With tongue firmly in cheek no doubt:
I apologise of all the faithful and beseech their prayers who in my misconceived arrogance have been excluded by my legalism.
I apologise in particular to those ladies who would have liked to have had their feet washed at the Mandatum on Holy Thursday and were excluded by my rigourism.
I apologise, you were right and I was wrong.
I apologise for teaching that this Rite was about Christ washing the feet of those twelve chosen to be Apostles rather than seeing it as a Rite that expressed Christ’s care for the world and for sinners and for the poor. I apologise for suggesting that this Rite was about Christ’s priesthood and the Apostles participation in it, I apologise for suggesting that this Rite was in any sense hieratic. I apologise for quoting the Pope Emeritus, and the schismatic Patriarchs of Constantinople and Moscow in a sermon about this Rite. They were obviously misunderstood by me or were dealing with their own local situation. I was wrong, I was also mistaken. I humbly ask anyone who has been misinformed by me to in future to disregard any teaching I might have given at any time, and especially if I have claimed that it was the Church’s teaching.
I apologise too to the poor, I apologise to those my brother clergy who chose to ignore the written Law of the Church but nevertheless had the spiritual insight to understand the Spirit of the Law.
I have indeed been a Neo-Pelagian Promethean and I humbly promise in future to follow custom rather than any directives coming from the Holy See or printed in the Missal. I will indeed do my best to not to teach but to set people free to follow their own lights and inspiration.
I am humbly grateful for this change in the Church’s law, though because of the increasing stiffness in my knees for the last few years I have been unable to wash the feet of anyone.
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Nice.
Very nice.
My parish is always packed on Holy Thursday. In my twenty-seven years at this parish we have never had a woman’s foot washed. I doubt this is going to change our procedures. Personally, I’d much rather it was just removed from the liturgy.
Was Father required to apologize? His rejoinder is very good. However, brevity being the soul of wit, I would have preferred he said, “Nuts.” By that I mean to say that the strained state of faithful Catholic practice is analogous to the battered state of the US forces defending the Bulge in 1944. God willing the good again shall prevail.
Father makes wonderful points but it is hard to smile about it. I was horrified by the treatment of the Sacred Host at the papal mass in the Philippines. I guess that was the biggest incident for me.
Perfect reply to another Bergoglian distortion of the truth. We must hear more from Fr. Blake, he is one of us.
Courageous man, this unwavering priest. He’ll be reprimanded and maybe more, I suspect.
Home Run Father!
Maybe it’s best that he takes care of his knees and refrain from the Holy Thursday Rite.
After all…the Vatican is busy producing the likeness of Pope Francis in soap form, to be used when washing the feet of all creatures, human and animal. Least we forget, Our Lord and Mary Our Mother, rode in on asses. Because of this love for animals, they too shall have their hooves washed. PETA is so pleased. “Pope’s the Dope” as the kids say.
In my parish, Father would not have to worry about his knees. Our “pastor” asks the “faithful” to pick up basins/jugs/towels and run around washing the feet of whomsoever they like. The “People of God” rule!!