Saint Maria Goretti

 

Father, source of innocence and lover of chastity, you gave Saint Maria GSt. Maria Goretti.jpgoretti the privilege of offering her life in witness to Christ. As you gave her the crown of martyrdom, let her prayers keep us faithful to your teaching

Saint Maria Goretti is an example for the new generations who are threatened by a non-commital attitude that finds it difficult to understand the importance of the values which admit of no compromise. [But] do not let the consumer culture and pleasure numb your conscience! Be an alert and vigilant “watchmen”, be the real champions of a new humanity. (Pope John Paul II, 7 July 2002)

Happy 4th of July

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God of love, Father of us all, in wisdom and goodness you guide creation to fulfillment in Christ your Son. Open our hearts to the truth of his gospel, that your peace may rule in our hearts and your justice guide our lives.

Lorenzo Albacete recounts meeting Luigi Giussani

LAlbacete.jpgWhen I first met Msgr. Giussani 16 years ago, I had no
idea what we would talk about. I flew up from Rome to Milan to have lunch with
“Don Gius” and a mutual friend who had arranged the meeting. I thought our
friend would guide the conversation, but the day before the meeting I learned
that he would not be there. It would just be a lunch meeting between Giussani
and myself. On the flight to Milan, I browsed through a book by Giussani that I
had picked up in order to have it autographed (L’Avvenimento Cristiano, The
Christian Event), and because our friend had told me it would help me understand
what Giussani was all about.


Paging through the book, trying to find common
interests that we could discuss, I found the following remarks by Fr. Giussani:
“‘The Redeemer of Man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of
history.’ When I heard John Paul II repeating these words during his first
speech (and the same sentence was literally, my friends can witness to it, the
usual text of our meditation),  the emotion I felt reminded me of the
dialectics developed between me and my students at school, and the deep tension
with which we gathered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.”  I was amazed because he seemed to be describing the same reaction
I had when, for the first time, I read Pope John Paul II’s first encyclical,
Redemptor Hominis, thirty years ago (March 4, 1979). RH begins with this
affirmation: “The Redeemer of Man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe
and of history. To Him go my thoughts and my heart in this solemn moment of the
world that the Church and the whole family in present-day humanity are now
living.”

Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, Traces, April 2009

Former papal theologian considers Obama’s optimism possible

The former Swiss theologian of the papal household under Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Georges Cottier, OP, thinks it’s possible to accept some of Obama’s approach to matters like abortion, etc. as a temporary measure because he perceives Obama as realistic. John Allen writes about the cardinal’s remarks. I think the cardinal’s approach is too optimistic and weak in some areas. What do you think of Cottier’s and Allen’s analysis? Is Cottier realistic or naive?

Read Sandro Magister’s insightful analysis of the Cardinal’s comments.

Moscow Patriarch said women are the stronger sex

OK, I laughed (to myself so as not to disturb the priests with whom I live) that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in May to a youth conference that he thinks women are the stronger sex and psychologically more sturdy than men. My mother and sister would agree; and if my grandmothers and Aunt Jeanne were alive, they’d agree with His All Holiness. I am happy that he said this because he confirmed something I always knew or was drilled into my noggin –and heard proclaimed by women’s organizations since I’ve been in seminary formation. While this is neither new news nor as the critical as the oxygen being sucked out of the news industry in the past 8 days (with Michael Jackson’s death) but now it’s “infallible” and we all know the truth. Really, I am not poking fun at the Russian Patriarch…I think it’s humorous that such a point was newsworthy of Interfax, a news agency. In part, Patriarch Kirill said:

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“Men happen to be frailer. The upheavals of 1990s
caused many of them to break down, but women had more vigor to endure the stress.”

Answering questions, it was said that sport
achievements required courage: “women win our country most
of Russia’s gold medals in sport.”

The Patriarch’s words received a
riveting ovation. “An individual comprises both spirit and body, and human
strength depends not only on its physical component. In this regard, women are
the stronger sex,” Patriarch Kirill said.

That he travels around Russia Patriarch Kirill noticed that “Almost every village has some kind of an
amateur talent group. Who sings in a choir? Women do, and sometimes they are
accompanied by a drunken accordionist.” The same is true for many village schools, libraries, post offices, local
administration where women have to play the lead, concluded Kirill.

Blessed John Henry Newman

JH Newman2.jpgThe Holy Father recognized the 2001 healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan as a miracle by way of the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman‘s intercession. This was the final step in the beatification process of the English cardinal; of course, the canonization process will continue to its natural end. Now the details of the beatification ceremony are pending which is likely to be England.

We rejoice with the Congregation of the Oratory and the 82 Oratorian Houses –indeed with the entire Church in the Pope’s decision to beatify Newman because it gives us another authentic guide to Christ.

At the Birmingham Oratory you can read

Some of his works can be found here.

Saint Thomas

Because thou has seen Me, Thomas, thou has believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed, alleluia.


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Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to glory in the solemn festival of Thy blessed Apostle Thomas; may his patronage ever help us, and may we at all times imitate his faith with suitable devotion.
Pope Benedict’s 2006 catechesis on Saint Thomas is quite illustrative of true faith through the example of the Apostle.
Are we free enough to follow Christ in the same manner as the Apostle Thomas? Do we adhere closely to Christ in all ways –holding nothing back–so has to truly say that Christ is the way, the truth and the life? What makes us insecure in our following Christ? Does uncertainty paralyze us in being a true Christian? Why?
Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.

How to do lectio divina

My friends at St Louis Abbey posted this cheat-cheat on doing lectio divina encouraging us to dig deeply into this very necessary form of prayer. All good things are derived from the daily practice of lectio divina. As the monks will tell you, lectio is not only for monks but for the entire Church.

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Lectio divina is a way of getting in touch daily in a personal way
with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; it is a way of getting in touch with Jesus Christ our Lord and our brother. It is away of reading centered on God and, if you do it with faith you will be able to hear what he has to say to you here at this moment.  It is a way of reading which is slow so that the words are savored in meditation. It moves from the literal meaning to what only the Spirit can make clear to you. It calls for action by your involvement and for passive surrender as it draws you into the heart of God. It is disinterested; the text must be read for its own sake and not for the achievement of having read it.

Lectio is a way of experiencing Jesus Christ. You will encounter him personally in the sacred scriptures because he is there hidden in the pages of your Bible and you ought to believe in his presence with greater assurance than if you could see him with your eyes.  He has the same power there as he revealed in the gospels and he cures you of your physical and moral ailments, brings his light to your everyday life and leads you to eternal life.

Your encounter is with the Word who loves you unconditionally and is ever present and real in your life. From all eternity God has had a plan for the whole course of your life, your personal fulfillment, your vocation, your happiness. You will surely stray from the right path and become alienated from your true self through serving other gods, if you do not allow him to reveal himself to you daily through his word. It is in
your Bible that the true story of your life is written. If you don’t at once
understand what you read, then have confidence that the Lord will reveal it to you in his own time, because no word comes form the mouth of the Lord without achieving in you the work he intended. If your thoughts and imagination get in the way of your prayer, then fling them immediately before Christ.  Make no attempt to master them by your own strength, but try to turn back to your prayer.

You ought to do lectio every day, even if it is only one single verse of the Bible, because, “It is not on bread alone that man lives but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)  Your reading of the word of God should be deliberate, moving slowly from verse to verse, from word to word, watching for the context, paying close attention to each passage, looking out for the answers that are there in sacred scripture itself and the echoes they evoke, watching the notes and marginal references and always treasuring silence so as to make space to listen. You should know that the word you hear is directed to you personally and individually. When you read the word of God, it
speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to the word and so turn your prayer into conversation.

Your prayer may be simply staying with the word in silence, or it may be a thanksgiving, or a petition, or praise, or blessing, or contrition, or intercession, or one single word on which you pause and then repeat at will, or it may be a prayer of inspiration. If you are taking part in shared lectio, the way to share what the scripture has said to you is by means of a personal comment spoken in the first person singular and applied to your own life, or else it may be a prayer out loud offered directly to God.

José Manuel Eguiguren Guzman of the Manquehue Movement, Chile; translated by Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB