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BOOK REVIEW
By Jim Spencer
A Commentary on The Book of Psalms, translated from the Latin of Saint Robert Bellarmine by the Very Reverend John O’Sullivan, D.D., Archdeacon of Kerry. First printed in 1886 by James Duffy & Co., Dublin & London. Reprinted in 1999 by Preserving Christian Publication, P.O. Box 221, Boonville, NY 13309; (315) 942-6617; http://www.pcpbooks.com/; info@pcpbooks.com. ISBN 978-0-9802084-4-3. 9.5”X12” hardcover, 382 pages, with marker ribbon. $56.00.
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The Psalms are a major part of the Church’s liturgy, enriching both the Mass (both forms) and the Divine Office (both forms), and especially the latter. If we think in only human terms, it’s beyond amazing that these Songs written by King David so many centuries ago are still so meaningful, so enriching in the Catholic Church today. However, we would err seriously if we were to think of anything in the Bible in purely human terms. When we remember that the entire Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, we realize that everything in that holy book is timeless.
Thus, when we read the Psalms today, they speak to us, just as they did to the Jews of David’s time. In fact, they speak more clearly now, because they speak so often and so deeply about the Christ, Whose life, death, and resurrection are historic realities to us, whereas they were only a Promise to the ancient Jews. Since these Psalms are not only still significant today but also such beautiful poetry, the Church has wisely included them in Her liturgy. In a most enchanting way, they have been speaking Truth to those who read or hear them for all these many centuries. In a way, that tends to prove the validity of the faith we put in their divine inspiration.
Although we can understand their spiritual messages better today, nevertheless, without some guidance, we cannot understand their historical settings as well as did the ancient Jews. What was happening in David’s life as he wrote each Psalm, and how did these events affect his writing? For example, some were written during the revolt of his son, Absalom, which must have colored David’s thinking and moods.
Then, too, we can’t understand certain now-obsolete figures of speech David used. For example, in Psalm 57, David wrote, “Before your thorns could know the briar, he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath.” The Jews of those days understood this perfectly, but we need help.
To explain the historical background of the Psalms and their sometimes obscure figures of speech, several biblical scholars have written commentaries. Of these, that of St. Robert Bellarmine is generally considered the clearest, the most exhaustive, the most expressive, ergo the best.
Down through the centuries, his Commentary has been translated into just about every language, so that all people everywhere could read it. This PCP edition was first translated and published in Ireland in the 19th century. Its clear and inspiring translation has been widely used throughout the English-speaking world ever since. PCP has gone to great effort and expense to reprint it in a sturdy and luxurious volume worthy of such a magnificent work. The book is hard-bound with a gold-embossed maroon cloth cover, a maroon marking ribbon, all wrapped under a maroon dust jacket with tasteful illustrations front and back. In addition to the regular text, PCP has included a brief biography of St. Robert Bellarmine.
A copy of this book belongs in the library of every Catholic who attends Mass (either form) frequently, who says the Divine Office (either form), and/or who reads the Bible regularly. But it belongs not only in these people’s libraries. No, this generously proportioned volume belongs mostly lying open on their laps!
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Copyright, 2009, by James B. Spencer. First Serial Rights
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Pope Repeals SSPX Excommunications
Catholic Family News
* Decree is signed January 21, 2009, which is the 25th anniversary of the death of Father Denis
Fahey (JV)
* Document Repealing Excommunication of SSPX Bishops
* Response by Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X
Saturday, January 24, 2009 Document repealing excommunications
CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS
By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrill'n Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial animus. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."
His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and faithful in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.
With this act, it is desires to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, wishes also to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to end the scandal of division.
It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.
Based in the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit to Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that date.
Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.
Card. Giovanni Battista Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
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Letter of the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X
Dear faithful,
As I announce in the attached press release, " the excommunication of the bishops consecrated by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, which had been declared by the Congregation for Bishops in a decree dated July 1, 1988, and which we had always contested, has been withdrawn by another decree mandated by Benedict XVI and issued by the same Congregation on January 21, 2009." It was the prayer intention I had entrusted to you in Lourdes, on the feast of Christ the King 2008. Your response exceeded our expectations, since one million seven hundred and three thousand rosaries were said to obtain through the intercession of Our Lady that an end be put to the opprobrium which, beyond the persons of the bishops of the Society, rested upon all those who were more or less attached to Tradition. Let us not forget to thank the Most Blessed Virgin who has inspired the Holy Father with this unilateral, benevolent, and courageous act to. Let us assure him of our fervent prayers.
Thanks to this gesture, Catholics attached to Tradition throughout the world will no longer be unjustly stigmatized and condemned for having kept the Faith of their fathers. Catholic Tradition is no longer excommunicated. Though it never was in itself, It was often excommunicated and cruelly so in day to day events. It is just as the Tridentine Mass had never been abrogated in itself, as the Holy Father has happily recalled in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007.
The decree of January 21 quotes the letter dated December 15, 2008 to Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in which I expressed our attachment "to the Church of Our Lord Jesus-Christ which is the Catholic Church," re-affirming there our acceptation of its two thousand year old teaching and our faith in the Primacy of Peter. I reminded him that we were suffering much from the present situation of the Church in which this teaching and this primacy were being held to scorn. And I added: "We are ready to write the Creed with our own blood, to sign the anti-modernist oath, the profession of faith of Pius IV, we accept and make our own all the councils up to the Second Vatican Council about which we express some reservations." In all this, we are convinced that we remain faithful to the line of conduct indicated by our founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, whose reputation we hope to soon see restored.
Consequently, we wish to begin these "talks" -- which the decree acknowledges to be "necessary" -- about the doctrinal issues which are opposed to the Magisterium of all time. We cannot help noticing the unprecedented crisis which is shaking the Church today: crisis of vocations, crisis of religious practice, of catechism, of the reception of the sacraments ... Before us, Paul VI went so far as to say that "from some fissure the smoke of Satan had entered the Church", and he spoke of the "self-destruction of the Church". John Paul II did not hesitate to say that Catholicism in Europe was, as it were, in a state of "silent apostasy." Shortly before his election to the Throne of Peter, Benedict XVI compared the Church to a "boat taking in water on every side."
Thus, during these discussions with the Roman authorities we want to examine the deep causes of the present situation, and by bringing the appropriate remedy, achieve a lasting restoration of the Church.
Dear faithful, the Church is in the hands of her Mother, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. In Her we place our confidence. We have asked from her the freedom of the Mass of all time everywhere and for all. We have asked from her the withdrawal of the decree of excommunications. In our prayers, we now ask from her the necessary doctrinal clarifications which confused souls so much need.
Menzingen, January 24, 2009 +Bernard Fellay
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Catholic Schools Buck Trend With Growth
By Chad Frey
The Newton Kansan
Posted Jan 22, 2009 @ 10:12 AM
http://www.thekansan.com/archive/x1621259387/Catholic-schools-buck-trend-with-growth
The Newton Kansan
Posted Jan 22, 2009 @ 10:12 AM
http://www.thekansan.com/archive/x1621259387/Catholic-schools-buck-trend-with-growth
On Monday, the New York Times chronicled a crisis for Catholic schools — enrollment is dwindling.
Dwindling, it seems, everywhere but three places in the United States. The Wichita Diocese, which includes St. Mary Catholic School, is one of those three places.
“Sometimes we don’t see the blessing that we have here,” said Phillip Stutey, principal of St. Mary.
Next week, he hopes people will see. It’s National Catholic Schools Week, with a host of activities at St. Mary and schools throughout the diocese.
“Catholic schools are not a stereotypical private school,” said Bob Voboril, superintendent of schools for the Wichita Diocese. “We don’t serve only the elite, upper income population. We serve a very diverse group of young people — socio-economically, and ethnically. Schools like St. Mary are every bit as diverse as Newton Public Schools, which I hold in high regard.”
To break the stereotype, the Wichita parish did something radical.
Instead of charging tuition, the diocese turned to parishes to support the schools, making it possible for parishioners to send their children to school without paying large fees.
“We have very strong parishes, and they are committed to stewardship,” Voboril said. “We ask the entire parish, or in Newton, the two parishes, to support and provide for the school so all the catholic families children can attend. They don’t have to pay $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000 to attend. ... That sets us apart from most non-public school systems in the United States.”
The Wichita Diocese had a campaign since 1985, asking its 120,000 parishioners to tithe as much as 8 percent of household income to its ministries, which include 39 schools.
That has allowed the schools to eliminate tuition.
“Its getting back to the roots of ‘all are welcome.’” Stutey said. “If you are part of the diocese and contribute to the parish by time, talent and treasure, then you can send you kids to school. It’s not only the parents with money that can go to our schools.”
Stutey said in most places Catholic schools, and private schools in general, have become a place only the wealthy can send their children.
Changing that has allowed the Wichita diocese schools to buck the nationwide trend. More than 2,000 parochial schools have closed since 1990. According to the National Catholic Educational Association, between the 2000 and the 2008 school years there were 1,267 schools that closed (15.5 percent). The number of students declined by 382,125 (14.4 percent). The most seriously impacted have been elementary schools.
While that has happened, the Wichita Diocese enrollment is approaching a 40-year high of 11,000.
“Something that may be a surprise to people is the Catholic schools in this diocese are the eighth largest school system in the state of Kansas — public and not public,” Voboril said. “We serve more than 2,400 children who come from an ethnic minority. ... We have more than 1,800 students with Individual Education Plan programs. Most people would not expect that from a non-public school system.”
Individual Education Plans serve students with special needs.
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St. Rose of Lima, Council Grove, Ks. Celebrates 125 Years
History of Catholicism in Morris County dates back to the year 1541
The Catholic Advance
COUNCIL GROVE – St. Rose of Lima Church celebrated 125 years since the original St. Rose church building was built on Sunday, Jan. 11.
Father Edmond Kline offered a Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the anniversary and a dinner was held in the parish hall. Father Paul Oborny was a special guest of the parish.
Father Edmond Kline offered a Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the anniversary and a dinner was held in the parish hall. Father Paul Oborny was a special guest of the parish.
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St. Rose’s History
From the time that original church was built in 1883 until 1903 St. Rose Parish was served by Franciscan priest from Emporia. The first baptism was of Michael Tierney on Feb. 9,1888, by preformed by Franciscan Friar Barthomew Weiss. His godparents were Michael and Catherine Cosgrove. Since 1903 St. Rose parish has been served by the priest of the Diocese of Wichita.
Father Vincent Ryan started a parish school in 1950 in the two story parish house that was on the north side of the church building. He also bought a rural school house and moved it to the south side of the church building to become the rectory. In the mid 1950s, Father Denis Doughtery built a two-room school on the east side of the property. This Catholic school continued to run until the spring of 1962, when it was closed.
Because of parish growth, a new church was built next to the original building and on Oct. 29, 1995, Bishop Eugene J. Gerber with the help of Father Oborny offered the Mass of Dedication. This new church housed class rooms for religious education classes.Early in 2008, Father Nicholas Voelker was able to start building a new rectory for St. Rose. It was completed in June. Father Voelker was transferred to Hutchinson before it was completed and Father Edmond Kline has been the first priest to live there.
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The Catholic Church in Morris County
The Catholic Church in Morris County
The history of Catholicism in Morris County dates back to the year 1541, when Father Juan Padilla, a Franciscan priest, accompanied Coronado on his journey to Kansas. Father Padilla became a missionary among the Quivira Indians who were living in the area. He was martyred during this time.
With the settlement of white men to this Indian area came a priest who was know to many as the hermit. In the early spring of 1863, Father Matteo Baccanlini, an Italian, arrived in Council Grove, the last important stop on the Santa Fe Trail. He set up meager housekeeping in a depression of rock on a hill above Council Grove near where the Belfry Bell now stands. He kept to himself and played his mandolin. He also ministered to the needs of the few Catholics living here at the time. He slipped away as silently as he came and continued down the Santa Fe Trail.
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