Author: Paul Zalonski
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Gracious God of our ancestors, You led Peter Julian Eymard, like Jacob in times past, on a journey of faith. Under the guidance of Your gentle Spirit, Peter Julian discovered the gift of love in the Eucharist which Your Son Jesus offered for the hungers of humanity. Grant that we may celebrate this mystery worthily, adore it profoundly, and proclaim it prophetically for Your greater glory. Amen.
Saint Peter Julian’s importance to us is identified when he was placed on the Roman liturgical calendar:
Font and fullness of all evangelization and striking expression of the infinite love of our divine Redeemer for mankind, the Holy Eucharist clearly marked the life and pastoral activity of Peter Julian Eymard. He truly deserves to be called an outstanding apostle of the Eucharist. In fact, his mission in the Church consisted in promoting the centrality of the Eucharistic Mystery in the whole life of the Christian community.
Decree of the Insertion of the Celebration of Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest, in the General Roman Calendar, 1995.
John Francis Whealon, 20th anniversary
Today is the 20th anniversary of death of The Most Reverend John Francis Whealon, STL, the sometime Archbishop of Hartford. He served as the archbishop from 1968 till his sudden death in 1991. For me, Archbishop Whealon was a model priest and a somewhat iconic figure in Connecticut.
May the Good Shepherd be merciful and grant him peace.
The New Evangelization: Locating the keys
Carindal Stanisław Ryłko, 66, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, wrote a brief editorial on the contours of the new evangelization. In 2012, there will be another Synod of Bishops’ meeting with the new evangelization as it’s central topic. He’s helping to focus our attention on the exhortation of Jesus to spread the Kingdom of God. A mere two paragraphs follow, but you can read the entire editorial here.
As is known, the idea is not new: the entire pontificate of Blessed John Paul II was characterized by the leit-motiv of the new evangelization. Pope John Paul II did not fail to explain to us what he intended when he placed the adjective “new” in front of the traditional term, “evangelization”: new in ardor, new in methods, new in expressions. For an appropriate and faithful understanding of the contents of the Lineamenta, one needs to have an adequate key for reading the text. The expression, “new evangelization,” in fact, has become so common – even abused – that we run the risk of distorting its sense, or worse, reducing it to an insignificant slogan. The heart of the question of the new evangelization, writes the Cardinal, is the centrality of God in our lives.
Building a tithe barn to last 600 years
The Dominican nuns at Our Lady of Grace Monastery (North Guilford, CT) lost their barn this past winter with the constant snow fall. The old barn collapsed under the weight of lots of snow –it’s poor, old legs couldn’t bear the torment of heavy snow and ice. But the monastery needs a barn.
Since the nuns have no sustained interaction with the outside world due to being papally enclosed, the ever competent grounds keeper and building supervisor, Ryan, decided to build an old fashion tithe barn that’s expected to last 600 years. No nails will be used to keep the building together. And, all the wood was harvested from the monastery property and trimmed to need by Ryan and a local friend who’s graciously sharing his equipment and time.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Image via Wikipedia
Saint Alphonsus, born in 1696, a lawyer by 20. ordained priest in 1726, a founder of a religious congregation of priests and brothers, a bishop, an author and a Doctor of the Church, is remembered today’s at Mass.
Perhaps he’s best known for founding the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – better known as the Redemptorists – in 1732 with official papal approval in 1749. The Redemptorists were did missionary work, taught catechism and gave retreats; they concentrated mostly on the country side for their spiritual labors.
It is true that you can’t force a sacrament on someone and that one’s perfect freedom has to be respected, history tells us that Alphonsus was forced against his own will, to be the bishop of Naples’ small Diocese of St. Agatha in 1762, a ministry he exercised for 13 years. During these years he set about correcting liturgical abuses and other such things, reformed the seminary, sent priests to be missionaries, and helped the poor.
On August 1, 1787, at Pagani, Alphonsus Liguori died at mid-day, as the bells were calling the faithful to pray the Angelus.
In 1839, Alphonsus was canonized and and the Magisterium declared him to be a Doctor of the Church in 1871.
As an author, Alphonsus published more than 100 books, including The Glories of Mary, Preparation for Death, and The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ.
The Redemptorists have a US province.
Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for August 2011
One of the Holy Father’s August prayer intentions
is to step up an intense spiritual closeness with the Holy Spirit’s outpouring of
grace for the World Youth Day due to begin in 3 weeks (August 16-21).
Apparently many records are being broken for participation and programming.
Unite yourself to the Pope’s prayer for the youth….
The general intercession
That
World Youth Day in Madrid may encourage young people throughout the world to
have their lives rooted and built up in Christ.
World Youth Day in Madrid may encourage young people throughout the world to
have their lives rooted and built up in Christ.
The missionary intention
That Western Christians may be open to the action of the Holy Spirit and rediscover
the freshness and enthusiasm of their faith.
the freshness and enthusiasm of their faith.
German Benedictines prepare for Benedict’s visit
In this photo taken July 28, 2011 Sister Placida scales hosts at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gertrud’s host bakery in Alexanderdorf, Germany, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Berlin. Pope Benedict XVI will not visit the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gertrud, but preparations for his trip are nevertheless in full swing, with the nuns baking thousands of communion wafers to be blessed by the pope at Masses during his September tour. (Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Today’s second reading for the 18th Sunday through the Year coheres with Saint Ignatius of Loyola‘s liturgical memorial we would have celebrated had it not been a Sunday. Saint Paul sets our sights on the fact that nothing can be a barrier to Christ’s Love for us. But do we believe this? Do we live on the edge of Love or in Love’s center? Listen again to the famous passage from the Apostle to the Gentiles and think of the spirituality of Loyola:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or
sword? No, in these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved
us. I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:30-39)
Breivik may help Christians clarify identity and belonging to the Church
Archbishop Rino Fisichella spoke of Christianity this
week in an interview regarding the Norway tragedy brought about by Mr. Breivik. In part he said, the gospel
and the culture that has developed from belief and life in Christ is is not a cultural weapon, it is not a fiction, and it is not something arbitrary, as Breivik is said to think, but “a
religion of love, of rejoicing, and of respect.” Fisichella also said a few
other things that are worth noting because I need to make sense of one man’s
expressive pathology. By the way, I don’t believe this Mr Breivik is a Christian
in any sense: neither practicing nor cultural. But what Breivik may have done is to force orthodox Christians to clarify what they believe and how they live. Sinful and criminal actions have a way of helping us to take stock in questions of identity and belonging. Fisichella’s points:
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