The Western Carolina Catholic

Weekly Update from CCM

2012-01-24T12:32:00.003-05:00

Dear students,

I am sending out my weekly update one day early this week, for two reasons.

1. The deadline for registration for the Give Your Heart Away retreat (Feb. 10-12), is TODAY. If you are one of those who like to wait till the last minute, this is the last minute. Please email me with your intention to attend. Registration is $50 for the weekend and includes meals and lodging. You can read more about the weekend here.

2. Today is Jan. 22. I did not want to let this date pass by without comment. Why? What is so special about today?

On this day in 1973, a war was declared on unborn human life in the United States. If you were born after 1973 and are alive to read this email, congratulations. You are a survivor. Your mother had the legal right in this country to kill you at any point up to (and including) your birth, and she chose not to. You are one of the fortunate ones. There are approximately 54 million others in the United States who were not so fortunate. That is the number of babies who have died by abortion in our country since Jan. 22, 1973.

There are a few students who will be absent from their classes today because they have bravely decided to travel to Washington, DC, to stand with hundreds of thousands of other Americans in protest to this holocaust. Yes, I said holocaust. I realize this is a politically loaded word, but consider this fact. Over 11 million people were killed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust, and over 407,000 Americans died in WWII to end that atrocity. To date in our country over 54 million have died in the abortion holocaust. According to statistics provided by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, approximately 3,700 children in American die by abortion each day in our country. World-wide, that number skyrockets to 115,000 per day. This is, simply put, the greatest tragedy of our time.

But where is the outrage? People today who make a strong pro-life stand are often accused of being religious fanatics or zealots. Is this a fair charge?

Today, as we mark the sad anniversary of Roe v. Wade, no doubt the news media (and your Facebook accounts) will be abuzz with varying opinions and views about abortion. I wanted today to provide you with some points of reference to keep the arguments clear and focused. Here are some recent arguments for legal abortion I have encountered, and how I would reply to them.

1. Isn't this a religious issue? Our government should not legislate morality.

Yes, my God tells me it is wrong to kill. This is clearly stated in the Bible. I'm no scholar of early linguistics, but I have been told that the original Hebrew word used in the sixth commandment meant not simply to kill, but to kill an innocent life. Thus a better translation would be "murder." (This allows for the taking of life in self-defense, for example). And when we are considering innocence, who is more innocent than an unborn baby? This is the worst kind of murder.

But here's the thing -- Yes, the Bible says murder is wrong. But so does common sense. My reason tells me that killing an innocent person is WRONG. So my faith and my reason are in 100% agreement. One does not need to be a Christian to understand that abortion is wrong (though kudos to the Christians for being the most vocal about it). There are plenty of pro-life atheists out there, as well.

And what about our government legislating morality? Of course our government legislates morality. Governments do this all the time. Our government has laws against murder (once you have been born); we have laws against theft; against slander; against fraud; all of these things are immoral. They are harmful to us and to our society. And so our government rightly outlaws them. Abortion is also immoral, harmful to ourselves and to our society. It should also be outlawed - as it was up till 1973.

2. What about cases of deformity or if the baby is sick and wouldn't live long anyway?

Is a deformed human being any less of a human being? Does someone who is born with a handicap have any less right to exist than you or I? If the doctors tell us the baby will likely die before his first birthday, does that give us the right to shorten his life even more? No, of course it does not. Suggesting that a deformed, handicapped, or sick baby be killed before it is even born is a selfish act on our part. Our motivation is to save ourselves the pain, suffering and hardship associated with being the parent of such a child. Let's be honest with ourselves on that point. Whether the baby is horribly deformed or perfectly healthy, we are still talking about taking an innocent human life. That basic fact does not change.

3. What about rape? Are you suggesting that a woman who becomes pregnant as the result of rape be forced to give birth and raise the child of her attacker?

Here is a better question. What has that baby done to deserve the death penalty? Nothing. That child does not inherit the sins of his father. The rapist needs to be punished, not the baby. The mother does not necessarily need to raise the child. There are thousands of families in America waiting - sometimes years - for a child to adopt. Let the child live. Let him enrich the lives of others. Don't punish him for something he had no part of.

Moreover, by having an abortion, the mother is being violated a second time. She needs love, compassion, and support. But that does not mean killing an innocent child, which she may one day come to regret. Again, let's keep the issue clear before us. Killing an innocent person is wrong.

4. What about cases where the mother's life is in danger?

C. Everett Coop, surgeon general of the United States under President Reagan, once commented than in his entire career as a pediatric surgeon, he never once encountered a case where the life of the mother could only be saved by a direct medical abortion. Let's get one thing straight. Abortion is NOT a medical procedure. The goal of medicine is to promote health and life. The goal of an abortion is the direct ending of a life.

Any doctor worth his or her salt knows than when treating a pregnant woman, you are dealing with two patients. If there is a life threatening situation, the first goal would be to save the lives of both patients, the mother and the child. If that is not possible, then you save the life of the patient whom you can. Some treatments for the mother may have the consequence of sacrificing the baby. This is NOT the same as a direct abortion, the goal of which is to end life, not save it.

A large percentage of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in cases of rape and "life of the mother." According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, less than 1% of abortions in the United States are because of rape. Only 6% are due to potential health problems for either the mother or the baby. The remaining 93% of all abortions are due to "social reasons," meaning the baby is simply unwanted or would be an inconvenience.

Mother Theresa once said, "It is a tragedy to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you please."

5. But what about overpopulation? Aren't there too many people on the planet already?

No. This is a huge misconception, still lingering decades after books such as The Population Bomb (1968) were published. The fears expressed in this book, and others like it, were that the growing world population would result in hundreds of millions of people starving to death because of a lack of food - as early as the 1970s. The predictions in this book have been since disproved, but the fear lingers on. We, as a species, are very poor about predicting the future. In 1900, the greatest worry of New York City's city planners was what they would do about all the mess caused by the overwhelming number of horses that the growing city population would require. The automobile was not even on their radar (nor was radar, for that matter).

The authors of The Population Bomb had no idea about the advances that would be made in agriculture and food production. We today have more than enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That is not the problem. The problem is distribution and access. And that is a problem that can be addressed without killing innocent people. Let's not loose sight of what abortion is. It is killing an innocent human being.

6. Isn't abortion just a hot-button, divisive political issue? If you are really pro-life, shouldn't you also be concerned about all the children whohave been born, and who are poor, hungry, or sick? Don't we need to care for them?

Yes, we do. But this is a red herring. It suggests that pro-life people are not concerned with taking care of poor and oppressed children in our society. In fact, they are. As a group, pro-life Americans are more concerned for the welfare of born children than anyone else. Let us not forget that the largest relief and charitable organizations in the world are operated by the Catholic Church.

This point is often brought up to divide and distract. Usually, it is brought up to criticize someone who may be supporting a pro-life Republican candidate, as opposed to a Democratic candidate who has a more left-leaning policy in terms of social welfare and/or immigration. Let me just make this point about that. Everyone I have ever met, Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, has agreed that we need to take care of the poor and downtrodden in our society. They differ on what they think the best and most effective means of doing that is. And that's ok. We can have different opinions about how best to go about helping the needy.

But abortion is different. It is about the taking of innocent human life. And that is never okay. It is never permissible. Mother Theresa also once said that "If abortion is not wrong, then nothing is wrong." And this is what it boils down to. It is not okay to end an innocent human life. If we can do that, we can do anything.

7. If you want to prevent abortions, you should encourage more use of contraception.

This one is often aimed directly at Catholics, because our Church teaches that both abortion and contraception are intrinsically evil. (That is to say, they are objectively wrong, morally). This argument seems to have surface logic to it. If more people used contraception, there would be less unwanted pregnancies, and therefore fewer abortions. But the reality does not play out that way. In fact today contraceptive devices and drugs are more advanced, and more readily available to more people than at any point in human history. And we still have over one and half million abortions per year in our country. In fact, the number of abortions have increased as the widespread use of contraception has increased.

If you want to read an in-depth view about how and why this would happen, read Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI, in 1968. This papal document was prophetic in what it predicted would happen if contraception became widespread. Here is the document:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

And if you don't have time to read the whole thing, look at this article, "Humanae Vitae, a Generation Later" by Janet Smith for a good summary.

http://www.goodmorals.org/smith6.htm

Essentially, contraception and abortion have the same motivation - consequence free sex. Just as we today want to be able to eat anything we want without gaining weight (the natural consequence of overeating), we also want to have all the sex we want without the natural consequence of sex. Yes, sex is pleasurable, but it is not only about pleasure. It is also about bringing in the next generation of human life. And that is why it should rightly only be practiced within the context of marriage, when a man and a woman have dedicated themselves to one another in a life-long relationship. Marriage is the institution created for raising a family, the basic building blocks of our society.

This is why being pro-life, and bring pro-marriage and pro-family all go hand in hand. And contraception runs counter to all of that.

I know this email has been lengthier than my usual weekly missives, and I beg your indulgence for that. This is a very important issue facing our society today, and one which I would hope young people such as yourselves feel ready to take up and make their own. My prayers are with those students marching on DC today, and my prayers are with all of you here at WCU, and with with expectant mothers and unborn children across the nation. May they all have the love, support and encouragement they need to choose life!

Pax,

Matt

Gospel For Today

2012-01-24T12:31:00.001-05:00

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

click here for readings

This Sunday's first reading comes from the book of Jonah, 3:1-5, 10. It tells of God calling to Jonah, the prophet, and commanding him to go to Nineveh to preach a message of repentance. Jonah warns the inhabitants of the city that the Lord would destroy Nineveh in forty days. The people hear the message, begin fasting and wearing sackcloth, and because of their repentance God did not punish them.

On the surface this reading seems to be about repentance. And so it is. The people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways and so avoided God's punishment. But it's also about another form of repentance. It is about the repentance of Jonah. You see, Jonah did not want to be there.

The book of Jonah is one of the shortest in the Bible. It falls between Amos and Micah, and in my little pocket edition of the Bible it fits on just two pages. It is easy to flip right past it and never know it is there. But take ten minutes of your time and read it. Most of us no doubt know at least part of the story. The name "Jonah" to us conjures up images of a giant whale, swallowing the prophet whole. But that's only part of the story.

The book begins by God calling Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach there against the wickedness of the people, just as in today's reading. Only Jonah does not go. He tries to flee from God. In fact, he goes so far as to board a ship bound for Tarshish, which is in modern-day Spain -- about the furthest place on the map from where he was. In other words, he was trying to go to the ends of the earth to escape the call of God.

But it did not work. God found him, and caused a storm to rock the ship until eventually the sailors were forced to toss Jonah overboard to prevent God from destroying their vessel. Once in the waves, that is when the great fish rose up and swallowed the prophet whole. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days (a foreshadowing of the three days Christ spent in the tomb), before praying to the Lord, after which the fish vomited him up on the shore.

And it is here that today's reading picks up. For the second time the Lord called Jonah and commanded him to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeys, and the Lord's work is done.

Today's gospel reading (Mk 1:14-20) also tells of men who were called by the Lord. Simon and Andrew; two fishermen, busy about their business, casting their nets into the sea of Galilee, hoping for a good haul. Jesus walks by and sees them. "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men," he says. And so Simon and Andrew abandoned their nets, and followed Jesus. They heard the call of the Lord and responded to it. As did the brothers James and John, whom Christ found mending their fishing nets with their father, Zebedee. They heard the call of Christ and left their father there in the boat, mending the nets. John and James had a higher calling.

What is your higher calling? What is God calling you to do? Are you ready to drop everything and respond to that call, as did the fishermen in today's gospel? Or are you hesitant and fearful, like Jonah? For even though Jonah refused, and even tried to run away and hide from God, the Lord never ceased to call him. He was with Jonah on the ship. He was with him in the belly of the fish. His call to Jonah never ceased, and when Jonah finally did answer the call, his works glorified the Lord.

How long have you been running from what God is calling you to do? He is still calling you. It's not too late to answer.

Gospel For Today

2012-01-15T16:32:00.001-05:00

SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (B)

Today's readings are about doing the will of God. The first reading from 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19, tells us the story of the prophet Samuel, when he was a young boy, hearing the call of God. Three times Samuel heard a call at night, and three times he went to Eli, the priest who was responsible for Samuel's formation. "Here I am. You called me," Samuel said. "I did not call you," Eli said, "Go back to sleep." The third time, Eli discerned that it was the Lord's call that Samuel heard, and so instructed him that if he heard the call again, to reply, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

The same theme is echoed in the psalm response: "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will." The verses are from Psalm 40. They speak of the fact that God wants more than our "offerings." He wants nothing less than ourselves. "Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, 'Behold I come.'"

Today's gospel reading is John 1:35-42, and recounts how Andrew discovered that Jesus was the Messiah, and told his brother Cephas (Peter), and how they both came to Jesus. Their response to encountering Jesus was in effect to say "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will."

This is all well and good, but what does it mean? Being ready to do the will of God means that we make a total gift of ourselves to Him. It means recognizing the fact that we do not belong to ourselves any longer; we belong to Christ. St. Paul tells us in our second reading today, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Cor 6:17-20).

When we give ourselves to God, and realize that we are members of His body, it should give us pause when we consider doing something that we know we ought not to do. For if we are joined with Christ, then when we sin, we do not just sin in ourselves, but we involve Christ in our immorality. We in effect commit sacrilege every time we sin. This is the message St. Paul is telling us. Our bodies are temples. We must not spoil them.

The upside to this, of course, is that when we perform good actions, we do so as members of Christ's body. And whereas you and I on our own may only be capable of performing good acts on a natural level, with Christ those actions become infused with supernatural grace, won at the price of the Cross. Thus we are able, by giving ourselves over to God's will, of achieving wonderful heights of joy and holiness.

Ultimately this is God's will for us. God wills us to be happy. He created us out of love, and we are made for joy. He did not make us for His sake, but for our own, so that we may share in and know His goodness. We are meant for happiness. If we listen to the call of God, if we can say - and truly mean it - "Lord, I want to do your will," we will become what God created us to be. We will be truly happy.

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Weekly update from CCM

2012-01-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

Dear Students,

It has begun! The spring semester is off to a great start, and I hope you are all excited about being back at WCU. We are hitting the ground running at Catholic Campus Ministry, so let me tell you about some great things in the works.

In case you are new to campus ministry, we have a regular weekly schedule of worship, prayer, and fellowship. Each Sunday evening you are invited to gather at the Catholic Student Center at 6:30 for a half hour of apologetics, where we learn how to answer common questions about the Catholic faith and better explain her teachings. Then at 7:00pm we pray the rosary together in our chapel. Finally, at 7:30pm we celebrate Holy Mass, with Fr. Alex from St. Mary's. Father is also available to hear confessions before and after each Mass.

Every Wednesday night we gather as a community at 6:30pm for a free home cooked dinner together. Our dinner is followed by a program, which generally lasts from 7:30 to 8:30. Some weeks we might have a discussion about an important aspect of our Catholic faith; some weeks we might have faith sharing; other weeks we might be playing games! Our weekly programs are organized and put on by your fellow Catholic students, so let us know your ideas! We'd love for you to get involved.

Our first Wednesday dinner of the semester will be tomorrow, so we hope to see you at 6:30 here at the Center!

Other great things coming up...

SKI WEEKEND

If you signed up last semester for our ski trip to Boone, we plan on leaving from the student center at 4:00pm this Friday. Please be there. If you haven't signed up, but wish you had, please let me know you'd like to go ASAP. We will be crashing at the App State Catholic Campus Ministry house. There is a registration fee of $20 to cover our meals while we are there, plus the cost of equipment rental if you don't have your own ski gear. We will be returning to campus Sunday afternoon.

MARCH FOR LIFE

If anyone is interested in attending the March For Life in Washington, DC, Jan. 21-24, please contact Alex Cassell at alcassell1@catamount.wcu.edu if you have not done so already. Thanks!

GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY

Give Your Heart Away is the name of our annual Diocesan service retreat for college students. We are holding it once more this year in Hickory and the dates are Feb 10-12. It is an awesome weekend filled with prayer, service to the community, and fellowship with Catholic students from across the diocese. Registration forms are available here at the Catholic Student Center. The registration fee is $50 and the deadline is Jan. 20. Please don't miss this one, it's a great event!

SING A NEW SONG!

Our choir would like to recruit new singers and musicians. If you have a God-given talent and you'd like to use it to help us worship God in our liturgies, please volunteer. The choir meets to rehearse Wednesday afternoons from 5:30-6:30 (an hour before our weekly dinners).

GET CONNECTED

Stay up to date with what's going on in campus ministry. Bookmark our web site, www.wcucatholic.org, where we have an updated calendar of events and links to other great catholic sites. Also, join our facebook group, if you have not already done so, to get the latest information about WCU Catholic Campus Ministry.

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel for Today

2012-01-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
The Universal Church

Today's Gospel reading is from Mt 2:1-12. For many Christians, this is the familiar conclusion to "the Christmas story." This gospel passage recounts how magi (or wise men) from the east came to Jerusalem, asking for the "newborn King of the Jews." They had been keeping an eye on the stars, you see, and something they saw in the stars told them that a great king had been born, and they wanted to come pay homage. All the scribes in Jerusalem told them that the expected Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem; the star they had been following also pointed the way to Bethlehem. And so there they went, and there they found Mary and the child Jesus, payed him homage, and offered him gifts.

What is the point of this story? Why is it retold each year at the conclusion of the Christmas season? It is the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, as recounted in the Old Testament reading from today's Mass. Isaiah 60:1-6 speaks of the light of Jerusalem (the Messiah), and of the universal reach of that light. "Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance," Isaiah foretells. "Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you... the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord."

In other words, when the Christ comes, he will not only be the light of Jerusalem, but his light will shine on all nations, near and far. This is why our Psalm response for today is, "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you." The verses are from Psalm 72, part of which reads, "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him."

The adoration of Jesus by the magi from the east is the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies. It means that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the light for whom not only Jerusalem but all the world was waiting. It means that Jesus is not only the savior of the Jewish people, but of all mankind. The universality of Christ's mission was attested to in the New Testament by St. Paul. In today's second reading (Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6), Paul tells us that "the Gentiles [non-Jewish people] are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

It does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile - there is no one from whom Christ was not born. There is no one for whom He did not die. His salvific mission is for all. He is Lord over all the heavens and earth - you and me included.

This universality of the Lordship of Christ is what we attest to when we call our Church "Catholic." The word "catholic" comes from the Greek words kata and holos, meaning "universal." We believe that our faith, the faith given us by Christ, is universal. It is meant for all. The first record (that we know of) of this term being used as the proper name of the Church was from St. Ignatius, second bishop of Antioch (St. Peter was the first). Ignatius wrote letters to various Christian communities and this body of writings tells us much about the Church in the first generation after the Apostles. St. Ignatius was taught the Christian faith by the Apostle John, and was most likely ordained by St. Peter. He wrote in a letter to the Smyrneans in 110 AD, "Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop or by one whom he ordains [a priest]. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Doubtless he did not make the name up himself, but learned it from the Apostles, at whose feet he was taught the faith.

Another great Father of the Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, talks about why the Church is called Catholic in his Catechetical Lectures of 350 AD. He says that the Church is called Catholic "because it extends over the whole world, from end to end of the earth, and because it teaches universally and infallibly each and every doctrine which must come to the knowledge of men, concerning things visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly, and because it brings every race of men into subjection to godliness, governors and governed, learned and unlearned, and because it universally treats and heals every class of sins, those committed with the soul and those with the body, and it possesses within itself every conceivable form of virtue, in deeds and in words and in the spiritual gifts of every description."

St. Cyril also advises people that if they are visiting another city, they should not simply ask "Where is the Church?" but rather, "Where is the Catholic Church?" because all manner of heretical sects will call themselves churches, but Catholic "is the name peculiar to this holy Church, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God."

The Church is called Catholic because her truths are universal, and the salvation Christ brings is meant for all men, for all time. The New Covenant established by Christ was not with one nation or one people, but for the world. The Catholic Church, likewise, is not of one particular culture or era, but of everywhere and all times. And most importantly, for all people. This is the message of Epiphany. This is what the wise men who came to the child Jesus recognized 2000 years ago. And, as a favorite bumper sticker of mine says, "wise men still seek Him." So come, let us adore Him!

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723
Join our FACEBOOK Group!

A season of feasts!

2012-01-06T15:37:00.000-05:00

Greetings students, from Catholic Campus Ministry! And welcome back to Cullowhee!

As everyone trickles back in to campus, I wanted to touch base and remind everyone that our first Mass of the semester (and the first of 2012) will be this Sunday at 7:30pm. This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. That got me thinking about all the other feasts and memorials that have been celebrated in the Church calendar since break began.

Are you aware of all of these important dates?

Obviously we have Christmas on Dec. 25, otherwise known as the "Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord," when we celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh.

On Dec. 26 we celebrated the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr (read Acts chapters 6 & 7). Most people today remember this date from the traditional carol "Good King Wenceslaus looked out on the Feast of Stephen..."

Dec. 27 was the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist.

Dec. 28 was the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The Gospel reading from that day is from Mt. 2:13-18. It recounts how King Herod was deceived by the magi who told Joseph to take Mary and their baby and flee into Egypt. Herod issued an order that all boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem age two or younger be slain, because he was afraid of the prophecy of a newborn king. All of the innocent children who died at Herod's command are considered martyrs by the Church, because they died on Christ's behalf.

Last Friday, Dec. 30, was the Feast of the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph). And Sunday, Jan. 1, was the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

This past week we have celebrated the Feasts of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, both Doctors of the Church, on Jan. 2,; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, early American saint, on Jan. 4; and another great American saint, St. John Neumann, on Jan. 5.

It truly is a season of feasts and celebrations! And all of this, I remind you, takes place during the Christmas season, which is still ongoing.

Despite the fact that the stores start setting up for Christmas practically the day after Halloween, and if you happen to go shopping on Dec. 26 you are likely to see Valentine's Day displays, the actual Christmas season according to the Church does not begin until Dec. 25 and runs for a couple of weeks.

This Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany, when the magi from the east come to pay our Lord homage. And the following day, Jan. 9, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which marks the official end of the Christmas season.

So even though the secular world may be telling us "the holidays" are over, remember we do not take our marching orders from them! There are still a few days of Christmas left, so as we move back into our dorms and get ready to start a new semester of classes, let's not forget to stop and wish one another a Merry Christmas!

Pax,

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Sorry it's long, but it's all HAPPY! lol

2011-12-17T03:04:00.001-05:00

Hey!

So I wanted to say that I've been praying a lot and what I was going to say Tuesday, but we never ended up talking about because we got very excitedly distracted by the prolife stuff, was just that regardless of anything that has happened with anyone before I just love God and I love talking about God and I love learning about God and I love CCM as a great way to experience God. Wether it be learning from you, or praying at Mass, or even just talking with others and learning from them. Regardless of my time availability next semester due to the nursing program I will definitely spend just as much time investing in my faith at CCM. I appreciate all the time and effort that you give in not only teaching us about Christ, but also caring for us as individuals and genuinely wanting to build us up in faith and in our lives. And I would be honored if at any point you asked me to be on peer council a year or two down the road and as you can see I can never say no when it comes to doing anything really involved with Church (case and point number one I am singing in the choir even though I have no musical talent lol) so I would obviously graciously accept. So thanks and I will definitely be around!

Oh just thought I would let you be one of the first to know that I am going on a vocations retreat this Spring and am not dating etc. because I have had a lot of amazing prayer lately. It has really made me come to realize that I need to trade my plans, and my dreams, and my goals for God's plans, and God's dreams, and for what He wants me to be and what all He knows me to be. I think we hold ourselves back at times but I'm such a passionate person that I can't do that. I'm ready to let myself fall passionately and irrevocably in love with Christ and give my life and all I am to him. And I want to give all of myself and my love to others as well. I know I told you I was looking at the convent but I am definitely more seriously looking at it and praying about it and I ask for your prayers too.

Thanks, Have a great holiday with your family! God Bless,

Sarah

Weekly update from CCM

2011-12-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

Dear Students,

As you are all engaged in your exams this week, let me simply take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all of you who have contributed so much to Catholic campus ministry here, and who make it such an every-day joy to be your campus minister. We have made some wonderful new friends this semester, and we also have the bittersweet occasion to say "good bye and God speed" to friends who are leaving us for the next great chapter in their lives (you know who you are!). We pray that you continue to flourish, to grow in God's grace, and that you share His great love with all whom you meet in your journey.

As for the rest of us, there are some exciting things happening in our campus ministry next semester! Here are some important dates to keep in mind:

JAN 13-15: Ski weekend in Boone. (You need to sign up by the end of this semester if you want to go on this -- email me for more information).

JAN 21-24: March for Life in Washington, DC. Contact Alex Cassell for more info. alcassell1@catamount.wcu.edu

FEB 10-12: Give Your Heart Away service weekend in Hickory. (More info here. I have registration forms in my office).

APRIL 20-22: TENTATIVE date for a college retreat hosted by the Fransiscan Friars of the Renewal. Location TBA.

We have other great things happening next semester, as well, including a new pro-life initiative on campus involving Live Action and volunteering to support the local Pregnancy Care Center. To be involved with that effort, please contact Sarah Taylor at setaylor3@catamount.wcu.edu.

We also would like to encourage anyone out there who feels called to "sing a new song to the Lord" or even just "make a joyful noise" to consider being part of our student choir. Music is a big part of how we worship, as Catholics, but it can only happen with your help. Please pray over the break if this is a ministry which God is calling you to. If you can help with music at Mass, I ask that you please contact Joseph Coca at acksno@live.com and get involved!

Also, if anyone is interested in serving in any other capacity at Mass (as altar server, reader, or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion), please let me know, as I will be drawing up the new schedules for the Spring Semester over break. If you are not trained in any of these areas, but would like to be, we can do that for you!

And finally, parking stickers for the spring semester for the student center lot are now available. Parking on our lot is only $50 per semester. If you'd like to get your's taken care of before you head home, come by the center this week.

My prayers are with all of you during the exam week. Please drive safe heading home, and have a wonderful Advent and Christmas season!

Prayer Before a Test

My God, enable me to trust in the good outcome
      of the test I am about to take;
      help me to contribute my own share
      of optimism and confidence.
With your grace, my God,
      I hope to crown my efforts with success.
Keep far from me at this moment
      any presumption that it all depends
      exclusively on me.
You are next to me, my God,
      the necessary and welcome presence
      in all the moments of my life.
I will take this test, my God,
      because it is important
      for my personal development.
My God, be the source of my inspiration
      in my doubts and uncertainties,
      supporting me with your blessing.

Amen.

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel For Today

2011-12-11T17:31:00.000-05:00

Rejoice!

Today is called Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent. Gaudete is the Latin word for "rejoice" and the name is taken from the Entrance Chant for today's Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete. Dominus enim prope est. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near."

The theme of rejoicing is apparent in today's readings from Scripture. The first reading from Isaiah (Is 61:1-2a, 10-11) includes the proclamation, 'I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul..."

Our response today is also taken from this passage in Isaiah: "My soul rejoices in my God."

The second reading is from 1 Thes 5:16-24 where St. Paul tells us, "Rejoice always."

Our gospel reading is from Jn 1:6-8, 19-23. Does it, too, speak of rejoicing? In a round about way, yes. In today's gospel, people are asking about this John the Baptist fellow. Who is this man? Is he Elijah? Is he a prophet? Is he the Christ? John's answer to all of this is a flat out "No!" So why, then, the Pharisees asked him, are you going around baptizing people if you are not any of these thing? John told them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."

And this is why we, today, can rejoice. Because we have recognized the one of whom John spoke. He is here, among us.

We have seen the fulfillment of what Isaiah foretold. We recognize the Christ whom St. Paul proclaims in the second reading.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything, retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil. May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, sould and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.

Christ has come! He has come for our salvation. He is faithful. He will accomplish it. And so let us rejoice!

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

actual virtus certificate

2011-12-07T01:38:00.001-05:00

Hey sorry here's the actual certificate and not just the text version. I
hope at least- I'm not too great with computer stuff so we'll see lol.

Thanks,
Sarah

Weekly Update from CCM

2011-12-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Advent, everyone! As we celebrate the Second Week of Advent, let us pray that we not only remember with joy and thanksgiving the coming of Christ in history in Bethlehem, and look forward to His coming in glory and majesty at the end of time, but also remember to keep our minds and hearts open to receive His coming each day into our lives. Come, Lord Jesus!

Things are winding down for the end of the semester -- but I know a lot of you are feeling wound up, trying to complete last minute assignments and prepare for exams next week. I'd like to invite you to take some time to relax and enjoy the fellowship of friends before exams begin. Tomorrow night is a great opportunity to do just that.

WEDNESDAY

Please plan on joining us for our end of year holiday party Wednesday at 6:30pm at the student center. Jess and Kate are preparing a home-cooked meal for us -- on the menu this week is BREAKFAST (featuring fresh laid eggs from the Newsome farm). After dinner we will have our annual gift exchange. Please bring a wrapped gift of up to $5 value to participate. (I have some wrapping paper at the center if anyone wants to come early to wrap their gift). This will be our last dinner of the semester so please make it if you can!

THURSDAY

This Thursday, Dec. 8, is a holy day of obligation. It is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Many people are confused by that term. Non-Catholics especially look at the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8 and Christmas on Dec. 25 and think that must have been the shortest gestation in human history! The Immaculate Conception does not refer to the conception of Jesus, but rather of His mother, Mary, conceived without sin by her parents Joachim and Anne. This doctrine of the church was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 as the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary was "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

You can read more about this teaching here:

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/immaculate-conception-and-assumption

It is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, meaning that - like on Sundays - we are obligated to attend Mass. We will not have Mass on campus, but there are two opportunities for Mass at St. Mary's, at 9am and 6pm. If you need a ride to Mass, or if you are able to offer a ride, please post to our Facebook group to coordinate car pools. Thanks!

The Immaculate Conception will also be the topic of discussion at our regular St. Thomas Aquinas student discussion group Thursday at 7pm.

FRIDAY

Did you know that we have an ongoing RCIA group meeting Fridays from 4:45 to 5:45 in the afternoon? RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and its purpose is to instruct adult converts in the Catholic faith and prepare them spiritually to be received into the Church. It's also a great opportunity for those already Catholic to refresh their own faith. Our meetings are open to all. Is God calling you to learn more about your faith this Advent?

SUNDAY

This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent (called Gaudete Sunday after the first word of the Entrance Chant for that Mass, which is gaudete, or "rejoice"). It marks a shift in our Advent observance from looking forward to Christ's coming in glory, to looking past to His coming in history. It is also the final Mass on campus of the semester. Fr. Alex will be unavailable, so we will have a guest priest, Fr. Shawn O'Neal, pastor of St. Joseph's in Bryson City. Please come celebrate the Holy Eucharist with us. We will have a special blessing for those graduating this December, as well. If you would like to be recognized at Mass as a December graduate and you have not already contacted me, please do so this week!

There are so many opportunities to enrich your faith this week! But I know (and God knows) you have so many other obligations and deadlines at this time of the year. If it seems like it is all too much to handle, just remember that God does not present you with any challenges that He does not also give you the grace to overcome. Trust in Him! And always remember to set aside a few minutes each day to tell Him thank you, that you love Him, and ask for His guidance.

Pray for one another!

Pax Christi,

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel for Today

2011-12-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

There are two prophetic voices most especially associated with the Advent season. One is from the Old Testament, the other from the New. Today we hear from both of them in our liturgy. The first reading this Sunday is from the prophet Isaiah (Is 40:1-5, 9-11). Our Gospel reading is from Mark 1:1-8 and it begins by quoting part of Isaiah that we hear in the first reading.

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths."

After quoting the prophet Isaiah, Mark then introduces us to another prophet, John the Baptist, who says, "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John's message is a simple one, and repeated often. Do not look at me. Look at Him. I am not the One. He is the One. He is coming. The one foretold by Isaiah is coming. Prepare the way of the Lord.

Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord? The second reading today from St. Peter also speaks of preparing for the Lord's coming, not in the past, but at the end of time.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out. Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God... Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. (2 Pt 3:8-14)

So the theme of Advent continues. We remember the Lord's coming in history, in Bethlehem. At the same time we prepare for the Lord's coming at the end of all history, at the end of time. And how do we prepare? St. Peter tells us to conduct ourselves in holiness and devotion, so that we may "be found without spot or blemish." How do we do that?

We "make straight his path" by keeping our lives focused on Him. We keep ourselves "without spot or blemish" by asking for His mercy and forgiveness when we fail. Advent is a season of penance. It is a season for reconciliation.

This is a time of preparation in many different ways for WCU students. We are wrapping up our final assignments and projects in all of our classes. Most are also preparing for exams. Some are preparing for graduation, and a new chapter in their lives post-college. In the midst of all these very important preparations, take a few moments today to make sure you are not neglecting to prepare yourself in the most important way. All of these things, St. Peter reminds us, will one day dissolve away. Are we prepared to welcome Christ into our lives today?

Maybe you have not been to Mass in a while. Come back. Maybe it has been some time since you made your last confession. Do it. Don't wait. The Eucharist is our daily bread, and Confession is our daily bath. This is the rhythm of the Christian life; it is how we keep ourselves prepared for Christ Jesus.

Advent is a reminder, and an invitation. May we always strive to keep our lives focused on the eternal, on what is truly important. May we always be prepared for Christ.

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Weekly update from CCM

2011-11-29T14:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Advent, everyone! With the snow flurries in Cullowhee today, it really does feel like the end of the year is fast approaching. I know you all are busy working on your end of semester projects and assignments, as well as preparing for your exams looming so near in the future. Remember to pray for one another, and try not to be so busy that you miss the message of this Advent season. Are we preparing ourselves to meet God as fervently as we prepare for our exams? In the end there is only one grade that matters, and it's strictly pass or fail!

A reminder of our schedule this week...

WEDNESDAY: Join us at 6:30pm for a yummy meal prepared this week by our two Vermonters, Julianna and Heather. Stay afterwards for a short faith-filled program and some relaxing fellowship time together.

THURSDAY: Our student discussion group takes a little break from serious topics and instead devotes itself this week to a "Dance Party 2" marathon on the Wii. All are invited, at 7pm here at the Center.

SUNDAY: We will resume our ministry to the high school youth at St. Mary's as they come to join us for fellowship Sunday evening at 5:00. Then at 6:30, we will have half an hour of apologetics before praying the Rosary at 7:00 and finally celebrating Mass at 7:30. It's a great night of faith, fellowship and worship, and we hope to see you there.

Looking ahead...

SKI WEEKEND! Jan 13-15, 2012, we are planning a fun Ski weekend in Boone. We will crash the App State campus ministry house, take advantage of their wonderful hospitality, and spend the day on Saturday skiing and snowboarding to our heart's content. If you plan on going, you must register by the end of the semester. The registration fee is $20 and this covers the cost of your meals while we are there. There will be additional costs for whatever activities you plan on participating in at Sugar Mountain. We are also inviting students from other schools to join us, and hopefully will have enough to qualify for the group rates, which you can see on Sugar Mountain's web site:

http://skisugar.com/groupsales/

To register for the weekend, please see Matt.

MASS CONFUSION?

That was the theme of our Beach retreat this year, and no doubt it was what many people were feeling this past Sunday when they went to Mass and heard, for the first time, the words of the new English translation of our liturgy. Hopefully you did not find yourself confused, but instead well prepared for the changes. In my own experience, attending Mass both at St. Mary's and here on campus, things went rather smoothly. People were well aware of the changes that were coming, and made good use of the pew cards and other resources to follow along. No one seemed to have any problem with the longer responses, such as the Nicene Creed or the Penitential Rite, as they were ready to follow along on the pew cards. What tended to throw people were the shorter responses that come many times during the Mass and which we don't tend to think about.

"And also with you," is a response that just rolls off of our tongue without much consideration. And that's not a good thing. One advantage of having a new translation is that we will no longer be able to "go through the motions" at Mass. We will be forced to pay attention and think about the words we say. Every time we remind ourselves to say "and with your spirit" we bring ourselves back into the moment and make sure we are really present at the Mass, paying attention to what is going on.

Sure, there will be a lot of "And also with... your spirit!" in the next few weeks. But that's ok, we will get there soon enough. In the meantime, I thought it might be telling to look at what we are leaving behind, and what we have gained with the new revised translation.

This is the Preface from the First Sunday of Advent, which we just celebrated this past Sunday. Back in 2010, this is what you would have heard:

When he humbled himself to come among us as a man, he fulfilled the plan you formed long ago and opened for us the way to salvation. Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory.

Now, in 2011, this is how we heard that same prayer:

For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope.

Try saying both of those prayers out loud, and hear the impact of the second one. When you compare the two, the first seems lacking. Look at what is missing there, which we find in the new translation. Before, we mentioned Christ becoming man. Now, he takes on "the lowliness of human flesh." Before, we spoke of salvation. Now, we speak of "eternal salvation." The first translation has Christ coming in glory. The new translation has Him coming "in glory and majesty." Before, we simply hoped. Now, we "dare to hope."

In short, there is much more "meat on the bones" of the payers in our liturgy now. A lot more for us to chew on! Let's not let it go to waste but take advantage of each morsel.

God bless!

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel for Today

2011-11-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

(A brief reminder that we WILL have Mass tonight at 7:30pm. We WILL NOT host the high school youth tonight, nor will have have our normal Apologetics session at 6:30pm. Those activities will resume next week. We will pray the rosary at 7pm for those who would like to come to Mass early).

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

Watch! This is the message for today, the first Sunday of Advent. The word advent comes to us from the Latin for "to come to," and it is a season of preparation for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As we come closer to the end of the Advent season, our preparations will focus on remembering His first coming, as a newborn babe in Bethlehem. But for now, at the beginning of Advent, our focus is more on His second coming at the end of time. It is then that Christ will come, not as a helpless infant, born into this frail human condition to suffer and to die for the sake of our redemption, but rather as our King and our Judge, perfectly just but also perfectly merciful, to whom we must give an account of our lives.

It is this second coming that today's Gospel reading is preparing us for (Mk 13:33-37). These are the words of Jesus which we hear today:

Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gate keeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening , or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'

Jesus is telling us three things:

1) He will be returning to us.

2) No one knows when.

3) Be ready!

So much for all those modern-day prophets of doom who claim to know when the end will come. Today's fad is the Mayan calendar, which supposedly predicts the end of time in December next year. Tomorrow it will be something different. Jesus tells us quite plainly that no one knows when that day will be, but in reality it matters not. For we face two judgments; one is the general judgment at the end of time, but the other is our particular judgment which we will face the moment after we die. With that in mind, it does not really matter if the end of all time comes in 2012 or a million years from now. We each will face our personal end sooner or later; it may be many decades from now in a hospital bed surrounded by our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, or it may be tomorrow as we cross the street. Who knows?

No one knows, but sooner or later we will all meet Christ face-to-face and we will know our eternal destiny. There are only two options, heaven for those who have accepted the mercy of Christ, or hell for those who reject it. And that is precisely why Jesus's message is so important. Watch! Be ready!

This means living each day as one committed to Christ, because any day could be your last. Decide to be Christ-like today. Decide to live as Christ would have you live. Decide to love as He loves. And renew that decision each and every day. If you do so, then you will be like the Corinthians in today's second reading (1 Cor. 1:3-9), who were waiting "for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." St. Paul told them that "He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

This is how we want Christ to find us upon His return -- resolute and faithful to the end. We do not want to be found sleeping. So stay awake. Stay true to the faith. Stay vigilant. And watch!

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Weekly update from CCM

2011-11-22T15:48:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon, students! I pray for safe travels for everyone returning home to visit family and friends this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. May you have a relaxing and enjoyable break from school and come back refreshed and ready to tackle the last couple of weeks of the semester.

Just a reminder that our normal activities this week are cancelled because of the holiday. No "Supper @ the Center" Wednesday night, and no student discussion group on Thursday night.

We WILL HAVE MASS this Sunday, Nov. 27, at 7:30pm (regular time). We are, however, taking a break this week from our high school youth ministry program for those of you volunteering for that.

ADVENT

When we next meet, it will be a new liturgical year, and the beginning of Advent. Advent is one of the major liturgical seasons in the year, and its name comes from the Latin word for "to come to." The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ's second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord's birth on Christmas. So while we remember that Christ came to us 2000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem, we also look ahead for when He will come again in all His glory.

Special Advent devotions include the lighting of the Advent wreath and the keeping of an Advent calendar which helps remind us of the season with daily thoughts and activities. Like Lent, the season of preparation before Easter, Advent is also a penitential season, which is why both Advent and Lent use the same liturgical color - purple. One thing that is challenging for today's Catholics is to remember that Advent is a season of penance and preparation, a season of reflection where we are asked to look within ourselves and ask the tough question - "Am I prepared for the coming of the Lord?" It is far too easy to get caught up in the commercial madness of today when the stores have Christmas decorations up the day after Halloween, and you start seeing Christmas trees and hearing Christmas carols as early as Thanksgiving. By the time December 25 rolls around many people are tired of "the holidays," when in fact the Christmas season has just begun.

So let's not lose Advent this year. Let's keep it as a time of preparation for the coming of our Lord and look forward to Christmas with all the excitement and joy and reverence that this Holy Day deserves.

ROMAN MISSAL 3.0 -- ARE YOU READY?

And of course this year Advent is doubly special, as the first Sunday of Advent is when we will officially begin using the third edition of the Roman Missal, with its revised English translation. We have discussed many of the coming changes this semester, and even more information is available on line. You can begin by visiting our own web site:

http://www.wcucatholic.org/missal.html

There you will find links to our blog where you can review the many topics we discussed this semester in my "Matt's Missal Moments." You will also find a link to the USCCB web site (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) where they have a host of good articles and other information about the new Roman Missal. There are a couple I'd like to point out to you in particular. One is an article that gives the definitions of many of the more unfamiliar words we will be hearing in this new translation; words such as chalice, consubstantial, godhead, and oblation which we don't use in our everyday speech. This handy glossary will help you navigate your way through these terms.

http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/Words_in_the_Roman_Missal.pdf

The second article I'd like to point out is entitled "Praying with Mind, Body and Voice" and deals with why we do things such as bow, genuflect, kneel and sing during Mass - and why there are times when we are silent, as well.

http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/Praying_with_body_mind_and_voice.pdf

When you enter our chapel this coming Sunday, you will notice a few more articles and information guides posted on our bulletin board. You will also find a basket by the door containing copies of a little green booklet called "The Order of the Mass." Please pick one up as you enter the chapel; there you will find the entire Order of the Mass which you can use to follow along as we worship. In many ways it will be like coming to Mass for the first time. Old familiar prayers and responses we will have to relearn. It will take a while to get used to, but it's a good thing to be shaken up from time to time so that we can look at the liturgy with new eyes and take nothing for granted. These booklets are intended as an aid to your worship. Please return them to the basket after Mass so others can use them.

You will also find in your pews handy reference cards that contain just the people's responses, with the changed parts in bold, for quick reference. These are to remain in the pews and we'll use them for some time, until everyone is comfortable with the new translation.

Lastly, if anyone has any questions about the new Mass translation, I will remind you that I am here as a resource, as well. Just ask! You can either come to me in private or bring up your questions as a topic for discussion at any of our gatherings.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, a safe journey, and a relaxing break. God bless all of you!

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Bringing out the scripture...

2011-11-22T15:01:00.001-05:00

As we prepare for the Third Edition of the Roman Missal beginning this Advent, we will continue examining some of the changes to the people’s parts of the Mass in the new English translation. We will look now at the Preface Dialog.

This is the part of the Mass where the priest says “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” and the people reply, “It is right to give him thanks and praise.” From now on, in the new translation, we will be replying, “It is right and just.” Period.

Why the change? Let’s go back to the Latin. In the official Latin text, the people reply, “Dignum et iustum est.” Even if you don’t know what dignum and iustum mean, you see the et “and” and the est “is.” It is “this” and “that.” Period. Very simple and very to the point. Once more, the new translation is simply remaining faithful to the text of the original liturgical document.

The same is true of the last part of the Mass I want to look at specifically, the Ecce Agnus Dei. The way the new translation is rendered not only more closely follows the Latin, it also alludes much more to Sacred Scripture (which the original Latin also does). Here is the Latin with the old and new translation.

ORIGINAL LATINPriest: Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccáta mundi. Beáti qui ad cenam Agni vocáti sunt.All: Dómine, non sum dignus, ut inter sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo et sanábitur anima mea.

FORMER TRANSLATIONPriest: This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.
All: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

NEW TRANSLATIONPriest: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
All: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

This part of the Mass is full of allusions to Sacred Scripture. The first is from John 1:29. John the Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Next, the priest says, “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” Note that we now hear the word “blessed” where before it was “happy.” In Latin, blessed is beati, which is what we see in the original. Happy would be felix or leatus (joyful), neither of which are present in the text. In any case, this is a reference to Rev. 5:19 and John’s vision of the heavenly banquet.

The third Scriptural reference here is in our response. This comes from the story found in Mat. 8:5-13.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.

This Scripture reference was hidden somewhat in our previous English translation, or at least it was not made apparent. The words we will be saying in the new translation, come Advent, may at first sound strange coming out of our mouths, but this is probably just because we are so used to the other. Change is never easy for anyone. But it will help us to remember that this new translation has our words more closely following the words of the centurion, confessing his unworthiness before the Lord, and at the same time acknowledging his authority and his power, and asking him humbly for healing. What an awesome time for us to remind ourselves of that, as we prepare to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

I know that some people have received the news of these changes in the Mass with trepidation. I know that others have looked forward to them with great joy and anticipation. Regardless, my prayer for us all is that we take this opportunity to truly think about the words we say in the liturgy, to catechize ourselves, or perhaps re-catechize ourselves as to the mystery and the meaning of the Mass, so that we can approach this sacrifice with prayer, humility, thanksgiving and reverence for this wonderful gift which God has given us and which the Church has so carefully handed down to us.
God bless!

Gospel for Today

2011-11-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

CHRIST THE KING

Today is the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (usually referred to simply as "Christ the King"). This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI to be celebrated on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, at the very end of the Church year. As we prepare to begin the liturgical cycle once more with the season of Advent, where we joyfully await the coming of Our Lord, it is fitting to mark the end of the year by looking forward to the end of time, when our King shall come in glory. We recognize, however, that Christ reigns today even now in His Church.

What type of king we have in Christ is made evident in today's readings. Christ is described not as a tyrant ruling from on high, but as a shepherd, lovingly tending his flock. The Psalm today is the well known Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want..." The first reading from the book of Ezekiel has God telling us, "I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest... The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal..."

This is the kind of King we have; one who looks not on his subjects with disdain, but who looks upon them as sheep to be tended and cared for. This is why from time immemorial the leaders of the Church have been referred to as shepherds. One of the signs of a bishop's rank is a shepherd's crook. We still today call our priests "pastors." They model for us the loving care of Christ, the Good Shepherd.

But Ezekiel does leave us with a warning in this passage. "As for you, my sheep, says the Lord God, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats." And so even while recalling the loving relationship between the Shepherd and His sheep, we are reminded of the end times, and that our Shepherd is also our Judge.

The Gospel today is from Matthew 25:31-46. This is a passage all Christians should make themselves familiar with. Jesus is speaking of the end of time, when His kingdom will come to fulfillment. "He will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."

The sheep are those who gave Christ food when He was hungry, who fed Him when He was naked, who cared for Him when He was ill, and who visited Him in prison. The goats did none of those things. The sheep are to inherit the kingdom "prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The goats are cast into "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Both the sheep and the goats in Christ's parable are confused because they did not recall feeding Our Lord, or clothing Him, or visiting Him in prison (or not doing those things, as the case may be). But Jesus explains: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for the least brothers of mine, you did for me."

This should be a humbling thought for all of us. Have we done those things? Have we had the opportunity to feed, clothe, care for, or visit our Lord, in the person of one of the "least brothers" of His? And did we let that opportunity pass by?

We have a King. He is a just and merciful King, a loving Shepherd who would do anything - even give His own life - to return even one of his stray sheep to the fold. We can rejoice in that! But that is no excuse to be lazy and presumptuous. We cannot simply sit back and say, "I don't have to do anything, God loves me no matter what." God does love you no matter what. He loves you too much to force you to be with Him if you choose not to. He has prepared a place for his sheep, in His kingdom. But He has also prepared a place for the goats, those who choose to reject Him, as Lucifer did. Which place will you inherit?

As baptized Christians, we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We should act like it. Christ today tells us what that means. We are to clothe the naked. We are to feed the hungry. We are to tend to the injured and sick. We are to visit the prisoners. In short, we are to love one another. Christ's Kingdom is for those who love. He has prepared it for us. Have we prepared ourselves for Him?

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

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Weekly update from CCM

2011-11-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Students,

Did you know that we have only one more Sunday remaining in ordinary time? The following Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent, and also the first time we will be celebrating Mass with the new third edition of the Roman Missal, including the revised English translation. Are you prepared for the changes?

If you've been paying attention this semester you'll note this has been a reoccurring theme of mine. We've been trying to prepare students as much as possible in Catholic Campus Ministry for this coming change in the way we worship. If you've been a regular at our Wednesday night dinners you'll have enjoyed my little "Matt's Missal Moments" before our post-supper program each week. (Ok, so maybe "enjoy" is too strong a word....) :-)

I've also been updating our campus ministry blog with articles about the coming changes. If you've missed those, now is a great time to catch up. You can see a link to each article at the bottom of this page:

http://www.wcucatholic.org/missal.html

You'll now find pew sheets in our chapel for your use as a quick reference to the different people's responses at Mass. In addition I will be making available Order of the Mass booklets for people to use who want to follow along more closely. St. Mary's also now has in their bookstore little St. Joseph missalettes for the coming year for only $3, as well as the full hard cover Daily Roman Missals for $48 if you want all the scripture readings, as well as the order of the Mass in all its glory!

COMING UP ON THE CALENDAR

Wednesday: Please join us for dinner at our regular time at 6:30pm. Sarah and James are sharing kitchen duty, with hamburgers on the menu (we'll have some veggie burgers, too). My "Missal Moment" after dinner will focus on our response to "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world..." Finally, we will enjoy a student program led by Ali to round off the evening.

Thursday: Our St. Thomas Aquinas student discussion group will meet at 7:00pm, with the topic being "S'mores & S'aints." We'll be eating treats and talking about our favorite saints, so please join us.

Saturday: Our final football game is this Saturday at 2pm. We need two volunteers to help with parking money between noon and 2 that day. If you can help us raise money for our campus ministry with this event parking fundraiser, please let me know!

Sunday: At 6:30pm we will continue our apologetics series. This week the topic is "The Bible Alone?" and we will look at the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura. At 7:00pm please join us for the Rosary in our chapel, followed at 7:30pm with Holy Mass.

NEXT WEEK

Because of the Thanksgiving break, we will not have dinner on Wednesday. We will, however, still have Mass on Sunday at the usual 7:30pm time.

SKI WEEKEND!

It's not too soon to look ahead to next semester! On Jan 14-16 (MLK weekend) we are planning a trip to Boone to crash at App State's campus ministry house and take in some skiing adventure. Costs are still being worked out, but part of the cost will depend on how many are signed up (we may qualify for a group discount). We are inviting students from other campuses in our diocese, so this will be a great chance to connect with Catholics from other campuses. I'll be posting more information as I have it, but I am asking people to register for the trip by the end of this semester; the registration fee is $20 and will cover your food for the entire weekend. Please see me if you would like to register.

God bless, and have a great week!

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel for Today

2011-11-13T18:27:00.001-05:00

33rd SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)

Today's Gospel is from Matthew 25:14-30. As in the past several weeks, this week's reading has Jesus relating another parable. This parable has a man who, while he travels on a journey, entrusts three of his servants with a certain amount of talents. (A "talent" is a unit of currency). To one servant he gives five talents, to another two, and to the last servant one. When he returns he finds that the servants to whom he gave five and two talents have invested their money and returned to their master double what they were entrusted with, ten and four talents respectively. The third servant whom was given a single talent buried it in the ground, and returned the same to his master.

The master was furious. "Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?" he asks. He then takes the talent and gives it to the servants who had wisely invested his money. "For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

At first glance, today's gospel reading might seem like a sermon on financial investment. Or it might seem like a condemnation of the whole "I am the 99%" movement. We complain because the rich grow richer while the poor grow more poor; yet isn't that exactly what Jesus says will happen in today's gospel?

Not quite. For only on the surface is today's parable about money. I'm convinced that Jesus had more in mind. We get clues as to what from the other readings today. This first reading is from Proverbs 31. It is about a worthy wife, one who "fears the Lord." It speaks of such a wife as an "unfailing prize" and her value as "far beyond pearls." "Give her a reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates."

The Psalm has a similar message. Psalm 128 tells us "Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruits of your handiwork..." It concludes, "Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life."

The rewards and prosperity spoken of in these two readings have nothing to do with investing money in a bank. Rather they have to do with living lives in fear of the Lord. Now, this does not mean being afraid of God! When the Bible speaks of "fear of the Lord," it means having respect and awe for the Almighty. It means proper reverence and admiration -- and yes, this may mean a little trembling on our part.

What it all boils down to is investing what God has given us, so that we may yield an increase, as the two wise servants in today's gospel parable. What has God given us? A sum of money? Or something else?

In truth God has given us everything. Our lives, our bodies, our souls, every breath we take is a gift from the Lord. What are we doing with these treasures he has entrusted us with? Are we investing our lives in such a way as to see an increase in that investment? What would such an increase look like?

The answer, I believe, is found in the closing prayer from today's Mass:

We have partaken of the gifts of this sacred mystery, humbly imploring, O Lord, that what your Son commanded us to do in memory of him may bring us growth in charity. Through Christ our Lord.

We pray for growth in charity, which is to say an increase in love. This is how you should be investing your talents. God has invested in your life. He wants to be paid back, with increase, in love.

God bless!

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Weekly update from CCM

2011-11-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Students,

What a wonderful time we had this past weekend at Folly Beach! The theme of our beach retreat was "Mass Confusion!" and despite the title I feel I can say with confidence that we all left LESS confused about the Mass, and more in awe and wonder at the miracles we are allowed to participate in each Sunday at the liturgy. I am so proud of all the students who researched the various talks and presentations on the different parts of the Mass, and very glad to have had the opportunity to share this experience with those who went on the retreat. We could not have had a better ending to the retreat than the beautifully celebrated Mass on Sunday morning at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in downtown Charleston.

I've gathered some photos of the retreat and put them online for any who would like to see them:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115053617797954671872/FollyBeach2011

Coming up this week...

WEDNESDAY: Please join us for dinner at 6:30pm. After we will have another of my 'Missal Moments.' We are only a few weeks away from when the new translation goes into effect. Are you ready? We have received our new copy of the Roman Missal for our chapel, so I'll have that on hand for show and tell. Our program afterward will be led by Alex Cassell.

THURSDAY: The St. Thomas Aquinas student discussion group meets at 7pm. The topic this week is "The Human Experience." If you have never seen this film, it is the story of a band of brothers who travel the world in search of the answers to the burning questions: Who am I? Who is Man? Why do we search for meaning? Their journey brings them into the middle of the lives of the homeless on the streets of New York City, the orphans and disabled children of Peru, and the abandoned lepers in the forests of Ghana, Africa. What the young men discover changes them forever. Through one on one interviews and real life encounters, the brothers are awakened to the beauty of the human person and the resilience of the human spirit.

SATURDAY: "Preaching to the Choir" is a workshop led by Fr. Ken Whittington, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo church in Morganton, NC. He's coming to St. Mary's in Sylva to teach us about the meaning and role of liturgical music in our worship. Why do we sing what we sing at Mass? Does it matter what we sing? Why do we sing, anyway? If you sing in the choir I strongly encourage you to attend this workshop. Anyone with any interest at all in liturgical music is most welcome. It will run from 9:30am till 3:00pm, with lunch provided. Prior registration is required, so if you'd like to attend, please let me know.

Looking ahead...

MARCH FOR LIFE PILGRIMAGE 2012

For those of you interested in taking part of the March for Life trip to DC this coming January 21-24, I have the registration forms in my office. The cost to take part in the trip with St. Mary's ranges from $420 for a single room, down to $200 if you share a room. A $100 deposit is due no later than Dec. 2. Special Note: There is a possibility that the group will get to go on a special tour of the White House led by Heath Shuler. If you want to be a part of that tour, a background check is required and the information needed for that is due in no later than Nov. 16, so act now. For more information, please see me, or contact Celeste Franzen at ccsfpdp@aol.com or 828-226-1512.

God bless!

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Glory to God in the Highest!

2011-11-08T15:14:00.001-05:00

Moving along in our study of the new English translation of the Mass, we will look next at the Gloria. Again, we will compare the current English translation with the Latin original, followed by the new English translation.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Glória in excélsis Deo et in terra pax homínibus bonae voluntátis. Laudáumus te, benedícimus te, adorámus te, glorificámus te, grátias ágimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,Dómine Deus, Rex caeléstis, Deus Pater omnípotens. Dómine Fili unigénite, Iesu Christe, Dómine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, Qui tollis peccáta mundi, miserere nobis; Qui tollis peccáta mundi, súscipe deprecatiónem nostrum. Qui sedes ad déxteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quóniam tu solus Sanctus, Tu solus Dóminus, Tu solus Altíssimus, Iesu Christe, cum Sancto Spíritu: In glória Dei Patris. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

We notice right at the beginning the addition of the phrase “of good will.” This is a direct translation of the Latin bonae voluntátis, which is entirely missing from our current translation. It hearkens back to Luke’s Gospel, when the Angel of the Lord announces the birth of Christ with those words, and so this new, more accurate translation brings back the Scriptural reference more accurately.

My favorite part of the new Gloria translation is “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you…” This rhythmic structure more closely follows the cadence of the Latin. Laudáumus te, benedícimus te, adorámus te, glorificámus te… It is poetry; it has a special cadence to it which ought to be respected as much as possible in the translation. That’s not always possible, so I am glad that they have recaptured it here.

Notice, too the repetition of the phrase “you take away the sins of the world.” It is repeated twice in the Latin – qui tollis peccáta mundi. And now it is repeated in the English, as well. As I mentioned in the last installment, when words or phrases are repeated it is for emphasis. If we are going to emphasize our own culpability and sinfulness, as we did in the Penitential Rite, we cannot neglect to also emphasize the saving power of our Lord.

One cause for concern that many have expressed has to do with the music we sing at Mass. In most parishes, the Gloria is sung rather than recited. As it should be! If you attend a Mass where the Gloria is sung in Latin, then you have nothing to be concerned with, as the Latin text will not be changing with the new edition of the Missal.

However, if you sing the Gloria in English, as most US parishes do, then you will indeed be learning a new musical setting for the Gloria. And having to learn new music as well as new words may seem to some to be twice the challenge! (Although one can make the argument that setting the words to music actually makes them easier to remember.)

Nevertheless having to learn a new sung part of the Mass will definitely be a major transition for many, and so to help smooth the process along many bishops in the US, our own included, have granted permission for the sung parts of the new Missal to be used as early as September of this year.

The US Bishop’s Conference and the International Commission of English in the Liturgy (ICEL), as well as other groups dedicated to liturgical music, such as the Church Music Association of America, have made available for free download musical settings for the sung parts of the new Mass translation. And many other liturgical musicians are working on composing new scores.

It is not only the Gloria that is changing. In the Sanctus, instead of singing “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of power and might,” we will now instead sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.” And the Mystery of Faith will also change somewhat. Now instead of four options there are three, which are slightly different from what we sing now.

So if you attend a Mass where some or all of the above is sung in English, get ready for something a bit different. And don’t be afraid to sing along!

Gospel For Today

2011-10-23T08:28:00.001-04:00

If you only have one saying of Jesus memorized, it is probably the one found in today's Gospel account (Mt 22:34-40). In response to the question of which commandment is the greatest, Jesus says:

You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

It is worth pointing out that at the root of these two commandments is the fact that you should love yourself. It is easy enough to focus on loving your neighbor (which we need to focus on), but forget that step one is to love yourself. It is impossible to give love to others unless you believe that you are also worthy of love.

You are a person created by God! He created you in His image, and gifted you with an immortal soul. He desires to share in your company for all eternity and to be in close, intimate relationship with you. God loves you! And He knows what He is doing. So if you want to love the things that God loves, you can begin by loving yourself.

God created mankind as fundamentally good. Human nature is ordered toward God, and the things of God -- love, goodness, purity, perfection. We are wounded by Original Sin, it is true. We are fallen. Our human nature has been perverted and corrupted. We are not what we could be. But we are still fundamentally good and worthy of love.

This is something that we believe differently as Catholics than many of our Protestant neighbors. Many Protestants will follow the traditions of Martin Luther, who spoke of the redeemed person as a "snow covered dung hill." The one saved by Christ is made white and pure on the outside, but the inside is still... well, a pile of dung.

That is now how Catholics view mankind. We are wounded, we are weak, and we need saving. All that is true. But we are saved by cooperating with God's grace to grow ever more holy. Our sins are not covered, they are forgiven! We are not made to appear holy before God, we are made holy. Because God loves us, and wants to restore us to that state of perfection and joy for which He made us.

So love yourself. God does.

And then, knowing how special and precious we are in the eyes of God, we begin to realize just how special and precious our neighbors are to Him. And because we love Him, and we love those things He loves, our neighbors become special and precious in our sight, as well. We can truly begin to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We keep the second commandment best when we do so in the spirit of the first; when we love God with all our heart, mind and soul. In other words, when we love God with our whole selves. When we love someone truly, we begin to love the things they love. My wife's favorite color is blue. It is not my favorite color. But over the years I have acquired many blue things because when I see them I am reminded of my wife, and it makes me happy. Peas are far from my favorite vegetable, but they are one of my wife's favorites. I would probably never prepare them for myself, but when I see them on my plate it makes me smile because I know she loves them. And yes, I clean my plate. I have come to like peas not for their own sake, but because my wife likes them so much.

These are silly examples, but they illustrate a very important principle. If we are in love with God, we will also love the things He loves -- which includes our neighbors and our selves.

St. Augustine once spoke of the moral code this way: "Love God, then do as you will." This is not to say that so long as you love God you can behave any way you want and all is good. No. It means that if you truly love God you will only desire to do those things which are pleasing to Him, and you would have no desire to do anything to offend Him.

St. Thomas Aquinas once said that we offend God when we act against our own good. Loving someone means desiring their good. So it all goes back to love. Loving God. Loving our neighbors as God loves them. Loving ourselves as God loves us.

Please join us for our celebration of Holy Mass this evening at 7:30 at the Catholic Student Center. And remember if you can to come early and take advantage of our first "Apologetics 101" class tonight at 6:30 at the Center. We will start tonight with some basic principles and guidelines to help you talk about and explain the Catholic faith with your non-Catholic friends and classmates.

God bless, and enjoy your Sunday!

Matt

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Mea culpa!

2011-10-21T11:41:00.001-04:00

Next let’s look at the Penitential Act. We looked at Form B before. Now I want to look at Form A. Here we have the English translation currently in use, followed by the original Latin text, and finally the new translation going into effect this Advent. I have highlighted the differences.

I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord, our God.

Confíteor Deo omnipoténti et vobis, fratres, quia peccávi nimis congitatióne, verbo, ópere et omission: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem, omnes Angelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

The first change we notice is the addition of the word “greatly.” We will now be saying, “I have greatly sinned.” But the most notable change is the restoration of the three-fold self-accusation. In the Latin we say mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. This is a very familiar phrase in our culture. I know even non-Catholics who, when admitting a mistake, use the phrase mea culpa. That three-fold repetition of our admission of guilt is something that was part of the rhythm of our Catholic liturgy for centuries, which is one reason why that phrase has now become part of our cultural heritage. In our current English translation, we were robbed of that rhythm.

Also, in literature – and this is true of poetic and narrative literature, as well as for Sacred Scripture and prayer – when something is repeated it is meant to give it emphasis. As a literature student in college I was taught that repetitions such as this were not accidental. The author, by repeating a word or a phrase, is trying to underscore something of great importance to the theme of his or her work.

The liturgy is very much akin to literature, borrowing heavily as it does on the Scriptures, that divine literary genre. As any translator of great literature should know, it is important to preserve any literary devices used by the author in the original. That emphasis on our personal culpability was there in the three-fold repetition of the original liturgical text. It has been missing from our current translation. The English major in me is happy to see it restored. And the faithful Catholic in me will surely benefit from being reminded as I pray the liturgy just who is at fault for my sins.

"And with your spirit..."

2011-10-21T11:32:00.001-04:00

As we progress in our examination of the third edition of the Roman Missal, with its new English translation of the Mass we will begin using this Advent, we now move on to what we’ve all been waiting for – what of our people’s parts of the Mass is going to change?

We start with the familiar greeting from the priest, “The Lord be with you,” to which we reply, “and also with you.” That’s going to change, and I’m afraid it means the death knell for that old joke where the priest is fumbling around trying to get his microphone to work, and says, “There is something wrong with this microphone,” and the whole congregation replies, “And also with you.”

So what’s going to change? Here is the Latin side by side with the new translation.

Priest: Dominus vobíscum. Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: Et cum spíritu tuo. People: And with your spirit.

So why the change to “and with your spirit?” Well, let’s look at the Latin original. It says et cum spíritu tuo. You don’t have to be a Latin scholar to figure out what’s going on. Even if you just know a few Latin phrases you probably know that et means “and” and cum means “with.” You’ve got tuo there which if you know a bit of Spanish you can figure means “you” or “your.” And then spíritu looks almost just like our English word “spirit.” So it’s all right there in the original. It’s not a particularly complex phrase to translate. “And with your spirit.”

More importantly, it gives us a sense of just who it is we are addressing as Mass begins. The priest is greeting us with “The Lord be with you.” And when we respond, we are not responding directly to the priest, as a man. Rather we make a point of responding to his spirit – the spirit of Christ which is operating through the priest as he celebrates the Mass. Remember, with any Sacrament, it is not the priest himself who confers it, but rather God working through His minister. Here we are reminded of that truth of our faith, right at the beginning of the liturgy.

I want to point out here again that the Latin texts I am quoting from are from the second edition of the Missal, currently in use. This does not represent a change in the official Latin text of the Mass itself. This is simply a more faithful translation of the Latin text we’ve always had.

Eucharistic Prayer I

2011-10-05T14:21:00.001-04:00

Next in our examination of the forthcoming third edition of the Roman Missal, to be introduced this Advent, we will look at the Institution Narrative from Eucharistic Prayer I, also called the Roman Canon. First is the current translation we are all familiar with. Beneath that is the Latin – I want to point out this is the Latin from the second edition of the Roman Missal, currently in effect. And finally is the new translation from the third edition we will be receiving this Advent.

Current Translation
The day before he suffered he took bread in his sacred hands and looking up to heaven, to you, his almighty Father, he gave you thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT IT; THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.
When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT; THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF TH ENEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT. IT WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR ALL SO THAT SINS MAY BE FORGIVEN. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

Latin Original
Qui, pridie quam paterétur, accépit panem in sanctas ac venerábiles manus suas, et elevates óculis in caelum ad te Deum Patrem suum omnipoténtem, tibi grátias agens benedíxit, fregit, dedítgue discípulis suis, dicens: ACCÍPITE ET MANDUCÁTE EX HOC OMNES: HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM, QUOD PRO VOBIS TRADÉTUR.
Símili modo, postquam cenátum est, accípiens et hunc praeclárum cálicem in sanctas ac venerábiles manus suas, item tibi grátias agens benedíxit, dedítque discípulis suis, dicens: ACCÍPITE ET BÍBITE EX EO OMNES: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SÁNGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETÉRNI TESTAMÉNTI, QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDÉTUR IN REMISSIÓNEM PECCATÓRUM. HOC FÁCITE IN MEAN COMMEMORATIÓNEM.

New Translation
On the day before he was to suffer he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.
In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands, and once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

The first thing you may notice at a glance is that the new translation is a bit longer. There are certain elements of the original which have been missing from our current translation, and just to point them out to you, I’ve highlighted some phrases in the new translation, and the corresponding Latin text, which are completely absent from what we have now.

And again, I want to underscore that the Latin we are looking at is the normative text in effect now. This is the definitive and official text of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite. The part that jumps right out at me is the phrase “holy and venerable hands” which occurs twice to describe the hands of Christ as He instituted the Eucharist. It’s there in the Latin: sanctas ac venerabiles manus. What a wonderful phrase describing the saving hands of our Saviour, about to offer Himself up for us! Why has it been missing from our English Mass all these years? I’m thankful it is being restored.

In a similar way, we will now be referring to the vessel that Christ used to institute the Sacrament of His Blood at the Last Supper as a “precious chalice” rather than simply a “cup.” How befitting it is to be able to hear this more exalted language used to describe some of the most vital elements of our faith, things which indeed should be “precious” and “venerable” to us!

I have read that when the early translations of the Mass into English were being made in the 1970s, the emphasis was on making the language as simple and easy to understand as possible. I sympathize with the desire to make the liturgy accessible to the greatest number of people. However, it is a fine line between making the language “simple” and “talking down to” someone. I think the great majority of English speakers will readily understand the significance of phrases such as “holy and venerable,” and if they do not immediately, they will soon rise to the occasion. We should at least give them that opportunity!

Finally we must deal with the issue of “for all” v. “for many,” which is the change in the Roman Canon which has generated the most controversy. First of all we must make clear that the Church unequivocally teaches that Christ died for all men, without exception. “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer” (Council of Quiercy, 853, qtd. in CCC 605). So why the change from “all” to “many,” then?

First, it is a better translation of the Latin pro multis, which has always been the official text. So in that respect it is not truly a change but a more accurate rendition of what the prayer has always said. So the question then is why does it say “for many” in the original Latin? And the answer is because it is Scriptural. Christ Himself said plainly that He would “give His life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28, cf. Rom. 5:18-19). The Catechism teaches that this phrase is not meant to be limiting, but rather to highlight the contrast between the large multitude of humanity with the unique and singular person of Jesus Christ, who dies to save us (CCC 605).

Whose line is it anyway?

2011-10-05T14:18:00.001-04:00

What I’d like to do now is begin looking at some of the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass, the parts of the Mass that do not usually change from week to week (except for those in which we are given the choice between multiple options, or special considerations for liturgical seasons such as Lent or Advent). And I want to look at the old and the new translation together with the Latin original. Let me emphasize one thing here. The Latin I will be giving you is not from the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. It is taken from the edition of the Roman Missal currently in use. This, I think, will underscore the fact that most of the changes we will notice with the new Missal won’t necessarily be due to the fact that it is a newer and more updated edition, but will due to the fact that we are now receiving a better and more accurate translation of the Latin, which is after all the definitive and official text. So let’s look first at the Penitential Act, Form B.

Current translation
Priest: Lord, we have sinned against you: Lord, have mercy.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: Show us your mercy and love.
People: And grant us your salvation.

Latin Original
Priest: Miserére nostri, Dómine.
People: Quia peccávimus tibi.
Priest: Osténde nobis, Dómine, misrericórdiam tuam.
People: Et salutáre tuum nobis.

New translation
Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
People: For we have sinned against you.
Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
People: And grant us your salvation

Let’s focus on the original Latin and see what we can make of it. I don’t think you have to be a Latin scholar to recognize at least some of the words. I’m certainly no expert, but I’m familiar with some of the Latin we use in the Church, largely through singing chant. Since Latin is the official language of the Church, I think it behooves us, as Catholics, to be familiar with at least some common Latin words and phrases that we use in our prayers.

For example, I recognize the word Miserére as meaning “have mercy” because we sing that in the Lamb of God. We sing miserere nobis, which means “have mercy on us.” And Dómine I recognize as the word for “Lord” from any number of prayers. So I can tell in the first line that the priest says “Have Mercy on us, Lord.” And that’s confirmed by what we see in the new translation below it.

But if we look at our current translation, the priest is saying more than that. In addition, he is saying, “Lord, we have sinned against you.” Where is that in the original text?

Let’s keep looking at the Latin. In the original, the people respond by saying Quia peccavimus tibi. So maybe our Latin is not so hot and we don’t know what that means. But we know in the current translation, in we say “Lord, have mercy.” Well, we just looked at the words for “Lord” and “mercy.” Neither words are in the part we are supposed to be saying in Latin. So what does that Latin mean?

Again, I’m no Latin scholar, but the word peccávimus here looks familiar. I’ve sung the Hail Mary in Latin enough times to be familiar with the word pecatoribus. In the Hail Mary in Latin, we pray ora pro nobis peccatoribus, which means “pray for us sinners.” So I can guess that peccávimus might have something to do with sin. And tibi I recognize as some form of “you.”

Let’s see how this is translated in the new third edition. We respond with “For we have sinned against you.” Based on our rudimentary guesses above we came pretty close. And now we see where that phrase from the priest’s part in the current translation came from. The past translators took that phrase from the people and gave it to the priest.

But isn’t that rather a fundamental change, beyond what simple translation calls for? Doesn’t that seem like editorial decisions were being made about the text that went beyond the scope of translation? It would be like translating Shakespeare’s plays into Spanish but along the way giving some of Hamlet’s lines to Ophelia!
This underscores why it was so important that the new translation, which goes into effect this Advent, was made according to strict guidelines. How many of the faithful would have guessed that words which the Church originally intended them to say during this Penitential Rite had been taken from their mouths by a committee of translators and placed into the mouth of the priest?

The new Third Edition of the Roman Missal corrects this, and addresses many other aspects of the former translation that have been seen by many as less than ideal. We’ll continue to look at the new translation in detail as we continue.

Where We Got the Bible

2011-09-27T13:15:00.002-04:00

As Christians, we believe that God has revealed Himself to man. We also believe that the Bible is the inerrant written record of that Revelation. What is the Bible, where does it come from, and why do we, as Catholics, hold it to be inerrant?

The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word for “book.” The Bible is our sacred book. The Jewish people had a variety of sacred books they believed to be divinely inspired. Christ and the Apostles confirmed this by basing their teachings on these sacred books. These books make up the Old Testament. The teachings of the Catholic Church are handed on from the Apostles, who learned them from Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is what is referred to as the Deposit of Faith, and this has not been added to or taken away since the beginning of the Church. Some of this teaching has been committed to writing, and this constitutes the New Testament.

THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE

The Jewish people had many books that they considered holy and inspired. Sometime during the third century BC these began to be compiled. There are several early compilations, but the one adopted by the first Christians, and the Catholic Church, was called the Septuagint, or Alexandrine, version, and was a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. During the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), Jewish scholars met in Alexandria to translate the entire Jewish bible into Greek, which was the common language of many Jews throughout the Mediterranean and Palestine. There were 70 or 72 translators, six from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is why we call their work the “Septuagint,” which comes from the Latin word for 70.

Though other translations of the Jewish scriptures existed, this was the one used by Jesus and the writers of the New Testament. Over 300 of the Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament come from the Septuagint. This is not surprising, as the New Testament was written in Greek, and it is only logical that the writers would use the Greek Jewish scriptures.

The Septuagint contains 46 books. The current Hebrew cannon only has 39, however. This is because the Hebrew canon was not formally established until around 100 AD by Jewish rabbis in the Palestinian city of Jamnia. This may have been in reaction to the growing Christian church, which these rabbis rejected. They left out seven books that are found in the Septuagint. These are Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, Tobit, and 1 and 2 Maccabees (as well as parts of David and Esther). They did this chiefly because they could find no extant versions of these books in Hebrew, from which the Greek was translated. They had four criteria that they used to determine which books were included in the cannon: 1) they were written in Hebrew, 2) they were in conformity with the Torah, 3) they were older than the time of Ezra (400 BC), and 4) they were written in Palestine. Christians, however, continued to use the Septuagint version that Christ and the Apostles had used.

Along with the Jewish scriptures, there were many other books being circulated and used as sacred texts among the early Christians. These were mainly gospel accounts and letters of St. Paul and other Apostles. Some of these books would come to be our New Testament. The New Testament books were written between 50 AD and 100 AD, and there are 27 in all. Why did these books get included in the canon of Sacred Scripture and others, like the Gospel of Thomas and the letters of Barnabas, not? The Church herself would use her infallible teaching authority to determine which books did and did not belong in the Bible.

The first bishop to compile a list of inspired books was Mileto of Sardis in 175 AD. Other bishops also kept lists of inspired books (texts which were allowed to be read from during the liturgy), but nothing formal was done until the fourth century. In 382 Pope Damasus, prompted by the Council of Rome, issued decree listing the 73 books that have made up our Old and New Testament ever since. The Catholic Church declared these 73 books to be the Christian Biblical canon at the Council of Hippo in 393 AD, and then again confirmed this in the Council of Carthage in 397 AD. Pope St. Innocent I officially approved this same list of 73 books in 405 AD and forever closed the canon of the Christian Bible. These books were considered divinely inspired on the authority of the Catholic Church. This was to be held uncontested as the Christian canon until the 16th century.

Sometime before the end of the second century, at least one Latin translation of the whole Bible existed based on the Septuagint and Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. This is called the Vetus Itala, or Old Latin text. By the late fourth century, it was discovered that the Old Latin Bible had variations in the text from one church to another, and a unified version was desired. Pope Damasus authorized St. Jerome to revise the Old Latin text to this end. Jerome used the Greek manuscripts of the Old and New Testament to correct errors in the Latin text and re-translated sections to provide a better sense of the original meaning.

While doing this translation, he became convinced that the Western Church needed a new translation directly from the Hebrew of the Old Testament. He began this work in 390 and ended in 405 AD. It took some time for this translation to take hold, but it gradually gained acceptance over the Old Latin version. By the sixth century it was in general use by much of the west and by the ninth century it was more or less universal among the Latin Church (the Eastern, or Greek Church, of course using the original Greek Septuagint and New Testament, since that was the liturgical language of the Church there). By the thirteenth century this new Latin translation was being referred to commonly as the Vulgate (a title that used to belong to the Old Latin text).

The advent of the printing press greatly affected the history of the Bible. The first printing of the Vulgate Bible was done by Gutenberg in 1456, but other editions came out rapidly. The circulation of other Latin versions of the Bible caused uncertainty as to which was the standard text. This caused the bishops at the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century to declare the Vulgate alone to be “authentic in public readings, discourses, and disputes, and that nobody might dare or presume to reject it on any pretence.”

PROTESTANT VERSIONS

The canon of Sacred Scripture, as set down by the Catholic Church, was unquestioned until the Protestant Reformation. In 1529, Martin Luther proposed an Old Testament of 39 books, made up of the Palestinian canon chosen by the Jewish rabbis in 100 AD. He justified this by citing some concerns that St. Jerome had when he was translating the Old Testament from the Hebrew—that some books in the Septuagint had no extant Hebrew versions. But Jerome did not think that these texts were not inspired, and never proposed to remove them from the canon. The Church always upheld an Old Testament canon of 46 books. In more modern times, the Dead Sea scrolls discovered at Qumran have revealed Hebrew versions of many of these disputed texts from the Septuagint, so they can no longer be contested on those grounds.

Luther really wanted to remove these books from the canon because they conflicted with his theological theories. For instance, 2 Maccabees 12:46 says, “it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins.” This is a direct reference to purgatory, which Luther rejected. Luther even wanted to remove books from the New Testament that did not agree with his theology, such as the epistle of James, and Revelation. But there was no popular support for this, and he was eventually convinced to leave these books in his canon of the Bible.

He did succeed in removing the 7 books not found in the Palestinian Hebrew scriptures, those being Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, Tobit, and 1 and 2 Maccabees (and parts of David and Esther). The first English Bible to leave these books out was translated by Miles Coverdale in 1535. He added these books at the end, calling them the “Apocrypha.” This Greek word means “hidden away,” and should not be applied to these texts, which have never been hidden at all. Some Protestant Bibles today leave them out completely, but most include them under this title at the end, or together between the Old and New Testaments. Most Protestants still do not hold them to be inspired as the rest of the Scriptures are.

As Catholics, we can rely on the infallibility of the living, teaching, Catholic Church, to determine which books are indeed inspired by God, and therefore considered part of the Christian canon. As St. Augustine said, “I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.”

SOLA SCRIPTURA

Protestant churches follow the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, which means “Scripture Alone.” This doctrine asserts that we are to follow the Bible alone as our sole rule of faith. What this means is that we have to reject Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church. As Catholics, we accept the Bible as an authoritative text, but not the only authority on the faith.

First of all, the doctrine of Sola Scriptura not only is not found in the Bible, it is actually contradicted by the Bible! According to the Bible, not everything Jesus said or did is recorded in the New Testament (John 21:25). The Bible also tells us that we as Christians must hold fast to oral tradition and the preached word of God (1 Cor 11:2, 1 Pet 1:25). The Bible also warns us that Scripture can be very difficult to interpret, which implies the need for an authority to interpret these difficult texts for us (2 Pet 3:15-16). Where is that authority found? In 1 Timothy 3:15, we are told that the Church is the “pillar and foundation of truth.”

Indeed, Christ did not come to earth to write a book. He came to earth to found a Church. In the Scriptures, we read that Christ founded a Church with divine authority to govern in His name (Mt 16:13-20, 18:18; Lk 10:16). Christ also promised that this Church would last until the end of time (Mt 16:18, 28:19-20; Jn 14:16).

As you have read in the history above, it was the Apostolic Church, acting with divine authority, that determined what was and was not inspired Scripture. It was not the Scripture that established the Church. We would have no way of knowing what should and should not be trusted as an inspired text if it was not for the teaching of an authoritative Church. Even Luther himself had to admit, “We are obliged to yield many things to the Papists [Catholics]—that they possess the Word of God which we received from them, otherwise we should have known nothing at all about it.”

And we also continue to rely on that Church to help us interpret the Scriptures. A book such as the Bible, that plays such an important role in our faith, cannot be left for free interpretation, open to all. This would result in chaos, with everyone insisting that his or her own reading of the text is the correct one. Indeed, this is largely the reason why there are approximately 30,000 different Protestant denominations in existence today, all believing slightly different things, based on different interpretations of Scripture. Surely this is not what Christ had in mind when he prayed “that they may be one” (Jn 17:20-21).

The Catholic Church rejects the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, relying on Sacred Scripture as well as Sacred Tradition as our rules of faith, and the Church herself as the interpreter of that faith. This is the way it was in all Christendom for 1500 years before the Reformation came about, and the way it still is in the Catholic Church today.

SO WHAT DO CATHOLICS BELIEVE ABOUT THE BIBLE?

The Catholic Church has always held the Bible to be the inspired word of God, and an invaluable teaching tool for our religion. According to the first Vatican Council, “These books are held by the Church as sacred and canonical, not as having been compiled merely by human labour and afterwards approved by her authority, nor merely because they contain revelation without error, but because, written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and have been transmitted to the Church as such.”

And from the 1952 Papal Encyclical, Provid. Deus, “The Holy Ghost Himself, by His supernatural power, stirred up and impelled the Biblical writers to write, and assisted them while writing in such a manner that they conceived in their minds exactly, and determined to commit to writing faithfully, and render in exact language, with infallible truth, all that God commanded and nothing else; without that, God would not be the author of Scripture in its entirety.”

A full treatment of what the Catholic Church teaches about the Bible can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 101 through 141. The Catechism confirms that “’The Church has always venerated the divine Scripture as she venerated the Body of the Lord’: both nourish and govern the whole Christian life.”

SOME MYTHS ABOUT THE BIBLE

There are several myths and misconceptions about the Bible, and what Catholics believe about it. One of the largest of these is that there were no vernacular translations of the Bible until the Protestant Reformers undertook this task. Though this is far from being true, even those who should know better often repeat it as “fact.”

As an example, let us look at The Illustrated Guide to the Bible, by J. R. Porter, published by Barnes & Noble. Porter, an Anglican, is Professor Emeritus of Theology at the University of Exeter, and served for twenty years as a member of the General Synod of the Church of England. His book can be considered a mainstream text, from a mainstream publisher. In it, he makes the statement, “Protestant versions of the Scriptures led the way, but Catholics soon responded to a demand for Bibles in the vernacular.” This statement implies that Catholics only provided vernacular Bibles after Protestants had already begun this work.

However, this statement of Porter’s does not even agree with his own words written a few paragraphs earlier! He wrote, “from an early period, there were numerous renderings of Scripture into vernacular languages,” and, “In Eastern Europe, the first translations of the Bible into the Slavonic languages were made by the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius in the 860s.” One can find many more examples of pre-Protestant vernacular translations of the Scripture. Yet Protestants continue to get credit in the history texts for this innovation.

Let us look at only German translations of the Bible for argument’s sake, as Luther is often credited as being the first one to provide a German version of the Scriptures. History shows us that there were numerous partial translations of the Scriptures into Germanic languages as early as the seventh and eighth centuries. Even more German translations were undertaken in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and a complete German translation was done by the fifteenth—all before the invention of the printing press. In fact, fourteen complete folio editions of the Scriptures in Germanic languages still exist that date from prior to 1522, when Luther translated his New Testament. Similar early examples can be found of vernacular versions of the Bible in nearly all major European languages prior to the Reformation.

Another myth has to do with the “Apocryphal” books mentioned above. In much anti-Catholic literature, it will be stated that the Council of Trent, in 1546, added these books to the Bible. As can be shown historically, this is simply untrue. The Reformers dropped these books, and the Council of Trent, called to uphold Catholic doctrine, simply restated the fact that these books have always been in the Christian canon, since the canon was officially decided upon in the fourth century, and these books would continue to be in the canon.

One more myth, that is all-too often repeated to make the Catholic Church look unbiblical, is that in 1229, the Bible itself was forbidden to laymen and placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Council of Valencia. This lie originated in the anti-Catholic book, Roman Catholicism, by Loraine Boettner. Unfortunately, it has been repeated and repeated by other anti-Catholic writers, and even spread into mainstream literature. It is one of the simplest arguments to refute, as it simply cannot stand up to historic scrutiny.

First of all, the Index of Forbidden Books was established in 1543, so a council in 1229 could not have placed a book on it. Second of all, there has never been a church council held in Valencia, Spain. Plus, the Moors were in control of that area in 1229, so the Church could not have had a council there even if they wanted to.

There was a council in 1229, but it was in Toulouse, France. It was a local council, not an ecumenical council (which means it did not represent the entire Church). This council did deal with the Bible, in a way. It was called to address the Albigensian heresy, which maintained that the flesh is evil and therefore marriage is evil, fornication is not a sin, and suicide is not immoral. They also opposed taking oaths, which completely undermined medieval feudal society, which was based on oaths. These Albigensians were using corrupt vernacular versions of the Bible to support their theories, twisting the Bible to “prove” their point. To combat this, the bishops at Toulouse restricted the use of the Bible until this heresy was ended. This was a local restriction, not a universal one, and when the heresy was over, the restriction was lifted.

This restriction never affected more than one area of southern France, and is a far cry from the Catholic Church banning the Bible from all laymen.

While doing some research into the early English translations of the Bible by Wycliff and Tyndale, I came across many references claiming that translating the Bible into English was considered heretical, and that in 1408 a law was enacted that forbade the translation of the Bible into English, and made reading it in English a crime. Like the other "myths" we have examined, there is more to this story as well.

After John Wycliff's corrupt translation of the Bible (full of Lollard heresy) caused so much confusion and scandal in the church in England, the Church did enact a law, in 1408, that prohibited the unauthorized translation of the Bible into English, and the reading of any unauthorized translation. The goal was to avoid another incident like the Wycliff translation. Under this law, any of the authorized English translations of Scripture before Wycliff were perfectly legal, as would be any future translation into English, done with the permission of Church authority. And of course reading these versions of Scripture was not only perfectly legal, but was in fact encouraged.

APPROVED VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE

To protect this important book and to keep it inerrant, we rely on the infallible Church. In this capacity, the Catholic Church has approved certain versions of the Bible and specifically condemned others. Why is there a need for this?

Since early times, various translations and editions of the Bible have been better than others and some have been specifically in error. This is why the Church commissioned St. Jerome to produce the Vulgate edition in the first place. But with the advent of the printing press, and then the Protestant Reformation, more editions of the Bible were produced, in greater volume than ever before, and many of these were edited specifically to make the Catholic Church and her doctrines appear “unbiblical.” Others have just suffered from poor scholarship.

We have already discussed Martin Luther, and his removal of part of the Old Testament, called the “Apocrypha,” and the fact that he also wanted to remove certain New Testament books that he disagreed with, such as James and Revelation. But Martin Luther, in his German translation, also added things, such as the word “alone” to Romans 3:28, to support his doctrine of salvation by faith alone (which goes against Catholic teaching). Surely a Catholic would be in error to use a translation to which this word (or any word!) has been added. This is but one example of the type of abuse committed against the Bible.

Let us consider for a moment the most beloved of English translations, the King James Version (KJV). King James I of England and VI of Scotland sponsored this version of the Bible. King James was a Protestant king, and a devout anti-Catholic. His authorized translation was geared in many ways to condemn Catholic practices. One obvious example can be found in Matthew 6:7. The KJV reads, “But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do. . .” Many a Catholic has heard this verse quoted as an argument against the praying of the Rosary, which involves repeating the same prayers over and over again.

However, the Greek word that is translated as “vain repetitions” really should be better translated as “to stammer” or “to babble.” What Jesus really is saying in this text is to not ramble on when you pray, but get to the point, say what you mean. He is warning us not to confuse quantity of prayer with quality of prayer. But He certainly did not intend to tell us not to repeat prayers. In fact, Jesus Himself often repeats the same prayer, as in the Our Father.

Consider the circumstances the KJV was commissioned in. During the reign of King James in England, Catholics were forbidden to carry arms, deprived of all rights in court, forced to stay within five miles of their homes, prevented from entering the professions of law or medicine, subject to searches of their homes and persons, had their religious books burned, their devotional items confiscated, were fined for not attending Anglican services, and penalized for not having their babies baptized or their marriages blessed by Protestant ministers. Would you trust a Bible authorized by a man who treated Catholics this way?

During the Protestant Reformation, the Church did authorize an English translation. The New Testament part of this was printed in Reims in 1582 and the Old Testament was printed at Douai in 1609-10. This is called the Douai-Reims translation, and was approved for use by the Catholic Church.

Part of the reason why the Catholic Church insisted on the use of Latin in the liturgies for so long is because Latin, as a dead language, is also a preserved language. The meaning of a Latin word or phrase is the same today as it was 1000 years ago. English, and other vernacular languages, are living, and therefore changing. A phrase in English written today might mean something slightly different 100 years from now, and might be completely misunderstood in 1000 years. Just compare our English to Middle English or Old English! Plus, as you can tell from all of this, the process of translating the text from one language to another opens the door for all sorts of errors, whether purposeful or accidental.

So the Catholic Church takes care authorize modern language Bibles in the vernacular which accurately reflect the meaning of the text. So which English language versions can we rely on? Of course the Douai-Reims is still appropriate. In fact, since it was translated at the same time as the KJV, it has the same poetic language, and those attracted to that in the King James might look to the Douai-Reims for a more reliable version.

A good guide is to use the versions the Holy See has authorized for liturgical use. There are currently three English versions authorized for use in the United States. These are The New American Bible, the Jerusalem Bible, and the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition). The New American Bible is the one used in the American Lectionary (where the readings are taken for Mass). The RSV Catholic Edition is the one quoted in the Catechism. Any of these are very appropriate for Catholic use.

There are some versions that have been specifically rejected by the Catholic Church for use at Mass, largely for their use of inclusive language. These are the New American Bible with Revised Psalms and Revised New Testament and the New Revised Standard Version. If you want to determine if any specific version of the Bible can be relied upon, a good litmus test is to look at the first Psalm. It should read, “Happy is the man who follows not the council the wicked,” or some version of that. If it reads, “Happy is the one . . .” or some other gender inclusive term, it should be avoided. This is because the Holy See has rejected this as contradicting the messianic references to Christ in these texts, in which “man” refers not only to David, who wrote the Psalms, but backwards to Adam (the man) and forward to Christ (the Son of Man and the Son of David).

I hope this brief treatment of the Scriptures has shed some light on a complicated issue and enabled people to better understand the place the Bible has in our faith and the Catholic teaching on the Sacred Scriptures. For more reading on the Bible, please see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article III, or the following Catholic Encyclopedia articles on line:

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The Bible:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm

The Authenticity of the Bible:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02137b.htm

Editions of the Bible:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05286a.htm

Inspiration of the Bible:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08045a.htm

Manuscripts of the Bible:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09627a.htm

Looking at the text...

2011-09-20T12:59:00.001-04:00

Up until now I have primarily focused on giving background information on the Mass to provide some context for the changes we will be experiencing this Advent. Now I would like to begin looking at some of these changes specifically so that we can get into the nitty-gritty of just what you and I can expect. The differences we will notice will largely involve more poetic language, more theological language, more Scripture references, and greater fidelity to the original Latin texts of the Church.

First I want to give you excerpts from an interview with Fr. Paul Turner, a priest with the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, who is also a Latin scholar who worked for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) as they developed this translation. Fr. Turner says, “Anytime you translate you are doing your best. But it is nearly impossible to capture all the nuances and bring them into a new language.” Fr. Turner said that the ICEL committee was determined to render the meaning of the Latin original as faithfully as possible into English. “We want the liturgy to be understood,” he says, “But those who pray it have to know that it is the prayer being brought to us by tradition.”

The current translation we have been using focused more on making the text understandable to modern English-speakers, often times to the detriment of the nuances and beauty of the original. “It is not that the translation we have now is wrong or heretical,” Fr. Turner comments, “But what we gained in fluidity (in English) we lost in nuance (from the Latin).”

For example, the new translation sometimes uses the word “ineffable” to talk about the power of God. Ineffable is a perfectly good English word, though not often used in day-to-day speech. But then again, the power of God is not a day-to-day mundane topic. “Ineffable” means “incapable of being expressed in words.” Fr. Turner says, “It’s a great word when you talk about the mystery of God. It is a word that means we are speechless before God.”

Another change Fr. Turner comments on is the change in the Creed from the phrase “one in being” to describe Jesus’ relationship with the Father, to “consubstantial,” an English word that comes as close as possible to the Latin original, consubstantialum. Fr. Turner says, “It’s an unusual word. But the relationship between Jesus and the Father is unusual and needs a unique word.” He also adds that the ancient Church Councils worked hard to define this relationship as precisely as possible and we modern English speakers deserve to have the benefit of those insights.

Fr. Turner lastly points out that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we use the phrase “hallowed be thy name.” The word “hallowed” is not an everyday English word. But we are familiar with it and understand what it means in the context of the prayer. Nor does it seem odd to us to have a special word that we use just for prayer. The same should hold true for any unfamiliar words we may encounter in this new translation.

Most of the coming changes do not involve so much what we, the lay people, will be saying as what we will be hearing. Most of the changes to the Mass text involve parts which the priest or deacon says. Only a few involve the people’s parts of the Mass. In light of that I’d like to start first with a part that belongs to the priest, in order to give you a bit of the flavor of the new Mass translation. We’ll start with the preface from the first Sunday of Advent, the first time we will hear the new translation.

CURRENT: When he humbled himself to come among us as a man, he fulfilled the plan you formed long ago and opened for us the way to salvation. Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory.

NEW: For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope.

The second is more evocative of the idea of Advent. Just to drive it home, here are all the phrases that are included in the new translation that are absent from the old: the lowliness of flesh; the eternity of salvation; the glory and majesty of the coming; the inheritance of the promise; the dare of our hope. It has so much more color and drama!

To give you another example, here is the preface from the first Sunday of Lent.

CURRENT: His fast of forty days makes this a holy season of self-denial. By rejecting the devil’s temptations he has taught us to rid ourselves of the hidden corruption of evil, and so to share his paschal meal in purity of heart, until we come to its fulfillment in the promised land of heaven.

NEW: By abstaining forty long days from earthly food, he consecrated through his fast the pattern of our Lenten observance, and by overturning all the snares of the ancient serpent, taught us to cast out the leaven of malice, so that, celebrating worthily the Paschal Mystery, we might pass over at last to the eternal paschal feast.

So in the new text, we see the relationship of Christ’s fast to our own, the parallel of the devil in the desert and the devil in the garden, the rejecting of sin and the need for our own repentance, and the final relationship between Christ’s resurrection and our own eternal life of which the season of Easter serves as a metaphor.

This is just to give you a taste of the flavor of the new translation. Next we will take a look at the people’s parts of the Mass.

Change is nothing new...

2011-09-20T12:57:00.002-04:00

This coming Advent we will be welcoming the third edition of the Roman Missal, featuring a new English translation of the Mass. I’d like to put this new translation into context before we take a look at the translation itself. We’ve already discussed the Mass of the early church. In those early days before the printing press, when everything had to be meticulously copied by hand, there were not large bound volumes containing the entire Roman Rite in every parish across Europe. What they likely had were smaller collections of prayers used at Mass, and these may have indeed varied depending upon your geographic location.

At one point in the past there was a plurality of Rites in the West, just as there are today a plurality of Rites in the East; the Byzantine Rite, Maronite Rite, etc., all Catholic, but with different cultural variations in the specific way in which they pray the liturgy. Long ago, however, the Western Church moved towards the dominance of a single Rite, the Roman or Latin Rite. That Rite is contained in a book called the Missale Romanum, which we call in English the Roman Missal. The first book to be published called the Missale Romanum was published in 1474, not long after the invention of the printing press. At this point, though the Roman Rite was dominant in the West, there were still other Rites being practiced in various locations. In 1570, after the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V promulgated an edition of the Missale Romanum which was to be obligatory for use throughout the Western Church. As it came from the Council of Trent, this is commonly called the Tridentine Mass.

Since 1570 there have been numerous updates and revisions in the Roman Missal to accommodate the ongoing development of the liturgy, including the addition of newly canonized saints to the calendar. Pope Clement VIII issued a new edition in 1604. Urban VIII did so in 1634. In 1884 Pope Leo XIII issued a new Missal, as did Benedict XV in 1920, and John XXIII in 1962, which was the last edition of the Tridentine Mass to be promulgated before the Second Vatican Council. That Council, as we all know, called for a revision of the Roman Rite, which despite all the various editions I just mentioned, had not seen a major revision since the Council of Trent. That New Mass, or Novus Ordo, came in 1970, promulgated by Pope Paul VI. Paul VI also promulgated a second edition of the Novus Ordo in 1975, and then most recently Blessed Pope John Paul II promulgated the third edition of the Roman Missal in 2000. That third edition is the one we are preparing to welcome this Advent.

Now, you may be wondering, if the third edition of the Roman Missal was issued by John Paul II in 2000 why are we just now starting to use it in Advent 2011? When John Paul II approved of the third edition, the liturgical texts he was promulgating were in Latin. And if Masses were all celebrated in Latin everywhere, then we would have seen these changes long ago. But Vatican II opened the door for the Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular, and this means that the Roman Missal must therefore be translated into many, many different languages, only one of which is English. And as anyone who speaks more than one language can tell you, translation is not an easy business. Often there are not direct equivalents between one language and another, or there may be several possible words or phrases, depending upon what nuance or emphasis the translator desires. It is far from an exact science.

As we mentioned in our very first installment, words do really matter -- especially in our liturgy, when we pray together as a Church. So the Church authorities are very careful, as they should be, to ensure that the translation of the Mass we will use is an accurate and good translation that does justice to the original liturgical text. And that original is in Latin, which remains the official language of the Roman Catholic Church.

Soon after the third edition of the Roman Missal was promulgated in 2000, John Paul II issued a document, in 2001, called Liturgiam Authenticam, which gave guidelines for how liturgical texts ought to be translated into vernacular languages. That document says that the guiding principle for translation is “formal equivalency.” It states: "While it is permissible to arrange the wording, the syntax and the style in such a way as to prepare a flowing vernacular text suitable to the rhythm of popular prayer, the original text insofar as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses." This may seem like common sense, insofar as you want a translation to be as accurate as possible. But it was important for the Vatican to state those principles because much of the translation that had been done of earlier editions of the Roman Missal, into English particularly, were not made following these guidelines.

Following the issuing of Liturgiam Authenticam, the Vatican established a committee of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2002 called Vox Clara which means “clear voice.” That committee’s express purpose was to assist and review the English translation of the Mass to be done by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). The ICEL presented its first drafts of an English translation of the Missal to the Vatican in 2004. This began a long period work involving many drafts and revisions. A translation was ultimately confirmed by the Holy See in 2008, with the final approval of the third edition of the Roman Missal in English, to be used in the US, coming in 2009.

In order to give the faithful time to prepare for the new translation, it was decided that the third edition of the Roman Missal would go into effect on the first Sunday of Advent, 2011. And so finally, for the first time since we have been able to celebrate the Mass in English, we will be celebrating it with an English translation which follows the ideals set out in Liturgiam Authenticam.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

2011-09-20T12:54:00.000-04:00

Our preparation for the new translation of the Mass we will begin using this Advent is a good occasion for us to look back and reflect upon the history of the Mass itself. The Mass is something that has been with us since the beginning of the Church. Indeed one cannot separate the life of the Church from the Eucharist. This is why the Second Vatican Council calls the Eucharist “the source and summit of our faith.” In the days leading up to his Passion, Jesus instituted the priesthood and the Eucharist during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday.

We are all familiar with the words. From Luke’s Gospel we read, “He took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”

This celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ was performed reverently by the very first Christians. The book of Acts speaks of the first converts “attending temple together and breaking bread in their homes.” In other words they heard the Word of God preached in the Synagogue and followed that with the new Christian celebration of the Body and Blood of our Lord -- the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist, the two elements which together make up our Mass today.

It has been so from the beginning. We have testimony to this from some of the earliest Christian writers. St. Justin Martyr wrote about the Mass around the year 155 AD. He had found in his travels that there was widespread misconception and confusion over what Christians do and what they believe. So he wrote an Apologia, which was a rational defense of the Christian life. He wrote:

On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or countryside gather in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has finished, the president instructs and exhorts them to imitate these good things [“president” comes from presbyter which is where we get our word “preist”]. Then we all rise together and pray… When our prayer is ended, bread and wine with water are brought forth, and the president offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability. The people assent, saying “Amen”; and there is a distribution to each of the Eucharistic elements. The deacons carry a portion to those who are absent. Those who are able give willingly whatever sum they each think appropriate. The money collected is deposited with the president.…

Those of us familiar with the Mass can easily see patterns we are familiar with. We see the readings of sacred texts. We see the homily. There is even a collection! And central to it all is the Eucharist. In an earlier part of his Apologia, St. Justin writes:

[B]read and a cup of wine mixed with water are brought to the president of the brethren. Taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and he offers thanks at considerable length that we have been counted worthy to receive these things from his hands.

When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying, “Amen.” This word is Hebrew for “so be it.” And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those whom we call deacons distribute to each of those present a portion of the bread and the wine mixed with water, over which the thanksgiving was pronounced. To those who are absent, they carry away a portion.

This food we call the Eucharist, and no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that our doctrines are true, who has been washed with the bath of remission of sins and rebirth, and who is living as Christ has commanded.

We do not receive these as common bread and drink. For Jesus Christ our Savior, made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation. Likewise, we have been taught that the food blessed by the prayer of his word – and from which our own blood and flesh are nourished and changed – is the flesh and blood of Jesus who was made flesh.

This is, to me, one of the great treasures of the Catholic Church – the fact that I can read something written nearly 1900 years ago, and recognize and indeed be familiar with the ceremonies and rites described. These are some of the earliest written records we have of how the first Christians lived and worshipped. And here we find the Mass, recognizable to us today. And that is really my point in relating this description of the early Mass to you. We should realize that the Mass we know today is the same Mass as that celebrated by the very first Christians.

Now, when I say that the Mass is the same, I don’t mean that it is literally the same down to the letter. Obviously there have been some changes over the centuries. No one thinks that those early Christians all sang “Gather Us In” from their Glory & Praise hymnals to kick off their liturgical celebration! But those elements of the Mass that have changed have all been surface changes. The true essence of the liturgy has remained the same from the beginning, which is why we can so easily identify with St. Justin’s description from so long ago.

The Mass ought to be viewed as God’s gift to the Church, the means by which He has chosen to communicate Himself to us most intimately through the Eucharist, by allowing us to consume His very Body and Blood into our own bodies. That precious gift should be treasured and revered. One then can view the Church as the caretaker of that gift. It is her great honor and responsibility to maintain the liturgy and to care for it, and to present it in such a way as to best transmit those divine mysteries to the faithful. And the specifics of this may indeed change from time to time, place to place, culture to culture.

Our modern age has seen great changes in the liturgy after Vatican II. Those too young to have lived through it can only imagine the difficulty involved in making those changes. The changes that we are preparing for this coming Advent are nowhere near as dramatic. Indeed, what we saw after Vatican II was the introduction of the Novus Ordo, or New Order of the Mass. What we are preparing for today is not a “new Mass” at all, but simply an updated edition, featuring a new translation, of the same Rite of Mass that we are currently using.

Who Owns the Liturgy?

2011-09-06T12:27:00.001-04:00

In our ongoing study of the upcoming changes to the Mass which go into effect the First Sunday of Advent this year, we began by looking at some fundamental principles. The first principle we looked at was simply that “words matter.” The second principle is that the Liturgy belongs to us. But it does not belong to us.

Come again? What’s that mean? It means that the liturgy does belong to us as a people, but it does not belong to us as individuals. The liturgy is the public property of the whole Church. No single individual owns it (not even the Pope, and certainly not you or I). The word “liturgy” itself comes from the Latin for “public work.” It is the public work of the Church.

That is why a prayer such as the rosary is not considered liturgical. It’s a private devotion, not a public work of the Church. So we have some room there for individualization. You might like to recite the St. Michael the Archangel prayer at the end of the rosary. Perhaps I don’t. That’s ok. We can pray our rosaries in different ways and that’s fine when we pray them by ourselves as individuals.

But there is no such leeway with liturgical prayer, because it is not a private devotion that we offer only on our own behalf. It is the public work of the Church and any time we participate in the liturgy we are praying along with the entire Church. And I do not simply mean the Church here on earth, but those with whom we are united in heaven, as well. Pay attention at Mass next time before we sing the Sanctus and you’ll note that we are joining in that hymn of praise along with the angels and choirs of heaven.

So the Mass is no one’s private property; though sometimes people are tempted to treat it as such. Whenever we do that it causes division, and we always end up missing something important.

At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, there is a part where the priest says, “Pray brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the almighty Father,” and we respond, “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His church.” Or that is how we are supposed to respond, according to the current translation of the Mass that we have. But some people choose instead to say, “for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all the church.”

On the surface, one could ask, what’s wrong with that? After all, the difference is minor, and it does not really change the overall meaning of the prayer. But here’s the thing -- that’s not how the Church is instructing us to respond at that moment. When we choose to respond in a different way, we are making a decision to ignore what the Church is asking us to do in the liturgy and instead substitute our own will. We are saying, “I know better than the Church.”

In this particular case we are assuming that by referring to God with a masculine pronoun we are continuing an archaic and outdated tradition of thinking of God in anthropomorphic terms which reflect an oppressive patriarchal society, designed to keep women in their place. After all, God is neither male nor female, so why should we refer to God as “Him”?

Except that the Church has always taught us to refer to God as “Him.” And rather than decide on our own, based on our oh-so-superior understanding, we ought to reflect on what the Church might be trying to teach us with her words.

Did you notice I just wrote, “her words?” Just as the Church has always referred to God as masculine, she has always referred to herself as feminine, as in “Holy Mother Church” or “The Bride of Christ.” These are metaphors we are all familiar with. Yet no one is attempting to transmorph those phrases into “inclusive” language. Can you imagine “Holy Parent Church” or “the Spouse of Christ”? It sounds ridiculous.

So why does the Church refer to God as masculine and herself as feminine? Neither one is a being with a sexual nature that exists as male or female. Obviously it is a metaphor. So the thing to ask is what does that metaphor teach us?

Biologically speaking, the male of the species is the one who gives, and the female is the one who receives. The male gives his seed, which is a part of himself, a part of his own body, and the female receives that gift into her own body in order to engender new life.

What an absolutely marvelous metaphor to describe our relationship to God. We are all female in relation to Him. He is the one who gives. Our role is to receive God’s gift of Himself into our bodies, into our hearts, our minds and our souls.

When we refuse to refer to God using the masculine pronoun we are robbing ourselves of this rich way of describing our relationship with Him. And further, when we make the decision on our own to change the words of the liturgy, we are setting ourselves up as the arbiter of how the Church ought to do things, and that is a dangerous position in which to be. It sows the seeds of disobedience.

It is very important to remember that every Catholic has the right to participate in the liturgy of the Church. When we attempt to change the liturgy based on our own preferences and preconceptions, we deny others of that right. The liturgy belongs to us. But it does not belong to us. It belongs to all of us as the Church. It does not belong to any one of us as individuals.

Words Matter

2011-09-06T12:21:00.003-04:00

Beginning this coming Advent, parishes across our country will begin using the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, featuring a new English translation of the Mass. We are going to notice quite a few changes. What I’d like to explore with you is not only what some of those changes will be, but more importantly, why the changes are occurring. Let’s begin looking at the “why” part by establishing some basic principles.

The first (and in many ways most important) principle is that words matter. What we say and how we say it has an effect on our beliefs, our perceptions, our understanding, and how important information is transmitted from one person to another and from one generation to the next. Let me give a few examples.

This first one is from history. You may be familiar with the phrase “not one iota of difference.” This comes from an early conflict within the church over the nature and person of Jesus Christ. One of the largest and most destructive heresies in the early centuries of the Christianity was Arianism, named for Arius, a priest from Lybia, who taught that Jesus Christ was created by God and therefore could not be equal to God. Jesus was the greatest of all of God’s creatures, but he was created and not himself divine.

To combat this error the Church convened the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, from which we get our Nicean Creed. Part of that familiar creed states that Jesus Christ is “one in being” with the Father. This comes from the Latin consubstantialum, (where we get our word “consubstantial”) which itself is a translation of the Greek word homoousios. That word comes from the Greek words homo, meaning “the same” and ousios, meaning “substance or essence.” So, in other words, we believe that Jesus Christ and God the Father are of the same essence. They are substantially the same. They are one in being.

Well, there was a faction at the Council of Nicea who would have preferred the term homoiousios, which means “like in substance.” The reason some preferred this term was because they thought ousios might also be taken to mean “person” and the Father and the Son are two different persons. So they preferred to say that they were “like” or “similar” in their substance, not the same.

That term was ultimately rejected for many reasons, but I’ll just give you one. We believe in one God. We are monotheists. We don’t have a pantheon like the Hindus or the ancient Greeks. That’s always been a hallmark of Christianity and it likewise set the Jewish people apart from their neighbors for millennia. God revealed Himself to the Jews as the one and only universal God. The first commandment is that Thou Shalt Have No Gods Before Me. That’s a biggy!

So what would it do to our monotheism if we said that Jesus and the Father were like in essence or nature, but not the same? Well, let’s just look at ourselves. I have human nature. And you have human nature. In other words, we are like in nature. But we don’t both share the same human nature. We are two different individual beings. So likewise if we believed that Jesus had a divine nature that was similar to the Father’s divine nature but not the same nature, then all of a sudden we are not worshipping one God, but two!

And so it was very important that the Council Fathers at Nicea considered their words carefully and chose homoousios or “one in being” rather than homoiousios or “like in being.” The two words are so similar, only differing by one letter “i” or iota in Greek. And that one iota of difference is a bedrock principle of what we believe and proclaim about the nature of Jesus Christ.

So words do matter. They matter in theology. And they matter in the liturgy, as well. There is an old saying, lex orendi, lex credendi, or “how we pray is how we believe.” The words we use in our prayers really and truly do affect what we believe about God and our relationship with Him.

I was attending Mass out of town one year on Ascension Sunday. At this parish, the priest gave a good homily about what it means that Jesus Christ rose bodily into heaven, and how His physical human body has now been taken into the Godhead, uniting the human and divine natures. And how it is important to our faith that we know and understand that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and Ascended bodily into heaven, for this is our ultimate destiny; to be united, spirit and body, with our creator in heaven. It was a nice homily -- on point, a good message.

Well, during Communion, the choir sang a song, the refrain of which was, “Jesus has no body now, but you.” The point of the song was that we all must be the hands and feet of Christ, doing His work here on earth through His Church. That is a great message; it’s perfectly fine on its own. However, the refrain, set to a catchy tune, had us singing over and over again that “Jesus has no body,” at the point of the Mass when we were receiving the Body and Blood of Christ!

And this on Ascension Sunday, when we celebrate the fact that Jesus ascended with His body into heaven. I very much doubt many there that day would remember the message of the homily, that Jesus Ascended bodily into heaven. Instead they would walk out to the parking lot, humming to themselves, “Jesus has no body…” Words matter.

And our theology matters. Our liturgy matters. Our prayers matter. These things all shape how we understand the world we live in, how we understand and worship God. And so the words we use when we teach and when we pray, especially when we pray together as one Church in the liturgy, really are important. We must take great care to select our words and make certain that we understand them well.

What's the deal with Papal Infallibility?

2011-08-30T15:27:00.000-04:00

What’s the Deal With Papal Infallibility?
By Matthew A. C. Newsome

A sample conversation between a curious Protestant and his Catholic friend:

Protestant: Hey, I just read that the Pope has only been infallible since 1870. What is that all about?
Catholic: Oh yeah, that’s true. See, before the authority of the Catholic Church was in the Magesterium, which is all of the bishops teaching together. But in 1870, the Pope got tired of arguing with the bishops, so he proclaimed himself infallible so he wouldn’t have to argue with them anymore and they would have to do what he said.
Protestant: Oh, so now you have to do whatever the Pope says?
Catholic: No, not really. The real authority is with the Magesterium, like I said. We don’t need to do everything the Pope tells us—I mean what if he told us to all wear burlap? We wouldn’t have to do that. So it’s up to us really what we decide to do.
Protestant: Oh, ok. Thanks for explaining that.

Now many of you reading the above conversation will no doubt think something doesn’t sound quite right. And you would be correct! Our well meaning Catholic friend above very inaccurately described Papal Infallibility, but there is enough truth in his statements to be confusing to a lot of people, and potentially damaging if we are trying to explain our faith to others. So what do Catholics really believe about Papal Infallibility and where does that doctrine come from?
Let’s start by seeing just how much we know about infallibility itself. Karl Keating, in his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism, uses this example. Let’s say that the pope is infallible, not only in matters of faith and morals, but also in trigonometry. If he were presented a sheet of paper with 100 math problems on it, what is the least number he would get correct? If you said 100, you may have a good grasp of math, but not infallibility. The correct answer is zero. He could leave the page entirely blank. You see, infallibility is a negative protection. It prevents the pope from getting the wrong answer, but does not enable him to know the correct answer. He would have to learn trigonometry on his own. If he did not do his homework, he would have to leave each answer blank.
But, as we know, the pope is only infallible when teaching on matters of faith and morals as leader of the Christian world. He has to learn these things on his own, just as we would, through study of scripture, Church documents, the writings of the Church Fathers, theologians, and much time spent in prayer. He must come to his own conclusions—they are not given to him by revelation. But when he comes to these conclusions in matters of faith and morals, he is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching in error.
Infallibility does not mean that the Pope is free of sin. This is called impeccability, and Catholics do not believe that the Pope is impeccable. But many will try to prove that the Pope is not infallible by citing examples of Popes who have fallen into sin. With 2000 years of Popes to choose from, the amount of bad apples they can cite is amazingly small, but it still misses the point. Infallibility is absence of error, not of sin. Popes are human beings, and can certainly sin.
So why do we believe in infallibility at all? Well, a lot of it goes back to the Scriptures themselves. Since many people who will be questioning Papal authority are from Protestant churches that believe in sola scriptura (that the Bible alone is the only guide for our faith), it will be helpful to know where in the Scriptures this notion can be found. Citing other sources will do no good if the person you are talking with only recognizes the authority of the Bible.
There are several Petrine verses, so called because they deal with Peter’s authority in the Church. The most well known is from Matthew 16:17-19. This is after Peter makes his profession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah. “Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter [Kepa, which means “rock”], and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you [singular] the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you [plural] bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’”
This verse sets Peter apart from the other disciples by changing his name from Simon to Peter, meaning Rock. He then promises to make him the foundation of his Church. He also gives him alone the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which signifies his authority. Many non-Catholic Christians will argue that the second “rock” in this verse refer not to Peter but to his profession of faith. Simple grammar argues otherwise. The phrase “this rock” would have to refer to the immediately preceding noun, which is Peter. His profession of faith was two verses earlier. Again, let’s use an example supplied by Keating. In the sentence, “I have a car and a truck, and it is blue,” which one is blue? Obviously it is the truck. It would be even more clear if the reference to the car was two sentences earlier.
Others say that in the original Greek the phrase reads, “you are Petros (meaning little rock), and upon this petra (meaning big rock) I will build my church.” Therefore the second rock could not be Peter. The problem with this is that “Petros” was only used in Greek because it is a masculine form of the feminine “petra” and therefore suitable as a man’s name. But Jesus was not speaking Greek. In Aramaic, the language Jesus would have used, the word in both cases is “kepa,” which is neuter like our English word “rock.” So it would have read, “you are Kepa, and upon this kepa I will build my church.” No difference exists until it is translated into Greek.
Other Biblical examples can also be cited. Let’s examine a few of these. Look to John 21:15-17. Here, right at the end of the Gospel, Jesus charges Simon Peter to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep.” Look in Luke 22:32. This is right before Jesus foretells Peter’s denial, and Jesus tells him, “I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back [after the denials] you must strengthen your brothers.”
Christ also told his apostles to go preach the gospel and promised the protection of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13). That promise ensures that the Church will never fall away from the teachings of Christ (1 Tim 3:15). We as Catholic believe in the Apostolic succession, that is, that these promises made by Jesus were for all of time, and were therefore passed on from the original Apostles, the first bishops, to their successors for all generations, down to our own. This applies also to Peter, the first Pope. To believe otherwise would mean that the Church today has no authority at all, nor did any church after the last Apostle died. We would have nowhere to turn to for truth.
This protection means that when all of the bishops of the Church gather together at an Ecumenical Council and teach on a matter of faith or morals in union with each other, they cannot be wrong. We call this teaching body of bishops the Magesterium. We believe that this Magesterium is infallible in its teachings.
However, we also believe that the Pope alone among the bishops has a special infallibility. Although not formally defined until 1870, this was a notion that was held even by early Christians. As the primacy of the Papal office became clearer to the growing Church, so did Papal infallibility. As early as 256, Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “Would heretics dare to come to the very seat of Peter whence apostolic faith is derived and whither no errors can come?” In 433 Pope Sixtus III said that to assent to the Bishop of Rome’s decision is to assent to Peter, who lives in his successors and whose faith cannot fail. Augustine of Hippo even said, “Rome has spoken; the case is closed.” So even though they did not have the defined term “papal infallibility” as we do now, they understood it in its practice.
This also means that all Popes, not just those since 1870, have been infallible—they just did not have as full an understanding of their own infallibility as those after 1870 did. So why was it only defined in 1870? Well, traditionally in the Church only defines a doctrine when that doctrine is called into question. The Church does not “make up” new doctrine. It cannot add to the deposit of faith that was left to us by the Apostles after Pentecost. But it can come to a clearer understanding of that faith, and 2000 years of study and prayer have led us to a much clearer notion of what Christ intended our Church to be than those very first Christians could have had.
Throughout the life of the Church, there have been various individuals or groups who would question a church teaching. This would lead to debate, and often even heretical teachings. Sometimes these conflicts caused issues to arise that no one even thought of before! It is during times such as these that the Church makes an official definition, to close the matter. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, after the Reformation and during the Enlightenment, the Pope’s authority was called more and more into question. This is why, in 1870, at the first Vatican council, it was decided to formally define the Pope’s special infallibility.
The Catechism of the Catholic church teaches us that, “’The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful—who confirms his brethren in the faith—he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium,’ above all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine ‘for belief as being divinely revealed,’ and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions ‘must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.’ This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself” (892).
So you can see from this that the Pope’s every word is not infallible, nor any documents he may have written prior to becoming Pope or as a private theologian. In these he is just as fallible as any other learned man. But when, in his office as Vicar of Christ, he “proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals,” then we are called by our faith to obey. This faith stems from a faith in Jesus Christ, who made Peter the head of His Church on earth, who promised these charisms to him, who promised to stay with his Church forever and that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Our faith in Christ would lead us to obey the authority of His Church, which is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
To read the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Infallibility, go on line to:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07790a.htm

Halloween: Pagans and Puritans

2010-10-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

The following was originally written in 2002...

It happens every year about this time. Here in the Bible Belt, leaflets and flyers circulate warning Christian parents against allowing their children to participate in the “pagan” festival of Halloween. One that I picked up recently begins, “Even though on this very night children will be sacrificed in satanic rituals…Millions of Christians will allow…Even encourage… their children to pay respect for the Devil on October 31st. Who me? Yes YOU! If you or your children participate in this Satanic Holy day, while proclaiming to be a follower of Christ, you are deceived!” All bad grammar is in the original.

The flyer goes on to tell us that Halloween, along with other “common festivals” that Christian people celebrate, has no basis in the Bible. It warns that, “Christians should have no part in Halloween, Jack-o’-lanterns, Cornstalks, Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts, Costume Parties, or Trick or Treating. Why? Because it is not fun or cute but of the Devil.”

Furthermore it gives a history of the origin of Halloween, as an explanation of why we should have nothing to do with it. It correctly identifies the pagan Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced SOW-en), but erroneously claims that on this night druids (the Celtic priest class) would travel from “castle to castle” playing trick-or-treat. The treat demanded was a maiden for human sacrifice. In return the druids would leave a jack-o-lantern lit with a candle made from human fat, as a charm to ward off demons. If someone could not make the sacrifice, they would mark the door with a hexagram and the druids would send a demon to kill someone in the castle. Halloween came to America in the mid-nineteenth century when Irish immigrants came and brought their “pagan customs” with them.

Or so reads the history according to the puritans. The idea expressed in this account of everyone living in a castle and having a handy supply of maidens to spare betrays an almost juvenile knowledge of the past. And the portrayal of nineteenth century Irish as “pagan” smacks of anti-Catholic bigotry. (And if one were inclined it would not be that hard to read the reference to the hexagram as an allusion the Jewish Star of David). What do we really know about Halloween’s origins, and should it be so avoided by Christians, as the anonymous author of this tract advocates?

Many of the customs associated with the celebration of Halloween do have pagan origins. That cannot be denied, nor should it be. But we will discuss the implications of these pagan elements later. What we, as Christians, should be focused on is the origin of the Christian celebration of Halloween, not any supposed pagan ancestors. Let’s begin with the very name “Halloween” itself. It’s usually spelled without the original apostrophe (“Hallowe’en”), so people forget that the name is actually a contraction. It’s a shortened form of “All Hallows Eve” which is, of course, the evening before All Hallows Day, an archaic name for All Saints Day.

All Saints Day, celebrated on November 1st, is the day set aside in the Catholic Church to recognize all of the saints and martyrs, known and unknown. Christians have been honoring the martyrs of the faith since the earliest times by celebrating a feast day in their name, usually on the anniversary of their martyrdom. Many Christians were martyred together, and so of course some martyrs shared a common feast day. As the number of Christian martyrs increased, especially under the reign of Diocletian, it became impossible to have a separate day to honor each of them. And as other, non-martyred Christians were recognized as saints and honored with their own feast day, the calendar soon was overflowing!

The Church felt that each saint and martyr should be venerated, and so to avoid any deficiency, appointed a common day for all. The earliest such celebration was observed in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. Other places observed such a day at different times during the year from as early as the fourth century. The November 1 date was first established in the West by Gregory III (731-741), who consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the saints, and fixed an anniversary celebration on that date. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended this November 1 celebration to the entire Church. And according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the vigil was celebrated as early as the feast.

A vigil is a mass that is celebrated on the evening before a particular feast day, in anticipation of that day, and also because the Church traditionally reckons the beginning of a day at sunset of the day before. So, the vigil for All Saints Day (or All Hallows Day) is All Hallows Eve, a.k.a. Halloween.

What does this have to do with pumpkins and costumes and candy? Absolutely nothing. All Saints Day, and its vigil celebration, is there to honor those Christian brothers and sisters that have gone before us, have died in the faith, alive in Christ’s love, and now enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven. These are those saints known and unknown, recognized and unrecognized. This includes saints like St. Francis, St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. Cecilia. And it also includes those unrecognized saints such as the devout grandmother, the pious farmer, and perhaps many of the beloved dead in your own family. And it includes every faithful Christian who died centuries ago and has long since been forgotten by man, but eternally remembered by God. We honor them all.

It should be noted that this feast in the Church is followed immediately by All Souls Day on November 2, where we remember and recognize the souls of all the dead, saintly or not, and pray for those who may not yet be enjoying heavenly bliss.

It just so happens that this Holy feast happened to fall on the day traditionally celebrated as Samhain in the Celtic parts of the British Isles (notably Scotland and Ireland). The Celtic New Year began on November 1, and Samhain was the final celebration of the harvest season. At this time, the pre-Christian Celtic people believed that the otherworld was in turmoil. The world of the dead was thought to be closest to the world of the living on this night. People would leave food out for offerings to those beloved departed ones who might visit (the origins of our giving out candy). To light their way, they would burn lanterns inside of carved out turnips (jack-o-lanterns). Malevolent spirits were also thought to be about, though, and so people would disguise themselves by blackening their faces and hands so that the dead would not be able to recognize them (the origins of wearing costumes).

Any historian can tell you that Scotland and Ireland became Christianized fairly early on. The conversion of Scotland mostly happened in the sixth century and is credited to such men as St. Columba, St. Ninian, and St. Kentigern. By the eighth century, when the pagan Vikings began their raids, they came to a land entirely Christian, dotted with chapels and monasteries.

Like other places where it spread, Christianity did not seek to completely suppress the native culture or traditions. It condemned what was bad and evil in pagan cultures and preserved what was good and true, baptizing it as a part of the universal Christian tradition. How fitting that the day on which the dead were traditionally reckoned to be closest to the living according to pagan tradition, the Church has set aside to remember those that have died in Christ.

Is there anything wrong with children dressing up in costumes and going around the neighborhood collecting candy? Leaving alone, for the moment, the question of safety in some neighborhoods today, I don’t think that there is anything in this tradition that is worthy of condemnation. In fact, one could use it to teach a lesson about generosity. Is there anything wrong with carving a pumpkin and using it for decoration? Again, no. There is nothing evil or wrong with this practice.

In addition to the jack-o-lantern and trick-or-treating, our tract writer also objected to witches and ghosts and cornstalks. While we may argue the merits for or against a child dressing as a witch or a ghost, one must ask what this writer finds objectionable about cornstalks. What Christian truth is being attested to by protesting the use of decorative cornstalks in autumn?

Because a particular practice originated in a pre-Christian pagan culture does not, ipso facto, equate that practice with the worship of a pagan deity. I doubt that the downtown shop keepers who decorate their store fronts with pumpkins and ears of corn have any more intention of idolatry than the child who dons a plastic mask and heads out, parents in tow, to fill his sack with chocolate and hard candy.

While idolatry usually is applied to the worship of false gods it equally applies to the fear of false demons. And this is the problem with the modern puritans who seem to object to celebrations of any sort. Although Halloween is the favorite for these holiday prohibitionists, other Christian celebrations that have been accused of being pagan include Easter and Christmas!

Yes, there are some pagan (or more properly speaking, extra-Christian) aspects to the celebration of these holidays. Nowhere in the Gospel accounts does it tell of a decorated tree at the Nativity. Nor were there colored eggs at the Resurrection. But even though Christianity may have adopted pagan forms of celebration, the One we are celebrating is Christ!

This is, of course, what ultimately matters. G. K. Chesterton remarked, when atheists accuse Christianity, or when Protestants accuse Catholicism, of adapting pagan practices, that “they may as well accuse us of having pagan legs!” Of course Christianity has adapted some old pagan practices. All human cultures were at one point pre-Christian and pagan. These people were, for the most part, seeking the truth as best they understood it. While they did not have the benefit of The Truth, Christ, they were generally looking in the right direction. In the light of Christ, what was wrong and false about the old ways were abandoned, and what was good and true in them was kept and preserved. The Catholic Church has always acknowledged this. Christ is the ultimate measure of the truth.

It does not follow that everything pre-Christian must therefore be abandoned. We should follow the example of Pope Boniface IV, who in the early seventh century consecrated the Pantheon (the greatest pagan temple in Rome) to the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. He could have torn it down, as a pagan thing to be shunned. But instead he consecrated this beautiful and majestic triumph of architecture to Christian usage, and our culture is all the richer for its preservation.

The problem with Halloween is not that it has elements of pagan origin. The problem is that we have forgotten that these traditions only survive at all because the Church has preserved them, blessed them, and allowed them to survive in the cultures that observed then in association with its feast of All Saints.

This does not make it a satanic holiday, but a secular holiday (but then again Christmas and Easter are secular holidays for the majority of Americans these days, so why should we expect Halloween to be any different). While secularizing a sacred holiday is a shameful denial of God’s glory, attributing it to Satan is giving the devil more than his due.

But this has always been the tendency of the more puritanical sects. The Puritans in the Old World began by abandoning the veneration of the saints. And the Puritans in the New World ended up persecuting accused witches. Even though their intentions may have been based in Christian virtue, no one today believes Christ was truly served by the Salem Witch Trials. Nor is He being served with tracts like this one. Spreading shameful lies and half-truths about our ancestors abducting maidens for human sacrifice, burning candles made from human fat--and scaring small children by telling them they might be sacrificed in a Satanic ritual--not only is deceitful, but harmful.

God is Truth. Therefore God is not served by twisting or hiding the truth, even if you do it in His name.

If you are Catholic, go to Mass on All Saints Day, or its vigil. If you belong to a Protestant denomination that does not observe this ancient feast, try to make an effort to remember those Christians who have gone before you. And if your kids want to dress up in costumes with their friends and go trick-or-treating, let them. Carving a pumpkin can be enjoyable family time, and get the kids (and parents) away from the television for an hour or so. Bake a pumpkin pie. Roast the pumpkin seeds. Bob for apples.

The point is, if you remember Christ and point your heart towards God, these seasonal celebrations become a holy thing. I’d advise our puritan holiday-bashers to spend less time searching for demons, and more time living for Christ.

So What Does the Pope's Visit to the UK Have to do With WCU?

2010-08-25T17:01:00.001-04:00

Many of you know that in addition to being your friendly neighborhood campus minister, I also earn a living as a kiltmaker and as director of the Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, NC. Get to know me and you’ll discover that I’m a big Scottish Highland Dress buff – in fact I’ve written books and numerous articles on the subject and hold various honors in the field. I actually started working part-time at the Scottish Tartans Museum (the only such museum outside of Scotland), while still a student at WCU myself. I’m very proud to now serve as its director.

I am also currently the only American member of the Board of Governors of the Scottish Tartans Authority, an organization based in Perthshire, Scotland, dedicated to promoting Scotland’s tartan weaving industry and heritage. (Tartans are what we would call plaid designs, typically seen worn in a kilt, which in Scottish tradition represent clans, families, places, etc. and denote affiliation).

So what does all this have to do with Benedict XVI’s upcoming trip to the UK? When His Holiness arrives in Great Britain, he will be first received by Queen Elizabeth II at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. The Scottish Catholic Bishops wished to celebrate this historic occasion by commissioning a new tartan design. As Benedict will arrive in Scotland on Sept. 16, the feast day of St. Ninian, the earliest Christian missionary into Scotland, they wanted to call it the “St. Ninian tartan.” The Scottish Catholic Media Office approached the Scottish Tartans Authority with the idea.

This is where your intrepid campus minister gets involved. Brian Wilton, director of the Scottish Tartans Authority, phoned me up. I had designed several tartans in the past for private clients. He knew I was a staunch Catholic and worked in campus ministry. Would I be willing to submit a few possible designs for the St. Ninian tartan? How could I refuse!

With much excitement I set to work, researching St. Ninian, learning about the papal visit, the Catholic Church in Scotland, and coming up with three different tartan designs which I felt represented the spirit of the occasion. In the end, one of my designs was selected to be the official tartan chosen by the Church.

I was thrilled, as you may imagine. However, I was even more excited to receive a phone call from the Catholic Media Office in Scotland, offering to fly me over to be present at the formal unveiling of the new St. Ninian tartan on Sept. 9, at the Scottish Parliament building, before several Members of the Scottish Parliament and Cardinal O’Brien, president of the Scottish Catholic Bishops Conference. I truly am honored, and to be perfectly honest, it still doesn’t seem real to me. However, the tickets have been purchased and confirmed. I’m flying over to Glasgow on Sept. 6.

The Scottish Catholic Media Office’s generous offer to fly me over is also allowing me to take advantage of another opportunity. I had previously been awarded a grant from the Scottish government to tour various tartan manufacturing facilities and museums where collections of historic tartan textiles are housed. This was in order to aid my work at the Scottish Tartans Museum. The grant was to cover my travel expenses while in Scotland, but not the flight over. So I am very blessed to have this double opportunity.

One of the major reasons for Benedict XVI’s visit is to canonize John Henry Cardinal Newman, famous English convert, theologian and educator. He is somewhat of a patron for Catholic Campus Ministry, with campus ministry houses across the English speaking world named “Newman Centers” in his honor. The Pope will be giving several talks underscoring the importance of education while in the UK.

Though the tartan I designed is named after St. Ninian, Cardinal Newman’s canonization is commemorated in the tartan by the inclusion of red and white stripes – taken from the color of Newman’s coat of arms.

So this trip is very much imbued with meaning for me, and provides me with a rare opportunity to combine both my passions for Scottish Highland dress traditions and for helping college students grow in their Catholic faith.

I will be gone from Sept. 6 to Sept. 17. Please pray for me during that time, for safe travel and safe return home.

Gob bless!

Matt

The importance of Mass

2010-04-15T20:31:00.002-04:00

This text is actually taken from an email that I sent out to students early last February. However, the message is an important one, so I wanted to repost that email here on the blog.
~Matt
----------------

This weekend I am, together with several students, heading off to the far away land of Hickory to participate in our annual Diocesan service retreat, "Give Your Heart Away." Please pray for those of us participating. I always look forward to these Diocesan events, because they give me a chance to meet and get to know Catholic college students from other schools within our diocese. When I talk with these students about our respective campus ministries, I will often discover that they are amazed to hear we are able to offer Mass, right here on campus. You see, with the exception of Wake Forest, WCU is the only school in our diocese that has Mass on campus. At other universities and colleges, the Catholic students have to either arrange a car pool or a school van to drive students to the closest parish, or simply make their own way to Mass. When these students discover that we have Mass on our campus, within walking distance, every week, they are envious.

So we are very fortunate (and blessed) here at WCU. And the more I reflect on it, the more blessed I realize we are. Despite the fact that our regular chaplain, Fr. Williams, has been ill and on leave for some time, the Diocese has always made sure that we have a priest available here on Sunday evenings to hear confessions and offer Mass for us. Fr. Shawn O'Neal has driven in from Bryson City the past two weeks. Fr. Shawn grew up in New Orleans, and he even made it out to celebrate the Mass for us last Sunday evening, instead of staying at home in front of the TV, cheering on his beloved Saints as they took their first Super Bowl victory. Next week we will have Fr. Jack Denny, from Maggie Valley, join us to be our celebrant. And we will welcome him with open arms. Yes, we are very blessed to be so provided for in our sacramental lives.
Yet, at the same time, I have noticed a trend in my past two years here at WCU as campus minister. I cannot help but notice that Mass attendance among students goes down in the Spring Semester. When I ask students about this trend, I'm told that it is "always" that way, because "students are so busy in the spring semester." Busy with what? With homework, studying, writing papers, completing projects, etc.

This was confirmed for me last year, when I led a group of students on a Lenten retreat. The theme was "True Repentance," and we talked about how you need to repent -- or turn away from -- anything that distracts you from your goal, eternal and perfect happiness with God through Jesus Christ. When I asked the students what some of the things were on our university campus that distracted them from Christ, I was honestly expecting answers like sex, drugs and alcohol. That is not what I heard, though. What I did hear surprised me. Without exception, everyone there said that academic pressure was the major distraction from their faith. The stresses of their studies weighed heavily on them.

Studying, of course, is a good and necessary thing. You should make sure that you schedule time to do your assigned homework, read your texts, write your papers, study for your exams. That's what you are in school for, after all. It's a good thing. But if it starts to come between you and God, then even a good thing can become an occasion of sin. It then becomes time to reexamine your priorities and look carefully and honestly at how you choose to schedule your time. Do your studies really demand your time and attention a full seven days a week, preventing you from keeping the Third Commandment to keep the Lord's Day holy? Are there other things that you give priority to during the week, taking away time meant for study, therefore leaving you scurrying to catch up on Sunday so you don't fall behind? So rather than keeping the Lord's Day holy, has it become a "back-up" day for all the things you don't get done during the week?

Before I go on, let me just say that I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone here. I think these are questions that all of us -- even non-students -- need to ask ourselves every now and then. Am I putting other priorities -- even good priorities -- ahead of my relationship with God? If I'm not honoring the third commandment, to keep the Lord's Day holy, am I still honoring the first commandment, to have no other God's before Him? Something does not have to be scandalous or objectively evil to come between us and God. Am I making my academic career, my job, my friends, or my hobby a "god" that I place above the Lord?

One weapon we can use against this is to make sure we never fail in our obligation to attend Mass. I used that word, "obligation," intentionally, for that is what it is for us -- a serious obligation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass... the Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin" (para. 2181).

Just to be clear, I'm sure by "serious reason" the Magisterium did not mean to include things like, "I need to get a jump start on my homework," or "I need to finish that paper I should have done three days ago," let alone, "I'm just too tired," or "there is a great show on TV I really want to watch." And, the truth is, it is when you are experiencing stress in your life that having a good relationship with the Lord really can make the difference. It reminds us that there are greater, more important things than our GPA, our internships, or whatever else we happen to be stressing over at the moment. These things, while important in their way, fade to insignificance when we realize that we were all made by an amazing God who also created the heavens and earth, everything seen and unseen, and that this magnificent Creator loves us so much that He entered into His own creation and suffered death Himself for the remission of our sins. And all He asks from us is to love Him in return -- not for His benefit, but for our own, so that we may experience eternal life and true, perfect happiness with Him.

And how do we love Him? By following His commands. "The one who obeys the commandments he has from me is the one who loves me," Jesus said (Jn 14:21). And regarding the Mass, the Eucharist, Jesus commanded, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). Furthermore, Jesus insisted, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you" (Jn 6:53).

Now I have gone on long enough this week, so I'll spare you (for now) a treatise on the Real Presence and all the blessings of the Eucharist. The point just now is that this was something of major importance to Jesus. (Just read the sixth chapter of John's Gospel). He really wanted to stress the point, and the Second Vatican Council further stressed the point by calling the Eucharist the "source and summit of our faith." John Paul II called the Mass, "the source and summit of the whole Church's worship and the Christian life."

Those are some big words from some big people. So I ask you to reflect on them, and spend some time in prayer. Can you really be a faithful Catholic, can you really maintain a close relationship with Jesus, if you are neglecting the "source and summit" of the Christian life?
Mass is offered in our chapel every Sunday evening at 7:30pm. So sleeping in is no excuse! And if you prefer a morning Mass, you have two options at St. Mary's in Sylva, at 9:00 and 11:00am. (And they have a Mass in Spanish on Saturday night at 8:00pm). If it's been a while since you've been to Mass, don't let that stop you from coming, you'll be more than welcomed back.
I look forward to seeing you there.

Insight in a dream

2010-03-21T16:59:00.004-04:00

Last night I had a rather interesting dream...

My dreams have been somewhat erratic and rather more intense since we set the clocks ahead for daylight savings time (it's like self-imposed jet lag, but I figure it's just another Lenten penance). Generally my dreams make no more or less sense than anyone else's. Two nights ago, for example, I dreamed I was running in some kind of marathon race through an abandoned, post-apocalyptic urban city center.... carrying a full grown live sheep on my shoulders. Really.

Last night, however, I had a theological insight in a dream. Maybe it was the mocha chip ice cream I ate right before bed.

In this dream, I was talking with a young man, a college student I suppose, who had started attending Mass after a long absence from the sacraments. I was discussing his return to the Church, and he mentioned to me that he felt the need to attend Mass because (in his words), "I want God in my life."

What I told him, in the dream, was, "God is already in your life. I know He is, just from the fact that you exist. He is in your life, sustaining you in existence. No, you don't need to come to Mass if you only want God in your life. You come to Mass to worship God, because YOU want to be in God's life."

That's all I recall of the dream, and I woke up shortly after to the sound of the rooster crowing. (Why on earth did we decide to put the coop on the side of the house closest to our bedroom?) But I woke up with a feeling that I had just realized something profound. And while I don't recall any of the other circumstances of the dream, that particular snippet of conversation remains in my memory.

I think there is some truth to be found there. God is in all of our lives. You cannot escape from that truth. You can ignore Him. You can pretend that He isn't there. You can go years without thinking about Him. But none of that changes reality. God is there. He Who Is, the one who gave His name to Moses as "I AM," is the root and cause of all existence, including our own. The Almighty who knows all, who sees all, who understands all is always aware of our needs and conditions. To put it simply, He is always there with us.

Our decision is simple. We can either ignore Him and pretend like He isn't there. Or we can accept the reality that He is there with us and direct our lives accordingly. When we make the decision to be active Catholics and participate in the sacramental life, we say to God, "I know you are always with me, Father. I want to be with You, too."

The problem with Environmentalism

2010-01-11T07:55:00.002-05:00

Too often Catholics and other serious Christians get a bad rap as being "anti-environmentalist" which often gets translated as "anti-environment," implying that we don't care how we pollute the earth and destroy our environment.

This cannot be farther from the truth. Many Catholics, myself included, have a great love for the environment and understand our call to be good stewards of God's creation. I (we) love the earth because God made it, He made it good, and He made it for us to live in, enjoy, and care for.

And it also cares for us. The earth is given us to provide us with what we need in terms of food, shelter, comfort, etc. All the basic necessities.

This is not meant to be a theological treatise on why good Christians should care for the environment. It is enough for the moment to say that we should. So why are so many good Catholics "anti-environmentalist" then? Because the environmentalist movement today has become something that places the good of the environment over and above the good of humanity. I was reminded of this by a recent column in our diocesan paper, The Catholic News & Herald, by Fr. Roger Landry.

In it, he speaks of a recent push at the Environmental Protection Agency to classify carbon-dioxide as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide is, of couse, the gas that we human beings exhale every time we take a breath. Fr. Landry writes:

Once carbon dioxide... is classified as a pollutant, human beings become
categorized as polluters just as much as coal-burning factories; then, just like
such factories, human life can be regulated and even criminalized.

This thought probably seems outlandish to most readers, but they need to
know that it does not seem outlandish to many environmentalists.

Prior to the Copenhagen Summit, a British think tank, Optimum Population
Trust, launched a carbon dioxide offset scheme that encouraged summit
participants to counterbalance the amount of carbon dioxide of their flight by
giving $7 to a "family planning" initiative to prevent the birth of one child in
an African country.

Fr. Landrey goes on to relate that some environmentalists are also calling for all nations to impose China's ruthless "one-child" policy on all their citizens. Other examples of this sort of thing are easy to find.

But I was most shocked and disheartened (and disgusted) to read of this nonsense "offset" scheme. It is perfectly appropriate, in the minds of these people, to justify our air travel, so long as we counterbalance the environmental consequences of the fuel we burn by "preventing the birth" of an African child. What would the African parents think of this, I wonder? Sorry, ma'am, you cannot have any more children because, well, our European diplomats simply must continue to fly around the globe to attend these summets, you know. Otherwise things just won't get done. Important matters, you understand. Sorry about your family and all that, but well... we are more important now, aren't we? What hubris! What arrogance! What a horror, to actually think that your air travel is worth the life of a child.

And I note the money would specifically be directed to preventing the birth of African children. Why not children in Europe? Or America? I suppose our children are not brown enough. Oh wait, I forgot we are now living in a "post-racist" society. We don't think that way any more -- or do we?

So for those of you wondering whether good Catholics should work to protect the environment, absolutely we should. But can we sign up for the whole environmentalist agenda? Absolutely not -- and moral atrocities like this which are being advocated by environmentalist think tanks are the reason why.

Setting Priorities

2009-10-06T12:29:00.002-04:00

A few things have coincided in my life lately that I want to share with you.

First, the weekend before last I was in attendance at the 5th annual Diocese of Charlotte Eucharistic Congress. While there I heard Imaculee Ilibagiza, survivor of the Rwandan genocide, speak on Our Lady of Kibeho (the only approved apparition on the African continent).

Her talk was very inspirational, peppered with many personal anecdotes. Imaculee has been many times in her life to Kibeho to be in the presence of such grace and to hear the visionaries. Once, when she was a student, she traveled to Kibeho when she should have been studying for a test the next morning. Imagine her surprise when one of the visionaries related a message to the gathered crowd from Mary, to the effect of, "I know many of you left work or school today without permission. But because you came to me, your Mother, I will take care of you."

Imaculee returned home late that night, intent on studying for her test. Exhausted, though, she went to sleep instead. The next morning, she only had one hour to study before class. Knowing there was no way she could read the 350 page text in that time, she instead opened to a random part of the book and read a 10 page section.

To her amazement, every question on her test came from those 10 pages she had read. And while she did not ace it, she passed the test. In fact, she related, she was one of only two students in the class to receive a passing grade. Our Lady had taken care of her.

I heard Imaculee talk about Our Lady of Kibeho on Saturday. So her account was still fresh in my mind the next Sunday morning at Mass, listening to a homily about the realities of Hell. The Gospel for the day was from the ninth chapter of Mark, where Jesus instructs us, quite bluntly, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. it is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna... If your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna..."

Jesus is telling us that Hell is real, and it is a possibility that we may go there, if we do not repent, amend our ways, and follow the path He has set towards eternal life.

Father's homily pointed out the fact that God does not send anyone to hell -- we choose to go there, by rejecting Him. God has made His choice for us, revealed in Jesus Christ. God chooses life for us -- eternal life, in perfect and absolute happiness with Him. God's choice is made. We must also choose. Do we choose the life God is offering us? Or do we reject it? Jesus, in the Gospel reading, is warning us of the consequences of that rejection.

Father pointed out that the primary task of this life is to move towards God, to accept God, to live in love with Him, to be sanctified through Him, so that when we die we may live eternally with Him. I repeat, this is our primary purpose. All those other things that we seek after and hope to achieve might be good, as well. We need to work at our jobs, we need to study in school, we need to build friendships and have hobbies and all those things. These things are good and important. But none of those pursuits are our primary aims in life. Growing closer to God is.

This brings me to the third and final event that I want to tie into all of this. Last spring, I held a retreat for some students, the theme of which was "True Repentance." Repentance, I stressed to them, means reorientation. It means turning towards Christ, and away from whatever it is that is leading you away from Him. It it not necessary that repentance be a complete 180 degree about-face (though if you are living a life diametrically opposed to Christ, an about face is surely called for). But repentance can mean a smaller shift. If you are living your life aimed at Christ, and get off by even just a few degrees, pursuing that path will take you father and father off course the longer you maintain it. You need to reorient yourself back to Christ. You need to repent.

So I began the day by asking the students to give me examples of elements of their college life that serve as distractions from Christ; things they need to repent of. I was expecting the usual; sex, drugs and rock and roll. What nearly every student said, without exception, greatly surprised me. It was academic pressure. They get so much pressure from professors, advisors, and directors to do well that it is overwhelming. The assignments, the tests, the papers and exams all add up to a big pile of stress. Students are taking multiple classes, in effect serving multiple masters, each demanding 100% of their time.

And where is there time for Jesus?

All this adds up to a real need for us all -- and college students especially -- to examine our priorities. Are we really living as if heaven is our primary goal? I have no doubt that, if asked, most all Christians would agree that it is. The question is whether this is reflected in our lives.

I can tell you, without looking at a calendar, when mid-terms and exams are coming, because Mass attendance on campus goes down. People are not skipping Mass to go party or hang out with friends. They are staying home to study, or going to the library. More and more I hear this. "I can't come to Mass because I have a paper due." Or, "I'd like to come to the program, but I need to go do homework."

Now, studying is a good thing. And I suppose skipping Mass to study is preferable to skipping Mass to take drugs in a dark alley. But while studying is a good, and doing homework is a good, attending Mass is also a good. In fact, it's an obligation for us Catholics. And there is a reason for it.

We need to hear the Word of God proclaimed. We need to be in His presence. We need to offer him our praise and worship. And we need to receive Him in the Eucharist, the "source and summit of our faith," according to the Second Vatican Council, and "the bread of life" according to Jesus Christ Himself! Jesus said, "If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have life within you."

One hour a week. That's all the Church is asking. Why? Because it is important. Because our main goal in this life is to be worthy of heaven so that when we die we may live forever with our Creator, enjoying the perfect bliss for which He has made us. That's why. Heaven is our main project.

Studying and academic achievement should be priorities for all college students -- important priorities. You are at university to learn, after all. But why? The purpose of education is simple and straightforward -- to come to understand the truth. But the thing we often forget is that god, the author of all truth, wants you to know Him personally, as well. We have an obligation to make God a priority in our lives.

Make academic excellence a priority. But make God a higher priority. You may find, like Imacluee, that making time for God and putting your faith first puts all those other concerns in perspective. The graces you will gain from putting your faith first will make all those other challenges easier to overcome.

When asked to attend a study group on Sunday, you should say, "No, I'm a Catholic. I need to go to Mass. It is not an option." You can find another time to study, to write your paper, or what have you. For that one hour each week (at minimum!) you belong in the chapel, giving adoration to God. It's every week. You know it's coming. Plan around it. Make it a priority in your college life to put your faith first.

That is, after all, our primary responsibility, our primary endeavor, and, indeed, the reason God made us. Eternal and perfect happiness. We all want it. Putting God first is how we will achieve it.

Why Gossip Is a Sin

2009-03-15T16:17:00.004-04:00

People like to talk about other people. For some, it seems like their favorite hobby. Others act like it is their vocation! But we all do it to a certain extent. It is part of living in a society with others, in community with others. Human beings are relational creatures, so we need to live with others. But we need to realize that our words have the potential to harm those relationships, and we need to be especially wary of the sin of Gossip.

Gossip is when we relate personal or sensitive facts about another to a person who really has no business knowing them. And even if what we say is quite true, if we gossip we sin against the eighth commandment, not to bear false witness against our neighbor. And we also contribute to sin if we listen to gossip and take it to heart.

Consider the following excerpts from the Catechism.

"Truthfulness keeps to the just mean between what ought to be expressed and what ought to be kept secret: it entails honesty and discretion..." (2469)

"Repect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury..." (2477)

"To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way..." (2478)

"Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity." (2479)

"Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior." (2481)

And of course lying is the most fundamental offense against the truth. "It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity." (2485)

Sadly, many good people violate one or more of the above precepts on a daily basis, and brush aside the injustice as "mere gossip." But a "mere" sin is a sin nonetheless, and a violation of justice and charity.

Please think on these words from the Catechism the next time you are tempted to share that "juicy gossip," and ask yourself whether you are using your words to build up or break down your neighbor.

Some thoughts on liturgical music

2009-02-11T12:08:00.007-05:00

If there is one thing that has a great potential for causing division among Catholics, it is the music of the local parish. Everyone has their own taste and backgrounds. Do you come from a parish with a full choir, decked out in robes, accompanied by an organ masterfully played? Or perhaps a a folk choir with guitar? Maybe you attend a "Life Teen" Mass with electric guitar, bass, and a drum kit. Maybe there is little music at all, beyond what two or three non-musically trained volunteers can put together each week. I'm willing to bet, however, that your home parish doesn't frequently feature Gregorian chant in their Sunday liturgies. Why is this?

Many think the answer is obvious. Didn't all that go out with Vatican II and the New Mass? Isn't it just now starting to make a come-back with the new allowance of the Old Mass (now called the Extraordinary Form) under Benedict XVI?

Well.... not exactly.

The truth is that Vatican II did have something to say about sacred music in the liturgy (more in fact, than any other council before it). But it's not what the average Catholic might think. Here's what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council said in Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph 116.

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman
liturgy; therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place
in liturgical services.

The Vatican II Fathers go on to say that other sacred music is allowed, so long as it is of a sufficiently dignified nature; the document only mentions one other type of music specifically by name, and that is polyphony. Polyphony is a Renaissance style of music combining many voices singing different texts into one unified musical whole (unlike Gregorian chant, where all singers sing with one voice).

So Vatican II did not mandate Gregorian chant (nor did any council previous), but it does give it "pride of place" in the liturgy. "All things being equal," it says, this is what you should be hearing when you attend Mass.

Now is a good time to introduce you to a book called the Liber Usualis. This volume was the book of Gregorian chant used prior to the New Mass (Novus Ordo). It contained many settings of the ordinary chants of the Mass (those for which the text is the same for each Mass, i.e. the Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc.), as well as the proper chants for the specific Masses of the year. This concept of "propers" is something that has been largely lost. Most modern Catholics are unaware of their significance, let alone their existence. But these are prayers that are particular to each Mass, and there are chants that are associated with them that have developed along with the liturgy for the past 1500 years. So, for example, there will be a proper introit (entrance antiphon) for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, and a proper communion antiphon, etc., particular to that Mass, which relates to the readings and general theme for the Mass. The Liber Usualis had all of that for the entire Church year. It was (is) a massive collection of the musical heritage of the Church. This is what the Vatican II Fathers had in mind when they said "Gregorian chant" should have "pride of place."

So if Vatican II speaks so highly of Gregorian chant, why don't we hear it at Mass? Well, as you may know, the Novus Ordo Mass did not come directly from Vatican II. The council called for a renewal and revision of the liturgy, but it did not give us the new Mass. That came later. Did Gregorian chant somehow get left out when the Novus Ordo was issued?

Let's take a look. The text that the priest follows when he offers the Mass is called the Roman Missal. And the liturgical norms for this liturgy are laid out in the document called the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, often shortened to "GIRM." In 2001 a new (third) edition of the Roman Missal, as well as it's Instruction, were promulgated by John Paul II (in Latin). The English translation of the Roman Missal itself is still in the works, but an English translation of the GIRM has long been available. Let's see what this latest Instruction has to say about music in the liturgy.

Well, paragraph 41 states:

All other things being equal, Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is
proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other types of sacred music, in particular
polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided they correspond to the spirit of the
liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful

Sound familiar? It should. The footnote for this section cites Sacrosanctum Concilium, which we just quoted from. I should add, too, that by "participation of all the faithful" it does not mean that all the faithful should be able to sing along. No, the participation of the faithful at Mass is primarily one of prayer. Music that contributes towards a prayerful spirit among the faithful is aiding their participation. It really matters not whether the congregation can sing along.

There are some parts of the Mass, though, that the congregation is expected to say or sing aloud. In fact, the GIRM makes a point to say (still in paragraph 41):

Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently,
it is fitting that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the
Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, set
to simpler melodies.

So, when was the last time your parish all chanted the Creed in Latin? Enough said. Now, let's take a look at some of what the GIRM has to say about music for some other particular parts of Mass.

Starting at the beginning, regarding the Entrance, the GIRM states (para. 48):

In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the
Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missalor the Psalm from
the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting;
(2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song
from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of
Bishops or the diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or
metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the
Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop.

What does all that mean? Basically, the Church is presenting us with four options for music during this part of Mass. Either the proper antiphon for that Mass according to the official texts of the Church (the Roman Gradual and the Simple Gradual are essentially like the Liber Usualis for the New Mass), or the proper antiphon from another collection with Ecclesial approval (these would be texts such as the Gregorian Missal or the Anglican Use Gradual, the latter of which has all the antiphons in English translation). Barring all this, the fourth and final option is another "suitable liturgical song."

Now, I don't know percentages, but I'm willing to bet that in the majority of parishes across the United States, what you will hear on any given Sunday is the fourth option -- some hymn as selected by the choir or music director.

And this is, I think, one of the major reasons why we do not hear Gregorian chant, or know anything about "proper antiphons" in our culture today. Given the option not to sing or chant these texts, people have opted not to. And we have sadly lost a major part of our Catholic culture and tradition.

Paragraph 74 of the GIRM says that the Offertory chant follows the same norms as the Entrance chant (i.e. we have the same four options -- the last of which is "another suitable song.").

Paragraph 87 deals with music at Communion, for which (surprise!) we have the same four options. Paragraph 88, however, does allow for "a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn" that could be sung by the entire congregation after the communion antiphon. But the first choice, once more, is for the proper antiphon for that particular Mass to be chanted.

In addition to these proper antiphons, there is also the Alleluia antiphon, which is mentioned in paragraph 62. Interestingly enough, no options are given here.

The Alleluia is sung in every season other than Lent. The verses are
taken from the Lectionary or the Gradual.

Period. No other source for Alleluia verses is given. But, probably because we have gotten so used to exercising our options in the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion music, we have made our own options where they do not exist, such as with the Alleluia verse.

I have, in my own experience, encountered even worse abuses. I have seen many integral prayers of the Mass replaced by "another suitable song" including the Responsorial Psalm, the Gloria, and the Agnus Dei.

The end result, unfortunately, of taking all of these "options" (even those we don't really have) is chaos. You don't know what you might encounter when you enter a parish church for the first time as a visitor. Will you be asked to sing from a hymnal filled with old classic Protestant hymns accompanied by an organ? Will you be asked to sing along with a "contemporary choir" using throw-away misselletes or "song sheets"? Or will you maybe, just maybe, get a chance to hear the traditional music of the Church, which is proper to the Roman Rite?

If you were a person whose only experience with Catholic worship was what you have read in the liturgical documents governing the worship of the Church and the documents of the Second Vatican Council, you'd expect to hear a lot of Latin, a lot of Gregorian chant, and to hear the proper antiphons for the Mass most of the time. You might think that you'd hear the occasional other hymn, perhaps after the proper Communion antiphon has been sung, or as a recessional hymn. (Which, by the way, you won't read about in the GIRM, because it really is not part of the Mass -- it occurs after the priest says Ita Missa Est. The Mass is ended!)

You would be very surprised, having read these documents, to discover parish after parish, and even cathedrals, where the music director's weekly job is to select four or five "other suitable songs" for the Sunday Mass. The proper antiphons are not even considered, if indeed they are even known about!

And I think this is the real key. Most music directors and choir members are well meaning people (in many cases volunteers) who simply do not know what the liturgical documents say, or that the Church has an ideal in mind when it comes to our sacred music, or that things such as "proper antiphons" exist at all. And this is a sad commentary. These documents are all readily available, many of them free on line (I've supplied links above in many cases). With today's information technology, there is really no excuse for those involved in music ministry not to be aware of what the Church expects of us in this regard.

And no, we may not be able to meet this "ideal" in many cases, at least not immediately. But it does present us with something we can strive for, a rule against which we can measure our own efforts.

As for me, personally, the more I learn about sacred music and study the liturgical documents, the less satisfied I become with the current model of "let's select four hymns for this week." I long to hear the tones of the proper antiphons, setting the tone (literally) for the Mass itself.

One day, perhaps, the ideal will not be so uncommon.

March For Life

2009-01-22T07:01:00.002-05:00

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the annual March for Life at our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., marking the date of the infamous Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, overturning abortion laws in all 50 states.

We have two students on our Catholic Campus Ministry peer council who will be marching in defense of the unborn in Washington today, and our prayers are with them.

Those students who are able, please join with these marchers, whose numbers are anticipated to exceed 200,000 strong, by participating in a prayer vigil at St. Mary's Catholic Church today in Sylva. The vigil will start at noon (as the March begins) with the Angelus, followed by Mass, and a pro-life rosary. The vigil will end at 2pm. Please come and stay for as much as that time as you are able.

I wanted to post today a link to a letter of invitation that the organizers of the March for Life sent to then-President-elect Barak Obama on January 15. It gives powerful reasons why the defense of unborn life is so important, and why we need strong leadership. We'll see what happens....
Click here to read the letter.

Upcoming series at the Student Center

2009-01-13T16:30:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Spring 2009 semester! I sincerely hope that our returning students had a good Christmas break, and that new students to campus will come by the student center to introduce themselves.

This semester I am happy to announce that we will have an ongoing series about morality on alternate Wednesday nights, after our meal together.

Morality? Sounds boring, I know. Most people hear the word "morality" and they either think of "Thou Shalt Nots" being proclaimed from on high, or they think of some touchy-feely, fuzzy, whatever makes you feel good and doesn't hurt anyone else way of justifying our actions.

The truth is that human beings are moral creatures, meaning our choices and our actions carry moral weight -- that is, when we excercise our God-given free will, those choices reverberate through eternity. Serious implications, no?

Exploring the Catholic traditions on morality reveals that it is a science, one with a long and noble tradition, and it is a science really worth thinking about; and best of all, moral thought is accessible to everyone. You don't need a special ethics desgree to make sense of it.

So I truly hope you'll decide to join us, as we learn about our moral traditions and explore the reasons behing all those "thou shalt nots."

Our schedule this semester will be:

Jan. 21: Ways of Looking at Morality

Feb. 4: The Natural Law

Feb. 18: The Moral Act

March 11: Conscience

March 25: Moral Absolutes

April 15: Sin & Grace

April 29: Applying to our Lives

This series will be part of our regular Wednesday meals together, and discussion is encouraged. Hope to see you there!

An Apologetic For Life

2008-11-11T12:53:00.002-05:00

I just got off of the radio where I was once more the guest on Relevant Radio's "Searching the Word" program. This is their "apologetics & catechesis" program, and on it we discussed the nature of apologetics as simply illustrating the reasonableness of our faith.

"Reasonable" is a big word with me these days. When something is reasonable, it simply means that it makes sense. We can understand it to be true using our reason, our human intellect. The Catholic faith (and indeed, religion in general) gets a bad rap these days with athiests and secularists claiming that to have faith you must "leave your brain at the door" and allow your beliefs to be dictated to you by other people.

Far from it, I say! To really engage in the Catholic faith, one must use their mental faculties. We believe our intellect to be God-given, after all. Our reason is the mechanism God gave us by which we deduce the truth. Our faith demands that we use our reason.

But I see some people these days advocating for some very unreasonable things in the name of reason and logic.

With the recent presidential election behind us, I've been seing a lot of things posted around Facebook dealing with abortion and the respect for human life. A lot of the students involved in WCU's Catholic Campus Ministry have made pro-life statements on their pages. It is interesting to see some of the reactions of their friends and fellow college students.

To give an example, one commentor made the statement that it is "sensible and logical to understand that a fetus in the first trimester is super far from being a being. They don't have a heart or brain yet, they're like an ant. You squish ants all the time."

Well, let's just use a bit of reason to parse through that statement. To say that something or someone is a "being" is simply to say that that this has existstance. It is. To say something is not a being means that it does not have existence. So to suggest that a fetus in the first trimester does not have existance is absurd. I know a lot of pregnant women that would beg to differ!

Of course, what this young writer probably meant to say is that the fetus in the first trimester is not a "human being." It exists, sure enough, but not as a human. The question then becomes, what is it? If it is not a human, it must be something else? Is it a different kind of animal? Is it a plant? A mineral? Biologically, what exactly is the fetus? Scientists (using that God-given reason) understand the fetus to be a developing human being. It is human alright, just a human in an early stage of development, just like a five-year old child is not as fully developed as the thirty-year old man. Both are still humans; as is the fetus in the womb.

What of the assertion that the fetus has no heart or brain? Is this true? Well, let's use our reason and look to what modern science has been able to tell us. The brain actually begins to develop around the twentieth day of pregnancy, and the heart starts to beat around day 21. This is less than a third of the way through the mother's first trimester, and well before most women even realize they are pregnant. Doctors can actually detect active brain waves from about day 40. So to say that abortion is permissible because a fetus has no heart or brain means that abortion should be illegal after the first three weeks of pregnancy. And, as an aside, "fetus" is the word generally used to describe the developing child after about the eighth week of pregnancy, when everything is present that would be found in a fully developed adult. It comes from the Latin word for "offspring." So it really doesn't make any sense at all to speak of a "fetus" with no heart or brain. At those early stages, the developing person is called an "embryo."

In any case, whatever the unborn child is called, how would lack of a brain or heart make the embryo like an ant? Last time I checked, ants have brains and hearts. We squash ants not because they lack certain organs but because -- well, because they are ants. We don't kill human beings, again not because they possess certain organs, but because they are human beings. Killing another innocent human being is called murder. And, in case anyone needs reminding, murder is wrong.

This same student also comments that, "If anything it's bad for the kid to have him when you can't take care of him, and it could also royally ruin your life. I say abort, if you're responsible." Ah, here is the argument that abortion is the responsible thing to do if you really care about your child. If you don't have the time, or the money, or the inclination to raise a child, it's far better for him or her to be killed than to have to live in a less-than-perfect family. If you truly believe this, then God hep you, because there are not very many perfect families out there. As a young father, I tell other young couples that if you wait until you feel you are "ready" to start a family, you may never start one. Rarely do people feel they are "ready" on all fronts -- monetarily, emotionally, what have you -- to bring a child into this world. But people do it very day. Our species have been doing it for millennia. And we manage to get by just fine, thank you.

But to suggest that it's better for the child that he be killed is the height of arrogance! How dare we presume to be able to dictate the fate of an unborn child! The fact of the matter is we have no idea who that child will grow up to be. Some of our best minds, our noblest leaders, or most brilliant artists, statesmen and scientists have come from very humble and disadvantaged backgrounds. And what if the child doesn't grow up to acheive greatness, but grows up to work as a grocery clerk, or a civil servant, or pizza delivery boy? Does that mean he shouldn't have been allowed to live? How dare we make that judgment? For there is only one thing we can know for certain about that child's future -- if we kill him, he won't have one.

And the idea of advocating abortion as the "responsible" option is, to speak plainly, repugnant. It calls to mind the famous quote from Blessed Theresa of Calcutta (aka Mother Theresa), "It is a trajedy to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you please." And that is what this argument really boils down to.

I saw a comment made by a different student that was along the same lines as the "abortion as the responsible choice" argument. This student wrote, "The resources of the world are stretched far enough without encouraging every person who puts two cells together in their uterus to call it a person and give it a name and put another human being on the already overpopulated planet."

Well, what does reason tell us about this line of thinking? First of all, a person is not a person because we decide to call it such. We could call a rock a "person" and give it a name and it is still a rock. And a person is still a person even when not acknowledged as such by society. In early nineteenth century America we had a whole class of people that society didn't consider persons. But society was wrong, and we came to understand that slavery was a gross injustice. In the early twentieth century, the Nazis in Germany decided a whole class of people were not real persons and could therefore be summarily rounded up and killed. The resources of the world were stretched far enough -- why share them with inferior Jews?

The same bad logic used to justify slavery and the holocaust is today being used to justify the holocaust of the unborn in America; a holocaust that to date has cost over 50,000,000 lives and counting.

And what about our world's limited resources? Since the days of Malthus people have been arguing that our growing population would soon outstrip the world's capacity to feed us. However, while the world's population has increased from 1.6 billion to 6.2 billion over the past hundred years, the world's gross domestic product has actually increased twenty to fourty times, leading to much higher standards of living. Food production is not really the problem. People starve not because there is not enough food, but because they do not have access to food. It's a problem of distribution, not production. But despite the data, people continue to use the "population bomb" mantra as an excuse to advocate for the genocide of the unborn.

In the end, we can boil this issue down to one central issue: is the embryo or fetus in the womb a person, or is it something else? For if it is a person, then it is entitled to human rights, including the right to life. If it is not a person, then one may legitimately make arguments that it can be killed, the way we euthanize a pet.

In my experience, arguments for the non-personhood of the unborn always fall short. For example, the first comment I quoted mentioned lack of a functioning brain. Well, if this is our defining factor, what do you do with a brain-dead adult. Can you morally kill him? The abortion supported may very well say, "Yes." But the follow up question must be, if doctors told you that the brain-dead adult would regain all brain function in a matter of weeks, would it still be permissible to kill that person, simply because they are temporarily incapaciated? I have a hard time imagining our young student saying "yes" to that question.

But if we apply that logic to the unborn, we can see how wrong abortion truly is. Becuase even during that short time before the fetal brain is fully developed, there is potential. If we simply wait a short while, the brain is there, fully functional. It will be the same brain the child uses to learn about the world, to recognize his mother and father, to learn to walk, to talk, to play, to sing and dance. The only thing we need to do is to allow nature to take its course and allow that child to live and develop.

If you style yourself as "pro-choice," remember the choice that you are advocating. It is a decision that leaves the child in the womb with no choice, no voice; it leave him or her with no life. Is that choice really ours to make?

Archbishop Charles Chaput teaches...

2008-10-25T07:16:00.002-04:00

"Christians in general and Catholics in particular do not, and should not, seek to "force" their religious beliefs on society. But working to form the public conscience is not coercion any more than teaching the difference between poison and a steak is a form of bullying. Actively witnessing to and advancing what we believe to be true about key moral issues in public life is not "coercion." It's honesty. And it's also a duty -- not only of faith but of citizenship." - Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

The Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., has been the archbishop of Denver, Colorado since February 18, 1997. As member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, Archbishop Chaput is the second Native American to be ordained bishop in the United States, and the first Native American archbishop.

Here are a couple of recommended articles by the above archbishop, which I strongly encourage you to read in this election season, as they touch upon the role of the faithful Catholic in political life.

"Why We're Here" is actually chapter three of Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, recently published by Doubleday.

"Little Murders" is a talk he gave at an ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) dinner on Oct. 17.

NC Bishops survey political candidates

2008-10-09T07:53:00.002-04:00

The Catholic Bishops of NC (Diocese of Raleigh and Charlotte) have invited all political candidates running for office this year to participate in a survey to find out where they stand on various moral issues of special importance to Catholic voters (and all of good will, really).

The results of that survey can be found on line, here:
http://www.charlottediocese.org/candidatesurvey2008.html

You can enter in your address or zip code to see how the candidates running for office in your area responded. I did, and I noticed one fact that surprised me. Of all the candidates running in my region, every Libertarian candidate responded to the bishops' survery; all but one Republican candidate responded; and not a single Democratic candidate bothered to respond. I found that interesting.

Why not try your zip code to see how the candidates running in your area responded?

Pelosi & Augustine

2008-09-21T09:06:00.003-04:00

Back on August 24, Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, of San Francisco, appeared on Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw. Brokaw asked her some very straightforward questions about abortion and the beginning of human life, and she attempted to cloak her answers in religious terms, which I am afraid may be very confusing to Catholics who are unfamiliar with the issues.

Alluding to Barak Obama's infamous remark that it was "above his pay grade" as to when a baby should receive basic human rights, Brokaw asked Pelosi, "If he [Obama] were to come to you and say, 'Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?' -- what would you tell him?"

Pelosi responded: "I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition. St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."

Wow. So, according to Pelosi, the Church has no clue as to when life begins, and regardless that question shouldn't impact a "woman's right to choose" -- a sentiment that makes absolutely no sense when you think about what it is the so-called "right" is choosing. It is the "right" to choose to kill your own unborn child. One would think that the question of when life begins would have everything to do with this "right." Answer one way and the woman is having a simple medical procedure to remove a blob of tissue. Answer another way and we are talking about killing an innocent human life, aka murder. Big difference.

But that's not the main point I want to address in this post. I want to address what Pelosi said regarding St. Augustine. Did he really say that life begins at three months?

First off, when Pelosi referrs to "doctors of the Church," let's be clear about what she really means. She is not speaking of medical doctors, but of theological doctors. These men and women, recognized by the Church for their brilliance in theological matters, do not necessarily have any more medical knowledge of human biology than you or I. So these are not medical experts we are speaking of.

Considering St. Augustine in particular, let us recall the time during which he lived, 354-430 AD. 1500 years ago, there were no ultrasound machines, no x-rays, no OB-GYNs, etc. Pondering the question of when ensoulment occurs (when the soul is infused into the body, thus creating a human being), Augustine offered his opinion based on the best facts available to him at the time -- that opinion was that ensoulment occurred at "quickening," which is the moment that the mother first feels the baby move within her.

Does this mean that Augustine was in favor of abortion prior to quickening? Hardly. He wrote, "Their licentious cruelty, or their cruel licentiousness, sometimes goes to such lengths as to procure sterilizing poisons and if these are unavailing, in some way to stifle within the womb and eject the fetus that has been conceived. They want their offspring to die before it comes to life or, if it is already living in the womb, to perish before it is born. Surely, if they are both of such a mind, they do not deserve the name of husband and wife..."

Even though he was uncertain about exactly when human life began within the womb, he understood (rightly) that the womb was the place where human life begins, and regardless of the chronology, that entire process needs to be protected and revered.

If Augustine were alive today and had the benefit of ultrasound machines and modern medical textbooks, no doubt he would be a strong supporter of the right to life. Pelosi, on the other hand, shuts her eyes to these modern developments. Further in her interview with Tom Brokaw, she insists, "I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins..."

In fact, any honest doctor worth his salt (heck, even any high school biology student) can answer the question sufficiently. The question, Madame Speaker, is when is there not life? We all know the "birds and the bees." A male sperm cell (which is alive) meets up with a female egg cell (which is alive). When fertilizaton occurs, the two join together and form a human conceptus (which is alive). That conceptus grows and develops, and modern science has charted that growth day-by-day throughout the course of the pregnancy. And at no time during those nine months is there ever something that is not alive becoming something alive. It is all life. And the unique DNA for that individual person is there, whole and entire, from the moment of conception. Science tells us that.

But Pelosi is not really interested in finding out what science or her Church has to say on this matter. She just repeats the party line. For just as she could open any biology text and discover what I have just related above, so too could she crack open the Catechism of the Catholic Church and learn that the Church really does have a definite teaching on this issue. Are we to seriously believe she is that ignorant? I don't.

Further in the interview she repeats the tired line about wanting abortion to be "safe and rare" and then shifts gears by saying we should reduce the number of abortions by increasing access to contraception (something else the Church has a most definite teaching on). "If you want to reduce the number of abortions," she said, "and we all do, we must -- it would behoove you to support family planning and contraception..."

If has a certain logic on the face of it. If abortions are the result of unwanted pregnancies, and you can reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies by contraception, you'd expect there to be fewer abortions the more contraception is used. However, that is not the case. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The more widespread the use of contraception, the more abortions you have. Why is this?

On our "Day of Life" retreat coming up this next Saturday, Sept. 27, we will have as a speaker Dr. David Ramsey, Catholic physician, who will talk about the connection between contraception and abortion. Two different sins stemming from the same root.

WCU students, please contact me to reserve your space for this day of prayer and instruction. I hope you join us!

St. Augustine on Science

2008-09-16T13:01:00.001-04:00

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods and on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion.

-- St. Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim (The Literal Meaning of Genesis).

RCIA Classes to begin at St. Mary's

2008-09-14T17:00:00.003-04:00

From the Sunday bulliten at St. Mary Mother of God parish in Sylva:

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Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
Classes of enquiry and instruction for those adults who are interested in being baptized into or received into full communion with the Catholic Church will commence on Thursday, September 25, at 7pm at St. Mary's rectory. All those interested should contact Mike Ensley or Fr. Williams. This process is designed for those who, as unbaptized adults, would like to receive the Sacrament of Baptism into the Christian faith as a Catholic or for those who, already baptized, would like to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church as well as for those Catholics who would like to refresh their understanding of the faith of the Church. The first series of classes will be a time of enquiry, an occasion to ask questions about Catholicism so as to remove any unnecessary misunderstandings. The next stage will be to review what Catholics call "the preambles of the faith": those preparatory stages of serious thought about the existence of God, His full revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ (and Who Christ truly is), and the foundation of the Church. The remaining sessions will be devoted to an intense study of the Catholic Faith: its Creed, liturgical worship, morality and prayer life. Please spread the word and feel free to invite others to come and investigate the life and teachings of the Catholic Church and so to discover why this faith has not changed -- and will not change -- for over two thousand years!
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If any WCU student is interested in participating in the upcoming RCIA program, please contact myself or Father Williams!

Cardinal Egan on the right to life

2008-08-28T19:42:00.004-04:00

I wanted to share these elegant (and utterly common sensical) words of New York Archbishop Cardinal Egan, from a statement he issued this past Aug. 26. Those who claim that the morality of abortion is for "theologians" to debate, or that Christians are trying to "legistlate their faith" on the rest of society should pay heed.....

Matt

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We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs andactionfilms of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one withtheslightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what thesemarvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smileandwave into the world outside the womb.

In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right tolive,a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound todefendat all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not partsoftheir mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions oftheologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may belegitimately killed because another human being "chooses" to do so orforany other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadershipin acivilized democracy worthy of the name.

Edward Cardinal EganArchbishop of New York
August 26, 2008

Where is the intelligent criticism of Intelligent Design?

2008-08-17T16:11:00.005-04:00

In case you missed it, Intelligent Design was big in the news back in 2003 and 2004. I don't recall hearing too much about it in the media since then. It was being both hailed and criticized (depending upon your perspective) as some great new meshing of science and religion. The reality, however, is that it has actually been around as a theory since at least the late 1970s.

Stephen Meyer tells us it was developed

by a group of scientists — Charles Thaxton, Walter Bradley, Roger Olson, and
Dean Kenyon — who were trying to account for an enduring mystery of modern
biology: the origin of the digital information encoded along the spine of the
DNA molecule.

He goes on to say:

Even as early the 1960s and 70s, physicists had begun to reconsider the design
hypothesis. Many were impressed by the discovery that the laws and constants of
physics are improbably "finely-tuned" to make life possible. As British
astrophysicist Fred Hoyle put it, the fine-tuning of numerous physical
parameters in the universe suggested that "a superintellect had monkeyed with
physics" for our benefit.

Those quotes are taken from a Dec. 2005 article in the National Post (Canada), called "What is Intelligent Design?" You can read the whole thing here.

So, what is Intelligent Design? In a nutshell, it is the idea that what science has uncovered about nature, on both large and small scales, in fields as diverse as biology and cosmology, suggests that things are the way they are not because of random chance, but because some operating intelligence purposefully designed them to be that way.

If you want to read more about it, the above linked article is a good place to start, as is this April 2003 article from Crisis by Benjamin Wiker entitled, "Does Science Point to God?"

But for those of you who might not have time to read the above, Intelligent Design is the scientific equivalent of walking onto a Chrysler auto lot, looking at all the vehicles, and concluding that one or more engineers designed them all -- as opposed to them all arising spontaneously out of their base elements from being randomly thrown together by the wind.

The Intelligent Design proponent would look at those crystal skulls from the latest Indiana Jones movie and assume someone purposefully made them that way -- be it an ancient civilization, a hoaxer, or space aliens. An Intelligent Design opponent would be just as willing to believe that those crystals were carved into perfect replicas of human skulls by erosion.

You get the basic idea. There is a certain quality to a purposefully designed object or system that suggests a rational mind was behind it. And that's all Intelligent Design is saying, really. Look at the evidence objectively and it would appear that an intelligence is behind the universe. It makes no greater theological claims than that -- in fact, it is not operating from a theological perspective, but a scientific one.

I was reminded of the whole controversy surrounding Intelligent Design recently when I was reading a book of essays by Neil DeGrasse Tyson entitled, Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries. I have enjoyed watching the History Channel series, The Universe, and Tyson is an astrophysicist featured regularly on that program.

I enjoy him because he has a way of talking about astronomy and cosmology in a way that is very accessible to the layman. You see, I've always loved astronomy -- as a kid I wanted to be an astronomer, but it just didn't happen. So I enjoy listening to him and I thought I might find his books enjoyable to read. And they are. I have enjoyed reading what Tyson has to say about the cosmos, and all the strange, weird and wonderful things in it.

But there is a section towards the end of the book where Tyson groups three essays under the heading "Science and God," and there we find out that Tyson knows far more about the former than the latter. And in an essay entitled "The Perimiter of Ignorance," we find out just what this astrophysicist's opinion of Intelligent Design is. I'll let Tyson speak for himself.

The present-day version of God of the gaps [a phrase used when people invoke God
to explain things they do not understand] goes by a fresh name: "intelligent
design." The term suggests that some entity, endowed with a mental
capacity far greater than the human mind can muster, created or enabled all the
things in the physical world that we cannot explain through scientific methods.

Tyson is of course, wrong. The Intelligent Design theory doesn't just claim that some higher mind created all the things we cannot explain. In fact, it starts by looking at things we do understand, and recognizing that an operating intelligence seems to be at work here. It proposes a God of all creation, not just a God of the gaps.

Nevertheless, Tyson goes on to recount a litany of why Intelligent Design does not make sense. He points out, for instance, all the ways that he would have made human beings better, if he were designing them. He wouldn't have us eat, drink, and breathe through the same hole in our heads, thus preventing choking. He wouldn't design us to be vulnerable to drowning when 3/4 of the earth is covered in water. He wouldn't give us pinkie toe nails. And oh yeah, human beings of his design wouldn't get high blood pressure, cancer, or diabetes.

In the end, he declares that to embrace Intelligent Design is to embrace ignorance.

I don't know what this is. I don't know how it works It's too
complicated for me to figure out. It's too complicated for any human being
to figure out. So it must be the product of a higher intelligence.

Tyson here only demonstrates his own lack of understanding of just what Intelligent Design is. It is not a "God of the gaps." Proponents of ID are not suggesting God is the answer to anything science cannot explain.

And guess what? That's not how science operates in a Christian framework, anyway. The God of the gaps is a very dangerous proposition, because those gaps keep getting narrower and narrower. What science cannot explain today is simply tomorrow's discovery. And if your God only exists in the realms that remain a mystery, your God is continually shrinking.

The Christian God is the God of all creation. He is the one who causes all to be, who gives everything -- including you and me -- existence. It doesn't matter if we can look at it under a microscope, or through a telescope, analyze it, record it, predict it. It doesn't matter whether we know how it happens, or if it is a mystery. God is the first agent of it all. Discovering a new type of quark or some new twist to a law of physics doesn't impact that at all -- except to maybe illustrate to us how grand God is.

The Christian scientist wants to learn about creation because he sees it all as a reflection of God. Someone once said that God has two holy books -- the Bible and the Universe. If we understand God to be the author of all that is, then of course we want to study it. We want to learn about it, to understand it, because to do so tells us something about the one who created it. And that is a very good pursuit, indeed.

I'm not sure what motivates the atheistic scientist to study creation, but I can guess what motivates him to attack anything that would challenge his secular atheism -- even something as benign as Intelligent Design theory. And it's not pretty.

So, despite Tyson's best effort, what he gives us is not really a criticism of Intelligent Design, but rather criticism of the straw man that he presents to us as Intelligent Design. What I want to know is, where is the honest, intelligent criticism of this idea? I'm still waiting...