Sunday, September 30, 2012

Fr. Z, epicure?

Reading Fr. Z's posts, I sometime worry that readers may get the impression that Catholic priests are incurible gourmands. At times, I feel guilty wishing I could have but the scraps from his table. Here, for example, is but his last Sunday lunch! ... at SS. Trinita dei Pellegrini ... Greco di tufo wine, with a bis of primi, salmone and then alla gricia, the saltimboca and a Roman artichoke. Thankfully he omits any reference to dessert. Whem! Take me along with you next time, Father! [Check out the link for zoom-in-close-up color photos that will leave you salivating.]

Extraordinary Community News


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News (September 30, 2012):
Windsor’s St. Alphonsus Church to Hold Tridentine Mass on Thursday, October 11

Readers on the U.S. side of the river can become somewhat jaded by the plethora of beautiful historic churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit. It seems we never run out of more to explore. One key reason why these churches survive is because many parishes were too poor during the frenzied post-Vatican II decades to afford architectural re-dos. Windsor, however, has had a different history: Most of metropolitan Windsor’s historic churches underwent major architectural changes, in large part because those parishes had sufficient funds to undertake such projects.

Only three architecturally intact churches survive in Windsor: St. Michael, the 1950s era German church which hosted the Tridentine Mass from 2003-2007; Our Lady of the Assumption, the grand French Gothic church on the campus of the University of Windsor that is the current home for the Extraordinary Form; and St. Alphonsus Church, located immediately to the east of the exit from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel [pictured below].


We have written about St. Alphonsus before. It was restored, and not reordered, in recent decades by former pastor, the late Fr. Ulysse Lefaive, who went on to serve as Chaplain for the Windsor Tridentine Mass Community for many years. St. Alphonsus is most notable for the dramatic oil paintings on the ceiling and wall behind its high altar, its recently expanded pipe organ, and...its air conditioning.

In what seems like the inevitable finally coming to pass after 40+ years, there will be a special Tridentine High Mass at St. Alphonsus Church on Thursday, October 11 at 7:00 PM for the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mass is being held to mark the 50th Anniversary of both Vatican II and the 1962 Missále Románum.

Flint Mass Photos

_______________ generously uploaded a beautiful set of photos from last Friday’s special Tridentine Mass at Flint’s St. Matthew Church [pictured below]. One example is here; the complete set is available on Juventútem Michigan’s Facebook page. The pictures do an excellent job of conveying the immaculately clean and well-maintained condition of the church [as well as the overwhelming youthfulness of the crowd, I might add - ed.].


Approximately 100 people attended this Mass, and we have reason to believe there will be more Holy Masses in the Extraordinary Form in St. Matthew’s future.

Dueling Pontifical Masses on October 14

In yet another sign of the times, on Sunday, October 14, there will be two successive simultaneous Holy Masses in the Extraordinary Form in our region celebrated by bishops: At Noon, Bishop Alexander Sample will celebrate a Pontifical Solemn Mass at Assumption Grotto Church in conjunction with the Call to Holiness conference. Fr. Charles White, one of Detroit’s ambassadors of the Extraordinary Form, is coordinating this Mass. At 2:00 PM, Bishop Eugene LaRocque will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at Windsor’s Assumption Church. Pioneering bishops such as these are making it easier for other bishops to celebrate similar Masses in the future. They deserve our prayers and thanks.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 10/01 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Remigius, Bishop & Confessor)

  • Tue. 10/02 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Holy Guardian Angels)

  • Fri. 10/05 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Sacred Heart of Jesus) [First Friday]
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 30, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Why Forest Lawn made Evelyn Waugh want to puke

When Evelyn Waugh visited the United States, he spent some time in Hollywood, California, where the sanitized treatment of death at Forest Lawn inspired his satirical novel, The Loved Onewherein the manicured lawns and euphemisms of Whispering Glades Memorial Park in Hollywood provides deluxe service to deceased stars and their families, and Happier Hunting Ground does the same for dead pets (yes: pets). Waugh described it as "a little nightmare produced by the unaccustomed high living of a brief visit to Hollywood." I hear that a movie may have been made of the novel.

In any case, a very good friend of mine from the West Coast, eager to assure me that the industry which provoked Waugh's satirical novel, is still very much alive and running full bore in the self-congratulatory post-Christian ethos of Seattle, Washington, sent me, by way of proof, a PDF file of the following ad from Dignity Seattle, complete with the obligatory pilates ad above it.

Note the words:
"The most memorable memorials are the ones we plan ourselves. After all, who knows you better than you?

"That's why it's a good idea to plan ahead. Our free booklet will get you started. Then let the members of the Dignity Memorial network do what we're known for -- create a final send off that's truly a reflection of you. It's your life's celebration. We'll make sure it has some."

Evelyn Waugh himself could not have penned a better caricature than the industry has penned for itself.

[Hat tip to K.K.]

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Paprocki: vote for Obama, go to hell?

After a detailed analysis of the unconscionable "intrinsic evils" in the official Democratic Party platform, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, concludes, in "Think and pray about your vote in upcoming election" (Catholic Times, September 23, 2012):
"... you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy."
Wow. Read those words again: "... a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy." Is he saying that a person could go to Hell by voting for Obama?

The good bishop does endeavor to cover the Church's tax-exempt status: "I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against," he says. Bravo, your Excellency! Despite your caveat, there is absolutely no ambiguity in your message. What refreshing clarity!

Exodus Now! - Black Christians abandoning Dem. Party

"Black Christians Abandoning Democrats, Heeding Bishop E.W. Jackson's Call For Mass Exodus" (The Sacramento Bee, September 29, 2012).


Related:

Maafa 21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America is an incredible exposé of a tacit movement of genocide against African Americans in American history. It is a 2009 documentary film which draws a connection between the targeting of African Americans by the eugenics movement in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the modern-day prevalence of abortion among African Americans, promoted by the building of Planned Parenthood clinics in black population centers (Planned Parenthood was part of a eugenics movement spawned by Margaret Sanger, a racist bent on eliminatic "undesirable" populations through sterilization, contraception, and abortion. The film argues that abortion is an attempted genocide or maafa of black people, and has been so since the 19th century.

Friday, September 28, 2012

"The New Evangelization: Quo Vadis?"

An interesting discussion published in an article by Paul Kokosi, "The New Evangelization: Quo Vadis?" (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, September 20, 2012), begins thus:
More and more, Catholics are shying away from using terms like “proselytizing,” “conversion,” and even “Catholic” in their ecumenical and inter-religious efforts, almost as if they were ashamed of the Gospel, or afraid of appearing as a “sign of contradiction.”
New Catholic posts the article online, and introduces it with the following remarks in the post, "Vatican II: A discussion that can no longer be stopped" (Rorate Caeli, September 28, 2012):
"Whatever might be said about the current situation of the talks between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), and whatever one's doctrinal position might be, one thing is clear: the frank discussion of the ambiguities of Vatican II and of post-Conciliar Vatican documents vis-a-vis the pre-Conciliar Magisterium has begun, and can no longer be stopped. While it would be easy to exaggerate the quality, extent and openness of the discussion so far, it cannot be denied that signs of it have been appearing in unlikely places ..."
In a related article, "Should the SSPX be excommunicated? An Apostolic Nuncio's thoughts," Rorate Caeli posts the remarks of Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, in response to the earlier post of Fr. Schmidberger's video interview (see "SSPX-Rome: Important - Father Schmidberger speaks on conditions and current status of negotiations with Rome," posted on YouTube September 18, 2012). The operative words seem to be "level-headed" and "clear-headed."

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Media bias: Where's Romney? Where's Ryan?

Have you noticed how Romney and Ryan fallen off the face of the earth recently? Where have they gone? If media coverage is to be trusted, they have virtually disappeared from public life; which is to say, why are they not being covered? They were candidates in this election, last time I checked. Perhaps the media don't consider them news worthy? Or perhaps as the major branch of the White House Press Office, they don't wish to offer exposure to the 'other side'?

Fox covered the RNC and gave predictable exposure to the event, highlighting not only Romney and Ryan, but all sorts of other figures. Remember how the mainstream media neglected to cover these Republican minority speakers, blacks, Latinos, women and others who don't fit the typical leftist stereotypes of political "conservatives"? Stereotypes indeed. Kinda reminds me of how NPR used to choose individuals with the most pronounced Southern hillbilly accents to interview as representatives of politically conservative views; just like they promote individuals with BBC English accents to underscore the urbane sophistication of their pet left-wing views.

Which reminds me: did any of you hear that hour-long feature on NPR that was aired on the evening of September 16th on the subject "Does NPR have a liberal bias?" I listened to it driving home from a recent out-of-state trip, and it was the most entertaining hour of the drive. The show featured prominently the analysis of This American Life show host, Ira Glass, who agonized over the question ad infinitum, unable to draw the simple conclusion that is beyond obvious to any Joe Sixpack.

One of the most amusing descriptions I have seen of the left-wing media is that which ex-Marxist philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre offers in his book, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? when he called the New York Times “that parish magazine of affluent and self-congratulatory liberal enlightenment." Most philosophers know, at least, that there is no point of view from nowhere. Everyone has pre-theoretical commitments, and everyone has a perspective. And when representatives of NPR themselves admit that the vast majority, if not all, of their employees are political liberals, it should come as no surprise that they are as trendy-lefty as they are blind-sighted to their own bias. Go figure.

Election '12: love, peace & harmony; oh, and hell and damnation

Sunday, September 23, 2012

It's time to let him go

Extraordinary Community News


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News (September 23, 2012):
Mass Cards for the Extraordinary Form Now Available

It is a laudable practice to have Masses offered for the intention of other individuals, living or deceased. Every Mass includes two Meméntos, sections in the Canon of the Mass where the celebrant prays for the living and the dead, the intention of the Mass being the most important one the priest must pray for.

There are times when a living person, or family and friends of a living or deceased individual, might appreciate knowing that a Mass had been offered for a particular person or intention. One traditional way of informing people is via a “Mass Card”, a greeting card which explains what has been done. Many Catholic supply houses sell stock Mass Cards, however modern technology has given us a convenient way to produce customized cards for our local churches.

At the request of a reader, we have designed a Mass Card which can be printed for Masses said at St. Josaphat, St. Albertus, St. Hyacinth, and Windsor’s Assumption Church. Other churches can easily be accommodated once appropriate photos are taken. The card consists of an exterior shot of the church on the cover, a photo of Mass being celebrated on the church’s altar on the upper interior page, and text explaining the purpose of the card on the lower interior page. The card is printed on glossy half-fold greeting card stock on a high-quality color copier. A photo of the exterior and interior of a Mass Card is provided as an example; the card is folded in the middle.
Mass Cards are available for $8.00 each, including custom text and a mailing envelope. Please e-mail the address at the bottom of this page or call (248) 250-2740 if you would like to have a Mass Card printed for your intention. Kindly allow at least two weeks’ advance notice for a card to be printed and mailed to you.

Upcoming Bus Tour to Historic Churches in the Niagara Falls Region

Mike Semaan’s Prayer Pilgrimages bus tour operation continues its series of Tridentine Mass-centric tours with a trip to historic churches in the Buffalo – Niagara Falls region, Thursday-Friday, October 11-12. Churches on the tour include Buffalo’s St. Anthony of Padua, Niagara Falls’ St. Mary Cataract, and Lackawanna’s Our Lady of Victory Basilica. At least one Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is planned.

Participants will need to bring a Passport, Enhanced Driver’s License, or a Nexus card to cross the Canadian border. For further information, see www.prayerpilgrimages.com or call (248) 250-6005.

Possible Tridentine Pilgrimages in Europe

In light of the continued popularity of the historic bus tours in our region, three parties have recently requested that we inquire if there is interest in arranging pilgrimage(s) to Europe that focus on the Extraordinary Form.

Fr. John Johnson has suggested a trip to Rome during the upcoming Year of Faith (Oct. 11, 2012 – Nov. 24, 2013), touring major Catholic sites in and near the Eternal City. He would lead the tour and celebrate daily Tridentine Mass.

Fr. Peter Hrytsyk has suggested trips to either Bavaria or England, or possibly both in one tour. He, too, would lead the tour and celebrate EF Mass daily.

Mike Semaan is open to any reasonable suggestion for a tour anywhere in Europe for which there is sufficient demand. He would appreciate hearing your thoughts about possible destinations. A priest would be sought out to celebrate daily Tridentine Mass.

Tours such as this typically cost $3,500-4,000 per person all-inclusive for an approximately eight day trip. If you are interested in one or more of the above tours, kindly e-mail the address at the bottom of this page, and we will let the appropriate parties know. Formal arrangements with a tour company will be commenced if there is sufficient informal interest.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 09/24 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Our Lady of Ransom)
  • Tue. 09/25 7:00 PM: High Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead [High Requiem Mass with Absolution at the Catafalque])
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 23, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Friday, September 21, 2012

Huzzah! Refreshing bluntness on the culture wars

Fr Marcel Guarnizo - Germantown MD - Sept. 17, 2012 from Dennis Donnelly on Vimeo.


This is all coming very fast. Inform yourself. Be prepared. Talk things over in your family. Decide ahead of time what you will do. Strengthen your resolve.
[Hat tip to Dr. Mary Healy]

Fr. Schmidberger on lapse in Rome-SSPX détente

Linked HERE -- in German with English captions [Hat tip to R.C.]

See transcription of the English translation of the interview with Fr. Franz Schmidberger at Rorate Caeli.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

More same-sex pontifications among Lutherans

"How long did you think it would take?" (Pastoral Meanderings, September 14, 2012). Even some ELCA Lutherans seem to be waking up to the problems here.

Problems? Of course: "Better off with mom and dad" (NCR, July 6, 2012) rehearses the history of the debate, citing a recent parenting study that questions the politically correct view:
For the past decade, a cadre of social scientists has claimed that kids raised by homosexuals show “no differences” from kids raised by opposite-sex couples. Now, a large national study of the well-being of young adults reared in different types of families challenges this widely circulated “no differences” thesis.

In the June issue of Social Science Research, University of Texas sociologist Mark Regnerus reports that Americans ages 18 to 39 who grew up in families where either parent had a same-sex romance fared significantly worse on 25 of 40 measures. They were three and a half times likelier to be unemployed and almost four times likelier to be on public assistance than children raised in biological, intact mom-and-dad marriages. Children reared by same-sex-wooing adults were also more likely to have been arrested, to have pled guilty to a minor criminal offense, to smoke marijuana, and to have thought about suicide during the previous year.

Regnerus’ “New Family Structures Study,” which screened more than 15,000 Americans and interviewed nearly 3,000, radically challenges the previous scientific consensus. Read more here >>
[Hat tip to Sean Fagan]

New video of Cardinal Newman


I'm grateful to "New Catholic" for calling this video to my attention, and there's more about it and the Campion project right here.

Nevertheless, I'm curious what became of the feature-length film that was being promoted two years ago about the life of lately beatified Newman in which F. Murray Abraham (Salieri in the film Amadeus) was slated to play Newman. It looked to be a decent film from the trailer and promotional material I saw back then.

Here is a trailer of that earlier film, The Unseen World (although the video quality is poor), and interview with the director, Liana Marabini. Anyone know what became of this film?




Related: Condor Pictures promotions.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Extraordinary Community News

Tridentine Community News (September 16, 2012):
Flint’s Historic St. Matthew Church to Host Tridentine Mass this Friday, September 21

The first post-Vatican II Tridentine Mass in this part of the world debuted in 1988 at Flint’s All Saints Church. It’s still going strong today. A fine edifice of 1950s vintage, All Saints has nevertheless architecturally lived in the shadow of Flint’s grand St. Matthew Church, located at 706 Beach Street in downtown Flint. After an absence of over 40 years, a special High Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be held at St. Matthew Church this Friday, September 21 at 7:00 PM for the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle. The celebrant will be Fr. Pieter van Rooyen.


Young adults age 18-35 are invited to a dinner following the Mass sponsored by Juventútem Michigan; details are on a Facebook event page entitled “Bonus Mass”. Thanks to Juventútem leader Paul Schultz for organizing this Mass.

Holy Redeemer Mass Report


Speaking of grand churches, over 240 faithful attended the first Tridentine Mass that was held at Detroit’s Holy Redeemer Church in over 40 years last Sunday. Good news – mark your calendars: Holy Redeemer will host another Tridentine Mass on Friday, October 26 at 7:00 PM.

New Weekly E-mail Broadcast of Upcoming Tridentine Masses

In an effort to better serve our readers, we will be sending out a weekly e-mail broadcast listing all of the Extraordinary Form Masses and special events which will be held over the subsequent two weeks in southeastern Michigan and southwestern Ontario. In light of the increasing number of special Masses being held, the time has come to provide Mass schedules in this convenient summary fashion, as we realize not everyone is able to pick up a copy of this news column every week. If you would like to subscribe to this broadcast, please send a quick e-mail to: tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org


Next Mass at St. Hyacinth Church

After a summer hiatus, the next Tridentine Mass at Detroit’s St. Hyacinth Church will be held next Sunday, September 23 at 1:00 PM. St. Hyacinth is one of Detroit’s best-maintained historic church, with seemingly every surface glisteningly clean. An unsung army of volunteers must dedicate tremendous effort to the maintenance of this House of God. Sacristy cabinets that elsewhere would be nicked and scarred are immaculately polished. The high pulpit pictured above is even bedecked with [fake] jewels. An inspiring lesson in the proper preservation of sacred art and adornments.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 09/17 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Stigmata of St. Francis)
  • Tue. 09/18 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor)
  • Fri. 09/21 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Matthew, Apostle)
  • Fri. 09/21 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Matthew, Flint (St. Matthew, Apostle) [Rosary at 6:30 PM.]

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 16, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

". . . an eerie phase of history . . ."


[Hat tip to Maisa Haddad for her photo]

Separation of Church and State


[Hat tip to Patrick Lee and Michael Liccione]

Ode to Joy in Sabadell, near Barcelona: beautiful

Something about these juxtapositions of the classical and sublime with the pedestrian and ordinary highlights the grandeur of such pieces and yet humanizes them. The children's behavior, especially, is telling and endearing.

[Hat tip to Robin Beck]

Obama's Fabian Socialism

Fabian Socialism is usually identified with a British socialist movement whose principles were to advance democratic socialism via gradualist or reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. I doubt that Mr. Obama is a card-carrying member of the British organization, but his affinity for the ideology articulated in Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals is beyond question to anyone acquainted with his thinking and writing. I haven't seen the film 2016 yet, but I have no doubt it would confirm these claims.

Today Drudge carried a YouTube link to Obama's speech at Loyola University in which he declares: "I actually believe in redistribution." Straight from the horse's mouth. Of course many will find this entirely unproblematic and even applaud the notion, oblivious of the economic auto-destruction it implies. The sub-prime mortgages promoted largely by Democrats were compassionately aimed at providing house ownership for those who were far from being able to afford them. Likewise, our current third phase of "quantitative easing" (QE3) imposed upon us by the Fed is compassionately aimed at propping up an economy and giving the impression of activity (a bump in the stock markets) by pumping new currency into the market at the cost of deflating everyone's currency.

I remember my parents talking about how it took an entire wheelbarrow full of pre-revolutionary Chinese currency, the paper Yuan of the Republic of China following the demonetization of silver, in order to buy a supply of groceries. The American Dollar is well on the way to becoming the 21st Century Yuan. But no worries: we'll all be equal, and drift into collective bankruptcy together. In the meantime, the Chinese have initiated themselves into the mysteries of free enterprise and are collectively on their way to becoming the economic engine of the post-modern world, with the United States as its client banana republic. Have you watched the wait staff at your local eatery attempt to make change for you lately? What do they teach in schools these days?

Monday, September 17, 2012

Prayer request continued

About a month ago, I posted an urgent request for prayer for a special intention. I ask those of you willing and able to continue to pray for this intention.

Thank you.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cassavetes promoting incest as normal

Dr. Keith Ablow, "Can sex between brothers and sisters ever be normal?" (FoxNews.com, September 11, 2012):
Hollywood director Nick Cassavetes, whose new movie Yellow tells the story of a fictional love affair between an adult sister and brother, claimed that incest is just the latest frontier in people throwing off the shackles of rigid, cultural convention and following their hearts.
Thus yesterday's "insanity" becomes tomorrow's "normal," like so much else we've seen these days, from killing babies by the thousands under the rubric of "public health care" to the legalization of "same-sex marriage" as a civil right. Read more >>

[Hat tip to D.M.]

Related: "Hollywood Director Favors Man-Goat Love" (Patheos, September 11, 2012).

[Hat tip to Nick]

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

DNC screwup

As reported in the Navy Times (September 11, 2012)
"On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

"But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships."
Related:

Neil Munro, "Fighter jets in Democratic convention’s military montage were Turkish, not American" (Daily Caller, September 17, 2012).

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Case Closed: if moderate voters see this video, it's over for Obama

This is a stunning thirteen minute video that shows Obama in his own words, with commentary from mostly mainstream media sources. If this video goes viral and reaches moderate and independent voters, it would be a big blow to the Obama re-election bid.


[Hat tip to E. Echeverria and J. Smith]

Monday, September 10, 2012

Eat your heart out, Michael Moore

2016 now Pic #2 Political Documentary, bigger than 3 Michael Moore Movies

Sick and tired of HOPE?

From The Editors of Taki's Magazine, "An Overdose of Hope" (September 8, 2012):
The Democrats are done weaving their web in Charlotte, and wow, what a web it was—an intricate lattice of multicolored Silly String that included everyone and said nothing.

Did you know that Democrats like the blacks? And the Hispanics? And the gays? And women? We didn’t know that. Now we do.

Did you know the Democrats have a plan to make the next four years better than the last four? Really? We didn’t. And after watching their convention, we still don’t.

We’ve all moved forward out of the Stone Age and progressed as a society to the point where black men can make death threats against Barack Obama, Hispanic female delegates feel unafraid to say they want to kill Mitt Romney, and everyone’s cool with it! ...

Because Republicans are the only party that makes things racial, the DNC was blacker than a family reunion at the Atlanta Airport Holiday Inn. Democratic strategists are obviously worried about the zero percent of black voters that currently support Romney and decided to aggressively target that zero percent with an endless parade of melanin mouthpieces.
Read more >>

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Catholics for Obama?

Listen to the argument made by Dr. Stephen Schneck, Chairman of Catholics for Obama and professor at Catholic University of America, and see if you see any sense here. He opposes abortion, contraception, the HHS Mandate, the redefinition of "marriage," the Mexico City Policy -- all of which involve intrinsic evils -- as well as Obama's extravagant deficit spending. All well and good. But yet for Obama and the Democratic Party, all of these are basic platform planks considered essential 'goods' to defend! Why then is he Chair of Catholics for Obama? Because, he says, the Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare would lead to more abortions.

Say what?!!! Ensure that your teens and tweens have access to Big Nanny's credit cards, and they'll be more responsible and have less abortions??

When asked how he would propose funding the entitlements he supports, Schneck says that economics is, well, not his area. Oh, how sad (and convenient). Watch Professor Schneck try and make all of this look as if were an 'intelligent' position.

Madison Bishop Robert C. Morlino follows Schneck, during which two clips are shown of Sr. Simone Campbell, Head of Network, a left-of-center lobbying organization in Washington, D.C. She speaks against the Ryan budget, because, she says, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is part of her pro-life stance. Sure. Bankrupt Big Nanny by maxing out all her credit cards and see how far your pro-life largesse goes.

Extraordinary Community News

Tridentine Community News (September 9, 2012):
Tones of the Pater Noster

As we are holding an increasing number of High Requiem Masses, and as All Souls Day approaches, it would be good for all to be aware that there are multiple tones (melodies) for the Pater Noster and for the Preface Dialogue. For almost every High Mass, we employ the Solemn Tone. There is also a Ferial Tone, which we rarely hear because it is meant to be used at Masses celebrated on Ferias and on Votive Masses which are not solemn; such Masses are almost always celebrated in this region as Low Masses. Masses for the Dead, however, specify the use of the Ferial Tone. We covered the Tones of the Preface in our June 12, 2011 column. Today we will show the Tones of the Pater Noster. On the left is the Solemn Tone which many of us know so well. On the right is the Ferial Tone. In the Tridentine Mass, the congregation sings only the concluding “Sed líbera nos a malo”, which happens to be sung to the same melody regardless of the tone.



At the very sensible request of a reader, we will adapt our Propers Handouts for High Requiem Masses and for All Souls Day to include the Ferial Tone Preface Dialogue music, to help us all remember that we are to sing them differently than we are accustomed.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 09/10 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor)
  • Tue. 09/11 7:00 PM: High Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead – Requiem Mass with Absolution at the Catafalque)
  • Fri. 09/14 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Exaltation of the Holy Cross)
  • Fri. 09/14 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Francis Xavier, Tilbury, Ontario (Exaltation of the Holy Cross)
  • Sat. 09/15: Previously scheduled Mass cancelled

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 9, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Unconned: blacks against Obama

Check out AlfonZo Rachel on "ZoNation" (PJTV.com)



[Hat tip to C.B.]

Saturday, September 08, 2012

The empty suit


[From American Catholic, via C.B.]

Alinsky and the politics of resentment

From the Harvard PhD, Jerome Corsi's book, Saul Alinsky:The Evil Genius Behind Obama [Kindle Edition](Paperless Publishing, 2012):
Alinsky fashioned himself a modern day Machiavelli, well-versed and comfortable with Machiavelli’s teaching that, “It is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.” ... Alinsky repeatedly stressed that the advantage of the “have-nots” centered in numbers. “The resources of the Have-Nots are (1) no money and (2) lots of people.” This, he advised, required the Have-Nots to use street tactics to succeed. “For example, I have emphasized and re-emphasized that tactics means you do what you can with what you’ve got, and that power in the main has always gravitated towards those who have money and those whom people follow.”

As Machiavelli sought to advance himself by advising the prince how to use the amoral tactics to gain and hold political power, Alinsky fashioned himself championing the economically downtrodden.... Alinsky taught that politics, camouflaged as “community organizing,” was the only effective way that the socialist elites could mobilize the Have-nots to take power from the Haves.

Long before Barack Obama used the rallying cry of “Hope and Change,” Alinsky used the themes of “Hope and Change” as code words for creating a socialist revolution in the United States. His goal was to set in motion a peaceful revolution, using the ballot box, not bombs or bullets, to wrench power from the hands of capitalist elites and business leaders currently in charge.... But, to be successful, Alinsky encouraged activists and radicals to cut their hair, put on business suits, and run for political office. Appropriately, Rules for Radicals was subtitled “A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals.”

Alinsky’s methodology began by teaching “community organizers” to raise the consciousness of the economically disadvantaged, who were typically also minorities. The goal was to stir the pain of economic suffering in order to creating awareness in an economic underclass of their disadvantages. “The organizer dedicated to changing the life of a particular community must first rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt oppression,” he wrote. “He [the community organizer] must search out controversy and issues, rather than avoid them, for unless there is controversy people are not concernedenough to act.” From there, the community organizer’s job was to mobilize the discontent into political power. When Alinsky asked new students why they wanted to organize, he shouted back at them a one-word answer: “You want to organize for power.” (emphasis mine)
It would be interesting to consider what Friedrich Nietzsche might have had to say about this. Nietzsche thought that what he called the "slave morality" of Judaism and Christianity stemmed from ressentiment (he used the French word) against the "master morality" of those in power. Max Scheler (whom Ernst Troeltsch called the "Catholic Nietzsche") showed in his fine study, Ressentiment,translated by Lewis B. Coser (Marquette University Press, 1994), that Nietzsche's criticism was mis-directed, that nobody was less reactionary (animated by resentiment, spite, envy, etc.) than the likes of Jesus or St. Francis of Assisi. Rather, he showed, ressentiment was the province of movements such as bourgeois atheistic humanism and associated political ideologies, which rejected (and resented) the idea of objectively binding and obliging principles and standards (e.g., natural law). It would be interesting to see what Scheler might have said about the neo-Marxism of Alinsky.

[Via Fr. Z.]

Card. Dolan's 'homily' (closing prayer) at the DNC

Not a bad homily for a "closing prayer." I wonder what effect it may have had on this audience.



[Hat tip to Fr. Z.]

Thursday, September 06, 2012

More on EF training in seminaries

From Fr. Z. (WDTPRS, September 6, 2012).

For the record: an awkward assessment of Cardinal Martini

By Antonio Socci, "I am not 'a Martinian', I am a Catholic" (from “Libero”, September 2, 2012, via New Catholic).

LGBT lobby's double standard

Bob Woodward's exposé: Obama's melt-down

"Bob Woodward Book: Debt Deal Collapse Led to 'Pure Fury' From President Obama" (ABC News, September 5, 2012):


An explosive mix of dysfunction, miscommunication, and misunderstandings inside and outside the White House led to the collapse of a historic spending and debt deal that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner were on the verge of reaching last summer, according to revelations in author Bob Woodward's latest book.

The book, "The Price of Politics," on sale Sept. 11, 2012, shows how close the president and the House speaker were to defying Washington odds and establishing a spending framework that included both new revenues and major changes to long-sacred entitlement programs....

But at one critical juncture, with an agreement tantalizingly close, Obama pressed Boehner for additional taxes as part of a final deal -- a miscalculation, in retrospect, given how far the House speaker felt he'd already gone.

When Boehner finally did call back, he jettisoned the entire deal. Obama lost his famous cool, according to Woodward, with a "flash of pure fury" coming from the president; one staffer in the room said Obama gripped the phone so tightly he thought he would break it.

"He was spewing coals," Boehner told Woodward, in what is described as a borderline "presidential tirade."

"... He wasn't going to get a damn dime more out of me. He knew how far out on a limb I was."
Tune in to "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline" on Monday September 10, 2012 to see Diane Sawyer's exclusive interview with Bob Woodward.

AmericanDoctors4Truth



(from the AmericanDoctors4Truth website)

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Krauthammer: Michelle's speech, brilliant, "but I didn't buy a line of it"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNhkoVHzLs

Today's new seminarians, tomorrow's martyrs

Five "new men" studying at the American seminary in Rome talk about their vocation to the priesthood. To see men called to the priesthood in times like these, after the catechetical disaster and liturgical shenanigans of the last several decades, on the heels of the priestly sex scandals and facing the real prospect of persecution from our own government, is nothing short of inspiring.



[Hat tip, Fr. Z.]

Dem hero: "a philandering, adulterous, fornicating, spiteful liar ..."

This is vintage Voris, with a vocabulary on steroids: "Dems War on Men" (9/5/12). Excerpt:
... The icon of Democrats, in some ways the man called on to ironically enough preserve Obama's miserable presidency, is Bill Clinton. Could there possibly a larger more loathsome example of masculinity, striding onto stage amid throngs of wild cheering -- and much of that cheering coming from women?! This man deserves contempt, yet he is the leading example of what manhood has become, at least for the Democrats' point of view -- a philandering, adulterous, fornicating, spiteful liar, who had his law license yanked and was impeached for perjury. He is the hero of the Democrats -- an abuser of young interns (remember Monica Lewinsky?), a wife-cheater so notorious that his Arkansas cronies couldn't keep up with his sexual escapades and had to employ what Hillary was once credited with calling "the bimbo squad."

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Madison Biship Morlino on deciding how to vote

Bishop Robert C. Morlino, "Subsidiarity, solidarity, and the lay mission" (Bishop's Column, Diocese of Madison, Catholic Herald, August 16, 2012).

Sometimes I wonder whether bishops bend over backwards too far to avoid sounding partisan. The threats to the tax-exempt status of churches is one thing, of course. But there is also the other, more fundamental and difficult matter of instructing the laity in the principles by which to make prudent political decisions, without getting caught up in the contingent and often distracting details of personalities and sound bites.

Bishop Morlino here offers a fairly simple and straightforward catechesis on how to form one's political conscience. This is far more helpful than the Voter's Guide that came out from the USCCB several years ago that was probably only a few less pages than the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act bill signed into law in 2010.

One thing Bishop Morlino underscores is that, although Catholics can disagree on application, they cannot properly disagree on fundamental principles, one of which is that no person with a well-formed Catholic conscience can "ever choose to vote for someone who clearly, consistently, persistently promotes that which is intrinsically evil."

One should not need to struggle endlessly over the implications of such a statement.

[Hat tip Fr. S.]

Related:

Laughter, the best medicine?



[Hat tip to Sean Fagan]

Extraordinary community news

Tridentine Community News (September 2, 2012):
Cathedrals Which Have Hosted the Tridentine Mass

A recurring theme in previous weeks has been the increasing occurrence of historic churches hosting special Masses in the Extraordinary Form. This trend seems to be accelerating, locally and internationally. Even today’s column contains an announcement of yet one more such church hosting a Mass.

Our January 29, 2012 column mentioned that, as of that date, 254 bishops and archbishops had celebrated or been present at a Tridentine Mass. Today we will consider an affiliated topic: the celebration of the Extraordinary Form in Cathedrals. This list is by no means exhaustive or guaranteed current, but rather just some names that came up after some quick research:
Cathedrals which host regular Masses
  • Birmingham, AL: St. Paul Cathedral
  • Anchorage, AK: Holy Family Cathedral
  • Fairbanks, AK: Sacred Heart Cathedral (since moved to another church)
  • Covington, KY: Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (since moved to another church)
  • St. Petersburg, FL: St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral
  • Savannah, GA: Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
  • Sioux City, IA: Cathedral of the Epiphany (starts 10/2012)
  • Lake Charles, LA: Immaculate Conception Cathedral
  • Shreveport, LA: St. John Berchmans Cathedral
  • Boston, MA: Cathedral of the Holy Cross
  • Portland, ME: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
  • Kalamazoo, MI: St. Augustine Cathedral
  • Lansing, MI: St. Mary Cathedral
  • Marquette, MI: St. Peter Cathedral
  • Biloxi, MS: Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the first Cathedral to host an EF Mass post-Vatican II, since moved)
  • Springfield, MO: St. Agnes Cathedral
  • Fargo, ND: Cathedral of St. Mary
  • Harrisburg, PA: Cathedral of St. Patrick (pictured)
  • Austin, TX: St. Mary Cathedral

Cathedrals which have hosted special Masses

  • Denver, CO: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
  • St. Louis, MO: Cathedral Basilica (“New” Cathedral)
  • Camden, NJ: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
  • New York, NY: St. Patrick Cathedral
  • London, ON: St. Peter Cathedral
  • Salt Lake City, UT: Cathedral of the Madeleine

Space does not allow us to include a list of cathedrals in other countries which have hosted Masses, but we would be remiss if we did not mention that both of London, England’s cathedrals, Westminster Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Westminster, and St. George’s Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Southwark, regularly host Masses in the Extraordinary Form; St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh, Ireland hosts the occasional Mass; and Chartres (France) Cathedral is the site of annual pilgrimage Mass.

Clearly when so many Cathedrals host the Extraordinary Form, most on a regular basis, it is a sign that the mother church of a diocese is a most appropriate home for the historic Liturgy of the Church.

Special Mass at St. Francis Xavier, Tilbury, Ontario


Fr. John Johnson will be hosting a special Tridentine High Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Tilbury, Ontario, outside Windsor, on Friday, September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, at 7:00 PM. This Mass marks the fifth anniversary of the effective date of Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, Summórum Pontíficum. This will be the first Tridentine Mass held at St. Francis Xavier since at least 1970.
Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 09/03 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Pius X, Pope & Confessor)
  • Tue. 09/04 Noon: High Mass at Basilica & National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, Carey, Ohio (Our Lady of Consolation) [See flyers at back of church for bus tour info]
  • Mon. 09/04 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead – High Requiem Mass with Absolution)
  • Fri. 09/07 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) [First Friday]
  • Sun. 09/09 Noon: High Mass at St. Albertus (Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost)
  • Sun. 09/09 2:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Redeemer Church, Detroit (Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost)

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for September 2, 2012. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Minorities you won't see on MSMBC, Part 1


Artur Genestre Davis (born October 9, 1967) is an American politician and attorney who changed his party affiliation from the Democratic to the Republican Party in 2012. Davis served in the United States House of Representatives representing Alabama's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2011. He was also a candidate for governor of Alabama in the 2010 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary.

Davis was an early supporter of Barack Obama's 2008 bid for the presidency, and one of the national co-chairs for Obama's 2008 campaign. Known for his oratorical skills, Davis made one of the nominating speeches for Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Minorities you won't see on MSMBC, Part 2


Utah congressional candidate Mia Love spoke Tuesday night during a coveted slot at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. Love has been characterized by her groundbreaking role in state politics, becoming Utah's first black female mayor.

She now stands to become the first black Republican woman in Congress if she topples Jim Matheson, a Democrat, in the November election. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Love said the theme of her speech is "The America I Know."

Love's Wikipedia page was vandalized with racist slurs shortly after her appearance at the RNC: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/29/mia-love-wikipedia-page-vandalized-with-slurs/

Hysterical: Stephanopoulos: No Bias in Media

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/stephanopoulos-doesnt-believe-there-bias-media

"Sybaritic animals, who drink, vomit, and fornicate ..."

I have long searched for a better description of what higher education has become in the mainstream of academia today, but found none. R. R. Reno, in a 2007 review revisiting Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students,writes:
"Higher education has become, argued Bloom, the professional training of clever and sybaritic animals, who drink, vomit, and fornicate in the dorms by night while they posture critically and ironically by day."

September 4th: Empty Chair Day


"Clint Eastwood’s short dialogue with the President Barak Hussein Obama, who was not 'there', could have been written by Jean Paul Sartre, but more likely by Saul Alinsky. With perfect irony, Mr. Eastwood choose to use the methods of Saul Alinsky, Barak Obama’s hero, to affect the Republican campaign in 2012. Mr. Eastwood crafted a dialog directly from Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals-- pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. The dialog was irreverent, imaginative, and humorous. As Alinsky stated, 'the most potent weapons known to mankind are satire and ridicule'. Mr. Eastwood used these weapons as skillfully as Dirty Harry used his. Yes, he is a fine actor." ["Emma" in Sept. 1, 2012 Comment at Justin Katz's "The Brilliance of Clint’s Empty Chair," via Via Shawn McElhinney]


[Hat tip to Shawn McElhinney and Fr. Z.]

Saturday, September 01, 2012

Impeach Obama Tea Party photo via Mark Shea

"These are ideas people come to America to get away from"

(Marco Rubio about President Obama's agenda, Speech at the 2012 RNC)

Prophetic 1969 quote from current pope

"The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges."

Cardinal J. Ratzinger (1969),
-- republished in Faith and the Future(2009)

Related: