Communio – Page 213 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Without perseverance no one can please God, St Catherine of Siena taught

Who we read impacts the way we live. Catherine of Siena, whom the Catholic Church honors today, has much to say to the modern person. In one of her letters we read the following, which ought to bolster our approach in our daily work.

To Sano Di Maco and All Her Other Sons in Siena: In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire to see you strong and persevering till the end of your life. For I consider that without perseverance no one can please God, or receive the crown of reward. He who perseveres is always strong, and fortitude makes him persevere.

Does What I Believe In Affect My Life?

Ultimate questions are critical for all persons. And so much for Christians because of the Incarnation of God in human history. What does it mean to believe? What can science teach us? Is using technology a helpful tool in knowing our Christian self? In a Year of Faith presentation on April 20, the topic at hand was “Does What I Believe In Affect My Life?”

Mother Mary Elizabeth Kloss is one of 10 children of a farming family, a Benedictine nun, an artist, and now the Mother Prioress (the elected major religious superior) of the Benedictine nuns of Saint Scholastica Priory (Petersham, MA). Her sister, Sister Mary Angela is a member of the community. The Priory is a member of the Subiaco Congregation of monks and nuns, an international group of men and women, monks and nuns, seeking the face of God through the lens of sixth century rule of life compiled by Saint Benedict.

Mother Mary Elizabeth’s talk can be heard here.

Saint Catherine of Siena

Saint Catherine of Siena writes:

I want your security to be in Christ gentle Jesus. He has clothed us in the sturdiest garment there is, a garment of love….The very first garment we ever had was love, for it was only by love that we were created in God’s image and likeness.

(Letter 185-86)

When I think of Saint Dominic I immediately think of Saint Catherine of Siena. She is an attractive and inviting personality, unique among many of the church’s holy ones.

When in Rome you ought to visit her tomb at Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Among the Dominicans, Catherine was a Dominican Tertiary (a lay person who had permission to wear a distinctive garb).

In 1970, the Servant of God Pope Paul VI honored her with the title “Doctor of the Church,” one of 4 women with the same title. With St Francis of Assisi, Catherine is a patron saint of Italy. Catherine is credited as one of the people to have ended the Western Schism.

A brief video gives a good intro….

Third Order Dominicans, New Haven, celebrate rites of reception and profession

Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), himself a Third Order Dominican, said,

“Among the means of holiness most useful and opportune for the defense of and progress of Christian faith and morals in our day, we recognize the Dominican Third Order as one of the most eminent, easy, and secure.”

This afternoon New Haven’s Lay Fraternity of Saint Dominic (the Dominican Third Order Laity) celebrated the rites of reception for two new members, simple profession of five and the final profession of two in the context of Sunday Mass. The president of the chapter Linda Kelly and the religious assistant, Father Jordan Schmidt, OP, (who stands in the place of the Master of the Order) received the promises. The rites were held at Saint Mary’s Church in New Haven, CT.

The promises made a more intense living of one’s baptismal vows but now the person promises actually live in a fuller way as the Apostles did in relationship to the Divine Master. Though we rarely think of the graces of Baptism with any regularity, here the profession of promises by the laity accentuate the reality of grace first received when we were first washed of Original Sin and made members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

One of the exhortations made by the priest singled out the the manner of life out to be seen as being salt of the earth and light of the world for the purpose of honoring God and the salvation of souls. Hence, what is at the center of the promises are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those making the promises are asked if they are “resolved to be more closely bound to Christ and the service of the Church,” “to walk in the newness of life” adhering to what Saint Dominic proposed in terms of announcing the Good News and following the Lord,” and that according to their particular state in life as laity, they have a share in the Church’s “apostolic mission by prayer, study and preaching.” Therefore, they have a new bond with the Order of Preachers.

Blessings to Fraternity of Saint Dominic of New Haven, especially to our friends Tacy and Steve. May what God has given us be brought to completion.

Saint Dominic, pray for us.

Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.

All saints and blessed of the Dominican Order, pray for us.

Last year’s post on these same rites.

The Spirit changes us

At the Sacrifice of the Mass in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis also celebrated the Rite of Confirmation with 44 people from around the world. As we approach Pentecost, this excerpt from his short homily is very instructive. Pay attention. Don’t forget to daily ask, no beg, for the Holy Spirit to have a special grace to embrace the day. May the Spirit be with these 44 newly confirmed in the Faith, indeed, all those around the world who are receiving the sacrament of Confirmation these days.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit: he brings us the new things of God. He comes to us and makes all things new; he changes us. The Spirit changes us! And Saint John’s vision reminds us that all of us are journeying towards the heavenly Jerusalem, the ultimate newness which awaits us and all reality, the happy day when we will see the Lord’s face – that marvelous face, the most beautiful face of the Lord Jesus – and be with him for ever, in his love.

You see, the new things of God are not like the novelties of this world, all of which are temporary; they come and go, and we keep looking for more. The new things which God gives to our lives are lasting, not only in the future, when we will be with him, but today as well. God is even now making all things new; the Holy Spirit is truly transforming us, and through us he also wants to transform the world in which we live. Let us open the doors to the Spirit, let ourselves be guided by him, and allow God’s constant help to make us new men and women, inspired by the love of God which the Holy Spirit bestows on us! How beautiful it would be if each of you, every evening, could say: Today at school, at home, at work, guided by God, I showed a sign of love towards one of my friends, my parents, an older person!

Giussani helps us to understand the struggle for meaning, purpose and beauty

In a recent article for the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, Father Robert takes up the concept of the religious sense that Father Giussani taught, and that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio –now Pope Francis spoke about. Shortly after the papal election I posted the chapter that Father Barron references in his article noted below, from A Generative Thought: An Introduction to the Works of Luigi Giussani (2003), where Bergoglio writes about our need to educate our religious sense and how Giussani influenced him in his method of dealing with ultimate questions.

You may read that chapter here that’s noted in a previous post on Communio.

Here is a paragraph of Barron’s OSV article. The full text is accessed here.

Part of Msgr. Giussani’s genius, Cardinal Bergoglio argued, was that he did not often commence his discourse with explicitly dogmatic or doctrinal language, but rather with an awakening of the often implicit religious sensibility that every person possesses. This sensibility expresses itself in terms of the most fundamental questions: What is my ultimate origin? What is my final destiny? Is there a meaning or logic that runs through the universe? Why, precisely, is there something rather than nothing? These interrogations lead ineluctably to God, for God alone can answer them.

Father Robert Barron
OSV Newsweekly, 5 May 2013

Christians follow a messiah who loved us more than himself

Today, we are observing the 5th Sunday of Easter (John 13:31-35).

“‘I give you a new commandment’, said Jesus: ‘love one another.’ But how, we may ask, could he call this commandment new? Through Moses, he had said to the people of old, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’…He showed the novelty of his command and how far the love he enjoined surpassed the old conception of mutual love by going on immediately to add: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ To understand the full force of these words, we have to consider how Christ loved us.’…The law commanded people to love their brothers and sisters as they love themselves, but our Lord Jesus Christ loved us more than himself. He who was one in nature with God the Father and his equal would not have descended to our lowly estate, nor endured in his flesh such a bitter death for us, nor submitted to the blows given him by his enemies, to the shame, the derision, and all the other sufferings that could not possibly be enumerated; nor, being rich, would have he become poor, had he not loved us far more than himself. It was indeed something new for love to go as far as that!”

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

Kevin Seasoltz, OSB, RIP

Father Kevin Seasoltz OSB died early today, 27 April 2013, at Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN.

Father Kevin was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 29 December 1930. He became a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, 3 June 1956. In 1958, he earned a license in canon law from the Lateran University with a concentration in liturgical law. After earning a degree in canon law, again with an emphasis on liturgical law, from The Catholic University of America, in 1962, he taught in the Religious Studies department until 1987. He professed vows as a monk of Saint Anselm’s Abbey, Washington, DC, 13 November 1960. He later transferred his monastic vow of stability to the Saint John’s Benedictine abbey after spending time on a working sabbatical. In 2009, the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions honored Dom Kevin with the Frederick R. McManus Award.

Father Kevin was a professor of theology and a very well published author. For many years Dom Kevin served as editor of the revered Worship magazine, a quarterly of opinion.

In the last months he’s been living with cancer; he received the sacraments of the Church on Friday. May Father Kevin rest in peace.

Latin Hymns for Liturgy of the Hours translated in new book

A book of hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours in Ordinary Time, Eternal Glory of the Skies, provides a translation of hymns from the original Latin by Fr. Harry Hagan, OSB, and Fr. Keith McClellan.

Father Harry, a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and a teacher of biblical poetry in the Seminary and School of Theology, translated the hymns for Lauds, Daytime Prayer and Compline. Fr. Keith, a priest of the Diocese of Gary, IN, and a former editor and author at Abbey Press in St. Meinrad, translated the hymns.

According to the authors, “These translations build on the poetry of the original text while opening new doors for the Christian imagination. They have been translated in the hope that they will be used in prayer.”

The cost of the softcover book is $6.95. Order online.

“Giving a Reason for the Hope that Is in Us” by Fr Robert P. Imbelli

Last week, the Benedictine monks and nuns of St Mary’s Monastery (monks) and St Scholastica Priory (nuns) (Petersham, MA) hosted a public conference, “Giving a Reason for the Hope that Is in Us,” by Father Robert P. Imbelli for the Year of Faith given on April 20, 2013.

Father Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and is a Professor of Theology at Boston College. He studied in New York, Rome and is a graduate of Yale University.