The articles and letters published in the Catholic Herald this past month show that people value quality liturgical music and have strong convictions about it.
This is encouraging to me, and our Year of Faith theme (Evangelization through Beauty) provides an excellent background for a fruitful discussion. I also am eager for this discussion because I have devoted my entire life to Church music. As we move forward, I would like to make the following observations.
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| Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la diócesis de Madison. Cualquier divulgación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
El jueves de la semana pasada comenzamos el Año de la Fe, que destaqué con una hermosa noche de oración, reunidos juntos con representantes de toda la diócesis. La reflexión que ofrecí a los presentes en realidad la pensé para todos en la diócesis y por eso la comparto con ustedes aquí:
Gracias a todos ustedes por venir juntos a disfrutar un tiempo de genuina oración juntos. Escuchamos en la lectura (2Pe, 1) que San Pedro recuerda, con hermosas palabras, su propia experiencia con Santiago y Juan, en el Monte Tabor en la Transfiguración de nuestro Señor. Fue un momento de anticipación de la gloria de la Resurrección, revelado de una manera inequívocamente poderosa: en la que Jesús, junto con el Padre y el Espíritu Santo se revelaron como Trinidad, como Luz. La luz de la aparición de Jesús en el Monte Tabor era enceguecedora. La suprema Verdad, la más poderosa luz que existe, la luz de la Santísima Trinidad, la luz de la Resurrección brilló magníficamente, de modo que Pedro, Santiago y Juan pudieron verla toda y dijeron: “es bueno para nosotros estar aquí”, así como hoy comencé esta noche: “es maravilloso que nosotros estemos aquí”.
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| Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la diócesis de Madison. Cualquier divulgación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
El jueves de la semana pasada comenzamos el Año de la Fe, que destaqué con una hermosa noche de oración, reunidos juntos con representantes de toda la diócesis. La reflexión que ofrecí a los presentes en realidad la pensé para todos en la diócesis y por eso la comparto con ustedes aquí:
Gracias a todos ustedes por venir juntos a disfrutar un tiempo de genuina oración juntos. Escuchamos en la lectura (2Pe, 1) que San Pedro recuerda, con hermosas palabras, su propia experiencia con Santiago y Juan, en el Monte Tabor en la Transfiguración de nuestro Señor. Fue un momento de anticipación de la gloria de la Resurrección, revelado de una manera inequívocamente poderosa: en la que Jesús, junto con el Padre y el Espíritu Santo se revelaron como Trinidad, como Luz. La luz de la aparición de Jesús en el Monte Tabor era enceguecedora. La suprema Verdad, la más poderosa luz que existe, la luz de la Santísima Trinidad, la luz de la Resurrección brilló magníficamente, de modo que Pedro, Santiago y Juan pudieron verla toda y dijeron: “es bueno para nosotros estar aquí”, así como hoy comencé esta noche: “es maravilloso que nosotros estemos aquí”.
Recently, the Catholic Herald published two excellent articles by the incredibly well-educated and well-formed Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, entitled “Rebuilding Catholic Culture.”
In these essays, Sister Roccasalvo vigorously defends the teachings of the popes and the Second Vatican Council concerning what music is proper for use during the sacred liturgies of the Church, while simultaneously arguing against the use of modern folk-style music commonly found in many parishes.
When the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate on earth, in Jesus Christ, He became the most perfect Way that the God could communicate with us humans.
God had communicated since the creation of human beings. God did this, first of all, through nature: human beings could simply look on the greatness of the natural world about them and be led to the knowledge of God.
To the editor:
The election of 2012 will decide what kind of future our children and grandchildren will have: one based on Christian moral principles or one based on the wholesale discarding of them. The Obama Administration champions no limit on abortions up to nine months of gestation, gay marriage, and limitations on our religious freedom.
To the editor:
Throughout our lives as Catholics we’ve learned about and supported the Church’s efforts to spread Catholicism to the rest of the world. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith is one of four pontifical mission societies that seeks to inform Catholics of the life and the needs of the Catholic Church in the missions, and to encourage prayer and financial help for those mission churches.
Most Americans are familiar with New Year’s resolutions; many embrace them with enthusiasm for the first two weeks of January each year. As winter trudges on, those resolutions lose some of their fervor. Almost all Catholics are familiar with the practice of fasting from things they enjoy each Lent; the good majority stay strong throughout those 40 days.
Based on the success rates of keeping resolutions, it seems like the better and more serious a reason to make one in the first place, the more enthusiasm and effort is put forth in keeping it.
As this Year of Faith began in early October, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in his opening homily spoke of a “desertification” happening throughout the world. Many people have found themselves drifting away from the practice of the faith, putting stake in the world’s definition of happiness and no longer desiring the beautiful.
As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is the God who created us, the sacrificial victim who redeemed us, our judge, and our eternal destiny.
We learn from Christ and His Church that we are all children of God, each with equal value in God‘s eyes, and each sharing God’s love. The concept of human equality is a particularly Christian concept.
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A vicar forane, sometimes called a dean, is a priest appointed by the bishop in order to promote a common pastoral activity in a region of the diocese and to provide spiritual and pastoral counsel to the other priests in that region.
The term “vicar forane” comes from Latin, meaning a representative (vicarius) who is outside (foras), because these priests were considered representatives of the bishop outside of the cathedral city. The office of vicar forane probably dates back to the fourth century when Christianity began to spread beyond the major cities to rural areas. Seeing the need to send representatives to these communities which had embraced the faith, bishops would send an “archpriest” with special delegation and responsibilities to act as a kind of overseer in the region who also was in charge of communication between the bishop and the local priests.
The 1917 Code of Canon Law mandated the establishment of vicars forane in every diocese. However, the understanding of this office experienced a pastoral renewal in the period following the Second Vatican Council. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council saw the vicar forane as a preeminently pastoral office, as a way to bring presbyters together in order to promote and direct a common pastoral activity in their territory. The 1973 directory for bishops likewise affirms the pastoral nature of the office and speaks of the vicar forane as one who animates and enlivens the local presbytery in pastoral action.
