Let Us Pray

 My friends and I regularly pass books on, among us. The pope's new book, "Let Us Dream," is one such book. I was given this book today and in just flipping the pages to see how many pages, chapters, and if there were any pictures, I found this prayer used as a bookmark. If ever a prayer cried out to be prayed, it is this one. Join me, please.

Heavenly Father,

Help us to remember all those in need this day,

Help us to think of the other, praying for their safety, both physically, financially, mentally, and spiritually.

In this time of need show us, Your grace.

Help us to come together and support our parishes and all those that need our prayers and support.

God in Your Goodness, You are the maker and giver of all, shower us with Your Grace,

Bring us together in mind and spirit at a time when we cannot be together in Your Holy Church.

Unite us, bring us hope, but most of all, help us to remember You.

In Your beloves Son's name, Jesus, we pray.

Amen

Before My Time

Being from Greater Lawrence (Methuen) I found this article in the Pilot very interesting. It is about the textile workers striking in Lawrence.  I also was a history major and when the subject of these strikers came up, my mother didn't recall anything.  And she worked in a paper mill.  My father worked in the textile mills.  But I couldn't converse with him, he was always drunk, which is why he was out of work more often than not.  I didn't think of asking Auntie, (my mother's aunt, my great aunt), who definitely would have remembered, but alas, I never learned Lithuanian.  So I found the article very interesting.

Note how mobs turned violent and the name-calling sounds like what some call the people who stormed the Capitol building.  Note also how the church aligned itself with the owners who donated money to build a school.  That reminds me of Central and South America where the church is accused of aligning with the rich.

History does repeat itself.

Photo from The Pilot The Arlington Cotton Mills, Lawrence, Massachusetts From A 1907 Postcard Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Kiss Me Too, Jesus

 I love this story in Patti Maguire Armstrong's blog about an altar boy being kissed by Jesus.  I think you will too if you click on the blue link. 

A Catechist's List for Lent

 This is what I've got planned for my grandkids, ages ten and six:

Tuesday before Ash Wednesday  --  a Mardi Gras party.  I'm making a king cake and pancakes.  We'll make masks and necklaces.  All this is after the religion lessons.

First week of Lent  --  Burying the Alleluia.  Stations of the Cross which will continue every week unless the grands are bored.

Second week of Lent  --  making pretzels,that is a prayer posture you know.

Third week of Lent  --  making hot cross buns. Don't forget the nursery rhyme.

Fourth week of Lent  -- planting shamrocks along with the story of St. Patrick using the shamrock to explain the trinity.

Fifth week of Lent  --  explaining the Last Supper and washing the grands' feet.

Sixth week of Lent  --  making resurrection rolls.

First class after Easter  --  we'll resurrect the Alleluia.

The Cast for the Puppet Show Moses

 Here is the line up:

The sock puppets are the extras. Next to the sock puppets is Pharoah.  He is wearing a bracelet for a crown and another bracelet around his neck.  The next two puppets are Aaron and Moses.  Moses is holding a staff made out of a straw.  Moses' sister is next to him.  Next is Pharoah's daughter.  She has a bracelet as a crown.  Next is the baby Moses in a basket.  Moses is a Barney Rumble pez wrapped up in a wash cloth.  All the other puppets are animals that play themselves.  They die in one of the plagues.

The Judgmental High Horse

 What comes to mind as I reflect on Sylvia Foti's article in the NY Times, National Collaborator or National Hero/ A Test for Lithuania, is the adage, "You can't see the past with today's eyes."  My grandparents came from Lithuania, too and as I read her story, flashbacks of incidents and words came to mind.

When my grandfather came to the USA he opened what was then called a "general store." Many Lithuanians shopped in his store. Years later I heard opinions such as: "he overcharged his own people;" "he gypped his customers;" "he had his thumb on the scale."  Do I believe this?  Yes, because in my family, the family came first.  Not morality, not the general good, and certainly not the eighth commandment.  Why, because the family came first, then the eighth commandment and general good.  

I remember the story of a salesman asking my grandfather if he worried about an employee's stealing.  His response was to the effect of "Well, they're stupid if they don't.  I don't pay them much."  See, it was expected.  It was the nature of the business to outsmart the other guy.  

Nowadays, we're appalled, just as Sylvia Foti is. You can't judge the past with today's morality.

You might get a feel of what I am saying when you visit the middle east, or a Caribbean country and start to haggle over the price of something. You just might be overcharged.  You might be gypped.  You might "be taken."  "They saw you coming!"  But the sellers don't see it that way.  In doing business, they outsmarted you.  After all, the seller has to feed his family and his business is his means of so doing.

Did Jonas Noreika murder people?  Yes.  But think of the times.  Lithuania is a country that is usually overrun, if not by enemies in the east, then enemies in the west, and don't forget the south.  He probably joined the side where he could protect his family the best.  Tragically, that job included murdering Jews.  What could he do that wouldn't have sent repercussions upon his family?  

Unfortunately, Jonas Noreika chose wrong.  You are the choices you make in life.  

Today it's the fashion to discredit our national heroes. Columbus murdered the peaceful indigenous people!  Washington owned slaves! Tear down our statues!  And strip Jonas Noreika of all honor!

If history teaches us anything, it should show today's readers not to be judgemental.  People are people.  No one is purely righteous.  Today's moral eyes cannot judge the past.  Circumstances, environment, family, culture, and politics have to be taken into consideration before we mount a high horse.

Different Relationship

 My sister is my hero.  She is ten years older than me so our relationship sometimes was mother and daughter and sometimes sister to sister.  Since she was babysitting me, I accompanied her everywhere. Even on dates!  We also played cards a lot and other games.  So we were interacting one on one.  

But now watching her as a mother to six children, her relationship with her children is so different.  For example, what discipline worked with me, doesn't work with her children.  I didn't want my sister to be disappointed in me so I was a good girl.  I wanted her to be proud of me since she brought me to my sports games, choir practice, and other activities.  I always tried my best.  But her own kids don't seem to care whether they disappoint their parents or not.  And I haven't figured out why. Yes, the relationship is different, but Sis is still Sis.  

                                                                               Sis.

Once Upon A Time

 

Lectio:                                                                Mk 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet!  Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

Meditatio:

Is Jesus reading?  Is Jesus speaking in parables?  Is Jesus preaching?
How about yes, all three.  He may quote from scripture to emphasize an exact quotation, but people didn't come to the temple with a book of scripture o under their arms.  Maybe they didn't know how to read!  So he must have just talked to them.  It had to be interesting to hold the people's attention, so his preaching had to include stories.

    I know the point of the story is Jesus healing but to me the preaching was more important.  The man wouldn't have even come to temple that day if he didn't want to hear preaching.  Banishing the unclean spirit was a demonstration of Jesus' preaching.  It was a visual aid!

Oratio:

Lord, You can do anything.  You can make demons obey You.  Is it possible You can bless me with some of Your storytelling ability?  I'm not asking to be an exorcist.  Let's leave that to people braver than I.  But I'd like to bring people to You and that's why I'm asking for this talent.

Contemplatio:

You are almighty, Lord.  You have all authority.  I hand over my will to you to do whatever you wish.

Resolutio:

I'm going to try to copy Jesus when I teach.  No more reading books and workbooks.  I'll tell stories.

Listen to the Story

 This video tells how many people learn about God, orally.  They may know how to read and write but

that's not how they get their information--their news.  They don't read newspapers or magazines.  But they can talk, listen and gather information.  And if the story is in their own language, well it touches their heart.

In teaching my grandchildren about God, I've noticed that reading from the Bible isn't as interesting to them as my telling the story.  And if we make a puppet show of it, well, that's memorable!

And if you think of it, Jesus didn't write anything down.  He told stories in parables.  Oral tradition is important.

Four Ways

The email Aleteia tells us about the 4 ways to read scripture:

Literal --  as historical fact

Moral  --  the thematic theme is the point

Allegorical  --  the real story is implied

Anagogical -- what is to come.  Everything will come together

Here's an application:

Story of Samaritan Woman at the well.  John 4: 1-42.

Literal  --  A woman alone would tell you that she wasn't accepted by the other women.  Hebrew men did not talk to Samaritan women.

Moral  --  We should accept everybody.

Allegorical  --  This is a story about love, acceptance, redemption, and acceptance.

Anagogical  --  Jesus offers true love which we will truly fulfill once we get to heaven.

Are You A Hypocrite?

 David Wanat's post on his blog "If I Might Interject" tackles the subject of partisanship.  He is specifically writing about one's behavior during the Trump Administration.  The danger is failing to recognize that one’s own side has immoral planks and failing to stand up to them. We tend to treat those failings as “unimportant.” We might use evasive language to make it sound like we care about those issues while neither saying nor doing anything meaningful about them. Instead, we focus on the issues the other side fails on, elevating them to unforgiveable sins while we “criticize” our own side by “praising with faint damns.”

Why does it have to be all or nothing?  I'm right; you're wrong.  In thinking one is the arbiter of morality and the other side is the enemy, one is claiming to be God--all righteous, all-knowing, perfect.

Everybody needs to back away from politics.  Let's give it up for Lent.  

Ring

 It has been a year since I saw this ring.  It was on a shelf with other jewelry and was knocked off.  I could find everything, except this ring.  It's not just a ring; it's my mother's wedding ring.  It's almost 100 years old. Inside is engraved:

E. D.   to   A. L.    4-12-23 

Anyway, I found everything except this ring.  I tore the room apart, looking for it.  I didn't vacuum this room because I was afraid the vacuum would suck up the ring.  And the floor has been a mess because I shred paper in that room and tiny shreds get everywhere.  

Now I have no excuse not to vacuum!  

But I also wonder why I found it so easily, today.  It was just lying in the middle of the floor--very noticeable!    Bizarre.   

A Catholic Home

If you came into my home you would instantly know that this was a Catholic household.  Sure any Christian would have a cross in their home and/or a religious statue, but there are certain things that only Catholics would have.

1.  A Crucifix

2. Statues of Mary

3.  Pictures of Mary and saints

4.  A font with holy water

5.  A corner for meditation where you will see Catholic books, the Liturgy of Hours, A book of Novenas, etc.

6.  Catholic books on the book shelf.

7.  When they say grace, they bless themselves.

8.  A rosary in that mediation corner.

How many do you have?

Choices Make or Break You

 Dumbledore explains to Harry that our choices make us who we are, not our abilities.  (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets).  Harry had lots of talent.  He could choose to be who or where he want to be and go, but he always chose good over bad.

I know too many people in prison who are very intelligent.  They are very articulate and could sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo.  I know a violin virtuoso in prison.  I have met priests, rabbis and ministers in prison.

It's your choices in life that tell us what kind of person you are.  Think before you make choices.  Pray before you think.

Chaos

 Whenever I think of situations in the Bible when chaos reigned, the Holy Spirit breathed on them.  I can think of two specifically.  Genesis 1 when chaos ruled until God breathed order onto the world.  The other was in the Upper Room immediately after the crucifixion.  Can you imagine!

Well, the USA is in chaos right now.  Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to breathe on us and grant us peace and unity.

God Changed His Mind

 Lectio:   Jonah 3: 10 

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would
do unto them; and he did it not.

Studium:

This verse, this phrase, this idea of God repenting of anything seems to have created much discussion among theologians.  And no wonder!  God is immutable.  Didn't He know what was going to happen?  He has foreknowledge.  

“God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent” (Numbers 23:19).

With Him “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

 “It repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart” (Genesis 6:6); “God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them, and He did it not.” 

IMHO, God's divine love is immutable. God is affected by people's actions and will reshape His plans but all in accordance with His immutable plan of salvation.

Meditatio:

I know God loves me and wishes me well.  I know the Ten Commandments, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and what God said the consequences were for not adhering to these directives.  So when I obey, God's consequences won't happen.  Is this something like the Ninevites changing God's mind?

Oratio:

Lord, I always want to do Your Will.  Help me to see that and follow it.  And if I fail, help me to change to what You want.  

Contemplatio:

God changes His actions when sinners change their evil ways.

Resolutio:

I will make more of a concerted effort to pray before I act.

The Death Day Party

 All I've been doing these past few days is read.  And now you readers get to reap the fruit of my labors.  I posted two of my meanderings earlier.  Now I want to tell you what I found in Harry Potter.  

All the ghosts in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had a party for their deaths.

Harry, Hermoine, and Ron were horrified at the thought.  If they were Christians they would have thought the party was a good idea.  Christians believe when they die they are born into eternal life.  

If that doesn't warrant a party, nothing does.

I Wish I Had Known You

 I have to remember this "come-back" remark.  Father Bill Barry in A Friendship Like No Other, relates the story of someone meeting Jesus after death.  The person says to Jesus, "I wish I had known you better in life."  Jesus replies, "I wish I had known you better."

Ouch!  Don't let that happen to you.

Behold I Make All Things New

 Like Good Friday because we are saved by Jesus' suffering.

Like Labor Pains producing a baby.

Like work producing an end result.

Like death results in birth in heaven.

Objective Correlative

Xiao He chases Han Xin by Yosa Buson (Nomura Art Museu

 This haiku by Buson is the perfect example of "objective correlative," It is a group of things or events which systematically represent emotions.

“The piercing chill I feel:

      my dead wife’s comb, in our bedroom,

          under my heel…”

My Brothers' Hymn

Revelation 14: 3 and 5: 9 have given new meaning to my "cloistered brothers". They sing a song of redemption which angels cannot sing.

My brothers pray for their victims.
They're singing a song by harpists,
A new hymn before the throne,
Before mankind, before God,
Before the four living creatures,
And before the great elders.

They sing a hymn not learned
By all except those following
The Lamb.  They are the
Ransomed, forgiven, the
Absolved.  You can see
Crosses on their foreheads.

A New Final Letter

 It turns out that a couple of days ago I posted what I thought would be the final letter.  But I've gotten so many corrections to that "Final" letter, that it has to be re-written.  AGAIN!

I guess God has other plans.  

Stay open to the Holy Spirit.

Is anything ever FINAL?

Final Letter

 Here is the final revision from the letter on January 2, 2021.  This is it; I'm mailing it!

January 1, 2021

Your Holiness,

When you declared the year 2021, the year of St. Joseph, I became very excited.  You see nine years ago, Pere Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., was beatified  in Besançon, France.   Father Lataste, had great love for prisoners because he founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany with former prisoners, but he also had a great love for Saint Joseph. (cf J.M. Gueullette, My dear sisters, pp. 217-220).

It was Blessed Pope Pius IX, who, on December 8, 1870, declared St. Joseph the Patron Saint of the Church.  Pope Pius was urged to proclaim St. Joseph the patron by many people, but only one letter, from a priest, offered his life for this proclamation.

“This good religious (Jean Lataste) is offering the sacrifice of his life to obtain that St. Joseph be declared Patron of the Universal Church.  Father Lataste will shortly be granted his wish.  We have received more than five hundred letters requesting that we declare St. Joseph patron of the Church, but Fr. Lataste is the only one who offered his life.”  H.-M. Cormier, Vie du Révérendissime Père A.V. Jandel, Paris, Poussielgue, 1896 (2e édition), p. 458-460

All those who follow the spirituality of Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, have been praying for his canonization. http://dominicains.ca/blessed-jean-joseph-lataste/?lang=en  We hope that in this year of Saint Joseph, Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be canonized through the intercession of Saint Joseph.

With your latest Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde, you remind us that Saint Joseph represents “those who appear hidden in the shadows and yet somehow play a role in salvation.”  With those words, you are explicitly speaking of Father Lataste.  Due to his retreats to the women prisoners in Cadillac Prison he converted and saved many souls.  Later, with these former inmates, Father Lataste founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany in France.  Many years later, this Latastian message of forgiveness and mercy reached a prison of men in the USA (MCI Norfolk).  A fraternity of Lay Dominicans was founded under the patronage of Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.  This prison fraternity mentored two more fraternities who follow Lataste’s spirituality: one in Texas and one in Belgium.  Father Lataste has certainly played an incomparable role in the history of salvation.

All of us (Dominican Sisters of Bethany, the contemplative nuns, the Lay Dominican Prisoners following  Father Jean-Joseph, O.P.) hope and pray that this year following the 150^th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, will be the year Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be declared a saint.  We already know he is a saint and through the intercession of Saint Joseph we pray that Your Holiness will make it officially known throughout the world by canonizing, Father Jean-Joseph, O.P.  I thank you in advance for your consideration.

Ite Ad Joseph,

Respectfully your humble servant,
Mrs. Faith Flaherty, O.P.
Our Lady of Mercy Fraternity
Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic

Lord Hear Our Prayer

 As violence in Washington DC erupts on the day the election will be certified, we must resort to prayer.

Please pray for the USA 

Pope John Paul II's Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace,
who are yourself our peace and reconciliation,
who so often said, "Peace to you," grant us peace.

Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice,
and brotherly love.
Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace.

Enlighten our rulers that they may
guarantee and defend the great gift of peace.
May all peoples on the earth
become as brothers and sisters.
May longed for peace blossom forth
and reign always over us all.

- Pope John Paul II

Chalking the Door

The following is from Wikipedia because I can't explain it any better:

Either on Twelfth Night (5 January), the twelfth day of Christmastide and eve of the feast of the Epiphany, or on Epiphany Day (6 January) itself, many Christians (including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, among others) chalk their doors with a pattern such as 20 ✝ C ✝ M ✝ B ✝ 21, with the numbers referring "to the calendar year (20 and 21, for instance, for this year, 2021); the crosses stand for Christ; and the letters have a two-fold significance: C, M and B are the initials for the traditional names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), but they are also an abbreviation of the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat, which means, May Christ bless this house."^[1] Another form, for Three Kings day, is to mark the door with IIIK (the Roman numeral three followed by "K" for "Kings").

 

The First Woman Executed in the USA

 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Mary Surratt owned a boarding house and tavern bordering the Washington DC/Maryland border.  The Surratt's were Confederate sympathizers and the tavern was a gathering place for Confederate sympathizers.  It was also known as a safe house for Confederate spies.  In fact, Mary's son, John was a Confederate courier.  

John Wilkes Booth, who shot Lincoln stayed at the Surratt boarding house along with other conspirators.  Booth's plan was to assassinate President Lincoln and George Atzerodt was to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. Lewis Powell was to kill the Secretary of State William Seward.  Atzerodt never even attempted to kill the Vice President and Powell failed to kill the Secretary of State, even though he stabbed him many times.

As these perpetrators fled their crimes, they went to Surratt's tavern for supplies and a wagon. When Mary Surratt was questioned, she lied that she knew anything or deliberately gave false misleading information. She was arrested and charged with abetting, aiding, concealing, counseling, and harboring men plotting to kill the president.

She was convicted and hung.

There is controversy over whether or not she actively plotted to kill the president. Surratt was portrayed by actress Virginia Gregg in the 1956 episode "The Mary Surratt Case," telecast as part of the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show.^[223] She was portrayed by Robin Wright in the 2011 film The Conspirator, which was directed by Robert Redford.^[224]

The Sorcerer's Stone

 This book is the first of the Harry Potter series, Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling. I've read it before, years ago. My book club, the Argonauta, read it when it first came out to see what all the hoopla was about.  I remember everyone loved it.

Since then, I forgot about it.  My granddaughter is reading it and to connect with her, I thought I would reread it to discuss it with her.  We'll discuss the controversy about it.  Some say there's black magic in it.  But so is Snow White.  I look at it as an allegory between good and evil and good wins.

What magical subject would you like to study?

What Hogwart's house would you like to belong to?

What pet would you pick?

Who is the most courageous person in the book?

What do you think of Neville?

Why do you think the Dursleys were chosen to raise Harry?

I hope this book discussion will lead to reading more books.

Your Opinion?

 My letter to Pope Francis.  Is it stupid?  Do you think he'll answer?  Is it clear what I am asking?  What do you think?

My Home Address
Date

Your Holiness,

When you declared the year 2021, the year of St. Joseph, I became very excited.  You see nine years ago, Pere Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., was beatified with the title “Apostle of Prisons,” in Besançon, France.   Father Lataste, not only had great love for prisoners, for he founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany with former prisoners, but he also had a great love for Saint Joseph. 

It was Blessed Pope Pius IX, who, on December 8, 1870, declared St. Joseph the Patron Saint of the Church.  Pope Pius was urged to proclaim St. Joseph the patron by many people, but only one letter, from a priest, offered his life for this proclamation.

“This good religious (Jean Lataste) is offering the sacrifice of his life to obtain that St. Joseph be declared Patron of the Universal Church.  Father Lataste will shortly be granted his wish.  We have received more than five hundred letters requesting that we declare St. Joseph patron of the Church, but Fr. Lataste is the only one who offered his life.”

The intention for which Father Lataste offered his life was fulfilled by a motu proprio of Blessed John XXIII that became effective on December 8, 1962.  And now, your Holiness has written this most excellent and welcomed letter, Patris Corde.

All those who follow the spirituality of Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, have been praying for his canonization. http://dominicains.ca/blessed-jean-joseph-lataste/?lang=en  These include many prisoners, especially those prisoners who have become Lay Dominicans, due to the witnesses of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany. These sisters, contemplative and active, were founded by Father Lataste to minister to prisoners and others who live at the margins of society. We hope that in this year of Saint Joseph, Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be canonized as the Apostle of Prisons, through the intercession of Saint Joseph.

Your Holiness, on July 11, 2017, you recognized a new path towards canonization in a (Lettera Apostolicae Motu Proprio Datae De Oblatione Vitae).

MAIOREM HAC DILECTIONEM

http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio_20170711_maiorem-hac-dilectionem.html

As I understand Maiorem Hac Dilectionem, the steps towards canonization include:

1.       The individual must freely and voluntarily offer their life in the face of "a certain and soon-to-come death"

2.       There must be a "close relation" between "the offering of one's life and the premature death of the one who offers it."

3.       The person must show Christian virtues, at least to an ordinary extent, before and after offering their life.

4.       They must have a "reputation for holiness" at least after their death.

5.       They must have performed a miracle.

Father Lataste’s reputation for holiness certainly fulfills steps 3 and 4.  Step 5 had been approved for Father Lataste’s beatification.  Steps 1 and 2 have been demonstrated to you by the words of Pope IX, himself, This good religious (Jean Lataste) is offering the sacrifice of his life to obtain that St. Joseph be declared Patron of the Universal Church… And Father Lataste’s death at age 37 was certainly premature.

Now with your latest Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde, you remind us that Saint Joseph represents “those who appear hidden in the shadows and somehow play a role in salvation.”  With those words, you are explicitly speaking of Father Lataste.  Due to his retreats to the women prisoners in Cadillac Prison he converted and saved many souls.  Later, with these former inmates, Father Lataste founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany in France.  Many years later, this Latastian message of forgiveness and mercy reached a prison of men in the USA (MCI Norfolk).  A fraternity of Lay Dominicans was founded under the patronage of Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.  This prison fraternity mentored two more fraternities who follow Lataste’s spirituality: one in Texas and one in Belgium.  Father Lataste has certainly played an incomparable role in the history of salvation.

All of us (Dominican Sisters of Bethany, the contemplative nuns, the Lay Dominican Prisoners following  Father Jean-Joseph, O.P.) hope and pray that this year following the 150^th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, will be the year Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be declared a saint.  We already know he is a saint and through the intercession of Saint Joseph we pray that Your Holiness will make it officially known throughout the world by canonizing, Father Jean-Joseph, O.P.  I thank you in advance for your consideration.

Ite Ad Joseph,

Respectfully your humble servant,
Mrs. Faith Flaherty, O.P.
Our Lady of Mercy Fraternity
Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic

A "Lowly" Carpenter

 Just the introduction to Pope Francis' Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde, had me meditating on Saint Joseph.  From the beginning, the pope refers to Joseph as a "lowly" carpenter.  I have often wondered why.  Carpenters aren't lowly, far from it.  They have needed skills. I bet Joseph always found work, no matter where he lived.  Everyone has needs that only a carpenter can fill.  I have never read anywhere that Jesus went hungry, His needs were met.  

Carpenters today need to follow blueprints, building plans, licensing or permit codes.  Would a person with low cognitive skills be able to do that?  Why "lowly" carpenter?  Joseph may not have had to follow blueprints or follow municipal building codes, but he certainly had to be able to visualize the project, design, and layout. I call these attributes critical thinking.  Why "lowly" carpenter?

Carpenters install structures and fixtures.  I can't do that.  Can you?  A carpenter would be able to solve those problems.  Why "lowly" carpenter?

Carpenters measure, cut, and shape wood and other materials.  Again would a person of low cognitive intelligence be able to measure and cut accurately?  So why consider a carpenter "lowly?"

Carpenters build frameworks, including walls, floors, rooves, etc.  I imagine in Joseph's day they made tables and whatever else was needed.  Do you think the people thought that those with carpenter skills were "lowly"?

And finally, carpenters repair structures.  There's always a need for that, especially in Jesus' time before they had duct tape.  Carpenters need to be strong, have manual dexterity, and don't forget communication skills.

Why in the world, would anyone consider a carpenter, "lowly"?

Pope Francis, you should know better than that.

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