Father Rutler: The Feast of Christ the King

Fr. George W. Rutler

A professor told me of two experiences he had when civilization was picking up its pieces after World War II. He was in the crowd when King George VI visited Cambridge University and was greeted with loud cheers. Then, as a U. S. soldier in occupied Japan, he watched as a vast throng became stone silent when the Emperor alighted from the imperial train, all heads bowed and eyes downcast. Hirohito no longer had divine pretensions, but the customary reverence was palpable. The one king embodied the familial aspect of a monarch as father, and the other was a reminder of a ruler transcending the ordinary commerce of life.

On the Feast of Christ the King, the Church proposes a sovereignty both human and divine: the Holy One who walked the roads of this world as a man among men was at the same time of Heaven, the Supreme Being.

This mystery stretches the limited intellect, as in the case of Pontius Pilate, who remains a fascinating psychological study, as he tried to figure out if Jesus was a king. Why he posed the question is not clear, and Jesus asked if the question was his own or a reaction to the cynicism of the mob. Pilate was a paramount cynic himself, not a skeptic who doubts whether something is true, but a man who doubts that truth exists at all. That is why Nietzsche, whose only god was selfish power, considered Pilate the only powerful character in the Gospel. But then, it was Nietzsche who said, “I am no man, I am dynamite.” Consistent with his claim, he ended up insane.

Because Pilate was too vindictive even for the Roman imperium, the governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius, removed him from the prefecture of Judea. One theory is that Pilate committed suicide in what is now Vienne in modern France. As for his birth, there is more confusion: possibly Tarragona in Spain, or more implausibly in the Perthshire Highlands of Scotland, or Forchheim in Germany, or most likely in the Abruzzi of Italy. You might say that he was born wherever men refuse to recognize truth when they see it, and destroy themselves when they have walked away from it. The moral chaos is more widespread now than in the academic groves of the classical world, and we see its effect in the campus riots of today and the mental floss of such philosophers as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida.

This much can be said for Pontius Pilate: He inscribed that sign “King of the Jews” and would not remove it. It may have been sheer irony, the cynicism of a cynic. Or perhaps when he began to roam the hills of exile, he sensed that the ultimate and only choice in life is holiness or madness: “And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the virtuous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

 

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2017

Bill Paterson narrates highlights from the 2017 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which features talent from around the world, all performing on the magnificent location of the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, with the theme being a Splash of Tartan. 

Performers include the internationally acclaimed Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, the Queen's Colour Squadron and the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment, which celebrates 75 years of the regiment and working with the Royal Navy. 

Reflecting the now international flavour of the show are military musical groups visiting from many countries. Tattoo first-timers the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force Band bring a spectacular display to Edinburgh. The Indian Naval Band bring bangra to the battlements, marking the seventieth anniversary of the independence of India, and the Fanfare Band of the 9th French Marine Infantry Brigade visit from Poitiers. 

The United States Naval Forces Europe Band, based in Naples, join the show, as do the Shetland Fiddlers, who this year celebrate their distinctive Viking heritage. The Tattoo Highland Dancers provide their usual high standard of massed dancing and also show their versatility by seamlessly changing from Highland to hornpipe and from ballet to Bollywood as they support the international contingents. 

As usual, the massed pipes and drums and lone piper on the battlements of Edinburgh Castle round off the event. 

Don Minutella and the "Pope Francis" Regime

Don Minutella is an Italian Catholic Priest from Sicily who has become nationally known for his open righteous criticism of Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, and the False Church of modernism.

Because of his outspoken defense of the Catholic faith, Father Minutella was officially removed from his parish and forbidden to celebrate Mass, administer the Sacraments, and preach. He was ordered to remain silent for a period of nine months. He obeyed. Father Minutella has been, and continues to be, unjustly and viciously attacked by the Italian media, including a mean-spirited exposé program called "The Hyenas", a satirical TV show based on Argentinian telecast "Caiga Quien Caiga" and well known for its underhanded and devious journalistic practices. 

After the Curia informed him that he would receive a "double excommunication" if he did not make public acts of fidelity to Pope Francis on social networks, Father Minutella recorded the video above as a response. 

TRANSCRIPT OF ENGLISH TRANSLATION AT: https://thewildvoice.org/minutella-pope-francis-regime/

President Trump's Thanksgiving Day Message

Today in History, Seventy Years Ago

Happy 70th Anniversary to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh

When a whole nation, 16 realms, and a Commonwealth of 54 nations pray in song for 65 years for blessings upon one and for a long life, the results are astonishing!

To mark the 70th Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, new photographic portraits have been released worldwide. 

The Queen and His Royal Highness will celebrate their Wedding Anniverary on Monday, 20th November 2017.

The portraits, by British photographer Matt Holyoak of Camera Press, were taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle in early November. 

In this first release, The Queen and His Royal Highness are framed by Thomas Gainsborough's 1781 portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, who were married for 57 years.

The marriage of the then Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten took place at Westminster Abbey on 20th November 1947.

Find out about The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh's wedding day here: http://bit.ly/2jCD1Pc

President Trump's Thanksgiving Proclamation

THANKSGIVING DAY, 2017

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On Thanksgiving Day, as we have for nearly four centuries, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for our abundant blessings.  We gather with the people we love to show gratitude for our freedom, for our friends and families, and for the prosperous Nation we call home.

In July 1620, more than 100 Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, fleeing religious persecution and seeking freedom and opportunity in a new and unfamiliar place.  These dauntless souls arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the freezing cold of December 1620.  They were greeted by sickness and severe weather, and quickly lost 46 of their fellow travelers.  Those who endured the incredible hardship of their first year in America, however, had many reasons for gratitude.  They had survived.  They were free.  And, with the help of the Wampanoag tribe, and a bountiful harvest, they were regaining their health and strength.  In thanks to God for these blessings, the new governor of the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and gathered with the Wampanoag tribe for three days of celebration.

For the next two centuries, many individual colonies and states, primarily in the Northeast, carried on the tradition of fall Thanksgiving festivities.  But each state celebrated it on a different day, and sometime on an occasional basis.  It was not until 1863 that the holiday was celebrated on one day, nationwide.  In the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, of one of the bloodiest battles of our Nation's Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the country would set aside one day to remember its many blessings.  "In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity," President Lincoln proclaimed, we recall the "bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come."  As President Lincoln recognized: "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."

Today, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving with a grateful and charitable spirit.  When we open our hearts and extend our hands to those in need, we show humility for the bountiful gifts we have received.  In the aftermath of a succession of tragedies that have stunned and shocked our Nation -- Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; the wildfires that ravaged the West; and, the horrific acts of violence and terror in Las Vegas, New York City, and Sutherland Springs -- we have witnessed the generous nature of the American people.  In the midst of heartache and turmoil, we are grateful for the swift action of the first responders, law enforcement personnel, military and medical professionals, volunteers, and everyday heroes who embodied our infinite capacity to extend compassion and humanity to our fellow man.  As we mourn these painful events, we are ever confident that the perseverance and optimism of the American people will prevail.

We can see, in the courageous Pilgrims who stood on Plymouth Rock in new land, the intrepidness that lies at the core of our American spirit.  Just as the Pilgrims did, today Americans stand strong, willing to fight for their families and their futures, to uphold our values, and to confront any challenge.

This Thanksgiving, in addition to rejoicing in precious time spent with loved ones, let us find ways to serve and encourage each other in both word and deed.  We also offer a special word of thanks for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, many of whom must celebrate this holiday separated from the ones for whom they are most thankful.  As one people, we seek God's protection, guidance, and wisdom, as we stand humbled by the abundance of our great Nation and the blessings of freedom, family, and faith.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 23, 2017, as a National Day of Thanksgiving.  I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.

DONALD J. TRUMP