April 2013 Archives

How does the priest address the needs of the faithful today? Can the priest answer the questions being asked by the faithful and those seeking to know God,or at least willing to do the work needed to answer these questions? What type of witness needed today by the priest viz. the culture, media, and politics, so that we are happy, healthy and loving Christians? What are the concrete ways can we focus on God? How do Christians face nihilism with faith, hope and charity? What does it mean to be a person --and not merely an individual-- realizing that the person is a part of a whole who glorifies God?

Antonio Ghislieri (1504-72)  was born near Alexandria, a town in Lombardy on the Adriatic. His vocation was with  the Dominicans who educated him, had him ordained and missioned him to teach theology. He was elected bishop having served in several places where and he sought to reform the moral and theological, canonical and liturgical laxity of the clergy and laity alike; his concern was the coherence of the Catholic Faith. Sound familiar? Among his many responsibilities was taking up the work of Inquisitor in the Italian region. He was elected to the See of Rome in 1566. As Pope he strenuously promoted the Catholic Reformation outlined by the Council Fathers of Trent (doing of the same work as pope as he did as bishop), oversaw the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I of England, encouraged missionary work and reformed the brieviary,the sacred Liturgy and the Catechism.

Saint Catherine cut her hair and put aside her elegant clothing as an act of modesty, to shun the worldly attention of potential suitors and devote her life to Christ.

These weeks we are hearing the narrative of the very early followers of The Way, that is, those who adhere to the Good News taught by Jesus, the crucified and risen one. 

With the killing of the deacon while kidnapping the two bishops in Syria has me concerned about Christians losing the sensitivity to the importance of Syria as a key Christian center. Most Western Christians forget that our Christians origins in the West  was first formed in the East. Recall from Acts that "it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians." It was in Antioch, not in Rome, not in Moscow, not in Constantinople, that the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were first generated by the Holy Spirit, they were called by name. It's not West OR East, but West AND East when comes to Christian faith. Does Antioch have any resonance with you Christians? Do you have any concern for our Christian heritage in Syria? What's our concern for those being killed for being Christian today? Do we even care? Remember: God has created each of us to do Him some definite service; let us live and work in charity for our neighbor.

A famous Antiocian saint, the bishop Ignatius said this in his letter to the Magnesians, "It is right, therefore, that we not just be called Christians, but that we actually be Christians" (4.1).

Who we read impacts the way we live. Catherine of Siena, whom the Catholic Church honors today, has much to say to the modern person. In one of her letters we read the following, which ought to bolster our approach in our daily work.

To Sano Di Maco and All Her Other Sons in Siena: In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire to see you strong and persevering till the end of your life. For I consider that without perseverance no one can please God, or receive the crown of reward. He who perseveres is always strong, and fortitude makes him persevere.

Ultimate questions are critical for all persons. And so much for Christians because of the Incarnation of God in human history. What does it mean to believe? What can science teach us? Is using technology a helpful tool in knowing our Christian self? In a Year of Faith presentation on April 20, the topic at hand was "Does What I Believe In Affect My Life?"

Saint Catherine of Siena writes:

I want your security to be in Christ gentle Jesus. He has clothed us in the sturdiest garment there is, a garment of love....The very first garment we ever had was love, for it was only by love that we were created in God's image and likeness.

(Letter 185-86)

"Among the means of holiness most useful and opportune for the defense of and progress of Christian faith and morals in our day, we recognize the Dominican Third Order as one of the most eminent, easy, and secure."

Last year's post on these same rites.

At the Sacrifice of the Mass in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis also celebrated the Rite of Confirmation with 44 people from around the world. As we approach Pentecost, this excerpt from his short homily is very instructive. Pay attention. Don't forget to daily ask, no beg, for the Holy Spirit to have a special grace to embrace the day. May the Spirit be with these 44 newly confirmed in the Faith, indeed, all those around the world who are receiving the sacrament of Confirmation these days.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit: he brings us the new things of God. He comes to us and makes all things new; he changes us. The Spirit changes us! And Saint John's vision reminds us that all of us are journeying towards the heavenly Jerusalem, the ultimate newness which awaits us and all reality, the happy day when we will see the Lord's face - that marvelous face, the most beautiful face of the Lord Jesus - and be with him for ever, in his love.

You see, the new things of God are not like the novelties of this world, all of which are temporary; they come and go, and we keep looking for more. The new things which God gives to our lives are lasting, not only in the future, when we will be with him, but today as well. God is even now making all things new; the Holy Spirit is truly transforming us, and through us he also wants to transform the world in which we live. Let us open the doors to the Spirit, let ourselves be guided by him, and allow God's constant help to make us new men and women, inspired by the love of God which the Holy Spirit bestows on us! How beautiful it would be if each of you, every evening, could say: Today at school, at home, at work, guided by God, I showed a sign of love towards one of my friends, my parents, an older person!

In a recent article for the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, Father Robert takes up the concept of the religious sense that Father Giussani taught, and that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio --now Pope Francis spoke about. Shortly after the papal election I posted the chapter that Father Barron references in his article noted below, from A Generative Thought: An Introduction to the Works of Luigi Giussani (2003), where Bergoglio writes about our need to educate our religious sense and how Giussani influenced him in his method of dealing with ultimate questions.

You may read that chapter here that's noted in a previous post on Communio.

Here is a paragraph of Barron's OSV article. The full text is accessed here.

Part of Msgr. Giussani's genius, Cardinal Bergoglio argued, was that he did not often commence his discourse with explicitly dogmatic or doctrinal language, but rather with an awakening of the often implicit religious sensibility that every person possesses. This sensibility expresses itself in terms of the most fundamental questions: What is my ultimate origin? What is my final destiny? Is there a meaning or logic that runs through the universe? Why, precisely, is there something rather than nothing? These interrogations lead ineluctably to God, for God alone can answer them.

Father Robert Barron

OSV Newsweekly, 5 May 2013

Today, we are observing the 5th Sunday of Easter (John 13:31-35). 

 "'I give you a new commandment', said Jesus: 'love one another.' But how, we may ask, could he call this commandment new? Through Moses, he had said to the people of old, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'...He showed the novelty of his command and how far the love he enjoined surpassed the old conception of mutual love by going on immediately to add: 'Love one another as I have loved you.' To understand the full force of these words, we have to consider how Christ loved us.'...The law commanded people to love their brothers and sisters as they love themselves, but our Lord Jesus Christ loved us more than himself. He who was one in nature with God the Father and his equal would not have descended to our lowly estate, nor endured in his flesh such a bitter death for us, nor submitted to the blows given him by his enemies, to the shame, the derision, and all the other sufferings that could not possibly be enumerated; nor, being rich, would have he become poor, had he not loved us far more than himself. It was indeed something new for love to go as far as that!"

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

Father Kevin Seasoltz OSB died early today, 27 April 2013, at Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN.

Father Kevin was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 29 December 1930. He became a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, 3 June 1956. In 1958, he earned a license in canon law from the Lateran University with a concentration in liturgical law. After earning a degree in canon law, again with an emphasis on liturgical law, from The Catholic University of America, in 1962,  he taught in the Religious Studies department until 1987. He professed vows as a monk of Saint Anselm's Abbey, Washington, DC, 13 November 1960. He later transferred his monastic vow of stability to the Saint John's Benedictine abbey after spending time on a working sabbatical. In 2009, the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions honored Dom Kevin with the Frederick R. McManus Award.

Father Kevin was a professor of theology and a very well published author. For many years Dom Kevin served as editor of the revered Worship magazine, a quarterly of opinion. 

In the last months he's been living with cancer; he received the sacraments of the Church on Friday. May Father Kevin rest in peace.

A book of hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours in Ordinary Time, Eternal Glory of the Skies, provides a translation of hymns from the original Latin by Fr. Harry Hagan, OSB, and Fr. Keith McClellan.

Father Harry, a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and a teacher of biblical poetry in the Seminary and School of Theology, translated the hymns for Lauds, Daytime Prayer and Compline. Fr. Keith, a priest of the Diocese of Gary, IN, and a former editor and author at Abbey Press in St. Meinrad, translated the hymns.

According to the authors, "These translations build on the poetry of the original text while opening new doors for the Christian imagination. They have been translated in the hope that they will be used in prayer."

The cost of the softcover book is $6.95. Order online.

'The Maastricht Hours', Liège 14th century (British Library, Stowe 17, fol. 172r)

We know Jesus Christ through the mediation of others and if fortunate, to a personal relationship. On the former, we honor today the author of the first of the gospels. Saint Mark's testimony to who Jesus is, and what he means to God's promise to be with us.

The meditation today brings us to guidance we share in for our salvation.

"... the words of our Risen Jesus forbid us to fear such a calamity. He did not say to his Apostles: "Lo! I am with you even to the end of your lives;" but Lo! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. So that those to whom he addressed himself were to live to the end of the world! What means this, but that the Apostles were to have successors, in whom their rights were to be perpetuated, successors whom Jesus would ever assist by his presence and uphold by his power? The work founded by a God, out of his love for man, and at the price of his own precious Blood, must surely be imperishable! Jesus, by his presence amidst his Apostles, preserved their teaching from all error; by his presence he will also, and forever, guide the teaching of their successors."

The Liturgical Year

Dom Proper Guéranger, OSB

Frequently do I go to places where certain liturgical practices catch my attention because of the novelty of what is said and heard. We always need a deeper understanding, a profound appreciation for the prayer of the Church as expressed in the sacred Liturgy. Some will say that canon law, particularly liturgical law, is the bad side of the Good News. As Catholics we are part of a Church; as Catholics we are not independent of sacred Scripture, sacred Tradition and the sacred Magisterium; as Catholics we follow a guided companionship on a journey to a deeper communio with the Triune God. We are not Marlboro people; we are, in fact, sheep in flock called to the Holy Synaxis, to the holy in-gathering of a people in Christ, or simply, Church. We have a good shepherd in Jesus and in His successors, that is, the bishops, and we follow the teaching authority of the Christ and His vicars.

This is a long introduction to a question as whether or not priests of monastic communities ought to name the abbot in the Eucharistic Prayer. There seems to be some confusion over this seemingly small, trite matter. It is not small, and it is not trite. We have an ecclesiology, and we have a liturgical practice that ought to be followed because we live our Catholic lives in communion with others. Abbots are minor prelates; they exercise their pastoral authority and power in their monastic community and not in a diocese, and by extension to the dependent priories. An abbot ought not employ the attitude of having a mitre and a crosier so that  you can do whatever you'd like, whenever you'd like, etc.

Can a priest commemorate Abbot X (or even the abbess if in the context of a woman's monastery) along with the pope and the bishop in the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass?

 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal gives four titles that may be named in the Eucharistic Prayer: "The Diocesan Bishop, or one who is equivalent to the Diocesan Bishop in law, must be mentioned  by means of this formula: together with your servant N., our Pope, and N., our Bishop (or Vicar, Prelate, Prefect, Abbot)" (no. 149). Each of these offices are  "equivalent to the Diocesan Bishop in law" by virtue of their appointment to act on behalf of the Supreme Pontiff within a particular area.

You may remember reading this phrase in the Confessions, Tolle lege. It means "take up and read." As is well known that "while he was under conviction of sin, Augustine heard some children singing this phrase as they played -- and he concluded that God was telling him to "take up and read" the Scriptures. And the rest is history...

The practice of Lectio Divina is essential for knowing the beauty of the faith.

Today, the Norbertine liturgical calendar celebrates the conversion of Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, and their holy patron. Let's pray for the canons of Daylesford Abbey.

In the Pauline Chapel in Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis offered Mass with some of the cardinals on the feast of Saint George, the name day of the Pope, Saint George. There are several stellar points made the Pope noted below with my emphasis. In these days when one's identity as a Christian is questioned, or even rejected for superficial reasons, I think that if you consider what the Church teaches, especially through the eyes of Pope Benedict and now through Pope Francis, you will notice the truth, not ideology, joy, not grumpiness. The Pope uses another previous pope to help him and us to understand the work of the Church --her mission-- under the power of the Holy Spirit.

The [first] reading today makes me think that the missionary expansion of the Church began precisely at a time of persecution, and these Christians went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, and proclaimed the Word. They had this apostolic fervor within them, and that is how the faith spread! Some, people of Cyprus and Cyrene - not these, but others who had become Christians - went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too. It was a further step. And this is how the Church moved forward. Whose was this initiative to speak to the Greeks? This was not clear to anyone but the Jews. But ... it was the Holy Spirit, the One who prompted them ever forward ... But some in Jerusalem, when they heard this, became 'nervous and sent Barnabas on an "apostolic visitation": perhaps, with a little sense of humor we could say that this was the theological beginning of the Doctrine of the Faith: this apostolic visit by Barnabas. He saw, and he saw that things were going well.

And so the Church was a Mother, the Mother of more children, of many children. It became more and more of a Mother. A Mother who gives us the faith, a Mother who gives us an identity. But the Christian identity is not an identity card: Christian identity is belonging to the Church, because all of these belonged to the Church, the Mother Church. Because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church. The great Paul VI said: "Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church, following Jesus outside of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church is an absurd dichotomy." And the Mother Church that gives us Jesus gives us our identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful.

Let us pray for the Roman Pontiff whose baptismal name is George, and for all those who claim the saint has their heavenly patron before God Almighty.

St. George and The Dragon

Of Hector's deeds did Homer sing,

And of the sack of stately Troy, 

What griefs fair Helena did bring,

Which was Sir Paris' only joy: 

And by my pen I will recite

St. George's deeds, and English knight.

Against the Sarazens so rude

Fought he full long and many a day,

Where many gyants he subdu'd,

In honour of the Christian way;

And after many adventures past,

To Egypt land he came at last.

Now, as the story plain doth tell, 

Within that countrey there did rest

A dreadful dragon fierce and fell,

Whereby they were full sore opprest:

Who by his poisonous breath each day

Did many of the city slay.

The grief whereof did grow so great

Throughout the limits of the land, 

That they their wise-men did intreat

To shew their cunning out of hand;

What way they might this fiend destroy,

That did the countrey thus annoy. 

The wise-men all before the king,

This answer fram'd incontinent:

The dragon none to death might bring

By any means they could invent;

His skin more hard than brass was found,

That sword nor spear could pierce nor wound.

Having died in 2005, beatified on 1 May 2011, John Paul II may well be a saint later in 2013. Some are speculating that he may be canonized in October. A group medical professionals have recognized miracle of healing at Blessed John Paul's intercession as inexplicable.

Now the presumed miracle needs the approval  of the theologians and then  approval of the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation of Saints before the dossier is presented to Pope Francis' fiat. If all goes well, John Paul would be one of very few fast-tracked saints in the modern era: only eight years after death.

Blessed John Paul's feast day is October 22.

Blessed John Paul served as the Roman Pontiff from 1978-2005.

Doing humanitarian work, two bishops have been kidnapped by rebels Monday evening. Archbishop Paul is the brother Greek Orthodox Patriarch John. Here is the Vatican statement:

The kidnapping of the two Metropolitan bishops of Aleppo, Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church, and Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the killing of their driver whilst they were carrying out a humanitarian mission, is a dramatic confirmation of the tragic situation in which the Syrian population and the Christian communities in Syria are living. The Holy Father has been informed of this recent, extremely grave act, which comes on top of the increasing violence of the past days and a humanitarian emergency of enormous proportions. Pope Francis is following the events with deep participation and he is praying for the health and the liberation of the two kidnapped bishops. He is also praying so that, with the support and prayers of all, the Syrian people may finally see tangible responses to the humanitarian drama and real hopes of peace and reconciliation rise on the horizon.

(Source: Vatican Radio)

Here's an interview with Vatican Radio's Linda Bordoni who spoke to Mario Giro, of the Community of St. Egidio about the kidnapping of the Syrian bishops. You may listen to the interview here.

Today is the 200th birthday of Frédéric Ozanam the famed co-founder of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society (may 1833). Born in Milan and lived in various cities in France, Ozanam was a well-educated man earning doctorates in law and letters; we was a literary critic and professor of literature. In June 1841 he married Amélie Soulacroix.

You might be surprised to read this, not all theologians root their work in theology in prayer, personal and communal, of personal devotion, liturgical and lectio divina. I am somewhat confident that some Catholic theologians have a beautiful relationship with the Divine Majesty; that they care, in an intense way, about their spiritual lives through a regular practice of daily prayer, meditation, by availing themselves to the sacraments, attendance at Mass and even the daily singing of the Divine Office. However, you would never know that theologians, particularly Catholics, have rely on prayer for their work  because rarely talk about their experiences of prayer. A notable Jesuit spiritual director and writer once said that if you can't articulate the pattern of your prayer, you aren't praying.

a VIP party

(popes, cardinals, bishops and abbots on the left. kings, princes and dukes on the right)

In his short pontificate Pope Benedict XVI became the "green pope." He was the one who really did do much to bridge a gap between faith and ecology. In his mind, faith and ecology appeals not only a respect for the environment but it is integral for a profound respect for human dignity, womb to tomb. Hence, a respect for creation is also a pro life stance; pro life work is properly called a "human ecology."

The Brazilian bishops in 2011 heard Benedict teach that "man is not God, but his image, that is why he must try to be more sensitive to the presence of God in what surrounds him: in all creatures and, especially, int eh human in whom there is a certain epiphany of God." To do otherwise, establishes in humanity "contempt for himself and for what surrounds him."

Hence, "This is why the first ecology that must be defended is 'human ecology.' That is, without a clear defense of human life, from its conception to its natural death, without a defense of the family based on marriage between a man and a woman, without a defense of those who are excluded and marginalized by society, without forgetting in this context those who lose everything, victims of natural disasters, there can never be talk of a genuine defense of the environment.... [There is] "an imperative that stems from the awareness that God entrusts his creation to man, not so that he can exercise over it an arbitrary dominion, but to preserve and care for it, as a son takes care of his father's inheritance."

Actually, the church can call other popes by the same title. Nevertheless, the emphasis today is care for what has given us as a gift to cherish, and to work effectively with, the earth. In 2011 Benedict addressed Italian students calling them to be "guardians of nature" by walking the path prepared by Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.

Today is Earth Day, an observance started in 1970 to encourage us to breathe fresh air, enjoy nature and do something respectful of creation.

The pope emeritus said, "Today more than ever, it has becomes clear that respect for the environment cannot forget the recognition of the value of the human person and its inviolability at every stage and in every condition of life. Respect for the human being and respect for nature are one, but both can grow and find their right measure if we respect in the human being and in nature the Creator and his creation. On this, dear young people, I believe to find allies in you, true "guardians of life and creation."

 

In 2010, Pope Benedict wrote in message on the World Day of Peace,

Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II devoted his Message for the World Day of Peace to the theme: Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation. He emphasized our relationship, as God's creatures, with the universe all around us. "In our day", he wrote, "there is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened ... also by a lack of due respect for nature". He added that "ecological awareness, rather than being downplayed, needs to be helped to develop and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programs and initiatives." Previous Popes had spoken of the relationship between human beings and the environment. In 1971, for example, on the eightieth anniversary of Leo XIII's Encyclical Rerum Novarum, Paul VI pointed out that "by an ill-considered exploitation of nature (man) risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation". He added that "not only is the material environment becoming a permanent menace - pollution and refuse, new illnesses and absolute destructive capacity - but the human framework is no longer under man's control, thus creating an environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This is a wide-ranging social problem which concerns the entire human family."

Various churchmen, including Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI have lent their voices to those of Patriarch Bartholomew's in drawing our attention to have care and concern for the earth. Indeed, our ecumenical and interfaith partners have provided some good work to demonstrate in concrete way our respect for the Earth. The thinking is based on the biblical narrative and a ecclesial tradition.

Some Church and ecumenical documentation:

The brand NEW Saint Gianna Center of New Haven, CT was officially and blessed today, a beautiful spring day.

Earlier today in Rome Pope Francis ordained 10 men to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. He showed up early to the sacristy to spend time in prayer with each of the men to be ordained. For bishops, ordinations are their way of being generative; the newly ordained are often referred to as spiritual sons of the bishop. The Pope ordained pastors, not functionaries; he ordained shepherds of souls, not church babysitters. Below is his homily.

Beloved brothers and sisters: because these our sons, who are your relatives and friends, are now to be advanced to the Order of priests, consider carefully the nature of the rank in the Church to which they are about to be raised.

It is true that God has made his entire holy people a royal priesthood in Christ. Nevertheless, our great Priest himself, Jesus Christ, chose certain disciples to carry out publicly in his name, and on behalf of mankind, a priestly office in the Church. For Christ was sent by the Father and he in turn sent the Apostles into the world, so that through them and their successors, the Bishops, he might continue to exercise his office of Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd. Indeed, priests are established co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom they are joined in the priestly office and with whom they are called to the service of the people of God.

Good Shepherd Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Easter, was observed in Rome with the ordination of 10 men to the priesthood by Pope Francis. Following the ordination the Pope delivered the weekly Regina Caeli address. Here's an excerpt:

The voice of Jesus is unique! If we learn to distinguish it, He guides us on the path of life, a path that goes beyond the abyss of death.

But at a certain point Jesus, referring to his sheep, says: "My Father, who has given them to me..." (Jn 10,29). This is very important, it is a profound mystery, that is not easy to understand: if I feel attracted to Jesus, if his voice warms my heart, it is thanks to God the Father, who has put in me the desire of love, of truth, life, beauty ... and Jesus is all this to the full! This helps us to understand the mystery of vocation, particularly the call to a special consecration. Sometimes Jesus calls us, invites us to follow him, but maybe we don't realize that it is Him, just like young Samuel.

Pope Francis

Regina Caeli address, 21 April 2013

Fourth Sunday of Easter

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

            The process of becoming a saint, if you are not a John Paul II or a Mother Terese can take some time. When I heard the news of the completion of US side of Rose Hawthorne's cause for canonization was made, the other day from a Dominican priest friend, a "praise God" rang out! The last significant ecclesial judgement made on the sanctity of Rose Hawthorne was in 2003 when she was declared to be a Servant of God.

It seems the only possible means to process the Boston tragedy which is being lived today gives voice to man's desire to speaking with the Infinite,  speaking with the Triune. 

The heart is deeply moved by the power of music notes. Indeed, music has the power of the heart because it has the ability "to sense infallibly the true and the genuine."

Some of my thinking on music recently has been informed by the thinking of Pope Benedict XVI who had a profound appreciation for music as reaching the inner depths of the souls. In his book, A New Song for the Lord, then Cardinal Ratzinger said, "faith becoming music is part of the process of the Word becoming flesh" (p.122 ). And in his book Salt of the Earth, he answers a statement about Mozart:

You are a great lover of Mozart.

Yes! Although we moved around a very great deal in my childhood, the family basically always remained in the area between the Inn and the Salzach. And the largest and most important and best parts of my youth I spent in Traunstein, which very much reflects the influence of Salzburg. You might say that there Mozart thoroughly penetrated our souls, and his music still touches me very deeply, because it is so luminous and yet at the same time so deep. His music is by no means just entertainment; it contains the whole tragedy of human existence.

There aren't too many experiences in life that you can claim to experience a "thoroughly penetrated our souls" which also illumines the soul. Hence, what we experience in music is not mere entertainment.

In response to an email I sent about my friend Paul J. Murray's this Sunday's program, "A Concert for Peace," a friend of mine, Jane, sent me this article because like many of us, she has been moved by the beauty of music. Like Jane, I, too, was moved by parts of this article this regard, and I recommend that you consider the author's expertise.

There is a new auxiliary bishop for Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Presov, Slovakia, Jesuit Father Milan Lach. He is the first Jesuit to be elected a bishop during the pontificate of Pope Francis.

Bishop-elect Lach will join another Jesuit who serves as the Archbishop of Presov, Ján Babjak, 59. The archeparchy has more than 140 thousand people. Archbishop Babjak was just here in the USA making a pastoral visit.

Bishop-elect Milan, 39, has been the vice-dean of the the Faculty of Theology of the University of Trnava. Lach entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1995 and ordained priest in 2001. For 2 years he worked at the Centre of Spirituality East-West of Michal Lacko, where he was also the Jesuit superior. In the 2009 he was awarded a degree in spirituality at the Pontifical Oriental Institute and livingnext door at the Pontifical Russian College.

In 2010 he became a member of the editorial board of the theology journal, Verba Theologica.

Mnohaja l'ita!

The small, rural Scilian town of Trapani apparently is a crossroads of culture and history. It is now dealing with the murder of an elderly priest for allegedly giving bad homilies. His assailant, 33 and unemployed, wanted to teach Father a lesson one what he was saying in the pulpit. In some reports, Father Michele DiStefano is said to have spoken in a public fashion of the wrong-doings (sins?) of his people. I hope he wasn't revealing what he heard in the confessional.

The second reading in the daily Office of Readings are generally stunning. Most focus on the paschal mysteries, that is, the Mysteries of Easter that we live. As Catholics, are we reborn in the Spirit? You bet we are. It is the consistent teaching of the Church and those we call "the Fathers of the Church." Don't be fooled: Protestants aren't the only ones reborn in baptism (cf. Creed). Today's reading is from the first apology in defense of the Christians by Saint Justin, martyr.

Our new birth, a new humanity, is a baptismal regeneration

Through Christ we received new life and we consecrated ourselves to God. I will explain the way in which we did this. Those who believe what we teach is true and who give assurance of their ability to live according to that teaching are taught to ask God's forgiveness for their sins by prayer and fasting and we pray and fast with them. We then lead them to a place where there is water and they are reborn in the same way as we were reborn; that is to say, they are washed in the water in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the whole universe, of our Savior Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit. This is done because Christ said: Unless you are born again you will not enter the kingdom of heaven, and it is impossible for anyone, having once been born, to re-enter his mother's womb.

An explanation of how repentant sinners are to be freed from their sins is given through the prophet Isaiah in the words: Wash yourselves and be clean. Remove the evil from your souls; learn to do what is right. Be just to the orphan, vindicate the widow. Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. If your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as wool; if they are like crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if you do not heed me, you shall be devoured by the sword. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

What does the Church's teach about tithing today?

The question of tithing is better addressed first, by looking at the bible. The Church's practice is based on the revealed word of God. The biblical warrant can't be ignored. What does sacred Scripture tell us about a believer's responsibility and duty to tithe?

There is also the witness of Abraham giving the priest Melchizedek offering God who in turn gave the best of the wine and bread (see Genesis 14).

In the Book of Deuteronomy we hear: "Each year you shall tithe all the produce that grows in the field you have sown...so that the Levite who has no share in the heritage with you and also the alien, the orphan and the widow who belong to your community, may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake" (14:22, 29).

Or, in Leviticus  we read: "The tithes of the herd and the flock shall be determined by ceding to the Lord as sacred every tenth animal as they are counted by the herdsman's rod" (27:32).

"How does School of Community become a point of comparison? First of all, it must be read by clarifying the meaning of the words together --not an interpretation of the words, but the literal sequence [...] Secondly, space must be given to the exemplification of a comparison between what one lives and what one has read. One must ask himself how what he read and tried to understand literally judges life."

Fr Giussani (published in Traces, 1992) and quoted in Fr Julián Carrón's notes for his March 20, 2013 School of Community

Many, nor all, but many, women religious in the USA have been feeling under pressure to address their lack of unity with Scripture and Tradition (read: Magisterium) over the last few decades. Of course, let me emphasize, not all women religious, but there are enough that have been living lives that are inconsistent with the charism of their orders, and who have taught their own theology especially on moral matters. Some have set up their own teaching authority over and against that of the Holy See. But this is not a matter of who has the right to make decisions, but it is about how all members of the baptized live in communio with the Jesus Christ and His sacrament, the Church. Their justification may very well be explained that women religious believed they are doing what the Council decreed. Will the US sisters now offer spin on what said and done in Rome today? How will they support the shepherding of Pope Francis? Will the US sisters now reassess their place as members of the Mystical Body of Christ? 

Here is the press release of the Holy See:

COMMUNIQUE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH CONCERNING A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENCY OF THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN THE USA

Today the Superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States of America. Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle and the Holy See's Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also participated in the meeting.

As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the LCWR, the Prefect of the Congregation, Most Rev. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, expressed his gratitude for the great contribution of women Religious to the Church in the United States as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor which have been founded and staffed by Religious over the years.

The homily of Pope Francis at St Paul outside the Walls.

It is a joy for me to celebrate Mass with you in this Basilica. I greet the Archpriest, Cardinal James Harvey, and I thank him for the words that he has addressed to me. Along with him, I greet and thank the various institutions that form part of this Basilica, and all of you. We are at the tomb of Saint Paul, a great yet humble Apostle of the Lord, who proclaimed him by word, bore witness to him by martyrdom and worshipped him with all his heart. These are the three key ideas on which I would like to reflect in the light of the word of God that we have heard: proclamation, witness, worship.

In the First Reading, what strikes us is the strength of Peter and the other Apostles. In response to the order to be silent, no longer to teach in the name of Jesus, no longer to proclaim his message, they respond clearly: "We must obey God, rather than men". And they remain undeterred even when flogged, ill-treated and imprisoned. Peter and the Apostles proclaim courageously, fearlessly, what they have received: the Gospel of Jesus. And we? Are we capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live? Do we know how to speak of Christ, of what he represents for us, in our families, among the people who form part of our daily lives? Faith is born from listening, and is strengthened by proclamation.

At the Mass offered by Pope Francis at the Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls today reminded us that "we must obey God"!  Francis asked, do we know how to speak of Christ today? 

Yesterday, the Holy Father met with the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) led by German Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The theme the PBC's annual plenary assembly was "Inspiration and Truth in the Bible." On the personal and parish level, this theme is revisited year-in and year-out. Catholics (and the Orthodox) have a particular way of praying, reading, studying and living the sacred Scripture that is very different from the Protestant ecclesial communities: from WITHIN the context of the living community of faith, i.e., the Liturgy.

Pope Francis paid close attention to this year's work of the PBC by saying it "affects not only the individual believer but the whole Church, for the Church's life and mission are founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology as well as the inspiration of all of Christian existence."

He noted that in Dei Verbum the emphasis of what the nature of Scripture is, how the Church interprets Scripture, what is conserved by the Church, and by whose authority is at work. I  think one of the "money quotes" is when Francis reminded us that "The interpretation of Sacred Scriptures cannot be just an individual academic effort, but must always be compared to, inserted within, and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church." 

The point we Catholics have to come to understand and to work on is that we are a biblically based religion, like none other, established by Jesus Christ, and preaching Him since 33 AD. We can't get away from the Scriptures and that's why bible study AND lectio divina are crucial every day. The Scriptures are testimony of how God works and humanity responds to God's invitation.

Here is the Pope's text:

I am pleased to welcome you at the end of your annual Plenary Assembly. I thank the President, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, for his greeting and summary of the topic that has been the subject of careful consideration in the course of your work. You have gathered again to study a very important topic: the inspiration and truth of the Bible. It is a matter that affects not only the individual believer, but the whole Church, for the life and mission of the Church is founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology and the inspiration of all Christian life .

I was reading one of my favorite blogs this afternoon, Fr. Z's Blog (olim: What Does The Prayer Really Say?) and read his post St Peter's Church in Omaha, NE. As I am curious about many things, especially in the ways the Incarnation is made manifest in parishes, I was stunned with the clarity of the pastor's clarity, charity, and competence in leading souls. In fact, I watched the video on St Peter's Church more than once because I had to get it clear in my mind and heart what Father Damian Cook and his collaborators are doing, and in the ways the Holy Spirit has allowed His gifts to be extroverted. There is a distinctive focus on the cultures of prayer, community, study and service which is a wonderful gift. St Peter's is a place that the proposal of the gospel and the Church come alive.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Father Cook is orchestrating so many good things for Christ and His Church, both universal and in the local Church of Omaha. But let's be clear: it is not Cook but Christ; it is not the community that's center, but the Communio of the Trinity. I don't want to canonize Father Cook but I do want to draw attention to the good being done.

As the Prophet Ezekiel showed us, and more importantly what the Lord did for us in His Resurrection: that it is possible for old bones to be constituted again (and in the Lord's case, in a glorified body). Father Cook is illustrating how a decaying church community in urban Omaha can become a thriving religious and cultural treasure.

This is a clear and contemporary example of Saint Benedict rebuilding culture, or Saint Francis rebuilding the Church, or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta caring for all people. And the examples are plentiful...

Saint Stanislaus of Krakow ( July 26, 1030 to April 11, 1079 ) was martyred by King Boleslaus II himself, who had to leave Poland in exile. 

The young Stanislaus was well educated in theology and canon law from the university in Paris, allowing him to have an interesting career in the bishop's court as preacher and archdeacon to the bishop. Later, as bishop, Stanislaus was a man who concentrated on a Christian's conversion to the Lord, and sought to have the Polish people live according to the Gospel; being conformed to Christ crucified, risen and present in the Eucharist are marks of this saintly bishop; he became a voice against political crime and social injustice. As such, it was Blessed Pope John Paul II who called Saint Stanislaus the patron saint of moral order. His virtues of humility, generosity, courage, strength and faith are to be imitated.

Stanisław was one of the earliest native Polish bishops and he is the first native Polish saint, revered today as a patron saint of Poland, an honor shared with Our Lady and Saint Adalbert.

Since 1969 revision of the liturgical calendar, Stanislaus' feast day is observed today, but it was observed on May 7 and on May 8 in Krakow.

Saint Stanislaus of Krakow, pray for us.

Leave it to a Capuchin friar to pick up the obvious: we need a patron saint for reverts. To my knowledge, there are no heavenly patrons except for Blessed Anthony Neyrot, who gave up the faith, and came back home. Perhaps now Blessed Anthony's currency will increase. Special thanks to my friend and fellow Elm City-ite, Friar Charles, who wrote the following post on his blog, A Minor Friar, earlier today:

Today is the feast of Blessed Anthony Neyrot, OP. I think he could make a fine heavenly patron for 'reverts' to the faith.

Here's his entry in the Martyrology today:

At Tunis on the coast of northern Africa, blessed Anthony Neyrot, priest of the Order of Preachers and martyr, who, taken by pirates to Africa, apostatized, but, helped by divine grace, publicly took up again the religious habit on Holy Thursday, which atoned for his crime by covering it with stones.

Some other things I read on the internet said that during his apostasy he had become a fairly devout Muslim and had even made a socially advantageous marriage. Holy Week 1460, however, found him inspired to repent of his apostasy. Having made his confession he was re-invested in the Dominican habit and then, on Holy Thursday, was stoned to death for his re-version to the faith.

Here is the Mass prayer for Blessed Anthony I posted in 2010.

Blessed Anthony, pray for us!

We are now preparing for the ordinations of men to the Order of Deacon and to the Order of Priests this time of year. With these ecclesial events, there is generally a lot of misunderstanding as to what is permitted, what is not, and who can restrict what. Imagine: liturgical and ecclesiological confusion in the Church! 

According to Edward Pentin, the "Vatican denies Benedict XVI has serious illness."

The US Department of Defense has now listed Catholics and Evangelical Christians as religious extremists, that is, religious terrorists. Catholics and Evangelicals are now lumped in the same list as are the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, the KKK and Hamas.

Last Sunday, Pope Francis, as the bishop of Rome, took possession of his cathedral church, Saint John Lateran. This coming Sunday, 14 April, Pope Francis will take possession of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul's outside the Walls in Rome.

A concelebrated Mass will be offered by the Pope, the archpriest, James Cardinal Harvey and the Benedictine monks to whom the pastoral care of the Basilica and the adjoining Monastery are entrusted. The monks are led by Abbot Edmund Power, OSB. He gives an interview to Vatican Radio (be aware, some of the abbot's facts are wrong).

There is a historical connection between the Benedictines and the Jesuits. True the Benedictines about 1000 years old than the Jesuits but the historical part goes a bit deeper. The Pilgrim, as he was known, went to the Benedictine abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in Spain, to make a general confession, keep an all-night in vigil before Our Lady's altar, and to observe the rites of chivalry in preparation for his new life of being a converted sinner. There Ignatius left his sword and knife at the altar of the Black Madonna, he disposed of his fine clothes to a poor man, and adopted rough clothes with sandals and a staff of a pilgrim.

The UK blogger on religion and culture Damian Thompson posted a piece today that potentially will get people excited: Pope Benedict XVI's health is in the decline as he's suffering from something very severe. Thompson is citing Paloma Gómez Borrero of El Mundo who wrote that Benedict's health is noticeably diminished.

The question I seem to come back to: who cares? In the context of the practice of religion where we often seem to slice the pie in half: spiritual and religious, one wonders even we know what the words mean. The archbishop of Chicago, Francis Cardinal George, wrote about this topic in his column for Easter in the Catholic New World. The Cardinal outlines the issue pretty well: religion is becoming an isolated affair (some use the word private but I think it is better to say isolated since many families rarely talk about transcendent things with each other), that a question of authority disappears when you "when you make it up as you go along" and what it means to say there is an objectivity of what is true, beautiful, good and one is no longer easy to hold as a given. What exactly is religion?  Not to mention, many of our friends are now saying that the faith community as less and less credibility and the community of faith is trite. The missing element here is that Christianity is not about a set of rules, it is about a person; the practice of religion is not about the worship of myself, but the worship of a personal God revealed through the biblical narrative and seen in the sacraments; Christianity's truth is weak unless it is about conversion, vocation and mission made manifest in the life we share with others. As Cardinal Geroge said,

Meeting the risen Christ spiritually therefore depends upon believing in him religiously. We are given the gift of faith in the sacrament of Baptism, in which we are configured to the risen Christ. Faith perdures, even when there's not a lot of spiritual tingle in our lives! "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief," is the cry of a religious person who asks Christ to take him beyond his own spiritual experience into a new world where bodies as well as minds share in God's grace. Faith takes seriously everything that comes from God. The faith-filled person is sure of God and distrustful of himself. Unlike faith in God, experience is often wrong in religious matters.

Here is the full text of Cardinal George's "Easter 2013: I'm spiritual but not religious."

In short, it is impossible to call oneself Christian and not be honestly engaged in the weekly practice of worship with the faith community and worthily receive the sacraments.

Lent and Easter interrupted the March 25th observance of the Annunciation, so the Church transferred the Solemnity of the Annunciation until today. Two striking pieces for our mediation: one from Saint Leo the Great and the other from the Servant of God Father Luigi Giussani.

Each one is a partaker of this spiritual origin in regeneration.  To every one, when he is reborn, the water of baptism is like the Virgin's womb, for the same Holy Spirit fills the font, who filled the Virgin, that the sin, which that sacred conception overthrew, may be taken away by this mystical washing.  [s. 24.3]

St. Leo the Great

AND

The Angel's words could have astounded with wonder and humility the young woman to whom they were addressed. But they were not so astounding as to be totally unintelligible; they contained something that made them intelligible to the heart of that young girl who was living her religious duties. The Virgin embraced them to herself: "I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to Your word." Not because she understood but, in the confusion that had become boundless because of the Mystery that announced itself by vibrating in her flesh, the Virgin opened her arms wide, the arms of her freedom, and said, "Yes." And she stayed alert every day, every hour, every minute of her life. The Virgin Mary's state of mind, that state of mind which determines an attitude and decides for it in the face of the occasion and the moment, how can we better describe the Virgin's state of mind than with the word "silence"? Silence as memory filled to overflowing. Two things contributed to this memory, two things determined this silence. The first was remembering what had happened. What had happened preserved its marvelousness, its true mystery, its mystery of truth intact because -- and this is the second thing -- it had something that was present: that Child, that present young Man, that Son who was present.

Luigi Giussani

Meditations on Rosary

Servant of God Father Edward Flanagan (1886-1948) was a native of County Roscommon, Ireland, on July 13, 1886  he was born the 8th of 11 children of John and Nora Flanagan. In 1904, he came to the United States. Flanagan first studied for the priesthood at  Dunwoodie Seminary with the intention of being a priest of the Archdiocese of New York; illness prevented his further studies and he eventually moved with his family to Omaha. There he was accepted as a seminarian and sent to Rome's Capranica College, with classes at the Gregorian University but finished his studies in Innsbruck's Royal Imperial Leopold Francis University. Flanagan's ordination to the priesthood happened on July 26, 1912 and he offered his first Mass in St. Ignatius Church, Innsbruck, Austria. He was a priest for the Diocese of Omaha. Father Flanagan was assigned Saint Patrick's Church, O'Neill, NE. In March 1913, he was appointed Assistant Pastor to Saint Patrick Catholic Church in Omaha. His natural qualities of generosity to the poor and marginalized and prayer were made manifest.

With the permission of Bishop Jeremiah Harty, on December 12, 1917, Father Flanagan opened his first Boys' Home in a run-down Victorian mansion in downtown Omaha. In his lifetime Father Flanagan helped more than 6,000 boys. During a tour of Europe, he fell ill and died of a heart attack in Berlin, Germany, on May 15, 1948. At the request of the Father Flanagan League Society of Devotion (FFLSD), Archbishop George Lucas, of the Archdiocese of Omaha has accepted responsibility for the beatification process. On March 17, 2012, Lucas formally opened the cause of canonization at a service of prayer at Immaculate Conception Church (Boys Town), bestowing the title of "Servant of God" upon Father Flanagan. Dr. Andrei Ambrosi is the Postulator for the cause. 

More information may be read here.

The Second Sunday of Easter continues the drama of the Resurrection that we first lived last week. Through liturgical history we've called today Quasimodo Sunday, Thomas Sunday, Dominica in albis, and Mercy Sunday. See this past post.

This music text tells the narrative:

Although the doors were closed,

Jesus appeared to his disciples.

He took away their fear and granted them peace.

Then He called Thomas and said to him:

"Why did you doubt My resurrection from the dead? Place your hand in My side; see My hands and My feet.

Through your lack of faith, everyone will come to know of My passion and My resurrection, and they will cry out with you:

My Lord and My God, glory to You!"

The perceived lack of faith Saint Thomas is really the invitation made to all of us to engage our freedom in a new way, and to allow our YES to be coherent before Mercy Himself.

In order to understand we try to place persons on the map by locating the coordinates of geo-location, intellectual interests, published statements, behavior, friendships, and religious devotion. In some circles your going to see people wanting to know about a person's marriage status, financial assets, and how they have concern for others. It is true that the use of liberal and conservative labels are misleading and are generally meaningless outside the secular political context. With the March election of the new bishop of Rome, the Roman Pontiff, Francis, many of us crave to know more about the man who we follow. He is Christ's representative; he is not a politician. Without exaggeration, the man who is Christ's vicar points Catholics in a direction: to perfect communion with the Triune God. 

John Allen's article likely gives the best precís of Jorge Bergoglio as an archbishop of Buenos Aires. The past helps to indicate the future. But we believe in surprises. People change; the priorities of the work changes; life is different.

I look forward to the forthcoming biographies of Francis to see if they analyze the facts similarly. Now, as Pope Francis, he appears to be orthodox in theology with a genuine concern of those who live on the margins. He is not terribly different on this plane from John Paul and Benedict. The critics thus far of Francis' papacy ought to remember that Pope Pius IX in the 19th century was considered a "liberal and a reformer." We have to temper the temptation to be negative, judgmental, prone to anxiety and dismissive. The Law of Charity ought to be lived and applied.

The Pope's first appointment to his curia was made today when he named the Minister General of the Friars Minor, Father José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM, Secretary of the Congregation for Religious (official name: Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life). Carballo will assist the Brazilian cardinal João Bráz de Aviz.

Father José Rodríguez Carballo was born in 1953, professed temporary vows as a Franciscan in 1971 and ordained a priest in 1977.

According to the 1988 Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, the Congregation for Consecrated life --first formed in 1586-- is "to promote and supervise in the whole Latin Church the practice of the evangelical counsels as they are lived in the approved forms of consecrated life and, at the same time, the work of societies of apostolic life" (105)

The Archbishop-elect is a Spanish Franciscan who has served the Friars Minor in a variety of capacities. 

In 2003, Father José Rodríguez Carballo was elected the 119th successor of Saint Francis of Assisi when he was elected Minister General of the Friars Minor. In 2009, he was elected to the same work.

Friar José was trained in Scripture studies. He was appointed to the Synod of Bishops in 2005, 2008 and 2012. He's been a member of the Congregations of Evangelization of Peoples and the one he's the Secretary to.

Carballo succeeds in the office the American Redemptorist Archbishop Joseph Tobin who is now the archbishop of Indianapolis. The Vatican Insider has an article on the appointment of Carballo that gives some stats.

Today is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's 112th birthday. As a friend who brought this Litany to my attention said, "it's a great piece of reflection for students and for those of us looking to be life-long learners." Let's pray to Blessed Piergiorgio for the grace of being a better friend, Christian, apostle and person of the Beatitudes.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary,

pray for us. (repeat after each line)

All the angels and saints,

Blessed Pier Giorgio,

Loving son and brother,

Support of family life,

The Knights of Columbus are not allowed to officially exist on Gonzaga's University's campus because they don't meet a criterion: that non-Catholics be admitted to the group. The decision by the University Student Life office was communicated by Sue Weitz with the help of Kassi Kain. The KoC is a fraternity (of men) who are practical Catholics.

Here then, is where the mission of a cultural journal such as La Civiltà Cattolica fits in: active participation int he contemporary cultural debate, both to propose and at the same time to spread the Christian faith in a serious way. Its purpose is both to present it clearly and in fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, and to defend without polemics the truth that is sometimes distorted by unfounded accusation directed at the Ecclesial Community. I would like to point out the Second Vatican Council as a beacon on the path that La Civiltà Cattolica is called to take.

In defense of the Pope, La Civiltà Cattolica's is understood to be supportive of the Church by following the indications of the Second Vatican Council. As a journal of the Society of Jesuit and the Church its work to show a relationship faith and reason, faith and culture, faith and science, faith and the public order;to understand the world in which we live in light of the Incarnation. The Journal cuts across the various sectors of the intellectual, spiritual and cultural ambits showing a particular attentiveness with the Catholic Church through the Secretary of State;  La Civiltà Cattolica is considered to be not official but authoritative.

The Pope is meeting with all the heads of the various departments of the Holy See. 

The link this article, "For Friars, Finding Renewal by Sticking to Tradition," leads you to a story about the Irish Dominicans who have had a resurgence in vocations by a keen attention to their tradition and the Church's. While the author concentrates on the wearing of the habit, there are other things that have been recovered: an authentic companionship (communal life), faithfulness to the Church, the wearing of the habit and the common, evangelical mission and conversion of mind and heart. Kudos for the Irish OPs in recognizing the signs so as not to diminish further, or even die.

I can't help but think that George Weigel's latest book, Evangelical Catholicism, reflects what the future of the Church will be, including life in religious orders, not only in the USA, but around the world. You have to read, and re-read this book. Plus, I am tending to think that Cardinal Dolan was correct in saying that the Church in the USA is more concerned with the institution than she is with being missionary. Would that it be the case that the Benedictines could recognize what the Irish OPs did. I offer this article so that we all may share in the Irish OPs joy for their own renewal. We can benefit by their witness.

Thursday's beautiful spring weather jettisoned me (and a friend, James) to take a road trip to visit Saint Edmund's Retreat House in Mystic Connecticut.

Get to know the Pope.... How well do you know Francis, bishop of Rome?

Father Joseph Walijewski (1924-2006), a missionary to Latin America, is now part of a long list of Americans who are being studied by the Church for possible sainthood.

Father Walijewski's cause for beatification opened by Bishop William P. Callahan, bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, WI, March 19, 2013. Dr. Andrea Ambrosi will be the postulator. Walijewski was born to poor Polish immigrant parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 15, 1924; ordained priest for the Diocese of La Crosse in April 1950; and began missionary work in Bolivia in 1956; he died on April 11, 2006, suffering pneumonia and acute leukemia. Father Joseph also served in Ecuador and Peru. While in Peru, he helped organize breakfast stations that fed 8,000 children per day where he founded in 1987 the Lima orphanage Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, the House of John Paul II.

A significant Jesuit presence in key places for the Church's ministry of proclaiming and living the Gospel exists that few may not be aware of. Since the time of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Society has done some remarkable things for the good of the Church. And every Pope since Paul III has relied on generosity of thinking and action of the Jesuits in Rome. Pope Francis has asked the Society to continue... Presence means influence. 

Interesting stats:

• 12 Pontifical residences in Rome are staffed by Jesuits;
• 3 Pontifical institutions for higher learning in Rome: The Gregorian University, the Oriental and Biblical Institutes;
• 1 Radio center (Vatican Radio);
• 1 journal (La Civiltà Cattolica);
• 6 Jesuit cardinals: but only one of them participated in the 2013 conclave, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires (Argentina). The other Cardinal entitled to participate, Julius Riyadi Cardinal Darmaatmadja, Archbishop-emeritus of Jakarta (Indonesia), was unable to attend due to ill health;
• The Pontifical Gregorian University indicates that there are 57 Cardinal alumni of Jesuit pontifical institutions in Rome, the Gregorian and the Biblicum (49.6% of all participants in the Conclave). Several of them were also professors at the Gregorian University: Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, William Joseph Cardinal Levada, Velasio Cardinal DePaolis, CS, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio, and Walter Cardinal Kasper (not an exhaustive list.);
• And other works coordinated by the Jesuit Curia under the leadership of the Jesuit Superior General.

Crossroads Cultural Center AND the American Bible Society are hosting a presentation on the latest discoveries in particle physics at an event open to the public and free of charge.

Saturday, April 13

6:30pm

American Bible Society (at 61st & Broadway)

Dr. Giorgio Ambrosio, Applied Scientist, Fermilab, and Dr. Stephen Barr, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware.

The announcement reads,

The recent announcement of the discovery of a Higgs-like particle at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, has generated enormous shockwaves in the press. Some people call it The God Particle.

Why such an awesome name? Can it really be the key for unlocking some of the mysteries of the universe? Can it help us understand the origin of mass, for instance? Can it tell us anything about ourselves and our place in the universe? 

In their talks, the two speakers will address these and other related questions. The talk is geared to the general public and will include a "virtual" tour of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland.

More information

What was true and real for the Apostles and disciples of the Lord 2000 years ago IS TRUE AND REAL for us today, right now. At least that's what I believe. The Emmaus event is not an abstract account but a true encounter with a clear direction and goal: knowing that the Lord Jesus, once crucified and now risen, is alive as He said. I find myself asking:

Can you say with the same degree of certainty as the disciples of Emmaus came to understand, that it is a true joy to walk with others in and outside the Church over the years in light of the presence of the Risen Lord? Do you really believe it is your vocation to recognize the Risen Lord in the breaking of the Bread, and to help others to the same? How do you account for the joy in knowing the Lord and accepting the reality of the Lord's enduring Presence in the Eucharist? Are ready to enter into worship upon recognizing the Lord at the Supper of Emmaus?

The question becomes for the Christian: what do you really want from the Risen Lord?

It is true that women have had a better sense in recognizing the risen Jesus than men:  "the women were the first witnesses" of Jesus' resurrected existence. The teaching of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus and our own future resurrection is undeniably hard teaching to grasp. Yesterday, we heard in the account of the Marys at the tomb. One of the Marys, that of Magdala, is known as the Apostle to the Apostles. Below are three paragraphs on the subject from today's Wednesday General Audience of Pope Francis. I am sure some will raise the issue that the Pope is not going far enough by denying the ministerial priesthood to women. Of course, we are not talking about ministerial priesthood here; the Pope's point here is to draw our attention that God's ways, God's criteria in selecting those who called to serve Him is not same as human ways of judging AND the identification and verification of the Lord's truth as the Son of God, alive and present to each of us. As Francis says, "In our journey of faith it is important to know and feel that God loves us, do not be afraid to love: faith is professed with the mouth and heart, with the word and love."

I would like to dwell the second, on testimony in the form of the accounts that we find in the Gospels. First, we note that the first witnesses to this event were the women. At dawn, they go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, and find the first sign: the empty tomb (Mk 16:1). This is followed by an encounter with a Messenger of God who proclaims: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, he is not here, he is risen (cf. vv. 5-6). The women are driven by love and know how to accept this proclamation with faith: they believe, and immediately transmit it, they do not keep it for themselves. They cannot contain the joy of knowing that Jesus is alive, the hope that fills their heart. This should also be the same in our lives. Let us feel the joy of being Christian! We believe in the Risen One who has conquered evil and death! Let us also have the courage to "go out" to bring this joy and light to all the places of our lives! The Resurrection of Christ is our greatest certainty, it is our most precious treasure! How can we not share this treasure, this beautiful certainty with others! It's not just for us it's to be transmitted, shared with others this is our testimony!

As the "new man" on the block I am trying to figure what the new Roman Pontiff's taught prior to his move to Rome. In 2008, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio now Pope Francis, was invited to give a teaching on the Holy Eucharist to International Eucharistic Congress, Quebec City, Canada. The title of his talk was "The Eucharist: Gift of God for the Life of the World."

I would say that his controlling idea is based on the Aparecida document where it is written, "The Eucharist is the vital center of the universe, able to satisfy our hunger for life and happiness. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood in this happy banquet participates in eternal life, and thus our daily existence is transformed into an extension of the Mass." He then develops the theme of the Eucharist as gift and mission in light of the Church's enduring self-understanding as covenant. He appeals to tradition, some saints and the Mother of God to demonstrate that evangelization is about Eucharistic Presence, sacrifice, and communion. He argues in the key of communio theology.

Much of what we've heard in the last two weeks in his papal addresses and homilies given here.

The text: Bergoglio Eucharist Gift of God for the Life of the World.pdf

Some things don't translate well. Plus, you can trust everything you read in the media, except what you read here on the Communio blog! Apparently, following the election of the Jesuit Cardinal of Buenas Aires as bishop of Rome has caused the Russian media to interpret what the word "Jesuit" means for the public. The word "iezuit" as it is used in some of the media outlets carries with it a derogatory connotation, and some would say restoring an older definition. Derision seems to have a currency. The words "Jesuit Pope" is translated into Russian as "Papa iezuit" which sounds like "Pope hypocrite." But you can't fall off the floor.

Dostoevsky popularized the word "iezuit" as inquisitor, monster and cunning in his novels; and during Soviet era the text books used the word as such, carrying the legacy with the inclusion of Jesuit as Vatican spy. All this is not lost on the Russian Orthodox Church, who, it is reported, one of the bishops publicly said on TV that Dostoevsky's definition fits well with Jesuits and that the Spiritual Exercises are incompatible with the spiritual tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church.

I hope this thinking is not going to be a "new way" forward in relationships with Moscow and Rome.

Keeping up appearances...by phone...with previous papal administrations. Pope Francis apparently is touching base with key people in history of the Church from the 20th century. He spoke with Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla, 97, one of the oldest prelates in the Church today. A priest (73 years) of Venice, he was ordained to the episcopacy in 1967 and served as the archbishop of Cheiti-Vasto and later he was the Prelate of the Shrine of Loreto. His Excellency is the former secretary of Blessed John XXIII. L'Osservatore Romano will run this story on April 3.

A simple, moving gesture: last Monday, at 6:30 p.m., the telephone rang at Ca' Maitino di Sotto il Monte, John XXIII's summer residence, where today Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla lives and where the Suore Poverelle cherish memories of Pope John. As usual Capovilla answered himself. It was Pope Francis who was calling him because, among the many messages of good wishes, he had received directly an Easter message written in the light of the Second Vatican Council, edited by Pope Roncalli's former Secretary, subtitled: "With Pope Francis we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pacem in Terris on 11 April 2013 and on 3 June 2013 of the passing of John XXIII:  a detailed agenda.  With the Bishop of Rome who greets the Secretary who was the companion at arms of the Pope of the Council and says to him "I see him with the eyes of my heart", Capovilla told us. "It was a very great surprise and I like to consider this telephone call made to this place where John XXIII was born rather than to me myself: as a tribute to him and to his roots". Capovilla, who will be ninety [-eight] in October, mentioned that the Pope had stressed certain parts of the message he had sent him: a few pages together with a few pictures (of Manzù's medal for the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Francis on the Loggia the evening of his election; Francis and Benedict XVI from behind, kneeling in prayer together at Castel Gandolfo; a portrait of John XXIII by Hans-Jürgen Kallmann), and some very short texts  "as precious as a homily", as Francis described them.  In their brief conversation the Pope asked Capovilla "to pray John XXIII to help the Pope and everyone to be better people",  Archbishop Capovilla continued: "I also reminded him of my age and he remarked that the spirit counts more. I told him that I have both Christian and non-Christian friends and that to this day the Lord has accompanied me". And he added that he had "humbly asked His Holiness for a blessing for the inhabitants of Sotto il Monte, for his parish community, for the relatives of the Pope of the  Council", and for "all those who work with me together with the Bishop of Bergamo".

Marco Roncalli

April 3, 2013

Voice for Life, a student led pro-life group that meets at Johns Hopkins University, has been denied by the University's student government official recognition. The student government officials are saying several crazy things about the Voice for Life group, namely that the group violates the harassment policy and that VfL is equal to the philosophy of white supremacy.

Pope Francis makes direct connections between what believe and how we live the sacred Liturgy and the sacraments. It is the consistent teaching of Scripture and the Church that the practice of prayer, personal and liturgical (that is, what makes for a vital relationship with God) necessarily spills over to being an alive Catholic. The connection he's making is consistent with what say in liturgical theology about the "lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi" tradition: the law of prayer (and sacraments) tells us what we believe and how we live.

For the 50 days of Easter when the pope gives a teaching it is called the "Regina Coeli Address" but during the rest of the year it is called "Angelus Address" because during Eastertide we pray the Regina Coeli. The Address:

Happy Easter to you all! Thank you for coming today, in such large numbers, to share the joy of Easter, the central mystery of our faith. Let us pray that the power of the resurrection of Christ might reach everyone - especially those who suffer - and every place that is in need of trust and hope.

Christ has conquered evil fully and finally, but it is up to us, to people in every age, to embrace this victory in our lives and in the realities of history and society. For this reason it seems important to point out that today we ask God in the liturgy: "O God, who give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith." (Collect for Monday in the Octave of Easter).

Indeed, the Baptism that makes us children of God, and the Eucharist that unites us to Christ, must become life. That is to say: they must be reflected in attitudes, behaviors, actions and choices. The grace contained in the Sacraments Easter is an enormous source of strength for renewal in personal and family life, as well as for social relations. Nevertheless, everything passes through the human heart: if I allow myself to be reached by the grace of the risen Christ, if I let that grace change for the better whatever is not good in me, [to change whatever] might do harm to me and to others, then I allow the victory of Christ to affirm itself in in my life, to broaden its beneficial action. This is the power of grace! Without grace we can do nothing - without grace we can do nothing! And with the grace of Baptism and Holy Communion can become an instrument of God's mercy - that beautiful mercy of God.

During the 50 days of Easter the three-times prayed Marian antiphon, the Angelus, changes to the Regina Coeli. Like the Angelus, it is prayed morning, noon and night. Some people only pray it following Night Prayer (Compline); yet the greater tradition is to pray the Regina Coeli many times a day as a way of remembering (recall the Church's example of being aware of Christ and His being with us, and what Pope Francis said about remembering yesterday in his Easter homily: we remember the events of Jesus life, death, and resurrection as a gift)! Hence, the Regina Coeli...

Several pious legends swirl around. One is that Pope Saint Gregory had a vision in which he heard the lines of the prayer that became known as the Regina Coeli connected with Saint Luke painting the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In reality, the Franciscans made the prayer popular when the concluded Compline during Easter with it. It is the custom of Catholics, since the 12th century, to pray with Mary, the Holy Theotokos (Mother of God), from Easter Day through Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter.

Queen of Heaven

V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
R. For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.

April's papal prayer intentions has, for the first time the monthly intentions, Pope Francis' ministry as the focus of our attention. Being in prayerful solidarity with the successor of Saint Peter is a hallmark of communio ecclesiology.

While the Apostleship of Prayer formed the papal intentions prior to the papal resignation and papal election, our prayer continued through the sede vacante because of the Office of the Bishop of Rome never ceases. The needs of the Church remains.

The general intention

That the public, prayerful celebration of faith [the sacred Liturgy] may give life to the faithful.

The mission intention

That mission churches may be signs and instruments of hope and resurrection.

Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 that the community of believers are anchored in the Eucharist. As you know, this is the earliest recorded Christian understanding of what the Lord did on the day before He died on the cross.  In fact, Saint Paul's letter to the Corinthians has the famous line, "Do this in remembrance of me,"  which keeps our attention on what's essential. Pope Benedict's good example and teaching tells us that real renewal of our faith rests in our living what the Eucharist means. Consider what the bishops of the Second Vatican Council said about the Eucharist: it is "the memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross." Hence, our prayer intention for April not only echoes a key teaching of Scripture but also the magisterium that teaches us that "the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed." The Liturgy, most particularly the Eucharist, is the fount of our faith in the Risen Lord, and from which the Church's pastoral power flows.

The mission intention speaks to the virtue of hope. It is the Christian hope in our eternal destiny. Again, appealing to the teaching of Saint Paul's letter,  2 Corinthians 5:16-20, pinpoints what we believe about faith in Christ: we live with a new humanity, that is, we have a new creation. The Year of Faith proclamation says, "Through faith, we can recognize the face of the risen Lord in those who ask for our love."