Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010
March 28, 2005
WCR Letters to the Editor
Adjust your compass Moore
Charles Moore's March 14 article on good and evil is a simplistic jumble of evangelical fundamentalism and right wing conservative rhetoric ("Good and evil battle for our soul").
For someone who is calling for a moratorium on rhetoric, Mr. Moore is quite indulgent to violating his own advice. He is also quite prepared to follow a moral compass, which seems to be stuck in the same direction as Mr. Bush's neo-conservative compass needle.
Just a friendly reminder Charles; a stuck compass needle simply creates the false illusion of heading in the right direction. Free the needle Mr. Moore and make the necessary adjustments. You may even find that it will automatically swing a bit to the left of where you're headed. Goodness can also be found in the liberal left and the execrable charter.
I do agree with you, however, on the need to focus more on responsibilities than rights and freedoms. We all have an individual responsibility for our own goodness and a responsibility to the collective for ensuring social justice and the common good.
Is Mr. Bush's call for freedom and liberty also a call for these responsibilities or simply window dressing for American neo-conservative rights and self-interest?
Wilf Borgstede
St. Albert
Cancellation of liturgy bulletin mourned
I like to believe that I am a liturgist and devoted lay minister and weekly, no daily, I call to mind how such ministry came about through the "revolution" unleashed by Pope John XXIII some 45 years ago when he called the bishops of the world to the Second Vatican Council.
In Canada, the reaction to the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in 1963 led eventually to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops beginning the publication of the National Bulletin on Liturgy. Used throughout the world, it has often been described as a jewel among such publications. It reached its 37th volume last December.
And, now the sad part. The CCCB has now discontinued publishing the NBL, following a recommendation from the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy's study, and to begin an electronic version.
I welcome this bound into the new age, but as a book lover I will miss the sight of the many bound volumes in a favoured corner. I also believe that the average liturgist and lay minister will not have the same access to the many, many treasures that come to us in each quarterly edition.
Leonard Allbon
Edmonton
Holy water denotes a spiritual blessing
Re.: "Why is the holy basin empty," by Sister Louise Zdunich (WCR, March 14).
Holy water is a sacramental blessed by a priest in the name of the Church, invoking God's blessing and grace on all who use it. It is a symbol of spiritual cleansing and its use is advised in moments of physical danger and temptation.
St. Theresa of Avila recommends in a special way the use of holy water: "I often experience that there is nothing the devils flee from more - without returning - than holy water. . . . The power of holy water must be great. For me there is a particular and very noticeable consolation my soul experiences upon taking it."
I am, therefore, puzzled by Sister Louise Zdunich's claim that Lent is a time to fast from holy water.
If Lent is really a time of fasting from "spiritual joys" as Sister Zdunich's claims them perhaps we should do away with the Mass since it is the summit towards which the Church's action tends and at the same time the source from which comes all her strength.
As the Church has blessed holy water with solemn prayers, we may be sure that God, who answers the petitions of his Church, will not fail to increase the charity and contrition of those who use it, and to assist them in their contests with the powers of evil.
And isn't this what Lent is really all about?
Holy water is placed at the door of the church in order that the faithful may sprinkle themselves with it as they enter, accompanying the outward rite of sorrow and love.
Paul Kokoski
Hamilton, Ont.
Holy Water basin emptied at end of Lent
Re: "Why is the holy basin empty?" (WCR, March 14)
In response to Sister Louise Zdunich's answer to the question "Why is the holy basin empty?" The answer is not as clear cut as Sister Zdunich explains.
Msgr. Mario Marini, the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Divine Worship, states that this practice is only allowed at the end of Lent.
The season of Lent is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and Baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.
Also, the encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent.
The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church.
Janet MacLellan
Edmonton
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