One never knows when you might get a small, unexpected visitor….
Pope and his small unexpected visitor
Author: Paul Zalonski
Four Chaplains Day
Besides being Saint Blase Day, today is also known as “Four
Chaplains Day.” The US Congress designated today to honor the 4 US Army chaplains who
were serving on the USAT Dorchester during World War II.
Father John P. Washington
(Roman Catholic priest), Rev. Clark V. Poling (Dutch reformed), Rev. George L. Fox
(Methodist), and Rabbi Alexander D. Goode sacrificed their lives as their ship
went down. 672 of 902 men died.
All of the chaplains held the rank of lieutenant.
The Episcopal Church has designated February 3 a liturgical memorial for these chaplains.
Nancy Davis killed by drug smugglers for her truck
Last week Nancy Davis, 59, drug smugglers wanted her pickup truck and killed her for it in Mexico. What Nancy and her husband, Sam, did was to build churches and orphanages but they found themselves trying to out-run drug runners with assault rifles. Nancy and Sam Davis have been missionaries in Mexico for the last 38 years.
Sam said he trusts that Nancy is with God and that he’s confident that she never suffered after being shot in the head. Ms Davis’ funeral was held in McAllen, Texas. May Nancy rest in peace!
Reception of Holy Communion –a pastor’s lead
This bulletin letter is making the rounds on the blogs. I thought it touched on an important point or two regarding one’s reception of Holy Communion. Do you reflect upon on how you prepare to receive the Eucharistic Lord at Mass and how receive Him –Communion received on the tongue or in the hand, and why? What do you think of this letter?
Prayer, Doctrine, Life and Evangelization: are we coherent?
In weekly classes on the Catholic I’ve been stressing a few (of many) points:
- lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi (prayer, doctrine, life): all have to cohere
- the Incarnation is a fact: in faith we encounter this fact, this Person, experience the exceptionality and the wonder
- the contemporaneousness of Jesus Christ
- the witness of the Catholic faith is true and it is true for all people
In November the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Peter Cardinal Turkson, 63, gave an interview to Zenit on his new work as the head of a Roman office after being a pastor of a diocese in Ghana. Cardinal Turkson is a trained biblical scholar.
My point of bringing this matter up is that those of us who make the claim to be faithful Catholics need to live the faith as though Jesus Christ truly mattered and that what we profess at Mass and in prayer is lived according to correct doctrine while sharing the Good News of Salvation coherently. Cardinal Turkson is not the first to say that we don’t always understand social justice, but we need to put a greater effort in doing so. How do we imitate the love of God for other?
Saint Blase and the Blessing of Throats
Lord, hear the prayers of Your martyr Blase. Give us the joy of Your peace in this life and help us to gain the happiness that will never end.
The Church has few exact details of the life of Saint Blase (also Blaise, Biago, Sveti Vlaho) but we have the experience of his popularity through the centuries in the churches of the East and West. What we know is that Blase was a physician, the Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia and martyr. The Roman Martyrology tells us that he was beheaded in 316.
More info on Saint Blase is found here and here.
The Blessing of Candles on the feast of St Blase can be found here.
The Blessing of Bread, Wine, Water and Fruit for the feast.
From the Golden Legend again:
And when this good widow, which by S. Blase had recovered her swine, heard thereof, she slew it, and the head and the feet with a little bread and a candle, she brought to S. Blase, and he thanked God and ate thereof, and he said to her that every year she should offer in his church a candle, and know thou that to thee and to all them that so shall do shall well happen to them, and so she did all her life, and she had much great prosperity.
Even after imprisonment, he refused to worship the prince’s gods, and for punishment his flesh torn by wool combs. He was finally beheaded, martyred along with seven women and two children.
Today, due to the cure of the boy’s throat when the boy was choking, Saint Blase is patron against diseases or any other trouble of the throat.
The priest will bless two candles in honor of Saint Blase.
Consecrated Life is a living exegesis of the Word of God, Pope tells religious
In today’s feast we contemplate the Lord Jesus whom
Mary and Joseph take to the Temple “to present him to the Lord” (Luke
2:22). Revealed in this evangelical scene is the mystery of the Son of the
Virgin, the consecrated One of the Father, who came into the world to carry out
his will faithfully (cf. Hebrews 10:5-7).
Simeon points to him as “light
for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32), and proclaims with prophetic
word his supreme offer to God and his final victory (cf. Luke 2:32-35). It is
the meeting of the two Testaments, the Old and the New. Jesus enters the
ancient Temple, He who is the new Temple of God: He comes to visit his people,
bringing to fulfillment obedience to the Law and inaugurating the end times of
salvation.
Continue reading Consecrated Life is a living exegesis of the Word of God, Pope tells religious
Don’t rush the praying of the Liturgy
How does one form a deacon, priest and bishop to celebrate the ars celebrandi of the sacred Liturgy? Being side-by-side these sacred ministers I am often scandalized by the lack of composure and gravitas in the praying of the Mass and other liturgical rites. Several priests and bishops I know are such poor celebrants of the Mass that I would argue that Mass celebrated so poorly does in fact lead others away from the Church’s worship. And let’s not even speak of the many deacons who have no clue and poor presence in the sanctuary! Two cardinals I’ve seen celebrate the Mass in their cathedrals have the habit of running down the isle and up the stairs into the sanctuary with evident exterior indication of what is about to happen. Another needs a seat belt in the cathedra. Is it too much to ask for beautiful gesture, beautiful music, beautiful words, beautiful art and architecture in the sacred Liturgy? Beauty and prayer also warms interpersonal relations!
Father John Zuhlsdorf (Fr. Z) over at the blog What the does the Prayer Really Say? has it right: save the Liturgy, save the world.
I think Archbishop Joseph Raya will have the last word on this topic today: “It
is absurd to hurry: this shows a lack of understanding and respect and may be
an occasion of scandal” (Byzantine Daily Worship, Alleluia Press: 1969).
is absurd to hurry: this shows a lack of understanding and respect and may be
an occasion of scandal” (Byzantine Daily Worship, Alleluia Press: 1969).
Christ’s born, be glad for you have encountered the Messiah!
40 days ago we celebrated the fact of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word of God, Emmanuel, whom we call Jesus. Today’s liturgical observance of Candelmas –the Encounter with the Lord– recalls our great joy and we’re told what our joy is about by Saint Leo the Great:
“Our Savior was born today: let us be glad. For there
is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which
destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.”
is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which
destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.”
The on-going work of remembering of the Jewish holocaust
H2O News aired an interview with an acquaintance of mine, Jesuit Father David Neuhaus, who gave his family’s recollection of the Nazi atrocities in WWII. Himself a convert to Catholicism his thoughts are poignant. Each year at January’s end there is a Day of Remembrance. Father David is the vicar of Hebrew Christians for the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. I recommend watching the interview.