Unfortunately, I've been sick with a flu/cold this week, so I'm feeling behind in most areas of life. I was able to get a video published today, so thank God for that. I'd love to see this Locals community be a venue where you guys can share more intimate (and perhaps critical) feedback about the content that I'm producing. YouTube is overwhelming with comments, but this affords us an opportunity to have more productive interactions. At any rate, here's the newest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZogFGJ4K4
We're coming up on the final stretch of Lent and I find myself apprehensive about the shift from fasting to feasting. In practice, I've never been very good at feasting well. Joseph Pieper argues that leisure is our most important activity in life, but it's so hard to live out in a world consumed by work followed by shallow distraction. I'm contemplating retaining some of the things I've given up this Lent as I've seen so much fruit from their exclusion that I'm not really interested in bringing them back. Is anyone else experiencing this suggestion in your spiritual discernment?
In other news, I was able to interview Fr. Robert Spitzer, but we very quickly ran out of time which was a learning experience for me. It feels like every interview I do has some important lesson for me to learn. Hopefully those lessons will be reflected in future interviews. I'm looking forward to publishing it soon. He's remarkably knowledgable, and obviously intelligent.
Lastly, a few pieces that caught my eye this week include an incisive article by Phil Lawler who I almost always entirely agree with. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pope-francis-doctor-law/
I've heard lots of people are upset about some website promoting "recovery from traditionalism". It was a reminder of how peaceful life is when you aren't immersed in the controversies of Twitter and elsewhere.
And I'm looking forward to catching this conversation between Jordan Petersen and Bishop Barron. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd6iCSQep8E
I pray that as you approach Holy Week, your faith will be strengthened as we immerse ourselves in the Passion of our Lord!
Brian Holdsworth
In military tradition, reinforcements are those called up to support the front-line soldiers. In architecture, reinforcements provide support to a weak area. Today, the Church is struggling to its mission to teach and evangelize. I would never consider myself a first pick to do this work, but desperate time seems to necessitate that people like you and I fill in. Here we can support each other as we aim to renew the Church and evangelize the culture.
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Brian Holdsworth@brianholdsworth
May 03, 2024
Can a priest force you to stand during the eucharistic prayers?
I recently received an email from someone who said that her bishop and pastor have insisted that her family stand after the Anamnesis and prior to the end of the final doxology and elevation of the Eucharist (when it's traditionally customary to kneel).
I'm sharing my reply below in case this is helpful for anyone else put in a similar position.
...
I’m so sorry to hear about the lack of accompaniment and pastoral care offered by your parish and bishop.
Knowing when to obey and when to resist seemingly illegitimate expressions of authority is difficult and should be prayerfully discerned. In this case, your desire is to honor and conform to the teachings and instructions of the Church and your priest and bishop are instructing you otherwise. The CCCB’s (Canadian Catholic Bishops) version of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) says that we should kneel for the entire eucharistic prayer (see bottom of page 21 - https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GIRM.pdf). However; it also says we should follow the instructions of the minister at mass according to the missal. Some might claim that this means we should follow his instructions if he tells us to do something contrary to the missal. My instinct is to say no, we should not - because he is trying to exercise an authority he does not have, which makes it illegitimate. He has authority to instruct us according to the missal, not according to his own liturgical preferences, apart from the missal. This is why Sacrosanctum Concilium (Vatican II’s constitution on the sacred liturgy), in para. 22 says, “…no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.”
Furthermore, Canon law says you have the right to worship God according to the legitimate instruction of your rite (the Latin one in this case) defined by legitimate pastors. Legitimate pastors, in this case, means the Holy See (Rome) or the bishop’s conference. If it’s a right, neither your priest nor bishop can deny it to you. I quote the canon below:
“Can. 214 The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescripts of their own rite approved by the legitimate pastors of the Church and to follow their own form of spiritual life so long as it is consonant with the doctrine of the Church.”
I hope this is helpful and I will pray that your bishop and pastor are able to respond in love and humility for your desire to adhere to the Church’s teachings!
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What else you may like…
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Animals without fur
I'm probably over thinking this, but animals without their fur/feathers look really ugly. But we don't for some reason. It's almost like we don't quite fit into the natural world just by looking at us. Like we're aliens in a strange world.
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Aliens and Christianity
I'm publishing a video later today about aliens, UFOs, and whether their presence compromises Christian doctrine. But before I do, I'd love to get your hottest takes on that question.
Evidence of the Filioque in Today's Gospel
In today's gospel (Jn 17:1-11), Jesus says that everything the Father has is his. This is a simple scriptural proof of the Filioque (the doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son). If the Holy Spirit is not sent by and does not proceed from the Son, as he does the Father, then Christ's statement in this scripture is false.
Our understanding of the Trinity depends on the insistence that all three persons are co-equal—they are all fully God. They are distinguished not by essence or degree, but by their relations of origin: the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; he does not beget himself. As Jesus says in John 17, "all that is yours is mine," indicating full shared divinity, except what distinguishes him personally as Son. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one principle, which is what the Church affirms in the Filioque clause.
Vatican II, the Final Stretch of Lent, and What's Caught My Attention
