Communio – Page 257 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Significant remarks from the Evangelization Synod: on interreligious dialogue

In the time following the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization I think we need to review what was said. So often we move on so fast when an event is finished. A judgment, that is, an assessment, is required to understand with clarity and charity.

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, challenged a trend in the work of interreligious dialogue at the recent Synod of Bishops:

Christians often ignorant of the content of their own faith and incapable because of this of living of and for it, are not capable of interreligious dialogue that always begins with the assertion of one’s own convictions: there is no room for syncretism or relativism! Faced with adepts from other religions with a strong religious identity, it is necessary to present motivated and doctrinally equipped Christians. This makes the new evangelization a priority to form coherent Christians, capable of demonstrating their faith, with simple words and without fear.

As with the married couple, so with the Church: love and forgiveness given and received

Being really Catholic
opens one’s point of view to a great richness of the entire Church, East and West; being Catholic as John Paul II reminded us, is to breath with both lungs to invigorate the whole body. Most often Latin Catholics are too skeptical, too closed-minded to look beyond their parochial understanding of God and Church.

Each Sunday Jesuit Father Steve Bonian, a
Maronite Catholic American priest reflects on the liturgical theology of his
church. If you done a little reading in the liturgical history of the Church you will recall with joy that the Maronites have an incredibly rich liturgical tradition that ought to be appreciated more. For one thing the Maronite Liturgy is wonderfully Semitic in its pattern of prayer.

The Maronite Church, the majority of Catholics from Lebanon, celebrated
yesterday the Sunday of the Consecration of the Church. The Roman Church does
not have an equivalent liturgical observance, unless you make a connection with
the Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of the Roman Church’s year. The Maronite liturgical theology for the Sunday of the Consecration of the Church you note that “the Bride-Church re-consecrates herself and her children, the faithful, to Christ.”

Father Bonian writes,

The
letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the Temple in Jerusalem and it’s rituals
was only a temporal preparation for the “new order” that would be established
between Christ and his Church and her children.

From now on the Children of God
would worship him in Spirit and Truth on earth as in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
For it is not God’s will to dwell among stones, but in the caring hearts of his
faithful people, and among them to establish his Kingdom. Our Church Community
is this New Temple!

Continue reading As with the married couple, so with the Church: love and forgiveness given and received

All Saints and All Souls Days in religious orders

The Church is not liturgically monolithic: let’s consider the various observances of feasts of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls) in various religious orders:

All Saints

November 5: the Society of Jesus
November 7: the Order of Preachers
November 13: the Order of St Benedict; Order of St Augustine; the Trinitarian Order
November 29: the Franciscan Families

All Souls

October 5: the Capuchin Order
November 5: the Franciscan Families
November 8: the Order of Preachers
November 13: the Carthusians
November 14: the Order of St Benedict; the Trinitarian Order
November 15: the Order of Carmel
November 16: the Servite Order

Communion and Liberation following the closely the Pope’s teaching

Those of us who follow Communion and Liberation already know what is ahead of us for the Year of Faith: we will closely follow the teachings of Pope Benedict for the Year of Faith.

Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation told us several weeks ago that a good portion of our work in the School of Community in the coming year will focus on what Pope Benedict says in his General Audiences given on Wednesdays.

Rome Reports has video news.

The texts of the Pope’s teachings will be found on Zenit news, or posted on the Vatican webpage.

New pope elected … for the Coptic Orthodox Church

The electors, nearly 2,406 people, in the Coptic Orthodox Church selected the 118th successor to Saint Mark, Tawadros II. The new pope is the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa. Until now, Tawadros has been an auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop Pachomius who’s been serving as the acting pope. Tawadros studied pharmaceutical sciences and was ordained a bishop in 1997.

Bishop Tawadros received 1623 votes, or about 25% of the votes.

Each of the electors, asking God to provide for them a good shepherd, were blindfold in casting their ballot for three of five previously vetted candidates. The three names were placed in a ceremonial box, then the Divine Liturgy was celebrated before a blindfolded child selected one of the three names to be the next pope. The new pope succeeds Pope Shenounda III who died at the age of 88 in March, after serving since 1971.

Pope Tawadros II, 60, will be installed on November 18.

Christians in Egypt number about 10% of the 83 million population. The Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest Christian Church in Egypt.

So far, the key Muslim groups have offered their hands in friendship upon Pope Tawadros announcement.

Vatican Radio has an informative piece to read and to listen.

Souls in Purgatory and our obligation

The month of November is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. I was thinking after a funeral celebrated earlier today for a friend, Jack, who died last Saturday, about my on-going responsibility for the souls in purgatory. This after being reminded that I am called, as are all the baptized, to be an echo of the encounter with Christ in this world, but also in eternal life. What I do here and now has a direct consequence in the later in the promised Destiny with the Savior.

Is it a matter of saying the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary and the Glory Be with the Eternal Rest prayers around the time of a person’s death, or only on the anniversary of death of a loved one or friend? Somehow I doubt it.

The law of charity that I think Christians are called to live with certainty makes a claim on us to pray for the dead and dedicate some portion of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for the Church Suffering (the Holy Souls) so that one day they become part of the Church Triumphant. Being Friends in the Lord (disciples of Christ) can’t be indifferent to those who have died. We believe that the bonds of love don’t unravel with the death of the body. We promise the dying that we won’t forget them. If this is true, then why do we so often forget to have a Mass offered for their intentions, or say a rosary for our loved ones, or absent ourselves from visiting the cemetery? Mass, the rosary and a visit are concrete acts of love that have a real consequence for real people we knew and loved in this life.

Consider the image of posted above is a example of spiritual works effecting the soul of another. Here the Baroque Master Giovanni Battista Crespi, “Il Cerano” (1573-1632) paints in 1617 Saint Gregory the Great “delivering the soul of a monk.” The deliverance is the result of the monk and pope Gregory offering Mass for the soul of a monk. The depths of mercy and love are mined by the devotion of the Mass for another.

As faithful Christians we state, in faith, that we will be reunited with those we knew and loved in this life with those who have gone before us. So, because of love, we reach out with the hand of prayer and charitable acts giving help to those being purged of the last vestiges sin will soon be fully capable of being with God in the Beatific Vision (heaven).

What does the Church teach about Purgatory?

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Paragraph 1030: All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

Paragraph 1031: The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of cleansing fire. As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age but certain others in the age to come.

Paragraph 1472 excerpted: This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin.

For more on purgatory you can read here.

In a newsletter I periodically read, the entry for today said,

The Holy Souls in Purgatory. Purgatory has been described, as a “cleansing fire” that burns away the dross of sins on our souls. Saint Paul wrote those of being saved “yet so as through fire” and whether or not the soul endures a literal fire, its purification does involve suffering. The time each soul spends there, and the severity of the pains it experiences, varies. However, our prayers for these souls can help alleviate their sufferings and help them reach heaven more quickly. Although they can no longer pray for themselves, they can and do pray for us as well out of gratitude! In addition we can help them by having masses said for the departed and by engaging in works of cha
rity and sacrifice on their behalf.

All Souls

For more than a 1000 years Holy Church has remembered all the dead on one day and reminding the faithful what we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and thus for those who die in grace. Spend some time with the Mass Collect below. It is not merely remembering the dead, as good as it is, but also to hold fast to the faith we are Baptized into: Christ’s death and resurrection.

As a way of entering into what the Lord desires, the Church formed the All Souls Indulgence. Read about it here. You have until November 8 to observe the conditions of the Indulgence.

God, who has raised Jesus from the dead, will give life also to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

With the Church we pray,

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son, having conquered death, should pass over into the realm of heaven, grant, we pray, to your departed servants that, with the mortality of this life overcome, they may gaze eternally on you, their Creator and Redeemer.

Continue reading All Souls

Francis Arinze, Nigerian cardinal, turns 80

His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, turns 80 today.

Why is this significant? Because a prominent churchmen, a leader in the Catholic Church, hits a milestone and no longer has a place in a Conclave should one be called tomorrow. Nevertheless, Cardinal Arinze is clearly a senior churchman.

Francis Arinze is a Nigerian born cleric who has served the Lord in his home country and in Rome. Arinze’s journey is extensive:

Ordained priest: 23 November 1958 (54 yrs)
Ordained bishop: 29 August 1965 (47 yrs)
Created cardinal: 25 May 1985 (27 yrs).

Cardinal Arinze’s service includes attending session 4 of the Second Vatican Council and participating in 1 conclave; he has as bishop, he’s ordained 14 priests as bishop. He has worked in the Holy Father’s service in area of inter-religious dialogue and the sacred Liturgy.

Continue reading Francis Arinze, Nigerian cardinal, turns 80

Voices without a vote

As a matter of good citizenship, as a concern for faith and public order, for faith and reason, you and I need to vote according to a fully formed conscience.

A video clip of young men and women expressing their desire to be heard in the voting process next Tuesday, 6 November. The young are voices with a vote. Watch the video!

Don’t let your discouragement in the political campaigns be a good reason for not voting. In a democracy not to vote in a significant election is near sinful.

As a beginning step to forming your conscience you may want to consider reading the 2011 document of the US bishops: Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship- A Call to Political Responsibility.pdf

New life in a New England seminary

The heart of a diocese is a seminary (or a seminary program if a diocese doesn’t have a major seminary formation program). No would have guessed 10 years following the sex abuse crisis erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston, that Saint John’s Seminary would see new life in forming men to be Catholic priests. Patrick Doyle wrote a very descent article for the Boston Magazine titled “Resurrection” on the uptick of the call to priesthood and good work of the Boston seminary.

Blessings on Seán Cardinal O’Malley, Msgr. Jim Moroney, and Father Eric Cadin, indeed on all of the Saint John’s Seminary community! A true testimony to grace!