Copts demand religious freedom and protection in Rome, Milan & Vienna

Copts in Rome Jan 9 2011.jpg

In my opinion the public and peaceful demonstration of 500 in downtown Rome today of Coptic Christians expressing their need for religious freedom and protection following recent murders in Egypt is the best thing that they could’ve done to draw world attention to their plight. Lacking is clear, consistent media coverage of the plight of Christians in Islamic lands. Another group of 200 demonstrated in Milan. A similar time of prayer happened in Vienna.

Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of Christ Cima da Conegliano.jpg“A voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”


The Baptism in the Jordan returns to the great
Christmas theme of ‘Christification’, Jesus of Nazareth’s spiritual anointing,
His presentation as the Anointed One per excellence, the Messiah or the One
sent by the Father for the salvation of mankind. The Spirit that descended on Jesus shows and seals in an
incontrovertible way the ‘Christification’ of Jesus’ humanity that the Word had
already fulfilled from the first moment of His miraculous conception by
Mary. Jesus, from the very
beginning, was always the Lord’s Christ, He was always God. …the Baptism in the
Jordan presents yet another truth: that Jesus has started a new creation. He is the second man (1 Cor 15:47) or
the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that comes to repair the first Adam’s guilt.  He does this as the Lamb of God that
takes away our sins. ‘Looking at
the events in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people
realised what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon His
shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan.  He inaugurated his public activity by
stepping into the place of sinners.’ 
(Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 18)


Excerpt from the Letter from Cong. pro Clericus, 2011

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke visits the St Louis Oratory of Sts Gregory & Augustine

Cardinal Burke at StL Oratory .jpg

The Rector of the Oratory of Sts Gregory and Augustine, Father Bede Price, and Abbot Thomas with the monastic community of St Louis Abbey, welcomed Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Friday, January 7th.
His Eminence was the Archbishop of Archdiocese of Saint Louis between 2003 and 2008. Since 2008, he’s been the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.
On the First Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2007, Cardinal Burke canonically established the Oratory of Sts Gregory and Augustine as a non-territorial parish of the St Louis Archdiocese following the 1962 Roman Missal.

Benedictine, Capuchin and Dominicans take Vows, ordained deacon

Br Sal's vows.jpgSeveral men have committed themselves more fully to the Lord and His Church today. A Benedictine monk, a Capuchin friar and Dominican deacons took vows or were ordained.

Dom John McCusker, Benedictine monk of The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis, St Louis, MO.
Brother Salvatore Cordaro, OFM Cap., professed Solemn vows in the Province of St Mary. The Mass and profession of vows took place at The Church of Saint John the Baptist, NYC.
5 Dominican brothers of the Province of St Joseph were ordained to the Order of Deacon. The ordination took place in Crypt Chapel of the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by the Most Reverend Martin D. Holley, auxiliary bishop of Washington, DC.
We are exceedingly joyful for the witness of these men for the Kingdom of God. Let’s pray for them!
Thanks to Andrew Skonieczny for the photo.

Mass for Richard John Neuhaus, a 2nd anniversary remembrance

neuhaus.jpg

Today is the second anniversary of death of the Reverend Father Richard John Neuhaus. Father Neuhaus was a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and the Friends will be gathering at 12:15 pm to pray the Sacrifice of the Mass, The Church of Our Saviour, 38th Street & Park Avenue, NYC. Father George Rutler will be the celebrant.

Let us pray for Father Neuhaus (and hope that RJN prays for each of us).
Eternal rest grant on Father Neuhaus, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him May rest in peace.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Way to Peace


Michael Fitzgerald.jpg

These early days of 2011 are shaping up to be an interfaith challenge with all sorts of messages, clarifications and critiques of current events between Christians and Muslims. The latest, noted here, is a statement given by the Pope’s ambassador, the Apostolic Nunccio to Egypt, Archbishop Michael L. Fiztgerald, M. Afr. The Nuncio,73, is a former head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The statement was given in response to a request of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate clarifying the Pope’s January 2nd statement against the attacks against the Coptic faithful.

The statement of His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI with regard to the tragic attack on the Church of
the Saints in Alexandria has met with some criticism. It may therefore be
helpful to give an account of what the Pope actually said and of his recent
teaching on the way to peace.

Continue reading Pope Benedict XVI and the Way to Peace

Saint Raymond of Peñafort

St Raymond of Penafort.jpg

O God of mercy, source of grace,
Who draws us all to seek your face,
We give you thanks for this, your saint,
Who served you long without complaint.
As lawyer for the Church, his light
For sinners shone forth, calm and bright,
Friar and Master Gen’ral, he
Sought in his life Christ-like to be.
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
Let all our hymns of praise addressed
To you, on this Saint Raymond’s day,
Give us all grace to walk your way.
J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
LM; DUKE STREET
People joke that heaven has few lawyer saints. And we know that jokes sometimes betray some truth. We have not only a lawyer who’s a saint, but a nobleman, priest, religious, lawyer, editor, author, and a bishop who is a saint. Not bad. Today’s liturgical memorial is a Dominican priest of Spanish nobility with an earned doctorate in canon and civil law. At 41, Raymond of Peñafort entered the Order of Preachers and then called by Pope Gregory IX to Rome to be his confessor and to work on some crucial projects for the Church. He’s known as the editor of papal decrees, author of the famous Summa de casibus poenitentiæ and for 2 years was the archbishop of Tarragona, Spain, before being elected the Master of the Order of Preachers. It is said that he encouraged Saint Thomas Aquinas to write the Summa contra gentiles.

Epiphany – Theophany: we cannot fail to read the eternal rationality, Pope said

Pope Benedict Epiphany 2011.jpgSadly, the bishops in the USA moved the celebration of Epiphany to a Sunday but in other dioceses, particularly Rome, the traditional Epiphany Mass is celebrated. How much is lost when we monkey around with the sacred Liturgy!!! At Mass today, the Pope preached, given in part:


“In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, its
greatness and rationality,” said Pope Benedict, “we cannot fail to read the
eternal rationality; we can not help but be guided by it to the one God,
Creator of heaven and earth.”


“Herod is a
character whom we do not like, whom we instinctively judge in a negative way
for his brutality. But we should ask ourselves: maybe there is something of
Herod in us? Perhaps we, too, on occasion, see God as a kind of rival? Perhaps
we too are blind to his signs, deaf to his words, because we think they put
limits on our lives and do not allow us to dispose of our existence howsoever we
will?“

Continue reading Epiphany – Theophany: we cannot fail to read the eternal rationality, Pope said

Marquette Law hires pro-abortion ex-Senator

Marquette Law hired Russ Feingold, the ex-senator from Wisconsin, as a visiting law professor. A clear liberal politician with a long track record of pro-abortion voting. Marquette Law Dean Joseph Kearney is giving a platform to a bankrupt senator and certainly not caring too much for the Catholic and Jesuit identity of the university. Opps, perhaps being Catholic and Jesuit are no longer virtues to abide by….