Ave Maria!

Fr. Fessio referring to Cardinal Ratzinger’s book The Spirit of the Liturgy and to Moses in the Old Testament and the purpose of the Exodus outlines the fullest possible context to and significance of the Motu Proprio. He says the most important element for the liturgy is reverence and the understanding that its form comes from heaven. Without this the liturgy becomes merely human, then humanistic and finally anti-human, something that imprisons rather than frees.

Fr. Fessio covers the importance for celebrating the mass Ad Orientum and the fallacious reasons put forth for abandoning it. The Motu Proprio is then an opportunity for people to celebrate the mass facing east and so should be an important vehicle for healing rifts and for reform within the Church.

Fr. Fessio ends this video by stating that the Motu Proprio:

“may be as significant for the first half of the 21st Century as Humanae Vitae was for the second half of the 20th Century”

Ave Maria!

The post Video: Fr Joseph Fessio, S.J.: Recent Vatican Docs #3: Significance of Motu Proprio first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Ave Maria!

This second to last part of our series by Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., on recent Vatican documents covers the document issued July 9th, two days after the Motu Proprio, by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith entitled “Responses to some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Document on the Church” i.e. Lumen Gentium

This document was issued by the Congregation to clarify some points of confusion since the close of the Second Vatican Council.

Questions addressed in this talk are:

• Did the Second Vatican Council change the Catholic Doctrine on the Church?”
• What is the meaning of the word ‘subsists’ in the statement the “Church … subsists in the Catholic Church” LG 8
• Why the word subsist was used instead of ‘is’.
• Why does the council use the word ‘churches’ for the separated Eastern Orthodox?
• Why does the Council not use the word Church for the Protestant communities?

In answer to the first question Fr. Fessio quotes Pope Paul VI, who after the Council says, “What Christ willed, we also will. What was, still is. What the Church has taught down the centuries, we also teach.”

AMEN!

Ave Maria!

The post Fr. Fessio – Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith Document first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Ave Maria!

Referring to a Washington Post article from the Religious News Service called Papal Mystery: Is Benedict Downplaying Vatican II by Decrees? which Fr. Fessio finds is the best summary of the objections to the Motu Proprio as expressed by two Catholic priests:

1. Rev. James F. Puglisi from the Center for Union in Rome who says:

… the Good Friday liturgy in the Tridentine Missal contains a prayer for the conversion of the Jews that refers to their “blindness” and the “veil [on] their hearts.”

and thus undoing the more conciliatory phrasing of the new liturgy and so undoing Vatican II

But Fr. Fessio says that the reference to the Jews is in the Gospel not just the Council of Trent and it also in the Vatican II documents but expressed in different terms. And to want to convert someone to your religion is to love that person.

2. Rev. William Henn from Pontifical Gregorian University says that stressing an interpretation in Continuity with past Councils would be to say there is nothing new in Vatican II.

To this Fr. Fessio responds, Vatican II is in continuity with past councils but is new in that it clarifies things in the light of current concerns.

He further clarifies the recent document on ecumenism by quoting the Vatican document Unitatis Redintegratio that shows that what the Congregation of the Doctrine and Faith wrote under the direction of Pope Benedict is in full agreement with Vatican II and he is just dispelling confusion and misinformation regarding the Council.

Come listen to this very informative video.

Ave Maria!

The post Video – Fr. Fessio, S.J. Objections to the Motu Proprio first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080413 ( 13min) Play – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Wherever I go in the whole world, the thing that makes me the saddest is watching people receive Communion in the hand.” What is the Church saying today about Communion in the hand?
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Apr 13 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Re-thinking Communion in the Hand first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080426 ( 12min) Play – Our Lady of Good Counsel is best known from the Litany of Loretto added by Pope Leo XIII in 1903 but for the Franciscan of the Immaculate it has special meaning because our Mother House in Frigento, Italy has this Marian title. Listen to Fr. as he explains the meaning of the Gift of Counsel as the perfector of prudence. He also explains how Our Lady is always under the influence of this Gift since She is always guided by the Holy Spirit, who is Her Spouse. Ave Maria!
Readings from Ecclus. 24 and Luke 2 The Annunciation
+++

The post Apr 26 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Our Lady of Good Counsel first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080607s ( 10min) Play – Fr. Ignatius preaches on this first Saturday of June on the Immaculate Heart of Mary during this special Votive Mass. He focuses on what John Paul II wrote on the Beatification of Blessed Francesco and Jacinta of Fatima, that they were great candles in these anxious hours of moral darkness. He mentions Francesco was drawn to love of God and Jacinta to love of neighbor to save them from Hell.
Ave Maria!
+++

The post Jun 07 – Special Homily – Fr Ignatius: First Saturday, Immaculate Heart of Mary first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080609 ( 13min) Play – Fr. Ignatius outlines in detail, citing authoritative Church documents, how it is a sin to vote for a pro-abortion politician. He delves into the issue of proportionate evils, what they are and whether there can ever be an evil proportionate to abortion. He quotes Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop Meyers, and Bl. Mother Theresa
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Jun 09 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Voting for Abortion first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080614 ( 08min) Play – On this memorial of Our Lady this Saturday, Fr. Ignatius expounds on Mary’s self-given title of Handmaid of the Lord and how it exemplifies her humility. He refers to Lumen Gentium and artwork from Ogni Sanci in Florence, Italy
Ave Maria!
+++

The post Jun 14 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Mary, Handmaid of the Lord first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080721 ( 09min) Play – Fr Ignatius preaches on St. Lawrence, a great example of what it means to be a member of the Church Militant in the sense of engaging in spiritual warfare.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Jul 21 – Homily – Church Militant and Spiritual Warfare first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080722 ( 11min) Play – Did Mary have other children? In this homily, Fr. Ignatius teaches on the meaning of today’s Gospel and how it is a misinterpretation to conclude that this opposes the Dogma of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Jul 22 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Mary’s Perpetual Virginity first appeared on AirMaria.com.