Communio – Page 203 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The vocation to be a priest relies on a daily dialogue with Jesus, living with the Church

Seminarians get a letter from Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of Congregation for the Clergy for the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, advocating the need for the daily dialogue –the salvific meeting (an encounter)– with the Lord which builds a beautiful edifice of life and love.

The cardinal highlights Pope Francis’ idea that in the priestly life there is a primacy of grace: a joy of bearing the cross of Jesus Christ, without which the priest is a mere functionary, not a disciple following a path cut out by the Lord –and, today, the Church– that is certain and life-giving. Only in the cross do we see the self-giving nature of God the Son; the lack of an embrace of the cross contributes to worldliness, secularism, the primacy of the self as the measure of all things.

Highlighted, too, is the faithfulness and thus dependence upon the proven tools of the spiritual life: silence, discernment, sacraments, spiritual direction, human and theological formation. Of course, all this demands that the formators in seminaries aren’t dysfunctional and ideological.

For more about the formation of men to be priests is a book written by the Most Reverend Massimo Camisasca, FSCB, The Challenge of Fatherhood (Human Adventure Books).

On the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate most significantly the day for the sanctification of priests and, as you are in the Seminary to respond in the most fitting way possible to your vocation, it is important for me to send you this letter, with great affection, so that you may feel involved and, as such, remember this important occasion.

Continue reading The vocation to be a priest relies on a daily dialogue with Jesus, living with the Church

The Spirit of the Liturgy from Benedict to Francis

Abbot Michael C. Zielinski OSB, undersecretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, discusses what is being taught by the most recent pontiffs. Abbot Michael notes the continuity and distinctions in celebrating of the sacred Liturgy by Popes Benedict and Pope Francis. But there are some things that Abbot Michael notes that are not liturgical per se, “the spirit” can be a bit vague some ways. Moreover, there are things that are already expected as the result of the theology and upheld by the rubrics. More reflection on what the synthesis and art of celebrating means, teaches and how it sanctifies. Here is a beginning… The Catholic News Service provides the video feed.

Eastern Catholic Churches by the numbers, 2011

Just to give a sense of numbers of faithful who are members of the various Eastern Churches. While these stats are of 2011, they are basically correct. The churches that see growth are the Ukrainians, Malabars and Malakars.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

With the Church we pray…

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who glory in the Heart of your beloved Son and recall the wonders of his love for us, may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gifts.

At the period of Jesus’ coming upon this earth, man had forgotten how to love, for he had forgotten what true beauty was. His heart of flesh seemed to him as a sort of excuse for his false love of false goods: his heart was but an outlet, whereby his soul could stray from heavenly things to the husks of earth, there to waste his power and his substance. To this material world, which the soul of man was to render subservient to its Maker’s glory–to this world, which, by a sad perversion, kept man’s soul a slave to his senses and passions–the Holy Ghost sent a marvelous power, which, like a resistless lever, would replace the world in its right position: it was the sacred Heart of Jesus; a Heart of flesh, like that of other human beings, from whose created throbbings there would ascend to the eternal Father an expression of love, which would be a homage infinitely pleasing to the infinite Majesty, because of the union of the Word with that human Heart. It is a harp of sweetest melody, that is ever vibrating under the touch of the Spirit of love; it gathers up into its own music the music of all creation, whose imperfections it corrects, whose deficiencies it supplies, tuning all discordant voices into unity, and so offering to the glorious Trinity a hymn of perfect praise. The Trinity finds its delight in this Heart. It is the one only organum, as St. Gertrude calls it, the one only instrument which finds acceptance with the Most High. Through it must pass all the inflamed praises of the burning Seraphim, just as must the humble homage paid to its God by inanimate creation. By it alone are to come upon this world the favors of heaven. It is the mystic ladder between man and God, the channel of all graces, the way whereby man ascends to God, and God descends to man.

Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB

The Liturgical Year

The unexpected grace of Matushka Magdalena

We need witnesses. This is an idea that I am echoing from the teaching of Paul VI. Who are the witnesses that lead you to a deeper relationship with the Other, with friends, and with oneself?

A friend sent me the story of Matushka Magdalena who faced persecution wreaked by the Khruschev’s regime. What this story gets at, I think, is that nothing is given to us by happenstance. That is, in some strange yet beautiful way we ought to attribute the circumstances of our life to Divine Providence. Nothing is by accident. At least that’s what I think the article “An Amazing Story of Betrayal and Repentance” gets at.

Eastern Christians need our support through prayer and friendship. Let’s pray for the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in lands of the Rus.

Litany in honor of St Norbert

The Litany in honor of our holy father Saint Norbert

Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us,

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us,
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Holy Mary, pray for us,
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Queen of the White-robed Order,

Thou who had a great love for St. Norbert,
Holy Father Norbert, pray for us,

St. Norbert, whose birth was foretold from Heaven,
St. Norbert, who was marvellously converted by God,
St. Norbert, mirror of true penance,
St. Norbert, who did trample earthly pomps under foot,
St. Norbert, despiser of the world,
St. Norbert, who did conquer thy passions and affections,
St. Norbert, who did gain the victory over temptations,
St. Norbert, who did quell and cast down devils,
St. Norbert, restorer of peace and concord,
St. Norbert, who did walk barefoot,
St. Norbert, who did practise mortification,
St. Norbert, lover of the Cross,
St. Norbert, pattern of abstinence,
St. Norbert, most strict observer of fasting,
St. Norbert, who did yourself practice and teach silence,
St. Norbert, who did receive the white habit from the Mother of God,
St. Norbert, most constant in faith,
St. Norbert, most firm in hope,
St. Norbert, most fervent in charity,
St. Norbert, zealous lover of chastity,
St. Norbert, model of poverty,
St. Norbert, mirror of obedience,
St. Norbert, vigilant teacher of discipline,

St. Norbert, defender of the true faith,
St. Norbert, choice vindicator of the Blessed Sacrament,
St. Norbert, pillar of the Catholic Church,
St. Norbert, flower of sanctity and brightness of all virtue,
St. Norbert, light of prayer and contemplation,
St. Norbert, pattern of perfection,
St. Norbert, leader of the white-robed army,
St. Norbert, patriarch of the Premonstratensians,
St. Norbert, father and protector of thy Order,
St. Norbert, primate of Germany,
St. Norbert, worker of miracles,
St. Norbert, wonderful Discerner of spirits,
St. Norbert, imitator of Jesus Christ,
St. Norbert, follower of the Apostles,
St. Norbert, who was like to the Martyrs,
St. Norbert, gem of Pontiffs,
St. Norbert, Glory of Confessors,
St. Norbert, companion of virgins,
St. Norbert, colleague of all Saints,
St. Norbert, admirable in his translation,

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord,
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord,

From the neglect of Thy commandments, deliver us, O Lord,
From the transgression of our vows,
From uncleanness of mind and body,
From the spirit of fornication,
From a proud and sad spirit,
From the snares of the devil,
From overwhelming temptation,
From the disorder of our passions,
From the blindness of self-love,
From the obstinacy of self-will,
From an evil and unprovided death,

Through the wonderful conversion of St. Norbert,
Through his austere penance,
Through his ardent zeal in preaching,
Through his exemplary life,
Through all his virtues,
Through his holy death,
Through his wonderful translation,
Through his glorious crown in Heaven,
Through his merits and intercession,
We sinners, beseech Thee, hear us,

That Thou would grant us true sorrow and contrition of heart, we beseech Thee, hear us,
That Thou would grant us a true conversion of life,
That Thou would grant us obedience to our Rule and preserve us in the same,
That Thou would make faith, hope and charity to grow in us,
That Thou would make us zealous observers of our three vows,
That Thou would grant us the gift of prayer,
That Thou would bestow upon us the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,
That Thou would vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy holy Church,
That Thou would vouchsafe to extend and preserve the Premonstratensian Order,
That Thou would vouchsafe to strengthen the Abbot General and all the Abbots of the Order with a perfect spirit,
That Thou would vouchsafe to grant us the crown of perseverance,
That Thou would give grace to the living and to the departed eternal rest,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord,
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ hear us,

Christ graciously hear us,
Lord have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy on us,

(quietly) Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us …

V. And lead us not into temptation,
R. But deliver us from evil.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer,
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

V. The Lord be with you,
R. And also with you.

Let us pray.

O God, Who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put in practice by Thy grace what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Praised be Jesus Christ. Amen

When you meet Christ, you accept his history

Father Sergius Bulgakov expressed himself very adequately when he said: “He who has once met Christ, His Savior, on his own personal path, and has felt His Divinity, has, in that very moment, accepted all fundamental Christian dogmas — Virgin Birth, incarnation, Second Glorious Advent, the Coming of the Comforter, the Holy Trinity.“ To this I want to add: “Or else he has not yet met Christ, or, at any rate, has not recognized him.”

— Father Georges Florovsky in The Work of the Holy Spirit in Revelation

“The food we throw away is as if stolen from the table of the poor,” the Pope teaches

The are several great things we have to attend to with the Pope’s address today in Rome. Two quick ones: “losing the attitude of wonder, contemplation, listening to creation; thus we are no longer able to read what Benedict XVI calls “the rhythm of the love story of God and man.” WOW! Bingo!

We live in an era where disposability and waste is routine: shoes, cars, pencils, clothes, human life, etc. Don’t like it, not the “right color”, it is not right for me: all these sentiments are clear indications that you and I are careful on how and why we use our material and human resources. The Pope in his weekly Wednesday audience today drew our attention to the reality of waste. During the pontificate of John Paul II we Catholics were introduced to the concept of solidarity. But we were also introduced dramatically to the concept of encounter with the Lord, and with one another. The examination of conscience we will do today ought elicit some painful realizations that I hope will encourage meaningful and concrete change in how we relate to God, the other person, and to creation. Call what Francis did many things: naming the culture of death, pointing to a mentality of waste, singling a need to change our behavior so that the poor may eat. Francis’ teaching is not new –it re-proposes the beauty of our Catholic teaching. Pope Francis exposes a deep wound in our relationships that needs healing.

What is our response? What response can we find with the help of the Benedictines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans? What can the laity do with the clergy to be more attentive to these rhythms of God’s love story???

Pope Francis….

Today I want to focus on the issue of the environment, which I have already spoken of on several occasions. Today we also mark World Environment Day, sponsored by the United Nations, which sends a strong reminder of the need to eliminate the waste and disposal of food.

When we talk about the environment, about creation, my thoughts turn to the first pages of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, which states that God placed man and woman on earth to cultivate and care for it (cf. 2:15). And the question comes to my mind: What does cultivating and caring for the earth mean? Are we truly cultivating and caring for creation? Or are we exploiting and neglecting it? The verb “to cultivate” reminds me of the care that the farmer has for his land so that it bear fruit, and it is shared: how much attention, passion and dedication! Cultivating and caring for creation is God’s indication given to each one of us not only at the beginning of history; it is part of His project; it means nurturing the world with responsibility and transforming it into a garden, a habitable place for everyone. Benedict XVI recalled several times that this task entrusted to us by God the Creator requires us to grasp the rhythm and logic of creation. But we are often driven by pride of domination, of possessions, manipulation, of exploitation; we do not “care” for it, we do not respect it, we do not consider it as a free gift that we must care for. We are losing the attitude of wonder, contemplation, listening to creation; thus we are no longer able to read what Benedict XVI calls “the rhythm of the love story of God and man.” Why does this happen? Why do we think and live in a horizontal manner, we have moved away from God, we no longer read His signs.

Continue reading “The food we throw away is as if stolen from the table of the poor,” the Pope teaches

Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad

The Sisters of Saint Birgitta honor their second foundress, “Bridget the Second,” the woman who restored the Order of the Most Holy Savior, Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad. Her liturgical feast celebrated today.

Blessed Mary Elizabeth immigrated to the USA and converted to Catholicism through a Jesuit at Georgetown University. In time she felt called to refound the ancient order first founded by the Swedish saint Bridget, the Order of the Most Holy Saviour in the mid-14th century. The order is a semi-contemplative order of nuns officially approved by the Holy See on 7 July 1940, though it came together in 1911. The nuns run retreat houses and have some ecumenical work with the Protestant communities.

The Order of the Most Holy Saviour is a fascinating part of our Catholic ecclesial history in that the order of nuns and priests were part of a double monastery dedicated to the Lord’s passion. The chaplains were under the rule of the abbess. The nuns have foundations in different parts of the world while there is one priory of monks in Oregon and they don’t actively collaborate with the nuns.

Mother Mary Elizabeth taught, “We must nourish a great love for God and our neighbors; a strong love, an ardent love, a love that burns away imperfections, a love that gently bears an act of impatience, or a bitter word, a love that lets an inadvertence or act of neglect pass without comment, a love that lends itself readily to an act of charity.”

Video part I

Video part II

The Bridgettines have a convent and retreat house in Darien, CT (in the Diocese of Bridgeport).

In addition to Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, the Church raised up and bestowed the title of blessed on Mother Mary Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, Mother Mary Catherine Flannagan and Sister Mary Magdalen Moccia on 21 October 2011.

Blessed Mary Elizabeth, pray for us.

The Jesuits by the numbers

Statistics are not that interesting unless you’re bean counter. Even then the numbers don’t account for everything that’s happening in the Church and in a group. Admittedly, there needs to be room for the work of the Holy Spirit.

Having said all this, if you want to see how culture and theology are working together –or not– you need to look at the numbers. There is a claim that the largest order of men in the Church is the Society of Jesus, founded in 1540; if you bring together the various Franciscan groups of men they’d likely outnumber the Jesuits.

Several years ago Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach said that looking at the original charism of the Society the vocation to be a Jesuit was given to very few men. In the course of history, and for particular reasons, the Society exploded in numbers surpassing expectation and control. And yet, there has been a tremendous amount of good done through Ignatian spirituality, but there has been a demonstrable chaos wreaked by the same. It looks as though the chaos is lessening but it will take another generation or two for a more authentic living of the charism of Saint Ignatius and the first Jesuits to be fully lived again.

To give you a sense of the scope of the Jesuits worldwide consider this information for today:

There are 83 provinces, 6 Independent Regions and 10 Dependent Regions;
Roman Houses (including the Jesuit curia) 403;
As of 1 January 2013, the total number of Jesuits was 17,287: 12,298 priests, 1,400 brothers, 2,878 scholastics, and 711 novices – a net loss of 337 members from 1 January 2012.

Compare total numbers in the USA:

2012: 2547

2013: 2467

Compare total numbers worldwide:

1974: 29,436

1984: 25,724

1994: 23,179

2004: 20,408

2013: 17,287