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| Please pray for the Dalimata Family |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-17-2022, 01:14 PM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer
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![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginal...f=1&nofb=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F46%2F9f%2F0b%2F469f0b2ab708a4ad977fe5fae0ef4092.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
In Father Hewko's sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, he mentions the passing of Mr. and Mrs. John and Ruth Dalimata (in their 90's) followed shortly afterwards by their son Michael. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
✠ ✠ ✠
The De Profundis - Psalm 129
Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark our iniquities: O Lord, who can abide it?
For with Thee there is mercy: and by reason of Thy law I have waited on Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath waited on His word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even unto night: let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them. |
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| Visa announces plans on [central-bank controlled] e-money |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-17-2022, 12:38 PM - Forum: Global News
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Visa announces plans on e-money
Payments giant teams up with blockchain firm to help create tech framework for CBDCs
![[Image: 61e014df203027400d6a2867.jpg]](https://cdni.rt.com/files/2022.01/l/61e014df203027400d6a2867.jpg)
RT.com | January 13, 2022
Global financial service provider Visa and blockchain software firm ConsenSys have announced plans to build a platform for creating and launching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
“If successful, CBDC could expand access to financial services and make government disbursements more efficient, targeted, and secure – that’s an attractive proposition for policy-makers,” Catherine Gu, Visa’s global head of CBDC, said in a blog post Q&A session with ConsenSys, as cited by CoinDesk.
CBDC is essentially a country’s fiat currency in the form of a digital asset, which, unlike cryptocurrencies, is controlled by official monetary authorities – usually central banks. So far, only two countries in the world use a CBDC: the Bahamas and Nigeria. However, other nations have been working on a CBDC release of their own.
According to Gu, Visa’s CBDC payments module will be an extension for CBDCs on their existing payment networks. Banks and issuer processors will be offered the means to plug into the module and integrate their existing infrastructure, she explained.
READ MORE: Countries set to launch e-money this year
The module will be a “CBDC sandbox” of sorts, in which central banks can experiment with distributing the coins after creating them on ConsenSys’ ethereum scaling protocol layer, Quorum.
“Central banks are moving from research to actually wanting to have a tangible product they can experiment with,” stated Cuy Sheffield, the vice president of Visa’s crypto department, as cited by Yahoo Finance.
Visa says its crypto teams plan to have completed the module in the coming months, at which point they will be able to start working with central banks on pilot CBDC launches. If the pilots are successful, it envisages its customers will have the means to use their CBDC-linked Visa cards or digital wallets anywhere Visa is accepted.
Last month, the company launched a global crypto advisory practice for banks and other financial institutions, aiming to help them develop their cryptocurrency businesses. It said at the time that “every bank should have a crypto strategy,” noting also that “it’s a critical role for Visa to play to help be this bridge between banks and the crypto ecosystem.”
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| Swiss anti-mandate Group Mass-Voll: A Network of Services for the Unvaxxed |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-17-2022, 11:01 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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Unvaccinated youth in Europe rally against increasing restrictions as protests continue
A growing movement encouraging unvaccinated youths to gather at venues has attracted strong criticism amid the Omicron wave.
news.com.au | January 17, 2022
A growing youth movement opposing Europe’s push for mandatory vaccination laws is pushing to set up an underground society for “alienated” portions of the community.
Tens of thousands of protesters continue to march across the continent against increasingly harsh laws against unvaccinated residents.
Leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron have declared it their mission to “piss off” those without the jab, closing doors on more services for the minority group.
Some others, like Swiss anti-mandate Group Mass-Voll, have taken matters into their own hands, moving to set up a network of services for Europeans who do not carry a proof of vaccination card.
The protest group says it is fighting for humanity’s “indefeasible rights of liberty”.
![[Image: 6d9ce98d18d5eeb4ef337c7a5276071d]](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/6d9ce98d18d5eeb4ef337c7a5276071d)
Hundreds of thousands of Covid protestors have taken to the streets across Europe as governments clamp down on restrictions.
“We demand an immediate and unconditional restoration of our God-given and indefeasible rights of liberty. Both for us young people, but also for all other human beings. We demand an immediate, unconditional end to all corona-related coercive measures in Switzerland,” the group’s website reads.
President Nicolas Rimoldi, who is an unvaccinated student and part-time supermarket worker, says he had never once participated in a protest before the pandemic.
But after seeing his native Switzerland went through repeated lockdowns, a vaccination rollout and then another wave of cases, Mr Rimoldi couldn’t sit on his hands any longer.
The group opposes Germany’s new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who came out swinging in December publicly declaring unvaccinated locals “a tiny minority of unhinged extremists”, and vowed to refuse to let the group “impose its will on our entire society”.
Mass-Voll claims that those who have remained sceptical on the efficacy of the widely-mandated jabs have been outcast and treated as “less valuable humans”.
Mr Rimoldi says under new laws, he is unable to complete his university degree, earn a wage, enter a gym or legally sit down at a restaurant.
“People without a certificate like me, we’re not a part of society anymore,” he said via CNN. “We’re excluded. We’re like less valuable humans.
“We live in a two-class society now. It’s horrible. It’s a nightmare.”
![[Image: 65398d47c11a15cc538684ee3268cc78]](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/65398d47c11a15cc538684ee3268cc78)
Mass-Voll President Nicolas Rimoldi, who is an unvaccinated student and part-time supermarket worker, says he has never once participated in a protest before the pandemic.
Mr Rimoldi was unapologetic about his flouting of the rules with other unvaccinated people, boasting about hosting dinners and social events with as many as 50 people.
“Yes, it’s not legal, but in our point of view the certificate is illegal,” Mr Rimoldi said, likening their behaviour to those in prohibition-era USA.
He says he has built a small network of business owners who are sympathetic to their cause, allowing groups of unvaccinated people attend cinemas, restaurants and other venues currently barred from allowing unvaccinated customers attend. Groups are advised against bringing their phones to avoid others getting wind of their activities.
The phone ban came after a tweet from Mr Rimoldi claiming he had dined at a restaurant “without a Covid certificate” attracted attention from the Swiss press and the public prosecutor’s office.
In Switzerland, locals who can prove they have recovered from Covid in the previous year are officially considered to be as equally protected as fully-vaccinated residents.
Mr Rimoldi said some of Mass-Voll’s support comes from fully-vaccinated people fed up with their government after being informed there would be an end to restrictions after getting two doses of the current vaccines.Introductions of a third and now fourth shot in some parts of Europe have only increased anti-government sentiment, protestors claim.
“At our demonstrations there’s many people who are fully vaccinated,” he claimed. “They say, ‘Hey, the government lied to us’.”
When asked whether he thought the shots were a net-positive to society, Mr Rimoldi said he’d rather not discuss the vaccine specifically and refuses to take it purely as a matter of principle.
Mass-Voll has built a large following of youths opposing Europe's coronavirus restrictions.
While many anti-vaccine groups like Mass-Voll believe they are a voice for countless people too hesitant to speak up, their movement has been slammed as the exception to the rule in Europe.
Professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Martin McKee claimed “the vast majority of people everywhere” were in favour of governmental provisions taken against Covid-19.
“These people are the exceptions,” he said. “But what can you do? You don’t really want to make martyrs of these people - if they choose to (congregate), they’re putting themselves and others at risk.”
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is among those in favour of Europe-wide vaccine mandates, warning that “without mandatory vaccination I do not see us managing further waves in the long term.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has supported the efficacy of vaccinations since the beginning of the rollout, estimating a whopping 470,000 Europeans above the age of 60 were saved by the fast-tracked immunisations offered by international pharmacutical giants like Pfizer and Moderna.
However, the WHO has also cautioned against governments imposing vaccine mandates, declaring forced inoculations “an absolute last resort” and “only applicable when all other feasible options to improve vaccine uptake have been exhausted”.
At the time of writing, Switzerland has recorded 841,573 cases and 11,093 deaths.
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| Paris Churches Ransacked as Anti-Catholic Violence Increases |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-17-2022, 09:47 AM - Forum: Anti-Catholic Violence
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PARIS CHURCHES RANSACKED AS ANTI CATHOLIC VIOLENCE INCREASES
Catholic Arena | January 12, 2022
The rising tide of anti Catholic violence and terror in France continues to spread unabated.
This past week, it was the Parisian Diocese of Saint-Denis which became the target of a wretched attack on the Catholic faith.
In a statement by the Diocese of Saint Denis, they told of the desecration of their tabernacle at Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Romainville:
Quote:the priest who opened the church immediately realized that a collection box had been torn off, that the tabernacle was fractured, the sound equipment was stolen, and the cabinets of the sacristy, stripped of several sacred vessels.
The following night, a similar attack took place at Saint-Pierre de Bondy , with the desecration of the tabernacle also showing that this was no mere burglary. The diocese stated that the following occurred
Quote:- A broken stained glass window
- The tabernacle desecrated, fractured and emptied of its contents
- The sacristy with a broken door and where another liturgical object was stolen, as well as a laptop. The room was left upside down.
The Basilica Saint Denis was also targeted by a terrorist, who broke in with an iron bar. In a sickening attack, the terrorist, a Guyanese national, destroyed the Nativity Scene and smashed up a number of statues. According to French media, he had initially intended on trying to desecrate the Royal Necropolis contained in the building.
Another terror attack at St. Pierre le Vieux. saw similar violence.
After a decade of watching Notre Dame burn, watching priests being beheaded, watching their processions attacked, one can only ask what it will take to make the French awaken from their stupor.
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| Pfizer: Francis Held Two Secret Meetings |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-16-2022, 08:57 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pfizer and the Vatican
Sources say Pope Francis met privately twice last year with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla
NCR [slightly adapted] | January 15, 2022
VATICAN CITY — The Register has learned that Pope Francis privately held undisclosed meetings with the CEO of Pfizer last year as questions arise over the efficacy of the vaccines in preventing transmission, which are now being mandated for all Vatican staff and visitors.
According to Vatican sources, the Holy Father twice met Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla at the Vatican, although the precise details are not known.
Unlike most papal private audiences, these meetings were not announced by the Holy See Press Office, which did not respond to repeated requests to confirm the meetings.
A Pfizer spokesman said, “We can’t confirm or deny as, per our policy, the movements of our executives are considered confidential.”
Bourla’s meetings with the Pope would not be the first such unannounced papal encounter in recent years. In November 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 health emergency began, the Pope privately received Melinda Gates. The meeting, well known in the Vatican, was not announced and has never been officially acknowledged.
Last May, Bourla took part in an online Vatican health conference titled “Unite to Prevent & Unite to Cure” that included a significant focus on COVID-19 treatments and prevention as well as providing a platform for promoting vaccines produced by large pharmaceutical companies.
Other speakers at the meeting co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture included Stephane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna, another large anti-COVID-19 vaccine producer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical officer, and Dr. Francis Collins, then director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
First to Use Pfizer
Vatican City State was one of the first authorities to administer vaccines after it signed a contract with Pfizer in late 2020 to exclusively offer its Pfizer-BioNTech pharmaceutical product to its staff. The first inoculations were rolled out in early 2021.
A strong proponent of the vaccine in light of what it believes is a “continuation and worsening of the current health emergency,” the Vatican has been mandating the Pfizer injection for all staff and visitors since Dec. 23.
From Jan. 31, triple vaccination (two doses plus the booster) will be required to enter Vatican territory. (Proof of recent recovery from COVID-19 can also gain admittance, and there are no requirements for public liturgies and general audiences.)
But the mandates have been imposed when effectiveness of all the COVID-19 vaccines at preventing spread of the disease is being questioned.
In December 2020, professor Andrea Arcangeli, director of the Vatican’s Health and Hygiene Directorate, said the Vatican chose to use the Pfizer vaccine because in clinical trials it had “been shown to be 95% effective.” He added that “subsequently, other vaccines produced with different methods can be introduced after evaluating their effectiveness and full safety.”
The 95% figure means that vaccinated people had a 95% lower risk of getting COVID-19 compared with the control group participants in trials, who weren’t vaccinated. So in other words, Pfizer was telling the public that in its own clinical trial, vaccinated people were 20 times less likely than the control group to get COVID-19.
However, in a Jan. 10 interview with Yahoo News, Bourla acknowledged that the first two doses of the vaccine are now largely ineffective against the spread of the Omicron variant and that, although Omicron is “milder” than previous variants, because of the high infection rates, hospitalizations have been “going much higher in terms of severe disease, ICU occupation, etc.”
“We know that the two doses of the vaccine have very limited protection, if any,” Bourla told Yahoo News. “The three doses, with the booster, offer reasonable protection against hospitalization and death.”
Cases Continue Despite Vaccination
Despite the original 95% effectivity rate against the earlier variants that prompted the Vatican to sign a contract with Pfizer, Vatican personnel have been continuing to contract COVID-19 in the Vatican over the past year despite being double- or triple-vaccinated. The latest case is that of Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who is currently infected with COVID-19 despite having received the booster shot.
An official at the Pontifical Council told the Register this morning “he has tested positive, but we expect him back in the office next week.”
Vatican sources have also told the Register that as many as 14 Swiss Guards contracted COVID-19 in the second half of last year but the cases were never reported. All of them had had two Pfizer doses but almost no symptoms.
The Vatican has reported no cases of hospitalizations or deaths since the vaccine rollout, and throughout the pandemic, no COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Vatican City.
However, since the vaccine program began in early 2021, the Holy See Press Office has ceased reporting new cases of COVID-19, in contrast to 2020, when it regularly announced if any personnel or residents had been tested positive for the virus.
The last reported Vatican staff to be infected were Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, then the president of Vatican City State, and the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, in December 2020. Both survived the disease.
Despite concerns about the Pfizer vaccine being tainted by abortion, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin appeared this week to rule out any conscience exemption right.
He told the Register that Vatican employees seeking an exemption because they oppose the vaccine’s link to abortion “seems not to be justified” as the Pfizer product was only tested rather than produced using the cell lines derived from abortion.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has also caused adverse side effects including heart ailments and blood clotting especially in younger recipients, with some causing death. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention insists these “reports are rare and the known and potential benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks [of these side effects].”
Thousands of these and other cases have nevertheless been reported on government sites in various countries (see the UK figures for the Pfizer vaccine here) where suspected side effects can be voluntarily reported, and citizens have created websites to record their own testimonies of adverse effects from all COVID-19 vaccines.
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| Cdl. Parolin mandates COVID shot to enter the Vatican, dismisses abortion-based objections |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-15-2022, 09:27 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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Cdl. Parolin mandates COVID shot to enter the Vatican, dismisses abortion-based objections
The cardinal seems to defy the CDF's declaration that 'vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.'
![[Image: Vatican-vaxx-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Vatican-vaxx-810x500.jpg)
Fri Jan 14, 2022
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis’ secretary of state has ordered that Vatican employees and visitors must have received a COVID-19 inoculation before entering the Vatican, revoking a “test-out” option for access to the city state while denying the abortion-derived nature of the shots.
In comments to the National Catholic Register, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that refusal to accept Pfizer’s mRNA jab based on its association with aborted fetal cells “seems not to be justified,” ruling on December 23 that “access to Roman Curia offices will be permitted only to those in possession of a certificate attesting to vaccination or recovery from SARS-CoV-2.”
The decree, which applies to “personnel of all Dicasteries, Councils, and offices of the Roman Curia … external collaborators, personnel of outside firms, visitors, and users,” is apparently based on “the continuation and worsening of the current health emergency and the need to take appropriate measures to counter it and to ensure the safe carrying-out of activities.”
The Vatican will therefore now require a “green pass” for entry, which confirms the holder’s having been “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 with one of the experimental shots or having recovered from a coronavirus infection. Any absences of staff on the basis of not producing a valid green pass will be considered “a case of unjustified absence, with the consequent suspension of pay for the duration of the absence.”
Additionally, the decree determines that from January 31, all staff in public-facing roles will have to provide evidence of their having received a booster shot to continue working within Vatican City limits.
A short paragraph notes that there is scope for an exemption to the rule, although the possible bases for such an exception are not delineated. The power to grant an exemption is at the discretion of the Secretariat of State.
When asked by the Register if conscientious objections based on the abortion-derived nature of the jabs would be sufficient for an exemption, the cardinal denied the use of aborted fetal cell lines in the production of Pfizer’s mRNA shot, which is widely used at the Vatican.
“In the case of mRNA vaccines, cell lines from aborted fetuses were used only in the preliminary stages of vaccine testing in the laboratory, but no cell lines from aborted fetuses are included in either the composition or production,” Parolin wrote in response, creating a distinction between the use of aborted cell lines in testing and production that is not outlined in any Vatican documentation.
On this basis, he concluded that “it seems that not wanting to undergo vaccination with this motivation [the abortion-tainted nature of the shot] cannot be justified, since the vaccine that is currently used is precisely the Pfizer that uses the mRNA method.”
Parolin turned to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (CDF) 2020 “Note on the morality of using some anti-COVID-19 vaccines,” citing the prudential determination that, under strict and rare circumstances, it may be “morally acceptable to receive COVID-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”
However, the cardinal appears to have glossed over the clear teaching expressed just a few paragraphs later, explaining that “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”
In comments to Church Militant, Catholic author Deacon Nick Donnelly argued that the cardinal’s “distinction between using abortion-derived cell lines in production and testing makes no sense. Testing is part of production. It is appalling to see Parolin grant Pfizer an abortion absolution.”
Continuing, the cleric added that “Pfizer’s decision to use the HEK-293 cell line in the testing procedures is not morally neutral,” since the shot “depends on cells harvested from a baby girl who was aborted and vivisected alive.”
In stark contrast to Parolin’s generally permissive view on the use of COVID shots which have used abortion in some way for their existence, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan has said that widespread acceptance of the abortion-tainted shots helps to “normalize the horror of genocide” that is abortion.
“[T]his horror is so monstrous that it cannot be compared with other evils which we in some way accept [in] this naturalistic, materialistic society, like products of slavery work,” the prelate declared. “It is incomparable with the horror of murdering innocent children.”
Despite the propagation of the abortion industry on the back of the currently available COVID injections, Pope Francis has maintained a consistent determination that taking the shots is a “moral obligation” and an “act of love.”
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| Fr. O'Keeffe [1891]: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-15-2022, 09:21 AM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
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THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
"Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us,an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness."--Ephes. v. 2.[/font][/size][/size]
The Catholic Church, my brethren, speaking through the Council of Trent, as through a mouthpiece, commands her preachers, and all others having the care of souls, to explain the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to their people carefully and frequently. Our good Mother, the Church, has made this law, my dear Christians, to the end that we may all know what a great treasure God has left to us in this sublime Sacrifice of the Altar, and what great advantages we may derive from a faithful and devout attendance thereat. The same sweet love for men which pressed our Lord Jesus Christ, in the first instance, to institute this adorable Sacrifice of the New Law, presses Him, also, to desire that its transcendent nature and effects should be made known to the whole world as fully and as clearly as possible. The Sacrifice of the Mass is by far the richest treasure which Christ has left to His Church. Yet, my brethren, there are many persons who treat it with indifference, and take little or no pains to rightly understand its value, or the manifold graces and blessings which it contains. Strange to say, while the great mass of Catholics frequently meditate upon the infinite love of Jesus Christ in instituting the Blessed Eucharist as a Sacrament, comparatively few ever reflect upon His equally infinite love in instituting it, also as a Sacrifice.
By sacrifice is meant: the external offering to God alone, of some sensible or visible thing, made by a priest, or lawful minister; the partial destruction or total annihilation of the victim being the acknowledgment of Almighty God's supreme dominion over us, and our total dependence on Him. Christian sacrifice cannot be offered to any one but to God alone.
The strongest instincts of nature, my brethren, prompt us to offer sacrifice to the Deity as an essential and acceptable act of religion. Hence, from the commencement of the world, all nations, even the most barbarous and illiterate, have offered sacrifice of one kind or another to the divinities they worshipped. In the Old Law sacrifices of divers kinds were frequently offered to God.
Abel offered sacrifice of "the firstlings of his flock" (Gen. iv.); Noah "built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar" (Gen. vii.);
![[Image: The%20Holy%20Sacrifice%20of%20the%20Mass%2006.jpg]](https://www.catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/The%20Holy%20Sacrifice%20of%20the%20Mass%2006.jpg)
The sacrifices of the Old Law were, some of them, bloody; others unbloody. The bloody sacrifices consisted chiefly of lambs, oxen, and goats. Sometimes, as in the case of our Lord's presentation, the victims were birds: "They carried him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. . . . . And to offer sacrifice, according as it is written in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons" (Luke ii. 22 - 24). The unbloody sacrifices were mainly of flour, and wine, and oil, etc. These ancient sacrifices, though offered up by the hands of the holy Patriarchs, had no intrinsic value of their own. They were but poor and weak elements, quite incapable of cancelling sin, quite incapable of conferring God's grace upon those who offered them, or upon those for whom they were offered. "For it is impossible," says St. Paul, "that with the blood of oxen and goats, sins should be taken away" (Heb. x. 4). Those sacrifices were but mere types and figures of the true Sacrifice yet to come--that is, of the holy Mass--and it was only as such that they were in any sense acceptable to God. Compared with the Sacrifice of the Mass, they were but as vague shadows, compared to the solid substance.
II. But, at length, the shadows and symbols have given place to the sublime reality. Moved by an incomparable love for fallen man, the eternal Word of God descended from heaven, was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us. He came to offer Himself in sacrifice for our redemption. And, in that eventful hour, all the ancient sacrifices were forever abolished. In view of that divine Victim, they became displeasing (rather than pleasing) to God; the only sacrifice He would consent to accept as worthy of Him was that of His Eternal Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking to His Heavenly Father on this subject, says: "Sacrifices and oblations, and holocausts for sin Thou wouldst not, neither are they pleasing to Thee which are offered according to the (Old) Law. Then, said I: Behold, I come to do Thy Will, O God." According to these words, St. Paul says: "Christ taketh away the first (or ancient sacrifices) that He may establish that which followeth (that is, the Sacrifice of the Mass). By the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ" (Heb. x. 8--11).
The Mass, my beloved brethren, is the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, which are really present upon our altars under the appearance of bread and wine, and are offered to God by the priest for the living and the dead. This sublime oblation is no new sacrifice in the Catholic Church. The testimony of the holy Fathers, the sacred archives of antiquity, furnish abundant records and proofs of its existence in the Church, since the days of Christ and His Apostles. Nor, indeed, for more than fifteen hundred years, was there found one bold or bad enough to deny it, until Martin Luther, of dismal and execrable memory, raised his heretical voice against it in the sixteenth century, and thus deprived himself, and millions besides, of the many graces purchased for them by the Sacrifice of the cross, and made applicable to them by Christ through the Sacrifice of the Mass.
The latter was clearly foretold by the Prophet Malachy, when he declares to the Jews, as the mouth-piece of the Most High (I, x. 11): "I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts. I will not receive a gift of your hand. For, from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation." From this passage, my dear Christians, we see that, from the period of our Lord's Crucifixion, the sacrifices of the Jews were rejected; that a clean oblation was instituted in their stead; and that this clean oblation was offered to His name among the Gentiles throughout the whole world, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. This, we know for a certianty, since the words of the Prophet apply with striking force and exactness to the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and not to any other sacrifice on the face of the earth; not to the sacrifices of the Jews, for God expressly declares, through Malachy, that He would not receive a gift from their hands; nor to the Sacrifice of the Cross, for that was offered up in only one place, and not "in every place." In a word, the Prophet's description does not correspond with any sacrifice but the adorable Sacrifice of our altars, which is verily "a clean oblation, offered up in every place, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same." Again, my brethren, the royal Psalmist calls Jesus Christ a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech. Now, you must understand that Melchisedech was a mysterious priest and king of the Old Law, who offered sacrifice to God, only under the form of bread and wine.
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"If, then, perfection was by the Levitical priesthood," says St. Paul, "(for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchisedech, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? . . . . For he, of of whom these things are spoken, is of another tribe, of which no one attendeth at the altar. For it is evident, that our Lord sprung out of Juda, in which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And it is, yet, far more evident if, according to the similitude of Melchisedech, there ariseth another priest, who is made, not according to a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an indissoluble life; for he testifieth : Thou are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech" (Heb. vii. 11-18). The application of this passage to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is so obvious, my brethren, that it scarcely needs a word of further comment; for, in the Mass, Christ shall invisibly be offered up in the Sacrifice forever; and shall, furthermore, invariably offer Himself to the Eternal Father, therein, according to the order of Melchisedech, that is, under the form of bread and wine (Ps. xix. 9). But, let us even suppose that there were no Sacrifice of the Mass, and that (as some non-Catholics maintain) the Psalmist referred in his remarkable prophecy exclusively to our Lord's Sacrifice upon the Cross, do you not see that Christ could not be rigidly called "a priest forever" upon Mount Calvary, inasmuch as the Sacrifice of the Cross was offered by Him only once, and in one place? Do you not see, also, that He could not there be declared "a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech," inasmuch as the Sacrifice of Mount Calvary was not offered according to the order of Melchisedech at all, not offered under the form of bread and wine, but according to the order of Aaron, that is, in a bloody manner?
In the New Testament, too, we find clear and abundant proofs of the Catholic doctrine, respecting the Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Matthew (xxvi. 26), describing the Last Supper, states that Jesus Christ "took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave it to His disciples: and said "Take ye and eat: this is my body. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood!" Here, we see, dear brethren, that Jesus offered Himself in sacrifice; His blood was represented as separated from His body. Thus, it was mystically shed, though not actually shed, for the actual blood-shedding took place afterward, when He expired on the Cross. This change in the victim--namely, the body represented under one form, and the blood under another, and both thus apparently separated, one from the other, shows forth most strikingly the death of our Saviour: "the Lamb is, as it were, slain" (Apoc. v. 6). This same Sacramental separation, namely, the Body of Christ, under the form of bread, and the Blood, under the form of wine, may be rightly said to constitute a sacrifice, and, in reality, the Sacrifice of the Mass; or, in other words, it is the Sacrifice of the Cross is an unbloody form, together with the real infinite merits of the same, applied according to the intention of the person who offers it. By giving us the Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus Christ has lovingly put into our hands the golden master-key by which to possess ourselves of the infinite merits which He purchased for us by the Sacrifice of the Cross, and which He has left carefully locked up therein (as in a divine treasurehouse), for our use and benefit. Hence the Mass is the real application of the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross, as well as the unbloody repetition of that same sacrifice. "We, therefore, confess," says the Council of Trent, "that the Sacrifice of the Mass is, and ought to be, considered one and the same as that of the Cross, as the victim is one and the same, namely, Christ our Lord, who immolated Himself, once only, after a bloody manner, on the altar of the Cross. For the bloody and unbloody Victim are not two victims, but one only, whose sacrifice is daily renewed in the Eucharist, in obedience to the command of the Lord: 'Do this for a commemoration of me' (Luke xxii. 19)."
In every Mass of our altars, dear brethren, the same Christ is, therefore, contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross. For the Victim is one and the same, now offering Himself by the ministry of His priests (C. of Trent). You see, then, that it was our Lord Jesus Christ who offered up the first Mass, on the eve of His bitter Passion and Death; and it is He, also, who offers up every Mass; for the priest who outwardly offers it is only the visible minister of Christ; Christ Himself, is the Invisible Priest and Victim. Wherefore, the Mass is the original, the self-same Sacrifice as that of the Cross, only differing from the latter in the manner of its oblation. When our Divine Lord had celebrated His First Mass at His Last Supper He gave power and command to His twelve Apostles, present with Him on that occasion, and to all their lawful successors--that is, the priests of the Catholic Church, to offer up the same sublime Sacrifice until the end of the world. " Do this," said He, "for a commemoration of me" (Luke xxii. 19). Hence it is, that in the Mass, the priests take bread and wine, and by virtue of the power of Christ, given unto them at their ordination, they change the whole substance of the bread into the Body of Christ, and the whole substance of the wine into His Blood; and no part or atom of either substance remains (Con. of Trent; Sess. xiii. 2). The species, however, of both the bread and wine remain unchanged; and this is ordained by our Lord not only to exercise our faith, but also in order to veil the dazzling splendors of His Divinity, which no mortal man can see and live. In every Mass, the priest acts in the name of Christ, and uses the words of Christ. Hence the words used at the moment of Transubstantiation, are: "This is my Body--this is my Blood." And whilst the priest thus outwardly offers the Sacrifice of the Mass, it is Christ Himself who really and invisibly offers it through His chosen minister. Jesus Christ then is (as we have already said) both Priest and Victim in this "clean oblation," foretold by the Prophet Malachy, and the same He shall continue to be in each and every Mass that is or will be offered until the end of the world.
Oh, my brethren, how shall we return due praise to God for thus deigning to become incarnate, day by day, in the hands of His priests, as He did once in the chaste womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary! How grateful we ought to be for having the Mass celebrated in every land all the world over. Wherever we go, we find ourselves at home.
ON THE ENDS FOR WHICH MASS IS OFFERED
"Do this for a commemoration of me."--LUKE xxii. 19.
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The Sacrifice of the Mass, my beloved brethren, is offered up for four great ends:
1. To give fitting, or, in other words, infinite praise and honor to Almighty God. (a) The natural law, written in the heart of man, directs that every inferior should pay homage to his superior; and, futhermore, that this homage should be always in proportion to the rank and dignity of the superior. Now, this being the case, we should pay to Almighty God, as the Supreme Creator and Ruler of the universe, as our first Beginning and our last End, infinite praise, infinite honor. Anything short of the infinite would not be sufficient, nor would it be adequately worthy of His acceptance. But, since all our human offerings, all our human acts, are, like ourselves, finite, how can we offer any infinite gift to our good and merciful God?
If all the creatures of this world, no matter how rich, or beautiful, or delightful they might be in themselves, were brought to the feet of Almighty God, and laid there as an offering, they would not be worthy His acceptance; for there is nothing worthy of God's acceptance except God Himself. Jesus Christ, then, seeing this great want on the part of man, has, in a marvellous excess of divine love, supplied it by offering Himself, a God of infinite worth, to His Eternal Father in the Sacrifice of the Mass. In that Holy Sacrifice, dear Christians, we can give infinite praise and honor to God, by uniting ourselves to the offering made to Him on our altars by the consecrated hands of His priest. Nay, more, by every Mass that we offer, or get the priest to offer for us, by every Mass at which we assist, we can co-operate in the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our behalf; for, thereby discharging our first and chief duty to God, we acknowledge our total dependence on Him, and return Him fitting praise and honor. The accumulated worship of the Saints and Angels in Paradise, of the Archangels, the Seraphim, the Thrones, the Dominations, and the Powers, is unspeakingly grand and pleasing to Almighty God; but it is, as it were, nothing in comparison with the praise and honor given to Him by a single Mass celebrated by a poor, obscure priest in some hidden corner of this lower world. For the praise of all those celestial beings, great though it be, is only finite, whereas the praise given by a Mass is infinite!
(b) The second great end for which we offer up the Sacrifice of the Mass, is to make infinite satisfaction to God for the sins of His creatures. Happily, my beloved brethren, we can all make sufficient satisfaction to God for our sins by this sublime Sacrifice of the altar; and by this Sacrifice alone. For, as the Sacrifice of the Cross satisfied the Divine Justice for the sins of the world, so the Sacrifice of the Mass, and it alone, satisfies for the sins of those who offer it, or cause it to be offered. And this it does, by applying to each of our needy souls the infinite merits purchased by the Sacrifice of the Cross for mankind in general. But here it must be carefully understood that the Mass does not satisfy for our mortal sins immediately; it does not immediately cancel such sins, as the Sacrament of Penance does, when properly received. It cancels them only mediately, that is, it gives us actual graces and helps, whereby our souls may be freed from their guilt at an early and convenient time. And thus, by the Sacrifice of the altar, dear Christians, the graces and merits, purchased by our Lord on Calvary for mankind in general, are communicated to the individual souls for whom the Mass is offered.
Who, then, can estimate the value or importance of having Masses offered for your intention, or in behalf of the sinner? Who can enumerate the benefits to be derived from frequent assistance at this adorable Sacrifice, offering it up with the intentions of the priest? Who can adequately describe the consoling clemency which God extends to us on account of the Sacrifice of the Mass! "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass," says St. Leonard of Port Maurice, "is the true and sole reason of such stupendous clemency, for in it we offer to the Eternal Father the Great Victim, Jesus Christ. This is the sun of our Holy Church, which dissipates the clouds and restores serenity to the heavens. This, indeed, is the celestial rainbow that stills the tempest of the Divine Justice. For my own part, I am persuaded that, if it were not for the Holy Mass, the world would have long since tottered from its foundations, crushed beneath the enormous weight of so many accumulated iniquities. The Mass is the ponderous and powerful supporter on which the world rests--which keeps it from falling into horrid chaos. . . . . Ah, indeed, if it were not for this Holy Victim (Jesus Christ), once offered for us on the cross, and now daily offered on our altars, we, one and all, might renounce all hope of heaven, and look on hell as our final destination" (Hidden Treasure).
(c ) We owe to God a debt of infinite gratitude for all the favors and blessings, both spiritual and temporal, which He has bestowed upon us.
We are deeply indebted to Him for all those beautiful and priceless graces which He has given us in the past, and still continues to give us in the present. We are indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ for the wondrous love He has displayed in the redemption of man; and, above all, we are indebted to Him for the institution of the sacraments, for His Real Presence in the Blessed Eucharist, and for His promise to abide therein, even to the consummation of the world. What return can we make for all these favors? What offering can we make, from our poverty, worthy of this all-bountiful God? Well, brethren, we have in the Mass, and in it alone, an offering that is worthy: "an oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odor of sweetness" (Eph. v. 2). In the Mass we offer to God His Divine Son, and that spotless Victim being a gift of infinite value, our offering of gratitude to Almighty God is thus an adequate return for all His favors.
(d) The fourth great end for which Mass is said, my brethren, is: to beg Almighty God for all graces and favors, both spiritual and temporal, which we require. We are all poor beggars in the sight of God. Like the Bishop of Laodicea, we are all "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked " (Apoc. iii. 17). We need many things from God; and, owing to our multiplied and enormous sins, we require specially a mediator to make intercession for us with the Most High. And so, out of love for us (and in spite of our utter unworthiness), Jesus Christ (O strange and marvellous mercy!) has chosen to be our Mediator, and, even more, to be Himself our Victim of propitiation in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Whether the priest be a holy saint or an unworthy man, the intrinsic value of the Mass--because of the Invisible Priest, Jesus Christ is necessarily infinite; although, according to the teaching of St. Thomas, the application of the Sacrifice is of greater or less efficacy in proportion to the disposition of the person for whom it is offered. Christ, in the Mass, is "able, also, to save forever them that come unto God by himself; always living to make intercession for us. For it was fitting that we should have such a High-Priest--holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Heb. vii. 25, etc.).
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What, then, dear Christians, may you not expect through the Mass when offered up for your intention? For, in every such Mass, Jesus Christ earnestly implores for you all that you desire from His Eternal Father. Jesus and the Eternal Father are one; therefore in the Mass, and through the Mass, you are sure to obtain all that you rightly ask for, and much more in addition. "Assuredly," says St. Jerome, "the Lord grants all the favors for which we petition Him in the Mass, provided they be suitable to us; and what is far more admirable, He very often grants us that for which we do not petition Him, always provided that we place no obstacles to His holy designs." St. Bernard, speaking of the intrinsic value of the Mass, says, that "more is gained by one single Mass than by distributing all your substance among the poor, or going on pilgrimages to all the most venerable sanctuaries on this globe." St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, states that "the Holy Mass contains all those fruits, all those graces, nay, all those infinite treasures which the Son of God showered so abundantly upon His Church, in the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross."
Since Almighty God has, then, vouchsafed to give us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, He has, with it, given us the means to obtain all good things. By offering up a Mass, or by causing it to be offered for you, my brethren, it may be said that, in a certain sense, you make God your debtor. For, in that "clean oblation of the altar," you lovingly offer Jesus Christ to His Eternal Father in sacrifice; and thereby you make Almighty God an infinite offering, in return for the finite creatures He bestows upon you from His bounty, for your use and benefit. Let us, then, my brethren, in all our undertakings, make an offering of the Mass to God, and ask Him in that Holy Sacrifice for all such favors, great or small, as we may need or desire. He cannot easily refuse us, for it is the transcendent nature of God not to be outdone by us, His creatures, in kindness or in generosity. We seek for many graces at the hands of God. We stand in need of many blessings. Let us offer up the Mass to obtain them. Let us offer it up to obtain the full forgiveness of our manifold sins, both known and unknown. Let us offer up the Mass to obtain the conversion of all poor sinners. Let us offer it up to obtain protection from the many temptations of Satan. Let us offer it up, too, for all temporal things, such as good health of body and mind, and success in our lawful business. Let us offer up Masses for the sick and the dying that they may obtain the grace of a happy death. And, furthermore, let us frequently offer up the sublime Sacrifice of the Altar for all the souls suffering in Purgatory, especially for those imprisoned therein through our fault, whether friends or otherwise, that they may be speedily released from their pains, and joyfully admitted into the presence of God in heaven.
My brethren, frequently assist at the Holy Mass. Remember there is no half hour so well spent, as the half hour devoted to attendance at this Holy Sacrifice. You know, of course, that the laity assisting at Mass, offer the Sacrifice in union with the priest. Hence, the latter says at that holy time, Orate fratres, etc.. "Pray, brethren, that my and your sacrifice may be pleasing in the sight of God the Father Omnipotent." At Mass the people should, as it were, hold up the hands of the priest when he takes the consecrated host and the chalice and offers the great Sacrifice. Great blessings descend upon those who join with the priest in devoutly offering up this great sacrifice. No one should be stopping outside the church during time of Mass. St. Gregory says: "A well-disposed man who hears Holy Mass with due attention, is preserved in the way of rectitude, while grace and merit increase in him; and he continues to make new acquisitions of virtue which render him more and more acceptable to God." "Whoever hears Mass devoutly every day," says St. Augustine, "shall be preserved from a sudden death, which is the most awful weapon with which Divine Justice punishes the sinner." But, my brethren, listen to the sublime language of St. Leonard of Port Maurice on this subject: "Would that I could ascend," says he, "to the summit of the loftiest mountain, and cry aloud, so that the whole world might hear me exclaiming: 'Foolish, foolish people, what are ye doing? Why will you not hasten to the churches to assist at every Mass celebrated therein? Why will you not imitate those holy Angels who, according to St. John Chrysostom, descend in thousands from the heavens, when Mass is being celebrated, and array themselves before our altars, covered with wings of holy awe, tarrying there during the august sacrifice, in order to intercede more efficaciously for us, knowing well that this is the most opportune time and most propitious occasion that can be, for obtaining favors from heaven?"' (Hid. Treasure). And St. Leonard, furthermore, adds the following very emphatic words--(they are the burning words of a saint): --" Let me, on bended knees," he says, "and with hands uplifted, implore all who read this little work on the Sacrifice of the Mass not to close it till they have made a firm resolution of henceforth employing all possible diligence in assisting at Mass, and causing to be celebrated as many Masses as their means will permit, not only for the souls of the deceased, but, also, for their own souls!" ( By a special rule of this Order, St. Leonard was not allowed to accept any money for "saying" Mass. . If the whole globe were of solid gold, it would not be a suflicient price for a Mass.)
Oh! my brethren, let us thank Almighty God a thousand times for His unspeakable love toward us in having given to us in the Church the rich treasure of the Mass! Let us ask Mary, the Crowned Queen of Heaven, to thank our Blessed Lord and God, again and again, for His love for us, individually, in thus, also, having made known to us the hidden riches of this adorable Sacrifice, and the untold benefits we may derive from it, both for time and for eternity! It is a precious mine of exhaustless wealth, a treasury of grace, a perennial fountain of blessings; it is the sun and centre of the whole system of true religion; it is the heavenly focus--inexpressibly loved and lovely--in which are concentrated all the soul-saving rays of God's beauty and royal splendor, of His glory and Majesty and Divinity. The Mass is the miracle of miracles-- it is the mystery of God's deep, boundless, and burning love for man!-- "Having loved His own, who were in the world," says St. John the Evangelist, "He loved them to the end " (John xiii. I). Amen.
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| Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-15-2022, 09:00 AM - Forum: COVID Passports
- Replies (1)
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Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged
The SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. About 80 percent of vaccinated people in the U.S. most likely have access to it.
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University of Southern California students, faculty and visitors use their phones to display their "Trojan Check" QR code
to enter the campus in Los Angeles on Aug. 23.Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
NBC | Jan. 13, 2022
Whether they realize it or not, about 200 million people in the United States now likely have access to a Covid-19 digital vaccine card.
The digital pass known as the SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. It has a person’s name, date of birth and the dates and brands of vaccination doses, all contained within a type of scannable bar code known as a QR code.
And after a relatively quiet start, it has built momentum in recent months as more states and companies have signed on, making it something of a de facto national digital vaccine card.
“The beautiful thing about this is that this multistate coalition is a coalition of the willing,” said Dr. Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at MITRE, a research nonprofit, and an architect of the health cards.
Video: June 2021: Should people have to prove they got their shots with vaccine passports?
Any such card seemed like a remote possibility a year ago, when people first began receiving paper cards as proof of their Covid vaccinations. The Biden administration said in March that it would not take the lead on any national health pass and instead defer to the private sector, and the idea of a vaccine “passport” has faced opposition and even bans, especially in Republican-led states such as Alabama and Texas.
Rather than a single app, the SMART Health Card is open-source computer code that anyone can use to ping a verified source of health data and produce the unique QR code. The digital cards are now widely available from more than 400 sources including states, pharmacies and health care organizations.
The fact that the system exists in any form is a triumph for a loose coalition of technologists, nonprofit groups and mostly Democratic states that championed the development of a digital vaccine card even before the first coronavirus shots were administered.
“This is a de facto standard,” said Rick Klau, California’s chief technology innovation officer. “This is essentially the one common way for residents to secure that digital copy and then use it.”
The digital card offers a few benefits beyond a paper card. QR codes can't be forged in the way a paper card could be, because a restaurant or a music venue can use a scanner app to verify that it's legitimate. People can also download the QR code again if they lose it, adding a convenience factor.
People can get the QR code from their state health authority if they've been vaccinated in one of the 13 states now participating, but they may also be able to get them from a hospital or from a national pharmacy chain, such as Albertsons, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens or stores like Walmart if they've been vaccinated at any of their locations.
Vaccine QR codes are also spreading internationally. Japan launched a similar system last month, and Ontario, Canada, is requiring people to have scannable proof of vaccination to eat inside restaurants or go inside certain other businesses. QR codes are increasingly required as part of international airline travel.
Within the U.S., the QR codes are still voluntary. California and Louisiana became the first states to roll out the SMART Health Card last June, and the number of issuers grew slowly at first before picking up pace over time.
Colorado signed on in November, followed by Connecticut and Illinois in December. On Monday, Massachusetts became the 13th state to voluntarily embrace the system, and another 10 or so states are privately exploring the possibility, Anderson said.
Washington has issued about 840,000 QR codes, according to the state’s health department. That’s equivalent to about 11 percent of the state’s population. The numbers in Colorado and New Jersey are similar.
The QR codes work on paper, too, if people would rather print them out than keep them on a phone.
Klau, a former manager at Google, has advised other states as they put the system in place. In California alone, 7 million individuals have downloaded their QR code, and he estimated that about 80 percent of the vaccinated U.S. population of 247 million people have access to a SMART Health Card if they want one through either their state health authority or the site where they were vaccinated, such as a pharmacy or a hospital.
“It’s inspiring to see what has largely been a grassroots effort not only take hold, but develop so completely,” he said. “It has certainly not been mandated.”
A critical feature is that the QR codes are standardized and interoperable, so they work across state lines. A resident of New Jersey visiting San Francisco can use the same system to prove vaccination as a Californian.
And they can work internationally. Countries including the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore have said they’ll recognize the QR codes if Americans present them abroad, Klau said.
It’s not clear if the Biden administration will ever endorse the project. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to requests for comment.
“It has forced many states to take leadership roles in implementing and coordinating around multistate coalitions,” said Anderson, who is also co-lead of the Vaccine Credential Initiative, or VCI.
Anderson said other countries haven’t always known whom to speak with in the U.S. to plan cross-border systems. “They’re turning to the states, they’re turning to VCI, and it’s a challenge for a state to conduct foreign diplomacy,” he said.
One barrier to creating a truly national digital vaccine card is that there’s no federal database of vaccination records. Each state maintains its own registry of vaccination records, so either the states or the health care providers need to be the ones to issue verified copies or credentials.
Some of the most thorny political questions remain up in the air nationally, including: Should a business have the right to turn away someone without a vaccine QR code? Or in a pandemic, should a city or state even require businesses to turn people away, as in Canada? What about people who, for health reasons, can't get a vaccine?
“We won’t be safe until venues are able to *require* SMART Health QR codes and stop accepting paper cards, or photos of cards. And that won’t happen until state or local governments mandate that,” said Jamie Zawinski, a software developer who also owns a night club, DNA Lounge, in San Francisco. He requires customers to have the QR code or, for now, their paper CDC card.
DNA Lounge not only requires people to display the QR code, but it also scans the code using a smartphone app to verify that the codes are authentic — making the club one of the few businesses anywhere in the U.S. to take that extra step.
The primary scanning app available, the SMART Health Card Verifier App, has been used about 750,000 times this month, and the trend line indicates usage is doubling month over month, Anderson said. He said he doesn’t know where the scanning is happening, because by design neither the health card’s creators nor the states have the ability to collect that data.
Only a few places in the U.S. require proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses, and that list is growing slowly. A mandate in Boston is scheduled to take effect Saturday, even as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, has pushed to keep the state system voluntary.
“The Administration is not requiring residents to show proof of vaccination to enter any venue, but this tool will help residents who would like to access and produce a digital copy of their record,” his office said in a statement.
The idea that airlines or even local businesses could attempt to collect data from digital health cards remains a chief concern for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that advocates for privacy online and that criticized the health cards last June soon after California adopted them.
“The scanning of your health information at the door of any business still worries me because generally we do not have a federal data privacy law,” said Alexis Hancock, EFF’s director of engineering. She pointed to software, unrelated to vaccines, that venues can use to scan driver’s licenses.
That danger could be lessened, she said, if Congress or state legislators pass new consumer protections. A bill pending in the New York state Legislature would create new safeguards for medical immunity information.
But Hancock also said the SMART Health Cards have alleviated at least some of EFF's concerns about digital vaccine records by making the computer code behind the cards open-source, which allows others to inspect it, and nonproprietary.
"Obviously, a lot has happened since last year," she said.
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| Irony in latest Covid Study |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-15-2022, 08:44 AM - Forum: Health
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It is said that because of our 24-hour news cycle, things that were reported just a month before are 'old news,' that we can barely remember them.
Which works to the advantage of those who are pulling out the carpets from under us in a variety of topics (not that anyone here took the cannabis study results seriously).
But it certainly does give the appearance, once again, that it's all rigged in favor of the big companies.
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| Davos Agenda 2022 and Attendees |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-15-2022, 08:12 AM - Forum: Great Reset
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The Davos Agenda 2022 brings together world leaders to address the state of the world
WEFORUM.ORG [adapted - not all hyperlinks included below] | 13 Jan 2022
- The Davos Agenda virtual event will take place 17-21 January 2022.
- It will feature heads of state and government, CEOs and other leaders to address critical challenges.
- Discover more on the event page here.
The Davos Agenda virtual event offers the first global platform of 2022 for world leaders to come together to share their visions for the year ahead.
The week long virtual event, taking place on the World Economic Forum website and social media channels 17-21 January 2022, will feature heads of state and government, CEOs and other leaders. They will discuss the critical challenges facing the world today and present their ideas on how to address them.
The event will also mark the launch of several Forum initiatives including efforts to accelerate the race to net-zero emissions, ensure the economic opportunity of nature-positive solutions, create cyber resilience, strengthen global value chains, build economies in fragile markets through humanitarian investing, bridge the vaccine manufacturing gap and use data solutions to prepare for the next pandemic.
“Everyone hopes that in 2022 the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crises that accompanied it, will finally begin to recede," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. "But major global challenges await us, from climate change to rebuilding trust and social cohesion. To address them, leaders will need to adopt new models, look long term, renew cooperation and act systemically. The Davos Agenda 2022 is the starting point for the dialogue needed for global cooperation in 2022.”
How to follow the Davos Agenda 2022
Davos Agenda 2022 participants
World leaders delivering “State of the World” Special Addresses will include:
- Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
- Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan
- António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
- Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
- Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia
- Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia
- Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel
- Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States
- Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of Nigeria
- Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
- Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of Germany
The programme will also feature speakers including:
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
- Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
- José Pedro Castillo Terrones, President of Peru
- Ivan Duque, President of Colombia
- Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health of the United States of America
- Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment of Egypt
- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Alejandro Giammattei, President of Guatemala
- Al Gore, Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001) and Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management
- Paulo Guedes, Minister of Economy of Brazil
- Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda
- Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
- John F. Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States of America
- Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank
- Guillermo Lasso, President of Ecuador
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin AbdulazizAl Saud, Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia
- Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, European Commission
- François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Central Bank of France
- Sarah bint Yousif Al-Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates
- Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica, Office of the President of Costa Rica
Davos Agenda 2022 sessions and launches
Conversations will focus on critical collective challenges across several key areas:
Climate action
Climate action failure, extreme weather and biodiversity loss are ranked the top three most-severe risks for the world over the next decade, according to the Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, published 11 January 2022.
![[Image: responsive_large_webp_Wq9i9cLnKhiv7EJExQ...oonIQ.webp]](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/responsive_large_webp_Wq9i9cLnKhiv7EJExQ0TvuTRhinwuQ_mj5IbPEoonIQ.webp)
Top 10 risks by severity
For a brief moment, a drop in emissions in 2020 proved climate action is possible – and the collective response to COVID-19 is evidence that, if we work together, it’s not too late to save the planet. This requires reaching net zero, achieving the energy transition, committing to circular economies and sustainable consumption and – above all – putting climate and nature at the heart of recovery plans.
What to watch:
Pandemic recovery
Now in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid development of vaccines is a scientific achievement for the ages, but the Omicron variant shows why we must prioritize universal global distribution – or risk negative health, economic and geopolitical outcomes. Addressing antimicrobial resistance, disparities in health coverage and outcomes, and the importance of mental healthcare for all (and especially our global health workforce) are key to ensuring we'll have resilient, efficient and equitable healthcare systems by the time the next pandemic comes knocking.
What to watch:
Economic and social resilience
After decades of progress in addressing poverty and income inequality, COVID-19 set us back – bringing the first rise in extreme poverty in a generation. Governments have rolled out some of the largest social spending program ever seen, but vaccine inequality and inflation – especially rising food and energy prices – threaten to widen the gaps even more. To truly recover, we must not only stabilize economies but also ensure they’re resilient and fair, providing social mobility, jobs and equitable opportunities for all.
Increasingly business recognizes the value of doing long-term good – and over the past year, has laid the groundwork for action with commitments to net zero, social justice and shared ESG metrics. Now, as we embark on the next phase of recovery, it’s important to put these plans into action and truly implement stakeholder capitalism to ensure the recovery touches not only the company’s shareholders, but also its employees, customers, suppliers, local communities and society at large.
On 7 January, Klaus Schwab published his latest book, The Great Narrative, co-authored with Thierry Malleret. Based on interviews with 50 of the world's leading thinkers, the book explores how we can build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.
On 26 January, the Forum will release its Global Competitiveness Report 2021-2022.
What to watch:
Global cooperation
The recent years have seen deepened political and social divides as well as a heightened mistrust of institutions and the spread of misinformation and disinformation. We must renew our commitment to global cooperation and shared prosperity – from vaccine equity to wherever the new era of global space exploration may take us.
At the same time, the shocks of COVID-19 accelerated the digital transformation of business and society – and innovations in vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and contact tracing have helped us to address the pandemic’s worst impacts. Looking ahead, technology holds the keys to solving the biggest challenges ahead of us: decarbonizing energy, diagnosing and treating disease, securing our food supply and helping small businesses and entrepreneurs everywhere survive and thrive.
But this rapid digital transformation is not without risk, as we’ve seen cybercrime spike and digital divides widen in the past two years, too. We must work together to balance innovation and responsibility to ensure the digital transformation is driving growth and innovation, and not creating harm.
The Forum will release the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 report on 18 January.
What to watch:
How to follow the Davos Agenda 2022
The event will be livestreamed across the Forum's website and social media channels. All content will be shared using the official event hashtag #DavosAgenda.
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| Abp. Viganò: Delicta Mea - About the Holy Apostolic Mass |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-14-2022, 12:19 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Abp. Viganò urges priests to learn the Latin Mass: It ‘unites us to the Saints and Martyrs of the past’
Do you want to please God or the one who keeps you away from Him?
The question, at its root, is always this: the choice between the gentle yoke of Christ and the Adversary’s chains of slavery.
Fri Jan 14, 2022
(LifeSiteNews) – You who permit yourselves to prohibit the Holy Apostolic Mass, have you ever celebrated it? You who from the height of your liturgical cathedrae are piqued about the “old Mass,” have you ever meditated on its prayers, its rites, and its ancient and sacred gestures? I have asked myself this many times in the past few years: because I myself, even though I knew this Mass since I was very young; even though I had learned to serve it and respond to the celebrant when I was so little that I was still wearing boys’ knickers, I had almost forgotten it and lost it. Introibo ad altare Dei. Kneeling in winter on the ice-cold steps of the altar, before going to school. Sweating on hot summer days under my altar boy’s vestments. I had forgotten that Mass, even though it was the Mass of my ordination as a priest on 24 March 1968: an era in which one could already perceive the signs of the revolution that shortly thereafter would deprive the Church of her most precious treasure, imposing a counterfeit ritual in its place.
Well, that Mass that the conciliar reform cancelled and prohibited in my first years of Priesthood remained as a distant memory, like the smile of a distant loved one, the gaze of a missing relative, the sound of a Sunday with its bells, its friendly voices. But it was something that had to do with nostalgia, youth, the enthusiasm of an era in which ecclesiastical commitments were still to come, in which everyone wanted to believe that the world could recover from the aftermath of the Second World War and the threat of Communism with a renewed spiritual momentum. We wanted to think that economic well-being could somehow be accompanied by a moral and religious rebirth of our nation [Italy]. Despite the revolution of 1968, the occupations, terrorism, the Red Brigades, and the crisis of the Middle East. Thus, amidst the thousand ecclesiastical and diplomatic commitments, the memory of something had crystallized in my memory that in fact remained unresolved, which had been “momentarily” set aside for decades. Something that patiently waited, with the indulgence that only God uses toward us.
My decision to denounce the scandals of American Prelates and the Roman Curia was the occasion that led me back to consider, under another light, not only my role as Archbishop and as Apostolic Nuncio, but also the soul of that Priesthood which service first in the Vatican and lastly in the United States had in some way left incomplete: more for my being a priest than for the Ministry. And what up until then I had not yet understood became clear to me due to an apparently unexpected circumstance, when my personal safety seemed to be in danger and I found myself, against my will, having to live almost in hiding, far from the palaces of the Curia. It was then that that blessed segregation, which today I consider as a sort of monastic choice, led me to rediscover the Holy Tridentine Mass. I recall very well the day when, instead of the chasuble, I put on the traditional vestments with the Ambrosian cappino and the maniple. I recall the fear that I felt in pronouncing, after almost fifty years, those prayers of the Missal that re-emerged from my mouth as if I had just recited them shortly before. Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, in the place of the Psalm Judica me, Deus of the Roman Rite. Munda cor meum ac labia mea. These words were no longer the words of the altar boy or the young seminarian, but the words of the celebrant, of I who once again, I would dare say for the first time, celebrated before the Most Holy Trinity. Because while it is true that the Priest is a person who lives essentially for others – for God and for his neighbor – it is equally true that if he does not have the awareness of his own identity and has not cultivated his own holiness, his apostolate is sterile like the clanging cymbal.
I know well that these reflections can leave those who have never had the grace of celebrating the Mass of all time unmoved, or even arouse condescension. But the same thing happens, I imagine, for those who have never fallen in love and who do not understand the enthusiasm and the chaste transport of the beloved towards his beloved, or for those who do not know the joy of getting lost in her eyes. The dull Roman liturgist, the Prelate with his tailored clerical suit and his pectoral cross in his pocket, the consultor of the Roman Congregation with the latest copy of Concilium or Civiltà Cattolica in plain sight, looks at the Mass of Saint Pius V with the eyes of an entomologist (the science that studies insects), scrutinizing that pericope just as a naturalist observes the veins of a leaf or the wings of a butterfly. Indeed, I sometimes wonder if they don’t do it with the asepticity of the pathologist who cuts open a living body with a scalpel. But if a priest with a minimum of interior life approaches the ancient Mass, regardless of whether he has ever known it before or is discovering it for the first time, he is deeply moved by the composed majesty of the rite, as if he has stepped out of time and entered the eternity of God.
What I would like to make my brothers in the Episcopate and the Priesthood understand is that that Mass is intrinsically divine, because one perceives the sacred in a visceral way: one is literally taken up into heaven, into the presence of the Most Holy Trinity and the celestial Court, far from the clamor of the world. It is a love song, in which the repetition of the signs, the reverences, and the sacred words is not in any way useless, just as a mother never tires of kissing her son, or a bride never tires of saying, “I love you” to her husband. Everything is forgotten there, because all that is said and sung in it is eternal, all the gestures that are performed there are perennial, outside of history, yet immersed in a continuum that unites the Cenacle, Calvary, and the altar on which the Mass is celebrated. The celebrant does not address the assembly, with the concern of being understandable or being nice or appearing to be up-to-date; rather, he addresses God: and before God there is only the sense of infinite gratitude for the privilege of being able to carry with him the prayers of the Christian people, the joys and sorrows of so many souls, the sins and shortcomings of those who implore forgiveness and mercy, gratitude for graces received, and suffrages for our dear departed. One is alone, and at the same time one feels intimately united with an endless host of souls that crosses time and space.
When I celebrate the apostolic Mass, I think of how on that same altar, consecrated by the relics of the Martyrs, so many Saints and thousands of priests, using the same words that I say, repeating the very same gestures, making the same bows and the same genuflections, wearing the same vestments. But above all, receiving Holy Communion with the same Body and Blood of Our Lord, to whom we have all been assimilated in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. When I celebrate the Mass of all time, I realize in the most sublime and complete way the true significance of what doctrine teaches us. Acting in persona Christi is not a mechanical repetition of a formula, but the awareness that my mouth utters the same words that the Savior pronounced over the bread and wine in the Cenacle; that as I elevate the Host and Chalice to the Father, I repeat the immolation that Christ made of Himself on the Cross; that in receiving Holy Communion I consume the sacrificial Victim and feed on God Himself, and I am not participating in a party. And the entire Church is with me: the Church Triumphant which deigns to unite itself to my imploring prayer, the Church Suffering that awaits it in order to shorten souls’ stay in Purgatory, and the Church Militant that strengthens herself in the daily spiritual battle. But if, as we profess with faith, our mouth is really Christ’s mouth, if our words in the Consecration are really those of Christ, if the hands with which we touch the Sacred Host and the Chalice are Christ’s hands, what respect ought we to have for our body, keeping it pure and uncontaminated? What better incentive is there to remain in the Grace of God? Mundamini, qui fertis vasa Domini. And with the words of the Missal: Aufer a nobis, quæsumus, Domine, iniquitates nostras: ut ad sancta sanctorum puris mereamur mentibus introire.
The theologian will tell me that this is common doctrine, and that the Mass is exactly that, regardless of the rite, I do not deny it, rationally. But while the celebration of the Tridentine Mass is a constant reminder of an uninterrupted continuity of the work of the Redemption studded with Saints and Blesseds, the same thing does not happen, it seems to me, with the reformed rite. If I look at the table versus populum, I see there the Lutheran altar or the Protestant table; if I read the words of the Institution of the Last Supper in the form of narration, I hear the modifications of Cranmer’s Common Book of Prayer, and the service of Calvin; if I glance through the reformed calendar, I find that the same saints who cancelled the heretics of the Pseudo-reform have been removed. And the same is true for the songs, which would horrify an English or German Catholic: hearing the hymns of those who martyred our priests and trampled the Blessed Sacrament in contempt for “papist superstition” sung under the vaults of a church ought to make us understand the abyss that exists between the Catholic Mass and its conciliar counterfeit. To say nothing of the language: the first ones to abolish Latin were the heretics, in the name of giving the people a greater comprehension of the rites; a people whom they deceived, contesting revealed Truth and propagating error. Everything is profane in the Novus Ordo. Everything is momentary, everything accidental, everything contingent, variable, and changeable. There is nothing of the eternal, because eternity is immutable, just as the Faith is immutable. Just as God is immutable.
There is another aspect of the traditional Holy Mass that I would like to emphasize, and that unites us to the Saints and Martyrs of the past. Since the times of the catacombs up until the most recent persecutions, wherever a priest celebrates the Holy Sacrifice, even in an attic or a cellar, in the woods or in a barn, or even in a van, he is mystically in communion with that host of heroic witnesses of the Faith, and the gaze of the Most Holy Trinity rests on that improvised altar; before it all the angelic hosts genuflect adoringly; all of the souls in purgatory gaze toward it. In this too, especially in this, each of us understands how the Tradition creates an indissoluble link between the centuries, not only in the jealous custody of that treasure, but also in facing the trials that it entails, even unto death. In the presence of this thought, the arrogance of the present tyrant, with his insane decrees, ought to strengthen us in fidelity to Christ and make us feel that we are an integral part of the Church of all times, because we cannot win the palm of victory if we are not ready to fight the bonum certamen.
I would like my confreres to dare to do the unthinkable: I would like them to approach the Holy Tridentine Mass not so as to be pleased with the lace of an alb or with the embroidery of a chasuble, or because of a mere rational conviction about its canonical legitimacy or about the fact that it has never been abolished; but rather with the reverential fear with which Moses approached the burning bush: knowing that each one of us, upon coming down from the altar after the Last Gospel, is in some way interiorly transfigured because there he has encountered the Holy of Holies. It is only there, on that mystical Sinai, that we can understand the very essence of our Priesthood, which is the giving of Oneself to God, above all; an oblation of all of himself together with Christ the Victim, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls; a spiritual sacrifice which draws strength and vigor from the Mass; self-renunciation in order to make way for the High Priest; a sign of true humility, in the annihilation of one’s own will and abandonment to the will of the Father, following the Lord’s example; a gesture of authentic “communion” with the Saints, in the sharing of the same profession of faith and the same rite. And I would like not only those who have celebrated the Novus Ordo for decades to have this “experience,” but above all the young priests and those who carry out their ministry in the front line: the Mass of Saint Pius V is for indomitable spirits, for generous and heroic souls, for hearts burning with Charity for God and one’s neighbor.
I know well that the life of the priests today is made up of a thousand trials, of stress, of the feeling of being alone in fighting against the world, in the disinterest and ostracism of Superiors, of a slow wear and tear that distracts from recollection, from the interior life, and from spiritual growth. And I know very well that this feeling of being under siege, of finding oneself as a sailor who is alone and has to pilot a ship through a storm, is not the prerogative of traditionalists or progressives, but is the common destiny of all those who have offered their lives to the Lord and to the Church, each with their own miseries, with economic problems, misunderstandings with the Bishop, criticisms from their confreres, as well as the requests of the faithful. And also those hours of solitude, in which the presence of God and the companionship of the Virgin Mary seem to vanish, just as in the dark night of Saint John of the Cross. Quare me repulisti? Et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus? When the demon winds insidiously between the internet and the television, quærens quem devoret, taking advantage of our weariness by betrayal. In those cases, which we all face just as Our Lord did in Gethsemane, it is our Priesthood that Satan wants to strike, presenting himself persuasively like Salomé before Herod, asking us for the gift of the Baptist’s head. Ab homine iniquo, et doloso erue me. In the trial, we are all the same: because the victory that the Enemy wants to win is not only over the poor souls of the Baptized, but over Christ the Priest, whose Anointing we carry.
For this reason, today more than ever, the Holy Tridentine Mass is the sole anchor of salvation of the Catholic Priesthood, because in it the priest is reborn, each day, in that privileged time of intimate union with the Blessed Trinity, and from it he draws indispensable graces so as not to fall into sin, to progress along the way of holiness, and to rediscover the healthy balance with which to face his Ministry. Anyone who believes that all this can be liquidated as a mere ceremonial or aesthetic question has not understood anything about his own priestly Vocation. Because the Holy Mass “of all time” – and it truly is this, just as it has always been opposed by the Adversary – is not an obliging lover who offers herself to anyone, but rather a jealous and chaste Bride, as jealous as the Lord is.
Do you want to please God or the one who keeps you away from Him? The question, at its root, is always this: the choice between the gentle yoke of Christ and the Adversary’s chains of slavery. The response will appear clear and limpid to you in the moment in which you too, marveling at this immense treasure that has been kept hidden from you, discover what it means to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice not as pathetic “presiders of the assembly,” but rather as “ministers of Christ and dispensers of the Mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1).
Pick up the Missal, ask for help from a priest friend, and ascend the Mountain of the Transfiguration: Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt, et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua. Like Peter, James, and John, you will exclaim: Domine, bonum est nos hic esse – “Lord, it is good that we are here” (Mt 17:4). Or, with the words of the Psalmist that the celebrant repeats at the Offertory: Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuæ, et locum habitationis gloriæ tuæ.
Once you have discovered it, no one will be able to take away from you that through which the Lord no longer calls you servants, but friends (Jn 15:15). No one will ever be able to convince you to renounce it, forcing you to be content with its adulteration that was brought to birth by rebellious minds. Eratis enim aliquando tenebræ: nunc enim lux in Domino. Ut filii lucis ambulate. “For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light” (Eph 5:8). Propter quod dicit: Surge qui dormis, et exsurge a mortuis, et illuminabit te Christus. “Wherefore he says: Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten you” (Eph 5:14).
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
January 2nd, 2022
Sanctissimi Nominis JESU
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