Editor’s Note: Reflecting on the Transfiguration of the Lord and gender confusion, Fr. George Rutler said recently that the glorification of Jesus “confounds the Gnostic mistake of treating nature as an evil construct, destructive of the human spirit that struggles to be free of it. That perennial heresy is now a fashion in the form of gender politics. ‘Transgender’ is a misnomer. Gender pertains to grammar and not biology.”
In the bulletin of the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. Rutler wrote that “a Gnostic agenda treats the body as though it were merely an irrelevant noun that can be changed to what it is not. This is mutilation and not transfiguration. Mutilations are ‘against the moral law’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2297).
“The Second Vatican Council rejected Gnostic dualism: ‘Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity….He is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day’ (CCC, n. 364). Imaginary redefinition of the self has widely become a political ‘right’ and sane rejection of that is called ‘hate speech.’ Where is George Orwell?”
Rutler noted that “the Johns Hopkins psychiatrist, Dr. Paul McHugh, explains that sex change is ‘biologically impossible’ and ‘people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.’ Confusing children about their identity comes ‘close to child abuse’.”
The pastor said further that “insinuating into the armed forces people with such psychological problems harms them and the national defense….Nearly 400 medical conditions can disqualify people from military service, and identity confusion is a serious one….Current headlines tell of huge military parades in China, naval displays in Russia, and missile launches in the rogue state of North Korea. They would very much like to see more Gnostic dreaming in our armed forces. But fantasy is not the strategy that wins peace among nations or peace of soul.”
Q. For as long as I can remember, The Wanderer has reported each year on the blood of St. Januarius being liquefied. But there was no report this year. What is going on? — W.A.D., Massachusetts.
A. St. Januarius was a bishop of Benevento, Italy, who was martyred around the year 305 during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. His relics ended up in Naples where, beginning in the 14th century, a vial containing a solid red substance reputed to be his blood liquefies, bubbles, and boils when exposed in the cathedral there. This miraculous event traditionally occurs on September 19, his feast day, December 16, on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, and sometimes on other days during the year.
If the blood fails to liquefy, it is believed to be a sign of impending disastrous events. This happened in 1943, when Italy was occupied by the Nazis; in 1973, when Naples was hit by a cholera epidemic; and in 1980, when an earthquake struck the region.
The blood liquefied during a visit of Pope Francis to Naples on March 21, 2015, but it failed to liquefy on December 16, 2016. “We shouldn’t think of tragedies and calamities,” said Msgr. Vincenzo de Gregorio, the abbot of the chapel at the Naples Cathedral. “We are men of faith and we must keep on praying.”
It will be interesting to see what happens on September 19 of this year, the saint’s feast day.
Q. A friend of mine doesn’t understand why Catholics believe in the Assumption of Mary into Heaven at the end of her life when there is nothing about it in the Bible. Can you help explain why we believe in this teaching? — G.J., via e-mail.
A. Not everything Catholics believe is explicitly mentioned in the Bible. For example, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which means that she was free from original sin from the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, is not explicitly stated in Scripture, but it can be inferred from the words of the Angel Gabriel, who addressed our Lady as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28).
If Mary was full of grace at the time of the angel’s visit, then she was full of God’s divine life and completely free from all sin, including original sin. Jesus granted her this privilege because He wanted to be born of a pure and sinless mother.
Our belief in the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is a corollary to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The reasoning behind this other Marian dogma is that, since Mary was free from original sin, and the corruption of the grave is a consequence of that sin, she did not suffer the decay of the grave. It is not unreasonable to think that Jesus would want His Mother to share in His bodily glorification since it was her body that sheltered Him for nine months. Publicly stated belief in this doctrine can be traced back at least to the sixth century, when St. Gregory of Tours wrote that the Lord Jesus came to Earth at the end of Mary’s life and commanded that her body “be taken in a cloud into Paradise, where now, rejoined to the soul, it rejoices with the Lord’s chosen ones, and is in the enjoyment of the good of an eternity that will never end.”
While the Church from her earliest days believed in the bodily Assumption of Mary into Heaven, it was not until 1950 that Pope Pius XII, after consulting with bishops all over the world, infallibly proclaimed as a divinely revealed dogma that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”
There is an interesting sidelight to this in that the Holy Father also witnessed, like those at Fatima, a miracle of the sun just before and after his proclamation of the Assumption. He said that he observed this solar phenomenon four times — On October 30 while walking in the Vatican gardens, on October 31 and November 1, the day he defined the dogma, and on November 8, but never again. Perhaps our Lady was showing her approval for Pius XII’s action by granting him a miracle similar to the one in Fatima on October 13, 1917.
Q. In the Gospel reading at Mass today, Jesus forbids divorce, saying that “whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9). What did He mean by an unlawful marriage? — T.C., Illinois.
A. First of all, Jesus is not permitting divorce in some circumstances, as He makes clear in His unequivocal condemnation of it elsewhere (cf. Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18). We also have St. Paul’s equally clear statement: “To the married, however, I give this instruction (not I, but the Lord): A wife should not separate from her husband — and if she does separate she must remain single or become reconciled to her husband — and a husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10-11).
So what about the so-called “Matthean exception”? What Christ was talking about there was not a real marriage, but rather an illicit sexual union, perhaps an incestuous union or the cohabitation of persons who were not legally married. Since Jesus was discussing only those who appeared to be married, the question of divorce did not apply to them. Had they been truly married, they would have come under the prohibition of divorce that the Lord handed down in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
Q. Oftentimes at Mass the priest offers the bread and wine immediately after each other and omits the prayer, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Isn’t this improper and doesn’t it contradict the separation of Christ’s Body and Blood on the cross? And is it proper for the deacon to be involved in preparing the gifts? He is only a distraction. — W.L.R., Virginia.
A. Actually, the separate consecration of the bread and wine, not its offering, recalls the separation of Jesus’ Blood from His Body on the cross, but you are right that running the offerings together and omitting the prayer is a liturgical abuse.
It is not an abuse, however, for the deacon to help the celebrant prepare the gifts. One of the deacon’s responsibilities is to present to the priest the paten with the bread to be consecrated, to pour the water and wine into the chalice while reciting quietly the prayer, “By the mystery of this water . . . ,” and then handing the chalice to the priest (cf. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 178).
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