Communion vessels and Communion

I'm not usually one to copy a story in full but this one is interesting.

Lay ministers may not cleanse Communion vessels, Pope Benedict says

By Nancy Frazier O'Brien
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At the direction of Pope Benedict XVI, extraordinary ministers of holy Communion will no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels at Masses in the United States.

In an Oct. 23 letter, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked his fellow bishops to inform all pastors of the change, which was prompted by a letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect
of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

The U.S. bishops had asked the Vatican to extend an indult -- or church permission -- in effect since 2002 allowing extraordinary ministers of holy Communion to help cleanse the Communion cups and plates when there were not enough priests or deacons to do so.

Bishop Skylstad, who heads the Diocese of Spokane, Wash., said Cardinal Arinze asked Pope Benedict about the matter during a June 9 audience, "and received a response in the negative."

Noting that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal "directs that the sacred vessels are to be purified by the priest, the deacon or an instituted acolyte," the cardinal said in his Oct. 12 letter that "it does not seem feasible, therefore, for the congregation to grant the requested indult from this directive in the general law of the Latin Church."

Although receiving Communion under both kinds is a "more complete" sign of the sacrament's meaning, Cardinal Arinze said, "Christ is fully present under each of the species."

"Communion under the species of the bread alone, as a consequence, makes it possible to receive all the fruit of eucharistic grace," he added.

Another "legitimate option" when "the high number of communicants may render it inadvisable for everyone to drink from the chalice" is intinction -- the practice of dipping the consecrated host into the consecrated wine -- "with reception on the tongue always and everywhere," the cardinal's letter said.

Along with the letters from Bishop Skylstad and Cardinal Arinze, bishops received a new resource prepared by the bishops' Committee on the Liturgy titled "Seven Questions on the Distribution of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds."

The committee document also suggested distribution of Communion by consecrated bread alone or by intinction when the number of communicants makes the purification of vessels by priests, deacons or instituted acolytes alone "pastorally problematic."

"Priests should also keep in mind potential risks associated with intinction, especially in the coming flu season," the document added.

The committee said extraordinary ministers of holy Communion may continue to "consume what remains of the precious blood from their chalice of distribution with permission of the diocesan bishop."

The document notes that the "extraordinary ministry" by which laypeople distribute Communion "was created exclusively for those instances where there are not enough ordinary ministers to distribute holy Communion, due to the consummate importance of assuring that the faithful have the opportunity to receive holy Communion at Mass, even when it is distributed under both species."

Ordinary ministers of Communion are priests and deacons, with instituted acolytes being permitted in the Roman Missal to help the priest or deacon "to purify and arrange the sacred vessels."

In the United States, instituted acolytes, who must be male, generally are seminarians preparing for priesthood.

My comment with regard to the first highlighted part is that a friend of mine said to me 'You can just imagine the conversation between Cardinal Arinze and the Holy Father, it would have been a dismissive wave of the hand, and that would be it'.

My second, is a question. I understood that the practice of dipping the consecrated host into the consecrated wine was banned by the Church. Perhaps someone out there can answer this for me?

Face of Christ

As ACSA President, a lot of people around the country have me on their mailing lists - people I haven't met nor heard off.

I tend to scan the content quickly before noting or dumping. However this email caught my eye.
Bizzare! What do you think?

Breaking news

I just had to post this.

Natasha Stott-Despoja has just announced that she will quit politics at the end of her Senate term.

See The Advertiser's story here. I'm sure you'll see more in the coming hours and days.

pics and talks

I'm really struggling with my history essay and keep hitting brick walls! Letterboxing is nearly half done but a few mates are (hopefully!) coming around this arvo to do what's left (I think I might have to get some more flyers printed on Monday morning.) My family have helped out a bit (the little kids love it!) and I know for a fact that I've secured a dozen votes (hey, they're the people that have promised!) but I'm estimating the required quota to be about 600-700 votes.

So don't expect any substantial blogging this week. In the meantime take a look at this page at the website of the Australian Catholic Students Association. The official photos have been uploaded and so have some of the talks in MP3 form. The talks that haven't been put up yet I have in hard copy (email me if you'd like a read).

new blogs

Ah. Another few blogs to the roll. Purcell's Chicken Voluntary should have been up much earlier as it is one of my regular reads. Joee Blogs blog A Catholic Londoner is another good read and the third is a lad from Brisbane with Et Clamor Meaus Ad Te Veniat. Many of us around Australia have 'Brisbane jokes' referring to their orthodoxy - it is a sad state of affairs. I think he intends to post on both the bad and the good in the Archdiocese.

Priests to dob in child sex abusers

I'm sorry I didn't get around to posting this when it first caught my attention but this may be of some interest to my overseas and interstate readers. It certainly enraged me with people's ignorance.

This story was on the front page of today's Advertiser (the local paper for Adelaide) had this story.

Priests to dob in child sex abusers

ANGLICAN priests no longer will be able to use confidentiality as a reason for not reporting child sex abuse, under strict new rules to be introduced across Adelaide.
The unprecedented measures, to be endorsed by the Diocese of Adelaide Synod next weekend, will extend to confessions heard by priests, including those with other priests.

They follow the compulsory training of South Australian Anglican priests on their legal requirements to report child abuse to authorities, which have been opposed by some priests who believe confidentiality should be maintained for pastoral reasons.

The new rules surpass those implemented nationally by the Catholic Church, which still maintains confidentiality over confessions.

Adelaide Anglican Archbishop Jeffrey Driver yesterday told The Advertiser he would not tolerate any more "cover-ups" within the Anglican Church of child sex abuse, saying previous inaction by church leaders had caused enormous problems.

Archbishop Driver said priests would be given no option but to observe a new code of conduct under which they would be forced to report child abuse, including information received during confession.

"If I was giving confession to a priest who told me about child sex abuse, I would not give him absolution. I would immediately stop the confession and march him straight to the nearest police station," he said.

More...

Then there was this for a Editorial to follow it up.

Update: another story in today's edition. It seems that the Anglicans are now claiming that these new measures won't break the seal of the confessional.

Archbishop Driver said the church recognised the confessional may have been "abused" in the past by people hiding behind its code of confidentiality.

While priests cannot break the seal of the confessional by acting as informants, guidelines are now in place to help them work with abusers to report their crimes to the relevant authorities.

"What the guidelines . . . intend to do is to ensure that while the seal of the confessional is maintained, it is not abused," Archbishop Driver said.

"I expect clergy to act responsibly in the use of the confessional in line with the guidelines.

"I certainly expect that they would withhold absolution and provide strong counsel that the penitent must report what they have done."

Archbishop Driver said if he heard a confession of child abuse, he would refuse absolution.

"I'll say 'I am not able to provide you with absolution and I'd like us to walk a journey . . . to a police station together, as part of what is appropriate contrition'," he said.

Must be Friday

Three religious men (A Franciscan, a Dominican and a Jesuit) died at the same time. They all went to heaven. The Franciscan was welcomed by St. Peter and had heaven's best cook serve him a special meal. The Franciscan was very happy.

The Dominican arrived and was welcomed by St. Peter and had heaven's chef and a team of culinary experts cook for him. The Domincan was elated.

Then the Jesuit arrived. St. Peter, like he did to the other two, welcomed him. This time, God the Father himself did the cooking and serving. This puzzled the first two and protested about the special treatment to the last comer.

Peter explained, "We have too many Franciscans and Dominicans already. He is our first Jesuit!"

(Hat tip: Jesuit Humour Blog)

St. John Cantius

St. John was born near Krakow in Poland in the 15h Century. He was called by God to keep the light of faith and the flame of Christian charity burning. He was a university lecturer in Theology before his ordination when he took up pastoral work. His is the story of the brigands who robbed him on a pilgrimage to Rome. They let him go when they were assured that they had taken all he had. But St. John remembered that he was sewn some money into his cloak and called them back to offer it to them. They were touched by his goodness that they gave back all they had taken. St. John died on Christmas Eve in 1473.

Introit: Ecclus. 18. 12-13. The compassion of man is towards his neighbour; but the mercy of God is upon all flesh. He hath mercy, and teacheth and correcteth, as a shepherd doth his flock. Ps. Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that by the example of Thy holy confessor John we may advance in the science of the Saints and show mercy to others, that through his merits we may obtain forgiveness from Thee.

Communion: Luke. 6. 38. Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom.

Jesuits are at it again

Famous Latinist fired from Gregorian University, announces new school

ROME, October 18 (CNA) - Fr. Reginald Foster, one of the most renowned Latinists in the world, was fired last week from the Gregorian University by the Society of Jesus, stating that too many students were taking Fr. Foster’s classes without paying tuition.

Fr. Foster said his superior received the news from the university’s Jesuit administration in an e-mail Saturday evening. The letter reportedly stated that "Fr. Foster would no longer be teaching Latin at the Gregorian.” The administration has cancelled Fr. Foster's Latin program and substituted another class for that time slot.

However, in breaking the news with great regret to his students yesterday, Fr. Foster also announced his intention to found a new Latin institute in the Eternal City.

The Professor/Priest, known as the “Pope’s Latinist,” had taught at the Gregorian University for more than 30 years. His course became renowned, drawing students from around the world.

More than 100 Latin students, both past and present, were gathered in the priest’s classroom when he made the announcement.

A source told CNA that it was true that many of Fr. Foster’s students were not registered with the university; however, it was well known that his program was attracting Latinists from all corners, many of whom did enroll in the mother of Jesuit Universities.

Fr. Foster said his new Latin institute did not yet have a locale but he would keep students informed.

According to the source, Fr. Foster, in good spirits, explained to his students the roundabout way he found out he was being fired: "Well you see, the Jesuits were rather Jesuitical about the whole thing, now weren't they?" After informing them of his plans for an institute, Foster exclaimed, “Latin lives!"

It was not disclosed whether the e-mail firing Fr. Foster was in Latin.

Local Politics

Incredibly frustrated and busy at the moment but the blog is kkeping me in good spirits! I love the debate! The ballot papers in the local council election come out mid-next week and I'm trying to organise a letterbox drop this coming weekend among all my uni assignments due next week (all 10 or so of them!!)

Infact I don't think I've mentioned this election yet on the blog. I nominated 6 weeks ago as a candidate for the KLEMZIG Ward of the Port Adelaide Enfield Council. I knew I wouldn't have the time to put in a normal effort but figured if I waited 4 more years I wouldn't be able to use the youth tag. So I nominated. Three other nominated including the two sitting members for the 2 spots for the Ward. There are a number of reasons for nominating but the thing that finally convinced me was that the two sitting members have attended the least amount of meetings out of all the councillors for the last term. Thus a bit of angst among those that care and are likely to vote for a young, energetic looking face.

I do hope that I am elected and I believe I have a good flyer out there and should complement the short paragraph (and photo) in the local paper this week. I don't have any coreflutes on poles and am hoping for the average local voter looking for a representative rather than an ugly face that you can't miss on the way to work. My key slogan is "youth WITH experience". I'm keen for a new experience having dabled in student politics before moving to university boards and committees. I'd be lost if I graduated from uni and don't have some regular committee meetings to attend!

So please pray for me and wish me luck in the contest.

a woman's worst nightmare

with thanks to only moniker. Man! How did this blog suddenly change its theme? I'll post a liturgical one again soon and bring back some Speck!

St. Luke

St. Luke was born at Antioch and was a practising physician when he was converted by St. Paul. He then attached himself to Paul and accompanied him on his missions. This way he acquired the knowledge and information about the life of the early Christian communities and became Acts of the Apostles. It was form Paul's teaching and other study that he was able to write the Third Gospel also known as 'Paul's Gospel'. It is this Gospel that we learn about Christ's early life and about Our Lady. The animals from the vision of Ezechial shows that the ox represent St. Luke and thus he is often pictured with one.

Introit: Ps. 138. 17. To me Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened. Ps. Lord, Thou hast proved ,e and known me: Thou hast known my sitting down and my rising up.

Collect: We beseech The, O Lord, grant us to be aided by the prayers of Saint Luke Thine Evangelist; who for the glory of Thy name ever bore in his body the mortification of the cross.

Gradual: Ps. 18. 5, 2. Their sound went forth into all the earth: and their words to the end of the world. v. The heavens show forth the glory of God; and the firmament declareth the works of His hands.

Sancte Luca. Ora pro nobis.

Women's fertility

Whoa! Some of the comments on this post here have gone overboard. I've had to delete one of them which was entirely inappropriate. Who would have thought a post about tunicles and vestments could have changed so much.

On the topic the erupted this story appeared on The Australian's website today.

Fertility rate at 10-year high

PERHAPS spurred on by the baby bonus, Australian women are giving birth at a 10-year record rate, new figures have shown.

Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown the national fertility rate stands at its highest level since 1995.

A total of 259,800 new babies were registered in 2005, an increase of 5500 over 2004.

The actual fertility rate stands at 1.81 babies per woman, up from 1.77 in 2004 and close to the 1995 rate of 1.82.

Continuing a long-running trend, women in the 30-34 age group proved the nation's most fertile, with 117.5 babies per 1000 in 2005 - the highest rate for that age bracket since 1964.

The median age for mums now stands at 30.7. For dads it is 32.9.

Underlining the changing birth demographic, the median age for mums stood at 27.3 in 1985.

Highlighting yet another change, only 68 per cent of births in 2005 were to parents in a registered marriage, compared to 85 per cent in 1985.

Anyway, this the Indolent Server! Why on earth has the debate shifted from liturgy to fertility...?

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Margaret Mary Alacoque was born in 1647 at Verosvres in France. She consecrated herself to Christ at an early age with a vow of perpetual virginity. She entered the convent at age 23 where she received three great revelations and developed a wonderful devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Introit: Cant. 2.3. I sat under his shadow whom I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate. Ps. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.

Offertory: Zach. 9. 17. For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect and the wine springing forth virgins?

Postcommunion: By the intercession of the blessed virgin Margaret Mary, grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus, that we who have received the mysteries of Thy Body and Blood may put off the pride and vanity of the world and be found worthy to put on the meekness and humility of Thy Heart.

Cardinal Pell: latest on WYD

This is the latest on WYD2008 from His Eminence, George Cardinal Pell, himself.

The World Youth Day celebrations in July 2008 will be bigger than the Sydney Olympics as about half a million people will attend the final Mass on Sunday, July 20th at Randwick.

Pope Benedict XVI, 500 bishops and thousands of priests will celebrate this Mass, the climax of a varied programme of events after the Opening Mass on the Tuesday night.

Every category of young person is invited to these Catholic celebrations to see and hear what the Catholic tradition has to offer.

While we hope to welcome Pope Benedict’s arrival through the heads of Sydney Harbour on Thursday night, there will be teaching sessions for the pilgrims on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.

Another highlight is the Way of the Cross through the streets of Sydney on the Friday afternoon, when young Australians will re-enact Jesus’ progress from his condemnation by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion on Mt. Calvary.

Between 80,000 to 120,000 overseas visitors will fly into Australia. This is too many for Sydney airport and requires extra flights.

While pilgrims will have to pay to register, the major cost will be for travel. The registration fee for the young people includes a levy to help those from poorer countries and the contribution of the Australian pilgrims will be directed towards visitors from the Pacific region and Papua New Guinea.

Negotiations have started with the various airlines to obtain significant reductions in the price of the air tickets to reflect the huge increase in numbers.

Many pilgrims in Europe and the United States have already started saving, with the Catholic Bank in Germany offering increased rates of interest for pilgrims. As always many parishes will help sponsor parishioners who will organize local fund-raising ventures of their own.

Ten days ago a delegation of three came from the Vatican to monitor preparations. They were well pleased by progress so far and pleasantly surprised by the level of support outside the Catholic community and especially from the Federal and N.S.W. Governments. Such co-operation does not occur everywhere.

Young people today grow up with computers, but it was different in my youth. I have been staggered by the number of visits to the World Youth Day website, which has received 9.3 million hits since it was launched on Palm Sunday, April 9th. They are still coming in at the rate of more than 50,000 a day.

Another surprise is that Germany, which hosted the W.Y.D. last year in Cologne, tops the list with 2.2 million hits, followed by Australia 1.67 million, U.S.A. on 1.51 million and Italy with 670,000.

Interest in Australia is building steadily from 170,000 hits in June to 342,000 in September, while 10,500 young people are registered to receive regular updates on ePILGRIMAGE.

We have started well, but the major challenges are yet to come.

Maria?

I've been posting on political matters of late and I know you all prefer my religious rants and minor amusing things but I couldn't resist some good old Federal Labor bashing... I found this old image on my computer today while trying to re-organise some ACSA files.

Which heaven are you for?

Protestant Heaven vs. Catholic Heaven


Hat tip Curt Jester

I've added a few new blogs to the list when I removed Cassiscum from the roll due to it being pulled down by the publisher.

links, uni et al

Mr. Christopher Pearson has an opinion piece in The Australian today on the "Spring of the Latin Rite". It's well worth the read if you haven't already.

I won't unneccessarily post anymore links to commentary on this topic but just to say you can find just about all you need at The New Liturgical Movement, Amy Welborn and Rorate Caeli.

I'm sorry I don't have time to order my opinions about the subject into a few paragraphs but I'm completely snowed under. Week 11 begins on Monday and I have 10 assignments due in Week 12 including a major engineering design project, another major project regardign the hardware and software of a robot (haven't done much on at all!) and a history essay comparing the traits of genocide and ethnic cleansing (I'm still at the research stage).

The History essay is demanding but should be interesting nonetheless. I'm going to look at it through two key case studies -- the Holocaust and the 1990s in Yugoslavia. I'll be able to use my knowlegde of the Armenian case from a previous essay to fill in any gaps too.

Clearing up a few things

The debate about the Infant of Prague is still raging here if you care to continue...

Otherwise, I hesitantly point you to a post from Dominicanus. It refers to me. But is somewhat misleading.

Sure, the occasion is now imfamous. we had a Sydney visitor who outranked me so he sang the Epistle instead (Fr. Ephraem tended to sing daily mass regardless of the feast!!). This allowed me more time with the thurible. It was, as Father says, a very hot Adelaide day and a fan had been placed on the sanctuary to be some small comfort for the sacred ministers (it was midday Mass). Anyway, in my exhuberant youth (I was 14 or 15) I thought the best part about a Missa Cantata was the smoke. By the Intriot I had noticed that the fan was occasionally blowing past the thurible which was emitting more incence than usual. Therefore I decided to maximise this by placing the Thurible directly infront of the fan itself. It worked a treat. To my credit I suppose when Father motioned to me to remove the offending instrument I did so without fuss.

I hope this clears up some of the story which has become somewhat of an Irish tale in intersate circles.

The Collection

A must know for everyone reading, Cypressus III aka Mr. Daniel Hill has just posted here his collection of liturgical items. They are:

2 black tunicles (1 with matching maniple and stole)
1 gold tunicle.
1 gold humeral veil.
1 gold gothic chasuble with stole.
1 red gothic chasuble with stole and matching burse.
1 gold roman chasuble.
1 violet lectern hanging.
1 weird florally stole.
3 burses (red, white, violet)
1 lace alb.
1 soutane.
2 surplices.
1 puginesque monstrance (needs restoring).

Look, I can't believe he gets away with it! If I had even one item of sorts I'm sure I'd be locked away in a monastary!

Friday funnies

A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar.

The bartender looks up and says, "What is this, a joke?"

-----------------------------------------------

Years ago in Ireland, there was a priest who was very anti-British. Every Sunday he would blast them from the pulpit. He became so notorious that the Pope himself summoned the priest to Rome for an audience.

"Father," said the Pope, "I want that there should be peace between the British and the Irish. You're not helping matters at all. I want you to kiss my ring and swear by the Blessed Virgin that you'll never so much as mention the British in public again."

"But Your Holiness, I - I - " the priest stammered.

"No buts," said the Pope. "Swear it here and now or there'll be trouble!"

"Aye, Holy Father," sighed the father. "All right. I swear it."

The very next Sunday just happened to be Easter, and the priest was back at his pulpit in Ireland, giving his annual Easter sermon.

He got to the part of the Easter story where Jesus said, "And one of you shall betray Me."

The priest continues: "Saint Andrew jumps up and says, 'Is it I Lord?' and the Lord says, 'Nay, Andy darlin', it's not you. Sit down now and dunna worry. Eat your supper.'

Then Saint John the Divine gets up with tears in his eyes and cries, 'Is it I Lord?' And the Lord says, 'Nay, Johnny me boy, it's not you. Sit down now and dunna fret yourself. Eat your supper.'

"Then that dirty dog Judas Iscariot slowww-ly rises to his feet. And he looks the Lord right in the eye and says, 'Blimey, Mate. Ya think it's me?"

A tale of a fateful trip

Yesterday the Treasurer jumped to attention when Kim Beazley was described as the "skipper" of the union movement in question time. Costello's mind leapt straight to the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island, which featured a motley cast shipwrecked on a desert island. He proceeded to name the Skipper's stranded colleagues: Kevin Rudd was the Professor and Nicola Roxon was Mary Ann.

"And whom will we christen Gilligan?" the Treasurer cried. "I think the member for Lilley [Wayne Swan]. He has got to be Gilligan."

Sadly, the Treasurer was called to order before he could go on, leaving three cast-members unaccounted for. The Herald contacted Costello and asked him to fill in the blanks. He decided Simon Crean would play the millionaire Thurston J. Howell III, and Jenny Macklin was a natural as his wife, Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell. And Ginger Grant, the breathy, red-headed movie star? Julia Gillard, of course.

SMH had this in the blogs section yesterday. I tried to put it up then but Blogger was down.

University Council

Dear all,

Yes, I'm feeling much better. I was out of action for about 36 hours but am back at uni now. (Still have the cough and runny nose!)

BUT more importantly, if anyone reading this is from the University of Adelaide or knows someone who attends there, they NEED TO VOTE FOR ME in the University Council elections.

There are three of us running for two spots and the others are lefties from my days at the union. I wasn't going to re-nominate because of all the other things I do, but when I heard the other names nominating (or possibly nominating) I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring again. Pretty much all were or are big players in the uni 'factions' so it'll be some fun especially if I'm sucessful again!

Cheers,

Aaron

Something a bit more official

Many of your would have seen much of this already on Dominicanus and the like, but I'm amazed CathNews bothered with it. We live in interesting times...

Vatican source says pope to expand use of Tridentine Mass

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to expand permission to use the Tridentine Mass, the pre-Vatican II rite favored by traditionalist groups, said an informed Vatican source.
...
The pope is expected to issue a document "motu proprio," or on his own initiative, which will address the concerns of "various traditionalists," said the source, who asked not to be named.

The source said the new permission, or indult, was a papal decision, but was being done in cooperation with agencies of the Roman Curia. He would not elaborate on the extent of the indult, when it would be established or how it would work. Full Story.

Update: I didn't get time today, but sources tell me this story made it to the printed version of The Australian. Seems its been a secular media hit worldwide too!

ALP politics

A bit of ALP politics for the Aussies. The Australian reports here and here one the contest for Labor Party Federal President. It seems that Senator John Faulkner has claimed the win over SA Premier Mike Rann and former federal leader Simon Crean. As an outsider I would have thought at the outset that Rann would have been a shoe-in considering that he is backed by the Right and no-one else form the Right was in the play. The Right holds sway over the party at the moment so Faulkner's imminent win is a blow to them. It's also a blow to a relaxation over Uraniam mining in Australia with the Left strongly against a change in policy.

Health

I've come down with a rotten head cold so posts may be sporadic for the next few days. Maybe everthing has finally caight up with me - at the wrong time of year - or it could be due to letting my hair down a bit on Friday night. More likely it's a combination of both. I've had nearly 12 hours in bed each of the last two nights and I'm still no better off. If I'm not better by this arvo I might arrange to see a doctor and get some drugs.

Disclaimer

The debate that has ensued in the comments boxes in recent days has reminded me that it’s time for a timely reminder for you all. The views expressed on INDOLENT SERVER are not those of the Australian Catholic Students Association, the University of Adelaide, the Liberal Party of Australia or of Latin Mass goers in Australia or South Australia. (Have I forgotten any other body?) And come to think of it, they have no bearing on the views of my parents or family or how they raised me!!

But, by any means, don't stop the debate!

Virgin actor?

I was alerted to this story in the SMH by a mate of mine and then saw the same story on Rocco's blog. The best report so far is here and from New Zealand. In summary, the 16-year old actress who plays the Virgin Mary in a film soon to be released is pregnant. How ironic. It's nearly as good as the Indian producer who wanted to cast Paris Hilton as Mother Theresa. It is such a shame that the girl hasn't appeared to have got anything out of playing the part. But then again, at least it appears that she will keep the baby rather than an abortion. Must thank God for that.

Speck returns to the Indolent Server

"We remembered your anniversary for you, Father!"

Dress-ups

The Elderly Relative will love this. This statue is the the Chapel at CYS House where we stayed in Sydney.

The Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Introit: Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival-day in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, for whose solemn festival the angels rejoice and give praise to the Son of God. Ps. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King.

Gradual: Ps. 44. 5, 11, 12. Because of truth, and meekness, and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully. V Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty.

Alleluia: Alleluia, alleluia. The solemn festival of the glorious Virgin Mary of the seed of Abraham, sprung from the tribe of Juda, of David’s royal race. Alleluia.

Communion: Ecclus. 39. 19. Send forth flowers as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in His works.

Love Letters

I have a number of friends doing sorts of student teaching this year toward a B.Ed or Dip Ed. One of them, who shall remain nameless received the above letter from a pupil. Any identifying elements have been removed but it was so funny I had to post it. It was reported and dealt with appropriately at the time.

Sydney visit - Part III

The ACSA Executive met briefly on Sunday morning to discuss and recap on the organisation of the 2006 National Conference before heading to St. Mary’s Cathedral for High Mass. I can’t remember what Mass the choir sung but it was magnificent and Pell gave a ripper of a sermon while also giving ACSA a plug. In Mass there was an installation of one of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Sebastian (sorry, we haven’t forgotten the Adelaide Review days) was there and I was able to have a quick chat to him before somehow becoming the official photographer for the order. However, don’t trust Sebastian with a camera. I asked him to get a shot of me and the Cardinal but when I downloaded it wasn’t there! He is the 5th from the right.

We headed back to Clovelly after lunch was a final hard session of National Conference 2007 planning. We do aim for the 3rd year in a row to introduce optional workshops – maybe some part of my legacy! We broke up the meeting just after 5pm and had benediction before all departing for respective homes and states.

I still had a night left and headed with the treasurer to the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush. There was a bit of a NRL Grand Final do there hosted by some friends of ours. We got there just after half time but managed some good conversation about the Liberal Party and ACSA (not together – don’t fear). I got a relatively early night and stayed again at St. James Priory.

Monday was my last day in Sydney and thankfully I managed to catch up with another friend before visiting Fr. E in St. Alfreds Hospital. He was in great spirits and had asked me to bring The Australian and a large coffee. He had already read two entire editions of Quadrant as well as New Scientist and The Spectator since being admitted.

I then headed to the airport and then home again. On the flight back I had a conversation with Che Cockatoo Collins. Che is a former AFL footballer who just happens to be interested in politics and is running the Local Council elections for the same council as I am running in! What coincidence! So we talked politics much of the flight back.

That ends the Sydney story/ramble. Needless to say I slept well on Monday night but was up at 6am for work. Overall a productive and terrible useful trip. There is lots to do and little time but I have a passionate and talented executive to guide ACSA through the year.
Regular posts will resume tomorrow...

Sydney visit - Part II

On Friday morning the interstaters in the ACSA Exec all meet at Central Station and made our way out to Catholic Youth Services (CYS) House in Clovelly, near the beach. The house must be an old convent and it has a beautiful small chapel – it still has an east facing altar and reredos. A funny contrast was that the NET team was also staying that the house too – NET are post-school age but their mission is evangelisation in the schools. Their liturgical preference for worship is also slightly different from ACSA and guitars had to be removed from the chapel.

Well, our meeting then got under way and was rather productive. We were joined in the late afternoon by the former President Daniel Hill who is either on drugs or suffering from post-Presidential disorder. He only just now realised that he never remembered to post a package out to me 3 months ago!! Even though I have continually reminded him. He also returned my Fortescue which he had loaned for the last 18months despite buying one of his own!!

Our Exec has 4 new faces this year so we spent much of the evening bonding! We stayed up talking till 3am even though alcohol was banned from the house. Daniel and snuck in a bit and had a couple of glasses to wet the whistle. Conversation centred on liturgy and girls (even though there were two present). Overall it was very very funny. Daniel showed us his newly purchased tunicle which also came with a stole and a couple of maniples. He buys them off ebay and has quite a collection. (The girlfriend doesn’t know). Here is a picture of our Functions Manager trying them for size without an alb or cincture
Saturday began with Mass and a short session on ACSA’s finances before travelling into the city to dine with the Cardinal. Archbishop Pell is one of our patrons and always accepts our invitation for lunch. The conversation is little to do with business and is usually just social. (You should have heard him last year on Paul Collins!) He and Fr. Jordan call each other Greg and George as they are old friends. Cardinal Pell tried some time ago to steal Fr. Jordan from Brisbane. Fr. Jordan declined as he is one of the only bastions of orthodoxy in the state! It being Grand Final day and Cardinal Pell being an ex-footballer himself, our treasurer, Camillus O’Kane, was determined to talk sport. He also had the nerve to abruptly ask His Eminence whether he could watch the game with him at in his rooms! They did, but I made them return to Clovelly at half-time. No doubt Camillus’ fellow collegians will never hear the end of it!


Saturday night we ate fish & chips on the beach and us lads had a long kick & catch of the footy. Again we stayed up late but this time to NET team had secured the common room so we had to resort to my room. We had to hide our Secretary as no girls were allowed in buys rooms! How old do they think we are? Well we decided that enough was enough and that we deserved a few glasses or red that night and despite it being from the Margaret River as opposed to the Coonawarra it was quite nice. Conversation was again girls among other things… seems most of us struggle to find time to be bothered with the effort. Maybe once uni finishes was the general consensus. We did also try and spend a whole hour without talking about Catholicism or something related. We were going fine, but eventually ran out! Catholicism is an entire way of life… as I was explaining to the new kids on the block… get used to it.

Sydney visit - Part I

I will write bits and pieces gradually about my Sydney trip (ie. only while procrastinating).

I woke Tuesday morning at 4am to catch a 6am flight (had to be at the airport an hour early). I arrived at Sydney domestic terminal to whisked away to the international terminal to meet a guy from the US who was about to leave to go back home. He started a huge graduate network of Catholic Young Adults in the US. Apparently they have got 300 orthodox young Catholics together for a weekend… wait for it… where all they did was drink beer, eat food and listen to a single talk by George Weigel! Now that’s some weekend! Anyway keep an eye out for a similar initiative of ACSA’s which has been in the pipeline for two years but will hopefully get under way soon. We will, however, have more of a focus of further development.

Tuesday night I spent with Dominicanus who put some effort in considering the state of his foot. We had a delicious Guinness Pie at the Rooty Hill Tavern along with a bottle of red wine and a few beers – Cooper’s Pale on tap!

Wednesday I was up early to head back into Sydney for meetings with Dr. Michael Casey the personal secretary to George Cardinal Pell and third-in-charge of WYD 2008. I can’t go into detail but Casey was a pleasure to meet and great fun too. There is a bit in common but don’t expect me to do a PhD anytime soon. The WYD meeting was also successful. Wednesday evening I met with ACSA’s NSW rep and a couple of others to discuss NSW affairs followed by dinner where I met up with a few more old friends including Acolytus who comments here from time-to-time.

It was late by the time I got back to Oakhurst with Fr. E.

Wednesday morning both Fr. E and I were up early. I was off to Campion College to meet with our Functions Manager and also to have a chat with Fr. John Fleming, President of the College. ACSAs Chaplain, Fr. Gregory Jordan SJ was also to join us. Fr. Ephraem couldn’t make it as that was at the same time as his appointment at the hospital about his foot – he was 98% sure he’d be back and he’d cook that night.

Anyway, of course we know now that Fr. was kept in for a few days so I wasn’t able to eat with him. (Damn! Fr. is such a great cook!) The time at Campion was both fun and productive. Fr. Fleming gave me a few good ideas about ACSA and we also discussed South Australian politics and affairs over a light lunch in the sun. I also met a few of the students and the staff. Some read my blog but tend not to post… Frs. Fleming and Jordan concelebrated Mass at midday in the chapel. It’s quite nice, and so much nicer done ad Orientem and with the common in Latin! And the Pax was also done nicely!! No nodding or shaking hands at all! (That’s one thing that bugs me about the new rite, just before Holy Communion your thoughts and prayers are disrupted by people demanding to shake hands – but this is for another time).

With Fr. Ephraem out of action I decided to stay the night at St. James’ Dominican Priory in Glebe. After dropping off my bags I met up with ACSA’s treasurer and experienced Warrane College – only briefly – for the first time. We had a quick chat about our finances before I headed back to Circular Quay for dinner with the Elderly Relative who happened to be in town for a meeting. Had a jolly meal on the Rocks and was a chance to really relax for the first time in two days.

Sorry no photos from these days but there is more to come!

Time travel preferences

Fr. Tim Finigan commaned me to answer the following question. I've followed the lead of DelexitPrior by not considering Biblical events.

If an angel could take me back in time, what five things or occasions would I like to experience?

Secular

• Be involved in the Battle of Lepanto… Don Juan… Pope St. Pius V.
• Victoria 1954 – hanging around BA (Bob) Santamaria when the ALP Split was materminded
• Riding with Charlemagne
• With Don Bradman on the 1948 Ashes tour – the Invincibles
• (*all of the history courses I’ve studied have been negative periods of the late 19th and 20th Century – I'm struggling to find another quickly!)

Sacred

• Serve Mass in St. Peters Basilica prior to the Council of 1962
• Mass in Rome prior to the Council of Trent
• The Burning of Carthage ending the Punic Wars.
• Witness one of St. Catherine of Siena’s ecstasies.
• There with Pope John Paul I – to see how/why he really died…

Back from the wilds of Sydney

Yes, I'm back from Sydney. The week was terribly busy but very successful. I will write more on all things soon enough -- social and business. Least to say I didn't get enough sleep...

To keep you satisifed while I'm gone...

"We were just chasing the bad angels out of heaven!"

Away from blogging

Dear Readers and friends,

This likely to be an entire week off from blogging. I leave at 6am on Tuesday morning for a week in Sydney. The weekend will be the National Executive meeting of the Australian Catholic Students Association and the days before that will be a chance for me to have a few meetings and also to catch up with some good friends including the infamous Dominicanus.

The Executive will be having a lunch with our Patron in George Cardinal Pell which is always loads of fun especially as our chaplain, Fr. Gregory Jordan SJ and the Cardinal have known each other for many years.

The week will also be a chance to relax a tad, though I am bringing some uni work with me to do.

Today was my very last Saturday teaching swimming.

A bit of background. I’ve been a swim instructor since I was 15 teaching over the summer holidays until I finished school when I also started teaching on Saturday mornings. I have been teaching for a group called RAPID SWIM which is a program for people with integration difficulties. So over the four years I’ve taught people with Down Syndrome, Autism across the kids which simply have low muscle tone and coordination difficulties. The lessons are all 1:1. I’ve been the instructor-in-charge of my program for the last three years but finally had to say good-bye because I’ve run out of time to study at all.

It is a bit sad. Some of the kids I’ve taught for the whole 4 years. I’ve known a couple of them half their life! One of the mums gave a framed and engraved photo of me and her daughter today - something to remember.

SA Government

The South Australian State Government delivered their budget today. Yes, our finiancial year is from July1-June30 and they are only getting around to it now. I'm appalled and the media hasn't been critical enough of this. If I were a CEO of a company and planned to deliver a budget at least 3months late, I wouldn't have a job tomorrow. It's not as if they have just go into Government. They've been in Government for four years. They also have billions of extra dollars worth of money to spend than the previous government did four years ago!

Tell us what you think about this? You overseas people, does anything like this happen over there? I think this shows absolute contempt for the South Australian people -- their electors.

Anyway, that's my whinge for today.

Bad joke

An Irish nun had been asking her students what they want to be when they grow up.

She asks susie who declares, "I want to be a prostitute."

"What did you say?!" asks the nun, completely shocked.

"I said I want to be a prostitute," Susie says again.

"Oh, thank heavens," says the nun. "I thought you said 'a Protestant!'"

Diplomat does Borat impersonation

I know I try not to blog on Tuesdays because of work & study but I had to post on this one. (BTW I'm still writing an essay that was supposed to be due last Friday) .

This story comes from the SMH. Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev is due to meet George W Bush and they won't discuss ... Borat whose new film Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is just hitting the cinemas in time for the visit!!:

"I can say unambiguously that the question of this film or of the art, let's call it that, of Mr Sacha Baron Cohen, will not be discussed (by Nazarbayev and Bush)," Yerzhan Ashykbayev, a Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman, told a news conference in the capital Astana.

You may recall previous clashes...

Guided tour...

"Another thing -- you'll never have to worry about tucking in your shirt!"

Bogleing blogs

Joanna Bogle has recently started publishing at auntie joanna writes. The presentation isn't great but of course the content is awesome. It's probably the most popular new blog because of her profile. Her husband Jamie is an ex-pat Aussie and the two did a speaking tour of Australia last year.

Media Release from Sydney

By + Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
18 September 2006

It is a sign of hope that no organised violence has flared here in Australia, following Pope Benedict’s recent comments.

No one compared the Pope to Hitler or Mussolini (as in Turkey) or called for his murder as Sheik Malin did in Somalia. No group like the League of Jihadists in Iraq promised “that the soldiers of Mohammed will come sooner or later to shake your throne and the foundations of your state”.

However the violent reactions in many parts of the Islamic world justified one of Pope Benedict’s main fears. They showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats and actual violence.

Our major priority must be to maintain peace and harmony within the Australian community, but no lasting achievements can be grounded in fantasies and evasions.

The responses of Sheik al-Hilali, Australia’s mufti, in particular, and even Dr. Ameer Ali of the Prime Minister’s Muslim Reference Group were unfortunately typical and unhelpful. It is always some one else’s fault and issues touching on the nature of Islam are ignored.

Sheik al-Hilali often responds to criticism by questioning the intelligence and competence of the questioner or critic. So too with the Pope, whose speech he claimed was not what was expected of a holy person and indeed “the Church needs to re-examine its thoughts about someone who doesn’t have the qualities or good grasp of Christian character or knowledge”.

Dr. Ameer Ali’s published reply was more surprising as it called on Pope Benedict to be more like Pope John Paul II than Pope Urban II, who called the First Crusade. In fact the Pope’s long speech was more about the weaknesses of the Western world, its irreligion and disdain for religion and he explicitly rejected linking religion and violence. He won’t be calling any crusade.

Today Westerners often link genuine religious expression with peace and tolerance. Today most Muslims identify genuine religion with submission (Islam) to the commands of the Quran. They are proud of the spectacular military expansion across continents especially in the decades after the Prophet’s death. This is seen as a sign of God’s blessing.

Friends of Islam in Australia have genuine questions, which need to be addressed, not regularly avoided. We are grateful for those moderate Moslems who have spoken publicly. But as Andrew Robb, Parliamentary Secretary on Multicultural Affairs, told Muslim clerics last weekend evil acts done falsely in the name of Islam around the world “need to be addressed, not swept under the carpet.

Muslims and Abbott

The Australian has published part of Tony Abbott's talk from last Friday night to a public forum, Towards a Cohesive Australia, in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. Cardinal Cassidy was also there representing the Catholics in a forum with Muslim leaders. My sources say the night was okay.

Great timing to hold the event (admittedly planned for some months) just after the Pope's words last Tuesday. I can just image Tony thinking "great, thanks alot boss!"

St. Joseph of Cupertino

Introit: Ecclus. 1. 14-15. The love of God is honourable wisdom: and they to whom she shall show herself, love her by the sight, and by the knowledge of her great works. Ps. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.

Gradual: Ps. 20. 4-5. O Lord, Thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones. v. He asked life of Thee and Thou hast given him length of days for ever, and for ages of ages.
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You can find out about St. Joseph of Cupertino here.

I was “introduced” to St. Joseph whilst in year 12. He had a learning disability, and legend has it that he would study intently for one small section of the material, because that was all he was able to do, and prayed that the material he studied would be what he was tested on. As it happened, the small amount of material that he had studied and knew was the material Joseph was tested on time and again in hsi examinations for priesthood.

It is from this, rather than his mystic behaviour, that he is a patron saint of students.

OZ politics

While the world was watching what would happen next in the "Mr. Pope" vs Muslims saga, here in OZ Greg Smith beat the former Sex-Discrimination Commisioner, Pru Goward in the Liberal Party preselection for the safe seat of Epping. It is the the NSW State Parliament which I (being in SA) have no strict interest in except for the fact that Smith is a Catholic and a high-profile "anti-abortion campaigner" as the papers have constantly put it.

The SMH, which appeared to be backing Pru, reports that it was comprehensive win but also that Goward is likely to now be preselected for another NSW seat.

You can read Goward's profile here.

Another installment of ....

"Monsignor found the short circuit."

Well Il Papa has caused some stir over the last three days after his address to the University of Regensburg on Tuesday (Wednesday Australia time). His address is titled Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections and you can read it for yourself here.

The SMH has this report about the response of Maylasia and there have been riots in other Muslim countries around the globe. The American Papist has a good round-up and will no doubt keep everyone posted with updates.

The Pope has been likened to Hitler and Mussolini by the Turks but the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has just come out in his defence.

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Introit: John 19. 25, 26-27. There stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother, and His mother’s sister Mary of Cleophas, and Salome and Mary Magdalen. v. Woman, behold thy son, said Jesus; to the disciple however: Behold thy mother.

Collect: O God, at whose Passion, as Simeon foretold, the most sweet soul of Mary, Thy glorious Virgin Mother, was pierced by a sword of sorrow; mercifully grant that we who reverently mediate upon her sorrows may reap the happy fruit of Thy Passion.

Sequence: Stabat Mater.

Communion: Happy the senses of the blessed Virgin Mary, which without dying earned the palm of martyrdom beneath the cross of our Lord.

First report...

The folks just got home from the ordination so this is an exclusive. The old man said it was "good". There was good music except for one hymn. The commentators were extremely annoying and the cross above the altar was tacky. As usual George Cardinal Pell appeared like he didn't want to be there - Adelaide is generally a liturgical hole after all! But Dad said it was much better than the installation of Archbishop Wilson which occured in the Entertainment Centre where everyone sits on the sides, two choir lofts higher than the "sanctuary".

The old man took one pic before hand as they were told not to take any photos during the Mass. I've zoomed in and cropped it (click for larger image). You can just make out the chalices on the left-hand-side. Why on such an occasion like this they insist on Communion of both species for everyone is beyond me.

And the tacky cross above the altar. I suppose unlike in Brisbane, Our Lord looks like a male... we must be thankful for small mercys.
I forgot to ask, old man, was there an Aboriginal smoking ceremony this time?

Here is what to get me for Christmas

Very satisfying I'm sure! Get me a pallet!

Episcopal Ordination today

This evening Fr. Greg O'Kelly will be ordained a bishop is the Adelaide Convention Centre. Both my parenst are going so there should be a report for you tomorrow morning (assuming I have time). my usually reserved mother is already worried about the venture -- "it'll probably be like a school Mass!" she said to me yesterday.

CathNews reports that along with a few Archbishops there will be other dignitaries present.

Readers will include South Australia's Chief Justice John Doyle, a Saint Ignatius College old scholar. ABC newsreader Michael Smyth and Channel Seven journalist and presenter Rosanna Mangiarelli will commentate.

Oh dear, TV presenters as commentators. Commentators generally are an abomination regardless of how clearly they speak!

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Originally this feast celebrated the finding of the Holy Cross by St. Helena and the consecration, on September 14, 335 of the basilicas built by Constantine on the sites of the Holy Sepulchre and Calvary at Jerusalem. Later on, the commemoration of the recovery of the Holy Cross from the Persians in 629 was confused with this and supplanted it.

Introit: Gal. 6. 14. But it behoves us to the glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection; by whom we are saved and delivered. Ps. May God have mercy on us, and bless us; may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us.

Alleluia: Alleluia, alleluia. Sweet the woof, sweet the nails, sweet the load that hangs thereon: for thou alone, O holy Cross, wast worthy to bear the King and Lord of heaven. Alleluia.

Communion: By the sign of the Cross deliver us from our enemies, O Thou who art our God.

Speck doesn't much like surplices either

"Hey, buddy -- not so much starch the next time, please."

Bomber's values

I've been incredibly busy this week and will continue to be until Monday. (I think seven assignments due in one week ontop of everything else I do constitutes busy). So I haven't had the chance to really blog on the Opposition Leader, Kim 'Bomber' Beazley, and his plan to have immigrants and tourists sign an 'Australian values' pledge.

I didn't know we had any generic values here! We certianly aren't a very Christian country. The only things we really value are beer drinking, sport and the Aussie BBQ!

It got me thinking, what are our Australian values and what defines us as Australian? What should our generic values be?

The mask

"There will be a Halloween party for the Boy Scouts immediately after this novena service."

Health of His Holiness

Shouts In The Piazza has a post which suggests that the Holy Father is currently on a "farewell tour" and suggests that his health ain' t that great.

Word in the piazza is that there are whispers in Rome that he'll be dead by this time next year and that, in fact, this visit to Germany, the second in as many years, is so that he could have a chance to see his homeland again in case he gets no more chances.

Now that is news! Now come the "what ifs"...

Jesuit update

Rocco has a post on the 2008 election of the Black Pope.

Vote 1 Fessio for Superior General 2008!

It's even made it to news in Australia!

From CathNews: New institute for former schismatic priests

The Holy See has announced its approval for a new institute that has been created for a group of French priests who have returned to the Church after leaving the traditionalist Society of St Pius X which refused to accept Vatican II changes.

The group of five priests and some seminarians had been part of the movement founded by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who was excommunicated in 1988 after he consecrated four bishops without Rome's consent, the International Herald Tribune reports.

Lefebvre had founded the Swiss-based Society of St Pius X (SSPX) in 1969 in opposition to the liberalising reforms of the 1962-65 Vatican Council II, particularly allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin.

Pope Benedict XVI has indicated he wants relations with SSPX to be normalised, reportedly indicating he wants to explore rescinding excommunications of Lafebvre and the three bishops he ordained.

He met last year with the current head of the society, Bishop Bernard Fellay.

The Vatican emphasised that the priests joining the new institute had already left SSPX.

Marini whinge

Look carefully at this pic of His Holiness and Archbishop Marini. Why on earth would you have your hands just clasped together when the Pope is right next to you with the palms of his hand joined solemnly? If that was me, my hands would be joined so solemnly they wouldn't be able to come apart for a week!
But it did remind me to post this pic of a certain Domincan novice acting as MC in a similar situation in July. Well at least in the presence of a Bishop, Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ and a number of Orthodox priests from around the country.

Abbeys aren't what they used to be...

Introducing Laser Monks...

Me Church

Hat tip to the American Papist

Friday Funny

An OP friend of mine told this to me a long time ago. I've heard him tell it one or twice since... seems to be a favourite!

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A Dominican, a Franciscan and a Jesuit are all fishing out on the lake together.

They run out of beer and the Dominican says, “My shout first”, and proceeds to step out of the boat onto the water and walks to the edge, drops into the pub, and brings back a six-pack.

The three continue fishing and it’s the Franciscan’s turn to buy a round. He gets up, steps out of the boat onto the water and walks across the water to the edge, drops into the pub, and brings back another six-pack.

By now the Jesuit is sweating, unsure how they have walked on the water. But the others have done it so when they next run out of beer, he stands up and announces that it’s his shout. He steps out of the boat onto the water and promptly sinks to the bottom.

The Dominican and Franciscan look at each other and the Franciscan says, “Did you tell him about the sandbar?”

To which the Dominican replies, “What sandbar?”

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Interestingly, this feast originated in the East before finding a place in the Roman liturgy in the 7th Century. This date served to fix that of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Introit: Hail, holy Mother, thou who didst bring forth the King, who ruleth heaven and earth for ever and ever. Ps. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King.

Collect: We bessech Thee, O Lord, grant to Thy servants the gift of Thy heavenly grace: that as the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin was the beginning of salvation, so the joyful festival of her Nativity may bring us an increase of peace.

Alleluia: Alleluia, alleluia. Happy indeed art thou, O sacred Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all high praise: for out of thee hath risen the sun of justice, Christ who is our God. Allleluia.

Sancta Maria Virgine. Ora Pro Nobis

Strippers in Parliament

The SMH has this breaking story - Climate conference strip show storm. This was at a dinner and the social highlight of the 17th Australia New Zealand Climate Change Forum held in Old Parliament House Canberra.

Red-faced organisers issued the following statement at the closing session of the conference this afternoon: "The ANZ Climate Forum organising committee apologise for any offence taken at the forum dinner. The intent was light-hearted entertainment. In retrospect the choice of entertainment was inappropriate for the occasion.

"We understand if the sponsors wish to withdraw. We trust that this will not reflect on the very productive contributions made by the ANZ Climate Forum. If any participant has further concerns please approach the committee directly."

Crikey! They're only a bunch of climate scientists. Give them a jar of jelly and a balloon, that's entertainment enough, surely?!!

Fessio reports on Pope's closed door symposium

Report on CathNews regarding the Pope's recent meeting with his former students including Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ.

This year's topic was "Creation and Evolution," and one of the presenters was Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, who has argued against what he called "ideological Darwinism." This prompted media speculation that the Pope was considering a shift in the church's general acceptance of the theory of evolution.

But Fr Fessio, who attended the symposium, said nothing was presented at the meeting that "would break new ground or that lays the foundation for a new position."

He added that while participants discussed the relationship among faith, reason and science, "the whole American debate on intelligent design did not occur at all here".

Don't forget: Fessio 4 Superior General 2008!!!

Colin Thiele RIP

I just wanted to write something short noting the passing of one of Australia’s great authors in Colin Thiele. Thiele’s death was overshadowed by the shock fatality of The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin.

Thiele grew up in Eudunda, a small town north of the Barossa Valley in South Australia and has written well over 100 books for all ages. His books range from poetry and history through to children's stories and adult fiction. Most of his early work was set in the South Australian countryside with his later work based in Queensland after a move to the warmer climate due to arthritis.

His best know book was Storm Boy which was set in the Coorong in the South East SA. Storm Boy, adapted for film in 1976, is a tale about a boy and his pelican released and was published in 1966. His other famous works include The Fire in the Stone, Magpie Island, Poems in My Luggage and The Hammerhead Light most of which I read in middle primary school.

I remember writing to Mr. Thiele once in about Grade 5 for a project we had been assigned to do on a famous Australian. He returned a handwritten personal letter and included his signature on a sticker in case I wished to use it on a poster or something.

He died on Monday aged 85.

The Lord's Prayer

The New Liturgical Movement has a post on the music of the Our Father / Pater Noster. He posts a version in plain chant which is much closer to the original.

This reminds me of a dinner party where we were being amused by an eminent MP who was singing the Pater Noster to the tune of Sr. Janet Mead's "Our Father" -- guitars and all.

Adding St. Joseph to the Eucharistic Prayer

From ZENIT. I found this rather interesting so thought I'd see what people's thoughts were.

ROME, SEPT. 5, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: I have noticed in the past couple of years that priests are inserting into the Eucharistic Prayers the name of "St. Joseph" even though it is not a feast day of St. Joseph nor is he the patron of the church where the Mass is celebrated. In Eucharistic Prayer III there is the option of inserting the saint of the day or the patron, but in the other Eucharistic Prayers there is no place indicated for such an insertion. Eucharistic Prayer I includes St. Joseph. Is this practice of inserting "St. Joseph" in the Eucharistic Prayers acceptable? Also I have frequently heard the phrase "and religious" added to the part of the Eucharistic Prayers that prays for the clergy -- is that acceptable? -- S.H., Steelton, Pennsylvania

A: In recent years there has been a movement among some priests, and even some bishops, who have petitioned the Holy See to include St. Joseph in all of the Eucharistic Prayers, just as he is present in the Roman Canon.

This interest is probably inspired by the example of Pope Blessed John XXIII, who added St. Joseph's name to the Roman Canon in 1962 at a time when Eucharistic Prayer I was still the only canon in use in the Roman Church.

At the time, this addition caused great surprise as it was the first change made to the Canon in more than 1,000 years. The saintly Pope, however, considered that St. Joseph's unique role as spouse to the Blessed Virgin, foster Father to Our Lord, and patron of the Universal Church more than warranted this adjustment to the Canon.

The Pope did not live to see the many liturgical changes wrought as a result of his convoking the Second Vatican Council, including the subsequent addition of several new Eucharistic Prayers.

The practice of naming St. Joseph was not carried into the new prayers for many reasons, usually because the new ones, except for the third, mostly specifically mentioned only the Blessed Virgin Mary and afterward the saints in a general way, by classes (apostles, martyrs, etc).

It could well be argued that St. Joseph is in a class of his own and merits a special mention after the Blessed Mother. Someday, perhaps, the Holy See may see fit to give a positive answer to these petitions.

In the meantime, however, all priests should obey the approved texts and neither add nor subtract anything. Disobedience to Church law is certainly no way to honor the Church's universal patron who is characterized by silent obedience to all that God asked of him.

The same response can be given to those who add "and religious" to the Eucharistic Prayers, with the added note that it is not good ecclesiology.

The prayers intercede for the different sacramental orders in the Church. Religious who are priests are included among the clergy. All other religious are included among the baptized as "the entire people your Son has gained for you," but they do not constitute a separate sacramental order in the Church.

Lego Church

I dug up this old email of a Lego Church. The email goes like this:

How long to build it? It was about a year and a half of planning, building and photographing.

How many pieces of LEGO to build it? More than 75,000.

How big is it? About 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet by 30 inches.

How many lego people does it seat? 1372

How many windows? 3976

It features a balcony, a Narthex, stairs to the balcony,restrooms, coat rooms, several mosaics, a nave, a baptistery, an alter, a crucifix, a pulpit and an elaborate pipe organ.

Obviously a Protestant Church as I can't see an altar but think about the technical espect of it all. I really like the pipe organ and choir loft as well as the massive pulpit (none of those things called lecturns).

Why wait until Friday...

I was sent this joke again just the other day.

The new priest is nervous about hearing confessions, so he asks the older priest to sit in on his sessions.

The new priest hears a couple of confessions, then the old priest asks him to step out of the confessional for a few suggestions.

The old priest suggests, "Cross your arms over your chest, and rub your chin with one hand and try saying things like 'yes, I see,' and 'yes, go on,' and 'I understand.'"

The new priest crosses his arms, rubs his chin with one hand and repeats all the suggested remarks to the old priest.

The old priest says, "Now, don't you think that's a little better than slapping your knee and saying, "No shit...what happened next?"

Results: Poll on stem cells

I will assume that only my Australian visitors voted in this poll as it is relevant to them. (Less than 1/3 of my daily number of visitors recorded a vote).

An overwhelming number of you (80%) would take the way your local Member of Parliament votes on therapeutic cloning into account at the next Federal election with 55% definitely not voting for them if they vote ‘yes’ to a relaxation of the current laws.

My local member is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health, Christopher Pyne, who was a great opponent of the 2002 stem cell bill and will no doubt again oppose any change to the status quo. In fact, I expect that the vote on stem cells will go down exactly the same lines here in South Australia as the RU486 bill did back in February – a majority of ALP members in support and a great majority of Liberal MPs against.

Now that's gotta be some sermon!

"I think he means us!"

Jokes for Friday

Two men considering a religious vocation were having a conversation. "What is similar about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders?" the one asked.

The second replied, "Well, they were both founded by Spaniards -- St. Dominic for the Dominicans, and St. Ignatius of Loyola for the Jesuits. They were also both founded to combat heresy -- the Dominicans to fight the Albigensians, and the Jesuits to fight the Protestants."

"What is different about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders?"

"Met any Albigensians lately?"

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Frank goes to a Dominican priest. He asks the Dominican to pray a novena that he can get a Lexus. The Dominican asks "what's a Lexus?" Frank explains, and the Dominican declines to pray the novena for such a worldly intention.

So Frank goes to a Franciscan priest and asks him to pray a novena for Frank to get a Lexus. The Franciscan asks "what's a Lexus?" Frank explains, and the Franciscan declines to pray the novena for such a worldly intention.

So Frank goes to a Jesuit priest and asks him to pray a novena that he can get a Lexus. The Jesuit asks "what's a novena?"

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And to be fair there is, of course, the old Jesuit joke:

A Dominican and a Franciscan were having an argument about which of their orders was more pleasing to God. The Domincan naturally was arguing the case of the Friars Preachers, and the Franciscan was holding forth for the Friars Minor. Their discussion was getting heated, when they decided that divine intervention was the best thing, and so they prayed for a sign to end the quarrel.

Immediately, a dove descended from heaven with a slip of paper in its beak, dropped the paper, and flew off. "What does it say??" said the Dominican, eagerly. "Well", said the Franciscan. looking up from the paper, "it says "I love all of my devoted sons equally. And it's signed "God, S.J"."

First Day of Spring

This is a pic from yesterday evening of the apricot tree in blossom. Spring is well and truely here in Adelaide. There has been nothing but blue skies for the last 3-4 days and yesterday was shorts weather! Summer is just around the corner. (So you can't argue that Spring starts on the 22nd or 23rd.)