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!
Today, we celebrated a friend’s 25th anniversary of priestly ordination. The Very Reverend Canon Matthew R. Maurielo, priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport, was honored by a host of family and friends. His parents were especially joyous.
The funeral rites of the Catholic Church say it all:
In him the hope of blessed resurrection has dawned, that those saddened by the certainty of dying might be consoled by the promise of immortality to come. Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven. (Preface I For the Dead)
Saturday’s are days to catch up on things: sleep, errands, oil change for the car, watering the garden, especially the vegetables; even having lunch with a friend and dinner with my family. It was a somewhat lazy summer day. In between I made a visit to Our Lady of Grace Monastery (North Guilford, CT) for the rosary, some quiet time with the Lord and to browse the gift shop. And of course, going to Confession. You?
My friend Father Cyril Crawford died unexpectedly a short time ago, on 15 May 2012. He died in his sleep in Leuven (Louvain), Belgium, at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he was working on a doctorate in Philosophy so that he could teach at his monastery’s college.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of death of my dear grandfather, Julius J. Zalonski. I can’t believe the time has moved so quickly. The noon Mass is celebrated for him as the Mass was celebrated for my grandmother last week on her 8th anniversary.
A Christian’s observance of Lent brings with it, I hope, a certain discipline of prayer. At The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena (411 East 68th Street, NYC) the Sundays in Lent Solemn Vespers will be celebrated at 4 pm.
The full body of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Pope on Friday, 27 January, to discuss his conviction that no other work of the Church, particularly this congregation, takes precedence to the work of evangelization. Everyone ought to be committed “to bringing God back into this world and to opening to all men access to the faith.”
Benedict see now as the opportune moment “to point out to all the gift of faith in the Risen Christ, the clear teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the invaluable doctrinal synthesis offered by the Catechism of the Catholic Church.” Recently, the Pope said that “we are facing a profound crisis of faith, a loss of religious meaning which constitutes the greatest challenge to the Church” (Message for World Mission Day).
Other things that concern us, the Pope noted were:
1. the unity among Christians: maintaining “coherence in the ecumenical task with the Second Vatican Council and the whole of Tradition”;
2. warned of the dangers of “a shallow moralism”;
3. to promote “the logic” contained in the conciliar teaching: “the sincere search for the full unity of all Christians is a dynamism animated by the Word of God”;
4. a need for a “discernment between Tradition with a capital letter and the traditions”: “There exists,” he said, “a spiritual wealth in the different Christian confessions, which is an expression of the one faith and gift to share” (reflecting the recent work done for the full communion of Anglicans).
The last concern of Benedict was that the entire Church speak with one voice with Peter.