episode 13 Canada this is CBS and now here's your host David Ross a welcome to lucky number 13 we're blasting forward today because it snowed in with a snowstorm here in Montreal I was up shoveling earlier got a bit of fresh air my legs are killing me from yesterday but it's good to get some fresh air and see the white fluffy snow up to my moving on now let's keep going with this we've got a response in or the document on divine revelation and my first highlight is as follows the tradition enshrined and was enshrined by the luminous splendor of the written word let me say that again the tradition enshrined and was enshrined by the luminous splendor of the written word this is the continuing miracle of the revelation as it reaches out to all men everywhere in every age but I believe it may be well to lay more emphasis on the fact that not everything contained in Holy Scripture is on one common high level of inspiration the Old Testament genealogies for example or the secular poetry of canticles as Pope as Pope Pius the 12th pointed out in his great encyclical Divino at Fonte spiritu 1943 there are statements in the Bible that are purely figurative illustrative and must be understood as tropes figures of speech as st. Agustin said long ago the Christian teacher must begin his preparation by studying tropes for example the parable the parables of our Lord are not to be are not necessarily taken from actual events though in many cases it is cases it is quite probable that they were with the council states in chapter 3 article 12 about literary forms is precisely in point if we are to search out the many a phrase in this constitution echoes the Bible itself especially the New Testament in the early church fathers and also the counsels especially Trenton Vatican one most Christians everywhere east and west north and south will agree with its statements including those about the relation of theology to Scripture and the duty of the clergy as ministers of the word it will do much to encourage the revival of Bible Bible reading in all churches since the good example of Rome is far reaching I only wish that more had been said about two or three things number one the rich and rewarding consequences of constant Bible reading not only by the clergy but also by the lady time was when many people supposed the Catholic Church kept the Bible from the people there was ample evidence and some of it in some areas and also ample excuses for the effort the barely literate tailors of London with their five-hour street corner sermons on one text in the days of Cromwell and the vagaries of sects in all ages who cherish a half dozen texts as if they were the whole Bible and who went off in all directions repudiating the traditional teaching and practices and practice of the church but those days are those days are now past exclamation point why not tell the people what joyful discoveries lie before them in the scriptures what feasts of learning what inspiration and encouragement what sound teaching what help in facing the problems and frustrations of life as the Prophet showed it ho everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he who has no money come Buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without price isaiah beautiful but we get the impression that from being forbidden the reading of the Bible is now commanded why not simply invited and encouraged number 2 point number 2 why is not more said about the importance of Bible study in the training of the clergy and in their whole way of life by that I mean more than the selections used in the liturgy and the offices and much more than patristic or medieval allergies ooh a leg or isms in interpretation or purely homiletically expositions whatever the date I mean the solid linguistic historical critical study of Holy Scripture in the sacred languages Hebrew and Greek as well as Latin and with all the most up-to-date text and reference books such for example as the magnificent dictionary of the bother dictionary of the Bible by 1965 this is the kind of scholarship all clergy should aspire to and should constantly use and also all layman laymen and women seriously concerned with the study of Holy Scripture and teachers of course many of the outstanding works with kind of a biblical scholarship especially those produced on the continent but also some in Great Britain and therefore in the English language are almost unknown over here so perhaps this is an Englishman speaking in this commentary on de verbal point number three finally how can such study continue without freedom for research the appendix to Cardinal Bayes cut the study of synoptic Gospels published in 1965 warns Ordinaries that is to say bishops and superiors to keep watch with great care over popular writings on Biblical subjects this is clearly censorship in suffocating the Constitution does not go that far but it could and should I think have said something about the scholars liberty of conscience and his duty to follow truth wherever it leads for truth is mighty and prevails as all modern efforts at suppression and dictation of religious convictions and of scientific research are making dreadfully clear for the sake of safeguarding the ancient common faith of all Christians the Christian the church's scholars must be free and unfettered in pursuing their tasks of course they must be responsible but to whom to God not to God not merely the ecclesiastical authorities with their traditional interpretations so bear in mind this is an opinion piece in a commentary point number 4 that he makes one more one word more if only the Constitution had said something about the claims made for such doctrines as the assumption of the Blessed Virgin as based upon sound tradition it would have clarified the minds of many Enquirer's and it might have started a dialogue destined to open the whole question of the criteria of true tradition and the test by which extra extra biblical teaching should be re-evaluated and if possible reinstated in the category of pious opinion where it belongs as many as less think not in the category of dogma as Cardinal lege of Montreal said speaking of the effects of the council the minds of Catholics are bound to be shaken up Protestants think this is not a dangerous consequence of the tremendous work of the council but in fact a very good thing wherever and where whenever needed whatever compels men to take the religion seriously and think about it is surely a good thing provided they have the material for serious thinking and can reach out toward balanced judgments though I have listed a few items on which I wish the counsel had been more explicit or more up-to-date I would not wish to leave the impression that I'm disappointed a beginning has been made a wonderful reawakening has taken place which will reach out to the utmost bounds of the earth in your human history as another eminent and very influential Cardinal Archbishop Cushing of Oishi Boston has said the work of the council has not ended it has just begun it may take several generations to see the full working out of the consequences of Pope John's updating of the church what I really wish is that we could all go back to the days of Erasmus and work together in harmony especially in biblical studies and forget all about the intervening for centuries of confusion distrust and antagonism but history is irreversible we must go on from where we are thank God a brighter path is now opening before us than any our fathers were compelled to tread Frederick C grant move on now scrolling scrolling scrolling down down down through my footnotes and here we are this needs to be okay just give me a second here I'm not by not marked this one these talk amongst yourselves okay I just had failed to mark one of them as read so as I'm scrolling through I'm all make sure I mark as read my highlights so now we enter into the document on the liturgy this is the introduction which will be by another Jesuit CJ McNasty okay so the document on the liturgy this is the introduction and this is the note that I made alright not the note sorry the highlight several points of emphasis in the Constitution are useful for our understanding of the whole work of the council article 50 for example stresses the need of revising the right of the mass in such a way that the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts as also the connection between them can be more clearly manifested thus the meaning of the mass and its various sections should be made more intelligible and not precisely for the sake of devote and active participation of the faithful in the course of centuries much of this had been lost and while reverence for their awesome the awesome mystery had always remained strong among the faithful much of its sacramental usefulness had been Domitian diminished by obscurity the Constitution goes on to make this explicit quote elements which with the passage of time came to be duplicated or were added with but little advantage are now to be discarded end quote here the principle of change is accepted not with a view to change for changes sake or returning to the past for the past sake but all for the pastoral benefit of the faithful this practical pastoral note may be found everywhere in the council's work amen the liturgical Constitution had another advantage in coming first in a very short time after its promulgation Catholics began to participate in a more meaningful more communal celebration of the Holy Sacrifice this had the added effect of dramatizing in a concrete way a sacramental way one might say the reality of church renewal or adjourn amento the council quickly ceased to be something remote occupying the bishops gathered in Rome and the newspaper columnist who tried to give it a vivid treatment the constitution made a difference right in the parishes by sharing actively in worship even the ordinary Catholic began to take part in the great work launched by pope john xxiii and continued by Pope Paul the sixth the council's Commission on the liturgy lost no time translating Constitution into action under the leadership of venerable Cardinal Lou Caro the new Commission gave a series of specific concrete directives true some opposition was only to be expected but the overwhelming majority of the faithful found the new liturgy intelligible authentically helpful intelligible and authentically helpful the Holy Father himself by celebrating Mass according to the new patterns helped to show how effective they were by after witnessing the historic Mass after witnessing the historical mass celebrated by Pope Paul in Yankee Stadium only the most recalcitrant could question that the new way was better than the old at the same time the present reforms are by no means final or fixed as I have tried to show in our changing liturgy published by Hawthorne they mark only a beginning and are part of a dynamic ongoing process of renewal inspired by God and directed by our spiritual shepherds that was the introductory note by the Jesuits EJ McNasty now on to the actual infallible need to mark last note as read so don't go back and repeat myself now Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy the text itself my first highlight it is the goal of this most sacred council to intensify the daily growth of catholics in christian living to make more responsive to the requirements of our times those church observances which are open to adaptation some things are open to nurture whatever can contribute to the unity of all who believe in Christ amen and to strengthen those aspects of the church which can help summon all mankind into her embrace hence the council has special reasons for judging it a duty to provide for the renewal and fostering of the liturgy point four it is through the liturgy especially the Divine Eucharistic sacrifice that the work of our redemption is exercised the liturgy is thus the outstanding means by which the faithful can express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true church it is of the essence of the church that she be both human and divine read that again it is of the essence of the church that she be both human and divine visible and yet invisibly endowed eager to act and yet devoted to contemplation present in the world and yet not at home in it she is all these things in such a way that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine the visible likewise to the invisible action to contemplation and this present world to that city yet to come which we seek day by day the liturgy builds up those within the church into the Lord's Holy Temple into a spiritual dwelling for God an enterprise which will continue until Christ's full stature is achieved at the same time the liturgy myrrh marvelously fortifies the faithful in their capacity to preach Christ to outsiders the liturgy thereby reveals the church as a sign raised above the nation's under this sigh and the scattered sons of God are being gathered into one until there is one fold and one Shepherd beautiful text my next highlight the council also desires that where necessary the rites be carefully and thoroughly revised in the light of sound tradition let me read that again the council also desires that where necessary the rights be carefully and thoroughly revised in the light of sound tradition and that they be given a new vigor to meet the circumstances and needs of modern time there is no rupture in vatican ii and in the so called Novus Ordo mass there's no rupture there has to be a continuity there has to be careful and thorough revision which leans on tradition sound tradition mark that note as read and moving on to my we're into chapter 1 in the same document the nature of the Sacred Liturgy and it's important in the church's life my note here my highlight for it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wondrous sacrament which is the whole church boom young Earth Creationism in a nutshell Adam was created from the dust not from a pack of Apes and Eve was created from adam's side while he slept Vatican 2 seems to agree he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there could come forth the wondrous sacrament from his side this is the overwhelming tradition of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches deal with it my next note his purpose was also that they might exercise the work of salvation which they were proclaiming by means of sacrifice and the sacraments around which the entire liturgical life revolves true dad my next highlight to accomplish so great work Christ is always present in his church especially in her liturgical celebrations he is present in the sacrifice of the mass not only in the person of his minister the same one now offering through the Ministry of priests who formerly offered himself upon the cross but especially under the Eucharistic species by his power he is present in the sacraments so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes he is present in his word since he since it is he himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the church he is present finally when the church prays and sings where he promised where two or three are gathered together for my sake there am I in the midst of them so these are the ways in which Christ is present in the liturgy most especially in the Eucharist but also in the Minister of the priests and in the sacraments and the prayer and the songs of the church and wherever two or more gathered in their name at the liturgy Christ indeed always associates the church with himself in the truly great work of giving perfect praise to God and making men holy the church is a perfect society means it has all the means of salvation as all the sacraments as it has everything it's the fullness of the faith perfect praise to God and making man holy the church is his dearly beloved bride his spotless bride who calls to her Lord and through him offers worship to the Eternal Father that's the whole point that's why as a generic monotheism I was comfortable with Catholicism rightly then the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office in Jesus Christ in the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses and is affected in a way which is proper to each of these signs in the liturgy full public worship is performed by the mystical body of Jesus Christ that is by when I converted to God I had I don't know how to say there's a an inspiration a compulsion I guess is how I usually phrase it a compulsion from within a - what - the Catholic Church no to public worship as a generic monotheists I knew that I had to now publicly worship God I've said this time and time again in my pre-recorded ethic verses interviews he can go back and listen if you're interested but I'm saying it again now when I converted to God I did not care what religion was true I know who is Judaism Christianity or Islam I knew that but I did not care I wanted to rush out and publicly worship my god this is is hard to convey in words how strong this compulsion was and how counterintuitive given that I was an enemy of external religiosity of ritual you know all the ceremony the pipe entry I was an enemy of all of that for my entire life I was raised Protestant and then I became an atheist agnostic atheist and then finally Satanist but I was always an enemy of that ostentatious show but when I converted to God the Father of the generic monotheists and I knew that probably Judaism Christianity or Islam one of those was the true religion right because if God is truth and I'm a creature of God God has to show me the truth and it's not going to be some wacky religion that I make up myself it's not me my private judgement is gonna be a public thing a well-known religion we can open the phone book and find this religion the true religion that God built the true church that God built I didn't believe it was Christianity but I started worshipping in Christianity because I live in a Christian culture and then I studied monotheism I studied in particular with the great emphasis on Christianity since I'm in a Christian culture I came to believe in the one true church right I I studied with a view to eventually leaving but I studied and entered the church but my primary concern was worshipping God in a public way and here we see in this document this beautiful document how the public worship is what role that public worship takes now where where was I know his president his word since he himself speaks when the Holy Scriptures read it in the church he is present finally when the church prays and sings for his problem okay I already right in the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by the perceptible to the senses or blah blah blah blah from this it follows that every liturgical celebration because it is an action of Christ the priest and oh my spotty let me read that again from this it follows that every liturgical celebration because it is an action of Christ the priest and obvious audio the church is a sacred action surpassing all others no other action of the church can match its claim to an efficacy or equal the degree of it the Eucharist is the source and the summit of our Catholic faith as Vatican 2 will say many times continuing in the earthly liturgy by way of foretaste we share in that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem board which we eat journey as pilgrims and in which Christ is sitting at the right hand of God a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the Warriors of the heavenly army venerating the memory of the saints we hoped for some part and fellowship with them we were eagerly await the Savior our Lord Jesus Christ until he our life shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory the Sacred Liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the church before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion that's what happened to me I was called to faith and conversion and then as a monotheists God sent a Catholic monk into the store where I was working he was just taking advantage of our services in a computer store and I asked him if I could get get to I could get together with him and talk about God as I knew that as a Christian he worshiped my god and the rest is history he had he educated me for somewhere between six and eight months and I became Catholic the Sacred Liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the church before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion so when that monk took me to Mass I didn't participate actively had just sat at the back and watched but I said I turned him and I said I want in I'm not a Christian I don't believe in the Incarnation I don't believe even in the Trinity but I want in because I want to publicly worship and I was moved by the mass to join the Catholic Church even as a generic long theist very very powerful public worship is very very powerful obviously the Catholic Mass is the highest form of public worship of God but there are traces of the truth in Eastern Orthodox and oriental Orthodox obviously being very because they're valid very powerful but because they're illicit not quite okay um now continuing here how then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed but how are they to believe him whom they have not heard and how are they to hear if no one preaches and how are meant to preach unless they be sent the church announces the good tidings of salvation to those who do not believe so that all men may know the true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and may repent and mend their ways to believers also the church must ever preach the faith and repentance she must prepare them for the sacraments teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded and win them to all the works of charity piety and apostolate for all these activities make it clear that Christ's faithful though not of this world are the light of the world and give glory to nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed at the same time it is the fountain from which all our power flows so that source and summit image for the goal of the apostle of Apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of his church you take part in our sacrifice and to eat the Lord's Supper the liturgy and its turn inspires the faithful to become of one heart in love when they have tasted to their full of the Paschal mysteries it prays that they may grasp by deed what they hold by Creed the renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into a compelling love of Christ and sets them a fire from the liturgy therefore especially from the Eucharist as from a fountain grace is channeled into us and a sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the church are directed as toward their goal our most powerfully achieved but in order that the secret liturgy may produce its full effect it is necessary that the faith will come to it with proper dispositions that their thoughts match their words and that they cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain postures of souls must therefore realize that when the liturgy is celebrated more is required than a mere observance of the laws governing ballad enlisted celebration it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part knowingly actively and fruitfully our current Holy Father The Vicar of Christ Pope Francis II emphasizes this active participation and he's constantly preaching against a sort of rigor ism formalism legalism that those on the right are constantly pushing but that's a topic for another day thanks for being with me I've gotta go now an interview my friend not to you Murdock have a good one talk soon god bless for as little as $1 per month we can support a 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