Notes: Friday, June 18, 2010

"Athanasius" on celibacy, chastity, continence, and Tradition

http://athanasiuscm.blogspot.com/2010/06/celibacy-nunc-aut-numquam.html

Blog comment by me

At Mr. Schütz's blog:

Cardinal Pole
June 18, 2010 at 3:25 am

Wait, before you go: When you said earlier

“Thus is the Sabbath rest slapped in the face”

What did you mean by that, PE?
[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/revisiting-the-summit-ii/#comment-15333]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Ephrem, Deacon, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, and of Ss. Mark and Marcellian, Martyrs, A.D. 2010

Notes: Friday, June 11, 2010

"Panama Abp blasts government decision to abandon Sunday rest"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32031

Here's the body of the article posted at AQ:

During a Corpus Christi address, Panama’s leading prelate strongly criticized a government decision to eliminate Sunday as a day of required rest for workers. “The dignity of man and woman is what must be upheld, if we do not want to become victims of economic interests,” said Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta. “For all men and women, not only for Christians, this has a great importance and significance, and this recognition should not be just formal but real, allowing the Sunday rest for all workers.”

"We Christians cannot abandon the Christian meaning of Sunday, paganizing it or underestimating its importance," he added. "To fully live out Sunday, the Church invites us to participate in Sunday Mass, to wear our appropriate outfit, to share meals with the family and with friends."

An interesting fact about Magna Carta

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32033

Here's an interesting excerpt from an article posted at AQ:

After many years during which John had abused his subjects and acted aggressively towards other countries, Innocent declared that his rule was no longer legitimate and he released John’s subjects from their obligations of fealty — his subjects thereupon were under no obligation to obey him. Eventually, this resulted in the subjects drawing up the famous Magna Carta, which they forced John to sign. The document was signed after John had placed himself under the Pope’s protection as his vassal. Because the Magna Carta was not only directed against the abuses by the king, but also the authority of the pope, Innocent declared it to be null and void. Eventually, after years of repeated deception and tyranny, through the tireless efforts of the pope, John’s influence was drastically reduced.

I didn't know that Magna Carta also challenged the authority of the Pope.

"Study confirms Jewish Middle East origins"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/study-confirms-jewish-middle-east-origins-20100610-y0lp.html?skin=text-only

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/dna-unites-jews-with-genetic-kin/story-e6frg6so-1225878143946

Excerpts from the first linked article:

PARIS: Research has found that Jews share a genetic bond with Cypriots and Druze and confirms the Jewish diaspora maintained a strong DNA continuity despite its long separation from the Middle East, scientists say.

[...] ''We found evidence that Jewish communities originated in the Near East,'' said the molecular scientist Doron Behar of the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, who led a team of experts from eight countries.

''Our genetic findings are concordant with historical records.''

[...] The study confirmed the Middle Eastern, or Levantine, origins of Jews as documented in ancient Hebrew scriptures. This lineage is visible in communities today, ages after the Jews were expelled from Israel.

More unexpected was the discovery that Jewish patterns of SNPs were closer to those of Cypriots and Druze than with Middle Eastern populations.

Mr Behar said he would be dismayed if his research became misused for genetic profiling.

''It is very important for me to mention here that as a scientist, genetics has nothing to do with the definition of the Jewish identity,'' he said.

Possible presentation of a Spanish law on religious liberty

POPE RECEIVES PRIME MINSTER OF SPAIN

VATICAN CITY, 10 JUN 2010 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

"This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, prime minister of Spain. The prime minister subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

"The cordial discussions provided an opportunity to exchange opinions on Europe, the current economic-financial crisis and the role of ethics. Reference was also made to countries of Central America and the Caribbean as well as to other situations, in particular the Middle East.

"As the conversation continued, attention turned to bilateral relations, and to matters of current interest for the Church in Spain such as the possible presentation of a law on freedom of religion, the sacredness of life from conception, and the importance of education. Concerning the Holy Father's visit to Santiago and Barcelona this year, and to Madrid next year for World Youth Day, it was recognised that the Spanish government has shown great readiness to collaborate in the preparation and realisation of these events".
OP/ VIS 20100610 (200)

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle, A.D. 2010

On a human right about which one doesn’t hear too much anymore

From the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini of His late Holiness John Paul II:

It would therefore be wrong to see in this legislation [for Sabbath rest] of the rhythm of the week a mere historical circumstance with no special significance for the Church and which she could simply set aside. Even after the fall of the Empire, the Councils did not cease to insist upon the arrangements regarding Sunday rest.

[…] my predecessor Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of Sunday rest as a worker's right which the State must guarantee.

[…] also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part in the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord's Day, with its characteristic joy and necessary rest for spirit and body.
(my emphasis)

Wouldn’t the A.C.B.C.’s latest Social Justice Statement have been a splendid opportunity to remind the faithful of these things? And note that Dies Domini does not speak of compensation, by means of penalty rates, for working unsociable hours, but only of ensuring that the civil law safeguards the sanctification of Sunday.

Reginaldvs Cantvar

On this day in history …

(Well, yesterday actually, since this is the small hours of Saturday morning)

I note that it was on August 8, 1984 that New South Wales permitted shopping on Friday night and Saturday afternoon (History section, The Daily Telegraph). This was lamentable in itself because it represented another concession to economic rationalism and consumerism and an encroachment on family time for the workers whom it affected, and also because it signified that Sunday trading was imminent.

With the fortieth anniversary of Humanæ Vitæ, we hear talk that as much as 80% of Catholic couples in America, for instance, might be on contraception; certainly there is widespread dissent from this teaching. But one wonders how many Catholics dissent from the requirement to abstain from servile work (or from availing oneself of others’ servile work) on Sunday. My a priori expectation would be that a good 90% would feel no compunction at doing so, and maybe fewer than 10% might scruple at it if it were to infringe on Sunday worship.

When was the last time one heard Priests or Bishops denouncing Sunday labour for its grave sinfulness? (If you have an example please mention it in the combox.) We hear condemnations of ‘racism’, ‘unsustainable development’, or whatever is the flavour of the month, but as regards sinful Sunday labour, the best we might expect would be expressions of unease at the 24/7 consumerist economy.

Yesterday was also the Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, the great Curate of Ars. I will never forget the image of Sunday labour that he offers:

“When I see people driving carts on Sunday, I think I see them carrying their souls to Hell.”

See http://saints.sqpn.com/stj18009.htm for more of his thoughts on the matter.

Reginaldvs Cantvar