Veritas Vos Liberat

Please pray for my bishop, Bishop Thomas Doran. He broke his foot the other day due to a fall.

The vast majority of the seminarians of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary had the opportunity this past weekend to make a pilgrimage to New York to see Pope Benedict at the rally for youth and seminarians held at St Joseph Seminary (Dunwoodie). Here is a rundown of how the weekend went.

Thursday

We departed from St Louis Thursday evening between 7 and 8 pm CDT. Two TV networks sent out camera crews to tape our departure. A few seminarians were also interviewed. Thus began our roughly 20-hour bus ride to New York.

Friday

Most of today was taken up with the bus ride to New York. Early Friday morning we found out that there had been an earthquake centered about 100 miles east of St Louis; this was concerning, but we were not too worried. We arrived at our first stop around 3:30 or 4:00 pm EDT. This was a Mass with Archbishop Burke for the seminarians and other pilgrims from St Louis. Mass was celebrated at a parish in New Jersey. After Mass we went to our hotel in White Plains, NY. I spent the evening relaxing after the bus ride, and I got some dinner with another seminarian at the mall near to our hotel. Some seminarians went into Manhatten to sight-see, and a couple were interviewed when they were at St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Saturday

Saturday began with breakfast at the hotel. At around 8:30 am EDT we left the hotel for our first stop — a local Catholic high school for Mass. Kenrick’s rector celebrated Mass for the seminarians in the chapel of Archbishop Stepinac High School. After Mass we went to the Yonker’s Raceway, which was the drop-off point for the various groups of seminarians and youth. From there we were shuttled to the seminary. Fortunately, the rally organizers arranged for seminarians to be moved to the front of the line. That way we did not have to stand around in the sun with our cassocks and without any water.

Going through security at the seminary was not too bad. In fact, it was less of a hassle than going through airport security because we did not have to take off our shoes for an x-ray scan (they did not have any x-ray machines anyway). The seminary grounds were divided into two main sections: one field had the food tents and the other field had the stage. The lines for food were ridiculous, though. I heard that some guys waited in line for three hours just to get food. I ended up using my meal ticket to get a big pretzel at a snack stand down by the stage.

One nice thing about this rally was that I was able to see seminarians from St Gregory the Great seminary (my former seminary), both guys who are still there and guys who graduated with me. I also ran into a few diocesan brothers who are at other seminaries.

The rally itself was like a giant concert. To my knowledge, only one of the performers was actually Catholic — Matt Maher — and he was only there because enough dioceses complained about the lack of Catholic performers that the organizers asked him last minute. The other performers were either non-Catholic Christians or secular artists. For whatever reason the rally organizers decided that the last act before the arrival of the Pope be Kelly Clarkson. *sigh*

The seminarians had a special section right in front of the stage. It was extremely crowded there. Two hours before the Pope was scheduled to arrive at the seminary the grounds went under lock-down. This meant, among other things, that people could no longer cross between the two fields, the food field and the stage field. Many Kenrick-Glennon seminarians were stuck in the food field because they were in gigantic lines for food. There was a jumbo screen near the food tents to broadcast what was happening on the stage, but I am told that the sound system was not working correctly and these seminarians could not make out what was being said. Fortunately for me, I was in the seminarian section, having arrived there 2.5 to 3 hours before the Pope was to arrive. This allowed me to be within 20-30 feet of the Pope at a couple points during his visit with us.

When the Pope first arrived, he met with disabled kids in the seminary’s chapel. Then he made his way down to the stage via the Popemobile. On the stage before his arrival were numerous bishops and cardinals. Upon the Pope’s arrival, he was greeted by nearly five minutes of cheers. The Pope gave an excellent address to us, especially the part combating relativism and promoting silent prayer. Although he arrived 20-30 minutes late, he stayed an hour later than he was scheduled to stay.

Now, the downsides. First, the litany of the saints in the program was theologically incorrect. It had us asking God to pray for us (to whom, precisely, does God the Father pray?). The seminarians took care of this, however, by singing the proper parts to the litany. The final song for the Pope was City of God. What better way to show your fidelity to the Pope than by singing him a Pelagian song? Who, according to this song, is building the city of God? We are, all by ourselves. That’s Pelagianism.

After the Pope left we made our way back to the buses. This took a while both because of the large crowds and because we walked back to the raceway and had to find the buses. By about 9 pm EDT (an hour later than we were scheduled) we departed. Next comes an excellent example of priestly obedience to a bishop. The rector of Kenrick was on my bus for this trip. As we were leaving New York City, the bus all of a sudden stopped near a bus stop. The rector got on the microphone and announced that the Archbishop wanted him to attend the papal Mass in order to represent the seminary (the original plan was for him to return home with us). The next thing I know, he gathered his backpack and vestment bag, walked off the bus, and headed up a staircase to a higher road (we were just exiting a tunnel). Now there is obedience to the bishop. Without questioning, Monsignor gathered his things and did as the Archbishop asked.

After leaving the city we stopped at a McDonald’s for dinner around 10:45 pm EDT. Even though the McDonald’s lobby closed at 11, the employees were gracious enough to still serve all 100+ seminarians and priests. I even ran into another seminarian I know from the Josephinum at this McDonald’s; it was pure coincidence.

Sunday

The bus ride took most of Sunday. We arrived back at the seminary around 6 pm CDT, and half an hour later had Sunday Mass. I spent the rest of the evening unpacking, recuperating, and taking care of some work.

Overall, I enjoyed this trip. Even though I have spent 40+ hours traveling this weekend, it was worth it to see the Vicar of Christ.

Here is a good article about Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States.

I discovered the website Trappist Caskets. These Trappist monks in Iowa support themselves by making wooden caskets. Each casket is blessed by one of the monks. And for people being buried at Notre Dame, the Trappists will put the university’s seal on the interior of the casket.

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum, alleluia: posuisti super me manum tuam, alleluia: mirabilis facta est scientia tua, alleluia, alleluia. Domine, probasti me, et cognovisti me: tu cognovisti sessionem meam, et resurrectionem meam.

I arose, and am still with Thee, alleluia; Thou hast laid Thy hand upon me, alleluia; Thy knowledge is become wonderful, alleluia, alleluia. Lord, Thou hast searched Me and known Me; Thou knowest my sitting down and My rising up.

This is just strange: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article902014.ece.

The head of the Apostolic Penitentiary has explicitly stated (again) that abortion, contraception, and some other actions are mortal sins.

Bishop Gianfranco Girotti said, “You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos.”

Full article here.

Last year there was an uproar when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a document clarifying what it means for the Church of Christ to subsist in the Catholic Church. In one article I read, the Protestant author was incensed that this document referred to his religious organization as an “ecclesial community” instead of a “church”. The reason for this distinction is that a church, properly speaking, must maintain apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist.

However, the language used in this clarifying document is nothing new. In my Ecclesiology, Ecumenism, and Missiology class at Kenrick, we have read numerous Church documents about ecclesiology and ecumenism, one of which is Unitatis redintegratio, the Decree on Ecumenism promulgated by the Second Vatican Council. This document uses the phrase “ecclesial community” to refer to those religious communities that have not maintained apostolic succession or valid Eucharist. Thus, this document last year from the CDF does not state anything new but just consolidates what has already been said. In an address to the college of cardinals entitled “Information and reflections on the current ecumenical situation” Walter Cardinal Kasper said as much.

I find this story very ironic.

Situation: Man wants to power his house via solar energy.

Problem: The neighbors’ redwoods block the sunlight to the solar panels.

Solution: Man takes neighbors to court, and even though they planted the redwoods before he installed the solar panels, the court has ordered them to cut down two of the eight trees citing a California law about blocking solar panels.

Commentary: It seems ironic to me that in order to be eco-friendly and use solar panels this man is forcing his neighbors to cut down trees. I guess you can’t make an omelette unless you break a few eggs…

I read an article today about an ex-Catholic who stopped attending Mass and started attending Protestant services because he did not feel spiritually fed by the Mass. I had posted the other day about a consumer mentality plaguing religion in America. I think this is another example of it.

Faith is not a feeling. Feelings by their very nature are transitory. If you think that warm fuzzy feelings are necessary to have faith, then you will be in for a shock when these feelings, because of their nature, go away. Faith is rather a response to God’s revelation. Therefore, one does not need to have good feelings in order to have faith. Faith, in fact, is strengthened when you do not have nice feelings yet still continue to believe.

Last year it was made known that Mother Theresa kept her faith for decades without having warm feelings because of it. In one of my classes last semester we read The Fire Within by Fr Thomas Dubay. This book discusses the spiritualities of St John of the Cross and St Theresa of Avila, both Spanish mystics. They understood that sometimes one has a very dry faith. It can feel like God has abandoned you, but faith tells you He has not. These saints knew that a strong faith can help one get through these times.

Thus, to change the religion one follows because of a dryness in one’s spiritual life is symptomatic of a weak faith. The article I read spoke of a “spiritual graduation” in which a person moves from religion to religion based upon his spiritual life. This is a misguided approach. The Truths of God do not change based upon a person’s spiritual life. Just because an evangelical worship service makes one feel good and Mass does not does not mean that evangelical doctrines contrary to those of Catholicism are true. I seems to me that a relativism lurks behind this line of reasoning.

There is a prevailing attitude in modern American society that religion is a private matter reserved for one hour on Sundays and is not to be lived during the rest of the week. In this mindset, religion has nothing to add to how people live their daily lives. This is especially true in politics which leads to such nonsense as “privately against but politically for” things such as abortion, gay marriage, etc.

This also leads to the view that the Church should be silent until spoken to regarding social issues. Whenever the Church speaks out against social ills, there is always a contingent of people who complain that the Church should just mind her own business. These people incorrectly think that by expressing her teachings on a particular issue the Church has overstepped her bounds of being limited to interacting with people only for an hour on Sundays.

After being in the parish on Sundays this semester I have witnessed this affect even encroaching on Mass. There can be this attitude that one needs to get in an out of Mass as quickly as possible. Thus, people do not show up to the church until about 5 minutes before Mass, and they leave immediately after receiving Holy Communion or as soon as the priest processes out of Mass. I have heard the phenomenon of people leaving Mass as soon as they have received Holy Communion as the “Jesus pill” effect whereby Communion is treated like a medicine that one receives and then is done with church for the week.

Contrary to this view whereby our time with God is to be as limited as possible, the Catholic faith should be incorporated into all aspects of life. What happens at Mass should be internalized so that we can be spiritually fed outside of Mass. The Church has a duty to speak out against social evils so as to inform people about the Truths of the Faith and how they apply to everyday life. Throughout the history of the Church, people have been willing to die for the Truths of the Faith. These people understood that these Truths apply to every aspect of their lives, and these martyrs wanted to die for the Faith rather than live a part of their lives apart from the Faith.

Catholicism, therefore, is not just someone people do for an hour on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, but rather it is something that must pervade every aspect of a person’s life.

I was thinking today about an article Bishop Doran wrote in August 2006 about abortion. Commenting on some politicians he wrote:

The seven “sacraments” of their secular culture are abortion, buggery, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, feminism of the radical type, and genetic experimentation and mutilation. These things they unabashedly espouse, profess and promote. Their continuance in public office is a clear and present danger to our survival as a nation.

I had posted this article in full when it first came out. It is worth taking time to read.