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Views from the Choir Loft

Peter Lives On

Fr. David Friel · August 21, 2011

That the Gospel for this Sunday, from the all-important Matthew chapter 16, coincides with the Holy Father’s pilgrimage to World Youth Day has to be providential.

I remember signing up for World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany. My main reason for doing so was to see Pope John Paul II, who had been a great inspiration to me growing up. Unfortunately, in between my registration and the event itself, John Paul II died. I still went, and I saw Pope Benedict XVI, instead.

Thinking back on it, though, there was really no difference. Simon & Linus & Cletus & Clement & Sixtus & Leo XIII & John XXIII & Paul VI & John Paul II & Benedict XVI all die. But Peter lives on. I went to see the Rock, and that’s whom I saw.

The role of Peter—as our voice and our principle of unity—never dies. What a gift we have been given! What if we didn’t have his voice to teach us? What if we left it up to a democratic vote to determine what we believe? We can look at this Gospel and see for ourselves. Jesus asks the Apostles to tell Him, “Who do people say that I am?” In other words, “What’s the general consensus about my identity?” And how do they respond? “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” They give a wide variety of wrong answers.

As then-Cardinal Ratzinger said: “Truth is not determined by a majority vote.” It was only Peter who gave the correct answer when he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” So, Truth is Jesus Christ, and we need the voice of Peter to identify Him.

As now-Pope Benedict XVI said earlier today: “Dear young people, do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be content with anything less than Christ.”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Fr. David Friel

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Indeed, we may not hope for real Latin poetry any more, because Latin is now a dead language to all of us. However well a man may read, write, or even speak Latin now, it is always a foreign language to him, acquired artificially. It is no one’s mother tongue. Does a man ever write real poetry in an acquired language?”

— Rev’d Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

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