5 years after Summorum Pontificum

From the National Catholic Register

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Ever since Summorum Pontificum took effect in September 2007, Mary Kraychy has heard many laudatory comments regarding the traditional Latin Mass.

Kraychy is the executive director of the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei, a group formed to support Pope John Paul II’s 1988 apostolic letter, issued motu proprio (“on his own initiative”).

In the document, the Holy Father notified the Church of the excommunication of five clerics associated with the Society of St. Pius X, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre being the most notable among them.

However, Ecclesia Dei also contained the announcement of a pontifical commission by the same name, whose purpose was to facilitate the full ecclesial communion of those who had been associated with the Society of St. Pius X by allowing for wider use of the traditional Latin Mass.  [This was in 1988 folks!  I only learned about Ecclesia Dei in 1992 when some mysterious person sent me a booklet of Michael Davis about the Traditional Latin Mass.  And did we even hear bishops and priests talk about the motu propio?  Nah.  Cardinal Sin and the CBCP in 1988 was busy praising the 1986 revolution.]

“Pope John Paul II wanted the Society of St. Pius X to understand that, while he did support their appreciation for the traditional liturgy, he wanted to ensure that it would be offered under his guidance as the visible head of the Church,” Kraychy said. “He encouraged bishops to make ‘a wide and generous application of the directives’ released by the Congregation for Divine Worship in a 1984 letter regarding that very issue.” [which did not happen and 1988 and which STILL is not happening even after Summorum Pontificum.  Why you might ask?  Read on.]

That letter, Quattuor Abhinc Annos (Four Years Ago), was sent to the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world. Bishops were informed that those who desired to worship according to the 1962 Missal would be able to do so, under certain conditions.

The two most significant were that those requesting such worship believe in the validity of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and that such worship occur in the times and places determined by the bishop.

However, four years after the letter was released, there was still very little response to the Holy Father’s lead, Kraychy said. She attributed this to a misunderstanding of the status of the 1962 Missal in the Church. “There was a belief, common among bishops and laity, that the traditional Latin Mass was peculiar, archaic or even downright unacceptable,” she said. “There was a widespread impression that the ‘old Mass’ had been outlawed forever and that ‘piano and guitar Masses’ in English were now the norm.”  [It was not just an 'impression'. It was being taught that this is how the Mass should be!  Dancing, clapping, guitars, etc...]

Kraychy didn’t want to stand by while this notion prevailed.

In an attempt to improve the situation, she formed, along with 14 other laypeople, the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei (distinct from the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei). “We started doing everything we could to make known the status of the traditional liturgy and to encourage its broader availability,” she said.

These efforts met with success, but nothing along the lines of what happened after Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, also issued motu proprio, took effect on Sept. 14, 2007.

On that date, priests in the Latin rite were no longer obliged to ask permission of their bishop to offer the traditional liturgy.

The 1962 Missal was officially opened up to any priest who wished to use it and to any “stable group of the faithful” who wished to participate in its use.

The Holy Father’s action facilitated an upsurge in the number of traditional Latin Masses offered. [Here in the Philippines, I would not dare use the term upsurge.  Why?  Fr. Chupungco and Fr. Diwa are relentless in their attacks against the Traditional Liturgy.  Bishops are being threatened, would you believe that, by one this priest for supporting and allowing the Traditional Mass!  Even some bishops whom I have talked with confirm that these two are doing everything they can to stop the liturgical agenda of Pope Benedict XVI and to push their own liturgical reform, which lamentably is Bugnini in all shapes and sizes!  See what you have from San Beda!  See the liturgical "art" you get from PDDM!  Their type of liturgy is to put the tabernacle to the side!]

By September 2007, Kraychy counted 235 Sunday Masses regularly offered according to the 1962 Missal in the United States. Five years later, the number has grown to 475.  [Here in the Philippines?  Let's count the Archdiocese of Manila first................NADA!  In the Diocese of Malaybalay.......Nada!  Why, you might ask did I single out those two dioceses?  Because those two are the places frequented by our world-renowned liturgist!  He has inexplicable clout in those dioceses!  And yet......what do we have there?  KUMBAYA MASS!!!]

“We had seen a slow but steady increase in the number of Sunday Latin Masses prior to September of 2007, but since then, it has become a rapid and steady increase. If you take the previous five-year period [2002-2007], there was a net gain of 55 Sunday Masses, while in the last five years, there was net gain of 240,” she said.

When it comes to weekday Masses, the numbers appear to be even more impressive, Kraychy believes, although the coalition does not keep exact figures for them.

“In addition to the priests who offer the extraordinary form exclusively, there are many more who do so on a limited basis, usually during the week,” she said. “The former group is comprised mostly of order priests, such as those from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter [FSSP] and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The latter group is mostly made up of diocesan priests.”

Diocesan priests constitute the majority of participants at liturgical workshops sponsored by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius. The classes on topics like the history, spirituality and rubrics of the traditional Latin Mass started just prior to the release of Summorum Pontificum and continue to this day.

Over the past five years, almost 1,000 priests and seminarians have been trained by the Canons Regular to offer Mass according to the 1962 Missal. Roughly 80% of these participants are from dioceses, and 20% belong to religious orders.

The next workshop will take place Oct. 23-26 in Chicago, where the 1,000th participant will be trained. This is in stark contrast to the years before Summorum Pontificum, when Father Scott Haynes of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius said training occurred only on an as-requested basis: “Before the release of the Holy Father’s motu proprio, we had one or two priests at a time come to us for assistance in learning the 1962 Missal. Then, immediately before it came out, we had our first official workshop, and we haven’t let up since. We’re very pleased with the Holy Father’s action, and we’re eager to help more priests and seminarians learn what is now called the ‘extraordinary form.’”  [Here in the Philippines, priests come to be trained.......on a per request basis....and even lying to their bishops or superiors as to the real reason where they are going and for what.  Yup.  Philippines.....home of world renowned liturgical expert, still in pre-Summorum Pontificum era.....still can't say goodbye to the 1960s and 70s.]

There is an online tutorial available at the Canons Regular’s website (Canons-Regular.org), along with other resources on the traditional liturgy, such as CDs, DVDs and books.

A new book, The Mystical Theology of the Mass, will be added to the assortment later this year. It was written by Father Haynes and includes a foreword by Cardinal Raymond Burke and an introduction by Alice von Hildebrand. The book — and many of the other resources — are designed for both clergy and the laity.

The Canons Regular also provide instruction for laypeople, and Father Haynes welcomes this opportunity to make the extraordinary form better understood and accepted.

“There are definitely laypeople who already have a desire to participate in the extraordinary form, but there are some who aren’t sure what to expect, and some are even apprehensive,” he said. “We want to assure them that while there are different forms of the Mass, we’re all Catholic, and we’re not in a competition. We’re simply trying to give due honor to almighty God through reverent worship.”  [But Fr. Chupungco and Fr. Diwa think we are in competition, and frankly, I agree with them.  One of the rare times actually.  Why?  Imagine pitting the TLM against the Misa ng Sambayanang Pilipino.....If this were a wrestling or boxing match.....expect a major squashing to happen.  Train-wreck!  TLM against the G-string clad liturgical dancers of Fr. Chupungco?  I'd rather watch paint dry.....Ugh!]

The goal of reverent worship has also been a hallmark of Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio’s life. The founder and president of Ignatius Press believes that the Mass can be offered reverently in both the ordinary form (according to the Missal of Pope Paul VI) and in the extraordinary form (according to the Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII).  [Yes, I agree.  But why has Fr. Chupungco and Fr. Diwa not done anything?  Why are they preventing the TLM to be offered freely without their "veiled threats" to bishops and priests wanting it?  it just really baffles me.  Do they seriously think that they can go up against Pope Benedict XVI?]

“While it may surprise some people, I think the ordinary form of the Mass, if it is actually conducted as Pope Paul VI intended, can be just as beautiful as the extraordinary form,” Father Fessio stated. “But it can’t be done arbitrarily, as it largely has been over the past four decades. It has to be done as it was truly intended by Pope Paul VI.”  [but it is being done arbitrarily.  Just open your TV sets every Sunday morning! And where are the liturgical experts to clamp down on these abuses?  NOWHERE!]

What does such a Mass look like? Father Fessio indicates that it looks much like a Mass offered according to the 1962 Missal.

This is one of the reasons he doesn’t use the unqualified term “Latin Mass” regarding the older Missal. “The specific reasons people list for attending the extraordinary form are things such as use of Latin, the priest facing the same direction as the congregation, the employment of Gregorian chant. Yet all of these can be done with the ordinary form.” [Yes!  Sacrosanctum Concilium specifically mentioned it but Fr. Chupungco is openly against it!]

Father Fessio utilizes these features at his own Masses, including those he celebrated recently at the Napa Institute’s second annual conference. “At the Napa conference in late July, there were four to five Masses per day, and all of them were done ad orientem — with priest and people facing in the same direction. This was true of the ordinary and the extraordinary form, and no one seemed to have a problem with it.”  [Imagine the likes of Frs. Anton Pascual, Glenn Paul Gomez, Mario "Swswswshhhh" Sobrejuanite doing this....ad orientem....I can imagine them frothing in the mouth for being able to flash their pearly white teeth in front of the camera while doing their "Bob Barker" style of worship.  Ha!  Imagine the torture they had to go through.  Forget "Fr." Archie Guiriba.  He is hopeless.  He really has to work hard to feed the fruits of his loins.]

A major reason why it went so smoothly, Father Fessio believes, was Summorum Pontificum, which made the extraordinary form more available than it had been. “There’s no question that Summorum has made the extraordinary form more available, so the faithful have been able to witness the beauty of the traditional liturgy firsthand. The horror and hostility expressed by some at the release of Summorum have been blunted by the reality before their eyes. For five years we’ve seen that there’s nothing to fear, but much to be thankful for.”  [Ha!  Tell that to Fr. Diwa, Fr. Chupungco, Fr. Sobrejuanite!]

This gratitude has made Father Fessio’s work of restoring the novus ordo Mass much easier. “When the faithful realize the novus ordo was supposed to be an organic development of tradition, rather than a break from it, things go more smoothly in steering it to where it should be,” he said.

One major inspiration for Father Fessio’s labors is Pope Benedict, who taught him in graduate school. “I was very fortunate to learn from one of the best minds in the Church while pursuing my doctorate in theology,” Father Fessio said. “He has had important things to say on so many topics, but the liturgy is one realm that might stand out above the rest. Even in the 1970s, he was publicly questioning the reforms taking place, because they were not called for by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, and they did not constitute an organic development of the liturgy.”  [Do you think the Misa ng Sambayanang Pilipino of Fr. Chupungco is an organic development?  How can be a development when the Mass was played up like a jigsaw puzzle!]

These criticisms didn’t become well known in the English-speaking world until Ignatius Press published The Ratzinger Report in 1985 and Feast of Faith in 1986.

Then, in 2000, came The Spirit of the Liturgy, his best-known work on the topic.

By the time he succeeded Pope John Paul II in 2005, a number of observers expected Pope Benedict to do something grand regarding the traditional liturgy. Their expectations were met in 2007 with the release of Summorum Pontificum, a document that has helped in very practical ways to renew appreciation for the sacred liturgy in the hearts and minds of the faithful.

***

But much more has to be done.

Summorum Pontificum is not yet fully liberalized.

Bishops and priests are still openly hostile towards groups promoting the Traditional Liturgy calling them "SSPX Supporters"  Ha!  I wish I had a dollar every time I read that!  Or maybe write it in ALL CAPS!

5 years after the issuance of Summorum Pontificum, priests who openly celebrated it are marginalized, ridiculed made fun of.

One priest even told me that one of his confreres asked if most of the TLM goers are rich people!

See that?

There is your compass pointing to their "North".

That is their inspiration!

Not really about the form of the liturgy eh?

So, I'll repeat what I have posted before.

If the richest people in the Philippines, like Henry Sy, Lucio Tan, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, all the other billionaires in the country would ask for the Traditional Latin Mass expect the likes of Fr. Anton Pascual, Fr. Glenn Paul Gomez, Fr. Mario Sobrejuanite to scamper to traditional groups asking to be trained to say the EF Mass.  Expect them to wear the black cassock everytime.....with biretta and cappelo romano for sure.

30 pieces of silver anyone?

THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS RETURNS TO THE PONTIFICAL and ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

In coordination with Una Voce Philippines, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) shall be offered on 24 August 2012, Friday, at 6:00 in the evening, by the Rev. Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo at the St. Dominic Chapel, Center for Campus Ministry, 3rd Floor, UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center.

In preparation for this, Rev, Fr. Eric Forbes, OFM, Cap, a priest from Guam, will give a lecture on ""The Ceremonies of the Holy (Tridentine) Mass Explained" on 9 August 2012, 6:00 p.m. at the Campus Ministry Hall, 3rd Floor, UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center.

We hope you could join us as we experience the richness of the ever-ancient yet ever-new liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Coptic "conclave"

A blindfolded child will deliver the final word on the election of the successor of Shenouda III, the recently deceased Coptic Pope. According to customary voting practice, the child will pull one of three cards, with various names written on them, out of a silver urn. For centuries, the Coptic Orthodox Church has chosen its leaders through this unique system, at the end of a complex, multi-step process which lasts several months.

The current procedure dates back to 1957, and thus has been used to choose the last two Coptic popes: Cyril VI, who reigned from 1959 to 1971, and Shenouda III, who led the largest Egyptian Church for the last forty years. On 31 October 1971, he, too, was chosen through the “sacred election by lot”: before the entire community, the smallest of the altar boys was given the task of extracting one of the three cards which contained the names of monks Samuel and Timothy al-Maqarinext alongside Shenouda's name. This is an ancient way to visibly demonstrate that the election has been entrusted to the will of God.

Read more about this in the Vatican Insider.

For young traditionalist men who want to become priests

The great blogger, Father John Zuhlsdorf has a very wise advice for all of you!

Back in the dark days of the 80′s when in my seminary to have a statue of Our Lady of Fatima or to say the rosary in public meant expulsion, I came up with the Six Rules of Seminary Survival. Where you are they may still pertain:

Rarely affirm.
Never deny.
Seldom make distinctions.
Smile a lot.
Say very little.
Never wear black.

In my day, it was as if we were officers-in-training, but in the military academy of the enemy. That seems like the situation there.

This is what you must do: learn what these modernist oppressors have to teach, parrot it back to them, and read good books on your own, with a flashlight and shades drawn if necessary.

And if you have to give up the internet, then for the love of God and His Holy Church give it up.

Get ordained.

Your day will come.

There will be time after ordination to learn the TLM and build up that dimension of the formation they are – contrary to the Church’s law – cheating you out of.

For the sake of that day, be quiet and make sacrifices of your desire to surf around as you will.

If you have to, you can – believe me – hang by your thumbs until your hands are anointed.


Do not, by fighting or reacting suddenly, give those… aging-hippy modernists anything to beat you with.

Once you are ordained, with a joyful smile and in charity destroy their life’s work.

***

I have known a couple of friends who swear they could have just shut the hell up and played politics just to get ordained!  :D

And I know a couple who did just that and raised their nutty professors into a frenzy for "coming out" and showing their true Traddie colors!

Well, "destroying their life's work" is what some of Fr. A's students are doing, eh?

Read the entire post here.

And don't forget to vote for his blog!

So to those wanting to enter the seminary and have this knack to hunt for liberals and modernists...

Heed Fr. Z's advice!

Ranting about your Anathema sit won't get you anywhere!

And the Church is found on both East and West, North and South.  So, stop your obsession about directions, ok?!

EF Mass Schedule

Click the image for a larger view or right click to save it.

Solemn High Mass!!!

The parish priest Fr. Jojo Zerrudo, of Holy Family Parish in Roxas District, Quezon City, spared NOTHING to celebrate the patronal feast of his new parish...complete with Knights of Columbus Honor Guards, which I learned was led by a friend.

The Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form was offered by a Canon Jean Marie Moreau of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICRSS)

For more, visit Fr. Zerrudo's blog.

This day in 1917

The Blessed Mother appeared to 3 young shepherd children at Fatima.

What an opportune date to announce the name of the new archbishop of Manila!

Pray for the new archbishop.

Consecrate him to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

Ultramontanist Reading List

My good friend, Ms. Anita Moore, O.P., Esq. of V is Victory Blog came out with a splendid list of UltraMontanist Reading materials for your enrichment.  :)

Click here to see the list.  Active links are available for you to read the documents.

Summorum Pontificum and Obedience to the Pope

Unfortunately, Cardinal Rosales signed the document that openly and brazenly defied the Pope on what the Holy Father wrote in the Motu Propio.  He was quickly reprimanded by Cardinal Hoyos of the Ecclesia Dei Commission for this.

But the cardinal was not the one who wrote this actually. The signature "That in all things, God may be glorified." is a give away.

The link to the archdiocese's directive was immediately pulled down and what was left is that Q&A format with that obvious signature of that liturgist who hates anything that he cannot inculturate.

Remember that a cardinal wears red because he is ready to shed his blood for the Faith and that we wears a special ring as a sign of his obedience to the Holy Father.

What happens to those things now?  Gone the drain because he does not like the Traditional Form?

Was it really the cardinal or a liturgist who just can't get over the fact?

My advise:  Just obey who is sitting on Peter's chair and get it over with!

***

No more Novus Ordo Mass in fifty years!

Golly!

No more of inculturation!

And seminarians required to learn the Traditional Form!

Gasp!

Still no more room for inculturation!

What, then, I pray tell, happens with all the liturgical research and competency in pastoral liturgy?

Don't get me wrong.

I attend and assist at the Novus Ordo Mass.

But I still prefer the Traditional Mass.

Nuff said.

Some Pinoy bishops would not want you to hear this...

include here also Pinoy liturgists, theologians and some Jesuits, but most of the Jesuits I think...I think...

Vincentians and CICM too?

Congratulate Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke

After the Holy Father declared that he will elevate Archbishop Burke to the cardinalate.

Visit Congratulate Burke.com to send your greetings to one of my favorite Catholic prelates along with Archbishop Ranjith of Colombo.

Pope to be?

Something new but old in the Papal Crest

Here is the text of what was said in the video.  From Rome Reports

***

October 12, 2010. The papal crest that hangs from Benedict XVI window is sporting a new design this week. That was before and this is now. We still don't know if the changes are definitive or if it's just one version of the papal coat of arms.

The exterior is inspired by Pope Barberini's crest, which is found on the canopy or baldacchino of Saint Peter's main altar.

The main difference compared to the prior is the comeback of the papal triple crown, which highlights governmental function of the Pope. [Huh?!  Is that just it?  Or does the tiara mean his UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGN POWERS TO GOVERN THE CHURCH?  That term "governmental function" would send shivers down the spine of anti-hierarchical modernists.  Right MST?]

A symbol present in all the papal crests of the last century, including that of Pope John Paul the second.

No longer visible in this version is the bishop's miter that represents the brotherhood between all bishops and the mission to teach Christians. [See the play there?  The tiara is more "governmental" while the miter shows more "brotherhood" and "teaching" function?  So...some of our Eastern Catholic eparchs and separated Orthodox eparch brethren who use a crown like looking miter is more...should we say...kingly...governmental...not pastoral?  Is an MST alum in Rome Reports now?]

Since they're compatible, [What is compatible?  This is giving me migraines.] which one he decides to use will probably depend on the type of ceremony. [Huh?  So the tiara on the crest is for the less formal, non-liturgical functions that the Pope presides and the miter on the crest is for liturgical and more formal ones.  Am I missing something here or has the world gone mad that a heavily bejeweled tiara will appear in the papal crest is for less formal occasions and a less bejeweled miter is for more formal occasions?]

***

Archbishop Emeritus to offer EF Mass!

 Archbishop Pedro Dean

I just learned from Ms. Marilou Cortes of Societas Liturgiae Sacrae Sancti Gregorii that Palo Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Dean will celebrate a Low Mass of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on Saturday, September 11 at 8:30AM at Christ the King Parish Church in Greenmeadows, Quezon City.

Too bad I will be out of town that week.  I hope Ms. Cortes or anyone attending will send me photos of that Mass of the Archbishop.

In the meantime, here is this week's schedule of EF Masses to be held at Christ the King and at St. Therese.

One year!!!

I did not realize it but it has been a year since I started my blog.  How time flies by!

Through the year, through my blog I met a lot of good friends in the Catholic Faith...and those of our Anglican brethren aspiring to get back home to our Catholic Faith.

What wonders the Lord works!

I pray for you all...

Pray for me too and my family.

I was a wonderful year.

And so I offer this...

Youngest Pinoy Archbishop to receive pallium

The archbishop (center) after the ordination mass he presided.

37 archbishops will receive their pallium from the hands of the Holy Father during the Mass of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.

Among those who will receive their pallium is Filipino archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen - Dagupan.  He is only 42 years old.

Click here for more details.

Usually the Vatican invites the Patriarch of Constantinople to this event and the patriarch attends dressed in his choir robes.

I will post the video as soon as it is available.

The great Fr. Tim Ofrasio, SJ

Here is a wonderful photo of Fr. Tim Ofrasio, SJ, professor of Liturgy at the Loyola School of Theology at the Ateneo de Manila University.

He is vested here in the purple cassock and laced surplice as MC of the ordination to the diaconate of Filipino Jesuits. This is found in his Facebook profile.

Fr. Tim is one of the eminent liturgists of the Philippines. He is the good one, if you get what I mean

He celebrated the EF Mass at the Parish of the Lord of the Divine Mercy in Sikatuna Village in Quezon City. He also celebrates regular TLM at the University.

Mabuhay Fr. Tim!

NYT features lesbian Catholic!

I too was surprised when I read the headline.  Ms. Tushnet presents very good points!  Read below to discover.

Articel courtesy of EWTNNews.com
***

The New York Times recently featured lesbian writer and blogger Eve Tushnet, [at right] a conservative Catholic woman who vocally opposes same-sex “marriage” and promotes what she believes to be happy, chaste lives for homosexual individuals.

In a June 4 article, the Times describes Tushnet as “fervently Catholic, proudly gay, happily celibate.” While openly homosexual, Tushnet does not see herself as disordered, nor does she attempt become heterosexual. Instead, she speaks out through her writing in support of the Church's teaching on chastity.

Tushnet has been openly homosexual since about age 13. Her father is a non-practicing Jew and a well-known liberal Harvard law professor, while her mother is a Unitarian who had formerly worked as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer.

Tushnet entered Yale in 1996 and during her first year, attended a meeting of a conservative group, the Party of the Right, adding that she initially went “specifically to laugh at them, to see the zoo animals,” according to the Times.

However, the writer said she was shocked to find herself drawn in by the group she had come to ridicule. “I was really impressed, not only by the weird arguments but the degree to which it was clear that the people making them lived as if what they were saying had actual consequences for their lives, that had required them to make sacrifices,” she explained.

To her surprise, Tushnet discovered the students in the Party of the Right to be compassionate as well as intellectual.  According to the Times, she found the Catholics in the group particularly inviting because they showed her that the existence of sin did not simply mean that “you are bad.”  Instead, it means “precisely the opposite.”

“It means you have a chance to come back and repent and be saved.”   [Bingo!]

Tushnet began reading spiritual books and attending Mass, and by the time of her sophomore year, was baptized. [Alleluia! Welcome home!]

After working briefly for the National Catholic Register, Tushnet has worked since 2002 in magazine writing, computer programming and freelance research.  She writes for Catholic publications like Commonweal and secular magazines such as The Weekly Standard. Additionally, her blog, eve-tushnet.blogspot.com, records her more personal reflections and attracts about 100 readers each day. 

Tushnet also volunteers weekly at a Christian pregnancy-counseling center.

Writing about the problems of same-sex “marriage” in an article for The New York Post in 2007, Tushnet said that allowing such “marriages”  can “bring one of three outcomes.” [Read this part here.  It is very good!]

The first is a “two-tiered marriage culture, where heterosexual couples are asked to do the hard things (sex only within marriage, marriage for life in most circumstances) and homosexual couples work out their own marriage norms.”

The second, said Tushnet, is a reshaping of marriage “into an optional, individualized institution, ignoring the creative and destructive potentials of ‘straight’ sex.”

The third possible outcome, Tushnet said, would “encourage all couples to restrict sex to marriage and marry for life, and hope that gay couples accept norms designed to meet heterosexual needs.”

For these reasons, Tushnet vocally supports reserving marriage only for heterosexual couples. She told the Times that it “makes sense to have an institution dedicated to structuring and channeling” heterosexual relationships, which she describes as having the potential to be “either uniquely dangerous or uniquely fruitful.”
Homosexual men and women should live celibate lives that include chaste friendships with members of the same sex, said Tushnet. She also spoke of the need to sublimate homosexual urges into other pursuits, explaining that she has become very good at doing so.

Tushnet does not believe that homosexual relations should be criminalized, but calls instead for voluntary abstinence. “The sacrifices you want to make aren’t always the only sacrifices God wants,” she wrote in a 2007 essay for Commonweal.

***

You can read more about Eve over at her blog and by reading her profile by clicking here.  She is even on Facebook.  Click here for her page.

"Dominus vobiscum", anyone?

Fr. Jojo Zerrudo, parish priest of the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy in Sikatuna Village, and one of the few priests in Manila who regularly celebrates the Extraordinary Form of the Mass has his own blog.  The wonderful Sense of the Sacred.

His latest post is about his fellow priests expressing their disdain of the traditional Latin greeting "Dominus vobiscum."

Here is his original post and my comment posted in the comment box.

Please support Fr. Jojo and the TLM Community of the Diocese of Cubao.  Visit his blog and send your donations for the construction of the personal parish church of the TLM Community.

***

I get upset whenever I hear a priest greet the people: "The Lord is with you!" I even heard some priests complain that "Dominus vobiscum" is so archaic a greeting that it no longer is relevant to our modern use. With the new translations returning to "and with your spirit", many liberals object that this response does not mean anything more than the formula we use today: "and also with you." I came across this very enlightening article which I think would make us appreciate the return to the more literal translation of "et cum spiritu tuo."

***

Muslims greet each other with "Assalamu alaikum"

Yet you do not hear them complain about being to archaic.

Scientists use Latin terms for identifying different species.  Yet they are not complaining.

Is there a hatred for anything before Vatican 2?

Or is it the excuse of someone playing dumb?

"Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan." [It's hard to wake up someone playing sleep.]

A thought on Valentine's Day

What Catholic women want on Valentine's Day [This is a play on the Mel Gibson film "What Women Want"]

HYATTSVILLE, Maryland, FEB. 10, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, and many men are scrambling to prepare for what seems like a yearly comprehensive exam on the state of their relationships. [ROFL! I love it! HAHAHA!]

They wonder: Does she want something material this year, like diamonds and roses, or rather an evening out? Has she been dropping me hints that I've been deaf to? What if I thought I knew what she wanted, and then she said something that threw me for a loop again? [Because women want men to keep on guessing.]

ZENIT asked Rebecca Ryskind Teti, a wife and mother herself, about the inside scoop on what women really want on this Feb. 14 celebration. Teti, who blogs daily at www.faithandfamilylive.com, asked her readers, women from across the country, about their plans and hopes for Sunday.

Teti, also a contributing editor to Faith & Family Magazine and the In Good Company columnist for Catholic News Agency, added some other ideas for making this day special for the whole family.

ZENIT: With Valentine's Day approaching, we are being bombarded with television commercials that give the impression that all women want this Feb. 14 are diamonds and cellular phones. Do these material things really make a woman happy? What is it that makes women happy? [Marketing ploy at the expense of men's wallets.  (Sigh. Sniff.)]

Teti: Gifts do help! Ads exaggerate to sell particular products, but to the extent that a gift is a token of something deeper -- of love, affection, or appreciation -- of course it is delightful.  [And when women who exaggerate their feelings see something exaggerated, everything gets exaggerated, don't you think?]

What sometimes offends us about advertising is the implication that women live for gifts, that presents must be extravagant to count, or that a token of affection can be coerced. [Now that's woman power!  Asserting for the right reasons.]

We shouldn't neglect the positive premise that's also present, though, which is the reminder to take time to show the people we love that we appreciate them.

Material things have no power to make us happy, but they do make our daily routine a little sweeter. We live not by bread alone, but by bread as well.

ZENIT: What do women, especially Catholic women, want this Valentine's Day? [Now here goes.]

Teti: Most of our readers mentioned looking forward to simple pleasures: a card, a little chocolate, perhaps a single rose. Some were hoping for an opportunity to dress up a little and go out; others were hoping for a quiet evening in.

Whatever form their fancy took, however, what all the married women who responded were hoping for was concentrated time with their husbands. [Which is even harder to get these days!]

The desire seems to be to break the daily routine of chores and obligations, and just be able to enjoy each other's company for awhile. [Hear that?]

One woman laughingly did ask for sapphire earrings, but said she wasn't expecting them this year. She was thinking many years down the road -- perhaps one extravagant Valentine's Day just once in her married life.

ZENIT: What do wives particularly look for from their husbands?

Teti: That is too big a question! I will narrow my answer to one thing that seems relevant to Valentine's Day.

Thanks to Venerable John Paul II's "Theology of the Body," the Church understands more deeply than ever the meaning of the line from Genesis: "male and female he created them."

In other words, man and woman together present to mankind an image of God.

The vocation of woman is to reveal God's beauty to the world. [WHAT?!  Not women priests?  Dang!  The nuns-in-pants would be up in arms!  The Anglicans and Episcopalians will be mad!]

Woman is made to be beautiful. Our culture's emphasis on physical beauty is not wrong, but it is shallow, and often misdirected. [And costly!]

The deepest way a woman is beautiful is when she reveals to others their own goodness by teaching them the love God has for them. This is the "feminine genius:" to reveal the goodness of the human person, and thus the beauty of God. [Hmmm... still no women priest.  Hey get that!  Richard McBrien!]

What Mother Teresa of Calcutta did for the poor, every woman can do in her environment, and certainly every mother does in her home for her husband and children. [Oh how the liberals hate Mother Teresa.]

This is the most satisfying and happy "work" of women, but there remains in every woman an emotional need to feel her beauty is appreciated. [Naturally.]

So one of the best things a husband can do for his wife is give a little assurance now and then that she is still beautiful in his eyes: in spite of wrinkles, stretch marks, perhaps the weight gain that can come with bearing children, cooking for them, and taking more care of others than oneself. [And don't ever ask her or tell anyone her real age and weight!  If you do not want World War 3 erupting so suddenly, eh?]

That's the real meaning of a romantic gesture for most wives, I think: It's a sign she is appreciated not just as cook and chauffer and governess and maid, but as wife. [Now that is a 24 hour job and probably the most important in the world.  Some career women prefer to take care of dogs and not get married.  Why?  Because they are afraid to become wives and mothers.  They can be CEOs and be rich, famous and powerful but yet cannot handle the greatest job a woman can ever have...wife and mother.]

ZENIT: How can Catholic families celebrate St. Valentine's Day? [Now I like this. Hope you do some of these suggestions or even some of your own in the Com Box.]

Teti: Faith & Family readers have lots of good ideas. Some of them study the various saints named Valentine.

Some make it a day to remember people who might otherwise be forgotten by taking valentine cards to sick or elderly shut-ins.

Almost everyone makes it an occasion to exchange cards with family members, celebrating the family's love for one another.

And, of course, there must be heart-shaped desserts.

ZENIT: Valentine's Day has its roots in Christianity. There are actually several St. Valentines who were martyrs in the early Church. What is it about this Christian holiday that appeals to popular culture so much that they have embraced it as well? [With some atheist nut jobs greeting you "Merry Winter Solstice".  I'm a Christian and you are celebrating a Christian feast so deal with it!]

Teti: I think we have Geoffrey Chaucer to thank for that. Not much is known about any of the St. Valentines, but they were martyrs, and there does not seem to have been any association of the day with romance until Chaucer wrote a poem about the marriage of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia.

Chaucer made St. Valentine the patron saint of the marriage, and his poem also included allusions to Cupid and Venus. After that, there seems to have been a conflation of Cupid and St. Valentine, and Valentine's Day came to be associated with the "courtly love" of the medieval courts.

It's from the tradition of courtly love that the practice of sending a "valentine" in secret comes about. Or so the historians say!

ZENIT: In popular culture, it can seem that Valentine's day has become more of a day about sex and being sexy than about love. Is there a place for both on this day? [I love the quesions.]

Teti: Catholicism isn't puritanical. The Catholic approach to culture has always been to embrace what is wholesome and overcome what is evil with good.  [Do I hear an AMEN?]

Of course there is no necessity to celebrate Valentine's Day; it's not a holy day of obligation! [And another one?]

But for those who choose to observe it, there's no reason it can't be an opportunity to celebrate human love in all its dimensions -- including the romantic and erotic, which are part of God's gift to husbands and wives.[Leave the erotic part for those who are married...by the Church.]

***

Observe Valentine's Day for all the right reasons.

And I hope our hippie, soon-to-be-former, loves-to-construct-anything and run-fund-raisers "Deal or No Deal" parish priest would not use the Sunday Mass as an occasion to turn make it his very own Jerry Springer Show once again!

Imagine, having a special ritual blessing for married couples right after Holy Communion...in a huge church....5,000 capacity...waiting for the couples to gather in front of the sanctuary...for the blessing that can come before the dismissal.

I forgot what he said during his homily.  All I remember was he tried being Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil in 30 gruelling minutes.

When do I get to sing that Beatles' song?  (Na na na na. Hey hey!  Goodbye!)

The Sedia...almost

With all the buzz about bringing back the Sedia Gestatoria to prevent a similar attack on the Pope on Christmas ever from happening again...

Here's an interesting photo courtesy of hallowedground.wordpress.com

John Paul II in Guadalupe, standing on a mobile platform.

Not bad.