The Hermeneutic of Continuity?

Many things can happen in 42 years. This is obvious when one looks at the state of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. As you may have heard, in some polls, up to 70% of Catholics have lost the biblical belief that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist. Many people think going to Mass on Sunday is an optional suggestion. Many, including some priests, have forgotten that our Catholic Faith has been divinely established in the world and we have no right to change the gift we have received from the Lord God.

What comes into question is how we understand the Church and view the church. The word "hermeneutic" which essentially means "the proverbial lense through which we comprehend a certain subject" is often used to describe this approach towards the Catholic Church.

The Holy Father reflected on all of this in his Christmas Address a year and half ago. He asks:

"What has been the result of the Council? Was it well received? What, in the acceptance of the Council, was good and what was inadequate or mistaken? What still remains to be done? No one can deny that in vast areas of the Church the implementation of the Council has been somewhat difficult, even without wishing to apply to what occurred in these years the description that St Basil, the great Doctor of the Church, made of the Church's situation after the Council of Nicea: he compares her situation to a naval battle in the darkness of the storm, saying among other things: "The raucous shouting of those who through disagreement rise up against one another, the incomprehensible chatter, the confused din of uninterrupted clamouring, has now filled almost the whole of the Church, falsifying through excess or failure the right doctrine of the faith..."

He continues:

it all depends on the correct interpretation of the Council or - as we would say today - on its proper hermeneutics, the correct key to its interpretation and application. The problems in its implementation arose from the fact that two contrary hermeneutics came face to face and quarrelled with each other. One caused confusion, the other, silently but more and more visibly, bore and is bearing fruit.

Then he points out:

On the one hand, there is an interpretation that I would call "a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture"; it has frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend of modern theology. On the other, there is the "hermeneutic of reform", of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us.

As to the first, the "hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture", the Holy Father points out:

In a word: it would be necessary not to follow the texts of the Council but its spirit. In this way, obviously, a vast margin was left open for the question on how this spirit should subsequently be defined and room was consequently made for every whim. The nature of a Council as such is therefore basically misunderstood. In this way, it is considered as a sort of constituent that eliminates an old constitution and creates a new one.

As to the latter, the "hermenuetic of continuity," he points out:

The Church, both before and after the Council, was and is the same Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic, journeying on through time; she continues "her pilgrimage amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God", proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 8).

Thus, if we are to continue in the same Faith of the Apostles, the Martyrs and all those who have accepted their discipileship as Christians, we too must take up our Faith in Jesus Christ who has handed on his Holy Spirit to the Catholic Church to guide her. Most prominently in our Holy Father who continues to teach on behalf of Christ to each of us. And thus, knowning his own weaknesses the Pope pointed out:

Lastly, should I perhaps recall once again that 19 April this year on which, to my great surprise, the College of Cardinals elected me as the Successor of Pope John Paul II, as a Successor of St Peter on the chair of the Bishop of Rome? Such an office was far beyond anything I could ever have imagined as my vocation. It was, therefore, only with a great act of trust in God that I was able to say in obedience my "yes" to this choice. Now as then, I also ask you all for your prayer, on whose power and support I rely.

We should remember to pray for our Pope and our Bishops, and especially our priests. For many have been the attacks on Holy Mother Church and on her sons who have accepted the call to the Priesthood. Many priests have been sidetracked or distracted in their following Christ, and we know that Satan even now tempts them to turn away, for in wounding the shepherd the sheep will scatter (Speaking of which, I will soon be writing about what I have been learning in the book A Generation Betrayed) . Let us, ignobled sheep that we are, take up the cause of Holy Mother Church in our prayers so that no priest maybe left behind for lack of our prayers. For truly Christ Our King can renew the Church, if we each will accept his gentle invitation and command to his disciples to take up our cross and daily follow him.

WOW, its so True!

I just found this. It goes along well with my last post. CAI is Catholic Apologetics International which tries to help Catholics understand Traditional Catholic teachings. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. In case you didn't know, atheistic communism (not the people who believe in it) is one of two official enemies of the Catholic Church. The other is Freemasonry - but that is a whole other story.

Were you aware of the Revolution?

There was a very interesting article in First Things last month (I am a little behind in my reading!). It was regarding the theology of those just prior to and after the Second Vatican Council. It was very interesting in so far as it pointed out that those who had the most influence in the council had many innovative ideas, but their ideas were lost on subsequent generations, including ours. Why? The author points out that those theologians were well grounded in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, who summarized theology into a basic framework in his classic work the Summa Theologiae. Unfortunately, when they came up with the theological innovations they did, then those who were not grounded in Theology tended to misunderstand what they were saying.

I think this is analogously, in large part, why so many people are engaged in the notion of "Cafeteria Catholicism." Many people feel they can pick and choose what doctrines of the Church, established by Jesus, they want to follow. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we accept the gift of eternal life offered by Jesus through his Catholic Church or whether we will reject this gift.

Many theologians throughout the ages, upon their study of both the Sacred Scriptures and the Church's teachings (always based on the Bible), have pointed out that the Catholic Faith is alike a net in which we are caught up in and are moving towards heaven. If we begin to undo any tenet or aspect of the Catholic Faith, then it is as if we are loosening the net until we fall through. There are very real dangers to the gift we receive in the Catholic Faith. Let no one think that just because they belong to the Catholic Church that they can not be swiped away. We must actively fight against the temptations of the world to hear man made innovations upon the Catholic Faith.

But to fight them we need ammunition, this only comes from the understanding the teaching of the Church. Unlike our modern world, if we believe in Jesus Christ, and that he sent His Holy Spirit into the world to guide the Catholic Church we should trust the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. To do so doesn't neglect that there are a great many sinners even now in the Catholic Church, it only means that we trust that God can write crooked with straight lines or, to put it another way, that God is faithful to the promise he made in establishing His Church upon the rock of St. Peter.

The choice is ours. But the world is not waiting for us to respond, its bombardments against us to turn away from our Faith or to reject even parts of our Faith is constant. Let us never set down our armor of our Love for God!

A Generation Betrayed?

I am very excited that I finally got a new book from Amazon.com. It took them forever as I ordered last year in Nov. and long story short, I finally got it. The book is by Eamonn Keane and is called "A Generation Betrayed." It is all about how, according to the author, two people are responsible in large part for many people growing up not knowing their faith... including myself.

I mean God bless the people who tried to teach me about my Catholic Faith when I was little, but, as I said at one parent meeting, the only thing I remember was a little girl that I thought was very beautiful. There was no substance to anything we learned. I seem to recall arts and crafts, which were big in the 70's/80's as many of you remember. And while these were nice to bring home to Mom, they did nothing to tell me about my Mother in Heaven.

This in large part is why I am thankful to be working here at St. Jude. I hated Religious Education when I was little because it was pointless in my experience. I don't even know if we had textbooks then, I think we just had well meaning parents or something.

For me, this is why I aim to help the children at St. Jude to actually learn their faith. Of course, one of the problems for many parents is that they, like me when I was young, find their faith secondary or less important than the many things that are going on in their lives. This is precisely why WE are a generation betrayed. We were essentially taught, for various reasons, that Religious Education was something that we didn't really need to put effort into, after all it was such a "hassle" to have to go to an extra class each week! Rather, if someone had cared about my soul, then they would have put the effort in to teach me about what it means to respond to Jesus Christ and to live according to the teaching of the Catholic Church which is the Lumen Gentium - the Light of the Peoples of the world.

We adults must recapture the Rel. Ed. that was not given to us in our childhood (if it wasn't), and by taking it up then we can pass it on to our children. If you are ready to make your Catholic Faith the most important thing in your life, then you are ready to return to Jesus what he gave for each of us on the cross. Let me know what I can do to help!

Reconsidering Regensberg

I remember a few months ago when the Holy Father gave his now infamous talk at the University of Regensberg some lady in California said that he should apologize to the Muslim community.

While searching for a few pictures online for a powerpoint presentation I am putting together for RCIA, I found this nice little video which I wish I could show that same lady. Check this out and let me know what you think.

A "NEW" Liturgical Vestment for women?

I have often considered the Islamic faith as a very interesting phenomenon. Many Catholics don't realize that when Mohammed first came on the scene, St. John Chrysostom had already noted that the Islamic faith was a Christian heresy. How? Becuase St. John noted that Mohammed denied Jesus Christ had actually died. He denied that Jesus was the Son of God, rather Mohammed saw Jesus as only a prophet.

For all of that, it is quite interesting to consider the Muslim devotion. Many women and men are very devoted to living this faith with all that they are. Its quite sad to consider that, even though we have more freedom as Catholics, many Catholics pick and choose parts of the religion that has been handed down to them. For this reason, many Catholics will eventually leave their faith because they have not grappled with the teachings of the Church, but have only decided to blindly follow the Church's teachings.

No one of us should blindly follow the Catholic Faith. By that I mean, we should be obedient to all that the Church proposes for our belief because she is guided by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, we should constantly scrutinize the Church's teachings until we come to understand them as she proposes them. Our reason must come to comprehend all the Holy Mother Church wants to teach us for the sake of our salvation. And, like a good Mother, she wants us to understand why she proposes each doctrine, so that we can understand it and defend the family.

In light of all of this, I have been wondering quite a bit lately about some of the sacred traditions of the Catholic Church which have been lost after Vatican II. Some of which seem to have been rejected or lost or left by the wayside without reason. One of the most striking, which the Muslim faithful maintain, is the wearing of a veil for women. Now, in the Catholic Tradition, the prayer veil was only required to be worn at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. However, in the Muslim Tradition, women are to wear a burqua (if not more) all the time.

This tradition has NOT EVER BEEN rejected in the Catholic Faith. In fact, it is one of the oldest traditions we have, almost as old as the Holy Mass itself. It is known already in the New Testament in 1Cor 11:1-16. And perhaps more striking, it was decreed by the second Pope, Linus, that all women should wear the prayer veil during the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.

Why then, one might rightfully ask, has the veil been so seemingly suppressed? In fact, it was never suppressed. The 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly affirmed this biblical and liturgical practice: Canon 1262, § 2. “Men should attend Mass, either in church or outside church, with bare heads, unless approved local custom or special circumstances suggest otherwise; women, however, should have their heads veiled and should be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord.” Moreover, the 1983 Code of Canon Law did not intend to remove this liturgical practice.

There are numerous articles arguing for the restoration of this practice on the internet, like here, or here, or here or here, among many many others. I, as well, have been considering this practice, not because of oppression or hate of women, rather because it is a liturgical tradition which appears should never have been lost. Certainly, some, both men and women, will disagree. However, of fundamental question is whether this Sacred Tradition has officially been abrogated, that is removed, as a practice of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. If anyone can find an official authoritative statement to this effect, then I would love to see it. In the meantime, and until this is refuted, perhaps we should consider the restoration of this practice.

What I find very beautiful is the argument for the prayer veil being a liturgical vestment for women. The first link above refers to this arguement. As the Church does hold the dignity of women as sacred, perhaps this argument makes it more explicit in the practice of the prayer veil. Moreover, as a man, I personally feel it is very beautiful when women make this explicit show of the dignity they have been given in their creation &, even more so, in their baptized state.

What do you think?

Is it all pointless?

Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Antonio Banderas was on and he was discussing how he had just gotten back from Spain. He was there during Holy Week because he belongs to one of the brotherhoods which carry big beautiful floats depicting the Passion of the Lord. He mentioned that the float they carried was about 6 1/2 tons! There was a number of men who come together to do this every year. It is a Spanish tradition which goes back over 500 years, beginning in 1462.

I do not mean to be judgmental, but my impression - and it may very well just be the impression given to me from watching the popular media reports I have been presented - of Antonio Banderas is that he is not the most practicing of Catholics. I seem to recall his having some movie roles that were not exactly edifying. Perhaps it is only my impression of him, or perhaps there is more to it than that. Either way, I guess what I am concerned with is the problem of cultural catholicism - which is a danger to all of us.

In the years in which my wife and I lived in Italy, it was interesting to know a young Italian man who, every Easter, allowed the local parish priest to come in and bless his house, even though he did not believe in either God or the Lord Jesus. This is an incredible reality. For him, it was what you did, it was part of the Italian culture.

In some ways, I think this is what Vatican II had hoped to fight against: people becoming so used to being Catholic that is was not actually a truly lived experience. For many, it was more of a part of your life - like paying taxes. It seems that Pope John XXIII had hoped to shake up the Catholic Church enough to get us layfolk and some priests too back in the active participation of Catholic Faith.

Unforunately, for many reasons, I don't think Vatican II solved this very human problem. I remember being in Santarem, Portugal, at a parish where a Eucharistic miracle had taken place and many of the men stood outside the Church smoking and chatting during the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. Meanwhile, mainly women were inside praying. I think this is too often the idea of many Catholics in some parts of the world, that praying is for women or the weak.

The reality is that our Catholic Faith must be engaged if we are to have a living relationship with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can never just belong to the Catholic Church, but not live the Faith. That would be like going to an American Thanksgiving Meal and just playing your handheld videogame (like a PSP or Gameboy, for those that get that reference) all throughout dinner. We have to experience the details and the meaning of the Traditions that are passed on to us in the Familial structure of the Catholic Liturgy. We have to know why the buns are passed a certain direction, why the gravy is always in a particular gravy boat, why uncle Joe always tells the same silly joke every year, and other details that only someone who belongs to the family can understand and enjoy.

What I think we Catholics, especially here at St. Jude, need to recapture is our patrimony, our belonging to the family of the Universal Church of Jesus Christ established on the Rock of St. Peter. When we begin to see that we are not just part of an institution, but really and truly part of a family, the family of Jesus Christ, then we can truly begin to take up and live our vocation as members of that family. We must realize the practice of the Catholic Faith is NOT pointless, it really can and must affect and effect every crevice of our being! Whaddya think?

Even in the frozen waters of the North...

Have you ever really thought about the blessings of your life? There are many things which happen to us which the Lord Jesus asks us offer to him and unify our sufferings with Him on the cross. Yet, how many of us just let our whining take over. "Poor me!" "Oh, I can't handle it" etc.

My mother-in-law sent me this website which I find quite encouraging when you read the testimony concerning Fr. Byles as he went to his death. Like a lamb led to slaughter he did not cry, yet he offered himself as a beacon of hope for those who were dying all around Him. What an incredible gift to have been a man who had been given the power to take away those people's sins as they were slipping into the afterlife. Could you imagine? What a blessing to have that ability as a human being! I have often thought that my son too might become a priest. While it is not appropriate to force him into it, it is absolutely our duty as Catholic parents to encourage our children to consider the priesthood or religious life - or at least to be open to it.

Can you imagine the joy of a mother or father to know that your son could have given so much real hope and consolation to those dying in one of the worst tragedies of the day? Certainly, losing a child would be an almost inconsolable loss, one which I pray I will never have to endure. However, if you have to lose a child, what better way than to know they followed in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ - offering their life for another or others.

Perhaps the time has come for us to consider whether we are "whine & dine" Catholics or whether we truly live the cross in our daily lives, which Jesus asked us to do: "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:27)." Let us consider what are the little crosses we daily receive and what is the big cross which each of us must accept and offer to God in union with the sacrifice of Jesus so that you and I may "make up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (Col 1:24)."

Perhaps we should all convert...

You know, it is interesting to know that so many Catholics find it a difficulty to make it to Mass on Sunday, let alone actually trying to practice a sacramental life. It has been called by some a crisis in the Catholic Faith. Though in reality it is more of a crisis in reception of salvation.

As creatures of the Creator, we must remember that we are offered and proposed to live the Catholic Faith. No one is being forced to recieve the eternal joy of heaven. However, if we are going to respond to God then we must remember the words of the Book of Revelation: "'The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God's creation, says this:
"I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (Rev 3:15-16)."

We must be on fire for the Lord Jesus, and yet in order for this to happen we must have a prayerful relationship to the living and Triune God. For without Jesus, we can do nothing! - so he tell us in the Gospel of John.

If we are just lazy or just can't be bothered to live out our Catholic faith then we should seriously think about just joining another Church - perhaps this one! I am kidding, of course, no one of us should leave the Catholic Faith, rather let each of us from priest to layperson to Father to child, each of us, reclaim and restore the grace given to us at Baptism so that we too can come to truly know the overwhelming Peace and Joy of living the Catholic Faith!

Is this what our kids learn in school?

I was working on a presentation for this afternoon when a friend emailed me this link about a video called "Its Elementary." This is, apparently, a video used in schools to promote the homosexual agenda. I am seriously disturbed by it primarily because you can't imagine that this is the kind of social engineering passed off as education in a school. I sincerely hope that this is not taking place here in Colorado, let alone in Lakewood, specifically for the fact that school is not an appropriate place for children to be imposed such values on. I would definitely welcome any thoughts and/or discussion on this.

The Mormons

After our kids were in bed, I sat down to watch TV for a bit last night. I flipped across a show on PBS called American Experience which featured "The Mormons." I found it quite interesting, but the most interesting of all was that this show was so timely, given the current candidate Mitt Romney who is running for President of the USA.

I have had the pleasure of doing a little research on Mormons. In fact, while I studied in Rome, some friends and I had started a bible study. During the course of this bible study, some of the Mormon missionaries were invited to join our bible study. It was quite interesting, to say the least. It was three Catholic Philosophy students, 2 Catholic Bioethics students, and two theology students (studying in Rome at Pontifical Universities) who gathered together with 2 mormon missionaries at first. Then we expanded to 3 then we were eventually invited to their "stake" in Rome where we met all the missionaries in Rome (if I remember correctly there were 6 or 7).

In the show last night, the absolute obedience of Mormons was discussed. In our discussions in Rome I found this to be the case. In fact, the young men we talked with had a couple of great difficulties to overcome with all of us, though we were open to their explanations. First of all was the position known as "The Great Apostasy", that the Catholic Church had at one point lost its authority to teach the faithful. Subsequently, the Christian faithful supposedly floundered for 1800 years until Joseph Smith told the world about God's "true revelation." The problem here is that there is ABSOLUTELY NO historical basis for this. In fact, the constant Tradition of the Church tells us that the Apostles began to choose successors to uphold and continue the Church after their departure from this earthly life. You can see Acts 1:15-26, where the apostles choose a successor for Judas. If they did this for another apostle after his death, you can only imagine how many others were added to their number as others died and the Church expanded. In fact, there is the beautiful image (also found in the Holy Family House in the Kitchen) of the list of Popes throughout history. One can find it online where it is "affectionately" known as The Pope Chart.

As well, the other difficulty which we found with the Mormons was the claim that abortion is justified if a couple goes to the Bishop and prays with him and then the bishop decides God is saying it is okay to have an abortion. This was one teaching they did not know the answer to when we asked about it. They, in fact, had to go and research the answer in one of the doctrinal manuals. The fundamental problem here is whether a baby is a human person or not? If a baby is a human person, then why would it ever be okay to kill a human person? It is clearly not okay as it is the 5th commandment! If a baby is not a human person, then how is God the creator of all life? Does he not make kittens to be cats, puppies to be dogs, tadpoles to be frogs, and human foetuses to be babies? Is there ever a time when this doesn't occur?

I found myself reflecting on these discussions while I was watching the first half of the PBS show last night. When the show came to polygamy then I recalled another difficulty of the Mormon religion. Is God omnipotent or not? If he is not, then how is he God? Yet Joseph Smith claimed Polygamy was divinely revealed, this was also vehemently upheld by his successor Brigham Young. However, the third so-called "Prophet" [essentially similar to our Pope], according to the show last night, passively rejected the practice. Why? Primarily because there was political pressure to change the teaching from the Federal Government if Utah desired to become a state.

Which leads me back to Mitt Romney. I am unsure how one can trust a Mormon to become the president of our country? Not that he is not a good man, he may very well be. The fact of the matter is Mormons are asked for obedience to their religion to the detriment of everything else. Now, this in and of itself is not a bad thing, as we Catholics as well are asked to be obedient out of love for the Lord Jesus Christ who established the Church and the Pope as our spiritual leader until Our Lord returns. The problem, it seems to me, arises in so far as Mormonism, as a religion, is as variable and as whimsical as its leaders' desire. The obedience of Mormons is obedience to the rule of men, and especially the so-called "President" or "Prophet." If and when the Prophet, the First Presidency, or the Quorom of the Twelve Apostles change their minds on a teaching, then all Mormons are bound to obey such "revelations" from "God." The problem is there is no limit to their teachings. In fact, as one can see with polygamy, even the most central of doctrines can change if one of these ruling bodies acts to change a doctrinal teaching.

There is a reason why the U.S. Government recognizes the Mormon religion as a cult. Moreover, the Catholic Church does not accept the baptism of Mormons because their religion does not even subscribe to the same idea of "God" as what Jesus Christ came to reveal when He himself established the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church's doctrines are set, though Americans may not like the practice or obedience of the Catholic Church, at least you can intellectually understand our teachings - even if you do not agree with them.

The point is that there is an even more serious inherent danger of Mormon teachings because they are changeable. No teaching, even the most fundamental - like Polygamy, is safe because "the Prophet" can change his mind on any of them. This was in fact what the missionaries also told us in Rome - that God speaks to the President who can change teachings as is revealed to Him.

The Catholic Church, however, understands herself to be the guardian of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture - both commonly referred to as the Deposit of Faith. The Pope, while explaining, expounding and exhorting all Catholics to live the Catholic Faith has no authority to change any of the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He can clarify and define them more definitively, but he cannot change doctrinal teachings on a whim.

This leads me to a second point about how it is unfortunate that some people still want women to be ordained in the Catholic Church when it has been defined as an unchangeable teaching. But perhaps I will leave that until tomorrow.

At any rate, I will be definitely be watching the second half of "The Mormons" tomorrow online (as I will be teaching RCIA tonight). I find it a very fascinating religion and very interesting to understand as a very American phenomenon. However, theologically speaking, I think it is a very tragic religion which leads many to an error (a.k.a. heresy) already spoken of by St. Paul: "I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and I say again, if anyone preaches a Gospel other than the one that you received let that one be accursed! (Galatians 1:6-9)."