oktober 2009

Messen som offer og/eller måltid

Jeg har nå begynt å lese gjennom Ole Martin Stamnestrøs doktoravhandling om liturgiske bevegelse for annen gang (se også et notat om denne i oktober i fjor), og la nå bl.a. merke til dette – som jeg håper å komme tilbake til om noen dager: «The Liturgical Movement has sometimes been blamed for weakening the sacrificial aspect of the Mass, but this is precisely the angle from which (Dom Lambert) Beauduin starts when arguing for frequent reception. At the heart of sacrificial thinking is the destruction of the victim. The faithful therefore share more fully in the sacrificial act when communicating. Beauduin was of the opinion that “whatever loss the Liturgy suffers among Christian people is also a loss of the notion of sacrifice, and consequently of Christian renunciation.”

På prestemøte på Mariaholm

Alle bispedømmets prester er på Mariaholm, sammen med biskopen, på vårt årlige prestemøte denne uka, så jeg har lite tid til å sjekke nyheter på nettet og til å skrive på bloggen. Men jeg har et abonnement (Netcom litt bruk) på mobilt bredbånd, så jeg kan følge med litt, og bl.a. godkjenne kommentarer – selv her «langt ute i skogen».

Nyheter om Janne Haaland Matlary – på engelsk

Katolsk.no melder også kort at Janne Haaland Matlary 1. september ble utnevnt til medlem av Det pavelige akademi for sosialvitenskapene. Men på et engelsk nettsted (dvs. britisk i dette tilfellet) leser vi mye grundigere om henne:


Janne Haaland Matlary, professor of international politics at the department of political sciences of the University of Oslo, Norway has been made a member of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences

Dr Matlary was the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Norway and a member of the Christian Democrat Party between 1997 and 2000. She is a convert to Catholicism and already serves on the Pontical Council for Justice and Peace and is a consultor on the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Readers will remember the fuss, last year, over Cherie Blair giving a talk at the Angelicum in December. The event was a conference on Women and Human Rights, in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs Blair’s high profile and controversial talk, garnered all the media/blogging attention. Dr Matlary’s talk was very good but went largely unnoticed.

She sets the fundaments for her debate, by arguing that human rights are absolute and unchanging, not to be changed by political will. “They are inborn, pre-political and apolitical, not given by politicians, not to be taken away or changed by politicians.”

Later she speaks about abortion, in the context of women’s rights–in the context of equal rights.

She said: “In the case of the abortion debate, the fierce struggle which continues and which will continue is about the terms of the debate: if the question is “under which conditions can human life be taken?” one has to consider the constitutional norms of right to life and the international instruments of human rights that state this as the highest norm. If the debate is cast in pragmatic terms, e.g. as a women’s issue, this is not necessary.

160 millioner katolikker i Afrika

I går starta en synode om Afrika i Vatikanet, og bildet viser alle biskopene som deltok i messen i Peterskirken søndag morgen. Synoden skal vare fram til 25. oktober, og John Allen skriver slik om gårsdagen:

Pope Benedict XVI led this morning’s liturgy, joined by almost 240 bishops, most of them Africans taking part in the synod. Concelebrating the Mass were the three co-presidents of the synod, Cardinals Francis Arinze of Nigeria, Wilfrid Fox Napier of South Africa, and Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Senegal, along with Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, the “relator,” or general secretary, of the synod.

If the musical tone was upbeat, Pope Benedict struck a more sober note in his homily this morning. The pope praised the dynamism of the faith in Africa, where the Catholic population grew during the second half of the twentieth century by some 7,000 percent, soaring from 1.9 million Catholics to an estimated 160 million today.

The pope called Africa “an immense spiritual ‘lung,’ for a humanity that appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope.” Later, during his midday Angelus address, Benedict praised the «extraordinary human wealth» of Africa.

Nonetheless, in his homily Benedict warned that Africa faces two serious threats, suggesting that the synod should carefully ponder responses to both.

The first threat, Benedict said, is a “practical materialism, combined with relativistic and nihilistic thought.” Those philosophical currents, he suggested, are reaching Africa from the West.

“The so-called ‘first world’ has exported and is still exporting its toxic spiritual refuse,” the pope said, “which infect the populations of other continents, especially in Africa.”

“Colonialism is finished in a political sense,” the pope said, “but it’s not completely gone away.”

The second threat Benedict identified is “religious fundamentalism, mixed with political and economic interests.”

“Groups with diverse religious affiliations are spreading themselves throughout the African continent,” the pope said. “They do so in the name of God, but according to a logic opposed to that which is divine. They’re not teaching and practicing love and respect for liberty, but intolerance and violence.”

The pope also made clear reference to the social ills that continue to scar Africa, citing “exploitation, conflicts and corruption,” as well as “poverty, injustices, violence and wars.” He called upon the church in Africa to be a source of “prophecy and ferment of reconciliation among the various ethnic, linguistic and religious groups, within individual nations and across the entire continent.”

In his Angelus remarks, Benedict likewise noted that life in Africa is marred by «so much poverty, and still suffers under heavy injustices.» … …

Messeandakt – fra Katolsk bønnebok

Jeg må innrømme at det var nytt for meg at det i tidligere tider var utarbeidet forslag til andakter som følger (den tradisjonelle latinske) messen, og som de troende kunne be etter som messen skred fram. Jeg har nått fått låne to katolske bønnebøker, en fra 1892 og en fra 1960, og begge har slike messeandakter. Boka fra 1892 skriver andaktsforslagene inn i selve den latinsk-norske messoversikten. Her er disse tilleggene:

Ved trinnbønnen (Salme 42 og syndsbekjennelsen):
Betrakt hvordan Kristus etter den siste nattverd, ledsaget av sine disipler, går til Getsemane-hagen for å gå døden i møte, og hvordan han svettet blod med tanken på våre synder.

Ved prestens stille bønner når han går til alteret:
Betrakt hvordan Judas forrådte Jesus med et kyss.

Ved inngangsverset:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus fengsles og føres frem for Annas og Kaifas.

Ved Kyrie eleison:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus fornektes tre ganger av Peter.

Ved Gloria:
Betrakt hvordan jødene jubler over de bespottelser og mishandlinger som tilføres Jesus.

Ved slutten av Gloria:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus vender seg til Peter og ved et blikk får ham til å gråte over sine synder.

Ved kollektbønnen:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus føres til Pilatus og anklages urettferdig.

Når presten forbereder seg til å lese evangeliet:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus bringes foran Herodes og hånes.

Det er tydeligvis to måter å leve ordenslivet på i Den katolske Kirke (i USA)

I USA har antaller nonner/søstre gått ned fra 180 000 i 1965 til 59 000 i 2009 – og gjennomsnittsalderen deres er 75 år! I USA er de også organisert i to store grupper, de mer tradisjonelle (the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious) og de mer moderne (the Leadership Conference of Women Religious ) – det er disse siste som mister flest medlemmer. En av de «moderne» skriver her om sin forståelse av situasjonen – nokså sjokkerende må jeg si; det virker som om de som har valgt et liv innviet til Herren, likevel ikke skal leve slik:

«… the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious was formed with membership based on wearing the habit, communal prayer, eucharistic adoration and fidelity to the church. Meanwhile, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious continued in the spirit of Vatican II to be open to the world, exploring avenues of liberation theology, feminist theology and the plight of the poor, among others.

Members of the Leadership Conference embrace modernity and the work of the council as the Holy Spirit breathing new life in the church. They fall under what Father Radcliffe identifies as the Concilium group, who focus on the Incarnation as the central point of renewal. Members of the Conference of Major Superiors, by contrast, are Communio Catholics, who emphasize communion through proclamation of the faith, a clear Catholic identity and the centrality of the cross. (Concilium and Communio are the names of two periodicals founded in the postconciliar era. The first stressed conciliar reforms; the second stressed the continuity of the council documents with the community of the faithful through past centuries.) Thus, one group focuses on doxology and adoration (Communio), the other on practice and experience (Concilium). One sees Christ as gathering people into community (Communio); the other sees Christ as traversing boundaries (Concilium). The C.M.S.W.R. recently held its eucharistic congress under the title “Sacrifice of Enduring Love,” while the L.C.W.R. continues to work on systemic change. The former sees religious life as divine espousal with Christ; the latter sees Christ in solidarity with the poor and justice for the oppressed. … »

Les hele artikkelen hos Father Z her.

Pave Benedikt oppfordrer prester til å bruke digitale medier

Jeg leste denne interessante (for oss bloggere bl.a.) nyheten på Zenit.org for et par dager siden, men somlet litt med å få lagt den ut:

A communiqué from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications announced the theme today, feast of the archangels.

The Holy Father urges priests to «consider the new media as a powerful resource for their ministry in the service of the Word and wishes to express a word of encouragement in order to address the challenges stemming from the new digital culture,» the communiqué explained. «If the new media is adequately known and appreciated, it can offer priests and all pastoral agents a wealth of data and content that previously was difficult to access, and it facilitates ways of collaboration and growth of communion that were unthinkable in the past.»

OPPDATERING:
Father Tim Finigan Har selv overatt hele denne meldinga til engelsk – og skriver også mer om den på sin blog. Her begynner teksten:
The principal task of the priest is to announce the Word of God made flesh, man, history, becoming in this way a sign of that communion which God effects with man. The efficacy of this ministry requires therefore that the priest should live an intimate relationship with God, rooted in a profound love and in a living awareness of the Sacred Scriptures, «witness» in written form of the divine Word.

The message for the 44th World Day of Social Communications seeks to invite priests in a particular way, during this Year of the Priest, and after the celebration of the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to consider the new media as possibly a major resource for their ministry at the service of the Word and seeks to offer a word of encouragement so that they might confront the challenges which arise from the new digital culture. … …

Den hellige Teresa av Lisieux – hennes relikvier reiser verden rundt

Bloggen upsidedown skriver om at relikviene av Therese av Lisieux i disse dager er i England, og at de vekker stor interesse.

Han skriver: What are we to make of the extraordinary influence of the relics of this young girl? First, it is interesting how much she foresaw. She predicted that her body would not be corrupt so that her relics might be venerated. Nevertheless, when her coffin was opened the crowds reported supernatural fragrance of roses. When I lived in England I met a woman who’s mother was present at the exhumation and who testified to this phenomenon.

There is more to it however. Therese also said on her deathbed that she believed God had granted all her desires. Well, one of her most fervent desires was to be a missionary. She longed to travel to every country of the earth singing the praises of God and proclaiming his mercy to the nations. In God’s strange providence we see this desire coming true through the regular pilgrimages of her relics around the world. They say ‘if stones could speak’. They might as well say, ‘if bones could speak’ for in this young girl they do.

There is more to it however. Mother Teresa took her name in religion from Therese–not from Teresa of Avila. Therefore, the missionary desire of Therese was brought to fulfillment in the little nun from Albania and her order: Missionaries of Charity. Not only does the title of this famous order refer to ‘charity’ as ‘charitable work’ but it also refers to the greater theological virtue of charity, and this too references back to Therese.

Les mer om Therese (på norsk) her
.

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