Bishop Athanasius Schneider calls for direct ban on hand Communion

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If you have casually followed this blog, you know I follow closely any news from His Excellency Athanasius Schneider.  Up until now, I was not aware that Bishop Schneider had actually called for hand Communion to be banned. His unassuming manner might lead one to think that Bishop Schneider would never call for anything other than voluntary initiatives.  However this, apparently,  is not at all the case.

His Excellency sees reverence for Jesus Christ, hence Eucharistic reverence as the center of our worship.  Everything else flows from the Center!  For the Church to be righted, she must refocus on that Center!  Any other program for reform is analogous to removing the sun from the solar system and then trying to get the planets to keep moving in their orbits....or something like that....

Thanks to Rorate for the following quote from Bishop Schneider's December visit to Hong Kong.....

One can adduce pastoral reasons in favor of continuing with the practice of Communion in the hand, as for example the right of the faithful to choose. Such a right, however, violates—considering the general proportions of the practice—the right that the Eucharistic Jesus has, i.e. the right to the greatest possible sacredness and reverence. In this regard it is about the right of the most fragile in the Church. All the reasons in favor of the continuation of the practice of Communion in the hand lose their weight confronting the gravity of the situation of the minimalism of reverence and sacredness, the obvious danger of carelessness and loss of the fragments and of the increasing stealing of the consecrated hosts. The continuation of the use of the indult of Communion in the hand cannot be said to be a pastoral need, because it damages the faith and the piety of the faithful and it damages the rights of the Eucharistic Lord Himself.

15.

Great Saints who reformed the Church and true apostolic souls in the history of the Church have said: the spiritual progress of an epoch of the Church is measured by the manner of reverence and devotion towards the Sacrament of the Altar. Saint Thomas Aquinas has expressed this truth very concisely: “Sic nos Tu visita, sicut Te colimus” (Saint Thomas Aquinas, hymn “Sacris solemniis”): Lord, visit us to the extent as we venerate you! This is valid also for our days: the Lord will visit His Church nowadays with special graces of an authentic renewal, so desired by Blessed John XXIII and the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, to the extent He is loved and also venerated in a visible manner especially in the moment\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Eli Manning wins Kneeling Catholic Brothership award.

I never have been an Eli Manning fan, until last Sunday's Super Bowl.

Eli, who himself somehow has two Super Bowl rings to his much more favored and talented brother's one, showed what he is really made of.

Such sympathy!  Such agony!

No crocodile tears here!

Eli truly loves his big brother!

Pope greets 8,000 Neo-Catechumenal followers

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/02/01/pope_to_neocatechumenal_way:_build_ecclesial_communion,_evangelize/en1-769304

The Holy Father does seem to caution them.....


>>>The first is to have the utmost care to build and to preserve the communion within the particular Churches in which you will work. The Way has its own charism and dynamic, a gift, which like all of the gifts of the Spirit, has a profound ecclesial dimension; this means paying attention to the life of the Churches to which your leaders send you, to enhance the riches, to suffer for the weaknesses if necessary, and to walk together, like one flock, under the guidance of the pastors of the local Churches. Communion is essential sometimes it can be better to renounce living in all the details that your itinerary demands, in order to ensure the unity among those who form one ecclesial community, of which you must always feel that you are part......<<<<


 

THE WEEK's Damon Linker punches holes in Rolling Stones' Pope Francis piece

9 ridiculous claims in Rolling Stone’s cover story on Pope Francis

 

http://theweek.com/article/index/255848/9-ridiculous-claims-in-rolling-stonersquos-cover-story-on-pope-francis

 

here's a sample:

 

>>>>>8. "Francis replaced [Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisco] Bertone with Archbishop Pietro Parolin, who has said in an interview that priestly celibacy is not church dogma — meaning, it can be changed."
Archbishop Parolin said that priestly celibacy is not church dogma because it's not church dogma. Period. And yes, it can change, and may — though not with a wave of a papal magic wand.
9. "And what is His Holiness' own position on [gay marriage and abortion]? The pope's artful dodge struck me as brilliantly Clintonian. 'That of the church,' Francis said simply. 'I'm a son of the church.' He didn't add, because he didn't have to, that he's the father now, too."
Apparently the dodge was so artful and "Clintonian" that only the author can detect it. To my eyes, it looks like the pope responded to the question by saying precisely what one would expect him to say: My position on gay marriage and abortion is the Catholic Church's position.<<<<<

Mr. Linker patiently demonstrates that Rolling Stone author Mark Binelli's article betrays simultaneously both a hatred for, and an ignorance of  Catholicism.  It is  Mr. Binelli's wish that Pope Francis is (secretly) just as disdainful of Catholicism as is Mr.  Binelli.




 

How to get the Catholic News Agency, CNA, to censor your comments!

back on 28January2014 CNA carried the following story

'Come out of your shell' to praise the Lord, Pope encourages'

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/come-out-of-your-shell-to-praise-the-lord-urges-pope/

 

In the article, the Pope gave the admonishment stating that 'some people' despise charismatic Catholics. As usual, he did not specify who 'some people' are. 

 

There are, to date, only 7 comments after this article, ntl, this could be a very small percentage of the number of commenters since CNA has blocked out two of my comments.

 

What follows is two comments, one by a priest then one by a snide commenter--both in RED.  My comment, which failed to get past CNA's

 censor is in BLACK.

 

Fr. Duffy >>>>Those "formalities" [[he is referring to the Holy Father's disparaging of formalities]] are essential for maintaining decorum at Mass. Any of us who have witnessed some of the bombastic demonstrations at charismatic services can attest to their lack of respect for the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle.<<<<

 

 

 

 

RealityCheck>>>You're right. You know better than the Pope.<<

 

Kneeling Catholic>>>§  Hello RealityC!
Usually, when a man is a priest, it is polite to address him as 'Father', and not the simple 'You'.

 Nevertheless, the Pope is addressing 'judgmentalism'. I would hope no traditionalist despises the poor little people--who have been misled by their spiritual leaders -- who think that our worship can imitate that of other faiths and yet have no ultimate consequences for what WE actually believe. (the counter argument is known as 'lex orandi lex credendi')

 The past 4 decades of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal has witnessed a virtual one-way stream of converts who ultimately decide it is better to be a real pentecostal protestant than a fake one.>>>>

More Accolades for Pope Francis from Rolling Stone Magazine

The article assures us that Francis is indeed breaking with Catholic Tradition.



.......Eventually, he moves to greet the crowd. Benedict, a dour academic, kept this portion of the general audience to a minimum. But Francis, like Bill Clinton, thrives on personal contact, and he spends the better part of an hour greeting believers. .....

Pope Francis Cover Story: The Times They Are A-Changin'

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/pope-francis-the-times-they-are-a-changin-20140128#ixzz2rkeZLKnX
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

treats this achievement with the headline....

El Papa is a Rolling Stone! Pope Francis graces the front page of rock and roll magazine as he continues his break from Vatican tradition

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547322/Stop-killing-doves-Pope-criticised-animal-rights-groups-outdated-tradition-two-birds-attacked-released-Vatican-window.html#ixzz2rpY9KB82
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

(K.C. again) It is clear that many, many of his Holiness' secular boosters only love him because they believe he is making a break with Catholic Tradition.  I am afraid many Catholics love him for the same reason.

 

Pope's 19 January Mass @ Sacred Heart Church marred by horrid music and gum-chewing

The choir, given their smirking at one another and their hopping around,  do seem quite pleased with themselves.  Despite the cute music, I don't see even any priests who can sing along.   So how is this music promoting 'full participation'?

Answer:
1) by driving half of the faithful out of their minds
2) by confusing the congregation so they couldn't sing along even if they wanted to.

Vatican Two's wake seems to have enshrined a new commandment:

'It is OK for the people-that-run-things to offend any number of the faithful with banality and irreverence' . If they are offended by the aforementioned or even by gum-chewing during Mass, then they are Pelagians and should be driven out!

O Holy Father, what would be wrong and who would be offended if you were to DICTATE  and MANDATE this:



....instead of the likes of the distracting Communion music heard at 1hour 10 minutes in the following video (the gum-chewing is also there-abouts)

 

Your Holiness, you are our boss!  people would listen if you asked them to be reverent.

oh, and btw, there was no absolutely no kneeling for Holy Communion, and Communion was distributed any-old-way.    As I have said numerous times before: 'if banging a tambourine in someone's ears would make him want to kneel for Jesus, then I would be all for it!' 

There's just the problem of ambience.  After a choir, or liturgical director, or priest fosters a casual--even comical--atmosphere, people just aren't in the mood for solemnity.