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Father Joseph (call me Dr Joe) Grayland, I'm reliably informed, interrupted Holy Mass on Friday - St Peter's College Palmerston North's School Mass - to inform the congregation that in the Host he was about to consecrate, Jesus Christ would be present only by form, not substantially.
In other words, in Father Grayland's well-informed opinion (he it seems, like the ex-bishop of Palmerston North Diocese, Charles Drennan, was 'trained' in Rome), the Host is merely a symbol of Christ, not the reality. He likes to dwell on what he calls the 'ocular' nature of the Eucharist, implying that the Host is merely a reminder of Christ, and on the 'memorial' aspect of the Sacrifice of the Mass, very much like a vicar presiding at an Anglican Communion Service.
Now, Session Thirteen of the Council of Trent - as someone as well-informed as Fr Grayland is purported to be would know well - pronounced that Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist. That is an infallible doctrine of the Catholic Church. To deny that doctrine is nothing short of heresy.
I made this post last night but took it down again, at the request of a priest who had difficulty believing that a brother priest could entertain beliefs so insulting to the Presence of Our Lord, already so much betrayed, abused, and ignored in His Self-imprisonment in the tabernacle where He waits daily, hourly, by the minute, by the second, to cure all our ills.
But Judases, tragically, are always with us.
The incredulous priest didn't want Fr Grayland to get into trouble for something he surely could not have said. So I checked the report with my informant, and others. As I stated last night, Father Grayland is known for his liberality with the truth. He has stated his heretical views before. On Friday he did so in the presence of the Diocesan Vicar General, Monsignor Brian Walsh, in what has been described as a 'suave implementation of his theological modernist agenda for Catholic youth'.
He pronounced the words of Consecration over the Sacred Host in Te Reo, so that the majority of the congregation had no idea whether they were, in fact, the words of Institution of the Roman Rite Mass. Contradicting the norms of the GIRM, he directed the congregation to stand for the entire Mass. No
kneeling.
As Cardinal Ratzinger, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI stated that, “Kneeling does not come from any culture — it comes from the Bible and its knowledge of God.” In particular, “Saint Luke, who in his whole work (both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles) is in a special way the theologian of kneeling prayer, tells us that Jesus prayed on His knees."
But in a recent OLOL parish newsletter, Father Grayland has declared that those who kneel are 'fear-filled'. (In a way of course, it's a compliment to the kneelers, as the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, "and all who do so prove themselves wise".) And to Father Grayland, those who stand for the Consecration are 'redeemed' (shades of Bishop Peter Cullinane!)
Fr Grayland may be encouraged in his heretical belief by reports of the Holy Father's favorite interviewer's declaration of the Pontiff's denial to him of the divinity of Christ, a denial which the Holy Father himself has singularly failed to deny.
It's not expected that Father Grayland will deny the denials of the Real Presence reported in this blog, either. The Holy Father seems as Pope and Jesuit to be above scrutiny and perhaps Father (Doctor) Grayland, having thrown his intellectual weight around the Diocese, expects to get away with his cavalier treatment of our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist.
Father (Dr) Joe Grayland, who in addition to being chaplain to St Peter's College is Diocesan Director of Liturgy, is being touted in some quarters as a replacement
for Bishop Charles Drennan, who lately resigned the bishopric of Palmerston
North under a cloud.
Let the NZ Bishops' Conference and the Apostolic Nuncio know this, that
to replace Bishop Drennan with Fr Joseph Grayland would be to jump from the
frying pan into the fire, sending with him those benighted St Peter's College students and the Diocese too.
Having suffered for so many years the legacy of the Protestant - some would say Masonic - bishopric of +Peter Cullinane, and now enduring the scandal not just of idol worship in the Vatican but of sexual dalliance in its second bishop, Palmerston North now demands a faithful shepherd, a man of prayer, a servant of Christ and His people.
Anonymous says:
Father Grayland is a theological vandal.
At a meeting I attended he said there was a letter from the bishop 30 years ago that said to stand during Mass. Then he said, as we have been doing it for 30 years it is now local custom so under canon law it is now accepted practice. He did not mention that the same bishop had to later release a letter saying we could stand or kneel, as does the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) say we can stand or kneel.
I will give Bishop Drennan credit, when he contradicted doctrine on homosexuality, at least he explicitly said he was going against doctrine. Father Grayland should be more professional and say when he is contradicting Church rules.
But for a priest to have a personal agenda, and say what he likes, seems to come from the top these days. The Pope says make a 'mess', cause 'confusion', and he isn't afraid of 'schism'.
The Pope is scarier than Father Grayland.
I say:
In relation to Fr Grayland's instruction as St Peter's College chaplain that in contravention of the norms the congregation should stand throughout the Mass, 1 Pet 5: 3 comes to mind:
Never be a dictator over any group that is put in your charge, but be an example that the whole flock can follow.
Its not a laughing matter, but I wonder did Jesus obey Fr Grayland's instructions that "the Host he was about to consecrate, Jesus Christ would be present only by form, not substantially."
ReplyDeleteCertainly scripture is clear, and the Lord's Prayer (which even the most liberal scholar concludes is the very words of Christ) states that we are to pray for 'daily bread'. In the Greek that is 'epiousos' which the ancient Fathers and the ensuing Tradition translated as 'supersubstantial bread'. That is truly supernatural bread.
So does Grayland intend what Christ intends when he consecrates?
It is indeed beyond words, the humility of our Saviour who obeys the words of Consecration whenever spoken, worthily or unworthily, by any priest, whatever his standing in God's eyes.
ReplyDeleteI usually pray the Douay Rheims translation of Matthew 6:11, "give us this day our supersubstantial bread". The footnote reads "It is understood of the bread of life, which we receive in the Blessed Sacrament."
And I wonder if all Catholics had been taught the Douay version, would so many now be starved of the Eucharist?
If true, it was very audacious of him to clearly state at the altar that his act of consecration would not effect a substantial change in the Eucharist.
DeleteIs it like confessing your impotence on the wedding night, as if its a bonus? What a tosser. Just asking.
The post-conciliar Popes through till BXVI have rejected innovations and upheld transubstantiation. Real men in my view!
Anyway, if transubstantiation can be changed with trendy avant-garde theories like transignification or transfinalisation, then we can just as freely reject them, for by their own reckoning they will be old theories and relics of the past too, given the passage of time. Theological scam artists stripping the Church of the supernatural for the sake of vainglory.
Is it true that Bishop Dunn is taking an early retirement. I heard a rumour.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of this diocese, I don't know what I'd do if Fr Grayland becomes bishop... This alone is making me fear for my infant children, when St Peter's is the only option of secondary school. We fled Our Lady of Lourdes parish for the Cathedral due to way too many liberties taken with the liturgy, and the constant shuffling of the furniture. The final straw came when I was sat uncomfortably in the sanctuary, due to shuffled furniture, listening to Fr Grayland's homily where he posed the open question of whether Church doctrine would ever change regarding divorce/remarriage and homosexual relationships. I resolved never to return to that church until he was gone.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for Ash Wednesday, with no liturgy at the Cathedral (!) we did attend there; only to find a congregation wondering where the presider could be. Turns out there was a mixup, and the priest from the cathedral who was meant to preside had not turned up. But where was the *actual* parish priest, Father Grayland? He was part of an ecumenical Ash Wednesday liturgy at St Peter's (Anglican) church on the other side of town (with a much smaller congregation with a female vicar)! We ended up there, out of humilty and curiosity, and because I wanted to slip him a "there was no priest at Our Lady of Lourdes!" comment at the end—I didn't get the chance. So he managed to neglect his own, larger and non-heretical flock for a different sect, and I did not see a public apology.
With Bishop Drennans' sexual mea culpa and resignation, Fr Grayland is now the acting priest at the Cathedral, although we don't often see him for Sunday Mass. If he does make more frequent apparences, we're off to St Mary's or St Columba's. I don't want to "parish shop", but the minimum I ask for is an attempt at a reverent liturgy—without un-asked-for innovations—and a homily that isn't openly heretical. That's really not much to ask, is it?