THE CATHOLIC TRADITION NEWSLETTER
A weekly presentation of News, Information, Readings and Commentary for traditional Roman Catholics and Catholic Families remaining faithful to the teaching Magisterium as held by all faithful Catholics through the centuries.
Vol 19 Issue 25 Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
June 20, 2026
Saint Silverius
False Councils: Vatican II
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Saint Aloysius
Family and Marriage
Articles and notices
Question of Jurisdiction
Dear Reader:
In honor of our fathers who will be remembered tomorrow on Father’s Day the attention given to fatherhood should be of a unique nature. In Scripture God is called Father. Saint Paul reminds us that all paternity comes from God the Father (cf. Eph. 3:15). The reception of this name is such that one is not to take upon oneself this title, but that this title only comes while participating in the Fatherhood of God (cf. Matt. 23:9). Mary can say of Saint Joseph, Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. (Luke 2:48). Saint Joseph was not his father by nature, but fulfilled the role of a father. This fatherhood is such that, even when men forsake their offspring, another may adopt and become the father of the abandoned child—the natural father losing the right of paternity over the child. And, though Protestants object to calling a priest father, it proceeds from the words of Saint Paul who also writes: For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you. (1 Cor. 4:15)—As you know in what manner, entreating and comforting you, as a father doth his children. (1 Thess. 2:11)
The Eternal Father, Who we acknowledge as Creator of heaven and earth, so loved mankind that He created a world that provides all the necessities of life, such that nothing was wanting—only the cooperation of mankind. Saint Joseph provided all the necessities for his Child, such that nothing was wanting. Therefore, a true father is one who provides all the necessities of life for his children—this is why the Church discourages men from marrying until they are capable of providing for a family. That there are those men who dwell more on the subjection of women to their whims than they are in being a husband or father that provides for the family—a consequence of sin as one reads of the Old Testament of the fallen nature of mankind in its deprivation of grace with its treatment of women rather than subjection to the law Jesus Christ came to re-establish: but from the beginning it was not so; and I say to you, . . . (Matt. 19.8, 9) Why does a father labor? Not for the wealth of this earth, but for his family. And it is such that a man must put his family first (cf. Gen. 2:24) as it comes to be what is most valuable.
Since the world has divorced itself from God (the Father), it finds the concept of even using the name father as offensive lest its minions are reminded that God is the source of fatherhood. The world cannot impart it. Jesus Christ placed this clearly before those who would be united with Him: Thus therefore shall you pray [talk to God the Father]: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name [Father] (Matt. 6:9)
In honoring fathers on Father’s Day we, therefore, first honor God the Father from whom all paternity receives its name (cf. Eph. 3:15)—in which those who are true fathers become fathers because of their participation in this privilege. In honoring our fathers, we therefore honor and must honor God the Father Who is reflected in them.
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit. — The Editor
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False Councils
Ad Gentes
Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity
(AG)
CHAPTER I
PRINCIPLES OF DOCTRINE
Regarding the previous issue of the Newsletter, it was not intended to be a thorough theological treatise on the words for all vs for many, but despite the semantics one must consider two points that follow the Conciliar explanation that cannot be ignored:
1. The Church has been wrong for over 1900 years.
2. That the Church is free to change the words of Christ.
The fact is, how one prays is how one believes, and if one prays understanding that all are saved, one will no longer pray for the conversion of non-Catholics and that is exactly what has happened. The Conciliar Church does not pray for conversion, but for peace, security, end to war, the earth, immigrants, the poor, the oppressed, etc., ad nauseum—never that the Mohammedans will convert from paganism, the Jews from infidelity to their call to serve God by accepting His Divine Son Jesus Christ, the pagan world to come to the acceptance of the faith or find themselves lost to God forever.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19 ff.).
Opposition to all is not what is condemned by Pope Innocent XI (Cum occasione of May 31, 1658) in the Jansenist proposition:
5. It is Semipelagian to say that Christ died or shed His blood for all men without exception.
Declared and condemned as false, rash, scandalous, and intended in this sense, that Christ died for the salvation of the predestined, impious, blasphemous, contumelious, dishonoring to divine piety, and heretical. (Cf. DB 1096)
Christ was perfectly capable to atone for all the sins of mankind. The Novus Ordo Missae changed even the words of consecration, but in the true form one reads:
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL TESTAMENT, THE MYSTERY OF FAITH; WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS.
Unto the remission of sins means that these sins would be forgiven—not just atoned for. It necessarily follows that Christ Jesus, being God, offered an infinite amount of atonement and that all the sins committed could not be infinite—therefore, to say it was only for the predestined (in the Calvinistic concept) would limit what Christ could atone for.
At the same time, and repeatedly, the call to repentance so that one’s sins would be forgiven would have no meaning if they were also forgiven. Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38) And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. (Apoc. 2:21)
Catechism of the Council of Trent, the "Roman Catechism," says:
When, therefore, our Lord said: "for you," he meant either those who were present, or those whom he had chosen from amongst the Jews, amongst whom were, with the exception of Judas, all his disciples with whom he then conversed; but when he adds, "for many," he would include the remainder of the elect from amongst the Jews and Gentiles. With great propriety therefore, were the words, for all, omitted, because here the fruit of the passion is alone spoken of, and to the elect only did his passion bring the fruit of salvation. This the words of the Apostle declare, when he says, that Christ was offered once, to take away the sins of many; (Heb. ix. 26) and the same truth is conveyed in these words of our Lord recorded by St. John (17:9.): "I pray for them, I pray not for the world; but for them whom thou hast given me, because they are thine." (Catechism Council of Trent, II, 3)
To be continued
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THE GOSPEL OF THE SUNDAY
LUKE V. 1-11
At that time: When the multitude pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired them to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said to him: Master, we have laboured all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word we will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke.
And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him.
EXPOSITION FROM THE CATENA AUREA
V. 7. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship.
Unable to speak with astonishment at the haul of fish, he calls them with a sign. Their help is then spoken of. And they came, and filled both the ships.
AUGUSTINE, Harmony of the Gospels, 4, 9: John is seen to narrate a similar miracle. But it is a far different one, taking place long after, following the Lord's Resurrection, by the sea of Tiberias (Jn. xxi. 1-11). In this second account not only is the time widely different, but the event is also. For there the net was cast on the right side of the ship, and they caught a definite number, one hundred and fifty-three fishes; also they were great fishes. And the Evangelist was careful to say that though they caught so many, yet the net was not broken: making reference in this way to the former time when, as Luke relates, because of the multitude of the fishes their net broke.
AMBROSE: Mystically, the ship of Peter, according to Matthew, is tossed about by the waves; and according to Luke, is filled with fishes: That you may know that the beginnings of the Church are tempestuous, and know also of her later abundance. This ship which belongs to Peter is not tossed about; but that ship which holds Judas is. Peter is in both; but he who is secure through his own merits is endangered because of others.1 Let us beware of a traitor, lest through one among us many be threatened by the waves. Where there is little faith there is confusion and distress; where love is perfect there is peace. Lastly, while the others were bidden to cast their nets, only to Peter is it said to, Launch out into the deep.
What is so deep as to know the Son of God? What are the nets of the Apostles which He commands them to let down, if not the forms of words, and as it were certain inflections of speech, and the subtleties of argument, by which they hold those that come to their nets. And aptly is it said that the Apostles use nets in their fishing, since these do not injure but retain the fish they catch. And they bring upwards to heavenly things those who before were tossing about in the depths. And Peter says: Master, we have laboured all night, and have taken nothing. For this is not a task for human eloquence; but the work of a divine vocation. They who before had caught nothing, at the word of the Lord take a great multitude of fishes.
CYRIL: This event was a figure of the future. For they shall not labour in vain who let down the net of the Gospel preaching, but shall gather in the peoples of the Gentiles. AUGUSTINE, Questions on the Gospels II, 2: That the nets broke, and the ships filled with a multitude of fishes, so that they were almost sinking signifies, that so great will be the numbers of carnal men in the Church, that it would be torn by the disruption of Her peace through heresies and schisms.
BEDE: The net was broken, but the fish do not escape: for the Lord preserves His own amid the trials of persecution. AMBROSE: The other ship is Judaea, from out of which James and John are chosen. These therefore come from the Synagogue to the ship of Peter, that is, to the Church, that they may fill both ships; for all, whether Jew or Greek, bend the knee at the Name of Jesus.
BEDE: Or, the other ship is the Church of the Gentiles, and it also is filled with the fish of the elect; one ship not being enough. For the Lord knoweth who are his (II Tim. ii. I9); and with Him the number of the elect is a certain number. And when He does not find in Judaea as many believers as He knows are predestined to eternal life, seeking another ship as a receptacle as it were for His fish, He fills the hearts of the Gentiles also with His grace. And well do they call to the neighbouring ship when the net broke, since Judas the traitor, Simon Magus, Ananias and Sapphira, and many of the disciples went away. And later Paul and Barnabas were set apart for work among the Gentiles.
AMBROSE: We may well understand by the other ship another church; since from one church many others are founded. CYRIL: He beckons to his companions to help him. For many succeed to the labours of the Apostles; first those who have brought out the writings of the Gospels; next the other bishops and pastors; and then those who are skilled in the teaching of the Truth.
BEDE: The filling of these ships goes on to the end of the world. The fact that when filled they are almost sinking, are, that is, low in the water (for they are not sunk but endangered), the Apostle explains when he says:
In the last days there shall be perilous times, and men shall be lovers of themselves (II Tim. iii. 1). For ships sink when men fall back into the world from which they have been called by faith, and this because of their evil way of life.
V. 8. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees . . .
CYRIL: For mindful of the sins he has committed he is in fear and trembling, and thinks that, stained as he is, he cannot endure the presence of the Pure: for he had learned through the Law to distinguish between what was holy and what was defiled.
GREGORY OF NYSSA: For when He commanded them to lower the nets, the number of fishes taken was as great as the Lord of the sea and land willed. For the Voice of the Word is the Voice of Power, at Whose command light and all other creatures came forth at the beginning of the world. Peter is astonished at this miracle; for we read that: VV. 9, 11. He was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes they had taken. And so were also James and John . . .
AUGUSTINE, Harmony of the Gospels, 2, 17, 37: Luke does not mention Andrew by name; nevertheless, from the accounts of both Matthew and Mark he is understood to be in the ship. And Jesus said to Simon: fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men. AMBROSE: Let you also say: Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man, so that the Lord may say to you also: Fear not; for the Lord is forgiving, to those who confess their sin. See how good the Lord is, Who gives so much to men that they too have the power of giving life. For from this we have what follows: From henceforth you shall catch men.
BEDE: This relates especially to Peter. For it is to him the Lord explains what this capture of fish signifies: that as he now takes fish by the net, so henceforth shall he catch them by the word. And the whole order of this event shows what takes place daily in the Church, of which Peter is the symbol.
V. 11. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they . . .
CHRYSOSTOM: Consider their faith and obedience. For though they have their own pleasant calling of fishing, as soon as they hear His command they do not hesitate, but, leaving all things, they follow Him. Such is the obedience Christ requires of us. Let us not refuse it; even though something else that is necessary may press upon us.
AUGUSTINE, Harmony of the Gospels, 2, 17, 37: Matthew and Mark give us a briefer account of this event, and how it took place. Luke relates it more fully. They seem to differ in this: that he states that only to Peter was it said, from henceforth thou shalt catch men, where as they relate it as being said to both of the brothers (Peter and Andrew, cf. Mt. iv. 19; Mk. i. 17). But it could be that this was first said to Peter, when he was astonished at the great haul of fishes, which Luke describes, and said afterwards to them both, as the other two Evangelists relate.
And we are also to understand by this, that what Luke relates took place first, and that the others were not then yet called by the Lord, and to Peter only was it foretold that he would be a fisher of men; not however that he would not catch fish again. Hence we have ground for believing that they did return to their usual fishing, so that what Matthew and Mark relate might afterwards happen. For then they did not follow Him, leaving the ships drawn up, as if with the intention of returning to them, but they follow Him as though He were calling or commanding them to follow.
But if, according to John, Peter and Andrew followed Him somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Jordan (Jn. i. 37), how do the other Evangelists say that He found them fishing in Galilee, and called them to be disciples? (Mt. iv. 18; Mk. i. 16; Lk. v. 2). How can these accounts be reconciled unless we understand that these two men did not find Him out and speak to Him with a view to attaching themselves permanently to Him, but only so as to know Who He was, and wondering at Him they then return to their own way of life?
AMBROSE: But, mystically, those whom Peter caught by word he denies are his gain, his doing. Depart from me, he says, O Lord. Let you not be afraid to attribute also to the Lord what is yours: for what is His He has given us.
AUGUSTINE, Questions of the Gospel, 2, 2: Or again. Peter speaks in the person of the Church, filled with unspiritual men, Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man. As though the Church, laden with carnal-minded men, and almost submerged by their evil way of life, rejects as it were the rule of spiritual men, in whom especially the life of Christ shines forth. For it is not merely by the word of the tongue that men tell the worthy servants of God to depart from them; but also by the voice of their deeds and evil living do they persuade them to depart from them: so as not to have good men over them. And this they do the more earnestly by honouring them; as Peter signifies their doing honour, falling at the feet of the Lord; but he signifies their conduct by saying: depart from me.
BEDE: The Lord soothes the fears of unspiritual men so that no man need be fearful in his conscience because of his own past guilt; or, confounded at sight of the innocence of others, be discouraged in setting out himself on the road to sanctity.
AUGUSTINE, as above: But the Lord did not depart from them; showing by this that men who are good and spiritual should not wish, when troubled by the evil lives of others, to give up their own tasks in the Church, that they may as it were live more safely and more peacefully. That they, bringing their ships to land, and leaving all things, followed Him, can be a Figure of the end of time, when they who have adhered to Christ will wholly retire from the sea of this world.
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JUNE 21
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Confessor
1. Born on March 9, 1568, near Mantua, of the noble Gonzaga family, Aloysius was regarded by his mother as a special gift from God; she reared this first-born with care, desiring to see him consecrated to the service of the Church. His father, however, took him to camp at the age of six to make a soldier out of him. Having been once in evident danger of death and escaping, happily, Aloysius gave up the military life. He always regretted that he had repeated bad words he picked up from the common talk of soldiers.
He was sent to school in Florence at the age of eight, and here made the vow of chastity. From that time he was free of temptation, and so remained pure as an angel. He was zealous in prayer, mortification, and the practice of humility. At twelve years of age he was advised by St. Charles Borromeo to receive Holy Communion frequently. In 1581 Aloysius was taken by his father to the Spanish Court. At the end of three years he begged permission to join the Jesuits, but was refused that year and the following year as well; only in 1585 did he obtain his father’s permission to enter the Society’s college in Rome; then he breathed his satisfaction in the words: “Here is the place of my rest; here I want to dwell.” Two years later he pronounced his vows and began the study of theology. His generous service to the stricken in a Roman epidemic brought about his death on June 21, 1591. “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” were his last words.
2. “Thou has placed him only a little below the angels, crowning him with glory and honor” (Introit). An “angel in the flesh,” Aloysius receives the praise of the Church today as “the angelic youth.” His life was so pure that he might have been thought of as living in a glorified state. As the Gospel says: “When the dead rise again, there is no marrying and giving in marriage; they are as the angels in heaven are.” In one so perfectly settled in chastity, all thoughts are directed to the Good; the body is on the earth, but the spirit wings to the heights of heaven, unimpeded by the weight of sensuality that fallen man inherits. There is, then, no battle between reason and passion. All the powers of the soul are easily directed toward the one thing necessary. A heavenly foretaste of peace and quiet prevails, and the heart swells with joys more deeply satisfying than those of the flesh, being the joys of the angels. For us, this state of soul can be kept only at the cost of rigid watchfulness over the senses, and of far reaching mortification of the human tendencies toward comfort and unrestrained passions. There must be serious prayer, Scripture study, meditation on the last things and on God’s redemptive gifts. “Blessed is the man who lives unreproved, who has no greed for gold, puts no trust in his store of riches. Show us such a man, and we will be loud in his praise: here is a life to wonder at” (Lesson). Such a man was St. Aloysius. “Master, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and thy whole soul and thy whole mind” (Gospel). These liturgy words expose the roots of St. Aloysius’ purity: his love of God, of Christ. Love penetrates to the heart of God and holds fast His goodness and beauty, so far as life on earth permits. Love means satisfaction with God, joyful familiarity with the things of God. By taking delight in God, we appropriate, spiritually and by desire, what belongs to God. This, in the words of St. Francis de Sales, is “the sweet and noble robbery of love, which bedecks itself in the colors of the Beloved without robbing Him of His colorful magnificence, which clothes itself in His garment without depriving Him of it.” Love unites the soul with God; it seizes our minds and keeps them always in some degree concentrated on Him; it engrosses the will, keeping it subject to the will of God in all things; it captivates the heart so that it no longer knows any attraction or wish save that of loving God; it controls our faculties, bending them to the service of God and His kingdom on earth.
Love transforms the beloved. One who loves God as St. Aloysius did goes out of himself in order to receive the stamp of the spirit and the perfections of God on his own soul. Love gives a lover the power to understand God more profoundly, to taste His sweetness, to share His blessedness. Love confers new powers: he who loves easily overcomes difficulties which to the loveless one seem insuperable; he makes the greatest sacrifices as if they were child’s play; he performs acts of virtue that amaze others. “Not death itself is so strong as love” (Song of Songs 8:6). The secret of St. Aloysius was his heart’s captivity from childhood onward by the love of God. He nourished this love by frequent prayer and hours of fasting, and worthy feasting on the Holy Eucharist: “Man ate the food of angels” (Communion). 3. A passage from St. Cyril of Jerusalem is in place here: “Let us, with the grace of God, walk the way of chastity boys and girls, old and young. Let us not fail to appreciate the dignity of chastity, for this is a crown that belongs to angels; it is superhuman perfection” (Catech. 12, 34).
Collect: God, who apportionest the gifts of heaven, and who in the angelical youth Aloysius didst unite wonderful innocence of character with no less marvelous penance; by his merits and prayers grant that we who have not followed him in innocence may imitate his penance. Amen.
—(Benedict Baur)
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Marriage Guidance
A Study of the Problems of the Married and of those Contemplating Marriage
(1948)
By Edwin F. Healy
SECTION III
The Duties of Parents in
Regard to Their Offspring
CHAPTER XVII
Parents' Duties in General
The Parent as Teacher
8. Be Courteous in Commanding. A child should never be shouted at. In speaking to a child one should use a modulated tone that carries conviction. "Please" and "thank you" should always be employed. In order to avoid being too formal, one might omit the word "please" and put the order in the form of a question. "Would you mind getting the paper for me, Tam? It is in the front room, I believe." Often, too, the tone of one's voice will answer the same purpose. Same parents must beware of their tendency to nag by giving too many commands or by repeating a request too often. Too much commanding is to be condemned, for it will arouse in the child understandable resentment. If the order given is not obeyed at the determined time, let the parents quietly punish the child without further ado.
EXAMPLE. Mrs. Moylan suddenly notices that her little daughter Mildred has picked up her new hat to examine it. "Put that down," shrieks Mrs. Moylan, "and get out of this room. Do you hear me? Get out!" A few minutes later, meeting Mildred in the kitchen, she sharply says: "Go upstairs this instant and change those good shoes for your old ones."
9. Do Not Discourage. When a child fails to fulfill a command through no fault of his own, let him see that he has incurred no blame. If he has sincerely tried to do what he was told, one should be satisfied with his efforts, though they may have been awkward and unfruitful. When a child is not executing an order properly, one should calmly and with a manifest desire to help point out how he can accomplish his purpose more quickly and more easily. The child should of course be reproved for his faults, but it is well to call attention often to some favorable point in his conduct and to commend him for that. Prudent encouragement is important and serves as a strong stimulus to the child. Corrections should as a rule be given to the child in private. It is not desirable to call his attention to faults in the presence of his brothers or sisters, and it is especially unwise to reprove a child in the presence of those who are not members of the family. A child's feelings should be respected, and it is usually embarrassing and humiliating for him to be publicly called to task. If the child' s behavior before strangers is worthy of censure and if there is no necessity for immediate correction, the misdeed should be passed over in silence at that time. He can afterward be corrected in private. It often happens that parents, without a word of reproach, permit their child to practice many discourtesies at home. If, however, the child acts in this way outside the family circle, he receives a sharp reprimand. Such inconsistency is caused by the fact that when they are with strangers they see the child's actions from the viewpoint of these outsiders and realize how unbecoming the child's behavior really is. Parents should of course adopt a single standard for the child's behavior and insist on its observance both in the home and outside. A mother is often sorely tried by the exasperating conduct of her offspring, but she should remember that to allow herself to be carried away by anger over trivialities is unreasonable and sinful. In a matter of importance, however, one may without fault manifest displeasure in a forceful way. There are some occasions when it would even be praiseworthy to use this means to impress the child with the seriousness of a command.
EXAMPLE 1. Bert Ingram, twelve years of age, has worked hard in the garden all day long. That evening his father goes out to see what the boy has accomplished. "Why, Bert," he angrily exclaims, "you stupid fool! You have dug up all my little tomato plants." "You told me to spade up this whole section," Bert replies. "I thought those were just weeds." "You haven't a brain in your head," his father shouts. "In the future keep your clumsy hands off my garden."
COMMENT. Mr. Ingram's crude manner of addressing his son is to be condemned. If, moreover, the young boy had little experience in gardening, he probably deserved no reprimand. It would be better for the father to pass over the mistake with a good laugh and, with his arm thrown over his son's shoulder, to have cautioned Bert to examine plants carefully on future occasions before digging them under.
EXAMPLE 2. The Crawfords with their little son Robert are dining at the home of Mr. Crawford's wealthy employer. On several occasions Robert has caused his parents embarrassment. Without excusing himself he reached in front of his neighbor in order to get a piece of bread. After blowing on his soup, he ate it rather noisily. All during the meal his elbows were on the table.
COMMENT. It is advisable for the Crawfords during the course of the dinner to pretend not to notice Robert's actions. Upon their return home they should explain to him what etiquette requires at table. A father and mother should insist that their child behave properly on all occasions, both at home and elsewhere.
EXAMPLE 3. Mr. and Mrs. Groves with their eleven-year-old son, Tom, were visiting some friends. Tom was talking earnestly to his young companion when suddenly he shouted in a loud voice: "Aw, that dope's a dirty stinker." "Tom," Mrs. Groves exclaims, "what language! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
COMMENT. Since Tom's conduct should be censured at once, Mrs. Groves' remark was well advised.
CASES TO BE ANALYZED
1. "George," Mrs. Randolf asks her husband, "why don't you put the children to bed tonight? It would be so nice, too, if you would fix little Larry's bottle during the night once in a while." "Sarah," her husband answers, "all those things are a mother's work. I put in a hard day at the Office and I don't want to be bothered with taking care of the kiddies when I come home. I am not trying to be unpleasant; it is just a matter of principle as to the proper division of responsibility between husband and wife."
2. "Go down to the basement and get my gloves," sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Holcomb orders her little sister Marie. "I will not," Marie replies, "get them yourself." Mrs. Holcomb hears this and says nothing.
3. George Barrett, five years old, frequently hurls objects through the open window. Sometimes he throws books; sometimes ash trays or such things that he finds on the table. On several occasions, too, Mrs. Barrett discovered him lighting matches. She has tried to break him of these habits, but despite repeated efforts she has not succeeded in effecting any noticeable improvement.
4. "Yesterday morning Junior got up on a chair in the bathroom," Mrs. Hayes related to Mrs. Dinan, "got hold of the Mercurochrome and had just swallowed about half of it when I caught him." "Heavens!" Mrs. Dinan exclaimed. "What in the world did you do?" "Fortunately," Mrs. Hayes explained, "my next-door neighbor used to be a nurse, so she got him to throw up the poison." "Well, you are certainly lucky," Mrs. Dinan observed, "I don't know what I would do in such an emergency."
5. "I wouldn't use a silver chain for that medal," Mrs. Luigi remarked to her sister Mrs. Martino as she pointed to a Miraculous Medal which hung from the Martino baby's neck. "It is dangerous. I have heard of babies being strangled to death in their sleep by such chains." "Well, what else can I do except pin it to his clothes?" Mrs. Martino asks. "And I don't want to do that, for then it might very easily be overlooked and get lost when we send his clothes to the laundry."
6. "Martha," Thomas Green shouted to his wife, "little Myrtle just put a button up her nose and I can't get it out." Mrs. Green took her little daughter in her arms and tried to dislodge the button, but without success. "This might cause her serious difficulty, Tom," she said to her husband. "I suppose we'd better hurry her to a doctor at once."
7. "Mother," Sidney Duffy screamed, "Beatrice is choking. Hurry!" Mrs. Duffy rushed into the dining room and discovered that her six-year-old daughter's face was deeply flushed and that she was struggling to breathe. A fishbone had evidently stuck in her throat.
8. Mrs. Weltin is working about the living room while her little daughter Mabel is sitting on the floor and playing with her toys. To her consternation Mrs. Weltin sees Mabel pick up a tack and swallow it before she can stop her. The nearest doctor is five miles away and Mrs.Weltin is beside herself for fear her daughter will suffer grave internal hemorrhages.
9. Little Theresa Metcalf had been playing in the snow all afternoon. When she came inside to get ready for dinner, her mother noticed that she had lost one mitten and that her hand was frostbitten. "Just put your hand in this basin of cold water," Mrs. Metcalf tells her, "and we'll soon have it thawed out."
10. Julia Greer, five years old, is playing in front of the house. Julia is ordinarily a well-behaved child, but Mrs. Greer suddenly realizes that her young daughter is crying out repeatedly, "My mother is a dirty slob." Rushing out of the house, Mrs. Greer seizes Julia, gives her a vigorous spanking and warns her solemnly: "Don't you ever say such a thing again. Why, in all my life I never heard of anything that was quite so terrible as that!"
11. Little Peter refuses to share his toys with Rose, his young sister. Every time his mother tries to persuade him to let Rose play with his scooter or his flashlight, he screams in protest. "I don't blame him," his father remarks. "After all, those things were given to him and they are his. Why should he let Rose take them?"
12. James Lyons, ten years old, is listening to the radio. His mother calls to him from the front porch, "James, go upstairs and get my glasses from my room. They are on the bureau." "I won't," James mumbles. "Make Jane get them. I don't want to miss the end of this story."
13. "You eat those beans and do it this instant," Mrs. Harrington commanded with a frown. "But, Mother, " little Anna objected, "I can't eat them. That would be wrong, because they're mixed with pork and today is Friday." "Right or wrong," Mrs. Harrington shouts, "you just do whatever you're told to do."
14. Lester Munson smilingly approached his mother. "I am all ready to go to the movie," he informed her. "Oh, you are, are you?" Mrs. Munson replied. "Who said you could go?" "You promised me that if I put the library in order you'd take me this afternoon," Lester explained, "and I just finished the job." "Well," his mother said, "we just can't go this week. I have too many things to do."
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The Roman Catholic Church Today
And
The Question of Jurisdiction
What is Jurisdiction?
First, an understanding must be set forward so it is clear the topic under consideration is rightly addressed. Canon 196 states: The power of jurisdiction or governance, which exists in the Church by divine institution, is for the external forum and for the internal forum or conscience, whether sacramental or extra-sacramental. Therefore, jurisdiction is understood by the Church to fall under the category of governance and, therefore, ecclesiastical jurisdiction is the right to govern the Church, but which governance includes who has the right to administer the Sacraments and to teach in her name. The supreme authority lies in Peter and his legitimate Successor who is the recognized Bishop of Rome by the Catholic Church.
Canon 109 states: Those who are taken into the ecclesiastical hierarchy are not bound thereto by the consent or call of the people or secular power, but are constituted in the grades of the power of orders by sacred ordination; into the supreme pontificate, by divine law itself upon the completion of the conditions of legitimate election and acceptance; in the remanding grades of jurisdiction, by canonical mission.
Stanislaus Woywod, in The New Canon Law (1918) comments:
86. Those who, in the Church, are received into the ecclesiastical hierarchy, are not accepted by consent or a call from the secular authority or the people, but are placed in the degrees of the power of orders by sacred ordination. In the supreme pontificate the person lawfully elected and freely accepting the election receives power of jurisdiction by Divine right: all others receive jurisdiction by the canonical mission. (p 22)
Sägmüller gives this explanation:
The Church founded by Christ for the salvation of men needs, like every society, a regulating power (the authority of the Church). This power Christ has bestowed upon it. Directly before His Ascension He gave to the Apostles collectively the commission, and with it the authority, to proclaim his doctrine to all nations, to baptize them, and to teach them to observe all things that He had commanded (Matt. 28:18 sqq.) . . . It is customary to speak of a threefold office of the Church: the office of teaching (prophetic office), the priestly office, and the pastoral office (governing office), also, therefore, of the threefold authority of the Church, that is, the teaching authority, ministerial authority, and ruling authority. Since, however, the teaching of the Church is authoritative, the teaching authority is traditionally included in the ruling authority; regularly, therefore, only the ministerial authority and the ruling authority are distinguished. By ministerial authority, which is conferred by an act of consecration, is meant the inward, and, because of its indelible character, permanent capacity to perform acts by which Divine grace is transmitted. By ruling authority, which is conferred by the Church (missio canonica, canonical mission), is understood the authority to guide and rule the Church of God. (Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, The Catholic Encyclopedia)
In the Hierarchy of Jurisdiction, that is, those receiving orders (ordination, consecration, election), Sägmüller continues:
In the hierarchy of jurisdiction the episcopate and the papacy are of Divine origin; all the other grades are of ecclesiastical institution. According to the Vatican Council the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St. Peter, has been established by Christ as the visible head of the whole Church militant, and possesses a real primacy of jurisdiction, in virtue of which he has supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal Church in matters of faith, morals, discipline, and the government of the Church. This power is ordinary and immediate over all the Churches, and over each one in particular, over all the pastors and faithful, collectively and individually (Const. de Eccl. Christi, cap. i-3). The government of the Church is strictly monarchical. The bishops are the successors of the Apostles, but do not inherit their personal prerogatives, such as universal jurisdiction and infallibility (Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIII, De sacramento ordinis, cap. iv). The pope is bound to establish bishops who enjoy genuine ordinary power in the Church (potestas ordinaria), and who are not merely his delegates or vicars, as some medieval theologians held. On the other hand, the theory proposed in the fifteenth century at the Councils of Constance and Basle, which made the pope subject to an œcumenical council; the Gallican theory, that would impose limits on his power by the ancient canons received in the Church, and requiring the acceptance or consent of the Church before his decisions could become irreformable; and the theory of Febronius, who maintained that the Holy See had usurped many rights which properly belonged to the bishops and that ought to be restored to them, are all equally false and opposed to the monarchical constitution of the Church. An œcumenical council does, indeed, possess sovereign authority in the Church, but it cannot be œcumenical without the pope. (Ibid.)
Charles Augustine, in his work, A Commentary on Canon Law, gives this entry:
This canon, the first of which is taken from the dogmatic canons of the Council of Trent [Conc. Trid., Sess. 23, can. 4, De Eccl. Hierarchia et Ordinatione; those chosen in the way here condemned are called “robbers and thieves” (John 10, 1)] is directed against certain innovations which cropped out throughout the history of the Church, but were introduced especially by the so-called reformers of the sixteenth century. The “consent of the people” was the favourite cry of Arnold of Brescia and his followers in the twelfth century. It was repeated by Wyclif and Hus, Calvin and Zwingli. Against these the Council of Trent declared it as an article of faith that the people have no voice in the choice of ministers. The consent of the civil power was favored by Luther, and partly also by Zwingli at the Council of Zurich. Both demands are excluded by the very organization of the Church and its nature as a societas inaequalitas.
The next clause establishes the human agency by which the papal power is conferred, i.e., legitimate election accepted by the person elected. On this subject more shall be said in its proper place. The reason for the law here laid down is that the papal power is supreme, and there is no superior who could either ratify election to it or accept the person elected.
The “mission canonica” is necessary for all who are inferior to the pope. For as the Lord sent the Apostles, [Matt. 28:18; Rom.10:15] so in turn, they sent others to exercise their spiritual power with authority, and without such credentials no one has authority in the Church. Formerly (up to the twelfth century) the missio canonica was believed to be included on ordination, but now that absolute ordination is possible, a distinct missio canonica, by which jurisdiction is conferred is always required. [Cf. Sagmüller, K. R., ed. I, p. 147-48]
This brings us to the first point: Who possesses ecclesiastical jurisdiction?
(To be continued)
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Notices:
On July 9 Fr Krier will be in Pahrump, NV and July 23 he will be in Eureka, NV.
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church is in the process of constructing a church hall, classrooms, library and residence in its efforts to provide for the parish and to have a place for research in traditional Roman Catholicism as well as a meeting place for those interested in both the perennial teachings and the movements to continue the Roman Catholic Church after the apostasy of the Conciliar Church. We hope you will support us in this effort as a center for spreading the Catholic Faith worldwide. We will still need to borrow $175,000 from the bank without your further assistance. Since the Church is located in the heart of Sin City (Las Vegas), it is a metaphor that the Church continues through her faithful bishops, priests, and laity in this sinful world that rejects the saving grace of salvation. Thank you for your prayers and asking your continuance of prayer to bring this project to completion.
Meanwhile, we want to thank all those who have so generously heeded this appeal and all who have supported our apostolate through the years.
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