Communio – Page 408 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Newman Conference in Pittsburgh

2010 Newman Conference August 5-7, 2010

National Institute for Newman Studies

This year’s conference theme is “A
Reflection on the Life, Thought, and Spirituality of John Henry Newman in
Celebration of His Beatification.”

Over 25 speakers will deliver papers
on such varied topics as “Principles of Newman’s Theological Reading of the
Fathers,” “Newman and Twentieth-Century Literary Converts: Lowell, Merton, and
Day” and “Holiness in the Parochial and Plain Sermons: Its Nature, Aids, and
Obstacles.”

Keynote addresses will be given by Fr. Ian Ker, of Oxford
University, Dr. Terrence Merrigan, of the Catholic University of Leuven, and
Dr. Cyril O’Regan of the University of Notre Dame.

The August conference in Pittsburgh will begin with a Mass celebrated by Pittsburgh Bishop David
Zubik. Deacon Jack Sullivan, the man who was healed through Newman’s intercession,
will offer the homily.

Conference details and registration information is
available on the Newman Association’s website.

Vatican’s new man at the UN

Edward Pentin makes a brief intro of the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, JCD, 57, 32 years a priest and four years a bishop. The new nuncio is the first non-Italian to hold this appointment; he’s also worked at the New York Mission of the Holy See and other diplomatic missions for the Apostolic See.

Pentin’s article

The news post of the Conference of Religious India Bulletin

Here is the homily delivered by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo on the occasion of the episcopal ordination of His Excellency.

May God grant the Archbishop his heart’s desire as expressed in his motto, Fidei in Virtute (By the power of faith) that all will be accomplished for the True, the Beautiful, the Good and the One.

Saint Mary Magdalene

In hours of darkness, Mary
Prayed psalms throughout the night,
“I searched throughout the city
Until the morning light;
And then I saw the watchmen,
And asked them, in their way,
‘Have you seen him my heart loves?’
As night turned into day.”

Thus Mary, in her weeping,
Went searching near and far,
And could not find her Master,
The bright and Morning Star.
She thought she saw the gard’ner,
And asked where Jesus lay;
She heard his voice say, “Mary!”
And there stood Christ, the Way.

We thank you for the witness
That she bore for your Son,
The faith she kept proclaiming
Until her life was done.
All glory to the Father,
All glory, Risen Son!
All glory to the Spirit,
True Godhead, only One!

J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
76 76 D; AURELIA

Father Brian W. Monnerat, RIP

Please keep in your prayers the repose of the soul of the Reverend Father Brian W. Monnerat, 60, priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, who died, July 14, 2010, while on vacation with his family. He was ordained a priest in 1988, when I first met him. This is a sad time for the archdiocese.

Father Brian was the pastor of Saint Matthew Church, Forrestville, CT.

A special prayer for priests, and for those who struggle with their weight and have cardiac problems.

Come Holy Spirit. Come through Mary.

Visiting St Louis Abbey: seeing old friends

These last 9 days I’ve been in St Louis, MO visiting friends, lay and monastic (including Mrs. Casey!). I periodically return to St Louis the scene of some studies I did at St Louis University between 1994 and 1997. I stayed with the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey; there I have many old friends.

When I went to St Louis in 1994 I didn’t expect to meet Benedictine monks as I was fully ensconsed in the life and works of the Society of Jesus. While I did hear of the St Louis monks, I really never thought that a friendship would flower with them. By Divine Providence I met two monks, Fathers Gerard and Gregory, at a consecration of a Coptic Orthodox Church. The monks had some Copts in their school and so being at the church consecration was a natural thing to do and I was there because of my high interest in Eastern Christianity. Plus, who could resist saying you met a pope, the Coptic Orthodox pope, Shenouda? To this day I still get some mileage out that anecdote.

From the providential meeting of the two priests I met other monks with whom I have had the privilge of being friends. Over the years the company has grown and for that grace, I am very grateful.

I haven’t been back to St Louis in the past three years. Since then the city and various suburbs have changed for the better with buidling and/or renovating public places and the like. I love the many new stores and the restaurants. Actually, there are many good eats in the greater St Louis area! But some things remain the same: a people who know each other vs. the terrific annonymity of many east coast cities. Sometimes, I have to say, St Louis is too small….

Time spent at the abbey and with other friends was truly delightful. I went particularly to see Fr Ambrose whom I hadn’t seen in a while and with whom I share many things, not the least being Rome and warm fuzzies. Fr Ambrose is modeling a warm fuzzy in the picture to the right.

I happily had the opportunity to visit with the students of St Louis Priory School making what is affectionately known as “Monkamp” (i.e., 4 days’ introduction to the monastic way of life, or at least the fundamentals of it –prayer, manual labor, community, silence, balance, study and fun); monkamp is a small effort at vocation promotion. At some point I had terrific dinner with a classmate who

remains in the Gateway City, David Miros, invitations to getting ice cream at Ted Drews (3x), a “drive-by” meeting with Tim Hercules, making an attempt with Fr Ambrose at having a Lebanese lunch at St Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral (instead we went for something equally as exoctic, Indian, as the Lebanese lunch was closed for a month), and the meandering around St Louis University and seeing an old friend who was recently ordained a Jesuit priest, Kevin Dyer, etc. While visiting St Raymond’s I ran into an old friend who told us of the tragic killing of her grandaughter, Gina, a few months ago by teenage muggers. Roxy’s recounting the crime moved me to tears. Pray for Roxy and her family as they deal with the aftermath. Gina, a single mother leaves two sons, one of whom witnesses the brutality of his mother’s murder.

Crucially important for me was the time spent with the monks in their fraternal life. Theirs is a more intense life than many US Benedictine monks in that their day begins with Office of Vigils at 5:35 am and ends with Compline at 7:40 pm with three other parts of the Divine Office, Mass and Lectio Divina integrated into the day complemented with care for the senior monks, house duties, parish and school work. Free time (holy leisure) is not often found, sadly. Besides the Priory School (junior and high) the monks are the pastors of Saint Anselm Church, the Oratory of Saints Gregory and Augustine (the traditional Mass crowd), and a vibrant Oblate program.

Catching up with Brothers Sixtus, Aidan, Mark, Maximillian, Edward, and with Fathers Ambrose, Linus (the newly ordained), Dominic and Bede (for an afternoon), et al, was good for me because I am edified by their witness. These are great men living a vocation that is engaging, attractive, life-giving and lived in order that God be glorified.

Particularly joyful for me was to see Brother Sixtus following his solemn profession of vows, and to see Brother Aidan. In the photo to the left is Br Sixtus and Brother Aidan.

Let us pray to Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces and to Saints Louis, Benedict, Scholastica, Walburga, Emma and Gertrude for the monks, their benefactors, Oblates and co-workers & students.

Other pictures found here.

God gives all a vocation

Every man is a vocation, the Pope tells us in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate; he has a vocation. Why? Because man is by nature a being who listens, a given being; before him, there is another who gives meaning to his life. We came into the world because there is someone who loved us first: at the beginning is always love, the gift, and when we consider ourselves, we realize that we feel the need to redirect ourselves toward the source from which we come. We came from the eternal love of God.

And when we enter into the mystery of God’s love, we feel almost a fear, a tremor, like the prophet Isaiah. Contemplating the mystery of God, it almost seems like we are dying, because we feel all our fragility and weakness; but when the mystery of God enters into even our fragility, into our weakness, it purifies us. God does not enter into our lives to annihilate us, but to free us and allow life to be manifested in its fullness. And purified by God, we discover untold energy within us, and then if man by himself can do nothing, man with God can do everything. Nothing is impossible for God, and we are called every day- we created beings, we who have a vocation- we are called every day to rediscover the eternal mystery of God, to experience our weakness and fragility, and at the same time, to experience the merciful and renewing grace of God. And on God’s side, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with Jesus who has risen and called us to be his friends and brothers, we can do great things. We can be at the service of his kingdom and make the kingdom of God triumph first in ourselves and then by the witness of life we want to give.

Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, CS
Homily excerpt, Legion of Christ
July 10, 2010

The lost Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, found with the Jesuits

The art world is abuzz due to an article in L’Osservatore Romano on Sunday stating that a “lost Caravaggio” may now be found.

The as yet unauthenticated painting, “The Martyrdom of St Lawrence,” owned by the Society of Jesus, is thought to be a Caravaggio because it has the hallmarks of a Caravaggio, including dramatic lighting effects, the L’Osservatore Romano said. “Certainly it’s a stylistically impeccable, beautiful painting,” the article stated in its Sunday edition. “One can’t but be reminded of works like the Conversion of St Paul, the Martyrdom of St Matthew and Judith and Holofernes.”

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is the acknowledged pioneer of the Baroque painting technique of contrasting light and dark known in Italian as “chiaroscuro.” It is estimated that about 80 of the painter’s works are extant. He was born in Milan and trained there under Titian. Many are also aware of the artist’s wild lifestyle and the alleged murder he committed of a man in a brawl and then fled Rome. Moreover, Caravaggio’s mysterious death in 1610 has long intrigued scholars. Among the theories of his disappearance are that he was killed on a deserted Tuscan beach or collapsed there due to an illness. Italian anthropologists announced last month they had found the famous artist’s mortal remains. The artist’s club is observing the 400th anniversary of the artist’s death.

Leave it to the Jesuits to have at least two Caravaggio’s!

Looking toward a time of peace, reconciliation and social justice

I’ve had some spare time to read and so this morning I pondered the address given by Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People at the 2010 Conference of European University Chaplaincies, 14-18 June 2010. The title of the address is “Young hearts and minds toward ‘Peace, Reconciliation, and Social Justice.”

A few paragraphs that I thought would be germane for reflection and deeper prayer.

Pope John Paul II … wrote that “forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. The measure of such a decision is the love of God who draws us to himself in spite of our sin. Forgiveness therefore has a divine source and criterion. Forgiveness, as a fully human act, is above all a personal initiative (World Day of Peace message 2002). The ability to forgive lies at the very basis of the idea of a future society marked by justice and solidarity. Peace is essential for development, but true peace is made possible only through forgiveness and reconciliation” (ibid).

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message to the youth in 2007, invited them to “dare to love” and not to desire anything less for their life than a love that is strong and beautiful: love that is capable of making the whole of their existence a joyful undertaking of giving themselves as a gift to God and their brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (cf. Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilizations.

Pope John Paul II in fact was convinced that the future far lies in the hands of the youth. The future of peace lies in their hearts. To construct history, as they can and must, they to free history from the false paths it is pursuing. To do this, the youth must have a deep trust in the grandeur of the human vocation -a vocation to be pursued with respect for truth for the dignity and inviolable rights of the human person. Pope Wojtyla felt the feeling of the modern youth indeed. He said that he saw them being touched by the hunger for peace; that they are troubled by so much injustice around them and sense overwhelming danger in the gigantic stockpiles of arms and in the threats of nuclear war; that they suffer when they see widespread hunger and malnutrition and are concerned about the environment today and for the coming generations; that they are threatened by unemployment and many already without work and without the prospect of meaningful employment and are upset by the large number of people who are oppressed politically and spiritually and who cannot enjoy the exercise of their basic human rights as individuals or as a community. All this can give rise to a feeling that life has little meaning. In this situation, some may be tempted to take flight from responsibility: in the fantasy worlds of alcohol and drugs, in short-lived sexual relationships without commitment to marriage and family, in indifference, in cynicism and even in violence. Pope John Paul II invited them therefore to be themselves on guard against the fraud of a world that wants to exploit or misdirect their energetic and powerful search for happiness and meaning. He invited them not to avoid the search for the true answers to the questions that confront them (World Day of Peace 1985).

L’Osservatore Romano
June 23, 2010

Our need for God is above all else, Benedict says

Even in the summer the Pope meets the faithful at the residence in Castel Gandolfo to give a brief reflection before praying the midday Angelus. He’s on vacation so-to-speak, though he continues with meetings and writing and the like on a much reduced schedule. A paragraph from yesterday’s address on vacation and God is noteworthy as many of us are now taking time off from work for leisure activities. The Pope emphasizes in his reflection that Christ is clear: the active life and hospitality are essential in discipleship but it is absolutely necessary to listen to the Word of the Lord. The heart of St Luke’s narrative of the Martha & Mary event is that in “the Lord is there in that moment, present in the person of Jesus! Everything else will pass and will be taken away from us, but the Word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily activity.”

And so, we have the heart of Benedict’s message:

This Gospel passage [on Martha and Mary, Luke10:38-42] is very important at vacation time, because it recalls the fact that the human person must work, must involve himself in domestic and professional concerns, to be sure, but he has need of God before all else, who is the interior light of love and truth. Without love, even the most important activities lose value and do not bring joy. Without a profound meaning, everything we do is reduced to sterile and disordered activism. And who gives us love and truth if not Jesus Christ? So let us learn, brothers, to help each other, to cooperate, but first of all to choose together the better part, which is and will always be our greater good.

Fr Robert Taft advocates ecumenical scholarship & theology as a new approach to restore communion among the churches of East and West

The
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches should own up to their
past misdeeds and work to restore communion, according to Archimandrite Robert F.
Taft, SJ.

Fr. Taft, a Jesuit priest of the New England Province and professor emeritus of the history of Byzantine Liturgy at the Pontifical
Oriental Institute in Rome, said that the rift between the churches was
sustained primarily by offensive actions–not theological differences.
He delivered “Perceptions and Realities in Orthodox-Catholic Relations
Today,” on June 28 at Fordham University.

“The main problem that we Catholics and Orthodox face in our ecumenical
dialogue is not doctrine but behavior,” Fr. Taft said. “The issue is
not that Catholics and Orthodox do not know how to pray and believe and
live Christianity in the right and true apostolic way. The problem is
that we do not know how to act.”

He
pointed to Catholic “uniatism”–aggression against another church–as a
major problem blocking fruitful dialogue between the religions. He
added that although the Orthodox faith has been victimized, it also
refuses to admit its own misdeeds.

Fr. Taft advocated a system of “ecumenical scholarship and theology”–a
new way to study Christian tradition that seeks to reconcile and unite,
rather than to confute and dominate. To accomplish this, the Catholic
and Orthodox churches must recognize one another as historic apostolic
sister churches, he said.

The
point of this new ecumenical theology is not that Catholics and
Orthodox never disagree. “What it does mean, is that at the official
level, disagreements can be discussed truthfully and courteously,
without invective, rudeness, and slander,” Fr. Taft said. [Fordham
University]