Romano Catolico? Yes!

^-AA⁺A

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

THIS is in response to a letter by Amay P. Ong Vaño published last Jan. 12, 2013 entitled “Romano Catolico Ka?” In it, the author expressed his views regarding the Church’s being Catholic, Roman, and its use of Latin.

“Roman Catholic” is not a contradiction in terms—-we are Catholic (that is, Universal) precisely because we are Roman. It is a conditio sine qua non of our Catholicity, of our being Universal.

When Jesus told the apostles to gather all people from all the corners of the world, he did not tell the apostles to gather the people into bunches. Rather, he told them to gather them into one.

And we can only be one if we gather around the Bishop of Rome, Peter, whom Jesus instructed to feed the sheep and the lambs.

Only Rome can nourish the flock, and without this head, we will become no better than the thousands of Protestant sects scattered all over the world—-each with their own leaders, their own worship, and their own conflicting doctrines.

Universality and unity go hand in hand, and we can only be one if we are under one—under Peter and his successor.

Being Roman, then, is not a mere product of sentimentality or an accident of history, but a result of being steadfast to the Rock upon whom God built his Church.

Latin

Now, if the Church is to be truly universal, it has to have a universal language, inasmuch as in today’s economic globalization we must communicate in a global tongue—-not that this language will eclipse the others, but that it will unite them.

Thus, we need a language that all Catholics can call as their own—a language we can use to worship God as one whether we be in Cebu, or in Iraq, or in any other place, and one that possesses the beauty and preciseness that can withstand the test of time.

No language can do this, and has done this, better than Latin.

This language has been with the Church even during the time of Jesus—-from Pilate’s board bearing the INRI to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, even to the current Mass from which our Cebuano translation is based on, Latin has been—-and still is—-the medium of religious instruction and worship.

Unfortunately, we often do not bother to know why it was there in the first place, why it mattered, and why it still matters.

This negative attitude regarding Latin is a great mistake, and a costly one. By discouraging its use, we unwittingly denied a whole generation of Catholics of their two-thousand-year heritage.

We’ve been deprived of the beautiful prayers, the hymns, and the language which Catholics have been sharing for centuries already—a heritage whose beauty even the best translations can never quite capture, as last year’s re-translation of the Mass taught us.

Global

The problem is all the more problematic when we hear the reason—-because of “Vatican II”—-when in fact, the Second Vatican Council encouraged its use: “Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”—Article 54, Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, Vatican II.

Thus, it seems that people only keep referring to something even without reading anything of it.

Also, if we completely reject this language, we will not be only cut off from the Catholics of the past, we will also be cut off from the Catholics of the present.

You see, if Latin mattered back then when we only travelled by horse and ship, it all the more matters today when going global is at its easiest.

Now that Catholics find it easier to travel to other places—either for tourism, for education, or for work—how delightful would it be when, even if one is in a foreign country, he still goes to Church hearing the same prayers and the same Mass, spoken in the same language as he is accustomed to back at home.

Of course, this preference of Latin does not mean the rejection of our own languages—-that is not the Church’s intention.

Contrary to what the previous letter-sender makes it appear, we do not wish to pray only in Latin, but to pray also in Latin—-that we pray not only in our own native tongues, but also in the language shared by all Catholics throughout the world.

And that’s universality in action.

Doable

Can this be done? Well, if today’s new generation can quickly learn and understand songs in Korean and cartoons in Japanese—and with much gusto at that—why not with Latin?---Sem. Gio Abastillas of San Carlos Seminary College, Cebu City

When in Cebu City, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City together with your own parking space at the low amount of only P12,000.00+ and House and Lot @ P 7,306.81/month only. Hurry while supply of units still last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown herein: (053)555-84-64/09164422611/09173373687.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on January 23, 2013.

Eleven Great Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on Liturgy and the Holy Mass

Posted by Dr. Taylor Marshall 

Like most of you, I have enjoyed reading the Holy Father's thoughts on the liturgy and the Holy Mass over the years. Pope Benedict was undeniably prolific in his theological reflection on Liturgy and the Eucharist prior to his election as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Even before I became Catholic, I was impressed by his forthrightness and clarity on what constitutes genuine and God-honoring liturgy.

A previous post on the Pope's condemnation of clapping at Holy Mass was popular, so here are eleven more Ratzinger-zingers on the Holy Mass. Please read them carefully, and digest what His Holiness is saying.

These are only the tip of the iceberg. I'd encourage you to read the books when you have time. Tell then, here goes:

Ratzinger on the Liturgical Reformers Creating a 'Fabrication, Banal Product'
The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication. They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment. (Ratzinger in Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

Ratzinger on Those Who Appreciate the Latin Mass being Wrongly Treated Like 'Lepers'

"For fostering a true consciousness in liturgical matters, it is also important that the proscription against the form of liturgy in valid use up to 1970 [the older Latin Mass] should be lifted. Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of this liturgy or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here. There has never been anything like this in history; in doing this we are despising and proscribing the Church's whole past. How can one trust her at present if things are that way?" (Spirit of the Liturgy, 2000)

Ratzinger on the Degeneration of Liturgy and 'Liturgical Fabricators'

"[W]e have a liturgy which has degenerated so that it has become a show which, with momentary success for the group of liturgical fabricators, strives to render religion interesting in the wake of the frivolities of fashion and seductive moral maxims. Consequently, the trend is the increasingly marked retreat of those who do not look to the liturgy for a spiritual show-master but for the encounter with the living God in whose presence all the 'doing' becomes insignificant since only this encounter is able to guarantee us access to the true richness of being." (Cardinal Ratzinger's preface to the French translation of Reform of the Roman Liturgy by Monsignor Klaus Gamber, 1992).

Ratzinger on the 'Disintegration of the Liturgy'

"I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy." (Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977)

Ratzinger against 'Homemade Liturgy'

"It is also worth observing here that the 'creativity' involved in manufactured liturgies has a very restricted scope. It is poor indeed compared with the wealth of the received liturgy in its hundreds and thousands of years of history. Unfortunately, the originators of homemade liturgies are slower to become aware of this than the participants..." (Feast of Faith p. 67-68)

Ratzinger on the Latin Mass as the 'Holiest and Highest Possession'

“I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent.” (Ratzinger Salt of the Earth (1997)

Ratzinger on the Danger of Creative "Presiders" at the Mass

In reality what happened was that an unprecedented clericalization came on the scene. Now the priest -- the "presider", as they now prefer to call him -- becomes the real point of reference for the whole Liturgy. Everything depends on him. We have to see him, to respond to him, to be involved in what he is doing. His creativity sustains the whole thing. 

Ratzinger on the Danger of 'Creative Planning of the Liturgy'

Not surprisingly, people try to reduce this newly created role by assigning all kinds of liturgical functions to different individuals and entrusting the "creative" planning of the Liturgy to groups of people who like to, and are supposed to, "make a contribution of their own". Less and less is God in the picture. More and more important is what is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves to a "pre-determined pattern". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on Why the Priest Should Not Face the People During Mass

The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is locked into itself. The common turning toward the East was not a "celebration toward the wall"; it did not mean that the priest "had his back to the people": the priest himself was not regarded as so important. For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian Liturgy the congregation looked together "toward the Lord". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the Priest and People Facing the Same Direction

On the other hand, a common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of accidentals, but of essentials. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the 'Absurd Phenomenon' of Replacing the Crucifix with the Priest

Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord? (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

When in Cebu City, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City together with your own parking space at the low amount of only P12,000.00+ and House and Lot @ P 7,306.81/month only. Hurry while supply of units still last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown herein: (053)555-84-64/09164422611/09173373687.