Paul Zalonski: November 2010 Archives

St Benedict, Lower Monastery Chapel.JPGThe Abbey of Regina Laudis is a special place in Connecticut; and one of the special Benedictine monasteries in the USA. I've been spending more time there in recent months either attending the Divine Office and/or Mass or spending a few days in St Joseph's Guest House (for men, there are guests for women, married folks, & clergy).

One thing I learn going to monasteries or other types of religious houses is the wide variety of people who come for a brief visit to the gift shop and chapel to those visiting for professional reasons and those who are there to spend a few days making a retreat, bugging out of the "world" for a respite or those like me who just love monasteries, nuns and the culture. This past weekend we had Jesuit seminarians and a man from North Carolina connecting with distant family who happens to be a nun.
Constantinople & Rome.JPGSaint Andrew is the first of the 12 Apostles called by Jesus to follow Him. Today is his feast day, the day traditionally remembered as the day of his death.

Official delegations of prayer and fraternal exchange happen for the June feast of Saints Peter and Paul (in Rome) and for today's feast of Saint Andrew (in Constantinople). The protocol followed is that Patriarch Bartholomew I sends a message and a group to Rome in June and the Pope does the same on November 30 for today's feast. Often there's a series of meetings, discussions, academic exchanges, and a festive meal. Kurt Cardinal Koch and Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, (president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity) represented the Holy Father today.

The meeting was covered by Vatican Radio. Visit here.
 
The Catholic News Agency reports that the Pope is urging greater efforts to realize unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

The Pope's message to the Patriarch: Benedict XVI to Bartholomew I Nov 30 2010.pdf

St Andrew FDuquesnoy.jpg
Saint Andrew, pray for us.

Ask Saint Andrew to ask the Lord for the grace to carry the cross in humility, dignity and in the face of great opposition, opposition found within ourselves and from others. May he ask the Lord to bless the Bishop of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Scotland, Russia, the Archdiocese of Amalfi and for fish mongers, old maids and singers.

Today is the first time the Jesuits and Spain celebrate the liturgical memorial of the new beatus, Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos. When Blessed Bernard was lifted to the altars in April, I posted on him, and here. For me, he's an attractive contemporary apostle of the Sacred Heart Jesus. The second reading for the Office of Readings of the Divine Office follows:

From the Instruction of Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos to Brother Ignatius Osorio

(Vallalodid, 14 September 1732, nn. 40-41; MS 1596, University Library of Salamanca.)

A divine and heavenly peace in your heart

Bl Bernard Francis de Hoyos2.JPG

Try to have, my beloved brother, a divine and heavenly peace in your heart. I do not speak of peace with others, called by another name, charity; for that I repeat (the words) of the Apostle to the Thessalonians: Now concerning love of the brothers, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for your yourselves have been taught by God to love one another (1 Thessalonians 4:9).  I speak of peace within one's own heart, which often is the greater struggle for us, arousing in the soul a thousand disturbances, anguishes, and disquiet with which the demon succeeds in his aim of thwarting us in the way of perfection.  The distinguishing characteristic of the friends of God consists in this interior peace, which Christ so often recommended to his disciples, repeating: Peace be with you (Luke 10:5; 24:36) for he is called "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).  Disturbance, on the contrary, is characteristic of reprobates: There is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22).  Jesus cannot abide where there is no peace. The soul is a mirror; it is a crystal-clear steam which reflects all the beauties placed before it; in which the image of our God is reflected: into the same image we are being transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18), so long as the waters of this stream are nit disturbed or agitated, so long as the clarity of this mirror is not dimmed or obscured.

Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi.jpgA week ago today, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, 68, was created a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. Ravasi, since 2007, is the well-equipped, critically acclaimed, lover of art and music, and a man who has a great sense of humor President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the "Minister of Culture" (some might say he's a "culture vulture") and he heads the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology. He's the former head of the Ambrosian Library in Milan. He turned the Library into a cultural and intellectual destination.
Lord Jesus,
You who faithfully visit and fulfil with your Presence
the Church and the history of men;
You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood
render us participants in divine Life
and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;
We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,
truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,
make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb
the miraculous work of the Creator,
open our hearts to generously welcoming every child
that comes into life.

Bless all families,
sanctify the union of spouses,
render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies
with the light of your Spirit,
so that peoples and nations may recognise and respect
the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,
so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,
and no-one endures suppression or injustice.

Gift creative charity to administrators and economists,
so they may realise and promote sufficient conditions
so that young families can serenely embrace
the birth of new children

Console the married couples who suffer
because they are unable to have children
and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,
so they may experience the warmth of your Charity,
the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,
in whose womb you took on our human nature,
we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Saviour,
the strength to love and serve life,
in anticipation of living forever in You,
in communion with the Blessed Trinity.
The Pope began Advent 2010 this evening --it's evening in Rome-- in the Vatican Basilica by celebrating First Vespers of Advent in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

"To you, my Lord God, my eyes are turned, my refuge, protect my life"; "Here the Lord comes, and with Him His great saints"; "The Lord will come in glory; every man will see that He is the Savior." With these words our preparation has begun.

B16 Advent Vespers I 2010.jpg
The Pope's homily:

With this evening's celebration, the Lord gives us the grace and joy of opening the new liturgical year beginning with its first stage: Advent, the period that commemorates the coming of God among us. Every beginning brings a special grace, because it is blessed by the Lord. In this Advent period we will once again experience the closeness of the One who created the world, who guides history and cared for us to the point of becoming a man. This great and fascinating mystery of God with us, moreover of God who becomes one of us, is what we celebrate in the coming weeks journeying towards holy Christmas. During the season of Advent we feel the Church that takes us by the hand and - in the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary - expresses her motherhood allowing us to experience the joyful expectation of the coming of the Lord, who embraces us all in his love that saves and consoles.

Prophet Isaiah GPiamonte.jpg

The new liturgical year begins tonight at First Vespers for Advent (as a point of comparison, the Church in Milan which follows its own liturgical calendar and set of customs began Advent on November 14th). A new liturgical year refreshes our understanding of good Catholic customs and practices, a renews the emphasis of ongoing conversion and encourages a lively following of God Incarnate -- all these things are essential hallmarks of Advent.

The newness the Advent gives to us is seen as a feast for the senses (Catholics are sensual people) known through investment of our best resources and energies: the Church's vesture changes to purple, silence is observed a little more in the Liturgy, the sacred Scriptures draws out attention to waiting and preparing the way of the Lord (think of the Prophet Isaiah pictured right), the season's music focuses our hopes and loves on the Kingdom already present but not fully realized and our homes, the "domestic church," reinforces our seeking God together. As Father U. Michael Lang, CO, said in a recent essay on vestments, "Divine beauty manifests itself in an altogether particular way in the sacred liturgy, also through material things of which man, made of soul and body, has need to come to spiritual realities: the buildings of worship, the furnishings, the vestments, the images, the music, the dignity of ceremonies themselves." 

As one small sign for the daily and weekly movement of this season of preparation is the Advent wreath, a tangible sign of movement to recognizing more deeply that our Salvation is at hand. The Advent wreath is, however, not a parish church custom as much as it is custom for one's home (but you can't persuade too many priests to move the Advent wreath out of the sanctuary these days).

A favorite historian of liturgical customs is Jesuit Father Francis X. Weiser's 1958 Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore, but I also look to Pius Parsch, Dom Gueranger and the Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001) to recall the Advent sensibility given to us by the Church. These authors are particularly helpful in preparing the faithful and especially the children in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and other CCD programs about the sacred Liturgy. About the Advent wreath Weiser writes:

The Advent wreath originated a few hundred years ago among the Lutherans of eastern Germany. It probably was suggested by one of the many light symbols which were used in folklore at the end of November and beginning of December... The Christians in medieval times kept many of these lights and fire symbols alive as popular traditions and ancient folklore. In the sixteenth century the custom started of using such lights as a religious symbol of Advent in the houses of the faithful. This practice quickly spread among the Protestants of eastern Germany and was soon accepted by Protestants and Catholics in other parts of the country. Recently it has not only found its way to America, but has been spreading so rapidly that it is already a cherished custom in many homes.

Advent wreath ex.jpg

The Advent wreath is exactly what the word implies, a wreath of evergreens (yew or fir or laurel), made in various sizes. It is either suspended from the ceiling or placed on a table, usually in front of the family shrine. Fastened to the wreath are four candles standing upright, at equal distances. These candles represent the four weeks of Advent.

Daily at a certain time (usually in the evening), the family gathers for a short religious exercise. Every Sunday of Advent one more candle is lit, until all four candles shed their cheerful light to announce the approaching birthday of the Lord. All other lights are extinguished in the room, and only the gentle glow of the live candles illuminates the darkness. After some prayers, which are recited for the grace of a good and holy preparation for Christmas, the family sings one of the traditional Advent hymns or a song in honor of Mary.

The traditional symbolism of the Advent wreath reminds the faithful of the Old Testament, when humanity was "sitting in the darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke 2:79); when the prophets, illumined by God, announced the Redeemer; and when the hearts of men glowed with the desire for the Messiah. The wreath -- an ancient symbol of victory and glory -- symbolizes the "fulfillment of time" in the coming of Christ and the glory of His birth.

In some sections of Europe it is customary for persons with the name of John or Joan to have the first right to light the candles on the Advent wreath and Christmas tree, because John the Evangelist starts his Gospel by calling Christ the "Light of the World" and John the Baptist was the first one to see the light of divinity shining about the Lord at His baptism in the Jordan. (pp. 54-55)

We believe that our life, though as ordinary as ourselves, speaks of more than ourselves. For when we are present in the neighborhoods and cities of the human community, we are a prophetic presence pointing beyond ourselves to the very mystery of God.

Sister Laureen Grady, OCD
Carmel Charter of Life

Clementina Valentina, RIP

| | Comments (2)
Clementina Valentna.jpgThe Christian community of faith in New Haven, Connecticut mourns the loss of Clementina Valentina, 85, Third Order Laity of the Order of Preachers. Our friend and fellow companion has been called home by the Lord.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated today at The Church of Saint Mary (New Haven, CT) by Father Albino Barrerra, OP and concelebrated by several Dominican friars and a secular priest, the Rev'd Father Donald A. Guglielmi. The Dominican laity were present as well as several Knights of Columbus. As a fitting tribute to such a beautiful woman was the presence of about 100 people gathered in prayer for the Clem.

Clem's life only makes sense for many of us, as Father Albino said, through the lens of faith. In theological terms, in Clem's life there was a hermeneutic of faith and continuity formed in the heart of the Church. Like the many narratives in the gospels where faith in Jesus led to conversion, healing and new life, Clem's life of faith first given to her by her parents at Baptism sustained not only her but also her friends and acquaintances. God gives us the friends we need in order to know Him. In fact, the three gifts of Clem given to us these many years and that have built up the Kingdom of God on earth, I am convinced, were Clem's capacity for loyal friendship, her deep and abiding faith in and witness to Jesus Christ through the Church and profession in the Third Order of the Dominicans (the Dominican laity) and her quiet, unassuming way of doing things in love. I will miss her warm embrace, her stellar proclamation of the Scriptures at Mass and her good example.

May the Mantle of Our Lady of Grace wrap Clem today and for eternity. Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
St Andrew relic2 New Haven.jpgNew Haven has many residents whose family hails from Amalfi, Italy. The Italian heritage society, The Saint Andrew Society of New Haven (Società di Sant'Andrea Apostolo), draws the old time Italians, most by now have only an affection of Amalfi but neither speak the Italian language nor have been to the beautiful sea-side town.

The enchanted and beautiful lush area not far from Naples. Amalfi, as you know, over the years has been the resting place of the relics of the brother of Peter, fisherman and first-called by the Lord, Saint Andrew the Apostle. His relics have been in Amalfi since the 13th century (brought to the Italian city by crusaders coming back from Constantinople). A small relic of Saint Andrew is venerated here in New Haven at The Church of St Michael. This parish is recognized as the first spiritual home of the Italian community for more than 150 years. And gratefully so for us to have one of the closest connections to Our Savior and to the Prince of the Apostles!
Abraham Lincoln.jpg

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.


Pope Benedict spoke in his General Audience today of the great 14th century Dominican sister, Saint Catherine of Siena, holy woman, ambassador, truth-speaker, Doctor of the Church and spiritual mother. His choice of saint could not have been better since the presence of many of the new cardinals were in attendance. Rome Reports provides a brief video clip on the papal address.

St Catherine of Siena PGiovanni.jpg

Today I would like to speak to you about a woman who has had an eminent role in the history of the Church. She is St. Catherine of Siena. The century in which she lived -- the 14th -- was a troubled time for the life of the Church and for the whole social fabric in Italy and Europe.

However, even in the moments of greatest difficulty, the Lord does not cease to bless his People, raising men and women saints who stir minds and hearts, bringing about conversion and renewal. Catherine is one of these and still today she speaks to us and pushes us to walk courageously toward sanctity to be disciples of the Lord in an ever fuller sense.

Born in Siena in 1347 to a very numerous family, she died in her native city in 1380. At 16, moved by a vision of St. Dominic, she entered the Dominican Third Order, in the feminine branch called the Mantellate. She stayed with her family and confirmed the vow of virginity she made privately when she was still an adolescent; she dedicated herself to prayer, penance, and works of charity, above all for the benefit of the sick.

When her fame for sanctity spread, she became the protagonist in an intense activity of spiritual counsel, dealing with all categories of persons: nobles and politicians, artists and ordinary people, consecrated persons, ecclesiastics, and including Pope Gregory XI, who at that time resided in Avignon and whom Catherine exhorted energetically and effectively to return to Rome. She traveled a lot to solicit the interior reform of the Church and to foster peace between states. For this reason also the Venerable John Paul II declared her co-patroness of Europe: so that the Old World would never forget its Christian roots that are at the base of its journey and continue to draw from the Gospel the fundamental values that ensure justice and concord.

Caring for friends

| | Comments (0)
Let us, who have a spiritual as well as natural affection for friends who are deed according to the flesh, though not according to the spirit, have far greater solicitude and care and zeal in offering up for them those things which will help the spirits of the departed --alms, and prayers and supplications.  ~Saint Augustine of Hippo

The news that some Europeans have been wrecked on a desert island is gratifying, in so far as it shows that there are still some desert islands for us to be wrecked on. Moreover, it is also interesting because these, the latest facts, actually support the oldest stories. For instance, superior critics have often sniffed at the labours of Robinson Crusoe, specifically upon the ground that he depended so much upon stores from the sunken wreck. But these actual people shipwrecked a few weeks ago depended entirely upon them; and yet the critics might not have cared for the billet. A few years ago, when physical science was still taken seriously, a very clever boys' book was written, called "Perseverance Island." It was written in order to show how "Robinson Crusoe" ought to have been written. In this story, the wrecked man gained practically nothing from the wreck. He made everything out of the brute materials of the island. He was, I think, allowed the advantage of some broken barrels washed up from the wreck with a few metal hoops round them. It would have been rather hard on the poor man to force him to make a copper-mine or a tin-mine. After all, the process of making everything that one wants cannot be carried too far in this world. We have all saved something from the ship. At the very least, there was something that Crusoe could not make on the island; there was something Crusoe was forced to steal from the wreck; I mean Crusoe. That precious bale, in any case, he brought ashore; that special cargo called "R. C.," at least, did not originate in the island. It was a free import, and not a native manufacture. Crusoe might be driven to make his own trousers on the island. But he was not driven to make his own legs on the island; if that had been his first technical job he might have approached it with a hesitation not unconnected with despair. Even the pessimist when he thinks, if he ever does, must realise that he has something to be thankful for: he owes something to the world, as Crusoe did to the ship. You may regard the universe as a wreck: but at least you have saved something from the wreck.


Not only does the Christian encounter the great act of thanksgiving at every Mass, at moment of prayer, at the very realization that every point of life is given --and not taken-- but also that everything is total grace given by God for our happiness in this life and in the next. Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Pieta GBellini.jpgManuela Camagni, 56, a member of the Memores Domini (the lay consecrated group of Communion and Liberation), died earlier today as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident Tuesday evening in Rome. She was taken to Rome's Umberto I Polyclinic for treatment and latter died. Manuela served in the Apostolic Household helping to care for the temporal needs of Pope Benedict XVI. She worked closely with Monsignors Georg Gaenswain and Alfred Xuereb, the two personal secretaries of the Pope. Manuela, with the three other Memores Domini, are among the closest collaborators, "the family" of His Holiness.

The Holy Father is very personally moved by the death of Manuela and offer Mass for her soul this morning.

Manuela Camagni.jpg
I bid you to pray for Manuela Camagni, her family and the Memores Domini.


May the Lord grant mercy, peace, light and rest to Manuela. May her memory be eternal.

St Andrew Dung Lac.jpg

O God, source and origin of all fatherhood, who kept the Martyrs Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions faithful to the Cross of your Son, even to the shedding of their blood, grant, through their intercession that, spreading your love among our brothers and sisters, we may be your children both in name and in truth.


Saint Andrew and his 117 companions are known as the Martyrs of Vietnam, killed for their faith in Christ between 1745 and 1862, but these people are few in number compared with the vast number of people thought to have been persecuted. Saint Andrew was a secular priest who was killed in 1839. Among the companions there were 8 bishops, 50 priests, 59 lay faithful of Vietnamese, Spanish and French nationalities. Pope John Paul II canonized these saints in 1988.

It's funny for Catholics to hear of the Queen being the head of the Church of England. But she is. Anglican way of doing things is foreign to my experience and so I am intrigued by what I read and hear about the CofE. She gently reminds the bishops and assembled laity that there are crucial challenges to face and exhorts them to heed Saint Paul. The Queen also dares to mention the recent visit of Pope Benedict to England in that protestant hall. As a point of contrast, read through the following address Her Majesty gave today to her ecclesial body: there's a distinct difference in content and style between what is said by the Queen and how the Pope would say things. We need to pray that the Queen and her family come home to the bosom of Mother Church.

Queen attends 9th Synod.jpg

Your Graces, The Convocations of Canterbury and York, duly called together in obedience to Our Royal Writs, are on this day joined together in accordance with the Synodical Government Measure 1969 and the House of Laity is added to them in accordance with that Measure, so as to constitute the ninth General Synod of the Church of England.

Those who serve the Church of England in its public ministry are required to affirm their loyalty to its inheritance of faith as their inspiration and guidance under God. They also declare their commitment to bringing the grace and truth of Christ and making him known to those in their care.

The opening of a new Synod is a moment when we can all give thanks for the witness of those who have gone before, and pray for wisdom as you seek to balance change and continuity in the decisions that lie ahead of you.

Next year will see two important anniversaries. It will be four hundred years since the publication of the Authorised Version of the Bible commissioned by King James, and two hundred years since the foundation of the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. Both developments had a lasting impact on the life of the Church and the nation.


Pope Saint Clement I

| | Comments (0)
St Clement I.jpgHow blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God. Life in immortality! Brightness in righteousness! Truth in full assurance! Faith in confidence! Temperance in holiness! And all this God has subjected to our understandings: What therefore will those things be which he has prepared for them that wait for him? Only the Creator and Father of spirits, the Most Holy, knows both the greatness and beauty of them. Let us therefore strive with all earnestness, that we may be found in the number of those that wait for him, and that we may receive the reward which he has promised. But how, beloved, shall we do this? We must fix our minds by faith towards God, and seek those things that are pleasing and acceptable to him. We must perform those things that are agreeable to his holy will and follow the way of truth, casting off from us all unrighteousness and iniquity, together with all covetousness, strife, evil manners, deceit, whispering, detractions, all hatred of God, pride and boasting, or vain-glory and ambition; For they that do these things are odious to God, and not only they that do them, but also all such as approve of those that do them. (St Clement I to the Corinthians 17)

Christian martyrs of Iraq?

| | Comments (0)
Christians martyrs appeal.jpgThere is a movement afoot to investigate the sanctity of those Christians killed in Iraq just for being Christian, perhaps leading to having these Christians being canonized saints. Interesting question...

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," Tertullian said. Are these women and men true seeds of Christianity in the 21st century?

President Barack Obama.jpgPresident Obama revised 2001 faith based initiatives established by President George W. Bush with "Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships with Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations" on November 17, 2010.

Catholic organizations like Catholic Charities, hospitals, clinics, assisted living organizations, adoption agencies would do well to review their policies and practices to see if the present policies cohere with what the President has set down in the executive order since there are some serious potential conflicts. Serious points of contention will likely be around the providing of religious services, counseling rooted in faith and to what degree you can apply pastoral practice to the workings of the agency. The secularists are already jumping for joy with the new amendments because they want more restrictive policies and stringent policies of accountability for the use of monies and practices by faith-based organizations. Having said all this, though, clarity of what can and cannot be done are helpful since they establish rules of engagement. Clear to all reasonable minded people, religious freedom needs to be respected. And we Catholics will hear more about religious freedom in 2011 with Pope Benedict addressing the issue of religious freedom at significant events like world youth day. The Pope is very clear that we propose and not impose our faith in Christ, even with those who claim to be Christians.

The controversial --and widely perceived to be satified with his own ignorance of reality-- bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X, Bishop Richard Williamson, who one time lived in Ridgefield, CT, is under pressure to accept the indications of the Society or face expulsion. Rumor has it that he's set himself to separate from the SSPX.

The directives of the SSPX:

The Superior General, Bishop Bernard Fellay, has learnt by the press of Bishop Richard Williamson's decision, just ten days before his trial, to dismiss the lawyer charged with his defense, in favor of a lawyer who is openly affiliated to the so-called neo-Nazi movement in Germany, and to other such groups.
Ricahrd Williamson.jpg

Bishop Fellay has given Bishop Williamson a formal order to go back on this decision and to not allow himself to become an instrument of political theses that are completely foreign to his mission as a Catholic bishop serving the Society of Saint Pius X.

Disobedience to this order would result in Bishop Williamson being expelled from the Society of Saint Pius X.

November 20 of 2010
Fr. Christian Thouvenot, general Secretary
The events in Rome these past days have distracted some from mentioning the Bishops of England and Wales' statement on the apostolic constitution of November 4, 2009, "Anglicanorum coetibus." To date, this is the clearest statement of the UK Bishops' intention to positively respond to the Pope's generous gesture of working with Anglicans who themselves desire to respond more generously to Christ's call to discipleship and mission.

A few points from the statement:

1. "Anglicanorum coetibus" is a response of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, to the repeated and insistent requests of Anglicans requesting to be in full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining some of the Anglican patrimony;
2. In conjunction with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the UK Conference of Bishops, an ecclesial circumscription called an Ordinariate in early January 2011 will be established in Great Britain;
3. In resigning their office in the Anglican Communion on December 31, 2010, the 5 bishops will be received into the Church, and prior to Lent will be ordained to the Order of Deacon and then to the Holy Priesthood so as to assist in the services of Holy Week when other Anglicans will be received into the Church after a period of preparation;
4. At Pentecost those Anglican ministers who petitioned to be ordained Catholic priests will be ordained.

The full statement is noted here: UK Bishops statement on Anglican Ordinariate.pdf
Urbano Cardinal Navarete SJ.jpgUrbano Cardinal Navarrete Cortés, SJ, 90, died today. The Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for November 24; the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Cardinal Sodano will celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass and His Holiness will preside over the Final Commendation and give a valediction. 

His Eminence was a professor of Canon Law, a former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, a prolific author and a consultor of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Disciple of the Sacraments.

In 2007, Pope Benedict created Father Navarrete a cardinal of the Roman Church. He was dispensed of the episcopal dignity. The Pope assigned him the Church of San Ponziano as his titular Church.

Urbano Navarrete coat of arms.jpg
Cardinal Navarrete was a Spanish Jesuit (entering in 1937), ordained priest in 1952. And since 1958 was a professor of Canon Law at the Gregorian, specializing in marriage law, where he also served as dean of the Canon Law faculty.

Saint Cecelia, Virgin & Martyr

| | Comments (3)
On this feast of an early woman martyr, Saint Cecelia, it is good to reflect on music and its impact on the heart. As she lay dying for three days, Cecelia sang of the Lord's glory and extolled the singular devotion of one dedicated to the Lord as a virgin. Saint Cecelia is the patron saint of musicians. Benedict XVI writes about beauty and contemplative nature of music:

St Cecilia.jpgThe encounter with the beautiful can become the wound of the arrow that strikes the heart and in this way opens our eyes, so that later, from this experience, we take the criteria for judgment and can correctly evaluate the arguments. For me an unforgettable experience was the Bach concert that Leonard Bernstein conducted in Munich after the sudden death of Karl Richter. I was sitting next to the Lutheran Bishop Hanselmann. When the last note of one of the great Thomas-Kantor-Cantatas triumphantly faded away, we looked at each other spontaneously and right then we said: "Anyone who has heard this, knows that the faith is true." The music had such an extraordinary force of reality that we realized, no longer by deduction, but by the impact on our hearts, that it could not have originated from nothingness, but could only have come to be through the power of the Truth that became real in the composer's inspiration. (Message to Communion and Liberation, August 2002, Rimini, Italy; text available May 2, 2005, Zenit.org)
Bl Maria Franciszka Siedliska.jpg

The great foundress of the Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth is liturgically remembered today. As she lay dying Mother Mary of Jesus spoke the word charity in five languages. One of the many reasons why I like Mother Foundress is her strong sense that "An interior life is essential for the active life."

On July 4, 1885 the Nazareth Sisters arrived in the New York Harbor and eventually landed in Chicago where they made their first foundation in the USA. For 125 years they have served the Church in a variety of ministries, namely education, pastoral ministry in parishes, hospitals and and orphanages.

Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd's liturgical prayers are here.

Prayer to Christ the King

| | Comments (0)
Christ the King2.jpgO Jesus Christ, I acknowledge Thee as universal King. All that has been made, has been created for Thee. Exercise all Thy rights over me. I renew my baptismal vows, renouncing Satan, his pomp and his works; and I promise to live as a good Christian. In particular do I pledge myself to labor, to the best of my ability, for the triumph of the rights of God and Thy Church.

Divine Heart of Jesus, to Thee do I proffer my poor services, laboring that all hearts may acknowledge Thy Sacred Kingship, and that thus the reign of Thy peace be established throughout the whole universe. Amen.
Cardinal's ring.JPG
To go with a cassock and a new biretta (the 3 gore squarish hat) there's a new ring, simple and symbolic of one's fidelity to Jesus Christ and the Church.

Gianfranco Ravasi.jpg
Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, Pontifical Council of Culture

Antonios Naguib.jpg
His Beatitude, Antonios Cardinal Naguib, Patriarch of the Copts, Egypt

If you want to know what Pope Benedict XVI really said about AIDS and condom use, you will want to read Chapter 11, of Peter Seewald's interview of the Pope in Light of the World,  "The Journeys of a Shepherd," pages 117-119:

On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican's policy on AIDs once again became the target of media criticism. Twenty-five percent of all AIDs victims around the world today are treated in Catholic facilities. In some countries, such as Lesotho, for example, the statistic is 40 percent. In Africa you stated that the Church's traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including critics from the Church's own ranks, object that it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

The media coverage completely ignored the rest of the trip to Africa on account of a single statement. Someone had asked me why the Catholic Church adopts an unrealistic and ineffective position on AIDs. At that point, I really felt that I was being provoked, because the Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many AIDs victims, especially children with AIDs.

I had the chance to visit one of these wards and to speak with the patients. That was the real answer: The Church does more than anyone else, because she does not speak from the tribunal of the newspapers, but helps her brothers and sisters where they are actually suffering. In my remarks I was not making a general statement about the condom issue, but merely said, and this is what caused such great offense, that we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease.

As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen. Meanwhile, the secular realm itself has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condom, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work. This means that the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man's being.

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke Nov 20 2010.jpg

Donald William Cardinal Wuerl Nov 20 2010.jpg












Left: His Eminence, Raymond Leo Burke
Above: His Eminence, Donald William Wuerl
Paolo Sardi.jpgThe tradition is that when a cardinal is made by the pope, the cardinal becomes a priest of the Diocese of Rome. As members of the Roman clergy, he receives a church, though now in title only, (which he vicarious takes care of by finding the funding for projects), and has the responsibility of entering a conclave to elect a new pope and when asked, to provide his consultation on certain topics.

The new cardinal will take possession of his new church within the next six months.

Interesting to note: Cardinal Antonios Naguib is not assigned a titular church because he uses Saint Paul outside the Walls because the church's close, historic connection with the See of Alexandria; Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli is assigned the Benedictine church of Sant' Anselmo (replacing the recently deceased Cardinal Mayer, OSB);  Cardinal Raymond Burke is assigned Church of Sant' Agata de' Gotti, the church where the Stigmatine Fathers have the generalate (replacing the recently deceased Cardinal Spidlik, SJ); the 93 year old Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci is assigned the Church of Santissimi Nomi di Gesù e Maria in via Lata (replacing Cardinal Dulles, SJ).

The complete list of the assignments of the churches is here.
Getting to the point of thinking more intelligently and from a Christian point of view about the feast of Christ the King and its relevance today, I think we ought to consider what Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) said about politics and human dignity viz. faith in Jesus Christ.

On early Christianity & the state:

"The state is not the whole of human existence and does not encompass all human hope. Man and what he hopes for extend beyond the framework of the state and beyond the sphere of political action. This is true not only for a state like Babylon, but for every state. The state is not the totality; this unburdens the politician and at the same time opens up for him the path of reasonable politics. The Roman state was wrong and anti-Christian precisely because it wanted to be the totality of human possibilities and hopes. A state that makes such claims cannot fulfill its promises; it thereby falsifies and diminishes man. Through the totalitarian lie it becomes demonic and tyrannical."

The Christian world-view stands for an authentic hope for humanity in being happy in this world:

"The Christian faith destroyed the myth of the divine state, the myth of the earthly paradise or utopian state and of a society without rule. In its place it put the objectivity of reason... True human objectivity involves humanity, and humanity involves God. True human reason involves morality, which lives on God's commandments. This morality is not a private matter; it has public significance. Without the good of being good and of good action, there can be no good politics. What the persecuted Church prescribed for Christians as the core of their political ethos must also be the core of an active Christian politics: only where good is done and is recognized as good can people live together well in a thriving community. Demonstrating the practical importance of the moral dimension, the dimension of God's commandments -- publicly as well -- must be the center of responsible political action."

Joseph Ratzinger's (Benedict XVI) Church, Ecumenism & Politics (San Francisco: Ignatius 1988).
cardinal's hat.jpg
The Pope created 24 new cardinals, 20 of them still work as pastors and heads of offices in the Church, 4 are honorary members of the College of Cardinals (they can't vote for a new pope because they're over 80 yrs).

The Scripture for today's Liturgy of the Word:

1 Peter 3 - reverence for the Lord and witness to the reason for our hope
Psalm 145
Mark 10 - they were on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus was ahead of them, those who followed were afraid, and Jesus told the 12 of what was to happen to Him and to them

"... the cardinals witness to the Church and to the world ... singular and precious cooperators entrusted to Peter by Christ ... to love according to the Law of Christ," Pope Benedict.

Christ the King

| | Comments (0)
Sunday marks the final Sunday of the liturgical year with the Solemnity of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI established this feast for us in an encyclical Quas Primas, to help us to recognize the reality of the Lord's kingship over the universe. The Lord's kingship is not one of an arbitrary use of power or an arrogant rule of peoples or a subjugation of the dignity of man and woman. The Lord's kingship extends over all peoples based on the Divine Love and Communion of the Blessed Trinity. Here is a paragraph from Quas Primas to help our prayer.

Christ the King on cross detail.JPG"If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God" (Romans 6:13).

Pope Pius XI
December 11, 1925
the new cardinals.jpgBilled my some as extra-ordinary, but likely seen by insiders as ordinary, Pope Benedict met with his cardinals and the new cardinals --24 of them-- he intends to make tomorrow, in a forum where information is exchanged and consultation given. The meeting of Pope and cardinals was conducted in the context of prayer. Prayer and exchange, not the making of decisions was the format. It is estimated that about 150 of the worlds 203 cardinals met today. Topics ranged from the sacred Liturgy and religious freedom, but also the exercise of religion, secularism, conversion and entering into full communion with the Catholic Church to healthcare. Since this is also the 10th anniversary of Dominus Iesus, the document which recalls that salvation comes uniquely and universally through the person of Jesus Christ, the Pope and cardinals will reflect on the impact this document has made since its publication.

cardinal shelters from rain.jpg
Some cardinals expressed their frustration and exhaustion over the sexual abuse crisis, but their feelings aside, this is a central issue that needs to be corrected right now. Certainly people are worn down by the continuous attention the sex abuse crisis has garnered, but the credibility of the Church to proclaim the Gospel of Salvation is at stake if the immoral actions of priests, bishops and laity is not dealt with in forthright manner. Pope Benedict is doing the hard work now, as he has done in the past, to clean up the moral rot found in the Church.

The Vatican Radio has a report.

Thumbnail image for Fraternity CL Logo.JPGCommunion and Liberation follows the call of the Italian bishops to pray Sunday, November 21 for the Christians of Iraq, "who are suffering the tremendous trial of blood witness to the faith" (Final communiqué of the Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, November 11, 2010).

The Movement invites all its members to participate in Mass according to the intentions of Benedict XVI, who the day after the grave attack in the Syrian Catholic cathedral of Baghdad that left dozens dead and wounded, said, "I pray for the victims of this absurd violence, all the more savage because it struck defenseless people gathered in God's house, which is a house of love and reconciliation. I also express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, struck once again, and encourage the pastors and faithful to be strong and steady in hope. In the face of the heinous episodes of violence that continue tearing the populations of the Middle East to pieces, I renew my grieved call for peace: it is the gift of God, but also the result of the efforts of people of good will, of national and international institutions. May everyone join their strengths to put an end to all violence! (Comments after the Angelus, November 1, 2010).

Addressing all members of Communion and Liberation, Fr. Julián Carrón said that "participation in Sunday Mass according to the intentions of the Pope and the bishops is a gesture of real communion and charity because we feel that the Christians of Iraq are our friends, even if we do not know them directly."

As Fr. Giussani said, "If the sacrifice is accepting the circumstances of life, as they happen, because they make us correspondent, participants in the death of Christ, then sacrifice becomes the keystone of all life [...] but also the keystone for understanding the history of man. The entire history of man depends on that man dead on the cross, and I can influence the history of man - I can influence the people who live in Japan now, the people in danger at sea now; I can intervene to help the pain of the women who lose their children now, in this moment - if I accept the sacrifice that this moment imposes." (L. Giussani, Is It Possible to Live This Way? Book 3: Charity, McGill-Queen's University Press, pp. 74-75.)

Iraqi Christians Pray Rosary.jpg
For this reason, added Carrón, "if a gesture of prayer can influence the change of people in Japan, it can also change something in Iraq. May the sacrifice we make for the Christians of Iraq and Sunday's prayer be a gesture with which we invoke, implore from God protection for them."




The Communion & Liberation Press Office
Milan, Italy
November 18, 2010
With last the announcement last week about a study session of the new Rite of Exorcism seemingly many peoples' interest in the devil and evil soared. But I wonder if we all know the implications of having an interest in the "devil and evil" means. What it means is that we are in a spiritual battle with evil, a fact that is being spoken of more and more.

The Servant of God Pope Paul VI addressed the issue in a General Audience on November 15, 1972. What he said in 1972 remains so very true today:

What are the Church's greatest needs at the present time? Don't be surprised at Our answer and don't write it off as simplistic or even superstitious: one of the Church's greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call the Devil.

The papal address is not long and it covers topics of a Christian's vision of the universe, the mystery of evil, seeking answers to our questions, the biblical witness to evil and the Devil, the Devil's ability to tempt us, the peril of ignoring the Devil, the presence of diabolical actions and what our defense against the Devil means. Read what Pope Paul said.

Two Standards Loyola.jpg
In his meditation of the second week of the Spiritual Exercises Saint Ignatius of Loyola presents to us "On the Two Standards" telling us we are faced with making a choice: "The one of Christ, our Commander-in-chief and Lord; the other Lucifer, mortal enemy of our human nature." Loyola places in front of us the choice of how we are going to live our lives, either for Christ or against Christ, either for good, or for evil. Why sell our soul for money, power and fame when the Lord offers us a life that's attractive and beautiful through the virtues of spiritual --and possibly in actual poverty, contempt for worldly honor and humility against pride? Poverty, whether spiritual and/or actual, obedience and humility are virtues that lead to all other virtue and everlasting life in Jesus Christ.


aserratelli.jpgThe out-going chairman of the bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, gave the following update to the USCCB today. Bishop Serratelli is now succeeded by the Archbishop of New Orleans, the Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond. The USCCB press release is here.

There has been some discussion recently about a report surfaced through some segments of the Catholic Press regarding the present state of the text of the Roman Missal, Third Edition. A number of facts will hopefully clarify the situation and, in so doing, give us the calm needed to welcome and implement the new text.

First, it is helpful to keep in mind the genesis of the final text that is now being prepared for publication. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) prepared for the English-speaking Conferences of Bishops preliminary drafts ("green books") of the 12 sections of the Roman Missal. After incorporating the feedback and responses of the individual Conferences of Bishops and the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, ICEL then prepared the final drafts ("gray books"). These were approved by canonical vote by each of the member Conferences. In approving the gray books, each conference also had the opportunity to make further suggestions to the Congregation, as was done in particular by our Conference. We submitted many amendments to the texts. The Congregation, working with the Vox Clara Committee, carefully listened to what the bishops said. The Congregation incorporated many of the suggestions of the various Conferences (including our own), combined with their own review and changes, and put forth the final text. The Congregation followed the principles of Liturgiam Authenticam faithfully but not slavishly.

This is the final text now being readied for publication. This process includes a final review and copy edit which, given the size of the text, uncovers some minor questions of consistency, typographical errors, and layout. Those questions are being addressed by the Congregation for Divine Worship. This review has not dealt with the translation itself. The critique that has circulated has necessarily failed to take into account the final version of the text, which incorporates some corrections issued by the Congregation since the transmittal of the full text to the English-speaking Conferences of Bishops in August 2010.

To sum up, there is a final text. It has received a recognitio. As the work of editing and assembling nears completion, there is assurance that the published text will be available in more than ample time for implementation in Advent 2011. It is good to note also that the catechetical preparation for implementation is already underway and has proceeded with much enthusiasm and wide acceptance by both clergy and laity. It is clear at this point in time that there is an attitude of openness and readiness to receive the new text. Let us pray in this time of transition and change that the Roman Missal, Third Edition, will enable all to understand more deeply the mysteries we celebrate.

Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Divine Worship
November 18, 2010

Benedict and Rowan

| | Comments (0)
Benedcit with Rowan Nov 18 2010.jpg
The Archbishop of Canterbury visits Pope Benedict XVI today.

Williams and Dias.jpg
His Grace's meeting with His Holiness was previously scheduled to but certainly follows the extraordinary announcement of the 5 Anglican bishops desire for entering into full communion with the Church of Rome. Ostensibly Williams was in Rome to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity but exact details of the discussion with the Pope are not public (yet?).

The Vatican Radio report carries more information.

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

| | Comments (0)

St Rose Philippine Duchesne.JPGSaint Rose Philippine was called "the woman who is always praying." Her singular focus on Christ and the mission won her esteem among those who found the Christian Gospel foreign. She is buried in St. Charles, MO, having died there on this date in 1852 at the age of 83. She lived the Lord's parable of the Pearl of Great Price.

Beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988, Duchesne is the US founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, an order of religious women who were first founded in France by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

| | Comments (0)
St Elizabeth of Hungary BBruyn.jpg

Praise to the holy woman whose home is built on faithful love and whose pathway leads to God.


Father, You helped Elizabeth of Hungary to recognize and honor Christ in the poor of this world. Let her prayers help us to serve our brothers and sisters in time of trouble and need.


Saint Elizabeth is the patroness of the Third Order Franciscans (the laity and secular priests). Her example of patience and holiness modeled on the good example of the Franciscan friars leads us to be attentive to the poor in our midst.


In an October address, the Holy Father spoke of today's saint:

She behaved to her subjects in the same way that she behaved to God. Among the Sayings of the four maids we find this testimony: "She did not eat any food before ascertaining that it came from her husband's property or legitimate possessions. While she abstained from goods procured illegally, she also did her utmost to provide compensation to those who had suffered violence." 

She is a true example for all who have roles of leadership: the exercise of authority, at every level, must be lived as a service to justice and charity, in the constant search for the common good.

Elizabeth diligently practiced works of mercy...

Read the entire address Pope Benedict gave on Saint Elizabeth of Hungary on October 20, 2010.

St Vladimir's relics detail.jpgThe privilege of having the relics of one's patron coming to your home is a singular experience. Friends who are seminarians at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary welcomed their patron's relics in solemn ceremony this past weekend.

An 11th century saint, Saint Vladimir is known in the Orthodox Church as the Holy and Great Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles who first experienced a dramatic conversion to Christ. He is credited with bringing Christianity to various places in Russia.

Saint Vladimir's feast is commemorated in both the Orthodox and Latin Churches on July 15.

The press release of the veneration is here with yet another here.

in procession with St Vladimir's relics.jpg







Thanks to Deacon Dustin Lyon for the photos.
First Sunday of Advent.jpgMarking the beginning of Advent for the Roman Church, the Holy Father invited the world's dioceses (parishes & religious institutions) religious communities, ecclesial movements and associations throughout the world to join him in a Solemn Vigil for All Nascent Human Life (resources here).

On November 27th, First Vespers for the First Sunday of Advent, the Church will gather together with her pastor in prayer to thank God for the Incarnation of His Son and for the gift of Life, and to ask for the Lord's protection over every human being called into existence.
Abp Dolan at vespers
The new president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.

The office of president of the USCCB is a three year term of service.

The new vice president of the USCCB is Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville.

The new treasurer of the USCCB is Bishop Michael J. Bransfield.

The new chairman of the Office of Canonical Affairs and Church Governance is Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services.

The new chairman of Catholic Education is Bishop Joseph P. McFadden of Harrisburg.

The new chairman of the Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs is Bishop Denis J. Madden auxiliary bishop of Baltimore.

The new chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis is Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay.

The new chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace is Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore.

The new chairman of the Committee on Child and Youth Protection is Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville.


The important point about the place of a conference of bishops in life of the Church is that they serve rather than replace the authority given to an individual bishop in exercising his office by teaching, serving (governing) and sanctifying the faithful of his diocese. But as Pope Benedict has said on any number of occasions, and which was also reiterated by Francis Cardinal George on Monday in his final presidential address, local churches are not national churches. Hence, priests are ordained bishops for the entire Church and not merely for thus-and-such diocese. Speaking to the Brazilian bishops on their recent ad limina visit (a visit to the Pope, various offices at the Holy See and for prayer at the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul) Benedict said: "... the counselors and structures of the episcopal conference exist to serve the bishops, not to replace them." 

For a full theological treatment on bishops' conferences you ought to read Pope John Paul II's 1998 Apostolic Letter, Apostolos Suos: On the Theological and Juridical Nature of Episcopal Conferences.

Saint Gertrude the Great

| | Comments (0)
St Gertrude the Great.jpg
A pivotal figure in our theology of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302). She was a nun of the Abbey of Helfta. Saint Gertrude is the only woman on the liturgical calendar to hold the title "the Great."

Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation. If we know nothing of her origins, she herself tells us about her youthful passions: literature, music and song and the art of miniature painting captivated her. She had a strong, determined, ready and impulsive temperament. She often says that she was negligent; she recognizes her shortcomings and humbly asks forgiveness for them. She also humbly asks for advice and prayers for her conversion. Some features of her temperament and faults were to accompany her to the end of her life, so as to amaze certain people who wondered why the Lord had favoured her with such a special love.

Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation. If we know nothing of her origins, she herself tells us about her youthful passions: literature, music and song and the art of miniature painting captivated her. She had a strong, determined, ready and impulsive temperament. She often says that she was negligent; she recognizes her shortcomings and humbly asks forgiveness for them. She also humbly asks for advice and prayers for her conversion. Some features of her temperament and faults were to accompany her to the end of her life, so as to amaze certain people who wondered why the Lord had favoured her with such a special love.

She had a vision of a young man who, in order to guide her through the tangle of thorns that surrounded her soul, took her by the hand. In that hand Gertrude recognized "the precious traces of the wounds that abrogated all the acts of accusation of our enemies" (ibid., II, 1, p. 89), and thus recognized the One who saved us with his Blood on the Cross: Jesus.

From that moment her life of intimate communion with the Lord was intensified, especially in the most important liturgical seasons Advent-Christmas, Lent-Easter, the feasts of Our Lady even when illness prevented her from going to the choir. This was the same liturgical humus as that of Matilda, her teacher; but Gertrude describes it with simpler, more linear images, symbols and terms that are more realistic and her references to the Bible, to the Fathers and to the Benedictine world are more direct.

Read the whole of the Pope;s October 6, 2010 address on saint Gertrude the Great.

Life at St Michael's Abbey

| | Comments (0)
OPraem prostration.jpg
The Norbertine canons of St Michael's Abbey (Silverado, CA) produced a terrifically inspiring vocation video. As an order, the Order of Prémontré (Norbertines) were founded in 1121 by Saint Norbert who adopted as the order's motto, prepared for every good work, known essentially the charism of praying the Divine Office and the Sacrifice of the Mass. The ministry of a Norbertine is to make to the world the fruits of his contemplation. St Michael's Abbey was founded in 1961 and the community has 70 members whose median age is about 43 years.

The Vineyard of Light vocation video of St Michael's Abbey

Saint Albert the Great

| | Comments (0)
Albertus Magnus 1969 Artus Quellinus.jpgThe learned will shine like the brilliance of the firmament, and those who train many in the ways of justice will sparkle like the stars for all eternity. (ent. ant.)


God of truth, You endowed our brother Albert with the gift of combining human wisdom with divine faith. May the pursuit of all human knowledge lead to a greater knowledge and love of You.


History is a Catholic "thing": the Middle Ages weren't so intellectually dark as some people say. Proof of this thesis is the presence of the Dominican priest, bishop, natural scientist and philosopher Albert the Great (1200-80). He was a known authority on the sciences and he posited that the earth was a sphere 200 years before Columbus "discovered" America. He also theorized that weather is determined by a person's latitude. All of this information is taken for granted today but in the 13th century this was truly new information, revolutionary, in fact.

He abandoned his family's station in life, studied at the University of Padua, joined the brand new Order of Friars Preachers, studied at Paris, and was an interested party promoting Aristotle. Albert was the superior of one of the houses of studies where the young Thomas Aquinas lived and is credited for setting Thomas on his way to be an intellectual giant. In 1254, Albert was elected the Prior Provincial of the German Province of Dominicans and in 1260 Pope Alexander IV nominated Albert the Bishop of Regensburg.  He was prodigious author (at least 40 volumes of thought) to the point that Albert's contemporaries called him the universal doctor and the Church bestowed the title of Doctor of the Church.

Albert was canonized in 1931.
Bl Lucy of Narni.jpg
God of holiness, You wonderfully adorned Blessed Lucy with the marks of the passion of Your and with the gifts of virginity and patience. With the help of her prayers may we never be conquered by adversity or the allurements of the world.



The collect for the Mass noted above speaks of volumes of this beautiful woman. Blessed Lucy was born in 1476, died in 1544 and beatified in 1710. She was a stigmatist, that is, she bore the wounds of Christ's in her body. A review of Blessed Lucy's life is noted here and more can be found here.

Emmanuel III Delly.jpgAs a way of showing solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq who faced such horrible circumstances because of their faith Jesus Christ, I am extendiing an invitation to all of us: writing letter(s) of fraternal solidarity with our brothers and sisters through the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, His Beatitude, Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly. He's the head of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Iraq.

An initiative of solidarity is proposed by members of Communion and Liberation

Abp Chullikatt.jpg

Our many friends in the lay Catholic movement, Communion and Liberation have also moved by the plight of Iraqi Christians has organized a gesture of solidarity with the Iraqi Christians in the form of a letter campaign. One of our friends spoke with the Apostolic Nuncio (the Pope's ambassador) at the UN, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt who said he'd be very happy for our initiative and offered his diplomatic pouch (direct mail) to reach the Nunciature in Iraq.

So, if you are inclined to write an email in solidarity, you may send it to tonuncio@gmail.com and the email will be printed and hand-delivered to Archbishop Chullikatt on Tuesday, November 16.

Messages ought to be addressed to His Beatitude, Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans.

candle memorial Syrian Church.JPGThe pain and suffering endured but not consumed by some people is an extraordinary testimony to Grace. The AP news stories about the Mass prayed in the church assaulted by the slayings of Syrian Christians on October 31 brings tears to my eyes especially when I read that the walls retained the blood and flesh of the victims. No doubt poignant relics of the witnesses of humanity and Christ. I bet you no one entered Our Lady of Salvation Church expecting to lay down their life in such a dramatic manner.

Our Lady of Salvation Church has become the School of the Cross and Resurrection in which new life is being formed and born. The Christian response is exactly what Jesus taught his followers: pray for your enemies and those persecute you for love of Me. The priest who celebrated the Divine Liturgy the other day told his congregants that "We will perform a strange kind of prayer because Christ tells us: 'Love your enemies.'"  Father Mukhlis also said that "We will pray for those who assaulted our church and shed the blood of our martyrs."

Father Mukhlis recalled for his people that one of the murdered priests, Father Thair, said to his attackers: "Kill me, not the families and children."

Have the Syrian Catholics become 21st century icons of love? How have we changed since hearing of these brutal deaths? What does Christ want us to learn from these events?

St Frances Xavier Cabrini at Vatican Basilica.jpgO Lord and Bridegroom of your Church,

We praise you for this virgin wise

Who, lighted lamp in hand, went forth

To preach her Groom and win his prize!

 

From early youth she heard your voice

And longed to work in Asian lands;

But "in the west you'll find your east,"

The pope said, firm in his commands.


So from her home, Francesca came

That she might care for those who left

Italian homes to seek for work,

But in the New World were bereft.


She founded schools and hospitals

And orphan homes, and traveled wide;

Despite ill health and stature small

Her works became our Church's pride.

 

She labored long with sisters brave,

And soon her congregation spread

From North to Southern hemisphere,

Although she sailed the seas with dread.

 

In labors long and hard, she worked

That Christ her Lord might be well served

In poor and sick and ignorant,

That they might feel God's love deserved.


O Trinity of love most great,

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,

With Frances and with all your saints

Bring us, at length, to heaven's rest.

 

J. Michael Thompson

Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications

LM; DUKE STREET, ROCKINGHAM NEW, HAMBURG

Training Exorcists

| | Comments (0)

Make no joke about it: the devil exists, people do evil things. Of course, the existence of the devil is not at all the same as we seen in the movies. We know this is a fact from our personal experience and from the Gospels: the devil works on believers to get them away from adhering to Jesus Christ. We don't fool around with the devil and his temptations, nor his ability to possess a person. So, ridicule would not be the correct approach to understanding the nature of the devil and demonic possession. While believers say that evil is real, it is our unqualified belief that evil and the devil are powerless to the power of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. It is Jesus who expels the devil, not the priest. Evil is terminated only through prayer, fasting, the sacraments; when it is discerned by competent authority, the praying of the Rite of Exorcism may be done. The Rite is performed only by a validly ordained Catholic priest who is deputed by the bishop of the diocese in which the priest lives, and who is known to live a life of virtue and sanctity.

Rite of Exorcism.jpgThe Church protects the exercise of the Rite of Exorcism in the Code of Canon Law (1983) by saying, "No one can perform exorcisms legitimately upon the possessed unless he has obtained special and express permission from the local ordinary. The local ordinary is to give this permission only to a prebyter who has piety, knowledge, prudence and intergrity of life (1172).

The awareness of evil in the world is increasing with the desire of the Church to find competent priests and bishops --not every priest and bishop have the qualifications to do an exorcism-- i.e., some are incapable of doing the Rite of Exorcism.

"Anyone who does not believe in the Devil does not believe in the Gospel," Pope John Paul II.  Catholics hold that the Lord gave the power to cast out demons to the Church (cf. Mark 16:17).

A recent story dealing with the training of exorcists today. The Catholic bishop of Sprinfiield in Illinois and canonist, Bishop Thomas Paprocki organized a meeting of priests and bishops to orient them with the 1999 revision De Exorcismis et Supplicationibus Quibusdam (On Exorcism and Certain Supplications). The purpose is to gain the proper skills to correctly discern the need to use the Rite of Exorcism. Its use is infrequent but sometimes necessary.

Some critics suggest this type of meeting is playing into a "reversion" to prior times, playing on the fears of the weak. What Bishop Paprocki did is to provide some members of the clergy the tools, theology and expertise, training and insight into knowing more about matters transcendent.

I have heard from priest friends that the old rites of baptism and exorcism are stronger in getting rid of the devil than the newer ones. You may want to read this article, "The New Rite of Exorcism, The Influence of the Evil One."

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki RIP

| | Comments (0)
Henryk Gorecki.jpgThe NY Times reports this afternoon that Henryk Mikolaj Górecki died today after a period of illness. Gorecki was 76.

Henryk Górecki was one of my favorite modern sacred music composers. His music enriched me and countless others. He had the strong sensibility for the past and for the present. Listening to his music you the distinct sense that he worked within the dialogue with God, one that is at once profound, provoking, transcendent and yet simple and accessible. When I listen to Henryk Górecki's music I know with certitude that faith, hope and charity exist. Especially present in his compositions is the virtue and feeling of hope.

Let's pray for the soul of Henryk Mikolaj Górecki and for God's mercy upon him. In gratitude we commend him to the Lord through the Our Lady of Czestochowa and Saint Stanislaus, B.M.

Eternal memory!

The Wiki article is here.
FXN Van Thuan.jpg

The process of canonization has begun, as many know, of Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán. The cardinal's reputation of holiness was born through his virtue and the crucible of suffering in prison for 13 years, 9 of them in solitary confinement. His is a true to witness to hope for us today.

Pope Benedict twice referred to Cardinal Van Thuán in his 2007 encyclical, Spe Salvi, where spoke about the way the cardinal faced hopelessness. The Pope said of Van Thuán ought to be a challenge to us: "the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope --to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude" (32).

Van Thuán was a priest for 49 years, a bishop for 35 and a cardinal of the Roman Church for a year and a half. When he came to Rome Pope John Paul II appointed him the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Cardinal Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán died on September 16, 2002, at 74 years old. The Congregation of Saints allowed the process of canonization to proceed in 2007 and the cause is currently be studied. It is reported that several miracles are claimed or credited to the intercession of Cardinal Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán.

When Cardinal Van Thuán is canonized he will be the first Vietnamese saints since the martyrs of Vietnam. A great spiritual honor for the people of Viêt Nam, a beacon of hope.

Books by Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán:

Testimony of Hope: The Spiritual Exercises of Pope John Paul II (2000)

The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison (2001)

Prayers of Hope, Words of Courage (2002)

Five Loaves & Two Fish (2003)


  • Rome Reports TV News Agency did a video presentation in early November on the cardinal with a brief interview with his sister, Tien Thérèse, giving good insights into the person of His Eminence. See the video here.
  • The official website for the cardinal is located here.
  • Recent news on Cardinal Van Thuán can be read here.


Prayer for the Beatification of Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán

Francis Van Thuan.jpg

O mighty and eternal God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit I offer thanks for giving to the Church the heroic testimony of Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân. The suffering he experienced in prison, which he united with the crucified Christ and commended to the maternal protection of Mary, is for the Church and the world a shining witness of unity and forgiveness, and of justice and peace. His loving person and his Episcopal ministry radiate the light of faith, the enthusiasm of hope and the warmth of love. Now, my Lord, through his intercession and according to your will, grant me the grace I am imploring in the hope that he will soon be elevated to the honour of sainthood.

Imprimatur given in Rome
Giampaolo Crepaldi
Archbishop-Secretary, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

September 16, 2007

Striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit.
 
Lord, fill Your Church with the Spirit that gave Saint Josaphat the courage to lay down his life for his people. By his prayers may Your Spirit make us strong and willing to offer our lives for our brothers and sisters.
 
God, you are the martyrs' crown!St Josaphat of Poltosk.jpg
Hear the hymn we raise in gladness, 
Praising good Saint Josaphat,
Who in midst of earthly sadness
Followed Truth, and Way, and Life,
Braving trouble, scorn, and strife.

Josaphat, a preacher bold,
Was a bishop strong and fearless.
In his love for all his flock
And his ardor, he was peerless:
"That in Christ we one may be"
Was his earnest, heart-felt plea.
 
Strong defender of his Church,
Lover of the Eastern teaching,          
Faithful priest and leader true
Urged his people through his preaching,
And, by God's mysterious grace,
Took in heav'n a martyr's place.
 
God the Father, God the Son,
God the Spirit, hear our praises
With our hymns on this glad day;
 Which your Church in glory raises.
With Saint Josaphat, in song,

Echoing the ages long!


J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications

78 78 77; GROSSER GOTT, or JESU MEINE ZUVERSICHT

The steps of Lectio Divina

| | Comments (0)
Lectio Divina chart.jpgPope Benedict reviews "... the basic steps of this procedure. It opens with the reading (lectio) of a text, which leads to a desire to understand its true content: what does the biblical text say in itself? Without this, there is always a risk that the text will become a pretext for never moving beyond our own ideas. Next comes meditation (meditatio), which asks: what does the biblical text say to us? Here, each person, individually but also as a member of the community, must let himself or herself be moved and challenged. Following this comes prayer (oratio), which asks the question: what do we say to the Lord in response to his word? Prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, is the primary way by which the word transforms us. Finally, lectio divina concludes with contemplation (contemplatio), during which we take up, as a gift from God, his own way of seeing and judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us? In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul tells us: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (12:2). Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16). The word of God appears here as a criterion for discernment: it is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb 4:12). We do well also to remember that the process of lectio divina is not concluded until it arrives at action (actio), which moves the believer to make his or her life a gift for others in charity" (Verbum Domini, 87).  

Saints in Verbum Domini

| | Comments (2)
communion of saints LA Cathedral.JPG

You may be curious to know the saints and blessed Pope Benedict references in Verbum Domini, or whose work he used.

The Pope said, "The interpretation of sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it not to include listening to those who have truly lived the word of God: namely, the saints" (48). 

And, "No sooner do I glance at the Gospel, but immediately I breathe in the fragrance of the life of Jesus and I know where to run. Every saint is like a ray of light streaming forth from the word of God..." (49).

Who are the saints?

Mary, the Mother of God
Saint Peter

Saint John the Evangelist
Saint Paul
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Saint Bonaventure
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Saint John Chysostom
Saint Maximus the Confessor
Saint Jerome
Saint Gregory the Great
Saint Ambrose
Saint Augustine
Saint Anthony Abbot
Saint Basil the Great
Saint Benedict
Saint Athanasius
Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Clare of Assisi
Saint Dominic
Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint John Bosco
Saint John Mary Vianney
Saint Pius of Pietrelcina
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Saints Gaetano Errico
Saint Maria Bernarda Bütler
Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception
Saint Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Saint Elizabeth
Blessed Jordan of Saxony
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Blessed Aloysius Stepinac
Blessed John XXIII

Plus, the Pope uses the works of Origen, Richard of Saint Victor and Hugh of Saint Victor, the last two are notable scholars and saintly men; Richard and Hugh are not saints but may be we can push their cause.

"Read the divine Scriptures frequently; indeed, the sacred book should never be out of your hands. Learn there what you must teach."

Lectio Divina in Verbum Domini

| | Comments (2)

In the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini released today, I immediately started reading the document for what the Pope had to say about lectio divina. You may recall the Pope's remarks for the 40th anniversary of Dei Verbum in 2005, he said lectio divina will bring about a spiritual springtime in Church. His words were:

"the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart (cf. Dei Verbum, 25). If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church --I am convinced of it-- a new spiritual springtime."

No less than 16 times does His Holiness use the words lectio divina.

Here are some points of interest in Verbum Domini regarding lectio:

St Dominic with Scripture.jpg46. Listening together to the word of God, engaging in biblical lectio divina
, letting ourselves be struck by the inexhaustible freshness of God's word which never grows old, overcoming our deafness to those words that do not fit our own opinions or prejudices, listening and studying within the communion of the believers of every age: all these things represent a way of coming to unity in faith as a response to hearing the word of God.

48. The interpretation of sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it not to include listening to those who have truly lived the word of God: namely, the saints. Indeed, "viva lectio est vita bonorum." The most profound interpretation of Scripture comes precisely from those who let themselves be shaped by the word of God through listening, reading and assiduous meditation. It is certainly not by chance that the great currents of spirituality in the Church's history originated with an explicit reference to Scripture.

82. Those aspiring to the ministerial priesthood are called to a profound personal relationship with God's word, particularly in lectio divina, so that this relationship will in turn nurture their vocation: it is in the light and strength of God's word that one's specific vocation can be discerned and appreciated, loved and followed, and one's proper mission carried out, by nourishing the heart with thoughts of God, so that faith, as our response to the word, may become a new criterion for judging and evaluating persons and things, events and issues. Such attention to the prayerful reading of Scripture must not in any way lead to a dichotomy with regard to the exegetical studies which are a part of formation. The Synod recommended that seminarians be concretely helped to see the relationship between biblical studies and scriptural prayer.

student does lectio.jpg
86. The Synod frequently insisted on the need for a prayerful approach to the sacred text as a fundamental element in the spiritual life of every believer, in the various ministries and states in life, with particular reference to lectio divina.

Devote yourself to the lectio of the divine Scriptures; apply yourself to this with perseverance. Do your reading with the intent of believing in and pleasing God. If during the lectio you encounter a closed door, knock and it will be opened to you by that guardian of whom Jesus said, 'The gatekeeper will open it for him.' By applying yourself in this way to lectio divina, search diligently and with unshakable trust in God for the meaning of the divine Scriptures, which is hidden in great fullness within.

For this reason, the privileged place for the prayerful reading of sacred Scripture is the liturgy, and particularly the Eucharist, in which, as we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament, the word itself is present and at work in our midst. In some sense the prayerful reading of the Bible, personal and communal, must always be related to the Eucharistic celebration. Just as the adoration of the Eucharist prepares for, accompanies and follows the liturgy of the Eucharist, so too prayerful reading, personal and communal, prepares for, accompanies and deepens what the Church celebrates when she proclaims the word in a liturgical setting. By so closely relating lectio and liturgy, we can better grasp the criteria which should guide this practice in the area of pastoral care and in the spiritual life of the People of God.

87. The documents produced before and during the Synod mentioned a number of methods for a faith-filled and fruitful approach to sacred Scripture. Yet the greatest attention was paid to lectio divina, which is truly "capable of opening up to the faithful the treasures of God's word, but also of bringing about an encounter with Christ, the living word of God."

The Pope released his post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, following the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God. It's available in eight languages in at least 200 pages. 

Verbum Domini - English

Verbum Domini - Italiano

Verbum Domini - Español

The press conference:

Word of God.jpg

At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation took place of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Verbum Domini" of Benedict XVI, on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.

Today's press conference was presented by Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic and Msgr. Fortunato Frizza, respectively secretary general and under secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

The Apostolic Exhortation, which is dated 30 September, Memorial of St. Jerome, is the fruit of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was held in Rome from 5 to 26 October 2008. The document, which has been published in Latin, Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Polish, is made up of an introduction, three parts and a conclusion.

Achbishop Eterovic explained how in part one, entitled "Verbum Dei", the Pope highlights both "the fundamental role of God the Father, source and origin of the Word", and "the Trinitarian dimension of revelation". Chapter one - "The God Who Speaks" - underscores "God's will to open and maintain a dialogue with man, in which God takes the initiative and reveals Himself in various ways". It also dwells on "the Christological aspect of the Word, while at the same time underlining the pneumatological dimension". This section of the document also focuses on the relationship between the Eucharist and Tradition, and on the theme of the inspiration and truth of the Bible.

"Our Response to the God Who Speaks" is the title of chapter two of part one. "Man is called to enter into the Alliance with his God, Who listens to him and responds to his questions. To God Who speaks, man responds with the faith. The most suitable prayer is that made using the words which were revealed by God and are conserved and written in the Bible", said Archbishop Eterovic.

Chapter three has as its title "The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the Church". The secretary general of the Synod of Bishops explained how "Sacred Scripture should be, as the Dogmatic Constitution 'Dei Verbum' says, 'the soul of sacred theology'. ... The biblical hermeneutics of Vatican Council II must be rediscovered, also in order to avoid a certain dualism evident in secularised interpretations which could give rise to a fundamentalist and spiritualist interpretation of Holy Scripture. Correct interpretation requires complementarity in a literal and spiritual sense, a harmony between faith and reason". This chapter also examines relations between Christians and Jews, noting that they enjoy "a very special relationship ... because they share a large part of the Scriptures".

Part two of the document is entitled "Verbum in Ecclesia". Chapter one - "The Word of God and the Church" - underlines how it is thanks to the Word of God and the effect of the Sacraments "that Jesus remains contemporary to mankind in the life of the Church", said the archbishop.

"The Liturgy, Privileged Setting for the Word of God" is the title of chapter two, in which the focus turns to "the vital link between Sacred Scripture and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist". The importance of the Lectionary is mentioned, as is that of the proclamation of the Word and the ministry of reader, with particular emphasis being laid on the preparation of the homily, a theme of great importance in this Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

Chapter three of part two concerns "The Word of God in the Life of the Church" and highlights "the importance of biblical inspiration for pastoral activity, the biblical dimension of catechesis, the biblical formation of Christians, the use of Sacred Scripture in great ecclesial gahterings, and the Word of God in relation to vocations". Attention is also given to "lectio divina and Marian prayer", said the archbishop.

Part three of the document published today has as its title "Verbum Mundo". It draws attention to "the duty of Christians to announce the Word of God in the world in which they live and work". Chapter one - "The Church's Mission to Proclaim the Word of God to the World" - explains how the Church "is oriented towards the announcement 'ad gentes', to people who do not yet know the Word, ... but also to those who have already been baptised ... but need new evangelisation in order to rediscover the Word of God".

"The Word of God and Commitment to the World" is the title of chapter two, which recalls how "Christians are called to serve the Word of God in their most needy brothers and sisters and, hence, to commit themselves in society for reconciliation, justice and peace among peoples".

Chapter three of part three is dedicated to "The Word of God and Culture". It expresses the hope "that the Bible may become better known in schools and universities and that better use may be made of the social communications media, exploiting all the modern possibilities of technology. The theme of the inculturation of Sacred Scripture is also linked to the translation and diffusion of the Bible, which must be increased", said Archbishop Eterovic.

"The Word of God and Inter-religious Dialogue" is the title of chapter four. "Having established the value and topicality of inter-religious dialogue, 'Verbum Domini' ... supplies some important guidelines concerning dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and with members of other non-Christian religions, within the framework of a religious liberty which involves not only the freedom to profess one's faith in private and in public, but also freedom of conscience; in other words, of choosing one's religion".

In the conclusion, Archbishop Eterovic concluded his explanations, the Holy Father reiterates his exhortation to all Christians "to become increasingly familiar with Sacred Scripture".

Veterans Day 2010

| | Comments (0)
Let's pray for the women and men who have died in service of the United States of America and for those now serving in the military services and those retired military persons. In thanksgiving we commend these people to the Lord for his mercy and his love. Saints Martin of Tours, Michael and George, pray for us.

Veterans Day 2010.jpg

Saint Martin of Tours

| | Comments (0)

St Martin of Tours3.jpg
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

Saint Martin, intercede before the Lord on our behalf, care for our poverty
and lead us closer to Christ.

A distressing development has occurred with the canonization process for the Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen has been suspended by the Bishop of Peoria, Daniel Jenky, CSC. The issue seems to be the refusal of the Archdiocese of New York to return the mortal remains of Sheen to his home diocese of Peoria; the archbishop died in 1979 at the age of 84, and was entombed in the crypt of the famed Cathedral of Saint Patrick. Earlier that year he met Pope John Paul II in Saint Patrick's Cathedral in a terrific embrace of brothers. The life and work of Archbishop Sheen might be likened to being a 20th century Saint Dominic of Guzman. After serving for three years (1966-69) as the Bishop of Rochester (NY), Fulton returned to New York City. The diocesan phase of the process was concluded in 2008.

Bishop Jenky's statement follows:

FJ Sheen with girl.jpgIt is with great sadness and disappointment, Bishop Jenky announces that after nine years of effort and sacrifice, the Diocese of Peoria is suspending its efforts on behalf of the Beatification of Fulton J. Sheen.  The Archdiocese of New York has made it clear that it is not likely that they will ever transfer the remains of Fulton J. Sheen to his home diocese of Peoria.  The Bishop hopes that the Archdiocese of New York, in whose Cathedral crypt the earthly remains of the Servant of God are still entombed, might now assume this responsibility.  In this endeavor he would pledge the cooperation of his diocese.  The bishop urges the clergy, faithful and religious of Peoria to continue to pray for the Cause of Archbishop Sheen whose heroic virtues in announcing the Gospel and serving the poor were an extraordinary blessing in the life of the Catholic Church.  The bishop would also like to remind all in his diocese and all those throughout the world who have so enthusiastically supported the Sheen Cause that finally it is only God who makes saints, not men.

The Diocese of Peoria remains committed to promote the message of the great priest, Fulton J. Sheen within our Diocese and to continue to develop our museum and research center devoted to his life.

Pope Saint Leo the Great

| | Comments (0)
Pope St Leo the Great.jpgThe Church offers us today the life of someone salvation history has determined to be a significant figure in the proclamation of the Gospel. Pope Saint Leo the Great, a doctor of the Church helped the Church of his era develop orthodox thinking on the person of Jesus Christ that is standard theology today. He defended the two natures of Jesus Christ at the Council of Chalcedon. The Fathers of Chalcedon said, "Peter has spoken through Leo!"

Saint Leo is one of three popes to be given the title "the Great" acknowledging his work as a father of the faithful. 

This text is a hymn based on a text taken from the Office of Readings for Matins for Christmas. This text captures Leo and his keeping belief in Christ correct.

God truly is come down from heaven,
begotten of the Father,
and has entered into the womb of the Virgin
and has appeared visibly to us,
clothed in human flesh
received from our first parent:

and He who is both God and man,
Light and Life,
the Creator of the world,
has passed through the closed portal.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

A friend sent me this letter of His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregory III addressing the killing and violence inflicted on the Syrian Christian community on October 31 (there's discrepancy in the letter). His Beatitude is known for straight-talking and this letter indicates that sensibility. Let's pray for peace in all of our hearts and minds as we pray for our enemies.


Patriarch Gregory III .JPG

Rabweh, 8 November 2010

Christian bloodbath in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Deliverance, Baghdad

The carnage which took place on Sunday, November 1, 2010 in the Syrian Catholic Cathedral of our Lady of Deliverance in Baghdad was of an unprecedented cruelty and barbarity. It was an attack capable of undermining the good will of genuine bridge-builders between cultures, brave heroes of inter-religious dialogue, as well as the optimism of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.

I offer my sincere condolences and the assurance of my prayers and those of our Church to His Beatitude Patriarch Ignace-Joseph III (Younan), to His Eminence Cardinal Emmanuel III (Delly) and to all those who are broken-hearted at this crime.

We know that this criminal act is not the work of authentic Islam, and cannot be based on it. Despite that, we hold Muslims in Iraq and in all Arab countries to be responsible for Christian security, since they have power, and control the army and police force.

We urge Arab countries to study the reality of fundamentalist terrorism and the trends that feed on it. This is a global Islamic responsibility, because showing Islam under that guise is a disfigurement of authentic Islam. The real enemies of Islam and Muslims are neither "Islamophobia" nor "Christian Europe," but rather these fundamentalist organisations and trends.

They are also the enemies of Christianity and of every Christian and Muslim social and human value, whether Arab or not.

Christians are peaceable, patriotic, loyal, faithful to their homeland and countries, tolerant and naturally inclined to forgiveness. But they are not passive, cowardly, timid, any more than they are inclined to be humiliated. They are not sheep, designed to be slaughtered by fundamentalists. Christians are builders of values, nations and cultures, including Islamic culture itself.

If Muslims do nothing to safeguard this creative strain represented by Arab Christians in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, the prosperity and drive of Islamic culture will be in danger of collapse, and Muslims will then be their own worst enemies, enemies of their faith and of their countries.

Dear Muslim and Christian Arab brothers, let us adopt a unifying way of talking and act together to build a better future for all our children and compatriots!

Gregorios III

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Lateran Basilica.JPGJerusalem, city of God, you will shine with the light of God's splendor; all people on earth will pay you homage. Nations will come from afar, bearing gifts for the King of Heaven; in you they will worship the Lord. (the lamp-lighting antiphon from the Dedication of a Church)

At first blush some people will ask, why is the Church celebrating the dedication of a church building. The answer is, she's not. Some history is crucial in understanding today's liturgical observance.

The cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is Saint John Lateran, not Saint Peter's Basilica. And by extension, the Lateran basilica is the head of all churches in the world. The confusion between the Lateran and Vatican basilicas is a common and understandable mistake since Saint Peter's is the place where the bones of Saint Peter are buried and it's the place where the Pope most often celebrates ecclesial events. The Lateran was a church built by the Emperor Constantine and consecrated in AD 324 by Pope Sylvester. Notice that the church was consecrated 12 short years following the Edict of Milan.

The feast honoring the role of the basilica church in Christendom, indeed, the entire world at one time, is understood in the aphorism: omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput (the mother and head of all churches of Rome and the world). The Lateran is the place that symbolizes the ministry of bishop as teacher, servant and sanctifier; it's the place where charity is most identifiable.

Visitatio jpgPope Benedict said it well in his 2008 Angelus Address for this feast: "Dear Friends, today's feast celebrates a mystery that is always relevant: God's desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-4). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community therefore has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the 'house of God,' living temple of love."

The brutality of the killings of Christians in Iraq just over a week ago can't be forgotten. Someone wisely videotaped the bloodbath seen here. The images are horrific and rather hard to view but they do provoke one to think and pray about these facts.

Swiss Capuchins: Help wanted

| | Comments (0)
Capuchin friar logo.jpg

The Capuchin Franciscans in Switzerland are spreading the net far and wide. Their vocation promotion ad reads: 

"Wanted: Bankers, traders or lawyers for full-time, lifelong position. No pay. Unmarried Catholic men between 22 and 35 capable of communal living are encouraged to look into the possibility.

The Washington Post carried the news
maps logo.jpgYou gotta love Google Maps ... proposed parishes of the Anglican Ordinariate

Shane Schaetzel put together a map of proposed parishes that may be in a ecclesiastical jurisdiction for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church. A lot of work went into developing this fine resource and we're grateful.
cardinals2.jpgAnna Arco's article online at the Catholic Herald (of the UK fame) reports that before the consistory of cardinals on November 20, during which the Pope will create 24 new cardinals there will be prayer, reflection and conversation about a number of things but three key topics will be the 10th anniversary of Dominus Iesus, sex abuse crisis and the Ordinariate for Anglicans who desire to enter into full communion the Catholic Church. Other issues to be discussed, but no less crucial to the life of the Church, are religious liberty and the sacred Liturgy.

Read Arco's article, "Cardinals to discuss Church reactions to sexual abuse and the Ordinariate." Don't make the connection between the two issues. There's no connection.
Who has not found themselves lost for words to express some deeply held value: not for its subtlety but for its overwhelming simplicity. It is that way with prayer ... the truth of prayer to be really known must be lived. And this is what Carmel is all about ...  a life of prayer in solitude.

Sister Laureen Grady, OCD
Seasons of Carmel
St Josemaría Escrivá.jpgThe Pope advocated knowing the lives of the saints as a way of coming to know Christ, and to know how to live one's baptism. This video of Saint Josemaría Escrivá gives an excellent introduction to the life of a 20th century saint and founder of the lay movement of Opus Dei.

Saint Josemaría's work was to make known that sanctification is open to all people. People can find God in their ordinary lives; deep spirituality can be found in the everyday activity, at work, in the family, the world. Secularity (not to be confused with secularism) showed the face of the living God. Living for God is what we are all called to, with absolutely no distinction. Holiness is not just for priests and nuns. At his canonization on October 6, 2002, Pope John Paul II called Escrivá the "saint of ordinary life."

Saint Josemaría's liturgical memorial is June 26.
The Boston Globe ran a story today, "UK Catholics say 5 Anglican bishops converting," emphasing these 5 as disaffected, distressed, defectors for political reasons: homosexually inclined and female clergy. It could be, however, that these 5 desire to follow Christ in the true Church he founded, and the bishops acknowledge this fact. Of course, one never knows what the exact back story really is because the information is filtered through many layers before the print media goes to print. The statement of the five bishops can be read here and if you are interested in the Forward in Faith groups, see their website.

The bishops, and for any baptized Christian "moving" to become Catholic are said to be coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. They are not converting. This point is made briefly in the article but it seems to obscured by the author because of the particular situation. The Anglicans are Christian; they have converted to Christ; they pray the Lord's Prayer; Anglicans have a spiritual life. What they are doing by becoming Catholic is following the promptings of the Holy Spirit to live in the truth of unity with the Bishop of Rome.

The 5 Anglican bishops are: Bishops Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes and David Silk.

My hope is that the 5 bishops "pope" but that they do so for the right reason and not because of they truly are disgruntled with Anglicanism. Rome doesn't need more disgruntled Catholics. Are they following Christ and the guided companionship of the Church or their own moral compass?

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.jpg

"Here there is no longer anything but God. He is All; He suffices and we live by Him alone" (Letter 91).

Today is the feast of the Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906), one of those mature Carmelite mystics who forcefully brings us back to center.

She reminds us that the most Holy Trinity is given to each person at the time of Baptism and again in Confirmation and fed through the Eucharist.

She once wrote, "It seems to me that I found my heaven on earth, since heaven is God and God is in my soul. The day I understood that, everything became clear to me. I wish to tell this secret to those whom I love so that they also, through everything, may also cling to God ..." (Letter 122).

Blessed John Duns Scotus

| | Comments (0)
The Preface for the Mass of Blessed John Duns Scotus

St Albert the Great & Bl John Duns Scotus.jpg
Father, all-powerful and everliving God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You give the Church great joy as she celebrates the memory of John Duns Scotus, in whom the spirit and ideals of our seraphic father Francis burned brightly and came to light and life.

You led him to see that virtue was of greater value than learning, and taught him the pre-eminence of love over all worldly knowledge.

You chose him to be the subtle unravler of reality, enabling his sharp mind to penetrate more deeply into the mystery  of the depths of your love for us.

He acclaimed the universal primacy of your Son, the masterpiece and perfect manifestation of your eternal love enfleshed in Christ the New Adam, the King of all creation.

You taught him to praise Mary, conceived without sin, untarnished and resplendent in her immaculate beauty, your intended Model for creating us in dignity and goodness.

You instruct us by his teaching and by the holiness of his life, and give protection in answer to his prayers. Therefore, with the angels and all the saints we join in their unending hymn of praise.

Crossroads Cultural Center

p r e s e n t s

FAITH IN RUSSIA TODAY

A Conversation with 

the Most Reverend Paolo Pezzi, FSCB

Archbishop of Mother of God in Moscow

Paolo Pezzi FSCB.jpg

In cooperation with Radius, and Communion and Liberation

Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: Pryzbyla Center, Great Room

 

The Catholic University of America 

620 Michigan Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20064

 

Metro: Red Line, Brookland/CUA 

Campus Map 

The conference is free and open to the public

For more information

the flyer can be downloaded here: Archbishop Paolo Pezzi in DC.pdf

Humor and Catholicism are not easily cohered by many people. For some reason, many people believe that to be a Catholic, a saint, a person "in-tune" with God means, by definition, to look unhappy, if not really be, unhappy. Yea, but no. Really, the contrary is true if you know God, His Son and sacred Scripture. To have a healthy, vibrant spiritual life is have joy. We hunger for intimate connections with God, others and self. We are made for love and joy. Yet, love and joy are mysteries in the Providence, and love and joy separates us from the animals, as does freedom. And to love is be full of joy, full of humor and delight.

James Martin.jpg

Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing an old and dear friend, Jesuit Father James Martin, speak at Yale University's St Thomas More Catholic Chapel. Nearly hundred people were in attendance including members of the local and Yale communities. Father Martin is the Cultural editor of America Magazine, the only Catholic weekly journal of opinion. He's the author of a plentitude of articles and several books (My Life with the Saints & The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and he's due to publish yet another book, Sarah's Laugh: Joy Humor and Laughter in the Spiritual Life, in a few months.




More House logo.jpg

Martin was invited by More House to deliver the More House Lecture, which since its establishment in 1962 has had a few distinguished Jesuits. The inaugural More House Lecturer was given by Father John Courtney Murray, SJ in 1962 on the topic of the Problem of God. Martin is now on a spry list of notable --and a few ignoble-- scholars and cultural types. A terrific honor, indeed.

Father Martin's point is that joy and laughter are under-rated in the spiritual life and are essential for a healthy physical and spiritual life. To be joyful is to be in-touch with God. Joy equals holiness (for those who pray).

While humor is culturally bound in time, place and location, there is evidence that laughter had some importance among the Old Testement characters, think of Abraham and Sarah, Isaiah and in the New Testament with Jesus, think of his interchange with Nathaniel. Saints had a particular bias for humor and joy and laughter, think of Saints Teresa of Avila, Philip Neri, Benedict, Blessed John XXIII and Teresa of Calcutta, and countless others.

laughter.jpg

Father Martin had ten points in praise of humor and its intimate connection with the spiritual life:

  1. humor evangelizes; humor shows others our faith in God, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; humor shows the victory of love over hatred;
  2. humor is a tool for humility; it aids in the quest of humility; humor is a great way to keep one grounded and away from the Deadly Sin of pride; as my mother says frequently, don't take yourself that seriously;
  3. humor shocks the hearer to hear something new; humor gets the point of across
  4. humor speaks truth to power, especially when other forms of truth-telling seem to fail; do we need more pompous, puffed-up and powerful people with a distinct lack of humor leading us, in Church and in society?
  5. humor shows Christian courage: think of Saints Lawrence and Thomas More;
  6. humor deepens a relationship with God (if you have one); by analogy --Catholics love theological analogies: being in relationship with God is like being on the phone--someone talks and someone listens; a healthy relationship with God would mean that joy is very much a part of one's relationship with God; as Father Martin pointed out from the Ignatian spirituality point of view, can I imagine that God might want to be playful with me? Can I delight in God's desire for giving me the unexpected? Can I, like the Prophet Isaiah, allow God to delight in me and I delight in God?
  7. humor shows genuine hospitality, it shows the other that being welcome in a place is a virtue;
  8. humor is healing --it releases endorphins; one never laughs at sin or personal hurt but in its proper place humor gives us a break;
  9. humor opens our minds --it helps us to relax; humor helps get the message across, eases the burdens and allows us to imagine being personally with Jesus; joy is the surest sign of the Holy Spirit;
  10. humor is fun and fun is a foretaste of heaven.

 Thanks be to God for the grace of laughing. John Paul II and Benedict XVI have also showed us the value and place of humor in life. As I have said before here: can I really take my humanity seriously? Can I be joy-filled? Can I allow God to show me the way to Him through humor?

There's no doubt that Christians in Iraq are facing the significant trails of their lifetime. These are our brothers and sisters. Some call it a jihad against the Christian minority and others say this is an example of a more globalized efforts to squeeze out Christianity in the Middle East. The horrific attack is religiously motivated driving the Christians from the region, an ethnic cleansing. Multiple religious groups in Iraq create diversity, it creates democratic processes, no matter the size of the community.

The Islamists as a group is small, perhaps not more than 5% but they have money and are mobilized. But where is the outrage of the Islamic leaders of the reasonable sort speaking against these attacks? Barely is the media reportiing on last Sunday's events.

Vatican Radio reported that "The victims of Sunday's massacre in Our Lady of Salvation Church Baghdad were laid to rest Tuesday. A telegram from Pope Benedict to the leader of the Syro-Catholic Church in the Iraqi capital, Archbishop Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka, was read out to mourners during the funeral service. The Pope said 'deeply moved by the violent death of so many faithful and their priests, Tha'ir Saad and Boutros Wasim, I wish, during the sacred funeral rite, to share spiritually in this occasion and pray that these our brothers and sisters are welcomed by the mercy of Christ into the Father's House.for years this country has been suffering untold hardships and even Christians have become the subject of brutal attacks that, in total disregard of life - an inviolable gift from God - want to undermine confidence and peace. I renew my call that the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters may be the seed of peace and true rebirth, and that those who care about reconciliation, solidarity and fraternal coexistence, find the strength and motivation to do good.'"

Additionally, Asia News reported, "The so-called 'War Department' of the 'Islamic State of Iraq' (ISI) al-Qaeda in Iraq issued a statement on the Web to announce that the passing of the deadline of its 'ultimatum' to the Egyptian Coptic Church to release two Egyptian women, Camilia Cheh and Wafa Constantine, wives of Coptic priests, whom according to the terrorists are detained against their will in a convent after converting to Islam. Their conversion has been denied by all the Islamic religious authorities in Egypt, and the Muslim Brotherhood have harshly attacked the authors of the massacre in Baghdad. Al-Qaeda, however, confirms that all Christians and their churches have become "legitimate targets" of the terrorist group and are therefore are in danger. The message issued today by the Iraqi cell of al-Qaeda also makes explicit reference to the Vatican."

Further, "While confirming its desire to attack the Christians, the terrorists say they want to give one more chance to the Catholics of the Church of Rome. They claim that 'the War Office of the Islamic State of Iraq' announced that starting today all the churches and Christian organizations and their leaders are a legitimate target for mujahedeen. These politicians and their bosses in the Vatican should know that the sword will not fall on the heads of their followers if they proclaim their innocence, and distance themselves from what has been done by the Egyptian Church. Al-Qaeda calls on Catholics to 'send a clear signal to the mujahedeen of their effort to put pressure on the Egyptian Church in order to obtain the release of two women, their prisoners.'"

Martin Chulov of the Guardian in Britain, wrote "Resurgent al-Qaida threatens Christians in Iraq with 'destruction":  "Al-Qaida in Iraq has threatened more attacks on Iraq's Christians, claiming that they are legitimate targets who now face the 'doors of destruction.' The warning, published today on militant websites, came three days after gunmen from an al-Qaida front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, raided one of Baghdad's main cathedrals during Sunday mass. More than 50 people were killed and dozens were wounded when Iraqi forces stormed the church in an attempt to lift the four-hour siege. In its statement, ISI described the pope as 'the hallucinating tyrant of the Vatican' and warned that Christians would be 'extirpated and dispersed' from Iraq. 'All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for the muhajideen wherever they can reach them... We will open upon them the doors of destruction and rivers of blood.'"

Pope Benedict XVI responded to a cross section of Italian Catholic Action, on Saturday, October 31. Reportedly, there were 50,000 children, 30,000 youth and 10,000 educators of Catholic Action, who were in Rome meeting under the theme: "There Is More. We Become Great Together." WOW!!!! The Pope really takes humanity seriously; he really understands me and my desires and my limitations. One of the Q&A that I liked is the following:

Your Holiness, our teachers in Catholic Action tell us that to grow up it is necessary to learn to love, but often we fail and we suffer in our relationships, in our friendships, in our first loves. But what does it mean to love totally? How can we learn to love truly?

Bl Piergiorgio Frasati3.jpg

Benedict XVI: A great question. It is very important, I would say fundamental, to learn to love, truly to love, to learn the art of real love! In adolescence we stop before the mirror and we notice that we are changing. But if you continue to look at yourself, you will never grow up! You grow up when you do no longer let the mirror be the only truth about you but when you let your friends tell you. You will grow up if you are able to make your life a gift to others, not to seek yourselves, but to give yourselves to others: this is the school of love. This love, however, must bring you into that "more" that today shout to everyone. "There is more!" As I have already said, I too, in my youth wanted something more than what the society and the mentality of the time presented to me. I wanted to breathe pure air, above all I desired a beautiful and good world, like our God, the Father of Jesus, wanted for everyone. And I understood more and more that the world becomes beautiful and good if one knows this will of God and if the world corresponds to this will of God, which is the true light, beauty, love that gives the world meaning.

Bl Alberto Marvelli.jpg

It is quite true: You cannot and must not adapt yourselves to a love reduced to a commodity to be consumed without respect for oneself or for others, incapable of chastity and purity. This is not freedom. Much of the "love" that is proposed by the media, on the internet, is not love but egoism, closure, it gives you the illusion of a moment, but it does not make you happy, it does not make you grow up, it binds you like a chain that suffocates more beautiful thoughts and sentiments, the true desires of the heart, that irrepressible power that is love and that has its maximum expression in Jesus and strength and fire in the Holy Spirit, who enflames your lives, your thoughts, your affections. Of course it demands sacrifice to live love in the true way -- without renunciation one does not find this road -- but I am certain that you are not afraid of the toil of a challenging and authentic love. It is the only kind that, in the final analysis, gives true joy! There is a test that tells you whether your love is growing in a healthy way: If you do not exclude others from your life, above all your friends who are suffering and alone, people in difficulty, and if you open your heart to the great friend Jesus.

Bl Pierina Morosini.jpg

Catholic Action also teaches you the roads to take to learn authentic love: participation in the life of the Church, of your Christian community, loving your friends in the Children's Catholic Action group, in Catholic Action, availability to those of your age at school, in the parish or in other environments, the company of the Mother of Jesus, Mary, who knows how to guide your heart and lead you along the way of good. Moreover, in Catholic Action, you have many examples of genuine, beautiful, true love: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Alberto Marvelli; love that also leads to the sacrifice of one's life, like with Blessed Pierina Morosini and Blessed Antonia Mesina.

Young people of Catholic Action, aspire to big goals, because God gives you the strength. "More" is being young people and children who decide to love like Jesus does, to be the protagonists of our own lives, protagonists in the Church, witnesses of the faith to those who are your age. "More" is the 

Bl Antonia Mesina.jpghuman and Christian formation that you experience in Catholic Action, which unites spiritual life, fraternity, public witness to the faith, ecclesial communion, love for the Church, collaboration with the bishops and priests, spiritual friendship. "Growing up together" speaks of the importance of being part of a group and a community that helps you to grow, to discover your vocation and to learn true love. Thank you.

The Pope celebrated Mass for the bishops and cardinals who died in the past year on Wednesday. In his homily he addressed what I believe --and the Church has consistently taught-- are central themes of our Catholic faith which are too often misunderstood or not understood enough. The last line of this post is THE most important thought for us to contemplate on today. From the Vatican's Press Office we read:


Thumbnail image for Salvador-Dali-Christ.jpg

The Pope remind his congregation that "eternal life" designates "the divine gift granted to humankind; i.e., communion with God in this world and its fullness in the next. Eternal life was opened to us by Christ's Paschal Mystery and faith is the way to attain it". Referring then to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, as recounted in today's Gospel, the Pope explained how in this exchange Jesus "reveals the most profound meaning of the event of salvation: ... The Son of man must be raised on the wood of the cross so that those who believe in Him might have life. ... The cross, paradoxically, from being a sign of condemnation, death and failure, becomes a sign of redemption, life and victory in which, with the eyes of faith, we can see the fruits of salvation."

The salvific significance of the cross "consists in the immense love of God and in the gift of His only-begotten Son. ... The verbs 'to love' and 'to give' indicate a decisive and definitive action expressing the radical way in which God approached man in love, even unto the total giving of self, ... lowering Himself into the abyss of our utter abandonment, and crossing the portal of death. The object and beneficiary of divine Love is the world, in other words humanity. This completely cancels the idea of a distant God divorced from man's journey, and reveals His true face." God "loves without measure. He does not show His omnipotence in punishment, but in mercy and forgiveness."

Day of Prayer & Healing for teens.jpg



Many of you are in parishes with schools and/or youth groups and have teens who are suffering from the effects of abortion. Please promote this unique opportunity for them to come to a Day of Prayer and Healing for Teens - November 20th.


For confidential registration or more information, please call Theresa at Lumina Hope and Healing after Abortion at 718-881-8008 and visit the Lumina website.

Saint Charles Borromeo

| | Comments (0)
St Carlo Borromeo OBorgianni.jpg

Saint Charles  Borromeo's intercession is as much needed today as ever we needed it. He was an unexpected gift of God to his family and to the Church and we ask him to intercede for us. Some interesting points about the legacy of Saint Charles Borromeo, whose feast we celebrate today.


  • His nephew, Federico Borromeo (1564-1631), was archbishop of Milan from 1595 and, furthering Charles' support for Catholic learning, in 1609 founded the Ambrosian Library in that city. He donated a tremendous collection of art and literature to the library.
  • Borromeo's emblem is the Latin word humilitas (humility), which is a portion of the Borromeo shield. He is usually represented in art in his robes, barefoot, carrying the cross as archbishop; a rope round his neck, one hand raised in blessing, thus recalling his work during the plague.
  • Borromeo is one of only four people mentioned at the beginning of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing them as responsible for the Council of Trent, which gave way to the modern day catechism. The others mentioned are St. Peter Canisius, St. Turibius of Mongrovejo and St. Robert Bellarmine.
  • The city and county of St. Charles, Missouri are named for Borromeo.

Fr Allen P. Novotny, SJ RIP

| | Comments (0)
Allen P Novotny SJ.jpegAt this moment, family, friends, and Jesuits are gathering for the Mass of Christian Burial for the Reverend Father Allen P. Novotny, SJ, 58, President of Gonzaga College High School, Washington, DC. I mention this because I had the privilege of living with Allen for a year and liked him very much. I've been saddened since hearing the news on October 27th that Allen died earlier that day from a mutual friend. I was unable to make the funeral Mass but have not ceased praying for Allen's peace and God's mercy upon Allen and the rest of us. Eternal rest, dear friend.

A fitting video tribute to Father Allen

Gonzaga's The Aquilian paid this tribute to Father Allen.

Not long ago a friend asked me why Catholics don't celebrate the Jewish holy days. Good question.

A response to the question as to why we don't celebrate the Jewish holy days would be along these lines: the Paschal Triduum is the Christian Passover, the true Pasch. Even the Greek and Latin name for Easter tells us that (as also the derivation of the name for Easter in Spanish, French, Italian from the same root).

In one sense, Jesus' teaching was in continuity with Judaism (Mt 5.17: "Think not that I have come to abolish the Law"); but he also in Matthew 5 puts himself forward as a higher Lawgiver than Moses ("you have heard it said, but I tell you..."). I suggest reading Rabbi Jacob Neusner's book, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus, which makes this point very clear. The Pope himself said in Jesus of Nazareth that Neusner's book is an excellent example of honest and reasoned argument between a believing Jew and the Jesus of the gospels.

crèche Regina Laudis.JPG

If the crèche at the Abbey of Regina Laudis strikes you as a little out place, there's a good reason. The austere Yankee barn that houses it is a world away from its previous home. Handcrafted by artisans in Naples, the intricate nativity scene was presented as a coronation gift to Victor Amadeus II, king of Sardina, in 1720. It remained among Italian nobility until it was purchased by Loretta Hines Howard, an artist and collector, in 1949. She immediately donated it to what was then a fledgling Benedictine Abbey in, fittingly, Bethlehem, Connecticut (although the nuns insist the name is a coincidence). 

The crèche takes a few liberties with the traditional nativity story. Instead of a Judean village, Bethlehem appears here somewhere on the coast of Italy. The stable has been replaced by Corinthian columns, and the traditional kings and shepherds are joined by a whole host of other characters, who have shed their New Testament robes for 18th-century knickers and coats. In one corner, some peasants argue over the contents of a stem pot. In another, a noblewoman walks her whippet on a leash. The crowd is puzzling at first, though it may serve  a distinct purpose. "For as many people as there are, there are attitudes toward the birth of Christ," says Sister Angèle Arbib, who helps care for the crèche. She points out some figures who seems reverential, others who seem distracted or dis-believing: "It's so representative. When people come here to see the crèche, they identify with someone in here."

And people of all faiths do come to see it. The mass of Christmas pilgrims has returned after a recent restoration had taken the crèche out of public view for three years. Conservators from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art painstakingly repaired each of the 68 figures and the tiny hand-sewn outfits they wear. The results are stunning. The crèche now stands as a testament to the continued support of the community of nuns, preservationists, and believers that has formed around it. It's fitting. After all, what is a nativity other than a story of people coming together?

Justin Shatwell
Yankee

November/December, Vol. 74, No. 6.

Abbey of Regina Laudis
273 Flanders Road
Bethlehem, CT

The crèche is open to the public daily 10-4 through Jan. 5 (closed Jan. 6-Apr. 24)

203.266.7727


Since Sunday how could our hearts not be moved by the dirty killing of 58 and wounding of countless others in Our Lady of Salvation Church (a Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad)? How could we not have heavy hearts and mournful spirits at the news of villainous actions toward others, especially those at prayer? Our brothers and sisters in the faith, among them 2 priests --who brought Christ to us-- were bruttally murdered by Muslim extremists.

We pray for the eternal rest of the dead, healing of the ill and forgiveness of the perpetrators. That's what the Lord would do, I am convinced. This is what we are asked to do by the Pope. Indeed, we pray for peace and re-birth in Christ.

Let's pray for Chaldean Cardinal and Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, the other bishops of Iraq with the priests, deacons, sub-deacons and laity.

The Holy Father has spoken out in the last days and he does so again. Read his remarks here.

Just back from Mass for the Faithful Departed and from voting.

Have you prayed and voted???

Vote.jpg

Catholics vote because it is "... for the promotion of the common good" (Benedict XVI) 

Voting is a "... serious moral obligation..." and Catholics "... can never vote for someone who favors absolutely what's called the 'right to choice'" (Abp R. Burke)

Virgin & child with souls in purgatory LGiordano.jpg



Give rest, O Christ, to your servants with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

You only are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind, and we are mortal,
formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave, we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Give rest, O Christ, to your servants with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Basil, PAZ, & Ambrose.jpgThe following homily was delivered yesterday for the 31st Sunday Through the Year at the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis by a dear friend, R. Dom Ambrose Bennett, STL. Dom Ambrose (on the right in the photo) is a priest, monk and teacher at the Abbey.

Besides taking his turn in celebrating Mass for the Abbey, he also celebrates the Mass of Blessed John XXIII at the Oratory of Ss Gregory and Augustine.

At this time of year, as we approach the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, and when the Church calls upon us to meditate upon the Communion of Saints and prayer for the faithful departed, it is fitting that we should consider a much-neglected point of Catholic doctrine and practice: that is, indulgences. First, what is an indulgence?

First, let me say what indulgences are not: they are not permissions to commit sins or anything of that sort. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "an indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven" (CCC 1471). Surely everyone is aware that being forgiven of sin does not make all the effects of past sin simply disappear: we can still have bad habits, damaged relationships, diminished love of God as a result of those sins. In other words, there are temporal effects of sin, even after absolution. Indulgences are still eminently helpful in impressing upon us two inseparable truths: that we are saved by grace and that in the process of penance and renewal, we are not alone but are assisted on the way of conversion by the entire Communion of Saints who have gone before us. In other words, we do not gain indulgences to be forgiven for our sins: we gain them because we have already been forgiven by the grace of Christ. Indulgences help us to bring forth the fruits of true repentance and to heal the after-effects of sin.
The other day the New York Times published a graph showing, according to polls, that Catholic voters pose a serious problem for tomorrow's election. Interesting. The red bar demonstrates that a 24% lead for the Republicans among US Catholics.  Remember, Catholics voted for Barack Obama, 54-44% in 2008. No poll tells the whole truth and, in my are barely an indicator of what is really thought by those polled. This poll is no different. However, if the pollsters are remotely correct, Catholics could lead the way to change in the November 2 election from Democrat-to-Republican.

NYTimes poll on Catholic voters.jpg
Let's be honest: Catholics are no different in their voting patterns than the general public. Sad but true. And I find this fact to be a disappointing fact. Discriminating who these Catholics are as active (or non-active) is curious. The polls tell us that weekly church-going Catholics in 2008 did not vote for Democrats, more or less. 

See more info at Catholic Vote
Human Experience.jpgIf you've not seen the Grassroots film documenting 2 young men's interrogation of life in the film "The Human Experience," then I would say you've missed a great opportunity to think about the reality with which we are confronted with daily.

This is not a Catholic film. It is a film about one's humanity. The Human Experience is nothing if not full of humanity. The film takes seriously human desire, friendship, love, search, man and woman's dignity, sacrifice, suffering, faith, relationship, disappointment, victory. The brothers bring us to the streets of NYC, to orphans in Peru, lepers in Ghana, and to an encounter with self.

H2O News followed the Brooklyn, NY based Grassroots film team to Madrid where they introduced Spanish citizens to the film in part as a way to prepare for the 2011 World Youth Day. Watch the video clip of the Madrid experience.

By the way, "The Human Experience" is slated to come to New Haven, CT soon. Stay tuned.

Catholics in Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad were held hostage and some killed and wounded by a group of Al Qaeda militants. The siege tragically ended in death when Iraqi security forces raided the church in order to free the faithful being held inside.

During his All Saints Angelus address today in Rome, Pope Benedict said, "Last night, in a very serious attack on the Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, dozens of people were killed and wounded, including two priests and a group of faithful gathered for Sunday Mass."

Benedict continued, "I pray for the victims of this senseless violence, all the more ferocious as it affected defenseless civilians, this closeness to the martyred Christian community, targeted yet again by terrorists, and encouraged all pastors and faithful to be strong and firm in hope."

"Faced with the brutal violence that continues to tear the peoples of the Middle East apart," Pope Benedict ended the Angelus talk by saying: "I renew my appeal for peace: it is God's gift, but it is also the result of the efforts of men of good will, national and international institutions. We must all join forces to ensure an end to all violence!"

All Saints

| | Comments (0)

Today is the day since the time of Pope Gregory III that the Church has observed a day for all the saints ever recognized officially, and for those who are in the process of becoming listed saints in the martyrology, and certainly all those holy men and women who ever lived. Looking at the Roman Martyrology, the book that contains all the saints of the Church, but it doesn't list the all the Baptized. Hence, our feast day. There is a great dynamic of love that we observe today, but it should be a dynamic that we live every day of our lives. How many people, holy men and women have we known who touched out lives in great and small ways. I think of the various priests, and laity who promised to pray for me.

During his September visit to England, Pope Benedict boldly asked the young (indeed, all of us) to consider becoming saints and not to settle for something less than what we are made for. The value here, if you want to speak in this way, is that holiness is not for plastic people, people who have no sense of relationships, no concept of community, no understanding of the value of good friends. Holiness means taking ourselves seriously as loved people and worthy of friendship with the Lord and with another person; holiness is means setting aside distractions, sinful tendencies and the lack of attentiveness of God and what Jesus did for us. That is, Jesus' death and resurrection for love of us personally. It's taken me a long time to understand this point, and what the Pope has invited to, but there is solid, reliable truth in that God alone satisfies me. Which means, other things and mediocre relationships do not. Here is a portion of his homily:

Saints Buoninsegna.jpg

What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.

Perhaps some of you have never thought about this before. Perhaps some of you think being a saint is not for you. Let me explain what I mean. When we are young, we can usually think of people that we look up to, people we admire, people we want to be like. It could be someone we meet in our daily lives that we hold in great esteem. Or it could be someone famous. We live in a celebrity culture, and young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world of sport or entertainment. My question for you is this: what are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?

When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple - true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.

Pope Benedict XVI
Greeting to Catholic Pupils of the United Kingdom
St Mary's College, Twickenham

17 September 2010

B16 kisses child Oct 27 2010.jpgYou & me, all Christians and people of good will ought to have a habit of prayer, of turning to God because prayer has the effect of naturalizing and lifting the soul beyond the temporal. Join me in praying for these two intentions given by the Pope to us when we turn to God.



The general intention

That through the support of the Christian community, all victims of addiction may find in the power of our saving God strength for a radical life change.

The missionary intention

That the Latin American Churches may move forward with the continent-wide mission proposed by their bishops, assuming their share of the universal missionary task of God's people.

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

Categories

Archives

Humanities Blog Directory

About this Archive

This page is a archive of recent entries written by Paul Zalonski in November 2010.

Paul Zalonski: October 2010 is the previous archive.

Paul Zalonski: December 2010 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.