In March, 60 Minutes ran a story on the archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, and the response to the sex abuse crisis in Ireland. On August 19, 60 Minutes is running the story again. It is a slow news time of the year, but I think the story is worth seeing again.
Last weekend Nellie Gray, 88, the “Mother of the Pro-Life” movement in the USA died at her Washington, DC home. She was the voice of the marginal in the USA. The annual March for Life was founded by Nellie 39 years ago. She worked to shed light on the evil of abortion which has claimed 55 million lives. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for the repose of Nellie Gray on the Solemnity of the Assumption.
Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, OFM, Cap, said of Nellie Gray:
Having received
news of Nellie Gray’s death, I wish to express my sincere condolences and
prayers for her family and for all who came to know and love her in the
Pro-Life Movement. Her love for life and her dedication to protecting the
unborn, the most vulnerable among us, have inspired countless generations of
Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and we will miss her tremendously.
Nellie
Gray will be remembered as the Joan of Arc of the Gospel of Life. The
architects of the pro-abortion movement in the United States thought that the
opposition would go away, but close to 40 years later the issue is still very
much alive, thanks in part to the annual March for Life and because of people
like Nellie who are committed to the culture of life. Having participated in
every single March for Life since its inception, I have witnessed firsthand her
advocacy and dedication. I was honored by her presence in Boston in 2009, when
during the Boston Catholic Women’s Conference we conferred upon her the Culture
of Life Award.
Her death is a great loss for both our Church and our Country,
but her life has left a meaningful and lasting impression upon the hearts of
those who knew her and upon the many hearts of those whose lives she saved. We
will keep Nellie Gray and all those who mourn her death in our prayers. We ask
God to grant her eternal rest and peace, and we give thanks to Him for the gift
of her life.
Our Lady of Life, pray for Nellie Gray, and for us.
Salvation comes from the East! You’ve heard that before, no? If not, then it is news you ought to welcome, not just because an Eastern Catholic priest, Father Mark Morozowich is the new Dean of the School of Theology at the Catholic University of America.
The Coptic and Ethiopic Churches face the elections of new popes in the coming weeks. Pope Shenouda III died in March 2012 after serving as pope of his Church for 40 years. Yesterday, the patriarch of the Ethiopic Church Abune Paulos died at the age of 76. Shenouda had health issues and Paolus apparently died of a heart attack (there’s some controversy on the reason for the death).
There’s been a lot of posturing –let alone misinformation– about the recent revelation that the Cardinal of New York, Timothy M. Dolan, invited the US President to the famed Al Smith Dinner. He wants to be inclusive, open to dialogue, and helpful in trying to inform politicos about Catholic teaching on life and public service. Civility is Dolan’s hope.
“those He justified, He also glorified” (Rom
8:30)
Come, you blessed of my Father, says the Lord. Amen I say to you: Whatever you did for one of the least of my brethren, you did it for me.
O God, who made Saint Jane Frances de Chantal radiant with outstanding merits in different walks of life, grant us, through her intercession, that walking faithfully in our vocation, we may constantly be examples of shining light.
While today is Sunday and Saint Jane’s feast is not celebrated by the Church at Mass, the Visitation nuns will observe her feast with great solemnity. I saw one of the St Louis Visitandine nuns yesterday at the ordination of the two monks and we had a good laugh and a few moments talking about important things, like my coveting the cross of a Visitation nun (look at the picture closely). It is, for me, a strikingly beautiful sign of Christ’s love and human commitment to that love. I really want one!
I pray for the nuns of the Order of Visitation whom I have known over the years and I keep in prayer the Monasteries in Georgetown, St Louis, and Tyrringham.
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, keep us “walking faithfully in our vocation,” pray for us.
News flash! A growing number of Benedictine monasteries are brewing beer in the USA and in Europe.
Originating in Babylonia and Mesopotamia, around the area of Georgia, about the year of 6,000 BC, beer was brewed. Fast forward several years and you’ll find Benedictine monks perfecting the brewing beer. Rich in vitamin B, beer was seen as safer than drinking water and it had nutritional value, hence, liquid bread.
The monastic communities in Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands among others have been busy with the brew.
Recently, monasteries have been starting up companies like Abbey Beverage Company (of the Abbey of Christ in the Desert) to meet a demand boutique beers. One can also point to the monasteries of Ampleforth (UK), La Cascinazza (Italy), Norcia (Italy), and Spencer (MA) as new brewers.
Drink up!
Today, The Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, archbishop of Saint Louis, ordained two Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis to the Order of Deacon. Brothers Francis Hein and Cassian Koeneman received this sacrament of order at the request of Abbot Thomas Frerking. May God them many years of faithful service!
The archbishop ordained these men to the Order of Deacon and next year, Deo volente, he will ordain them to the Order of Priest.
Brother Francis has been at the Dominican House of Studies (Washington, DC) and Brother Cassian has been at Rome’s Angelicum.
What does the Church teach about deacons? The Catechism answers:
Deacons share in Christ’s
mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them
with an imprint (“character”) which cannot be removed and
which configures them to Christ, who made himself the “deacon” or
servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the
bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the
Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing
marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over
funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.
Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin
Church has restored the diaconate “as a proper and permanent rank of the
hierarchy,” while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This
permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an
important enrichment for the Church’s mission. Indeed it is appropriate and
useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal ministry in the Church, whether
in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable
works, should “be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come
down from the apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their
ministry would be made more fruitful through the sacramental grace of the
diaconate.” (CCC 1570-71).