DCMission Statement


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Matt 16:13-19: Jesus Establishes the Papacy,
The Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul


Madonna and Child with Sts. Peter and Paul. (1608-1609)
by Giuseppe Cesari (c.1568–3 July 1640),

Today is the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, apostles and martyrs. The Gospel for today's Mass is Jesus's institution of the Papacy in which He establishes Peter as the first pope of the Church. The audio clip below is a recording of this reading chanted by a deacon at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica celebrated by Bl. Pope John Paul II on this solemnity. The text in Latin and English is given at the bottom of this post.



In the video below, Jimmy Akin at Catholic Answers gives responses to objections that Protestants make to reject that Jesus here is establishing Peter as the first pope. In the video, two documents are referenced: 1) Peter the Rock by Karl Keating, 2) Why Be Catholic? by Jimmy Akin. CatholicApologetics.info has given thorough responses to many Protestant objections in a document entitled 10 Answers on St. Peter the Rock by Mario Derksen.







In illo témpore: Venit Iesus in partes Cæsaréæ Philippi, et interrogábat discípulos suos, dicens: Quem dicunt hómines esse Fílium hóminis? At illi dixérunt: Alii Ioánnem Baptístam, alii autem Elíam, álii vero Ieremíam aut unum ex Prophétis. Dicit illis Iesus: Vos autem quem me esse dícitis? Respóndens Simon Petrus, dixit: Tu es Christus, Fílius Dei vivi. Respóndens autem Iesus, dixit ei: Beátus es, Simon Bar Iona: quia caro et sanguis non revelávit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in coelis est.

Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificábo Ecclésiam meam...

...et portæ ínferi non prævalébunt advérsus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni coelórum. Et quodcúmque ligáveris super terram, erit ligátum et in coelis: et quodcúmque sólveris super terram, erit solútum et in coelis.


— Lectio ✝ sancti Evangélii secúndum Matthaeum (16:13-19).



At that time, Jesus having come into the district of Caesarea Philippi, began to ask His disciples, saying, Who do men say the Son of Man is? But they said, Some say, John the Baptist; and others, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Jesus answered and said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.

And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church...

...and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.


— A Reading ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-19).



Sancti Apostoli Petre et Paule, orate pro nobis.


Thursday, June 20, 2013

An Open Discussion on Liturgical Music

...at some point we must get beyond the matter of taste and various technical issues and go a bit deeper: What is truly appropriate for Mass? How have we justified discarding the texts that the Church provides for us and replacing them with hymns that we choose according to criteria of taste and other subjective factors?


— Father B. Jerabek, from "Pop Music at Mass"


Fr. Jerabek has published a blog post on liturgical music that addresses the questions of whether it is appropriate to deviate from the texts of the Mass established by the Church and how melodies should be selected or composed for the texts chosen. At the end of the post, he references an article at the Crisis website by Jeffrey Tucker that discusses related questions. Mr. Tucker presents a brief sketch of the recent history of liturgical music that has lead up to the Life Teen subculture involving Masses in which one is likely to find a "rock group ... that sings music with repetitive words that have nothing to do with what’s in the liturgical books and accompanies that music with pop rhythms."

Because questions regarding liturgical music -- and especially those involving whether different musical styles and lyrics are appropriate, licit, or even moral within the context of the liturgy -- are of particular interest to me, I would like to open the floor to discussions on this topic. I will begin the conversation below with some thoughts from a reader, followed by my response. Please provide thoughts you have in the comment box below.

As a reminder of the sharp distinctions between the types of music being discussed, I have included below videos from two different Masses containing contrasting musical styles and texts. I will leave it to you to determine which falls into which category.