St. Leo the Great
Feastday: November 10
461
St. Leo the Great was born in Tuscany. As deacon, he was dispatched to Gaul as a mediator by Emperor Valentinian III. He reigned as Pope between 440 and 461. He persuaded Emperor Valentinian to recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome in an edict in 445. The doctrine of the Incarnation was formed by him in a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had already condemned Eutyches. At the Council of Chalcedon this same letter was confirmed as the expression of Catholic Faith concerning the Person of Christ.
All secular historical treatises eulogize his efforts during the upheaval of the fifth century barbarian invasion. His encounter with Attila the Hun, at the very gates of Rome persuading him to turn back, remains a historical memorial to his great eloquence. When the Vandals under Genseric occupied the city of Rome, he persuaded the invaders to desist from pillaging the city and harming its inhabitants. He died in 461, leaving many letters and writings of great historical value. His feast day is November 10th.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Welcome home to Rome
Five Anglican bishops resign to convert to Rome: statement
By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: November 8th, 2010
Here’s the statement by Bishops Andrew Burnham (Ebbsfleet), Keith Newton (Richborough), John Broadhurst (Fulham), Edwin Barnes (assisant bishop, Winchester) and David Silk (assistant bishop, Exeter):
Like many in the catholic tradition of Anglicanism, we have followed the dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics, the ARCIC process, with prayer and longing. We have been dismayed, over the last thirty years, to see Anglicans and Catholics move further apart on some of the issues of the day, and particularly we have been distressed by developments in Faith and Order in Anglicanism which we believe to be incompatible with the historic vocation of Anglicanism and the tradition of the Church for nearly two thousand years.
The Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum cœtibus, given in Rome on 4th November 2009, was a response to Anglicans seeking unity with the Holy See. With the Ordinariates, canonical structures are being established through which we will bring our own experience of Christian discipleship into full communion with the Catholic Church throughout the world and throughout the ages. This is both a generous response to various approaches to the Holy See for help and a bold, new ecumenical instrument in the search for the unity of Christians, the unity for which Christ himself prayed before his Passion and Death. It is a unity, we believe, which is possible only in eucharistic communion with the successor of St Peter.
As bishops, we have even-handedly cared for those who have shared our understanding and those who have taken a different view. We have now reached the point, however, where we must formally declare our position and invite others who share it to join us on our journey. We shall be ceasing, therefore, from public episcopal ministry forthwith, resigning from our pastoral responsibilities in the Church of England with effect from 31st December 2010, and seeking to join an Ordinariate once one is created.
We remain very grateful for all that the Church of England has meant for us and given to us all these years and we hope to maintain close and warm relationships, praying and working together for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
We are deeply appreciative of the support we have received at this difficult time from a whole variety of people: archbishops and bishops, clergy and laity, Anglican and Catholics, those who agree with our views and those who passionately disagree, those who have encouraged us in this step and those who have urged us not to take this step.
The Right Revd Andrew Burnham
The Right Revd Keith Newton
The Right Revd John Broadhurst
The Right Revd Edwin Barnes
The Right Revd David Silk
By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: November 8th, 2010
Here’s the statement by Bishops Andrew Burnham (Ebbsfleet), Keith Newton (Richborough), John Broadhurst (Fulham), Edwin Barnes (assisant bishop, Winchester) and David Silk (assistant bishop, Exeter):
Like many in the catholic tradition of Anglicanism, we have followed the dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics, the ARCIC process, with prayer and longing. We have been dismayed, over the last thirty years, to see Anglicans and Catholics move further apart on some of the issues of the day, and particularly we have been distressed by developments in Faith and Order in Anglicanism which we believe to be incompatible with the historic vocation of Anglicanism and the tradition of the Church for nearly two thousand years.
The Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum cœtibus, given in Rome on 4th November 2009, was a response to Anglicans seeking unity with the Holy See. With the Ordinariates, canonical structures are being established through which we will bring our own experience of Christian discipleship into full communion with the Catholic Church throughout the world and throughout the ages. This is both a generous response to various approaches to the Holy See for help and a bold, new ecumenical instrument in the search for the unity of Christians, the unity for which Christ himself prayed before his Passion and Death. It is a unity, we believe, which is possible only in eucharistic communion with the successor of St Peter.
As bishops, we have even-handedly cared for those who have shared our understanding and those who have taken a different view. We have now reached the point, however, where we must formally declare our position and invite others who share it to join us on our journey. We shall be ceasing, therefore, from public episcopal ministry forthwith, resigning from our pastoral responsibilities in the Church of England with effect from 31st December 2010, and seeking to join an Ordinariate once one is created.
We remain very grateful for all that the Church of England has meant for us and given to us all these years and we hope to maintain close and warm relationships, praying and working together for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
We are deeply appreciative of the support we have received at this difficult time from a whole variety of people: archbishops and bishops, clergy and laity, Anglican and Catholics, those who agree with our views and those who passionately disagree, those who have encouraged us in this step and those who have urged us not to take this step.
The Right Revd Andrew Burnham
The Right Revd Keith Newton
The Right Revd John Broadhurst
The Right Revd Edwin Barnes
The Right Revd David Silk
Chrisitan witness? Hardly...
>>>The Opinionated Catholic had this story of a New Orleans Archdiocesan Church catching hell from the same outfit that protests at soldiers funerals. This outfit is beyond radical and totally distorts the Gospel. This is a direct result of the lack of Christian unity and the ongoing movement by many Christians to deny the Catholic Church as the one founded by Christ. With each and every split we get more and more of this heresy. May God have mercy on them and bring them to the fullness of truth!
St. Stephen parishioners unfazed by anti-Catholic protesters
Posted by Robert Morris Nov 07 2010.
The Westboro Baptist Church’s unique brand of public vitriol has provoked everything from impromptu arguments to organized counter protests to Supreme Court cases, but it barely managed to raise an eyebrow Sunday morning among parishioners of St. Stephen Catholic Church.
Best known for preaching at military funerals around the country their message that support for homosexuality causes the deaths of American soldiers, the church’s schedule of protests in New Orleans this weekend focused on the Jewish Federation’s North America General Assembly downtown (the Topeka, Kansas-based church preaches that the Jewish faith, and thus the state of Israel, are both illegitimate). But the church also brought its anti-Catholic views to the doorsteps of several of the city’s churches, including St. Stephen on Napoleon Avenue.
The group of about half a dozen protesters arrived in a minivan shortly after 10 a.m. and quickly set up their signs behind metal barricades they had requested in advance from the New Orleans Police Department. As parishioners began walking into the landmark church for the 10:30 a.m. Mass, Westboro members began castigating them loudly: “What is wrong with you people, walking into that whorehouse where priests rape children?” yelled Margie Phelps, daughter of church founder Fred Phelps.
Few parishioners even slowed their pace walking past. One man carrying a basketball away from the nearby courts pointed at Phelps’ sign and said “I disagree with that,” and she yelled her responses at his back as he walked away.
A half-block away, Franz Heldner leaned on his bicycle and watched the protesters. He’d attended the 8 a.m. Mass at St. Stephen, knew the Westboro church by its reputation, and came back to be on hand in case the protests became confrontational, he said. There’s some irony, Heldner said, in the wide variety of groups theh church targets: Jews and Catholics, gays and soldiers.
“They’re equal-opportunity haters and protesters,” Heldner said. “But I really object to the fact that they interrupt military funerals. That’s despicable.”
The Westboro group actually drew a small group of supporters, four members of the Twenty-First Century House of God in Loxley, Ala., who wore homemade T-shirts and stood in quiet support just outside the barricade set up for the Phelps. The Alabama group shares many views with Westboro, and the short two-and-a-half hour drive from Loxley to New Orleans made for a convenient rendezvous, said Prophetess Glynis Bethel.
“God sent us down to pray for these people. The police officers, they’re corrupt – the whole city has been given over to corruption,” Bethel said. “We’re just preaching against anyone who refuses to receive Jesus Christ as savior, and it just so happens the Jewish nation falls under that.”
The Westboro group incorporated singing into its protest, substituting its own lyrics into the pop songs of Lady Gaga, or transforming the hip-hop classic “The Roof is on Fire” into “The Pope is on Fire.” Giving the group a wide berth as they headed toward the church’s door, St. Stephen parishioners Jenn Johnston and Mary Chapman stopped before going inside, unable to resist asking who the protesters were. They’d never heard of Westboro or the Phelps, they said, but found a sort of baffling nihilism in their message.
“It almost sounds completely satirical, like they don’t believe in anything,” Johnston said, marveling at the sign that read “God Hates Your Feelings.”
“It’s like the people you see on Bourbon Street that say, ‘You’re doomed,’ but without the ‘Repent’ afterward,” Chapman said. “You’re just doomed.”
Though he said he only attends mass about once a month, parishioner Jeff Goldman took some issue with the fact that the protesters equated the misdeeds of some priests with all Catholics.
“The amusing thing is, I don’t think they quite grasp that the church is against homosexuality, too,” Goldman said. “I don’t know whether to argue with them, laugh at them or ignore them.”
Then, like nearly everyone else at his church Sunday morning, Goldman chose the latter option and headed inside. With their audience gone, the Westboro members slipped back outside the police barricades, packed their signs into the minivan and headed resolutely toward the next protest site.
St. Stephen parishioners unfazed by anti-Catholic protesters
Posted by Robert Morris Nov 07 2010.
The Westboro Baptist Church’s unique brand of public vitriol has provoked everything from impromptu arguments to organized counter protests to Supreme Court cases, but it barely managed to raise an eyebrow Sunday morning among parishioners of St. Stephen Catholic Church.
Best known for preaching at military funerals around the country their message that support for homosexuality causes the deaths of American soldiers, the church’s schedule of protests in New Orleans this weekend focused on the Jewish Federation’s North America General Assembly downtown (the Topeka, Kansas-based church preaches that the Jewish faith, and thus the state of Israel, are both illegitimate). But the church also brought its anti-Catholic views to the doorsteps of several of the city’s churches, including St. Stephen on Napoleon Avenue.
The group of about half a dozen protesters arrived in a minivan shortly after 10 a.m. and quickly set up their signs behind metal barricades they had requested in advance from the New Orleans Police Department. As parishioners began walking into the landmark church for the 10:30 a.m. Mass, Westboro members began castigating them loudly: “What is wrong with you people, walking into that whorehouse where priests rape children?” yelled Margie Phelps, daughter of church founder Fred Phelps.
Few parishioners even slowed their pace walking past. One man carrying a basketball away from the nearby courts pointed at Phelps’ sign and said “I disagree with that,” and she yelled her responses at his back as he walked away.
A half-block away, Franz Heldner leaned on his bicycle and watched the protesters. He’d attended the 8 a.m. Mass at St. Stephen, knew the Westboro church by its reputation, and came back to be on hand in case the protests became confrontational, he said. There’s some irony, Heldner said, in the wide variety of groups theh church targets: Jews and Catholics, gays and soldiers.
“They’re equal-opportunity haters and protesters,” Heldner said. “But I really object to the fact that they interrupt military funerals. That’s despicable.”
The Westboro group actually drew a small group of supporters, four members of the Twenty-First Century House of God in Loxley, Ala., who wore homemade T-shirts and stood in quiet support just outside the barricade set up for the Phelps. The Alabama group shares many views with Westboro, and the short two-and-a-half hour drive from Loxley to New Orleans made for a convenient rendezvous, said Prophetess Glynis Bethel.
“God sent us down to pray for these people. The police officers, they’re corrupt – the whole city has been given over to corruption,” Bethel said. “We’re just preaching against anyone who refuses to receive Jesus Christ as savior, and it just so happens the Jewish nation falls under that.”
The Westboro group incorporated singing into its protest, substituting its own lyrics into the pop songs of Lady Gaga, or transforming the hip-hop classic “The Roof is on Fire” into “The Pope is on Fire.” Giving the group a wide berth as they headed toward the church’s door, St. Stephen parishioners Jenn Johnston and Mary Chapman stopped before going inside, unable to resist asking who the protesters were. They’d never heard of Westboro or the Phelps, they said, but found a sort of baffling nihilism in their message.
“It almost sounds completely satirical, like they don’t believe in anything,” Johnston said, marveling at the sign that read “God Hates Your Feelings.”
“It’s like the people you see on Bourbon Street that say, ‘You’re doomed,’ but without the ‘Repent’ afterward,” Chapman said. “You’re just doomed.”
Though he said he only attends mass about once a month, parishioner Jeff Goldman took some issue with the fact that the protesters equated the misdeeds of some priests with all Catholics.
“The amusing thing is, I don’t think they quite grasp that the church is against homosexuality, too,” Goldman said. “I don’t know whether to argue with them, laugh at them or ignore them.”
Then, like nearly everyone else at his church Sunday morning, Goldman chose the latter option and headed inside. With their audience gone, the Westboro members slipped back outside the police barricades, packed their signs into the minivan and headed resolutely toward the next protest site.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Homily 32nd Sunday O.T. November 7, 2010
Begin with the end in mind! Perhaps you have heard of Steven Covey who wrote the best seller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? Covey’s book could be called self-help, how to guide for setting personal goals based on a character ethic that follows his seven habits. One such habit is “begin with the end in mind” where he suggests we do everything by understanding our deepest values as we pursue our life goals. No matter what the task or challenge is in front of us, Covey says begin with the end in mind.
We do this in our everyday lives, don’t we? When we plan an important family event, like a birthday, a wedding, a vacation or even a career decision, we think about the end in mind.
As people of faith, do we live our everyday lives beginning with the end in mind? And what is the end in mind when we are speaking of our faith life.
In our Gospel today Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem; his suffering, death and resurrection is at hand. As we have journeyed with Jesus in these past many weeks through St. Luke’s Gospel we have been introduced to many people. And so it is today; we meet the Sadducees. We have already encountered the Pharisees, now we meet the Sadducees who are quite different. The Sadducees are the wealthy, the aristocrats, and the ruling class who cooperated with the real rulers in Rome. They followed the Old Testament but only emphasized the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch. And most importantly, the Sadducees denied most forcefully any belief in resurrection from the dead. No resurrection? No wonder they are called sad, you see!
Here they confront Jesus in their attempt to trap and expose Jesus as a fraud. They concoct an example of one wife and seven brothers; all of whom she must marry as one after another dies, in order to produce an heir. The question, in order to trick him, is at the resurrection, whose wife will she be? Surely he will be forced to answer in such a way that will prove their point; there can be no resurrection of the dead. Jesus is not going to fall for such an obvious trap. Instead he answers in such a way that they could understand. He quotes from Exodus, one of those Old Testament books of Moses that the Sadducees follow where God uses the name Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to identify Himself. Even the Sadducees believed in God and that He is the God of the living. Jesus’ answer satisfied the Sadducees as they say in verse 40 you have answered well.
Jesus’ response should be one of great hope and joy for all us as it forces us to consider the end in mind. His answer should confirm for us that God is indeed for the living, that Jesus came to give life and that we, like Jesus, can live eternally with the Father in Heaven.
And Jesus brings this message not just to us gathered here today, but to those considered “dead”. By this I mean the sinner, the outcast, the immigrant, the leper, the prisoner, the disabled, the weak, the marginalized, and the sick! And Jesus challenges us, by keeping the end in mind, to serve these brothers and sisters everyday by our example, our faith and our service.
What can we do this week to put our faith into action and follow the example of Christ keeping the end in mind? We are in the early days of November and we are encouraged to remember the dead. Have we added our loved ones to the book of the dead located here before us in church? Have we made a special effort to pray for the dead focusing on the souls in purgatory? Have we visited a cemetery and prayed?
What about the living? Have we contributed to our own parish effort to provide food for our local community? Our Ladies Sodality is busy preparing food baskets; have we done our part? Our poor boxes, located here in Church, are the major means of support for the poor and needy served by our own St. Vincent de Paul Society. Right here at home, there is plenty we can do. And we should do so joyfully, always focused on the end in mind.
Steven Covey always believed that every life goal should begin with the end in mind. If we succeed at this, we will achieve our goals. Jesus gives us that example but truly with Him, there is no end, unless we count Heaven as our eventual home the end. Following him, the end in mind is no end at all; it’s life ever lasting. That’s a goal we all should shoot for!
We do this in our everyday lives, don’t we? When we plan an important family event, like a birthday, a wedding, a vacation or even a career decision, we think about the end in mind.
As people of faith, do we live our everyday lives beginning with the end in mind? And what is the end in mind when we are speaking of our faith life.
In our Gospel today Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem; his suffering, death and resurrection is at hand. As we have journeyed with Jesus in these past many weeks through St. Luke’s Gospel we have been introduced to many people. And so it is today; we meet the Sadducees. We have already encountered the Pharisees, now we meet the Sadducees who are quite different. The Sadducees are the wealthy, the aristocrats, and the ruling class who cooperated with the real rulers in Rome. They followed the Old Testament but only emphasized the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch. And most importantly, the Sadducees denied most forcefully any belief in resurrection from the dead. No resurrection? No wonder they are called sad, you see!
Here they confront Jesus in their attempt to trap and expose Jesus as a fraud. They concoct an example of one wife and seven brothers; all of whom she must marry as one after another dies, in order to produce an heir. The question, in order to trick him, is at the resurrection, whose wife will she be? Surely he will be forced to answer in such a way that will prove their point; there can be no resurrection of the dead. Jesus is not going to fall for such an obvious trap. Instead he answers in such a way that they could understand. He quotes from Exodus, one of those Old Testament books of Moses that the Sadducees follow where God uses the name Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to identify Himself. Even the Sadducees believed in God and that He is the God of the living. Jesus’ answer satisfied the Sadducees as they say in verse 40 you have answered well.
Jesus’ response should be one of great hope and joy for all us as it forces us to consider the end in mind. His answer should confirm for us that God is indeed for the living, that Jesus came to give life and that we, like Jesus, can live eternally with the Father in Heaven.
And Jesus brings this message not just to us gathered here today, but to those considered “dead”. By this I mean the sinner, the outcast, the immigrant, the leper, the prisoner, the disabled, the weak, the marginalized, and the sick! And Jesus challenges us, by keeping the end in mind, to serve these brothers and sisters everyday by our example, our faith and our service.
What can we do this week to put our faith into action and follow the example of Christ keeping the end in mind? We are in the early days of November and we are encouraged to remember the dead. Have we added our loved ones to the book of the dead located here before us in church? Have we made a special effort to pray for the dead focusing on the souls in purgatory? Have we visited a cemetery and prayed?
What about the living? Have we contributed to our own parish effort to provide food for our local community? Our Ladies Sodality is busy preparing food baskets; have we done our part? Our poor boxes, located here in Church, are the major means of support for the poor and needy served by our own St. Vincent de Paul Society. Right here at home, there is plenty we can do. And we should do so joyfully, always focused on the end in mind.
Steven Covey always believed that every life goal should begin with the end in mind. If we succeed at this, we will achieve our goals. Jesus gives us that example but truly with Him, there is no end, unless we count Heaven as our eventual home the end. Following him, the end in mind is no end at all; it’s life ever lasting. That’s a goal we all should shoot for!
A Fall Saturday in all it's glory
Everyday is an awesome day; a real gift from God. But being the fickle human beings that we tend to be we have favorites, even favorite days. Today had to be one such day for yours truly. The weather was absolutely perfect; a beautiful fall day. Lows were in the thirties and the high temp hovered at or below 65 with abundant sun and a nice breeze. There has been not even the hint of humidity. By the way, I hate humidity. In every way, a perfect early November day that also happened to be a Saturday.
For those of you who wonder if I really can't get out of bed in the morning today was evidence that I most certainly can. By 6:30 I was visiting with volunters at the KC Ladies garage sale. Our ladies group assembled quite the load in their effort to raise much needed funds for a family to be adopted for the holidays. And then it was off to New Orleans for another day of formation activities for our two classes preparing for the diaconate. These are exciting and spiritually edifying times for our 2010 class; ordination is scheduled in just 35 days.
The late afternoon was dominated by the exciting LSU game that I watched with Wendy as our Tigers overcame the usual sloppy offense to respond and man-up in the second half. In case you have not seen the score it was LSU 24, Alabama 21. This is double excitement as my favorite team is LSU and my next favorite team is whoever plays the Red Menace.
Another source of great joy today is that extra hour of sleep tonight which begins about 4 months of normal daylight. That daylight foolishness every summer needs to go. Looking forward to evenings getting dark soon after 5 p.m.
Tomorrow brings Mass, possibly a homily, meaning that I'm always prepared because you just never know, a Baptism for a precious little girl that I'm honored to be God-father and then we pray; a Saints victory. I think all of us Saints fans are looking for two consecutive great games so they better do it! I'm not even ready to comment on our NBA Hornets just yet, even though they beat Miami with Lebron, or whatever his name is.
And in all of this we give thanks to God who is truly the Lord of our everydays; even this spectacular gorgeous day. Thanks be to God as we remember that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!!
For those of you who wonder if I really can't get out of bed in the morning today was evidence that I most certainly can. By 6:30 I was visiting with volunters at the KC Ladies garage sale. Our ladies group assembled quite the load in their effort to raise much needed funds for a family to be adopted for the holidays. And then it was off to New Orleans for another day of formation activities for our two classes preparing for the diaconate. These are exciting and spiritually edifying times for our 2010 class; ordination is scheduled in just 35 days.
The late afternoon was dominated by the exciting LSU game that I watched with Wendy as our Tigers overcame the usual sloppy offense to respond and man-up in the second half. In case you have not seen the score it was LSU 24, Alabama 21. This is double excitement as my favorite team is LSU and my next favorite team is whoever plays the Red Menace.
Another source of great joy today is that extra hour of sleep tonight which begins about 4 months of normal daylight. That daylight foolishness every summer needs to go. Looking forward to evenings getting dark soon after 5 p.m.
Tomorrow brings Mass, possibly a homily, meaning that I'm always prepared because you just never know, a Baptism for a precious little girl that I'm honored to be God-father and then we pray; a Saints victory. I think all of us Saints fans are looking for two consecutive great games so they better do it! I'm not even ready to comment on our NBA Hornets just yet, even though they beat Miami with Lebron, or whatever his name is.
And in all of this we give thanks to God who is truly the Lord of our everydays; even this spectacular gorgeous day. Thanks be to God as we remember that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!!
Beautiful prayer by a convert with Mary
A Convert’s Prayer to Mary
October 29th, 2010 by Chris Findley
I wrote this not long before my conversion. I wrote it while on retreat, praying through the decision to become Catholic.
I had been reading and praying about the role of Mary and I found myself suddenly and profoundly thankful for her.
Thought I’d share it. -Chris
For most of my life I’ve not known you.
Yet for all of my life, I’ve longed for you.
And now that I’ve found you, I thank God for you.
“Woman, behold your son.”
“Behold, your mother.”
You were given by Jesus to us, cared for by John
By your Son we were given to one another
As John took you into his home, I pray you will be in my heart
as my mother, as the mother of my savior, pointing me to Him,
instructing me
“Do whatever he tells you.”
The hands that caressed the face of Jesus with motherly love
Please caress my face too
The eyes that looked after my Savior
Please look after me too
Allow me to crawl into your lap and rest my head on your shoulder
just as my Lord must have done
Whisper to me a lullaby of the Kingdom
Patch my scraped up knees
Allow me to walk beside you toward my Lord and my God
Help me to remember to always,
“Do whatever he tells you”
Your heart was pierced, broken at the foot of the cross
as your Son hung in agony and his blood, your blood too,
streamed into the Jerusalem dust
Yet there you stood, unmoving
While others fled, you remained
While others ran, you stood fast
For every hammer blow, every insult, every jest
Yes, you were there when his infant lungs inhaled for the first time
And you were there when they exhaled at the last
Who better to remind me
“Do whatever he tells you”
Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, ever faithful
please help me, please help me see your Son
My heart rejoices to simply be with you now
even though I know my ignorance shows
You were given by God as the Mother of all the faithful
I need your blessing, your prayers, your touch
Please look on me with compassion as yet another would-be disciple
And teach me always
“Do whatever he tells you.”
October 29th, 2010 by Chris Findley
I wrote this not long before my conversion. I wrote it while on retreat, praying through the decision to become Catholic.
I had been reading and praying about the role of Mary and I found myself suddenly and profoundly thankful for her.
Thought I’d share it. -Chris
For most of my life I’ve not known you.
Yet for all of my life, I’ve longed for you.
And now that I’ve found you, I thank God for you.
“Woman, behold your son.”
“Behold, your mother.”
You were given by Jesus to us, cared for by John
By your Son we were given to one another
As John took you into his home, I pray you will be in my heart
as my mother, as the mother of my savior, pointing me to Him,
instructing me
“Do whatever he tells you.”
The hands that caressed the face of Jesus with motherly love
Please caress my face too
The eyes that looked after my Savior
Please look after me too
Allow me to crawl into your lap and rest my head on your shoulder
just as my Lord must have done
Whisper to me a lullaby of the Kingdom
Patch my scraped up knees
Allow me to walk beside you toward my Lord and my God
Help me to remember to always,
“Do whatever he tells you”
Your heart was pierced, broken at the foot of the cross
as your Son hung in agony and his blood, your blood too,
streamed into the Jerusalem dust
Yet there you stood, unmoving
While others fled, you remained
While others ran, you stood fast
For every hammer blow, every insult, every jest
Yes, you were there when his infant lungs inhaled for the first time
And you were there when they exhaled at the last
Who better to remind me
“Do whatever he tells you”
Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, ever faithful
please help me, please help me see your Son
My heart rejoices to simply be with you now
even though I know my ignorance shows
You were given by God as the Mother of all the faithful
I need your blessing, your prayers, your touch
Please look on me with compassion as yet another would-be disciple
And teach me always
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Friday, November 5, 2010
Blessed Seelos update
Sainthood cause for Blessed Seelos moves one step forward
From the National Shrine of Blessed Seelos:
On September 25, 2010, the official Diocesan Inquiry into an alleged extraordinary healing through the intercession of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was finalized. Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien convoked the Diocesan Inquiry Phase in May 2009.
The fact-finding Inquiry Panel investigated the case and heard the testimony of Mary Ellen Heibel, her primary physician and nurse, and other key witnesses, concerning Heibel’s cure of metastasized esophageal cancer. Heibel, a devout Catholic and parishioner of St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, MD, had been cancer-free since January 2005, even though the disease had spread to her liver, lungs, back, and sternum, and medical treatment had failed. The cancer disappeared one week after she helped begin a weekly Seelos novena in her parish.
On October 11, 2010, the Redemptorist Postulator General, Rev. Antonio Marrazzo, submitted the results of this investigation to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican. With the Diocesan Phase of the canonization process now complete, Marrazzo’s formal petition for the Decree of Unsealing the Acts effectively begins the Roman Phase.
At some point in the near future, the case will undergo proper scrutiny by Vatican authorities who will determine if the cure meets the criteria for the one miracle needed in Seelos’ canonization.
You are kindly urged to pray for his canonization.
From the National Shrine of Blessed Seelos:
On September 25, 2010, the official Diocesan Inquiry into an alleged extraordinary healing through the intercession of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was finalized. Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien convoked the Diocesan Inquiry Phase in May 2009.
The fact-finding Inquiry Panel investigated the case and heard the testimony of Mary Ellen Heibel, her primary physician and nurse, and other key witnesses, concerning Heibel’s cure of metastasized esophageal cancer. Heibel, a devout Catholic and parishioner of St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, MD, had been cancer-free since January 2005, even though the disease had spread to her liver, lungs, back, and sternum, and medical treatment had failed. The cancer disappeared one week after she helped begin a weekly Seelos novena in her parish.
On October 11, 2010, the Redemptorist Postulator General, Rev. Antonio Marrazzo, submitted the results of this investigation to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican. With the Diocesan Phase of the canonization process now complete, Marrazzo’s formal petition for the Decree of Unsealing the Acts effectively begins the Roman Phase.
At some point in the near future, the case will undergo proper scrutiny by Vatican authorities who will determine if the cure meets the criteria for the one miracle needed in Seelos’ canonization.
You are kindly urged to pray for his canonization.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Awesome news for the youth of the Archdiocese of New Orleans
p Abbey to become a year-round youth retreat center
Published: Wednesday, November 03, 2010, 7:30 PM
Jim Derry, The Times-Picayune
Four years after Benedictine monks announced they were closing Camp Abbey, it has been leased by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and is expected to be reopened within a year.
For 46 years, the retreat site, which is inside St. Joseph Abbey near Covington, was a summer home to many youths across the metro area. But it closed four years ago after Abbot Justin Brown, who heads the 121-year-old monastery, said the risk and liabilities of running the camp had exceeded the monks’ capabilities.
Then on Oct. 26, the archdiocese and the abbey signed a 25-year lease that will allow for the camp to be reopened as a year-round youth retreat center and summer camp, with the archdiocese promising about $3 million worth of renovations.
“We’re very happy the archdiocese has decided to lease the camp from the abbey,” Brown said. “When we made the decision to close the camp, we did so because the needs of the camp at the time would have required a great amount of money, which we did not have. We were trying to focus attention on raising money for our seminary and retreat house, which also needed a lot of repairs.
“So we had three major areas in need of repairs, and we had to make a decision. The other reason was we just felt that we could not carry the liability anymore. We’re a small monastery. We hated to do it. I loved the camp, and we’re just delighted. ... We were holding out that someone would use the property for youth-oriented programs.”
Brown said that although some groups had stated an interest in the camp property, including one that possibly would have opened a camp for children with disabilities, nothing ever materialized. And soon after Archbishop Gregory Aymond assumed the leadership of the Catholic Church in southeastern Louisiana a little more than a year ago, he got together with local priests and found that there was a need for a facility for teens and pre-teens.
“I hope that this youth retreat center will be a great resource for our parishes, high schools, and other programs where young people truly can take a break from the distractions of the world in order to build up their relationship with Jesus and with each other as the young Church of today,” Aymond said in a press release.
In the past, Camp Abbey was able to hold up to 240 students at a time. To again make it functional, the camp will need “some major renovations, and possibly some additions,” Brown said. “The structures, however, are fairly sound.”
Work is expected to be finished by the fall of 2011 for retreats, and the camping programs should be open by the summer of 2012.
Published: Wednesday, November 03, 2010, 7:30 PM
Jim Derry, The Times-Picayune
Four years after Benedictine monks announced they were closing Camp Abbey, it has been leased by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and is expected to be reopened within a year.
For 46 years, the retreat site, which is inside St. Joseph Abbey near Covington, was a summer home to many youths across the metro area. But it closed four years ago after Abbot Justin Brown, who heads the 121-year-old monastery, said the risk and liabilities of running the camp had exceeded the monks’ capabilities.
Then on Oct. 26, the archdiocese and the abbey signed a 25-year lease that will allow for the camp to be reopened as a year-round youth retreat center and summer camp, with the archdiocese promising about $3 million worth of renovations.
“We’re very happy the archdiocese has decided to lease the camp from the abbey,” Brown said. “When we made the decision to close the camp, we did so because the needs of the camp at the time would have required a great amount of money, which we did not have. We were trying to focus attention on raising money for our seminary and retreat house, which also needed a lot of repairs.
“So we had three major areas in need of repairs, and we had to make a decision. The other reason was we just felt that we could not carry the liability anymore. We’re a small monastery. We hated to do it. I loved the camp, and we’re just delighted. ... We were holding out that someone would use the property for youth-oriented programs.”
Brown said that although some groups had stated an interest in the camp property, including one that possibly would have opened a camp for children with disabilities, nothing ever materialized. And soon after Archbishop Gregory Aymond assumed the leadership of the Catholic Church in southeastern Louisiana a little more than a year ago, he got together with local priests and found that there was a need for a facility for teens and pre-teens.
“I hope that this youth retreat center will be a great resource for our parishes, high schools, and other programs where young people truly can take a break from the distractions of the world in order to build up their relationship with Jesus and with each other as the young Church of today,” Aymond said in a press release.
In the past, Camp Abbey was able to hold up to 240 students at a time. To again make it functional, the camp will need “some major renovations, and possibly some additions,” Brown said. “The structures, however, are fairly sound.”
Work is expected to be finished by the fall of 2011 for retreats, and the camping programs should be open by the summer of 2012.
Purgatory through the eyes of a Saint
St. Catherine of Genoa's vision of Purgatory
In Catholic tradition, the month of November is dedicated to remembrance, hope, and prayer for the dead. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that the intermediate state of Purgatory exists (2 Maccabees 12:43-46, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15), as a spiritual realm where those who die in God's grace are purified from the effects of their sins prior to entering Heaven.
An extraordinary laywoman and hospital worker of the 15th century, St. Catherine of Genoa*, wrote an important treatise on the nature of Purgatory. During November, the "month of the dead," Catholic Womanhood will feature some sections of this profound work, which illuminates the experience of the faithful departed after death-- not to satisfy curiosity, but to prepare those hoping, in St. Paul's words, to be "saved ... as through fire."
(*Not to be confused with the earlier saint, the Doctor of the Church Catherine of Siena)
--
This holy soul, while still in the flesh, was placed in the purgatory of the burning love of God, in whose flames she was purified from every stain, so that when she passed from this life she might be ready to enter the presence of God, her most sweet love.
By means of that flame of love she comprehended in her own soul the condition of the souls of the faithful in purgatory, where they are purified from the rust and stain of sins, from which they have not been cleansed in this world. And as in the purgatory of that divine flame she was united with the divine love and satisfied with all that was accomplished in her, she was enabled to comprehend the state of the souls in purgatory, and thus discovered concerning it:
As far as I can see, the souls in purgatory can have no choice but to be there; this God has most justly ordained by his divine decree. They cannot turn towards themselves and say: "I have committed such and such sins for which I deserve to remain here;" nor can they say: "Would that I had refrained from them, for then I should at this moment be in paradise;" nor again: "This soul will be released before me;" or "I shall be released before her."
They retain no memory of either good or evil respecting themselves or others which would increase their pain. They are so contented with the divine dispositions in their regard; and with doing all that is pleasing to God in that way which he chooses, that they cannot think of themselves, though they may strive to do so. They see nothing but the operation of the divine goodness which is so manifestly bringing them to God that they can reflect neither on their own profit nor on their hurt. Could they do so, they would not be in pure charity.
They see not that they suffer their pains in consequence of their sins, nor can they for a moment entertain that thought, for should they do so it would be an active imperfection, and that cannot exist in a state where there is no longer the possibility of sin.
At the moment of leaving this life they see why they are sent to purgatory, but never again, otherwise they would still retain something private, which has no place there. Being established in charity, they can never deviate therefrom by any defect, and have no will or desire, save the pure will of pure love, and can swerve from it in nothing. They can neither commit sin, nor merit by refraining from it.
--
There is no peace to be compared with that of the souls in purgatory, save that of the saints in paradise, and this peace is ever augmented by the inflowing of God into these souls, which increases in proportion as the impediments to it are removed. The rust of sin is the impediment, and this the fire continually consumes, so that the soul in this state is continually opening itself to admit the divine communication. As a covered surface can never reflect the sun, not through any defect in that orb, but simply from the resistance offered by the covering, so, if the covering be gradually removed, the surface will by little and little be opened to the sun and will more and more reflect his light.
So it is with the rust of sin, which is the covering of the soul. In purgatory the flames incessantly consume it, and as it disappears, the soul reflects more and more perfectly the true sun who is God. Its contentment increases as this rust wears away, and the soul is laid bare to the divine ray, and thus one increases and the other decreases until the time is accomplished. The pain never diminishes, although the time does, but as to the will, so united is it to God by pure charity, and so satisfied to be under his divine appointment, that these souls can never say their pains are pains.
On the other hand, it is true that they suffer torments which no tongue can describe nor any intelligence comprehend, unless it be revealed by such a special grace as that which God has vouchsafed to me, but which I am unable to explain. And this vision which God revealed to me has never departed from my memory. I will describe it as far as I am able, and they whose intellects our Lord will deign to open will understand me.
In Catholic tradition, the month of November is dedicated to remembrance, hope, and prayer for the dead. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that the intermediate state of Purgatory exists (2 Maccabees 12:43-46, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15), as a spiritual realm where those who die in God's grace are purified from the effects of their sins prior to entering Heaven.
An extraordinary laywoman and hospital worker of the 15th century, St. Catherine of Genoa*, wrote an important treatise on the nature of Purgatory. During November, the "month of the dead," Catholic Womanhood will feature some sections of this profound work, which illuminates the experience of the faithful departed after death-- not to satisfy curiosity, but to prepare those hoping, in St. Paul's words, to be "saved ... as through fire."
(*Not to be confused with the earlier saint, the Doctor of the Church Catherine of Siena)
--
This holy soul, while still in the flesh, was placed in the purgatory of the burning love of God, in whose flames she was purified from every stain, so that when she passed from this life she might be ready to enter the presence of God, her most sweet love.
By means of that flame of love she comprehended in her own soul the condition of the souls of the faithful in purgatory, where they are purified from the rust and stain of sins, from which they have not been cleansed in this world. And as in the purgatory of that divine flame she was united with the divine love and satisfied with all that was accomplished in her, she was enabled to comprehend the state of the souls in purgatory, and thus discovered concerning it:
As far as I can see, the souls in purgatory can have no choice but to be there; this God has most justly ordained by his divine decree. They cannot turn towards themselves and say: "I have committed such and such sins for which I deserve to remain here;" nor can they say: "Would that I had refrained from them, for then I should at this moment be in paradise;" nor again: "This soul will be released before me;" or "I shall be released before her."
They retain no memory of either good or evil respecting themselves or others which would increase their pain. They are so contented with the divine dispositions in their regard; and with doing all that is pleasing to God in that way which he chooses, that they cannot think of themselves, though they may strive to do so. They see nothing but the operation of the divine goodness which is so manifestly bringing them to God that they can reflect neither on their own profit nor on their hurt. Could they do so, they would not be in pure charity.
They see not that they suffer their pains in consequence of their sins, nor can they for a moment entertain that thought, for should they do so it would be an active imperfection, and that cannot exist in a state where there is no longer the possibility of sin.
At the moment of leaving this life they see why they are sent to purgatory, but never again, otherwise they would still retain something private, which has no place there. Being established in charity, they can never deviate therefrom by any defect, and have no will or desire, save the pure will of pure love, and can swerve from it in nothing. They can neither commit sin, nor merit by refraining from it.
--
There is no peace to be compared with that of the souls in purgatory, save that of the saints in paradise, and this peace is ever augmented by the inflowing of God into these souls, which increases in proportion as the impediments to it are removed. The rust of sin is the impediment, and this the fire continually consumes, so that the soul in this state is continually opening itself to admit the divine communication. As a covered surface can never reflect the sun, not through any defect in that orb, but simply from the resistance offered by the covering, so, if the covering be gradually removed, the surface will by little and little be opened to the sun and will more and more reflect his light.
So it is with the rust of sin, which is the covering of the soul. In purgatory the flames incessantly consume it, and as it disappears, the soul reflects more and more perfectly the true sun who is God. Its contentment increases as this rust wears away, and the soul is laid bare to the divine ray, and thus one increases and the other decreases until the time is accomplished. The pain never diminishes, although the time does, but as to the will, so united is it to God by pure charity, and so satisfied to be under his divine appointment, that these souls can never say their pains are pains.
On the other hand, it is true that they suffer torments which no tongue can describe nor any intelligence comprehend, unless it be revealed by such a special grace as that which God has vouchsafed to me, but which I am unable to explain. And this vision which God revealed to me has never departed from my memory. I will describe it as far as I am able, and they whose intellects our Lord will deign to open will understand me.
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