Paul Zalonski – Page 477

Saint Didacus (Diego) of Alcalá

He humbled himself in all things and found favor with God. Great is the power of God; he is glorified by the humble.

Almighty, eternal God, in Your marvelous ordering of things You single out the weak of this world to shame the strong. Grant that by imitating the humility of Saint Didacus here on earth we may be raised up to eternal glory with him in heaven.

The liturgical memorial for Saint Didacus seems to have been moved around through the years for one reason or another. The Roman Martyrology indeed lists him on November 12. However, since I am following the Franciscan supplement to the Roman Missal, today his feast is observed on this blog in communion with the Capuchins.

Saint Didacus is the San Diego, for whom the city in California is named.

Meeting Fr Z in NYC

Meeting “blog personalities” is always fun, especially meeting a popular blogging priest. Father John Zuhlsdorf writes the blog, What Does The Really Say? He’s an affable priest with a good sense of humor and a good thinker. He celebrated a Solemn Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form for First Friday at the beautiful Church of the Guardian Angels (NYC). The particular intention for the Mass was for deceased priests.

The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus

In his homily, Father Zuhlsdorf spoke about the priesthood as the result of the outpouring of love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mindful of the human condition and the Incarnation, we have Perfect Love choosing imperfect men to be priests to preach the Gospel and to celebrate the sacraments. And because the priest is a normal human being with the normal failings as other men, we know the imperfect minister needs conversion. Our job is to beg for God’s mercy upon our priests, living and deceased, as an act of love for the priests. Priests are fallible, sinful human beings like everyone else and yet they are called by God to serve Him as priests for the good of His people. It is an awesome thing to consider that our souls are fed by priests, some of whom are worthy ministers of the Lord and some not. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of a priest’s ministry does not depend on the state of his soul (something part of our doctrine since the time of Saint Augustine).

We believe that two sacraments give permanent character to our souls that lasts into eternity: Baptism and Holy Orders. So, when a priest dies his soul is recognized as a priestly soul in heaven by God and whole heavenly court. The priesthood, therefore, does not end on the day when the priest’s body dies.

In this Year for Priests, indeed even outside of this special year, we ought to care for the priests who serve our parishes and other ministries in concrete ways. We ought to pray for the souls of the priests who have died, too. I am particularly thinking of the priests and bishops who gave us new Life in Christ through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist and Penance, and the other sacraments as applicable.

I have an immense sense of gratitude for the faith I received from the priest who baptized me, the bishop who confirmed me, the priests who heard my confessions and gave me the Body of Christ.

Could we offer a prayer once a day during November for the deceased priests we knew? After November, could we offer a prayer for the priests at least once a month in the years to come?

It would be good to read (or re-read) the Pope’s letter to the Church announcing the Year for Priests. There you will find some startlingly beautiful points to reflect upon and live out of. In my opinion, the Pope’s letter has so much to consider that it would take a lifetime to understand.

Being deeply transformed by the Word of God: more on Lectio Divina

Renewed interest in lectio divina has given many people the opportunity to know Christ better. Our attention to this timeless prayer of the heart has been captured in a variety of publications such as by Trappist Father Michael Casey, Trappist Father Charles Dumont, Benedictine Archbishop Mariano Magrassi, Catholic biblical scholars Stephen Binz and Scott Hahn, to name just a few. In the last 2 years the archbishop of Toronto, Thomas Collins, has done the yeoman’s work in getting his flock to dig deeply in the Word.

Vatican 2’s document, Dei Verbum, iterated: “All…should immerse themselves in the scriptures by constant spiritual reading and diligent study … in order to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ’ by frequent reading of the divine scriptures. ‘Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ'” (25).

Last year’s Synod of Bishops on the Word of God spoke to the value of practicing lectio divina and the Pope has named this practice in many of talks on prayer and the spiritual life many occasions in an effort lead us closer to Christ through Revelation.

Follow Archbishop Collins’ Lectio Divina.pdf. It’s brief.

Dare to try!!!!

Jesus alone

Jesus alone is “honey in th mouth, song to the ear, jubliation in heart,” said Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. All knowledge of Jesus, if it is to be considered true, consists in a personal and profound experience of Jesus and of His love for us. The experience of His closeness to us, His friendship with us, and His love for us is that intimate encounter with Him.

Blessed Ignatius Delgado, Francis de Capillas & Alphonsus Navarrete, & companions

Almighty and merciful God, you filled the hearts of the
peoples of the Orient with the knowledge of your only-begotten Son through the
preaching of your holy martyrs, Ignatius, Francis, Alphonsus and their
companions. Through their prayers may you now confirm those same peoples in the
faith.

2 bishops reviewed: Cardinal O’Malley & Archbishop Burke get the once-over in Time Magazine

Not sure there is much of a story here, but Amy Sullivan of Time magazine tries to make some kind of evaluation of style of two churchmen, Cardinal Sean O’Malley (of Boston) and Archbishop Raymond Burke (of the Holy See & formerly of St Louis). Judge for yourself…

Blessed Simon Ballachi

O God, you called Blessed Simon from a concern for worldly things and gave him the gifts of prayer and humility. By following his example may we learn to seek you alone here on earth and obtain the rewards promised to the humble.

Blessed Simon, a Dominican lay brother, comes from a distinguished family who gave themselves to ecclesial and civil service. While relatively uneducated in Letters, he received good training in military discipline. In a real way he was a soldier for Christ. Simon entered the Order of Preachers at the age of 27 and is reported to have lived an exemplary life as a Dominican. His biographers bring to light Brother Simon’s work as a convent gardener, thus bringing natural beauty and good food to the table. The biographer wrote, “He labored with his own hands, and strove to bring each flower and plant to perfection according to its kind.”

Brother Simon is also known to have had enjoyed the beauty of mystical union with the Lord, His Mother, St Dominic, St Peter Martyr and the angels. He also endured the annoyance of Satan. Grace triumphed. In his last days Brother Simon bore the burden of blindness, as did the Prophet Tobias.

The Lord called Brother Simon to himself on November 3, 1319. In 1817 Pope Pius VII named Brother Simon a “Blessed” of the Church.

May we follow the example of Blessed Simon who closely followed the Lord in prayer and work.

Honoring the dead, the companionship of saints–the Catholic way

… while we visit cemeteries, let us remember that there, in
the tombs, only the mortal remains of our loved ones rest, while awaiting the
final resurrection. Their souls — as Scripture says — already “are in
the hand of God” (Wisdom 3:1). Hence, the most appropriate and effective
way to honor them is to pray for them, offering acts of faith, hope and
charity. In union with the Eucharistic sacrifice, we can intercede for their
eternal salvation, and experience the most profound communion while awaiting to
be reunited again, to enjoy forever the love that created us and redeemed us.

… how beautiful and consoling is the communion of saints! It is a
reality that infuses a different dimension to our whole life. We are never
alone! We form part of a spiritual “company” in which profound
solidarity reigns: the good of each one is for the benefit of all and, vice
versa, the common happiness is radiated in each one. It is a mystery that, in a
certain measure, we can already experience in this world, in the family, in
friendship, especially in the spiritual community of the Church. May Mary Most
Holy help us to walk swiftly on the way of sanctity and show herself a Mother
of mercy for the souls of the deceased. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, November 2, 2009)

O loving and sustaining Lord: in honor of Saint Charles Borromeo

1. O loving and sustaining Lord,
A joyful song your people raise
On this, our patron’s festive day
And sing your love in thankful praise.

2. A bishop faithful to your word,
A pastor loving to the sheep,
Charles preached the Gospel truth to all,
And strove th’Apostles’ faith to keep.

3. A lover of the Cath’lic faith,
He worked to build within his see
A knowledge and a love of God
That all in Christ be fully free.

4. His tireless striving for the poor
Was modeled on the Christ, his Lord;
He taught the doubter and the lost
And brought the beggar to his board.

5. All glory, Lord, to you we sing,
And thanks for Charles your bishop bring,
As we the Father now adore
And Holy Spirit, evermore.

The Sacred Heart Tee Shirt at Old Navy

It is unlikely that the designers at Old Navy knew that their design for this tee shirt had theological implications. But it is a good looking design.

May be this is part of the Divine design!

I may just go out get a few shirts! You?