The Brown Scapular: Mary’s promise

This past
Saturday was the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the liturgical
commemoration of Mary on which we automatically thought of the brown
scapular. Or, we did make an association with the BVM of Mount Carmel and the scapular. Our sensibilities have changed dramatically to the point that only the old people remember such devotions by-and-large.

Recently at the parish we were talking about selling rosaries,
bibles, catechisms nun-made fudge, and I introduced offering the brown
scapular. The person who is organizing this  very small “church store” looked at me
quizzically: what are scapulars? So much for Catholic culture and the Catholic
liturgical imagination! I explained that as a concept originally referred to a
form of clothing, a wide band of clothe put on the shoulders reaching down to the front and back of the legs, often to the ankles.  The scapular is worn by priests, nuns, and sisters like, but not limited to
the Dominicans; the scapular historically was worn as an apron that would
protect the tunic. Later the scapular was blessed taking it out of the realm of
a work outfit. But I am not talking about the scapular worn as part of the religious habit of the religious.

Continue reading The Brown Scapular: Mary’s promise

Franciscans make a splash today

Tau cross.jpgWith today’s appointment of the Archbishop of Philadelphia and Bishop of Savannah, the number of Franciscans serving the Church in the USA as residential bishops went up. Surprisingly we now have two Conventual Franciscans bishops. Currently, Franciscan bishops the dioceses of Boston, Philadelphia, La Crosse and Savannah. Two Capuchins and two Conventuals. If you count Puerto Rico, then there’s the Archbishop of San Juan who is a “normal brown” Franciscan.

The bishops bring to the table, as it were, the gift of the Franciscan charism and an interesting lens by which Christ is made known.

Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clare and all Franciscan saints and blesseds, pray for us.

Archbishop Chaput is official! Off to Philadelphia

It is official…

Il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale dell’arcidiocesi metropolitana di Philadelphia (U.S.A.), presentata dall’Em.mo Card. Justin F. Rigali, in conformità al can. 401 § 1 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

Il Papa ha nominato Arcivescovo Metropolita di Philadelphia (U.S.A.) S.E. Mons. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., finora Arcivescovo di Denver.

The Archdiocese has a page for Archbishop Chaput.

The changing church

current siz of the Catholic Church.jpgThere are various reasons why the influence of the Church has waned in recent years. And it can’t all be blamed on the sexual abuse of minors, though this issue has significantly contributed greatly to the diminishment. Her street cred is, at this time, based not on witness or the coherence of the Christian proposal or charitable works.

The effectiveness of the Church to orient her proclamation of Christ as the unique and definitive Savior of the world is the lack of humanity the clergy AND laity. It is not merely clergy vs the laity –it is both. Both are the problem, both fail to help each other to see and to know Christ. Without seeing and knowing there is no relationship. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is NOT a something but a someone. Period.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us. Saints of God, intercede for us.

Hugo Chavez received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

Venezuela’s President, Hugh Chavez, 56, is suffering from cancer. This has been a diagnosis he’s lived with for more than a month. And while this is not shocking news because many people live with cancer and face their mortality in a new way with such each day. However, I found a Fox News article a bit odd; odd because they found this event newsworthy, something out of the ordinary. I might even say Fox is a bit presumptuous for mentioning it. My reading of the story was that the un-named writer question the intentions of an outspoken president who would approach the sacraments of the Church for the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, that is, to ask God for a cure and a healing. Deo volente. The President’s lived experience with the bishops of his country have reportedly been fragile, but so what. A baptized Catholic has a right to receive the sacraments and to seek forgiveness begging not from the Church but from the Holy Spirit the graces of conversion and healing of body, soul, and spirit regardless of politics. Should we be surprised or consoled that someone would recognize his place before God? Christ came for the sick, not the healthy. The Church is a hospital for the ill, not the well.

Charles Joseph Chaput 9th Archbishop of Philadelphia, Pope nominates


Thumbnail image for Archbishop Charles J Chaput.jpgIt is expected that Pope Benedict XVI will nominate Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, OFM Cap., 66, of Denver, a Native American Indian (Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe), as the 13th Bishop and 9th Archbishop of Philadelphia. He replaces His Eminence, Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali, 76, who has served the Archdiocese since 2003. The Cardinal has been a priest for 50 years, a bishop for 26 years and a cardinal for nearly 8 years.

Charles Joseph Chaput was born in Concordia, Kansas. He entered
the Saint Augustine Province of the Capuchin Franciscans in 1965, professing vows at 21 in 1967.

Chaput earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Saint Fidelis College Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania, in 1967, and completed Studies in Psychology at Catholic University in Washington DC, in 1969. A year later he earned a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Capuchin College in Washington DC and was ordained to the priesthood on August 29, 1970. By 1971, Father Charles Chaput earned a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of San Francisco.

For several years Father Chaput served the Capuchin mission as a teacher, spiritual director, pastor, and in the administration of his Capuchin province. In 1988, Pope John Paul II nominated Father Charles Chaput as the Bishop of Rapid City, SD. The same Pope appointed him Archbishop of Denver on February 18, 1997.

The new Philadelphia archbishop has been a priest for 41 years and a bishop for 23 years. Archbishop Chaput is one of two Capuchin archbishops and he’ll be the second American Capuchin, on the east coast, –the other being Boston’s Archbishop, Seán Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap.–  and the first Native American to be a cardinal; Philadelphia is not expected to forego its cardinalatial status as St Louis and Detroit have done. It is unlikely, however, that Chaput would be given the cardinal’s title for 4 years.

According to the 2010 stats, there are 1.46 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

According to the 2006 stats, there are 400 thousand Catholics in the Archdiocese of Denver.

Get to know Archbishop Chaput’s thinking by reading his addresses found here.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Francis and Saint Clare, Saint John Neumann, pray for Archbishop Chaput and the faithful of Philadelphia.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Madonna of Mt Carmel Tiepolo.jpg

Hail Mary, full of grace.

The Lord is with you –O serene virgin.

You stand out as the temple

Of the humble and the great, 

Of the lion and the lamb,

Of Christ the
savior–Yet you remain a virgin.

You have been made mother

Of the bud and the
dew,

You are queen of virgins, 

Rose without thorns.

(The text is excerpted from
a longer Sequence for the feast of the Annunciation of the B.V.M.)

Christ begging for the heart of man

“‘Christ begging for the heart of man, and the heart of man begging for Christ.’ What change needs to take place for our gaze to be able to look at ourselves like this? What familiarity, what a sharing of our lives with a different gaze, until we can look with the same compassion upon our humanity, as we always felt ourselves looked upon by Father Giussani.”
(Father Carrón, “Man is exclusive relationship with God,” 2007)

Saint Bonaventure


St Bonaventure.JPGGrant, we pray, almighty God, that, just as we celebrate the heavenly birthday of the Bishop Saint Bonaventure, we may benefit from his great learning and constantly imitate the ardor of his charity.

Pope Benedict gave these 3 addresses on March 3, March 10,  and March 17. Read these Wednesday audience addresses if you are serious about Saint Bonaventure!

My friend Father Charles at A Minor Friar has a brief thought on this great Franciscan friar, doctor, bishop of the Church.