Dear Brothers in Christ,

As fall fills the air we turn to the closing of another Liturgical Year. The Holy Season of Advent begins this year the weekend of November 26th and 27th. As we begin Advent we also begin the new revisions of the Roman Missal which impacts the words, the prayers, and the music we will use at the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.

Pope John Paul II announced a revised version of the Missale Romanum during the Jubilee Year 2000. Among other things, the revised edition of the Missale Romanum contains prayers for the observances of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Votive Masses and Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, and some updated and revised rubrics (instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. The English translation of the Roman Missal will also include updated translations of existing prayers, including some of the well-known responses and acclamations of the people.

The entire Church in the United States has been blessed with this opportunity to deepen its understanding of the Sacred Liturgy, and to appreciate its meaning and importance in our lives. The Liturgical ministers of the Parish of St. Theresa have been planning for the implementation of the new translation for the past six months. Our goal has been to make this implementation as seamless as possible. This is an opportunity for all Catholics to deepen, nurture, and celebrate our faith through the renewal of our worship and the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.

As Knights of Columbus we are called to be leaders in our parishes, showing the support of the Church and the pastor in the work of the local church. I call upon all members of our council to open our hearts to the Spirit of the implementation of the revised Missal. The Parish will be returning to the use of Missals in the main worship space and the chapel. We will have new song books which include the new translations and setting for many old and new hymns. The Priests and Deacons will use the revised Sacramentary with all the new prayers at all the Masses.

It is an exciting time in the Church. As such I am marking the liturgical year of 2012 – 2013 as the year of the Sacred Liturgy. During this year we will put a special emphasis on how and why we celebrate the Sacred Liturgy. We will break down the various parts of the Mass as we attempt to explain the why and how we celebrate. We hope that through our efforts we can reach out to those Catholics who for one reason or another have fallen away from the church and welcome them back with a fresh and renewed appreciation of the Celebration of Christ’s Sacrifice for us all, which we celebrate in the Sacred Liturgy.

This is a great time to invite others and to renew and rededicate ourselves to the Sacred Liturgy which Christ has given to us all.

Yours in Christ

Fr. Mick

Chaplain

My Brothers in Christ

October is Respect Life Month the United States. This annual tradition is now in its fortieth year. This month Catholics across the nation will join together to witness to the basic equality and value of every human being, whether in the womb or in the world. Here at St. Theresa this month we join together to pray the Rosary after every Mass asking our Blessed Mother to wrap her mantle around all women pregnant or contemplating having a child. In the many liturgies here we give thanks to God for the gift of human life, and pray for his guidance and blessings on our efforts to defend the most vulnerable members of the human family.

As Catholics we must also follow the direction of the American Catholic Bishops when they call us to voice our opposition to the injustice and cruelty of abortion on behalf of those victims whose voices have been silenced. At the same time, we will remind the living victims of abortion—the mothers and fathers who grieve the loss of an irreplaceable child—that God’s mercy is greater than any human sin, and that healing and peace can be theirs through the sacrament of reconciliation and the Church’s Project Rachel Ministry.

Remember that our Lord has told us that he came so all could have life. Jesus refers both to our hope of eternal life and our life in this world where we serve as his disciples bring the hope of life to all persons. By following Jesus, our lives are fulfilled and filled with joy and peace.

So how can we stand sadly silent when our culture and sometimes our government promote values that are indifferent to the true dignity and good of every life? We watch silently as more and more attempts are made to remove the very mentioning of God, the source of all life, from public life. Contraceptives are promoted even to young teens as though they were essential to women’s well-being, and abortion defended as the “necessary” back-up plan when contraceptives fail. Contraceptives are being issued as though they were a prescriptive treatment for a disease. No! Pregnancy is not a disease.

Please, as brother Knights, let us focus our prayer to a new awakening among the people, a new awakening among legislators, a new awakening of the world. The human race needs to embrace its own origin, namely life from our loving God.  We must celebrate our own humanness even with all our flaws and weakness. We must embrace the humanity of our future. The selfishness of this world must stop and be replaced with a new awareness of the other. Let us pray for our Lord to soften the hearts of the many. Let us pray that the words of Jesus resound in our hearts as we proclaim to the world that Jesus our Lord and Savior “came so that all might have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10).

Yours in Christ

Fr. Mick

My Dear Brothers in Christ,

I trust that, as fall approaches, we can recall the summer beauty of our New Jersey coastal location and the joy it has brought all of us and our visitors.  We give great thanks for having been spared the wrath of hurricane Irene and pray for those who felt its devastating destruction.

As we begin a new Columbian year I salute our new slate of officers and look forward to the upcoming year and the good works that have already been proposed.

Moving on, I would now like to give answer and clarity to a question which has been raised which concerns many men in our community: What is the Catholic Church's official position on Freemasonry and are Catholics free to become Freemasons?

Freemasonry is incompatible with the Catholic faith. Freemasonry teaches a naturalistic religion that espouses indifferentism, the position that a person can be equally pleasing to God while remaining in any religion. Masonry is a parallel religion to Christianity. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states, "Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward and punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiative and burial rites". Masonry is also a secret society. Its initiates subscribe to secret blood oaths that are contrary to Christian morals. The prospective Mason swears that if he ever reveals the secrets of Masonry—secrets which are trivial and already well-known—he wills to be subject to self-mutilation or to gruesome execution (most Masons, admittedly, never would dream of carrying out these punishments on themselves or on an errant member). Historically, one of Masonry's primary objectives has been the destruction of the Catholic Church; this is especially true of Freemasonry as it has existed in certain European countries. In the United States, Freemasonry is often little more than a social club, but it still espouses a naturalistic religion that contradicts orthodox Christianity. The Church has imposed the penalty of excommunication on Catholics who become Freemasons. The penalty of excommunication for joining the Masonic Lodge was explicit in the 1917 code of canon law (canon 2335), and it is implicit in the 1983 code (canon 1374). Because the revised code of canon law is not explicit on this point, some drew the mistaken conclusion that the Church's prohibition of Freemasonry had been dropped. As a result of this confusion, shortly before the 1983 code was promulgated, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement indicating that the penalty was still in force.

In the most recent decree from the Vatican on the subject of Freemasonry it states: 

“The Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic associations remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.”

Canon Law states:

Canon 915: Membership in Freemasonry is an external or public condition, thus the Catholic Mason can be refused Holy Communion by the pastors of the Church for obstinately persevering in his Masonic membership

Canon 916: A Catholic who is aware that the Church authoritatively judges membership in Freemasonry to be gravely sinful must not approach Holy Communion. The Church imposes the duty upon all grave sinners not to make a sacrilegious communion. Such a Catholic Mason who is aware of the grave sin must receive absolution in a sacramental confession before being able to receive communion again, unless there is a grave reason and no opportunity to confess. This confession, in order to be valid, also requires the Catholic Mason to renounce his Masonic membership.

Canon 1007: A Catholic Mason would also be forbidden from receiving the Anointing of the Sick

Canon 1184: A Catholic Mason would be forbidden from receiving ecclesiastical funeral rites if public scandal were to result. 

Canon 1364: Imposes an automatic excommunication upon apostates, heretics, or schismatics. This canon could also apply to Catholic Masons. If, for example, a Catholic Mason embraced the theological teachings of Freemasonry that the Church has condemned (indifferentism, syncretism), he would be in heresy by virtue of his belief in these teachings. Further, if a Catholic Mason knew the Church opposes membership in Freemasonry, and yet adamantly and persistently refused to submit to the pope’s authority in precluding his membership in the Lodge, he may also find himself in schism.

Canon 1374: a Catholic Mason could also be subject to the imposition of an interdict or just penalty upon those who join associations that plot against the Church.

For the canonical penalties to apply, the Catholic Mason would have to act in a gravely imputable way (that is, the Catholic would have to be aware of the Church’s teaching on Freemasonry and, after being warned about it, choose to disregard it).

Unfortunately today many Catholic Masons do act in a gravely imputable way in regard to their Masonic membership and so the canonical penalties, including excommunication do apply.

The Church's penalties are not meant to alienate the person on whom the penalty is levied. Instead, the penalties are meant to communicate to the person the gravity of his conduct, encourage his repentance and reconciliation with the Church, and bring him back into the one fold of Christ. After all, the mission of the Church is the salvation of souls.

I am very aware of the Mason’s strong presence in Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor and how many men and women in our community may not realize the prohibitions placed on membership in the Masons by the Roman Catholic Church.

This is the reason for this writing.

The Roman Catholic Church prohibition against Freemasonry is not a joke. It is the Law of the Roman Catholic Church and deals directly with the fidelity to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Yes the Freemasons are a large and powerful worldwide organization. However it is in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. The same Church that Jesus instituted when he said “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

I pray that if you are a Catholic Freemason you consider the gravity of your decision to participate in this organization. If you know of some person who is a Catholic Freemason, please give them this information. If you are a Catholic considering joining the Freemasons, please consider carefully what you are doing.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Mick Lambeth

Pastor and Chaplain of Council #14615

Dear Brother Knights,

I pray that this Easter season has found you rejoicing in the great resplendent glory that comes from God and God alone!  Our Lord has risen and in doing so he has conquered all sin, anxiety and death. Our Lord has provided us with a faith that is beyond all comparison. Christ's resurrection makes Christianity the only truly Supernatural religion.  Almost all religions in the history of the world have been strictly natural. The polytheistic religions recognized mankind's dependence on powers outside of their control: life and death, food and light, the seasons and the stars.  In primitive times, when mere survival was at stake, religion attempted to provide a way for men and women to stay in perfect synch with these natural forces.

Hunting and agricultural rituals and sacrifices served that purpose. Today, New Age, neo-paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, Dianetics, and other pseudo-religions are returning to this naturalism.

In advanced civilizations, religion developed along more negative lines. Once human societies became stable enough to produce a high literary culture, there emerged an awareness of the futility of the natural religions.

The cycles of nature didn't go anywhere. There was no progress. It was a purposeless wheel of birth, death, and rebirth.

For these advanced religions, then, the goal became an escape from the meaningless natural cycles and a blending into the nothingness beyond nature. This was the case of Buddhism, for example, and Taoism.

Judaism was entirely different - which makes sense, since it alone of the ancient religions consisted in God revealing himself to man, not man striving to understand God.  But human nature had obscured this vocation - the Israelites were still seeking heaven on earth.  Islamic religion, which began six centuries after Christ, attempted to return to an Old Testament type of faith, however incomplete.

Only with Christ's resurrection was the revelation of man's supernatural vocation made complete. Christ, by rising from the dead, revealed it in his own life.  He transcended all natural limits, not by dissolving into nothingness, as the old religions taught, but by entering into the glory of complete communion with God.

That is the vocation of every human being.  That is the vocation for all our brother Knights. In him, without losing our personalities, we become sharers in the divine, everlasting life.

This is the unthinkable, wonderful revelation of Easter. It is what makes us a chosen race, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people set apart!

May God bless you and your families this Easter season!

Your faithful servant in Christ,

Fr. Brian