Denying Communion and the Internal Forum

I read in a comments box on an article ("The Mind of Francis: Denying Communion") by Thomas Reese at the National Catholic Reporter, "To deny communion to someone presumes to know what only God can know...the heart of the recipient." This is not completely true. There are in Canon Law external forum conditions for being admitted to Communion. For instance, whether you are baptized or not. Whether you publicly give scandal (without public repentance) is also external forum.

Ipsissima vox

Pope Benedict XVI makes a very useful distinction in Part Two of Jesus of Nazareth (p. 320) between the ipsissima verba of Jesus and the ipsissima vox.  Both refer to direct quotes of Jesus in the Gospels.  The first means that Jesus actually said the words as quoted. The second means that the quoted words exactly reflect the mind of Jesus, even if he didn't say the words exactly as quoted. This is a very useful distinction when discussing the "historicity" of the Gospels and when discussing the dominical origin of Church teachings.  It can also be applied to events as well, such as the Baptism of our Lord. Whatever it looked like to the neutral observer, it was what is recorded in the Gospels.

Niggle's Sketchbook New Blog

My daughter has a new blog called Niggle's Sketchpad. It is dedicated to the young adults who are struggling to make sense of the strange world they find themselves in. Be sure to check out the Introduction.

Sure, there is frustration and untapped potential in the young Church. But there is also a new passion, a new interest in what is true instead of what is easy to swallow, a new enthusiasm for what came before and what is still to be accomplished. We are the foot soldiers of the New Evangelization, and we are being mobilized!

Holy Thursday 2013 at St. Anthony's Milwaukee

My parish.

Pope Francis and the interior life

I think we are going to have to be careful when we interpret the words of Pope Francis. Sometimes he may seem to be saying something he isn't. For instance, at today's Chrism Mass he said:

It is not in soul-searching or constant introspection that we encounter the Lord: self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live by going from one course to another, from one method to another, leads us to become pelagians and to minimize the power of grace, which comes alive and flourishes to the extent that we, in faith, go out and give ourselves and the Gospel to others, giving what little ointment we have to those who have nothing, nothing at all (from Whispers).

This emphatically does not mean that the priest should not cultivate an interior life. A good Jesuit would never say such a thing.  One can not go out with unction without a life of prayer and the cultivation of the interior life and a relationship with the Triune God distinct from our apostolic activity--or our liturgical activity, for that matter. Our Lord spent many hours in prayer, and he was God!  

What Francis says is "...self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live by going from one course to another, from one method to another..." These things aren't really prayer, or even retreats--all of which are not only good, but (canonically) necessary for priests. 

Francis wants us to go out, to evangelize. That is the call of Vatican II and the New Evangelization.  It requires a deep interior life. 

Creator of the Stars of Night

Divineoffic.org has a neat setting for "Creator of the Stars of Night" for Morning Prayer today. It uses a Sarum melody, which seems to be related to the standard chant.  Richard Proulx adds some great harmonies with his choir. I wish I could find a youtube video of it, but alas!  Maybe spotify has it.

Creator of the Stars of Night by The Cathedral Singers, Richard Proulx (conductor) Words: Unknown author, 7th Century (Conditor alme siderum); translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale in the Hymnal Noted, 1852; Music: Conditor, Proper Sarum melody

Spirituality and mental health

I heard a report on the BBC Wuhld Suhvice this morning about a study done in England and Wales that indicates that people who are "spiritual," but not "religious" are more prone to mental illness such as depression than either "religious" people or "secular" people. They did  a follow-up study that showed that "spiritual" people who are mentally healthy are more likely to succumb to some kind of mental illness in the following year. I wonder whether one who is spiritual without a religion is more susceptible to the influence of malevolent spiritual forces because they don't have the "protection" that a society with a tradition of spiritual discernment and combat has.