The Unprofitable Servant: Sobering

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Sobering

I found this to be an especially sobering read. I think it is abundantly obvious to anyone even vaguely familiar with my blog that I am not a Canon lawyer. But this raises all kinds of questions for me. Father makes reference to a 1983 Code of Canon Law. What if the sin took place before 1983 and the penitent made a good confession, was truly repentant, and received absolution? Needless to say, I'm a little confused.

I have been only peripherally involved in the pro-life movement but have heard Father Pavone speak many times. I can't say I can recall having heard that a woman must not only go to confession but to a confessor with the faculties to lift excommunication. How many of you knew that?

BTW, I'd ask for clarification from the source, but my past questions to Father Z have gone ignored and unanswered, so I needn't bother. Maybe some other brave soul he finds worthy of his response will fare better.

7 comments:

KellyAugust 18, 2011 at 10:04 PM
aHHHHRRRRGHH.Another thing. Why oh WHY then...when I initially confessed this, wasn't that little fact brought to my attention? AND once I do everything I know to do..isn't it the priest's responsibility??? Well, of COURSE I will now have to pursue this. :P :P :P

Sorry if my obvious irritation is SHOWING! I just want to do right, and now to find out I may be going about my life in grave sin?! oy oy oy! Tomorrow night I have to play in a big band concert, which now seems like a DUMB thing to be doing.

Did I mention :P :P :P ?
Sorry Joyce!
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Mindy GoorchenkoAugust 18, 2011 at 10:30 PM
I definitely caught my breath when I read the original article from CNA (?) about how the Pope has authorized priests to absolve the sin of abortion. I had no idea that there are priests who can and cannot do that. In fact, it originally confused me, and I immediately wrote to a monk friend in seminary who seems to know everything (Brother Gabriel Mosher, O.P.) and he wrote the following:

"As the gravity of the sin increases then the faculty to absolve becomes reserved to higher levels. This is because, we must remember, a priest is a helper to the Bishop. A priest's faculties are dependent upon his Bishop. Some things are so grave, like sacrilegious actions, that the are reserved to the Holy See. Most priests in the US have the faculties to absolve from abortion (along with a lifting of any canonical penalty incurred) but generally it is reserved to the Bishop. Baptism forgives all sins."

I had no idea this was the case. My feelings about it are mixed. I will possibly write more about it later.
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Richard CollinsAugust 19, 2011 at 1:40 AM
Thanks for pointing me to this post Joyce. I do believe Fr Z has done good service by a) pointing out the facts about excommunications, specifically regarding abortion and b) emphasizing that there is no sin that is above God's forgiveness provided that full repentance is shown via the sacrament of Penance.
Like you, I am no Canon Lawyer but guess that a consultation is necessary, in the first instance, with one's parish priest.
I am not leaping to Fr Z's defence but he does receive several hundreds of emails daily and it must be impossible to pick up on more than half a dozen of them.
I don't think that he has a "down" on The Little Way - how could he?
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DanielAugust 19, 2011 at 2:29 AM
I knew of this. I can't quote the part of canon law that speaks of this, but as a general rule all excommunications (not just ones involving abortion) require someone of the proper faculties. As for why you haven't heard this before, from what I've heard some priests themselves have not bothered to do the research on this subject, so some of the clergy doesn't know. And if they don't, one can hardly expect the information to spread.
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TLWAugust 19, 2011 at 5:11 AM
I will get to everyone's comments this evening but Kelly, yours needs an immediate response. You were not Catholic at the time, so how could you have ex-communicated yourself? That would be my question to a priest (among many others I'm sure). I don't think you need stress to the point some of the rest of us do.
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KellyAugust 19, 2011 at 8:42 AM
Well, I did think of that, Joyce, but (sorry to say) I was somewhat poorly catechized so it was later that I specifically addressed the abortion. Bib thinks that sometimes in the early 2000's ALL priests were given the faculties to absolve abortions. Anyway, I still think that I went to confession believing that was all I had to do, and the priest I confessed to didn't tell me otherwise. I still plan to ask around.
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TLWAugust 19, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Thanks Kelly, always best to ask a priest when in doubt.

Richard, thank you but I assure you that any time I have posed a question to the good Father either through email or in his combox, the question goes unacknowledged and unanswered. That's not to say it's necessarily deliberate. To his credit, I have emailed Father in the past alerting him to some TLM news in my parish, and he was quick to respond and generous enough to post. It would just be nice to have an answer. I am going to defer to my pastor and see what he knows.

Mindy, I found this very unsettling too. Thanks for the information from Brother Gabriel.

Daniel, yes, but it's still disturbing to think one may have received absolution, returned to the sacraments, but because of this caveat, should not be presenting themselves at the altar rail. Who knew?
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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The Unprofitable Servant

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Sobering

7 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross