We started out Lent with Jesus going to battle with the devil in the desert. Do you believe in the devil? In today’s show, we will talk about the devil.
– Music: “Armor of God” by Spiritual House
– The Devil and Padre Pio interview with Fr. Gabriel Amorth
cast (at) iPadre (dot) net
Feedback line: 206-202-1231
Subscribe to Feed | Subscribe in iTunes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This coming Wednesday, March 17th, is St. Patrick’s Day. It is a day of great celebration in all places of Irish background and beyond. Boston and New York will hold their annual St. Patrick’s Day parades, people of all backgrounds will feast on corn beef and cabbage and many pubs will add a green tint to their beer. However, there is one phenomenon that is a great contradiction, some clergy of Irish and non-Irish background will wear green vestments for the celebration of Mass. In most places, St. Patrick is an Optional Memorial and the color of the day would be violet. However, even in places where St. Patrick is the patron of the place and his celebrations is the rank of Feast, the liturgical color is white.
By liturgical law, the Church “directs that the vestments worn by her sacred ministers, and the drapery used in the decoration of the altar should correspond in color to that which is prescribed” for the celebration of the day. The Liturgy of the Church is to be a sign of unity among Catholics, not our private cause or personal desires.
Wearing green for Mass on St. Patrick’s Day is such a contradiction. As Catholics, the Liturgy does not celebrate St. Patrick’s national identity, it raises up this great man’s witness of heroic virtue. The liturgical color of white celebrates St. Patrick’s purity and holiness, his complete giving over to Christ and conformity to his baptismal covenant. Wearing green vestments on St. Patrick’s Day lowers our liturgical celebration to a human custom and allows the world to transform the Church.
St. Patrick was not one to bring the world into the Church, he was a man who transformed the culture in which he lived. The sought hard to convert the pagan ways of the people of Ireland, he encourage young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ, young men to enter the priesthood and widows to reman chaste. Like St. Patrick, we need to build a Catholic culture and not water down our faith by giving in to secular attitudes and ways of doing things. If we had a few people with the courage of St. Patrick, maybe we would see the serpents of our culture driven out of society.
In this episode, I share a talk I gave this Lent on the Priesthood and Year For Priests, feedback from a man close to ordination to the priesthood, a dispensation from abstinence on the Solemnity of St. Joseph and a drawing of an autographed copy of Bishop Tobin’s new book.
– Music: “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” by Jilleen
– Year For Priests – Vatican Site
– Year For Priests – USCCB
– iPadre Live Stream
cast (at) iPadre (dot) net
Feedback line: 206-202-1231
Subscribe to Feed | Subscribe in iTunes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Every time I watch this video, I can’t help but laugh. Do you need a good laugh? Here is Tim Hawkins on Church.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L30-O9xC8U
I have to admit that I am not a cat lover, but I would never put any animal in a Pet Wash Machine. They are popular new machines in Japan. It costs $5.00 as compared to the regular $30.00 (I pay more than that for Mickey) they pay a groomer. I will bet you some idiot will mistakingly put their pet in a microwave, thinking it’s a pet washer.
Give them time, they’ll have people wash machines. Actually, that might be good in some cases! 😉 Check out the video below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VfSl0iGAus
Since I went away to learn how to say the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass) last June, I have learned a great deal. However, there are some things that perplex me. I often wonder why things were changed, or done away with. Was there a purpose? Was it change for the sake of change?
In the Ordinary Form of the Mass, we have two major parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. In the Extraordinary Form, we have the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful. On the 3rd Sunday of Lent we begin the Scrutines. These are a set of prayers offered for those members of RCIA who are preparing for Baptism. Those who are preparing for Baptism are called Catechumens. Everything in the EF seems geared more toward the Rite of Christian Initiation than does the OF.
In the EF, the 3rd Sunday of Lent has the station of St. Laurence outside the walls. In Rome of ancient times, there was a great procession lead by the catechumens, then the penitents, then the faithful, lastly the clergy and finally the Pope. After entering the basilica of St. Lawrence, they would gather around the tomb of the martyr to seek his intercession against the devil. “With eyes directed toward the sanctuary, they feel safe from the ‘snares’ of the enemy.”
The prayers of the EF all reinforce the prayers used in the Scrutinies. It makes me wonder why we took back the RCIA, but left behind the EF for something new. Did those who created the OF not see this relationship between RCIA and the EF?
There is a new documentary coming out called “Finding Fatima”. It is being put together by the same team that created “The 13th Day”. There are a number of video clips available on YouTube, but there is one in particular that is very moving. The clip depicts a group of Jesuits who were unharmed and suffered no effects from the radiation and everything around them was destroyed. I have heard a similar story about a group of Franciscans. Just check out the video below and be blown away, no pun intended! For more info, check out the official website. I think this dvd will be a great source of evangelization!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=952pbJLQHQs
Although this story is already almost a week old, I cannot for the life of me understand how any priest in his right mind can offer a 15 Minute Mass with a clear conscience. Even when I say Mass on my day off and only my parents are present and there is no homily, no prayer of the faithful, the Mass is almost 30 minutes. Isn’t this the thing that the “reform” following Vatican II was all about doing away with. I also have to question how a Bishop would allow such a abuse of the Holy Mass. Don’t they have enough problems in Ireland without watering down the faith more in order to fill the church.
“An Irish cleric’s congregation has increased tenfold in a week — thanks to a quickie Mass.”
IT’S NOT ABOUT NUMBERS, it’s about quality and until we get that through our heads, there will never be a renew in the life of the Church. Yes, we want everyone to enter the life of grace and come to daily Mass, but it seems a 15 minute Mass is “sacrificing the Mass”, not the Sacrifice of the Mass.
“The popular priest started his 15-minute Mass as nothing more than an experiment at the start of Lent, just over a week ago. And he attributes the speed of the service to foregoing a sermon — and having the help of a Eucharistic minister for communion.”
I hope I’m never popular if I have to treat the Mass like a drive in restaurant!
Read the whole story here. “Church attendance soars with the 15 minute Mass“.
Most of us have heard some theologian or Biblical scholar deny a dogmatic teaching of the Church or a story in Sacred Scripture. In fact, if you went through the seminary, you probably hear a professor or had required reading that denied some truth or another. The only thing that got most guys through the years of turmoil that many of us faced in our seminary days were great men like Pope John Paul II, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and the like. We knew the teachings of the Church and quietly made our ways to the altar so we did not face expulsion.
Funny thing is that many of the teachings we heard denied have been reinforced and strengthened. The seminaries for the most part have turned around and drawn closer to the heart of the Church.
And God Himself has been giving the world signs of His truth. When I had Old Testament in College Seminary, we were told that many of the miracles, signs and wonders of the Bible were only stories or fables that had a spiritual meaning, but really were not true.
One that stands out fits so well into Lent. We all remember the great classic, “The Ten Commandments” directed by Cecil B. DeMille and staring Charlton Heston. Those were the days of great movies. They had no technology like the movies of today, just good actors.
One of the highlights of “The Ten Commandments” is the crossing of the Red Sea. Many Scripture scholars tried to tell us that it wasn’t really the Red Sea, but the Reed Sea, a small marsh that would have allowed Moses and the Israelites to cross with no problem. “They could have never cross the Red Sea!” said the “scholars” and other people who don’t believe in God’s power and miracles.
It seems that God has given proof of His great power. An Archbishop sent me to a website that shows some astonishing findings. Archiologist Ron Wyatt has found proof of the Red Sea crossing and has facts to prove it. You’ll want to check out his website.
– Wyatt Archaeological Research
– Red Sea Crossing website
– Exodus Conspiracy Movie
In today’s show, we talk about an ancient and beautiful Catholic devotion called the Stations of the Cross. We also talk about Baptism of Protestants who become Catholic and what to do about Confirmation candidates who don’t want to be Confirmed. We also have a winner for Lisa Hendey’s book “The Handbook for Catholic Moms”. If you want to win a copy of Bishop Tobin’s book, “Effective Faith – Faith That Makes A Difference”, list in and find out how.
– Music: “Old Rugged Cross” by Jean Shy
– iPadre #148 – Stations of the Cross
– Franciscans of the Holy Land
cast (at) iPadre (dot) net
Feedback line: 206-202-1231
Subscribe to Feed | Subscribe in iTunes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download