SCCR Parish Blog

  Rembrandt, the Stoning of St. Stephen, 1625 Painted when the artist was only 19 years old From today's breviary reading (office of readings), we find a beautiful reflection about that martyrdom by St. Fulgentius.  (Read the account in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles, 7:1-60 ).  It reminds us that Christmas is not just about happy feelings, but rather about loving Jesus enough that we would give our lives in witness to the Good News that Jesus became man to save us from our sins and bring us to Heaven.  By virtue of our baptism and confirmation, we, like St. Stephen, are called to be soldiers of Christ the King and give our all to witness to our love of him and faith in His truth and goodness. Today we celebrate the second day of the eight-day celebration of Christmas Day (the Octave of Christmas).   We remember St. Stephen, the first martyr, who was stoned to death for witnessing to Christ. A sermon of St Fulgentius of Ruspe The armor of love Yester...

  Here's a YouTube video from Dr. Scott Hahn reflecting on the Year of St. Joseph

  From the 13th century onward, there has been a tradition on special occasions of the Pope issuing a special blessing and addressing the people of Rome and of the whole world.  This is usually done at Christmas and Easter, and is sometimes known by its Latin name, urbi et orbi  (to the city [of Rome] and the world). Here is the Urbi et Orbi address Pope Francis gave yesterday for Christmas Day.

  In the Church's breviary (daily prayer cycle for priests, deacons, and religious) we reflect today on a powerful reading by St. Augustine, one of the great doctors (teachers) of the Church from the 4th Century. He contemplates what it would have been like if Jesus Christ had not become man in the miracle and mystery of Christmas. ======== From a sermon by Saint Augustine Truth has arisen from the earth and justice has looked down from heaven Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man.  Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you.  I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.   You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been l...

  Some of the saints of December get overlooked in the pre-Christmas rush.  One of the saints worth knowing about is St. Peter Canisius .  His feast day was yesterday,  December 21st.   He was a real "everyman" who did it all in a very difficult and challenging time for the Church. In the 16th century in much of norther Europe, when the Church was beginning to collapse due to the Protestant revolution, he was an important part of the Catholic Counter reformation to help save the faith, not only in his native Germany, but also Austria, Switzerland, Bohemia He was a brilliant scholar and preacher but was able to work with people from all works of life -- from children to prisoners to imperial courts.  He was an Apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and helped to restore an understanding of the Real Presence of the Lord in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass (which we see is beginning to slip again today ).  St. Peter Canisius, pray for us!...

  Here is the brief Christmas video from our shepherd, Archbishop Schnurr.

  Today at Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent, we proclaimed St. Luke's Gospel of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, that she was to be the Mother of God. In the breviary (the official prayer book of the Church, that all bishops, priests and deacons pray daily, as well as most religious brothers and sisters), there is a beautiful reflection on this tremendous mystery by St. Bernard of Clairvaux , a 12th century monk. I highly recommend reading and praying over it this last week of Advent: From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux The whole world awaits Mary's reply You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.   The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set fr...

  One of the most fascinating things about Sacred Scripture is how the Old Testament and New Testament are interconnected.  Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ.  This is especially true of the prophetic writings, that foretold His coming centuries before He was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and born as a man at Bethlehem. This truth is beautifully told in the beautiful traditional German Advent carol, Lo! How a rose e'er blooming in this stanza: Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, The Rose I have in mind, With Mary we behold it, The virgin mother kind; To show God’s love aright, She bore to men a Savior, When half spent was the night. The seminarians have a beautiful rendition of this carol at their recent Advent prayer service from December 7th, sung by their Latin schola (choir).  You can fast forward to it about 55:15 where it begins. The prophecies of the Messiah are worked into the prayers of the Mass from December 17th through 24th, ...

  Here is the Christmas message to America from President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Not political, just a message directly to and about Christians regarding Jesus the Son of God coming to redeem mankind.

  The National Catholic Register is a very solid periodical worth reading.  They do have an online version. I recommend their recent editorial on the cabinet and federal officials that Mr. Biden is assembling.

  Today is the feast day of St. Lucy of Syracuse (in Italian, Lucia). I've always regretted the fact that Catholic parents in recent times have fallen away from naming their children after saints, especially the saints and martyrs who were so instrumental in bringing the Catholic faith to our current generation. One of those saints is Lucy .  It's a beautiful name, which means light .  She was an early martyr from the Church, mentioned in the Roman canon.  I can count on one hand with fingers left over the number of girls or women I know with that name. There are fascinating legends about her purity and holiness.  Read about her here. In Scandavian countries, there is a custom of girls having parties where they would wear crowns of light on their head in her honor.  

Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas.  The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a humble poor Mexican man named Juan Diego in the 16th century near Mexico City. Her story is below (taken from the breviary, or the Liturgy of the Hous, the Church's universal prayer book). Under this title, Mary has also been declared the patroness of the unborn, since in her apparition to St. Juan she was with child, and also because she helped overcome the brutal practice of the indigenous peoples of engaging in human sacrifice.  We pray through her intercession for an end to the taking of innocent life in the womb, especially as our nation prepares for a notably more pro-abortion presidency and Congress.  ===== Just for fun, a video of a traditional song, La Guadalupana , popular with the Mexican people on this feast day.  It tells the story of St. Juan Diego.  Here are the lyrics in Spanish and English translation. =====   From a ...

Over the past several years, the U.S. Bishops have been turning their attention to ensuring a beautiful and reverent celebration of the Mass in accord with the Church's tradition.   For instance, in 2011 they finished a project to retranslate the Mass so that it was more faithful to its Latin original text, and included the traditional language of our faith. They have recently turned their attention to sacred music in the liturgy.  The Church's tradition has practically from the beginning preferred chant as the music that belongs to the Mass, mostly coming from Scripture.  In the 1960s and 1970s, as an alternative, but never the ideal, they allowed popular hymns. However, the problem has been that many of these hymns are not Catholic in nature.  That is, they contradict our doctrine, or they use vocabulary that is alien to our faith. Their committee on doctrine (teaching) has recently recommended a review of hymns used in the Mass, and specifically named some th...

  I have had some questions regarding the celebration of the "midnight Mass" (11:00 p.m. at St. Mary's this year), since Gov. DeWine has recently extended a curfew after 10:00 p.m. through the new year.   Please be assured that Gov. DeWine has specifically exempted religious services from the curfew, including the midnight Mass. Here's an article from one of the secular news channels. Midnight masses to continue on Christmas Eve despite curfew extension (whio.com) Also note that we are carefully following social-distancing and facial covering protocols so that the risk of Covid-19 contagion will be quite low.  As a reminder, however, we are asking that for St. Mary Parish only (not St. Peter's) those attending Christmas Masses, including the 11:00 p.m., are asked to contact the parish office to reserve a place so that we can plan for possible overflow.  Phone 513-734-4041.  Email: sccr.parish@outlook.com  

  Amidst the suffering and fear caused by the Covid-19 epidemic,  we have been reading some good news about vaccines being developed and approved that seem to be highly effective in combating the virus.  They have been approved for emergency use in some countries already and may be approved very soon in the U.S.  It looks quite possible that they will be available to some of the public before Christmas.  There are still many ethical questions that arise about the vaccines (can the government require citizens to take them? Who should get access to them first?  What about privacy? and so on).  But perhaps the most important ethical question is, Is it morally permissible for Catholics to receive them? The question arises because historically some vaccines have been produced from cell lines derived from children killed by abortion, and there is a serious question about whether, by taking such a vaccine, one would be cooperating with a grave moral evil. The...

   A year ago, Pope Francis added the optional memorial for Our Lady of Loreto to the calendar for this date, December 10th. This title of Our Lady comes from the legends about Mary's home in Nazareth, which was moved stone by stone to Loreto, Italy, and reconstructed.  There is now a beautiful Marian shrine in Loreto, still containing that home. This website tells the whole story, including how the Angeli family made this happen during the Middle Ages, when the Muslims took control of that part of the Holy Land.  Unfortunately, in recent decades the town of Nazareth has become a predominantly Muslim town, which has caused some complications in Christian pilgrimages to the site of the Annunciation.  Today would be a good day to pray the litany to Our Lady of Loreto , composed in the 16th century.

  I have had a few questions regarding Mass in the traditional posture facing East (facing the Lord, or ad orientem.)  So here are some Q and A based on questions or complaints I've had so far.  As always, please feel free to talk to me if you have questions.  It is unfortunate that this point has become somewhat controversial.  But the renewal of the holy Mass is ongoing, so we can expect to say minor changes in the way Mass is celebrated so that we remain faithful to our liturgical tradition. Q: When will Fr. Reutter be doing this?  A: Only for weekday Masses during Advent season.  (Not for funerals or Sunday Masses or for Christmas Masses or Christmas season).  It takes time for people to get used to change.  Many of the more newly ordained priests are beginning to celebrate this way on occasion in various parishes across the Archdiocese. Q:     Why do this? A:     Because the Church has been doing this for mo...

Each Holy Father has the authority to declare special holy years, where the faithful around the world can focus on some special spiritual gift to the Church.  Many have been declared over the centuries.  This year, Pope Francis has declared the current year (from the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, 2020 to the same time in 2021) as the Year of St. Joseph .  The link provides information from the always-newsworthy pieces in the Catholic weekly newspaper, the National Catholic Register. Typically, the Pope also attaches some indulgences* to the year -- special opportunities for ourselves or a deceased love one to be freed from the punishment due to our sins so that the need for purification from our sins in purgatory is erased or shortened.  I'll try to say more about that soon.  I'll be working on some special activities to observe that in our parishes, especially on the Solemn Feast of St. Joseph on March 19, 2021.  Stay tuned! * Here are some more r...

     The Church's official prayer book (the breviary, or the Liturgy of the Hours) contains beautiful reflections on the saints and feast days.  The breviary reflection from doctor of the Church St. Anselm on today's feast of the Immaculate Conception gives us a lot to think and pray about: A sermon by St Anselm O Virgin, by whose blessing all nature is blessed! Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night – everything that is subject to the power or use of man – rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by men who believe in God.   The universe rejoic...

A Rorate Mass celebrated in Sacramento I recently celebrated a special Advent candlelight Mass called a Rorate Caeli Mass .  This comes from the Latin words from the entrance chant or hymn, which  translate as "Drop down, you heavens, from above and let the skies pour down righteousness." The theme is both to anticipate the coming of Christ and His Kingdom of Heaven (hence celebrated in Advent) and also to honor Our Lady. Thanks to Patrick the seminarian for pulling it together as well as Deacon Ron Stang and Greg Feldkamp for assisting.  The Mass is celebrated before down, with the Church in the dark, holding only lit candles.  The sanctuary is typically the only thing lit, with many candles. There is a beautiful symbolism here: that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the dawn, announcing the coming of Christ her Son.  Also, the true light of the world emanates from the sanctuary of every Catholic Church because there on the altar the Word becomes Flesh and the holy a...

 R Robert Cardinal Sarah celebrating holy Mass facing East There is a popular folk Advent Christmas carol written in the early 20th century by a British lady named Eleanor Farjeon.  It's entitled, People, Look East !   That's because of the ancient tradition in Christianity and Judaism before it that the Savior of the world would come from the East, as well as the association with Jesus the Son of God with the rising sun, since God is the source of all life. This belief has long been associated with the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, as throughout most of our Roman Catholic tradition and other Christian traditions, the priest and people together faced eastward.  This is often referred to by its Latin name,  The  Wikipedia article  on the topic delves deep into this history if you are interested in that. It is only in very recent times (since the 1960s) that the option for the priest to face the people has been introduced in the Roman ri...

  A while back, I wrote on the scandal of the likelihood of a baptized Catholic President contradicting the teaching of the Church in his policies and political agenda.  The always prayerful and thoughtful Archbishop Charles Chaput, former Archbishop of Philadelphia, has written a good short article about this in a fine journal on religion and public life entitled First Things .  He is a very clear and cogent writer.  As an aside, I recommend his book on the interaction of Christians and the government entitled, Render Unto Caesar . Here are a few excerpts from his article. The implications [of the Vatican's teaching on Communion to public figures who oppose the Church] for the present moment are clear. Public figures who identify as “Catholic” give scandal to the faithful when receiving Communion by creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional. And bishops give similar scandal by not speaking up publicly about the issue and dange...

  Today is the feast day of the great 16th century Jesuit missioner St. Francis Xavier .   He was commissioned by the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), St. Ignatius of Loyola, to bring those from the Far East into Holy Mother Church. He was astonishingly active and effective in bringing thousands to Christ, teaching them the Catechism and baptizing them, across India and Japan. I like the photo above because it shows St. Francis "in action." Below follows the description of his mission in his own words (from the Church's prayer book, called the breviary or sometimes The Liturgy of the Hours. It's important to remember the great missioners, because the Church in more modern times reminds us that all of the baptized faithful should have a missionary focus.  This is something that our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, especially has stressed. As we prepare to re-align parishes and re-assign priests to meet the changing needs and demographics of the diocese, t...

  During Advent, the Archdiocese asks the faithful to support the Retirement Fund for Religious. Unlike parish priests (who receive an annual living stipend from the parishes) religious communities of sisters and brothers are self-supporting. Because of rising retirement costs and limited social security returns, many of them have difficulty supporting their elderly. Please consider helping them out!