Today is Day 7 of the London Olympics and with 37 medals for Team USA at this writing, reminded me of a Franciscan Sister of the Renewal Sister Catherine Holum who was an Olympian in 1998. The National Catholic Register ran a story on Sister Catherine in a recent issue. You can read about Sister’s journey here. The journey of Sister Catherine is poignant.
Author: Paul Zalonski
The risks the fire
A fantasy [that people have] property takes no account of the fact that, for the great majority of mankind, life is a struggle. On those grounds I would see this idea of choosing one’s own path in life as a selfish attitude and as a waste of one’s vocation. Anyone who thinks he already has it all, so that he can take what he wants and center everything on himself is depriving himself of giving what he otherwise could.
Man is not there to make himself, but to respond to demands made upon him. We all stand in a great arena of history and are dependent upon each other. A man ought not, therefore, just try to figure out what he would like, but to ask what he can do, and how he can help. Then he will see that fulfillment does not lie in comfort, ease and following one’s inclinations, but precisely in allowing demands to be made upon one, in taking the harder path. Everything else turns out somehow boring, anyway. Only the man who “risks the fire”, who recognizes a calling within himself, a vocation, and ideal he must satisfy, who takes on real responsibility, will find fulfillment. It is not in taking, not on the path of comfort that we become rich, but only in giving.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
God and the World, p. 258
What is the Church for?
We inundate Him with problems, with demands for information, for clues, for an easier path, forgetting that in his Word he has given us the solution to every problem and all the details we are capable of grasping in this life.
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Saint Mary of the Angels & The Portiuncula Indulgence
The spiritual tradition of the Franciscans is connecting the with the good work of the sainted founder, Saint Francis, who as you know, fixed three chapels: the third was called the Portiuncula (the Little Portion), dedicated to Saint Mary of the Angels. As you can see, the chapel sits in a large basilica in Assisi. The friars have been at the Portiuncula since early thirteen century. Saint Clare made her vows following Palm Sunday in 1212 and where Francis died on 3 October 1226.
For centuries the Church, at the request of Francis, has attached a spiritual favor in the form of indulgence, a grant remission of sins to all who came there. It used to be given only at the Portiuncula but now the privilege extends beyond the Portiuncula especially those administered by Franciscans, throughout the world, to others churches as well.
The Church teaches that a plenary indulgence is a powerful tool for works of mercy and weapon in the living of the Christian life, that is, in our spiritual warfare. A plenary indulgence is the remission of the effects of sin, through the merits of Jesus Christ and the saints, through the Church, of all temporal punishment due to sin already forgiven through the reception of the sacrament of Confession.
To obtain the Portiuncula plenary indulgence, a person must visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels at Assisi, or a Franciscan church or chapel, or even one’s parish church, with the intention of honoring Our Lady of the Angels. The recites the Creed and prays the Our Father for the Pope’s designated intentions (see the monthly papal prayer intentions). Key is going to Confession (“free of attachment to venial and mortal sin). One can make a confession and receive Holy Communion 8 days before or after.
Sister Stella and Companions or Blessed Martyrs of Nowogródek
This picture of the Blessed Martyrs of Nowogródek has been imprinted in my mind and heart since I was in grammar school with the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. It recalls the murder of the nuns on this date in 1943. How could one be not moved by the death of these women?
The martyrdom of Sister Stella and her 10 companions by the Nazi occupation is one the events in history that keeps me attune to the possibilities of men and women doing evil things to others.
Today, let’s pray for the grace to resist doing evil by keeping heart and mind focussed on Christ and his Gospel. Blessed Stella and companions, pray for us.
NDHS legend Brother Benjamin celebrates a birthday
Notre Dame High School (West Haven, CT) legend and friend to all Brother Benjamin Sunday, C.S.C., recently celebrated his birthday!
In true Brother Benjamin style, he wouldn’t tell us what day nor how old he is, but we wanted to wish him a happy birthday publically nonetheless! But he can’t be more than 55.
To view a photo album of Brother Benjamin pictures through the years, please visit the ND photo album page .
Happy Birthday and abundant blessings, Brother Benjamin!
Pope Benedict’s prayer intentions for August 2012
How often do we take seriously the Lord’s teaching that we ought to pray (and care for) our enemies? Likely, not often. We allowed our emotions and prejudices and our hurt to get in the way of loving those who oppose even in a small way. It’s been said, “Our simple and profound life, in which every moment of
the day is offered to God, helps them find purpose in their often difficult
life behind bars.” Pope Benedict’s intentions for August draw us closer to what the Lord wants. Let’s join him and the Church in prayer for the human dignity of those in jail.
The general intention
That prisoners may be treated with
justice and respect for their human dignity.
justice and respect for their human dignity.
The missionary intention
That young
people, called to follow Christ, may be willing to proclaim and bear witness to
the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
people, called to follow Christ, may be willing to proclaim and bear witness to
the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Pope: configuration to Christ is the precondition and basis for renewal
“Dear friends, it is clear that configuration to Christ is the precondition and the basis for all renewal. But perhaps at times the figure of Jesus Christ seems too lofty and too great for us to dare to measure ourselves by him. The Lord knows this. So he has provided ‘translations’ on a scale that is more accessible and closer to us. For this same reason, Saint Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. For his disciples, he was a ‘translation’ of Christ’s manner of life that they could see and identify with. Ever since Paul’s time, history has furnished a constant flow of other such ‘translations’ of Jesus’ way into historical figures.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
Father Pedro Arrupe , SJ (1907-91)
28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus
image: Bryan Bustard
The matter is settled….
