Paul Zalonski: July 2009 Archives

Earlier today I was speaking with my friend, Father Meinrad Miller, a Benedictine monk of Saint Benedict's Abbey (Atchison, KS) and he told me he wrote this article for the local Catholic diocesan newspaper on his experience with the movement we both closely follow, Communion and Liberation. What Father Meinrad says in his article is applicable to all of us. It's reprinted here for education of us all. Let me know what you think of it.

Seven years ago this fall an event happened here at Benedictine College that would change my life. My college roommate, B.J. Adamson, had told me over the years about a Catholic movement he had discovered back in Denver: Communion and Liberation (CL). B.J. would often tell me about the method of the movement's dynamic founder, Monsignor Luigi Giussani (October 15, 1922-February 22, 2005), and of a friend of the movement here in the United States Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete. Cardinal Stafford, then the Archbishop of Denver, had spoken highly of CL.

In September 2002 we hosted a presentation here at Benedictine College on one of Giussani's key books, The Religious Sense. The presentation included talks by Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, a physicist,  theologian and good personal friend of Pope John Paul II; Major David Jones, an army officer who had been attracted to the Catholic faith after watching a show on EWTN with Raymond Arroyo in which Monsignor Albacete was interviewed about Monsignor Giussani; Dr. Eduardo Echeverria, currently a philosopher at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit; and Mike Eppler, the Youth Minister for the Evansville, Indiana Diocese.

What appealed to me about this first presentation was that everything said that evening deepened my own appreciation of being a Benedictine monk. Giussani's method affirms that the encounter with Christ is possible to all people. Over the coming years we would have further book presentations here at the college on the writings of Monsignor Giussani. Each time I would grow in my fascination for the message of Christ as relevant and part of life today. It was only later that I learned that St. Benedict was the patron saint of the movement. At one time Monsignor Giussani had written to some Benedictine monks near Milan, Italy. In part he said: Christ present! The Christian announcement is that God became one of us and is present here, and gathers us together into one body, and through this unity, His presence is made perceivable. This is the heart of the Benedictine message of the earliest times. Well, this also defines the entire message of our Movement.

Perhaps Monsignor Giussani's fascination with St. Benedict began as a young seminarian for the Archdiocese of Milan. The Archbishop during Monsignor Giussani's seminary training was Blessed Ildephonse Schuster, O.S.B., the saintly Benedictine. The same year that Blessed Ildephonse Schuster died, 1954, would mark a major change in the life of Giussani as well.

While riding on a train for vacation in 1954, Giussani noticed from the conversation of the youth on the train that there was little interest in Christianity. Much of the discussion focused on the ideologies of the day, including Marxism. Giussani asked the new Archbishop's permission to leave his work as a seminary professor and begin to teach high school students.

The conversion on the train reminded me of Blessed Mother Teresa's own conversion. This past year I gave a seminar to the Missionaries of Charity in Washington, D.C. As I was reading about Blessed Mother Teresa I could not help but notice a similarity with Monsignor Giussani. Mother Teresa was also on a train on September 10, 1946, going for her yearly retreat in the mountains of India. It was on the train that she had a mystical experience in which she would experience the great thirst God has for souls. Not just for water but for men and women to experience the real thirst of God's love for them.

Eight years after Blessed Mother Teresa's experience on the train in 1946, Monsignor Giussani would have his experience on the train in 1954. Years later he would also reveal the depth of this conviction when, in front of Pope John Paul II and hundreds of thousands of people gathered at St. Peter's square on Pentecost Sunday, 1998, he would say: Existence expresses itself, as ultimate ideal, in begging. The real protagonist of history is the beggar: Christ who begs for man's heart, and man's heart that begs for Christ.

Whether one looks at our humanity in terms of Christ thirsting for us in the words of Blessed Mother Teresa, or Christ begging for man's heart, in the words of Monsignor Giussani, the same dynamic is present. Christ desires us to encounter Him as a present reality, not just a distant myth.

On September 10, 2004, Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, would describe his own meeting with Monsignor Giussani in the early 1970s, and Communion and Liberation:

It was an interesting discovery for me; I had never heard of this group (Communion and Liberation) until that moment, and I saw young people full of fervor for the faith, quite far from a sclerotic and weary Catholicism, and without the mentality of "protest"-which considers all that was there before the Council as totally superseded-but a faith that was fresh, profound, open and with the joy of being believers, of having found Jesus Christ and His Church. There, I understood that there was a new start, there was really a renewed faith that opens doors to the future.

This same experience is relived today by groups in the region in Kansas City, Benedictine College, KU, and Wichita that meet weekly to follow the method of Monsignor Luigi Giussani.

Father Meinrad Miller, O.S.B. is the Subprior of Saint Benedict's Abbey, and Chaplain of Benedictine College in Atchison, KS

This article was recently published in The Catholic key, the Catholic newspaper of the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, MO.

In some places it's now catching-on that Thursday is a fitting day for Eucharistic adoration with the intention of reparation, perhaps replacing Fridays if one had to make a choice or either-or. I tend to think that Thursday is a more apt for Eucharistic adoration on a stable basis in one's life and perhaps in parish life since as Catholics our center is Eucharistic and the identification the Church makes with events that happened on Holy Thursdays and Corpus Christi. Some theologians and spiritual writers today are advocating this move for just this reason: Do this in memory of me. Whatever the case is, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is clearly a return to "the Cenacle, there to relive in adoration and joy the gift and mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist."

Thinking about what Pope Benedict XVI has said regarding the Lord's Supper, "the Church commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the ministerial priesthood and the new commandment of charity, left by Jesus to his disciples." In another place he said that there is a "...renewed invitation to render thanks to God for the supreme gift of the Eucharist, to be received with devotion and to be adored with lively faith. Because of this, the Church encourages, after the celebration of Holy Mass, watching in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament, recalling the sad hour that Jesus passed in solitude and prayer in Gethsemane, before being arrested and then being condemned to death." We therefore adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either following Mass or at another time to live in the graces of what happened at Mass. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament extends the graces of the Mass even after Mass has ended.

What better day than to work on this invitation to live in a spirit of renewal with the Eucharist, the ministerial priesthood and the theology of the Mass. The gift of sanctification (holiness) promised us by the Lord is made real in the bond we have with the Eucharistic Lord. Our lives depend on it because a strong Eucharistic spirituality centers our heart in the heart of the Church.

Since last year I've been thinking of the role spiritual mothers, in the example of Our Lady, play in the lives of Catholic priests. I am thinking in particular of Our Lady of Sorrows for this type of spiritual maternity. In the past I mentioned this idea here and here at the beginning of 2009 (perhaps I should do it more). The call to be a priest's spiritual mother includes a woman's offering herself to God, praying in intercession and reparation for the priest, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration and becoming a point for God's grace to work in the life of a priest. A woman of any age can do this work of intercession; she can be single, married, or widowed. This spiritual work is hidden and contemplative, sacrificial and silent. It is in this special work that the reparation for the sins of priests might happen for as the Holy Father said, "nothing makes the Church, the Body of Christ, suffer more than the sins of her pastors."

My interest has been sparked by two people, Franciscan Cardinal Claudio Hummes and Benedictine Father Mark Kirby, the latter drawing on 

In October 2008 Tulsa, OK, Bishop Edward Slattery started a process of formation for women to dedicate their prayer for the needs of the priesthood. I am told that there are some women in the Bridgeport Diocese that there are women who dedicate their lives as a spiritual mother for priests but they are so hidden no one knows them. Something has to be done in the manner in which Bishop Slattery is doing this holy work! 

More recently Jane, living in France, has begun some work and prayer on spiritual maternity for priests. Her blog, Spiritual Mothers of Priests, is a good personal initiative to assist priests (and I presume seminarians) with prayer and sacrifice during this Year of the Priest. Ladies, visit and follow the work of Jane and join other women to this special work for priests.

The Meeting for Friendship Among the Peoples is about start in Rimini, Italy. Since 1980 there has been a meeting of friends and interested peoples gathered together to understand the various points of contact in knowledge, faith, culture and human experience. There's been an average of 700,000 people attending this week long event. The Rimini Meeting is influenced by the thought of the founder of Communion and Liberation, Msgr. Luigi Giussani. 

The cultural and interreligious dialogue at the 2009 Rimini Meeting will be happening 23-29 August 2009. The theme for this year's meeting is "Knowledge is Always an Event."

Watch the video clip on the diplomats' preview of the meeting.

The Crossroad Cultural Center did a Washington, DC presentation on this year's Meeting. See the transcript of the event.

Various pieces of info on the work of the meeting:

+ 30 years of the meeting

+ The Rimini Meeting: 30 years of dialogue

+ The exhibitions at the meeting

Never a day goes by that I don't ask the question about my faith and my life of faith. I doubt any serious Christian would go through life without asking the same: How does my faith impact my relationship with God and vice verse? Do I live in certain intimacy with the divine nature? Do others see God in me as I relate to them? How credible a witness am I of Jesus Christ and His Good News?

Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the foundation of our relations with God. For the man without faith, God has no meaning, no value, no place in his life. On the contrary, the more lively our faith is, the more God enters into our life, until finally he becomes our all, the one great reality for; which we live, and the One for whom we courageously face sorrow and death. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord (Romans 14:8). Those who dedicate themselves to the spiritual life do not lack faith; but often our faith is not alive and concrete enough to make us always see God in everything, which would give us the sense of his fundamental, transcendent and eternal reality that infinitely surpasses all earthly realities. In practice we do not reflect sufficiently on the truth that to be a believer is a pure gift of God, not due to any personal merit. God is both the object of faith and the giver of faith; it is he who infuses into us the desire to know him and to believe in him and who makes us capable of the act of believing.

Divine Intimacy, Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD

Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

God our Father in Saint Sharbel Makhluf, You gave a light to Your faithful people. You made him a pastor of the Church to feed Your sheep with his word and to teach them by his example. Help us by his prayers to keep the faith he taught and follow the way of life he showed us.

Saint Sharbel Makhlouf (1828-1898) was born in a small Lebanese mountain village who became, at 23 years old, a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order and later ordained a priest in 1859. He is known for his intense devotion to lectio divina, the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sensing a deeper call in 1875, he began a solitary life (as a hermit) which he lived for twenty-three years of his life. Sharbel's witness taught us about the virtues of poverty, self-sacrifice, and prayer in world dominated by an attraction to money, power and fame. Since July 24, 2004 Saint Sharbel has been introduced the liturgical observance in the sacred Liturgy.

Archbishop Francis M. Zayek said of Saint Sharbel:

"Reading about the holy hermits of the desert, we used to consider many reported facts as mere fables. In the life of Blessed Sharbel, however, we notice that these facts are authentic and true. Blessed Sharbel is another Saint Anthony of the Desert, or Saint Pachomius, or Saint Paul the Anchorite. It is marvelous to observe how you, Maronites, have preserved the same spirituality of the fathers of the desert throughout the centuries, and at the end of the nineteenth century, 1500 years later, produced a Sharbel for the Church."

(The icon was painted by iconographer Christine Habib el Dayé. Other pieces of the artist's work can be seen here and she can also be found on Facebook.)

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Nikola Eterovic, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City State, will deliver a talk titled "Pope Benedict XVI, the Bible and the Synod of Bishops." 

The archbishop will review the seminal work of the of the world-wide gathering of bishops and other experts on the Word of God which happened in October 2008.

The talk is sponsored by the American Bible Society and is being presented at their NY Offices.

Details:

Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Time: 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Location: The American Bible Society

1865 Broadway (between 61st & 62nd Streets) New York, NY 10023

RSVP Alicia DeFrange at 212-408-1260 or by emai adefrange@americanbible.org 

"Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the office of the priesthood in the presbyteral order as a conscientious fellow worker with the Bishop in caring for the Lord's flock?"

The Archbishop-Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Mauro Piacenza, wrote to the world's priests on July 15th reflecting on the liturgical theology that identifies and supports the theology of priesthood. Now that we are clearly in the Year of the Priest we have to make solid effort at connecting our daily prayer for priests (and, those preparing for ordination) and education on what the Church believes and teaches about the priesthood. This year dedicated to the priesthood is not only directed to renewal and reform of the priesthood but also conversion of the entire Church. The year of priestly renewal is not merely centered on prayer for the local priest (which is most essential) but also a time for some intellectual formation for both priest and people. So, the proposal of the Pope is that we give a sufficient attention to both prayer and education, not one or the other. I'd like to note that I find myself disappointed to see the lack of a public of storming heaven for the graces of renewal but also the lack of sufficient discussion of what the Church teaches and believes. What to do? In the meantime, Archbishop Piacenza offers a number of juicy tidbits to consider. He said in part:

The Church, in her maternal wisdom, has always taught that the ministry is born of the encounter of two freedoms: divine and human. If on the one hand one must always recall that, "no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God" (CCC n.1578), on the other hand, clearly, it is always a "human and created I", with his own story and identity, with his own qualities and also his own limitations, who responds to the divine call.

            The liturgical-sacramental translation of this asymmetric and necessary dialogue between the divine freedom which calls and the human freedom which responds is represented by the questions which each of us has had addressed to him by the Bishop during the rite our own ordination, immediately prior to the imposition of hands. We shall revisit together in the months ahead this "dialogue of love and freedom".

            We have been asked, "Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the office of the priesthood in the presbyteral order as a conscientious fellow worker with the Bishop in caring for the Lord's flock?" We answered, "I Am"

            The free and conscious response is based, therefore, on an explicit act of the will ("Are you resolved to discharge the office", "I am") which, as we know well, requires to be continuously enlightened by the judgement of reason and sustained by freedom, so as not to become a sterile voluntarism or, worse, to change over time, becoming unfaithful. The act of the will is enduring of its very nature, because it is a human act, in which the fundamental qualities of which the Creator has made us participants are expressed.

            The undertaking, then, that we have assumed is "for the whole of life" and thus not related to fads or indulgences much less to sentiments, which might be apparent to a greater or less degree. While feelings may be said to have a role in coming to the knowledge of the truth, it is only so as to direct out focus in such a way as not to obstruct such knowledge but to assist the discernment of it. Nevertheless, this is but one aspect of consciousness and cannot be its determining factor.

            Our will has accepted to exercise "the priestly ministry", not other "professions"! Above all else we are called to be priests always and, as the Saints remind us, in every circumstance, exercising with our very being that ministry to which we have been called. One does not merely act as a priest: one is a priest!

            Each one of us is part of a dynamic entity, called to collaborate by demonstrating, each in his own way, the Head of this Body: always as "fellow workers with the Bishop", in obedience to the good which he indicates, and "under the guidance of the Holy Spirit", that is in praying with each breath. Only he who prays can hear the voice of the Spirit. As the Holy Father recalled in the General Audience of the 1st July last, "Those who pray are not afraid; those who pray are never alone; those who pray are saved!".

An angel in the flesh, the foundation of the prophets, and the second forerunner of Christ, the glorious Elijah from on high sent grace to Elisha, to cure sicknesses & cleanse lepers. He likewise overflows with healing for those who honor him.

(Troparion of the feast, Tone 4)

Let all Christ's Church assemble here

And, gathered in His holy Name,

Keep solemn, joyful festival

To sing of great Elijah's fame.

Of all the prophets who foretold

God's hidden plan of saving grace,

He is the chief: to him we give,

The Tishbite, now the choicest place.

He called the folk of Israel

Back to their covenant with God;

Through kingly wrath and violence

God's narrow way of truth he trod.

When earthly tasks for him were done,

You called him in a special way:

A fiery chariot came for him,

Foretelling Christ's ascension day.

For all the graces You have giv'n

Through what Elijah did for You,

Your Church on earth gives endless praise,

O Father, Son, and Spirit true.

L.M. (88.88)

James Michael Thompson (2009)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Father, you gave Saint Camillus a special love for the sick. Through his prayers inspire us with your grace, so that by serving you in our brothers and sisters we may come safely to you at the end of our lives.

A bio on Saint Camillus

The healing wasn't enough for John to enter the Franciscan order. A man of considerable talent and brilliance, the desire to study led him to the University of Paris where as a layman he completed his Master of Arts by the age of 22. He was regarded as an expert and a popular lecturer in logic and rhetoric. The Franciscans indicate that he enter the fraternity in either 1238 or 1243.

By 1256 Bonaventure's university life was anxiety provoking when lay professors started violently opposing their religious counterparts. In 1257 and not yet 36 years old, Bonaventure was elected minister general of the Franciscans. He was known to keep the unity and direction for the friars at a time that the order was experiencing unrest. Both Saints Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas were given their doctoral degrees from the University of Paris on 23 October 1257.

The saint served the Church as bishop of Albano and as a cardinal.

Bonaventure died in 1274 while participating in the Council of Lyon; he was invited to the council by Pope Gregory X.

As a scholar and thinker with a sterling character, Saint Bonaventure was known to intercede for others before God and richly blessed by God leading others to say that he had escaped original sin. He left the Church a rich written legacy intellectual works and an incredible constellation of high profile students. His The Life of Saint Francis, Commentary on the Sentences of Lombard, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, and Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum, Breviloquium are his significant works.

Bonaventure was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV and named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Sixtus V.

Saint Thomas Aquinas asked Saint Bonaventure about the source of his teaching; Bonaventure responded, "I study only the crucified on, Jesus Christ." And so should we.

Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, Archbishop of Hartford, in a letter to the Saint Gregory Society of New Haven, Connecticut, gave his permission for the Traditional Latin Mass community to relocate from Sacred Heart Church in New Haven to Saint Stanislaus Church at 9 Eld Street in New Haven.

"He wants to be certain the church is appropriate for your needs," wrote the archbishop.

He gave permission for the first Traditional Latin Mass at Saint Stanislaus in New Haven to be on The Feast of the Holy Cross, September 13, 2009. The Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal will be celebrated at 2 pm at Saint Stanislaus just as it had been celebrated at 2 PM at Sacred Heart.

In his cordial letter of introduction, Archbishop Mansell encouraged cordial relations with the pastor, Father Roman Kmiec, C.M., pastor of Saint Stanislaus. Father Kmiec has indeed warmly welcomed the Saint Gregory Society.

Archbishop Mansell said he was "glad to help" the Saint Gregory Society in finding a new home for the Community.

Saint Stanislaus Church is staffed by the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) of the New England Province. The Vincentians, an congregation of priests and brothers founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in the 1600s, spread the gospel message of Jesus in championing the needs of the poor.

The De Paul Provincial House is located at 234 Keeney Street in Manchester, CT.

I am happy to receive this news. I spent nine years of my formative years at Saint Stan's with the Vincentians and the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Saint Stan's is New Haven's best looking church maintaining the original artwork and liturgical furnishings.

The Saint Gregory Society of New Haven is a non-profit lay association founded in 1985 to promote the local celebration of the Traditional Latin Liturgy according to the Tridentine Missal in response to the Papal indult of October 3, 1984, Quattuor abhinc annos, which granted the use of the liturgical books in force in 1962.

Since January 1986, the Traditional Latin Mass regularly has been celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church in downtown New Haven. The Saint Gregory Society exists primarily to advocate the preservation of the immemorial rite of the Mass, to work for its celebration on a regular and unrestricted basis, and to disseminate information about and cultivate interest in the classical Roman liturgy and its central importance for Catholic faith and culture.

The Society supports a professional Schola Cantorum that provides the proper Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony for all sung liturgical functions.

For further information: contact@saint-gregory.org.

(this article is edited & adapted)

Lord God, you called the virgin, blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, to shine among the Indian people as an example of innocence of life. Through her intercession, may all peoples of every tribe, tongue, and nation, having been gathered into your Church, proclaim your greatness in one song of praise.

The National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha staffed by the Conventual Franciscans.

I would like to invite everyone to enter into a period of intense time of prayer for the Church in the coming days. Use your discretion as to length but do some form of prayer the good of the Church. The Holy See has asked five bishops to investigate the life of the members of the Legion of Christ beginning on July 15th. May I recommend the prayers to the Holy Spirit is needed as well as the Memorare for this intention.

The Legion of Christ is not everyone's "cup of tea" but they certainly are an influence in many sectors of ecclesial life. The Legion has challenged the "categories" of many but they have done some good for the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So, while I am not a supporter of the LC, I am not looking for anything but an honest review and coherent application of mercy. What affects them ought to affect all of us since we are bonded together in Baptism making us all brothers and sisters. Am I my brother's keeper? Yes, and we ought to show prayerful solicitude with the Holy See and the bishops doing the investigating. Many peoples' lives are in significant turmoil over the recent revelations of misconduct of Father Marcial Macial (the founder) and other distressful matters of internal governance and the misuse of spiritual authority.

Today Sandro Magister published an interview with a prominent former Legionary priest, Father Thomas Berg. Consider reading it.

Here in the greater Connecticut and New York area the Legion operates a novitiate, a juniorate, an institute of higher studies plus a variety of other initiatives, including but not limited to the National Catholic Register and recent acquisition of Southern Catholic University. In the US the press reports that there are 24 Legion of Christ houses with about 130 priests and more than 250 seminarians. It would be inappropriate to suggest what the Pope would or should do for the good of the Church and the Legionary congregation. Whatever it is that the members are asked to do by the Church, I predict it will be some tough medicine and I ask that all of us stand on the side of the angels. This is an opportunity for excessive criticism and unflattering talk. It is time for prayer and conversion of life.

God our Father, You made Saint Benedict an outstanding guide to teach men how to live in your service. Grant that be preferring your love to everything else we may walk in the way of your commandments.

Famous for his work on the 12 degrees of humility, Saint Benedict proposes the following for those who want to advance in the spiritual life. The degrees of humility are given below.

The first degree of humility, then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes (cf Ps 35[36]:2), shunning all forgetfulness and that he be ever mindful of all that God hath commanded, that he always consider in his mind how those who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and that life everlasting is prepared for those who fear God. And whilst he guard himself evermore against sin and vices of thought, word, deed, and self-will, let him also hasten to cut off the desires of the flesh.

The second degree of humility is, when a man love not his own will, nor is pleased to fulfill his own desires but by his deeds carried out that word of the Lord which said: "I came not to do My own will but the will of Him that sent Me" (Jn 6:38). It is likewise said: "Self-will hath its punishment, but necessity win the crown."

The third degree of humility is, that for the love of God a man subject himself to a Superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle said: "He became obedient unto death" (Phil 2:8).

The fourth degree of humility is, that, if hard and distasteful things are commanded, nay, even though injuries are inflicted, he accept them with patience and even temper, and not grow weary or give up, but hold out, as the Scripture said: "He that shall persevere unto the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). And again: "Let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord" (Ps 26[27]:14).

The fifth degree of humility is, when one hides from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts which rise in his heart or the evils committed by him in secret, but humbly confesses them. Concerning this the Scripture exhorts us, saying: "Reveal thy way to the Lord and trust in Him" (Ps 36[37]:5). And it said further: "Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Ps 105[106]:1; Ps 117[118]:1). And the Prophet likewise said: "I have acknowledged my sin to Thee and my injustice I have not concealed. I said I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord; and Thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sins" (Ps 31[32]:5).

The sixth degree of humility is, when a monk is content with the meanest and worst of everything, and in all that is enjoined him holds himself as a bad and worthless workman, saying with the Prophet: "I am brought to nothing and I knew it not; I am become as a beast before Thee, and I am always with Thee" (Ps 72[73]:22-23).

The seventh degree of humility is, when, not only with his tongue he declares, but also in his inmost soul believeth, that he is the lowest and vilest of men, humbling himself and saying with the Prophet: "But I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps 21[22]:7).

The eighth degree of humility is, when a monk doeth nothing but what is sanctioned by the common rule of the monastery and the example of his elders.

The ninth degree of humility is, when a monk withholds his tongue from speaking, and keeping silence doth not speak until he is asked; for the Scripture shows that "in a multitude of words there shall not want sin" (Prov 10:19); and that "a man full of tongue is not established in the earth" (Ps 139[140]:12).

The tenth degree of humility is, when a monk is not easily moved and quick for laughter, for it is written: "The fool exalts his voice in laughter" (Sir 21:23).

The eleventh degree of humility is, that, when a monk speaks, he speak gently and without laughter, humbly and with gravity, with few and sensible words, and that he be not loud of voice, as it is written: "The wise man is known by the fewness of his words."

The twelfth degree of humility is, when a monk is not only humble of heart, but always lets it appear also in his whole exterior to all that see him; namely, at the Work of God, in the garden, on a journey, in the field, or wherever he may be, sitting, walking, or standing, let him always have his head bowed down, his eyes fixed on the ground, ever holding himself guilty of his sins, thinking that he is already standing before the dread judgment seat of God, and always saying to himself in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said, with his eyes fixed on the ground: "Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up mine eyes to heaven" (Lk 18:13); and again with the Prophet: "I am bowed down and humbled exceedingly" (Ps 37[38]:7-9; Ps 118[119]:107)

Father, we celebrate the memory of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions who died for their faithful witnessing to Christ. Give us the strength to follow their example, loyal and faithful to the end.

Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, a Chinese diocesan priest who was martyred with 119 companions in 1815. Among their number was an eighteen-year-old boy, Chi Zhuzi, who cried out to those who had just cut off his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive: "Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian."

"Caritas in veritate", said Benedict XVI, "does not seek to offer technical solutions to the enormous social problems of the modern world. ...What it does do is recall the fundamental principles that are indispensable for building human development over coming years". Among these principles it highlights "concern for the life of man, seen as the centre of all true progress; respect for the right to religious freedom; ... and the rejection of a Promethean vision of human beings which sees them as the sole architects of their own destiny". (VNS)

Pope Benedict's 3rd encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, was published today. You may read it here. See the video clip about the pope's new work.

"In Christ, charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan. Indeed, he himself is the Truth."

Today is also the 2nd anniversary of the publication of the Pope's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

The Daily Examen is a spiritual exercise on the events of the day looking to be aware of God's presence and discern His will for us. Various recommendations exist on utilizing this gift of prayer but I think it's necessary to do the Examen twice a day: at midday and then at the end of the day. The whole point of the Examen is to ask the three questions Saint Ignatius Loyola asked: What have I done, what am I doing and what will I do for Christ. This venerable spiritual practice of the Church helps us to see God's hand at work in our whole experience.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola gave us a five-step Daily Examen:

1. Be aware of God's presence;

2. Spend a moment looking over your day with gratitude for this day's gifts;

3. Ask God to send you His Holy Spirit to help you look at your actions, attitudes, motives with honesty and patience;

4. Review your day in a particular way;

5. Have heart-to-heart talk with Jesus.

Looking at these prayer points:

More than 400 years ago Saint Ignatius Loyola encouraged his disciples to cultivate a conscious awareness of the Divine Majesty's work in our lives. He wanted us to live vigorously in the power of the Blessed Trinity. Loyola called this awareness is what the Daily Examen.

1. Become aware of God's presence. So often we forget that God is really present in the daily work we engage in. Here you are asked to look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you --a blur, a muddle. Ask God to for the grace of clarity and understanding. Wherever you are, you are a creature in the midst of the beauty of creation. As you quiet yourself, become aware that God is present within you, in the creation that surrounds you, in your body, in those around you. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you look on all you see with love.

2. Be concrete and let the important moments of the day come to mind! In a general way give a moment of reflection on what happened to you. Some people will recall the smell of morning coffee, the laugh of a friend, the fragrance of a flower, or the feelings brought forth by a kind word, or what you've learned. Consider what you received and what you gave.

3. Give thanks to God for favors received. This is an opportunity to appreciate the permanent gifts you have that allow your participation in this day; conversely recall your particular strengths in times of difficulty. God the Father gives you these to draw you into the fullness of His life. As you move through the details of your day, give thanks to God for His presence in matters large and small. "When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit inspires you with the gift of growing freedom in your life. Here the freedom the Holy Spirit offers to us allows us to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus offering us the opportunity to change, to grow. Ask that you will learn and grow as you reflect, thus deepening your knowledge of self and your relationship with God.

4. Recall the events of your day; explore the specific context of your actions. Search for the internal movements of your heart and your interaction with what was before you. Ask the Lord to show you the moments of grace and sin based on what you experienced since the last time you did the Examen. In what ways did you accept the Spirit's gifts and in what ways did you resist the Holy Spirit? As the Psalmist says, we have a divided heart. The Examen shows us the areas of this division --the wavering of the heart between helping and disregarding, scoffing and encouraging, listening and ignoring, rebuking and forgiving, speaking and silence, neglecting and thanking. Remember, the Examen is not a time to dwell on your sin and other shortcomings; rather, it is a loving look with the Lord at how you have responded to God's gifts. The idea is to notice where you acted freely, that is, cooperated with grace--the picking a particular course of action from the possibilities you saw. See where you were swept along without freedom. What reactions helped or hindered you? See where Christ entered your decisions and where you might have paused to receive His influence. "Test yourselves," Sain Paul urges, "to see whether you are living in faith; examine yourselves. Perhaps you yourselves do not realize that Christ Jesus is in you." (2 Cor.) Thus, you will come to know that Jesus Christ is with you. Christ continually invites you to love Him and your neighbor as yourself; He will strengthen you to do this.

5. Seek God's guidance. Ask Him for help and understanding. Pray for hope. Speak with Jesus about your day, about your concerns. Share your thoughts on your actions, attitudes, feelings and interactions. You may feel the need to seek forgiveness, to ask for direction, to share a concern, to express gratitude, etc. Express sorrow for sin; give thanks for grace, the enlightening presence of God, and especially praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God's life. Resolve with Jesus to move forward in grace-filled action.

You might like to finish your time with the Lord's Prayer and the Glory be.

OK, I laughed (to myself so as not to disturb the priests with whom I live) that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in May to a youth conference that he thinks women are the stronger sex and psychologically more sturdy than men. My mother and sister would agree; and if my grandmothers and Aunt Jeanne were alive, they'd agree with His All Holiness. I am happy that he said this because he confirmed something I always knew or was drilled into my noggin --and heard proclaimed by women's organizations since I've been in seminary formation. While this is neither new news nor as the critical as the oxygen being sucked out of the news industry in the past 8 days (with Michael Jackson's death) but now it's "infallible" and we all know the truth. Really, I am not poking fun at the Russian Patriarch...I think it's humorous that such a point was newsworthy of Interfax, a news agency. In part, Patriarch Kirill said:

"Men happen to be frailer. The upheavals of 1990s caused many of them to break down, but women had more vigor to endure the stress."

Answering questions, it was said that sport achievements required courage: "women win our country most of Russia's gold medals in sport."

The Patriarch's words received a riveting ovation. "An individual comprises both spirit and body, and human strength depends not only on its physical component. In this regard, women are the stronger sex," Patriarch Kirill said.

That he travels around Russia Patriarch Kirill noticed that "Almost every village has some kind of an amateur talent group. Who sings in a choir? Women do, and sometimes they are accompanied by a drunken accordionist." The same is true for many village schools, libraries, post offices, local administration where women have to play the lead, concluded Kirill.

My friends at St Louis Abbey posted this cheat-cheat on doing lectio divina encouraging us to dig deeply into this very necessary form of prayer. All good things are derived from the daily practice of lectio divina. As the monks will tell you, lectio is not only for monks but for the entire Church.

Lectio divina is a way of getting in touch daily in a personal way with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; it is a way of getting in touch with Jesus Christ our Lord and our brother. It is away of reading centered on God and, if you do it with faith you will be able to hear what he has to say to you here at this moment.  It is a way of reading which is slow so that the words are savored in meditation. It moves from the literal meaning to what only the Spirit can make clear to you. It calls for action by your involvement and for passive surrender as it draws you into the heart of God. It is disinterested; the text must be read for its own sake and not for the achievement of having read it.

Lectio is a way of experiencing Jesus Christ. You will encounter him personally in the sacred scriptures because he is there hidden in the pages of your Bible and you ought to believe in his presence with greater assurance than if you could see him with your eyes.  He has the same power there as he revealed in the gospels and he cures you of your physical and moral ailments, brings his light to your everyday life and leads you to eternal life.

Your encounter is with the Word who loves you unconditionally and is ever present and real in your life. From all eternity God has had a plan for the whole course of your life, your personal fulfillment, your vocation, your happiness. You will surely stray from the right path and become alienated from your true self through serving other gods, if you do not allow him to reveal himself to you daily through his word. It is in your Bible that the true story of your life is written. If you don't at once understand what you read, then have confidence that the Lord will reveal it to you in his own time, because no word comes form the mouth of the Lord without achieving in you the work he intended. If your thoughts and imagination get in the way of your prayer, then fling them immediately before Christ.  Make no attempt to master them by your own strength, but try to turn back to your prayer.

You ought to do lectio every day, even if it is only one single verse of the Bible, because, "It is not on bread alone that man lives but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)  Your reading of the word of God should be deliberate, moving slowly from verse to verse, from word to word, watching for the context, paying close attention to each passage, looking out for the answers that are there in sacred scripture itself and the echoes they evoke, watching the notes and marginal references and always treasuring silence so as to make space to listen. You should know that the word you hear is directed to you personally and individually. When you read the word of God, it speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to the word and so turn your prayer into conversation.

Your prayer may be simply staying with the word in silence, or it may be a thanksgiving, or a petition, or praise, or blessing, or contrition, or intercession, or one single word on which you pause and then repeat at will, or it may be a prayer of inspiration. If you are taking part in shared lectio, the way to share what the scripture has said to you is by means of a personal comment spoken in the first person singular and applied to your own life, or else it may be a prayer out loud offered directly to God.

By José Manuel Eguiguren Guzman of the Manquehue Movement, Chile; translated by Abbot Patrick Barry, O.S.B.

On 31 March 197 Pope John Paul II said of Communion and Liberation: "I like this name very much." Here's his explanation:

So you too, young people, beloved young people, have shown, in the very name chosen to describe your movement "Communion and Liberation" (I must say that I like this name very much, I like it for many reasons: for a theological reason and for, I would say, an ecclesiological reason. This name is so closely linked with the ecclesiology of Vatican II. Then I like it because of the perspective it opens to us: the personal, interior perspective and the social perspective: Communion and Liberation. For its topicality, this is the task of the Church today: a task which is expressed precisely in the name "Communion and Liberation." With this name, therefore, you have shown that you are well aware of the deepest expectations of modern man. 

The liberation to which the world aspires--you have reasoned--is Christ; Christ lives in the Church; man's true liberation takes place, therefore, in experience of ecclesial communion; to build up this communion is, therefore, the essential contribution that Christians can make to the liberation of all.

The Jesuit report that after residing more than seventy years within the papal summer Palace itself, the headquarters of the Vatican Observatory recently moved to a new location in the Papal Gardens at Castelgandolfo. The move was occasioned by increased demands for space within the Palace, and the growing needs of the Observatory. Until few weeks ago, the observatory offices were located on the top floor of Papal Palace, the Pope's summer home located in the Alban Hills, 25 kilometers southeast of Rome. Its extensive astronomical library is scattered over four rooms on the top two floors of the Palace, while the valuable meteorite collection and laboratory, the historic vault of photographic observations made at the Observatory from 1895 to 1979, and the classroom where the biennial Vatican Observatory Summer Schools are conducted, are located on the ground floor of the Palace. Meanwhile, the living quarters of the Jesuits is divided between rooms on the second and top floors. With the prospect of half a dozen younger Jesuits joining the staff over the next five years, the issue of both residence and office space was becoming acute.

"Moving the Observatory collections and libraries has been a logistical challenge," noted Father José Funes, the Argentinean Jesuit and director of the observatory. "But the new site will allow us to address a growing need for space and order." The new quarters, located in the remodelled monastery built by the Basilian monks within one of the most beautiful gardens in the Italian peninsula, should provide a far more peaceful and comfortable setting. The Vatican Observatory traces its history to the reform of the calendar by Pope Gregory XIII in 1583. It was re-organized by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, "so that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible devotion."

The general intention

That Christians in the Middle East may live their faith in complete freedom and become instruments of reconciliation and peace.

The missionary intention

Through the witness of the faithful, may the Church be the seed and soil of a humanity reconciled to be God's one true family on earth.