Communio – Page 148 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Documenting a new monastic presence in Eastern Europe

In this octave of the Ascension, and just before the great solemn feast of Pentecost, I thought I might share with you a 2005 video of the building of the Monastery of Novy Dvur (Czech Republic). To me, this community of Trappist monks is another great example of faith in action, of seeing the human person in action so that God may be glorified.

“Space of Silence” is a stunning story of faith, vulnerability and humanity; it is so because you can see a concrete expression of grace at work in this local Church.

The documentary shows the slow rebirth of a monastic presence in lands dominated by the Communist ideology; this is the first monastery built in the Eastern lands where the atheistic ideology ruled.

The Novy Dvur is a growing, international Strict Cistercian observance monastery founded with the assistance of the French abbey of Sept Fons. Since 2012, the Trappist community was given the title of “abbey” thus their official name is the Abbey of Our Lady of Nový Dvůr.

More on the Trappists at Novy Dvur Monastery (this website gives a lot more info to consider).

Catholic Social Teaching not superfluous to Christian witness

There has been some discussion about the Pope’s engagement of Catholic Social Teaching (Doctrine) recently in the press and the blogosphere. From what I’ve read I note that there’s a lot of misunderstanding and even distortion in what we hold as Catholic theological reflection on social concerns. I think we have to see Catholic Social Teaching is not optional, nor is it static; Catholic social teaching is a dynamic thing which extends to all people of our time; hence, we need to have a coherence, a consistence to our living the Gospel and Tradition.

Saint John Paul wrote an encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis where he moves us to a renewed understanding of the why, how, when, and to what end of the meaning of the theological virtue of charity to the point of having a heroic level; John Paul in Sollicitudo rei socialis is giving us a new certitude in the coherence.

One of the VERY striking things the Pope says is that the social doctrine of the Church is a “vocation” for all the baptized. AND, he notes that the social doctrine is located as part of the moral life, this part of theology is a direct consequence of one’s adherence to the Divine Presence. But I would add is it part of what we would call fundamental and liturgical theology.

Here are some key paragraphs:

The Church’s social doctrine is not a “third way” between liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism, nor even a possible alternative to other solutions less radically opposed to one another: rather, it constitutes a category of its own. Nor is it an ideology, but rather the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church’s tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behavior. It therefore belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly of moral theology.

The teaching and spreading of her social doctrine are part of the Church’s evangelizing mission. And since it is a doctrine aimed at guiding people’s behavior, it consequently gives rise to a “commitment to justice,” according to each individual’s role, vocation and circumstances.

Francis meets Aram

In these days approaching Pentecost Sunday, we ought to set our eyes on the coming of the Holy Spirit. I find it striking in these days leading up to the great feast of the Pentecost that there have been many meetings between the Bishop of Rome and those bishops of Eastern Christianity. These meetings happen but so many so close together…and today is no different.

In Rome, Pope Francis met with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia. Aram is well-known among the various Christian bodies who work in the World Council of Churches but also in the Middle East Council of Churches. Few of the patriarchs have as personally as Aram have made lasting contributions in the ongoing work of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Remember, the Oriental Churches are those who historically didn’t share the accepted Chalcedonian Christology (Coptic, Armenian, Church of the East, etc.)

In the Vatican press we read that Pope Francis noted how he –and the Church of Rome– considers the Armenian Church and the Catholicos Aram I as “a part of the Christian world that is irrevocably marked by a history of trials and sufferings courageously accepted for the love of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church has had to become a pilgrim people; it has experienced in a singular way what it means to journey towards the Kingdom of God. The history of emigration, persecutions and the martyrdom experienced by so many of the faithful has inflicted deep wounds on the hearts of all Armenians. We must see and venerate these as wounds inflicted on the very body of Christ, and for this very reason a cause for unfailing hope and trust in the provident mercy of the Father”.

“In these days before Pentecost … in faith, let us invoke the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, that he may renew the face of the earth, be a source of healing for our wounded world, and reconcile the hearts of all men and women with God the Creator. May He, the Paraclete, inspire our journey towards unity. May He teach us to strengthen the fraternal bonds which even now unite us in the one baptism and in the one faith.”

Here is Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen’s interview with Aram. Listen…

Augustine’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

(St Augustine of Hippo)

Are you begging the Holy Spirit for a new outpouring of His gifts?

Sacred Heart of Jesus as personal encounter

There are a number of things which distinguish Catholic piety and the is celebrated each year by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of those marks. Let me be quite clear: one’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not one devotion among many. The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the center, the source and summit, of our Catholic faith. It is what distinguishes us from non-believers but most importantly it proclaims from the rooftops what it means to be a person fully alive in God and seeking life with God in heaven.

What does our devotion to the Sacred Heart teach us? This devotion is about the intimacy between Jesus and us as an intimate union of the heart.

What hear revealed in sacred Scripture is that the work of the Lord is effect a change in our heart opening in us the capacity to love Him as He loves, by loving world with the Eucharistic heart of Jesus.

In 2014, the Church honor the Lord’s Love for Humanity 19 days after Pentecost Sunday on June 27.

As you know, each month of the calendar year is dedicated to some aspect of the Paschal Mystery: June is dedicated to the Heart of Jesus. Over the two millennia of the Church’s existence some aspect of the Sacred Heart’s devotion is made known, often through private revelations: we can thing of Saint Gertrude, Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque, Saint John Vianney, Saint Faustina, Blessed Francisco de los Hoyos, among others. One ought not forget that Father Karl Rahner and the Servant of God Father Pedro Arrupe had keen devotions to the Heart of Jesus. All these people call out for us to reconcile out life with that of the Lord’s promises.

Probably the most known devotee to the Heart of Jesus is Saint Margaret Mary –with her spiritual father the Jesuit Saint Claude la Colombiere– in Paray-le-Monial, France, 1673.

Prayer to Jesus the Christ has a particular character because He is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity: the Good Shepherd, brother, friend, the God-man totally in love with each one of us, our Lord and Savior, our King, etc. So, Jesus is not as good as Buddha. The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is about the person of Jesus Himself.

Our meeting the Sacred Heart of Jesus in prayer is an encounter with the divine-man who heals, teaches, and conquers evil in his essential being as the person who, first and foremost, loves. Jesus does all these things because of His love. In art we see this portrayed in the image of the heart pierced with Love pouring out all kinds of grace from His Heart we call Sacred.

The object of devotion of the Sacred Heart is the real, physical heart of Jesus, which is sacramentally present, really and truly, in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is Christ’s body and blood given for us on the cross, the body that contained His Sacred Heart.

The Heart of Jesus is about the Lord’s Presence, and not a project, a particular work, no matter how good it is. This is something the head of Communion and Liberation, Father Julián Carrón has been teaching us with great force. The Presence of Jesus is in our total life– our joys and sufferings, our work and leisure, our heart and mind, with our friends, family and enemies: absolutely nothing is left out.

How can we remind ourselves of this Presence? A few good options: daily prayer (uniquely in the Litany of the Sacred Heart), a weekly hour hour in front of the Eucharistic Lord (in the Sacrament); making the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home, observing the Nine Consecutive First Friday Masses, making a personal Consecration to the Sacred Heart, and reception of Holy Communion in with the intention of making reparation for those who do not love Him, especially priests. But you can adopt very simply the Little Flower’s approach: do all things with love.

In these blog pages I speak of the sacrament of the Church as the Lord’s way of being present to the world today. This idea follows, among many reasons, from the thought of Saint Leo the Great who reminded us that what was seen in the Savior is now seen His Church. The sacramentality offered to us in the 7 sacraments is about a certainty in the Lord’s desire for intimacy with us. But his intimacy requires us to cooperate with the sacramental graces to remain united to His Sacred Heart. My dear friend French Jesuit Father Bertrand de Margerie (+2003) always emphasized that the intimacy we ought to have with the Lord is brought about through one’s frequent confession and reverent reception of Holy Communion which he bases his teaching on Pauline theology.

In the end, one’s devotion is about answering who Jesus is. Other questions: do you expect to meet Christ? Do you believe that Jesus is the Sole Mediator? Do you personally embody of the virtue (holiness) of the Sacred Heart? Do you attend to the words of consecration prayed by the priest at Mass? Do you really, substantially believe that Jesus saves souls with his love, having mercy on each and every sinner? Do you believe that we are meant to be with God the Father in heaven?

Pledge to the Sacred Heart, assisting the break with addiction to alcohol

If you are one who experiences difficulty with alcohol, the month of June might be the perfect month in which to make the Pledge to the Sacred Heart, and Join the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, after the example of Venerable Servant of God Matt Talbot.

The Venerable Matt Talbot (1856 – 1925) was in his early teens until age 28 had been a life devoted to liquor. Because of a priest, when Matt went to confession, he “took the Pledge” against drinking for three months. Tempted to drink many times, but with God’s grace and the support of others, he renewed the pledge for life, never touching alcohol again. He was sober for 41 more years.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Certainty about God in our life

Today’s quote from Pope Francis: “I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else – God is in this person’s life. You can – you must – try to seek God in every human life.”

Pope Francis prayer intentions for June 2014

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, the Church celebrates the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the event of Mary visiting her council Elizabeth after the news from the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she was to become the mother of Our Lord. Mary went from Galilee to Judea to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, the soon-to-be the mother of John the Baptist. The biblical narrative is found in Saint Luke 1:39-56.

Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary’s song of praise liturgically called the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

For us, John the Baptist is the final prophet of the Old Covenant and Jesus the first and the beginning of the eternal New Covenant.

Nicea III for 2025 pope and patriarch announce

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew made the VERY bold proposal that in 2025 the Churches ought to meet in an ecumenical synod (meeting). This is not Vatican III, depending on the scope of the Church’s heads, it is likely to be bigger than that. This event, this gathering, could be a considerable groundbreaking event for the universal CHURCH, east and west.

The 1964 meeting with Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem –which was just feted for being 50 years old– now has an identifiable fruit: a fuller understanding of announcing Jesus Christ as a fact and that His embrace is for all people.

A worldwide meeting of this type will not simply be a commemoration of the Council of Nicea (AD 325) nor merely an administrative session to figure out how to promulgate decrees. It is a step, in my opinion, toward uniting Christians from East and West, small yet deliberative gestures are a good thing. Hence, it is premature to say that this is a meeting leading to definitive eucharistic unity.

AsiaNews is reporting that His All Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, wants an ecumenical “gathering” to be held in Nicea (now Iznik, 130 km south- east of Istanbul) in 2025.

Speaking exclusively with AsiaNews, Bartholomew says that together with Pope Francis “we agreed to leave as a legacy to ourselves and our successors a gathering in Nicaea in 2025, to celebrate together, after 17 centuries, the first truly ecumenical synod, where the Creed was first promulgated.”

The exact nature of the meeting is unknown at present. In fact, there has been no formal announcement of, or a decree convoking of an official gathering of bishops by the Vatican. Hence, It is very early to jump to conclusions that such an Ecumenical Council involving bishops from both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches would take place.The Orthodox Patriarch did say last week that “a meeting of the Catholic-Orthodox Joint Commission will be held hosted by the Greek Orthodox patriarch Theophilos III. It is a long journey in which we all must be committed without hypocrisy.”

What does the proposed 2025 meeting in Nicea mean right now? It shows a clear commitment of the heads of two churches to the process of concrete dialogue. Theological and fraternal conversation is an act of competent theologians taking the needed time to allow certain pieces of data to mature. The work of dialogue doesn’t often lead to immediate action like sharing the altar, but it does lessen tensions wiping away misunderstanding. Dialogue does not mean a compromise in dogma and doctrine as there has to be internal coherence of belief.

Looking down the road a bit, I doubt that Francis and Bartholomew will be the heads of their respective Churches. They’ll likely age-out.