Hate is Hateful

Pawel Adamowicz

The Master of the Order of Preachers has had enough!  Europe is crazy with hate.  Hate speech, hate media, hate actions and overall feelings of hate.  As an American who reads the contempt on social media, I can't imagine "the hate" being worse anywhere else.  But Europe is bubbling over in an atmosphere of poisonous hatred, so much so, that Master Cadore is concerned.  He has called for prayer this month of April 2019 through the intercession of the co-patroness of Europe, the Lay Dominican Saint, and Doctor of the Church, Catherine of Siena. 

He uses the words of Father Ludwik Wisniewski, O.P., in his tribute to Polish Mayor Pawel Adamowicz, who was assassinated January 14, 2019.

Lord of all, we ask your grace to stop the hate speech, contempt, and unfounded accusations.  Help us not be indifferent to the poison of hatred that is rampant in the streets, in the media, on the internet, in schools, in governments, and even in churches.  Remove those who exercise high responsibilities and who promote evil ideas and arouse incendiary emotions.  Call everyone to conversion so that we may be worthy messengers of the Prince of Peace.  Help the good people of Europe reflect Your image to the rest of the world, so that we too may become worthy to be called Yours.

Bell at consecration?

Bell at consecration?: Q. I was in a liturgy committee meeting at my parish, and I suggested that we have the altar server ring the bell at the consecration during the Mass on Easter Sunday. (We don't normally use altar bells.)

Pixabay/Public Domain

What do you think?



From reading the article, there never was a rule to ring or not, so it's a pastoral decision.

Living with Depression

There's another Intergenerational Book Club coming up.  This is a  book discussion group between the high school and the senior center.  The book is Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

I finished the book rather quickly because I found it so interesting.  All my other reading was set aside.  Darius lives a somewhat unhappy teen life.  He is bullied.  And he has mental depression. Depression is a major theme in the book.  There are some good descriptions of what depression episodes look and feel like, described by both Darius and his father (who also suffers from depression).

Darius' mother is from Iran.  Her parents still live there.  The family skypes regularly.  Once the grandfather is diagnosed with brain cancer, Darius' family visits Iran to see his grandfather for the last time.

While there, Darius makes friends with Sohrab.  They bond immediately, learning from each other and appreciating their similarities and differences.  Much to Darius' surprise, he is a pretty good soccer player.  In fact, by the end of the book, Darius tries out for his own high school soccer team and makes it.  Soccer isn't the only positive thing Darius learns.  He grows closer to his father.  He understands him better.  He develops a relationship with his grandparents.  He loves his mother and sister even more.  And the friendship between Darius and Sohrab continues on, thanks to social media and email.

This book is for young adults but you can tell that this senior citizen enjoyed it,
too.

Why do people kiss the pope's ring?

From the Pilot.   Why do people kiss the pope's ring?: Loreto, Italy, Mar 27, 2019 CNA.- The Vatican press office declined to comment after a video went viral this week showing the pope refusing to allow pilgrims to kiss his ring as they greeted him.

Come on!!!!!!!  His hand cramps up after shaking so many hands!  Be careful of perception.  It is never the whole story.

Prayers for Europe

Credit to www.fraternitiesop

The Master of the Dominican Order has asked his order to pray for peace and order in Europe.  I thought it would hurt to have everyone in the world to pray likewise.  We are asking for the intercession of St. Catherine of Siena because she is co-patroness of Europe.  Please pray with us:

http://archive.fraternitiesop.com/Europa2019/02_EN%20Prayer%20INSIDE%20PAGESFinal.jpg

and

http://archive.fraternitiesop.com/Europa2019/02_EN%20Prayer%20OUTSIDE%20PAGESFinal.jpg

Resolutio

O.K.  I've been convinced.  I'm adding one more step to my Lectio Divina.  It is the last step, resolutio. Resolutio is putting love into action.  It is a conscious step to do something positive.  Dr. Tim Gray's video on Lectio from the Augustine Institute convinced me.  Dr. Gray tells the story of Saint Therese Lisieux's resolutio.  She decided to smile at this particular nun who grated on her nerves.  Therese was so nice to her that when Therese died, that nun considered that she was Therese's best friend, when the opposite was true.

Henceforth, my practice will be:

Lectio:
Studium:
Meditatio:
Oratio:
Contemplatio:
Resolutio:

Reading Can Be Prayer

Yes!  Deo Gratias!  I know this and love it.  It's called Lectio Divina, which we do all the time.  Here's an excellent article on the method: https://uscatholic.org/articles/201903/avid-reader-consider-spiritual-practice-lectio-divina-31680

I do add Studium because that's how Dominicans do Lectio Divina.  But many include Studium as part of either Lectio or Meditatio.

Pregnant with Mary

It's that time, again. Tomorrow I'll start my nine-month novena.  Tomorrow is March 25, the Annunciation of Mary.  This is the time we recognize as the conception of Jesus.  So I pray the novena until He is born on Christmas.

Fra Angelico's the Annunciation 

Tonight is the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  I've decided to unite myself with Mary to carry Jesus inside my heart.  For nine months He will gestate.  Then December 25th, we will celebrate His coming. 


Here is a Nine Month Novena in Honor of the Virgin of the Incarnation.  It is to be prayed each day from the Solemnity of the Annunciation to the Solemnity of the Nativity: March 25--December 25.  This novena is offered for three intentions.


Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen)


O Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand, a thousand times we praise thee, a thousand times we greet thee, for the joy thou did know when the Son of God became flesh in thy womb.  Because thou are most powerful, O Virgin Mother of God, grant what we beseech thee for the love of God: (here name the three intentions).


The Memorare


Hail Mary


May the heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world and in the hearts of all, even until the end of time.  Amen.

A Manipulative Female

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn has 560 pages.  I was on page 374 when I realized that I'd read this book before.

I recognized an incident but that's all.  I couldn't remember what happened or how the book ended, so I continued reading.

The story kept me up at night.  The main character, Amy, was manipulative.  She was unbelievably manipulative.  Nick is her husband.  As his lawyer once said, "You two are the most f#**ed up people I have ever met and my job is working with f#**ed up people!"

Amy meticulously faked her death to get her husband arrested and sent to prison to be executed.  For years she saved money to make her getaway good.  Unexpectedly, her money was stolen while she was on the run.  She couldn't very well call the police now, could she?  That's when I realized that I had read this book, before.  But I didn't remember how she got out of the situation.  So I read on.

She reconnected with a rich, former boyfriend.  She kills him and frames him with the crime of kidnapping her and goes back to her husband, Nick.

Nick wasn't all that forgiving until she becomes pregnant. That changed everything.  That's how the book ends.

At first, I didn't like the ending but after a few days,

I couldn't think of any other way to end it. What a book!

Apple Pie and Ice Cream

Back in the day, when I was a teenager, I thought my sister's boyfriend was everything a boyfriend should be. He told a joke that I didn't think was funny.  I laughed of course because well, he told it.   And for some reason, I've never forgotten it.  The joke goes something like this:

              A new immigrant who didn't know much English learned to ask for apple
              pie and ice cream, at the diner.  Every day he went to the diner, sat down,
             and when asked he'd respond with, "apple pie and ice cream."  This went
             on every single day.  "Apple pie and ice cream...."
              Eventually, our friend got tired of apple pie and ice cream and learned to
              order a hamburger.  The very first day he walked into the diner he sat down
              and when asked, he said, "a hamburger."  The waitress then asked him what
              he wanted on it.  The man looked confused and responded with "apple pie
              and ice cream."

I didn't think it was funny then, and I don't think it's funny now.

Well, the other day, my hubby asked me to buy a couple of lottery tickets.  I never play the lottery.  I didn't know what he was talking about  He taught me to say, "One Mega Millions and One Power Ball."  Easy peasy.

At the store, I approach the cashier and say perfectly, "One Mega Millions and One Power Ball."
But she asked me a question.  "What numbers?"

Apple pie and ice cream.

Now I get the joke.

The Kids Would Harass Him

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who heads the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., is seen in this Aug. 31, 2015, photo. The archbishop also is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. (CNS photo/Lori Wood Habiger, The Leaven)

St. Ann's parochial school in Prairie Village, Kansas refused admittance to a child of the same sex couple.  As expected in this present culture of promoting the same sexuality, a public uproar arose against the Catholic Church.

You have to laugh because it's a knee-jerk reaction to anything the Church does.  People don't think; they react.  Think about it.

Why would you send your child to a school that is going to teach your child that the relationship God created for a family is a bond created by a man and a woman?  This is sacred.  What would go through the child's mind?

And even if the teachers shied away from teaching Genesis and other scripture references that refer to the bond between men and women, out of predictable controversy with same-sex parents, I think the kids would know about the issue.  Children can be cruel.  Why would parents even take the chance of subjecting their child to ridicule?

Kansas Archbishop Naumann's response in the Pilot is excellent.

Resurrection Rolls

It seems to me that at least a year ago, I made resurrection rolls and posted it here.  But I can't find it.  I can't find the recipe, either.  Going by my memory I think they are made like this:

Ingredients:

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.
Marshmallows

Put a marshmallow at the wide end of the crescent roll and roll up.  The marshmallow is inside.  Bake according to the directions on the Pillsbury canister. 

When eaten, the center is hallow, or empty, like Jesus' tomb.  Hence, the name--resurrection rolls.l


The trouble is I couldn't remember what size marshmallow to use.

So I experimented.  I put a large marshmallow in some and a tiny marshmallow, in others.  Neither was a success.  The rolls with the large marshmallow had the hallow center but they were a mess.  Melted marshmallow spilled out--very sticky.  The ones with the one tiny marshmallow had nothing.  So I think two marshmallows would work.

Let the Child Choose Religion When They're Grown

Think deeper.  So how about not teaching a language to your child so they can decide what language they want to speak when they get older.  Live in a boat in the middle of the ocean so your child can choose what country he wants to live in when he grows up.

Parents make all kinds of choices for their children: schooling, sports, music, friends, pets, traditions,
etc.  But not something as important as religion? 

Don't be surprised if you don't bring up your child in a religion that he will choose no religion when he's an adult. 

Jesus Talks

Dr. Tim Gray explains Lectio Divina.  Actually, in this video Dr. Gray explains how to hear God's voice.  Same thing as Lectio Divina.  You talk to God and His voice comes through your thoughts.  With practice, you'll hear It.
 https://formed.org/study/5c5dceaf0db5a21500a6f1c8/lesson/5c5e161c0db5a21500a6f1d2

Purgatory 101

In response to my Messianic friend who said:

"Catholics invented purgatory to make money."

No, Catholics did not add purgatory to make money or for any reason.  In fact, Catholics got praying for the dead from our Jewish brothers and sisters.  Prayers for the dead and the consequent doctrine of purgatory have been part of religion since before the time of Christ. Not only can we show it was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified. It was not the Catholic Church that added the doctrine of purgatory. Rather, any change in the original teaching has taken place in the Protestant churches, which rejected a doctrine that had always been believed by Jews and Christians.

The term purgatory isn’t in scripture.  So what?  The word Bible isn’t in scripture, either, or Trinity, or Incarnation, or atheism, or rapture, or monotheism…the specific term may not be spelled out, but the concept is explained.

But before Christ was even born, people prayed for their dead.  Judas Maccabee prayed for the dead who had sinned, II Maccabees 12: 43-45.  Prayers are not needed by those in heaven and no prayers can help those in hell.  So what are the Maccabees praying for?  There must be another place, realm, existence…let’s call it purgatory.  Some say that this reference so clearly illustrates the existence of purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles.

Besides our Jewish brothers and sisters praying in Maccabees and the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after death, the earliest Christians also prayed for their dead.  The graffiti in the catacombs, where Christians hid during persecutions in the first three centuries recorded prayers for the dead.

When did the term “purgatory” start being used?  Can’t say, probably because in early Christianity teachings and traditions were passed down orally.   It was an oral society, after all.  But there’s no debate over heresy and novel doctrines.  In the immediate post-apostolic years the faithful were sticklers for tradition.  Remember Paul confronting  Peter for not eating with the Gentiles, Galatians 2: 11-13. So if purgatory were a novel idea, Paul or someone would have made a fuss about it.

The Bible speaks of heaven, hell, and another place where the just who had died before Christ were waiting for heaven to be opened to them.  We call that purgatory. After His death and before His resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1Pet. 3:19). We call this place purgatory.  Purgatory or limbo or whatever you want to call that place where there is a temporary, intermediate state is where people wait to gain entrance to heaven.  At least it proves there is more than just heaven and hell.

Christ refers to the sinner who “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:32), suggesting that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one’s sins.  Similarly, Paul tells us that, when we are judged, each man’s work will be tried. And what happens if a righteous man’s work fails the test?  “He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15).  Now this loss, this penalty, can’t refer to hell, since no one is saved there; and it can’t be heaven since there is no suffering there.  Catholics call it purgatory.  It seems reasonable to suppose that souls waiting to go to heaven are gradually purified.  

Mouse in the House

My friend Billy wrote about the mouse that's been plaguing his cat, Ikea.  It was so cute that I want to post it.

Ikea my cat is on the prowl.
When mice are around, hear him growl.
He'll tease and play with them and
                            bounce them around.
You'll never know where they'll be found.
They might be alive; they might be dead.
You might find them without any head.
My cat is rough; my cat is mean.
Those mice will simply not be seen.
A mouse in the house, they once were around.
Now they simply won't be found.
They once were here; they once were there.
Now they simply won't be anywhere.
Ikea is such a beautiful cat.
He's just where it is at.
A mouse in the house, they once were found.
Now they're gone and not around.
                  by Bill Wyllie

There's Little Justice Here

It's no news to anyone has listened to or read my blog, that there is little justice here on earth.  We have to wait for divine justice.  The case in point is Cardinal George's case.  He was accused of crimes that anyone who knows the atmosphere in a sacristry before and after Mass, and anyone who knows what the Mass celebrant wears, would never believe.  The accusations are impossible to have occurred. 

The anti-Catholic hype poisoned the minds of the jurors.  The cardinal is a scape-goat.  This article by George Weigel says it all.

My Eulogy

Can I pick just a section of a reading for the Gospel, for my funeral Mass?  If I can, I pick John 21: 18-19.  What do you think?

"Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast young thou didst gird thyself and walk where thou wouldst.  But when thou art old thou wilt stretch forth thy hands, and another will gird thee, and lead thee where thou wouldst not."  Now this he said to signify by what manner of death he should glorify God.  And having spoken thus, he said to him, "Follow me."

Flying Dangerously

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve is a good book.  I'm glad I read it.  I've been telling everyone about it.  But I can't write or talk about it without spoilers, sorry. 

It begins with a man from the pilot's union knocking on Kathryn's door.  It was to tell her that her pilot husband had died in a plane crash.  Of course, death is the worse thing that anyone can ever hear.  So I sympathized with Kathryn. And I sympathized.  But after a while, pages later, chapters later, I was bored with Kathryn's lamenting.

That was until the black recording box and found and it sounded like the pilot committed suicide.  That was a page turner.  I stayed up late trying to find out the truth.  Jack and Kathryn had a 15-year-old daughter.  Before Jack left he told their daughter that he got good seats for a Celtics game.  Now does that sound like a man who was going to commit suicide?

Who would give up good seats for a Celtics game?

But it did seem like suicide. Then Kathryn learned that Jack's mother was in a nursing home, across the country.  He had told her that his mother died when he was seven!!!!!!

What was going on?  Do we ever know one another?

The next surprise was the fact that Jack didn't sleep with the crew as was the usual custom before leaving international flights.  Tracing credit card charges, it was learned that Jack was with another woman.

Kathryn and the union man flew to England to investigate.  Now Kathryn had been married a long time, going on twenty years.  In England, she found out that he had married another woman, too, and had fathered two children.  Jack was leading a double life.

More shocks were in store.  Jack was involved with the IRA.  The bomb was part of a terrorist/revenge mix up.  But it wasn't suicide.

But life goes on.  The book ends a year or two after all this and Kathryn and her daughter are coping the best they can.  There's always hope.

No More Wondering

Lectio:     Deuteronomy 26: 4-10 

Moses spoke to the people, saying: 
"The priest shall receive the basket from you 
and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.
Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God, 
'My father was a wandering Aramean 
who went down to Egypt with a small household 
and lived there as an alien.
But there he became a nation 
great, strong, and numerous.
When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, 
imposing hard labor upon us, 
we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, 
and he heard our cry
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
He brought us out of Egypt
with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
and bringing us into this country,
he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.
Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits
of the products of the soil 
which you, O LORD, have given me.'
And having set them before the Lord, your God, 
you shall bow down in his presence."

Studium:

"My father was a wandering Aramean..." is the formula that was said as the Israelite farmer used as he offered to God the first fruits of his harvest in thanksgiving for his crops, during the Feast of Weeks.  It tells the story of our faith.  God helps His people and guides us.

Meditatio:

God is a real Presence.  He is not an abstract concept.  He guided the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, fed them, and gave them land.  I, myself, can see His guidance in my life: choices of a spouse, career, children, and vocation.  I would not be where I am spiritually were it not for God's guiding love.

Oratio:

Lord, I can't express my gratitude sufficiently.  But I promise to dedicate my remaining years obey Your Will.  Lead me. Guide me.  Love me.

Contemplatio:

I can rest in Your Love.  Amen.

Memento Mori

This is a photo illustration depicting memento mori, a reminder of one's death. The Lenten devotional was designed by Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble to help others meditate on the moments of their lives and ultimately remember Christians hope in the Resurrection -- made possible through Christ's victory over sin and death. (CNS illustration/Lisa Johnston, St. Louis Review)

Practice of memento mori -- considering one's death -- revived for Lent: ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- We have one life. What are we doing with it? Are we remembering our death? To some it sounds strange, but that's what a Daughter of St. Paul is doing through her revival of an ancient practice called Memento Mori--remember one's inevitable death.  Everyone's.  Your own.



Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble's new book, "Remember Your Death: Memento Mori," was released by the daughters of St. Paul in January.  It's now in its second printing.  That's why medieval monks kept human skulls on their desks.  It was and is a constant reminder that you are going to meet your maker soon.



There was a poster making the round on Facebook recently, that said on the top: "Go ahead.  You only live once."



On the bottom, it said: "Wrong.  You live every day.  You only die once."

Thomas

Today in RCIA class, one of the students was particularly interested in the martyrdom of the 12 Apostles.  A couple of weeks ago, this same student had everyone looking up Patmos, the island where the apostle John exiled.  BTW, it's off Greece.

Today, he thought it awfully coincidental that the Apostle Thomas died by being run through with a spear when Thomas was the one who put his hand in Jesus' wound, made by a spear.  Tonight, I've googled it more and it seems that's the prevalent opinion. The following is from the blog Scanned Thoughts.

Thomas (impaled by a spear)—Called by most Christians as the “Doubting Thomas” for disbelieving the Lord’s Resurrection. But after his doubts were erased by touching Jesus’ wounds, he became a fearless preacher of the Gospel and builder of churches. He was the only Apostle who witnessed the Assumption of Mary and the one of the first Apostles who preached outside the boundaries of the vast Roman Empire (out of Europe). He preached in Babylon (present day Iraq) and established its first Christian church. Then he went to Persia (Iran) and travelled as far as China and India. He was martyred in Mylapore, India when a local king named Masdai condemned Thomas to death. The Apostle angered the Brahmins (high ranked priests/scholars who served as the king’s advisers) who thought Christianity disrespected India’s Caste System. Thomas was brought to a nearby mountain and was stabbed-to-death with a spear. He is believed to be buried around the suburb of Madras, in India.

Repentance is The Ticket

Today is Ash Wednesday, and this morning I read a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement.  He quotes Ezekiel 33: 10-20.  This particular part offers much hope to my "cloistered brothers."

As for you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel: You people say, "Our crimes and our sins weigh us down, we are rotting away because of them. How can we survive?  Answer them: As I live--oracle of the Lord God--I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! 

Short Shrift = The Bum's Rush

Last night, I began my Lenten reading.  It was a poem by Seamus Heaney, "Station Island XI".  I'm reading an anthology of Lenten poetry compiled by Malcolm Guite in The Word in the Wilderness, A Poem A Day for Lent and Easter.  Because I'm too dumb to get all of Heaney's imagery, I really appreciate Malcolm Guite's commentary.

This poem refers to Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday.  Shrove is an old English word derived from "shrove" or "shrift", meaning to hear someone's confession.  So you would say after confession, "I've been shriven."  Or going to confession, "shrive me Father."

Have you heard the expression, "He gave me short shrift."  Probably not if you are young.  But it's an expression meaning that someone didn't give you much time, or thought, or consideration. IOW, he gave you the bum's rush.  The following quote from Catholic Culture is clear.

Actually, the English term provides the best meaning for this period. "To shrive" meant to hear confessions. In the Anglo-Saxon "Ecclesiastical Institutes," recorded by Theodulphus and translated by Abbot Aelfric about AD 1000, Shrovetide was described as follows: "In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him as he then may hear by his deeds what he is to do in the way of penance." 

Malcolm Guite says that priests were given the duty of hearing prisoners' confessions who were going to be executed.  If they failed to do this properly, the complaint was made that he gave short shrift. 

Mmmm.  Absolution is absolution.  Why give spiritual direction to someone who is going to die in the next minute?

But, I get the point.  I don't want to give short shrift to the time-honored expression, short shrift.

Give and Take

This morning I was listening to someone's list of what to give up for Lent and I realized that I was giving up only one thing.  I'm giving up cream and sugar in my coffee. It's a real sacrifice.  I hate doing this.  I've been doing it every Lent for over ten years and I still hate it.  Although I don't hate it as much as when I first started it because I can drink black coffee and keep it down without vomiting. But I certainly count the days until Sunday, where I can drink my regular coffee. I savor that coffee. 

Adding is more than subtracting.  I'm reading three spiritual books to deepen my spiritual level.  Two I chose and one that kept calling my name.

I'm restarting my monthly confessions on the 13th of every month.  I'm going to Stations of the Cross on Fridays.  And finally, I'm going to pray for people who I find difficult, every day during Lent.

The Worst Has Happened

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate tells the story of every parent's nightmare.  Six children are stolen from their parents.   The oldest was twelve years old and babysitting while the father brought their mother to the hospital to have twins.    Some people swooped down and kidnapped all the kids.  And the parents in the hospital were told that their twins were born dead when they weren't.

The frantic parents didn't know where to begin to look for their children.  The mother died soon after from an infection she probably picked up at the hospital.  The father took to drinking and drank himself to death.

All the children were brought to the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage.  The youngest was adopted immediately.  Another who was a feisty handful disappeared one day.  I got the impression that she was killed because she was too much trouble. The others were eventually adopted.

As adults, detectives were hired and four of the girls found each other.  But it's only a story, right?  Yes, it is but there was such a place as the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage and terrible things happened there, including kidnapping children.  Lisa Wingate is such a good writer that this story will haunt you for a long time. 

The characters do get confusing, but I was reading so fast to see what would become of the children that it was probably my own fault for skimming.  It is a good read.

Capiche?

CNS

"When you think of the fact that there were 200 bishops there representing over 180 bishops’ conferences, plus several different bishops or patriarchs in charge of different Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, you realize this was the leadership of over 1 billion Catholics in the world coming together to reflect and pray about this issue, which in countries like the United States we have grappled with for years. However, for many bishops, it was the first time that they were being exposed in a serious way to this issue."

IMHO, this is the important message from the Vatican's Summit on the protection of minors in the church.

First and foremost was the task to introduce the subject to everyone because we in the USA think we are everyone.  We are not, in fact, this was the first time the issue was presented as something that affects and will affect all.  I hope the bishops understood.

Passing as the First African/American Ordained Priest

Father Augustine Tolton is on the path to sainthood.  The Pilot has an article on this saintly priest.  He is touted as the first African/American priest.  And technically, as we know from reading, Passing for White by James O'Toole, Tolton is not.  James Healy was.  James, Sherwood, and Patrick Healy were African/American priests.  But as the book Passing for White relates, the Healy children did not identify themselves as African/American, but rather as Irish/American.  They passed for white.

The Healys lived in the same era as Father Tolton.  I wonder what they thought of him.  Did they ever cross paths? 

My Lenten Reads

I'm looking forward to Lent this year because I have some good books I want to read.

(1)  The Word in the Wilderness, A Poem A Day for Lent and Easter by Malcolm Guite.  I discovered Malcolm Guite at the end of Advent.  I like his poetry.  He's an Anglican priest and writes so much that I can relate to and understand. 

(2) Lift Up Your Heart by Fulton J. Sheen, is a recommendation from a friend.

It's advice on how to live a spiritually complete life.

(3)  This one I never wanted to read, The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux.  It was written a long time, ago.  Who wants to read stuff that old?  Not I.
     But St. Therese kept being mentioned in the teaching materials I'm using to teach Lectio Divina.  She was everywhere.  Since I wasn't paying attention, the Holy Spirit woke me up one night.  I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and turned on the television.  It was an hour-long show promoting Therese's The Story of a Soul.  Some of the program was about Therese, but what touched me were the individual stories of different people, from different walks of life, who had their lives altered after reading The Story of a Soul.
     "OK, Lord, I can take a hint."
    I thought I already had a copy somewhere on my bookshelves.  When I quickly perused the book- shelf, it practically leaped out at me.  A brand new book, St. Therese of Lisieux Story of a Soul, translation by John Clarke, O.C.D., prepared by Marc Foley, O.C.D.