Paul Zalonski – Page 582

The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for September 2008

What is prayer? It is a complete surrender to God; it is an attitude and way of life that is

known as a complete abandonment to God’s greatness who is beyond all our understanding and need because out of love He creates and redeems us.

The general intention

That those, who because of war and totalitarian regimes have been obliged to leave their homes and country, be supported by Christians in the defense and protection of their rights.

The mission intention

That all Christian families, faithful to the sacrament of matrimony, will cultivate the values of love and community, so that they will be a small evangelizing community, open and sensitive to the material and spiritual needs of their brothers and sisters.

It’s back to class for Pope Benedict and his students

The Pope held his annual Schülerkreis (Circle of Students) according to the Catholic press. It’s refreshing to me to know that the duties of being Supreme Pontiff don’t sidetrack the Pope from doing some important theological thinking.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is meeting with his former students to discuss the historical Christ and the Gospel account of the Passion, reports L’Osservatore Romano.

The Vatican newspaper reported that the meeting is taking place through Monday at Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope is spending the summer.

The meeting is an annual one that the Holy Father has had with 38 former students and doctoral candidates for more than 25 years. The group is called “Ratzinger Schülerkreis” (Ratzinger’s Circle of Students).

The colloquium is treating the figure of Jesus both in light of “Jesus of Nazareth,” published by Benedict XVI in 2007, and in view of the second volume that the Pope is currently writing.

Two Protestant biblical scholars were invited to this year’s colloquium: Martin Hengel and Peter Stuhlmacher. The two presented papers, and then a discussion was held.

Martin Hengel’s paper dealt with the historicity of the figure of Jesus, and Peter Stuhlmacher reflected of the passion and death of Jesus.

The two exegetes — both professors at the University of Tübingen, where Ratzinger taught in the 1960s — offered suggestive themes for discussion, but will not enter into an exploration of the Pontiff’s work.

Hengel, an historian and exegete, is not new to this gathering. In the 1990s he participated in a meeting and spoke on the figure of Peter in the Gospel of Mark.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna, and Auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke of Hamburg, are also participating in the meeting.

Father Stephan Horn, 72, a German priest of the Society of the Divine Savior, heads the “Schülerkreis” and organized the meeting.

Professor of Eastern Liturgy dies: Father Miguel Arranz, S.J.

On July 16, 2008 Jesuit Father Miguel Arranz, the well-known professor of Liturgy who

taught at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, in Moscow and in St Petersburg, died.

Father Arranz was born on July 9, 1930 in Guadalajara, Spain. Between 1941 and 1949, he studied at the Seminary of Toledo and in 1949 he began studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute where he trained under Jesuit Father Juan Mateos. He was ordained a deacon in 1952 and two years later he was ordained a priest. After spending a period of time studying in Belgium, Father Arranz returned to Rome in 1967 and began his study of the Typicon of the Monastery of the Holy Savior (Messina, Italy). In 1969, he defended a work titled “How did the ancient Byzantines pray?” at the Saint Petersburg Orthodox Spiritual Academy. Between 1969 and 1975, he taught Liturgy at the same Academy where in 1975 Patriarch Pimen appointed him a full professor and later he taught in Moscow and in St Petersburg. Father Arranz is the author of many scholarly articles and books on liturgical theology and history.

Serving the Body of Christ–updated

I updated my survey of religious communities who are getting vocations today. The survey, “Serving the Body of Christ” gives a sketch of the vitality of religious life today. If there are communities not listed, and you know of communities of men and women who are faithful to the Church, then please send me an email and I’ll update the list.

A new congregation of Maronite sisters: Radiating Christ to the world

Recently, Bishop Gregory Mansour and Sister Marla Marie took up Pope Benedict’s idea
of spiritual motherhood with an application to the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron. The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light will be working in the parishes of the eparchies by assisting the laity and clergy with programs oriented toward religious education, family life, youth and the elderly. Pretty all-encompassing!

The sisters in the new order will live the communal life of the convent, through contemplative prayer, meals, fellowship, silence and solitude, and exercise and rest, even as they do pastoral work in parishes. Daily prayer will involve communal recitation of the Divine Office, daily Divine Liturgy (Mass), Eucharistic adoration, spiritual reading, and recitation of the Rosary. A prayer life centered on the Eucharist and devoted to Mary will be “our whole-hearted response to God and the source to nourish us to live in community and serve in the apostolate of parish life.”

Bishop Gregory said of the new group:

“The contribution made by consecrated women in the Church is beyond measure. The Maronite Church is no exception. The time has come for the Eparchy of Saint Maron to foster and sponsor a community to assist the priests in the pastoral care of the Eparchy. Sister Marla Marie Lucas has approval to do just that. She and the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light will begin officially (ad experimentum) this June 2008. Please find below an article on this new beginning. Pray for her and please support this effort so that women who feel called to make a complete gift of self in consecrated service to Christ and His Church may find a home in the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light.”

More info is found here and here, and the blog.

From Resentment to Gratitude

Bishop Gregory J. Mansour recently wrote this piece on resentment for the Maronite Voice, the monthly magazine for the two Maronite eparchies in the United States. I think this brief article on resentment is helpful and will open new doors as to how we know ourselves and relate to others. For me it is clear, if we get our “house in order” then living as are made for becomes easier.

Thirty years ago, in his ground-breaking book on spirituality, the late Father Henri
Nouwen described the spiritual life as a series of interior movements in which we go beyond our own self-centered plans in order to reach a deeper communion and authentic love for God and others. The book is appropriately entitled Reaching Out.

A movement “from resentment to gratitude” is described in the book. Father Nouwen says we ought to move from resenting the fact that we were not chosen, not honored, not loved or treated well, to a newfound gratitude for what we have been given, even a gratitude for the valuable lessons we learned from ill treatment. This can only happen when we are honest with ourselves and have the courage to feel once again our hurts and admit that God’s grace brought us through. In this way we maintain balance and can love others with a clean heart and peace of mind.

This “re-sentiment” (which literally means “feeling again”) allows us to bring all our hurts and disappointments to God, Healer and Lover of Mankind, and to turn from a bitter resentment to an inner peace and gratitude.

The destructive power of resentment abounds in society and even in the Church but so,
too, can gratitude. A deep spiritual conversion can take place with God’s grace, even in those who have been harshly treated. We see this in the lives of those who forgave their tormentors in war and imprisonment. Likewise, we see it in the lives of those whose sons, daughters, parents, spouses or friends have been innocently harmed or even killed. There are many examples of awe inspiring forgiveness from those who have been hurt, deprived, or disappointed and yet have found the power to forgive and to live the presence of God in peace and gratitude. It is true also of the like of the saints, from St. Stephen to the martyrs of today.

The seeds of new life and peace are present in every difficulty but we cannot see them without the belief in the power of love and a loving God. We must believe God’s grace can transform resentment into a life-giving gratitude. This is the meaning of the Cross. Resentment kills, but if we have the courage to face our resentments honestly and to reach out in love, then in the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, a sense of gratitude can bring new life, and as Jesus said, ” I came to give life, life in abundance” (John 10:10).

This article was first published in the Maronite Voice in August 2008.

About the Author The Most Reverend Gregory John Mansour is the third eparch of the Eparchy of
Saint Maron, Brooklyn. A native of Flint, Michigan, Mansour was educated at Western Michigan University, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary, the Catholic University of America, and finally at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He is a teacher of Spiritual Theology. Pope John Paul II named Bishop Gregory to the Brooklyn eparchy in 2004.

What Providence disposed: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

The September 1st issue of America Magazine, the Jesuit weekly, there is a good article

to read on America’s first canonized saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton. Sister of Charity Regina Bechtle’s article “An American Daughter: Elizabeth Ann Seton and the birth of the U.S. Church” is a good read for those generally interested in matters pertaining to Catholicism in America. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to know that Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first American born canonized a saint by Pope Paul VI in 1975?

What’s the point of this “stuff” about Seton in late August when her feast day is in January? Well, for one, August 28th marked her 234th birthday and mid-September marks 33 years since Seton was canonized. Too, this year is the 200th anniversary of Pope Pius VII named Baltimore an “archdiocese” along with 4 other Catholic dioceses.

We might also consider the possibility of making a pilgrimage to one of the shrines dedicated to Seton. In a real sense it is less important that we end up at a holy spot just for doing it than it is to take stock of our spiritual lives with God’s grace and with assistance of a particularly singular saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, who made a deliberate choice to follow Christ through His sacrament, the Catholic Church. (BTW, she was a believing Christian but she did not possess the fullness of Truth as we know it in Catholicism.) A pilgrimage, therefore, may open for us an opportunity to acknowledge the exceptional Presence before us like we’ve never understood before now. So, what happens to us on the way to a holy shrine is very important indeed. Hence, we follow Christ!

In case you want to visit the shrines of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton on the east coast there

are two:

1. The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Emmitsburg, Maryland

2. The Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, New York City

Lord God, you blessed Elizabeth Ann Seton with gifts of grace as wife and mother, educator and foundress, so that she might spend her life in service to your people. Through her example and prayers, may we, whose Faith Community is dedicated in her honor, learn to express our love for you in our love for all your children. We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Learning Benedictine monasticism: Chinese Priests train

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) — Chinese Catholic priests are studying at a Benedictine

monastery in Germany in what at least one expert on the Chinese church hopes will lead to Chinese contemplative orders. “They’re sampling our spirituality and community life … and will later be returning to their homes in different Chinese provinces in May,” said Martin Wind, press officer at St. Ottilien monastery near Munich, Germany. “There’s no (current) Christian tradition of monasticism in China, so we wanted to show them what it’s like to live in a monastery. Although it isn’t our aim, we would be glad if they decided to found a monastic community when they go back.” The eight priests have been undergoing “practical training” at St. Ottilien since September 2007, Wind told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview, noting that the visit was “sensitive” and the priests would not be speaking to the media directly. “They haven’t talked openly about the possibility of being allowed to set up monastic structures in China, but they wouldn’t have come if there was no interest in the monastic life there,” said Wind.

The just shall flourish: the witness of Saint John the Baptist

“This great man after a long agony of captivity, ended his life on earth with the shedding of his blood. He who preached the freedom of heavenly peace was thrown into captivity by wicked men. He who was called a burning and shining light by Christ the light, was imprisoned in darkness: he who was granted the privilege of baptizing the Redeemer of the world was given baptism in his own blood” (Saint Bede the Venerable).

We beseech Thee, O Lord, may the holy festival of Saint John the Baptist, Thy Precursor and Martyr, obtain for us help unto salvation.

Pilgrimage to the Filippini Sisters, Newark Abbey & the Friars of the Renewal

This morning, August 28th, began with the Sacrifice of the Mass offered by Father Jeremiah, a monk of Saint Mary’s Abbey, at Villa Walsh, The Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini. The monks of Saint Mary’s Abbey have offered Mass for the sisters for many decades. We had a modest and delightful breakfast with Sister Betty Jean, the Provincial of the Filippini sisters and some other sisters. The sisters’ patience with me was grand because I had so many questions about the Congregation; I had never met a Filippini sister before and I was intrigued by their charism.

The vocation of a Filippini sister, based on what Saint Lucy Filippini and Cardinal Mark Anthony Barbarigo gave to the Church is your fundamental living of the Gospel being a contemplative in action, that is, A Filippini sister has a life of prayer with her life of ministry. Sounds like the Jesuits and other orders founded since the 16^th century; and you can see these sisters are serious about their vocation when you meet them. Saint Lucy and the Cardinal founded schools of Christian Doctrine for girls in Italy, ministered to the poor and the sick, conducted retreats and guided the women preparing for marriage. What more does the Church need?

Later in the morning, Father Jeremiah and I ventured to Newark Abbey and Saint Benedict Prep

to visit with the Benedictine monks, particularly Brothers Maximilian and Patrick. We prayed Mid-day prayer in a beautiful abbey church, toured the school, Saint Mary’s Parish and the abbey. Newark Abbey is the original site of the Benedictine monks of the American-Cassinese Congregation sent by Archabbot Boniface Wimmer in 1857 to Newark. It is from this abbey that Saint Anselm’s Abbey and later college where founded in Manchester, NH, and Saint Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, NJ. Brothers Maximilian and Patrick were very gracious hosts and great fun. We lunched at The Tops Diner (East Newark) and visited Newark’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart. You would not believe the beauty of this cathedral church! Even Pope John Paul II made a visit here and former President William Clinton remarked how surprised he was to see such a magnificent in Newark, New Jersey. A brief video was produced in 2007 by the NJ Star Ledger on the Newark Abbey monks, have a look.

The last treat of the day was the afternoon visit to the Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal based at the Friary of the Blessed Sacrament (Newark, NJ). This is the group founded by Father Benedict Groeschel and seven other Capuchin friars in 1987. The friary was the former the Monastery of Saint Dominic (nuns of the 2nd order of the Order of Preachers). It was indeed a privilege to visit the friary: it was peaceful, prayer-filled and beautiful (much work has been in the 4 years since the coming of the friars). When the nuns moved to other monasteries, their dead were exhumed and reburied in a local cemetery, including the incorrupt body of an extern sister known for holiness, Sister Mary of the Blessed Sacrament who died in 1899. Our host at the friary was Father Richard who graciously illustrated for us the life of the friars: their simple life, their prayer and their clear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What I experienced was genuine and one which I have confidence is made by God for service in the Church.

What a day! Say a prayer for the Filippini sisters, the monks of Newark and the Friars of the Renewal: they need our moral and spiritual solidarity, indeed they need we ought to be in friendship with them. Perhaps more accurately, we need their witness!