, the antiabortion movement and the prochoice movement will help people of all faiths and no faith to develop well-informed consciences.

She does not use the term "well-formed", but "well-informed". Whether on purpose or by accident, there is a difference. "Well-formed" speaks to the quality of the formation; "well-informed" speaks ambiguously to the quality or amount of information. The Catechism says the conscience "must be informed" and "well-formed", but not "well-informed". You can have a well-informed conscience and yet that conscience might not be well-formed!

The Power of the Cross: Saturday after Ash Wednesday - A Matter of Life and Death

Ask — How does viewing Jesus as my savior from death help me to face head-on the deaths of my loved ones and even my own death?

Seek — Fast from passing judgment on anyone today. Realize in this little dying to yourself you are opening yourself to see others as God sees them.

Knock — Meditate on Revelation 1:17-18. Imagine Jesus touching you with his right hand and lifting you up from your death. What other ares of your life are dominated by death rather than the life of Christ? Ask our Lord to free you from all death.

Transform Your Life — Do not shy away from death. Attend the funerals of loved ones and use the experience to engage your faith in Christ. Pray for others, ask the saints to pray for you, seeing in them living examples of the promise of Christ to save us from death.

(The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life, p. 269.)

Music: Venezuela Youth Orchestra, conductor Gustavo Dudamel

This is just beautiful. The expressiveness of the orchestra, the talent of the musicians, and the power and vitality of the conductor are astonishing!

The Power of the Cross: Friday after Ash Wednesday - How much we need Jesus

Ask — How greatly do I feel the need for Christ in my life?

Seek — Practice fasting before your reception of the Eucharist. Also find special times to fast before high points in the Christian year and during high points in your own life so that you may always remain focused on your need for Christ. Try doing more than is required by the Church.

Knock — Meditate on Revelation 22:17, 20. What did Jesus say about two or more gathering in his name? Who are you waiting for?

Transform Your Life — Foster and keep before you the need that you have for Jesus. Make your constant prayer to Jesus one of entreating him to come, to be present, inviting him to be a part of your life.

(The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life, pp. 263-264.)

Lenten Lament: Attende Domine

Next Wednesday, I'll post another Lenten favorite of mine, Attende Domine ("Hear [us] Lord"). This and Parce Domine are two of the earliest chants I learned (all of 18 months ago). They are simple melodies to learn, certainly penitential in character, and the words could not be truer. The Latin is beautiful, and it doesn't hurt to know what it means in English either!

Here's a teaser for Attende Domine:

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere: quia peccavimus tibi.

(Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy: because we have sinned against You.)

1. Ad te, Rex summe, omnium Redemptor, oculos nostros sublevamus flentes: exaudi, Christe, supplicantum preces.

(To you, Most High King, Redeemer of us all, we lift our eyes, weeping: hear, O Christ, our prayers of supplication.)

That's enough for now. Meditate on those words (and the words of Parce Domine) during Lent, especially on Friday.

As part of your penance (or mine?) I plan on recording myself singing this and Parce Domine and placing it online.

Wisdom from a friend

I hope she won't mind, but these words of hers are too good (and true) not to share with my readers:

There are some wonderful theologians who are filled with the Holy Spirit, while there are some others who, sadly, are just full of themselves.

In the words of St. Paul, "test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thess 5:21). For a Catholic, that means comparing what someone tells you with what the Church teaches; check the Catechism and other Church documents.

Bishop Williamson (SSPX) apologizes for his remarks

... I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise ... I would not have made them. ... To all souls that took honest scandal from what I saidbefore God I apologise.

See the full text at Fr. Z's blog.

The Power of the Cross: Thursday after Ash Wednesday - Jesus' Invitation

Ask — Do I fear the cross of Christ or do I embrace it?

Seek — Place a crucifix in a prominent place in your home. Look upon this sign of our salvation upon rising and before you retire for the night, asking Christ to help you to "take up your cross" and follow him.

Knock — Meditate on Philippians 3:18-21. What are you living for? Do you see the saving power of the cross or are you an enemy of the cross? Do you believe in the power of Christ?

Transform Your Life — Believe in the gospel and experience the liberating effects of taking up your cross and following Jesus. Make your life one that will not be spent looking backward in regret for all the good that you did not do — focus on the good that you can do right now!

(The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life, p. 259.)

Lenten Lament: Parce Domine

R. Parce Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

(Spare, O Lord, spare Your people: lest You be angry with us forever.)

1. Flectamus iram vindicem, ploremus ante Judicem; clamemus ore supplici, dicamus omnes cernui.

(Let us bow before the avenging wrath, let us weep before the Judge; let us cry out with words of supplication, let us all speak, falling prostrate.)

2. Nostris malis offendimus tuam Deus clementiam; effunde nobis desuper remissor indulgentiam.

(O God, by our wickedness we have offended Your clemency; pour forth on us from above, O forgiving One, Your pardon.)

3. Dans tempus acceptabile, da lacrimarum rivulis lavare cordis victimam, quam laeta adurat caritas.

(Giving us an acceptable time, grant to purify, in the rivers of our tears, the sacrifice of our hearts, enkindled by joyful charity.)

4. Audi, benigne Conditor, nostras preces cum fletibus in hoc sacro jejunio fusas quadragenario.

(Hear, O benign Creator, our prayers, with lamentations, poured forth during this holy fast of forty days.)

5. Scrutator alme cordium, infirma tu scis virium; ad te reversis exhibe remissionis gratiam.

(O beloved searcher of hearts, You know the weakness of mortal bodies; show to those returning to You the grace of forgiveness.)

---

English translations are essentially my own. Verse 3 was a tough one.

The antiphon is based on Joel 2:17.

Verse 1 is from Ex more docti mystico (Pope St. Gregory I), verse 5 (according to the revision by Pope Urban VIII). Verse 2 is from Ex more docti mystico, verse 6 (original).

Verse 3 is from O Sol salutis initimis (Pope Urban VIII), verse 2 (revision of Iam, Christe, sol iustitiae).

Verses 4 and 5 are from Audi, benigne Conditor (Pope St. Gregory I), verses 1 and 2.

Liturgy: Blessing with holy water... and a Super-Soaker

Sigh. File this under "liturgical abuse". The Rite of Sprinkling (which can replace the Penitential Rite) is not to be performed with a Super-Soaker.

[H/T: the Curt Jester]

Humor: Google on Ash Wednesday

Someone forgot to upload Google's special image for today!

Lenten Resources from the USCCB

Check out the USCCB's web site for Lent. It looks pretty good. It's organized according to the four pillars of the Catechism:

1. What We Believe (Creed)
2. What We Celebrate (Sacraments)
3. How We Live (Live)
4. How We Pray (Prayer)

Lenten Fasting

Please consider joining me for a Lent of daily Mass attendance and fasting. My "motto" for this discipline two years ago when I first did it was "Two square meals and one round one". It's a bit misleading because when fasting, only one meal should be "square" — that is, full — but it works for a motto.

I'm afraid it doesn't translate very well into Latin (retaining the pun-value of "square" versus "round"), but here are a few attempts that use a mild play on words:

• Duo cibi iusti; unus cibus iustificatorum. ("Two just meals; one meal of the justified.")
• Duo cibi iusti; unus cibus ad iustitiam. ("Two just meals; one meal unto justification/righteousness." This is the one I've chosen to go with, because it reminds me of the ongoing process of justification.)

You could also substitute mensa/mensae or cena/cenae (both feminine) for cibus/cibi (masculine), and come up with:

• Duae mensae iustae; una mensa iustificatorum.
• Duae cenae iustae; una cena ad iustitiam.

Anyway, punny slogans aside, this is a serious discipline for me. For some reason... no, I take that back, I know the reason: Because my Lenten discipline is essentially a private promise (or even vow) I make to God, I feel especially beholden to keep it, to the point that I will confess transgressing it if I fail to keep it.

So I'll repeat my invitation to you: consider making Mass and fasting part of your daily life during Lent. What you give up, give to the Lord. What you sacrifice of your daily life, let the Lord of life breathe new life into. Lent is a slow exhalation that precedes our breathing in deeply the new life that comes to us from the Lord, as we celebrate the Paschal mystery of his Passion, Death, and Resurrection for our salvation!

Duo cibi iusti; unus cibus ad iustitiam.

The Power of the Cross: Ash Wednesday - Eternal Life or Death?

(Each day during Lent, I will be posting a small excerpt from my Lenten daily reading, The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life by Michael Dubruiel. This excerpt is from pages 253-254.)

Ask — Am I living my life in fear of death or in anticipation of eternal life in Christ?

Seek — Try to focus on Christ as the motivation for all of your actions throughout the day. Be conscious fo whom you ar trying to please in all that you do.

Knock — Meditate on Genesis 3:19. How does Baptism wash away original sin? What is the purpose of recalling that without Christ we are all living to die? How does the cross of Christ defeat death?

Transform Your Life — Make the cross of Christ your banner of hope. See in the victory of Jesus' cross a life-changing invitation to overcome all the evil forces that try to keep you from being who God has created you to be and to drive away from your true purpose in life.

Catechesis: What do eighth graders know?

I've been volunteering as a catechist for a month now. When I'm teaching, I use a somewhat Socratic method, asking a lot of questions to try and draw the answers from the students. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.

This evening, they had a large session (all the classes together) on social justice and "Operational Rice Bowl". Before and after, when they were split up into their individual classes, I was going over a few things about Lent with my students. Topics covered:

• What does Kyrie eleison mean? ("Lord, have mercy" in Greek)
• Why do we say/sing this in Greek? (Greek was one of the original languages of the Church; we use the Greek words during Lent in our parish to draw attention to this particularly penitential season)
  
• What word don't we say during Lent? (Alleluia)
• What does Alleluia mean? (It is the Latinization of Hallelu-yah which means "Praise Yah[weh]" or "Praise the LORD")
• Why don't we say Alleluia during Lent? (As a sign of the reserved and penitential character of Lent)
• What color vestments does the priest wear? (Purple/violet)
• Why does he wear purple? (As a sign of royalty, but primarily as a sign of the penitential character of Lent)

I'm very concerned with making sure these kids know what they're saying at Mass. There's no reason for them to be ignorant of their faith, and if they're ignorant of the great liturgy of the Mass, that's something that can easily be fixed! Thus my questions about what Kyrie eleison and Alleluia mean. (They got the answers when I wrote Christe eleison beneath Kyrie eleison, and when I wrote Hallelu-yah under Alleluia.)

So then I moved into more general liturgical questions.

• What does Amen mean? ("So be it", "I believe", "Yes", etc.)
• When do we say Amen? (After prayers, especially the Eucharistic Prayer, and when we are receiving Holy Communion)
• Why do we say Amen? (To signal our assent with the prayer, to "make the prayer our own"; when we are receiving Holy Communion, it is our confession that we are truly receiving the Body of Christ)
• What does Hosanna mean? ("Save [us], we beg [you]!")
• When do we say Hosanna? (In the Sanctus)
• Where does Hosanna come from? (Two places: Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 21:9) and a Psalm of thanksgiving for the Lord's enduring mercy and love (cf. Psalm 118:25))
• Why is Palm Sunday so named? (From the greeting with palm branches of the people of Jerusalem when Jesus entered)
• What is the symbolism of the palms? (A sign of victory and triumph and royalty; the people were greeting Jesus as their "king", although his kingship was not what they were hoping for)
• Who was not greeting Jesus as he entered Jerusalem? (The Pharisees and scribes and their associates)
• Why didn't the Pharisees like the greeting that Jesus received? (Partly because they did not like Jesus or his teaching; partly because there was political strife in the people treating Jesus as their king, which would culminate in their rejection of him during his presentation before Pilate)

All in all, it went pretty well. I ended by letting them ask questions. One girl (who is eager to ask and ready to answer) asked about the fasting rules for Lent. In the course of my answer, I brought up the issue of fish. I turned the tables and asked about the use of the fish as an early Christian symbol, primarily for identification of a fellow Christian.

The fish was adopted as a symbol of Christ because the Greek word for "fish", ichthys, is an acronym for the title "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior": ΙΧΘΥΣ stands for "Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter". It is also believed that the symbol of the fish was used to identify whether another person was a Christian: one man would draw in the dirt the top curve of the fish, and if the other man was a Christian, he would know how to draw the bottom curve of the fish (see the image [H/T Wikipedia] to the right).

Liturgy: Archbishop Ranjith on the need for a "reform of the reform"

This is big news, partly because of the people involved, and partly because of the impact of the matter.

A key Vatican official has called for "bold and courageous" decisions to address liturgical abuses that have arisen since the reforms of Vatican II. Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, cites a flawed understanding of Vatican II teachings and the influence of secular ideologies are reasons to conclude that — as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in 1985 — "the true time of Vatican II has not yet come." Particularly in the realm of the liturgy, Archbishop Ranjith says, "The reform has to go on." ...

Specifically, Archbishop Ranjith writes: "Some practices which Sacrosanctum Concilium had never even contemplated were allowed into the Liturgy, like Mass versus populum, Holy Communion in the hand, altogether giving up on the Latin and Gregorian Chant in favor of the vernacular and songs and hymns without much space for God, and extension beyond any reasonable limits of the faculty to concelebrate at Holy Mass. There was also the gross misinterpretation of the principle of 'active participation'." ...

Today, Archbishop Ranjith writes, the Church can look back and recognize the influences that distorted the original intent of the Council. That recognition, he says, should "help us to be courageous in improving or changing that which was erroneously introduced and which appears to be incompatible with the true dignity of the Liturgy." A much-needed "reform of the reform," he argues, should be inspired by "not merely a desire to correct past mistakes but much more the need to be true to what the Liturgy in fact is and means to us and what the Council itself defined it to be."

Read the complete article. I'm adding True Development of the Liturgy by Msgr. Nicola Giampietro (a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) — with foreword by Archbishop Ranjith — to my wish-list!

[H/T: Catholic World News]

Bible Study: 1st Sunday of Lent

1 Pet 3:18-22
Baptism is an appeal for a clear conscience before God
Cuius antitypum, baptisma, et vos nunc salvos facit.
Download this study [MS Word, 46 k, 3pp]