It was a beautiful Fall day in southeast Michigan. I remembered my camera and was out there shooting just after 8:00 am as the suns rays were cutting through the trees. I continued to shoot until 9:00 at which time I had to go to choir practice.
If you look carefully in the pic above, you will notice a very long spider web running from a tree to the tombstone (Jos. Greiner)
Today is the Feast of the Holy Rosary, and also a day in which we recall the Our Lady of Victory at the great battle of Lepanto. Fr. Angelo at Mary Victrix made an excellent post on this which I brought to you previously. If you read it before, read it again - today.
In a letter released to the public yesterday, Bishop Zurek affirmed his pro-life position and said that a private meeting would take place on October 13th between him and Fr. Pavone.
The timing was impeccable: Deacon Greg Kandra's "Respect Life Sunday" homily, delivered this past weekend, which was about the birth of Steve Jobs. I linked to it the other day, here it is again.
Since this is Respect Life Sunday, and the beginning of Respect Life month, I wanted to talk about one woman who did respect life – and her choice has made a difference in the life of virtually every person in this church.
Her name is Joanne Schiebel. In 1954, she was a young unmarried college student who discovered that she was pregnant. In the 1950s, her options were limited. She could have had an abortion – but the procedure was both dangerous and illegal. She could have gotten married, but she wasn’t ready and didn’t want to interrupt her education. Joanne opted, instead, to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption.
And so it was that in 1955, a California couple named Paul and Clara Jobs adopted a baby boy, born out of wedlock, that they named Steven.
We know him today…as Steve Jobs.
It would not be overstating things to say that Steve Jobs is my generation’s Thomas Edison. As one observer put it, he knew what the world wanted before the world knew that it wanted it.
If you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod, or anything remotely resembling them, you can thank Steve Jobs.
If your world has been transformed by the ability to hear a symphony, send a letter, pay a bill, deposit a check, read a book and then buy theater tickets on something roughly the size of a credit card…you can thank Steve Jobs.
I learned some time ago, that not everything the Holy Father says is translated into English. When you look at the Angelus in different languages, you will find this to be especially true, even moreso, when he addresses something to a particular language group after the Angelus. For example, go in this list to September 4, 2011 and click on the German link. Scroll to view all that is there, then come back and look at the English, and other languages for the same date.
Louis Belanger caught something from the October 2, 2011 Angelus*. Something he briefly said to the the French is not found in the English version. While it is a message to university teachers about knowledge and truth, I think the message is true for anyone who passes on the faith. Many thanks for Louis' translation of this.
I'll let you read it at his blog, where he has embedded video, as well.
On this, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi let us suspend for a moment thoughts about his interesting relationship with animals and learn from him, something about prayer and devotion.
+ + + + + + +
Many in our secular society cannot imagine why a man or a woman would enter consecrated life. It's even more unthinkable that they would enter a cloister or monastery with little or no chance of leaving their dwelling once they walk through the doors.
Many Catholics today cannot understand this concept of being locked away in prayer. They wonder what purpose it serves. They think that such people could be contributing something greater to society by helping the poor, for example. Through a worldly lens, a cloister makes no sense; however, through the lens of faith in God, it makes perfect sense. Any bishop worth his salt, would want such a prayer powerhouse in his diocese, and the people would do well to provide them with support.
But prayer - even contemplative prayer, is not something meant only for a cloister or monastery. People complained about how much time Mother Teresa spent in prayer, yet she probably did more to meet the corporal and spiritual needs of the poorest of the poor in a month than many do in a lifetime. She said,
"Jesus made Himself the bread of life to give us life. That's where we begin the day, with Mass. And we end the day with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I don't think that I could do this work for even one week if I didn't have four hours of prayer every day."
People often think of the prayer as the time when we ask God for something. We call this the prayer of petition. However, few consider the prayer of adoration, where we love God with our being, adoring him, strictly for His sake. A small child will often express love for a parent spontaneously with a hug, or for an extended period of time, just content to snuggle. For those of you who are parents, you know how delightful this is, especially when the child looks for nothing, but wants only to express love for you. This is pure because it seeks nothing.
Reparation is a word which is rarely heard today. It needs to be taught. Learning what the Church teaches about reparation motivates us to make prayers and acts of reparation. Before I share a story about St. Francis and prayer, I want to offer this explanation from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
We are restored to grace through the merits of Christ's Death, and that grace enables us to add our prayers, labours, and trials to those of Our Lord "and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ" (Colossians 1:24). We can thus make some sort of reparation to the justice of God for our own offences against Him, and by virtue of the Communion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mystical Body of Christ, we can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others.
St. Francis loved to suffer because he understood the redemptive qualities it could have when prayers and sacrifices were humbly offered with this intention.
This story I am sharing comes from the Omnibus of the Sources for the Life of St. Francis, which is a collection of the most famous works by, and on, St. Francis, now bound in two volumes. It comes specifically from the Legend of Perugia, No. 71. While he is speaking about the religious brothers here, some of what he says applies to anyone, lay or religious. Read carefully, emphasis mine in bold:
Eloquence and Prayer
(71) He also said: "There are many brothers who day and night put all their energy and all their attention into the pursuit of knowledge, thereby abandoning prayer and their holy vocation. And when they have preached to a few men or to the people, and learn that certain ones were edified or converted to penance through their discourse, they are puffed up and pride themselves on the results and work of others. For, those whom they think they edified or converted to penance by their discourse were actually edified or converted by God through the prayers of the holy brothers who are completely ignorant of it; God wishes it this way for fear it should be grounds for pride for them. Behold my Knights of the Round Table: the brothers who hide in abandoned and secluded places to devote themselves with more fervor to prayer and meditation, to weep over their sins and those of others. Their holiness is known to God, but most often unknown to the brothers and to men. When their souls will be presented to the Lord by the angels, the Lord will reveal the effect and reward of their labors, that is to say, the host of souls saved by their prayrs. And he will say to them: 'My sons, see the souls saved by your prayers; since you were faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater.'"
I think there is much to reflect on here, especially with how we approach our chosen apostolates. While some can put too much into pursuing knowledge, to the near exclusion of prayer and silence before the Lord, we can also do the same with our "activism". No matter how noble the cause, the saints have shown us our human efforts are no match for what it takes to really save souls. It all must be coupled with prayer.
St. Francis of Assisi also had a great devotion to the holy angels. From the same "omnibus" (Celano, Second Life):
(197) Francis venerated with a very great affection the angels who are with us in our struggle and who walk in the midst of the shadow of death with us. Such companions who were everywhere with us, he used to say, are to be venerated, such are to be invoked as our guardians. He used to teach that their presence must not be offended, and that we must not presume to do before them what we would not do before men.
I leave you with Andrea Bocelli singing for the Holy Father... Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
I was floored by Deacon Greg Kandra's homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary time.
Deacon Kandra writes:
Since this is Respect Life Sunday, and the beginning of Respect Life month, I wanted to talk about one woman who did respect life – and her choice has made a difference in the life of virtually every person in this church.
Her name is Joanne Schiebel. In 1954, she was a young unmarried college student who discovered that she was pregnant. In the 1950s, her options were limited. She could have had an abortion – but the procedure was both dangerous and illegal. She could have gotten married, but she wasn’t ready and didn’t want to interrupt her education. Joanne opted, instead, to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption.
And so it was that in 1955, a California couple named Paul and Clara Jobs adopted a baby boy, born out of wedlock, that they named Steven.
We know him today…as Steve Jobs.
It would not be overstating things to say that Steve Jobs is my generation’s Thomas Edison. As one observer put it, he knew what the world wanted before the world knew that it wanted it.
If you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod, or anything remotely resembling them, you can thank Steve Jobs.
If your world has been transformed by the ability to hear a symphony, send a letter, pay a bill, deposit a check, read a book and then buy theater tickets on something smaller than a cigarette case…you can thank Steve Jobs.
There will be a life chain in front of Assumption Grotto today from 2:00 - 3:30. These are happening all across the country today. Find a location near you by state, then city, here: http://lifechain.net/
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
Jesus is a hidden treasure, and inestimable good which few souls are able to find for it is hidden, and the world loves what sparkles. Ah! if Jesus had willed to show Himself to all souls with His ineffable gifts, no doubt there is not one of them that would have despised Him. However, He does not will that we love Him for His gifts, He Himself must be our reward. To find a hidden thing one must hide oneself; our life must then be a mystery. We must be like Jesus, Jesus whose face was hidden. . . . "Do you want to learn something that may be of use to you?" says the Imitation.1 "love to be unknown and accounted for nothing . . . " And elsewhere: "After you have left everything, you must above all leave yourself; let one man boast of one thing, another of something else; as for you, place your joy only in contempt of yourself." What peace these words give to the soul, Céline. You know them, but do you not know all I would like to say to you? . . . Jesus loves you with a love so great that, if you were to see it, you would be in an ecstasy of happiness that would cause your death, but you do not see it, and you are suffering.
My Yahoo account is down and I cannot send email due to "suspicious activity".
My gut instinct is that this is a system issue. Whenever I have an oddball problem, I typically google it to see if anyone else is talking about the same thing today. I actually found it even better to use the Twitter search bar (yahoo suspicious activity) and see lots of people talking about it.
I did use Yahoo chat and they seemed to know, but still made me fill out a form.
I'm sure it will get resolved soon. I usually just wait these things out. Stuff happens and it's not the end of the world. It is, however, my primary account.
It appears that I am still receiving messages, but cannot repsond. Those wanting to reach me, should use my public account associated with this blog: TeDeumBlog (at) gmail (dot) com . If you do get through to my Yahoo account, look for a reply from that gmail account.
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
Please come to Assumption Grotto for the 7:00 pm Mass this evening and stay for Eucharistic Adoration.
With your prayers and sacrifices, we are hopeful that Assumption Grotto will be successful in the ongoing capital campaign. Also, those in attendance will be praying for the intentions of parishioners.
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
On August 3, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an interim rule that mandates almost all private health plans to cover contraception and sterilization as “preventive services,” and allows the department to implement a very narrow and inadequate religious exemption. Please take a moment to send an e-mail message to HHS no later than September 30 urging the department to remove morally unacceptable mandated services. More background information may be found below. Continue reading ACTION ALERT! Email HHS to Oppose “Preventative Services” Mandate…
I want to pass along some interesting dialogue taking place on the blogs of Catholic radio show host, Al Kresta, and blogging canonist, Ed Peters - both stand-up guys, and friends, who are in a friendly disagreement over a recent interview Al did with Fr. Frank Pavone.
I pass this along because I think there are some good learning opportunities here, not just in the arguments themselves, but in how people can disagree with one another, in a civil way.
Dr. Gerard Nadal offers some thoughts over at Deacon Greg Kandra's combox on this. What caught my attention was the sample letter he offered as the kind of thing that would have been much more helpful out of Fr. Pavone. I have formatted it for easier reading. Gerry writes:
Pavone quote from the article:
“Be assured we are neither organizing nor endorsing public protests of any kind.”
There’s the cute little game that will ultimately alienate large numbers from Fr. Pavone. While he is not organizing or endorsing the protests, the assault on the children of that school, he will not ask the plane and trucks to stand down.
He is a priest of that diocese and those children are being traumatized in his name, and he does not publicly repudiate the tactic. It’s stomach-churning.
If it will help, here’s the press release that will work:
“I have today asked that the truth trucks return home and that the plane remain grounded. Furthermore, I ask that all who intend to come to Amarillo please redirect your energy to praying outside of your local abortion clinic. My bishop and I need a safe, quiet, and respectful space in which to resolve the differences that have led to this action. Please respect this relationship, pray for us both, and refrain from any more publishing of harsh words for any of our bishops.
“Priests for life has been as successful as we have been precisely because three of my bishops, as well as every bishop who has sent us a priest, has consented to this ministry and want us bringing the heart of the Church to the pro-life movement. They are good men who cannot spare a man in their respective diocese, yet have done so generously. Honor that.
“For now, please don’t become distracted from your great work or your prayers. Continue to do God’s will, and trust in His leading.”
After someone challenges him about "traumatizing" elementary school children with graphic photos of aborted babies, Nadal responded with personal experience. Go read it there [click takes you directly to comment within the thread]
Agree or disagree, I'm solidly with Gerry on this. He has has summed up a number of my problems with Fr. Frank Pavone's response, or lack thereof.
Francesco Botticini's, "Tobias and the Archangels", circa 15th century
Today is the feast of St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael - the Archangels. Here is what is used for the second reading in today's Office of Readings, by St. Gregory the Great
You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.
And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.
Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.”
Whenever some act of wondrous powermust be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel. So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle.
Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.
ADORATION TONIGHT and FRIDAY NIGHT at ASSUMPTION GROTTO
Just a reminder, that each Thursday, Assumption Grotto holds a holy hour for the sanctification of the priesthood after the 7:00 pm Mass. Exposition often begins around 7:40, with special prayers and reflections led by a priest from 8 pm to 9 pm. The Thursday night Mass is a Latin Novus Ordo.
Also, there is an opportunity for Adoration tomorrow evening after the 7:00 pm Mass. This is not only for the success of Assumption Grotto's Capital Campaign, which is part of an archdiocesan wide effort, but for the petitions of parishioners.
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
In the opening paragraph of his article, A New Generation of Theologians, Ryan N.S. Topping, D. Phil., sums up the reason why I have hope for the future of the Church.
Much of the animosity felt by older theologians toward the Vatican or, more generally, toward episcopal authority, has disappeared. Such skirmishes that do occasionally play out the old ‘free-thinking theologian’ versus the ‘heavy-handed bishop’ script simply bore. To young eyes media events dramatizing the conflict between freedom and authority look tired, and to be a pastime for the retiring. (A case in point is the recent vitriolic over the Bishops’ censure of Elizabeth Johnson’s Quest for the Living God.) By contrast, the majority of young Catholic philosophers and theologians that I have met through my teaching—in England, Canada, and America—are eager to serve the Church, to imbibe her customs, and to perpetuate her faith. For the most part, where frustration is felt it is not at being restricted by authority; it is at not being confidently commissioned. Being a bishop is not for cowards. Failure of episcopal leadership in the post-Vatican II era has typically not been in the clumsy exercise of power, but in their reluctance to support those who defend authentic Catholic teaching. This trend is passing.
Speaking of the attitude of younger theologians and philosphers, I agree that the trend is passing. While there is still some reluctance among the bishops yet as Topping describes, I see that trend passing too. Note, that I did not say, that it has passed.
This is why you won't see me getting all up in arms the way I might have 10 or 15 years ago. In fact, I don't think that nonsense would have survived for as long as did had there been an internet and new media the way we have it today.
Often times I've reflected on those seminary libraries during 70's to 90's, many of which were stocked with books full of namby-pambyism masquerading as Catholicism. Young men back then were dependent on whomever fed them information. They could not just hop on a computer and see what the Pope just said 6 hours ago, 6 months ago, or even 6 years ago. It all depended on who was in control and what they wanted controlled. Today, when the Pope speaks, his words are up on the web within minutes and it's rapidly translated into other languages. In fact, it's not uncommon for the Pope's words to get out before the Pope speaks these days. Other than those living oppresive countries with some heavy technology controls, no one can block it (not that they would be "intolerant")
Young Catholics enthusiastic about the faith are absorbing Pope Benedict's words like thirsty sponges. They are also spending serious time studying the Church Fathers and Doctors, and getting to know Church documents intimately, not casually in such a way as to get a perverted sense of what is being communicated. Some older Catholics are tickled pink to finally see it happening, and many in the middle are leaning more with this group in getting annoyed with a dwindling, aging group who continue to press dissidence over assent. Even St. Paul had his own thorn to deal with. This new generation of Catholics has vigor to learn what the Church teaches because they want to live it and pass it on, rather than challenge it.
While the world around us is more secularized and ready to persecute Christians, especially Catholics, these days, I also see a very strong Church emerging. It's still small, but I see it growing. Deo gratias!
To an era controlled by stodgy, anti-ecclesial dissidency....
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
Some of the biggest buzz in Catholic circles is Fr. Robert Barron's new series, Catholicism. Portions of it will be debuting on PBS in Chicago on October 13th and it sounds like there will be other cities in the mix. Detroit will be among the cities offering it, starting on October 30th at 6 pm. See if it will be available in your area here.
In March 2010, you questioned PBS’ decision to not air religious programming and used examples to demonstrate that they exclude one type of evangelization but allow another type. Now it turns out that PBS has agreed to air your series on more than 80 public-television stations this fall. How did that come about?
We approached WTTW over a year ago in Chicago with the documentary. I was aware that I had done this piece on YouTube, and I stand by it. I wasn’t expecting much from PBS, but they called us down, and we met with their people. To my infinite delight and surprise, they said they thought it was well done, that it was visually compelling, that it would be interesting to non-Catholics and any religious seekers, and that they loved it. We went to lunch afterwards and wondered, How did that happen?
They watched all 10 episodes and chose four — the first episode on Jesus, the episode on the mystery of God, the episode on Mary, and the one on Peter and Paul and the missionary outreach of the Church. It will begin airing during prime time in Chicago on Oct. 13 and will air in successive three Thursday evenings. PBS Chicago marketed around the country, and they’ll be airing it on just over 80 stations.
The other episodes we sent to EWTN, and they’ll be playing them starting in the beginning of November. We’re thrilled.
This looks quite exciting. Here is a webpage dedicated to the series with a lot more info. I never understood why educational channels do not permit people of certain faiths to tell their own story.
There is much more to read about this, and of course, I recommend Father Barron's website, Word on Fire, and social media he engages in, which you can pick up from there. He has his own YouTube channel for Word on Fire which I also recommend visiting. Follow Fr. Robert Barron on Twitter, as well.
The "Barry Sanders" of Catholic Social Media
I find myself gravitating more and more to Fr. Barron's material. You can try drive change by negative means (i.e., angry complaints, too much emphasis on what is not being done or focusig on things going wrong, etc.); or, you can try to win hearts through postiive means (i.e., appealing to people's sense of reason with intellectual discourse devoid of anger, acknowledging what is wrong without over-emphasizing it, and offering hope). In my humble opinion, Fr. Robert Barron has mastered the latter. Some may be perplexed as to why he may choose certain topics in his Word on Fire videos. This is a man who is not just going after fallen away Catholics and non-Catholic christians. He's engaging atheists, agnostics and other non-Christians, and he is taking the high-road, completely unphased by some of the nastiness that can be out there.
Fr. Barron is to Catholic social media what former Detroit Lions running back, Barry Sanders was to football. Sanders, with his small stature against the many giant men he played against was unphased by the odds against him. He weaved in and out, dodging the multitudes, throwing them into confusion as to where he was going next. Sanders could make a good run, take a beating and come out of the pile trotting to the next play, repeating it over again until he punched through to the end zone. Then he would get up and just hand the ball over to the referee like it was no big deal. He never trash-talked that I recall and was very restrained in how he talked about others. This is how I see Fr. Barron taking on this culture of secularism, relativism, subjectivism, etc. It is with this lack of emotionalism and hyperbole that Barron teaches. his positive approach is working and what he teaches goes deep, not just on the surface. When some of them see he's interested in dialogue, they let go of the edge and get down to talking. You can see where things like philosophy, history, anthropology, literature and other subjects all come in to play. It is wise for seminarians, consecrated persons, and lay people to study up if they want to win souls. Fr. Barron shows how well such seemingly benign things are needed to understand others. This is what is needed to have intelligent discourse.
You can buy the entire series on DVD. Father also has a book by the same name, and a study guide. Find a few other interesting items by him in below.
.
Barry Sanders fans can take a moment to smell the roses...
For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog
, which is a collection of the most famous works by, and on, St. Francis, now bound in two volumes. It comes specifically from the Legend of Perugia, No. 71. While he is speaking about the religious brothers here, some of what he says applies to anyone, lay or religious. Read carefully, emphasis mine in bold:
