New Rite of Matrimony

I see the new translation of the marriage rite is on its way.  OSV has an interesting article on it. There are a few changes (I must check to see if they apply to Ireland also) including the optional use of the lazo during the nuptial blessing - a veil which is held over the heads of the newly married couple. While it has its origins in Hispanic communities, it sounds very Jewish, it reminds me of the wedding canopy which I always thought is a lovely practice. I'm not too keen on the dropping of the Penitential Rite.

One change the US bishops requested has not been included - a change in the entrance procession. I think their suggestion has merit, it reiterates the liturgical nature of the marriage ceremony. Personally I would change the procession at the start, instead of the bride coming up on the arm of her father, I think the couple should meet at the door of the Church and process to the altar together to gather before the Lord for their marriage ceremony. At the moment, I think, the bridal procession puts a little too much emphasis on the bride, hence the now common belief that it is "her day" when in reality it is not - it is about bride, groom and God.

Anyway, most people would not agree with me there I'm sure, but I'm just putting it out there. We shall see what the new rite is like. I hope it will be available online to allow easy access for couples preparing for the marriage ceremony.

Another thing I have noticed recently is the proliferation of alternative texts for readings. I have had a few couples come, quite innocently, with texts which they were told were readings from Scripture but were not. I recently had a case where a native-American blessing was being passed off as an extract from Tobit - one couple apparently used it at their wedding ceremony. The couple I was working with were stunned to discover it wasn't Scripture and had no problem changing it. I have also noticed that reworked pieces of Scripture are also being passed off as the real thing. So couples and priests have to be wary. The new rite will, I hope, get us back on track. Here is a website with some extracts.

Gathering Intercessors

We are having a great response to our Novena For Ireland. Thanks to the efforts of many in Ireland and around the world the news is getting out. Thanks to all of you promoting this initiative. In case it needs to be said I will say that the novena is not a political movement, it is a spiritual exercise, a gathering of intercessors who will pray for nine days, and fast for one, for the cause of marriage and family life. 

Please continue to pray for this and if you can promote the novena among your friends and colleagues. If you can convince your pastors to promote it also that would be wonderful. There is no copyright on the prayer, so if people want to print their own cards they are free to do so. At this time we encourage you to pray for the referendum in Ireland, but the prayer can also be used for other threats to marriage and the family. Our friends in the US are facing such a threat with the case currently before the USSC. For the prayer and details of the novena see the novena website: www.novena4ireland.wordpress.com.

The novena is not confined to us Catholics, all Christians and all men and women of faith can get involved. Many of our non-Catholic brethren may feel uncomfortable with the prayer, so I have written an alternative for them, and that too can be promoted and printed freely. Here is the link.

Thank you again. Have courage.

Pushing The Experiment Through

Breda O'Brien has an interesting article this week in the Irish Times concerning the Children and Family Relationships Bill which the government is pushing through with astonishing haste. The legislation has to be in place before the same sex marriage referendum in May so those opposed to same sex marriage cannot bring up the issue of gay adoption and perhaps win a few votes in favour of natural marriage. Breda, as usual, is direct and hits the nail on the head. I would recommend you read what she has to say, and as you do so say a prayer for her, she is subject to much abuse, attack and even death threats.

This bill is yet another step in the social experiment which is taking place in the West, one which plays around with relationships that nature has already defined. This experiment will eventually fail, Lord knows what the consequences will be, but we can be sure that, as always it will be the vulnerable and voiceless who will suffer - children. In the early decades of the 20th century we had the eugenics movement which allied itself with the sexual revolution and fought to have "reproductive rights" for women enshrined in law. For those rights read abortion, and in enshrining these rights, children suffered - in the name of choice innocent children are killed every day in their tens of thousands. Now they are redefining marriage and relationships, and children will also suffer as the one stable institution in society which protects them - marriage and natural parenthood, is dissolved. As always, all of this is to satisfy adults and their desires, but it is wrapped up in the lie that it is to provide a better life for children.

Looking at the legislation in terms of egg and sperm donation I see we are laying the foundation for a very serious problem in the future: the real possibility of brothers and sisters marrying each other. Apart from the issue of incest, there are the difficulties genetics create when siblings procreate. How can we prevent two people from different parents, but siblings, born of gamete donation from the same donor, and possibly ignorant of their genetic relationship, from marrying? We have to have a way of ensuring that two people seeking to marry are not closely related. I was talking with a priest friend about this and we both concluded that the Church in the not too distant future may need to insist on DNA testing for couples preparing for marriage to make sure they are not siblings. Sound strange? Yes, it does, but we will need to address this problem sooner rather than later. What a tangled web our society is weaving, God help us all.

For Your Reading

A group of theologians has produced a scholarly, theological and pastoral response to Cardinal Kasper's proposals with regard to admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion. Published in the Nova et Vetera journal, the paper is well worth reading and well worth making people aware of it. In thirty pages it not only demolishes the Cardinal's proposals, but serves as an excellent catechesis on marriage. I am including a link to the article and urge you to read it.

What is clear from this piece is that the upcoming Synod cannot diverge from current practice, for to do so would ultimately be a rejection of Jesus' clear command.

Three things which resonated with me in the article.  First, that there is a crisis of chastity in the contemporary world. That is true. The theologians correctly point out that this crisis "plays no small part in the crisis of marriage and family life".  The thesis proposed by Cardinal Kasper seems to be one which appears to me, emerges out of a spirit of despair in response to this crisis of chastity. As the Cardinal himself said, we ordinary people are not called to be heroic, it may well be impossible for us in the opinions of some; could we also say that we ordinary people are not called to be chaste - it is impossible for us? That would be a problematic opinion one which denies many teachings of Christ, but most importantly seems to deny the efficacy of God's grace. The Church will need to address the crisis of chastity in the modern world.

Secondly, the theologians note: 

"The sexual revolution has caused millions of casualties. They have deep wounds, hard to heal. Challenging as this situation is, it also represents an important apostolic opportunity for the Church. Human beings frequently have an awareness of their failings and even their guilt, but not of the remedy offered by the grace and mercy of Christ. Only the Gospel can truly fulfill the desires of the human heart and heal the deepest wounds present in our culture today."

They are correct here. We will never heal the wounds inflicted by the sexual revolution by jettisoning Christ's and the Church's teaching on human sexuality to adopt a more permissive, relativistic approach. That would simply be pouring petrol on a fire. The Church is meant to be prophetic in the world and here is her ideal opportunity. The fact that being prophetic in regard to human sexuality at this time will be extremely difficult, should not put pastors and people off. No one ever said it was easy to be a Christian, no one ever said it would not be difficult to do the right thing. But we have to, no only for Christ's sake and the sake of the Church, but the sake of those who are victims of the sexual revolution.

Finally, a point I have been making for some time, the theologians advise that "ministers of the [marriage] tribunal need sufficient time to dedicate themselves to the cases assigned to them and should not be overburdened with other time-consuming tasks". And: "Tribunals need to be adequately staffed and supported so that cases can be treated with dispatch while following sound canonical norms and procedures. Those assigned to tribunals need sufficient time to carry out their duties and should not be saddled with other time-consuming charges." 

Too often in dioceses and episcopal conferences marriage tribunals do not get the staff or resources they need to do their work efficiently and quickly. I know priests who do Trojan work in tribunals, but they are juggling that work with parish assignments and other jobs passed down from chanceries. In my view that is unacceptable, and the theologians seem to agree with me there. The work of the tribunal is an important pastoral work and deserves to be treated as such. Too many people are waiting too long for decisions from tribunals which can often be held up because those working in them can only deal with their cases for a day or two a week. No doubt someone will quote me priest shortage and finance: well I can see other projects which do not suffer from such a lack. The tribunal must be near the top of a diocese or province's priorities.

The Voice's Birthday

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Birth of St John the Baptist. John's extraordinary example is that of being prophetic, being humble and being faithful. He was first and foremost the servant of the Christ - the friend of the Bridegroom. Working among the people, John sought to prepare hearts and souls for Jesus's coming, he wanted nothing for himself. He was prophetic not just in what he said, but in the way he lived his life and in the way he died. He could not assent to what was wrong in the eyes of God and so laid down his life. 

As followers of Jesus, as disciples, St John the Baptist offers us an example for our lives and work on earth. He are to prepare the way for the Lord in the hearts of the men and women of our time, we too are to be voices in the wilderness. Our lives must reflect the message we proclaim, indeed our first attempt at preaching that message must be our living of it. And we too must stay faithful to what the Lord teaches us, and a lot of that is very unpopular among many, including many professed followers of Christ. 

May St John the Baptist pray for all of us and help us to be faithful followers of Jesus. Happy feast day.

Preparing For Divorce?

One of the issues which is being suggested for discussion at the Synod on Marriage and Family next October is that of annulments - I have already reflected on that in a previous post.  But one topic which has hit the news in the last couple of days concerns pre-nuptial agreements and their effect on the validity of a Catholic marriage.

A pre-nuptial agreement is a legal agreement made between an engaged couple which seeks to protect the assets of one or both of them should the marriage break down.  While not accepted by courts in every jurisdiction, they are becoming more common and some legal systems are starting to accept them as legally binding.  In Ireland pre-nuptial agreements are being entered into by people in the farming community as a means of protecting family farms.  With the rise in marriage breakdown, separations and divorces, farming families are afraid a farm may well be divided as the spouses negotiate a financial settlement.

But do such agreements affect the validity of Catholic marriages?  After all, when a couple is being prepared for marriage they are (or should be) informed that validity can be undermined if one or both of them does not consider marriage to be a life long and indissoluble commitment.  In making a pre-nuptial agreement a couple is laying down provisions for an end to the marriage, for divorce, and so does that signal an attitude which may well  reveal an impediment?  This is a question for canon lawyers, and speaking with one he told me that pre-nuptials may not necessarily invalidate a marriage, they are problematic.

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury believes that such agreements undermine marriage - they are a preparation for divorce he says.  He is responding to the possible enshrining of pre-nuptial agreements in law in England and Wales.  He says:

“Pre-nuptial agreements may soon become enshrined in civil law on the recommendation of the Law Commission. Our society would be proposing to couples seeking marriage that they prepare their own divorce settlement before making the life-long promises of marriage. It is a legal provision which would surely empty the words of the marriage promise for ‘better for worse … to love and to cherish till death do we part’ of all meaning. 

“Pre-nuptial agreements would render these promises provisional by the legal preparations which anticipate divorce. We must ask ourselves today, what message does this send to couples considering marriage? What message does this send to the young at a moment when the institution of marriage stands at such a historically, low ebb? Should we not be putting our efforts into guarding and building-up the institution of marriage rather than steadily undermining it?”

More details can be found in the Catholic Herald. 

This is a difficult issue, but an important one, one which may well need to be explored at the synod and certainly by Bishops not only in the UK but here in Ireland as pre-nuptials are becoming more common in farming circles. Certainly guidance for priests on this issue is vital.

To Our Married Couples: A Happy Feast Day

A quick post.  Today in Carmel is the feast of Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St Therese of Lisieux.  I would like to wish all married couples a happy feast day.  May this holy couple intercede for all your needs, and be your friends and constant companions.

Exploiting A Tragedy?

No doubt you are all following recent events here in Ireland – the tragic death of an Indian woman in an Irish hospital as a result of a miscarriage.  It is an awful situation and we must remember her husband and family at this time. 

As if the death of a young woman was not bad enough, the pro-abortion lobby are now exploiting her untimely death to push the government into legislating for abortion.  And it seems the government may well use this case to do so.   A lot has been written about the case in the last twenty-four hours.  There is a lot of anger and some protests, all by those who want to legalise the killing of the unborn.  However, as always when it comes to abortion and politics, truth tends to be the first casualty, and as people shout and protest, the truth is being conveniently pushed to one side. As doctors and pro-life groups are attempting to point out the real medical situation, pro-abortion politicians and groups and the media are trying to drown them out.   Seeing as the expert group’s report has just landed on the Minister for Health’s desk and is due to be published in a week or so, it all seems to be (eerily) perfectly timed for the anti-life brigade.

The simple matter of fact here is that Savita Halappanavar did not die because she was refused an abortion.  The procdures necessary to save her life (abortion not being one of them) are already permissible under current medical guidelines and under Catholic ethical guidelines, and are performed in Irish hospitals whenever such cases present themselves.  Why they were not preformed is now the subject of an investigation, and rightly so.   But thanks to the muddied waters being stirred up this basic fact is being ignored and quickly shoved out of sight. 

I would refer you to David Quinn’s excellent article in the The Irish Independent today.  He also points out that the media, who are now giving wall to wall coverage of this poor woman’s death, tends to fall silent when it comes to reporting on the deaths of women during and after abortions.  Eilis Mulroy’s article in the same paper is also important reading.  There is also a very good, detailed reflection on the case by the Thirsty Gargoyle.  William Oddie of the Catholic Herald also offers us some opinions which are worth considering.

I think we were all waiting for something like this to happen.  We knew that as the report was due to come out the pro-abortion brigade would find something to push their case.  I just find it despicable that they are exploiting this woman’s death.  But then as a friend said to me yesterday evening: “If they think it is okay to kill a baby, then there are no moral barriers they’ll respect”.  Anyway we need to pray and do what we can. 

Other news.  George Weigel has a most interesting article on Church/civil marriage: he is actually arguing the point I made some time ago – it may be time for the Catholic Church to withdraw from cooperation with the civil authorities in conducting marriage ceremonies.   Canonist Ed Peters disagrees and offers a thought provoking response.  He sees it in a different light – the Church does not conduct civil weddings, but rather the state accords civil recognition to those marriages, so the onus is on the state to stop recognising them rather than on the Church.  This is a useful point to make.  Anyway, I think we should be talking about it.

The Feast of Marriage

In Carmel today we celebrate the feast of Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St Therese of the Child Jesus.  In doing so we also celebrate the sacrament of marriage within which these two holy people were sanctified.  Indeed today was chosen as their feast day because it is their wedding anniversary. 

If ever there was a time to celebrate marriage and holy married couples it is these difficult times.  Given the attack on marriage and the legitimacy being according irregular relationship be they heterosexual or homosexual, the example and intercession of a married couple provides us with an antidote and a sign of hope.

When I was doing parish work in New York as a seminarian I befriended a wonderful married couple, Nancy and Jim - they were involved in Marriage Encounter.  They taught me a lot about the sacrament of marriage, and Nancy was always at pains to remind us, and quite rightly too, that the sacrament is lifelong - it isn't a flash of grace after the vows which is never repeated - grace is continually being poured on the couple - each being a minister of grace for the other.  That grace is given to help the couple live as one body and bring forth new life into the world.  It is there to sanctify the couple, as we see in Louis and Zelie, and to make them witnesses to Christ's love for the Church through the sacred bond which unites them.

This is a wonderful theology - a wonderful reality.  This is what we in the Church need to begin to teach again. It is for this reason that marriage is a relationship like no other: it is the only relationship which is a sacrament.   In no other relationship is grace poured out as in that of husband and wife. It goes without saying I am speaking of marriages which are conducted in Church before a priest or deacon.

Blesseds Louis and Zelie were beatified because they were sanctified through their marriage - not because they are the parents of St Therese.  In fact if we look at the writings of St Therese we see that she came to love and live her faith thanks to the teaching and example of her holy parents.  It was Louis and Zelie who are partly responsible for the great holiness of their daughter.  Holy parents can bring Saints into the world (not all the time, some Saintly parents had the cross of irreligious children).  We see other holy parents who have holy offspring - the parents of L'Arche founder Jean Vanier are being considered for beatification and their holiness had an enormous influence on Jean whom many consider to be a saint himself.

Today, then, let us commend to the intercession of Blesseds Louis and Zelie all our married couples, may the Lord sustain them in the sacrament of their marriage.  We pray for those in irregular relationships, that they may be reconciled. We pray for those trying to resist the redefinition of marriage, may this Holy Couple obtain from the Lord the grace to sustain them, give them courage and wisdom, and the skills to touch the hearts of our legislators.

Reliquary containing the bodies of Blesseds Louis and Zelie

UPDATE:

Christopher McCamley over at the Catholicus blog has the collect and reading from the Office of Readings for today's feast.  The reading may be of interest to you, it is taken from Blessed Zelie's letters.



The Dog, The Fish, The Angel And The Wife's Lover

This week, and only for two days this year, the Church reads from the Book of Tobit.   This is one of my favourite books of the Bible, and I think it is an excellent introduction to Scripture for those not used to reading it.  The story of Tobit, his son Tobias and their relation, Sarah, is a tender human story in which God reaches out to bring healing and assistance to people in need.   

The book is one of the Deutro-canonical books which were first included in Scripture in the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.  The Church accepts these books as Sacred Scripture and includes them among the canonical books, as does the Orthodox Churches.  During the Reformation, however, the new Protestant denominations rejected them as such, although many Protestants do read them and consider them important Judeo-Christian writings.  The Book of Tobit has found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

To be honest, I think this book reveals God's sense of humour and that great hope which faith brings, a hope which fills our hearts with joy.  Comic scenes in the book seem to outweight the tragic: the scene of Sarah's father out digging the grave as the family celebrate (with great apprehension) her marriage to husband number eight, is the best I think.   Perhaps the best prayer for a married couple is included as Tobias and his new wife kneel down to worship on their wedding night (how many newly married couples do that, I wonder?).  It is also the book where the Archangel Raphael is revealed, and where devotion to him as an intercessor for the sick begins.

And of course, there is the dog  (Sorry, I love dogs).   Here, preserved in Scripture (5:16) is the wonderful relationship between mankind and the pooch, a relationship that has existed for millenia and has been a source of joy (and yes at times frustration as Rover will not do what he is told - or there has been another "accident").   All life, we are told, is reflected in Scripture, how true, even our love for the adorable mutt.

Of course two of the main themes are fidelity, as revealed in Tobit's devotion to God and the Law, and God's healing love, as revealed in the ministry of the Archangel Raphael.  We also see the power of God over evil.  Tobias's new wife has been tormented by a demon who has killed her first seven husbands before the marriage was consumated because he was in love with her (there's real disordered love for you).   The situation seems hopeless, but God can overcome all and it only takes a whiff of smoke from the burning of  fish liver, to drive the demon away - a few tips there for the makers of The Rite.