Fr John Patrick McGuire, OP RIP

john-p-mcguire-opI just read on Facebook that an old friend died peacefully preparing for bed on Christmas night at St. Catherine of Siena Priory (NYC). Jolting news in this time of joy.

Father John Patrick McGuire, OP, 73, was a talented man and a lovely person. His ministry allowed for him to do some wonderful things for Christ and others. Father John’s death is a sad event for me, someone I’ve known for 30+ years. I pray for him, in thanksgiving, petitioning the Lord to forgive his sins and to grant him eternal life; I pray for the Dominican brethren, and the countless friends he enjoyed.

Let us pray:

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, Father John Patrick to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Saint Dominic and all Dominican saints and blesseds, pray for Father John, and us.

Faithful without becoming fanatic

What this Romanian Orthodox theologian says is very similar to what Fr Luigi Giussani and Fr Julian Carrón said regarding dialogue and the life of Christian faith and identity.

“In this sense, the Orthodox Church considers that in the dialogue with other Christians it brings exactly the witness of the One Church of Christ, from which they separated over time by deviation from Orthodox faith. Of course, no Orthodox Christian is ever obliged to carry dialogues or to cooperate with other Christians if he or she is afraid of losing the Orthodox faith. At the same time, it is unfair to consider that all Orthodox Christians who carry theological dialogues and cooperate in practical matters in society with Christians of other confessions are traitors of Orthodoxy. A peacemaker Orthodox Christian can remain faithful to Orthodoxy without becoming fanatic, if he or she confesses Orthodox faith in dialogue with other Christians, provided he or she makes no compromise.”

~for more read the article here.

St Stephen

st-stephenThe Second Day of Christmas gives us a rather unique liturgical memorial: the death of the first martyr, Saint Stephen. Today’s saint is renown for his singular devotion to the Lord through adoration and service; he believed the unity of truth of the Good News given by Jesus; Stephen is recalled by the Church as being a deacon (see the Acts).

What is revealed to us in sacred Scripture is that Stephen became the first Christian to be killed for his faith in Jesus Christ. A predicted outcome by the Lord. Persecution was received as a consequence to living the intensity life and holiness proposed the Lord Jesus. The Church recognized that persecution as a clear sign that one is on the right path: if you follow in Jesus’ footsteps, you will meet the same fate He did. Saint Stephen gave his witness to Jesus and the Truth of the Gospel, but Stephen’s executions didn’t accept his testimony.

The Acts of the Apostles reveals that they “stopped their ears and rushed upon him” (7:57). What does stopped their ears mean? They would not listen to the reasonableness of the Good News. Convicted by truth, Stephen didn’t compromise and thus fulfilled the prophetic utterance that we read about in today’s Gospel. Historically, it was Saul as a young man, full of zeal for something other than holiness; Saul, later Paul, helped the executioners stone Stephen to death. Remarkably, Stephen died praying for his murderers.

Are we convicted by the Truth of the Incarnation? Can we follow and do what Saint Stephen did?

Joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation

nativityA Christmas sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

For this reason, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the message of the angelic voices was: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become the son of God?

Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.

The Only Begotten Son of God

virgin-and-child“What worthy return can we make for so great a condescension? The One Only-begotten God, ineffably born of God, entered the Virgin’s womb and grew and took the frame of poor humanity. He who upholds the universe, within whom and through whom are all things, was brought forth by common childbirth. He at whose voice archangels and angels tremble, and heaven and earth and all the elements of this world are melted, was heard in childish wailing. The Invisible and Incomprehensible, whom sight and feeling and touch cannot measure, was wrapped in a cradle.”

— St. Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (300-368 AD)

The O Antiphons have meaning

Today, the monasteries around the world make their solemn entrance into the last week of preparation before Christmas. . .the first of the great O Antiphons begins to be sung at the time of the Magnificat. These beautiful antiphons, pregnant with meaning, are true bearers of Advent hope and joy.

In them, according to a French liturgist, the liturgy of Advent finds its fullness and plenitude. The O Antiphons are extremely significant to both the Advent and the monastic liturgy. The rich spiritual content of the antiphons is invaluable, starting with the one we solemnly sing today which opens : O Wisdom, O holy word of God’s mouth. . .

Br. Victor-Antoine D’Avila  Latourrette, OSB
A Monastery Journey to Christmas

O Antiphons

o-wisdomThe days before Christmas are typically marked by naming the titles that Jesus bears. The music for the antiphons is terrific. Each of the seven “O Antiphons” (also called the “Greater Antiphons” or “Major Antiphons”) come from the Magnificat antiphon for Vespers during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the “Golden Nights.”

Each Antiphon begins with “O” and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah, and whose initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin “Ero Cras” which means “Tomorrow I come.” Those titles for Christ are:

Starting tonight, we begin with Sapientia; tomorrow and the days ahead we move on to: Adonai, Radix Jesse, Clavis David, Oriens, Rex Gentium, Emmanuel

The O Antiphons in both English and Latin:

December 17

Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!

Latin
O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.

December 18

Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

Latin
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

December 19

Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry.

Latin
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

December 20

Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

Latin
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

December 21

Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Sun of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

Latin
O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

December 22

King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

Latin
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

December 23

Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

Latin
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

Bishop Javier Echevarria dies at 84

bishop-javierOne key religious leaders of the Church died in Rome on December 12, 2016: Bishop Javier Echevarría (1932 – 2016). He was 22 years the leader of Opus Dei and was 84 years old. He died after a persistent lung infection.

A brief biography:

Bishop Javier Echevarría was born in Madrid on June 14, 1932, the youngest of eight children. His attended a primary school of the Marianist Fathers in San Sebastian and continued his education in Madrid at a school run by the Marist Brothers.

In 1948, at a student residence, he met some young members of Opus Dei. Feeling that he was called by God to seek holiness in ordinary life, he asked to be admitted to Opus Dei on Sept. 8 of that year. He began studies in law at the University of Madrid and continued in Rome where he received a doctorate in canon law in 1953 at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas (also known as the Angelicum), and a doctorate in civil law at the Pontifical Lateran University in 1955. Echevarria received priestly ordination on August 7, 1955. He worked closely with St. Josemaria Escriva and was his secretary from 1953 until the founder’s death in 1975.

In 1975, when Alvaro del Portillo succeeded St. Josemaria, Monsignor Echevarría was appointed secretary general of Opus Dei. In 1982 he was appointed vicar general.

After the death of Blessed Alvaro in 1994, Echevarria was elected prelate of Opus Dei, and on January 6 of the following year he was ordained bishop by St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.

From the beginning of his ministry as prelate, his priorities were evangelization in the areas of the family, youth and culture. He oversaw the beginning of the Prelature’s stable formational activities in sixteen countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. He traveled to all the continents to stimulate the evangelizing work carried out by the faithful and the cooperators of Opus Dei. He encouraged the founding of numerous institutions dedicated to immigrants, the sick and the marginalized, and he gave especial attention to a number of centers for the care of the terminally ill.

Recurring themes in his catechetical trips and in his pastoral ministry were the love of Jesus Christ on the cross, fraternal love, service to those around us, the importance of grace and the Word of God, family life, and union with the Pope. In his last pastoral letter, in fact, besides expressing thanks for the audience he had with Pope Francis on November 7, he asked—as always—that the members and friends of Opus Dei accompany the Pope with prayers for his person and intentions.

He wrote many pastoral letters and a number of books about spirituality, such as Itinerarios de vida cristiana (Paths of Christian Life), Para servir a la Iglesia (Serving the Church), Getsemaní (Gethsemane), Eucaristía y vida cristiana (The Eucharist and Christian Life), Vivir la Santa Misa (Living the Mass) y Creo, creemos (I Believe, We Believe). His last book is a collection of meditations about the works of mercy, which is entitled Misericordia y vida cotidiana (Mercy and Daily Life).

He was a member of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints and of the Apostolic Signatura. He took part in Synods of Bishops in 2001, 2005, 2012 and in the Synods dedicated to the Americas (1997) and to Europe (1999).

Bishop Javier was waked at the Prelature in Rome and buried in the crypt of Our Lady of Peace, the Prelatic Church of Opus Dei (the headquarters) in Rome next to the remains of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo and in an area below the Church of the Prelature where the remains of St. Josemaria are under the altar. On Thursday December 15, a 7 pm, Mass was offered for the repose of the soul of Bishop Javier Echevarría in Saint Eugene’s Basilica.

Here is the homily given by Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz at the Mass on December 15 in Saint Eugene’s Basilica for the repose of the soul of Bishop Javier Echevarría.

It is good to note the telegram the Holy Father sent to Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz Braña Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei

Having just received the sad news of the unexpected death of Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, Prelate of Opus Dei, I wish to express to you and all the members of this Prelature my heartfelt condolences, while also uniting myself to your thanksgiving to God for his generous and fatherly testimony of priestly and episcopal life. He followed the example of Saint Josemaría Escrivá and Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, whom he succeeded at the head of this entire family, giving his life in a constant service of love to the Church and souls.

I raise up to our Lord fervent suffrages for this faithful servant of his so that He may welcome him to eternal joy, and I lovingly entrust him to the protection of our Mother, our Lady of Guadalupe, on whose feast day he surrendered his soul to God.

With these sentiments, and as a sign of faith and hope in the Risen Christ, I impart to all the consoling apostolic blessing.

The Vatican, 13 December 2016.

Francis