Communio – Page 302 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ordination of bishops

Today the Pope ordained, or consecrated, if you will, two priests as bishops of the Holy Roman Church. Noteworthy is the New York native, now Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Charles John Brown, 52, until now an official in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. May I note that among other things Archbishop Brown is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Rome’s Benedictine school, Sant’Anselmo (places close to my heart)! A snippet of the Benedict’s homily follows:

… how can we fail to recognize in all this certain essential elements of episcopal ministry? The bishop too must be a man of restless heart, not satisfied with the ordinary things of this world, but inwardly driven by his heart’s unrest to draw ever closer to God, to seek his face, to recognize him more and more, to be able to love him more and more. The bishop too must be a man of watchful heart, who recognizes the gentle language of God and understands how to distinguish truth from mere appearance. The bishop too must be filled with the courage of humility, not asking what prevailing opinion says about him, but following the criterion of God’s truth and taking his stand accordingly – “opportune – importune”. He must be able to go ahead and mark out the path. He must go ahead, in the footsteps of him who went ahead of us all because he is the true shepherd, the true star of the promise: Jesus Christ. And he must have the humility to bend down before the God who made himself so tangible and so simple that he contradicts our foolish pride in its reluctance to see God so close and so small. He must devote his life to adoration of the incarnate Son of God, which constantly points him towards the path.

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The monastic life can give new life to ailing Church

The monastic life is capable to breathe new life into lungs of an ailing body, the Church. A recent interview with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Archbishop Fernando Filoni, gives his observations and direction. While he speaks of The Order of Saint Bridget that was refounded by Blessed Mother Maria Hesslblad, his comments are worth paying attention to and applied to all orders. These nuns, by the way, have one US house in Darien, Connecticut. The interview is here.

Through the Church Christianity is new life

“Christianity is a new life, it’s a new way of living, which is to say of perceiving, of judging, of feeling, of reacting and of manipulating things. It is a new way of life, a new way of living, not individually but essentially as a community. So, that the Church is present in an environment means that in that environment the Christian community is present as life, that the Christians live the life of that environment in everything, honestly, in every detail, lives the interests that make up that environment, but from another point of view.”

Father Luigi Giussani, to GS students, 1964. Printed in the July/August 2005 Traces

Saint John Neumann

The famed American bishop, John Neumann (1811-60), is recalled by the Church today in her Liturgy. Known for his zeal and charity, John Neumann was an immigrant from Bohemia to North America and where he worked diligently to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Neumann was famous for his work with the poor, Catholic education and the Eucharistic adoration. The readings from Scripture and the Collects from the Mass all conspire to remind us of the urgent and real concern we ought to have for our brothers and sisters. The Collect even as a reference to the city where the saint was bishop, Philadelphia.

The Church prays,

O God, who called the Bishop Saint John Neumann, renowned for his charity and pastoral service, to shepherd your people in America, grant by his intercession that, as we foster the Christian education of youth and are strengthened by the witness of brotherly love, we may constantly increase the family of your Church.

Watch two videos on the great Redemptorist Saint John Neumann’s life and here.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Behold a wise woman who has built her house. She feared the Lord and walked the right path. (the Entrance verse at Mass)

The first United States native to be canonized by the Catholic Church is Elizabeth Ann Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821). She is the famous American convert, wife, mother and founder of a religious congregation of women (The Sisters of Charity) revolutionized the work of the Church in the US. Seton’s motto, “Hazard yet forward” is a indication of her deep conviction that Christ indeed is our Savior and everything we do ought to be done for Him. Our “hazard” is being bold in proclaiming the Good News of Salvation, in proposing to live this Good News so that our lives are truly different and all people may see the face of Christ in our own.

Let us call upon Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton for her intercession with the Lord to help us hazard yet go forward in doing all things for Christ and His sacrament, the Church for our own salvation and the salvation of others.

The Church prays

O God, who crowned with the gift of true faith Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s burning zeal to find you, grant by her intercession and example that we may always seek you with diligent love and find you in daily service with sincere faith.

Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for January 2012

Image via Wikipedia

One of the ministries of this blog is to pray with the Pope for the Church. Benedict XVI’s prayer intentions that are published through the Apostles of Prayer focus our attention. In 2012, pray with me for …

The general intention

That the victims of natural disasters may receive the spiritual and material comfort they need to rebuild their lives.

The missionary intention

That the dedication of Christians to peace may bear witness to the name of Christ before all men and women of good will.

Our Dayspring

Our Savior, the Dayspring from the east,
has visited us from on high, and
we who were in darkness and shadow have
found the truth, for
the Lord is born of the Virgin!

Let
us, the faithful, run and give our praising,

Hymns
for the Incarnate God let us be raising!

Holy Family

O
God, who were pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family,
graciously grant that we may imitate them in practicing the virtues of family
life and in the bonds of charity, and so, in the joy of your house, delight one
day in eternal rewards.

Today is a fitting day to follow the Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and mother. Of course, this applies to our living and deceased parents.

The consistent teaching of the Church, based on sacred Scripture and Tradition, tells us that the family is an irreplaceable contribution to the good of society. In an eminent
way the family, through responsible motherhood and fatherhood, and the spouses’ unique and singular participation in God’s work of co-creation. Pope Benedict XVI reminds that us that “the
natural family, as an intimate of life and love, based on marriage between a
man and a woman, constitutes ‘the primary place of humanization for the person
and society,’ and ‘a cradle of life and love'” (Message for the Celebration
of the World Day of Peace 2008).

Holy Innocents

At the king’s command these innocent babes and little Children were put to death. They
died for Christ, and now in the glory of heaven as they follow Him, the
spotless Lamb, they sing for ever: Glory to You, O Lord!

O God, whom the Holy Innocents confessed and proclaimed on this day, not speaking but by dying, grant we pray, that the faith in you which we confess with our lips may also speak through our manner of living.

Pay close attention to the sentiments of this prayer: confession of the reality of God not by words but by actions, by the way we live. How appropriate to keep this in mind these days.

Saint John the Evangelist

Today, the Church celebrates the liturgical memorial of the Beloved disciple, Saint John the Evangelist. As you know, John is the great theologian, perhaps you might say after Saint Paul, of Jesus. His Gospel is a superb love story.

At dinner tonight Abbot Caedmon of Portsmouth Abbey blessed wine. It was a wonderful experience to hear the prayers used and a churchman pointing to a significant Catholic sacramentality that’s not often seen today.

The Blessing of Wine is found here.