patent
Posted on 07/21/2002 2:01:09 PM PDT by JMJ333
patent
Have any of you ever been to a shrine or seen remains of a saint preserved, like Saint Clare or the many other saints? You are in awe of the sight; it is so amazing to see a saint right before your eyes. But you would agree that if you saw Christ walk into your room, it would be a more amazing sight. Did you know that you could see him every day of the year, and you would actually be able to touch him every day of the year expect Good Friday? It is that real.
Have you ever thought of the suffering of Christ and his crucifixion? I am sure you have a cross or a picture of it. That is the same body blood soul and divinity you receive every time you go to mass. That is his Sacred Heart, that is his hand or foot which was driven with a nail, or that is his blessed head which was pierced with thorns you receive.
If you are having trouble with realizing the real presence, and you are not alone, I would suggest spiritual reading before you go to mass that talks about the presence of Christ in Communion. I know it helped me a lot too.
Dominus Vobiscum.
The crisis of faith in the Church is a crisis of faith in Christ's real presence.
Hmmm, where have I seen this idea before? ;-)
Disclaimer: I do NOT want to stir up the dust storm from the other thread. Can we meet in the middle somewhere?
Sure, you sit between sitetest and I.
patent
Can we meet in the middle somewhere?
I don't want to be taken as being too flippant, though if that attitude ever fit a night on FR it would seem good for tonight, so I should provide a better answer to a fair question than my last answer.
The crisis of faith in the Church is a crisis of faith in Christ's real presence.I would agree that we do not appreciate what we have, and that far too many Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. We live in a secularized age, one that refuses miracles, relies on skepticism, and will not believe that which it cannot touch or see. Belief in the Real Presence in this age is hard, and this has been brewing for some time in the West. By this, I mean decades, well prior to V2 and the Novus Ordo.
We discussed yesterday the issue of whether the Novus Ordo or V2 or something like that had caused a decline in faith in the Real Presence. I would expect there has been a decline in faith in the Real Presence. Just how much, I don’t know, nor can I ever find anyone to answer that question.
I attribute the decline (that I expect is there) to many things. The changes in society, and the process by which those changes were allowed into the Church, being the largest factors in my view. You and I might disagree about how they were allowed into the Church. I can’t speak for you, but from our discussions of late it seems you might place a fair amount of blame on the Novus Ordo and changes like that. I put some blame on that, but I can trace many of the problems back farther. We had Bishops who were dissenting long before the Weaklands and Mahoneys took office. They had their champions who moved them up the ecclesiastical ladder and made it possible for them to do the damage they did.
One was the ArchBishop (several archbishops ago by now) up here in my neck of the woods, he was a powerful kingmaker in the Church, and he put a lot of the people in place that put the dissenters we currently deal with in place. These people created an atmosphere of dissent in the American Church, theologically and morally. This all goes way back, nearly to the 1920s from what I can tell (though this is all sketchy). IMHO the only think that can be laid at the feet of the Novus Ordo is that given its four canons it is more open to disobedient innovations. I think many of the same things were going to happen to the Tridentine, and I think the dissenters would have corrupted our seminaries, our schools, and the like, regardless of what Rite of Mass was being said.
In fact, pointing to Boston’s seminary (as just one example, I can point to ours here as well) it is clear that they did in fact do that, before the Rite changed.
Things are swinging back the other direction. Regarding the Bishops, we are getting better bishops these days, more or less. I’m not happy with mine up here, but he is a clear step up from his immediate predecessor. Regarding faith in the Real Presence, I think it will get a little worse before it gets better, but I also think it is near the bottom of the pendulum, and all the parishes doing perpetual adoration are already pushing that upswing hard.
Dominus Vobiscum
patent +AMDG
Boston College is not a top Catholic university, your personal opinion notwithstanding.
You're a bit touchy. This is just a website, Smedley. We're not doing brain surgery here, of which you provide ample proof.
You're a fool Sinkspur, as anyone who has read your writings here well knows. Thank God your request for laicization was granted. I shudder to think of the tripe you would have been spewing from the pulpit under the guise of a homily every week.
You would be mistaken. I made the observation that Kreeft made a statement that is not true. You don't like it, too bad.
It doesn't meet the criteria of a lot of Catholics as a "top Catholic university" not just mine. Kreeft didn't make a general statement, he wrote that Boston College is one of America's top Catholic universities. In the secular world that may be accepted as a fact but in the world of Catholic academia it isn't and it shouldn't be, whether or not you think it's true. In the distant past, I would have agreed that Boston College was a top Catholic univeristy. That is no longer true.
Accepting Kreefts' claim without question, as some of the people on this thread have, indicates what kind of mediocrity passes as "top" in the world of Catholic education. It also shows how gullible some people are. Institutions claiming to be Catholic should be held to a higher standard, both moral and academic, not "generally accepted standards". A "top Catholic university" doesn't employ people like Mary Daly or Michael Himes, it doesn't bestow honorary doctorates to people like Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot and it doesn't allow people like Paul Cellucci to deliver commencement addresses. BC doesn't live up to his claim and that's a fact and I'm not the only Catholic who knows that.
| Sunday´s Meaning Is Lost Without the Eucharist, Says Pope VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Rediscovering the meaning of Sunday and of the Eucharist are urgent priorities for the Church, says John Paul II. On the solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Pope addressed several thousand pilgrims gathered in St. Peter´s Square to pray the midday Angelus. He explained from the window of his study that "the Eucharist is the beating center of the community," and "its most precious treasure: Christ really present under the species of consecrated bread and wine." Because of this John Paul II said, "I again proposed a reappraisal of Sunday and, in it, of the eucharistic celebration." He cited the recommendations in his 2001 apostolic letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte." "From the very beginning, from the early community of Jerusalem, Christians gathered on the day of the Lord to renew in the Holy Mass the memorial of the death and resurrection of Christ. Sunday is the day of rest and praise, but its real meaning is lost without the Eucharist," the Pontiff added. "Faith is necessary, or rather faith vivified by love is necessary, to explore the fascinating depth of this presence of Christ under the ´signs´ of bread and wine," said the Pope, who plans to write an encyclical on the Eucharist. "Only the one who believes and loves can understand something of the ineffable mystery, thanks to which God comes close to our littleness, seeks our infirmity, reveals himself for what he is, infinite saving love," the Holy Father added. Before bidding the pilgrims farewell, the Holy Father, who sounded tired but wished to remain with the faithful, greeted groups from Ukraine, Spain and Italy, and reminded them that the month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "May each one be able to receive constant help from that inexhaustible source of grace to grow in love and in generous service to one´s neighbor," he concluded. |
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John Paul II's Angelus address, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Sunday, 2 June 2002
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Today in Italy and in some other countries the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is being celebrated. The Christian community gathers round the Eucharist and in it adores its most precious treasure: Christ really present under the appearances of bread and wine.
The whole People of God comes out of the churches and carries the Blessed Sacrament through the streets and squares of the city. The Risen Christ walks the highways of humanity and continues to offer his "flesh" to human beings as the true "Bread of Life" (cf. Jn 6,48.51). Just as was the case 2,000 years ago, "this is a hard saying" (Jn 6,60) for human intelligence which is overwhelmed by the mystery.
To explore the fascinating depths of Christ's presence under the "signs" of the bread and the wine, faith is necessary, or rather faith animated by love. Only those who believe and love can understand something of this ineffable mystery through which God draws close to our littleness, seeks to save our weakness, and reveals himself for what he is: infinite, saving love.
2. For this reason the Eucharist is the beating heart of the community. From the very outset, ever since the primitive community of Jerusalem, Christians have gathered on the Lord's Day to renew at Mass the memorial of Christ's Death and Resurrection. "Sunday" is the day of rest and praise, but without the Eucharist it loses its real meaning. Therefore, in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, I again proposed as a primary pastoral commitment the recovery of the value of Sunday and, of the Eucharistic celebration on the day: "it is a fundamental duty, to be fulfilled not just in order to observe a precept but as something felt as essential to a truly informed and consistent Christian life" (n. 36).
3. In adoring the Eucharist we can only think with gratitude of the Virgin Mary. The famous Eucharistic hymn that we often sing suggests this: "Ave verum corpus / natum de Maria Virgine" (Hail true Body, born of the Virgin Mary). Today, let us ask the Mother of the Lord to obtain that everyone may taste the sweetness of communion with Jesus and, thanks to the Bread of eternal life, receive a share in his mystery of salvation and holiness.
After leading the prayer of the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in Italian and Spanish. Here is a translation of his Italian remarks.
I affectionately greet Italians today and express my best wishes to them for today's national holiday. May God grant Italy peace and prosperity!
I also greet with affection the group of Ukrainians of the Greek-Catholic communities of Naples and Rome, whom I cordially bless, together with their family members in Ukraine. Dear friends, may faith always sustain you in every day life.
In greeting the Italian-speaking pilgrims present, I recall that the month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. May each one draw from this inexhaustible source of grace constant help to progress in love and in generous service to neighbour.
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From Inside the Vatican, June-July 2002, pg. 66: [emphasis mine - ELS]
One of Rome's busiest thoroughfares became a via sacra on the Feast of Corpus Christi, when Pope John Paul II processed with the Blessed Sacrament from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major.
Crowds of people stood along the street and hung out of their apartment windows, praying and singing as the Holy Father knelt in adoration before the Eucharist, both moving slowly through the crowd on a canopied vehicle.
An estimated 20,000 people participated in the annual Eucharistic procession through Rome. The tradition, which began in the 15th century, was revived by John Paul II after it had been abandoned for more than 100 years after the papacy's loss of control over the city of Rome.
Let me know when or if you've ever spent any time in a seminary, pal.
Your idea of doing God's Will is insulting other Catholics.
Let me know when or if you've ever spent any time in a seminary, pal.
Your idea of doing God's Will is insulting other Catholics.
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