Paul Zalonski – Page 267

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today’s liturgical observance of the Holy Cross is a fitting day to ask what we understand it to mean. Because the Cross is the key that unlocks the door of our salvation, Christians ought to ask themselves what they believe the Cross to mean. When you encounter the Cross, what does it really mean for the Church, for you, for those who see the Cross on your person? With the proliferation of the image of the Cross in various places it’s power is not diminished as much as our recognition of the meaning of may have. The Cross in any media is not a decoration for a building, a body, a cake or a book, the Cross is not merely one symbol among others; the Cross is not a talisman that can be summoned upon demand. As Saint Paul says, the Cross is our glory. Catholics learn the meaning of things in the Faith by looking at what is prayed at the sacred Liturgy. Hence, taking time with the antiphons, the Collect and the Preface of a given Mass will indicate what we believe.

We believe….

We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. (antiphon)

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.

For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered through Christ. (excerpted from the Preface)

We adore you Christ and we praise you, for by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Saint John Chrysostom

Those who are wise will shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars for ever.

O God, strength of those who hope in you, who willed that the Bishop Saint John Chrysostom should be illustrious by his experience of suffering, grant us, we pray, that, instructed by his teachings, we may be strengthened through example of his invincible patience.

The entrance antiphon and the Collect are enough to pray with today.

We pray for the Church in the East.

Prayer participates in Christ’s coming in glory

Prayer enables us to discern the events of history in
the light of God’s plan for the spread of his Kingdom. That plan is symbolized
by the book closed with seven seals which only the Lamb, the crucified and
risen Lord, can open. In prayer, we see that Christ’s final victory over sin
and death is the key to all history. While giving thanks for this victory, we
continue to beg God’s grace for our earthly journey. Amid life’s evils, the
Lord hears our prayers, strengthens our weakness, and enables us to trust in
his sovereign power. The Book of Revelation concludes with Jesus’ promise that
he will soon come, and the Church’s ardent prayer “Come, Lord
Jesus!”. In our own prayer, and especially in our celebration of the
Eucharist, may we grow in the hope of Christ’s coming in glory, experience the
transforming power of his grace, and learn to discern all things in the light
of faith.

Pope Benedict XVI

General Audience

12 September 2012

“For Greater Glory” now available on DVD

The movie, “For Greater Glory,” is now available on DVD on Amazon, but it is also available from Ignatius Press.

What price would
you pay for freedom? In the exhilarating action epic “For Greater Glory” an
impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for
family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film’s adventure
unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War the
daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century North America.

This movie is an excellent addition for your Catholic library of film and appropriate for a high school Catholic curricula, the RCIA and adult faith formation work of your parish. This forgotten part of our North American history needs to be better known.

Fr. Carrón gives tribute to Cardinal Martini, calls Communion and Liberation to live differently with the bishop

The President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation,
Father Carrón’s, said the following in tribute to Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini in a September 4th editorial in Corriere della Sera:

“And like Archbishop Montini, who initially confessed that he did not understand
Fr. Giussani’s method, though he did see its fruits, Cardinal Martini also
encouraged us to go forward. I am still moved by the words that he addressed to
Fr. Giussani in 1995, during a meeting of priests, when he thanked ‘the Lord,
who gave Msgr. Giussani this gift for continually re-expressing the core of
Christianity. ‘Every time that you talk, you always return to this core, which
is the Incarnation, and – in a thousand different ways – you propose it again.'”

The full text of the editorial: Julian Carron Letter on Carlo Martini’s death.pdf

This text is a brief, honest and yet key reflection not only on the life and influence of Cardinal Martini, perhaps an excellent synthesis of Christian life and how it is extroverted in a human being. There are some very tiresome reviews of who the Cardinal was, and what he meant to the Church too often in political language. To my mind those authors who evaluate a man such as Martini in this manner does not abide with the Gospel and faith.

The letter of Father Carrón acknowledges the fact that Communion and Liberation has significantly neglected the various opportunities of collaboration with Cardinal Martini that presented themselves over the years. This admission to members of CL should help all of us to reassess how we live and breathe in our given ecclesial context. This is a serious point that we can’t pass off to circumstance. That is to say, we who claim to be faithful members of CL need to work more diligently with the Diocesan Ordinary “in giving reasons for our hope” in concrete ways so that we are witnesses as the Servant of God Pope Paul VI said (cf. the letter).

The Most Holy Name of Mary

The Church has offered us a “Marian sandwich.” Let me explain. This week we are honoring the Mother of God with three distinct memorials: The Nativity of Mary (Sept. 8) and Our Lady of Sorrows (Sept 15) and today the commemoration of the Holy Name of Mary. In liturgical history this feast has been observed on various days before settling on this day. The feast was reintroduced to our Roman Missal by Pope John Paul II.

The Roman Martyrology writes,

The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a day on which the inexpressible love of the Mother of God for her Holy Child is recalled, and the eyes of the faithful are directed to the figure of the Mother of the Redeemer, for them to invoke with devotion.

The Church prays,

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she may obtain your merciful favor.

Continue reading The Most Holy Name of Mary

Getting a handle on Benedictine life — Subiaco style

You might ask why I care about the Subiaco Congregation… well, I care about the Congregation because it’s the largest and most diverse of all the groupings of those who follow the Benedictine Rule, and many of the monasteries do interesting things outside the typical works of parochial and educational ministries. And, because I care. Subiaco monks and nuns tend to be more focused on living the monastic life with intensity. One may also say that the English Benedictines have certain intensity in life and ministry which distinguishes them from other groupings.

The other day I mentioned that the Cassinese Congregation (the Italian monasteries of which Monte Cassino is part) was seeking re-union with the Subiaco Congregation, and today the vote was positive. Of course, the Cassinese Congregation is very much in “diminishment mode” with very few new vocations with an outdated way of doing things. The vote for the revised constitutions was also positive.

Abbot Philip of the Abbey of Christ in the Desert writes a weekly notebook. This week he notes some of the “goings on” of the 19th General Chapter.

Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, pray for the monks, and for us.

9/11 – eternal memory

Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus, pro universis beneficiis tuis, qui
vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei,
requiescant in pace. Amen.

Subiaco Congregation of monks meet

The General Congregation of the Subiaco Congregation of Benedictine monks are meeting this week at one of the monasteries founded by Saint Benedict, Saint Scholastica Monastery, Subiaco, Italy.

There are four monasteries of the Subiaco Congregation in the USA: the Abbey of Christ in the Desert, Saint Mary’s Monastery (Petersham, MA), Holy Cross Monastery (Chicago, IL) and Thien Tam Monastery (Dallas, TX). These monasteries comprise the English Province of the Subiaco Congregation (which the video).

The meeting of the superiors (abbots and priors) is the normal manner of doing business of and for the Congregation which unites the monasteries throughout the world. As a point of comparison, the Subiaco Congregation is the largest grouping of monks and nuns in the world with 1,293 members (a 2010 statistic). Among the tasks for the abbots and priors is to: approve the Constitutions of the Congregation which were newly revised, vote on the request to admit the Cassinese Congregation to the Subiaco Congregation and to elect an Abbot President.

Regarding the vote of the Cassinese Congregation: if the vote is positive the Italian monasteries of this congregation would then belong to the Subiaco Congregation thus re-uniting the two.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for the Subiaco Congregation, and for us.

Praying for Charles Chaput and Philadelphia

Every bishop needs prayers. Yesterday was the year anniversary of Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput’s taking over the work of being the pastor. He’s had a very tough year but not one without the finger of God directing his way. If there is a bishop that we ought to follow on this side of the Atlantic, this is the one. Here’s an insightful story of the Archbishop’s past year…. Read it please, and offer a prayer for both the archbishop and the archdiocese.