Tag: featured

USCCB appoints new spokesman for Meatless Fridays

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Two days ago, Cardinal Dolan gave his presidential address to the US Bishops. In his speech, he focused on the need for penance and suggested the possible reintroduction of the traditional Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays:

What an irony that despite the call of the Second Vatican Council for a renewal of the Sacrament of Penance, what we got instead was its near disappearance….

The work of our Conference during the coming year includes reflections on re-embracing Friday as a particular day of penance, including the possible re-institution of abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent.

It appears that Cardinal Dolan is moving forward with this initiative, since we have just heard on Facebook that the bishops have appointed a new advocacy spokesman, Gollum:

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Tithing

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Every now and then the subject of “tithing” comes up. The word “tithe” literally means “tenth”, and refers to the religious practice of offering 10% of one’s income to the things of God. In my experience, you tend to hear much more about tithing in Protestant circles than you do from the pulpit in your local Catholic parish.

Recently a friend asked me about tithing so I said I’d offer a few thoughts about it in a short post. Considering today’s Mass Readings today seems an appropriate day to do this. I’ll first look at the Hebrew Scriptures, then the New Testament data and then finally look at what teaching is explicitly offered by the Catholic Church…

Collection Plate

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Stuff I’ve Learned: I’m not who I was

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Something happened recently which gave me pause for thought.

A situation arose which was very similar to something which happened to me about ten years ago. It was a situation which previously brought out the worst parts of my character. However, this time around, I reacted completely differently. I didn’t fall into my previous patterns of behaviour.

All this made me realize that I’m not who I once was. I have changed. Wounds have healed. I have grown. Don’t worry though, there’s still room for a little more improvement… 😉

Later that day it got me thinking about how we sometimes view ourselves. I very often still think of myself as that awkward thirteen year old kid at school. Other times I think I’m still the same awkward twenty-something who doesn’t have a clue who he really is. But the truth is that I’m none of these people. I’m not who I was. It is those events of life and my journey with the Lord which have made me who I am.

Intercession

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A while ago in our Young Adult group we were talking about praying before the Eucharist (“Adoration”) and I had asked the question “What do you actually do during Adoration?”

Some of the group spoke about reading Scripture.

Others spoke about praying the rosary.

One girl beautifully described it as “…just having quality Father/Daughter time”.

One word which was absent from the discussion was “Intercession”. It got me to thinking. How often do I regularly pray for those in my life? My family? My friends? My co-workers? What about the employees of the shops where I purchase my morning coffee or lunchtime sandwich? How often do I intercede for these people? Almost certainly not as much as I should…

My friend Art went to Lourdes and took with him prayer requests from his friends here in California…

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: this week, especially during Adoration, I’d invite you to spend a little bit of time interceding for those people you know – friends, family, country…favourite bloggers.

Second Century Liturgy Uploaded!

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A while ago I uploaded a document to the Patristics section of this blog which was a short extract from the writings of St. Justin, apologist and martyr of the Early Church. The extract came from his First Apology where he wrote about the liturgy of the Church in Rome during the Second Century. I’ve recently been doing some blog maintenance and I’ve now recorded that document onto MP3:

 First Apology (Extract) from St. Justin Martyr

More recordings will be coming over the next couple of weeks: Apostolic Tradition and the Liturgy of St. James.

Historic Worship

I would suggest that a large number of Christians naturally assume that the Early Church worshiped in the same way as their own congregation in 21st Century America:

Relevant Worship(Thanks to Patrick Vanderpool for the artwork)

Thankfully, we are not left in ignorance as to how the Early Church worshiped, since Church Fathers such as St. Justin left us written descriptions. These documents show us that the Early Church had a structured liturgy which had, at its centre, the Eucharist.

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Calling Up The Dead

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A while ago I promised a friend that I would do an in-depth treatment of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Communion of Saints. I’m still planning on doing that more detailed examination at some point in the future, but today I’d like to do another brief post following on from yesterday’s posts about All Saints Day.

I’ve mentioned Jay before, a Protestant with whom I dialogued for several months. During our discussions he brought up the subject of the Saints. It wasn’t really pertinent to the subject at hand so I didn’t dwell on it for long, but here was what I wrote to him:

“The Saints” was another issue you raised, but again, in an effort to stay on-topic, I’ll try to be brief. 

We don’t worship Saints – we honour them.  Worship is for God alone. If you catch any Catholic worshiping a Saint, let me know and I’ll make sure that both their Priest and Bishop find out. I will ensure that they are kept behind after Mass for extra catechism classes while the other parishioners enjoy coffee and donuts 😉

I can pretty much guarantee that all of your disagreements stem from how you view the Church.  The Catholic view is that the Body Of Christ is simply one, composed of:

1. …those here on earth (“Church Militant”)
2. …those in purgatory (“Church Expectant”)
3. …and those in heaven (“Church Triumphant”). 

Although we may be physically separated by the barrier of death, we nonetheless remain united to each other.

I’m sure you’ve asked people to pray for you before – it’s a very natural thing to do and I’m guessing you would find no conflict here with 1 Timothy 2:5 (to which you allude).  Moses, Abraham and Job were all mediators and intercessors.  In fact, as you rightly point out, interceding for others is a living out of our universal priestly calling. 

I would also suggest that the people you ask to pray for you are often those whose faith is the strongest, as you hope in the power of their intercession (James 5:17).  The Catholic response to this is a hearty “Amen!”  But how much more powerful will the prayer be of one who has been completely sanctified and is standing before the throne of God?

There’s loads more I could say about this, but I’ll simply say that this is why we ask Saints for their intercession and why the Vatican teaches “filial reverence” – it’s simply because these are people who are part of the Church – it’s just that this part that is in heaven.

Saint Worship

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I went to Mass at lunch today and was thinking about the common concern among Protestants that Catholics and Eastern Orthodox worship the Saints.

Let me just say up front that we don’t worship the Saints, we honour them. Now, that’s a fine and dandy thing to say, but really, is there a difference between “worship” and “honour”?

All Saints

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