Wedding time, almost; what's a dad and a deacon to do?

In just about 4 hours or so my only daughter will be getting married.  For me, it's a wonderful day for a wedding despite some not so nice weather.  Being one of those things we mere mortals can't control, weather be damned, we have a wedding to pull off!

Elizabeth Michelle Talbot, aka as Coach T by her students, is about to become Mrs. Mark Moroney.  It is, for me anyway and I'm sure many others who love them, the wedding of the century!  The planning has been intense, all that is left to do is do it.

Since you follow me on this blog let me give you some insight and thoughts from the perspective of the father of the bride and a deacon, oh, did I mention the deacon who will preach at his daughter's wedding.  Be assured, that was her request; I would have been just fine looking on from the pew with her mom.  But #1 daughter want's daddy the deacon preaching.  More than likely, after I walk her up the aisle, I'll spend most of my time up there, assisting where needed and always just a few short feet from the happy couple.

At this hour it' just hurry up and wait.  I've played the homily over and over in my mind, along with the incredible memories of a miracle baby and the little girl grown into a fine young woman.  She has her act together as a teacher, coach and fiancée; now it's her turn to demonstrate all that as a wife, and, God willing, one day as a mom.

She got lucky; she chose the perfect guy for her, Mark is a great balance to my Elizabeth.  I know they will be very happy in a life of marriage, especially if they, as I fully expect, stay close to their faith.

I wish right now I could feel more in control when reality says I can only now wait, joyful in anticipation and ready to witness this monumental event.

Tomorrow, and in the days ahead, I plan to fill all you, my readers, with all the wonderful details and memories of my little girl's wedding day. 

Join me in saying a prayer for Elizabeth and Mark; it is their wedding day!

They simply were fleeing for their lives

‘We Were Fleeing From Death’: Interview With One of the Families Francis Brought From Greece

“I kissed and embraced him and said to him that my name means Jerusalem”

April 28, 2016Salvatore CernuzioFeatures

Suhila Alshakarji, one of the 12 Syrian refugees that Pope Francis brought with him to Italy from the Island of Llesbos, has lifeless, tired eyes. They only revive when she looks at her daughter Qudus, 7, whose name, she specifies, “means Jerusalem,” playing carefree in the garden and, finally, she smiles.
Not so much time has passed since the little girl — in a rubber dinghy that stopped for almost an hour and a half in the open sea, with 36 other immobile persons to avoid any movement — asked her mother terrorized: “What’s happening?”
“At that moment, I did everything to have her fall asleep, so that if we died, she wouldn’t be aware of anything,” Suhila told ZENIT.

I met with the family, together with the two others brought by the Pope, in the heart of Trastevere, where the Italian School of Language and Culture of Sant’Egidio Community is located, where volunteers are teaching Italian for free to some 1,900 people, between refugees and foreigners.
The drama reported to me by the woman, a former dressmaker not even 50 years old, is only one of the many that the Alshakarji family from Deir Ezzor have had to suffer for some years. Since, that is, those demonic forces of Islamic State, ISIS, Daesh have polluted a territory that up to now was characterized by peace and dialogue.
“We lived serenely in Deir Ezzor for 1,400 years,” said Rami, head of the family, an esteemed teacher before becoming a refugee. In this region known as ‘the Auschwitz of the Armenians, which ISIS has devastated and has also killed 300 civilians, “for thousands of years we have all been equal: Muslims, Catholics, Jews … we had no differences; no one ever asked of what religion you were.”
The Alshakarjis had to flee from there in haste with their children: in addition to Qudus, also Rashid, 18, and Abdalmajid, 15, who in this new phase of life calls himself Totti, like the famous soccer player. “I am happy to have come to Italy, so I have two things: soccer and school. Finally, I can go back to study,” he said, hiding behind a timid smile, while his brother did not proffer a word.
“They are very stressed,” explained the father Rami, who instead is relaxed and affectionate with all the journalists and volunteers of Sant’Egidio that have come to meet him. “They have given interviews every day,” explained Roberto Zuccolini, one of the directors of the Community for relations with the press. “In fact, they asked to be protected from excessive media exposure.”

Imprisoned by jihadists

However, Rami needs to speak; he wanted to give vent to all the evil he had to endure. First of all, his imprisonment by the jihadists, which lasted six months. Rami crossed his wrists to have us understand the condition in which he was constrained to live daily: his hands and feet chained. “They thwarted me and beat me on the back,” he said. “Why,” I asked and naively added: “You are a Muslim …”
“They aren’t Muslims,” he replied almost angered, “they don’t have a religion. They kidnapped and thwarted us only to impose themselves, to make us understand who has the power, to make us afraid.” Rammi’s brother, 55, was also kidnapped for three years; he was also freed later. The same fortune did not touch many of their other relatives. “Three disappeared,” said Suhila, “we don’t know if they are alive. Nine are dead. All the rest of the family is in different cities of Syria, where at present there are battles. Sometimes we heard from them, at others not. We were scared.”
During her husband’s imprisonment, Suhila fled courageously with her children to relatives in Lebanon. She did not think they would ever be reunited. When the miracle happened they decided that the moment had arrived to leave the country. “I decided to leave because I wanted to save my family,” explained her husband. “We fled when we understood the children were risking their life; they are young and could have died from one moment to the next because of the bombings or be forced to enrol” in the jihad.
They know nothing about their home. It will probably be destroyed. “When we left, the village was burnt by bombs.” Impressed in their memory, instead, is all the course endured to leave the country: the flight by night from Deir Ezzor passing through Raqqa, Aleppo and other areas occupied by ISIS, “so dangerous that there even weren’t animals on the road.” “Some left on foot, others hidden in fruit and vegetable trucks,” said Suhila.
“They treated us very badly,” echoed her husband. Every time we met someone who shouted at us. “Stop, who are you? From what area are you? Of what party are you? Of what religion are you?” “Thus, just to disturb us, to terrorize us.”
It all lasted 10 days, then the Alshakarjis arrived at Izmir in Turkey, to try their fortune through the “illegal way,” boarding, that is, a boat returning from Lesbos. “A boat? It was, rathger, a rubber dinghy,” exclaimed Rami.
“We left at 11:00 pm; every 100 meters the motor was blocked. No one died; the sea was inexplicably calm, but at a certain point, in the dead of night, the vessel stopped for 90 minutes. The horizon couldn’t be seen. We called the Coast Guard but it was hard for them to find us. We stayed there immobile: the women and children in the middle and all the men around them. All that was needed was a bit of wind or the least movement and all 36 of us would have ended up in the water.”

Warm again

The terror was replicated for five more hours, until we arrived at Lesbos. The refugees found a completely different scene in the Greek Island. The kids smiled recalling “the impressive welcome: on the beach: There were volunteers, young people and adults, who came into the water to help us come down. Even elderly women helped to push the rubber dinghy to the beach.” Then, once we descended, they threw flowers on us.
The family stayed for 50 days at Lesbos, in the Moria camp visited by the Pope. “We were all right, but we were too many – explained Suhila – basic things were lacking, such as food, water. We didn’t eat well; there wasn’t enough water for a bath; many youngsters and children got sick. Doctors were hard to find.”
However, Suhila added, in the Island the refugees were able to feel that human warmth that they had almost forgotten. “The people were very good, very affectionate,” so much so that little Qudus was immediately at ease. “She went around the camp from 9 am to midnight; she gave a hand to the volunteers to help other refugees.”

My father …

Then Francis arrived: “An angel that came to save us.” To the question about how they received the news that the Pope chose them as one of the three families to bring to Italy, Rami rested his hands on his eyes and answered: “What to say? It was a great surprise, I couldn’t believe it: a personage that we saw on TV and who isn’t even a Muslim had come to take us, to save us … We would never have expected it.”
“We felt a new life inside us, there was hope,” said his wife, managing a smile. And Qudus intervened to tell me: “When I met the Pope I said to him: ‘He is my father, are you also my father?’ I kissed and embraced him and said to him that my name means Jerusalem. He was happy, he joked with me.”
From that meeting with the Pontiff, there was one surprise after another: “We lunched together, we even ate lasagna!” said Rami. Then the arrival in Italy where they met volunteers of Sant’Egidio who welcomed them “as in a family.”
The Community is now offering them food and lodging and teaching them the language. “No sooner they arrived, the family requested political asylum at the Ciampino Airport. They obtained a residency permit,” specified Zuccolini. Now, he added, “they are beginning to integrate. They have done their shopping, they are beginning to look for a school for their children. I was impressed because, although coming from distant places, places of war, in one week they have felt at home. If the will to be integrated exists everything becomes easier.”
At present the Alshakarji family is living “a dream.” They have no prospects: it’s impossible to return home, and to go to another country is difficult. The only hope is that expressed by Suhila heartbrokenly, “All the countries, not only European but also Muslim, should follow the Pope’s gesture and help Syrian families. It’s important because people are dying every day.”
I asked them for a photo to immortalize this very intense moment. The children smiled and said: a “Selfie!” Rami instead, insisted that the photograph be taken in front of the plaque of Sant’Egidio Community: “It’s the least we can do to thank them.”

A great Pope our Saturday Saint of the Day

St. Pius V, Pope

  

 

Facts

Feastday: April 30
Birth: 1504
Death: 1572

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Pope from 1566-1572 and one of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation. Born Antonio Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy, to a poor family, he labored as a shepherd until the age of fourteen and then joined the Dominicans, being ordained in 1528. Called Brother Michele, he studied at Bologna and Genoa, and then taught theology and philosophy for sixteen years before holding the posts of master of novices and prior for several Dominican houses. Named inquisitor for Como and Bergamo, he was so capable in the fulfillment of his office that by 1551, and at the urging of the powerful Cardinal Carafa, he was named by Pope Julius III commissary general of the Inquisition. In 1555, Carafa was elected Pope Paul IV and was responsible for Ghislieri's swift rise as a bishop of Nepi and Sutri in 1556, cardinal in 1557, and grand inquisitor in 1558. While out of favor for a time under Pope Pius IV who disliked his reputation for excessive zeal, Ghislieri was unanimously elected a pope in succession to Pius on January 7, 1566. As pope, Pius saw his main objective as the continuation of the massive program of reform for the Church, in particular the full implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent. He published the Roman Catechism, the revised Roman Breviary, and the Roman Missal; he also declared Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church, commanded a new edition of the works of Thomas Aquinas, and created a commission to revise the Vulgate. The decrees of Trent were published throughout all Catholic lands, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World, and the pontiff insisted on their strict adherence. In 1571, Pius created the Congregation of the Index to give strength to the Church's resistance to Protestant and heretical writings, and he used the Inquisition to prevent any Protestant ideas from gaining a foot hold in Italy. In dealing with the threat of the Ottoman Turks who were advancing steadily across the Mediterranean, Pius organized a formidable alliance between Venice and Spain, culminating in the Battle of Lepanto, which was a complete and shattering triumph over the Turks. The day of the victory was declared the Feast Day of Our Lady of Victory in recognition of Our Lady's intercession in answer to the saying of the Rosary all over Catholic Europe. Pius also spurred the reforms of the Church by example. He insisted upon wearing his coarse Dominican robes, even beneath the magnificent vestments worn by the popes, and was wholeheartedly devoted to the religious life. His reign was blemished only by the continuing oppression of the Inquisition; the often brutal treatment of the Jews of Rome; and the ill advised decision to excommunicate Queen Elizabeth I of England  in February 1570, an act which also declared her deposed and which only worsened the plight of English Catholics. These were overshadowed in the view of later generations by his contributions to the Catholic Reformation. Pope Clement beatified him on May 1, 1672, and Pope Clement XI canonized him on May 22, 1712.

The wedding is tomorrow; Mark and my daughter Elizabeth

Pope Francis Prayer Intentions for May

Pope’s May Prayer Intention: That Women Will Be Honored and Respected

Also praying that families will pray the rosary for ‘evangelization and peace’

April 29, 2016ZENIT StaffPope and Holy See

The Apostleship of Prayer announced the prayer intentions chosen by the Pope for May.
The Holy Father’s universal prayer intention for May is: “That in every country in the world, women may be honoured and respected and that their essential contribution to society may be highly esteemed”.
His intention for evangelisation is: “That families, communities and groups may pray the Holy Rosary for evangelisation and peace”.

Friday morning homily from Pope Francis

Pope: No to Double lives: Christians are people of light

 

2016-04-29 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warned Christians against having double lives, displaying an outer facade of light but having darkness in their hearts. He urged them to walk in the light and not tread dark paths, saying God’s truth cannot be found there. The Pope’s remarks came during his homily at Mass celebrated on Friday morning in the Santa Marta residence.
Taking his cue from the reading of St John’s First Letter, Pope Francis reflected on the eternal struggle against sin, saying we must be pure like the Father but even if we sin we can count on his pardon and his tenderness. He stressed the Apostle’s warning to believers to tell the truth and not have double lives, saying one thing but doing another.   
Walk in the light
“If you say you are in communion with the Lord, then walk in the light.  But no to double lives!  Not that! That lie that we are so used to seeing and where we too sometimes fall (into temptation), don’t we?  To say one thing and do another, right?  It’s the never ending temptation.  And we know where that lie comes from: in the Bible, Jesus calls the devil ‘the father of lies’, the liar. It’s for this reason that this grandfather says with infinite tenderness and meekness to the ‘adolescent’ Church: ‘Don’t be a liar! You are in communion with God, walk in the light. Do works of light, don’t say one thing and do another. No to double lives and all that.”
Bigger than our sins
Noting how John began his Letter with the greeting, ‘children’, Pope Francis said this affectionate beginning is just like the tone of a grandfather towards his ‘young grandchildren’ and reveals the tenderness and light contained in this reading. It also recalls Jesus’ words when he promised “rest” to all those “who labour and are overburdened.” In the same way, the Pope continued, John urges his readers not to sin but if somebody does, to not be discouraged by this.
“We have a Paraclete, a word, an advocate, a defender at the Father’s side, it’s Jesus Christ, the Upright One. He makes us righteous. It is He who pardons us. A person may feel like saying to this grandfather who gives us this advice: ‘But is it such a bad thing to have sins?’ ‘No, a sin is a bad thing! But if you have sinned, look at who is waiting to pardon you.’ Always! That’s because He, our Lord, is greater than our sins.”
The Pope concluding by saying this is God’s Mercy and his greatness and it’s from Him alone that we can get our strength.  
“We must walk in the light because God is Light.  Don’t walk with one foot in the light and the other in darkness.  Do not be liars.  And one other thing: we have all sinned. Nobody can say: ‘This man is a sinner, this woman is a sinner.’  I, thanks to God, am upright.’ No, only one is Upright, He who paid for us. And if somebody sins, He is waiting for us and pardons us because He is merciful and knows very well what we are shaped from and remembers that we are but dust. May the joy that this Letter gives us, carry us forward in the simplicity and the transparency of the Christian life, above all when we turn to the Lord… with truth.”

Another Islamic plot to attack the Vatican uncovered

Italy Uncovers Islamist Plot to Attack Vatican and Israeli Embassy

By Jack Moore On 4/28/16                 

 

A Swiss guard stands guard at the Vatican, April 7. Italian authorities arrested four suspects on Thursday, uncovering a plot to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome.Reuters/Alessandro Di Meo/pool

WorldISISItaly

 

Italian authorities arrested four people suspected of extremism on Thursday and issued arrest warrants for two more operating in Syria, according to the Milan prosecutor.
Authorities said one of the suspects is a Moroccan-born national living in Italy who had received orders from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) to conduct an attack in Rome during the Holy Year, a period announced by Pope Francis that lasts from December 2015 to November 2016.

          

The man, who authorities named as Abderrahim Moutahrrick, is reported to have received a WhatsApp message from ISIS-held territory that read: “Dear brother Abderrahim, I send you... the bomb poem... listen to the sheik and strike,” in reference to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli said that Moutahrrick planned to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome and told one of the other suspects, 23-year-old Moroccan-born Abderrahmane Khachia, in a monitored conversation: “I want to hit Israel in Rome.” Authorities arrested Khachia in the northern Italian city of Varese and Moutahrrick was living in the city of Lecco, north of Milan in the province of Lombardy.
Romanelli added that Italian investigators intercepted the message before swooping on the cell and said that the threat was specific as it came from an individual who had received direct orders.
“This is a new profile, because it was not a generic indication, but an indication given to a specific person who was invited to act within the territory of the Italian state,” Romanelli said, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
The Italian authorities issued arrest warrants for an Italian-Moroccan couple who traveled to Syria last year to join ISIS, with the man in the relationship named as Mohamed Koraichi. He is allegedly the man who directed Moutahrrick to carry out the attacks on Italian soil.
According to authorities, Moutahrrick had sought to buy weapons from an Albanian fixer in Italy and stated his intention to attack the Vatican, but also had plans to take his family—a wife and two children aged 2 and 4—to ISIS-held territory in Syria.
“For these enemies I swear if I manage to bring my family to safety, I swear I will be the first to attack...in this crusading Italy...the Vatican with the will of God,” he allegedly told Koraichi in an audio message intercepted by authorities in March.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi thanked authorities on social media for the arrests. “Very important anti-extremist operation in north this morning. Compliments to the ministry, intelligence (services), investigators and police forces #alltogether,” he wrote.

ISIS has regularly used the symbolism of Rome and the Roman Empire to outline its aims to conquer Europe and attack the continent’s “crusaders” in a bid to recruit foreign fighters.

Day 85 Baltimore Catechism

Day #85: How long will the Church last?

What is meant by the indefectibility of the Catholic Church? By the indefectibility of the Catholic Church is meant that the Church, as Christ founded it, will last until the end of time. And, behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:20) Are all obliged to belong to the Catholic Church in order to be saved? All are obliged to belong to the Catholic Church in order to be saved. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." (John 14:6) Further reading: CCC 832-838

She is a Doctor of the Church and influenced the Pope to return to Rome from Avignon

    

St. Catherine of Siena

  

 

Facts

Feastday: April 29
Patron Fire prevention
Birth: 1347
Death: 1380

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St. Catherine of Siena was born during the outbreak of the plague in Siena, Italy on March 25, 1347. She was the 25th child born to her mother, although half of her brothers and sisters did not survive childhood. Catherine herself was a twin, but her sister did not survive infancy. Her mother was 40 when she was born. Her father was a cloth dyer.
At the age of 16, Catherine's sister, Bonaventura, died, leaving her husband as a widower. Catherine's parents proposed that he marry Catherine as a replacement, but Catherine opposed this. She began fasting and cut her hair short to mar her appearance.
Her parents attempted to resist this move, to avoid marriage, but they were unsuccessful. Her fasting and her devotion to her family, convinced them to relent and allow her to live as she pleased. Catherine once explained that she regarded her father as a representation of Jesus and her mother as Our Lady, and her brothers as the apostles, which helped her to serve them with humility.
Despite Catherine's religious nature, she did not choose to enter a convent and instead she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, which allowed her to associate with a religious society while living at home.
Fellow Dominican sisters taught St. Catherine how to read. Meanwhile, she lived quietly, isolated within her family home.
St. Catherine developed a habit of giving things away and she continually gave away her family's food and clothing to people in need. She never asked permission to give these things away, and she quietly put up with their criticisms.
Something changed her when she was 21. She described an experience she referred to as her "mystical marriage to Christ." There are debates over whether or not St. Catherine was given a ring with some claiming she was given a bejeweled ring, and other claiming the ring was made of Jesus's skin. St. Catherine herself started the rumor of the latter in her writings, but she was known to often claim the ring itself was invisible.
Such mystical experiences change people, and St. Catherine was no exception. In her vision, she was told to reenter public life and to help the poor and sick. She immediately rejoined her family and went into public to help people in need.
She often visited hospitals and homes where the poor and sick were found. Her activities quickly attracted followers who helped her in her mission to serve the poor and sick.
St. Catherine was drawn further into the world as she worked, and eventually she began to travel, calling for reform of the Church and for people to confess and to love God totally. She became involved in politics, and was key in working to keep city states loyal to the Pope. She was also credited with helping to start a crusade to the Holy Land. On one occasion, she visited a condemned political prisoner and was credited with saving his soul, which she saw being taken up to heaven at the moment of his death.
St. Catherine allegedly was given the stigmata, but like her ring, it was visible only to herself. She took Bl. Raymond of Capua has her confessor and spiritual director.
From 1375 onwards, St. Catherine began dictating letters to scribes. She petitioned for peace and was instrumental in persuading the Pope in Avignon to return to Rome.
She became involved in the fractured politics of her time, but was instrumental in restoring the Papacy to Rome and in brokering peace deals during a time of factional conflict and war between the Italian city states.
She also established a monastery for women in 1377 outside of Siena. She is credited with composing over 400 letters, her Dialogue, which is her definitive work, and her prayers. These works are so influential that St. Catherine would later be declared a Doctor of the Church. She is one of the most influential and popular saints in the Church.
By 1380, the 33-year-old mystic had become ill, possibly because of her habit of extreme fasting. Her confessor, Raymond, ordered her to eat, but she replied that she found it difficult to do so, and that possibly she was ill.
In January of 1380, her illness accelerated her inability to eat and drink. Within weeks, she was unable to use her legs. She died on April 29, following a stroke just a week prior.
St. Catherine's feast day is April 29, she is the patroness against fire, illness, the United States, Italy, miscarriages, people ridiculed for their faith, sexual temptation, and nurses.

Thursday morning homily from Pope Francis

Pope: There is always resistance in the Church to surprises of the Spirit

 

2016-04-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.
Commenting on today’s reading from Acts about the Council of Jerusalem, Pope Francis said the protagonist in the Church is always the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit who, from the very beginning, gives strength to the apostles to proclaim the Gospel and it’s the Spirit who carries the Church forward despite its problems.

Even when there is an outbreak of persecution, the Pope said, it’s the Spirit who gives believers the strength to stand firm in the faith, even if they face resistance and anger from the doctors of the law. In the passage from Acts, the Pope noted, there was a double resistance to the Spirit, from those who believed that Jesus came only for the chosen people and from those who wanted to impose the law of Moses, including the practice of circumcision, on those who had converted.
There was great confusion over all this, the Pope said, but the Spirit led their hearts in a new direction. The apostles were surprised by the Spirit, he said, as they found themselves in new and unthinkable situations. But how were they to manage these circumstances? Pope Francis said the passage begins by noting that ‘much debate had taken place’: no doubt heated debate, because on the one hand they were pushed on and on by the Spirit, but on the other, they were facing new situations that they had never seen or even imagined, such as pagans receiving the Holy Spirit.
The disciples were holding a ‘hot potato’ in their hands and didn’t know what to do, the Pope said. Thus they called a meeting in Jerusalem where each one could recount their experiences of how the Holy Spirit had been received by the Gentiles. And in the end they came to an agreement. But first , the Pope noted, “The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.” Never be afraid to listen with humility, the Pope said. When you are afraid to listen, you don’t have the Spirit in your heart. When the apostles had listened, they decided to send several of the disciples to the Greeks, the pagan communities, that had become Christians to reassure them.
Those who converted, the Pope continued, were not obliged to be circumcised. The decision was communicated to them in a letter in which the disciples say that “The Holy Spirit and we have decided….” This is the way of the Church when faced with novelties, the Pope said. Not the worldly novelties of fashion, but the novelties of the Spirit who always surprises us. How does the Church resolve these problems? Through meetings and discussions, listening and praying, before making a final decision. This is the way of the Church when the Spirit surprises us, Pope Francis said, recalling the resistance that emerged in recent times during the Second Vatican Council.
That resistance continues today in one way or another, he said, yet the Spirit moves ahead. And the way the Church expresses its communion is through synodality, by meeting, listening, debating, praying and deciding. The Spirit is always the protagonist and the Lord asks us not to be afraid when the Spirit calls us. Just as the Spirit stopped St Paul and set him on the right road, so the Spirit will give us the courage and the patience to win over adversity and stand firm in the face of martyrdom. Let us ask the Lord for grace, the Pope concluded, to understand how the Church can face the surprises of the Spirit, to be docile and to follow the path which Christ wants for us and for the whole Church.
(from Vatican Radio)

Baltimore Catechism Day 84

Day #84: Is the Catholic Church Infallible?

What is meant by the infallibility of the Catholic Church? By the infallibility of the Catholic Church is meant that the Church, by the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, cannot err when it teaches or believes a doctrine of faith or morals. But the Advocate, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you. (John 14:26) When does the Church teach infallibly? The Church teaches infallibly when it defines, through the Pope alone, as the teacher of all Christians, or through the Pope and the bishops, a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by all the faithful. Further reading: CCC 888-892

3rd Saint of the Day for Thursday; from just about 50 years ago; powerful witness for life

St. Gianna Beretta Molla

 

Facts

Feastday: April 28
Patron mothers, physicians, preborn children
Death: 1962
Beatified By: Pope John Paul II

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Gianna Francesca Beretta was born in Magenta in Italy. She was the tenth of thirteen children in her family, only nine of whom survived to adulthood. When she was three, her family moved to Bergamo, and she grew up in the Lombardy region of Italy.
In 1942, Gianna began her study of medicine in Milan. Outside of her schooling, she was active in Azione Cattolica. She received a medical diploma in 1949, and opened an office in Mesero, near her hometown of Magenta, where she specialized in pediatrics.
Gianna hoped to join her brother, a missionary priest in Brazil, where she intended to offer her medical expertise in gynecology to poor women. However, her chronic ill health made this impractical, and she continued her practice in Italy.
In December 1954, Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office, ten years older than she. They were officially engaged the following April, and they married in September 1955.
The couple had Pierluigi, born in 1956, Maria Zita, in 1957 and Laura, was born in 1959. Gianna suffered two miscarriages after this.
In 1961, Gianna was once again expecting. During the second month, Gianna developed a fibroma on her uterus. After examination, the doctors gave her three choices: an abortion, which would save her life and allow her to continue to have children; a complete hysterectomy, which would preserve her life, but take the unborn child's life, and prevent further pregnancy; or removal of only the fibroma, with the potential of further complications. Roman Catholic teaching would have allowed her to obtain a hysterectomy, but would forbid an abortion. Wanting to preserve her child's life, she opted for the removal of the fibroma.
After the operation, complications continued throughout her pregnancy. Gianna was quite clear about her wishes, expressing to her family, "This time it will be a difficult delivery, and they may have to save one or the other -- I want them to save my baby."
On April 21, 1962, Good Friday of that year, Gianna went to the hospital, where her fourth child, Gianna Emanuela, was successfully delivered via Caesarean section. However, Gianna continued to have severe pain, and died of septic peritonitis 7 days after the birth.
Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994, and officially canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004. Gianna's husband Pietro and their last child, Gianna, were present at the canonization ceremony.
The miracle recognized by the Roman Catholic Church to canonize Gianna Molla involved a mother, Elizabeth Comparini, who was 16 weeks pregnant in 2003 and sustained a tear in her placenta that drained her womb of all amniotic fluid. Because a normal term of pregnancy is 40 weeks, Comparini was told by her doctors the baby's chance of survival was "nil."
Through praying to Gianna Molla and asking for her intercession, Comparini delivered by Caesarean a healthy baby despite the lack of amniotic fluid for the remainder of her pregnancy.
In his homily at her canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II called Gianna "a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love."

2nd Saint of the Day for Thursday: Known for profound devotion to Mary and the Rosary

St. Louis de Montfort

 

Facts

Feastday: April 28
Birth: 1673
Death: 1716

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Confessor, Marian devotee, and founder of the Sisters of Divine Wisdom He was born Louis Maie Grignon in Montfort, France, in 1673. Educated at Rennes, he was ordained there in 1700, becoming a chaplain in a hospital in Poitiers. His congregation, also called the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, started there. As his missions and sermons raised complaints, Louis went to Rome, where Pope Clement XI appointed him as a missionary apostolic. Louis is famous for fostering devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary. In 1715, he also founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary. His True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin remains popular. Louis died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre. He was canonized in 1947.

1st Saint of the Day for Thursday: Marist Priest and Martyr in the South Seas

St. Peter Chanel

  

 

Facts

Feastday: April 28
Patron of Oceania
Birth: 1803
Death: 1841

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In St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr (Feast day - April 28) The protomartyr of the South Seas, St. Peter Chanel was born in 1803 at Clet in the diocese of Belley, France. His intelligence and simple piety brought him to the attention of the local priest, Father Trompier, who saw to his elementary education. Entering the diocesan Seminary, Peter won the affection and the esteem of both students and professors. After his ordination he found himself in a rundown country parish and completely revitalized it in the three year span that he remained there. However, his mind was set on missionary work; so, in 1831, he joined the newly formed Society of Mary (Marists) which concentrated on missionary work at home and abroad. To his dismay, he was appointed to teach at the seminary at Belley and remained there for the next five years, diligently performing his duties.
In 1836, the Society was given the New Hebrides in the Pacific as a field for evangelization, and the jubilant St. Peter was appointed Superior of a little band of missionaries sent to proclaim the Faith to its inhabitants. On reaching their destination after an arduous ten month journey, the band split up and St. Peter went to the Island of Futuna accompanied by a laybrother and an English layman, Thomas Boog. They were at first well received by the pagans and their king Niuliki who had only recently forbidden canabalism. However, the kings jealousy and fear were aroused when the missionaries learned the language and gained the people's confidence; he realized the adoption of the Christian Faith would lead to the abolition of some of the prerogatives he enjoyed as both highpriest and sovereign.
Finally, when his own son expressed a desire to be baptized, the king's hatred erupted and he dispatched a group of his warriors to set upon the saintly head of the missionaries. Thus, on April 28, 1841, three years after his arrival, St. Peter was seized and clubbed to death by those he had come to save. And his death brought his work to completion - within five months the entire island was converted to Christianity.

Things appear to be happening between the Pope, the Vatican and the SSPX

Pope Francis may be on verge of deal with traditionalists

Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the Society of St. Pius X, is pictured in 2012 at the society’s headquarters in Menzingen, Switzerland. (CNS/Paul Haring)

       

 

 

By Anian Christoph Wimmer

Catholic News Agency April 27, 2016

Pope Francis may soon offer the Society of Saint Pius X regular canonical status within the Catholic Church without requiring acceptance of certain texts of the Second Vatican Council with which they disagree, a prerequisite that heretofore had been seen as a deal-breaker for the traditionalists.
It also appears the society may itself be poised to take such a historic step, urging that “perhaps only Pope Francis is able to take this step, given his unpredictability and improvisation”, according to an internal Society of St. Pius X document that was leaked to the press in recent weeks.
The Society of St. Pius X is a breakaway group founded by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who objected to some of the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), including the introduction of a new Mass in vernacular languages and the broad expansion of ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue.
The memo, titled “Considerations on the Church and the position of the Society of Saint Pius X in it”, outlines six reasons why the group should accept an offer of regularization by Pope Francis, provided “an appropriate ecclesial structure” is ensured. It also addresses possible objections raised against such a move.
“It seems the time to normalize the situation of the society has come,” the memo reads.
The document, dated Feb. 19, was written by Father Franz Schmidberger, rector of the society’s seminary in Germany. Schmidberger had served as superior general of the society from 1982 to 1994.

 

In the memo, Schmidberger asserts that the Vatican has been “gradually lowering its demands and recent proposals, no longer speak of recognizing neither the Second Vatican Council nor the legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae,” referring to the post-Vatican II Mass.
On April 10, Bishop Bernard Fellay, the current superior general of the society, said before some 4,000 pilgrims in the French city of Le Puy-en-Velay that there is a “profound change” in its relationship with the Vatican, triggered by the “dire situation” of the Church: “in the midst of this disorder … comes this whisper: ‘No, we cannot force you to accept the Council.’ They perhaps will not say it so clearly, but they did indeed say it to us after all.”
Albeit carefully, these assertions are to some extent matched by similar utterances from Rome.

Italian Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary for the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei –  the Vatican office of the responsible for doctrinal discussions with the society – said in an April 6 interview with La Croix that “as far as the Second Vatican Council is concerned, the ground covered in the meetings over the past few years has led to an important clarification: Vatican II can be adequately understood only in the context of the full tradition of the Church and her constant magisterium.”
“Certain questions can remain ‘subject to discussion and clarification’,” Pozzo added.
Similarly, Schmidberger’s memo asserts that whilst the group would like to “return from its ‘exile'”, further discussions would be expected: “We will not be silent, more over, we will point out the errors by name. Before and after our normalization.”

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Reliable sources inside the society have confirmed to CNA that the leaked memo from Schmidberger, which apparently was meant for circulation among the leadership, is indeed authentic.
Comprising seven sections and running to three pages, it concisely covers a summary of the history of the relationship with Rome and an outline of arguments for a full reconciliation, to the practical considerations of such a move. It even includes a kind of “FAQ”-section, answering the most frequently raised concerns of a reconciliation with Rome from the perspective of those in the society more hesitant.
Schmidberger cited several reasons that the time to regularize the canonical situation of the society has some, including that fact that “any abnormal situation lends itself to normalization.” He noted the danger in losing the realization that the society’s situation is abnormal, and seeing it instead as normal: if the priests of the society “feel comfortable in this situation of liberty with respect to dependence on the hierarchy, then this implies a gradual loss of the sensus ecclesiae.”
The memo also noted that there are members of the Church’s hierarchy who are sympathetic, but that they can only collaborate after regularization, and that the society will need new bishops in the future and that licit consecration should be pursued.
In its conclusion, the text argues that if “God wants to come to the effective aid of His Church, which is bleeding from a thousand wounds, he has thousands of different means of doing so. One of these is the official recognition of the SSPX through the Roman authorities.” It then closes with a prayer for the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
It has been speculated that the normalization of the society would be accomplished by recognizing the group as a “personal prelature,” a canonical structure which so far has only been used for Opus Dei.
The society’s formal break with Rome came in 1988, when Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope John Paul II.
The illicit consecration resulted in the excommunication of the six bishops; the excommunications of the surviving bishops were lifted in 2009 by Benedict XVI, and since then, negotiations “to rediscover full communion with the Church” have continued between the society and the Vatican.
In remitting the excommunications, Benedict also noted that “doctrinal questions obviously remain and until they are clarified the society has no canonical status in the Church and its ministers cannot legitimately exercise any ministry.”
The biggest obstacles have been the statements on religious liberty in Vatican II’s declaration Dignitatis humanae as well as the declaration Nostra aetate, which some traditionalists claims contradict previous Catholic teaching.
Pozzo addressed this issue in his discussion with La Croix, saying that he considers Nostra aetate as “directives for pastoral action, directions, and suggestions or exhortations of a practical pastoral nature,” adding that “the acceptance of the texts on relations with other religions is not a prerequisite for the canonical recognition” of the society.
“The difficulties concerning the Church-State relationship and religious freedom, the practice of ecumenism and dialogue with non-Christian religions, certain aspects of the liturgical reform and its concrete application, remain subject to discussion and clarification but do not constitute an obstacle to a canonical and juridical recognition,” the Vatican official said.
The archbishop noted that following the canonical regularization of the society, the declarations of Vatican II will “remain subject to discussion and deeper study, in order to obtain greater precision and avoid the misunderstandings or ambivalences that we know to have spread throughout today’s ecclesial world.”
Under Pope Francis several moves have suggested a warming in relations between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X.
In 2015 the Holy See delegated a cardinal and three bishops to visit the seminaries of the society. They were sent to become better acquainted with the society, and to discuss doctrinal and theological topics in a less formal context.
Pope Francis announced in a September 2015 letter on the Jubilee Year of Mercy that during the jubilee year the faithful can validly and licitly receive absolution of their sins from priests of the society
“I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity,” he wrote.
Fellay met with Pope Francis and Pozzo April 1-2. Fellay indicated that at that meeting, the pope had said the society is Catholic and he would not condemn it, and that he wishes to extend the faculties of its priests.

He is a childhood friend, best man at my wedding, my mentor, our director in New Orleans; meet the brand new director of the National Association of Diaconate Directors! Congratulations Deacon Ray Duplechain!

Deacon Duplechain to lead U.S. deacons’ group

Published on Wednesday, 27 April 2016 07:01 | Written by Peter Finney Jr. | |

When Archbishop Gregory Aymond ordains men as permanent deacons, he always is careful to identify what the church sees as the deacons’ primary responsibility: They are to serve.

That call to service has resonated with Deacon Ray Duplechain, director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of New Orleans since 2010, who recently was elected director of the National Association of Diaconate Directors (NADD), an umbrella group representing the 18,000 permanent deacons in the United States.

In addition to coordinating the ministry of 160 active deacons in the archdiocese – along with another 77 deacons who are retired – Deacon Duplechain will, for the next two years, be the deacons’ liaison to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

Each bishop has priorities
Deacon Duplechain says the NADD has no set agenda other than trying to fulfill the ministry goals of bishops, each of whom has specific needs in his own diocese.

But his election comes at an important time in church history because in 2018 the permanent diaconate will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its revival, which was called for by the Second Vatican Council. New Orleans will host the 50th anniversary national conference of deacons in 2018.

“It’s important for us to be able to understand the mission, vision and vocation of the permanent deacon, because this is only 50 years old,” Deacon Duplechain said. “Each diocese has a bishop who has particular challenges and needs, so the diaconate serves to fill those challenges. What happens here doesn’t necessarily happen in different dioceses.”

In New Orleans, the first class of permanent deacons was ordained by Archbishop Philip Hannan in 1974. In those early years, the restored order of permanent deacons was considered a novelty, both to clergy and laity, Deacon Duplechain said.

“Some people viewed them as mini priests,” Deacon Duplechain said. “Many of these guys had attended the seminary and considered a vocation to the priesthood. Others viewed them as altar servers. It was a novelty because we had not had permanent deacons in the church in more than 1,000 years.”

U.S. has most deacons
The U.S. has by far the largest number of permanent deacons of any country in the world. (There are 43,000 deacons worldwide.) Deacons are ordained to proclaim and preach the Gospel, and they have faculties to witness marriages, confer baptism and preside at funerals.

In addition to their parish sacramental ministry, Deacon Duplechain said, deacons serve in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons as well as provide hospice care, marriage preparation and annulment guidance.

“But this is not talked about much – deacons are on the fringes,” Deacon Duplechain said. “Deacons function in the shadows, where people who are in our families or social groups may come to us. Those people may not be sitting in the pews every week, but they have needs.”

The permanent diaconate has been an unqualified success, Deacon Duplechain said. Since most men who enter formation for the diaconate are married, there were initial misgivings that the diaconate would be weakened through divorce.

Strong marriages proven
Studies have proven that wrong, Deacon Duplechain said.

“That really hasn’t happened in our archdiocese,” Deacon Duplechain said. “I know of three (divorces) in all the years since we’ve been re-established, and it really hasn’t been a significant issue for us on the national level. That validates the fact that most guys who become deacons are in stable marriages. No one who is married can be ordained without the consent of his wife.”

Most deacons have full-time jobs and families, and that places added demands on the entire household.

“As you can understand, we’re pulled away from our homes for various occasions,” Deacon Duplechain said. “You have family, job and diaconate, but this is a vocation. You’re always going to be a deacon, no matter what. A priest is always a father, no matter what. Balancing that life is where the challenge comes. The wife, many times, picks up and carries more of the load while her spouse is serving the church.”

Deacon Swiler led the way
Deacon Duplechain said his predecessor, Deacon Jim Swiler, was important on the national level, first as president of the NADD, to help develop norms for diaconate formation and ministry. That document, called the “National Directory for Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States,” was approved by the U.S. bishops in 2003.

Deacon Duplechain, who was ordained in 1996 by Archbishop Francis Schulte, said each archbishop under whom he has served has been a blessing to the diaconate.

Archbishop Schulte appointed several deacons to lead archdiocesan offices; Archbishop Alfred Hughes made available the campus of Infant Jesus of Prague in Harvey as a diaconate formation center; and Archbishop Aymond has embraced the deacons’ ministry of service.

The 50th national conference in New Orleans will be a great chance to reflect on the deacon’s vocation.

“There’s a saying of Mother Teresa that I hold deep within my heart: ‘God didn’t call me to be successful; he called me to be faithful,’” Deacon Duplechain said. “That is my mantra.”

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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