November 2012 Archives

Philadelphia archbishop and Capuchin friar Charles J. Chaput writes well about the sobering reality of evangelization in his weekly column for this week. (Get in the habit of reading the Archbishop's weekly essay.) The content of His Excellency's essay "The new communities and the 'New Evangelization'" has "three simple things today: first, I'll share some observations on the general state of the Church; second, I'll talk about the role of new communities and charisms like the Sodalitium in the new evangelization; and third, I'll offer some thoughts to this group as a brother in consecrated life, based on my own experience as a Capuchin and a bishop.  I have a fourth point to mention as well; but it's really more of a story.  I'll come back to it at the end of my remarks."

Among the remarks of the archbishop's are those he talks about the new communities, sometimes called the ecclesial communities. Each group has it's own gift to give to the life of the Church. Each community answers a need and helps a person to be faithful to the Gospel in a new, vital way: a manner of really living the Good News and recognizing the grace of God right now.

Real Christian discipleship rejects and resists the kind of radical personal license and acquisitiveness that animates a consumerist society.  So when the Catholic Church teaches about the dignity of the unborn child, the purpose of human sexuality, economic and immigration justice, the rights of religious communities and believers, and the nature of marriage and the family - she's not just "unpopular."  She's hated as the enemy of individual privacy and personal freedom.  And that theme shapes the way the Church is treated in the mass media.

For Catholics in my country to recover their vocation as a Church, they need to be awakened; they need a reason to be zealous again about their faith.  They need to hear the witness of people like yourselves who live the Catholic faith with confidence and joy.  They need to see their Church growing and fruitful, and young again, instead of constantly retreating and in decline.

This is the value of the new ecclesial communities and movements.  They're alive in Jesus Christ, and their new life and energy spill out into the whole Church.    

For those of us who follow/live within the ambit of an ecclesial community whose founder is dead, what we compromise on? What will sacrifice to fit into the culture at large? Will we lose touch with the reasons that was the impulse of the founding of our community? Answer: may be; but I hope not.

Read the essay --it won't take you long.

Our Lady, Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us.

Living in Joyful Hope

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During Advent and Christmas we await and celebrate the birth of Christ in order to tune our hearts to await and celebrate the fulfillment of God's "plan for the fullness of time, together up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:10. What better way to tune our hearts than by listening, with great care and attention to the work of God?

In her book, Living in Joyful Hope, Suzanne Lewis offers short verses from the Bible with reflections and prayers to serve as a springboard for our personal reflection on the Word of God. Suzanne's mediations are based on the theology of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Follow the link above.

Saint Andrew

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Dicit Andreas Simoni fratri suo:
Inveniemus Messiam, qui diciture Christus; et adduxit eum ad Iesum.

translation
Andrew said to Simon his brother:
We have found the Messiah!
(which is interpreted, the Christ);
and he led him to Jesus.

Saint Andrew, the First Called, brother of Saint Peter, at first a disciple of the Baptist,  is the patron saint of many places, Constantinople, Amalfi,  Scotland, Russia, among others.

Our prayer offered to Saint Andrew for his intercession is for the unity of the Christian Churches, most particularly between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Today, the Bishop of Rome sends a delegation to the Bishop of Constantinople for the celebration of today's feast.

Let's pray with the Church

We humbly implore your majesty, O Lord, that, just as the blessed Apostle Andrew was for your Church a preacher and pastor, so he may be for us a constant intercessor before you.
papa prega.jpgThe December prayer intentions of the Pope have us praying for migrants and for the Light of the Incarnation to radiate from our own faces as witnesses to someone greater than ourselves. These are particularly poignant set of prayer intentions for us in the USA: we are a nation of immigrants; we are a City set on a hill. Our solidarity in prayer if not in other concrete ways ought to remind us of our roots.

Let's us join with Pope Benedict to pray for those who have left their home in the hope of finding work, peace, love and acceptance in other lands. Are we still hospitable children of God?

The general intention

That migrants throughout the world may be welcomed with generosity and authentic love, especially by Christian communities.

The missionary intention

That Christ may reveal himself to all humanity with the light that shines forth from Bethlehem and is reflected in the face of his Church.
Pope with iPad.jpgThe Pope will tweet. Is this a mortal sin or a gospel value?

In today's L'Osservatore Romano edition Mario Ponzi writes of Pope Benedict's latest venture into tweeting. The Pope is not going to give up his love of books, old fashion research and handwriting his talks, but he's diving into more deeply in the digital world. He'll have to keep his message to 140 characters. Can he do it? I am sure the clarity of the Pope can be limited to a mere 140 characters. It's ancient history now in cyberworld but it was June 2011 that the Holy Father touched his own iPad launching the Vatican's News.va portal; tweeting in five languages is a polymath way of  communicating at the Vatican.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, 71, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications since 2007, last week delivered his keynote address at the 100th anniversary of Our Sunday Visitor. Celli has been hardworking in moving the Holy See into the 21st century with an acceptance of social media and its benefits for communicating the gospel effectively today.

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I love the Syriac tradition of liturgical theology. Often I find it a far more satisfying liturgical tradition than the Latin church craziness I face. It is Semitic, very biblical and rich in humanity. I recommend that you immerse yourself in the poetry of Saint Ephrem, deacon and Doctor of the Church.

The Maronite Church is one of whose heritage is West Syrian theologically; historically it's rooted in the mountains of Lebanon. Their Advent Season has already begun with what is called the Season of Announcements (follow this link for more info on the season). This past Sunday was the Announcement to Mary. This coming weekend the Maronites will celebrate the Visitation of Elizabeth.

Father Steven Bonian, SJ, writes frequently on the sacred Liturgy of the West Syrian Church, the Maronites. See how he connects the Creator, creation and the Liturgy; the image of the Garden is key here for us Christians who are seeking salvation, that is, to dwell again in the Garden of Eden. 

Father Bonian said about the Sunday of Mary's Announcement:

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Today, the Letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians (3:15-22), reminds us of how the promise made to Abraham is now being fulfilled through those who believe; those who live by the Law and the Torah of the heart through righteousness. To such as these --like Mary-- is the gift of God and his promise handed down through his angels. The Gospel of Luke makes it clear that Mary is the righteous one who has gained the favor of God, and thus, inherited this Gift (Christ) and the Promise (Salvation).

In the Gospel-Icon of Mary and the Angel drawn for us by Saint Luke, and framed for us in this Sunday's prayers --in the context of the relationship of the creator with his creation --the mountains, the earth, the sea, and the waves are rejoicing in God's Word! Mary herself has become the New Earth (as Saint Ephrem would teach us) and true representative for all of God's creation. The Son of God comes to dwell in her, and through her God has returned to live --as in Paradise-- in the midst of his creation. Now in Mary, the new covenant, and God's plan of salvation is being fulfilled. She has become the Cloud, the Pure Womb, the Fountain of Life and Blessings!
I hate Jesuitism. Perhaps you do too. We stand in good company with Nietzsche and of course with Jesuit Father James Schall.

Full disclosure: I love Father Schall's work. I love Nietzsche. Both get things correct. It may be surprising that someone as "crazy" as Nietzsche would interest me, or even Catholics. Several years ago I began to believe, after reading another Jesuit's use of Nietzsche's thought in one of his essays that we Christians need to take this man seriously. Whether you agreed with the philosopher and Schall is unimportant. What is crucial is that your horizons are stretched and forced to clarify and verify what we know to be true. Nietzsche means to be provocative, even nasty, but to dismiss him is wrongheaded.

Father Schall published an essay "On the Art of Jesuitism" looking at Nietzsche's experience of Jesuits and their approach. You will be challenged in what both philosophers have to say.

Father James V. Schall, SJ, is a professor at Georgetown University and a well-published author. Father Schall is due to retire from GU.
Day's Funeral procession.jpgToday is the 32nd anniversary of death of the Servant of God Dorothy Day. The Benedictine Oblate from Brooklyn Heights, NY, who is remembered for her conversion to Christ and His Church and with Peter Maurin founded The Catholic Worker Movement.

In recent days we've learned that the bishops of the USA are standing behind Day's cause for canonization advancing it to the next canonical stage. While the process may be protracted for some, it is a good and substantial process to ascertain the claim of sanctity of the person in question. As an editorial, I tend to think 30 years is a good amount of time between the death of a person and the study process commencing; in my humble opinion I think it was far too short of time for Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II beatifications; both are saints in my opinion, but I think the process can't be shortchanged because of cosmic popularity.

Day was a Benedictine Oblate of St Procopius Abbey.

The Archdiocese of New York is in charge of the cause of canonization. You can contact the office at 212-371-1000, ext. 2474.
zielinski-sisinono.jpgThe Pope appointed Benedictine Abbot Christopher Michael John Zielinski to the be the Head of the Office (office manager) of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on Saturday, 24 November 2012. He is the number 3 person in the Congregation serving with Antonio Cardinal Cañizares, Archbishop Arthur Roche and Father Anthony Ward, SM.

Dom Michael, 59, a native of Lakewood, Ohio, is a monk of the Olivetan Congregation of Benedictines having professed monastic vows in 1972, who studied at Sant'Anselmo and ordained in 1977. Dom Michael is a past religious superior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Pecos, NM). Until now and since 8 May 2008, he's been the vice president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology.

He is also a consultor to the same Congregation. 

Dom Michael gave an interview that covered his thinking on the Tridentine Mass in 2007.

Saint Benedict, pray for us.
Saint Bernard Tolomei, pray for Abbot Michael in his new work for the Church.
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luciani.jpgMany of us only know the name Albino Luciani. He was the one who became Pope John Paul I in 1978 and lived only 33 days as the Supreme Pontiff. That was 34 years ago; I was only 9 when the smiling pope appeared and then departed. I often think of what the face of the Church would've been like had he lived longer.

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Pope John Paul I (17 October 1912), L'Osservatore Romano and Il Messaggero di sant'Antonio organized a symposium on November 8 learn more about this enigmatic man. An editorial in L'Osservatore Romano gave but a peek of what was learned.

Indeed, it's interesting to hear that JPI followed three assumptions: "detachment from the world, obedience to superiors, and absolute faithfulness to the institution" in his ministry and that he was a lover of books. Me too. Apparently, JPI liked authors as diverse as Aesop, LaFontaine, Mark Twain (his favorite) to Chesterton and Dickens, among many. He also liked rock music and the comics. For a priest of the mountains he was an educated, curious and humane person. His cause for canonization is being studied.

Luciani spoke of the Second Vatican Council using soccer terms. Good for him. He got the point across to those who likely wouldn't know where to begin to understand the complexities of a Ecumenical Council.

Read the editorial for yourself.
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Day the saint.jpgDorothy Day is not a pawn in political camps. She is the darling of a political camp for either the seculars or the ecclesials. To apply political monikers of liberal and conservative, left or right is grossly inaccurate and a rather reductionistic manner to understand a person and her vocation, the vocation defined by love and happiness. True to an authentic follower of Christ, Dorothy Day's vocation was to be a saint, that is singularly focussed on her Lord and Savior; her vocation was to adore and follow Jesus Christ. Day's vocation was not to feed the the poor and argue for a change in governmental policy. As a friend said, Day's life is too easily "framed in political terms by people who anachronistically use words like 'liberal' and 'conservative' to describe a life that was never about that fight." Additionally, I fully agree with Martha Hennessy, 57, the granddaughter of Day who said she was uncomfortable about her grandmother's abortion. Let's pay attention to Martha Hennessy, "I wish we would focus on the birth of her child more than on her abortion because that's what really played a role in her conversion." Indeed. This is the pro-life position of the Church.

I significantly dislike the way Day's life is used to diminish a true practice of faith, of religion. The NY Times published Sharon Otterman's article, "In Hero of the Catholic Left, a Conservative Cardinal Sees a Saint," and it's typically misguided with tired cliches and wrong information (her facts are often wrong) yet useful in a limited way because Dorothy Day saintliness shines. Obviously Otterman wanted a story and not the truth.

Feast of the Miraculous Medal

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Miraculous medal.jpgThe feast of the Miraculous Medal may be surprising to a few. Catholics honor buildings, theological ideas, people and medals. The Miraculous Medal is known as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, the medal that Our Lady on this date in 1830 instructed Saint Catherine Labouré to have struck. There is nothing miraculous about the medal. What is miraculous is the fact that it is a sign that God does miraculous things in our lives. In a boring world there are events that turn reality on end.

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that God cares for each of his creatures enough to make His presence known through signs?

The devotion to the medal is nothing more and nothing less than a person having trust in Mary's instrumentality before the Throne of Grace. It is a devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Miracles of conversion, healing, cure, renewed faith, and more. Those who are devoted to the wearing the medal receive special graces at the time of death.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
First Things editor RR Reno published his "A 2012 Ranking of Graduate Programs in Theology" yesterday, the annual romp through what's out there for theological formation. A somewhat helpful review but it doesn't really cover some important data. Nevertheless, it is good to see a review that advances a good perspective. What is that perspective? In my humble opinion: that in all things God may be glorified AND thinking with the Church.

The study of theology is not merely doing an academic program but it is truly a formation of the person so that he or she can be not only an excellent leader in theological investigation, spiritual formation, good pastoral practice but also work that one works out his or her own salvation.

  • The five areas a good school of theology needs to be attentive to: sacred Scripture, sacred Liturgy, patristic study, dogmatic study and ethics. I fully believe that Prosper of Aquataine is correct, and ought to orient all study of theology: legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi. In shorthand, the law of prayer is the law of belief.

I am happy that UND ranked high. I am interested to see how CUA will do in the year to come with the new dean Father Mark Morozowich. He's got a lot of work to do. CUA is poised.
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Corcovado Jesus (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

The end times are indeed near at hand. That is not to say that the "12/12/2012" Mayan prediction of the end of the world is true --it is not-- or that the rapture approach is insightful. But if you really believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior then an acknowledgement of our living in the end times is the right way to live. The Scripture readings in these final weeks of the liturgical year, but especially this week, prepare the believer to face the fact of the final things, sometimes called the Four Last Things: death, judgement, heaven, and hell. We can't get away from these things. If we could, then there would be no need of a Messiah, of the Cross and Resurrection, the Eucharist, the sacraments, the Church, and a spiritual life; no need for salvation. If there is no probability of hell, then there is no need of salvation.

The subject of the Four Last Things was taken up by Pope John Paul II in the Wednesday Audiences in July and August of 1999. Look them up, they are worth a good review. By way of summary, let me draw attention to a few things the Pontiff said:
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In recent years, we have seen a significant interest in teaching the faith more authentically, but also we've become more attentive to answering the real questions believers and unbelievers have. With the Year of Faith fully engaged now, I think we need to attend to three unavoidable questions whether we are teaching teens, adults, or expanding the horizons of our faith and understanding of the cosmos we live in.

There are no easy answers in proposing the Christian faith to others, especially to teens. Do you want pablum when considering real questions?

Conversion advances the Kingdom of God. There is no possibility of entering the Kingdom prepared and promised to us without turning away from sin and truly walking on the path given by the Lord. AND this Kingdom is totally other than what we known and expect. And because of our baptism our vocation is to build the Kingdom according to a plan that is not our own. At the Mass offered by the Pope on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, he did so with the six cardinals and their friends and family. The homily follows.

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Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today's Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical year, is enriched by our reception into the College of Cardinals of six new members whom, following tradition, I have invited to celebrate the Eucharist with me this morning. I greet each of them most cordially and I thank Cardinal James Michael Harvey for the gracious words which he addressed to me in the name of all. I greet the other Cardinals and Bishops present, as well as the distinguished civil Authorities, Ambassadors, priests, religious and all the faithful, especially those coming from the Dioceses entrusted to the pastoral care of the new Cardinals.

In this final Sunday of the liturgical year, the Church invites us to celebrate the Lord Jesus as King of the Universe. She calls us to look to the future, or more properly into the depths, to the ultimate goal of history, which will be the definitive and eternal kingdom of Christ. He was with the Father in the beginning, when the world was created, and he will fully manifest his lordship at the end of time, when he will judge all mankind. Today's three readings speak to us of this kingdom. In the Gospel passage which we have just heard, drawn from the account of Saint John, Jesus appears in humiliating circumstances - he stands accused - before the might of Rome. He had been arrested, insulted, mocked, and now his enemies hope to obtain his condemnation to death by crucifixion. They had presented him to Pilate as one who sought political power, as the self-proclaimed King of the Jews. The Roman procurator conducts his enquiry and asks Jesus: "Are you the King of the Jews?" (Jn 18:33). In reply to this question, Jesus clarifies the nature of his kingship and his messiahship itself, which is no worldly power but a love which serves. He states that his kingdom is in no way to be confused with a political reign: "My kingship is not of this world ... is not from the world" (v. 36).

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As the world knows, the Holy Father created 6 new cardinals. These 6 new Princes of the Church represent the diversity of the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." Their presence in the College of Cardinals reflect Incarnation of Jesus Christ in the life of the local Church, and at the heart of the Church, Rome. They now begin a new dimension of ecclesial service, a new way of being a disciple of Christ, and they offer their full humanity to making Christ known and loved. The Pope's homily is below.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

These words, which the new Cardinals are soon to proclaim in the course of their solemn profession of faith, come from the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed, the synthesis of the Church's faith that each of us receives at baptism. Only by professing and preserving this rule of truth intact can we be authentic disciples of the Lord. In this Consistory, I would like to reflect in particular on the meaning of the word "catholic", a word which indicates an essential feature of the Church and her mission. Much could be said on this subject and various different approaches could be adopted: today I shall limit myself to one or two thoughts.
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Dorothy Day3.jpgThere are some among the Christian faithful who would prefer not to spend resources, personal and financial, on the sainthood investigation of the Servant of God Dorothy Day. As we know the US bishops have recently given their approval for the process to move forward. The for Day's cause for canonization is being promoted by the Archdiocese of New York; Cardinal Timothy Dolan is a very strong supporter, as is Cardinal Francis George among others.  

For what it is worth, I am in favor of Dorothy Day's cause advancing because I think she faithfully points out in concrete ways that living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is possible, reasonable, even for sinners like me. That is, she reminds us, the living, that the Church is a hospital for the sick (that is, for sinners), and not a museum of the self-righteous. Spare me the people who think they have the Christian path to salvation all figured out. PLUS, Dorothy Day is a Benedictine Oblate [of Saint Procopius Abbey] and that is a terrific witness of the laity taking the spiritual life seriously and humanely. Day's sainthood makes no difference to her; it does make a difference to me; men and women declared saints by the Church --infallible statements of faith-- aren't sainted for their own benefit but those who are a part of the living Church today.

Many have heard it said that Dorothy Day said, "Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed that easily." But did she, and what did she mean?

Saint Clement of Rome

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Almighty ever-living God, who are wonderful in the virtue of all your Saints, grant us joy in the yearly commemoration of Saint Clement, who, as a Martyr and High Priest of your Son, bore out by his witness what he celebrated in mystery and confirmed by example what he preached with his lips.

After Peter as the chosen head of the Church, the next crucial leader of the Church is the 1st century Saint Clement of Rome. In the development of what a "pope" is for the Church, Clement is often claimed to be such. His immediate predecessors Linus and Cletus were certainly bishops of Rome, but it seems as though Clement is concerned for Christians beyond the City walls.

He was a Jewish-Roman by birth and is reported to accepted Christian faith at the hands of either Saints Peter or Paul. Called to be a missionary, Clement assisted these great apostles as well as Jerome and a companion of Barnabas, Luke and Timothy. It is the testimony of Tertullian that we learn that Clement was ordained a bishop by Saint Peter. Clement, is known in papal history for being the 4th bishop of Rome; his papal service followed Peter, Linus and Cletus. Pope Clement served the Church for 9 years, 11 months and 20 days.

Circa 96 Clement wrote to the people of the Church in Corinth defending the faith against their peoples' abandonment of Christian faith seen in their acceptance of prostitution at the Temple of Aphrodite. But the Corinthians also were accused of being impious, envious, and angry among other issues. Clement laid for us a spiritual path that says that we are to abandon all things of this world to more perfectly follow Jesus. Clement was an ardent worker for unity among Christians. We can't be friends with Caesar and at the same time with the Lord. Purity of heart and body were essential.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

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Saint Cecilia

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Santa Cecilia with angels.jpgO God, who gladden us each year with the feast day of your handmaid Saint Cecilia, grant we pray, that what has been devoutly handed concerning her may offer us examples to imitate and proclaim the wonders worked in his servants by Christ your Son.

The feast of Saint Cecilia is most known for being the patroness of church musicians. But what ought to bring us closer to reality is that her fame and veneration across the world is because of her joy in facing death because of her intense love for her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The dates of her existence are difficult to pinpoint but history tells us that her body was discovered in AD 822. Liturgical legend places her death along that with her husband Saint Valerian and her brother-in-law Saint Tiburtius during the reign of Pope Urban I (r. 222-230). Therefore, Emperor Alexander Severus would responsible for her death.

Cecilia, though married, remained a virgin, that is, singularly focussed on Christ's love as opposed to human love. At the time of her marriage her husband was not a Christian, but due to an act of the Spirit, Valerian accepted Christ in baptism.

Two saints arrived

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Two saints arrived today. Actually, their relics arrived and with their papers. A friend sent me the relics of Saint Casimir and Saint Pius X.

What is a relic? The word "relic" comes from the Latin "relinquo" meaning "I leave" or "I abandon." Typically a relic of a saint is a bone or piece of hair if it is a first class relic. Something owned by the saint, like clothing or a piece of a desk, is a second class relic and something touched by the relic is a third class relic.

We only adore Jesus Christ. We honor, that is, venerate, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. There is a difference. The distinction is shown in the fact that we don't pray to a crucifix or a statue or a relic. Our prayer is directed to the one whom the crucifix, statue or relic indicates. The power to do miracles rests with God alone, Mary and the saints intercede on our behalf.
Petersham 25th anniv logo.tifToday is the 25th anniversary of the founding of Saint Mary's Monastery, Petersham, MA. 

In 1987, Saint Mary's became a dependent house on Pluscarden Abbey, Scotland. Some might say that 3 men started the monastery in 1985, and they're right to a degree. But in 1987 it was aggregated to Pluscarden in a formal way and to the Subiaco Congregation.

Saint Mary's Monastery is a small colony of Benedictine monks whose central work is the praying of the traditional Divine Office (in Latin) with a small guest house welcomes visitors.

A delightful place to visit, pray and just spend time with the Lord.
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Today is the day on which the Oblates of St Benedict of St Meinrad Archabbey renew their oblation at Mass. It is not a public gesture but it is one of significance because it keeps in front of us our offering to God through our attention to the Scriptures, Tradition and the Rule of Benedict.

Today is also the day that the Pope has asked the Church to support in friendship and with finances the contemplative life. Please consider making an offering of prayer and money to a local monastery. They need our prayer and financial support.

The text of the renewal of Oblate promises is noted here.

Mary, mother of Benedictines, pray for us.
Saints Benedict and Scholastica, pray for us.
Saint Henry, pray for us.
Saint Frances of Rome, pray for us.
Entrance of the BVM in the Temple.jpgThe liturgical memorial celebrated today is an odd feast for some in the West: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in the Byzantine East it's sometimes referred to as the Entrance of the Virgin in the Temple. A slight difference with no real distinction.

Liturgical history tells us that the feast was observed in Jerusalem in the 6th century. A church was built to Mary's honor. In the West the feast was introduced in the 11th century but it has disappeared for a time from the Church's calendar and then in the 16th century it was given to the Church to be observed universally.

The tradition of the Church --that is, it is only spoken of in apocryphal literature-- is that the parents of Mary, Saints Joachim and Anna, praying for the miracle of a child received from God a baby they longed to have: Mary. Their prayer and vow to God was dedicate the child to Him, and His service. One slight possible problem. Jews at this time in history only brought to the Temple their baby sons, not their baby daughters. At least that's what some scholars of the Law taught. This unhistorical account of Mary's presentation known to us from the Protoevangelium of James gives the churches a liturgical observance. Nevertheless, little did Mary's parents realize what it meant to fulfill their promise of dedicating their daughter in the Temple to God's service. Salvation history would never be the same.

Psalms connected with the Presentation in the Temple: with lighted candles: Ps. 44/45: 14-15; 119/120 to 133/134.

In the Year of Faith please join Father David Borino and Benedictine Sister Zita Wenker for a discussion "Christian faith through lens of the Creed" on Saturday, December 1, 10:30 to 2:00pm.

The discussion will be held at the Monastery of the Glorious Cross61 Burban Drive, Branford, CT 06405

The day includes Mid-day prayer and Mass in the Monastery Chapel, the presentations and time for Q&A. Please bring a brown bag lunch.

Father David Borino is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford and Sister M. Zita Wenker, OSB is a Benedictine nun of Jesus Crucified residing at the Monastery of the Glorious Cross (61 Burban Drive, Branford, CT 06405). Both presenters bring pastoral and theological expertise to the exploration of what we believe Catholic faith to be through what we profess Sunday after Sunday in the Creed.

The day is free, open to the public with a good will offering taken.
Ratzinger Infancy Narratives.jpgThe third and final volume of Joseph Ratzinger's bestselling idea on Jesus of Nazareth was generally released today. In the USA it will be released on December 4. The Infancy Narrative (Random House, 2012) is available on Amazon with real good pre-order discount. 

The four chapter plus epilogue book (256 pages) will be first available in 9 languages with another 20 translations planned. According to the press release The Infancy Narratives analyze the gospel narratives from the Annunciation of John and the Nativity of the Lord up to age 12.

The trilogy is deemed as an exceptional trilogy of Benedict XVI.

Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn

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St Mechtilde Hackeborn.jpgThe Church celebrates two Benedictine friends in several days: Saints Mechtilde and Gertrude. By today's standards of canonizations, neither were formally canonized by the Church; until recently Hildegard enjoyed a canonization status only observed in Benedictine communities. Her liturgical observance is recognized more universally today. Pope Benedict XVI spoke eloquently of Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn at a 2010 Wednesday Office. The Pope gives a superb insight into the person of Saint Mechtilde that is extraordinarily helpful.

Saint Mechtilde (1240-1298), the sister of Gertrude of Hackeborn (not Gertrude the Great [celebrated on Nov. 16], thought there is great confusion about this relation) attended the monastery school where her sister was a nun and after graduation she entered monastic life. Like Gertrude the Great Saint Mechtilde was known as a serious and gifted student and teacher. Someone described her having a "voice of a songbird." Her wonderful personality was an asset for her Benedictine community and it likely led to her being a 40 year abbess. As it turns out, Gertrude the Great was a student of Mechtilde's. Both of whom had a profound love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Privacy issues today weren't known in the 13th century. Mechtilde's spiritual experiences were recorded by Gertrude. Though unnerved by the perceived violation of boundaries, the Lord assured her that it was OK. In time Gertrude's work was the basis of Mechtilde's "Book of Special Grace" or later known as "Revelations of Saint Mechtilde," a book that is oriented to the liturgical year and focussed on Christology and Trinitarian theology. The Pope tells us that Mechtilde's starting point is the sacred Liturgy and her mystical experiences relate us back to the liturgical experience through the lens of the biblical narrative. Saint Mechtilde ought to be one of the heavenly patrons of liturgical studies.

In several places you'll read that Dante used Saint Mechtilde for his Donna Matelda of his volume of the Purgatorio, Canto XXVII. Whether is true is not yet known. That Dante's Donna Matelda and Saint Mechtilde are mystics, one wonders if the saint is fictionalized.

New cardinals are coming

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The six bishops being created cardinals of the Holy Roman Church this coming Saturday are: US Archbishop James M. Harvey, 63, prefect of the papal household; Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72; Indian Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, 68; Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, 70; and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, 55. As signs of the new vocation the new cardinals will receive from the Pope the red cardinal's hat and a ring. By custom they are referred as Your Eminence and in print they are often called "Princes of the Church."

When Fig Leaves Sprout

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Fig Tree by mumacas.jpgMy neighbor has several fig trees. His children are now in the process of wrapping them up for the winter --New England is not an agreeable place to raise fig trees all year.

The opening prayer for Mass today speaks of "the constant gladness of being devoted to you [that is, God]" because God is "the author of all that is good." This gladness, this happiness, and good is always lived in posture of hope. Symbolically, in many ways the fig is a tangible sign of happiness and goodness. In the Bible the fig tree is posited as figure of these virtues. Variously the fig is interpreted as symbolic of the good, of peace, personal and national prosperity, safety, concern for the other, personal and national fulfillment, and probably the most important, the Promised Land.

Likely to be the most spoken of tree is the fig. Our first parents cover themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7), as a sweet and satisfying fruit is the fig (1 Kings 4:25) and if you need shade when you study the Word of God outside you would sit under a fig tree (John 1:48) or if you need a spring fruit for the table you would have figs (Hosea 9:10). So, it's no surprise that the Lord uses the fig to illustrate a point in the synoptic gospels about being a disciple and of the Church.

Based on today's Scripture readings, the poem "When Fig Leaves Sprout" by Minnesota composer William Beckstrand captures the sense of what we are about in the Christian life.

When fig leaves sprout, the summer's near;
Just so, when sun and moon grow dim,
This earth and heav'n will pass and Christ
Will come and raise the dead with him.

This coming Christ, who once for all
A sacrifice for sin's dark stain
Has offered, will bring back to life
All those who sleep, for doom or gain.

Secure with Jesus, Advocate
Who pleads for us at God's right hand,
We daily work to do God's will,
And wait His coming stern and grand.

Saint Gertrude the Great

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One a few saints with the title "the Great" Saint Gertrude (1256-1301/2) is clearly a woman with a mission. Given by her parents to the Benedictine monastery at Hefta (some say it was a Cistercian house), a monastery known for its learning and saint-making, Gertrude excelled in her studies. One day, around the age 24, she realized that the excellence she had in secular learning was not what she needed, in fact, she considered this way of living vain, and therefore she was called to do by the Lord: to live singularly for Him. Was it earthy wisdom that saved, or heavenly wisdom? She began to change her modus operandi and followed the advice of the Apostle to be totally concerned with heavenly wisdom. 

Before it was a popular devotion, Saint Gertrude was known for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist.

Saint Gertrude's extant writing includes "The Herald of Divine Love," The Life and Revelations," and the "Spiritual Exercises."

May Saint Gertrude's greatness inspire us to live more intensely for a deeper communion with the Lord, in this life so as to be with Him in the next.

"My heart has said of you, I have sought your presence Lord. 
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek."
Alexia Kelley.jpgAlexia Kelly is the new president of a prominent Catholic fundraising office in  Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. 

Ms Kelley holds a Masters degree in theology from Harvard Divinity School is reportedly committed to dialogue with others for the sake of advancing the common good, and interested in Catholic charitable works. Her resume includes being a former employee of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development; the executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good; the Deputy Director and Senior Policy Advisor for the Whites Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; and the First Lady's Office, for whom she launched Let's Move Faith and Communities. Most recently Kelley's been the director of the Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the HHS.
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The Benedictine monks of Sant'Anselmo unveiled an impressive strategic plan for its work as an international university in Rome. 

Historically, the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo (Rome) was founded in 1687 by Pope Innocent XI and renewed and re-established by Pope Leo XIII in 1887 and given as a work to the worldwide Benedictines.

Read the first section of the Strategic Plan:

And, a most important part of the Plan,

The vital parts of the Strategic Plan are noted here.
Looking good and abundant blessings....
anselmo arms.jpglYou're likely going to say big deal... there's already been too much info on the 2012 Congress of Abbots on the Communio blog. Well, you're correct. But a few statistics set a context.

Meeting at the Primatial Abbey of Saint Anselm in Rome for the September 2012 Congress of Abbots, there were:

  • 250 abbots
  • 380 monasteries represented: 205 abbeys, 45 independent priories, 130 dependent priories
  • 21 Benedictine Congregations of monks
  • 7,358 monks represented
  • 62 Benedictine Congregations of women
  • 13,650 Benedictine nuns and sisters represented.
Father Luke MacNamara OSB, a monk of Glenstal Abbey (Ireland) oversaw the simultaneous translation work of 5 languages.
Day Time mag.jpgThe canonization process of the Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897-1980) the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) by an unanimous voice vote on November 13, 2012 at the annual meeting of the bishops.

Sanctorum Mater (2007), requires of the diocesan bishop promoting a sainthood cause to consult at least with the regional bishops' conference on the work of the cause. 

Regarding Dorothy Day, she is a very well-known figure who is often connected with her stances on the economics and politics; the Catholic Worker movement that she co-founded is seen as a socialist and not too Catholic today. Day was based in New York City and her cause of canonization is being promoted by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York and current president of the USCCB.

Benedictine All Souls

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May the memory of the deceased monks, nuns, sisters, and oblates be eternal.

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Historically [supposing that your view of history goes back before 1900], today is the traditional date for the liturgical memorial of All Benedictine Souls. You are not going to find many American Benedictine monasteries observing this commemoration. Sad, I think. They will offer the argument that the Church's November 2nd commemoration of All Souls (and for that matter, All Saints) to include the monks and nuns of the Order.

As a monk noted, monasteries who hold this idea are employing "the same argument that was used at the time of the Reformation to eliminate the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, since we are all 'saints.' Whatever the theological merits of this position, even the Episcopal Church has recognized its psychological deficit and has restored All Souls on November 2."

Old fashioned or not, there is a good value in retaining the observances of All Saints and All Souls of Monks and Nuns. Informed opinion indicates that when monasteries remember the nuns and monks who have gone before us in faith and perseverance, remembers not only persons but also puts eschatological hope that eternal life is possible and indeed ought to be sought.

We pray for graces of light, peace and mercy for our departed monks and nuns, sisters and oblates ask for their prayers for us.

Priest bites off priest's ear

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This story is so sad that it's so funny. An Australian priest bites off another priest's ear --over a parking space. The biter is 80 years old and the bitten is 81. Read about it. Really, Fathers....?

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

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Frances Cabrini first US citizen canonized.jpgMother Frances Cabrini, the first US citizen to be canonized by the Church spent a night with the Benedictine sisters at Mount Saint Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas. 

Recorded: "In the winter of 1902 the new convent and the new chapel had a special visitor. Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, traveling west, stopped over night. Sister Barbara loved to recall: 'She was a very nice ordinary Sister. She liked coffee.'" 

from The Meaning of the Mountain, by Sr. M. Faith Schuster, O.S.B.

(Mother Cabrini was on her way to Denver to care for the Italian immigrants.)

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini once said, "We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone."

The front page of today's New Haven Register carried an article by Jordan Fenster, "Right-to-die bill may be discussed by legislature" by which the citizens of Connecticut were alerted to the possibility that in the next session of the legislature the question of assisted suicide will be on the table. Following the defeat of Massachusetts ballot on the same subject last week, the contagion is now again flowing south. Already three US states, Oregon, Montana and Washington, allow for physician assisted suicide. 34 states prohibit lethal doses of medication that would end human life.

Let me say from the outset, this is not a Catholic issue. Persons of belief and unbelief ought to be concerned about the potential passing of a law that legalizes medically induced suicide. Hence, this is not a conservative issue. This is not a an anti-human dignity issue. It is just the opposite: this is a human issue. Who we are a human beings, and how we teach each other is a human issue that is informed by what we believe and how we behave. Committing this legislative error is a problem of education. Recall that in the past when a similar bill was brought to the CT voters it failed only 51-49%.

Several weeks ago there appeared in the New York Times an intriguing OP-ED article that I believe we need to seriously consider in the discussion of physician assisted suicide. Considering voices that differ from ours need to be thoughtfully taken into account because we are people use who reason to frame our moral lives. We can't simply dismiss the other and therefore I appeal to people of belief and unbelief to reasonably discuss what's at stake. When we rush the discuss without fact we always get burned.

In my opinion not enough attention has been devoted to considering how this legislation has been lived out in this country and in others, nor have we considered the philosophical, theological, sociological and human consequences of such an act. Most often our heart-strings are pulled, even stretched leading us to decide weighty matters without due attention to the reality in front of us --to the person and people and intimately connected with life and death issues. We also don't always adequately consider the eternal consequences of killing someone before natural death happens. 

Who's life are we "making dignified" by engaging death before it's naturally presented? What really is human dignity? What does it mean to be truly a man or a woman in relationship with other men and women here-and-now, and following death? To what extent does fear, anxiety and perceived suffering dictate how we think and act toward others? Are we sufficiently aware of and sensitive to the difference between ideology and being a person, no matter how debilitated?

Here is Ben Mattlin's October 31, 2012 New York Times article published online.

Suicide by Choice? Not So Fast

New Norbertine abbot blessed

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new abbot of Santa Maria de la Vid.jpgThe Nortbertine Order is not that well known in the USA, though it is a venerable way of living one's vocation: canons praying the Divine Office, living together in community, and being apostolically engaged in the local Church. 

In the USA we have St Norbert's Abbey (WI), Daylesford Abbey (PA), St Michael's (CA) and now Santa Maria de la Vid (NM). There are several other priories of Norbertine canons but I want to highlight the recent abbatial blessing of Joel Garner as the first abbot of Santa Maria.

May the Blessed Virgin and Saint Norbert to continue to richly bless Abbot Joel and his community through their intercession before the Throne of Grace.

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The New York Encounter 2013 is forthcoming on 18-20 January 2013. The theme for this year's Encounter is "Experiencing Freedom."

Our friends in the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation have put together a wonderful moment of witness and education. Please find information for the New York Encounter from the organizers. 

The proposed Program NYE 2013.pdf

Benedictine All Saints

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last judge monks.jpgToday is the liturgical observance of Benedictine All Saints. Let's pray for all those monks, nuns, sisters and oblates who lived a life of holiness and perseverance in the monastic life.

Not to be a "Debby-downer" BUT, it is not likely that many Benedictine monasteries in the USA will observe today as a feast of all holy monks and nuns. Sadly, many of the monastic superiors have given-in to painting life in their in the monastery with the color beige: there's no vitality of tradition.

Historically, according to a note in an Office book, "Up to the end of the sixteenth century, there was no general feast of this name for the whole Order, since the "Order of St. Benedict", in the modern sense, was unknown. In individual monasteries, as Monte Cassino, Cluny, Fontenelle, etc., a feast of all the saints proper to the monastery was observed, on different dates; only by the revision of the monastic Breviary by Paul V, in 1612, a general feast of All Holy Monks of the Order was instituted, on the above date."

Let us pray,

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the example of the holy Monks [and Nuns} may stir us to a better life: that so we may imitate the actions of those whose solemnity we celebrate.

Saint Josaphat Kuncevyc

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St. Josaphat, Ukrainian bp.jpgToday, with the feast of Saint Josaphat (c. 1580-1623), we ought to mourn the sad division of the Church that exists between East and West.

The Church prays,

Stir up in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat as he laid down his life for the sheep, so that through his intercession we, too, may be strengthened by the same Spirit and not be afraid to lay down our life for others.

Notice that the prayer calls to our attention that we too, are called to be witnesses to the work of unity, even to the point of laying down our lives for others. Here the use of the word 'witness' is used in two ways: giving testimony by word and deed and dying, if need be, with our own lives. Here's the dual meaning of the martyr (witness).
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The USCCB President Timothy Cardinal Dolan began his address saying that we need to attend to "First things first: we are first believers in Christ: the way, the truth and the life...We need to recall that the Lord said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God": it is God who first engages us..."

Dorothy Day half-length portrait, seated at de...
The Servant of God Dorothy Day's cause for canonization may move forward (or not) depending on how the vote goes. The bishops of USA are meeting this week in Baltimore for the annual business meeting.

Dorothy Day is a Benedictine Oblate of Saint Procopius Abbey. She holds the ecclesial title of Servant of God which denotes that the Nihil Obstat (which says that the Vatican is open to the cause moving ahead).

Cardinal Dolan recently said that Day was a woman of the Church --the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Roman Church; she loved her faith. She had a reasonable view of the Church's ministry, even her sinfulness and yet she held firmly to the intimate connection between the Jesus Christ and the Church.

The anniversary of the Servant of God Dorothy Day's anniversary of death is forthcoming on November 29 (1980).

Listen to what Cardinal Dolan said about Dorothy Day is here.
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Saint Martin of Tours

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Sundays are not days on which the Church observes the liturgical memorial of saints. It happens periodically, but today's feast of Saint Martin of Tours (AD 316-397) is not one them, at least not in the USA. Perhaps in Tours where the saint lived there is a festive celebration of Martin, I am uncertain of such. But that today is Veterans' Day here and that the liturgical calendar recalls Martin, it seems silly not to think of this most famous saint as we pray for Veterans. 

The Church prays,

O God, who are glorified in the Bishop Saint Martin both by his life and death, make new, we pray, the wonders of your grace in our hearts, that neither death nor life may separate us from your love.

Martin was widely honored for his holiness and witness to Jesus Christ; through his intercession God performed many miracles and many came to Christian faith. It is said that saints beget saints. Martin was a disciple of the famed  Saint Hilary of Poitiers and Saint Lidorius desired that Martin succeed him as bishop of Tours and his successors were Saint Britius and Saint Perpetuus; and Saint Benedict had a significant devotion to Martin.

One of the famous stories of Martin is the one of the cloak. As the narrative goes, Martin was approaching Amiens meeting a poorly attired beggar who was obviously in need: cold, hungry and homeless. That he was a virtuous man, Martin cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. That night, in a dream, Jesus appeared to Martin  wearing the cloak given to the "beggar." As Martin recounted, he heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized [a catechumen] and has clad me" (Sulpicius Severus, ch 2). One version of the story tells of the cloak being restored in full to Martin.

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A friend of Saint Martin, Sulpicius Severus wrote in his Vita of Martin that,

The body being laid out in public was being honored by the last sad offices on the part of the mourning brethren, when Martin hurries up to them with tears and lamentations. But then laying hold; as it were, of the Holy Spirit, with the whole powers of his mind, he orders the others to quit the cell in which the body was lying; and bolting the door, he stretches himself at full length on the dead limbs of the departed brother. Having given himself for some time to earnest prayer, and perceiving by means of the Spirit of God that power was present, he then rose up for a little, and gazing on the countenance of the deceased, he waited without misgiving for the result of his prayer and of the mercy of the Lord. And scarcely had the space of two hours elapsed, when he saw the dead man begin to move a little in all his members, and to tremble with his eyes opened for the practice of sight. Then indeed, turning to the Lord with a loud voice and giving thanks, he filled the cell with his ejaculations.

Saint Martin is not only the patron saint for the military but he's also asked to intercede for those battling alcoholism.

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Martin Boler, OSB RIP

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Fr Martin Boler.jpgThe second and longtime Prior of Mount Saviour Monastery, Father Martin Thomas Boler will be laid to rest today.

Father Martin was born in 1924. After his medical education he entered the newly formed  (1951) Benedictine monastery of Mount Saviour in Elmira, New York.

At a certain point in 1969 Father Damasus decided a younger man ought to lead the monastery and so he resigned. Father Martin was elected the Father Prior of the community, a diakonia he held from 1969-2008. He'd been in declining health for the last few years and reposed in the Lord on November 7.

Father Martin's life was beautifully captured by Br John of Weston Priory in A Memoir on Fr Boler by Br John.pdf

May God be merciful to Father Martin, and may his memory be eternal.
Justin and Caroline Welby.JPGThe 77 million Anglican Church has a new Archbishop of Canterbury with the appointment of Bishop Justin Welby, 57, as the 105th Ordinary of Canterbury, and successor of Saint Augustine. He was joined by his wife Caroline and his family, including he two-month old grand-daughter.

Spiritually formed by Ignatian and Benedictine spiritualities and makes the claim to have a Benedictine monk as a spiritual director, Justin Welby also says he's been formed by Catholic Social Teaching. In the Anglican world Welby is an upper-class Englishman who attended Holy Trinity Brompton Church, an posh evangelical community that's been highly influential in the CoE; educated at Eton College, and Trinity College, Cambridge.

He's only been a bishop since 2011 and bishop of Durham, the 4th diocese of importance in England. Welby succeeds Archbishop Rowan Williams who is stepping down to pursue an academic appointment as Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge University.

Archbishop Justin Welby's press release is noted here.

The posistion of Archbishop of Canterbury is vetted by a committee, approved by the Prime Minister of England and promoted by the monarch. The Canons of the Canterbury Cathedral will have to formally elected Welby as archbishop in January.

Some have said that Welby is just another face of the left-leaning establishment of the Church of England who seeks to "update" the Church with women clergy, a liberal approach to economy, and support for LGBT causes, and other matters of social concern. It must be noted Justine Welby says he's not in favor of same sex marriage. The same commenters say that there's really no change at Lambeth.

Archbishop Welbly will be enthroned in March. Cardinal Kurt Koch will be the Holy See's representative. It is expected that shortly thereafter he will pay a visit to Pope Benedict XVI.
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TSpinelli.jpgTommaso Spinelli, 23, a catechist of young catechumens who works at the Catechetical Office of the Diocese of Rome, has some good things to say:

The new evangelization needs substance: it needs catechesis of a certain depth that is able to say something serious to our lives, but also and above all it needs lives of substance that demonstrate through actions the solidity of the Christian. It is even more important today, now that families are disunited and often abdicate their educative role, that priests demonstrate to the young their faithfulness to a vocation and the possibility of choosing an alternative way of living, better than that proposed by society.

My concern however is that these figures of substance are becoming a minority. The priest has lost trust in the importance of his ministry, he has lost charisma and culture. I see priests who adapt to the dominant thought. The same is true of the liturgy, which in the attempt to become original becomes meaningless. Priests, I ask you to find the courage to be yourselves. Do not fear because where you are truly priests, there you propose the truth of the faith without fear, we the young will follow. Indeed, the words of Peter are also ours: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life". And we are infinitely hungry for something eternal and true.

I therefore propose:
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The Cambodian Catholic experience is not something that rolls off our lips at cocktail parties or lunch dates in the USA. But the Asian perspective is needed: how does the Good News get rooted. Notice his points at the end of the post.

The rather young bishop, The Most Reverend Olivier Michel Marie Schmitthaeusler, MEP, 42, vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh, Cambodia since 2010 told the Pope and the Synod:

The Khmer Rouge genocide killed bishops, priests, religious persons and the majority of Christians. For twenty years now, we are living a new time of the Acts of the Apostles with a first announcement of the Good News ensured by the small group of survivors, supported by the massive arrival of missionaries. Today we have about 200 adult baptisms each year... The small Church of Cambodia is in some ways a laboratory for evangelization in a Buddhist world, fully entered into a process of secularization driven by globalization a bit like the Asian dragons. The Ad Extra Mission is intimately tied to the Ad Intra Mission. Ad Extra and Ad Intra are mutually enriched by stimulating each other with the same and unique Mission of Evangelization!

Tree Tops.jpgTo celebrate faith and culture in this Year of Faith, Rita A. Simmonds, a friend, is reading her poetry in a program Versed in Prayerat St. Malachy's-The Actors' Chapel in NYC on 28 November 2012, 7pm.

Rita's poetry is frequently featured in the monthly MAGNIFICAT magazine. Her work is award-winning.

Versed in Prayer is MAGNIFICAT's way of celebrating the Year of Faith following upon the invitation of Pope Benedict: "Faith is God's gift and transforms the person deep within. Confessing with the lips in turn implies public testimony."

Versed in Prayer will be moderated by MAGNIFICAT's Editor-in-Chief Father Peter John Cameron, OP with the abled assistance of Jonathan Fields on guitar and photography by David Galalis.

The event is free. No tickets required. More info found here.
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Berislav Grgic.jpgAt the Synod of Bishops men and women from all parts of the world gathered in Rome in October to speak on matters pertaining to evangelization. We in the USA, need perspective: the lower Europe and North America is not the only place where the Christian faith is incarnated. The bishop of Tromso since 2009, Norway, Berislav Grgić, 52, said to the Synod Fathers:

The Catholic Church in the Northern Lands - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - is a very small minority and therefore has neither the advantages nor the disadvantages that the Catholic Church often comes across in traditional and prevalently Catholic regions. Despite its limited relevance, numeric as well as social, our Church is nonetheless a growing Church. New churches are built or bought, new parishes are instituted, non-Latin rites are added, there is a relatively high number of adult conversions and baptisms, there are vocations to priesthood and to religious life, the number of baptisms is much higher than the number of deaths and number of those who abandon the Church, and attendance at Sunday Mass is relatively high.

Is this cartoon unfair?

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Is the Catholic household a divided house? Are Catholics aware of reality, or just what serves the personal interest?
We need to keep a close eye on what happened at the Evangelization Synod just finished in Rome. A judgment, that is, an assessment of meaning, needs to be made so that we can derive a deeper call to conversion and New Life offered by Christ. Far from being a matter of strategy, the work done at the Synod by the bishops and experts and in time by the Pope, will prove, I think, to be historic.

Among the people appointed to the Synod was Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. He addressed a letter to CL in which he said, in part: 

Hearing the call to conversion that came from the synod hall, I could not help but remember the call that Fr. Giussani issued many years ago in Viterbo, inviting us to "recover the truth of our vocation and our commitment." Because we, too, he told us, run the risk of "reducing our commitment too a kind of theorization of a socio-pedagogical method, reducing it to a kind of activism that follows upon this theorization, and then a commitment to the political defense of it. Instead, our task is to reaffirm and to propose to man, our brother, a fact of life.

The text of the letter: Father Julian Carron on Synod.pdf
Jean Louis Tauran detail.JPGIn the time following the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization I think we need to review what was said. So often we move on so fast when an event is finished. A judgment, that is, an assessment, is required to understand with clarity and charity. 

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, challenged a trend in the work of interreligious dialogue at the recent Synod of Bishops:

Christians often ignorant of the content of their own faith and incapable because of this of living of and for it, are not capable of interreligious dialogue that always begins with the assertion of one's own convictions: there is no room for syncretism or relativism! Faced with adepts from other religions with a strong religious identity, it is necessary to present motivated and doctrinally equipped Christians. This makes the new evangelization a priority to form coherent Christians, capable of demonstrating their faith, with simple words and without fear.
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Being really Catholic opens one's point of view to a great richness of the entire Church, East and West; being Catholic as John Paul II reminded us, is to breath with both lungs to invigorate the whole body. Most often Latin Catholics are too skeptical, too closed-minded to look beyond their parochial understanding of God and Church.

Each Sunday Jesuit Father Steve Bonian, a Maronite Catholic American priest reflects on the liturgical theology of his church. If you done a little reading in the liturgical history of the Church you will recall with joy that the Maronites have an incredibly rich liturgical tradition that ought to be appreciated more. For one thing the Maronite Liturgy is wonderfully Semitic in its pattern of prayer.

The Maronite Church, the majority of Catholics from Lebanon, celebrated yesterday the Sunday of the Consecration of the Church. The Roman Church does not have an equivalent liturgical observance, unless you make a connection with the Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of the Roman Church's year.  The Maronite liturgical theology for the Sunday of the Consecration of the Church you note that "the Bride-Church re-consecrates herself and her children, the faithful, to Christ."

Father Bonian writes,

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The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the Temple in Jerusalem and it's rituals was only a temporal preparation for the "new order" that would be established between Christ and his Church and her children.

From now on the Children of God would worship him in Spirit and Truth on earth as in the Heavenly Jerusalem. For it is not God's will to dwell among stones, but in the caring hearts of his faithful people, and among them to establish his Kingdom. Our Church Community is this New Temple!

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benedict and devil.jpgThe Church is not monolithic: let's consider the various observances of feasts of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls):

All Saints

  • November 5: the Society of Jesus
  • November 7: the Order of Preachers
  • November 13: the Order of St Benedict; Order of St Augustine; the Trinitarian Order
  • November 29: the Franciscan Families

All Souls

  • October 5: the Capuchin Order
  • November 5: the Franciscan Families
  • November 8: the Order of Preachers
  • November 13: the Carthusians
  • November 14: the Order of St Benedict; the Trinitarian Order
  • November 15: the Order of Carmel
  • November 16: the Servite Order
Those of us who follow Communion and Liberation already know what is ahead of us for the Year of Faith: we will closely follow the teachings of Pope Benedict for the Year of Faith.

Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation told us several weeks ago that a good portion of our work in the School of Community in the coming year will focus on what Pope Benedict says in his General Audiences given on Wednesdays.

Rome Reports has video news.

The texts of the Pope's teachings will be found on Zenit news, or posted on the Vatican webpage.
boy and acting pope.jpegThe electors, nearly 2,406 people, in the Coptic Orthodox Church selected the 118th successor to Saint Mark, Tawadros II. The new pope is the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa. Until now, Tawadros has been an auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop Pachomius who's been serving as the acting pope. Tawadros studied pharmaceutical sciences and was ordained a bishop in 1997. 

Bishop Tawadros received 1623 votes, or about 25% of the votes.

Each of the electors, asking God to provide for them a good shepherd, were blindfold in casting their ballot for three of five previously vetted candidates. The three names were placed in a ceremonial box, then the Divine Liturgy was celebrated before a blindfolded child selected one of the three names to be the next pope. The new pope succeeds Pope Shenounda III who died at the age of 88 in March, after serving since 1971.

Pope Tawadros II, 60, will be installed on November 18.

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Christians in Egypt number about 10% of the 83 million population. The Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest Christian Church in Egypt.

So far, the key Muslim groups have offered their hands in friendship upon Pope Tawadros announcement.

Vatican Radio has an informative piece to read and to listen.
Thumbnail image for St Gregory delivers the soul of monk GB Crespi.jpg

The month of November is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. I was thinking after a funeral celebrated earlier today for a friend, Jack, who died last Saturday, about my on-going responsibility for the souls in purgatory. This after being reminded that I am called, as are all the baptized, to be an echo of the encounter with Christ in this world, but also in eternal life. What I do here and now has a direct consequence in the later in the promised Destiny with the Savior.

Is it a matter of saying the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and the Glory Be with the Eternal Rest prayers around the time of a person's death, or only on the anniversary of death of a loved one or friend? Somehow I doubt it.

The law of charity that I think Christians are called to live with certainty makes a claim on us to pray for the dead and dedicate some portion of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for the Church Suffering (the Holy Souls) so that one day they become part of the Church Triumphant. Being Friends in the Lord (disciples of Christ) can't be indifferent to those who have died. We believe that the bonds of love don't unravel with the death of the body. We promise the dying that we won't forget them. If this is true, then why do we so often forget to have a Mass offered for their intentions, or say a rosary for our loved ones, or absent ourselves from visiting the cemetery? Mass, the rosary and a visit are concrete acts of love that have a real consequence for real people we knew and loved in this life.

Consider the image of posted above is a example of spiritual works effecting the soul of another. Here the Baroque Master Giovanni Battista Crespi, "Il Cerano" (1573-1632) paints in 1617 Saint Gregory the Great "delivering the soul of a monk." The deliverance is the result of the monk and pope Gregory offering Mass for the soul of a monk. The depths of mercy and love are mined by the devotion of the Mass for another.

All Souls

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viale della memoria.jpg

For more than a 1000 years Holy Church has remembered all the dead on one day and reminding the faithful what we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and thus for those who die in grace. Spend some time with the Mass Collect below. It is not merely remembering the dead, as good as it is, but also to hold fast to the faith we are Baptized into: Christ's death and resurrection.


As a way of entering into what the Lord desires, the Church formed the All Souls Indulgence. Read about it here. You have until November 8 to observe the conditions of the Indulgence.


God, who has raised Jesus from the dead, will give life also to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit that dwells in you.


With the Church we pray,


O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son, having conquered death, should pass over into the realm of heaven, grant, we pray, to your departed servants that, with the mortality of this life overcome, they may gaze eternally on you, their Creator and Redeemer.

Cardinal Arinze.jpgHis Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, turns 80 today. 

Why is this significant? Because a prominent churchmen, a leader in the Catholic Church, hits a milestone and no longer has a place in a Conclave should one be called tomorrow. Nevertheless, Cardinal Arinze is clearly a senior churchman.

Francis Arinze is a Nigerian  born cleric who has served the Lord in his home country and in Rome. Arinze's journey is extensive:

  • Ordained priest: 23 November 1958 (54 yrs)
  • Ordained bishop: 29 August 1965 (47 yrs)
  • Created cardinal: 25 May 1985 (27 yrs).

Cardinal Arinze's service includes attending session 4 of the Second Vatican Council and participating in 1 conclave; he has as bishop, he's ordained 14 priests as bishop. He has worked in the Holy Father's service in area of inter-religious dialogue and the sacred Liturgy.
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Voices without a vote

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As a matter of good citizenship, as a concern for faith and public order, for faith and reason, you and I need to vote according to a fully formed conscience.

A video clip of young men and women expressing their desire to be heard in the voting process next Tuesday, 6 November. The young are voices with a vote. Watch the video!

Don't let your discouragement in the political campaigns be a good reason for not voting. In a democracy not to vote in a significant election is near sinful.

As a beginning step to forming your conscience you may want to consider reading the 2011 document of the US bishops: Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship- A Call to Political Responsibility.pdf
SJS Boston logo.jpgThe heart of a diocese is a seminary (or a seminary program if a diocese doesn't have a major seminary formation program). No would have guessed 10 years following the sex abuse crisis erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston, that Saint John's Seminary would see new life in forming men to be Catholic priests. Patrick Doyle wrote a very descent article for the Boston Magazine titled "Resurrection" on the uptick of the call to priesthood and good work of the Boston seminary.

Blessings on Seán Cardinal O'Malley, Msgr. Jim Moroney, and Father Eric Cadin, indeed on all of the Saint John's Seminary community! A true testimony to grace!

What is a Holy Day?

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Mass at The Our Father.jpgFor Catholics it is Sunday, not the Sabbath (Saturday) in the technical sense as it applies to Jewish theology, but it is the day of worship of the One Triune God in the Triumph of death by death itself; it is Sunday which commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus, that is the fulfillment of the Paschal Mystery (life, death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord). Sunday is the perpetual Day of the Lord in practice.

From the earliest days Christians understood each Sunday as a "Little Easter" and it is celebrated with great seriousness. But Christians never forgot to celebrate, Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord, with great solemnity preceded by a period of preparation we call Lent and the Sacred Triduum. The Lord's Day is observed, the Mystical Body of Christ hopes, as a day of rest and worship of God that is demanded of us by the Third Commandment. It is THE day of the week on which the making of money and being a slave to work is turned on its head (CCC 2172).

What do holy days teach us? Why does the Church bother insisting on them today? In the spiritual sense holy days are a gift in the same way Sunday is a gift. Recall that the key gift God gave us in the Decalogue is rest, just as He rested. The gift of the Sabbath, and observing the Sabbath, is looking for meaning, knowing with certitude that we are children of God who live in freedom. The Sabbath is THE time to reflect upon Someone and Something greater than we are. We are made for the Infinite, not the finite. If we apply the gift of Sunday, of the Sabbath to the point of observing holy days we will notice that that one's holy day observance is another way to make real the graces of Easter in ordinary life. As the great French scholar Father Louis Bouyer once wrote, we are "grafted upon Him [Christ] so that the same life which was in Him and which He has come to give us may develop in us as in Him and produce in us the same fruits of sanctity and love that it produced in Him."
Pope enjoys breeze.jpgPraying with and for another expands our life, it gives us a new point of view. This is especially true when we unite ourselves in prayer with the monthly prayer intentions published by the Apostleship of Prayer, and published here on the Communio blog on first day of the month.

The Apostleship of Prayer may be consider as the Pope's personal prayer group. Blessed John Paul II wrote in 1985 of the Apostleship of Prayer as "a precious treasure from the Pope's heart and the Heart of Christ." Since 1844, the Apostleship has been a work of the Society of Jesus and there are some 50 million apostles praying with and for the Holy Father. Consider joining the Apostleship of Prayer by visiting the link above.

Our prayer intentions...

General intention

That bishops, priests, and all ministers of the Gospel may bear the courageous witness of fidelity to the crucified and risen Lord.

Mission intention

That the pilgrim church on earth may shine as a light to the nations.

Remember Your mercies, O Lord, as a we lift our prayer to you for the Church.

All Saints

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All Saints Montage.jpgLet us all rejoice in the Lord, as we celebrate the feast day in honor of all the Saints, at whose festival the Angels rejoice and praise the Son of God. (Entrance Ant.)

With the Church we pray, 

Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long.

The history of living the Gospel is filled with saints known and unknown: you might say anonymous saints who lend their witness to the symphony of those we have known to live and die for Christ. It is this feast of All Saints that the Church acknowledges the presence of those who are not venerated at the altar but nonetheless are making intercession before the throne of Grace. All the saints, known and unknown are those who lived a life of faith, hope and charity and therefore give us hope that in following the path given by Jesus is reasonable and worthy. These people who struggled and strove to live the gifts given by the Holy Spirit.

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.

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