Paul Zalonski – Page 368

Deacons are to be sexually continent, too!

The lay –and married– canon lawyer Ed Peters wrote a piece indicating the permanent deacons are to be sexually abstinent (continent) permanently. This is the teaching and law of the Church. Men in studies seeking ordination to the Diaconate, that is, to be a permanent deacon, should have been taught this by the formators but lets concede the fact that those in charge of the diaconate program skipped or mis-represented the Church’s teaching in this matter. It is widely seen, however, to an unenforceable church law. Ed Peters quotes the phrase, “perfect and perpetual” from Canon 277 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law to explain the behavior of the permanent deacon. The first premise is paragraph 1, even with the presence of a possible dispensation seen in paragraph 3. The expectation is that all clerics are sexually continent. Conclusion: all men called to holy orders are expected to refrain from sex! The Catholic Church doesn’t have a double standard, one for priests and one for deacons. For the 15K deacons in the USA: amend your life.

The academic article in Studia Canonica of 2005, “Canonical Considerations of Diaconal Continence,” in which Peters’ argues that married permanent deacons are by Church law to refrain from sexual intercourse with their wife, that is, the deacon remains sexually continent. The article can be read at this link: Ed Peters Studia c. 277 Diaconal Sexual Continence.pdf

Thomas Peters, Ed Peters’ son and blogger, posted this piece on his blog.

John Paul II moves Blessed Pope Innocent XI to another resting place

Workers at Saint Peter’s Basilica have begun their work to move the body of the soon to be beatified Pope John Paul II from the grottoes to the main basilica. He’ll be moved to the Chapel of Saint Sebastian where currently Blessed Pope Innocent XI (seen left) is resting (he was beatified by Pope Pius XII on 7 Oct 1956). I guess we’re tired of the silver faced Innocent of the 17th century in favor of John Paul II, Pontiff.

John Paul will, in fact, be among a number of other holy people to take up residence in this spot. Apparently in this area, Pope Saint Boniface IV was there as well as the relics of the martyrs: Saints Victor, Candidus and Laureatus, but they have since moved on.

The Chapel of Saint Sebastian, on the right side of the basilica as you walk in, and right before the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, is dedicated to the 3rd century martyr. Sebastian was murdered at the time of the Diocletian for confessing faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Sebastian was first shot through with arrows, nursed to health and then later beaten to death. The chapel was completed by Pier Paolo Cristofari based on a design of Domenico Zampieri.

Martin Luther King, Jr Day 2011

“Enlarged
material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of
the soul. When the ‘without’ of man’s nature subjugates the ‘within,’ dark
storm clouds begin to form in the world.”

Christ our Light

In the days
since Christmastide mysteries of faith many theological matters come to mind in
knowing Jesus. All of the spiritual masters tell us that it’s crucially
important for us to come to personally know Jesus Christ, our Lord, in his true
light. The image of Christ as a light is reinforced in the baptismal rites
where we talk about the sacrament bringing us into inexpressible light. It is
also recalled in the Creed. Our enlightenment into the mystery of Jesus’
divinity continually needs our reflection, especially when the gospels of the
Transfiguration and the Resurrection are proclaimed. As Jesus is transfigured
and resurrected, so us: are Children of the Light. We know that Jesus really
lives in the light of the Trinity. There, the ultimate grace given by God the
Father is having Jesus revealed to us in his true Light. The recognition
(awareness) of this grace can only be given to those who are willing to ask for
it: “ask and it will be given to you,” the Lord says.

The Maronite Church
proclaims the joy Christmas and the belief in Christ as Light of the Cosmos at
the Sedro for the Sundays of Epiphany:

You have clothed us with your baptism: the robe of glory and the seal of the
holy Spirit. You have called us to be spiritual children through our second
birth in baptism.

May the Light of Christ, the Risen Lord, continue to be the Light
of our lives every day; May it
never leave any corners of darkness in us untouched; May the forgiveness and
healing his Light brings fully transform us; That we too, the children of the
Church, may truly become the Light of Christ for the world, as we pray before
the altar at the end of our Eucharistic Celebration.

Vincent Nichols’ homily at the ordination of former Anglicans

Many ordinations
have taken place in this Cathedral during the 100 years of its history. But
none quite like this. Today is a unique occasion marking a new step in the life
and history of the Catholic Church. This morning the establishment of the first
Personal Ordinariate under the provision of the Apostolic Constitution
‘Anglicanorum Coetibus‘ has been announced in our hearing. So I too salute John
Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton who are to be the first priests of
the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. In particular I offer my prayers and
best wishes to Keith, chosen by the Holy Father to be its first Ordinary.

Continue reading Vincent Nichols’ homily at the ordination of former Anglicans

John Paul II matters

In the hours before and after the Holy See’s announcement that the famous Pope John Paul II would be beatified on May1st, lists of reasons John Paul matters have shown up. Dan Gilgoff of the Belief Blog at CNN has a list that in my mind is too thin to get excited about. Numbers 1 and 9 on his list, for example, bear neither weight nor content. There’s Rome Reports’ review of John Paul’s astonishing record and how he changed history. John Allen’s analysis is worthy of our consideration because of the context Allen frames for us.

And there’s Carl Anderson’s remarks on the hope this beatification brings to us and yet Francis X. Rocca at the Religion News asks an interesting, provocative question about rushing the sainthood cause of John Paul.

The constellations of perspective is certainly interesting.

Cardinal Levada’s letter read at Westminster Cathedral

My Dear Brothers
and Sisters in Christ,

The Ordination to the Priesthood of our three friends,
Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton, is an occasion of great joy
both for them and for the wider Church. I had very much wished to be present
with you in Westminster Cathedral today in order to demonstrate my own personal
support for them as they make this important step. Unfortunately, however, a
long standing commitment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to
meet with the Bishops and theologians of India in Bangalore has meant that I am
unable to be in London today. I am very happy, therefore, to have the
opportunity of sending this message and am grateful to Archbishop Nichols for
agreeing to represent me and for his willingness to deliver my best wishes.

Continue reading Cardinal Levada’s letter read at Westminster Cathedral

Keith Newton, priest, statement

I am humbled to
have been appointed by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, as the first
Ordinary for the Personal Ordinariate to be erected in Great Britain under the
provisions set out in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This is
not an honour I have sought or expected but I pray that God will give me the
wisdom and grace to live up to the trust the Holy Father has placed in me.

My
wife and family have been a great support to me throughout my ministry and I
know they will continue to do so. I am delighted that Gill was received with me
into the full communion of the Catholic Church at Westminster Cathedral on 1
January 2011.

Continue reading Keith Newton, priest, statement

Benedict creates new Ordinariate for Anglicans in the UK

With the priestly ordination of John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton, the Pope has created the official structure to welcome Anglicans who want to be Catholic. The Mass and Rites of Ordination today in Westminster Cathedral was very well attended as the historic moment was formally announced by Archbishop Vincent Nichols reading the CDF letter inaugurating the Ordinariate was greeted with great enthusiasm. The whole work was placed under the patronage of the newly beatified Blessed John Henry Newman.

The newly ordained Father Keith Newton, 59, is the first Ordinary for Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales. Newton will be assisted by the Broadhurst and Burnham for catechetical matters. Others will be ordained to the Order of Deacon at Eastertide and then priested at Pentecost.

Faith matters; the true faith revealed by the Trinity and lived in the fullness of the Catholic Church. People point to the displeasure of some over the leadership of gay clergy and women’s ordination as the point of departure for these Anglicans but there are far more serious issues that would make me “jump ship” like the voting on theological facts, the objectivity of truth and faith, life issues, and principles of communion which are both vertical and horizontal.

Here is Anna Arco’s story in the Catholic Herald: “Priests ordained to the world’s first ordinariate.”

The Holy See’s statement on the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales

Saint Ita

Lord God, it was through the power of your Spirit that Saint
Ita was tireless in caring for the afflicted, and in guiding the young toward
holiness, and so we pray: prepare in our hearts, as you prepared in hers, a
home where you will dwell.