There are a variety of poor arguments against the reform of the reform (of certain changes made “in the spirit” of Vatican II). One of the interesting (and false) arguments is that the changes restored liturgical practices of the early Church.

Michael Foley debunks these myths in an interesting article recently published on Crisis Magazine:

1. Mass facing the people. After studying free-standing altars in early churches, liturgists in the 1930s concluded that priests once celebrated Mass “facing the people,” and that it was only under the influence of decadent medieval clericalism that they “turned their backs” to them. This myth was much in the drinking water at the time of Vatican II (1962-1965). Later, some scholars began to reexamine the evidence and found that it did not support their thesis at all, and that in fact there had been an unbroken tradition — both East and West — of priest and congregation celebrating the Eucharist in the same direction: eastward.

[…]

2. Communion in the hand and under both kinds. Myths about Holy Communion follow a similar pattern. Fifty years ago, the claim that “Communion in the hand” was the universal practice of the early Church was believed by everyone, even by those who didn’t wish to see the practice resuscitated. Now we’re not so sure. What we can say is that some early Christian communities practiced Communion in the hand, but Communion on the tongue may be just as ancient. And when Communion in the hand was practiced, the communicant received from a priest (and only a priest), most likely by putting It in his mouth without his other hand touching it. And in some places, a woman’s hand had to be covered with a white cloth!

[…]

3. The vernacular. Another widespread myth is that the early Church had Mass “in the vernacular.” But when Jesus worshipped in the synagogue, the language used was Hebrew, which had already been dead for 300 years. And for the first three centuries in Rome, the Mass was mostly celebrated in Greek, not Latin, which was only understood by a minority of the congregation.

[…]

4. Lay ministry. Another perduring myth is the idea that the laity were “more involved” in the Mass than they were in later ages. In our own day, this has spawned a multiplication of liturgical ministries for lay folk, such as lector, etc. The reality is that in the early Church, all of these roles were administered by the clergy. In fact, the early Church had more ordained clerical offices (the former minor orders) than it does today. The Council of Nicea in 325, for instance, talked about fine-tuning the office of “subdeacon.” This tells us one thing: that subdeacons were already a fixture in the landscape before the council was convoked. Lay Eucharistic ministers were not.

5. The pre- vs. post-Constantinian Church. Lurking behind all of these myths is a powerful “meta-myth,” the claim that there was a rupture in the life of the Church after the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the fourth century. The Church before Constantine, the meta-myth goes, was simple and pristine, a Church “of the people.” After Constantine, however, the Church became clericalist, hierarchical, and corrupted by the desire for grand buildings and highfalutin” ceremonies.

[…]

Read the whole article at Crisis Magazine: Five Myths About Worship in the Early Church.

A clear principal of Catholic social justice teaching is the right for workers to join together in a union. This teaching is intended to bring fairness in employer / employee relations.

Throughout history, there are many examples where employers exploited employees as they seek to maximize profits. Employees have been subjected to very long work weeks, low pay, no health care benefits, no sick time, no vacation time, no pension, arbitrary terminations, unsafe working conditions and so on.

Public sector workers are a different matter. In some cases, the real power lies not with the employer (taxpayers), but with the workers themselves and that power has been abused without any realistic check and balance. We are well past the tipping point on sustainability. Yet, that power is growing with over 36% of public sector workers unionized vs. less than 7% of private sector workers (ref: Bureau of Labor Statistics).

We have all read the shenanigans going on in Wisconsin. For those of us outside of that state, their situation raises many good questions. For Catholics, we should consider all aspects before rushing to a conclusion on how to apply our social justice principals. Cherry picking our teaching on worker rights at the exclusion of all other social justice and moral teachings is WRONG.

George Weigel wrote about this situation recently at First Things:

Judging by the impassioned commentary from some Catholic quarters during recent confrontations between unionized public-sector workers and state governments, you’d think we were back in 1919, with the Church defending the rights of wage slaves laboring in sweat shops under draconian working conditions. That would hardly seem to be the circumstances of, say, unionized American public school teachers who make handsome salaries with generous health and pension benefits, work for nine months of the year, and are virtually impossible to fire even if they commit felonies. I don’t think those were the kinds of workers Leo XIII had in mind in “Rerum Novarum,” or John Paul II in “Laborem Exercens.”

The right of workers to organize to advance their interests is not in question. What is in question is the claim of organized government employees to be immunized against the sacrifices necessary to rescue America from fiscal disaster: a disaster created in no small part by irresponsible politicians pandering to public-sector workers” unions. A union that does not defend its own is, of course, an absurdity. A union that defends only its own, with no concern for the common good, is something else altogether. That kind of unionized selfishness smacks of organized greed, just like the pyramid schemes of Bernie Madoff and his ilk.

Tens of thousands of inner-city children are being denied a quality education today because of the intransigence of the teachers” unions in conceding the effectiveness – and moral imperative – of voucher programs that allow underprivileged and at-risk kids to get the kind of decent, disciplined education that is unavailable in too many government-run schools: not because of lack of funding, and not because government schools “have to take everyone,” but because of union rules that protect failed teachers, reward incompetence and make it virtually impossible for dedicated teachers to conduct the kind of classrooms that work. This is, in a word, selfishness – cruel selfishness. It ill befits Catholic activists and commentators to support it.

A related moral question is raised by public-sector workers’ unions and their recent clashes with governors and legislators determined to prevent their states from going over the fiscal cliff. It’s the same moral question that is posed to all of us by the impending crisis of federal entitlements like Social Security and Medicare: What is our responsibility, in this generation, to future generations?

Is it morally worthy of us to leave our children and grandchildren with mountains of debt because we cannot bring ourselves to reform unsustainable entitlement programs that were enacted when life expectancy was far lower than it is today? Is it morally worthy of today’s public-sector workers’ unions to defend what one columnist described as “massive promissory notes issued to government unions when state coffers were full and no one was looking?” Is it worthy of citizens of the world’s leading democracy to mortgage the country’s future security interests and diplomatic options to the fact that the People’s Republic of China owns vast amounts of American governmental debt in the form of Treasury bonds – and may well call our financial bluff one day when freedom’s cause is on the line?

Read the whole article – The Church and the Unions.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my hopes for “reform the reform” (here and here).

I noted about the problem of changes done in the “spirit” of Vatican II (i.e. invalid and damaging). I said “What exactly Mass is becomes lost. The poorly catechized may not see it as particularly different than any Christian worship service. Their sense of the real presence of Christ becomes questioning. Ultimately they may leave. The zeal of the faithful is also diminished. It is a very serious issue.”

Well, it seems that Cardinal Raymond Burke (Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura) and Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera (Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments) have expressed similar sentiments. Last week they attended the launch of a book by Father Nicola Bux entitled How to Go to Mass and Not Lose Your Faith. Provocative, no?

The cardinals are quoted in the Catholic Herald:

A weakening of faith in God, a rise in selfishness and a drop in the number of people going to Mass can be traced to liturgical abuse or Masses that are not reverent, two Vatican cardinals and a consultant have said.

US Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the Vatican’s supreme court, said: “If we err by thinking we are the centre of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith.”

[…]

Cardinal Burke told those gathered for the book presentation that he agreed with Fr Bux that “liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics.”

Unfortunately, he said, too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant when, in fact, they are “serious abuses.”

Cardinal Cañizares said that while the book’s title is provocative, it demonstrates a belief he shares. “Participating in the Eucharist can make us weaken or lose our faith if we do not enter into it properly,” and if the liturgy is not celebrated according to the Church’s norms, he said.

“This is true whether one is speaking of the Ordinary or Extraordinary form of the one Roman rite,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Cañizares said that at a time when so many people are living as if God did not exist, they need a true Eucharistic celebration to remind them that only God is to be adored and that true meaning in human life comes only from the fact that Jesus gave his life to save the world.

Fr Bux said that too many modern Catholics think the Mass is something that the priest and the congregation do together when, in fact, it is something that Jesus does.

“If you go to a Mass in one place and then go to Mass in another, you will not find the same Mass. This means that it is not the Mass of the Catholic Church, which people have a right to, but it is just the Mass of this parish or that priest,” he said.

Read the whole article entitled Cardinals: liturgical abuse weakens the faith.

Better yet, read Father Zuhlsdorf’s excellent annotated commentary.

February 6th was the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. Dr. Paul Kengor noted recently in Catholic Exchange Reagan’s very tight association with numerous Catholics. The piece got me to thinking.

Who was the most “catholic” (small-c) president – Reagan or JFK (of course, JFK was big-C Catholic, Reagan was not). If you look at what they did and the long term effect of those actions, I think an excellent case can be made for Reagan. Dr. Kengor’s article covers a number of very good points.

JFK on the other hand, most notably entrenched the conceptual (not constitutional) “doctrine” of separation of church and state. He asserted strongly that his faith was private and would not effect his decisions as president. Over time this has influenced many politicians (including those who profess to be Catholic) and the courts to do their best to remove any overt Christian influence in government. This is not what the founding fathers had in mind, as I had written about last March. That unfortunately, is JFK’s lasting legacy.

Reagan lived his Christian faith and wasn’t shy about it. He surrounded himself with like-minded advisors including many Catholics. His faith played a prominent part of his decision making. Reagan changed the world for the better.

Perhaps things would be different if JFK had the chance to complete his presidency. If the current crop of Democratic Catholic politicians are any indicator, then probably not.

It isn’t surprising that Reagan’s centennial is being marked by all sorts of organizations, with retrospectives that will touch upon every imaginable aspect of Reagan. I suspect, however, that the thing most integral to the man, and most consistent throughout his life – that is, his religious faith – will not be as front and center as it should.

A fascinating aspect of that faith was a Reagan warmly, remarkably ecumenical, especially toward Catholics. Reagan included several devout Catholics among his top foreign-policy advisers and intimates, from CIA director Bill Casey, to Ambassador Vernon Walters, to National Security Adviser Richard Allen, to Secretary of State Al Haig (whose brother was a Jesuit priest), just for starters.

Most significant among them was Bill Clark, also known as “The Judge.” A student of Aquinas, Fulton Sheen, and Thomas Merton, who spent time in an Augustinian novitiate contemplating the priesthood, Clark implemented the formal National Security Decision Directives crucial to confronting and undermining the Soviet empire. Clark and Reagan prayed together, particularly the Prayer of Saint Francis.

And then there were the Catholic speechwriters to “the Great Communicator:” Peggy Noonan, chief speechwriter Tony Dolan, and Peter Robinson, who wrote the “Tear Down This Wall” speech.

Finally, Reagan spent some very special moments with the likes of Mother Teresa, Terence Cardinal Cooke, and, of course, Pope John Paul II, with whom he took down an Evil Empire – peacefully.

The centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth will generate all kinds of thoughts and reflections on the man, from his position on taxes to the Soviets to unborn human life. The 40th president’s close relationship with Catholics is likewise worthy of reflection.

Dr. Kengor has written extensively on this topic in his book God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life.

It is easy to get discouraged. At times it seems the world is slowly dying – abortion, attacks on the family, abandonment of faith, little work ethic, worshiping the false idol of self, political correctness over actual correctness and direct assaults in many forms on Catholics and the Church.

Father John Corapi wrote in his book Letters:

As we prepare to enter a new era in politics and perhaps society in general, keep something in mind: WE WIN! No matter what political party is in power at a given point in time, in the end those that remain faithful to Jesus Christ win the war. We may have to fight many battles outnumbered and even despised and looked upon as criminals and outcasts by a society that is unraveling and degenerating into something no one could have imagined.

What matters is that we run the race to the finish line and fight the good fight. Don’t “go with the flow,” for as the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen reminds us, “Dead bodies float downstream.” More than ever we shall have to be strong in the faith. Regular and worthy reception of the sacraments, constant prayer, and rigorous study of the faith is now essential, nor merely a luxury.

The front line and primary battle is going to be the fight for life: The dignity of every human life from the moment of conception to the last moment of natural life. If we lose that one, every other battle space will be compromised. If the government succeeds in establishing abortion as an inalienable “right,” then the elderly and sick will be next. It will then be a short and slippery step to the government deciding who lives and dies regardless of their inherent human dignity.

If you don’t already pray the Rosary every day, please start at once. The prayer of the holy Rosary is the prayer of the holy Gospel, and that means it is the prayer of the Good News Who is Jesus Christ, the LIFE of the world. Many saints will be forged in the crucible of the coming years. Make sure you are among them.

Well said.

Thanks to the Courageous Priest (Jeff Gares) for bringing this to my attention.