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     Last week it was published on several Catholic new sites that five Cardinals petitioned the Holy Father to pronounce a fifth dogmatic statement about the Blessed Mother, namely that she is the Mother of the human race, Mediatrix of all Grace and Co-Redemptrix. (The focus is on her Spiritual Maternity) They believed that this pronouncement would serve both inter-religious as well as ecumenical purposes.

      This movement has been hot and cold in Church circles since the 1920′s when Cardinal Mercier began to push for Mary to be pronounced Mediatrix of all grace. It has also been the part of a petition drive with the group Vox Populi Mariae Mediatricae (I think the title is correct) over the last 20 years or so.

     First, do I believe that Mary is the Mother of the human race, Medatrix of all Graces and Co-Redemptrix? Yes I do. This is not the issue. My central issue is that the majority of the Catholic faithful do not know what these titles mean. In most cases, they have not been part of the liturgical tradition in the recent past. After 40 years of horrible catechesis, people have been taught very little about Jesus Christ, much less his Mother. For example, how many people do you know believe that the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus’ conception by Mary? It has been 154 years since that dogma has been proclaimed and many to do not know that it refers to the conception of Mary by her Mother Anna.

     It seems to me that the most disputed title is Co-Redemptrix. This title can be misinterpreted by some to say that Mary’s role was equal to Christ’s role as Redeemer. This is definitely wrong. Mary’s role in secondary, insufficient and dependent on Christ. Even saying that Mary redeems “with” Christ can be open to misinterpretation. Until these points can be clarified, it would not be appropriate to proclaim another dogmatic teaching on the Mother of God.

    It took Duns Scotus and his idea of Preservative Redemption to pave the way for the Immaculate Conception. It took over 800 years to clarify this teaching and proclaim the dogma. Until someone equal to a Scotus comes long to work out the language of this teaching, it is best to be left as it is. If the cardinals are calling for more research and refelction on the doctrine, bringing it out of the shadows of theology, that is a good thing, but in my opinion, we have a pretyy steep hill to climb before the pope would consider sending a letter to all the bishops of the Church asking if it is appropriate that this doctrine be dogmatically proclaimed. Let me know your thoughts.

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      I have been following all of the attention given to the travelling monstrance that is going throughout the archdiocese to promote vocations. I wonder if all this is somewhat misdirected because our focus should not be on the monstrance, even if it has been blessed by the Pope, but the ONE WHO WILL BE PLACED AND WORSHIPPED INSIDE THE MONSTRANCE, NAMELY, THE SON OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST.

      If people are coming just to see a monstrance or pray before a monstrance with the Eucharist in it not because it contained the Son of God, but simply because it was blessed by the Pope, what does this say about our faith?   Are we beginning to think that God is not enough? Does he have to be placed in a monstrance blessed by the Pope to make him interesting or worthy of worship?  I am not trying to start trouble, but I am wondering your response to the issue I am raising?

     As you can see alongside the website, the Catholic World news site reports that Cardinal Franc Rode, Prefect for the Congregation for Religious reports that “priests tend to be less obedient to the Churchand more responsive to the world.” I guess there are different ways of interpreting this. I do not consider myself worldly, but I do have a lot of stuff. I guess if the Cardinal speaks of wordliness in terms of excessive materialism, I would be guilty as charged. Living at the Seminary, I have a lady who cleans my room and does my laundry. There are cooks who provide three meals a day. I have a large library, some electronic gadgets (eg. ipod) and of course my own website. I have a TV, DVD player and cable (at least when Time Warner is not cutting it off!). I drive a 2002 Chevy Blazer. I find as I get older that I don’t even know why I have amassed this stuff, but here it is. At the same time, I wear my clerics everywhere I go, unless I am traipsing around the Seminary on the weekend. I say my Office every day, do spiritual reading every day, celebrate or concelebrate Mass practically every day and usually end up falling asleep saying the rosary.

     There is a strong temptation among priests who are pastors who be so focused on putting out fires and doing administration that prayer, study and homily prep take a back burner and sometimes get neglected. At the same time, when people want their priest, they want their priest no matter what he is doing. I can understand why priests feel they have to hide out and sneak away. Priests get tired too, especially since often times many are not only carrying their crosses, but helping others to carry theirs as well. Sometimes they may just want to blend in with everyone else, not because they are up to no good, but simply because they want to be anonymous for awhile.

   I do not know if just because a priest appears incognito for a while that he is worldly. I think the worldliness makes itself seen when the priest decides to play fast and loose with the liturgy. There is a problem also when he does not like it when people refer to him as “Father.” When he takes political and/or moral positions contrary to Church teaching, especially when there are politicians in his parish that espouse them, he is being worldly. I think when the only people he seems to associate or socialize with are the wealthy members of the parish, there is a problem with that. Of course, they may also be the only ones that invite him over. When his homilies consist of jokes and what is happening on American Idol or Desperate housewives and nothing of the “Reform your life and believe the Gospel,” there is a problem.

   One thing that has been happening a lot in this diocese is that priests have been turning parish rectories into offices and having the parish purchase them a house offsite. Usually, the reason is that the priest believes he is living above the store. I think for the price of a house, there could be found space on parish property for offices, and have the rectory be the rectory. In some cases, priests are not even living within their parish boundaries. It is just my opinion, and not worth much, but I would argue that the pastor ought to be close to the Church and not have to “drive to work every morning.” I know a lot of the brethren would disagree me on this, but we ought to be bound to our Churches like fathers are bound to their homes and families. The only exception to this is if a group of priests who pastor neighboring parishes would want to live together for fraternal support.

     Anyway, all priests need your prayers and support. We all need, myself included, a fuller understanding of our committment to Christ and his Church and the courage to fully live it out. May the Lord send the Holy Spirit to renew us in our mission of spreading the Gospel, leading the faithful and celebrating the sacraments with love and devotion. Any and all comments appreciated.

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     The best made plans get messed up when Time Warner turns off your internet for no good reason!! Most of my blogging was done in the evenings, and the last two weeks I have been grading exams and writing up notes for a new course on Sacramental theology I am teaching the Permanent deacon students. Now with the end of the quarter things have not really slowed down, but some time has opened up a little, so I hope to be adding more to the site

    Please pray for the fourth year seminarians who are doing their canonical deacon retreat from Monday to Friday of this week. For the archdiocese of Cincinnati, they are Marty Bachman, Robert Hadden, Matthew Lee, Shawn Landenwich, Tony Tozzi, Barry Stechschulte and David Endres. For the diocese of Toledo, they are Chris Bohnsack, Jason Kahle, and Tony Recker. They will all be ordained to the Diaconate in April.

     With the focus on the revival of the 1962 Rite and the revision of the Good Friday prayers, a lot of people have a lot of hope that a Liturgical renewal is on the way. The realist in me does not necessarily see it. I know that when the Extraordinary Rite is brought up, even to some of the retired priests, some almost apoplectic.

     Now, it was noted in Catholic News Report online ,that Archbishop Ranjith, of the Congregation for Divine worship wrote in a book introduction that it is time for the Church to revisit the idea of communion in the hand. He would like to see reception returned to being on the tongue only. Here at the Seminary, I know that the majority receive the Lord on the tongue. However, would it be a good idea for the Church to mandate again communion on the tongue only? I don’t know. It is not because I think communion in the hand is a good thing, but because once something is given, it is very hard, if not nearly impossible to take it back.

     Here is whatI think is a good example: The GIRM and Sacramentum Caritatis mandates that only metal chalices be used in the distribution of the precious Blood of Jesus. However, how many places have you gone where glass/crystal is still being used? I recently received the Church goods catalogue from Meyer-Vogelpohl here in Cincinnati, and besides the very ugly iron work stuff they are trying to pass off as suitable for the liturgy (ne gustibus), they make this statement in regard to their MV glassware: Meyer-Vogelpohl continues to serve the liturgy with glass vessels meant exclusively for sacred use; they are not easily broken and they do not easily deteriorate. Over the years, these glass vessels have enabled the assembly to see the Eucharistic elements as food and drink for the journey of faith. MV glass has become an important part of the liturgical custom of the Church of the United States today and we will continue to offer quality glass that is worthy of the Eucharist. (emphasis mine)

     It appears to me that in light of the highlighted statement, the Congregation for Divine Worship will have to clear any emendations of liturgical vessels with Meyer-Vogelpohl in Cincinnati. I doubt that Archbishop Ranjith knows this. I doubt that he even cares.

     Have we reached a point in the US where the Church goods business determines the kind, syle and material of vessels used in the liturgy more than the documents of the Church? What do you think?

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    Beginning today, on the feast of St. Agatha, Mass here at the Seminary was celebrated in Latin with the exception of the readings and prayers of the faithful, in the Novus Ordo Form. It will be celebrated on the first Tuesday on every month. I have to admit that I do not have a strong feeling on it one way or the other. It is my hope, though, that it will cause the seminarians here to focus on the study of the Latin language. Learning a language is hard work and having Mass in Latin once a month is not going to help much in their knowledge of it. It will, however, show its usefulness to them and encourage them. Now, if we can only get them to learn KOINE GREEK.  

      The end of the winter quarter and the beginning of the spring quarter  is the time when the young (or not so young) seminarian’s thoughts  turn to summative evaluations.  They ask a couple of seminarians to write an evaluation of them. They write a self-evaluation. All the faculty has an opportunity to offer input on the seminarians. Finally they meet individually with the formation team in which all the various informaion is brought together and discussed with them. The majority of the feedback is usually positive, and many of the criticisms that come out are not new, but a restatements of what the semiarian has been working on for the past year. It is not the kind of “cloak and dagger” approach that was used in my day.

     Last week and tomorrow, the fourth year seminarians have their summative meetings with the formation team to determine whether they will be ordained to the diaconate in April. Next week, the fifth year seminarians/deacons have their meetings to determine whether they will be ordained  the priesthood. Please keep the guys in your prayers, because anytime someone is looking at your life, it is going to be stressful. Pray that the formation team will help them in their discernment of their vocation.

      On this feast of one of the early virgin Martyrs of the Church, we recall one whose name in Greek means “Goodness.” Her goodness is seen in her purity of heart and mind, and the offering that purity as a sacrifice for her persecutors. I wish we could get young girls to see the value of these virgin martyrs in helping them deal with all the traps of this culture. Goodness needs to be seen not in terms of gaining pleasure for ourselves, but rather living in the world in the light of the true of God’s Triune love and the constant flow of grace that pours from the Holy Spirit. Maybe, instead of looking to Hollywood, they can, as we approach the season of Lent, to the Holy Wood of the cross, through which Jesus Christ brings us more than a fulfilment of temporal pleasures. He brings us everlasting joy and blessedness which keeps us hopeful.

     I always find Ash Wednesday to be a fascinating day. Some people tend to act very somber and do exactly what the Gospel tells us not to do LOOK SAD. In preparing my Lenten talks, the Focus of Lent is on penance not in terms of self-denial, but rather a hopeful new beginning that we can find a new way of showing our Love for God and neighbor. We can regain our spiritual youth and find new energy and grace in the Christian life that we are seeking to live. We shall see what tomorrow holds, for the beginning of Lent is actually a serious step on our part to prepare to unite with the Risen Lord again on Easter Sunday.  

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     Today I had the opportunity to be at WKRC studios in MT Aubirn to tape  channel 12 NEWSMAKERS, a current events television show on Sunday mornings at 11:00am. The topic was The Bodies: An Exhibition. The show is moderated by Dan Hurley, who is a reporter for channel 12 as well as Vice-President of the Cincinnati Historical societ at Union Terminal. The two other guests were a Rabbi from Wise Temple (who is on the Union Terminal exhibit ethics board) and a gentleman who works for a pro-life embryology group. I was the only person there who was against the nature of the exhibit. (For the record, Channel 12 and the Cincinnati Enquirer are both sponsors of the exhibit).

     The big concern of the day was why the Archbishop did not allow diocesan schools to attend the exhibit. They showed a news clip of an interview with Fr. Michael Seger, the Moral Theologian here at the Seminary. My response was simple. As the chief teacher, it is the duty of the bishop to inform the faithful on the nature of the exhibit and he believed it to be inappropriate, as I do.  One person commented that he thought the displays of the “specimens” were tasteful and inspiring and it helped people to be more in touch with their humanity. The pro-life gentleman also praised the display of the “fetuses” as a beautiful way of seeing fetal development. It seems to me upon reflection that they saw this as a kind of human “art exhibit.” Everyting was artful and tasteful and EDUCATIONAL. I reminded the group that these were human persons who had possessed souls and that this demeaned human dignity. It got nowhere. I should have added that it is not good to treat human corpses as artistic objects, and that the ends do not justify the means- but I can’t think of everything so fast.

     Then Mr. Hurley mentioned that the diocese of Pittsburgh is actually encouraging its students to attend the shows in Pittsburgh, and that pamphlets on the show were being inserted into parish bulletins. I pointed out that the Pittsburgh statement (which luckily I had looked at in advance-this might have been Mr. Hurley’s attempt to ask me a “hard question”) had several flaws in it. Namely it only addressed the question of the source of the bodies, and not the nature of the process that turned human corpses into rubberized plastic models. (Probably with a 5000 year life span, though I am not sure). Again, when asked why two dioceses could have such different views, I mentioned that they (Pittsburgh) were missing the real issue of the nature of the body. No one commented further.

     Finally at the end, I was able to present the position of the Church on the human body in nature to the Incarnation (I used small words) so that the Catholic position could be clearer, but by this time I was simply “spitting in the ocean.” As I was the only one who had not personally seen the exhibit, I was aksed if I was going to go see it. I said that I had seen parts of it on the internet, and concluded by saying I might. I realize that this was also a stupid thing to say. I should have said not only no, but HELL NO.

     This is the gist of the show. The biggest problem was that there was only 18 MINUTES to have this discussion, which is no time at all to really get into it with three people and a moderator. As I said, the deck was stacked and with only four responses, I did very little to help the cause of helping people to see that this exhibit is not a good thing. For me, the biggest problem is that the people seemed blind to the reality and they think they are providing a real service to the community by bringing these cut up, rubberized dead human persons and charging 23.00 a person to see it.  It only proves to me that right is now wrong, and wrong is now right

     Then, when I was watching the 5:00pm and 5:30 news on Channel 12, the anchors spoke of a type of “showdown this Sunday on 12 newsmakers.” But it is a load of you know what. News is more hype than fact anymore. If you want to see it, I believe it will be on this Sunday at 11:00am on channel 12. I hope if there is a next time for me, I will do better.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support SACRED HEART RADIO.

     This weekend about 35 Knights of Columbus with their wives are doing a retreat at the Jesuit spiritual center in Milford. Please say some extra prayers for them becuase I will be their director. The topic is a combination of SPE SALVI and St. Paul. The title is Hope does not disappoint us: reclaiming true Christian Hope. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio