Sunday, April 13, 2008

Pope: Pray for Vocations and His Visit to U.S.

Today's Regina Caeli address, from Asia News Italy:

Recalling that the Pauline year will begin on June 28, to celebrate the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of the apostle Paul, "the missionary par excellence", among the vocations the pope first of all cited "missionaries ad vitam, meaning those men and women who dedicate themselves completely to proclaiming Christ to those who still do not know him: this vocation still maintains its full validity". Benedict XVI emphasised that there is above all a need for missionary priests, who dispense "the Word of God and the Sacraments, manifesting to all with their pastoral charity, above all to the sick, to the least, to the poor, the healing presence of Jesus Christ".

In the donation of their lives to their brothers, they often encounter martyrdom. The pontiff recalled that two religious died yesterday, in Kenya and in Guinea.

"Let us pray also", the pope added, "that the ranks may grow continually of those who decide to live the Gospel radically through the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience: these are men and women who have a primary role in evangelisation. Of them, some dedicate themselves to contemplation and to prayer, others to various forms of educational and charitable action, but all are united by the same goal: that of bearing witness to the primacy of God over all, and of spreading his Kingdom in every realm of society".

Mission is the heart not only of consecrated vocations, but also of the vocation to matrimony: "Spouses, in fact, are called to live the Gospel in their families, in their places of work, in their parish and civil communities. In certain cases, moreover, they offer their precious collaboration in the mission ad gentes".

The other concern of the pope is that of a request for prayer for his upcoming visit to the United States, from April 15-20.

Invoking "the maternal protection of Mary over the many vocations existing in the Church, that they may develop with a strong missionary imprint", Benedict XVI also entrusted to Mary "the special missionary experience" that he will have in the coming days "with the apostolic voyage to the United States of America, and the visit to the UN". "I ask all of you", he concluded "to accompany me with your prayer".

After the Marian prayer, in the greetings in various languages, he exhorted the young people to "listen to the call of the Good Shepherd", and to follow him in a radical way, in order to be "truly happy". He asked all to pray for his "apostolic pilgrimage" to the United States.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Quick Study on Pope Benedict XVI


"A theologian who does not love art, poetry, music and nature can be dangerous!" Joseph Ratzinger

An excellent interview with Austrailan Theologian Tracey Rowland the author of the excellent new book Ratzinger's Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI that appeared several years ago in Zenit in two parts:

Benedict XVI, Vatican II and Modernity
Benedict XVI, Thomism, and Liberal Culture (Part 2)

Amy to Blog for New York Times

During the Papal visit... a positive sign--since I think everyone who reads her blog knows, she is a fan of all things Pope Benedict. The New York Times Papal blog.

Our Sunday Visitor is also presenting a Papal trip blog here and the Tim Drake is doing one for the National Catholic Register.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Five New Bishops

(actually four new bishops as reported here a few days ago), For Des Moines, Little Rock and auxiliaries for Denver, San Antonio and San Francisco, from the Vatican:

Des Moines: Bishop Richard Edmund Pates

Little Rock: Father Anthony Basil Taylor

Auxiliary for Denver: Monsignor James Douglas Conley

Auxiliary for San Antonio: Father Oscar Cantú

Auxiliary for San Francisico: Father William J. Justice

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Pope's Weekly Catechesis: Saint Benedict

From Asia News Italy:
The "true humanism" of Saint Benedict, which means a journey toward God, remains today an antidote against the culture of the "easy and egocentric" self-realisation of man, a temptation "that is often exalted today", in a Europe that "just having left behind a century profoundly wounded by two world wars, and after the collapse of the grand ideologies, revealed as tragic utopias, is searching for its identity".

The figure of the founder of Western monasticism, "and also the patron of my pontificate", was at the centre of the reflection that Benedict XVI presented today to the 30,000 people in Saint Peter's Square for the general audience, the last before his departure for his visit to the United States, on April 15. Today's address brought his expression of the hope that "Europe may be enlightened by the religious and moral teaching that emerges from its Christian roots", which was expanded to the vision of the Benedictine rule as a model for all men of today, since by his life Saint Benedict "demonstrates that God is not a faraway hypothesis about the origin of the world, but a concrete presence in the life of man". Thus, on the Old Continent, "in order to create a new and lasting unity, political, economic, and legal instruments are certainly important, but there is also the need for a spiritual and ethical renewal that draws upon the Christian roots of the continent, otherwise Europe cannot be rebuilt. Without this vital sap", he continued, "man is exposed to the risk of succumbing and of wanting to redeem himself". This is "a utopia that in various ways, as Pope John Paul II showed, represents an unprecedented step backward in tumultuous history of humanity".

The pope then recalled that Saint Benedict, who was born around the year 480, was sent by his prosperous parents to study in Rome. But, "disgusted by the lifestyle of many of his companions", and not wanting to fall into the same errors, but "to please God alone", he withdrew to the mountains east of Rome, before his studies were concluded. During the three years when he lived as a hermit in a cave near Subiaco, he experienced a period of "solitude together with God". That period allowed him to overcome three fundamental temptations: that of self-affirmation, of placing himself at the centre, that of sexuality, and that of anger and vengeance".

"In the anxiety and confusion of his time", caused by the fall of the Roman Empire and by the crisis in public behaviour, "he lived under the eyes of God, and with his own eyes directed toward him, without losing sight of man and his concrete problems". "Thus he understood the reality of man and his mission". The pope then emphasised St Benedict's life of prayer, which for him was "in the first place an act of listening, which must then be translated into concrete action. The Lord is waiting for us to respond practically, every day, to his holy instruction". The rule of St Benedict, in conclusion, is still today "a light along humanity's path", and is "the search for the humble and obedient Christ", and precisely in this way is at the service of the other and of peace.

Pope has High Approval Rating in US

According to Zogby Poll, from Syracuse.com:
A LeMoyne College/Zogby International poll being released today shows that Pope Benedict XVI's approval rating among American Catholics is 70 percent...,

...At 70 percent approval, a significant majority of respondents believe Benedict is doing a good job leading the church, said Matthew Loveland, a sociologist of religion at Le Moyne who works with the Le Moyne/Zogby poll.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Pope Benedict's Greeting

Return to the Catholic Church

This excellent web site will help you find the way back...and I think it will help you if your still considering "could I ever become a Catholic?" Catholics Come Home


The How to Book of the Mass  by Michael Dubruiel would be a great gift for an inquirer.





Michael Dubruiel

The How-To Book of the Mass is the only book that not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of themost time-honored tradition of the Catholic Church but also the how.
In this complete guide you get:
  • step-by-step guidelines to walk you through the Mass
  • the Biblical roots of the various parts of the Mass and the very prayers themselves
  • helpful hints and insights from the Tradition of the Church
  • aids in overcoming distractions at Mass
  • ways to make every Mass a way to grow in your relationship with Jesus
If you want to learn what the Mass means to a truly Catholic life—and share this practice with others—you can’t be without The How-To Book of the Mass. Discover how to:
  • Bless yourself
  • Make the Sign of the Cross
  • Genuflect
  • Pray before Mass
  • Join in Singing the Opening Hymn
  • Be penitential
  • Listen to the Scriptures
  • Hear a Great Homily Everytime
  • Intercede for others
  • Be a Good Steward
  • Give Thanks to God
  • Give the Sign of Peace
  • Receive the Eucharist
  • Receive a Blessing
  • Evangelize Others
  • Get something Out of Every Mass You Attend
"Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table 'he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." 1347, Catechism of the Catholic Church

Find more about The How to Book of the Mass here.

Indianapolis Carmelite Monastery to Close


They are perhaps best known in the post Vatican II church for producing an inclusive language Liturgy of the Hours, that was used by a number of women religious. But before then they were cloistered and the recipients a wealthy Lousiville's family's money whose daughter was the founding nun of this particular monastery. That led to the building of this very interesting monastery, of which you get a glimpse in the above picture. I visited them some years ago and prayed Vespers with them, they were miffed at a piece that Our Sunday Visitor had written against the inclusive version they had produced, but nice to me--something that would have been impossible if they were still cloistered. They were nice women--almost all from different communities that had closed after experimenting with similar reforms. Sadly, now another chapter closes on the failed reforms which led many to abandon the charisms that attracted them to their particular religious order in the first place. Brings to mind the Book of Revelation, "You have forgotten your first love." From WTHR in Indianapolis:

The Carmelites of Indianapolis have called Indianapolis home for 75 years. They've lived in a monastery on Cold Spring Road doing God's work through prayer and contemplation.

The nine Catholic sisters, whose median age is in the mid-70s, are moving. This summer they'll relocate to a building on the Franciscan sisters' property in Oldenburg, Indiana.

Prioress Sister Jean Alice McGoff said of the decision, "It takes a lot to run a place like this. Even though we've been able to live a life of prayer, we felt it was better to make the transition when we could do it for ourselves, we have the energy and we're well."

Also key is the Archdiocese of Indianapolis' offer to buy their property for a seminary. The seminary will house men preparing for the priesthood at nearby Marian College.

Sister Jean Alice said,"The fact this building would continue to be a house of worship was important to us. And we just felt it was a gift of God."

She and the other sisters are no strangers to change. Until the early 60s, they were cloistered, living behind the thick stone walls of the monastery, which they themselves maintained.

"We were always faithful to our life of prayer, but we did a lot of work to save money," Sister Jean Alice said. "I learned to push a wheelbarrow, dig up and cut down trees, transplant trees. I learned to use all kinds of tools - hammers and saws."

The sisters greeted visitors through a window with a thick screen, venturing out only for emergencies. That began to change in the mid-60s along with changes in the Catholic church. The Carmelites gradually opened up, having face-to-face interactions with visitors. They also began watching TV and reading the newspaper.

While the sisters still lead simple, mostly private lives, they're well read and, well connected thru their website, praythenews.org.

The sisters launched it as a way to introduce women to their way of life.

"Sometimes when you set out to do a goal, something else develops and that's what happened," Sister Jean Alice said.

While the website didn't result in any new vocations, it did draw worldwide attention, which was a bit overwhelming for the publicity-shy sisters.

Sister Jean Alice laughed, recalling one of the media requests: "and now we were going to be on the Today Show and I just said, 'Sisters, please don't do this!'"

As they do every Sunday, the sisters invited friends and visitors to join them for Easter Mass, but this time there were special prayers for the sisters. Visiting priest Father Tom Widner noted their leaving and influence on the community.

"They're just warm and affectionate and very considerate of people and loving. It's a loss for the local church and Indianapolis," he said.

Mary Ann Grogan, who's known the sisters for years, talked about the monastery being "a quiet space...and we like to think we take some of their goodness into our busy world."

Carolyn Fay agreed. "On a personal note, these sisters are my sisters and I'll miss them very much. They've introduced me to so many ways of looking at spirituality and finding God in each other."

Asked what message she wanted to share, Sister Jean Alice said, "There's a reverence in me and I think all the sisters, for every human being no matter who they are, we are all God-bearers."

She said while the sisters would take down their web site after moving, they would continue to do God's work, just from a different house of prayer.

Message to the United States

From Pope Benedict XVI:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the United States of America,

The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you! In just a few days from now, I shall begin my apostolic visit to your beloved country. Before setting off, I would like to offer you a heartfelt greeting and an invitation to prayer. As you know, I shall only be able to visit two cities: Washington and New York. The intention behind my visit, though, is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States. At the same time, I earnestly hope that my presence among you will be seen as a fraternal gesture towards every ecclesial community, and a sign of friendship for members of other religious traditions and all men and women of good will. The risen Lord entrusted the Apostles and the Church with his Gospel of love and peace, and his intention in doing so was that the message should be passed on to all peoples.

At this point I should like to add some words of thanks, because I am conscious that many people have been working hard for a long time, both in Church circles and in the public services, to prepare for my journey. I am especially grateful to all who have been praying for the success of the visit, since prayer is the most important element of all. Dear friends, I say this because I am convinced that without the power of prayer, without that intimate union with the Lord, our human endeavours would achieve very little. Indeed this is what our faith teaches us. It is God who saves us, he saves the world, and all of history. He is the Shepherd of his people. I am coming, sent by Jesus Christ, to bring you his word of life.

Together with your Bishops, I have chosen as the theme of my journey three simple but essential words: "Christ our hope". Following in the footsteps of my venerable predecessors, Paul VI and John Paul II, I shall come to United States of America as Pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition. Yes, Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you, in a series of celebrations and gatherings. I shall also bring the message of Christian hope to the great Assembly of the United Nations, to the representatives of all the peoples of the world. Indeed, the world has greater need of hope than ever: hope for peace, for justice, and for freedom, but this hope can never be fulfilled without obedience to the law of God, which Christ brought to fulfilment in the commandment to love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to you, and avoid doing what you would not want them to do. This "golden rule" is given in the Bible, but it is valid for all people, including non-believers. It is the law written on the human heart; on this we can all agree, so that when we come to address other matters we can do so in a positive and constructive manner for the entire human community.

Dirijo un cordial saludo a los católicos de lengua española y les manifiesto mi cercanía espiritual, en particular a los jóvenes, a los enfermos, a los ancianos y a los que pasan por dificultades o se sienten más necesitados. Les expreso mi vivo deseo de poder estar pronto con Ustedes en esa querida Nación. Mientras tanto, les aliento a orar intensamente por los frutos pastorales de mi inminente Viaje Apostólico y a mantener en alto la llama de la esperanza en Cristo Resucitado.

Dear brothers and sisters, dear friends in the United States, I am very much looking forward to being with you. I want you to know that, even if my itinerary is short, with just a few engagements, my heart is close to all of you, especially to the sick, the weak, and the lonely. I thank you once again for your prayerful support of my mission. I reach out to every one of you with affection, and I invoke upon you the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Que la Virgen María les acompañe y proteja. Que Dios les bendiga.

May God bless you all.

Monday, April 07, 2008

This Month's Catholic Bestseller is...

From the Catholic Book Publishers Association:


APRIL 2008


Hardcover

1. Questions and Answers


Pope Benedict XVI,


Our Sunday Visitor (9781592764396)



2. Miles from the Sideline





M. Weis & J. Temple,


Sorin Books (9781933495033)



3. Jesus of Nazareth





Pope Benedict XVI,


Doubleday (9780385523417)



4. The Greatest Gift





Binka Le Breton,


Doubleday (9780385522182)



5. The Dream Manager





Matthew Kelly,


Beacon Publishing/Hyperion (9781401303709)



6. Surprised by Hope





N.T. Wright,


HarperOne (9780061551826)



7. Celebration of Discipline





25th Anniversary Edition



Richard Foster,

HarperOne (9780060628390)



8. Rediscovering Catholicism





Matthew Kelly,


Beacon Publishing (9781929266081)



9. Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism






George Weigel,

Doubleday (9780385523783)



10. The Rhythm of Life






Matthew Kelly,

Beacon/Fireside (9780743265106)

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Emmaus

The central theme of my recent Lenten missions given in Florida, Texas and California, today's Gospel, and the outline of the new evangelization--Pope Benedict's take in today's Regina Caeli address from Asia News Italy:
The evangelical account of the "dejected" and "disappointed" disciples in Emmaus is a message for all Christians: through their encounter with the risen Jesus, they are able to return to a "robust faith" that "is nourished not with human ideas, but with the Word of God and the Eucharist". This is the commentary of Benedict XVI on the Gospel of this Sunday - the third Sunday of Easter - in which the story is told (cf. Lk. 24:13-35) "of two followers of Christ who, on the day following Saturday, meaning the third day after his death, sad and downcast left Jerusalem and headed toward a nearby village called Emmaus. Along the road, the risen Jesus came up beside them, but they did not recognise him. Sensing that they were dejected, he explained, on the basis of the Scriptures, that the Messiah had to suffer and die in order to enter his glory. He then entered a house together with them, sat at table, blessed the bread and broke it, and at that point they recognised him, but he disappeared, leaving them full of amazement before that broken bread, the new sign of his presence. And the two immediately returned to Jerusalem and told what had happened to the other disciples".

Archaeologists in the Holy Land have not yet precisely identified this location, and there are at least three hypotheses. For the pope, this has an evocative value: in reality, Emmaus is "every place, the road that leads there is the journey of each Christian, and moreover of each man. The risen Jesus accompanies us on our journey, on our road, to rekindle within our hearts the warmth of faith and hope, and to break the bread of eternal life".

The pontiff comments on the words used by one of the disciples ("We were hoping . . ."), the manifestation of a faith in disappointment and crisis: "This verb in the past tense says everything: we believed, we followed, we hoped . . . but now it's all over. Even Jesus of Nazareth, who had shown himself to be a prophet mighty in deed and word, even he failed, and we were left disappointed. Who has not experienced a moment like this in his life? Sometimes faith itself enters into crisis, because of negative experiences that make us feel abandoned and betrayed even by the Lord".

But the story of Emmaus suggests instead that it is possible to encounter the risen Jesus "still today". "Still today", the pope added, departing from his prepared remarks, "Jesus speaks to us in the Scripture; still today Jesus gives us his Body and his Blood". "The encounter with the Risen Christ", he continues, "gives us a more profound and authentic faith, one tempered, so to speak, in the fire of the paschal event, a faith that is robust because it is nourished not with human ideas, but with the Word of God and the Eucharist".

"This stupendous text of the Gospel", Benedict XVI concludes, "already contains the structure of the Holy Mass: in the first part, the listening to the Word of God through the sacred Scriptures; in the second the Eucharistic liturgy and communion with Christ, present in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. By nourishing ourselves at this twofold meal, the Church constantly builds itself up and renews itself day by day in faith, hope, and charity. Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, let us pray that every Christian and every community, reliving the experience of the disciples in Emmaus, may rediscover the grace of the transforming encounter with the risen Lord".

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Feast of Divine Mercy

Pope Benedict at today's Regina Caeli address, from Asia News Italy:
A few days shy of the anniversary of John Paul II’s death, Benedict XVI announced during the Regina Caeli today that he would preside over a Mass in memory of the great Polish pope. The Mass will open the First World Congress on Apostolic Divine Mercy in Rome. Card Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, is among the organisers.

“Mercy,’ said Benedict XVI, ‘is in reality the core of the Evangelical message; it is the name of God itself, the face with which He revealed Himself in the Ancient Covenant and fully in Jesus Christ, incarnation of Creative and Redemptive Love. This love of mercy illuminates the face of the Church as well, and manifests itself via the Sacraments, in particular that of the Reconciliation, and charity, community and individual works. All that the Church says and does is a manifestation of God’s mercy for man. When the Church has to reiterate an unrecognised truth or a good thing that was betrayed, it does so driven by a merciful love that men may have life and have it more abundantly (cf Jn, 10:10). From Divine Mercy, which pacifies the hearts, comes true peace in the world, peace among different peoples, cultures and religions.”

It was thanks to John Paul II that the second Sunday of Easter (Dominica in Albis) became the ‘Sunday of Divine Mercy’. “This occurred at the same time as the canonisation of Faustina Kowalska, a humble Polish nun born in 1905 who died in 1938, a zealous messenger of the Merciful Jesus.”

“Like Sister Faustina,” the Pope added, “John Paul II was several times the Apostle of Divine Mercy. That unforgettable Saturday, 2 April 2005, when he closed his eyes to this world, was the eve of the Second Sunday of Easter, and many noted the singular coincidence with its Marian dimension, that of being the first Saturday of the month and that of Divine Mercy. In effect the heart of his long and multifaceted pontificate lies in that; his entire mission in the service of the truth about God and man and peace in the world is summarised in this announcement, which he made himself in Krakow-Łagiewniki in 2002, when he inaugurated the Shrine of Divine Mercy: ‘[A]part from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for mankind.’ His message, like that of St Faustina’s, leads back to the face of Christ, the supreme revelation of God’s mercy. Constantly contemplating that face, that is the heritage he left us, and which we welcome and make our own with joy.”

At the end of his reflection, Benedict urged the faithful to place the congress that opens tomorrow in Rome “under the celestial protection of Mary, Holiest Mater Misericordiae. To her we trust the great cause of peace in the world so that God’s mercy may accomplish what is impossible to human forces alone, and inspire courage for dialogue and reconciliation.”

Friday, March 28, 2008

Where I was Today

Sitting next to Tim Drake who wrote this in his excellent Pope 2008 blog (the picture also was taken by Tim):

Father Benedict Groeschel, co-founder of New York's Franciscan Friars of Renewal spoke to a group of approximately 150 priests, brothers, and nuns this morning at the Institute on Religious Life National Meeting being held in Chicago. The photo is from the talk. While the two-part talk focused on the damage that modern psychology has done to religious life, and the importance of virtue, Father Benedict did offer some interesting asides related to the Pope's upcoming visit.

First, according to Father Benedict, Cardinal Edward Egan asked that representatives from the religious community be on-hand at the airport when the Pope arrives in New York. I didn't obtain the exact numbers, but it sounded as if at least 20 priests and brothers and many sisters from the community will be there to greet the Pope. Imagine all that gray along with the Pope's white.

Secondly, while Father Benedict didn't delve into what he thought the Pope might say while he's here, he did have one thing to say about the Pope's address to Catholic educators and Catholic college and university presidents at Catholic University of America.

"He's not going to give them roses," said Father Groeschel.

Great Quote

“To look at everything only in a human way, and not in the light of faith, is like looking through the opposite end of binoculars - instead of making everything look larger and closer, everything looks smaller and farther away.”S. C. Biela

Monday, March 24, 2008

Regina Caeli Message of Pope Benedict XVI

Given today at Castel Gandolfo, from Asia News Italy:
In the light of the Resurrection of Christ, "special value is accorded to commemoration and prayer for the missionary martyrs who died in 2007, while they were carrying out their missionary service. This is a duty of gratitude for the entire Church, and an encouragement for each of us". These were some of Benedict XVI's words following the recitation of the Regina Caeli, on the occasion of the annual day of prayer and fasting for missionary martyrs. This commemoration is observed today, on the occasion of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Oscar Arnulfo Romero, archbishop of San Salvador.

This day, which is usually dedicated to prayer and fasting, falls on the first day after Easter. The pope cheerfully suggested, given the festive atmosphere, not to fast, but to pray: "To remember and pray, but perhaps not to fast, for these our brothers and sisters - bishops, priests, religious men and women, laity - who died in 2007, while carrying out their missionary service, is a duty of gratitude for the entire Church, and an encouragement for each of us to bear witness in an increasingly courageous way to our faith and hope in Him who on the Cross conquered forever the power of hatred and violence with the omnipotence of his love".

Before the prayer, which replaces the Angelus during the Easter season, the pope recalled that "at the solemn Easter vigil, after the days of Lent, there returned the singing of the Alleluia, a universally familiar word that means 'praise the Lord'. During the Easter season, this invitation to praise leaps from mouth to mouth, from heart to heart. It resonates beginning from an absolutely new event: the death and resurrection of Christ. The Alleluia sprang from the hearts of the first disciples of Jesus that Easter morning, in Jerusalem".

From that same experience, Benedict XVI continues, "is derived also the prayer that we recite today and every day during the Easter season in the place of the Angelus: the Marian antiphon Regina Caeli. The text is short, and has the direct form of a proclamation: it is like a new 'annunciation' to Mary, not made by an angel this time, but by Christians who invite the Mother to rejoice because her Son, whom she bore her womb, has risen as He had promised".

It is to be hoped, the pope continues, "that the Easter Alleluia may be profoundly impressed upon us as well, so that it becomes not only a word, but the expression of our life itself: the existence of persons who invite all to praise the Lord, and do this through their behaviour as 'risen' persons. 'Pray to the Lord for us', we say to Mary, so that He who, in the resurrection of his Son, has restored joy to the entire world, may grant us to taste this joy now, and in the life without end". In conclusion, Benedict XVI recalled the world day for the fight against tuberculosis, and said that he is "particularly close to the sick and to their families. I hope that the effort to overcome this scourge may increase on a worldwide level. My appeal is addressed above all to the Catholic institutions, so that those who suffer may recognise, through their work, the Risen Lord who gives them healing, comfort, and peace".

Sunday, March 23, 2008

To the City and to the World

Pope Benedict's Easter Message, from Asia News Italy:

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia! - I have risen, I am still with you. Alleluia! Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats this joyful proclamation to us today: the Easter proclamation. Let us welcome it with deep wonder and gratitude!


Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum – I have risen, I am still with you, for ever. These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138 (v. 18b), were sung at the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at the rising of the Easter sun, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus himself who, on rising from death, turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: My Father, here I am! I have risen, I am still with you, and so I shall be for ever; your Spirit never abandoned me. In this way we can also come to a new understanding of other passages from the psalm: "If I climb the heavens, you are there; if I descend into the underworld, you are there … Even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as clear as day; for you, darkness is like light" (Ps 138:8,12). It is true: in the solemn Easter vigil, darkness becomes light, night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. The death and resurrection of the Word of God incarnate is an event of invincible love, it is the victory of that Love which has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death. It has changed the course of history, giving to human life an indestructible and renewed meaning and value.


"I have risen and I am still with you, for ever." These words invite us to contemplate the risen Christ, letting his voice resound in our heart. With his redeeming sacrifice, Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God, so that we too can now take our place in the mysterious dialogue between him and the Father. We are reminded of what he once said to those who were listening: "All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Mt 11:27). In this perspective, we note that the words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day – "I am still with you, for ever" – apply indirectly to us as well, "children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (cf. Rom 8:17). Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we too rise to new life today, and uniting our voice with his, we proclaim that we wish to remain for ever with God, our infinitely good and merciful Father.


In this way we enter the depths of the Paschal mystery. The astonishing event of the resurrection of Jesus is essentially an event of love: the Father’s love in handing over his Son for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning himself to the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from the dead in his transfigured body. And there is more: the Father’s love which "newly embraces" the Son, enfolding him in glory; the Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’s resurrection, we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to live by rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation, to imitate the Redeemer who is "gentle and lowly in heart", who is "rest for our souls" (cf. Mt 11:29).


Dear Christian brothers and sisters in every part of the world, dear men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth, let no heart be closed to the omnipotence of this redeeming love! Jesus Christ died and rose for all; he is our hope – true hope for every human being. Today, just as he did with his disciples in Galilee before returning to the Father, the risen Jesus now sends us everywhere as witnesses of his hope, and he reassures us: I am with you always, all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). Fixing the gaze of our spirit on the glorious wounds of his transfigured body, we can understand the meaning and value of suffering, we can tend the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day. In his glorious wounds we recognize the indestructible signs of the infinite mercy of the God of whom the prophet says: it is he who heals the wounds of broken hearts, who defends the weak and proclaims the freedom of slaves, who consoles all the afflicted and bestows upon them the oil of gladness instead of a mourning robe, a song of praise instead of a sorrowful heart (cf. Is 61:1,2,3). If with humble trust we draw near to him, we encounter in his gaze the response to the deepest longings of our heart: to know God and to establish with him a living relationship in an authentic communion of love, which can fill our lives, our interpersonal and social relations with that same love. For this reason, humanity needs Christ: in him, our hope, "we have been saved" (cf. Rom 8:24).


How often relations between individuals, between groups and between peoples are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence! These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters. They are waiting to be tended and healed by the glorious wounds of our Risen Lord (cf. 1 Pet 2:24-25) and by the solidarity of people who, following in his footsteps, perform deeds of charity in his name, make an active commitment to justice, and spread luminous signs of hope in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled. It is hoped that these are precisely the places where gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase!


Dear brothers and sisters! Let us allow the light that streams forth from this solemn day to enlighten us; let us open ourselves in sincere trust to the risen Christ, so that his victory over evil and death may also triumph in each one of us, in our families, in our cities and in our nations. Let it shine forth in every part of the world. In particular, how can we fail to remember certain African regions, such as Dafur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good! Let us invoke the fullness of his Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary who, after sharing the sufferings of the passion and crucifixion of her innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of his resurrection. Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace. These are my Easter greetings, which I address to all who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent united with us through radio and television. Happy Easter!

Holy Week (Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form)

My Holy Week was spent in two different parishes--one in the usual ordinary form of the liturgy for Holy Thursday and the other in a parish using the extraordinary form for Good Friday and the Easter Vigil.

Holy Thursday: (Ordinary Form) A simple liturgy, somewhat subdued (no washing of feet or stripping of the altars--in fact it seemed that the altars had been stripped beforehand)--still a beautiful simple liturgy with chant and incense. A modest crowd.

Good Friday: (Extraordinary Form) Celebrated by a priest of the Fraternity of Saint Peter (in my experience--these priests do it well and speak Latin with great ease). Amazing how little this liturgy (which I believe was modified greatly by Pius XII) has changed. Everything in Latin, including the Passion, which the priest read changing his voice for each character. One part of John's Passion that jumped out at me, (and all you authors out there who have worked with an editor will relate) , was the exchange between the chief priests and Pilate. It struck me that Pilate's response is the motto of all authors--while the chief priests represent the editorial motto "Write not: The King of the Jews, but that He said: I am the King of the Jews" to which Pilate responds: "Quod scripsi, scripsi" literally "what I have written, I have written." The priest used the modified prayer of Pope Benedict in the Intercession when praying for the Jewish people--I'm surprised the "Heretics and Schismatics" as well as the "pagans" haven't been complaining about being prayed for as well. About 100 or so present, all seemed conversant with the Latin and to follow the liturgy with no problem--mostly young (read under 40 crowd).

Holy Saturday (Extraordinary Form): At 11 p.m. This was a first for me--I had been to the Good Friday liturgy once before it was reformed as a young child, but never to the Easter Vigil before the reform. I found it very interesting. Most of the same elements, blessing of the fire, candle, Exultet, vigil readings (four), blessing of the Baptismal water, font (before the "Mass"), then High Mass followed by Solemn Lauds--all in about three hours. The readings were all chanted by the priest. The service began outside and it was cold (in the 20's with wind). The thing that struck me most was how long the blessing over the water was and the various exorcisms by tracing the cross, flinging water to the four directions, breathing the cross, breathing the Greek letter psi while the Easter Candle was submerged, pouring the Oil of the Sick as well as Sacred Chrism into the water. Without any baptisms or confirmations the Mass was three full hours. Most of the liturgy involved the active participation of the faithful (a fairly small crowd of maybe 60 people) up until Mass began. Then as Mass began, we gathered became essentially spectators, the priest reading to himself, saying all the prayers to God and only every now and then were were a part of an "Amen" or "Et cum spiritu tuo." And its at that point that whenever I experience the extraordinary form that I always see why reform of the liturgy was needed--and this is one of the gifts that Pope Benedict is giving to the church by making the extraordinary form more available--reeducating us as to what the reform of the liturgy hoped to accomplish. I only wish that the baby hadn't been thrown out with the bath water and that is the problem--how beautiful it would be to have the Liturgy of the Word chanted in English, while at the same time chanting common Latin prayers as it seems the Council envisioned. There is much to experience in the Extraordinary Form and I hope many who have never experienced it will venture out to do so. I also hope pastors of the ordinary form will do so too--in order to recapture much of what is missing from their parish liturgies today.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Turn Towards the Lord

From Pope Benedict XVI's Easter Vigil homily:
In the early Church there was a custom whereby the Bishop or the priest, after the homily, would cry out to the faithful: “Conversi ad Dominum” – turn now towards the Lord. This meant in the first place that they would turn towards the East, towards the rising sun, the sign of Christ returning, whom we go to meet when we celebrate the Eucharist. Where this was not possible, for some reason, they would at least turn towards the image of Christ in the apse, or towards the Cross, so as to orient themselves inwardly towards the Lord. Fundamentally, this involved an interior event; conversion, the turning of our soul towards Jesus Christ and thus towards the living God, towards the true light. Linked with this, then, was the other exclamation that still today, before the Eucharistic Prayer, is addressed to the community of the faithful: “Sursum corda” – “Lift up your hearts”, high above the tangled web of our concerns, desires, anxieties and thoughtlessness – “Lift up your hearts, your inner selves!” In both exclamations we are summoned, as it were, to a renewal of our Baptism: Conversi ad Dominum – we must distance ourselves ever anew from taking false paths, onto which we stray so often in our thoughts and actions. We must turn ever anew towards him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must be converted ever anew, turning with our whole life towards the Lord. And ever anew we must allow our hearts to be withdrawn from the force of gravity, which pulls them down, and inwardly we must raise them high: in truth and love. At this hour, let us thank the Lord, because through the power of his word and of the holy Sacraments, he points us in the right direction and draws our heart upwards. Let us pray to him in these words: Yes, Lord, make us Easter people, men and women of light, filled with the fire of your love.

Pope Baptizes Prominent Italian Muslim

From Yahoo News:
An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book "Long Live Israel."

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Allam's head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another," Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close."

Vatican Television zoomed in on Allam, who sat in the front row of the basilica along with six other candidates for baptism. He later received his first Communion.

Second Day of Divine Mercy Novena

From Divine Mercy Novena:

Second Day

"Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave Me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind."

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy, and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard - upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation, and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

New Papal Master of Ceremonies Explains All

From The New Liturgical Movement:
The office of Master of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope is important because, if it is true that lex orandi lex credendi (the Church believes in that which She prays [Rodari's translation]), then to direct the papal ceremonies with rigour and faithfulness to the norms is a help to the Faith of the entire Church. "The liturgy of the Church - explains Marini -, with its words, gestures, silences, chants and music causes us to live with singular efficacy the different moments of the history of Salvation in such a way that we become really participant in them and transform ourselves ever more into authentic disciples of the Lord, walking again in our lives along the traces of Him who has died and risen for our salvation. The liturgical celebration, if it is truly participated in, induces to this transformation which is the history of holiness."

And a help in this "transformation" can be that "repositioning" of the Cross in the centre of the altar, which has been carried out in the papal liturgies, as a residue [Rodari's word] of the old "orientation towards orient" of churches towards the rising Sun, Him who is coming. "The ion of the Cross at the centre of the altar - says Marini - indicates the centrality of the Crucified in the eucharistic celebration and the precise interior orientation which the entire congregation is called to have during the eucharistic liturgy: one does not look at each other, but one looks to Him who has been born, has died and is risen for us, the Saviour. From the Lord comes the salvation, He is the Orient, the Sun which rises to whom we all must turn our gaze, from Whom we all must receive the gift of grace. The question of liturgical orientation, and also the practical manner in which it takes shape, is of great importance, because through it is conveyed a fundamental fact, at once theological and anthropological, ecclesiological and relevant for the personal spirituality."

Friday, March 21, 2008

Divine Mercy Novena Begins Today

First Day

"Today bring to Me All Mankind, especially all sinners and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me."


Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins, but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Say the above prayer and recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. For the entire novena see:

Pope Stays Undercover for Stations


Held during a driving rainstorm, from the Associated Press:

Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Good Friday night Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum during a driving rainstorm but did not carry the cross as planned during the tradition, which was dedicated to religious freedom this year.

The pope wore a long white coat as he stood sheltered from the cold, pelting rain under a canopy erected on the Palatine Hill overlooking the Colosseum.

At the end of the procession, Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini handed Benedict the tall, slender, lightweight cross. The pope gripped the cross briefly. Then, in a strong voice, he blessed the crowd of thousands being drenched by the rain and buffeted by gusty winds and told them: "Thank you for being patient under the rain. Happy Easter to you."

The pope was supposed to carry the cross for the final minutes of the more than hour-long procession, taking his turn after a young woman and a young priest from China walked with the symbol of Jesus' crucifixion.

But Vatican officials said that because of the storm, it was decided that the pope, who turns 81 next month and has two more days of strenuous ceremonies in the days ahead to mark Easter, should stay dry under the canopy.

Behold the Wood of the Cross


Good Friday--The Penitenti


From Reuters:
Penitent Fernando Mamangan weeps in pain as he is nailed to a wooden cross in a voluntary crucifixion on Good Friday in Santa Lucia village March 21, 2008. Filipinos including a 15-year-old were nailed to crosses and scores more whipped their backs into a bloody pulp on Friday in a gory ritual to mark the death of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Way of the Cross (Vatican)

Beautiful artwork that accompanies this year's stations composed by Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong following the modified stations of Pope John Paul II (beginning with the Agony in the Garden). So far only online in Italian, but the English should be there by Good Friday...here.

Bin Laden Threatens the Pope

Blames him for Danish cartoons of three years ago, from Reuters:

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden threatened the European Union with grave punishment on Wednesday over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

In an audio recording posted on the Internet, Bin Laden said the cartoons were part of a "crusade" in which he said the Catholic Pope Benedict was involved.

The message was released on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Pope to Reduce Good Friday Activity

From Reuters:

Pope Benedict will reduce his activity at this week's Good Friday procession by watching most of the service from a vantage point instead of walking around Rome's ancient Colosseum, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed the change, reported earlier on Tuesday by the French religious news agency I-Media.

Lombardi said there were no worries about the health of the pope, who will turn 81 during his trip to the United States in April.

"It is reasonable that he would want to conserve his energy," Lombardi said in response to a question.

Instead of walking around the Colosseum for all 14 of the "stations of the cross" as he did in previous years, the pope will watch most of the event from Rome's nearby Palatine hill.

Benedict is expected to walk the procession only for the last three "stations". The 14 stations commemorate the events between Christ being condemned to death and his burial.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Problem at Notre Dame

Well put...from Exile Street:
This is not a discussion of censoring works of art like VM. They are easily available to any who wish to view them. It is the failure of Notre Dame to become a place where such sin is not celebrated. Can’t there be one “last homely home,” one last Rivendell, where an alternative culture can exist?

Must one allow sin, blasphemy and the celebration of the unholy, to live the examined life? Aquinas did not think so. Socrates did not either. What does the President of Notre Dame know that they did not?

Once a mind has been debased, Sacred Scriptures and the Holy Fathers make it clear that purity is difficult to regain. What academic merit would justify such a thing?

The notion that having one token Catholic to respond on a “panel” to a forceful dramatic presentation is so weak and impotent as to merit pity or laughter more than anger. It is as if the owner of a home felt honored that he was allowed one seat at his own dinner table, dominated by barbarians.

The sheep have invited the wolves to dinner, but a shepherd will comment after the meal.

Where Owning a Rosary Might Put You in Prison

Saudi Arabia extends a hand of friendship to the Pope, from the Times Online:

The Vatican is believed to be holding talks with Saudi authorities over opening the first Roman Catholic church in the Islamic kingdom, where Christian worship is banned and even to possess a Bible, rosary or crucifix is an offence.

The disclosure came the day after the first Catholic church in Qatar was inaugurated in a service attended by 15,000 people and conducted by a senior Vatican official.

The Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. However, Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hachem, the Papal Nuncio to Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen and Bahrain, who attended the Doha inauguration, said that moves towards diplomatic ties were under way after an unprecedented visit to the Vatican last November by King Abdullah. This would involve negotiations for the “authorisation of the building of Catholic churches” in Saudi Arabia, he said.

The move would amount to a potential revolution in Christian-Muslim relations, since Saudi Arabia adheres to a hardline Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam and is home to Mecca and Medina, the most holy sites of the religion. No faith other than Islam may be practised.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

New (Old) Papal Cross

The Holy Father used the crosier (papal cross) of Pius IX and XII in today's Palm Sunday liturgy. Chances are this is only a temporary change--even Pope John Paul II used several different "ferula"
during his pontificate.

From the Roman Catholic:


Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Passion of the Lord

From Matthew's Gospel...

Beginning with Hosanna, literally "save us!" to invoking the Blood of the New Covenant upon us and our children:

  • what might seem to be a shift in the crowd is ironically in a twist a consistent plea to be saved, albeit in a way that the human actors are unaware--much as we who voice their words as ours on Palm Sunday
  • there is a consistent theme of God's plan coming to fruition in spite of human sinfulness
  • even the thirty pieces of silver are used to purchase a field of "blood" in which to bury foreigners--that precious blood makes available the possibility of eternal life, not only for the people of the Covenant of Moses, but alas for all people--the "many"

Yet here is the one passage that struck me as new and gave me pause to reflect--and something to go and study now (I italicize and put in bold the parts of the passage that I had never quite heard before in this way):

The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

A New Cuban Saint

GIUSEPPE OLALLO VALDÉS

From the Vatican:

- un miracolo, attribuito all’intercessione del Venerabile Servo di Dio GIUSEPPE OLALLO VALDÉS, Religioso professo dell’Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Dio; nato a L’Avana (Cuba) il 12 febbraio 1820 e morto a Camagüey (Cuba) il 7 marzo 1889;

Friday, March 14, 2008

Solemnity of Saint Joseph

Early this year, because the usual feast falls during Holy Week. A Saint I invoke endlessly and with age have only more reason to double my petitions. The words of Pharaoh, recorded in Genesis, became the Word of God when they were imortalized the Sacred Scriptures and so what meant one thing when spoken, now to Christians takes on a new meaning:

“Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.”


Genesis 41:55

Friday, August 10, 2007

Kaddish Read at Lustiger's Funeral

I have a Jewish friend who was very close to Pope John Paul II and when he died her family was summoned to Rome, where her son read the Kaddish over the pope's remains in the papal chapel.

From Jewish World:

France bade farewell to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger on Friday in a ceremony that mixed prayers from his Jewish roots with the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, a faith to which he converted during World War Two.

A cousin of the late archbishop of Paris, Arno Lustiger, read the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead said in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, at the start of the ceremony outside Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris.

Thanks to Mike Aquilina

For the plug...Mystagogy for the Masses

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Tutorial on the Tridentine Mass

Complete with video, which will show you and help you pronouce the Latin correctly:
Your resource for the Latin Mass according to the Missale Romanum of 1962

Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

From Vultus Christi:

Sixty-five years ago today, on August 9, 1942, the Carmelite Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, known in the world as Dr. Edith Stein, met death in the infernal concentration camp of Auschwitz. Edith Stein was a Jew, born into an Orthodox family on October 12th October 1891. It was the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. For a time, suffering from depression, and determined nonetheless to seek her own truth, she abandoned all outward religious practice. Edith asked for Baptism after reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. "This," she said, "is the truth."

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

I received my copy of Quiet Strength from the hands of Coach Dungy himself on the day the book was released in Atlanta, GA. The humble man from Jackson, MI was wearing the Super Bowl ring as he handed me the autographed book.

This is an extremely well written book! I was a big fan of Coach Dungy from his Tampa Bay Buc days (I am a Buc and Jaguar fan) and because like him I ended up in Indiana about the same time that he moved up here, I've followed his career up here--but this book unveals so much about the man and how his faith helps him to interpret the events of his life--both the good and the bad.

What many people would consider insignificant events, Coach Dungy helps the reader to reevaluate and to see in their correct light. I think anyone who reads this book will come away a better person than they were before they read the book--truly a mark of a great book, but also a mark of the quiet strength that motivate Tony Dungy!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Amy's New Blog...

Here

Gravediggers Strike in Montreal

From The Gazette:

Bury the dead, Cardinal says

Saying, "Enough is enough," Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte yesterday urged both sides in the 3-month-old strike at Notre Dame des Neiges cemetery to set aside their differences and bury the dead.

Turcotte, head of the Roman Catholic diocese of Montreal, wants the corporation that runs the cemetery on Mount Royal to lift its lockout of 129 unionized gravediggers and maintenance workers. At the same time, he asked the union to suspend its strike.

An impromptu news conference was called yesterday after Turcotte met privately with Debora De Thomasis, head of a group calling itself Rights for the Families of the Dead in Notre Dame des Neiges cemetery.

The Rosary with the Fathers of the Church

The Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration (Yesterday's Feast) from Father Z and Ambrose's commentary:

You may know that Peter, James and John did not taste death and were worthy to see the glory of the resurrection. It says, "about eight days after these words, He took those three alone and led them onto the mountain." Why is it that he says, "eight days after these words"? He that hears the words of Christ and believes will see the glory of Christ at the time of the resurrection. The resurrection happened on the eight day, and most of the psalms were written "For the eighth". (cf. e.g., Ps 6:1; 12:1 LXX and Vulgate) It shows us that He said that he who because of the Word of God shall lose his own soul will save it, (Luke 9:24) since he renews his promises at the resurrection. (Matthew 16:25-27) But Matthew and Mark say that they were taken after six days. (Cf. Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2) We may say that they were taken after six thousand years, because a thousand years in God’s sight are as one day. (Ps 89:4 LXX) We counted more than six thousand years. We prefer to understand six days as a symbol, because God created the works of the world in six days (Gen 2:1), so that we understand works through the time and the world through the works. [Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 7.6-7]

'Plot Would Have Killed Thousands'

EXCLUSIVE: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Offers Chilling Details About 2006 Airplane Plot and Current Terror Threats

Monday, August 06, 2007

Cardinal Lustiger Dies

From Reuters:

Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jew who converted to Roman Catholicism and became archbishop of Paris, has died of cancer aged 80, the Paris archdiocese said on Sunday.

The son of Polish refugees, he was close to the late Pope John Paul II. His appointment as archbishop in 1981 gave him one of the highest ever positions for a convert to the French Catholic church.

"He had a notable role in our society and in the intellectual debates of our time," the diocese said.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Quote of the Day

From Open Wide the Door to Christ:

"Only a starved spiritual beggar truly awaits the holy Mass; only a beggar desires to participate in the Banquet during which he knows he will be fed."

Prophetic Merle Haggard Song?

A new song that I first heard a few weeks ago... which includes the verse I present in bold:

Why don't we liberate these United States
We're the ones who need it the worst
Let the rest of the world help us for a change
And let's rebuild America first

Our highways and bridges are falling apart
Who's blessed and who has been cursed
There's things to be done all over the world
But let's rebuild America first

The attention (very little) that the song received initially was all on this line:

Let's get out of Iraq
and get back on the track
And let's rebuild America first...

Pope Benedict: The Great Hopes of Vatican II

From his questions and answers with priests, from Sandro Magister:

I, too, lived through Vatican Council II, coming to Saint Peter’s Basilica with great enthusiasm and seeing how new doors were opening. It really seemed to be the new Pentecost, in which the Church would once again be able to convince humanity. After the Church’s withdrawal from the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it seemed that the Church and the world were coming together again, and that there was a rebirth of a Christian world and of a Church of the world and truly open to the world.

We had such great hopes, but in reality things proved to be more difficult. Nonetheless, it is still true that the great legacy of the Council, which opened a new road, is a “magna carta” of the Church’s path, very essential and fundamental.

But why did this happen? I would like to begin with an historical observation. The periods following a council are almost always very difficult. After the great Council of Nicaea – which is, for us, truly the foundation of our faith, in fact we confess the faith as formulated at Nicaea – there was not the birth of a situation of reconciliation and unity, as hoped by Constantine, the promoter of the great Council, but a genuinely chaotic situation of a battle of all against all.

In his book on the Holy Spirit, saint Basil compares the Church’s situation after the Council of Nicaea to a nighttime naval battle, in which no one recognizes another, but everyone is pitted against everyone else. It really was a situation of total chaos: this is how saint Basil paints in vivid colors the drama of the period following the Council of Nicaea.

50 years later, for the first Council of Constantinople, the emperor invited saint Gregory Nazianzen to participate in the council, and saint Gregory responded: No, I will not come, because I understand these things, I know that all of the Councils give rise to nothing but confusion and fighting, so I will not come. And he didn’t go.

So it is not now, in retrospect, such a great surprise how difficult it was at first for all of us to digest the Council, this great message. To imbue this into the life of the Church, to receive it, such that it becomes the Church’s life, to assimilate it into the various realities of the Church is a form of suffering, and it is only in suffering that growth is realized. To grow is always to suffer as well, because it means leaving one condition and passing to another.

And we must note that there were two great historic upheavals in the concrete context of the postconciliar period. The first is the convulsion of 1968, the beginning – or explosion, I dare say – of the great cultural crisis of the West. The postwar generation had ended, a generation that, after seeing all the destruction and horror of war, of combat, and witnessing the drama of the great ideologies that had actually led people toward the precipice of war, had discovered the Christian roots of Europe and had begun to rebuild Europe with these great inspirations. But with the end of this generation there were also seen all of the failures, the gaps in this reconstruction, the great misery in the world, and so began the explosion of the crisis of Western culture, what I would call a cultural revolution that wants to change everything radically. It says: In two thousand years of Christianity, we have not created a better world; we must begin again from nothing, in an absolutely new way. Marxism seems to be the scientific formula for creating, at last, the new world.

In this – let us say – serious, great clash between the new, healthy modernity desired by the Council and the crisis of modernity, everything becomes difficult, like after the first Council of Nicaea.

One side was of the opinion that this cultural revolution was what the Council had wanted. It identified this new Marxist cultural revolution with the will of the Council. It said: This is the Council; in the letter the texts are still a bit antiquated, but behind the written words is this “spirit,” this is the will of the Council, this is what we must do. And on the other side, naturally, was the reaction: you are destroying the Church. The – let us say – absolute reaction against the Council, anticonciliarity, and – let us say – the timid, humble search to realize the true spirit of the Council. And as a proverb says: “If a tree falls it makes a lot of noise, but if a forest grows no one hears a thing,” during these great noises of mistaken progressivism and absolute anticonciliarism, there grew very quietly, with much suffering and with many losses in its construction, a new cultural passageway, the way of the Church.

And then came the second upheaval in 1989, the fall of the communist regimes. But the response was not a return to the faith, as one perhaps might have expected; it was not the rediscovery that the Church, with the authentic Council, had provided the response. The response was, instead, total skepticism, so-called post-modernity. Nothing is true; everyone must decide on his own how to live. There was the affirmation of materialism, of a blind pseudo-rationalistic skepticism that ends in drugs, that ends in all these problems that we know, and the pathways to faith are again closed, because the faith is so simple, so evident: no, nothing is true; truth is intolerant, we cannot take that road.

So: in these contexts of two cultural ruptures, the first being the cultural revolution of 1968 and the second the fall into nihilism after 1989, the Church sets out with humility upon its path, between the passions of the world and the glory of the Lord.

Along this road, we must grow with patience and we must now, in a new way, learn what it means to renounce triumphalism.

The Council had said that triumphalism must be renounced – thinking of the Baroque, of all these great cultures of the Church. It was said: Let’s begin in a new, modern way. But another triumphalism had grown, that of thinking: We will do things now, we have found the way, and on it we find the new world.

But the humility of the Cross, of the Crucified One, excludes precisely this triumphalism as well. We must renounce the triumphalism according to which the great Church of the future is truly being born now. The Church of Christ is always humble, and for this very reason it is great and joyful.

It seems very important to me that we can now see with open eyes how much that was positive also grew following the Council: in the renewal of the liturgy, in the synods – Roman synods, universal synods, diocesan synods – in the parish structures, in collaboration, in the new responsibility of laypeople, in intercultural and intercontinental shared responsibility, in a new experience of the Church’s catholicity, of the unanimity that grows in humility, and nonetheless is the true hope of the world.

And thus it seems to me that we must rediscover the great heritage of the Council, which is not a “spirit” reconstructed behind the texts, but the great conciliar texts themselves, reread today with the experiences that we have had and that have born fruit in so many movements, in so many new religious communities. I arrived in Brazil knowing how the sects are expanding, and how the Catholic Church seems a bit sclerotic; but once I arrived, I saw that almost every day in Brazil a new religious community is born, a new movement is born, and it is not only the sects that are growing. The Church is growing with new realities full of vitality, which do not show up in the statistics – this is a false hope; statistics are not our divinity – but they grow within souls and create the joy of faith, they create the presence of the Gospel, and thus also create true development in the world and society.

Thus it seems to me that we must learn the great humility of the Crucified One, of a Church that is always humble and always opposed by the great economic powers, military powers, etc. But we must also learn, together with this humility, the true triumphalism of the Catholicism that grows in all ages. There also grows today the presence of the Crucified One raised from the dead, who has and preserves his wounds. He is wounded, but it is in just in this way that he renews the world, giving his breath which also renews the Church in spite of all of our poverty. In this combination of the humility of the Cross and the joy of the risen Lord, who in the Council has given us a great road marker, we can go forward joyously and full of hope.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

A Quick Pass Through Home

As I mentioned below we were in Maine over the past week. The journey to Maine involved some business (Catholic Marketing Network in Cleveland), some pleasure--a night in Niagara Falls, Ontario, then a slow ride through New York (upstate) with a very short visit to Holy Trinity Monastery literally in the middle of nowhere--with some of the last remaining winding, narrow roads in the country.

I had been to Jordanville once before, at the time on my way to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame, at the completion of a thirty day retreat at Auriesville, NY in 1991. An old Russian monk had entertained my friend and I on that day with a number of humorous stories. This time with the family in tow, under threatening skies--the visit lived up to Michael's name for such places "monascary." No one was particularly friendly and it seemed a rather slow day with nothing much going on. The bookstore was filled with Russian tomes and I couldn't find any images similar to the one that I had purchased those many years ago--that still graces my room here.

Next we stopped at Mercato Pizza Restaurant in Canajoharie, NY for a nice lunch. Canajoharie was the home of Beech-Nut gum and other products.

A short drive down the road and another short visit to the Shrine of the North American Jesuit Martyrs (where I lived for one month: April of 1991). It is very sad that this has fallen into such disrepair, unlike its sister shrine in Canada. Who to blame? The diocese of Albany? The Jesuits? Us?

UPDATE: The Director of the Shrine takes issue with my apraisal (based on my visit on July 27th 2007--in contrast to time spent there at the retreat house in 1991), but Father sheds some good news that is in the comments, but should also be place here:
I am sad that you spread bad words about the Shrine of the Martyrs at Auriesville. It is true that the old Retreat house is owned by other people now (Buddhists mainly; they are NOT new age and would be very surprised to hear that term used!)The present repairs and renovations being done at and On the Shrine are amazing. A new Votary is being built. The newly expanded gift shop has been given many accolades; and we have many events at the Shrine now, many more than before. I don't know where you got your info! The Jesuits of the NY Province are very much concerned about the Shrine and we don't intend to let it "fall into disrepair etc." Not at all!!

Fr. P. Murray, S.J. -Director.

The Jesuit retreat house where I spent a month is now largely boarded up and home apparently to some New Age group (this was based on a sign posted at the area, which Amy tried to get a photograph of but it was raining pretty hard while we were parked in front of it, (perhaps she can comment on what she remembers the sign's contents).

More to come...

Funny: Mark Shea Wonders if Amy is Okay

For everyone out there, I spotted her on the beach in Maine the other day and I'm pretty sure that she's working on a lengthy tale of our adventures from Russian Monks in New York to lobster heads on the table...

Amy Welborn: Dead Again?