The Jesuits - Jesters to the Cultural Elite (Part 2)

                                     

So Jesus and the apostles get on a plane ... at  Newark!

Fr. James Martin S.J. presents his latest effort at amusement for the cultural elite.
There's something desperate about all comics, but especially priest-comics.

St. Ignatius Loyola pray for us.

If Jesus knew as much as Richard Dawkins does He'd have been an atheist too

                                                       yes, but is he also against holidays?

So says Richard Dawkins.   The estimable Dr. Oddie's reflections here.

Manhattan vignette

                                                                       St. Benedict the Moor Church

Earlier this week, as I was on my way out of St. Malachy's Church after making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, I was approached by a young man who asked for directions to St. Benedict the Moor Church.  The young man appeared to be the tidier sort of vagrant, with greasy but combed hair, and neat, though not freshly laundered, clothing.  His eyes were bright and his manner was friendly.

I knew St. Benedict's was nearby, and though I was fairly sure of where St. Benedict's was, I decided to double-check the address on my blackberry.  While I was doing this, the young man told me he was attempting to visit every Catholic church in Manhattan.

"That's a lot of churches," I said.  "How many are there?"
The young man's smile tightened somewhat.
"Look," he said, "I'm visiting the churches, not counting them."

St. James the Greater, patron of pilgrims, pray for us.

"Whether the matter of this sacrament is bread and wine?"

We respond to the manifest ignorance amongst Catholics regarding the Eucharist by periodically transmitting the teaching of St. Thomas concerning this sacrament.

To the above quaestio, St. Thomas answers:

"Christ instituted this sacrament under the species of bread and wine, as is evident from Matthew 26. Consequently, bread and wine are the proper matter of this sacrament. And the reasonableness of this is seen first, in the use of this sacrament, which is eating: for, as water is used in the sacrament of Baptism for the purpose of spiritual cleansing, since bodily cleansing is commonly done with water; so bread and wine, wherewith men are commonly fed, are employed in this sacrament for the use of spiritual eating."

Courtesy of New Advent, St. Thomas' complete answer here.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Communion in the hand - a re-evaluation

                            Still the normal usage; Communion in the hand permitted in certain places pursuant to an indult


Fr. Giuseppe Pace notes inaccuracies in the argument that Communion in the hand was an ancient practice of the Church.  Okay, maybe it would be more accurate to say that Fr. Pace rages at the bad faith of those who argue Communion in the hand was an ancient practice of the Church.  h/t Rorate Caeli.

New apostolate for Jesuits -

                            “Sacred Heart of Jesus with Saint Ignatius Loyola and Saint Louis Gonzaga”  by Jose de Paez

                                                         Not the sort of Jesuits CNN would have on speed dial.

Answering CNN's stupid religious questions.

I guess they find this easier and more fun than spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart.  I wonder what Our Lord thinks of it?

St. Ignatius Loyola, pray for us.

"Whether the Eucharist is a sacrament?"

                                                        "St. Jerome's Last Communion," Botticelli


According to a recent survey, many Catholics have forgotten (or never knew) basic doctrine regarding the Eucharist.   To fill this gap in doctrinal education, we will consult St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica, which he composed "for the instruction of beginners," and transmit the Angelic Doctor's wisdom regarding the Eucharist in a continuing series of short posts.

To the quaestio above, St. Thomas answers:

"The Church's sacraments are ordained for helping man in the spiritual life. But the spiritual life is analogous to the corporeal, since corporeal things bear a resemblance to spiritual. Now it is clear that just as generation is required for corporeal life, since thereby man receives life; and growth, whereby man is brought to maturity: so likewise food is required for the preservation of life. Consequently, just as for the spiritual life there had to be Baptism, which is spiritual generation; and Confirmation, which is spiritual growth: so there needed to be the sacrament of the Eucharist, which is spiritual food"

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.