True or Not True...?

The headline from Madrid Spain reads:
Catholic Church Shifts Policy on Condoms

MADRID, Spain -- In a substantial shift from traditional policy, the Catholic Church in Spain has said it supports the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.

"Condoms have a place in the global prevention of AIDS," Juan Antonio Martinez Campos, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, told reporters after a meeting Tuesday with Health Minister Elena Salgado to discuss ways of fighting the disease.

I'm not certain a full disclosure of facts can be found in this report.

In June, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, said condom use was "a form of Russian roulette" in fighting AIDS, El Pais said. The remark was roundly condemned by the Spanish government, the World Health Organization and other organizations involved in fighting AIDS, the papers said.

Roundly condemned because, of course, it is the truth...

Source.

Interview w/ Coadjutor Bishop Robert Finn

The man who will be Kansas City's next Catholic bishop had barely been appointed by the Vatican last March before some people in the diocese — but by no means all — began to fret.

In quiet conversations that started even before Robert W. Finn's installation as coadjutor bishop in May, some priests, nuns, diocese employees and church members worried that he is too theologically conservative for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese.

"Theologically conservative"...this is a term which usually means "faithful to the Church and the teachings of Christ and His Church".

It is undeniable that those who hold dissident views or who otherwise reject Church teaching see faithful Catholics, be they bishops, priests or laity, as a threat - just as darkness shuns the light and error runs from truth. It is the obligation of every Catholic to demonstrate fidelity and speak the truth.

Their worry has had several dimensions. One was the possibility of losing what one diocesan official described as “a spirit in the diocese of collaboration” under current Bishop Raymond J. Boland. “The diocese is not top-down,” this official said. “Maybe it's not bottom-up, but the people have a lot to say.”

Those who seem to have too much time on their hands spreading discord and dissent are well placed in the diocese...for example, The National Catholic Distorter...

The Interview can be read here.

Gospel for Wednesday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time

From: Mark 3:1-6

The Curing of the Man with a Withered Hand

[1] Again He (Jesus) entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. [2] And they watched Him, to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. [3] And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here." [4] And He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. [5] And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him.
********************
Commentary:

5. The evangelists refer a number of times to the way Jesus looks at people (e.g. at the young man: Mark 10:21; at St. Peter: Luke 22:61, etc). This is the only time we are told He showed indignation - provoked by the hypocrisy shown in verse 2.

6. The Pharisees were the spiritual leaders of Judaism; the Herodians were those who supported the regime of Herod, benefiting politically and financially thereby. The two were completely opposed to one another and avoided each other's company, yet they combined forces against Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to see the last of Him because they considered Him a dangerous innovator. The most recent occasion may have been when He pardoned sins (Mark 2:1ff) and interpreted with full authority the law of the Sabbath (Mark 3:2); they also want to get rid of Him because they consider that He lowered their own prestige in the eyes of the people by the way He cured the man with the withered hand. The Herodians, for their part, despised the supernatural and eschatological tone of Christ's message, since they looked forward to a purely political and temporal Messiah.
****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Health issues force Fr. Cleary to end Scripture column

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- After nearly a quarter-century of interpreting the weekly Scripture readings for readers of the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese, Jesuit Father Francis Xavier Cleary reluctantly is putting down his pen.

Health issues forced his hand, said the 75-year-old priest, whose column also has been carried in several other diocesan weeklies. His final column ran in the Jan. 7 issue of the Review.

Father Cleary, a biblical scholar, has written more than 1,000 scriptural columns for the Review since he first began writing for the paper in 1980. His column has consistently ranked near the top in popularity in multiple readership surveys over the years.

Msgr. Edward J. Sudekum, Review editor from 1981 to 1994 and now pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in University City, said Father Cleary "was not afraid to exhibit some interesting, fresh insights into the Gospel and the Gospel message, which makes all of us from time to time stop and think."

Source-Catholic News Service.

Consumer Reports Refers to Unborn Children as "Uterine Content"

In an E-Mail from Austin Ruse, he states:

Consumer Reports Magazine just rated the whole panoply of contraceptives and in the report referred to unborn children as "uterine content." They also write approvingly about abortion. This is an outrage.

Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President

Action item: Call Consumer Reports to cancel your subscription or otherwise complain. You can reach them at 1-914-378-2029. EVERYONE SHOULD CALL. IF IT IS BUSY, TRY AGAIN.Culture & Cosmos

January 18, 2005 Volume 2, Number 24
Consumer Reports Refers to Unborn Children as "Uterine Content"

A series of articles in the February Consumer Reports magazine rates condoms, hormonal birth control and many other forms of artificial contraception and also gives advice on abortion options where it refers to unborn humans as "uterine content." The article gives short shrift to abstinence and betrays a misunderstanding of natural family planning, a surprise given Consumer Reports' reputation of high credibility and thoroughness.

The group of articles, called CR's Guide to Contraception, begins with an evaluation of 23 kinds of condoms. It calls condoms the "only method" of preventing pregnancy "that also can help prevent sexually transmitted diseases." The article fails to discuss the permeability of condoms to human papillomavirus (HPV) which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is the most common form of STD and can cause cervical cancer.

The Guide to Contraception includes a sidebar disparaging the fact that the CDC's current fact sheet on condoms has changed to advocate sexual abstinence. According to the report, "A CDC spokesperson said the new fact sheet is more science-based than its predecessor and is meant for health professionals, but critics, including experts on reproductive health, charge that it puts ideology before science and encourages distrust of condoms."

The report also evaluates 17 different types of contraceptives and lists the "rhythm method" as one form. Andy Alderson, executive director of the Couple to Couple League which instructs married couples on how to use Natural Family Planning, said the Consumer Reports failed to do their home work on NFP and disputes their claim that the method has a "high failure rate if woman has irregular cycles." Anderson told Culture & Cosmos, "This is simply a false statement and shows a complete lack of understanding about NFP. Failure rates for irregular cycles were higher 30-40 years ago with the calendar-based rhythm method. But modern methods of NFP based on an awareness of a woman's signs of fertility (mucus, cervix, and temperature) work extremely well for women that have regular or irregular cycles."

The report also includes a sidebar titled, "Abortion options." In its explanation of drug-induced abortion it notes that the FDA recently strengthened the warning label that comes with the abortion pill Mifeprex "after reports of three patient deaths." It fails to note the 676 reports of problems with the drug, including 72 cases of blood loss requiring transfusions and 7 cases of serious infections.

Consumer Reports did not return Culture & Cosmos calls seeking comment but a statement was obtained by WoldNetDaily in which a magazine spokesman cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as justification for its report, "[W]e support the consumer's right to be informed (part of the United Nations charter on human rights). As one way to fulfill our mission, we publish factual, scientifically based information on public health topics and on legally available products and services provided by the medical profession and health-care industry."

Copyright 2005---Culture of Life Foundation.
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Culture of Life Foundation
1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500 Fax: (202) 289-2502
E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org Website: http://www.culture-of-life.org

I cancelled my subscription to Consumer Reports many years ago - I don't recall exactly why I decided the magazine was not worth the money. What I do recall is that there was something fundamentally repulsive about some of the articles. The particular issue discussed above should be reason enough to consider canceling one's subscription. Those who continue the dissemination of error are certainly not deserving of the public's funds.

A Revolution in Evolution Is Underway

An Email Alert from the Thomas More Law Center:

Story to be featured tonight on ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT with Peter Jennings at 6:30 PM Eastern.

ANN ARBOR, MI — The small town of Dover, Pennsylvania today became the first school district in the nation to officially inform students of the theory of Intelligent Design, as an alternative to Darwin’s theory of Evolution. In what has been called a “measured step”, ninth grade biology students in the Dover Area School District were read a four-paragraph statement Tuesday morning explaining that Darwin’s theory is not a fact and continues to be tested. The statement continued, “Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view.”

Since the late 1950s advances in biochemistry and microbiology, information that Darwin did not have in the 1850s, have revealed that the machine like complexity of living cells - the fundamental unit of life- possessing the ability to store, edit, and transmit and use information to regulate biological systems, suggests the theory of intelligent design as the best explanation for the origin of life and living cells.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm representing the school district against an ACLU lawsuit, commented, “Biology students in this small town received perhaps the most balanced science education regarding Darwin’s theory of evolution than any other public school student in the nation. This is not a case of science versus religion, but science versus science, with credible scientists now determining that based upon scientific data, the theory of evolution cannot explain the complexity of living cells.”

“It is ironic that the ACLU after having worked so hard to prevent the suppression of Darwin’s theory in the Scopes trial, is now doing everything it can to suppress any effort to challenge it,” continued Thompson.

The Dover high school assistant superintendent read the four-paragraph one- minute statement to two biology classes this morning totaling 35 students. Teachers reported that there were no problems in class after the statements were read and the entire process was uneventful. Biology classes this afternoon and tomorrow will also hear the statement.

Very few students took advantage of the school provided opportunity to opt out from hearing the statement - an estimated 15 students out of a total of 170. National polls consistently show that most parents want schools to teach alternative theories to evolution. In fact, a November 2004 CBS Poll showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans said they favored teaching creationism alongside evolution in schools.

The ACLU and Americans United sued the Dover Area School District over the policy last December. The School Board selected to the Thomas More Law Center to represent them in the federal lawsuit. In early January, after several depositions of board members and reviewing documents, the ACLU announced they would not seek a court order to immediately block the statement from being read.

Activities marking anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Brought to you by the Post-Disgrace: (some changes made to the original)

Saturday, 9-11 a.m.: Missouri Right to Life activists [advocates and supporters] will picket [pray] outside Planned Parenthood, 4251 Forest Park Avenue. Members of the [Satanic dark] clergy that support Planned Parenthood [and the murder of innocent children] will stand outside the facility [mocking those who who believe in God].

7:45-11 p.m.: The Freedom of Choice Council, a coalition of various groups [who support the murder and annihilation of the innocent], will sponsor a celebration at the Mad Art Gallery [how appropriate], Lynch and 12th streets in Soulard. Tickets $15-$35.

Sunday, 9 a.m.: Abortion opponents [ProLife advocates] will hold brief rallies and then board Washington-bound buses at the riverfront downtown and at Our Lady of the Snows shrine in Belleville.

Monday morning: Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis will meet the buses in Washington and celebrate a Mass before the national march protesting the Roe v. Wade decision [and praying for its overturn]. Afterwards, march participants will meet with members of Congress from Missouri and Illinois.

Source.

Abortion battle extends to issues such as cloning

As supporters and opponents gear up for Saturday's anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing most abortions, both sides also plan to spotlight other issues.

Missouri Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion group, says its top priority is its effort to get a ban on cloning passed by the Legislature this session and signed by new Gov. Matt Blunt, an abortion opponent.

This may or may not happen - it will require numerous phone cals, letters, and other grassroot efforts. But there is even more about which Pro-Life advocates need to be concerned:

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood, which through an affiliate operates an abortion clinic in St. Louis, is promoting a Missouri bill called the Birth Control Protection Act. The bill would bar governments from taking action to restrict birth-control measures to adults.

Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, says the bill is in response to reports that pharmacists in Missouri and elsewhere are refusing to fill birth-control prescriptions.

Gianino contended that such efforts are "a step in the wrong direction," by endangering women's health, limiting their access to legal contraception and invading their privacy.

Of course, "choice" does not extend to pharmacists or doctors...

She said Planned Parenthood even must fight a bill that would allow Missouri schools to teach only abstinence in sex-education courses that already are voluntary. "This is sex mis-education," Gianino said.

This is demonic at its core...the ultimate inversion of reality - calling the truth a lie, and professing that the lies are the truths which will set all of society free.

Article.

Archbishop Casmoussa of Mosul, Iraq, released by abductors

Details are as yet sketchy...CWNews has a report here.

Gospel for Tuesday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time

From: Mark 2:23-28

The Law of the Sabbath

[23] One Sabbath He (Jesus) was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way His disciples began to pluck ears of grain. [24] And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" [25] And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and hungry, he and those who were with him: [26] how he entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" [27] And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; [28] so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
************
Commentary:

24. Cf. note on Matthew 12:2. [Note on Matthew 12:2 states: "The Sabbath": this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping God. God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered the Jewish people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus 20:8-11; 21:13; Deuteronomy 5:14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As time went by, the rabbis complicated this Divine precept: by Jesus' time they had extended to 39 the list of kinds of forbidden work.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the casuistry of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was the same as harvesting, and crushing them was the same as milling--types of agricultural work forbidden on the Sabbath.]

26-27. The bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves or cakes placed each morning on the table in the sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Leviticus 24:5-9). The loaves withdrawn to make room for the fresh ones were reserved to the priests.

Abiathar's action anticipates what Christ teaches here. Already in the Old Testament God had established a hierarchy in the precepts of the Law so that the lesser ones yielded to the main ones.

This explains why a ceremonial precept (such as the one we are discussing) should yield before a precept of the natural law. Similarly, the commandment to keep the Sabbath does not come before the duty to seek basic subsistence. Vatican II uses this passage of the Gospel to underline the value of the human person over and above economic and social development: "The social order and its development must constantly yield to the good of the person, since the order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons and not the other way around, as the Lord suggested when He said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The social order requires constant improvement: it must be founded on truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 26).

Finally in this passage Christ teaches God's purpose in instituting the Sabbath: God established it for man's good, to help him rest and devote himself to Divine worship in joy and peace. The Pharisees, through their interpretation of the Law, had turned this day into a source of anguish and scruple due to all the various prescriptions and prohibitions they introduced.

By proclaiming Himself `Lord of the Sabbath', Jesus affirms His divinity and His universal authority. Because He is Lord He has the power to establish other laws, as Yahweh had in the Old Testament.

28. The Sabbath had been established not only for man's rest but also to give glory to God: that is the correct meaning of the __expression "the Sabbath was made for man." Jesus has every right to say He is Lord of the Sabbath, because He is God. Christ restores to the weekly day of rest its full, religious meaning: it is not just a matter of fulfilling a number of legal precepts or of concern for physical well-being: the Sabbath belongs to God; it is one way, suited to human nature, of rendering glory and honor to the Almighty. The Church, from the time of the Apostles onwards, transferred the observance of this precept to the following day, Sunday--the Lord's Day--in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

"Son of Man": the origin of the messianic meaning of this __expression is to be found particularly in the prophecy of Daniel 7:13ff, where Daniel, in a prophetic vision, contemplates `one like the Son of Man' coming down on the clouds of Heaven, who even goes right up to God's throne and is given dominion and glory and royal power over all peoples and nations. This __expression appears 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels; Jesus prefers it to other ways of describing the Messiah--such as Son of David, Messiah, etc.--thereby avoiding the nationalistic overtones those expressions had in Jewish minds at the time (cf. "Introduction to the Gospel according to St. Mark", p. 62 above).
*********
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Spokesman for Archbishop of Canterbury OKs Euthanasia

When contraception is deemed appropropriate as the Anglican Church decided in 1930, it should not come as any surprise when other evils are permitted - or even encouraged - abortion, homosexuality, and now euthanasia...

LONDON, January 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A representative of the Anglican Church’s Archbishop of Canterbury said that there are “strong compassionate” grounds for allowing euthanasia in some cases.

“There is a very strong compassionate case for voluntary euthanasia,” Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said Saturday, according to a guardian.co.uk report. “In certain cases, such as that which involved Diane Pretty [the woman who was terminally ill with motor neurone disease and who campaigned for the right to be helped to die], there is an overwhelming case for it,” he said.

This should be called by its right and proper name - murder. Both faith and reason tell us that euthanasia is a crime against nature - it is never justifiable for the fact that only God has the right over man 's life and death.

Source.

Adoration for Vocations to be Promoted Worldwide

In the Year of the Eucharist, Serra International and the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education are working to make it a year of adoration for vocations.

Catholic Archbishop Abducted in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — (EWTN) A Syrian Catholic Archbishop was abducted Monday in Mosul Iraq, according to Vatican sources.

Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66 years of age, heads the Catholic Christian community in that northern Iraqi city. An unamed eyewitness said gunmen forced Casmoussa into a car while he was walking in front of the Al-bishara Church in an eastern neighbourhood of Mosul.

At this point, reasons for the kidnapping are unclear and no particular group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. Iraqi Christians have been subject to frequent attacks in recent months and account for only 3 percent of Iraq's population of 26 million.

We will be bringing you more information as it becomes available.

Please keep Archbishop Casmoussa in your prayers...

Source...

Another link.

Denver and the Professions: A Flashpoint for Change?

This was an email I received from Catholic Culture...

Catholic Professional Societies

In this week's Highlights column on CatholicCulture.org, I examine the problem posed by Catholic professional associations.

The recent blow-up in Denver between Archbishop Chaput and the local chapter of the Catholic Lawyers Guild should be a catalyst for professional renewal.

Please read the column and send us your own experiences in renewing existing professional societies or starting new ones.

The column begins:

Just before Christmas, the Archdiocese of Denver told the local chapter of the Catholic Lawyers Guild to take a hike—a hike away from Church property, that is. It seems the Guild had decided to honor pro-abortion attorney Ken Salazar with its Thomas More Award. As a result, Archbishop Chaput refused to celebrate the annual Red Mass with the group at their dinner this month, and has also told them they can’t hold the event on Church property as planned.

A good article...

Bishop Gregory becomes Archbishop of Atlanta Today

Keep him and the faithful of Atlanta in your prayers...

Archbishop Burke Leads 400 on Pro-Life Prayer Vigil

Burke leads crowd of 400 to Planned Parenthood clinic

This is the first headline from 1/15....

Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke led a calm procession of nearly 400 people from the ornate St. Louis Cathedral Basilica to sidewalks outside an abortion clinic Saturday.

The five-block walk from the cathedral on Lindell Boulevard to Planned Parenthood on Forest Park Avenue was to lament the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which legalized abortion. The decision’s actual anniversary is Jan. 22.

This was the fifth such event for the archdiocese and the first for Burke, who came to St. Louis a year ago.

"We pray for the parents who are contemplating the betrayal of their parenthood through abortion," Burke said at a Mass at the cathedral. Burke said he viewed the struggle as "a battle against Satan and his cohorts."

Evidently, not content with the headline above, a new and improved version appeared on 1/16:

Burke leads anti-abortion protest

Forget the fact that this was a "Pro-Life" event..."Pro-life" is one of the terms which apparently is verboten at the Post...

USCCB screening priests on cruise ships

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has started screening those celebrating Mass on cruise ships, a plan geared toward preventing former, rental and even fraudulent priests from ministering to Catholic passengers.

Celebrity and Holland America lines are working with priests approved by the Apostleship of the Sea, while other cruise lines are still striking private deals with priests, use talent agencies or hire clergy through Rent-APriest, a group that provides former, now-married priests who are no longer authorized to conduct Mass.

Lee Breyer of Manatee County left the priesthood when he married a former nun in 1969, yet has been conducting Mass on cruise ships with Rent-APriest since 2002. He doesn't announce beforehand to Mass attendees that he's married, and Catholic leaders believe that's simply deceptive.

Source...

On Leaving Mass this Morning..

I went to early Mass (7:00) at my home parish because we were to meet some people this morning - it's been awhile since I've been there...Nothing much has changed - the document "Redemptionis Sacramentum" has never entered this particular world.

Anyway, on leaving after Mass, the pastor, who is walking up from the rectory to greet the early risers, says to me, "What are you doing here?"

I did a double take, I'm certain, and said something like, "I'm registered here", instead of asking him in return, "What are you still doing here?"

What a guy!

Coadjutor Naumann Takes Over in Kansas City

John Paul II accepted the resignation of Archbishop James Keleher, 73, of Kansas City, Kansas. He was immediately succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Joseph Naumann, 55.

The Vatican press office affirmed Saturday that Archbishop Keleher's retirement is effective immediately.

Joseph Naumann was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was ordained a priest of St. Louis in 1975 and named auxiliary bishop of St. Louis in 1997.

Gospel for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: John 1:29-34

The Witness of John (Continuation)

[29] The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [30] This is He of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks before me, for He was before me.' [31] I myself did not know Him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel." [32] And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from Heaven, and it remained on Him. [33] I myself did not know Him; but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' [34] And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God."
************
Commentary:

29. For the first time in the Gospel Christ is called the "Lamb of God". Isaiah had compared the sufferings of the Servant of Yahweh, the Messiah, with the sacrifice of a lamb (cf. Isaiah 53:7); and the blood of the paschal lamb smeared on the door of houses had served to protect the firstborn of the Israelites in Egypt (cf. Exodus 12:6-7): all this was a promise and prefiguring of the true Lamb, Christ, the victim in the sacrifice of Calvary on behalf of all mankind. This is why St. Paul will say that "Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The _expression "Lamb of God" also suggests the spotless innocence of the Redeemer (cf. 1 Peter 1:18-20; 1 John 3:5).

The sacred text says "the sin of the world", in the singular, to make it absolutely clear that every kind of sin is taken away: Christ came to free us from Original Sin, which in Adam affected all men, and from all personal sins.

The Book of Revelation reveals to us that Jesus is victorious and glorious in Heaven as the slain lamb (cf. Revelation 5:6-14), surrounded by saints, martyrs and virgins (Revelation 7:9, 14; 14:1-5), who render Him the praise and glory due Him as God (Revelation 7:10).

Since Holy Communion is a sharing in the sacrifice of Christ, priests say these words of the Baptist before administering it, to encourage the faithful to be grateful to our Lord for giving Himself up to death to save us and for giving Himself to us as nourishment for our souls.

30-31. John the Baptist here asserts Jesus' superiority by saying that He existed before him, even though He was born after him. Thereby he shows us the divinity of Christ, who was generated by the Father from all eternity and born of the Virgin Mary in time. It is as if the Baptist were saying: "Although I was born before Him, He is not limited by the ties of His birth; for although He is born of His mother in time, He was generated by His Father outside of time" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homiliae", VII).

By saying what he says in verse 31, the Precursor does not mean to deny his personal knowledge of Jesus (cf. Luke 1:36 and Matthew 3:14), but to make it plain that God revealed to him the moment when he should publicly proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Son of God, and that he also understood that his own mission as precursor had no other purpose than to bear witness to Jesus Christ.

32-34. To emphasize the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Evangelist includes here the Precursor's testimony regarding Jesus' Baptism (cf. the other Gospels, which describe in more detail what happened on this occasion: Matthew 3:13-17 and paragraph). It is one of the key points in our Lord's life, in which the mystery of the Blessed Trinity is revealed (cf. note on Matthew 3:16).

The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of whom it is said in Genesis 1:2 that He was moving over the face of the waters. Through this sign of the dove, the Isaiah prophecies (11:2-5: 42:1-2) are fulfilled which say that the Messiah will be full of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Baptist points to the great difference between the baptism he confers and Christ's Baptism; in John 3, Jesus will speak about this new Baptism in water and in the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:5; Titus 3:5).

"The Son of God": it should be pointed out that in the original text this _expression carries the definite article, which means that John the Baptist confesses before his listeners the supernatural and transcendent character of Christ's messiahship--very far removed from the politico-religious notion which Jewish leaders had forged.
************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.