Article on Fr. Robert Barron in the NY TImes

I thoroughly enjoy Father Baron's talks as well as his books.

In Chicago, Energizing the Catholics

Daily Lenten Audio Post

From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

And in the Angelus...on the Color of Red

From Asia News Italy:

“The Consistory was an opportunity to feel closer than ever to all those Christians who suffer persecution because of their faith. Their witness, which we are informed of daily, and above all the sacrifice of those who were killed, are edifying for us and urge us to an ever more sincere and generous Gospel commitment.” The pope also recalled that the red colour of the Cardinal’s vestments, “the colour of blood”, indicated the “fidelity” and readiness of cardinals to spread the Gospel “to the point of sacrificing one’s life”.

Pope in Pink (Rose)-- Laetare Sunday

Liturgy check in your parish, what color vestments did your presider wear today?

Pope mentions John Paul's undelivered homily in his, from:

Pope Benedict XVI commemorated his predecessor on Sunday by quoting a passage on Christian love from a homily that the late John Paul II should have recited on April 3, 2005 - a day after his death last year.

"To humanity, which at times appears lost and dominated by the power of evil, egoism and fear, our risen lord offers in gift his love, which forgives, reconciles and opens our heart to hope. It is a love that conquers the hearts and brings peace," said Benedict, quoting John Paul's planned homily.

"It was written in the divine plans that he should leave us on the eve of that day, Saturday April 2, as we all remember. This is why he was no longer able to utter these words, which I want to recall today to all of you," Benedict said while addressing the faithful gathered in a parish in Rome created under John Paul's pontificate.

"In this sort of testament, we are invited to understand and embrace the divine mercy (of God)," Benedict said.

Daily Lenten Podcast

From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Reflection on Today's Gospel

Jesus said to Nicodemus:“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have
eternal life.”For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed
in the name of the only Son of God.And this is the verdict,that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light,because their works were
evil.For everyone who does wicked things hates the lightand does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

(Image from the ceiling of the Gesu in Rome of souls repelled by the name of Jesus and the Light plunging downward to their damnation)

Reflection

Since I'm fresh back from Rome, I cannot read this Sunday's Gospel without thinking of the ceiling of the Gesu in Rome. It is the triumph of the name of Jesus and it plays on the contrast between light and darkness...those who move toward the name are almost lost in the light, while those repelled by the name are in darkness and seem to be plunging downward and about to crash on those looking upward (one of the best 3-D images I've ever witnessed). And of course this image immediately impacts you the viewer..."am I drawn toward the name of Jesus or repelled by it"...now we all immediately might put ourselves in the "drawn towards" category, but don't be so quick to judge, but rather ask yourself "am I willing to die to myself and glorify the name of Jesus?"
Do I prefer the light that Jesus brings to the darkness of my intellect or do I prefer my thoughts to Jesus' teaching in the Gospel?

One of the best homilies I ever heard was on this Gospel and it also was one of the shortest homilies I ever heard. It was given by an old Jesuit in his 90's who read the Gospel in a halting voice and then preached these words in a tearful voice:

"'This is the judgment, the light came into the world but men preferred darkness.' What a tragedy!"

His simple "What a tragedy" gave me pause to think about the gravity of this choice and years later having witnessed the mother church of the Jesuits I can't help but think when he gave the homily that the image of the Gesu ceiling was in the back of his mind and those plunging souls falling to their own damnation because of their preference to darkness.

Last night I was reading a passage from a book on Monastic Practices, I believe written by a Cistercian and the passage was specifically about Vigils and keeping watch in the night. The monk talked about the deeds of darkness and how monks are called to watch and pray specifically for the Lord's coming in the midst of the night for all of those who may be plunging at that moment into the deeper darkness. Who knows how many souls have been saved because in some monastery at that "hour of darkness" monks were "watching and praying" per the Lord's command and light broke through and drew a soul toward the Name?

Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord

From Pope Benedict's Homily Today:

Saint Augustine imagines a dialogue between himself and the Angel of the Annunciation, in which he asks: "Tell me, O Angel, why did this happen in Mary?" The answer, says the Messenger, is contained in the very words of the greeting: "Hail, full of grace" (cf. Sermo 291:6). In fact, the Angel, "appearing to her", does not call her by her earthly name, Mary, but by her divine name, as she has always been seen and characterized by God: "Full of grace - gratia plena", which in the original Greek is 6,P"D4JTµXv0, "beloved" (cf. Lk 1:28). Origen observes that no such title had ever been given to a human being, and that it is unparalleled in all of Sacred Scripture (cf. In Lucam 6:7). It is a title expressed in passive form, but this "passivity" of Mary, who has always been and is for ever "loved" by the Lord, implies her free consent, her personal and original response: in being loved, Mary is fully active, because she accepts with personal generosity the wave of God’s love poured out upon her. In this too, she is the perfect disciple of her Son, who realizes the fullness of his freedom through obedience to the Father. In the second reading, we heard the wonderful passage in which the author of the Letter to the Hebrews interprets Psalm 39 in the light of Christ’s Incarnation: "When Christ came into the world, he said: . . . ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will, O God’" (Heb 10:5-7). Before the mystery of these two "Here I am" statements from Christ and from the Virgin, each of which is reflected in the other, forming a single Amen to God’s loving will, we are filled with wonder and thanksgiving, and we bow down in adoration.
What a great gift, dear Brothers, to be able to conduct this evocative celebration on the Solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation! What an abundance of light we can draw from this mystery for our lives as ministers of the Church! You above all, dear new Cardinals, what great sustenance you can receive for your mission as the eminent "Senate" of Peter’s Successor! This providential circumstance helps us to consider today’s event, which emphasizes the Petrine principle of the Church, in the light of the other principle, the Marian one, which is even more fundamental. The importance of the Marian principle in the Church was particularly highlighted, after the Council, by my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II, in harmony with his motto Totus tuus. In his spirituality and in his tireless ministry, the presence of Mary as Mother and Queen of the Church was made manifest to the eyes of all. More than ever he adverted to her maternal presence in the assassination attempt of 13 May 1981 in Saint Peter’s Square. In memory of that tragic event, he had a mosaic of the Virgin placed high up in the Apostolic Palace, looking down over Saint Peter’s Square, so as to accompany the key moments and the daily unfolding of his long reign. It is just one year since his pontificate entered its final phase, full of suffering and yet triumphant and truly paschal. The icon of the Annunciation, more than any other, helps us to see clearly how everything in the Church goes back to that mystery of Mary’s acceptance of the divine Word, by which, through the action of the Holy Spirit, the Covenant between God and humanity was perfectly sealed. Everything in the Church, every institution and ministry, including that of Peter and his successors, is "included" under the Virgin’s mantle, within the grace-filled horizon of her "yes" to God’s will. This link with Mary naturally evokes a strong affective resonance in all of us, but first of all it has an objective value. Between Mary and the Church there is indeed a connatural relationship that was strongly emphasized by the Second Vatican Council in its felicitous decision to place the treatment of the Blessed Virgin at the conclusion of the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.

Daily Audio Post for the Annunciation of the Lord

Titular Churches of New Cardinals

1. Card. WILLIAM JOSEPH LEVADA Diaconia di Santa Maria in Domnica

2. Card. FRANC RODÉ Diaconia di San Francesco Saverio alla Garbatella

3. Card. AGOSTINO VALLINI Diaconia di San Pier Damiani ai Monti di San Paolo

4. Card. JORGE LIBERATO UROSA SAVINO Titolo di Santa Maria ai Monti

5. Card. GAUDENCIO B. ROSALES Titolo del Santissimo Nome di Maria a Via Latina

6. Card. JEAN-PIERRE RICARD Titolo di Sant’Agostino

7. Card. ANTONIO CAÑIZARES LLOVERA Titolo di San Pancrazio

8. Card. NICHOLAS CHEONG JINSUK Titolo di Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes a Boccea

9. Card. SEAN PATRICK O’MALLEY, O.F.M. Cap. Titolo di Santa Maria della Vittoria

10. Card. STANIS?AW DZIWISZ Titolo di Santa Maria del Popolo

11. Card. CARLO CAFFARRA Titolo di San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini

12. Card. JOSEPH ZEN ZE-KIUN, S.D.B. Titolo di Santa Maria Madre del Redentore a Tor Bella Monaca

13. Card. ANDREA CORDERO LANZA DI MONTEZEMOLO Diaconia di Santa Maria in Portico

14. Card. PETER POREKU DERY Diaconia di Sant’Elena fuori Porta Prenestina

15. Card. ALBERT VANHOYE, S.I. Diaconia di Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant’Adriano a Villa Albani

Note: Cardinal Law, I believe is the titular bishop of Saint Sussanna (the American Church) and now Cardinal O'Malley's church is very close to it--although it would have been nice to give him the Capuchin church but I'm guessing someone already has it.

New Cardinals of the Church

Peter Poreku Dery, archbishop emeritus of Tamale, Ghana is given the sign of peace by Pope Benedict XVI after being made a cardinal. In one of the more shocking commentaries I've heard, the American commentator used this episode to remark and I paraphrase "Isn't it strange to see the pope getting up to aid a cardinal who is bound to a wheel chair as opposed to the pope himself being bound to a chair," (a reference to the late Pope John Paul II).
I would note that the only two cardinals that the pope arose out of his seat to greet (and in this case to make Archbishop Dery a cardinal) were Archbishop Dery and Archbishop Levada--the latter clearly as a sign of the friendship between the two men.
Something that my Rome trip has given me is a new understanding of the churches of Rome, so that in this morning's ceremony when the pope announced to each new cardinal their titular church in Rome, I knew not only what he was saying but also where they are and what they are like.
Here are the new American cardinals and also the new cardinal of Pope John Paul's former See, his secretary:

Daily Audio Lenten Post

From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

In Rome, House Blessings for Easter

From A Young American in Rome:

I walked out of my apartment building this morning and noticed that an announcement was posted on the main door. I stared at it for a minute, trying to translate whether the building would be without hot water or have a temporary power outage.

None of that -- it was naming the date that a Catholic priest would be in the building to bless each residence with holy water for Easter. As I looked up and down the street, I saw that every door had the same sign posted. This caught me by surprise - I only know of priests coming to bless houses in exorcism horror movies!

Apparently, this is a ritual that was traditionally done on the eve of Easter. Homes are blessed by the parish priest in memory of the angel who signed door-posts with lamb's blood in Egypt. Although Easter is a ways away, I suppose Rome is just too big for the priests to hit every house the day before Easter.

Head of Cardinal Class?

While everyone will be thinking about the late, great Pope John Paul II as the first anniversary of this death approaches his most trusted companion will be made a cardinal. The Archbishop of Krakow arrives at his old home, the Vatican:

Needs of the Asian Catholics

Expressed by the new Cardinal of the Philipines, from Asia Italy News:

How do you think the Church should proceed towards this end?

Evangelization is the main challenge for the Church in Asia. But evangelization must have a new expression, adapted to the needs of this continent, while keeping to the same message: the word of Christ. I think we should follow the path of so-called “integral evangelization” indicated by Paul VI, sensitive to people’s problems and to faith inculturation, with the aim of freeing men and women from slavery: of vices, sins, and corruption. And this is especially evident and necessary in the Philippines.

Synod of Concerns

From Yahoo News:

Benedict's No. 2, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, opened the meeting by thanking the pope for seeking the advice of the cardinals, saying it "shows us the importance your Holiness places on the votes of our college."

The daylong session came on the eve of Benedict's first ceremony to elevate 15 prelates to the top tier of the Catholic hierarchy — additions the pope has said reflect the global reach of the church.

The agenda of Thursday's meeting appeared to be fairly open. Cardinals have said they expect the discussion to include relations with Islam and the Orthodox Church, international terrorism and the reform of the Vatican hierarchy.

Daily Audio Lenten Post

From the book of Lenten meditations written by me:

The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

Clarification on Title "Patriarch of the West"

And why it isn't being used anymore. From the Vatican Information Service:

"From a historical perspective," the communique reads, "the ancient Patriarchates of the East, defined by the Councils of Constantinople (381) and of Chalcedon (451), covered a fairly clearly demarcated territory. At the same time, the territory of the see of the Bishop of Rome remained somewhat vague. In the East, under the ecclesiastical imperial system of Justinian (527-565), alongside the four Eastern Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), the Pope was included as the Patriarch of the West. Rome, on the other hand, favored the idea of the three Petrine episcopal sees: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. Without using the title 'Patriarch of the West,' the Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870), the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and the Council of Florence (1439), listed the Pope as the first of the then five Patriarchs.

"The title 'Patriarch of the West' was adopted in the year 642 by Pope Theodore. Thereafter it appeared only occasionally and did not have a clear meaning. It flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in the context of a general increase in the Pope's titles, and appeared for the first time in the 'Annuario Pontificio' in 1863."

The term 'West' currently refers to a cultural context not limited only to Western Europe but including North America, Australia and New Zealand, thus differentiating itself from other cultural contexts, says the communique. "If we wished to give the term 'West' a meaning applicable to ecclesiastical juridical language, it could be understood only in reference to the Latin Church." In this way, the title "Patriarch of the West," would describe the Bishop of Rome's special relationship with the Latin Church, and his special jurisdiction over her.

"The title 'Patriarch of the West,' never very clear, over history has become obsolete and practically unusable. It seems pointless, then, to insist on maintaining it. Even more so now that the Catholic Church, with Vatican Council II, has found, in the form of episcopal conferences and their international meetings, the canonical structure best suited to the needs of the Latin Church today."

The communique concludes: "Abandoning the title of 'Patriarch of the West' clearly does not alter in any way the recognition of the ancient patriarchal Churches, so solemnly declared by Vatican Council II. ... The renouncement of this title aims to express a historical and theological reality, and at the same time, ... could prove useful to ecumenical dialogue."

Islam and Freedom of Religion?

Not to mention, didn't we overthrow the "extreme" version?

In Afghanistan, from CNN:

In the days of the Taliban, those promoting Christianity in Afghanistan could be arrested and those converting from Islam could be tortured and publicly executed.

That was supposed to change after U.S.-led forces ousted the oppressive, fundamentalist regime, but the case of 41-year-old Abdul Rahman has many Western nations wondering if Afghanistan is regressing.

Rahman, a father of two, was arrested last week and is now awaiting trial for rejecting Islam. He told local police, whom he approached on an unrelated matter, that he had converted to Christianity. Reports say he was carrying a Bible at the time.

Monk's Suicide Linked to DaVinci Code?

From The Telegraph:

A monk may have leapt to his death from a monastery after reading The Da Vinci Code, it emerged yesterday.

Abbot Alan Rees, 64, a revered figure in the Benedictine community, fell 30ft from a second-storey balcony at Belmont Abbey in Herefordshire last October.

The Swansea-born monk had suffered from depression for the past 12 years.

Pope' Wednesday Audience (Today)

Pope Benedict XVI:

In our catechesis on Christ and the Church, we have seen how the Church is built “on the foundation of the Apostles”. The Gospels show how Jesus, at the beginning of his public ministry, chose the Twelve to become “fishers of men”. Saint John in particular presents the calling of the Apostles as the fruit of a life-changing, personal encounter with the Lord. More than just the proclamation of a message, the preaching of the Gospel is seen as a witness to the person of Jesus Christ and an invitation to enter into communion with him. Jesus sent his Apostles first to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”. This prophetic act should be understood in the light of Israel’s messianic expectation, according to which God, through his Chosen One, would gather his people like a shepherd his flock. This “gathering” is the sign of the coming of God’s Kingdom and the extension of his saving power to every nation and people. After the Resurrection, the universality of the mission entrusted to the Apostles would become explicit. The Risen Lord would send them forth to make disciples of every nation, even “to the ends of the earth”!