Chapel streaming

Enjoy the latest homily from dissident priest Ken Overberg, S.J., posted on the website for Bellarmine Chapel of Cincinnati's Xavier University. After bemoaning "problematic parts of Genesis" and asserting unreservedly that St. Paul was not the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, he takes a few minutes to pi$$ on the pro-life movement and Respect Life Sunday:

Today is Respect Life Sunday. Perhaps this theme provides us with a lens for viewing these scriptures. As we know from recent elections, Respect Life has often meant a very narrow focus. We would do well to retrieve Cardinal Bernardin’s consistent ethic of life, both its content and spirit. His vision would help us value all life, calling us beyond separation and oppression of women to mutuality and discipleship of equals, beyond abuse and domination of the earth’s resources to stewardship and care for all creation, beyond a vindictive God to a gracious God and a faithful Jesus, beyond legalism to commitment and compassion.

Imaginary

During one especially loopy RCIA session back when I was a volunteer, the program director asked everyone present to close their eyes and "imagine" their baptisms. "Imagine how your parents felt, the drip of the water on your forehead, the smiling faces surrounding you," she said in a sedative voice. New Agey, I recall thinking, as did others in the room. Well, there must be a manual for ineffective catechesis that guides these folks, because at last Sunday's fabricated African liturgy in Rochester's Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bishop Clark asked worshipers to do the same thing:

At our Oct. 18 World Mission Day liturgy celebrating our ties with the Church in Africa, we reflected on the Gospel mandate to go and baptize all nations. At one point in my homily, I asked the people present to think about where they were baptized, who baptized them, who were their godparents and who was present for the celebration. Then I asked them to imagine their "baptismal" family tree – back to those who first heard and acted on the Lord’s great mandate to share the good news. ...

Pope Benedict, liturgical pluralist

Francis X. Rocca has an interesting but a bit odd essay in this morning's Wall Street Journal concerning Pope Benedict's new ordinariate for orthodox Anglicans. In trying to explain Pope Benedict's "liturgical pluralism," Rocca cites Benedictine scholar Tracy Rowland, who refers to the Holy Father's affinity for "organic development." Where it gets odd is when Rocca lumps the Charismatic movement into the mix -- "with its speaking in tongues and emphasis on 'gifts of the Spirit,' harks all the way back to the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul." Actually, that's the very antithesis of organic development, which doesn't "hark" but grows steadily from apostolic roots. On that score, the Charismatic way of worship is antiquarian, i.e., it seeks to import ancient elements into modern liturgy.

Yet according to the theologian Tracey Rowland, one of the pope's most informed and accessible scholarly interpreters, Benedict is a genuine "liturgical pluralist," ready to countenance any rite that "can be traced back as an organic development of apostolic provenance." The key concept, Ms. Rowland says, "is organic development. What he's really against is your parish liturgy committee getting together and saying, 'let's do something different.' "

Though even most Catholics are not aware of it, many sanctioned modes of worship have co-existed within the church over its 2,000-year history. The Ambrosian Rite, celebrated only in certain parts of northern Italy, with its own special prayers, vestments and type of chant, is one of the most ancient, dating back at least to the fourth century. Not to speak of the many Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome, which share a rich liturgical heritage with Eastern Orthodoxy. The Charismatic movement, of course, with its speaking in tongues and emphasis on "gifts of the Spirit," harks all the way back to the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul.

An emphasis on uniformity of worship is a relatively recent development in Catholicism, Ms. Rowland notes. The 16th-century Council of Trent, which imposed a number of reforms on the whole church to fend off the rising challenge of Protestantism, prescribed the form of the Latin Mass that Catholics used almost exclusively for more than four centuries thereafter. By sanctioning the current trend toward liturgical diversity, Benedict is leading his church forward in the spirit of its oldest traditions.

The Vitae Monologues

From Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati:

October 19, 2009 - You are invited to attend the Cincinnati performance of The Vitae Monologues Tuesday, October 27th, 8:30 p.m., University of Cincinnati Zimmer Auditorium, Room 400, Zimmer Hall. Open to the public, admission is FREE.

The Vitae (life) Monologues is Epiphany Productions' new, acclaimed, life affirming drama that movingly addresses the effect of abortion on women and men. It is a two-person, one act play featuring international performers Jeremy and Sarah Stanbary.

The play is based on eye-opening and inspiring true stories of post-abortive women and men who suffered in silence for years from the aftermath of abortion before eventually finding healing and forgiveness.

The Vitae Monologues increases awareness of the reality that abortion is often a traumatic experience that goes unnamed and unrecognized due to a culture of denial regarding its long-lasting negative consequences--affecting thousands of men and women today.

These true stories of hope and the triumphant beauty of human life deserve a voice within our broken culture.

The Vitae Monologues was developed in collaboration with Silent No More Minnesota and features original music from Mr. Nicholas Lemme, a St. Paul-based musician/composer and founding member of the Spaghetti Western String Company.

The Cincinnati performance is sponsored by University of Cincinnati Students for Life, NKU Northern Right to Life, Cincinnati Right to Life, and more. (Note: This play is based on true stories and may not be suitable for some youth under 12 yrs. old.)

For more information contact contact David Weber, President, UC Students for Life ...

Turn and face the strange

My Dayton readers might find it interesting to know that the Office of Evangelization & Catechesis for the archdiocese is hosting a "Catechetical Leadership Conference" with Jean Marie Hiesberger tonight.

It's about change, or something.

Change is a constant in our lives. We choose some changes, some are caused by others and still other changes are brought about by circumstances. Our Church, both locally and worldwide is undergoing profound changes. Regardless of the source, more often than not, change is not easy. In fact, the more we understand the human processes involved in every transition, the more able we are to lead others (and ourselves) through the journey in a more effective, more respectful, more humane and Christian manner. After all, the conversion to which we are called is all about change. As we gather . . .

♦ We will unpack the predictable stages experienced in every transition.
♦ We will explore rules of managing transitions and how they can apply to our situation.
♦ We will study in detail the three steps involved in the process and ways to deal with them effectively in groups.
♦ We will work together to begin creating an Action Plan for dealing with change in our own ministry situation.

Gilding the Harry

In the new issue of the Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati, the University of Dayton's campus minister extols the virtues of reading Harry Potter:

As a campus minister and assistant professor at the University of Dayton, I’ve known many young people who’ve read and enjoyed Harry Potter. They write better papers than their peers, they come to class more often, and even come to Mass more regularly, committing to be eucharistic ministers, lectors and music ministers. Despite a few scary stories you can read on the internet, I can’t find one real-life example of a young person who has been led to the occult or been negatively affected in any way by reading Harry Potter.

A hard look

Better late than never. Also in yesterday's Cincinnati Enquirer is Jenn Giroux's gutsy column on the relationship between contraception and abortion. So far there are 343 comments on the newspaper's website.

It is important to take a hard look at the research that is reported from Planned Parenthood's own research arm, The Guttmacher Institute. Any discerning eye can see that their recent results ("Unsafe abortions kill 70,000 a year," Oct. 14) always point to the need for more contraception availability and abortion.

Their president, Sharon Camp, states that the actual health and survival of women is damaged by highly restricted and unsafe abortion. She pushes the myth that birth control distribution and availability actually drives down the abortion rate. It is well documented by Camp's own employer that 56 percent of women who present for abortions do so from failed birth control. Abortion advocates who push contraceptives on unsuspecting women unquestionably know this.

As a registered nurse for 24 years, I have seen the physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual damage done to women from abortion and contraception. Clearly, the most healthy and effective means of assisting women in America and around the world is by teaching God's plan for abstinence when not married and Natural Family Planning within marriage. Thankfully, the Catholic Church has always stood firmly for the good of women and families.

In the late 1960s, it was very difficult for many to understand why the Church refused to allow the use of The Pill. Today, hindsight is 20/20. Divorce, adultery, STDs, plummeting birth rates ... it is obvious that the Church was right. America no longer loves children and refuses to trust God with the unpredictable.

And now we are exporting this evil embrace around the world. This recent report also states that women are dying from abortions in third-world countries due to unsanitary conditions and unskilled practitioners who are performing them. To this I can only say: Welcome to America. The very nature and environment of abortion clinics here and around the world are unregulated, unsanitary, and unrestricted.

Women deserve the real truth - not the statistical results as seen through the rosy glasses of Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute, which brings the abortion industry more business and women more heartache. Contraception must be exposed for the evil and ugliness that it is. It doesn't prevent abortion. It leads to it.

Kunta Clark

The gentlemen at Cleansing Fire post some photos from last weekend's fabricated African liturgy at Sacred Heart Cathedral of Rochester, NY:

Pretty simple

From the Cincinnati Enquirer's puff piece for dissenting priest Fr. Thomas Bokenkotter in yesterday's edition:

At 85, Bokenkotter still serves as Assumption pastor. With just some 30 families, the community shuttered its ornate church building and moved its weekly Masses next door to the rectory. Its first floor has been reconfigured into a church. The altar stands at the center of the dining room. Rows of seats spread out in an L-shape into the adjoining rooms. An organist, guitarist and clarinet player provide music from the back of the parlor.

"Family style," Bokenkotter said of the setting.

He is comfortable in that setting - short on style, long on substance. He has no plans to stop working. He starts each day by dancing an Irish jig for 20 minutes in his bedroom.

"I don't try to carry the world on my shoulders," Bokenkotter said. "I have a great appreciation for how slow meaningful progress is."

If progress is slow, the path is clear.

"Jesus' call, pretty simple," he said, "feed the hungry, visit prisoners, shelter the homeless."

Lewisiana

On tonight's episode of Inspector Lewis for Masterpiece Mystery!, the celebrity atheist near the heart of the story said the words below just before driving his car head on into an oncoming truck in an act of suicide:

Half my life pummeling Christ; and now I've come to the end of it, chasing redemption.

The Lewisians among my readers may use this thread to comment and discuss.

Bold blueprint

Bishop Walker Nickless' bold blueprint for implementing the "hermeneutic of continuity" in his Sioux City, Iowa diocese will be the subject our segment on the Son Rise Morning Show tomorrow (Monday) at 7:35 am. Please join us. In the meantime, enjoy the synopsis Tim Drake put together for the National Catholic Register:

“There can be no split, however, between the Church and her faith before and after the Council,” writes Bishop Nickless. “We must stop speaking of the ‘Pre-Vatican II’ and ‘Post-Vatican II’ Church, and stop seeing various characteristics of the Church as ‘pre’ and ‘post’ Vatican II. Only the ‘hermeneutic of reform,’ he says, is valid and “has borne and is bearing fruit.”

“The ‘spirit of Vatican II’ must be found only in the letter of the documents themselves,” writes Bishop Nickless. “The so-called ‘spirit’ of the Council…is a ghost or demon that must be exorcised if we are to proceed with the Lord’s work.”

Bishop Nickless goes on to state that, “we have sometimes lost sight of who we are and what we believe, and therefore have little to offer the world that so desperately needs the Gospel.”
“Our urgent need at this time is to reclaim and strengthen our understanding of the deposit of faith,” writes Nickless. He adds that our mission is two-fold – both within the Church (ad intra) and to the world (ad extra). He then sets forth a plan for “reclaiming and strengthening our faith, identity and culture as Catholics.”

That plan includes the following:

1. A renewal of reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament within and outside of Mass, regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

2. Strengthening catechesis on every level, beginning with and focusing on adults, with Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the primary sources of formation.

3. The protection and building up of holy families.

4. Fostering a culture where young people can more readily respond to the radical calls of ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life.

5. Acknowledging and embracing the missionary character of the Catholic Faith and the vocation of all Catholics to be, not only disciples, but also apostles. ...

For the solace of the suffering souls

I noticed in the bulletin this morning that a local parish has a Purgatorian Society that will be sponsoring two Masses for the dead this November. It's the first such group I've come across in Cincinnati. (There likely are others.) Here's an entry from the online New Catholic Dictionary explaining their history and function:

An organization whose object is to assist the souls in Purgatory by prayers, Masses, and good works. Belief in the existence of Purgatory, and in the possibility of the living assisting the suffering souls, has inspired the faithful to pray for the dead from the very beginning of Christianity. During the middle ages, especially among the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic nations, many societies were established for this purpose. One of the duties incumbent on the members of the artisan's guilds was to pray for their departed colleagues. There still flourishes at the church of the Campo Santo dei Tedeschi in Rome a purgatorial society founded in the 15th century. An archconfraternity for the solace of the suffering souls under the title of Our Lady's Assumption is canonically erected at the Redemptorist Church of Santa Maria in Monterone at Rome. In the United States a very extensive society of this nature, called the Purgatorian Society, under the direction of the Redemptorist Fathers, has branches in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, Detroit, and Portland, Oregon. Similar organizations are directed by several other religious orders.