"All words have lost their meanings now."

For a man whose favorite mode of communication seems to be carrier pigeons, our underground correspondent somewhere in an Atlantic seaboard state, Guy Noir - Private Eye, seems surprisingly savvy about contemporary electronic technology. He used some sort of messenger app on his smart phone (didn't know he even had one) to contact me today as I was sitting at my computer. All of a sudden, there he was, bushy beard and all. One might have mistaken him for one of them mountain men up in the hollers of the Appalachian mountains.

Anyway, he blurts out: "Peter Kreeft has a new book out on world religions. [This is the one I think he had in mind.] At Amazon, one reviewer calls him an 'exclusivist.'"

At which point Noir, without letting me get a word in edgewise, contorts his bearded face and simply yells into his phone: "TO WHICH I REPLY, ALL WORDS HAVE LOST THEIR MEANINGS NOW!"

"Well, what do you mean?" says I.

And he replies: "I esteem Kreeft and his writing, but he engates in wishful thinking and his solutions are compromises of the Wojtyla-Ratzinger-Bergoglio sort."

"Whaaaa???" says I.

"They do not solve problems but amplify them," says he. "Ratzinger has a book called Faith and the Future, which is like a political pamphlet in its effort to please."



"This is more on point ..." says he, "old but useful." And he sends me while still on messenger (don't ask how, I wouldn't know), sending me a link to this article by Stan Guthrie, "Whose Submission? A Muslim-Christian dialogue," a critical review of Kreeft's Between Allah and Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims from some years back.

Guthrie begins his review by quoting the first line of Kreeft's earlier classic, Between Heaven and Hell, about three luminaries -- John F. Kennedy, Aldous Huxley, and C. S. Lewis -- who each died on November 22, 1963. In the first line from that book, JFK asks, "Where the hell are we?"

Guthrie observes that he had a similar reaction after reading Kreeft's later work, Between Allah and Jesuss, noting that it seems to stand the earlier one on its head, making a Muslim protagonist "a stand-in for the Lord," even having him claim to be "a better Christian than his Christian foils." Of course, given the state of Christian catechesis these days, this may not be too far from the truth in some cases.

In any case, Kreeft, Guthrie, and Noir all raise an important question to think about: Have our words lost all their meanings now, or, at least, are we in danger of our words losing their meaning? If we accept von Balthasar or Fr. Barron's hypothesis that hell could be empty, or nearly empty, for example, has our use of the word 'salvation' or 'redemption' lost all meaning? It's a fair question. And the same could be asked of our 'pastoral' use of words like 'love,' 'mercy,' and 'forgiveness,' in venues where there is almost no reference to 'repentance' or 'contrition.' If all religions present genuine paths to God and all non-Christians, Protestants, and members of sectarian religious cults have a reasonable expectation of finding themselves in heaven in the world to come, then what's the point of converting to the Catholic Faith? For that matter, what's the point of the New Evangelization? Sweet, merciful Jesus could be so severe at times:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Tridentine Community News - New York's St. Patrick Cathedral to hold Tridentine Mass; The Angel's Prayer from Fatima; Food for thought on the Triditional Mass; TLM Mass schedule

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (November 6, 2016):

November 6, 2016 – Resumed Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

New York’s St. Patrick Cathedral to Hold Tridentine Mass


Twenty years ago, in 1996, one of the best attended Tridentine Masses in modern times was held at New York’s St. Patrick Cathedral. The late Alfons Cardinal Stickler, the prefect emeritus of the Vatican Library and a vocal proponent of the Traditional Mass, was the celebrant. The enormous church was overflowing with over 4,000 worshippers. New York’s Archbishop at the time was John Cardinal O’Connor, who had given his blessing to reprint what is now the de facto standard altar missal for the Extraordinary Form in North America, Roman Catholic Books’ Missále Románum 1962. Not long thereafter, a second, more modestly attended Mass was celebrated at St. Patrick’s by Fr. John Perricone. One would think that with such success, additional Tridentine Masses would be held in short order. Unfortunately, such was not the case. Vocal objectors to the Traditional Mass got the Cardinal’s ear, and since that time, despite many efforts, no one has been able to obtain permission to hold another Tridentine Mass there. Until now.


On Monday, November 14 at 7:00 PM, two councils of the Knights of Columbus have arranged the first Traditional Latin Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in twenty years. It is being promoted as a closing event for the Year of Mercy.

The recent multi-million dollar refurbishment of the cathedral leaves it in pristine shape to host such a Mass. The freestanding altar has been removed, leaving only the High Altar under the baldacchino. The Communion Rail is intact. What a glorious sight it will be to have the Old Rite return there, hopefully on a more regular basis going forward.

The Angel’s Prayer from Fatima


When making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or indeed when arriving at a church before Mass, a good way to begin is to pray the Angel’s Prayer from Fatima. It is to be prayed three times, with one’s head profoundly bowed:

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love Thee! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, and do not love Thee. O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles throughout the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is Himself offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and by the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

Food for Thought on the Traditional Mass

Around fifty years ago, Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand posed the following questions: “Does the new Mass, more than the old, bestir the human spirit – does it evoke a sense of eternity? Does it help raise our hearts from the concerns of everyday life – from the purely material aspects of the world – to Christ? Does it increase reverence, an appreciation of the sacred?”

The texts and rituals of the Tridentine Mass do just that. The Traditional Latin Mass formed Saints over the centuries and continues to inspire commitment to the Holy Catholic Faith today.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 11/07 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Feria)
• Tue. 11/08 7:00 PM: High Requiem Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead)
• Sat. 11/12 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. Martin I, Pope & Martyr)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for November 6, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]