Archive for the ‘Stories from Vatican II’ Category

Order Retin-A without prescription, Pentecost homily preached at Good Shepherd Church, Beverly Hills, May 23, 1010

I am a web developer. I work in Hollywood and live in Miracle Mile. So Wednesday evening I was driving south on La Brea. As you know, there are many Orthodox synagogues in that area, Connecticut CT Conn. , and the streets were filled with faithful Jews walking to synagogue. Whole families, everywhere you looked. Probably hundreds of people, all celebrating, order Retin-A without prescription. Arkansas AR Ark. , Wednesday was the great Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot, also called the Feast of Weeks because it is celebrated 50 days after Passover. At the time of Jesus, Shavuot was a pilgrimage feast, which meant that everyone came to the Temple in Jerusalem, Retin-A pills. Many came from distant lands, the conquered peoples of many nations. These Jews of the Diaspora spoke Greek as the international language of business and government; they even read the Jewish scriptures in Greek. Order Retin-A without prescription, They had a Greek name for this festival as well. Köpa Retin-A online, They called it Pentecost.

Jerusalem was filled to capacity for this harvest festival. There were crowds everywhere, festive meals and parties. And in the midst of this chaos, where to buy Retin-A, something extraordinary happened.

Today’s account from Acts of the first day of Pentecost seems a bit neat and tidy, order Retin-A without prescription. It’s like the icons we see of Pentecost; the Twelve Apostles and Mary seated in neat rows with identical flames over each of them, evenly spaced in the composition. Wisconsin WI Wis. , But the reality of Pentecost is far different. It was really a sort of holy chaos. It was messy and created problems. Order Retin-A without prescription, When we read the sections of Acts that come just before and just after today’s reading, we get a more dramatic picture of what happened. First of all, we tend to assume the Holy Spirit came upon only the Twelve and Mary, comprar Retin-A de descuento. But in the lead-up to this scene we learn there were 120 people present in that room.

When all these disciples of Jesus received the Holy Spirit, they piled out of the house giddy with such joy and excitement that people accused them of being drunk. Order Retin-A online without prescription, Peter took offense at this. “How can we be drunk?” he asked, “it’s only nine in the morning!”

And then they all began to spontaneously preach, order Retin-A without prescription. One hundred and twenty of them. At the same time. What a mess.

Now you’d think they would have spoken Greek, Retin-A no prescription. Order Retin-A without prescription, They knew there were people from everywhere in the known world there, and they all had to learn Greek.

It would have made sense to speak Greek. It would have been simpler, neater. Purchase Retin-A online, But that’s not what the Spirit had in mind. Instead, each person heard the Good News in his or her own native tongue, the language they used to tuck their children in at night and to tell stories around the hearth. This was holy chaos, order Retin-A without prescription.

And you can imagine what a mess it was, cheap Retin-A overnight delivery. Big crowds of people pushing against each other, 120 people preaching, everyone hearing different languages, Acquistare a buon mercato Retin-A, and then 3,000 people deciding to join the disciples, right then and there. Three thousand. Three thousand people asking questions and arguing and having to have things explained multiple times, order Retin-A overnight delivery. Order Retin-A without prescription, I think some of us might have looked with despair on this scene. What’s the plan. Did no one develop talking points. Why is everyone talking at once. Kopen goedkope Retin-A, But there was no plan. There was only the Spirit, order Retin-A without prescription.

One day in 1962 a few months before the opening of the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII was talking with Cardinal Leon Suenens, the archbishop of Brussels. John showed the cardinal a stack of draft documents that had been prepared for the Council Fathers to deliberate on; there were 70 of them, comprare Retin-A. The two men looked at this huge stack of papers and realized there was no way that 70 documents could be debated and amended by 2,500 bishops.

John, Retin-A without prescription, almost casually, asked Cardinal Suenens if anyone had drawn up a plan for the Council. Order Retin-A without prescription, Suenens was astonished. “Your Holiness,” he said, “do you mean there is no plan?” John smiled and said, Nevada NV Nev. , “Let’s say there isn’t a plan.” “No plan at all?” Suenens asked again. John said, “Let’s say there is none. Köpa rabatterade Retin-A, Would you write one?”

Now Suenens wound up writing a sort of plan. It was only three points, sort of guiding principles that fit one one piece of paper.

Some might think it was highly irresponsible of John to call a Council without a detailed plan of what he wanted to accomplish, order Retin-A without prescription. But John had a deep faith in the Holy Spirit. He believed, Kaufen Retin-A, with all his heart, that the Spirit would guide the Council Fathers. And the Council did not always go smoothly; there were many instances of holy chaos, Acquistare online Retin-A, caused mainly by people who had their own plans. But in the end, the Council was a great success. Order Retin-A without prescription, In many ways it changed the world. Of course, this is not to say there was not some messiness and chaos involved, cheap Retin-A online cheap. But the movement of the Spirit is not clean and orderly.

It can be terrifying to not have a plan. And certainly we do need to plan for some things. We need strategic plans at work, we need to plan for retirement, we need to pay bills and get hotel reservations for vacations, order Retin-A without prescription. Buy Retin-A no rx, But there are times we need to let go of our preconceptions and plans and listen to what the Holy Spirit has to tell us. Throughout our history, when we as a Church have taken risks, that has often led to wonderful things. When we as a Church have taken the safe path, comprare Retin-A sconto, that has often led to disaster.

For the first disciples, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not a one-time event. Order Retin-A without prescription, They continued to follow Jesus without a plan. Buy Retin-A online legally, Along the way they were forced to examine some of their pre-conceived ideas and discovered they were often wrong. For example, the apostles were a little surprised at the idea they should also reach out to non-Jews. As odd as it sounded to them, they examined their assumptions and realized they were wrong in not accepting Gentiles, order Retin-A pills.

Had they not been open to the Spirit, Christianity today would be a small sect within Judaism.

We don’t celebrate Pentecost as a sort of memorial to a historic event; the liturgical year is meant to make each celebration real and present in our own day, and Pentecost is no exception, order Retin-A without prescription. In fact, Pentecost may the the best example of how the liturgical year makes past events real again in our own lives. To make Pentecost real in our own lives we need to listen, to let go of how we think things should be.

In today’s Gospel reading we heard a promise from Jesus:

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.

It’s easy for us to say we believe the Holy Spirit guides the Church and will protect us until the end of time. But it can be scary to actually act on that belief. Order Retin-A without prescription, Having no plan does not mean having no ideas. The Holy Spirit is the source of all wisdom, so all good ideas come from the Spirit. To grow we need ideas from everyone, ideas that bring wisdom from all walks of life.

Share your ideas and your passion. It may be a little messy at times, it may seem risky. But we know that in the end the Spirit will smooth everything out.

For you see, as we learn from the story of the First Pentecost, a little holy chaos can go a long way.

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Buy Retin-A online cheap, [caption id="attachment_379" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="St. Stephen and St. Lawrence, Deacons and Martyrs"][/caption]

When the Council Fathers arrived in Rome on October 11, 1962, for the opening of the First Session of the Second Vatican Council called by John XXIII, billig kaufen Retin-A, they had already received a number of schemas, or draft documents, dealing with various topics that had been developed from extensive surveying of the world's bishops and religious superiors. One of these schemas was called De Ecclesia (On the Church), and the story of its debate tied the two issues of collegiality (the authority of the bishops as individuals and as a group) and the permanent order of deacon together, buy Retin-A online cheap.

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pope John XXIII"][/caption]

It is important to note that the Second Vatican Council was not only the single most important religious event of the 20th Century, that it changed the everyday experience of the world's largest religion and sent ripples into every other religious tradition, but also that on a merely logistical level it was the largest deliberative meeting of modern times: no other meeting, secular or religious, φτηνές φαρμακείο Retin-A, has ever involved so many individuals from around the globe empowered to debate, edit and vote on such a wide range of issues affecting so many people.

The schema De Ecclesia was presented to the Council Fathers on November 26, 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, the powerful head of the Holy Office (today called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). This document had been prepared well in advance of the Council by the Doctrinal Commission, headed by Ottaviani, but the Council Fathers had only received the draft a week before. By this time it had become apparent that the Council would extend to more than one session, although no one knew how many (It would eventually take four years for the Council to complete its work), Virginia VA Va. .

Ottaviani, who was almost totally blind, was an ultraconservative adamantly opposed to the Council. Buy Retin-A online cheap, Along with like-minded prelates who had formed a clique called the International Group of Fathers that represented the curial, obstructionist faction, he consistently attempted to derail the Council at every opportunity. One of the most prominent members of this secretive group was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, then superior general of the Holy Ghost Fathers, who would later be excommunicated for setting up his own schismatic "traditionalist" sect.

[caption id="attachment_381" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani"][/caption]

On this day, Vermont VT Vt. , as he introduced De Ecclesia, Ottaviani addressed a central criticism of the drafts his committee had prepared: that they were too juridical and limited in their treatment to papal documents of recent popes, especially Pius IX, at the expense of the wider scope of Christian history. Repeatedly the Council Fathers had expressed a desire to speak in a voice that was more evocative of the early Fathers of the Church, more scriptural, more pastoral and, as John XXIII had put it, "speaking rather of mercy than condemnation."

Ottaviani, buy Retin-A without prescription, alarmed at the direction he saw the Council taking and angry that the Fathers did not bend to his will as head of the Holy Office, fumed as he threw down the gauntlet. First he ridiculed the Fathers' insistence that the conciliar documents be pastoral, scriptural and accessible rather than juridical and strewn with anathemas. Then he said:

I'll tell you what I really think, buy Retin-A online cheap. I believe that I and the speaker for the commission are wasting our words because the outcome has already been decided. Those whose constant cry is "Take it away. Take it away. Buy cheap Retin-A online, Give us a new schema!" are now ready to open fire. Buy Retin-A online cheap, I'll tell you something you may not know: even before this schema was distributed—Listen to me. Listen to me!—even before it was distributed, an alternative schema had already been produced. [He was talking about drafts that various bishops had been circulating as possible ways to improve upon the juridical document on the Church prepared by Ottaviani and his team.] Yes, even before the merits of this schema have been looked at the jury has rendered its verdict. I have no choice now but to say no more, because as Scripture teaches, when nobody is listening words are a waste of time.

Yves Congar said these words were delivered in a cajoling tone that was at the same time "peevish and aggressive."

As debate on the schema opened, a number of Fathers said the schema was so grounded in juridicism (a legalistic concept of Church) and anathemas (condemnations) that it was unworkable even as a basis for edits, Massachusetts MA Mass. . Cardinal Joseph Ritter, archbishop of St. Louis, who would emerge as the chief spokesperson of the bishops of the United States, called for a totally new draft, buy Retin-A online cheap. Bishop Emile De Smedt of Bruges famously denounced the schema for being written in a pompous style imbued with three "isms": triumphalism, clericalism and juridicism and smacking of papolatry (pope-worship).

With only a few days left in the first session, it was clear that the schema would have to be entirely redrafted. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, Cheapest Retin-A, the archbishop of Milan, made the case for a new schema December 5: "It is inadequate." He proposed that the Secretariat for Christian Unity, led by the charismatic German cardinal Augustin Bea, be involved in the redrafting of the schema. Because Montini was widely viewed as papabile (a likely candidate for pope—and rightly so, for he would soon become Paul VI), his proposal was accepted by John XXIII: the schema would be entirely rewritten. Buy Retin-A online cheap, The first session ended on December 8.

The draft of De Ecclesia (which would eventually become known as Lumen Gentium, "The Light of the Nations") underwent a tortuous process of redrafting during the period between the Council sessions, cheap Retin-A online legally. Ottaviani and his team from the Holy Office clashed furiously with the theological experts appointed by John XXIII, who included such renown theologians as Karl Rahner, Jean Danielou, Yves Congar and Gérard Philips, whose draft formed the basis of the new schema. It was at this point that the concept of collegiality was fleshed out in the new schema, and the restoration of the permanent diaconate included—a directive of the Council of Trent (1545-1547) that was never implemented. Hawaii HI , The new schema added a twist, however: that those ordained to the permanent order of deacon could be married.

When the Second Session of the Council opened on September 29, 1963, there was a new pope, Paul VI, buy Retin-A online cheap. John XXIII had succumbed to an agonizing death from stomach cancer on June 3, Pentecost Sunday.

[caption id="attachment_382" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Second Vatican Council"][/caption]

By October 1, it was apparent that the consensus of the Fathers was that the new schema on the Church was a good start. They voted to begin deliberations on it 2,231 to 43. Then began an epic struggle between the majority of the Fathers and a small but manipulative minority allied with the Curia who were determined to do whatever it took to make sure that the new schema never saw the light of day, cheapest Retin-A prices. Collegiality and the restoration of the diaconate were among the most contentious issues in the debates that would follow.

Buy Retin-A online cheap, On October 3, Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini, archbishop of Palermo and one of the leaders of the ultra-conservative International Group of Fathers who represented the curial faction, delivered a speech that claimed the Council Fathers had no right to decide whether deacons could be married; such a decision could only be made by the Roman Curia. This was a consistent theme of the curial party: that the bishops were to be subject to the Curia, a viewpoint detested by the majority of the Council Fathers as un-Catholic and juridical.

Still, some Council Fathers opposed the restoration of the diaconate on other grounds. Cardinal Francis Spellman, archbishop of New York, opposed the permanent order of deacon because he felt it was a fancy of liturgists enamored of the early Church, Comprar en línea Retin-A, with no understanding of the contemporary situation. Cardinal Antonio Bacci of the Curia, who would loudly protest the introduction of vernacular languages in the liturgy, pleaded against the permanent diaconate on the basis of celibacy: "With trepidation in my soul I beg you, venerable Council Fathers, do not inflict a wound on the sacred law of celibacy!" Responding to the accusation that a married diaconate would be a threat to celibacy, Cardinal Julius Döpfner, archbishop of Munich, saw it as a means of increasing the number of vocations: "We can ordain a married layman to the diaconate."

Along with the restoration of the diaconate, purchase Retin-A online, the idea that bishops held authority that was not given to them by the pope (collegiality) continued to rouse great controversy in the Council. Italians and Spaniards especially felt these were "innovations" (a code word for heresy) introduced by bishops from "across the mountains," that is, Germany, France and the Benelux countries, buy Retin-A online cheap. But the restoration of the diaconate began to draw support from bishops in missionary territories and also from Central and South America, who were exceptionally organized at the Council.

[caption id="attachment_400" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cardinal Leo Suenens"][/caption]

Cardinal Leo Suenens, archbishop of Brussels and one of the greatest leaders of the Council, was a vocal supporter of the diaconate: "The diaconate is part of Scripture and tradition. Since it constitutes a distinct service in the Church, Cheap Retin-A no rx, it is fitting that those who fulfill it receive a special sacramental grace." He insisted that the deacon would allow the Church to appear once again as "a family on the human scale."

On October 10, the moderators of the Council met with Paul VI. The decision was made to put individual concepts from De Ecclesia to a vote: five concerning the nature of the episcopal order (the office of bishops) and three concerning the order of deacon. Buy Retin-A online cheap, The ballots were printed, and on October 15 the Council Fathers were told they would vote on these eight issues.

But that night, people claiming to be acting under the orders of the Secretary of State, Cardinal Amleto Cicognani, stormed the Council offices, seized the ballots and burned them. The real people behind this move are still a mystery, cheap Retin-A online cheap.

The next day, when the Council Fathers learned what had happened, chaos ensued in St. Peter's Basilica. Fathers streamed out of their seats and began shouting that they had been betrayed, buy Retin-A online cheap. Cardinal Ottaviani, the chief suspect, became defensive, Ordering Retin-A online legally, saying that such a vote was unauthorized because the Council Fathers could not bind the Dogmatic Commission of the Holy Office. Immediately the various factions made appeals to Paul VI. By October 28, Paul VI sided with the majority: the issues could be put to a vote with an amended ballot. The curial party, including Cardinal Spellman, tried to delay the vote, to no avail. Buy Retin-A online cheap, The revised ballot was now five points, one dealing with the restoration of the diaconate, but without mention of celibacy. This last point on the diaconate was approved 2, Retin-A online stores,120 to 525.

On November 8, Cardinal Ottaviani brushed off the results of the vote. The vote had been merely "indicative," he maintained, it had no real authority and the Holy Office could respond to it as it saw fit. Only the Holy Office had the authority to deal with such issues, Retin-A kopen, not the Council, he insisted with typical curial arrogance.

The Second Session was drawing to a close, buy Retin-A online cheap. The question of the restoration of the diaconate would have to wait for the Third Session.

The redrafting of the schema continued up until the day before the opening of the Third Session of the Council on September 14, 1964. On that day, Paul VI received a letter from 25 cardinals, including James Francis McIntyre of Los Angeles, who declared that the concept of collegiality would deal a death blow to the Church by renouncing a monarchical concept of ecclesiology in favor of the dignity of episcopal ordination, ordering Retin-A no rx. No longer would bishops be considered merely priests who had special authority granted by the pope, but a distinct order established for the local governance of the People of God. Buy Retin-A online cheap, To the signers of the letter, this was a "novelty," which again was used as a code-word for "heresy." They claimed it would undermine the ministry of the pope. Paul was not convinced. He rejected their arguments.

[caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="282" caption="Pope Paul VI"][/caption]

On September 20, the curial faction tried a new tactic. They sent a letter to Paul warning him of the dangers of the chapter. They again accused its proponents of "novelty." They accused the majority of infidelity to the pope, buy Retin-A online cheap. Oklahoma OK Okla. , They claimed that the proponents of collegiality and the restored diaconate were pressuring the Fathers by claiming that Paul was in favor of these ideas. But they undermined their position by categorically stating in their letter to Paul that no pope could possibly approve of such ideas because it would indicate that the Church had been wrong in previous times. In order to maintain the idea of total papal control, they felt they could dictate to the pope. Needless to say, Paul was not amused.

The debate on the diaconate reached a high point, and the bishops of Latin America swung into action. Buy Retin-A online cheap, Cardinal Juan Landázuri-Ricketts, archbishop of Lima, spoke in favor of the restoration of the diaconate in the name of 37 Peruvian and 58 other Latin American bishops. Bishop Manuel Talamás Camandari of Ciudad Juárez spoke in favor of the diaconate on behalf of eight additional Latin American bishops. All were in favor of married deacons, Arizona AZ Ariz. . Speaking in the name of 25 more Latin American bishops, Bishop Jorge Kémérer of Posadas, Argentina, insisted: "A man can have an ecclesiastical vocation that does not include celibacy."

One African bishop, one Slavic bishop and a number of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese bishops were adamantly opposed to the restoration of the order of deacon because they felt it was an attack on celibacy.

On September 22, Retin-A online kaufen, the Council Fathers voted on the restoration of the diaconate. The proposal passed 1,539 to 702, buy Retin-A online cheap. Paradoxically, 629 voted against ordaining married men as deacons, which seemed to be more controversial. Cardinal Ottaviani and the Doctrinal Commission would now not only have to affirm the collegiality of the bishops and accept the input of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, but would also have to include edits that restored the permanent diaconate to the Western Church. Another vote on September 30 reduced the gap to 1,903 in favor, 242 opposed, buy Retin-A pills.

On November 21, 1964, Paul VI solemnly promulgated the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, which restored the fullness of the three-fold orders of bishop, priest and deacon to a Church which had been fixated only on priest and pope with the following words about deacons:

At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed "not unto the priesthood, Kaufen Retin-A, but unto a ministry of service." For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God. Buy Retin-A online cheap, It is the duty of the deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all."

Since these duties, order Retin-A online cheap, so very necessary to the life of the Church, can be fulfilled only with difficulty in many regions in accordance with the discipline of the Latin Church as it exists today, the diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of celibacy must remain intact.

Ever mindful of the wishes of the Council, Paul VI issued the motu proprio Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, General Norms for Restoring the Permanent Diaconate in the Latin Church, on June 18, 1967.

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