On the Fixation with Moderation

By Father Erik Richtsteig

One of my former bishops was described, even by himself, as an extreme moderate. I would have called him a pathological moderate, but, hey, that's just terminology. He was and is a nice fellow and a good man, but he made the mistake of assuming that the middle ground was always the truth. He also made the mistake of thinking that he was always in the middle ground. (Often his positions were liberal/progressive.)

This is a common way of looking at the world. Heck, I looked at the world that way during my stupid liberal college days. You just find what you consider to be two opposite and extreme positions, create a continuum and stake out a mid-ground between them, and then you are safe. Except, that it makes a lot of false assumptions.

The first falsehood is that is assumes the things are opposites, like good and evil, male and female. Good and evil are not opposites. That view is heretical. Evil is a privation of good. It is nothing, a defect. Moderation between a thing and its privation is just less defective. Male and female are not opposites. The are complementary sexes of the same species. Neuter or androgyny aren't are virtuous middle between two extremes, but rather something else entirely...(continued)

Read More at Orthometer

Link:

• On the Fixation with Moderation 

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There Is A Reason That The Pope Is Called the Holy Father.

By Father Erik Richtsteig

And that relationship is particularly dear to priests. That relationship is also supposed to exist between priests and their bishop. However, like so many parents, all too often bishops are friends or brothers to their priests. Worse they are business managers who play favorites and are only heard from when there are problems. But during my priesthood I have always had the feeling that the Pope was there covering our backs. That we were his priest sons even when we needed to be challenged and corrected. Now, not so much.

There is this commentary over at the register about anxiety over Pope Francis. Here is the relevant section on priests. (continued)

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Blinded by the Light

"You know, it is hard to say Mass with 'Blinded by the Light' running in your head as an earworm." - Father Richtsteig

Playing Church

By Father Erik Richtsteig

OK, here is the deal. About one mile south of my church of St. James the Just, there is a little white church. I am told that it was a Southern Baptist church at one time. When I came to Ogden nine years ago, it was Glory to God Community Church. I found out later that it was a Metropolitan Community Church. Yup, the gay denomination. Not just gay friendly, but of, by, and for gays. Even the World Council of Churches won’t let them in as even that liberal organization doesn’t think that sexual orientation should be the foundation of a denomination. Later I heard that the pastor was an ex-Catholic and failed Franciscan seminarian. Well, I had heard more than I wish I had about that happening. All of a sudden a few years ago, the sign was changed and it had morphed into Glory to God American Catholic Church. That denomination evidently went under and now they have joined a North American Old Catholic Church out of the North East (headed by an ‘archbishop’ who received his formation via mail) and the pastor has been consecrated a bishop.

All along, they have received glowing coverage in the local media. They are open. They are inclusive. They don’t turn people away like the ‘other’ Catholic church. Their clergy has ‘life experience’. Etc, etc, ad nauseum. They are insistent that they are Catholic, just not papal Catholic. Last Christmas, they even had a sign out front, “Not your mamma’s Catholic church.” (Unintentionally true--the Blessed Mother has nothing to do with it.)

No doubt you can tell that it bothers me. I don’t like heresy and schism. Not by a long-shot. And when that heresy and schism masquerades as Catholicism, my blood pressure redlines. It is false advertising. It is like Mormonism claiming to be theologically Christian. Or Scientology claiming to be a religion. Or Wicca claiming to be the survival of pre-Christian paganism. It just isn’t true... (continued)

Read More at Orthometer

Buzz Aldrin Punch

h/t to Father Richtsteig

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Lost Sheep.

By Father Erik Richtsteig

Recent events have caused me to reflect upon how much I hate losing sheep, whether it be to another parish, another church, or that other church known as cafeteria Catholicism. My secretary remarked, "Wow, you really take it personally." Damn straight I do. This isn't just my job, it is my vocation. And if that weren't enough, there is always the knowledge that I will be held accountable by the Lord for each and every soul entrusted to my care on the Day of Judgement... (continued)

Read More at Orthometer

Vatican 'Cardinal Rambo' defends passion for guns

"Cardinal Rambo" Domenico Calcagno leaves after a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and other cardinals on February 17, 2012 at the Vatican. Calcagno has defended comments in Italian newspapers that reveal his passion for games.

 Photograph by: Andreas Solaro , AFP/Getty Images

Agence France-Presse - VATICAN CITY - A top Vatican cardinal with a passion for shooting defended his rich collection of rifles and handguns in comments on Thursday to Italian newspapers that have already dubbed him "Cardinal Rambo."

"This passion for weapons is long-standing. I used to go to shooting ranges. Unfortunately since I've been at the Vatican I had to stop," Domenico Calcagno, head of the Administration of Vatican Patrimony, told Il Fatto Quotidiano.

"It's innocent. What I like above all is repairing weapons," he said.

The 68-year-old cardinal owns at least 13 weapons including the famous 357 Magnum made by Smith & Wesson and a Hatsan shotgun, according to the website Savonanews from Savona in northwest Italy where Calcagno used to be the bishop.

The website said Calcagno was also a keen hunter and had several rifles.

Calcagno said he kept the weapons in a locked armoury at his home in Savona but that did not stop press reports from making ironic digs at the unusual hobby for a cardinal of the Catholic Church, which advocates non-violence.

• Vatican 'Cardinal Rambo' defends passion for guns

h/t to Father Richtsteig

1984 - Big Brother Obama

h/t to Father Richtsteig

New windows adorn Saint James the Just Parish

Father Erik Richtsteig

By Marie Mischel
Intermountain Catholic

OGDEN — With the installation of eight panels in the vestibule on March 19, Saint James the Just Catholic Church has completed its stained glass window collection.

Seven of the new windows depict the Catholic Church’s sacraments; the eighth is a cross bearing the monogram IHS. Previously installed windows in the church show seraphim, saints and the days of creation.
The artwork has catechetical and historical value as well as beauty, said Father Erik Richtsteig, Saint James the Just pastor.

"Historically, stained glass was seen as a catechism in art because most people couldn’t read until relatively recently, but they could see the pictures of the saints, they could see the saints’ lives in an image, they could see the sacred scripture in an image, they could see the teachings of the church in an image," he said. "People said, ‘You’ve got a great view here, you should have big windows.’ No. You shouldn’t be able to see the exterior world from the inside of a church. You’re stepping out of this world into the new creation. The church itself is an icon of heaven, so when you look out of the church you shouldn’t be seeing temporal things, you should be seeing eternal things like the saints, the symbols of the sacraments or … seraphim."

The stained glass windows at Saint James the Just were done by two people: Bill Christiansen, a parishioner who passed away last year; and Jenkin Powell, a stained glass professional responsible for windows in several other local churches, including Blessed Sacrament, where he was a parishioner until he moved out of state.

Christiansen learned stained glass after he retired so that he would have a hobby, said Mannette Christiansen, his widow. "He was into it long before we moved here" in 1980, she said. He created windows for the old Saint James the Just church, and was in his 80s when he crafted the IHS window. He also made the windows in the sacrament set depicting a bishop’s miter and the chi rho.

Although he died last September, he was able to see the IHS window installed. "He was very proud, and so was I, of his accomplishments," Mannette Christiansen said. "He was very happy to be able to do that."

All of the stained glass windows were donated by people in the parish, Fr. Richtsteig said; the first to be donated was a rose window of the four evangelists, which was given by Deacon Herschel Hester.

With the windows all installed, Fr. Richtsteig would like to add a few more statues, particularly Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer, because "we have a lot of that, and I think it’s a good idea to bring in the big guns," he said.

• New windows adorn Saint James the Just Parish

h/t to Father Richtsteig

The Cross In Utah

By Fr. Erik Richtsteig at Orthometer

A common experience for Catholics and other who wear a cross or a crucifix in Utah goes something like the following:

Mormon: Why do you wear THAT?
Crossie: Wear what?
Mormon: That cross thing.
Crossie: Because Jesus died on it.
Mormon: Well if you mom was shot would you wear a gun?

It could be noose, electric chair, or guillotine, but you get the point: Utah and its majority religion are not cross friendly. Moreover, verbal attacks, teasing, and bullying of young people by classmates can be especially brutal.

But why the aversion to what orthodox Christians see as a sign of Christ's triumph over the Devil? There are several possibilities as Mormon doctrine and theology is nothing if not fluid. First, according to the Mormons Jesus is not God incarnate. He is merely our elder brother and savior. It has been taught that He didn't atone for our sins by dying on the Cross, but by weeping blood in the garden. Second, there has historically been an aversion to anything that smacks of traditional Christianity; think Protestantism on steroids. Third, a couple of years ago, The Salt Lake Tribune published an interesting article concerning some research by a professor at Cal State Sacramento. His thesis is that the extreme anti-cross attitude can be traced to President David O. McKay's virulent anti-Catholicism. My personal opinion is that while this may have intensified the opposition, it had been very present before. I base this upon anecdotes heard from both Catholics and Mormons that predate McKay.

Anyhow, this is yet more evidence that Mormonism cannot be considered Christian in an orthodox theological sense. (Also, interesting parallels can be drawn to the hatred of the cross that one finds in Islam.)

"But God forbid that I should glory except in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." -- Galatians 6:14.

(Image: murals in the sanctuary in the Cathedral of the Madeline, Salt Lake City.)

• The Cross In Utah

Index Of Forbidden Songs (Gather, Pt. I).

From Father Richtsteig at Orthometer:

Here we go again. Mean, sick, and sad priest attacking poor innocent hymnal: this time "Gather". Gotta wonder why so many hymnals are titled in one word imperatives; "Gather", "Worship", "Fibrillate", etc... BTW, I am ignoring the psalms and service music.

Numbers 317-400:

319-Walk in the Reign: C, HL "Can you say KINGDOM? I knew you could."
325-Like a Shepherd: SIGV Too bad the verses as SIGV, good song otherwise.
328-My Soul in Stillness Waits: HH
331-God of All People: HH
334-Savior of the Nations, Come: C
340-People of the Night: HH, NAU
346-Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn: HH
348-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: C "Pleased as man with MAN to dwell."
357-Child of Mercy: HH
362-Good Christian Friends, Rejoice: C, HL
369-Carol at the Manger: HH
381-Dust and Ashes: LC
386-Hosea: DTD, HL
397-Tree of Life: HH
399-Deep Within: HH, SIGV

C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DMWP=Don't Mess With Perfection, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, EP=Ex-Priest, G=Germanophobic, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, HL=Hella Lame, LC=Leftist Crap, NAU=Not About Us, SIGV=Singing In God's Voice(i. e. we are not God, SWTR= Stick With The Rite, TMV=Too Many Verses, WIG=Where is God?

• Index Of Forbidden Songs (Gather, Pt. I).

Dodged The Bullet!

From Father Richtsteig at Orthometer:

"No incidents of spontaneous human combustion were reported today thanks to the U. S. Catholic policy that removes the obligation from a holy day that falls on a Sunday or a Monday. As everyone knows, attending Mass two days in a row is the leading cause of SHC.

NOT!

Seriously, no one was ever harmed by being obliged to assist at Mass on two consecutive days. All is policy does is confuse people and encourage laziness. GIVE US BACK OUR HOLY DAYS!:

• Link

Mr. Smith

Vestment Inferno!

Vestment Inferno!

Theatricality and the Mass

By Father Richtsteig at Orthometer:

"The other day at coffee following morning Mass, the topic of theatricality during Mass, especially during homilies, came up. To be quite honest (as a long time readers could no doubt guess), everything else being equal I don't like it. Worship isn't about entertainment or expressing ourselves. It isn't about us. It is about God, what He has, is, and will do for us. It is about the Gospel. I guess this is my fundamental objection to using mime, theater, or artsy-fartsy stuff at church especially during Mass. It becomes a performance. Look at me, look at us, and not behold your God. This is the fundamental flaw of modern liturgical praxis, it encourages showmanship: a personal connection with the people. There should be a personal connection but not between the celebrant, homilies, musicians, etc... and the people. But between Christ and the people. This is why more and more I am convinced that ad orietem isn't just a nice idea, but essential. The Lord must be allowed to work in the liturgy without us getting in the way..."

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How horrifying our world would be, without our Priests to dispense the Sacraments

"After the anointing, the bleeding in my kidneys stopped immediately--I knew it would. But I was still running fevers, and am still very weak. But know that I am getting better--Thanks be to God! My liver functions appear to be returning to normal--which is good, because I can start to take medication again for headaches. In just two days, I can return to a normal diet, and increase my activity as tolerated. Thanks be to Jesus, and thanks to Father Erik, who accepted his role to be God’s representative here on Earth--how horrifying our world would be, without our Priests to dispense the Sacraments!"  - Tara

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Bad Art

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Photo taken by Tara

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