Lex Credendi

Sadly, there has been an upsurge in violence against Catholics and other Christians in India, a country often associated with religious tolerance, rather than religious persecution.  Catholic Online has a petition for support of Catholics in India: http://www.catholic.org/catholicaction/india/.

Please pray for all Christians in India, that they may be free from persecution, and that they may spread the Gospel of Christ freely.

It is interesting to see how the pro-abortion / pro-licentiousness crowd often frames these discussions as tirades by irrational old men, when the arguments put forth by the Church are, in fact, quite rational and logical.

http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=30665

I am glad to see that our priests are beginning to speak out on these issues.  In the last few years – especially since the 2004 election – bishops are priests alike are using the threat of excommunication for abortion and abortion-related acts.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94EB4BO0&show_article=1

A 33-year old man in Jensen Beach, Florida attempted to steal consecrated Hosts from a parish church during Communion, assaulting a priest and several parishioners in the process.

It is assumed by some that he intended to use the Hosts for some diabolical purpose; perhaps a Black Mass or something like that.  It should be noted that such a crime, if committed by a Catholic, incurs automatic excommunication that can only be lifted by the Pope himself (or presumably, a delegate).  Deliberate desecration of the Eucharist is the most serious crime in canon law, as it is an attempted assault on Jesus Christ Himself.

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=30514

One of the big complaints that Catholics who prefer the traditional Latin (Tridentine) Mass had regarding the Novus Ordo Missae (Mass of Paul VI, 1970) had more to do with the English translation of the official Latin text than the Latin text itself.  In Latin, as it was in the old Mass, the prayer of consecration said that the Blood of Christ was poured out “pro multis”, which means “for many”.  The Council of Trent had declared that “for all” was not to be used, and “for many” was to be retained in the prayer of consecration.  In the Latin original of the 1970 rubrics, it was.  However, the ICEL (International Committee on the English Liturgy) translated pro multis as “for all”.  (This was not the only error in translation – the 1970 rubrics had over 400 errors from some reports.)  It seems that with each consecutive GIRM (General Instruction on the Roman Missal) comes a new translation that is slightly better than the last.

The USCCB has released a new version of the Mass that has restored “for many” in the English translation.  It will likely be a few years before it is officially promulgated, but it’s a good sign that our bishops are becoming more concerned about the prayers of the Mass.

http://www.nccbuscc.org/liturgy/missalformation/index.shtml

According to Catholic Online, Preseident-Elect Obama is preparing to undo virtually all ofthe Executive Orders put in place during eight years of President Bush’s two terms.  Unfortunately, many of these orders are pro-life edicts, such as the Mexico City Policy and bans on Federal funding for embyonic stem cell research.  Let us pray that our new President will convert and embrace the culture of life, instead of the culture of death now espoused by the Democratic Party.