Archbishop Burke on the Liturgy and Married life.

Introduction: Two different but related subjects

In writing to you this week, I want to address two different but related subjects of concern to us all. The first is the recent publication of new liturgical norms pertaining to the celebration of two forms of the Rite of the Mass, the form used by all until 1970 and the new form introduced by Pope Paul VI. The new norms, given by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, have been the subject of much discussion in the media. For your better understanding of the new norms, I want to offer you my reflections on the norms and their implementation in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

I also write to you about National Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week, which we will be celebrating next week, July 22-28. The weeklong observance, designated by the U.S. Conference of Bishops, provides us all with an opportunity to understand more deeply the crowning of married love, which is the generation and education of new human life. The observance is centered around the 39th anniversary of the publication of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical "Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth)," issued on July 25, 1968. In a timely way, it brings to greater consciousness God’s plan for married love and procreation. In a culture which is so filled with confusion about human sexuality and its conjugal meaning, attention to the procreative dimension of the conjugal act is indeed timely.

The two topics seem to be quite diverse. In fact, however, they are closely related. The sanctification of our lives through participation in the liturgy, especially the Sacrifice of the Mass, is expressed concretely in the manner by which we fulfill the daily responsibilities of our vocation in life. For the married, the communion with our Lord in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the source of their communion of life, also in its sexual or conjugal expression. The more we grow in reverence for the sacredness of the liturgy, the more we also grow in care to live a holy life in all things.

-Archbishop Burke.

http://www.stlouisreview.com/abpcolumn.php?abpid=13323

I found this statement to be interesting in relation to a recent discussion prompted by a seminarian's experiment concerning possible sacrilege occurring due to Communion in the hand. Is it a coincidence that when our world has lost all respect for the smallest of humans, we also lose all respect for the smallest particles of Our Lord's Body?

Doing Your Part

We all know what is happening today. We cannot underestimate the hope that so many (millions) of Americans have in this one man. He, in their eyes, is the embodiment of greatness and virtue. Remarkably, he gives them, postmodern and jaded Americans, the idea that there still is greatness and virtue. What can our response as Catholics be, in light of the heavy burden of the truth that we carry?

First, we must not be dour. We know exactly what we are up against, the slimness of the odds, the gravity of what is at stake. Nevertheless, who can say we are at a disadvantage? Who can say that though Obama fans put their trust in a man and we put our trust in the Son of God, they oppress us? That's why an ad like this one on CatholicVote.com is an excellent response. It's not that opponents of life have something good that we must tear down in order to show them the light. Rather, they are now looking for brightness and we have to show them that the true Light of the world is much brighter than they expect.

Second, we have to pray. Please join me in praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at 3:00 (the hour of Mercy) for our new president. We won't succeed by bringing down God's justice upon us. We don't want that for ourselves, so we can't want it for others--who can stand blameless before the face of God? Let's pray, then, that for the sake of the Sorrowful Passion of Jesus, God will have mercy on all of us, most especially President Obama.

Finally, as Fr. Fasano reminded us in his homily on Sunday, though we pray in the knowledge that all depends upon God, we should also throw ourselves into action as appropriate to our state in life. Therefore, we should most definitely keep writing (or start writing, as the case may be) our elected officials and representatives both on the state and federal levels. They need to know our support for truth, and for the moral law. Moreover, we should participate in events like the March for Life if possible. Many of us already do pro-life work for a living. If we do not, we should not hesitate in contributing financially to these organizations and keeping ourselves apprised of the news about our ailing culture.

What say you?

Boycott Celebrity "News"

I had this idea today that we should all band together to boycott fake news about celebrities. It has been thrust upon my notice that this is an insidious form of slander, gossip, or detraction that masquerades as news, causing two detrimental effects. First, the spread of such gossip or detraction (for, sadly, the news is often true) is extremely harmful to the culture at large. It increases envy in those who hear it, who rejoice in the misdeeds of the very rich and very famous. This attitude is so common that I accuse no one in particular by mentioning it, but I do want to underscore how serious it is to the soul. Also, as always, gossip kills three parties: the one whose reputation it injures, the one who propagates it, and the one who hears it. Second, in occupying the attention of the media, such reports serve to clog the airways and prevent us from receiving the real news about what is happening in the world. All serious journalists must cringe to see report after report about Britney Spears while truly grave and terrible things happening around the world every day get pushed to the back page of the paper. We should cringe too. However, we should also take action!

Here is my proposed plan of attack: Refuse to buy any publication that has celebrity gossip on the front page or in a prominent place (I assume that everyone here already avoids tabloids and entertainment/celebrity magazines). If you happen to be watching the news on television and a report about a celebrity comes on, change the channel. Never click on any link or online advertisement having to do with a celebrity. If people are talking about such reports, try to change the subject (in a charitable way, of course). Pass this message on to your friends. I know this problem is so widespread that it seems naive to think we could make a difference in the U.S. entertainment culture, but I think it's worth it to make an attempt. We have to build a culture of life!

What do y'all think?