A request ... or two

I humbly ask you prayers for two items.

First, please pray for our son Sebastian Peter on the occasion of his Baptism tomorrow afternoon. Second, my wife and I have a very important decision to make over the Christmas break. Please pray for our wisdom in discerning God's call as well as our courage in following it.

Mary, Did You Know?

A good friend over at Gaudium de Veritate has posted a very witty piece on a song that has grown in popularity over the past couple of Christmas seasons. Enjoy.

Mary, Did You Know?

(A Case of Heresy?)

The Charge

• Mary, a faithful Jewish girl, was guilty of ignorance regarding the facts about the coming Messiah… her own Son, Jesus the Christ.

The Prosecution

• Your Honor, I call Mary to the stand.

• Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary

• Yes, I did. The Old Testament foretold that “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea.” (Job 9:8)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Mary

• Yes, I did. The Lord told our prophets, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: be strong, fear not! Here is your God, He comes with vindication; With divine recompense He comes to save you.” (Is 35:4)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new… that this child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you?

Mary

• Yes I did. The angel Gabriel greeted me saying, “Hail, full of grace (kecharitomene – Lk 1:28),” so I knew I’d already been delivered, actually. I then told my cousin Elizabeth that, “My spirit rejoices in God, my savior.” (Lk 1:47)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary

• Yes I did. Everyone knew that it was said of the coming Messiah, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.” (Is 35:5)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Mary

• Yes I did. The Psalmist foresaw, “In their distress they cried to the LORD, who brought them out of their peril, hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled. They rejoiced that the sea grew calm, that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.” (Ps 107:28-30)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

Mary

• Yes I did. As it was written, “When He established the heavens I was there… Then was I beside Him as His craftsman, and I was His delight day by day, playing before Him all the while,

playing on the surface of His earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.” (Prov 8:27, 30-31)

The Prosecution

• …And when you kiss your little baby, You’ve kissed the face of God?

Mary

• Yes, “For thus said the LORD of hosts (after He had already sent me)… Whoever touches You touches the apple of my eye… Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.” (Zech 2:12, 14)

The Prosecution

• Mary, did you know? The blind will see, the deaf will hear…

Mary

• Yes, regarding the coming of my Son it was said, “On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.” (Is 29:18)

The Prosecution

• Did you know the dead will live again?

Mary

• Yes, in the Scriptures it was spoken that with the coming of Christ, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” (Dan 12:2)

The Prosecution

• Did you know the lame will leap and the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb?

Mary

• Of course! The prophet wrote of my Son, saying, “Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing.” (Is 35:6)

The Prosecution

• Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary

• Yes, I did. It is written of my Son, the Word, “God of my fathers, LORD of mercy. You who have made all things by your word.” (Wis 9:1)

• “At God's word were His works brought into being; they do His will as He has ordained for them.” (Sir 42:15)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Mary

• Yes, just listen… “For a child is born to us, a Son is given us; upon His shoulder dominion rests. They name Him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David's throne, and over His kingdom, which He confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!” (Is 9:56)

• And as if that weren’t enough, Gabriel told me personally that, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:32-33)

The Prosecution

• Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?

Mary

• Yes, absolutely. As a little girl, I learned the prophecy of the suffering servant. “Though He was harshly treated, He submitted and opened not His mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and opened not His mouth… He was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of His people.” (Is 53:7-8)

The Prosecution

• One final question, Your Honor…

• Mary, did you know that this sleeping child you’re holding is the Great I AM?

Mary

• Yes. It was written, “For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior… everyone who is named as mine, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Lead out the people who are blind though they have eyes, who are deaf though they have ears. Let all the nations gather together, let the peoples assemble! Who among them could have revealed this, or foretold to us the earlier things? Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right, that one may hear and say, "It is true!" You are my witnesses, says the LORD, my servants whom I have chosen To know and believe in me and understand that it is I. Before me no god was formed, and after me there shall be none. It is I, I the LORD; there is no savior but me. It is I who foretold, I who saved; I made it known, not any strange god among you; You are my witnesses, says the LORD. I am God, yes, from eternity I AM He; There is none who can deliver from my hand: who can countermand what I do? Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Is 43:3, 7-13)

The Judge

• Defense, your witness.

The Defense

• The defense rests, Your Honor.

• "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)

• “…and His mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Lk 2:51)

The Judgment

Mary, this court finds you NOT GUILTY of ignorance regarding any of those things which are mentioned in the song, “Mary, Did You Know?” By virtue of this decision, it would seem that the song itself should be under trial, as it gives the false impression that you were ignorant of these important matters stemming from your own Jewish faith. At best, it demeans you, and at worst, it’s outright heresy! By no means should it ever be sung at any Mass ever again.

Gaudete Sunday

A friend of mine who is in seminary recently pointed out that the more he studies Gregorian chant, the more he comes to realize how integral it is to the Church’s liturgy. Taking nothing away from the talent and beauty of the great composes of sacred polyphony (Palestrina and the like), the stark reality is that the Church’s liturgy both formed and was organically formed by sacred chant. The two grew quite literally in tandem. Consequently, there are liturgical celebrations that are musically joined not only by lyrical similarities of their chants but also by melodic similarities. While the lyrics can (or rather should) be preserved in different musical settings, any departure from the chant necessarily loses the similarities that reach the ears of the congregation. For instance, the Introit for the third Sunday of Advent is written in the same mode as the Introit for the Mass of Saint John the Baptist (June 24th), and hence will have the same basic “sound” to the ears of those in attendance. For those who were at Mass this morning, the connection between today’s readings and John the Baptist are obvious.

Beyond these intricate connections, however, there are even more basic things revealed by the chants, particularly the propers. For instance, today is one of two days during the liturgical year that we see the priests and deacons vested in rose. The other occurs during the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Both Sundays mark turning points in our expectation of and preparation for coming events: today marks a turning point of our Advent preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, and the Fourth Sunday of Lent marks a turning point in our preparation for the Resurrection of the Lord.

It may or may not have been mentioned during this morning’s homily in your parish, but the Church calls today Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for Rejoice, and indeed the Church calls us to rejoice over the coming birth of Jesus. The Sunday of Lent is termed Laetare Sunday. Laetare is another Latin word for Rejoice, and the Church is calling her people, in the middle of their penance, to rejoice over the conquering of sin accomplished in the Paschal Mystery.

The two terms themselves beg the question: Why two terms? In other words, from where do the phrases Gaudete Sunday and Laetare Sunday come? The answer is found in the Gregorian Propers.

The first line of the Introit for the Third Sunday of Advent is “Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete!” or “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!”

The first line of the Introit for the Fourth Sunday of Advent is “Laetare Ierusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eamI” or “Rejoice Jerusalem; and gather round, all you her love her.”

Because very few parishes hear the propers anymore, the vast majority of people are not aware of the origin of the names Gaudete and Laetare Sunday. This is yet another example of how the Gregorian propers are an integral part of the Church’s Liturgy, and one of many reasons why the Church must emphasize, in continuity with Vatican II and its liturgical patrimony, the preference the Propers enjoy over the more common hymns, particularly for the more important liturgical celebrations.

The Dating of Christmas - A Response to a Comment

I received a very insightful comment from a friend on my previous post. After presenting Ratzinger's argument for the dating of Christmas stemming from cosmic principles instead of as a response to a pagan festival, the commenter inquired what implication this has for the southern hemisphere where the seasons are the opposite of the northern hemisphere. I responded with the following in the comment section, but upon further reflection, I thought that the question and the idea warranted a main posting for everyone's reading pleasure.

Ratzinger does indeed address this very question. We first must keep in mind that there are always two aspects to the Liturgy ... cosmic and historical. Neither should be emphasized to the detriment of the other. Thus, one way to respond to the question of the southern hemisphere is that Jesus was incarnated and born in the specifically in the northern hemisphere, and this means something. Thus, we would expect more significance from northern hemisphere cosmology.

In Spirit of the Liturgy, Ratzinger points out the obvious: in the southern hemisphere, (1) Easter falls not in the spring but in the fall, and (2) Christmas coincides not with the winter solstice but with the high summer.

Referencing G. Voss, Ratzinger says that adjusting the liturgical calendar in the southern hemisphere to better "suit" the cosmology would "reduce the mystery of Christ to the level of merely cosmic religion; we would be subordinating history to cosmos" (the very point I made above).

Ratzinger then beautifully points out the "autumnal" aspects of Easter's mystery. For instance, the Passion of Jesus refers not only to the feast of Passover, but also to the ritual of the Day of Atonement (autumn), a feast celebrated in the fall of the northern hemisphere. In other words, in the Passion of Jesus, there is a "coincidence of Easter (spring) and the Day of Atonement (autumn). Christ connects the world's spring and autumn."

Further significance is given by the fact that both seasons are seed-time, for in the fall the farmer sows seed for the coming year and in the spring he sows seed for the autumn.

While I am not aware that Ratzinger deals directly with a potential "summer significance" of Christmas, it seems that this is an area for much fruitful theological conversation. As the good Cardinal points out, the differing seasons in the two hemispheres are an opportunity for the development of a much fuller symbolism. The southern half can help us northerners to see aspects of the Paschal mystery that we may have not yet fully appreciated.

The Dating of Christmas

As we approach the Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord, periodicals both secular and religious attempt the task of explaining the dating of Christmas. It never ceases to amaze me how even when theories have been sufficiently debunked they continue to persist in popular myth. The myth is that placing the birth of Jesus on December 25 was a Christian response to a pagan Roman festival honoring the “unconquered sun god.”

In his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger argues against the thesis of the pagan festival. “The claim used to be made that December 25 developed in opposition to the Mithras myth, or as a Christian response to the cult of the unconquered sun promoted by Roman emperors in the third century in their efforts to establish a new imperial religion. However, these old theories can no longer be sustained. The decisive factor was the connection of creation and Cross, of creation and Christ’s conception” (Ratzinger, 108).

Earlier, Ratzinger shows that the African ecclesiastical author Tertullian (c. 150 – c. 207) discussed a well-known tradition that Christ suffered death on March 25, a day that was cosmically associated with the creation of the world. March 25 was taken as the spring equinox (which we now know to off by a few days), and hence the date after which light definitively conquers darkness. March 25 would be fully appropriate for not only the day of Creation, but also the day of the New Creation (the Incarnation or Annunciation) as well as Christ’s Passion. It is by this historical development, and not that of the Mithras myth, that “the feast of Christ’s birth on December 25 – nine months after March 25 – developed in the West in the course of the third century” (Ratzinger, 107).

Ratzinger cites St. Jerome in support of this cosmic significance, “Even creation approves of our preaching. The universe itself bears witness to the truth of our words. Up to this day [December 25, the approximate date of the winter solstice] the dark days increase, but from this day the darkness decreases … The light advances, while the night retreats” (quoted in Ratzinger, page 108).

Finally, the Cardinal discusses another important cosmic event, the summer solstice. “Between the two dates of March 25 and December 25 comes the feast of the Forerunner, St. John the Baptist, on June 24, at the time of the summer solstice. The link between the dates can now be seen as a liturgical and cosmic expression of the Baptist’s words: ‘He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease’ (Jn 3:30). The birthday of St. John the Baptist takes place on the date when the days begin to shorten, just as the birthday of Christ takes place when they begin to lengthen” (Ratzinger, 109).

Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, has long been trying to recover the cosmic significance of the Sacred Liturgy. The dating of Christmas is one of a plethora of insights in his magnificent work, The Spirit of the Liturgy. Certainly the text would provide a valuable Advent reflection.

In Absentia and Notes on Incompleteness

I apologize for my absence from posting. I have been devoting my efforts to a pair of talks I have given at Upper Arlington High School. The talks were on the Incompleteness Theorem of Kurt Godel, the first being an introduction to formal systems and the second being an outline of Godel's proof that not formal system of mathematics can be simultaneously complete and consistent. It dawned on me during the preparation that the philosophical implications of Godel might be of interest to a few readers. Therefore, I have posted my notes on Scribd. This certainly isn't for everybody and is a bit thick mathematically, but the philosophical ramifications of Godel's theorem are astounding. At the end of the talk, I make the argument that, because of Godel's theorem, (1) artificial intelligence is not possible, i.e., a computer can never reason like a human person, and (2) the human mind is neither mechanistic nor deterministic.
Notes of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem

Ad Orientem and the Holy Father

Step by step, brick by brick ... whatever your favorite metaphor, the Holy Father has taken another measure in his plan for reforming the Sacred Liturgy.

In July of 2009, the Holy Father had the newly restored Pauline Chapel (the "smaller papal chapel") inaugurated. This chapel is where the conclave for the election of popes took place until the College of Cardinals became too large for the available space, at which point the conclave was moved to the "larger papal chapel," the better-known Sistine Chapel. The frescos in both chapels were done by Michelangelo.

The process of restoring the chapel was a truly a process of restoration. It aimed at re-establishing a historical continuity between the present and original arrangements of the chapel. The communion rails from the Pontificate of Leo XIII were put back in place, a background confessional was put in, most of the furnishings were restored to their original place, and the original altar was returned. The altar was positioned so as to accommodate both a versus populum orientation (toward the people) and a versus crucem orientation (toward the cross), otherwise known as ad orientem (toward the east) or ad Dominum (toward the Lord). What is particularly interesting is that the Vatican description of the positioning of the altar seemed to go to great lengths to emphasize both orientations, whereas in the not to distant past the familiar (but less historical) versus populum was assumed as the only orientation for the Novus Ordo.

Today, the Holy Father celebrated Mass with the members of the International Theological Commission in the newly restored Pauline Chapel. The Holy Father celebrated the Mass ad orientem. The significance of this is twofold. First, it demonstrates that the Holy Father sees the ad orientem posture as at least an equally valid posture as versus populum. (Those who are familiar with the writings of Cardinal Ratzinger know in fact that the ad orientem posture is his preferred orientation.) However, this is not the first time that the Holy Father has utilized this direction of worship. More than once he has celebrated Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel at the original high altar. Of course, in the case of a high altar, there is no choice but to celebrate ad orientem. The second significance of this event is that, to my knowledge, this is the first time that the Holy Father has used this orientation at a free standing altar. In other words, there was a choice of orientation, and he chose ad orientem.

Is this a call to the priests of the world to consider this posture in their own Churches? At the very least, it is a bold statement that a free standing altar is not a stumbling block for ad orientem. (Of course, it never has been, but the Pope's actions today emphasize the point.)

I have included the best pictures I can find of the event. If I run across any better ones, I will update this post to include them.