Chastity of the Priest

On this feast of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, our thoughts are raised to the virtue of chastity which should be possessed by priests who are charged with the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. In as much as the Liturgy is worship of the true God, the priest must not simply possess rubrical impeccability but also a chaste heart.

"The hand, says St. John Chrysostom, that touches the sacred flesh of Jesus Christ, and the tongue that is purpled with his divine blood, should be purer than the rays of the sun. In another place, he says that a priest ascending the altar should be possessed of purity and sanctity which would merit for him a place in the midst of the angels. How great, then, must be the horror of the angels when they behold a priest, who is the enemy of God, stretching forth his sacrilegious hands to touch and eat the Immaculate Lamb! 'Who,' exclaims St. Augustine, 'shall be so wicked and daring as to touch the most holy Sacrament with polluted hands!' Still more wicked is the priest that celebrates Mass with a soul defiled by mortal sin." (St. Alphonsus, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, 126.)

Admitting our transgressions, we, as priests, should make our own the words of the Psalms : "A humble and contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn!"

Liturgical Creativity?

Creativity in liturgy seems to be the rule of the day. We have forgotten that Liturgy is something which the Church received from the Lord. We have lost sight of the humility which is required of all who approach the Sacred Liturgy. To the mind of many ministers, liturgy is simply a vehicle for self-expression. We have forgotten that we are not lords of liturgy but its servants.

"Man cannot simply 'make' worship. If God does not reveal himself, man is clutching empty space. Moses says to Pharoah: '[W]e do not know with what we must serve the Lord' (Ex. 10:26). These words display a fundamental law of all liturgy. When God does not reveal himself, man can, of course, from the sense of God within him, build altars 'to the unknown god' (cf. Acts 17:23). He can reach out toward God in his thinking and try to feel his way toward him. But real liturgy implies that God responds and reveals how we can worship him. In any form, liturgy includes some kind of 'institution'. It cannot spring from imagination, our own creativity - then it would remain just a cry in the dark or mere self-affirmation. Liturgy implies a real relationship with Another, who reveals himself to us and gives our existence a new direction."

J. Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 21-22.

Week of Prayer for the Unity of the Church

Ant. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.

V./ I say to thee, that thou art Peter,

R./ And upon this rock I will build my Church.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto her that peace and unity which is aggreable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God for ever and ever. Amen.

Ant. Ut omnes unum sint, sicut Tu, Pater, in me et ego in Te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint; ut credat mundus quia Tu me misisti.

V./ Ego dico tibi, quia Tu es Petrus,

R./ Et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam.

Oremus.

Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixist Apostolis tuis: Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis; ne respicias pecatta mea, sed fidem Ecclesiae tuae; eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris: qui vivis et regnas Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

The octave of prayers for the Unity of the Church is from the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome (January 18) to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25).

from the Raccolta

Prayer for Children

O Jesus, friend of little children, Thou who, from Thy tenderest years, didst manifestly grow in wisdom and grace before God and men; Thou who, at the age of twelve years, sitting in the temple in the midst of the Doctors, didst listen to them with attention, didst ask questions of them in all humility, and didst win their admiration by the prudence and wisdom of Thy words; Thou who didst receive the little children so gladly, blessing them and saying to Thine Apostles: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven," inspire me, even as Thou didst inspire Saint Peter Canisius, the model and guide of the perfect catechist, with a deep respect and holy affection for little children, sincere zeal and devotion in teaching them the elements of Christian doctrine, and a special aptitude for making them understand its mysteries and love its beauty. I ask it of Thee, my Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

from the Racollta

Feast of the Santo Nino

The great earthquake in Haiti last Wednesday is the center of the news all over the world. An intensity 7 quake brought about the loss of many lives and property. It was a real equalizer as even the presidential palace and the archbishop’s office collapsed. Amongst the casualties was the Archbishop himself and a hundred seminarians. It was the strongest earthquake in 200 years and scientists are saying that when tectonic plates have not moved considerably in a long period of time, earthquakes of such magnitudes are most likely to be expected. It happened in Haiti. It can also happen to us because a major fault line runs through our city.

Earthquakes, of course, are explained scientifically as caused by the movements of the tectonic plates of the earth. But the recent catastrophe makes me look at the Santo Nino who holds a ball in his little hand. That ball is not a toy. It is the whole world which the Father placed into the hands of his dearly beloved Son. Of course we take it for granted that the world in the hands of God. But looking at the world in the hands of a little boy makes us think twice. The world is carried not by a responsible adult but by a child! Will you entrust costly jewelry to a little child? Will you let your little child hold one million dollars? None of us will ever think of making a child hold something so costly. Now comes the question: will you let the Sto. Nino hold the world in his little hands?

While we would hesitate to do so, the Father did not. In fact, Jesus himself said that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him by his Heavenly Father. Last Sunday, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus. When he has come of age, the Holy Spirit descended upon him at the river Jordan and the election of the Father was heard by all: You are my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It could be easy for us to say that he received all wisdom when he came of age. But the gospel today tells us otherwise for here we do not see a 30 year old Jesus but a 12 year old boy sitting amidst the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. Origen said: “It is not the nature of men to be full of wisdom before they have reached their 12th year. It is one thing to partake of wisdom, another to be filled with wisdom. We have then no doubt that something divine appeared in the flesh of Jesus: not alone exceeding man, but every other rational creature also… And the grace of God was in Him. Not alone when He came to young manhood, and when he taught openly; but while He was yet a Child the grace of God was in Him: and as in Him all things were wonderful, so also was His Childhood wondrous, because He was full of the wisdom of God. ” (Pg 14, 10 in Luke)

In His Incarnation, the Lord Jesus took upon himself an image of weakness and yet, the image of the Santo Nino tells us that his self-emptying has not diminished in any way the greatness of his Divinity. For even as a Child, His Power is still supreme, His Authority complete, His Wisdom without defect. Even as a Child, Jesus is perfectly God and perfectly King. If through Him everything came to be and nothing existed except through Him, then should it be wrong that He should hold the world in His little hand? If this Child stayed behind in Jerusalem to be about his Father’s business, then should we not keep our confidence in him who would later on say, “As long as I was with them, I guarded them…I kept careful watch, and not one of them was lost…” (John 17:12) Yes, in the hands of the Santo Nino, we can confidently entrust our lives and our selves. He will never lose any of us so long as we never let go of his hand. He is serious in going about doing his Father’s business. “It is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of what he has given me…Indeed, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day.” (John 6:39-40)
Viva Santo Nino!

Pray for Haiti

A PRAYER IN TIME OF EARTHQUAKE

O God, who hast established the earth upon firm foundations, graciously receive the prayers of Thy people: and, having utterly removed the dangers of the shaken earth, turn the terrors of Thy divine wrath into the means of salvation of mankind; that they who are of the earth, and unto earth shall return, may rejoice to find themselves citizens of heaven by means of a holy life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (from the Roman Missal)

Deus, qui fundasti terram super stabilitem suam, suscipe preces populi tui: ac trementis terrae periculis penitus amotis, divinae tuae tracundiae terrores in humanae salutis remedia converte; ut qui de terra sunt, et in terram revertentur, gaudeant se fieri sancta conversatione caelestes. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. (ex Missali Romano)

Raccolta, XLIII

On the Baptism of the Lord

On the Baptism of the Lord, which is commemorated by the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on January 13, 2010, our thoughts are assisted by Psalm 29:

O give the Lord, you sons of God, give the Lord glory and power; give the Lord the glory of his name. Adore the Lord in his holy court.

The Lord's voice resounding on the waters, the Lord on the immensity of waters; the voice of the Lord, full of power, the voice of the Lord, full of splendor.

The Lord's voice shattering the cedars, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon; he makes Lebanon leap like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The Lord's voice flashes flames of fire.

The Lord's voice shaking the wilderness, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh; the Lord's voice rending the oak tree and stripping the forest bare.

The God of glory thunders. In his temple they all cry: "Glory!" The Lord sat enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits as king for ever.

The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

When I was a student of liturgy in San Beda College, I joined a field trip which brought us to a synagogue in which we attended a Sabbath service. At a certain part of the service, everybody rose as the scrolls of Sacred Scripture were taken out of their revered receptacle to be placed in the lectern. As the scrolls were carried, the assembly began to sing Psalm 29. This ritual left a deep impression on me as I realized how God's voice, God's Word is very powerful.

Obviously, the Psalm speaks of how God's Word hovered the waters of the Red Sea on that night of the Exodus. He manifested His great power as he divided the waters in two so that the People of God may cross as they walked on dry land.

However, at the River Jordan, the Word of God, the Lord Jesus, emerged from the waters. Truly, the Lord's Voice resounded on the waters, the Lord on the immensity of waters; the Voice of the Lord full of power, the Voice of the Lord full of splendor.

Icons of the Baptism of the Lord would show Jesus immersed in water wherein images of sea monsters are shown departing from Him. On the eve of Epiphany, water is solemnly blessed in the Extraordinary form. This solemn blessing, which is influenced by the Eastern rites, includes two solemn prayers of exorcism, the first is a more general one and the second referring to the water being blessed. This exorcism expresses in ritual language what the icons express: Christ, the Holy One, went into the waters not to be purified by it but to purify it! He is the Lord's Voice on the immensity of waters, the Voice of the Lord, full of power, the Voice of the Lord, full of splendor.

Indeed, He comes to renew the face of the earth. He came to shatter the hold of Satan upon the created universe. He sanctifies creation with His presence. He is full of power and full of splendor. We have seen His glory, the glory of an only Son, full of grace and truth!