Catholic Thought

My 2-week respite was filled with me scouring my little 'Ratzingeriana'. I meditated with him in his book, 'Journey Towards Easter', a piece I bought from St. Paul's - SM Iloilo at a dirt cheap price of PhP 33. Yes folks, a Ratzinger at PhP 33 no more no less! And I reread his 1983 interview with Vittorio Messori, 'The Ratzinger Report'.

On my way to Chapter IX of the latter, I stumbled upon these very humbling but very succinct diagnosis of the current scene in Catholic liturgical life, here it goes:

"The liturgy is not a show, a spectacle, requiring brilliant producers and talented actors. The life of the liturgy does not consist in 'pleasant surprises' and attractive 'ideas' but in solemn repetitions. It cannot be an expression of what is current and transitory, for it expresses the mystery of the Holy. Many people have felt and said that liturgy must be 'made' by the whole community if it is really to belong to them. Such an attitude has led to the 'success' of the liturgy being measured by its effect at the level of spectacle and entertainment. It is to lose sight of what is distinctive to the liturgy, which does not come from what we do but from the fact that something is taking place here that all of us together cannot 'make'. In the liturgy there is a power, an energy at work which not even the Church as a whole can generate: what it manifests is the Wholly Other,coming to us through the community (which is hence not sovereign but servant, purely instrumental)."

"Liturgy, for the Catholic, is his common homeland, the source of his identity. And another reason why it must be something 'given' and 'constant' is that, by means of the ritual, it manifests the holiness of God. The revolt against what has been described as 'the old rubricist rigidity', which was accused of stifling 'creativity', has in fact made the liturgy into a do-it-yourself patchwork and trivialized it, adapting it to our mediocrity."

-then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI

Messori V. and Ratzinger J.,'The Ratzinger Report', Ch. IX, 1985, Ignatius Press, S.F. CA, USA

Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Jaro Cathedral

The Jaro Cathedral played host the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fatima last 12-14 February. The visit was supposed to be for the renewal and sanctification of the clergy and penitential pilgrimage.

The way this opened however was very remarkable. The Most Holy Sacrifice was offered in the Jaro Cathedral, in the extraordinary form. Relishing the renewed freedom to offer this mass according to the provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the celebrant took advantage to give a short catechism about this form of the mass in his homily.

The mass was accompanied by a very splendid choir, and yes folks, the mass drew no less than a thousand. The Cathedral was full-packed, standing room only! I only wish I had the camera so I can post pictures here.

Another noteworthy thing here was that the servers, if I'm not mistaken were Catholic faithful attached to the SSPX. There should be nothing wrong, canonically, only the priests of the society are suspended, the faithful, because they are Catholics too, must be treated like any other Catholics. This is one good thing however with the Pope's MP, that slowly, at the grassroots level, unity is being fostered. Amidst all the storm raging in the press about Rome and SSPX, what the world does not know is that slowly the efforts of our dear Holy Father is paying off, by the grace of God.

Long Live the Holy Father, may the Lord preserve him and protect him from all his enemies!

Hey Pisay Batch 2002ers! (PSHS-WVC)

To my dear Batchmates,

This is just an initial survey, please do reply if you find this interesting or feasible.

Do you think it is possible for us (entire batch, 87 people) to gather PhP 14K by June 2009?

This will be used for a meaningful project our batch can initiate for the students of your alma mater.

Please tell me what you think, mail me at jsmadrinan@yahoo.com or jsvmadrinan@gmail.com

I really would love to hear form you!

The wait is over...

Andrea Tornielli was the first who "speculated" on his appointment as the replacement of Cardinal Arinze at the CDWDS. Months passed and the Catholic blogosphere buzzed about this appointment.

Now the wait is over, indeed it is him, Don Antonio Cardinal Canizares-Llovera, Prince of the Holy Roman Church and Archbishop of Toledo, the primate of Spain, is now the newly appointed Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

His appointment is a true joy to everyone who loves the liturgy.

Cardinal Arinze has done a very nice job under two pontificates, that of Pope John Paul II and that of Benedict XVI. He has started the rehabilitation of the liturgy, gone wild during the 70's and the 80's. For this we are eternally thankful to him.

Cardinal Llovera on the other hand is better know in Spain as the "Little Ratzinger". True, the good cardinal is one in mind with the Holy Father, whether in doctrine or most importantly in the Sacred Liturgy. Which is just exactly what we need,a man and a priest one in mind with the Pope!



Here the good Cardinal is seen with His Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos Borbon y Borbon



And here is a favourite picture of mine, showing the Cardinal as very amiable and full of cheer.

Pisay Intrams

 

One of the most awaited event in the school year is the intamural. This is an event where students take their time off from academic rigor and shift their competitive energies to the more physical dimension.

That precisely was what happened. With all four batches competing in various sports, everyone saw a different Pisay. A Pisay suddenly filled with the humdrum of heavy footsteps of cheerers going from one event to another, and athletes oscillating from one field to another. 5 Major games and more than 10 minor ones, all these preoccupied the whole community for 3 days, from 28-Oct to 30-Oct.

This year’s games saw the rise of a team challenging to contend with- the Sophomores! With amazing perseverance and sheer physical talent, the Sophies got the Second place, an unexpected outcome in the school’s history, where Juniors normally take the second place after the more experienced Seniors.

With the games ended, tallies summed up, and honours awarded, we await to see next year’s super-charged Intrams, where a worthy challenger shall meet the would-be Seniors!

-Jost

Intrams '08: The Winning Team

 

Deep hiatus is now over as Pisay once again has internet connexion. This will only be the first of more pics and blogs to come about Intrams '08.

-Jost

Waning of the Pax Americana

A Civilisation Will Choose This Fall

Over the long weekend I had, I was able to read Juvenal's Satires I-VII. Though this piece of literature is more of a read for classics majors than history majors, however, one can glean with it the life in decadent Rome.

With a long period of the Pax Romana waning, Rome slid into a state of moral disorder. Juvenal unsuspectedly blamed this on the absence of poverty, as he said in Satire VI, 294-5, "Since Roman poverty perished, no visitation of crime or lust has been spared us." Indeed, with the absence of a hard life, we men tend to become soft and neglect the practice of the virtues. A point in which Juvenal somewhere else concurs when he complained of the peoples failing to uphold the Roman virtues, most especially of the patrician families. Those whom are expected to be the models of the virtues.

Much can be said of the parallelism between the decadent Rome of Juvenal to American society today. The crumbling of the moral order even among leaders as can be seen with the grievous scandals of various politicians. The general acceptance of American society to grave moral evils like adultery aka divorce, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality etc. We can extend these tirade ad infinitum, which however would be unncessary.

Has America reached that point of no return? Juvenal, wrote the Satires at the close of the Pax Romana, when Rome was beyond social redemption. Forty years after his death the Pax has ended.

With the crash of the American-built financial market and the daily losses of major stock markets like the Dow and Wall St., the terrorist attack on the WTC in 2001. Maybe indeed America is headed towards decline. I would posit it that this civilisation is indeed on the decline, but is this irreversible? There's the question that should be answered.

This year's fall election is not just about saving a fledgling economy, a recession that may eventually become a depression. Before the economy, what must be answered is whether the next leadership would be able to steer the bearings of America back to its traditional values, of a leadership that would be able to save America from an irreversible decline.