St. Michael's Conference for Youth - photos

What a wonderful week it was last week at the St. Michael's Conference for Youth here in Michigan! As I noted in an email to the parish, it was the best week of the 12 St. Mike's I have done!

We were in a new location, Manresa Retreat Center in Bloomfield Hills, MI and although I had some reservations before hand (single rooms only and strange "flow" to the facility) it worked out very nicely! The Confrere's were attentive and positive, and the worship glorious. The Chapel was not ideal (not great accustics, and the layout a less than ideal due to the long narrow footprint without much room in the sanctuary...it wasn't designed for Solemn High Mass). But we made the most of it. My father was a trustee for this Jesuit Retreat Center for many years, and it was a real honor celebrating Communion at the altar where my father attended daily Mass for many years!


So what is St. Mike's about? Here it is in pictures....

The first picture, of course, is of the Friday morning Solemn High Mass. The Mass was done with all the trappings - THE Utmost for His Highest (with apologies to Owald Chambers for the title). There is no sermon though -that is reserved for Evensong.


After breakfast there are three classes with lunch in the middle of class number 2 and 3. Note St. John's parishioners Lance Johnson and Eliot Erlandson in the back right corner of the photo! This was my PALEGAS class (the seven deadly sins).

Here is a photo from a meal, with Larissa Jones, who until recently was a member of St. John's. Larissa and her family have moved to Maryland, In this picture is her new parish priest, Fr. Jason Catania, SSC. He is rector of Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore.

http://www.mountcalvary.com/index.php





In the afternoon there is structured free-time, including games like ultimate frisbee or kick the can. There is also time for board and card games, hanging out with friends, reading, praying, or occasionally a nap!





Some extra-curricular events such as Stations of the Cross (being organized here) and the opportunity for individual spiritual direction with the priests on staff, and making a confession if desired.

Pictured here is Fr. Kenneth Jaggs, Rector of St. George's Church,

Windsor, Ontario talking with a Michaelite

At 5pm there is Solemn Evensong with a 'faculty talk'. The talk has a three year rotation. This year it was The Apostles Creed (the other two years are The Ten Commandments and The Lord's Prayer), each night being 1/5 of the Creed being explained. Here is Fr. Janikowski, Rector of Grace Church, Galesburg, Illinios (Diocese of Quincy) giving the Faculty Talk on the last clause of the Apostles Creed.


After dinner there are discussion groups on current topics and how we approach them as Catholic Christians in the Anglican Tradition.

In the evening there is an activity, ranging from Talent Show to Square Dancing.

The day ends with some free time to wind down and optional attendance at Compline (the night office) before bed.


Here is the St. John's contingent. Eliot, Lance, Larissa, and Fr. Kelly. There are at least three more who have said they are coming next year, including my oldest son, Sam! (the age group is 12 to 20). It is hard to imagine that he is old enough...when I started working at this St. Mike's (Midwest) I was a priest in Pennsylvania and Sam was 2!


On the last day, we have The Pageant of Redemption, telling in scripture and acting the saving acts of our Lord, and the work of His Church! Pictured here is the resurrected Christ being saluted by St. Michael the Archangel








And this final picture is of The Gauntlet....
The faculty lines up in the hallway outside the chapel after the closing ceremony to hug everyone good-bye. There is hardly a dry eye in the place! Even those who come with great reservation (usually strongly encouraged by their parish priest and parents), can't believe it is over and can't wait until next year.

Tragic - and not just the accident....

...but anyone who would found a 'religion' without God.

But is he being more honest than some clergy in the Episcopal Church who teach as if there were no God - or at least any God we recognize as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture?

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Influential Birmingham rabbi killed in car crash in Morocco
July 22, 2007
By STEVE NEAVLING
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Rabbi Sherwin Wine embraced a godless form of Judaism that sought to connect cultural Jews and inspire a moral life outside of faith.
Now the tens of thousands of followers of Humanistic Judaism — which the Birmingham resident founded — are mourning his death in a car crash Saturday while on vacation in Morocco in northern Africa that seriously injured his partner, Richard McMains, and killed their driver.
The death of the rebellious and inspirational leader presents a challenge for a movement that sees Judaism not as a religion, but as a culture, said Rabbi Marion Jerris, president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis.
“This one is going to be a test,” Jerris said today. “The work will go on, but it will be very hard. He was the most amazing visionary. He gave so many of us a home where we could live our job culture.”
Wine was writing a book this summer about living a meaningful, moral life without a depending on faith for guidance.

Checking in while at St. Michael's Conference, and more St. John's in the News

I wanted to check in quickly to say that the St. Michael's Conference for Youth is going well (DEO GRATIAS). Please continue to keep us in your prayers. My internet access is limited until Saturday afternoon, so please don't assume my silence is some sort of disregard!

But while away, once again St. John's is in the news! The article includes this snappy picture of yours truly! The article can be found at http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707190348

The article helps to give some background info on the lawsuit we are involved in, in which the American Atheists Inc. are preventing 3 churches from receiving matching grant for facade improvements that were promised to us before we did the work last year, and are now sitting on $93,000 in loans and paying interest!

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BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Department of Justice has waded into a legal brawl between a national atheist group and the Detroit Downtown Development Authority, which pledged $734,570 in grants to three historic churches in a major downtown face-lift in time for the 2006 Super Bowl.
A federal judge in Detroit is expected to rule soon in the case, which could have national implications as to what role the government has in helping to preserve historic churches.

American Atheists Inc. sued Detroit's DDA in U.S. District Court last year, saying the grants violated the constitutional separation between church and state. The DDA pledged the money to the churches as partial reimbursement for improvements the churches made to their properties.
"The churches should be paying for those projects, not taxpayers," American Atheists President Ellen Johnson told the Free Press last week. She said the projects amount to public support of religion.
But the development authority, the churches and their recent ally, the Justice Department's Civil Division, say the funds, which the churches haven't received, don't involve Bibles, prayer books or religious indoctrination -- only grants that enabled the churches to participate in a program that helped downtown property owners spruce up their property. They compared the grants to communities providing police and fire protection for churches.
"It's been nightmarish," said the Rev. Kevin Turman, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Greektown. He and other pastors said that without the grants, which were due more than a year ago, the churches have been forced to renegotiate loans, pay more interest and divert funds from church projects.
The decision is expected to come soon from U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn. The Justice Department said an adverse ruling could jeopardize future national preservation grants to historic churches.
Justice Department lawyer Kathryn Wyer told Cohn that the federal government has long recognized the importance of preserving national historic church sites. In 2003, she said, the National Parks Service awarded the Old North Church in Boston a $317,000 grant to restore its windows.
The church, occupied by an Episcopal congregation, was made famous in April 1775 when its sexton displayed two lanterns from the steeple to warn American Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere that the British were advancing on Lexington, Mass.
"Federal bricks-and-mortar programs serve important secular interests in preserving our national heritage and in providing tangible assistance after major catastrophes," Wyer told Cohn in court papers in April. She declined to be interviewed.
"Detroit's program, while on a smaller scale than these federal programs, similarly serves the important purpose of bringing a downtown area back to life," Wyer added.
American Atheists Inc., a New Jersey nonprofit founded in the 1960s by the legendary late atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, sued the authority in April 2006, after learning of the grants to Central United Methodist Church and St. John's Episcopal Church on Woodward near the Fox Theatre, and Second Baptist Church on Monroe.
The churches used the grant pledges to obtain $1.7 million in loans to repair their building facades and parking lots and make other improvements. Property owners were offered 50% reimbursement -- up to $150,000 for building facades and $30,000 for parking lots -- to improve their property. The grants, totaling $11.5 million, were designed to generate $23 million in improvements.
"We agreed to provide assistance to the churches, not as churches but as property owners," said Art Papapanos, vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which is affiliated with the DDA. "We didn't differentiate between whether it was religious, political, private or government entity."
Authority lawyers argued that the church projects complied with U.S. Supreme Court decisions allowing governments to award grants to religious organizations if the grants don't advance or inhibit religion or result in religious indoctrination.
The atheist group was joined in its suit by Steve Walker, a political science professor at Wayne County Community College, and Dennis Vatsis, a Detroit lawyer who lives in West Bloomfield.
"I have nothing against these churches, but why would I want to subsidize them with my tax money?" asked Walker.
Added Vatsis: "I'm just tired of working 60 hours a week to fund these government schemes to dole out my tax money, particularly when we have a constitutional prohibition against it."
Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313-223-4490 or dashenfelter@freepress.com.

What Holy Water is NOT good for!

On Thursday I was asked to say the invocation at the Wayne County Mounted Unit graduation ceremony at the State Fair grounds, and possibly to bless the newer horses. The ceremony went great BUT as I was driving out of the fair grounds, my cell phone slid off the dashboard and into the holy water bucket.....

I now have a new phone.

external biblical confirmation

I saw this on www.kendallharmon.net (TitusOneNine) and wanted to share it...

From today's Daily Telegraph:

The sound of unbridled joy seldom breaks the quiet of the British Museum's great Arched Room, which holds its collection of 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets, dating back 5,000 years.

But Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, let out such a cry last Thursday. He had made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.advertisementThe small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

Evidence from non-Biblical sources of people named in the Bible is not unknown, but Nabu-sharrussu-ukin would have been a relatively insignificant figure."This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."

What I am reading

An occasional feature - what is Fr. Kelly in the middle of reading right now?

This spawns from a questions Br. John-Charles Vockler FODC always asked of seminarians when he would visit Nashotah House. He said it was an interesting insight into the life of the seminarian.

As usual, I am in the middle of several books

"Some further insights into conservatism" by Richard S. Emrich, seventh bishop of Michigan from three Advent Lectures given in 1964 at Christ Church Grosse Pointe, MI. (it is hard to imagine our current Bishop giving these lectures to the current parish there - times have changed!)

"Islamic Imperialism: a history" by Efraim Karsh, Kings College, Univ. of London

"Thirsting for God in a land of shallow wells" by Matthew Gallatin (the story of a Seventh Day Adventist turned Charismatic Preacher/Pastor who converted to Orthodoxy) His explanation on the differences between protestant and orthodox are compelling, but he misrepresents the history of eastern orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism and the troubles between the two (skewed to the advantage of the eastern church).

And I am reading "Little House on the Prairie" to my son William as his nighttime reading, as I did to Sam and Andrew a few years ago (they are both listening again). - GREAT series of books!

My two nighttime mediation books (something I read before turning out the lights, in order to 'chew on' while I sleep to form a mediation in the morning, a discipline I learned in the second book listed below)
"The Way" by Opus Dei founder St. Jose Maria Escriva
"The Soul of the Apostolate" (I have re-read this book, a few pages at a time, at least 5 times in the last 14 years).

A busy week at the vatican....

From the Associated Press

Pope: Other Denominations Not True Churches
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy — For the second time in a week, Pope Benedict XVI has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church and saying other Christian communities were either defective or not true churches.
Benedict approved a document released Tuesday from his old office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which repeated church teaching on Catholic relations with other Christians.
While there was nothing doctrinally new in the document, it nevertheless prompted swift criticism from Protestants, Lutherans and other Christian denominations spawned by the 16th century reformation.
"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the Reformed family and other families of the church," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which groups 75 million Reformed Christians in 214 churches in 107 countries.
"It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," the alliance said in a letter to the Vatican's key ecumenical official, Cardinal Walter Kasper, charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the pre-Vatican II era.
One of the key developments from Vatican II, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church, was its ecumenical outreach.
Another key change was the development of the New Mass in the vernacular, which essentially replaced the old Latin Mass. On Saturday, Benedict revived the old Latin Mass, saying it was wrong for bishops to deny it to the faithful because it had never been abolished. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.
Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said it was issuing the new document on ecumenism because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.
The new document -- formulated as five questions and answers -- restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which riled Protestant, Lutheran and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one Church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains.
The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession -- the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles -- and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.
The Rev. Sara MacVane, of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.
"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."
The document said Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope -- a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.
"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of Primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular Church," said a commentary from the congregation which accompanied the text.
Despite the harsh tone of the documents, they stressed that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.
"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.
The top Protestant cleric in Benedict's homeland, Germany, complained that the Vatican apparently did not consider that "mutual respect for the church status" was required for any ecumenical progress.
In a statement headlined "Lost Chance," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber argued that "it would also be completely sufficient if it were to be said that the reforming churches are 'not churches in the sense required here' or that they are 'churches of another type' -- but none of these bridges is used in the 'answers."'
The document, signed by the congregation prefect, American Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul -- a major ecumenical feast day.
There was no indication why the pope felt it necessary to release the document, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles. Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics, or that the Congregation was sending a message to certain theologians it did not want to single out. Or, it could be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the Congregation.
In fact, the only theologian cited by name in the document for having spawned erroneous interpretations of ecumenism was Leonardo Boff, the Brazilian who was a target of the former Cardinal Ratzinger's crackdown on liberation theology in the 1980s.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Greater use of the Old Latin Mass for the Roman Church

Several people have emailed or brought up in discussion Pope Benedict's recent permission for broader use of the older Latin ("Tridentine") Mass - and I think this is a very good thing for the Roman Church. It is like Bishops in ECUSA encouraging broader use of the 1928 Prayer Book, therefore promoting the 450 Prayer Book tradition and theology of the Anglican Communion which was distorted in the 1970 Book.

Ken Walters, St. John's Parishioner and professor at Wayne State sent me a link to this - appropriately so!
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LITTERAE APOSTOLICAE
MOTU PROPRIO DATAE
BENEDICTUS XVI
Summorum Pontificum cura ad hoc tempus usque semper fuit, ut Christi Ecclesia Divinae Maiestati cultum dignum offerret, «ad laudem et gloriam nominis Sui» et «ad utilitatem totius Ecclesiae Suae sanctae».
Ab immemorabili tempore sicut etiam in futurum, principium servandum est «iuxta quod unaquaeque Ecclesia particularis concordare debet cum universali Ecclesia non solum quoad fidei doctrinam et signa sacramentalia, sed etiam quoad usus universaliter acceptos ab apostolica et continua traditione, qui servandi sunt non solum ut errores vitentur, verum etiam ad fidei integritatem tradendam, quia Ecclesiae lex orandi eius legi credendi respondet»1.
Inter Pontífices qui talem debitam curam adhibuerunt, nomen excellit sancti Gregorii Magni, qui tam fidem catholicam quam thesauros cultus ac culturae a Romanis in saeculis praecedentibus cumulatos novis Europae populis transmittendos curavit. Sacrae Liturgiae tam Missae Sacrificii quam Officii Divini formam, uti in Urbe celebrabatur, definiri conservarique iussit. Monachos quoque et moniales maxime fovit, qui sub Regula sancti Benedicti militantes, ubique simul cum Evangelii annuntiatione illam quoque saluberrimam Regulae sententiam vita sua illustrarunt, «ut operi Dei nihil praeponatur» (cap. 43). Tali modo sacra liturgia secundum morem Romanum non solum fidem et pietatem sed et culturam multarum gentium fecundavit. Constat utique liturgiam latinam variis suis formis Ecclesiae in omnibus aetatis christianae saeculis permultos Sanctos in vita spirituali stimulasse atque tot populos in religionis virtute roborasse ac eorundem pietatem fecundasse.
Ut autem Sacra Liturgia hoc munus efficacius expleret, plures alii Romani Pontifices decursu saeculorum peculiarem sollicitudinem impenderunt, inter quos eminet Sanctus Pius V, qui magno cum studio pastorali, Concilio Tridentino exhortante, totum Ecclesiae cultum innovavit, librorum liturgicorum emendatorum et «ad normam Patrum instauratorum» editionem curavit eosque Ecclesiae latinae usui dedit.
Inter Ritus romani libros liturgicos patet eminere Missale Romanum, quod in romana urbe succrevit, atque succedentibus saeculis gradatim formas assumpsit, quae cum illa in generationibus recentioribus vigente magnam habent similitudinem.
«Quod idem omnino propositum tempore progrediente Pontifices Romani sunt persecuti, cum novas ad aetates accommodaverunt aut ritus librosque liturgicos determinaverunt, ac deinde cum ineunte hoc nostro saeculo ampliorem iam complexi sunt redintegrationem»2. Sic vero egerunt Decessores nostri Clemens VIII, Urbanus VIII, sanctus Pius X3, Benedictus XV, Pius XII et beatus Ioannes XXIII.
Recentioribus autem temporibus, Concilium Vaticanum II desiderium expressit, ut debita observantia et reverentia erga cultum divinum denuo instauraretur ac necessitatibus nostrae aetatis aptaretur. Quo desiderio motus, Decessor noster Summus Pontifex Paulus VI libros liturgicos instauratos et partim innovatos anno 1970 Ecclesiae latinae approbavit; qui ubique terrarum permultas in linguas vulgares conversi, ab Episcopis atque a sacerdotibus et fidelibus libenter recepti sunt. Ioannes Paulus II, tertiam editionem typicam Missalis Romani recognovit. Sic Romani Pontifices operati sunt ut «hoc quasi aedificium liturgicum [...] rursus, dignitate splendidum et concinnitate» appareret4.
Aliquibus autem in regionibus haud pauci fideles antecedentibus formis liturgicis, quae eorum culturam et spiritum tam profunde imbuerant, tanto amore et affectu adhaeserunt et adhaerere pergunt, ut Summus Pontifex Ioannes Paulus II, horum fidelium pastorali cura motus, anno 1984 speciali Indulto "Quattuor abhinc annos", a Congregatione pro Cultu Divino exarato, facultatem concessit utendi Missali Romano a Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 edito; anno autem 1988 Ioannes Paulus II iterum, litteris Apostolicis "Ecclesia Dei" Motu proprio datis, Episcopos exhortatus est ut talem facultatem late et generose in favorem omnium fidelium id petentium adhiberent.
Instantibus precibus horum fidelium iam a Praedecessore Nostro Ioanne Paulo II diu perpensis, auditis etiam a Nobis Patribus Cardinalibus in Concistorio die XXIII mensis martii anni 2006 habito, omnibus mature perpensis, invocato Spiritu Sancto et Dei freti auxilio, praesentibus Litteris Apostolicis DECERNIMUS quae sequuntur:
Art. 1. Missale Romanum a Paulo VI promulgatum ordinaria expressio "Legis orandi" Ecclesiae catholicae ritus latini est. Missale autem Romanum a S. Pio V promulgatum et a B. Ioanne XXIII denuo editum habeatur uti extraordinaria expressio eiusdem "Legis orandi" Ecclesiae et ob venerabilem et antiquum eius usum debito gaudeat honore. Hae duae expressiones "legis orandi" Ecclesiae, minime vero inducent in divisionem "legis credendi" Ecclesiae; sunt enim duo usus unici ritus romani.
Proinde Missae Sacrificium, iuxta editionem typicam Missalis Romani a B. Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 promulgatam et numquam abrogatam, uti formam extraordinariam Liturgiae Ecclesiae, celebrare licet. Conditiones vero a documentis antecedentibus "Quattuor abhinc annos" et "Ecclesia Dei" pro usu huius Missalis statutae, substituuntur ut sequitur:
Art. 2. In Missis sine populo celebratis, quilibet sacerdos catholicus ritus latini, sive saecularis sive religiosus, uti potest aut Missali Romano a beato Papa Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 edito, aut Missali Romano a Summo Pontifice Paulo VI anno 1970 promulgato, et quidem qualibet die, excepto Triduo Sacro. Ad talem celebrationem secundum unum alterumve Missale, sacerdos nulla eget licentia, nec Sedis Apostolicae nec Ordinarii sui.
Art. 3. Si communitates Institutorum vitae consecratae atque Societatum vitae apostolicae iuris sive pontificii sive dioecesani quae in celebratione conventuali seu "communitatis" in oratoriis propriis celebrationem sanctae Missae iuxta editionem Missalis Romani anno 1962 promulgatam habere cupiunt, id eis licet. Si singula communitas aut totum Institutum vel Societas tales celebrationes saepe vel plerumque vel permanenter perficere vult, res a Superioribus maioribus ad normam iuris et secundum leges et statuta particularia decernatur.
Art. 4. Ad celebrationes sanctae Missae de quibus supra in art. 2 admitti possunt, servatis de iure servandis, etiam christifideles qui sua sponte id petunt.
Art. 5, § 1. In paroeciis, ubi coetus fidelium traditioni liturgicae antecedenti adhaerentium continenter exsistit, parochus eorum petitiones ad celebrandam sanctam Missam iuxta ritum Missalis Romani anno 1962 editi, libenter suscipiat. Ipse videat ut harmonice concordetur bonum horum fidelium cum ordinaria paroeciae pastorali cura, sub Episcopi regimine ad normam canonis 392, discordiam vitando et totius Ecclesiae unitatem fovendo.
§ 2. Celebratio secundum Missale B. Ioannis XXIII locum habere potest diebus ferialibus; dominicis autem et festis una etiam celebratio huiusmodi fieri potest.
§ 3. Fidelibus seu sacerdotibus id petentibus, parochus celebrationes, hac in forma extraordinaria, permittat etiam in adiunctis peculiaribus, uti sunt matrimonia, exsequiae aut celebrationes occasionales, verbi gratia peregrinationes.
§ 4. Sacerdotes Missali B. Ioannis XXIII utentes, idonei esse debent ac iure non impediti.
§ 5. In ecclesiis, quae non sunt nec paroeciales nec conventuales, Rectoris ecclesiae est concedere licentiam de qua supra.
Art. 6. In Missis iuxta Missale B. Ioannis XXIII celebratis cum populo, Lectiones proclamari possunt etiam lingua vernacula, utendo editionibus ab Apostolica Sede recognitis.
Art. 7. Ubi aliquis coetus fidelium laicorum, de quo in art. 5 § 1 petita a parocho non obtinuerit, de re certiorem faciat Episcopum dioecesanum. Episcopus enixe rogatur ut eorum optatum exaudiat. Si ille ad huiusmodi celebrationem providere non potest res ad Pontificiam Commissionem "Ecclesia Dei" referatur.
Art. 8. Episcopus, qui vult providere huiusmodi petitionibus christifidelium laicorum, sed ob varias causas impeditur, rem Pontificiae Commissioni "Ecclesia Dei" committere potest, quae ei consilium et auxilium dabit.
Art. 9, § 1. Parochus item, omnibus bene perpensis, licentiam concedere potest utendi rituali antiquiore in administrandis sacramentis Baptismatis, Matrimonii, Poenitentiae et Unctionis Infirmorum, bono animarum id suadente.
§ 2. Ordinariis autem facultas conceditur celebrandi Confirmationis sacramentum utendo Pontificali Romano antiquo, bono animarum id suadente.
§ 3. Fas est clericis in sacris constitutis uti etiam Breviario Romano a B. Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 promulgato.
Art 10. Fas est Ordinario loci, si opportunum iudicaverit, paroeciam personalem ad normam canonis 518 pro celebrationibus iuxta formam antiquiorem ritus romani erigere aut rectorem vel cappellanum nominare, servatis de iure servandis.
Art. 11. Pontificia Commissio "Ecclesia Dei" a Ioanne Paulo II anno 1988 erecta5, munus suum adimplere pergit.
Quae Commissio formam, officia et normas agendi habeat, quae Romanus Pontifex ipsi attribuere voluerit.
Art. 12. Eadem Commissio, ultra facultates quibus iam gaudet, auctoritatem Sanctae Sedis exercebit, vigilando de observantia et applicatione harum dispositionum.
Quaecumque vero a Nobis hisce Litteris Apostolicis Motu proprio datis decreta sunt, ea omnia firma ac rata esse et a die decima quarta Septembris huius anni, in festo Exaltationis Sanctae Crucis, servari iubemus, contrariis quibuslibet rebus non obstantibus.
Datum Romae, apud Sanctum Petrum, die septima mensis Iulii, anno Domini MMVII, Pontificatus Nostri tertio.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Something I read in yesterday's USA Today

A new on-line National data base has been set up for county and local coroner's offices to help identify Jane and John Does - the unidentified dead bodies in their possession. According to the article, in 2004 there were 14,000 unidentified dead bodies in the USA.

14,000 people who died and no one picked up for burial their bodies. Perhaps some had loved ones who have no idea where they are (run aways), or perhaps mental illness or family angst separated them from family who don't even know they are dead already.

Or even sadder...people who were just unconnected and no one knew or even cared that they died.

May they rest in peace.
And may we give thanks to God for His Love, and for connectedness to family and friends.

Taking the house off the market is a lot of work....

That sounds funny, but this involves two aspects.

One is the psychological: why didn't anyone else want the house we fell in love with the minute we saw it 6.5 years ago?, and giving up the idea of moving to a new/bigger house, and being satisfied again with the house we have been detaching ourselves emotionally from for the last nine months.

The second is physical: moving 4 bookcases and two couches out of the garage and back into the house (including one upstairs on the second floor), and moving 22 boxes of books out of storage in the basement to the first floor to be unpacked, sorted through, and reshelved. Oh yes, and to get the couches out the garage needed a thorough cleaning and resorting.

And once you have done that, there is that list of things you have put off, thinking the new owner could take care of it. Since Monday I have cleaned and re-varnished (actually "australian wood oiled) the front porch, redwood stained the porch swing, and cleaned and repainted the 3 wicker chairs and table for the front porch.

I am sore in all different places -from lifting, carrying, and reaching to paint. Now for an advil and off to bed!

Tomorrow is a holiday - July 4th - and a full day to do more things around the house!