Vatican approves US Catechism Revision on Jewish Covenant with God

Vatican approves US catechism revision on Jewish covenant with God

August 27, 2009

Link to original

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Vatican Congregation for Clergy has approved a small change in the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults clarifying Catholic teaching about God's covenant with the Jewish people. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Aug. 27 that the Vatican had granted its "recognitio" to a one-sentence revision of the catechism that was approved by the U.S. bishops at their June 2008 meeting. The revised sentence, in a section that explains relations between the Catholic Church and Jews, reads: "To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his word, 'belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ'" (Rom 9: 4-5; cf. CCC, No. 839). The original sentence read: "Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them."

So it seems that the US bishops are alluding to the serious error in the original wording of the Catechism. After all, if the covenant with the Jews "remains eternally valid for them," then there is no reason for evangelization of the Jewish people. And such a logical conclusion is in conflict with the infallible teachings of the Church.

Pope Eugene IV: "The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church." (Cantate Domino, 1441.)

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The Consecration of a Paten and Chalice in the Traditional Rite of 1962

CONSECRATION OF A PATEN AND A CHALICE

(From the new Roman Pontifical of 1962)

{The consecration of a paten and of a chalice may be delegated to a priest, who follows the same rite given here for a bishop, omitting, however, the directions that do not pertain to a priest.

The consecration of a paten and chalice may take place on any day and at any convenient place.

The following are prepared: holy chrism and whatever materials are necessary for cleansing and wiping the chalice and paten as well as the bishop's hands. The chalice and paten should be placed on a table covered with a white-linen cloth or on the altar.

If several chalices and patens are to be consecrated the bishop performs the anointings successively on each of them, but he says the orations only once and in the plural form.

The bishop, standing and wearing the rochet, white stole, and gold-embroidered mitre, says:

Celebrant: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

C: Let us pray, my dear brethren, that by the help of God's grace this paten (these patens) may be consecrated and hallowed for the purpose of breaking over it (them) the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered death on the cross for the salvation of us all.

Then, removing the mitre, he says:

C: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, who instituted the laws of sacrifice, and ordered among other things that the sprinkled wheaten flour should be carried to the altar on plates of gold and silver; be pleased to bless, hallow, and consecrate this paten (these patens), destined for the administration of the Eucharist of Jesus Christ, your Son, who for our salvation and that of all mankind chose to immolate Himself on the gibbet of the cross to you, God the Father, with whom He lives and reigns, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Having put on the mitre, he dips the thumb of his right hand into the holy chrism, anoints the paten from rim to rim in the form of a cross, and then rubs the holy chrism all over the upper side of the paten, while saying the following formula:

Lord God, may you deign to consecrate and to hallow this paten by this anointing and our blessing, in Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Then (still standing and wearing the mitre) he proceeds to the blessing of the chalice, saying:

Let us pray, my dear brethren, that our Lord and God, by His heavenly grace and inspiration, may hallow this chalice (these chalices), about to be consecrated for use in His ministry, and that He may add the fulness of His divine favor to the consecration performed by us; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Then, removing the mitre, he says:

C: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

O Lord our God, be pleased to bless this chalice (these chalices), made by your devout people for your holy service. Bestow that same blessing which you bestowed on the hallowed chalice of your servant, Melchisedech. And what we cannot make worthy of your altars by our craft and metals, do you nonetheless make worthy by your blessing; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Having put on the mitre, he dips the thumb of his right hand into the holy chrism and anoints each chalice on the inside from rim to rim In the form of a cross, while saying the following formula: Lord God, may it please you to consecrate and to hallow this chalice by this anointing and our blessing, in Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Then, removing the mitre, he says the following over the chalice and paten (chalices and patens):

C: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, we beg you to impart to our hands the virtue of your blessing, so that by our blessing this vessel and paten (these vessels and patens) may be hallowed and become, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, a new sepulchre for the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

When the consecration is over a priest cleans the chalice and paten with crumbs of bread and purifies them thoroughly. These cleansing materials are put into the sacrarium.

Special Notice to Servers:

An altar server should never touch anything that is Consecrated such as the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist (no one except a priest should touch the Eucharist). However, a server should also never touch a consecrated Chalice, Paten, or the altar itself as these three items were all consecrated in the traditional form.

I highly encourage all servers and those aspiring to serve at the Altar of God, to see my post on the History and Graces from Altar Serving for more information.

Blessings vs. Consecrations

Fr. Z from WDTPRS has a good piece on this particular matter:

We speak about the consecration of certain places, things and people. People to be consecrated, for example, include bishops and some women who are virgins. An abbot, however, is blessed. A corner-stone of a church is blessed, but the stone of an altar is consecrated. Priests can bless, but generally only bishops consecrate.

A distinction can be made about church buildings which are consecrated in a very special way called a "dedication". Also, while confirmation and ordination are also consecrations, in a sense, they are really separate sacraments. There is a lot of debate about just what the consecration of a bishop really does, since they are already priests and priests, by their priesthood, can pretty much everything bishops can do. Once upon a time, priests were permitted to ordain! Some theologians think episcopal consecration really just extends the sacramental character already present, etc. But I digress.

By constitutive blessings (blessings which make something a blessed thing) and by consecrations objects and people are, as it were, removed from the secular, temporal realm and given over instead to God exclusively. It is as if they are extracted from the world under the domination of its diabolical "prince" and given exclusively to the King. Before, they were "profane". After, they are "sacred". Thus, a consecration is a once for all time act. Once something is consecrated, it is forever consecrated. Blessings can be repeated. Thus, harming or doing wrong to or with something or someone who is consecrated is thus its own kind of sin: sacrilege.

....

When considered from the older, pre-Conciliar rites, which we happily can use today, it is usually a bishop who consecrates chalices and patens. It was/is possible to delegate a priest to consecrate these things. The consecration makes these things suitable for the worship of God and being vessels for the Most Holy.

In the old days, chalices and patens (as well as ciboria for Hosts and monstrances or ostensoria for Exposition) had to be consecrated before they could be used at the altar. In the new way of doing things, vessels can be consecrated (though I think in the new rites they just bless them in a sort of vague and good natured way) or they become consecrated automatically the first time they are used. That is a real loss of a teaching moment, I think, but there it is.

....

Back to work… once vessels are consecrated they stay consecrated until something major is done to alter them. For example, if the chalice and paten are worn and sent off to be regilded or repaired, they have to be consecrated again.

The consecration of these vessels also calls to mind the extremely ancient practice going back to the time of Pope Sixtus I (+c. 127) that only priests, whose hands were also anointed with chrism, could handle chalices and patens. Remember also the good custom of kissing the priests hand, which is anointed and is raised in blessing and in absolution and which hold the Eucharist.

Constitutive blessings and consecrations are very important. Blessing and consecrating solemnly could help people understand better the distinction of profane and sacred and how blessed and consecrated things can help us in our spiritual lives and our constant fight against the enemy of the soul.

Sources:

Image Sources for Images of the Ceremony: His Excellency Bishop Williamson/True Restoration Photos
Blessing Source: Sancta Missa - Rituale Romanum
Fr. Z Source: Consecration of a Paten and a Chalice

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Photos: Silver Jubilee of Rev. Fr. Daniel Couture

The blog Sacred Heart Choir has posted several photos from the recent Silver Jubilee of Rev. Fr. Daniel Couture.

His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay

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Jesuit-Priest Killer Gets 14 Years in Prison

Moscow, August 25, Interfax - The Moscow City Court has sentenced Mikhail Orekhov to 14 years in prison for killing a Jesuit priest.

The sentence was handed out on Tuesday on the basis of the jury's verdict.

Following debates of the consequences of the verdict by the jury, the prosecutor demanded 15 years in jail for Orekhov. By law, the court must follow the jury's verdict and cannot pass any other verdict except "guilty."

The jury found Orekhov guilty of killing Priest Viktor Betancourt of the Independent Russian Jesuit Society.

"An investigation has established that Orekhov killed Betancourt while in a state of alcoholic intoxication, motivated by personal enmity, after the victim attempted to entice him to commit a joint sexual act," the press service of the federal prosecutor's Investigation Committee earlier told Interfax.

Orekhov had been charged with a double murder. Investigators claimed he had also killed Otto Messmer, the Society's Abbot. But the jury cleared Orekhov of those charges.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=6369

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Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost: Video

Yesterday was the Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost, with a commemoration of Saint Philip Benizi, Confessor. Above is a slideshow of images from a Low Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary in Blackfen by Mulier Fortis.

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Bishop Slattery of Tulsa: Ad Orientem Novus Ordo

Following the article on Messainlatino.it, there has been rumors that Bishop Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa will celebrate the "Old Mass". This is simply incorrect. Bishop Slattery is only preparing to say the Novus Ordo ad orientem (whilst facing East). According to a photo on the website of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Bishop Slattery said the Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent ad orientem but he said it not on the grand high altar present in his diocese's cathedral but on a make-shift wooden altar.

The poster under the name "Christulsa" from Angelqueen.org, had the following to say:

Right, Bishop Slattery IS NOT saying the TLM or "old Mass!" That has been misunderstood by some in my Diocese of Tulsa.

In the recent Eastern Oklahoma Catholic, the traditional-minded Bishop (something of a rariety) wrote about saying Mass Ad Orientem. He did not distinguish between the old and new Mass. I would have preferred to finally hear him say something against pro-abortion Obamacare, he showed some fortitude in this article. He said Mass facing the people was a problem since VII because 1. it is a break with "Apostolic Tradition, 2. focuses on the congregation rather than God, and 3. threatens to make a personality out of the celebrant.

I am still trying to understand this bishop, who I pray for at each TLM in the SSPX chapel where I attend, but he is a bit of a negative paradox. He actively invites the FSSP and Clear Creek monks into the diocese in the 1990s, frequents Clear Creek monastery, recently starts a "Liturgical Institute" to foster things like Gregorian chant, and has even supported the TLM mov[e]ment on occasion (he said the TLM in Oxford at a big conference there on the TLM). He wrote about Summorum Pontificum in a positive way, and to my knowledge has never tried to stop a priest from saying the old Mass. Fr. Yew of the diocese has said the TLM every Friday evening, and is now assigned to Holy Cross parish in Wagoner to say the traditional Mass for people who live near Clear Creek monastery but are told they need a parish.

But, this bishop is cooperating all the time, at least on a material level, with modernism. At his Masses, he will actively participate in modernist things like wearing New Age vestments, singing along to New Age "hymns," giving very sentimental sermons on the Eucharist with no mention of Transubstantiation or sacrifice. Before becoming a bishop, Slattery ran the Catholic Extension Society out of Chicago, which was and is responsible for funding the building of one sinfully ugly church after another. Each year he engages in false ecumenism, worshipping in ecumenical services with Hindus, Buddhists, as well as Protestants and Orthodox. He has actively and consciously permitted unspeakable sacriledge in his diocese (a convent of Buddhist-chanting nuns comes to mind), which ultimately God will be the judge of!

THAT SAID, Bishop Slattery seems to have gone through some very fundamental changes since he was made bishop in the early 90s, but especially since he brought the Clear Creek monks to Oklahoma, and since Ratzinger became pope. IF ONLY HE WOULD CELEBRATE THE OLD MASS, ie the MASS OF ALL TIMES, at least on occasion!

With all of these considerations in mind, we must pray for the Restoration of all things in Christ in the Diocese of Tulsa.

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Twitter: Follow Me

Remember to follow the tweets of A Catholic Life on Twitter, as we send updates when new posts are published, and older posts are edited.

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Submit Your Questions

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If so, please send your questions to acatholiclife[at]gmail.com with the subject line "Ask A Catholic Life." If I am not able to answer your question, I will see if I can find someone who is able to help.

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Image Source: H.E. Michael F. Burbidge, Diocese of Raleigh, NC (in choir). Father Paul M. Parkerson - Celebrant. Nicholas Aul - Master of Ceremonies via Catholic Caveman

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Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta: Named Chairman of the SSPX-Vatican Commission

The Argentinian Catholic website Panorama Católico Internacional published this week the news that the current Rector of the Seminary of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) in Argentina, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, has been named chairman of the SSPX side of the joint Vatican-SSPX commission in charge of the theological discussions.

Panorama adds that sources "close to the SSPX" inform that the Bishop will remain as rector in Argentina for the moment, but may change if his duties in Europe (that is, as part of the commission) deprive him from the time that is deemed necessary for the activities of the seminary.

Via Rorate Caeli

My only comment is that we must pray for that the Lord's will shall be done through these talks. May the Faith be defended and may the Truth prevail.

Related Posts:

• SSPX Bishops are Not Excommunicated (January 2009)
• Pray for the Canonization of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (February 2009)
• Sermon by His Excellency Bishop Williamson during a Confirmation Mass (April 2008)
• Priests Ordained in Zaitzkofen near Regensburg, southern Germany for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta (June 2009)

Image Source: La Porte Latine

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Pope Benedict XVI: Priests are to be Witnesses of Love

Monks of St. Bernard

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A priest must be a witness and apostle of the love that is in the hearts of Christ and Mary, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today during the general audience in Castel Gandolfo in which he reflected on St. John Eudes and the priesthood, in the context of the Year for Priests. The feast of the 17th-century French saint is celebrated today.

Noting the difficulties in 17th-century France, the Holy Father said that "the Holy Spirit inspired a fervent spiritual renewal, with prominent personalities. […] This great 'French school' of holiness also had St. John Mary Vianney among its fruits. By a mysterious design of Providence, my venerated predecessor, Pius XI, proclaimed John Eudes and the Curé d'Ars saints at the same time, on May 31, 1925, offering the Church and the whole world two extraordinary examples of priestly holiness."

Speaking about the formation of diocesan priests, the Pontiff recalled how in the 16th century, "the Council of Trent issued norms for the establishment of diocesan seminaries and for the formation of priests, as the council was aware that the whole crisis of the Reformation was also conditioned by the insufficient formation of priests, who were not adequately prepared intellectually and spiritually, in their heart and soul, for the priesthood."

Source: Zenit

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