De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

A brilliant piece by Fr. Robert McTeigue in Homeletic Review offers a composite picture of our beloved Catholic Church which, he proposes, is suffering from a problem with prayer. Or a lack of prayer. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi is the old maxim which has long proven true: how we pray is how we believe and thus, how we live. But, asks Fr McTeigue, what happens if we are not praying? Or, if our prayer is fundamentally deficient, won't that have a clear and obvious effect on the belief and therefore the way we live? His first example for analysis is the practice of the Saturday vigil Mass: "We’ll start with Saturday, the time of the Vigil Mass. The legal fiction behind this practice is rooted in passing reference to the ancient practice of the observance of sabbath starting at sunset. But what can this mean for people who have no practical observation of the sabbath in mind?" This is a great point. Since I have been a father, I have always tried to make a point...

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“𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴; 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴; 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭. 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 “𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴,” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵...

Dear friends in Christ The Fourth  Sunday of Lent is  Lætare Sunday  from the opening words of the Entry Antiphon:  Rejoice, Jerusalem!  Even though we are only halfway through Lent, we are encouraged on this day to be joyful. Joy and the Cross are not incompatible; penance and self-sacrifice bring us into a joyful relationship with Jesus—at least they should. In the Gospel of this Sunday we shall hear another of those stunning miracles Jesus performs in order to bring us to the submission of faith. The Man Born Blind is a symbol of all those who live without seeing God, those who are spiritually blind. Once our eyes are opened, we see everything more clearly. We see, as it were, with supernatural vision. As we approach the celebration of the Paschal Triduum, and many throughout the Church prepare for the Easter Sacraments, let us allow ourselves to be led by the light of Jesus to deeper faith and trust in Him.  On Monday we have the Solemnity of Saint Jose...

Last night I went to my weekly Bible study at the Baptist church where we analysed John 17, Christ's High Priestly prayer. I know the verse obviously and was already reflecting about how wonderful it is that I, as a Catholic, have found such deep fellowship with these fellow Christians and get an opportunity to study and share God's word with that community as well as my own. I was especially struck as we studied the chapter together by verses 20 to 24: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those als...

In this episode we talk about the public response a number of US bishops have made to deeply problematic statements made by Pope Francis' new US Cardinal, Robert McElroy. We also look at the CofE vote to develop prayers for blessing couples in same sex "marriages" (from a sacramental perspective, proper Marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman, so whatever a same sex couple are, it can't be "married" because they can't be open to life). This has caused enormous controversy throughout the communion and a great deal of pain on all sides. Those who support the measure feel it is insulting that some piecemeal approach has failed to properly embrace same sex relationships. Those against feel it is irreconcilable with Christian teaching.  We also look at reports emerging from the Isle of Man where "Drag Queen story time" has caused a huge controversy. Meanwhile, in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has stepped down as SNP leader. Has this b...

The Pope is a gift to the Church and, indeed, to all Christians. This is because the Pope is the representative of Christ on earth, Christ, from whom his authority comes, gave the power to loose and to bind to all the Apostles, but to Simon Peter in a special way (CCC 881). But the only authority the Pope has finds its source in Jesus Christ: "The holders of office, who are invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God . . . may attain to salvation." ( Lumen Gentium n.18)...In other words, the servant of the servants of God . So what are we to make of a Pope who uses his authority to directly subvert the purpose for which it exists? Every single Catholic I have ever known who had an interest in or attended the Traditional Latin Mass did so out of a desire to grow closer to Christ. It may not be palatable for Catholics attached to the new Mass to hear, but they do it because it i...

Last year Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich, President of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and General Rapporteur of the Synod of Bishops, spoke on the subject of homosexuality in an interview with the German news agency KNA . The cardinal said: "I believe that the sociological-scientific basis of this teaching is no longer correct”. He went on: "the way the Pope has expressed himself in the past [on homosexuality] can lead to a change in doctrine. [ … ] I think it is time for a fundamental revision of doctrine”. In his "Demos" memo , Cardinal Pell stated: "Cardinal Hollerich rejects the Christian teaching on sexuality. The Papacy is silent. This is doubly significant because the Cardinal is explicitly heretical; he does not use code or hints. If the Cardinal were to continue without Roman correction, this would represent another deeper breakdown of discipline, with few (any?) precedents in history. The Congregatio...

Rorate caeli recently posted an insider report  which purports to represent the present climate inside the Vatican walls. The main inference of the report is that Pope Francis is not well liked by anyone; "neither by bishops, nor by priests, nor by the faithful." Having lived through ten years of this papacy, Mandatums with Muslim prisoners, Pachamamma worship in the Vatican gardens, the numerous abuse scandals and now, especially, following Tradiones custodes and the subsequent clarifications and corrections, I must admit to having some sympathy with this idea. I honestly cannot believe that we are living in a time when the priority for the pope is to shut down liturgy and the sacraments, to kick faithful Catholics out of their churches. Despite the awfulness of the situation, I find it hard to believe he doesn't have fans. There seem to be plenty of people who do really like him, even if, in my experience, these people are ignorant of the faith or looking to change it...

Hat tip to Matthew Hazell for the image  @M_P_Hazell on Twitter Phil Lawler sums up the utter mess of the current Pontificate succinctly in this post . He says: OK, I think I understand now. The Vatican “carried out a detailed consultation of the bishops in 2020” regarding the use of the traditional Latin Mass. Although we’ve never seen the results of that consultation, Pope Francis determined that “the wishes expressed by the episcopate” called for a crackdown on traditionalism. But the bishops who wanted that crackdown can’t be trusted to do it themselves. In a “synodal” Church, the Vatican listens carefully to all the faithful, and serves the needs of the diocesan bishops—in this case, by telling them what to do. In  Traditionis Custodes  (#4), when the Pope wrote that the diocesan bishop has “exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See,” what he meant was that a diocesan bishop...

Yesterday saw an extraordinary development in the USA when Bishop Thomas Paprocki, bishop of Springfield, Illinois, and chairman-elect of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance had an essay published in First Things which did everything except publicly name Cardinal Robert McElroy & Cardinal Blaise Cupich as heretics. The First Things essay did not mention McElroy by name, but it cited directly a Jan. 24 essay in America magazine from Cardinal Robert McElroy , which argued that the Church should “embrace a eucharistic theology that effectively invites all of the baptized to the table of the Lord.” McElroy said the Church should discard “a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist.” “Unworthiness cannot be the prism of accompaniment for disciples of the God of grace and mercy,” McElroy wrote, in a text quoted by Paprocki. A number of U.S. bishops have responded...