Posted on 08/29/2009 4:27:32 PM PDT by NYer
The celebrant, who strove to avoid masculine references to God in the liturgy (his verbal substitutions plainly clashing with the voices of others sticking to the approved texts), managed to forget the Mysterium Fidei during the Eucharistic Prayer, and later asked the congregation join him "in the words Our Father taught us."
The homily, which started well enough but steadily deteriorated, fell into various holes like (I'm quoting from memory): "the fruits of [Kennedy's] work in politics well-prepared him for God's kingdom" (Lord, I hope that's not what he really meant); and "Kennedy tied his faith to justice in the land" (good grief, justice? for millions of unborn babies in the land? was that the fruit of Teddy's faith?); and "we are confident that Kennedy has entered into the new dwelling of God" (maybe you are, Father).
The kid's intercessions came out as unabashed advertisements for Democratic Party policy goals.
Mercifully, all the major networks used a single video feed, and pretty obviously somebody got to somebody ahead of time and ordered "Don't, under any circumstances, show the Communion lines!", so we were spared wincing as this famous Catholic pro-abort or that approached the Eucharist.
And finally, whodathunkit?, President Obama's eulogy, though offered in violation of liturgical law, was actually the most palatable of what turned out to be three eulogies offered in violation of liturgical law, the first, Teddy Jr.'s, being maudlin, but mostly coherent if at times inappropriately partisan, while the second, that of Rep. Pat Kennedy, was embarrassingly pathetic and even included a joke about "that damn Kennedy" from the sanctuary. Sigh.
But what, in the end, most struck me, through whole ceremony, was how oblivious all the participants seemed to be (again, with the sole exception of Obama, who at least made one veiled reference to Kennedy's "public faults", and who was the only speaker to offer a prayer for Teddy's soul), how oblivious, I say, all the participants were to Ted Kennedy's disgraceful and chronic failings to defend the natural right to life (e.g., abortion, embryonic stem cell research), his refusal to protect the natural institution of marriage lately under such attack, and his bad example on a host of other issues of importance to Catholics and to the country. While a funeral is no place to rehearse, say, a man's role in the death of a beautiful young woman, such events and conduct should have, I think, instilled some restraint in the rush to proclaim the man's accomplishments. (As for those "accomplishments", well, if one is wedded to the idea of a gigantic state, then Teddy's accomplishments were admittedly many. But if you're not enamored of statism, one might say that the damage Teddy helped inflict on the nation was great.) Instead, one speaker after another gushed on and on about Ted.
The whole experience left me less hopeful about "dialogue" on life issues (not that I was very hopeful to begin with): we are, it seems clear, talking to people who have no sense of the enormity of the crimes being committed daily against the innocent. None. None.
So, as I said, the best one can say about Ted Kennedy's Catholic funeral (to which, yes, he had a right, in accord with law) is, it could have been worse.
I suppose.
Always interesting to read the view from a Canon lawyer.
The one thing I had learned today going over all the threads about TK’s funeral was on the practice of giving a eulogy is a no-no, before I thought it was allowed after the communion rite. The time to do should have been done last night during the special private vigil service that took place at the JFK Library.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
In Obama's depraved mind, Teddy's public fault was that he held back and never did show up for his volunteer shift at the partial birth abortion clinic.
I thought today’s event was particularly bad, if only because there was almost no opposition to it (except among a vocal few, like me and others here) and it was clear that Obama was very comfortable - because he knows he has won. When the “intercessions” were nothing but a stream of prayers asking God to grant the state control over our lives, I figured Obama must have done the terrorist fist-bump in his mind.
As a non-Catholic who has watched many ‘Protestant’ churches prostrate themselves before political correctness, might I give some small comfort in pointing out that the vast majority of people - including non-believers - aren’t fooled by a “CINO” any more than they are a PINO.
Still, I’m sure it grieves many here to see what was done today. I can offer condolences, but very little that will cheer you. I’m sure CINOs and PINOs don’t have a clue what pain they cause believers.
Am I alone in seeing Obama's preaching from a Catholic sanctuary as a metaphor for the total abandonment of the US Catholic Church by its shepherds? How exactly does a man who favors partial birth abortion get to preach from a Catholic sanctuary, even as the bishop of the diocese sits and listens?
We've progressed (or should I say regressed) from conferring an honor on him to giving him access to a Catholic pulpit.
I'm starting to get really, really sick of these Judases!
“Anyone who is familiar with the history of my posts knows that I am a staunch defender of the Church, but so far this year the Church has badly botched its opportunities to defend itself by condoning the duplicity of pro-abortion “Catholics”.”
I am at my wits end with what is happening. In one moment I’m in shock at what is happening inside the Church. In another I’m wondering about the future and finding myself exasperated and thinking indeed, end times are near.
Good information, especially for those concerned about Teddy having had a Catholic funeral.
What you see since the post Vatican 2/ “Novus Ordo” “Rite” is not Catholic. You are watching full-blown apostacy. It actually matters little if these null rites have more sacrilege heaped in. until we consider the “little ones”. God withdrew the validity of these rites the instant they were enforced. He foresaw such depravity, otherwise the price of penance would have been too high for those who sought late a redemption from the despicable schema.
Beginning Catholic: The Anointing of the Sick: Comfort and Healing [Ecumenical]
“Unless, that is, “they gave some sign of repentance before death.” And there is at least some evidence that Ted Kennedy did just that.”
Where is this evidence?
The eulogies are usually offered after Communion, though, in my opinion, they shouldn't be done until after the Final Blessing. Maybe that's what Mr. Peters was talking about a violation of liturgical law, though after Communion is the only time I've seem them done in the last few years.
We have learned that he frequently told Chappaquiddick jokes and that he and Sen. Dodd shared a waitress sandwich. Had he wished to communicate his "re-conversion" to the little people he had the media access and pull to do so.
Perhaps unintentionally more correct than he knows.
http://concordpastor.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-eulogies-remembrances-and-catholic.html
“”From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal
At the Funeral Mass there should, as a rule, be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind.
(GIRM, no. 382)
From the Order of Christian Funerals:
• From the Introduction:
A brief homily based on the readings is always given after the gospel reading at the funeral liturgy and may also be given after the readings at the vigil (wake) service; but there is never to be a eulogy. Attentive to the grief of those present, the homilist should dwell on God’s compassionate love and on the paschal mystery of the Lord, as proclaimed in the Scripture readings. The homilist should also help the members of the assembly to understand that the mystery of God’s love and the mystery of Jesus’ victorious death and resurrection were present in the life and death of the deceased and that these mysteries are active in our own lives as well. Through the homily members of the family and community should receive consolation and strength to face the death of one of their members with a hope nourished by the saving Word of God...
(Order of Christian Funerals, no. 27)
• At the Vigil (wake) Service, after the Concluding Prayer:
A member or a friend of the family may speak in rembrance of the deceased.
(Order of Christian Funerals no. 80)
• At the Funeral Mass, at the time for the Final Commendation:
Following the Prayer after Communion, the priest goes to a place near the casket. The assisting ministers carry the censer and holy water if these are to be used.
A member or a friend of the family may speak in remembrance of the deceased before the final commendation begins.
(Order of Christian Funerals, no. 170)
(ConcordPastor notes that the Order of Christian Funerals envisions the remarks of remembrance being delivered while the priest and ministers are standing at the casket.)””
Where is this evidence?
BOSTON -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died in peace with his whole family praying around him, the clan's priest said Wednesday morning as the world mourned Massachusetts' senior senator, who died from brain cancer at the age of 77."It was a total surprise to me to see another world he was involved in -- the spiritual world," said Rev. Patrick Tarrant of Our Lady of Victory Church.
Tarrant, who was called to Kennedy's bedside late Tuesday as the senator was dying, said it was clear that Kennedy was ready for the journey that awaited him. He described the senator as "a man of quiet prayer" in his last hours.
read more
When a priest is called to the death bed of an individual, it is to administer the Sacrament of Healing, formerly known as the Last Rites.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.