GOBSMACKED BY THE LATIN MASS (Letter to NZ Catholic, Mar 1)

I was gobsmacked quite frankly, last Sunday, by attending the Latin Mass for the first time in years.

I realised with blinding clarity that by comparison with the beauty and depth of the Mass we celebrated until 1965, ‘lite’ liturgy – to quote Bishop Peter Cullinane - is precisely what we have in the Novus Ordo, and the proposed changes will obviously render it ‘extra-lite’.

In the words of Benedict XVI, “the liturgical reform ... has been a devastation ... a fabrication, a banal product of the moment”.

“Translation into the languages of the people” was something demanded of Pope Paul IV in 1555 by Reformed Protestantism, along with communion in both kinds and an end to clerical celibacy. The Protestants were ahead of their time! With Catholics now having caught up, the first two achieved and with demands for the third, we see the fruits of the vernacular and a glimpse of diabolical forces behind all three.

Why have a Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments if it can’t 

"impose its will”, and the Pope can impose his will instead? And am I being “paternalistic” in expecting shepherds, to use Christ’s own beloved analogy, to lead their flock?

Before we can participate in the mystery of Christ among us we must be catechised in the mystery of Christ in us. We must be taught how to pray.

True “reverence of a community at prayer” will spring only from “private prayer”. “Scholarship and hard work” amounts to nothing in God’s eyes without at least a little of the pure love that is the fruit of contemplation.

Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi - as we pray, so we believe and live.

THE BIGOTRY BEHIND "BRIDGES" (letter to Dom Post, Feb 28)

It was already obvious that the Dominion Post has become a female, feminist fiefdom.

So it comes as no surprise to get a peek in the editorial (February 28) at the covert religious bigotry which hides behind feminism in the line, “Bridges ... goes to church and his father was a Baptist minister”.

An overview of family resilience and good child outcomes by the Ministry of Social Development shows "transcendent beliefs” (like Christianity) “offer clarity and solace in distress; they render unexpected events less threatening and enable acceptance of situations which cannot be changed. ...

"A considerable body of evidence documents a link between religion and marital stability, adjustment and happiness. ... Regular church attendance was negatively associated with spousal domestic violence,” etc.

Given the sad reading in the Dominion Post – arson in the playground, misappropriation of DHB funds, neglect of childhood trauma, drug companies behaving like criminals - a leader of the Opposition equipped with the advantages of a Christian upbringing may well build bridges to walk right over this unprincipled coalition government and into the office of Prime Minister.

A PREGNANT PRIME MINISTER PROPOSES (Letter to Dom Post, Feb 26)

Case backlog hinders justice, you say (Feb 26). What really hinders justice for “a tribunal whose jurisdiction is about fundamental human rights” is that tribunal’s neglect of the most fundamental of  human rights.

 

It’s an open-and-shut case: the Human Rights Commission states everyone has the right to life. The unborn child is proven indisputably to be a human being. And the right to life - under law - is denied annually to thousands of unborn children.

 

What’s ironic “for a tribunal charged with protecting human rights” is that Rodger Haines (Human Rights Review Tribunal chairman) should complain that “access to justice is being denied to almost all”.

 

None of us can expect justice in a country where a mockery is made of the law supposed to protect the unborn, and where a pregnant Prime Minister proposes to deprive other people's children of even these last tatters and shreds of human rights.

 

When we deny justice to the least of us, we deny it to all.

THE DOMINION POST: A FEMALE FEMINIST FIEFDOM?

Well, what do you know? Today the Dominion Post has tardily published a letter of mine showing the correlation between infant deaths, abortion and prematurity.

Basically, I said (see yesterday's post) that many infant deaths are caused by prematurity which is caused by abortion. Simple as that.

When the Dominion Post yesterday published not one but two silly pro-abortion letters (one about the hoary 'clump of cells' theory and the other accusing the pro-life movement of disseminating 'false information'), I was fairly disgusted. So last night I wrote them another letter (see below).


    

The convenient theory that a fetus is just a clump of cells was scientifically disproved years ago, but if you repeat a lie often enough many people will believe it. That’s the only possible explanation for Blake Owers’ ideas (Letters, February 23).

And if, as Helen Wilson argues, (Letters, same date) anti-abortion groups “regularly spread false information” about the damage caused to women by abortion, how come the media don’t debunk that ‘false information’ in the same way that they treat fake news?

For example, why doesn’t the Dominion Post acknowledge Aberdeen University’s study, released yesterday, of 600,000 Scottish women over 3 decades which shows aborting a first pregnancy increases the chances of prematurity and all its associated risks, including cerebral palsy and lung disease, by 37%?

If that’s ‘spreading false information’, surely it’s the business of the Dominion Post to expose Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya, whose research was published by the Telegraph and BBC News, as a wicked fraud, and the Telegraph and BBC News as gullible and naive.

ABORTING YOUR FIRST BABY? YOUR SECOND IS LIKELY TO BE PREM (Letter published in Dom Post, Feb 21)

It’s a crying shame - for some women, maybe literally - that New Zealand's Newborn mortality figures are ‘stagnating’ (Feb 21).

Last year, the World Health Organisation showed prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under 5. Released just today, a study of 600,000 Scottish mothers over 3 decades shows termination of a first pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth by 37%. A second pregnancy following a first which is aborted is more liable to the complication of pre-eclampsia, which can be fatal for both mother and baby.

Prematurity is also linked to lung disease, cerebral palsy, jaundice and mental health problems in later life. However these findings conflict sharply with the official advice of Britain’s NHS, which downplays such dangers.

Let's hope Health Minister Jonathan Coleman doesn't indulge in any such prevarication, because it's clear that the simplest measure to prevent deaths in our newborns would be a decrease in abortions. 

But if the Prime Minister – ironically pregnant herself - removes the protection of law from the endangered unborn, she will inevitably add to the sad stats of babies who die, sooner or later, as a result of their premature birth. 

ONE PARISHIONER'S RESPONSE (to the Palmerston North 'Diocesan Pastoral Consultation and Planning Strategy 2018')

The Catholic Diocese of Palmerston  North New Zealand has come up with a 'Diocesan Pastoral Consultation and Planning Strategy 2018'.

The Diocese asks firstly for parishioners' response to the following question:

How can we grow and strengthen and make more dynamic our parish this year through sacraments and liturgy?

Here are a few ideas (more may be forthcoming!): 

With homilies that give instruction on the sacraments and liturgy, especially the Sacrifice of the Mass and Reconciliation. Parishioners aren’t likely to give up precious leisure time - except through habit – if they don’t know the inestimable benefits to them and their families and friends, of attending Mass with sins forgiven.

Reminders of our Sunday obligation. Parishioners should be encouraged by the knowledge, for example, that ”the faithful join in the offering of the Eucharist by virtue of their royal priesthood ... Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of Christian life, they offer the divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with it. Thus both by the act of oblation and through Holy Communion, all perform their proper part in this liturgical service ... By offering the immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves”; and further, that “the partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ does nothing other than transform us into that which we consume” (Vat II).

Homilies which restore to our people “the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom”. Children need to be taught this in schools and ‘children’s liturgy’, in the same way as they’re taught to take care in crossing the road for fear of injury from oncoming traffic. They need to learn to take care in obeying the Commandments, for fear of injury by sin. "Those who approach the sacrament of penance obtain pardon from the mercy of God for offenses committed against him. They are reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, example and prayer seeks their conversion" (Vat II). 

Homilies which consistently and faithfully preach the Gospel. Parishioners need to know not just that “the righteous” will go into “eternal life” but that “the goats” will go away into eternal punishment. They deserve to hear the whole text of that reading, not hear just the happy ending of the sheep. We need to reminded of what happens to the goats.

Family and parishioners attending funeral Masses should not be encouraged to assume that their dear departed is in Heaven. The saints tell us that very few people attain Heaven, and so does Scripture: If it is hard for the upright to be saved, what will happen to the wicked and to sinners? (Pet 4:18).

Parishioners need reminding that before receiving Holy Communion they must have fasted for an hour from all food and drink (including coffee!) except medication and water.

We need to be reminded that to receive Holy Communion in a state of serious sin is to profane the Blessed Sacrament. Unmarried couples can’t receive Holy Communion when living together as if married (i.e. living in adultery). Homosexual acts preclude reception of Holy Communion. People may receive Holy Communion only if they believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation.

Holy Communion must not be given to non-Catholics. Eucharistic sharing with people of other faiths can be done only in exceptional circumstances by express permission of the bishop.

The use of ‘Special Ministers of the Eucharist’ (properly called Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion) should be discontinued.  “To touch the Sacred Species and to distribute them with their own hands is a privilege of the ordained” (Pope St John Paul II). “Laymen are officially incompetent to dispense any sacrament, and that they can baptise in cases of necessity is due to the Divine dispensation” (St Thomas Aquinas).

This means that as stated by the Magisterium the practice of Communion in the hand should be discouraged, in favour of receiving on the tongue. There's no need to offer Holy Communion under both kinds, entailing extra people rostered as ministers: "active participation" in the Mass doesn't mean getting up and doing things. It means using one's mind, heart and spirit, not one's hands and feet. 

Parishioners should be encouraged if they are able, to kneel for the Consecration. Children especially should be encouraged to kneel and this means, in many churches, restoring kneelers.

People need encouragement from our priests to attend weekday Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and to pray the Rosary - urged on the Church by Our Lady at Fatima, but now largely forgotten - and priests to lead by example. Parishioners respond to example from their priest, not from fellow parishioners. We have only to think of what the Cure of Ars achieved in a hopeless parish, simply by spending hours in the empty church, adoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Priests must be allowed the time they need for personal prayer (Divine Office, meditation/contemplation), as well as celebrating Mass and the sacraments. All other tasks, apart from hobbies for relaxation, should be delegated to lay people.   

Boys should be preferred to girls as altar servers, in accord with direction from the Magisterium, as a means to encourage the priestly vocations which post-Vatican II practices have dried up. (Older boys  especially don't like wearing what looks like a dress, exactly the same as the girls. If it's only boys wearing these vestments, they find it acceptable.) 

Priests should fearlessly preach the teaching of the Church on contraception and abortion.

The Latin Mass should be promoted. Its mystery and reverence have enormous appeal, especially to the young.

The celebration of Mass with priest and congregation all facing the altar (i.e. facing the Lord, rather than one another) should be encouraged.

Tabernacles should be returned to their proper, central location, that is, in full view on first entering the church.

All the benefits sought in the following questions -

(2.     How can we strengthen our parish through greater participation of Maori and other ethnic groups? 

      3.     How can we grow participation in our parish this year with more children, young families and teenagers?

4.     How can we enliven our parish this year through social justice and service initiatives?) -

will flow from the practices outlined above.

.

This is not a call to return to the ‘good old days’ but to Tradition, by which "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes"; further, we need to remember that "liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition." (CCC).

‘Lex orandi, lex credendi' (the Church believes as she prays’  - or conversely, we pray as we believe). No disinterested onlooker observing our current liturgical practice would think that Catholics truly believe in the Real Presence.

Jesus Christ was crucified for what he preached but paradoxically, that preaching led to the establishment of the greatest religion in world history. It's the fear of upsetting people and turning them away from the Mass which, paradoxically, is largely responsible for achieving exactly that result. 

The Church of Palmerston North needs to cease operations as the Church of Nice, and to return to courageous preaching and practice of the Gospel.

It's only by following the way of Christ crucified that we will restore the practice of our faith, our vanishing congregations and vocations to the priesthood.

THE TRULY GOOD LIFE (Letter to Dom Post, Feb 13)

The answer to the problem of The good life versus sustainability (February 12) has been staring us in the face all along. That is, in the face of people who read the Bible.

Because Jesus Christ says “if any man is to follow me, let him deny himself.”

Denying oneself means, in this context, consuming only as much in terms of food, clothing and energy as it takes to stay healthy. If we do that for the love of God we discover the truly 'good life’ we all crave.

It’s so simple, it’s hard for people - especially the media - to get their collective head around.

But if we’d stayed with the Bible we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.

WHEN DID JESUS EVER ACT IN ANGER?

All my life I've heard the story told again today from lecterns in Catholic churches throughout the world about Jesus and the leper. When I was a child, I heard it from the Douay-Rheims bible which said Jesus had "compassion" for the leper. Today our dumbed-down lectionaries say Jesus "felt sorry" or had "pity" for him. Same thing, really.

Now, the Douay-Rheims bible was used in the Church exclusively from 1610-1941, and most commonly right up to 1960. So the Douay-Rheims was read by perhaps the majority of the great saints celebrated in the Church's liturgy today. They believed that Jesus had “compassion” and followed his example.

But this week a Church JPIC (Justice and Peace in the Integrity of Creation) source says that now there's a better translation. What Jesus really truly felt, apparently, was anger. 

In the past I've also heard priests in homilies and commentaries state unequivocally that when Jesus whipped the money changers out of the temple he was angry. But I've read every version that’s come my way of that episode, searching for the word ‘anger’, but in vain.

We in our natural, fallen human condition just assume, because of Jesus' actions in the temple, that he must have been angry. But in the single episode I know of in the New Testament where Jesus is described as having “anger” (Mk 3:5), we see that his anger does not translate into action, but into “being grieved for the blindness of their hearts”. Moreover, the epistles expressly tell us not to be angry, several times over. 

While obviously there are times when we feel angry, it’s dangerous to persuade ourselves that we're right to express our anger, for the obvious reason that venting anger usually has unfortunate repercussions for others, even if only by enflaming theirs.

The other aspect of this vexed question is that in relieving his feelings, the angry person misses an opportunity for self-denial. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24 – and also in Mark and Luke).

I understand why people in the pews, and especially priests in the pulpits, might feel angry these days. Amoris Laetitia has left the Church in turmoil. We have to decide who's right and who's wrong. We all, as individual members of the Body of Christ, have to discern the truth.

All the more reason then, to keep a clear head, and our eyes on Jesus Christ. 

ARE WE A NATION OF SCAREDY-CATS? (Letter to Dom Post, Feb 6)

Green’s Julie Anne Genter wants a national register of ‘sexual harassment’. Green’s Gareth Hughes wants to ban rodeos. Act’s David Seymour wants to ensure no one ever has to suffer pain (Letters, Feb 5).

On Waitangi Day I have to ask, are we now a nation of scaredy-cats? Are we really over-feminised weaklings, needing ‘safeguards’ everywhere we look? Where’s our sense of humour, our sense of proportion, our No 8 wire mentality?

If it’s ‘cruel’ to euthanise an animal, how cruel is it for Labour's Jacinda Ardern to propose legislation ‘decriminalising’ abortion, so even more unborn children get killed and their mothers damaged for life? If  "it’s a human right to feel safe", then it's a right for the human in utero. It's a right for the elderly and disabled who’d feel threatened by legal assisted suicide.

These are the rights needing safeguards, not women who can go to the Human Rights Commission, or bulls who can be given a bullet. 

Those orange road cones which like a nasty rash have spread far and wide on our highways and byways would seem a metaphor for a disease of our national spirit.

And it could prove fatal.