The dust has not settled yet, nor shall it, over the Bishop of Rome's unwise and imprudent change to the rubric of the ritual of the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday. Make no mistake, as Bishop or Rome, Jorge Bergoglio has the legal right to make this change, he does not have the moral right. In order to do it, he took it upon himself to redefine the meaning of the ritual. Had Benedict XVI or John Paul II acted in such an arbitrary manner with no respect for the curial process or the blessed post-Vatican II collegiality, there would have been literal hell to pay.
Priests harassed
To all priests who have for five, ten, twenty, even forty years or more have resisted the feminist ideology and held firm to the rubric, viri selecti, thank you. I have had conversations with a few in the last two days. There is distress and frustration. You have been obedient to the Law of the Church and you were insulted for it by busy-body parishioners, liturgical terrorists and brother priests. You've been placed on the "B-Team" or worse. You've been shuffled off to the far reaches of the Diocese. You've been insulted by your flock.
You did it for Christ!
Your obedience and faithfulness to the liturgy was much more meritorious and will be more fruitful than you can imagine even now. You did the right thing. Fathers, do the right thing still. Do not wash the feet of women. Option it out!
St. Ignatius of Loyola said,
Fathers, dispensing with this para-liturgy gives you a golden opportunity. You can take the ten minutes this would take and add it to your homily. Focus more on the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood.
A call to the Catholic laity
Support your priest to option it out. Do not harass him to do it. Support his decision and admonish those of your fellow parishioners who would harass him for not washing feet. It is a ritual which should never have been put into the Mass to begin with. This was an inevitable as the culture changed and the Church sold out to the world.
The Pope's decision was his to make, it was wrong
The Bishop of Rome has done what he has. It was a bad decision. It was imprudent and it codified disobedience. It legalised his own dissent. It will produce no good. No decision should be made by the Pope without it being a benefit for the salvation of souls. This will save not one soul. There is not good to come from this. It was a political decision. It was a pandering to special interests. Never before has a Pope with such arrogance and lack of consult made such a decision. It seems minor, one little liturgical act on one night of the year, but the implication is much, much greater.
Comments from Bishops
Not many bishops have commented yet. The Bishop of Madison. Robert C. Morlino, has released an official statement including sound advise to the priests which includes, the option to "omit the ritual of the washing of the feet altogether."
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When Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, we know that he immediately proceeded that week and again for the next two years, to dispense with liturgical law by washing the feet of women and in fact, non-Christians on Holy Thursday. If Francis really wanted to demonstrate charity, he could have picked any of the other 364 days or nights of the year to do it. It was a media circus - a religious ritual of deep significance turned into a spectacle of false humility.
In my column on this unfortunate decision, which I believe a future Pope will abrogate, I used a photograph. I republish it along with others from the time when he was Archbishop or Cardinal of Buenos Aires to illustrate a point and to show the contrast between two bishops.
Tell me, who is obedient?
Who is truly humble?
The one who obeys and allows for the Law's escape, such as St. Thomas More would have done and optioned it out, or the one who flouts the Law and decides that he knows better?
Who is truly humble and who is displaying narcissism, arrogance, egotism and pride.
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So there you have it. Three photographs from the time where Jorge Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. An Ordinary. Just as Bishop Morlino. Yet, Bishop Morlino will follow the Law, whilst taking full advantage of its liberality, no doubt and Bergoglio broke it.
Morlino obedient. Bergoglio, dissident
One more thing. Why can he grovel on the floor to wash feet, but he cannot genuflect to the WORD MADE FLESH truly present on the Altar under the elements of Bread and Wine which have become the WORD's Body and Blood?
Will this be the next rubric he will change?
Rumour has it that March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, will be the day that he will release his Apostolic Exhortation on the Family. Dates are important to some people.
Priests harassed
To all priests who have for five, ten, twenty, even forty years or more have resisted the feminist ideology and held firm to the rubric, viri selecti, thank you. I have had conversations with a few in the last two days. There is distress and frustration. You have been obedient to the Law of the Church and you were insulted for it by busy-body parishioners, liturgical terrorists and brother priests. You've been placed on the "B-Team" or worse. You've been shuffled off to the far reaches of the Diocese. You've been insulted by your flock.
You did it for Christ!
Your obedience and faithfulness to the liturgy was much more meritorious and will be more fruitful than you can imagine even now. You did the right thing. Fathers, do the right thing still. Do not wash the feet of women. Option it out!
St. Ignatius of Loyola said,
"A precious crown is reserved in heaven for those who perform all their actions with all the diligence of which they are capable; for it is not sufficient to do our part well; it must be done more than well."Focus on the Eucharist and Priesthood
Fathers, dispensing with this para-liturgy gives you a golden opportunity. You can take the ten minutes this would take and add it to your homily. Focus more on the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood.
A call to the Catholic laity
Support your priest to option it out. Do not harass him to do it. Support his decision and admonish those of your fellow parishioners who would harass him for not washing feet. It is a ritual which should never have been put into the Mass to begin with. This was an inevitable as the culture changed and the Church sold out to the world.
The Pope's decision was his to make, it was wrong
The Bishop of Rome has done what he has. It was a bad decision. It was imprudent and it codified disobedience. It legalised his own dissent. It will produce no good. No decision should be made by the Pope without it being a benefit for the salvation of souls. This will save not one soul. There is not good to come from this. It was a political decision. It was a pandering to special interests. Never before has a Pope with such arrogance and lack of consult made such a decision. It seems minor, one little liturgical act on one night of the year, but the implication is much, much greater.
Comments from Bishops
Not many bishops have commented yet. The Bishop of Madison. Robert C. Morlino, has released an official statement including sound advise to the priests which includes, the option to "omit the ritual of the washing of the feet altogether."
In my column on this unfortunate decision, which I believe a future Pope will abrogate, I used a photograph. I republish it along with others from the time when he was Archbishop or Cardinal of Buenos Aires to illustrate a point and to show the contrast between two bishops.
Tell me, who is obedient?
Who is truly humble?
The one who obeys and allows for the Law's escape, such as St. Thomas More would have done and optioned it out, or the one who flouts the Law and decides that he knows better?
Who is truly humble and who is displaying narcissism, arrogance, egotism and pride.
So there you have it. Three photographs from the time where Jorge Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. An Ordinary. Just as Bishop Morlino. Yet, Bishop Morlino will follow the Law, whilst taking full advantage of its liberality, no doubt and Bergoglio broke it.
Morlino obedient. Bergoglio, dissident
One more thing. Why can he grovel on the floor to wash feet, but he cannot genuflect to the WORD MADE FLESH truly present on the Altar under the elements of Bread and Wine which have become the WORD's Body and Blood?
Will this be the next rubric he will change?
Rumour has it that March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, will be the day that he will release his Apostolic Exhortation on the Family. Dates are important to some people.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Church,
Protector of the Holy Family and
Patron of a Holy Death,
Intercede for us.