Posted on 07/11/2012 6:23:41 AM PDT by NYer
An Illinois priest forced out of his parish by Belleville's Catholic bishop for improvising prayers during Mass will no longer be able to preach in public as of today.
The Rev. William Rowe said Monday that Bishop Edward Braxton has suspended him and removed his "faculties," or license to practice ministry under church law. The move has been associated in recent years with the punishment of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors.
Rowe, the pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Mount Carmel, Ill., has not been accused of abuse, but he has clashed with Braxton over altering the liturgical prayers of the Roman Missal the book of prayers, chants and responses used during Mass.
Last month, St. Mary's parishioners learned that Braxton had officially removed Rowe, their pastor of 18 years. But a separate letter from Braxton recently informed Rowe, 72, that not only would he have to leave the church, but that he could not preach in public anywhere.
Rowe said he could no longer celebrate public Masses or preside at weddings, funerals or baptisms. The only exception, Rowe said, involves a dying person; he can still hear a confession, baptize or anoint that person.
Rowe was scheduled to witness a wedding Saturday and four others over the summer but won't be able to preside. He also will not be able to preside over a funeral Wednesday for an elderly St. Mary's parishioner.
"That's very hard for the family," Rowe said. "I'll be there, but I can't participate."
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
“Youre quite obtuse.”
I may be a little overweight but not enough to be called “obtuse”.
Thanks!
Great Post! Kudos!
Sorry kid, but some people actually take the time to learn and actually THINK about what is written; rather than rely on a spoon feed upbringing.
I have read your other replies; your arrogance on the subject comes through.
Well, gee, spunkets....MY church has a Bible in it. It’s on a stand right there in the sanctuary, next to the book people use to write their intentions. It is not chained down or locked up; anybody can read it anytime.
There’s one in the chapel, too, BTW.
Regards,
So if you asked Jesus to enter your heart, and you asked Him to change you and fill you with the Holy Spirit, you obviously later would not believe that any of that could possibly have really happened, since, if a surgeon were to cut your heart open (and all other physical parts of you), you would not be able to see either Jesus or the Holy Spirit in there, or any changes visible inside your body at all, with your very limited physical human eyes, right?
(Would you ever even pray to God, or would you say "God does not exist", since you can't physically see Him or His Presence ANYWHERE with your very limited human eyes?)
Whatever your actual beliefs are right now, do you think anyone could find and recognize those beliefs if they cut open your brain or your heart or any part of you? If not, does that mean that you don't really hold those beliefs, since your beliefs cannot be seen anywhere in what looks like just a bunch of human biological tissue to everyone's human eyes?
Does God have the power to be present somewhere in a special way chosen by God, if you can't see it with your own limited human vision, or is that impossible for God?
I would suggest you begin right now to consider trusting completely in the honest and trustworthy words of Jesus Christ as found in the Bible, and not continue to rely on your own limited vision and thoughts, and I'd suggest also that you begin to investigate the true meaning of "faith".
No. There is a Roman Missal on the altar and a Lectionary at the podium. See: http://www.usccb.org/bible/liturgy/
What you say here is really irrelevant to my point. So while I appreciate your suggestions are well intentioned it simply has naught to do with my comment.
I chose the reading. It was not in any Lectionary, and was not a reading recommended for the occassion by the the bishops, and since Bibles are not normally present during a Mass, the reading was not available.
The occasion was a funeral Mass and the reading was Ezekiel 37,The Valley of Dry Bones.
Ezekiel 37:1-14, "The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live?
I said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
4 Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feeta vast army.
11 Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. "
Since there are theologians out there, maybe they can commnet on whether, or not this reading was appropriate for the occassion, and why a Bible was not and is not normally present at a Mass so that this reading was available and at hand to be read aloud.
Nevertheless, a Bible is not normally present at a Mass. Also, not all of scripture is read at Mass.
"The priest also blesses the congregation with the Bible."
The priest may do so, if he makes sure someone brings a Bible for that purpose.
Yeah, whatever...
That's wonderful.
There's generally no Bible in a Catholic Church.ROTFLMAO!
Yes, the lector reads from a lectionary, but there is also a bible, there. The bible is placed on the altar during mass.
Would you improvise the Lords Prayer?
This is one of the reasons why I prefer the Traditional Latin Mass.
We were stationed in Alaska during my tour in the Aleutian Islands back in the seventies. I served Mass as an altar boy countless times with him in our chapel.
He said the Mass and never deviated from the written text, especially during the consecration.
I don't know what happened as he was a very orthodox priest at that time.
It saddens me. When I saw his name I thought it can't be the Father Rowe that I knew. But the picture confirms that it was indeed the same Father Rowe I served Mass with at that time.
Also Teilhard de Chardin - and my gaydar goes off when I see his picture.
Me too!!
Then you shouldn't be reading it in place of the readings prescribed in the Missal, and the celebrating priest erred if he gave you permission to read it.
The OT reading at the Funeral Mass are to be chosen from 2 Macc 12, Job 19, Wisdom 3, Wisdom 4, Isaiah 25, Lamentations 3, and Daniel 12. Those readings should be present in the Lectionary.
The Mass, including the selection of Scriptures to be read, is not something we make up as we go. It's not even something priests should make up as they go. It's the public prayer of the whole church.
why a Bible was not and is not normally present at a Mass so that this reading was available and at hand to be read aloud.
See above.
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