Year of Faith – Page 2

Fr Pacwa on The Eucharist for the Year of Faith

In this Year of Faith there are some new books that have arrived and that are coming out to help all of us discover anew the the beauty of the Christian Faith. No one can ever say that they know it all, or, have heard it all before, and at the same maintain credibility in knowing the Truth. It’s not possible.

Father Mitch Pacwa, SJ, theologian and EWTN host, is in the middle of a publishing campaign to help us respond with confidence to the proposals of the Year of Faith.

Father Pacwa is a Chicago native who earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit, a Masters from the Jesuit School of Theology (Chicago) before being ordained a priest in 1976. He also earned a PhD from Vanderbilt in Old Testament studies which included learning 12 languages. Father Pacwa offers the Mass in both the Latin and Maronite Churches. He is the president of Ignatius Productions.

On 23 January, The Eucharist: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics will be released to the public. Order now.

The Eucharist is published in order to draw connections between the Holy Eucharist and the Bible. The author looks at Old Testament types of the Eucharist, shows the centrality of the Eucharist in Christian life, what Eucharistic Presence means to call Jesus the Lamb of God, the meaning of sacrifice as applied to the Sacrifice of the Mass and more.

Continue reading Fr Pacwa on The Eucharist for the Year of Faith

New York Encounter 2013: Experiencing Freedom

The bishops of
the United States have courageously chosen religious freedom as the cultural
expression of our Church’s response to the Holy Father’s call for a Year of Faith.

The New York
Encounter 2013, whose theme will indeed be Freedom – not just religious
freedom, but the experience of what we call “freedom.” The New York
Encounter (NYE) is a cultural festival, open to the public which will take
place January 18-20, 2013 at the Manhattan Center (34th Street and 8th Avenue).

NYE
is an initiative of members of the international Catholic movement Communion
and Liberation who seek to live the Catholic faith guided by the charism of the
Servant of God Monsignor Luigi Giussani.

The mystery of faith in a secular age is
at the heart of his teaching. Following Monsignor Giussani’s example, the
methodology of NYE is based on the experience of our humanity rather than a
purely intellectual presentation. As Saint Augustine expressed, it is one of
“confession” rather than “presumption.”

Among the various
events, all listed in the enclosed brochure, I would like to emphasize the
following two:

On Saturday, January 19, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., Mr. Paul Bhatti,
Pakistan’s Minister for National Harmony, will offer an eyewitness account of
the life of his brother Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Minister for Minority
Affairs who was murdered in 2011 for defending religious freedom in his
country. A real contemporary Catholic martyr!

On Sunday, January 20, 2013 at
2:00 p.m. there will be a meeting titled Faith, Soul of Life. In a time when society is no longer
Christian, from where do we begin again? Father Julián Carrón, President of the
Fraternity of Communion and Liberation (who participated in the recent Synod of
the Bishops in Rome), and Father Peter Cameron, OP, Editor-in-Chief of Magnificat,
will address this fundamental question in light of the Pope’s writings for the
Year of Faith.

Convenient List of Events: Experiencing Freedom 2013 NYE Events.pdf
Program: NYE 2013 – Program.pdf

Benedict XVI’s Year’s end Vespers homily

The Pope’s homily for Vespers at the Vatican basilica follows below. He sets out a very clear direction for Christian living and pastoral activity. Are we going to listen? The Pope preached:

I thank all of
you who have chosen to participate in this liturgy of the last hour of the year
of the Lord 2012. This “hour” bears a particular intensity and becomes, in a
sense, a synthesis of all the hours of the year that is about to come to an
end. I cordially greet the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, consecrated persons and
lay faithful, and especially the many people from the ecclesial community of
Rome. In a special way I greet the Authorities present, beginning with the
Mayor of the City, and thank them for choosing to share with us this moment of prayer
and thanksgiving to God.

Continue reading Benedict XVI’s Year’s end Vespers homily

Advent Holy Hour for the Year of Faith, preached by Archbishop Daniel Cronin, East Haven, CT, December 6

The Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, Archbishop Emeritus of Hartford, is coming to East Haven on Thursday, December 6, 2012 to preside and preach during an Advent Evening of Reflection, with a focus upon the “Year of Faith.”

The presentation begins at 7:00 PM and takes place at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, 355 Foxon Road, in East Haven.

The reflection will be offered in the context of a Holy Hour, to also include prayers, readings from Scripture, and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Join us for prayer and let friends know.

Christian faith through lens of the Creed presented at the Monastery of the Glorious Cross, Branford, CT

In the Year
of Faith please join Father David Borino and Benedictine Sister Zita Wenker for
a discussion “Christian faith through lens of the Creed” on Saturday, December
1, 10:30 to 2:00pm.

The discussion will be held at the Monastery of the
Glorious Cross, 61 Burban Drive, Branford, CT 06405.

The day includes Mid-day prayer and Mass in the
Monastery Chapel, the presentations and time for Q&A. Please bring a brown
bag lunch.

Father David Borino is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford and
Sister M. Zita Wenker, OSB is a Benedictine nun of Jesus Crucified residing at the Monastery of the
Glorious Cross (61 Burban Drive, Branford, CT 06405). Both presenters bring pastoral and theological expertise to the
exploration of what we believe Catholic faith to be through what we profess
Sunday after Sunday in the Creed.

The day is free, open to the public with a
good will offering taken.

Versed in Prayer: a poetry reading by Rita A. Simmonds

To celebrate faith and culture in this Year of Faith, Rita A. Simmonds, a friend, is reading her poetry in a program Versed in Prayer, at St. Malachy’s-The Actors’ Chapel in NYC on 28 November 2012, 7pm.

Rita’s poetry is frequently featured in the monthly MAGNIFICAT magazine. Her work is award-winning.

Versed in Prayer is MAGNIFICAT’s way of celebrating the Year of Faith following upon the invitation of Pope Benedict: “Faith is God’s gift and transforms the person deep within. Confessing with the lips in turn implies public testimony.”

Versed in Prayer will be moderated by MAGNIFICAT’s Editor-in-Chief Father Peter John Cameron, OP with the abled assistance of Jonathan Fields on guitar and photography by David Galalis.

The event is free. No tickets required. More info found here.

Communion and Liberation following the closely the Pope’s teaching

Those of us who follow Communion and Liberation already know what is ahead of us for the Year of Faith: we will closely follow the teachings of Pope Benedict for the Year of Faith.

Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation told us several weeks ago that a good portion of our work in the School of Community in the coming year will focus on what Pope Benedict says in his General Audiences given on Wednesdays.

Rome Reports has video news.

The texts of the Pope’s teachings will be found on Zenit news, or posted on the Vatican webpage.

The Year of Faith and how we’re called to live it

I think one of the witnesses of Jesus Christ that we need to follow is Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of Philadelphia. The archbishop writes a weekly column and it’s usually quite good and very worthy of reflection. Today’s installment is no less worthy at the start of the Year of Faith. Entitled, “The Year of Faith and how we’re called to it” is noted here, but three of the paragraphs are excerpted below. When you read the article play close attention to the quote of Henri de Lubac!

Real faith – the
kind our Holy Father calls us to — demands a keen awareness of our failures as
Christians and a spirit of repentance. It requires us to seek out who Jesus
Christ really is, and what he asks from each of us as disciples. And that
always involves the cross.

Continue reading The Year of Faith and how we’re called to live it

Archbishop of Hartford Henry Mansell blogs, tweets

Today, as you know the Church begins a Year of Faith. We also observe today the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Not least in the list of initiatives is the inauguration of a blog written by Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, the archbishop of Hartford.

You may read the blog here.

He also tweets here.

The Hartford archbishop joins a growing list of North American bishops who are intelligently using social communications to fling abroad the Good News, to spread the joy of being persons of faith on a journey to encounter the Lord.

Social media does, in fact, build communion among persons of faith and non-faith. It bridges the gap among those who believe in Jesus and and those who don’t, or are searching. Blogging, tweeting and using Facebook are but means to an end. They only make sense if there the media they employ have something to say, attractive with beautiful images (traditional art and with contemporary images) and updated with regularity. Kudos to Archbishop Mansell. As point of comparison, in Connecticut Mansell is the only blogging bishop; Bridgeport doesn’t have a bishop at the moment and Norwich’s Bishop Cote and Stamford’s Ukrainain Eparch Bishop Paul don’t use social media at the moment. Hint.

Let’s also acknowledge that yesterday was the Archbishop’s 75th birthday. May God grant him many years.

Year of Faith: sharing Christ’s Good News is new life, a journey that transforms

In the presence of hundreds of bishops, the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs, ecumenical partners and laity, Pope Benedict prayed the Mass and preached on the meaning of both the Second Vatican Council and the Year of Faith through the lens of conversion. Benedict is clear: the Year of Faith is not celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. The Church needs not a special forum for this anniversary; it is all an invitation to conversion and to deepen one’s faith in the Christ. The homily Pope Benedict delivered today follows.

Today,
fifty years from the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, we begin
with great joy the Year of Faith. I am delighted to greet all of you,
particularly His Holiness Bartholomaois I, Patriarch of Constantinople, and His
Grace Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. A special greeting goes to the
Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and to the
Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences. In order to evoke the Council, which
some present had the grace to experience for themselves – and I greet them with
particular affection – this celebration has been enriched by several special
signs: the opening procession, intended to recall the memorable one of the
Council Fathers when they entered this Basilica; the enthronement of a copy of
the Book of the Gospels used at the Council; the consignment of the seven final
Messages of the Council, and of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I
will do before the final blessing. These signs help us not only to remember,
they also offer us the possibility of going beyond commemorating. They invite
us to enter more deeply into the spiritual movement which characterized Vatican
II, to make it ours and to develop it according to its true meaning. And its
true meaning was and remains faith in Christ, the apostolic faith, animated by
the inner desire to communicate Christ to individuals and all people, in the
Church’s pilgrimage along the pathways of history.

Continue reading Year of Faith: sharing Christ’s Good News is new life, a journey that transforms