Agree or Disagree?

And thus the angels were astonished (as the Greek Fathers insisted) to see this unexpected kinship between the eternity of God and the ‘it has happened’ of time and of the flesh. They do not possess thus kinship. And this is why deified humanity is raised above them.

— john milbank (@johnmilbank3) August 12, 2021

May God Grant Him Many Years

As Benedict XVI Celebrates 70 Years as a Priest, a Homily He Gave on the Priesthood | National Catholic Register @NCRegister https://t.co/EgxYddKQTQ

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) June 29, 2021

Irenaeus says: It's correct that man is supposed to become like God & can't rest until he has attained the freedom of sonship—that alone can be the freedom appropriate for him; that alone can be his redemption...
--Joseph Ratzingerhttps://t.co/IwmZ3OzBP7

— Church Life Journal (@ChurchLifeND) June 29, 2021

Into the Heart of the Father by Leonard DeLorenzo

Yesterday, @timothypomalley gave me this book.

As you might be able to see, I wrote this book, and yet Tim received the first copy of the book.

Why? Because the world is a funny place. pic.twitter.com/Nzk8hSvAYJ

— Leonard J. DeLorenzo (@leodelo2) March 17, 2021

St. Ambrose of Milan on Being a Co-Heir of Christ

“A coheir of Christ is one who is glorified along with Christ. The one who is glorified along with him is one who, by suffering for him, suffers along with him.” -St. Ambrose

— Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP (@FrAquinasOP) February 10, 2021

Receptivity

Crisis: Far from the Spirit of the Lord: On the Pope’s New Motu Proprio by Peter Kwasniewski

What we need to see, and see clearly, is this: the highest dignity of the baptized is to welcome Christ the Lord in Holy Communion. Period. Nothing else they do, no other function or service or activity, can compare to the Marian privilege of receiving God. When we elaborately multiply functions, services, and activities, we introduce distractions, invert priorities, build false hierarchies, and undermine simple faith, devotion, humility, and reverence. The participatio actuosa or actual participation of the faithful in the liturgy is not about doing, but about being, or more precisely, being a good recipient of the Word, so that this Word may be fruitful in us. It is not about busyness with much serving, but about contemplation, the union of love.

There is also the receptivity of the Son, who receives everything from the Father. Marian receptivity is symbolized by her, as a woman, becoming the Theotokos. Marian receptivity on a spiritual level is the receiving of the Divine Life by being a filia in Filio, just as the Son receives everything He is from the Father.

Eucharistia

"Eucharist Means Thanksgiving"

Check out this week's episode of Church Life Today, which features five reflections on the exchange of thanksgiving in the Eucharist.

via @McGrathND and @RedeemerRadio https://t.co/bZtDKefZ6m

— Leonard J. DeLorenzo (@leodelo2) November 23, 2020

Eucharist means "thanksgiving." This simple lesson can help us live with gratitude all year. #BeTheBee https://t.co/PvocIg67Px pic.twitter.com/HjFAoFqqeQ

— Steven Christoforou (@scchristoforou) November 23, 2020

The Third Encyclical

Pope Francis to Sign a New Encyclical on Human Fraternity on Oct. 3 https://t.co/7x28IkUyFW @cnalive

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 5, 2020

@Pontifex's new encyclical needs to heed Benedict XVI: "A brotherhood which embraces everyone in equal manner cannot expect to be taken seriously by anyone." My latest @Church_Militant story. @JZmirak @jihadwatchRS #humanfraternity #CatholicTwitter https://t.co/m8kBQMlPCE

— Dr Jules Gomes (@DrJulesGomes) September 5, 2020

The new encyclical to be released next month, on the universal human family, will invite comparison to the never-promulgated 1939 document Humani Generis Unitas. https://t.co/bOlFaGPft0

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) September 5, 2020

John LaFarge, S.J. and The Unity of the Human Race

When Does Divine Adoption Take Place?

In an otherwise decent piece from last year about Christ and the Beatitudes, making use of the works of Fr. Jacques Philippe, Jared Staudt writes in The goal of Lent: Conformity to Christ:

We are called to become Christ, embracing the adopted sonship bestowed on us at Baptism and entering into the love of the Father. Jesus offers us his own grace and virtues and calls us to live and love like him in the world.

"Traditional" Latin praxis forces him to write this, because of the separation of Baptism from Confirmation, so that Latin infants are not "baptized by water and Spirit" on the one same occasion, but at different points in their life, if at all. This despite the clear testimony of St. Paul that it is the by the Spirit, whom we have received [through the laying on of hands by the Apostles or their successors or by the ministering of blessed oil], that we are able to cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15; cf. Galatians 4:4-7). Even if we say our adoption as sons of God begins with water Baptism, can we say it is completed without Confirmation? No. Does anyone wish to ponder what the [spiritual] consequences are for incomplete Christian initiation?

When do Protestants receive the Spirit of God, if they do not have the sacrament of "Confirmation"? And how do they know they have received the Spirit by the laying of hands if the one who is laying on hands simply claims he has received this power from God or from someone else? How do we know that they have the authority and power to pass the gift of the Holy Spirit, if they cannot show that they have received this authority from the Apostles?

Latins should not be seeking this dubious gift from Pentecostals or those imitating Pentecostals -- they should be receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. (And if they have doubts about the efficacy of the first time they received it because they were not properly subjectively prepared for it, should they ask for a conditional administering of the sacrament?)

[Active] Participation

NLM

What is done in the liturgy is done by Christ, not by us. For the liturgy is the worship offered by Christ in His Church through the power of the Holy Spirit to God the Father. It is not something primarily that we do. We certainly, by right of our baptism, are able to participate in that offering. Indeed, it is our baptismal duty to do so to the best of our ability and according to our particular vocation. But the liturgy is first and foremost Christ acting in the world today through the rites of His Church. Because of this, through this, we are able to share in His saving acts—the Redemption He wrought for our sins on the cross, and the hope of eternal life made manifest in His glorious resurrection. In short, the sacred liturgy is Christ’s saving action in our world today. ...

The understanding that the liturgy is an action, not a text, and indeed that it is first and foremost the action of Christ Himself, is crucial if I am to participate in any liturgical rite, if I am truly to engage consciously and actually in that action, if I am in fact to pray the sacred liturgy. Otherwise I shall be a mere spectator, possibly a bored one, or maybe even a well-entertained one. But the liturgy is not a spectacle or entertainment to be watched. It is an action in which I must be engaged. It is worship. And it is prayer. ...

Therefore praying the liturgy, which is simply true or actual (sometimes called ‘active’) participation in the liturgy, is not so much saying the right words, ‘making the responses’ or ‘joining in the singing’ (these are means, not ends) as it is immersing myself in, losing myself in, allowing myself to be caught up in, the action of the liturgy.”

What is it to immerse one's self or to be caught up in the action of the liturgy if there is no act on my part? Is it simply comprehension and the proper will act? On the other hand, does this not undermine the traditionalist case against the reform if the main or essential acts of participation are to be found in the intellect and will? So long as these are present, what difference does it make if one says the "right words" or "makes the responses" or uses the EF? And who is to say that the subjective experience of the typical participant in the OF, in the vernacular and with contemporary worship music, cannot be ordered by these essential of participation? If those fundamental acts are present and sustained, then what difference do the means make? Would Reid argue that the some means are more proportioned to the end?

More importantly, what are these fundamental acts, if not the Son's knowledge and love of the Father, in which we participate thanks to Baptism and Confirmation/Chrismation? And is worship to be identified with these acts? A Thomist might respond that worship or prayer are acts of religio, not acts of the theological virtues but acts ordered by the theological virtues. I wouldn't disagree with that, though I would emphasize that Christian worship, our participation in the Son's praise of and thanksgiving to the Father, are secondary acts motivated by filial knowledge and love of the Father, and so Reid is incorrect on this point. However, if he does argue that the texts, singing, etc. are important in so far as they serve these secondary and some forms are more better suited than others (and at this point I don't have any reason to think that this is not his position, though I would disagree with him as to which forms are better suited, at least some of them), I think that part can be retained.

We are children of God in Christ, sharers in the eternal filiation of the Only-begotten Son of God the Father!

Opus Dei: "The freedom and trust of being God's children"
Homily of Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz for the liturgical memorial of Saint Josemaria, given in the basilica of Saint Eugene in Rome on 26 June 2018.

King Doesn't Quite Capture It

From 2014: Not Just in Our Hearts: The True Social Kingship of Christ by Steve Skojec
Christ the King and Original Sin by Timothy Flanders

Pius XI, Quas Primas

Pantocrator sounds much better to my ears. Chris is the Ruler of All because he is the rule, God's Law, the word, Divine Wisdom. Rulers do not rule in his place but in Him, participating in Him. If we accept the development of the three-fold office of the laity as a legitimate theological development, then all are kings even if not all share in political governance. They participate in the Divine Law who is Christ, even those who are subject or subordinate to others.

Some nuances are needed to correct exaggerations of the sacred status of authority in pieces such as this: First Things: Sacral Presidency by Peter J. Leithart

Year A of the 3-Year Lectionary Cycle?

The Latins are currently on Year C.

I am guessing this reflection was written a while ago, for Year A.

Tale of Two Adams: Scott Hahn Reflects on the First Sunday of Lent

Formed from the clay of the ground and filled with the breath of God’s own Spirit, Adam was a son of God (see Luke 3:38), created in his image (see Genesis 5:1-3). Crowned with glory, he was given dominion over the world and the protection of His angels (see Psalms 8:6-8; 91:11-13). He was made to worship God—to live not by bread alone but in obedience to every word that comes from the mouth of the Father.

Is Adam (son) of God? It would seem so. But is he a son of God in the same way that we are, having been reborn in Christ in Baptism and Chrismation? I don't think so. I don't think anyone was an (adopted) son of God in the Son before the Incarnation. Or if the righteous of the Old Testament were to be accounted sons of God, their sonship or their adoption was incomplete, until Christ had conquered death and was risen?

As for the question of obedience, which Adam failed to give -- the obedience that is essential for us to the glorification of the Father, is that the same as the sacrifice of Christ, or is it a part or consequence of the sacrifice (and thus not wholly identical with sacrifice)?

Union with Christ

Just last week or so, I was reading something that identified union with Christ as a moral union, a union of wills (which is a supernatural bond, not a natural one) -- I think it was written by a Latin traditionalist. I'm not sure if I posted a link to that essay here. But it is actually more than that, as shown by the use of the image of Christ as Bridegroom and the Church as Bride, who become "one flesh" -- not that we truly are absorbed into the being of Christ and lose our own separate being, just as husband and wife do not become one person in the conjugal union, but rather, we are transformed into Christ but assimilating His life into us (or participating in it). Union as a metaphysics of participation, or the analogy of being with Christ as the primary analogate.

"Bridal mysticism" as a metaphor for the individual Christian can be understood properly in this way, even if there may be some repugnance to the imagery or to its literal application to men.

Good for Bishop Schneider.

CWR: The Gift of Filial Adoption by Bishop Athanasius Schneider
The Christian Faith is the only valid and the only God-willed religion.

A response to Pope Francis? That document here.

παῖς or τέκνον or υἱός

In John 1:12 it's tekna.

1 Cor. 13:11 has nēpios.

CWR: The Solemnity of All Saints and the pursuit of holiness by Peter M.J. Stravinskas

How does one get to Heaven? By being a saint on earth. And how does one become a saint? By living a life of holiness. And in what does holiness consist? Here are seven elements.

Holiness consists in being childlike
Our Lord Himself asserted – unequivocally – “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven” [Mt 18:3]. But, as you have undoubtedly heard many times, being childlike is quite different from being childish. Saint Thérèse, for example, was devoted to the Holy Child Jesus because she found in Him all the qualities to become a saint herself. What is spiritual childhood, you ask? Her “last words” tell us:

It is to recognize one’s own nothingness, to expect everything from the good God as a child expects everything from its father. It is to be concerned about nothing, not even about making one’s living. . . . I remain a child with no other occupation than gathering flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice, and offering them to the good God for His pleasure. Being a child means not attributing to yourself the virtues you practice or believing yourself capable of anything at all. It means recognizing that the good God places the treasure of virtue in the hands of His children to be used when there is need of it. . . . but it is still God’s treasure. Finally, it means never being discouraged by your faults, because children fall frequently, but are too small to hurt themselves much.

The pseudo-sophisticates of the two last centuries of blood and violence need to acknowledge that their programs have failed abysmally and that the human capacity for God can only be satisfied when one approaches that God as a child accepts the overtures of a loving father.

Curious if the "last words" are 100% authentic Theresian, or if they were modified by her sister. Unfortunately, in English "children" can have a negative connotation that would not appeal to a man like the word "son" would.

Children of God

Our New Life in Christ

But will it teach men how to lead?

CWR Dispatch: Holy League Men's Conference to feature noted speakers, challenging messages
Held in Salem, Oregon, the December 16-17 conference will include Mass and homily by Abp. Alexander Sample, and talks by Dn. Harold Burke Sivers, Fr. Donald Calloway, Jesse Romero, and others.

Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, will give a talk titled "The Vocation of Sons by Grace", which will focus on the divine call for every man to be, by virtue of baptism, a prophet, priest, and king. The talk, says Olson, will highlight themes found in Called To Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification, which he co-edited with Fr. David Meconi, SJ. "Drawing on Scripture and the Fathers," says Olson, "I will emphasize the truly radical gift of divine sonship and show how it relates to our everyday lives as men, husbands, and fathers." True men of God, he adds, "see and understand this life in the light of supernatural, Trinitarian grace and our call to share that grace with our families, friends, and everyone we encounter".

An Icon of Human Freedom

Marian Consecration

Are Marian Consecrations, whether the version of St. Louis of Montfort or someone else, have taken a hold in the Latin West if the West had had a better liturgical spirituality and liturgical theology? Shouldn't our consecration to God the Father, initiated through Baptism which makes us adopted sons, and repeated in every Eucharist, be sufficient? What about analogues in the East?

wiki
Total Consecration: Consecration Explained
Consecration Prayer to Mary