Prayer to end hunger on December 10

Pope Francis has called for people around the world to pray together at noon their local time on Dec. 10 for an end to hunger.
Can we throughout the USA to join the Holy Father’s call to respond to the needs of the poor and vulnerable by praying and working to end hunger?
The global wave of prayer will begin at noon on the Island of Samoa and will progress around the world in each time zone until it reaches the island again some 24 hours and more than 164 countries later.
The prayer vigil marks the beginning of a yearlong, anti-hunger campaign called “One Human Family, Food For All,” which is being organized by Caritas, the international Catholic relief organization, and Catholic Relief Services. This is a concrete way to see our faith in Jesus Christ in action.
More information and resources can be found at www.crs.org.
Let us be in communio, that is, be united in voice, heart and mind, with the Catholic community around the globe to end the scandal of world hunger. Pope Francis’ call to prayer has also resonated with other religious leaders, and people from many faith traditions are expected to participate.
Please consider praying the following prayer at noon on Dec. 10.
O God, you entrusted to us the fruits of all Creation so that we might care for the Earth and be nourished with its bounty.
You sent us your Son to share our very flesh and blood and to teach us your Law of Love.
Through His death and resurrection, we have been formed into one human family.
Jesus showed great concern for those who had no food—even transforming five loaves and two fish into a banquet that served five thousand and many more.
We come before you, O God, conscious of our faults and failures, but full of hope, to share food with all members in this global family.
Through your wisdom, inspire leaders of government and of business, as well as all the world’s citizens, to find just and charitable solutions to end hunger by assuring that all people enjoy the right to food.
Thus we pray, O God, that when we present ourselves for Divine Judgment, we can proclaim ourselves as “One Human Family” with “Food for All.”
We ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Immaculate Conception with the Fathers“Let us celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary: let us adore her Son, Christ the Lord.” (Matins response)

Historically, our belief in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception has its roots in the fifth century Church in Syria. Looking at the lex orandi tradition and the teaching of the Fathers, this doctrine had currency in the East and the West. Studies in historical theology that the Church in the East was more attune to this teaching about Mary in the Patristic times than the Church in the West. We know from what some Fathers said, like Saint Ephrem (306-373) to the Mother of God:  “Full of grace . . . all pure, all immaculate, wholly without sin, wholly without stain, wholly without reproach . . . virgin in soul, in body, in spirit.” Saint Andrew of Crete (650-740) even uses the expression  “holy conception” in reference to Our Lady; and Saint John Damascene (676-749) exclaimed:  “O admirable womb of Anne, in which developed and formed little by little an infant all-holy.” Among the Eastern Churches there is the liturgical celebration of Saint Anne conception of Mary, a feast that existed in the East as early as the eighth century. There are many Eastern churchmen who protest the connections made between the East and West but the announcement of salvation comes through the announcement to Saint Anne that she was going to bear a daughter destined for something incredible that would change world history; the very idea that the conception of Mary was in some way, a mystery, a holy event and person that could not not be intended for be for our salvation.

Hence, the theologians and Pope Pius IX could conclude their investigations in the 19th century by saying, “The illustrious monuments of tradition, of both the Eastern and Western Church, most convincingly testify that this doctrine of the immaculate conception of the most Blessed Virgin . . . always existed in the Church, as received from those who lived before and as marked with the character of a revealed doctrine” (Rome, Analecta juris pontificii, I, 1215).

later generations have tended to confuse the doctrine with the virginal conception of Christ and even gone so far as to assume that Catholics believe Mary had no need of redemption. The papal declaration of Blessed Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, makes eminently clear, Mary, like each one of us, was redeemed by Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race. In the case of Mary, she had a exceptional in being without original sin and giving birth to the Savior.

Through the centuries theologians like Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) and Blessed John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) expressed various opinions about the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. Aquinas, for example, had some reservations about how to conceive of the teaching properly.

Blessed John Duns Scotus writes well of the Blessed Mothers as when he says that “Mary most assuredly needed Christ as a Redeemer, for she would have incurred original sin in the usual way from her parents, if she had not been preserved by the grace of the Mediator. Just as others needed Christ that sin already incurred might be forgiven by his merit, so she needed the preventive action of the Mediator all the more, that there might not be any sin to be incurred, and that she might not incur any.”

The Franciscan School (among whom we would count Saint Bonaventure, Scotus, Alexander of Hales,  William of Ware) prevailed with Pope Pius IX, at the behest of a majority of the bishops, formed a coetus (1851 to 1853) which then formed the solemn definition.

In 1854, the papal declaration,

“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

The Latin: Declaramus, pronuntiamus et definimus doctrinam quae tenet beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti suae conceptionis fuisse singulari Omnipotentis Dei gratia et privilegio, intuitu meritorum Christi Jesu Salvatoris humani generis, ab omni originalis culpae labe praeservatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, atque idcirco ab omnibus fidelibus firmiter constanterque credendam. (Cf. Denz., n. 1641)

The pope also wrote,  “He [God] attended her with such great love, more than all other creatures, that in her alone He took singular pleasure. Wherefore He so wonderfully filled her, more than all angelic spirits and all the Saints, with an abundance of all heavenly gifts taken from the treasury of the divinity, that she, always free from absolutely every stain of sin, and completely beautiful and perfect, presented such a fullness of innocence and holiness that none greater under God can be thought of, and no one but God can comprehend it.”

For more info, see the entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia or a briefer review of the teaching by Fr William Most. But nothing will substitute your reading of the 1854 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus.

The nineteenth century Jesuit priest and poet Gerard Manley Hopkins who was devoted to the theological teachings of Scotus, in his poetry likened Our Lady to the air we breathe. Catholics would recall that many (perhaps all) of the founders of religious orders had profound love for the Holy Theotokos. In Saint Benedict it presumed that a monk or nun would be devoted to Mary. As Catholics we are privileged to be in the communio of heaven where the witness of the Blessed Mother and the saints (a world of sign and symbol), not only because of the proximity to the Mystery, but they point the way to God.
Consider what Hopkins has to say:

Mary Immaculate,
Merely a woman, yet
Whose presence, power is
Great as no goddess’s
Was deemèd, dreamèd; who
This one work has to do—
Let all God’s glory through,
God’s glory which would go
Through her and from her flow
Off, and no way but so.

The Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore (May 10, 1846,) decreed that Mary Immaculate should be venerated as Patroness of the United States of America, and by February, 1847, it was approved by the Holy See. About seven years before the official declaration showing that the Church did, in fact, hold to Mary being immaculately conceived. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for the USA, and for us.

Edward T. Oakes –the tributes

Edward OakesSince our Fr Edward T. Oakes, SJ, died yesterday morning at the Jesuit residence, St Louis, MO, several people have paid tribute.

Pray to Our Lady of the Way and to the Jesuits and beati for Edward T. Oakes’ peaceful repose.

Here is a sampling:

John Farrell, “Eloquent Critic Of Creationism Passes Away” (Forbes)

R.R. Reno, “Goodbye, Friend” (First Things)

Thomas G. Guarino, “Edward T. Oakes, S.J.: An Appreciation” (First Things)

Carl E. Olsen, “Fr. Edward T. Oakes, S.J., Requiescat in Pace” (The Catholic World Report blog)

Kevin J. Jones, “Jesuit theologian remembered for scholarship, joyfulness” (Catholic News Agency)

my own, “Edward T. Oakes, SJ -RIP” (Communio)

Some of the articles are mere puff pieces publishing because that’s what the establishment does; others say something important. You make a judgement.

Saint Ambrose

Ambrose GiuLungaraSaint Ambrose is venerated in the Churches of the East and the West. He is a pivotal figure in Church history of sincerity but also because of his clear defense and teaching of the faith, his good administration of the Church and his witness so that others could become saints.

What comes to mind is my own desire to pray for the great Church in Milan, and this feast helps me to remember the missionary work of so many from Milan to other parts of the world. All us are on mission.

One of Ambrose’s gifts was “repacking” church teaching into verse, giving it a melody, and encouraging the people to sing their faith. Singing reinforces what you read and learn. A good example follows (though without music):

Redeemer of the nations, come;
reveal yourself in virgin birth,
the birth which ages all adore,
a wondrous birth, befitting God.

From human will you do not spring,
but from the Spirit of our God;
O Word of God, come; take our flesh
and grow as child in Mary’s womb.

You came forth from the eternal God,
and you returned to that same source.
You suffered death and harrowed hell,
and reigned once more from God’s high throne.

With God the Father you are one,
and one with us in human flesh.
Oh, fill our weak and dying frame
with godly strength which never fails.

You cradle shines with glory’s light;
its splendor pierces all our gloom.
Our faith reflects those radiant beams;
no night shall overcome it now.

All praise, O unbegotten God,
all praise to you, eternal Word,
all praise life-giving Spirit, praise,
all glory to our God Triune.

Edward T. Oakes, SJ –RIP

Edward T. Oakes FT picToday, one of the Church’s faithful sons died: Father Edward Talbot Oakes, S.J.  He was a true and dear friend to me for many years. Edward turned 65 in May and was diagnosed very shortly thereafter with stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer; he, like his late brother, were a-symptomatic creating a crisis of health without knowing it until it was late.

One of his many God-given gifts Ed shared with us was his vocation to be a public intellectual, a calling he fully embraced. Just a few weeks ago the Catholic journal on faith and culture, Logos (16.4), published his “Lab Life: Vitalism, Promethean Science, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” But in the past year Ed also published these articles: “Pope Benedict XVI on Christ’s Descent into Hell,” Nova et Vetera (Volume 11, Number 1, Winter 2013) and “Reason Enraptured,” First Things,  (Number 232, April 2013).

Ed’s last significant work was on nature and grace that he finished in late summer and that I had the privilege of reading and acting as one his editors. It is titled, The Candle Within A Theology of Grace as Seen Through Six Controversies (expected from CUA Press).

While the world mourns Nelson Mandela, more locally –in various parts of the USA– many are mourning the loss of the person of Edward Talbot Oakes, a man who changed lives by revealing the face of Jesus Christ.

David Mills of First Things contributed this tribute to Ed.

Thank you, Ed, remember me (us) to the Lord of Life.

The following is the obituary published by the Socius of the Missouri Province of Jesuits. Much more can and will be said and appreciated.

… Father Edward T. Oakes, S.J. died this morning at the Fusz Pavilion in St. Louis, Missouri. He was 65 years old and a Jesuit for 47 years. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 18, 1948, Ed entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, on September 1, 1966. He completed a B.A. and an M.A. in Philosophy at Saint Louis University. After teaching English and Theater at St. Louis University High School from 1973 to 1976, Ed earned an M.Div. at Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He was ordained to the priesthood at St. Francis Xavier (College) Church in St. Louis on June 15, 1979.

From 1980 to 1987, Ed studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he earned a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology. Ed loved studies and pursued them with great eagerness. In 1987 he accepted a visiting professor position at New York University where he taught Theology and the History of Christianity until 1994.

After tertianship at Peter-Faver Kolleg in Berlin, Ed joined the Religious Studies faculty at Regis University in Denver, where he taught for six years. Ed’s enthusiasm for the intellectual life and his joyful personality were appreciated by members of the Jesuit community and his colleagues in the Religious Studies department.

Ed was a prolific writer. His works include Pattern of Redemption: The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (New York: Continuum, 1994) and Infinity Dwindled to Infancy: A Catholic and Evangelical Christology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011). The latter work, which provides a survey of doctrinal and historical issues in Christology, won the 2012 Book Prize from the Center for Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue. Ed contributed essays to numerous collections in Theology and regularly published articles in both refereed journals and Catholic periodicals.

In 2002, Ed became a professor of Theology at University of St. Mary of the Lake – Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. His colleagues on the faculty and the seminarians very much appreciated his presence there.

In May 2013, Ed was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At the time he wrote to his fellow Jesuits, spoke of his strong hope in God and quoted St. Paul: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” For several months, Ed received chemotherapy to slow the growth of the cancer. He finished a writing project and returned to teaching for the fall semester. When his health began to worsen, Ed moved to St. Louis and joined the Pavilion community. He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth D. Oakes, and his sister-in-law, Joanne Oakes. May this joyful and dedicated man rest in peace.

Saint Saba

St SabaPrayer and simple living characterize the saint Mother Church offers to us today. Saint Saba (439-532) is known for simple things, died at 93 of natural causes, dedicated himself to God; it is said that his vocation was to the anchorite way of life; he’s not a well-educated man. The Byzantine Church calls Saba “the Sanctified.” In monastic circles Saba is honored as being one of the great Patriarchs of Eastern monasticism. Said before on these pages, saints beget saints, Saba was a spiritual son of Saint Euthymius the Great and a collaborator with Saint Theodosius.

Saint Saba was the founder of a now famous lavra named after him in the Kidron Valley, close to Jerusalem, and  Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). Saba’s lavra is the second oldest continually functioning monastery in the world, after that of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. Under Saba’s direction  several famous saints are counted, men like Saint John of Damascus.

He is an intercessor for rain, healings, and against temptations from the devil.

A previous post on Abbot Saint Saba is here.

Making a General Examination of Conscience

From time-to-time I need to be reminded what it means to enter into a holy and general examination of conscience. Over time if I don’t review the method of examination proposed in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, I forget. These days I have to admit I am a crusade to make the idea and practice of personal conversion a priority. From what I am sensing in the Church and in secular society we all need a lot less sin in our life, and a lot more happy, healthy and fruitful appreciation of where God’s grace is operative.

Where should you always start, in examining yourself? Loyola makes this proposal:

There are five points in this method

1. The first point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the favors received.

2. The second point is to ask for grace to know my sins and to rid myself of them.

3. The third point is to demand an account of my soul from the time of rising up to the present examination. I should go over one hour after another, one period after another. The thoughts should be examined first, then the words, and finally, the deeds in the same order as was explained under the Particular Examination of Conscience.

4. The fourth point will be to ask pardon of God our Lord for my faults.

5. The fifth point will be to resolve to amend with the grace of God.

Close with an Our Father.

The mystical tradition of the Catholic Church keeps before us the ideal of living in a state of grace because in doing so we walk the path of being in communio (here I will say this means friendship) with God. But other implications of living in a state of grace is that our relationships with others get better, and deeper knowledge of ourselves in action keeps us grounded and less self-righteous.

If you want to know one of the key points of discernment for Pope Francis lived –this is it, an examination of conscience. Plus, the new evangelization that is so much part of our church-existence today revolves around our willingness to examine our mind, heart and actions with a firm desire to amend life. Discernment is key to all things Catholic. An alive, a mature Christian faith is known only to the extent that we give ourselves over to Grace. A certain path to conversion is this method of Loyola.

International Commission on Benedictine Education (ICBE) gets new president

Benet 2013The International Commission on Benedictine Education (ICBE), a group of educators from Benedictine and Cistercians schools, met at the end of October (2013) in Manila. More than 150 educators assembled at the global conference (BeNET=Benedictine Educators Network).

One of the tasks of the Abbot Primate at the Manila meeting, Notker Wolf, OSB, was to appoint a new ICBE president to replace Father Christopher Jamieson, OSB, the founding president. Jamison served the ICBE for the last 10 years and he is a monk and former abbot of Worth Abbey, England. Abbot Notker elected Father Elias Lorenzo, OSB, a monk of Saint Mary’s Abbey (Morristown, NJ) and current prior at Sant’Anselmo (Rome); Father Elias is a co-founder of the ICBE, and experienced educator, administrator and insightful preacher.

The ICBE is an organization which works to gather educators from monastery schools who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. According to the tradition of the Church, monasteries are independent entities and often have no network of collaboration, unlike the Salesians and the Jesuits who have international associations. These other religious orders are governed by a central body with regional provinces. They naturally have a built-in network that Benedictines and Cistercians do not have available. Hence, there has been a perceived need to assist Benedictine and Cistercian faculties in matters pertaining to a formation in the cultures of the intellect, spiritual, human, communal and work. The controlling idea is that the education is effective and fully catholic (think of the 4 marks of the Church) when not only information is shared, but real, concrete experience is shared shared. The formative process is done in the community. The ICBE is interested in wisdom, not merely knowledge.

The ICBE and the BeNET have been instrumental in advancing the formation of the laity who teach in schools where the numbers of Benedictines and Cistercians are on the decrease. But even in monastery schools with a sufficient number of monks and nuns there is a need for appropriate formation as an educator in the key of Jesus Christ through the lens and culture of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, and the patrimony.

The next international meeting of the ICBE will be in Rome in 2016.

(in the picture, l-r, Fathers Elias, Notker, Christopher)

Questionnaire on Marriage for the Church

Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization

Pope Francis, our Holy Father, has called for an Extraordinary Meeting of the Synod of Bishops to discuss the Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.

In preparation for the Extraordinary Synod of 2014, the Pope has requested widespread support from the laity through their input on challenges facing families within the context of faith.

Before completing the questionnaire, please read this Preparatory Document that includes a beautiful description of Marriage and Family.

Click here for the Preparatory Document

Click for the English questionnaire

Click for the Spanish questionnaire

All responses must be complete by December 11, 2013

Pope establishes commission for protection of minors, pastoral care of victims

Many in the world are watching the Church and how she is addressing the needs of a contemporary Church. The concerns of the College of Cardinals at the last papal election reflected the concerns of the faithful. With a good sense there a new things happening. One such innovation is Francis creating the Council of Cardinals to advise him on the administration of the Church. This work is being shared. Another innovation was announced today: a special commission will be set up to have oversight on matters pertaining to the protection of children and the pastoral care the victims. Clearly, this move of the Pope is a continuation of the good work of Pope Benedict regarding the sin and crime of sexual abuse. I pray that the commission will act decisively and with mercy and justice. 

Speaking for the Council of Cardinals, Sean Cardinal O’Malley gave this to the press at the Holy See:

At the briefing on Thursday morning, 5 December, at 1 p.m., alongside the Director of the Holy See Press Office, there participated Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, member of the Council of Cardinals, who gave the following Declaration:

“Continuing decisively along the lines undertaken by Pope Benedict XVI, and accepting a proposal presented by the Council of Cardinals, the Holy Father has decided to establish a specific Commission for the protection of minors, with the aim of advising Pope Francis on the Holy See’s commitment to the protection of children and in pastoral care for victims of abuse. Specifically, the Commission will:

1. study present programmes in place for the protection of children.

2. formulate suggestions for new initiatives on the part of the Curia, in collaboration with bishops, Episcopal conferences, religious superiors and conferences of religious superiors.

3. indicate the names of persons suited to the systematic implementation of these new initiatives, including lay persons, religious and priests with responsibilities for the safety of children, in relations with the victims, in mental health, in the application of the law, etc.

The composition and competences of the Commission will be indicated shortly, with more details from the Holy Father in an appropriate document.”

Cardinal O’Malley then quoted some of the lines of action proposed by the Commission under constitution.

* * *

The meetings will conclude tomorrow afternoon [Friday], completing the review of the different Congregations of the Roman Curia initiated during these recent days.

The next round of meetings is scheduled for the 17, 18 and 19 February, preceding the Consistory of the College of Cardinals due to take place on the 20 and 21 of the same month, and the Consistory for the Creation of new cardinals on 22 February, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and the solemn Concelebration of Sunday 23.
In addition, the meeting of the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops is scheduled to take place in the days immediately after (24-25 February).