A Rant from STM

Truly, I am tired of hearing lay people lament the lack of vocations. When Catholic women begin to talk on this point, I am beginning to say nothing, but listen and pray silently. However, if I have to make a comment, I simply say, "Where are your children and grandchildren?"

Part of the punishment of the Church in the West will be a serious priest shortage, which I have written about many times on this blog. Some dioceses will shrink, and the laity will not have access to the sacraments.

Part of the problem is the fact that people simply do not respond to the call of God to be a priest or nun. Some parents block vocations for selfish reasons, especially since contraception has created one or two children in a family as a norm.

No longer do even some Catholic parents want their one or two children to become a priest or religious.

Remember, St. John Bosco believed that one out of four boys is called to the priesthood.

Look at the numbers of boys graduating from Catholic high schools this year. As I have noted before here, if one out of four would have gone into the seminary, we would not have a priest shortage.

At the end of 2007, for example, there were 638,239 students in Catholic high schools. Allowing for non-Catholic students, let us say one sixth, that would leave about 535,000, half of which could be boys. So, there could have been 267,500 Catholic high school boys in 2007. If a quarter had gone into the seminary, using Don Bosco's insight, that would mean that 66,750 young men would have entered the seminary in a four year period between 2007-2011, just from the Catholic high schools.

Of course, this did not happen.

St. Alphonsus writes about those who do not follow their true vocations. Perhaps one reason why there are so many unhappy young men and women, not being able to find their true "job" in the world, is that they either said "no" to God, for their own reasons, or by being discouraged by family members, including parents.

St. Alphonsus seems to be ranting here, so I shall quote him on the subject....

• It is clear that our eternal salvation depends principally on the choice of our state... In regard to choosing a state, if we want to make sure of our eternal salvation, we must follow the divine vocation, where alone God has prepared efficacious helps to save us... This is exactly the order of predestination described by the same Apostle: “He whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified... and those he also glorified.”... Upon vocation follows justification, and upon justification follows glorification, namely eternal life. He who places himself outside of this chain of salvation will not be saved. With all the efforts and with everything else that one will do, St. Augustine will say to him: “You run well, but outside of the way,” namely outside of the way through which God will have called you to walk, in order to attain to your salvation. The Lord does not accept the sacrifices offered from one’s own inclination: “For Cain and his offering he had no regard.” Rather, he enjoins great punishment on those who want to turn their backs to their calls, to follow the plans of their own inclination: “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord through Isaiah, “who carry out a plan, but not from me; and who make a league, but not by my spirit!” The punishment of the disobedient will begin already during his lifetime, when he will always be restless; for Job says, “Who has resisted him and had peace?” Hence he will be deprived of the abundant and efficacious helps for living well. Therefore the Theologian Habert wrote: “Not without great difficulties will he be able to look out for his salvation.” With great difficulty will he be saved, being forever like a member out of its proper place, so that only with great difficulty will he be able to live well... Therefore he concludes that “although absolutely speaking he could be saved, he will with difficulty enter the way, and lay hold of the means of salvation.”
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• Another block to vocations is that parents are not raising children to have purity of heart. Here is the great saint again on this subject.

• It is necessary for you to pray diligently to God to make you know his will as to what state he wants you in. But take notice that to have this light, you must pray to him with indifference. He who prays to God to enlighten him in regard to a state of life, but without indifference, and who, instead of conforming to the divine will, would sooner have God conform to his will, is like a pilot that pretends to wish his ship to advance, but in reality does not want it to: he throws his anchor into the sea, and then unfurls his sails. God neither gives light nor speaks his word to such persons. But if you entreat him with indifference and resolution to follow his will, God will make you know clearly what state is better for you. 
• (On the utility of the spiritual exercises made in solitude)

Sorry, moaners and complainers, look to your own failings and the failings of your local Church. I have said to some priests that high schools which have not produced a vocation in twenty years should be shut down. What about forty years?  Yes, some Catholic high schools have not seen a priestly vocation for forty years. Something is wrong. And, if parishes are to be shut down, close the ones where there have been no vocations for twenty years, now considered a generation. Something is wrong.  Financial viability is not the only criteria for keeping a church open. What about spiritual viability? What about the number of marriages, baptisms, and priestly vocations as a sign of viability?

Where are the Latino vocations? Here are statistics from this year's ordinands. Note that a quarter were not American born. This is a scandal for our American Church.

Two-thirds of responding ordinands (69 percent) report their primary race or ethnicity as Caucasian/European American/white. Compared to the adult Catholic population of the United States, ordinands are more likely to be of Asian or Pacific Islander background (10 percent of responding ordinands), but less likely to be Hispanic/Latino (14 percent of responding ordinands). Compared to diocesan ordinands, religious ordinands are less likely to report their race or ethnicity as Caucasian/European American/white.  One-quarter of the ordinands (25 percent) were born outside the United States, with the largest numbers coming from Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Poland, and Vietnam. On average, responding ordinands who were born in another country have lived in the United States for 12 years. Between 20 and 30 percent of ordinands to diocesan priesthood for each of the last ten years were born outside of the United States, as were 25 percent of this year’s diocesan ordinands.  Most ordinands have been Catholic since birth, although 7 percent became Catholic later in life. Eighty-four percent report that both of their parents are Catholic and more than a third (37 percent) have a relative who is a priest or a religious.  Almost all ordinands in the Class of 2015 (96 percent) have at least one sibling. Seven in ten (74 percent) have more than two siblings, while one in five (22 percent) have five or more siblings. Ordinands are most likely to be the oldest in their family (36 percent). USCCB website.

Parents, give the first child to God....a long tradition in the Catholic Church. I also blame priests for not speaking out against mixed religion marriages. Note that the vast majority of priests ordained had Catholic mums and dads. 

I know of many churches in the Midwest where there have not been vocations for forty years or more, and a few which have young men going into the seminaries in a regular fashion-especially in rural areas.. Interesting...and the blocks to vocations are yet more reasons for a house of prayer set aside to pray for priests, bishops, cardinals, and seminarians.

A Necessary Clarification

36. Wherefore, strictly adhering, in this matter, to the decrees of the pontiffs, our predecessors, and confirming them most fully, and, as it were, renewing them by our authority, of our own initiative and certain knowledge, we pronounce and declare that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void.

Thus, Pope Leo XIII in Apostolicae Curae defined the reality of Anglican ordinations. A few days ago, I was discussing this with a Catholic who did not understand that Anglican orders are and have been invalid.

Catholics recognize that their priests are in the line of Apostolic Succession-the unbroken tradition of the laying of hands in the Sacrament of Ordination which goes back to Christ's call of the Apostles. The Eucharist is only valid when consecrated by validly ordained Catholic priests. 

Pope Leo XIII clearly did not mess with modern "false ecumenism".

39. We wish to direct our exhortation and our desires in a special way to those who are ministers of religion in their respective communities. They are men who from their very office take precedence in learning and authority, and who have at heart the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Let them be the first in joyfully submitting to the divine call and obey it, and furnish a glorious example to others. Assuredly, with an exceeding great joy, their Mother, the Church, will welcome them, and will cherish with all her love and care those whom the strength of their generous souls has, amidst many trials and difficulties, led back to her bosom. Nor could words express the recognition which this devoted courage will win for them from the assemblies of the brethren throughout the Catholic world, or what hope or confidence it will merit for them before Christ as their Judge, or what reward it will obtain from Him in the heavenly kingdom! And we, ourselves, in every lawful way, shall continue to promote their reconciliation with the Church in which individuals and masses, as we ardently desire, may find so much for their imitation. In the meantime, by the tender mercy of the Lord our God, we ask and beseech all to strive faithfully to follow in the path of divine grace and truth.

Some of the confusion has to do with the difference between intent and the words of ordination. But, the good pope covered this point as well. I read a modern commentator on line who was confused on this point, a convert from Anglicanism, who did not understand the following illumination.

32. Many of the more shrewd Anglican interpreters of the Ordinal have perceived the force of this argument, and they openly urge it against those who take the Ordinal in a new sense, and vainly attach to the Orders conferred thereby a value and efficacy which they do not possess. By this same argument is refuted the contention of those who think that the prayer, "Almighty God, giver of all good Things", which is found at the beginning of the ritual action, might suffice as a legitimate "form" of Orders, even in the hypothesis that it might be held to be sufficient in a Catholic rite approved by the Church.

33. With this inherent defect of "form" is joined the defect of "intention" which is equally essential to the Sacrament. The Church does not judge about the mind and intention, in so far as it is something by its nature internal; but in so far as it is manifested externally she is bound to judge concerning it. A person who has correctly and seriously used the requisite matter and form to effect and confer a sacrament is presumed for that very reason to have intended to do (intendisse) what the Church does. On this principle rests the doctrine that a Sacrament is truly conferred by the ministry of one who is a heretic or unbaptized, provided the Catholic rite be employed. On the other hand, if the rite be changed, with the manifest intention of introducing another rite not approved by the Church and of rejecting what the Church does, and what, by the institution of Christ, belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, then it is clear that not only is the necessary intention wanting to the Sacrament, but that the intention is adverse to and destructive of the Sacrament.

The intent of the original men who broke with Rome in the Anglican communion involved that desire to no longer be part of the Roman Catholic Church. The changes in the rite occurred in order to reflect the decision to break with Rome.

Those members of the Ordinariate understand this distinction and receive the sacrament of Catholic ordination. One can recall that Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman was ordained in October, 1846, in Rome, one year after his conversion to Catholicism. 

“To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”

 
Blessed John Henry Newman

Today's Gospel Noli Me Tangere-One More Indwelling Post-Six

John 20:11-18

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[b] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

One of the most mysterious sayings of Christ in the entire New Testament occurs when He meets Mary Magdalene in the garden tomb area after His Resurrection.

Christ tell me not to "hold" on to him, not to touch Him, as He has "not yet ascended to the Father."

That is mysterious enough, but Christ goes on to tell Mary that she must carry the message of His ascending "to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Was Christ stating that after the Resurrection He went up to heaven, or is He prophesying His Own Ascension which will happen in forty days?

And, in either case, why cannot Mary touch Him, or "hold" Him?

This passage has nothing to do with the fact that Mary was a sinner, as she has, at this time, been forgiven and witnessed the Crucifixion, thereby earning great merit, with St. John and those who did not run away.

The great sinner, now a holy follower of Christ, is also given the task to be a messenger to the apostles. Christ entrusts her with the news of His Resurrection-a great honor.

Here are a few thoughts on this event.

I see this as a Eucharistic and Priestly revelation.

Mary was told not to hold on to Jesus as Christ was now in His Glorified Body-He is no longer the pre-death Jesus, but the Victor over death and sin, having been to Hell and brought the captive faithful, now freed, to heaven. He is revealing to Mary His Divinity, in a way which before the Resurrection was mostly hidden. Only three apostles witnesses the Transfiguration, a hint of Christ in Glory. Now, many will see Christ Glorified Body.

Christ has not yet ascended into heaven, where He will reign until the Second Coming. We relate to Christ in a different manner, through the Eucharist, through the Church, through grace which leads to Union. Christ will become "universally touchable"-available to all men and women, not just those who knew Him on earth through the Eucharist. Mary is told of a new relationship. 

None of us can claim Christ as "only" our Lover, our Bridegroom, although that is the goal of all Christians who desire an intimate relationship with Christ. Yes, He is a personal Savior, but so much more. He is now the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the True Messiah Who leads all men and women to God, His God, the Father, and our God. Christ is revealing Himself to Mary as the Second Son of the Blessed Trinity, in Glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Her initial zeal is checked by a new revelation. Christ will now dwell within Mary, and all of us in the Indwelling of the Trinity.

The apostles, especially Thomas, are allowed to touch Jesus-because they are priests. Sharing in the Priesthood of Christ, they have a relation to Him which women do not, not because women are less in honor, but because Christ created the male priesthood at the Last Supper. This "noli me tangere" may very well be Christ's way of explaining to His followers that His Presence must be reverenced in a new way.

Yet, Mary is given the task to tell the apostles Christ is Risen. She is the bearer of the Good News to the men who did not come to the tomb, until John and Peter run back after Mary tells them. The women know first because their love is greater-they were not afraid to bring herbs and spices despite the soldiers being on guard. Christ responds to their love.

Just a few thoughts on this Easter Tuesday morning....

Alter Christus, Not Alter John Waynes

"A Bit Worried About Stereotypes" could be the subtitle of this post.

Priests from all times were not necessarily John Waynes. If one looks at the lives of the saints, many of the male saints were full of so-called feminine traits. I am thinking of the great Doctor of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, for one, whose long series of sermons on the Song of Songs, would not have been given without insights into courtly love. He could not have been the great saint he was without the attitude of love towards the Bridegroom. In fact, a saint has to come to the union with God in an intimate manner of receiving, not giving, which is the opposite of the normal masculine manner. Read St. John of the Cross as well.

St. Bernard was raised a nobleman and passed those traits on to his monks.

He was not afraid of conflict, either. He called the great crusade. There is in the life of a gentleman, times for fighting and times for singing.

Why do we make dichotomies when these might not exist?

I can think of saints like SS. Francis de Sales, Alphonsus, John Henry Newman, Francis Borgia, Louis IX and Edward I, who were gentle men and saints. To be a gentleman is a goal of all Catholic men, hopefully and discussed on this blog many times.

I think it is dangerous to stereotype men as if outward appearances or even traits define masculinity or femininity.

The great saints who wrote on Love, such as St. Augustine and St. Francis, may be passed by on the streets today as not the American notion of manly.

I have noticed over the years that English gentlemen are much more balanced in their masculinity than American men, on the whole. They have nothing to prove and are comfortable being men, yet intellectual and interested in the arts, as many American men think are "sissy" things to do and pursue.

St. Anselm re-introduced the Trivium and Quadrivium into the seminaries for several reasons. One was to stop the ordaining of uneducated men, and the other was to make sure priests were gentlemen, who knew how to identify the stars and planets, to sing and even to dance. They learned all the subjects of both those classical curricula for a reason-to become whole, mature men.

The priest represents God and is an alter Christus. He is not an alter John Wayne. The priest needs to be a protector male, of course, but of the Faith, of Truth, of the Body of Christ, of his flock. He does not need to know how to raise cattle or fix a toilet.

(Although I know one sem close to me who was trained by his mum to be a handy-man and does fix stuff, rip up carpet, sand and oil floors, as well as does gardening, cleaning, cooking, ironing, laundry and so on.)

The helpless male is not the type we want for either the priesthood or for marriage. But, one cannot ignore the need for the scholars, the artists, the singers and composers. In our cry for more men, we must not deny that even men have different talents to bring to the Church.

It is not merely a question of either masculine or feminine traits, but men who are mature in their own selves, in their identities. Too often the gifts of empathy and gentleness are seen as feminine. These are traits of Christ Himself. Alter Christus, not alter John Waynes, please....

I guess I have to post this again--Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html


APOSTOLIC LETTER
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS
OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON RESERVING PRIESTLY ORDINATION
TO MEN ALONE Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
1. Priestly ordination, which hands on the office entrusted by Christ to his Apostles of teaching, sanctifying and governing the faithful, has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone. This tradition has also been faithfully maintained by the Oriental Churches.
When the question of the ordination of women arose in the Anglican Communion, Pope Paul VI, out of fidelity to his office of safeguarding the Apostolic Tradition, and also with a view to removing a new obstacle placed in the way of Christian unity, reminded Anglicans of the position of the Catholic Church: "She holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."(1)
But since the question had also become the subject of debate among theologians and in certain Catholic circles, Paul VI directed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to set forth and expound the teaching of the Church on this matter. This was done through the Declaration Inter Insigniores, which the Supreme Pontiff approved and ordered to be published.(2)
2. The Declaration recalls and explains the fundamental reasons for this teaching, reasons expounded by Paul VI, and concludes that the Church "does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination."(3) To these fundamental reasons the document adds other theological reasons which illustrate the appropriateness of the divine provision, and it also shows clearly that Christ's way of acting did not proceed from sociological or cultural motives peculiar to his time. As Paul VI later explained: "The real reason is that, in giving the Church her fundamental constitution, her theological anthropology-thereafter always followed by the Church's Tradition- Christ established things in this way."(4)
In the Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, I myself wrote in this regard: "In calling only men as his Apostles, Christ acted in a completely free and sovereign manner. In doing so, he exercised the same freedom with which, in all his behavior, he emphasized the dignity and the vocation of women, without conforming to the prevailing customs and to the traditions sanctioned by the legislation of the time."(5)
In fact the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles attest that this call was made in accordance with God's eternal plan; Christ chose those whom he willed (cf. Mk 3:13-14; Jn 6:70), and he did so in union with the Father, "through the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2), after having spent the night in prayer (cf. Lk 6:12). Therefore, in granting admission to the ministerial priesthood,(6) the Church has always acknowledged as a perennial norm her Lord's way of acting in choosing the twelve men whom he made the foundation of his Church (cf. Rv 21:14). These men did not in fact receive only a function which could thereafter be exercised by any member of the Church; rather they were specifically and intimately associated in the mission of the Incarnate Word himself (cf. Mt 10:1, 7-8; 28:16-20; Mk 3:13-16; 16:14-15). The Apostles did the same when they chose fellow workers(7) who would succeed them in their ministry.(8) Also included in this choice were those who, throughout the time of the Church, would carry on the Apostles' mission of representing Christ the Lord and Redeemer.(9)
3. Furthermore, the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, received neither the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood clearly shows that the non-admission of women to priestly ordination cannot mean that women are of lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Rather, it is to be seen as the faithful observance of a plan to be ascribed to the wisdom of the Lord of the universe.
The presence and the role of women in the life and mission of the Church, although not linked to the ministerial priesthood, remain absolutely necessary and irreplaceable. As the Declaration Inter Insigniores points out, "the Church desires that Christian women should become fully aware of the greatness of their mission: today their role is of capital importance both for the renewal and humanization of society and for the rediscovery by believers of the true face of the Church."(10)
The New Testament and the whole history of the Church give ample evidence of the presence in the Church of women, true disciples, witnesses to Christ in the family and in society, as well as in total consecration to the service of God and of the Gospel. "By defending the dignity of women and their vocation, the Church has shown honor and gratitude for those women who-faithful to the Gospel-have shared in every age in the apostolic mission of the whole People of God. They are the holy martyrs, virgins and mothers of families, who bravely bore witness to their faith and passed on the Church's faith and tradition by bringing up their children in the spirit of the Gospel."(11)
Moreover, it is to the holiness of the faithful that the hierarchical structure of the Church is totally ordered. For this reason, the Declaration Inter Insigniores recalls: "the only better gift, which can and must be desired, is love (cf. 1 Cor 12 and 13). The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are not the ministers but the saints."(12)
4. Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.
Invoking an abundance of divine assistance upon you, venerable brothers, and upon all the faithful, I impart my apostolic blessing.
From the Vatican, on May 22, the Solemnity of Pentecost, in the year 1994, the sixteenth of my Pontificate.

---

NOTES
1. Paul VI, Response to the Letter of His Grace the Most Reverend Dr. F.D. Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood (November 30, 1975); AAS 68 (1976), 599.
2. Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (October 15, 1976): AAS 69 (1977), 98-116.
3. Ibid., 100.
4. Paul VI, Address on the Role of Women in the Plan of Salvation (January 30, 1977): Insegnamenti, XV (1977), 111. Cf. Also John Paul II Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici (December 30, 1988), n. 51: AAS 81 (1989), 393-521; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1577.
5. Apsotolic Letter Mulieris Dignnitatem (August 15, 1988), n. 26: AAS 80 (1988), 1715.
6. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, n. 28 Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 2b.
7. Cf. 1 Tm 3:1-13; 2 Tm 1:6; Ti 1:5-9.
8. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1577.
9. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, nn. 20,21.
10. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores, n. 6: AAS 69 (1977), 115-116.
11. Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, n. 27: AAS 80 (1988), 1719.
12. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores n. 6: AAS 69 (1977), 115.