Presence in the blogosphere

Sometimes I get weary about blogging because of the time it takes and some days it seems so boring. So I ask questions like: is it useful, for whom am I writing, for what reason, is this just an ego-trip, etc. I came across a few lines of Pope John Paul II which gives me slight encouragement. He said:

 

The special challenge before you, is to find ways to ensure that the voice of the Church is not marginalized or silenced in the modern arena of the media. You have a role to play in ensuring that the Gospel is not confined to a strictly private world. No! Jesus Christ must be proclaimed to the whole world; and therefore the Church must enter the great forum of the media with courage and confidence.

Reiki & Catholic Faith? the answer is no


Reiki symbol.jpgThe US Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine approved on March 24th and released on the 25th the Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy. Read the Guidelines for yourself. I suppose this important stuff; I usually look for liturgical heterodoxy and various heretical teachings first…but the bishops have a point. Since I am not a life force, universal or otherwise, I’ll throw away my Reiki books.

I am the Great Sun

I am the Great Sun

(from a Normandy crucifix of 1632)

 

I am the great sun, but you do not see me,

I am your husband, but you turn away.

I am the captive, but you do not free me,

I am the captain you will not obey.

 

I am the truth, but you will not believe me,

I am the city where you will not stay.

I am your wife, your child, but you will leave me,

I am that God to whom you will not pray.

 

I am your counsel, but you do not hear me,

I am the lover whom you will betray.

I am the victor, but you will not cheer me,

I am the holy dove whom you will slay.

 

I am your life, but you will not name me,

Seal up your soul with tears, and never blame me.

 

Charles Causely

 


Charles Causley.jpgCharles Causley was born and has lived, apart from six years in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, in Launceston, Cornwall. In 1990 he was awarded the Ingersol/TS Eliot Award, given to authors “of abiding importance whose work affirms the moral principles of western civilization.” This poem appears in Collected Poems, published by Macmillan. Dr. Ron Thomas assistant professor of theology at Belmont Abbey College wrote the meditations for the Way of the Cross published this Spring (2009) and this poem is included therein.

Canon 915: its full, objective application

A recent interview with His Excellency, Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (The Pope’s Chief Justice) regarding the application of Canon 915 is online here. Nothing new is presented but he states the truth of Catholic teaching.

 

Canon 915 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law reads: “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”

 

I think he’s clear on the thinking of the Church on its application, don’t you? Is there debate?

At the message of the Angel

Hail, Mary, full of grace. The is with thee.

 

Hail, thou star of ocean!

Portal of the sky!

Ever Virgin Mother

Of the Lord most high!

 

Oh, by Gabriel’s Ave,


AnnunciazioneJPG.jpgUttered long ago,

Eva’s name reversing,

‘Stablish peace below.

 

Break the captive’s fetters;

Light on blindness pour;

All our ills expelling,

Every bliss implore.

 

Show thyself a mother;

Offer Him our sighs,

Who for us incarnate

Did not thee despise.

 

Virgin of all virgins!

To thy shelter take us;

Gentlest of the gentle!

Chaste and gentle make us.

 

Still as on we journey,

Help our weak endeavor;

Till with thee and Jesus

We rejoice for ever.

 

Through the highest heaven,

To the Almighty Three,

Father, Son, and Spirit,

One same glory be. Amen.

 

At his general audience on march 24, 2004, Pope John Paul II said the following about today’s feast of the Annunciation of the Lord:

 

This feast, which this year falls in the middle of Lent, on one hand refers us to the beginnings of salvation, and on the other invites us to turn our gaze to the paschal mystery. We look at Christ crucified who has redeemed humanity, fulfilling to the end the will of the Father. On Calvary, in his last moments of life, Jesus entrusted us to Mary as Mother and to her he has commended us as children.

 

Associated to the mystery of the Incarnation, Our Lady is co-participant in the mystery of redemption. Her fiat, which we recall tomorrow, echoes that of the incarnate Word. In profound symphony with Christ’s and the Virgin’s fiat, each one of us is called to unite his own “yes” to the mysterious plans of Providence. In fact, only from full adherence to the Divine Will do that joy and true peace spring which we all ardently desire also for our times.

Nine Month Novena in Honor of the Virgin of the Incarnation

This novena is prayed each day from the Solemnity of the Annunciation to

the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, March 25 – December 25

 

Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen…)

 


OLPH.jpgO Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we praise thee, a thousand times we greet thee, for the joy thou did know when the Son of God became flesh in thy womb. Because thou are most powerful, O Virgin Mother of God, grant what we beseech thee for the love of God:  (here name the three intentions).

 

Memorare (Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary…)

 

Hail Mary

 

May the heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world and in the hearts of all, even until the end of time. Amen.