Holy Mass: "Ineffable" gift

"A new translation

"We also approved, after intense discussion, and a number of amendments, many prayers to be included in the new missal. Our readers may wonder why the church is, once again, looking to change the prayers at Mass, which we have been praying now for many years. Let me say, that I am entirely supportive of this change. The new translations restore a certain sacredness to the words in these prayers.

"My old friend and former colleague, Archbishop Al Hughes, served on a commission in Rome, where he goes several times a year, called “Vox Clara” (“Clear Voice”). The archbishop, like myself, graduated from Boston College High School, but I dare say he is a much better Latinist than I am. Remember, the church has very little experience with Mass in modern languages. For 500 years, the text of the Mass of the Roman rite was Latin, which at one time was almost a universal language.

"The effort was to protect the sacredness of the text, and also to protect sound theology. An excellent job has been done, and we expect within a few years there will be a whole new translation of the Mass. I am not anxious about that change. I welcome it and support it.

"Surely, there will be a serious pastoral responsibility, especially on the part of priests and bishops to work hard to prepare our people for this change. But I have always found
that if we catechize and teach properly, if we explain the reasons for it and show that this is better and more beautiful, our people will rally behind it. It is a pastoral task, which we can face together.

"Also, the Mass is not something that we make up. We receive it as a gift, an enormous and ineffable gift from Christ through the church. This translation would be better English, more sacred, and will help us to pray. It is a change, which is foundational and helpful and will require the collaboration of all of us.

"Also, this is favored by the Holy See, and a keen obligation of the bishop is always to be in communion with the successor of Peter."

--His Excellency the Most Rev. John M. D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend on deliberations at the November conference of the USCCB.

These men are addicts

Why are they smiling? They had a life with drugs and are now discovering a life with God.

They are Comunita Cenacolo, the "Community of the Cenacle". Read more at Hope Reborn.

More on Paestum

Mosaic floors like a tapestry 2,000 years old. Ruts worn in the surface of a Roman road mark the daily path of oxcarts and chariots. Drainage canals run between the palaces of the wealthy to carry away rain water, garbage and sewage. An ancient Greek votive temple was buried by the Romans and walled off in respect for the customs of the ancients. Precise temple designs proclaim the glory of the Creator as reflected in human gifts of intellect, design and labor. A special greeting to Deacon Tom, Judy and family whose "cognome" graces a town along the Tirrhenian sea coast between Paestum and Salerno.

A new "sport": Eucharist desecration

The boredom of a sick and decadent "cult of death" has found a new source of entertainment in desecration of the Eucharist.

A new video on YouTube taunts and threatens, the producer promising to go to Mass every day and smuggle the Eucharist out of the church in order to desecrate and videotape the sacrilege as a new source of amusement.

You can request that YouTube pull the offending videos by visiting America Needs Fatima and using the on-line form provided.

Blessings and thanks for your help,
MCITL

Agenda "Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic"

See more on Cardinal Stafford's comments delivered at CUA as reported November 14th in "The Tower".

(Photo: CUA The Tower.)

Plastic surgery, liposuction, botox and all that

We are the servants of God, and are responsible to God for the way we use the abilities he has given us. How we use our abilities to enrich and help others is our fulfillment of Christ's command to love others as we love ourselves.

On the natural level, God equips each one of us with unique talents, abilities, and aptitudes. No one person will ever be exactly like another or have the ability to excel in every discipline. All the plastic surgery, diets, workout programs, steroids or makeup in the world cannot change this fact.

Happiness lies not in changing our physical appearance to be like someone else; it lies in fully realizing our God-given identity of talents and gifts through a virtuous and generous life. Recognizing and accepting God's plan for each of us is essential for our happiness.

C.S. Lewis wisely wrote, in The Problem of Pain, "When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy."

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

(Photo by MCITL: Pieta, Basilica of San Pietro, Roma.)

General audience, Rome, 12 November 2008

Franciscan University of Steubenville students were very visible and very audible at the audience last Wednesday. Sustained and loud cheers for the Holy Father rang out and cries of "We love you, Papa" were heard when the group was announced to the crowd of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's square.







Above: Members of the choir of Saint Andrew the Apostle Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, sang for the Holy Father when their group was announced.
(Photos by MCITL. Rights reserved.)