Mysterium Fidei

Notice: New Blog

2012-01-15T15:34:00.002-07:00

Please note that Mysterium Fidei is offically been closed and that I am now blogging at

I have blogged here at this domain since my High School days. But at last, may God be glorified!

To Keep Vigil is to Keep Faithful: the Divine Imperative

2011-12-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Lord Jesus gave us a Divine Imperative: Watch! Wait! You know not the hour. Andthis is exactly what we do when we keep vigil. It is an ancient Christian practice which has been lost in the contemporary Church. Yet it is so vital for the life of Christian culture. The monastery always stood as a witness to the world of men and women dedicated keeping vigilagainst the devil, the flesh and the world. It stood as an exhortation to praying unceasingly. Christians saw the monastery and were reminded of their sacred duty to pray constantly.

The saints were masters of keeping vigil. We can look tothe Desert Fathers like St. Anthony and the scholastics like St. ThomasAquinas. Then of course there is St. John of the Cross. All of these of courseare modeled after the Divine Master Himself who went alone in the early morning to pray. (cf. Mark 1:35)

In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church has retained thecustom of keeping vigil. That is the original nature of the Office of Readings,traditionally called Matins. In fact the General Instructions of the Liturgy ofthe Hours maintains this tradition stating, praise is therefore due to all who maintain the character of the Office of Readings as a night office.

The Instruction goes on to state the it was customary to begin certain solemnities with a vigil. Among these solemnities Christmas and Pentecost are preeminent. This custom should be maintained and fostered according to the particular usage of each Church.

There is a custom that myselfand many of my brother seminarians have developed. On the eve of all Sundaysand feasts we gather around 9 or 10 in the evening to pray Office of Readings,those keeping the tradition of keeping vigil. This is a spiritual practice Ihighly encourage. In fact the canticle that is prayed in the extended vigil inthe Office of Readings is from the Prophet Isaiah. There the prophet says, My souls yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you.

As we enter into the Christmas season there are many feastsand opportunities to consider taking up this wonderful custom.

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Feast of St. Stephen, the First Martyr
Feast of St. John the Evangelist
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Epiphany
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The Church maintains the practice of observing an Octavefor both Easter and Christmas. And Octave is a series of 8 days starting on thefeast in which the days following are treated as the feast itself. So theChurch actually celebrates 8 days of Christmas. As she does 8 days of Easter.It is way of joyfully entering into the feast celebrated.

Vigils are made up of:

A Hymn
3 Psalms
2 Readings (Biblical and Patristic)
Holy Gospel
Hymn, Te Deum
Prayer

Here is a copy of a booklet I made for Vigils for Christmas.

The season is also a great time to take walks under thestars. Particularly keeping in mind Bishop Conley’s reflection To Wonder at the Stars.

May Christ who is the truelight shine brightly in our hearts and give us peace, joy and love as we await in vigil for His coming. Amen.

Bishop Conley: the Star that Guides the Way

2011-12-20T16:42:00.002-07:00

Bishop Conley wrote another stellar reflection, and I do mean stellar! As we approach Christmas it is a good practice to star gaze. Yes we have stars on our Christmas trees and all over our houses. But there is nothing like looking up at the heavens on a chilled evening. And to think, these stars that gaze down up on us also gazed down upon the Word made flesh, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. They are a reminder of God's watching over us, His power and His love. The heavens are telling the glory of God. (Psalm 19:1) The question is are we listening to the heavens?

Christ Jesus, our King, was announced to allcreation by a star rising in the eastern sky.

The Magi saw it—they had been waiting and watching.Finally they saw the announcement that God was with us—Emmanuel—incarnate inthe person of Jesus Christ.

I sometimes wonder why the Magi were watching thesky in the first place. What were they watching for? I would like to believethat the Magi watched the sky for the same reason I do—to stand in awe at thesplendor and majesty of our God.

The sky in Colorado is broad and clear. Even in theheart of Denver, where I live, I can glance out the window at an incredibleexpanse of sky and mountains and stars. Recently I was awestruck with thebeauty of the full moon over Denver. In our archdiocese, the splendor of God’screativity, love and goodness is everywhere for us to behold.

“To look up at the stars,” said the ancientphilosophers, “is to become lovers of wisdom.”

We seem to spend time during Christmas “beholdingthe stars.” We’re more aware of God’s love for his people. We rejoice togetherat the Incarnation. For children especially, but for all of us really,Christmas is a time of wonder, of awe and of joyful curiosity.

We ought to cultivate a sense of wonder all thetime, not just this time of the year. In our families, we should seek a senseof awe about the universe. By readingScripture together, by praying together and by taking time to look up at thestars, God will transform us into lovers of wisdom. And as we become trulywise, like the Magi, we shall see more clearly the work of God in the worldaround us.

It is easy to disregard the miraculous. We’re oftentoo busy to recognize miracles. When we do encounter miracles, ourhyper-rationality encourages us to find some other explanation for God’s workin our lives. We lose sight of the miracle of our family’s love. We forget theways we have been transformed by God’s grace throughout our lives. We take forgranted the miracle of the Eucharist—that Christ becomes present to us in theform of bread and wine.

At Christmas, we seem to suspend ourhyper-rationality for a while. There is a collective hope that the miraculouswill somehow break through. We talk about “Christmas miracles” for areason—Christmas is a miracle, and perhaps by grace, we’re more disposed atChristmas to see the presence of God.

This Christmas let’s commit to live our lives with agreater sense of wonder. After the Nativity set and the tree and the lightshave all gone away—hopefully not until the solemnity of Epiphany, the 12th dayof Christmas—let’s keep looking for the Christ Child. Let’s keep looking to thestars. Let’s be in awe at the miracle of God’s great love for us.

I pray the Lord will bless your families thisChristmas. I will remember each of youin my prayers and in the Mass on Christmas Day. I pray you will encounter JesusChrist, and come to know his love. Ileave you with my blessing and with a Christmas poem, “Moonless darkness standsbetween,” by Father Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.:

Darkness stands between.

Past, the Past, no more be seen!

But the Bethlehem-star may lead me

To the sight of Him Who freed me

From the self that I have been.

Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;

Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;

Now beginning, and alway:

Now begin, on Christmas day.

Pope: Be Ready to Respond

2011-12-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict gave us something else to reflect on as we approach Christmas:

The liturgical texts for this Season of Advent renew the invitation to us to live in expectation of Jesus and not to stop looking forward to his coming so as to keep ourselves open and ready to encounter him. Heartfelt watchfulness, which Christians are always called to practise in their daily life, characterizes in particular this season in which we prepare joyfully for the mystery of Christmas (cf.Preface of Advent II).

The external environment proposes the usual commercial messages, although perhaps to a lesser degree because of the economic crisis. Christians are asked to live Advent without allowing themselves be distracted by the bright lights but knowing how to give things their proper value and how to fix their inner gaze on Christ. Indeed if we persevere in “watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise” (ibid.), our eyes will be able to recognize in him the true light of the world that comes to dispel our gloom.

Chaput: Time, Advent, Roman Missal

2011-12-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

His Excellency Charles J. Chaput

Archbishop of Philadelphia's

Remarks on Third Edition of Roman Missal and the Season of Advent.

Click here.

Wait and Watch! You Know Not the Hour....

2011-12-01T07:46:00.001-07:00

"Keep watch; when the body is asleep nature takes control of us, and what is done is not done by our will but by force, by the impulse of nature. When deep listlessness takes possession of the soul, for example, faintheartedness or melancholy, the enemy overpowers it and makes it do what it does not will. The force of nature, the enemy of the soul, is in control.

When the Lord commanded us to be vigilant, he meant vigilance in both parts of man: in the body, against the tendency to sleep; in the soul, against lethargy and timidity."

-Saint Ephrem

Wait...It's only the Second Week of Advent!

2011-11-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

It's already the Second Week of Advent! That's right, we are 1/4th of the way done and well on our way to the celebration of Christmas! But, WAIT, were not quite there yet!

And yes, that is the correct word: WAIT!

Advent is a time of waiting. Yes, we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We wait to open our Christmas presents on the morning of December 25th. We also wait for those grand family gatherings with loved ones who have traveled great distance to be reunited for that short encounter. You see, we can't escape waiting. The question is, are we internalizing? Are we training our spiritual senses to wait, to hunger and desire more for the coming of Jesus?

You see, when the Church celebrates Advent, she does not simply focus on the birth of Jesus when He came 2,000 years ago in the cave in Bethlehem. The Church also calls us to reflect and prepare for the great Second Coming of Jesus was as Christians should be longing for everyday. That is the Mystery of Faith, right? We proclaim your death O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you again!

So as we enter the Second Week of Advent, I invite you to meditate on Jesus. Learn to desire Him more and more. Cultivate a longing in your heart for His Second Coming. You see, as Christians we don't have to fear nuclear war or things of that sort. Though we do work of peace and justice, our hope and confidence is in Jesus, and we believe He will come again, in His glory!

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus, come!

The Rite of Peace: The Prince and the Pauper

2011-11-29T15:06:00.001-07:00

Jesus is the Prince of Peace and we are the paupers. That is He is Emmanuel whose presence we await as we anticipate Christmas and we are like the poor shepherds the angels call to the stable to worship the newborn Prince. Christ comes down from heaven, that is He becomes incarnate of the Virgin Mary to bring peace, that is right relation with God to a sinful people.

Advent is a period of cultivating our hearts to receive God's Presence among us as we celebrate the truth that "the Word became flesh." Even though we celebrate His birth at Christmas and prepare ourselves for this during Advent, Jesus is already Present among us-in a special way in the Eucharist but also in the Priest, the Assembly, the Scriptures and the Poor. Every time the Church assembles for the Eucharistic Celebration, there is a profound encounter taking place with the Lord Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace, who takes away the sins of the world.

Advent is also is a good time to reflect on the Rite of Peace which is offered during the Celebration of the Eucharist and to examine how we internally and externally exchange it. After having finished the Eucharistic Prayer, the Christian community "taught by the Word of God and formed by Divine teaching...dare to" call on God as Father in the Lord's Prayer. The Roman Liturgy adds to the Lord's Prayer the embolism and then invoked Christ's peace from which after we offer those nearest us in a somber and prayerful way, the peace of Christ.

When making the sign of peace with some reverent and appropriate gesture (eg. handshake, huge or even the Roman Pax) the GIRM says that one person can says The Peace of the Lord be with you. The other responds Amen. In doing this we imitate Christ our Prince who brings peace to the world. There is a giving of Peace and a receiving of it.

In the Eucharistic Celebration, God-is-with-us, He is Emmanuel. In a sense, every Mass is not only Calvary but also Bethlehem, it is a mini-Nativity where God is "born" on our altars.

When we give each other the sign of peace let us remember to recall that we are imitating Christ, who is our Peace and Reconciliation and let us imitate Him by giving peace and forgiveness to those in our lives most need of it. Thus we not only avoid giving the Hype sign for peace to people ten pews behind us and doing the Hollywood "I'm famous, so I ought to let as many people shake my hand as possible" We remember that what we do is in imitation of Jesus who brings Peace, it comes from His Heart of Love.

Jesus, Prince of Peace, you take away the sins of the world, grant us your peace!

GIRM 160: An Advent Resolution

2011-11-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

"The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling."

"When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand at the discretion of each communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood."

Of course, referring to Bishop Conley's reflection on the manner of receiving Holy Communion describes my opinion on whether you should choose to receive on the tongue or the hand.

A recommendation to help enter into the spirit of Advent and prepare for the celebration of Christmas is to consider kneeling to receive Holy Communion. With the Third Edition of the Roman Missal the Church is now giving even greater freedom (which was always there but now enunciated) for the individual to choose to stand or kneel.

Christ lowered Himself to take on our flesh. As we prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas during the season of Advent, kneeling is an appropriate posture to take up. The posture of lowering ourselves to our knees reflects the movement of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who became incarnate by the Virgin Mary.

If you choose to kneel, I don't have an honest answer for how to receive the Precious Blood from the Chalice. If someone does, leave a comment with your suggestion. Though it is good to remember that one is never required to receive the Lord Jesus under both species. We receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in either species alone, weather it be the Eucharistic Host or the Saving Chalice.

Lord Jesus, come!

Advent: Are You Ready

2011-11-23T20:59:00.001-07:00

With the First Sunday of Advent we begin the new liturgical year. This year of course, being a special year of grace, with the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. You probably noticed that when the priest says "The Lord be with you." that everyone responded "And with your spirit." instead of "And also with you."

Advent has a two-fold character: preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus and from December 16th on (traditionally called the Days of the O-Antiphons) and recalling the first coming of Jesus in Bethalhem at the Incarnation.

We also remember two traditional customs: the Advent wreathe and the Jesse tree. Lastly there is the traditional Catholic Advent music.

The First Sunday of Advent gives us a vision for the season of Advent in the Collect for Mass. Of course, taking the principle Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, we look to the very first prayer from the Roman Missal for Advent to give us a charter for this holy season, a season of hope, a season of joy, a season of great expectation. This is the time to keep vigil, to watch, to learn to patiently wait!

The Collect prays:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The prayer invokes Matthew 25, both the parable of the 10 virgins and the separation of sheep and goat.
Both are worthy of our lectio during this holy season of preparation.

We each have to prepare ourselves to stand before Christ, the Judge at the end of time and give an account of our lives. Yet, seek during this season as the prayer tells us, the grace to run towards Christ and to imitate Him by practicing good works. We desire to be gathered at His right rather than on His left with the goats. Above all our Christian life is aimed at gaining eternal life, and so we pray for the grace to be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.

The tradition of the Advent wreathe actually comes from the Lutheran tradition and is a very ecumenical custom. The evergreen is a symbol of new life and of hope that the Christ-Child gives us. The purple candles represent Jesus, the Prince of Peace whose birth we celebrate. The rose colored candle, lite on Gaudette Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Advent) represents the joy we anticipate in our coming celebration of Christmas. It is a beautiful custom for Christian families to take up during Advent. Go here for prayers that the family can pray together.

The Jesse tree is another Catholic Advent tradition. Click here for more on the popular devotion.

Lastly, I encourage you to listen to and prayerfully reflect on some of the traditional Advent music. Two pieces come to mind, the Rorate Calei and O Come O Come Emmanuel. Make a resolution to go on walks under the stars and night, and learn to keep vigil. Those stars we gaze upon remind us the majesty and power of God who will come in glory, but they show us also the mercy of Him who took on our flesh, to bring salvation to the Human Race.

Also consider my suggestion, from the post GIRM 160. May this Advent be a blessed one for you. Lord Jesus, come!

Christian Holiness and Empirical Data...

2011-11-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

Balthasar always considered the saints,

those who have an intense experience of

God’s love, to be more important to the

Church than the professors and the priests

and even the popes. Balthasar had a certain

aversion to modern empirical data and logical

proof, to the whole apparatus of the Cartesian

“cogito” and its multifarious worldly and utilitarian

progeny. He wrote that the Church’s “most essential

forces—prayer, suffering, faithful obedience, readiness

(perhaps unexploited), humility—eludes all statistical analysis.”

Collect for Christ the King

2011-11-19T19:33:00.001-07:00

Let us pray:

Almightyever-living God,

whose will isto restore all things

in your belovedSon, the King of the Universe,

grant, we pray,

that the wholecreation, set free from slavery,

may render yourmajesty service

and ceaselesslyproclaim your praise.

Through ourLord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives andreigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

2011-11-18T22:25:00.001-07:00

The Solemnity of Christ the King is one of my favoriteLiturgical feasts outside of Easter and Christmas and the seasons of Advent andLent. In order to prepare us for this celebration, the Holy Father spoke onChrist's Kingship in relationship to Psalm 110 this last Wednesday in hisweekly General Audience. As always, he has given us much to pray and ponder on.

Psalm 110 is one of what are called the “royal psalms” and isquoted by the lord Jesus in the Gospel and referred to by St. Paul in hisEpistles. The first point the Holy Father reflects on is that "the king'slordship is also realized in his victory over his adversaries who are placed atthis feet by God Himself." Christ's reign is an everlasting rule, in whichall His enemies have been conquered. For as the Pope points out, "Dominionover His enemies, glory and victory are gifts received that make of the king amediator of divine triumph over evil. Herules over his enemies by transforming them -- He conquers them by Hislove."

The Psalm speaks of victory, a glorious reign, divinegeneration and sonship, priesthood, battle and judgment. Of course the image ofa king doing battle is a powerful and reoccurring image in the Old Testament.God is the King of Israel, and Jesus, the Word made Flesh is the Son of David,of Royal Lineage.

The Holy Father reflects on the battle, quoting the Psalm:

He will drink from the brook by theway;

Therefore he will lift up his head.

He comments on this saying,

Amid a description of battle, wesee the figure of the king who stands in a moment of truce and rest quenchinghis thirst at a brook of water -- finding in it a relief and renewed vigor inorder to resume his triumphant journey with head raised as a sign of definitivevictory.

What a human image of Christ. TheGod-Man made King, tired, finding refreshment in the midst of war at a brook,gulping up water with his hands (cf. Judges 7)

For the Lord Jesus, the Cross becomes His throne. It is fromthere that He has defeated His enemies, even death itself. Pope Benedictcomments on this saying,

The paschal event of Christ istherefore the reality the psalm invites us to consider....As we pray thispsalm, let us therefore ask the Lord to enable us also to proceed along Hispaths in the following of Christ, the Messiah King -- ready to ascent with Himthe mountain of the Cross so that with Him we might attain the glory andcontemplate Him seated at the Father's right hand, the victorious king and mercifulpriest who grants pardon and salvation to all people.

The Supreme Pontiff closes with an exhortation forChristians to reflect on the Psalms daily reechoes the Second Vatican Councilin its call for the faithful to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. In his addressthe Holy Father said:

I would like to renew to all theinvitation to pray the psalms, perhaps forming the habit of using the Church'sLiturgy of the Hours -- Lauds in the morning, Vespers in the evening, Complinebefore going to sleep.

Of course this year we celebrate the 86th Anniversary of Quas Primas, the Encyclical Letter ofPius XI on the Feast of Christ the King. It is good to reflect on thiswonderful Encyclical by recalling some of what Pius XI of Immortal Memory gaveto the Church at that time:

It has long been a common custom togive to Christ the metaphorical title of "King," because of the highdegree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign"in the hearts of men," both by reason of the keenness of hisintellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth,and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. Hereigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly andentirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace andinspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most nobleendeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his "charity whichexceedeth all knowledge." And his mercy and kindness which draw all men tohim, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved somuch and so universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter moredeeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs toChrist as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that hemay be said to have received from the Father "power and glory and akingdom," since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, hasall things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme andabsolute dominion over all things created.

Moreover, Christ himself speaks ofhis own kingly authority: in his last discourse, speaking of the rewards andpunishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and the damned; in hisreply to the Roman magistrate, who asked him publicly whether he were a king ornot; after his resurrection, when giving to his Apostles the mission ofteaching and baptizing all nations, he took the opportunity to call himselfking, confirming the title publicly, and solemnly proclaimed that all power wasgiven him in heaven and on earth. These words can only be taken to indicate thegreatness of his power, the infinite extent of his kingdom. What wonder, then,that he whom St. John calls the "prince of the kings of the earth" appearsin the Apostle's vision of the future as he who "hath on his garment andon his thigh written 'King of kings and Lord of lords!'." It is Christwhom the Father "hath appointed heir of all things"; "for hemust reign until at the end of the world he hath put all his enemies under thefeet of God and the Father."

Bishop Conley on Silence and the Liturgy

2011-11-09T19:32:00.002-07:00

Bishop James Conley, the apostolic administrator, gave the refelection below, in his weekly column for the Denver Catholic Register, the offical newspaper of the Archdiocese of Denver.

It is a beautiful reflection on restoring sacred silence in our worship. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal reminds us of this, in paragaph 45, saying:

Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times. Its nature, however, depends on the moment when it occurs in the different parts of the celebration. For in the Penitential Act and again after the invitation to pray, individuals recollect themselves; whereas after a reading or after the Homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise God in their hearts and pray to him.

Even before the celebration itself, it is a praiseworthy practice for silence to be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred celebration in a devout and fitting manner.

At last, here are Bishop Conley's remarks:

I’ll never forget the silence of Sept. 11,2001.

Most of us remember the chaos of that day—the sirens, thealarms, the confusion and pandemonium. The senses were assaulted—especially for those who were physicallypresent in New York, Washington, D.C., or Pennsylvania.

But like many, I watched the events of Sept. 11 unfold ontelevision from afar. I was still inRome at the time, working for the Vatican Congregation for Bishops. I watched the Twin Towers begin to collapseon a television set, with other American priests assigned to Rome. All of ussat in stunned silence, helpless to do anything. What amazed me was that the televisioncommentators also sat in silence. Forlong periods of time, the television displayed terrible images, with almost nosound, commentary or interruption. Everyone seemed to know that words were nearly useless in the face ofsomething so unthinkable.

Silence amplified the magnitude of what we were watching.

I think I remember that silence so vividly because silence,especially on television, is a rare thing in contemporary culture. Rarely in the world do we encounter a silentmoment. Media blares and, more thanthat, we are a people who talk a lot. Insome ways, our culture seems uncomfortable with silence.

But I learned, on Sept. 11, 2001, the power of silence. A silent moment, in a loud, chaotic,confusing world, amplifies reality. Insilence, without distraction, we see what is real—what is truly before us. Weare given the time to better comprehend the true meaning of things.

This is the reason the Church calls for silence, and a greatdeal of silence, during the liturgy of the Mass. Silence amplifies the reality of what weexperience. Silence is a proper responseto a reality which words cannot express—in the case of the Mass, to the realityof God’s presence.

We are invited to silence several times during theMass. We are first of all called to besilent before Mass begins. We need thatspace of time to recollect ourselves in order to enter into prayer. This is whythere should be no video presentations or even choir rehearsal during thosefive or 10 minutes before Mass begins.

We are then called to silence as we recall and repent of oursins. We are called to silent reflectionafter each Scriptural reading, and after the homily. We are all called to silence after we havereceived holy Communion. And we areinvited, at the conclusion of Mass, to kneel down for a silent prayer ofThanksgiving before departing for the parking lot.

These periods of silence are intended to bring reality intofocus. At Mass we express to God ourcontrition, we hear his word, and we receive his physical presencesacramentally. These realities go beyondour comprehension. To hear andunderstand the Word of God is an expression of his great love for us. To receive the body of Christ is the deepestkind of communion with God. The silencein the liturgy punctuates a rich and profound time of prayer with opportunitiesto reflect on the reality of our experience. The silence of the liturgy is a gift which helps us to understand thegreatest gifts we can receive.

In 2000, Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, offeredan insight into the silence of the liturgy. “We respond, by singing and prayingto the God who addresses us, but the greater mystery, surpassing all words,summons us to silence. It must, of course, be a silence with content, not justthe absence of speech and action. We should expect the liturgy to give us apositive stillness that will restore us.”

Pope Benedict described the liturgical silence as a “silencewith content … a positive stillness.” Hemeant that our silence in prayer is not to be an emptying meditation alone.Instead, silence in prayer is an occasion to more deeply understand the Massitself.

After the readings, for example, we can, in silence, picturethe narrative of the Old Testament or the Gospel. If the readings contained advice, anexhortation, or an admonishment, we can ask the Lord how it applies in ourlives. The period of silence is a timewhen the Lord can vivify—make alive—the word proclaimed. We need only to ask him for this, “Speak Lord,your servant is listening.”

After Communion, as we pray in silence, we can ask the Lordto fill us with his love—to help us love our brothers and sisters, to help ussee the world as he does. We can givehim thanks for the great blessings he has given us. After a while, our silent prayer afterCommunion may become an experience of simply being in the silent, radiant, lovingpresence of our God.

Silence isn’t easy for any of us. The Church gives us silence in the liturgy totrain our hearts and minds in silent prayer. But attentive, active, “positive silence” takes work. Often, we may find it difficult tofocus. The Church encourages us to askthe Lord to help us to experience his presence. As we cultivate silence, we will begin, more frequently, to hear thevoice of the Lord.

Silence points us to reality. It is a rare gift, but to understand it maytake us each a lifetime. Let us givethanks for the silence of the liturgy. Let us ask the Lord to help us use it to see more clearly the reality ofhis magnificent and loving presence.

Gospel Reflections

2011-11-02T19:40:00.002-06:00

A Series of Reflections on Sunday and Feast Day Readings

Matthew 22:1-14 The Wedding Feast: Invited and Chosen
Matthew 27:33-42 The Parable of the Landowner: God So Loved the World

Resources on the Word of God

Homilies of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Homilies of Archbishop Jose Gomez
Homilies of Bishop James Conley
Homilies of Fr. Robert Barron
Homilies of Fr. Larry Richards
Homilies of Fr. Bill Baer

Bishop Conley on the Manner of Receiving Communion

2011-11-02T16:46:00.001-06:00

A reprint of a column on Third Edition of the Roman Missal series of the Denver Catholic Register, with Bishop James Conley reflecting on the posture and manner of receiving the most Holy Eucharist:

How we handle objects says a lot about how weregard them. When looking at finejewelry, for example, we are mindful to handle the gems carefully. When observing fine works of art, we don’teven touch them at all. When we hold ababy or hug a loved one, we do so gently and with care. The things we handle carefully are usuallythe things we hold in high esteem.

When it comes to the holy Eucharist, the living sacramentalpresence of Jesus Christ, this should be true all the more. Because we believe that Jesus Christ is trulypresent in the Eucharist—body, blood, soul and divinity—we reserve theEucharist in a secure tabernacle, constructed of the finest materialsavailable. We situate the tabernacle ina place of honor in the Church, usually in the center of the sanctuary, and wegenuflect before it.

To reverence our Lord’s sacramental presence, we usechalices and patens for the celebration of the Eucharist, not ordinary dishes.We call these “sacred vessels.” Made of precious metal, they are set aside forsacred use only. Priests and deaconswear beautiful vestments during the celebration of the Eucharist and most ofus, out of respect for our Lord, put on our “Sunday best” when we head to Mass.

When we receive our Lord in holy Communion, we shouldreceive him in the way we encounter a loved one: with reverence, care,gentleness and humility. For in the holy Eucharist, the Catechism of theCatholic Church notes, “Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirelypresent” (1374).

Recently, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect forthe Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of theSacraments, encouraged Catholics to consider receiving holy Communion on thetongue as a “sign of adoration that needs to be recovered.” When we do so, he said, we “know that we arebefore God himself and that he came to us and that we are undeserving.” To receive the Eucharist on our tongue, hesaid, is to signify our humility before the Lord and to recognize that it isGod himself who feeds us.

For this reason, some Catholics choose to receive theEucharist not in their hands, but directly on their tongues. Receiving the sacred host on our tongueensures that we do not treat Christ’s presence as an ordinary piece of bread.

Reception of holy Communion on the tongue has been atradition of the Church for more than 15 centuries. It began, largely, as an effort to affirmthat the Eucharist was not a symbol or a ritual, but the living presence ofJesus Christ. In recent years I have observed that a growing number of youngCatholics, particularly seminarians, choose now to receive holy Communion onthe tongue.

To be sure, the Church permits Catholics to receive theEucharist either on the tongue or in their hands, at the discretion of the onereceiving holy Communion. Both modes ofreceiving holy Communion have their own value and their own beauty.

Some Catholics feel more comfortable receiving the Eucharistin their hands. For some, touching theEucharist makes them feel more connected to Jesus Christ himself. It takes humility to accept the Lord, presentand visible, in our own hands. Many ofthe Fathers of the early Church recognized that our hands could be a “throne”for receiving holy Communion—the Lord, the King of Kings. To make a throne for the Lord with our handsis to signify our total commitment to worship and to Christian service.

Catholics who receive in the hand should ensure, above all,that their hands are clean as they prepare to literally touch the presence ofChrist. When they receive, St. JohnDamascene counseled that they should put their hands “in the form of across.” They should receive right away,not when they return to their seat. To pluck, grab or pull the Eucharist intotheir hands is a sign of great disrespect and could lead to accidentallydropping the sacred host. An even greater danger and sacrilege is thepossibility of someone stealing a host for trivial or even evil purposes.Sadly, this actually happens.

As we prepare to receive the new English translation of theRoman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent, let us take this opportunity toreflect on the manner in which we receive our Lord in holy Communion. It is myhope and prayer that we not only use this historic moment in the liturgicallife of the Church to celebrate a new English text of the Roman Missal, butthat we also make this a time of true liturgical renewal in every aspect of ourworship and communion with the Lord.

Some may choose to receive the Lord on the tongue whileothers choose to receive in the hand. All of us should receive with great reverence and respect. And to demonstrate reverence and respect, theChurch asks us to offer a slight bow of the head immediately before receivingholy Communion. For to receive our Lord in holy Communion is, indeed, the mostprofound union we can have with God this side of eternity.

The Wedding Feast: Invited and Chosen

2011-10-08T16:03:00.003-06:00

God is madly in love with us, His people. Do we realize this? Let's be honest with ourselves when we ask the question.

I think knowledge of this is the fuel that gave the saints their fire. Holiness begins with this realization: God is Love, and that He loves each one of us. Not just a generic, "Jesus loves you." But the reality that He loves each one of us personally, that He became man for us, and died and rose for each one of us in particular.

The Christian life is a Wedding Feast! God and man come together in covenant and the two "become one flesh." Jesus grafts us onto Him through Baptism and our sharing in His Paschal Mystery so that "we are one Body, one Spirit in Christ." We have put on the white garment in our Baptism. It is beautiful to reflect briefly on the ceremonies on the rite of Baptism.

You have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ.
See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.

We have been exhorted by the Church to keep our garments white and unstained! We have been invited to the participate in the life of holiness. This is what the Second Vatican Council was getting to when it spoke of the Universal Call of Holiness:

The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect". Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength(217) and that they might love each other as Christ loves them.(218) The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace.

Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity;(4*) by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ.

"God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God and God in Him".(227) But, God pours out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us;(228) thus the first and most necessary gift is love, by which we love God above all things and our neighbor because of God. Indeed, in order that love, as good seed may grow and bring forth fruit in the soul, each one of the faithful must willingly hear the Word of God and accept His Will, and must complete what God has begun by their own actions with the help of God's grace.

Our challenge today is to receive God's love for us and to "abide in it." (cf. John 15:4) The Lord has not only invited us but chosen us "in Christ." We have to chose to walk in His love, the spousal love, for in doing so we will not only "bear fruit" (fecundity is part of marital life) but also after being invited to the wedding feast keep our garments clean. This beautiful white garment we put on at our Baptism is a light and witness to the world of God's love for us and beckons others to come to the feast and see what marvels the Lord is doing for us and desires to do for them as well.

Sunday's Gospel Mt 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people
in parables, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants
to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
"Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast."'
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.'
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests,
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?'
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

The Priesthood is the Love of the Heart of Jesus

2011-10-08T08:41:00.002-06:00

A Reflection on Priesthood and Seminary Life

"The priesthood is the love of the Heart ofJesus." This quote of Saint John Vianney is how Pope Benedict XVI chose tospeak about the priesthood during the Year for Priests. And in my limitedexperience over the last four years as a seminarian, I have already found thisto be so true.

Upon receiving my first Holy Communion when I was sevenyears old, I experienced the call of the Lord Jesus to be a priest. After thatmoment, there was never a substantial doubt of what my vocation was. So when Icame to the end of my high school career, it was a given (by the Holy Spirit!)that I was going to enter seminary.

For men, like myself who experience the calling prior toentering college, the Archdiocese of Denver sends to college seminary. Thereare two places they send: SaintGregory the Great Seminary in Denton, Nebraska and Saint John Vianney College Seminary inSt. Paul, Minnesota. I was sent to Saint John Vianney's, which is located onthe University of Saint Thomas.Here, we took our classes with the other university students and began toreceive the foundations of living the Christian life, especially communal life,and learn how to pray and be faithful and consistent in it. This new structurewas in some ways difficult, because coming from the world, stability was a veryforeign thing. Keeping a consistent schedule and maintaing a rule of life whereall new for me, yet they were the training ground for self-mastery and enteringinto a life deeper union with the Blessed Trinity. The two years that are spentat the college seminary are for studying core requirements like Math, science,English, etc.

After those two years I came back to Denver, where I am nowto continue my formation at St.John Vianney Theological Seminary. The initial year is calledthe Spirituality Year or the year of theheart, where guys take a year off from studies, and are formed in thespiritual life including prayer, Scripture, the Church's Tradition, andcontemplative leisure. It is also a year of learning in the School of Charityhow to live in close quarters with other brothers and to practice virtue in themidst of the crucible. The highlights of the year are the month long immersionexperience where we were sent two by two to various locations in the country towork with the poor, and the thirty-day silent retreat.

After the Spirituality Year, we begin our Philosophy andTheology training. This is where I am now, in my first year of Philosophystudies. From here it takes a total of 6 years until ordination.

"The priesthood is the love of the Heart ofJesus." And so the seminary is the place where a man who is discerningpriesthood dwells in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and through silence,contemplation and community is purified and strengthened for preaching theGospel and celebrating the Sacraments for the Christian people. For before aman can be sent on mission, he has tohave a deep and real communion withthe Blessed Trinity. By dwelling in the Heart of Christ, we come to know God'slove for us, for it was the Lord who said, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you." (John 15:9)It is also the place where we learn through patience how to love with Christ'slove and so priesthood is both the love that comes from Christ's Heart, and isaimed and bringing all God's people back in the Sacred Heart to experience loveand mercy.

Bishop Conley: To Jesus Through Mary

2011-10-06T08:45:00.000-06:00

October is traditionally the month of the rosary. It is also Respect Life month. These two go hand in hand, as our feast, October 7th -Our Lady of the Rosary- helps us to understand. The feast comes from the victory of Christians over Muslims in the famous Battle of Lepanto in 1571. It was at this point of time Christendom was at risk of being completely taken over by Islam and Pope Pius V asked Christians everywhere to pray the rosary. What followed was simply miraculous! The Christians defeated their enemy and Europe was saved from being taken over by Islam. Even though the Muslims way outnumbered the Christians, Christendom won. The pope credited it to our Lady and the powerful weapon of the rosary. So in our day and age, we too must take up this noble weapon, and wage spiritual ware fare, asking Mary, Queen of our Army, the Church Militant, to lead us in this fight, this battle against the dignity and sanctity of human life that is threatened though contraception, abortion, capitol punishment. We must pray for the upholding of marriage and family life! Reflecting with Mary on the mysteries of Christ's life will give us strength to live our faith and witness it with joy to the world around us.

Bishop Conley wrote a beautiful reflection on Marian devotion and the rosary. Here is a snippet:

Consecration is the act of offering something, and setting it aside, for holy use. When we consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary, we offer ourselves for his use. We abandon our plans and desires in service to the saving work of Christ. This isn’t easy—and we need help. When we consecrate ourselves through Mary, we ask her to pray for us and to guide us as we offer ourselves to Christ. We follow after Mary as she follows after Christ—“Be it done unto me according to your will.”

October is traditionally regarded as the month of the rosary. During this month, the Church urges us to pray the rosary regularly and to reflect upon its mysteries. “With the rosary,” noted Blessed John Paul II, “the Christian people sit at the school of Mary and are led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.”

For Catholics—in our families, in our churches and in our own private prayer—to sit with the Mother of the Redeemer is to see Christ in a new way. The power of the rosary is the gift of deeply engaging in the mysteries of Jesus Christ—in the joys, sorrows and triumphs of his cross and resurrection. The power of the rosary is to know Jesus Christ and to love him, as his mother knows him and loves him.

To read the Bishop's entire relfection, click here.

The Parable of the Landowner: God So Loved the World

2011-10-01T17:02:00.002-06:00

This Sunday,the Twenty-Seventh in Ordinary time, the Church reflects the first Coming ofJesus into our world, and the rejection that that the world gave to Him, theEternal Word. This is the point of the Gospel parable. At the end of the day,Jesus is inviting us to produce fruit. We have the choice to accept Him for whoHe is or to reject Him.

Gospel For The27th Sunday Of Ordinary Time: Mt 21:33-43
Jesus said tothe chief priests and the elders of the people:"Hearanother parable.There was alandowner who planted a vineyard,put a hedgearound it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.Then he leasedit to tenants and went on a journey.When vintagetime drew near,he sent hisservants to the tenants to obtain his produce.But the tenantsseized the servants and one they beat,another theykilled, and a third they stoned.Again he sentother servants, more numerous than the first ones,but theytreated them in the same way.Finally, hesent his son to them, thinking,'They willrespect my son.'But when thetenants saw the son, they said to one another,'This is theheir.Come, let uskill him and acquire his inheritance.'They seizedhim, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.What will theowner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"They answeredhim,"He willput those wretched men to a wretched deathand lease hisvineyard to other tenantswho will givehim the produce at the proper times."Jesus said tothem, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:The stone thatthe builders rejectedhas become thecornerstone;by the Lord hasthis been done,and it iswonderful in our eyes?Therefore, Isay to you,the kingdom ofGod will be taken away from youand given to apeople that will produce its fruit."

In the Gospel,the father and landowner sends his son after sending other servants who werekilled by the stewards of the vineyard. This represents the heavenly Fathersending His beloved Son, Jesus, after having sent the prophets who were killedby the people. It is powerful to reflect on verse:

Finally, hesent his son to them, thinking, "They will respect my son."

But then thetenants seeing this say,

"Come letkill him and acquire his inheritance."

Jesus is put todeath, and those of us who share through Baptism in His Death, burial andResurrection share in His inheritance! The reality is that,

For God soloved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in himmight not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son intothe world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe hasalready been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Sonof God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but peoplepreferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone whodoes wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so thathis works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. (John 3:16-21)

Of course, John15 comes to mind when reading this Sunday's Gospel because of the vineyard. Itis here that the Lord Jesus says,

I am the truevine, and my Father is the vine grower. (John 15:1)

He Says,

You are already pruned because of the wordthat I spoke to you. (John 15:3)

This refers toBaptism. He invites us to remain in His love, that is His Sacred Heart. This iswhere we receive the energy to live the Christian life and to evangelize. Onlyby being rooted in Christ, can we bear fruit, which means to life a life in theSpirit, and bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. This is the sign that we areremaining in His love, and fulfilling what Jesus says at the end of thisSunday's Gospel.

Lastly ofcourse, the words of Pope Benedict on the day of his papal election come tomind:

After the greatPope, John Paul II, the Lord Cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble workerin the Lord's vineyard. I am consoled by the fact that the Lord is able to workand act with insufficient instruments and, above all, I rely on your prayers.

Let us pray forthe Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ, that he will have the strength tocontinue to be a instrument of unity and reconciliation, and a teacher of theCatholic faith, and an apostle of the New Evangelization!

Pope Benedict: In Christ we Find Friendship, with Him we have a future!

2011-09-26T19:26:00.002-06:00

Pope Benedict just finishes his Apostolic Visit to his homeland, Germany. As always, he said some very powerful things. Towards the end of his trip though, he had a vigil with young people in which he challenged us to be saints and to keep close to Jesus, our friend.

He began his reflection by sharing his his hope of what fruit would be born of the time of prayer he spent with the German youth:

It is my wish that we may all experience the same thing now: that the Lord may touch our hearts and make us joyful witnesses who pray together and support one another, not just this evening but throughout our lives.

He goes on to speak about the Easter Vigil, and the ceremony of the lighting of the candles, starting with the Paschal Candle which represents Christ.

One tiny flame spreads out to become many lights and fills the darkness of God's house with its brightness. This wonderful liturgical rite, reveals to us in signs more eloquent than words the mystery of our Christian faith. He, Christ, who says of himself "I am the light of the world", causes our lives to shine brightly, so that what we have just heard in the Gospel comes true: "You are the light of the world."

The beauty of the Churches rituals is precisely that- signs can often times speak more than words of catechesis. Beauty can intoxicate, as is seen in art, or in a virtuous person, who can think of someone like Mother Teresa. Her life was a sign, a witness and spoke more beautifully and powerfully than most (if any) homily ever could. The pope continues saying:

To be sure, those who believe in Jesus do not lead lives of perpetual sunshine, as though they could be spared suffering and hardship, but there is always a bright glimmer there, lighting up the path that leads to fullness of life.

It would be naive to think believers won't share in the earthly struggles and that life is always easy. This is far from our experience, but it a lie the devil can tell us, and make us feel inadequate and more off track than we really are. We all experience the the reality of fallen nature:

At this point we cannot remain silent about the existence of evil.....Truly within our hearts there is a tendency towards evil, there is selfishness, envy aggression. Perhaps with a certain self-discipline all this can to some degree be controlled. But it becomes more difficult with faults that are somewhat hidden, that can engulf us like a thick fog, such as sloth, or laziness in willing and doing good.

He ends by encouraging us on our Christian walk:

Dear friends, Christ is not so much interested in how often in our lives we stumble and fall, as in how often with his help we pick ourselves up again. He does not demand glittering achievments, but he wants his light to shine in you. he does not call you because you are good and perfect, but becase he is good and he want to make you his friend.

To read his entire address, click here.

Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

2011-09-24T08:44:00.002-06:00

This week, holy Mother Church presents several beautiful realities to us for meditation. The first is in the Entrance Antiphon, where we speak about sin. It says, "for we have sinned." Oh, I can't believe the Church is speaking about sin again! This is good! For it is sinners that Jesus came to save.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Luke 5:32)

The antiphon petitions the Lord to "deal with us according to the bounty" of His mercy. Whenever the Church invites us to call to mind our sins, She invokes the mercy of God, and speaks of our Divine Redeemer, because by His Cross He has destroyed death.

The Collect this week begins with us acknowledging the "almighty power" of God, but it doesn't stop there. It goes on to reflect on how His power is manifested in His "pardoning" and "mercy." The Catechism says,

God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our needs; by the filial adoption that he gives us; finally by his infinite mercy, for he displays his power at its height by freely forgiving sins. (CCC #270)

In the offertory prayer we ask that the "wellspring of all blessing" be "laid open before us." Of course, this blessing, is the Blessed One, who "comes in the name of the Lord" and is "God-with-us" that comes to us in the Eucharistic Celebration.

The Communion Antiphon this week, is stunning! It prays, "This is how we know the love of God; that Christ laid down his life for us. So to should we la down our lives for one another." In the Eucharistic Sacrifice, we see God's Heart broken open to invite us into it. We see the love of God for each one of us in a concrete reality: the Holy Eucharist!

The Father sent, not simply a representative, spokesman, or plenipotentiary, but his own Son into the dysfunction of the world so that he might gather that world into the bliss of the divine life. God's center -- the love between the Father and the Son -- is no offered as our center; God's heart breaks open so as to include even the worst and most hopeless among us. (Fr. Robert Barron)

God has been so good to us! Blessed be His Holy Name!

Entrance Antiphon:
All that you have done to us, O Lord, you have done with true judgment,
for we have sinned against you and not obeyed your commandments.
But give glory to your name, and deal with us according to the bounty
of your mercy.

Collect:
O God, who make know your almighty power
above all by pardoning and showing mercy,
bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us,
and make those hastening to attain your promises
heirs to the treasures of heaven.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
Grant us, O merciful God,
that this our offering may find acceptance with you
and that through it the wellspring of all blessing
may be laid open before us.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
This is how we know the love of God;
that Christ laid down his life for us.
So to should we la down our lives for one another.

Prayer After Communion:
May this heavenly mystery, O Lord,
restore us in mind and body,
that we may be coheirs in glory with Christ,
to whose suffering we are united
whenever we proclaim his Death.
[Who lives and reigns....]

Missio: the Christian Life

2011-09-21T21:30:00.001-06:00

Something that often surprises me in my discussions with fellow Catholics is how our mandate to evangelize is very little spoken off, yet alone even executed. Sometimes I even find opposition, or excuses as if it were a charism for some, but that we are not all called to share Jesus and the Church. But I believe do have such an attitude is to miss what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Let's hear what the Master Himself has to say:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matt 28:19)

It doesn't seem optional to me. It is our sacred duty to share the Gospel. It is a holy responsibility and divinely appointed task in which the Holy Spirit guides us and forms in us a missionary spirit, and evangelical heart. From our relationship with the Blessed Trinity, we are moved to share with others this reality of love that God has introduced into our lives because of our baptism, and our being grafted into Christ. Certainly evangelization takes different shapes and forms, but the mission that we have been given is docete omnes gentes. That remains the same no matter who we are: priest, spouse, student, or monk. Besides,

How can a great joy be kept to itself? It has to be shared, and shouted from the rooftops. (Pope Benedict XVI)

In our baptism we are configured to Christ who is priest, prophet and king. The priestly role means we offer our lives in sacrifice and prayer to God, fundamentally through worship, the Celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. The kingly role is a share in service and charity. We pour ourselves out as Christians for the needy, the addicted, the abused, the homeless, for,

What you did the least of these brethren you do for me. (Matt 25:$)

But the prophetic office we share in calls us to announce the Gospel with our lives, and yes, with words! You wouldn't believe how many times people misquote St. Francis of Assisi;

Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.

Christ has appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last. It is as simple as witnessing through our joy in our relationship with family, friends, and coworkers. It is the witness of taking time out of our week to pray, to go to daily Mass, spend time in Eucharistic Adoration or do engage in an apostolate or ministry. By allowing Christ to transform us in our encounters with His Sacred Heart, particularly through the sacraments, that our lives become more and more patterned after His. And then imbued with the Christian spirit, and aided by the Holy Spirit we become a light for the world and salt for our culture. Everything we do is guided and motivated out of love for God and His service. We witness to Him in our work habits, our virtues, our lifestyle choices, and interaction with others, the witness of our family life, our loyalty in friendship and through our charity and humility. In a word, we become the hands and feet of the Crucified and Risen Lord, and as members of His mystical Body, we continue His work, and share His life and friendship with others.

Can we keep Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life to ourselves and still bear fruit? Or will we wither and die? Can we remain a light for the world than never shines for others to see? Or will we have the courage to remove the basket, and let all see and give glory to our Father who is in heaven?

Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

2011-09-16T17:29:00.000-06:00

This week, the Mass prayers reflect on the "sacred Law": that is Christ's Law of Charity. The sum of the whole Law is fulfilled in this:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-39)

The Lord promises to hear our cries as the Entrance Antiphon reminds us. For "Should [we] cry to [Him] in distress, [He] will hear [us.]" And so we ask to be strengthened in the theological virtue of charity, which can be defined as:

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. (CCC #1822)

For,

The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who "first loved us" (CCC #1828)

Let us strive this week to find ways to love, even if they be small hiden acts that are not obvious, for alls that matters is that Jesus knows them.
The Collect goes on after petittionign for a strenghtening of charity in us, that we might have this so we can "merit eternal life." What does it mean by merit? Here's what the Catechism says on merit:

The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man's free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit, moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given by the Holy Spirit. (CCC # 2008)

Filial adoption, in making us partakers by grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God's gratuitous justice. This is our right by grace, the full right of love, making us "co-heirs" with Christ and worthy of obtaining "the promised inheritance of eternal life."The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness. "Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due. . . . Our merits are God's gifts." (CCC # 2009)

But the Catechism goes on to clarify this teaching say that:

Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God's wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions. (CCC #2010)

The great Hymn of Charity that St. Paul sings in his epistle to the Corinthians is a beautiful reflection for us as we seek to love God and our neighbor with greater seriousness and depth:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Entrance Antiphon:
I am the salvation of the people, says the Lord.
Should they cry to me in any distress,
I will hear them; and I will be their Lord forever.

Collect:
O God, who founded all the commands of your sacred Law
upon love of you and of our neighbor,
grant that, by keeping your precepts,
we may merit to attain eternal life.
[Through our Lord...]
Prayer Over the Offerings:
Recieve with favor, O Lord, we pray,
the offerings of your people,
that what they profess with devotion and faith
may be theirs through these heavenly myesteries.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Commuion Antiphon:
You have laid down your precepts to be carefully kept,
May my ways be firm in keeping your statues.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Raise up constantly, O Lord, in your kindess,
those you renew with the Sacrament,
that we may lay hold of your redemption
both in mystery and in the manner of our life.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Preface II of the Sundays of Ordinary Time

2011-09-16T17:07:00.000-06:00

The mystery of salvation

It is right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

For out of compassion for human waywardness,
he humbled himself to be born of the Virgin;
by the passion of the Cross, he freed us from unending death,
and by raising from the dead, he gave us life eternal.

And so with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
as we sing the hymn of your glory
without end we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts...

New York Times on Moral Relativism

2011-09-15T14:55:00.002-06:00

David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times wrote a worth read editorial on the state American youth's understanding of morality. The article entitled If It Feels Right (can be found here) speaks of the alarming moral individualism and even relativism (Pope Benedict's homily on the Dictatorship of Relativism would be a good refresher) that is oppressing American youths ability to think critically about moral issues. As Brooks concludes, it seems that at the end of the day it is as if "morality was once revealed, inherited and shared, but now it’s thought of as something that emerges in the privacy of your own heart."

Sacramentum Caritias, no. 6

2011-09-14T14:33:00.000-06:00

A series of reflections on Pope Benedict's Apostolic Exhortation, The Sacrament of Charity

Paragraph 6 of Sacramentum Caritatis deals with the Church's Eucharistic faith and is framed within Part One, entitled The Eucharist, a Mystery to be Believed. This segment of the document, is one of the places I got the title for this blog, as well as Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Mysterium Fidei. Because of the length of the paragraphs, I'll only share snippets of it. The Holy Father writes:

The mystery of faith!" With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding.

With the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, we will see these words directly after the consecration. The priest says these words in awe and we take up the rest of the acclamation saying:

We proclaim your death O Lord
and profess your resurrection,
until you come again.

No longer will we say:

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

While this is a true and meaningful statement, it is not a prayer unlike the one we will begin praying in November which is a prayer addressed to the Lord.

Filled with the same awe that inspired the priest to cry out in wonder "The Mystery of Faith" we sing the Paschal Mystery which through our Baptism we have been plunged into, and which is present at the altar during the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, namely Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection and our longing for His return in glory!

The Holy Father continues his catechesis:

The Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith." The Church's faith is essentially a Eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life.

The Eucharist is not something, but is the Lord Jesus, our present friend and Redeemer. Hence, the entire Christian faith is summed up in it, because it is Jesus Himself! We believe and follow Jesus, who is present with us in the Tabernacle, and whom is the Bread of Life that nourishes us at the Eucharistic Banquet. For,

Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: "faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith." For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: "thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!"

Through the Sacraments, Christ draws us into the history of salvation. I once heard a Scripture scholar break up the four pillars of the Catechism as follows:

Part I: The Profession of Faith =The Creed = Our Story
Part II: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery = The Sacraments = How we get into the Story
Part III: Life in Christ = The Commandments = How we live in the Story
Part IV: Christian Prayer =Our Father = Relationships in the Story

So Christ draws us into the saving events of His Cross and Resurrection through the Sacraments. We find transformation and theosis.The Eucharist shapes us, and prepares our hearts and minds for mission. We can't just keep Jesus to ourselves, but we are called to go out to all the world and share the Gospel, that is the Glad Tidings. Archbishop Chaput points to this in his address on Liturgy and Evangelization. The Pope puts it this way in the paragraph:

The more lively the Eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people.

Since every great renewal according the Pope Benedict has come from a rediscovery of belief in the Eucharistic presence of our Lord, let us pray that our generation might be a people of deep and simple faith in the Christ's presence amongst us, particularly in the Eucharist. May the Third Edition of the Roman Missal be a step in making this a reality.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2011-09-13T19:36:00.001-06:00

Today, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a beautiful celebration in the life of the Church, where we celebrate the victory and the glory of the Cross, the paradox of the Christian life. It is a day we remember the words of our dear Savior:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

The Entrance Antiphon challenges us to "glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" We are not ashamed of it for

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. (1 Corinthians 1:23)

For the Cross is the instrument of our salvation, where God manifested His love for us, and destroyed death, so that He could restore life. Today is also the 5th anniversary of the implementation of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum. It worth another read today. Pope Benedict reminds us in it that:

Up to our own times, it has been the constant concern of supreme pontiffs to ensure that the Church of Christ offers a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, 'to the praise and glory of His name,' and 'to the benefit of all His Holy Church.' Since time immemorial it has been necessary - as it is also for the future - to maintain the principle according to which 'each particular Church must concur with the universal Church, not only as regards the doctrine of the faith and the sacramental signs, but also as regards the usages universally accepted by uninterrupted apostolic tradition, which must be observed not only to avoid errors but also to transmit the integrity of the faith, because the Church's law of prayer corresponds to her law of faith.'

Today's feast is beautiful, for it was 'on the altar of the Cross" that Christ "canceled the offense of the whole world" as the Prayer Over the Offerings reminds us. Let us rejoice, and even boast, for Christ has conquered and is victorious! Remember, Jesus Christ is Lord!

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)

Entrance Antiphon:
We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection,
through whom we are saved and delivered.

Collect:
O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son
should undergo the Cross to save the human race,
grant, we pray,
that we who have known his mystery on earth
may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
May this oblation, O Lord,
which on the altar of the Cross
canceled the offense of the whole world,
cleanse us, we pray, of all our sins.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
When I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself, says the Lord.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Having been nourished by your holy banquet,
we beseech you, Lord Jesus Christ,
to bring those you have redeemed
by the wood of your life-giving Cross,
to the glory of the resurrection.
[Who lives and reigns...]

Preface for the Exalation of the Holy Cross

2011-09-13T19:19:00.002-06:00

The victory of the glorious Cross

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere go give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For you placed the salvation of the human race
in the wood of the Cross,
so that were death arose
life might again spring forth,
and the evil one who conquered on a tree
might liewise on a tree be conquered,
through Christ our Lord.

Through him the Angels praise your majesty,
Domionons adore and Powers tremble before you.
Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessedd Seraphim
worship together with exultation.
May our voices, we pray, join with theirs,
in humble praise as we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts...

O Sacred Feast!

2011-09-13T07:50:00.000-06:00

Mass in Germany During the War

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion."

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

Life Teen's Promo on the Third Edition of the Roman Missal

2011-09-12T14:13:00.001-06:00

Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary

2011-09-12T14:04:00.000-06:00

September 12th

Here are the prayers from the Third Edition of the Roman Missal for celebration of the Holy Name of Mary:

Entrance Antiphon:
Blessed are you, O Virign Mary, by the Lord God Most High,
avoe all women on the earth; for he has so exalted your name,
that your praise shall be undying on our lips.

Collect:
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
she may obtain your merciful favor.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
May the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin
commend our offerings,
we pray, O Lord,
and may it make us acceptable to your majesty
as we revere and venerate her Name.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
All generations will call me blessed, for God has looked on his lowly handmaid.

Post-Communion Prayer:
May we obtain the grace of your blessing, O Lord,
through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God,
that from her whose holy Name we venerate,
we may obtain help in our every need.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

2011-09-10T09:23:00.003-06:00

This week, the prayers of the Church make a beautiful connection between Creation and God's Mercy and a humble plea that we might serve the Lord with all our heart, thus fulfilling the Great Commandment of Charity our Lord gave to us. For "How precious is your mercy O God! The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wing!" the Communion Antiphon prays. The very fact that we exist, that the world is here is a testament to God's love and that He sent Jesus, the Word to reconcile I fallen and wayward people shows the depths of His mercy! The new creation we participate in because of our Baptism should lead us to pray like Moses at the Exodus:

I will sing to the Lord for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea....In your love you led the people you redeemed; in your strength, you guided them to your holy dwelling. (Exodus 15:1;13)

The Church -the people Israel- asks for peace in the Entrance Antiphon, and reminds us that we are waiting for Christ's second coming in glory with joyful expectation and hope. We share in Christ's offices of priest, prophet and king because of our baptism. The prayer used in the anointing after baptism clearly points to this:

The God of power and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
has freed you from sin
and brought you to new life
through water and the Holy Spirit.
He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation,
so that united with his people,
you may remain for ever a member of Christ
who is Priest, Prophet, and King.
Amen.

The rite goes on to a final admonishment:

You have been enlightened by Christ.
Walk always as children of the light
and keep the flame of faith alive in your hearts.
when the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him
with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.
Amen.

As we reflect this Sunday and throughout the week on Creation and Mercy, let us remember we have been made new creatures:

For whoever is in Christ is a new creation, the old things have passed away, behold, new things come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Let us then reject "the glamor of evil", "refuse to be mastered by sin" so "as to live in the freedom of Gods children."

Entrance Antiphon:
Give peace, O Lord, to those who wait for you, that your prophets be found true.
Hear the prayers of your servant, and of your people Israel.

Collect:
Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and that we may feel the working of your mercy,
grant that we may serve you with all our heart.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
Look with favor on our supplications, O Lord,
and in your kindness accept these your servants offerings,
that what each has offered to the honor of your name
may serve the salvation of all.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Post-Communion Prayer:
May the working of this heavenly gift, O Lord, we pray,
take possession of our minds and our own desires,
so that its effects and not our own desires
may always prevail in us.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Common Preface I

2011-09-09T15:56:00.000-06:00

The following Preface is said in Masses that have no proper Preface, and for which one connected to a specific liturigical time is not indicated.

To renew all things in Christ

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eteranl God,
through Christ our Lord.

In him you have been pleased to renew all things,
giving us all a share in his fullness.
For though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself
and by the blood of his Cross brought peace to all creation.
Therefore he has been exalted above all things,
and to all obey him
has become the source of eternal salvation.

And so with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
as we sing the hymn of your glory,
without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts...

Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest

2011-09-08T20:06:00.000-06:00

September 9th

Collect:
O God, who made Saint Peter Claver a slave of slaves,
and strengthened him with wonderful charity and patience
as he came to their help,
grant, through his intercession,
that, seeking the things of Jesus Christ,
we may love our neighbor in deeds and in truth.
[Through our Lord...]

Homily of Archbishop Chaput for Installation Mass

2011-09-08T13:33:00.001-06:00

The following homily and closing remarks were delivered by Archbishop Chaput during his Mass of Installation as the new Archbishop of Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011.

Good Cardinal Rigali and Eminent Cardinals; Monsignor Lantheaume, brother bishops, priests and deacons; Governor Corbett, Mayor Nutter and esteemed leaders of the civic community; beloved seminarians; fellow religious; members of my family; brothers and sisters in Christ:
A married friend told me last week that getting ready for today reminded him of planning for a very, very, very big wedding. He was being humorous, but he was actually more accurate than he knew. The relationship of a bishop and his local Church is very close to a marriage. The ring I wear is a symbol of every bishop’s love for his Church. And a bishop’s marriage to the local Church reminds me, and all of us, that a bishop is called to love his Church with all his heart, just as Christ loved her and gave his life for her.

Of course, my appointment to Philadelphia is an arranged marriage, and the Holy Father is the matchmaker. The good news is that romance is a modern invention -- and given the divorce rate, not everything it’s cranked up to be. In fact, history suggests that arranged marriages often worked at least as well as those based on romantic love. When arranged marriages were common, there was an expectation that people would get to know each other and then come to love one another. Good matchmakers were aware of the family history of each of the spouses and their particular needs. And the really wise matchmakers could make surprisingly good choices.
In the Church, we believe that the Holy Spirit guides the decisions of the Holy Father. And the results are always joyful if we commit our wills to cooperating with God’s plan. For any marriage to work, two things need to happen. People need to fall in love, and together they need to be fruitful. That’s what we need to dedicate ourselves to today – to love one another and be fruitful together in the new evangelization.
Getting to know each other is a great adventure. Our life together is part of the story of salvation, which God continues even into our own time. Mary didn’t expect the Annunciation. She didn’t expect to be mother of the Redeemer. And yet her act of obedience changed the course of history and led to a new covenant of love and fruitfulness. I have no illusions of being worthy of this ministry, but I do trust in the wisdom of the Holy Father. So I’m deeply grateful for his confidence and the privilege of serving this Church.
Along with a ring, two other symbols really define a bishop’s ministry. The first is the pectoral cross that rests next to the bishop’s heart. Jesus tells us that if we want to be his disciples, we need to do three things (Mt 16:21-27): We need deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. It’s vitally important for the bishop to really believe this, to live it, and to preach it, even when calling people to accept very difficult things in fidelity to the Gospel.
The second symbol is the crosier, which is a symbol of the shepherd. The Good Shepherd was the first image of Christian art created by the earliest disciples in the catacombs in Rome. One of first representations of Christ we have is the Good Shepherd who carries a lamb on his shoulders. All of us should keep that image in our hearts in the months ahead because the Good Shepherd really will bring the Church in Philadelphia through this difficult moment in our history to security and joy and a better future.
This installation today takes place in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The word cathedral comes from the Greek word cathedra, which means chair. The cathedral is the church that houses the bishop’s chair, which has always been seen as another key symbol of the bishop’s role – in this case, his teaching authority. St. Augustine of Hippo, speaking in the 4th century captured the role of the bishop in these words:
“Jerusalem had watchmen who stood guard . . . And this is what bishops do. Now, bishops are assigned this higher place” -- the bishop’s chair in the basilica –“so that they themselves may oversee and, as it were, keep watch over the people. For they are called episkopos in Greek, which means ‘overseer,’ because the bishop oversees; because he looks down from [his chair] . . . And on account of this high place, a perilous accounting will have to be rendered [by the bishop] – unless we stand here with a heart such that we place ourselves beneath your feet in humility.”
Another time, on the anniversary of his episcopal ordination, Augustine described the bishop’s duties in the following way:
“To rebuke those who stir up strife, to comfort those of little courage, to take the part of the weak, to refute opponents, to be on guard against traps, to teach the ignorant, to shake the indolent awake, to discourage those who want to buy and sell, to put the presumptuous in their place, to modify the quarrelsome, to help the poor, to liberate the oppressed, to encourage the good, to suffer the evil and to love all men.”
It’s crucial for those of us who are bishops not simply to look like bishops but to truly be bishops. Otherwise, we’re just empty husks -- the kind of men Augustine meant when he said, “You say, ‘He must be a bishop for he sits upon the cathedra.’ True – and a scarecrow might also be called a watchman in the vineyard.”
My installation today takes place on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast which has its origin somewhere in Syria or Palestine at the beginning of the 6th century. The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It’s an important feast because it prepares the way for the birth of Jesus. I was ordained a bishop on the feast of Mary’s parents, Saints Joachim and Anne. I was installed as the archbishop of Denver on the Feast of the Annunciation. And now I celebrate my installation as bishop of the great Church of Philadelphia on the Feast of Mary’s birthday. For me, like so many other priests, Mary has been a constant source of hope and protection in my vocation. So I would ask all of you today to pray for me to the mother of God so that she surrounds all of us with her love and protection.
The birthday of Mary is a turning point in the history of salvation, planned from all eternity by God’s divine providence. So the readings for today should reassure us in a powerful way. All the events of a believer’s life are shaped by the will of a loving God. God’s purpose undergirds everything that happens to Christians, for God is truly in control. So in the midst of the turmoil of the Church in our time, specifically in Philadelphia, this feast of Mary’s birth should remind us of God’s loving plan. We need to make the act of faith embedded in today’s first reading: that “all things work for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.” And just as God foreknew and predestined Mary’s birth, God foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son so that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. Saint Jose Maria Escriva said this about the struggle with fear and anxiety that all of us sooner or later face: “Have you forgotten that God is your father? Or [that God is] powerful, infinitely wise, full of mercy? [God] would never send you anything evil. The thing that is worrying you is good for you even though those earthbound eyes of yours may not be able to see it now.”
Of course, in the unfolding of Scripture, Mary’s birthday is ultimately about the birth of her son. The Gospel for today is the story of how Jesus was conceived. And we honor Mary precisely because she gave birth to Jesus, our messiah and Lord. The Gospel focuses on Joseph’s goodness and fidelity, and on Mary’s perfect surrender to God in love, trusting in the providence of God. We need to follow the example of Mary and Joseph, trusting God in the difficult times of our life. The issues that Joseph and Mary faced seemed insurmountable and caused intense confusion. But the name given to Jesus signifies “Savior” and we know that in Jesus, God promises to be with us. God is truly Emmanuel – God is with us. This gives us great confidence in the future God has planned for us.
This Church in Philadelphia faces very serious challenges these days. There’s no quick fix to problems that are so difficult, and none of us here today, except the Lord Himself, is a miracle worker. But the Church is not defined by her failures. And you and I are not defined by critics or by those who dislike us. What we do in the coming months and years to respond to these challenges – that will define who we really are. And in engaging that work, we need to be Catholics first. Jesus Christ is the center of our lives, and the Church is our mother and teacher. Everything we do should flow from that.
What we embark on today is an arranged marriage, where someone who loves you, the Holy Father, is also someone who loves me. And the Holy Father knows in his wisdom that we will make a good family together. So we should see each other as gifts. I receive you as a gift from the Holy Father; and you receive me and my service as a gift from the Holy Father. And this requires us to make a commitment, an act of the will, to love one another, to be patient with one another, and to lay down our lives for one another.
I’ll close by repeating what I said in July to the bishops, priests and deacons of this diocese, to our men and women religious, and to all our people: Whatever my weaknesses and whatever my lacks, no bishop will give more of himself than I will to renewing this great Church.. No bishop will try harder to help persons who have been hurt by the sins of the past. And no bishop will work harder to strengthen and encourage our priests, and restore the hearts of our people. Everything I’ve learned, everything I know, and everything I have, I will give to this ministry, because all of you -- the people of God -- deserve at least that much. I love you very much.

Denver's Tribute to Archbishop Chaput

2011-09-08T13:29:00.001-06:00

Goodbye Archbishop Chaput

2011-09-07T15:41:00.003-06:00

[To view pictures of Archbishop Chaput's Farewell Mass click here.]

I want to thank the Lord for Archbishop Chaput in my life.

He has been a spiritual father to me, a mentor and a friend....

He has challenged me in my discipleship and called me to know and love Jesus Christ

ever more. For that I am eternally grateful and promise him my prayers.

Lord bless him in his ministry in service to Jesus, your Son, and your Holy People.

May he always abound in works of faith, hope and charity.

AMEN.

Changes for the Archdiocese of Denver

2011-09-07T15:24:00.001-06:00

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has names Bishop James Conley the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver as Archbishop Charles Chaput has been named to head the Metropolitan Church of Philadelphia. Let us pray for Bishop Conley during this period of interim for the Archdiocese of Denver. Here is what Wikepdia says about the role of the Apostolic Administrator:

An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration. An apostolic administration can either be an area that is not yet a diocese (a stable apostolic administration) or for a diocese that either has no bishop (an apostolic administrator sede vacante) or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated bishop (apostolic administrator sede plena).Apostolic administrators of stable administrations are equivalent in canon law with diocesan bishops, meaning they have essentially the same authority as a diocesan bishop. This type of apostolic administrator is usually the bishop of a titular see.

EWTN will be airing the Mass of Installation for His Excellency Charles J. Chaput as the Ninth Archbishop of Philidalphia, Thursday, September 8th starting at 11:30am Mountain Standard Time. The ceremony will take place in the historic Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. We promise our prayers to Archbishop Chaput as he begins this new journey!

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2011-09-07T14:31:00.000-06:00

The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an ancient feast in the Church, dating back to the early Church. The Church, in her Liturgy, reflects on Mary's role in bringing us "the sun of justice, Christ our God" (Entrance Antiphon) who brings "deeper peace" as the Collect prays.

Christ's birth consecrated Mary's integrity, it did not take it away the Offertory Prayer teaches us. The prayer even speaks of our "wicked deeds." Booya! Yet Christ Jesus takes these on for us in His Paschal Mystery. Hence we "exult" as the Post-Communion Prayer prays, for we have been renewed, as it is because of Mary's "yes" to Gabriel at the Annunciation. And in order for her to say "Fiat" we must first celebrate her birth, for

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. (Galatians 4:4-7)

Entrance Antiphon:
Let us celebrate with joy the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
for from her arose the sun of justice, Christ our God.

Collect:
Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord,
the gift of heavenly grace,
that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
may bring deeper peace
tho those for whom the birth of her Son
was the dawning of salvation.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
May the humanity of your Only Begotten Son,
come, O Lord, to our aid,
and may he, who at his birth from the Blessed Virgin
did not diminish but consecrated her integrity,
by taking from us now our wicked deeds,
make our oblation acceptable t you.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
Behold, the Virgin will bear a son,
who will save his people from their sins.

Post-Communion Prayer:
May your Church exult, O Lord,
for you have renewed her
with these sacred mysteries,
as she rejoices in the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
which was the hope
and the daybreak of salvation
for all the world.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Preface I of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2011-09-07T14:30:00.000-06:00

The Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
and praise, bless and glorify your name
on the Solemnity of the Motherhood
of the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary.

For by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit,
she conceived your Only Begotten Son,
and without losing the glory of virginity,
brought forth into the world the eternal Light,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through him the Angels praise your majesty,
Dominions adore and Powers tremble before you.
Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim
worship together with exultation.
May our voices, we pray, join with theirs
in humble praise as we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts...

Sacramentum Caritatis, No. 3

2011-09-06T17:11:00.003-06:00

The development of the eucharistic rite

If we consider the bimillenary history of God's Church, guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, we can gratefully admire the orderly development of the ritual forms in which we commemorate the event of our salvation. From the varied forms of the early centuries, still resplendent in the rites of the Ancient Churches of the East, up to the spread of the Roman rite; from the clear indications of the Council of Trent and the Missal of Saint Pius V to the liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council: in every age of the Church's history the eucharistic celebration, as the source and summit of her life and mission, shines forth in the liturgical rite in all its richness and variety. TheEleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held from 2-23 October 2005 in the Vatican, gratefully acknowledged the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this rich history. In a particular way, the Synod Fathers acknowledged and reaffirmed the beneficial influence on the Church's life of the liturgical renewal which began with the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. The Synod of Bishops was able to evaluate the reception of the renewal in the years following the Council. There were many expressions of appreciation. The difficulties and even the occasional abuses which were noted, it was affirmed, cannot overshadow the benefits and the validity of the liturgical renewal, whose riches are yet to be fully explored. Concretely, the changes which the Council called for need to be understood within the overall unity of the historical development of the rite itself, without the introduction of artificial discontinuities.(Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 3)

The development of the Eucharistic rite is something the Holy Father puts great emphasis on. The 2,000 years the Church has been laboring and growing have brought with them organic growth. Of course, the liturgy is and has always been the same work. Often times liturgical development is polarizing: either you appreciate it, or you don't. The key is to understand it in continuity with the Church's tradition. This is what the Pope stressed in his Christmas Address to the Roman Curia in 2005 when he said:

The hermeneutic of discontinuity risks ending in a split between the pre-conciliar Church and the post-conciliar Church. It asserts that the texts of the Council as such do not yet express the true spirit of the Council. It claims that they are the result of compromises in which, to reach unanimity, it was found necessary to keep and reconfirm many old things that are now pointless. However, the true spirit of the Council is not to be found in these compromises but instead in the impulses toward the new that are contained in the texts. On the one hand, there is an interpretation that I would call “a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture”; it has frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend of modern theology. On the other, there is the “hermeneutic of reform”, of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God.

The Church has experienced a variety of renewal with the Roman Missal of Paul VI. The Third Edition of this Missal which we are preparing for use here in the United States is another stepping stone in the call of Vatican II:

This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church. The Council therefore sees particularly cogent reasons for undertaking the reform and promotion of the liturgy. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 1)

The liturgical innovations which the Holy Father mentions was countered by Redemptionis Sacramentum, and Instruction published in 2005, by Blessed John Paul II. The pope's purpose was as follows:

In order that especially in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy the Church might duly safeguard so great a mystery in our own time as well, the Supreme Pontiff has mandated that this Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, should prepare this Instruction treating of certain matters pertaining to the discipline of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Those things found in this Instruction are therefore to be read in the continuity with the above-mentioned Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. (no. 2)

The Instruction concludes with a beautiful reflection, which can be for us an examination of conscience:

Let all Christ’s faithful participate in the Most Holy Eucharist as fully, consciously and actively as they can, honoring it lovingly by their devotion and the manner of their life. Let Bishops, Priests and Deacons, in the exercise of the sacred ministry, examine their consciences as regards the authenticity and fidelity of the actions they have performed in the name of Christ and the Church in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. Let each one of the sacred ministers ask himself, even with severity, whether he has respected the rights of the lay members of Christ’s faithful, who confidently entrust themselves and their children to him, relying on him to fulfill for the faithful those sacred functions that the Church intends to carry out in celebrating the sacred Liturgy at Christ’s command. For each one should always remember that he is a servant of the Sacred Liturgy. (no. 186)

Praying the Mass Anew: A New Start to Catechesis

2011-09-06T16:46:00.002-06:00

Fr. Joe Hastings of Duluth, Minnesota, recently wrote and article entitled, Praying the Mass Anew: The New Translation of the Roman Missal and Our Actual Participation at Mass. The Archdiocese of Denver has placed the texts on its website, and it can be viewed by clicking here.

Fr. Marc Malick, Pastor of Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in Boulder, Colorado, wrote another great piece entitled, What is the Sacred Liturgy? It can be viewed by clicking here.

Preface I of the Sundays of Ordinary Time

2011-09-06T16:11:00.001-06:00

The Paschal Mystery and the People of God

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

For through his paschal mystery he accomplished the marvelous deed
by which he has freed us from the yoke of sin and death,
summoning us to the glory of being now called
a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for your own possession,
to proclaim everywhere you mighty works,
for you have called us out of darkness into your own wonderful light.

And so, with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
as we sing the hymn of your glory
without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy Holy Lord God of hosts...

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

2011-09-06T16:02:00.001-06:00

God treats us mercifully, for we are his servants, and yet at the same time his friends, and even as the Collect points out, his "beloved sons and daughters." Divine sonship, that is being children of God, is not something generic, but extremely personal. It is at the heart of Christianity, because it is relational. We are children in Jesus, and so we live and move in and with Him. This relationship transforms us (divinizes us) and leads us to "receive true freedom."

The Offertory Prayer reminds us that is the Lord who gives us the "gift of true prayer and of peace." The Beatitudes are important here for,

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mt. 5:9)

In this transformation of our lives, we seek to give God homage as the prayer tells us, and brings unity of heart and mind.

Entrance Antiphon:

You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right;

treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect:

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,

look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters,

that those who believe in Christ

may receive true freedom

and ever-living inheritance.

[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace,

graciously grant that through this offering

we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty

and by partaking of the sacred mystery

may be faithfully united in mind and heart.

[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:

Like the deer that years for running streams, so my soul is yearning

for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Grant that your faithful, O Lord,

whom you nourish and endow with life

through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament,

may so benefit from your beloved Son's great gifts

that we merit and eternal share in his life.

[Who lives and reigns...]

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

2011-08-30T08:31:00.001-06:00

The prayers of Mass this week speak of the Holy Name and the goodness of God. Of particular mention is the beautiful Post-Communion Prayer. The Entrance Antiphon speaks of our crying to God all the day long. A fulfillment of Jesus' command to "pray without ceasing." The Collect reminds us of how God in His goodness provides us with our needs, for,

Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? (Mt. 6:26)

Every good thing comes from Him for,

No one is good but God alone. (Mk. 10:18)

The Collect goes on to pray for an increasing of reverence for His Name, a strengthening of the Piety, a Gift of the Holy Spirit. But the prayer does not stop there but goes on ask God to protect the good, the grace, He has filled our souls with so as "to confer the blessing of salvation" we pray for during the Prayer Over the Offerings.

The Post-Communion Prayer asks that the Food of Charity (sound familiar? Pope Benedict's Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis) will "confirm our hearts" and "stir it to serve [God] in our neighbor." There is both elements of the Christian life mentioned in the prayer: communio and missio. And the prayer reminds us that

He who loves God and hates his neighbor is a liar. (cf. 1 John 4:20)

We must love God and our neighbor, and it is the Holy Eucharist that strengthens us to do so.
Scripture Readings
Archbishop Chaput Homily
English Chants from the Roman Gradual

Entrance Antiphon:
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you.

Collect:God of might, giver of every good gift,
put into our hearts the love of your name,
so that by deepening our sense of reverence
you may nurture in us what is good
and, by your watchful care,
keep safe what you have nurtured.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
May this sacred offering, O Lord,
confer on us always the blessing of salvation,
that what it celebrates in mystery
it may accomplish in power.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
How great is the goodness, Lord, that you keep for those who fear you.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Renewed by this bread from the heavenly table,
we beseech you, Lord,
that this gift, which is the food of charity,
may confirm our hearts
and stir us to serve you in our neighbor.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Archbishop Chaput Discusses Religous Freedom

2011-08-25T16:43:00.002-06:00

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

2011-08-25T16:33:00.000-06:00

Entrance Antiphon:
Turn your ear, O Lord, and answer me; save the servant who trusts in you, my God.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long.

Collect:
O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose,
grant your people to love what you command
and to desire what you promise,
that, amid the uncertainties of this world,
our hearts may be fixed where true gladness is found.
[Through our Lord...]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
O Lord, who gained for yourself a people by adoption
through the one sacrifice offered once for all,
bestow on us graciously, we pray,
the gifts of unity and peace in your Church.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
The earth is replete with the fruits of your work, O Lord;
you bring forth bread from the earth, and wine to cheer the heart.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Complete within us, O Lord, we pray,
the healing work of your mercy,
and graciously perfect and nurture us
that we may please you in all we do.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

The Liturgy: Source of Catechesis

2011-08-25T16:26:00.000-06:00

Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State for the Holy See read a Papal Message to members of the Italian Liturgical Conference on behalf of the Holy Father to a gathering of liturgists coming together around the theme, "God Educates His People: The Liturgy, Inexhaustible Source of Catechises." Cardinal Bertone remarked:

The Church, especially when she celebrates the divine mysteries, recognizes and manifests herself as a reality that cannot be reduced to a solely earthly and organizational aspect. It must appear clearly in these mysteries that the beating heart of the community should be recognized beyond the narrow yet necessary limits of ritualism, because the liturgy is not what man does, but what God does with his admirable and gratuitous condescendence.

His Eminence went on to quote Servant of God, Paul VI:

In this event we observe that the correct order has been respected of the values and duties: thus we have recognized that the post of honor is reserved to God; that as first duty we are called to raise prayers to God; that the sacred Liturgy is the primary source of this divine exchange in which the life of God is communicated to us; it is the first school of our soul, it is the first gift that must be made by us to the Christian people.

Cardinal Bertone goes on to say:

The living Patristic tradition of the Church teaches us that the liturgical celebration itself, without losing its specificity, always has an important catechetical dimension (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33). In fact, in as much as it is the the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit, the liturgy can be called the permanent catechesis of the Church, the inexhaustible source of catechesis.

There you have it: Lex orandi, lex credendi!

Archbishop Chaput: Not Enough to Know About Christ

2011-08-24T13:02:00.000-06:00

Archbishop Chaput wrote a column entitled Don't Just Know Christ: Love Him. In it he said:

Scripture tells us that after the crushing sadness of the crucifixion, the joy felt by the disciples in regonizing Jesus at Emmaus was intense. But as deep and personal as their joy was, it also compelled them to act. Their joy was alive; it was restless; it made them run back to Jerusalem through the darkness to bring the Good News to other disciples.

Joy is the sign of encounter, the sign of friendship with Christ for the Christian. A joy that can't be kept to ourselves, but obliges us to share this friendship, this Life, this joy we experience with all we come across. It is a pure joy that animates us, makes us missionary in spirit.

It's not enough to be next to Jesus, or to approve of his teachings, or to know "about" him. We need to love him. We need to be with Jesus, and in Jesus. And no one can ever be fully "with" Jesus if she or he rejects the Catholic Church, the Church Jesus founded precisely to act in his name and fulfill his promise, so that he would remain with us until the end of time.

Communion with the Church is communion with Christ, because the Church is His Mystical Body. For,

That the Church is a body is frequently asserted in the Sacred Scriptures. "Christ," says the Apostle, "is the Head of the Body of the Church." If the Church is a body, it must be an unbroken unity, according to those words of Paul: "Though many we are one body in Christ." But it is not enough that the Body of the Church should be an unbroken unity; it must also be something definite and perceptible to the senses as Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, in his Encyclical Satis Cognitum asserts: "the Church is visible because she is a body. Hence they err in a matter of divine truth, who imagine the Church to be invisible, intangible, a something merely "pneumatological" as they say, by which many Christian communities, though they differ from each other in their profession of faith, are untied by an invisible bond. But a body calls also for a multiplicity of members, which are linked together in such a way as to help one another. And as in the body when one member suffers, all the other members share its pain, and the healthy members come to the assistance of the ailing, so in the Church the individual members do not live for themselves alone, but also help their fellows, and all work in mutual collaboration for the common comfort and for the more perfect building up of the whole Body.(Mystici Corporis Christi, Pius XII)

We are many parts, we are all one body, and the gifts we have, are given to share!

Joy: That the World Might Believe

2011-08-24T12:04:00.000-06:00

Pope Benedict announced that the theme for the next World Youth Day to be hosted in Rio de Janero, Brazil will be "Always be Joyful in the Lord!" taken from St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (4:4). Christ told His apostles:

I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy may be complete. (Jn. 15:11)

Joy is the hallmark of the Christian life. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, a sign of witness to the world, of the encounter between a person and Christ. Pope Benedict reminds us in Verbum Domini that:

The proclamation of the word creates communion and brings about joy. This is a profound joy which has its origin in the very heart of the Trinitarian life and which is communicated to us in the Son. This joy is an ineffable gift which the world cannot give. Celebrations can be organized, but not joy. According to the Scripture, joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22) who enables us to enter into the word and enables the divine word to enter into us and to bear fruit for eternal life. By proclaiming God’s word in the power of the Holy Spirit, we also wish to share the source of true joy, not a superficial and fleeting joy, but the joy born of the awareness that the Lord Jesus alone has words of everlasting life (cf. Jn 6:68).

I've got joy, joy, joy, down in my heart! Down in my heart! This is the joy of communion with the Living God!

Sacramentum Caritatis, No. 2

2011-08-23T09:33:00.000-06:00

A series of reflection's on Pope Benedict's Apostolic Exhortation, The Sacrament of Charity

In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. "Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself." In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love. Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God's gift. (Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 2)

The Eucharist is where God meets us, encounters us, and draws us into His inner Life! Christ said,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. (Jn. 15:16)

In each of us there is a hunger a longing for truth and freedom as the Holy Father explains in this paragraph.
The Catechism, quoting Gaudium et Spes reflects on this beautifully:

The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator. (CCC, no. 27)

The Eucharist is the Food of Truth, because Christ is the Truth. Truth is not some abstract idea, but a person. You see, "For Christians, truth has a name, God. And goodness has a face: Jesus Christ!" Pope Benedict told the young people of Prague:

The heart of every person is restless until it finds what it truly seeks. And he discovered that Jesus Christ alone is the answer that can satisfy his and every person’s desire for a life of happiness, filled with meaning and value. The Lord comes to meet each one of you. He knocks at the door of your freedom and asks to be welcomed as a friend. He wants to make you happy, to fill you with humanity and dignity. The Christian faith is this: encounter with Christ, the living Person who gives life a new horizon and thereby a definitive direction. ( Message to Young People)

"Jesus Christ is truth in person, drawing the world to Himself!" Without Christ, we loose freedom. This is so clear in our Post- Christian world today. God is regulated to the private lives of individuals. It is said, He has no place on stage, weather in our public schools, courts, government offices, etc. Yet Christ liberates us through His Most Precious Blood. He invites us to "abide in His love" (cf. Jn 15:9) for "in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God.

This "evangelical truth" of God's love for us, as the Pope calls it, "challenges each of us and our whole being." And yet it is this love that enabled Pope Benedict on Pentecost to cry out:

Yes, it is beautiful to live because I am loved and it is the Truth who loves me.

As we live in this love, we find freedom, for

If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (Jn. 8:31-32)

This is the grace of knowing our Eucharistic Lord and friend, Jesus, the Food of Truth, for He says, knowing the truth will make us free!

Sacramentum Caritatis, No. 1

2011-08-22T17:31:00.004-06:00

A series of reflection's on Pope Benedict's Apostolic Exhortation, The Sacrament of Charity

The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ's act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the Eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts! (Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 1)

The Eucharist is the gift par excellence of Christ because it is His very self, with us to the end of time (cf. Mt. 28:20), and pledge of future glory. It is the sacrament of charity because God is Love, and Christ gives His very Self, as an expression of God's love, for "as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love." (John 15:9) I think of the words of Eucharistic Prayer IV express it beautifully, "this great mystery, which he himself left us, as an eternal covenant...having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." The Holy Father reminds us of the wonder of this great sacrament, this great mystery, a Eucharistic mystery, hence after the consecration the priest stands in awe and cries out, "The Mystery of Faith!" to which we made our acclamation, "We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again."

The General Instructions of the Roman Missal states in the preamble:

The sacrificial nature of the Mass, solemnly asserted by the Council of Trent in accordance with the Church’s universal tradition, was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which offered these significant words about the Mass: “At the Last Supper our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood, by which he would perpetuate the Sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, thus entrusting to the Church, his beloved Bride, the memorial of his death and resurrection."

Hence the Church, "joyfully takes [the Eucharist] to herself, celebrates it and reveres it in adoration, proclaiming the death of Christ Jesus and confessing his Resurrection until he comes in glory to hand over, as unconquered Lord and Ruler, eternal Priest and King of the Universe, a kingdom of truth and life to the immense majesty of the Almighty Father. (Redemptionis Sacramentum)

Pope John Paul II reminds us in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, that "the Church draws her life from the Eucharist." He continues by saying, "the Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the centre of the Church's life. "

Pope Benedict brings up the washing of the feet in this paragraph as well. It is important to link the Eucharist to Mission, Liturgy to Evangelization. The priest sends us on our way, "Ite missa est" saying "Go forth, the Mass is ended." We are sent on missio, to proclaim the Gospel and to serve our neighbor and the poor, after being strengthened by the Sacrament of Charity, the Bread of Angels. Christ left us an example of service, saying at the Last Supper:

Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. (Jn. 13:12-16)

The Holy Father references John 15:13, on "No greater love...". The Eucharist is a sacrament of friendship. For Christ says:

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (Jn. 15: 15)

Christ empties himself. He models what our Eucharist should lead us to:

He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Philippians2:6-8)

For in the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Charity, we are fortified and renewed to love one another. We are aided in going out to bear fruit in our missio:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (Jn. 13:34-35)

For,

By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciple. (Jn. 15:8)

Proving and bearing are interconnected, and we are strengthened to do this in the Sacrament of Charity, where we "abide in Christ's love." (cf. Jn. 15:9)

For if we are to become Christ-like, we must empty ourselves and pray like Him:

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. (Jn. 17:1)

Glorifying God, who is Love is at the heart of all we do.

Pope To Young People: Life After World Youth Day

2011-08-22T15:17:00.001-06:00

On leaving Madrid, the Holy Father exhorted the youth to witness to their Christian faith, inviting them to let the pilgrimage bear fruit back home.

You are now about to go back home. Your friends will want to know how you have changed after being in this lovely city with the Pope and with hundreds of thousands of other young people from around the world. What are you going to tell them? I invite you to give a bold witness of Christian living to them. In this way you will give birth to new Christians and will help the Church grow strongly in the hearts of many others.

To Americans he said:

As you return home, take back with you the good news of Christ’s love which we have experienced in these unforgettable days. Fix your eyes upon him, deepen your knowledge of the Gospel and bring forth abundant fruit! God bless all of you until we meet again!

Encounter, encounter, encounter.....Witness, witness, witness! JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Pope Benedict's Homily to Seminarians

2011-08-22T10:50:00.001-06:00

The Holy Father preached a homily to seminrains during World Youth Day. It should be reflected on in light on his recent Letter to Seminarians and his meeting with Young People and Seminarians in New York a few years ago. A few reflections on what the Holy Father spoke about.

He began his homily addressing the seminarians as those who "aspire to be Christ's priests for the service of Church and of man." He spoke words of encourgment to all of us saying to the seminarians, " Looking at you, I again see proof of how Christ continues to call young disciples and to make them his apostles, thus keeping alive the mission of the Church and the offer of the Gospel to the world." We don't have a vocations crisis. God never ceases to call men to serve the Church as priests. (Archbishop Chaput made that point here, and Pope Benedict said that to the American Bishops during his Apostolic Visit to the US in 2008)

The Holy Father speaks of the "sacred goal" candiates for the priesthood embark on which is "to continue the mission which Christ received from the Father." He urges seminarians to "Fix [their] eyes upon him who through his incarnation is the supreme revelation of God to the world and who through his resurrection faithfully fulfills his promise. Give thanks to him for this sign of favour in which he holds each one of you. "

The Holy Father goes on to call the Eucharist the "real expression of that unconditional offering of Jesus for all, even for those who betrayed him." He exhorted them "to become apostles with Christ and like Christ" and to be "companions and servants" of the Christian laity.

He gave a reflection on what the years of seminary formation should look like. "First of all, they should be years of interior silence, of unceasing prayer, of constant study and of gradual insertion into the pastoral activity and structures of the Church."

He give then gave and eccesiology saying "A Church which is community and institution, family and mission, the creation of Christ through his Holy Spirit, as well as the result of those of us who shape it through our holiness and our sins." Then he stated that "The holiness of the Church is above all the objective holiness of the very person of Christ, of his Gospel and his sacraments, the holiness of that power from on high which enlivens and impels it. We have to be saints so as not to create a contradiction between the sign that we are and the reality that we wish to signify."

He goes on to say that seminary formation has to be years of deep you, humility, and radical faithfulness to the Gospel. It has to be years of growing in relationship with others, which can be challenging the Holy Father says but which form and shape us as we embrace the Lord's Cross. He lastly exhorts seminarians to be models of Christ, "the servant, priest and victim." He concludes:

Ask him to let you imitate him in his perfect charity towards all, so that you do not shun the excluded and sinners, but help them convert and return to the right path. Ask him to teach you how to be close to the sick and the poor in simplicity and generosity. Relying on his love, do not be intimidated by surroundings that would exclude God and in which power, wealth and pleasure are frequently the main criteria ruling people’s lives. You may be shunned along with others who propose higher goals or who unmask the false gods before whom many now bow down. That will be the moment when a life deeply rooted in Christ will clearly be seen as something new and it will powerfully attract those who truly search for God, truth and justice. Approach the priesthood only if you are firmly convinced that God is calling you to be his ministers, and if you are completely determined to exercise it in obedience to the Church’s precepts.

Archbishop Chaput: You Can't Trust the New York Times, Newsweek, etc.

2011-08-20T14:44:00.000-06:00

His Excellency, Archbishop Charles Chaput recently gave the following remarks to over 10,000 young people in Madrid at a talk he gave on religious freedom. The Blaze gives the story:

“And with relatively few exceptions,” he said, “the mass media tend to cover these disputed issues with a combination of ignorance, laziness, and bias against traditional Christian belief.”

The Archbishop continued: “We make a very serious mistake if we rely on media like the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, or MSNBC for reliable news about religion. These news media simply don’t provide trustworthy information about religious faith — and sometimes they can’tprovide it, either because of limited resources or because of their own editorial prejudices.”

“These are secular operations focused on making a profit,” he said. “They have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and teach God’s truth.”

Archbishop Chaput noted that the media gave a lot of coverage to the so-called “Arab Spring,” involving civil unrest in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. “But very little of that coverage has mentioned that the turmoil in Muslim countries has also created a very dangerous situation for Christians and other religious minorities across North Africa and the Middle East,” he said. “In Egypt, angry mobs have attacked Christian churches and monasteries, burning them to the ground and murdering the people inside.”

Read the full story here.

World Youth Day- Madrid 2011

2011-08-19T18:07:00.002-06:00

The visit of His Holiness Benedict XVI with the World's Youth hosted in the City of Madrid, Spain with a gathering of over 2 million youth.

Vatican World Youth Day Page
USCCB's World Youth Day Page
EWTN World Youth Day Page
Facebook World Youth Day Page

Addresses and Homilies of Pope Benedict during WYD Trip:

Pope Benedict's Address to Youth at Welcoming Ceremony
Pope Benedict on the Way of the Cross
Pope Benedict's Address to Young University Professors
Pope Benedict's Address to Young Women Religious
Pope Benedict's Homily to Seminarians and Formators

Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time

2011-08-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

This week, the prayers of Mass speak on divinization and the good things God has prepared for those who love Him. We remember St. Paul's beautiful definition of charity that He gives to us in his First Epistle to the Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated,it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The warmth of God's love that we ask our hearts be filled with is so unimaginable and is a wellspring that has no ending, for as the Communion Antiphon reminds us, "with the Lord there is mercy; there is plentiful redemption." We cry out in the Entrance Antiphon that "one day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." The Prayer Over the Offerings speaks of the glorious exchange asking that we be made worthy to receive God Himself. One of the private prayers the priest prayers during the Preparation of the Gifts is when he pours water into the chalice, mixing it with the wine. He prays, "Per huius aquae et vini mysterium eius efficiamur divinitatis consortes, qui humanitatis nostrae fieri dignatus est particeps." (By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.) As the closing prayer teaches us, through the sacraments, we have become partakers in Christ and beg for the grace become coheirs with Him in heaven. It is interesting the prayer mentions "these Sacraments" in the plural. It reminds us of the Eucharist we have just shared in, but also Baptism and Confirmation. For the married there marriage Sacraments can be strengthened and the priest has exercises Holy Orders. For through Baptism, we share in a common priesthood, which Pope Benedict reminds us, that "It is the Church's liturgy, and above all in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, that these realities are most powerfully expressed and lived in the life of believers; perhaps we sill have much do do in realizing the Council's vision of the liturgy, (hence the New Liturgical Movement) as the exercise of the common priesthood and impetus for a fruitful apostate in the world. " ( Responses of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Questions Posed by the Bishops, 2008) God welcomes us through into His inner life, as we participate in thesosis. Let us rejoice this Sunday in the warmth of God's love for us, His sons and daughters in Jesus, so that we may "love Him in all things and above all things" for God is Love.

Scripture Readings
Archbishop Chaput's Homily

Entrance Antiphon:
Turn your eyes, O God, our shield' and look on the face of your anointed one;
one day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
Collect:
O God, who have prepared for those who love you
good things which no eye can see,
fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love,
so that, loving you in all things and above all things,
we may attain your promises,
which surpass every human desire.
[Through our Lord...]
Prayer Over the Offerings:
Receive our oblation, O Lord,
by which is brought about a glorious exchange,
that by offering what you have given
we may merit to receive your very self.
[Through Christ our Lord...]
Communion Antiphon:
With the Lord there is mercy; in Him is plentiful redemption.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Made partakers of Christ through these Sacraments,
we humbly implore your mercy, Lord,
that, conformed to His image on earth,
we may merit also to be His coheirs in heaven.
[Who lives and reigns...]

Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time

2011-08-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

The prayers of the 19th Week of Ordinary Time point to sonship. "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry out. 'Abba, Father!' The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:14-16) If we are children of God, then as the Entrance Antiphon points out, we are His "cause" for as our Father he protects and provides for us, and
defends" us who are "poor ones." So in the Collect was ask that knowing we are children of God that He will perfect this in our hearts so that we can always live out of this reality. As the Communion Antiphon states, "the Lord fill us with finest wheat", namely the Body and Blood of Christ, and through Baptism, He filled us with His Spirit, in whose temple we have become. (cf. Romans $$$$$) Knowing this reality will help us to live "in the light of truth" that we pray for in our Post-Communion Prayer. St. John the Evangelist reminds us, "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed." (1 John 3:2)

Entrance Antiphon:

Look to your covenant, O Lord; forget not the life of your poor ones forever.
Arise, O God, and defend your cause; do not forget the cries of those who seek you.

Collect:
Almighty ever-living God,
whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,
we dare to call our Father,
bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts
the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters,
the inhertiance which you have promised.
[Though Christ our Lord.]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
Be pleased, O Lord, to accept the offerings of your Church,
for in your mercy you have given them to be offered,
and by your power you transform them
into the mystery of our salvation.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord who gives you your fill of finest wheat.

Post-Communion Prayer:
May the communion of your Sacrament
that we have consumed
save us, O Lord, and confirm us
in the light of your truth.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Memorial of St. John Vianney

2011-08-04T11:05:00.000-06:00

Today is the memorial of St. John Vianney, the Cure' of Ars. This feast is particularly important for me studying to be a priest at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. The Holy Cure' has been a role mode for me since I read my first book on his life when I was in 5th grade. As the Collect for his Mass today mentions, he was known for pastoral zeal and charity. He spent several hours a day in the Confessional, as well as in Eucharistic Adoration. He had a great love for the Sacramental Life of the Church and the Sacred Mysteries. But he also was known for his preaching and teaching. He placed high importance on catechises, so that the faithful would come to know deeper the Christian mysteries.

St. John Vianney's feast day, brought my mind back to Pope Benedict's Letter to Priests during the Year for Priests. Here's some of what the pope said then:

The Curé of Ars was very humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people: “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy”. He spoke of the priesthood as if incapable of fathoming the grandeur of the gift and task entrusted to a human creature: “O, how great is the priest! … If he realized what he is, he would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host…”. Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: “Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest… After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is”. These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: “Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die: not of fright, but of love… Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth… What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods … Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they will end by worshiping the beasts there … The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you”.

He arrived in Ars, a village of 230 souls, warned by his Bishop beforehand that there he would find religious practice in a sorry state: “There is little love of God in that parish; you will be the one to put it there”. As a result, he was deeply aware that he needed to go there to embody Christ’s presence and to bear witness to his saving mercy: “[Lord,] grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer whatever you wish, for my entire life!”: with this prayer he entered upon his mission.

The Curé devoted himself completely to his parish’s conversion, setting before all else the Christian education of the people in his care. Dear brother priests, let us ask the Lord Jesus for the grace to learn for ourselves something of the pastoral plan of Saint John Mary Vianney! The first thing we need to learn is the complete identification of the man with his ministry. In Jesus, person and mission tend to coincide: all Christ’s saving activity was, and is, an expression of his “filial consciousness” which from all eternity stands before the Father in an attitude of loving submission to his will. In a humble yet genuine way, every priest must aim for a similar identification. Certainly this is not to forget that the efficacy of the ministry is independent of the holiness of the minister; but neither can we overlook the extraordinary fruitfulness of the encounter between the ministry’s objective holiness and the subjective holiness of the minister. The Curé of Ars immediately set about this patient and humble task of harmonizing his life as a minister with the holiness of the ministry he had received, by deciding to “live”, physically, in his parish church: As his first biographer tells us: “Upon his arrival, he chose the church as his home. He entered the church before dawn and did not leave it until after the evening Angelus. There he was to be sought whenever needed”.

Collect:

Almighty and merciful God,
who made the Priest Saint John Vianney
wonderful in his pastoral zeal,
grant, we pray, that through his intercession and example
we may win brothers and sisters in charity for Christ
and attain with them eternal glory.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Memorial of St. Peter Julian Eymard

2011-08-02T15:50:00.000-06:00

Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of St. Peter Julian Eymard, a priest of France. He lived during the time of the Cure of Ars, and it is said that they probably never meet in person but had heard of each other and had a mystical friendship. He preached the forty hour devotion and increased devotion to the Eucharistic cult. He founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament after spending his initial years as a Marist. He was canonized the day after the first session of the Second Vatican Council.

His Eucharistic devotion is noted in the Collect for his Mass. The term "sacred mysteries" refers to the mystery of faith: the Holy Eucharist. St. Paul uses this term as a veiled reference in his epistles because the Eucharist was protected so that no one could find it and desecrate it. Today we ask for St. Peter's intercession that we might draw the same "delights he drew from this divine banquet." He was known to spend 6 to 8 hours in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament a day, and pioneered perpetual adoration of the sacred Eucharist.

"He was devoted to the adorable Sacrament of the altar with a burning charity and his soul was drawn to the sacred Tabernacle by a heavenly force that could not be resisted." These were the words Bl. John XXIII used in his encyclical Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia to speak of St. John Vianney's Eucharistic devotion. I believe the same words express St. Peter Julian's relationship with the Sacrament of the Altar.

Collect:

O God, who adorned Saint Peter Julian Eymard
with a wonderful love for the sacred mysteries
of the Body and Blood of your Son,
graciously grant
that we too, may be worthy to receive
the delights he drew from this divine banquet.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Archbishop Dolan on Preserving our Faith

2011-08-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

Archbishop Dolan, posted an article on his blog, The Gospel in the Digital Age, entitled Preserving our Faith. It is a must read. Next time a family member, friend or coworker asks why the Church doesn't change its teaching on x, y or z, you'll have an articulated explanation. We have to correct our understanding of what the Church is and what She does.

Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

2011-08-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

This week, holy Church celebrated the 18th Week of Ordinary Time. I've decided not to compare the texts of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal with the current Sacramentary. Instead, I'll simply give the new texts and offer a few comments on them. This will help distinguish is from Fr. Z's posts which are real gems. As of today, we have 118 days till the implementation of the new Roman Missal!

The word "Collect" is the new term used for the "Opening Prayer." It is a noun, used to describe the action (the verb) to collect. In the Collect, the priest collects the prayers of the faithful and prays to God on their behalf. I like how the prayer starts ourt "Draw near to your servants, O Lord." In the current Sacramentary, almost all prayers start out "Lord" or "Father" , "God our Father" etc. I also like how the term servant is used much more frequently in the new Roman Missal. I'll write more about this latter.

The prayer this week speaks about restoring creation and keeping safe what has been restored. For those of us who have been baptized, we have been restored. (cf. Romans 6) Yet we are in need of Christ's protection from the temptations of the evil one, hence we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The Entrance Antiphon reflects this same cry for protection: "God come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me!" It is an urgent plea for help. We add in the antiphon: "O Lord, do not delay." In all of this we are desiring to become "an eternal offering" to God as the Prayer Over the Offering mentions. We become this offering by living a moral and upright life and offering our bodies as living sacrifices (cf. Romans 12) and it is the Holy Eucharist- the "bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness" (Communion Antiphon)- that transforms us and restores us on a daily or weekly basis. The Post-Communion Prayer again begs for God's protection, for He is our "rescuer and help."

Entrance Antiphon:
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me!
You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay.

Collect:
Draw near to your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide,
you may restore what you have created
and keep safe what you have restored.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Prayer Over the Offerings:
Sanctify graciously these gifts, O Lord, we pray,
and, accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice,
make of us an eternal offering to you.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Communion Antiphon:
You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven,
endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.
Post-Communion Prayer:
Accompany with constant protection, O Lord,
those you renew with these heavenly gifts,
and in your never-failing care for them
make them worthy of ever-living redemption.
[Through Christ our Lord.]

Interview with ICEL Director on New Translation

2011-07-29T14:21:00.000-06:00

Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, the executive director of ICEL recently did an interview with Vatican Radio. To listen to it, click here.

The Norbertines of St. Michael Abbey, California

2011-07-28T10:07:00.002-06:00

National Shrine of the Apostle Paul

2011-07-25T15:04:00.001-06:00

The National Shrine of the Apostle Paul
The Cathedral of St. Paul
St. Paul, MN

[more pictures coming soon...]

Sacred Music

2011-07-25T14:57:00.012-06:00

Liturgical Song, from Pope Benedict XVI:
In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love". The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration. Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons. Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorichant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy. (Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 42)

Recomended Mass Settings:

Mass of the Most Sacred Heart
Mass of the Mediatrix
Mass of the Patriarchs
Belmont Mass
St. Antoine Daniel Mass
English Chant Mass
St. Ralph Sherwin Mass
Adam Barlet's Mass
ICEL Chant Mass

Articles:
The Psalmody of the Divine Office: A Path to Holiness for the Apostolic Religious, by Don Kirby
Active Participation and Listening to Gregorian Chant, by William Mahrt
Taking Up the Psalter, by Sammuel Weber, OSB
John Henry Newman and Music, by Susan Treacy
The Clerical Challenge in "Sing to the Lord", by W. Patrick Cunningham
The Spirituality of Sacred Music, by Scott Haynes

Sacred Music Websites and Resources:
Chant Cafe
Musica Sacra
Corpus Christ Watershed
St. Michael Hymnal
Adoremus Hymnal
Vatican II Hymanl
Insitute of Sacred Music
Chabanel Psalms
St. Antoine Daniel Mass Parts
St. Rene Goupil Chant (EF)
St. Jogues Chant (OF)
Garnier Alleluias
Recovering Choir Director
Canica Nova

Church Documents:
Sacrosanctum Concilium (Chapter 6)
Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, USCCB
Musicam Sacram, Holy See
Musicae Sacrae, Pius XII
Tra Le Sollecitiduni, Pius X
Statement on the Centennary of Trra Le Sollecitiduni, John Paul II
Give Praise Through the Beauty of Music, John Paul II
Audience on St. Pius X, Benedict XVI
Audience on St. Gregory the Great (1), Benedict XVI
Audience on St. Gregory the Great (2), Benedict XVI
The Patrimony of Sacred Music: Continuity and Natural Development, Benedict XVI
Sacred Music: An Integral Part of Liturgy, Benedict XVI
Sing A New Songs With Your Lives, Bishop James Conley

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

2011-07-25T14:38:00.002-06:00

This week we celebrated liturgically the 17th Sunday of the Year. We are reminded that God is all holy, and that without Him nothing has value. Hence, Pope Benedict is able to say, "Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed , each of us is loved, each of us is necessary." Man finds value in being made in the image of God, and in the truth that God became flesh, that is Incarnate. The Liturgy also reminds us in the Collect that we are not Puritans, but that we use material goods, but always keep in mind that they are passing.

Entrance Antiphon:

God is in His holy place; He will give a home to the lonely,
He gives power and strength to His people.

God is in His holy place, God who unites those who dwell in His house;
He Himself gives might and strength to His people.

The Collect:

God our Father and protector,
without you nothing is holy,
nothing has value.
Guide us to everlasting life
by helping us to use wisely
the blessings you have given
to the world.
[We ask this...Amen.]

O God, protector of those who hope in you,
without whom nothing has value, nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance your mercy upon us
and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
[Through our Lord...Amen.]

The Prayer Over the Gifts:

Lord,
receive these offerings
chosen from your many gifts.
May these mysteries make us holy
and lead us to eternal joy.
[Grant this...Amen.]

Accept, O Lord, we pray, these offerings
which we bring from the abundance of your gifts,
that through the powerful working of your grace
these most sacred mysteries
may sanctify our present way of life
and lead us to eternal gladness.
[Through Christ our Lord. Amen.]

The Communion Antiphon:

Happy are those who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.
Happy are the poor of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord,
we received the sacrament
which celebrates the memory
of the death and resurrection of Christ your Son.
May these gifts bring us closer to our eternal salvation.
[We ask this...Amen.]

We have consumed, O Lord, this divine Sacrament,
the perpetual memorial of the Passion of your Son;
grant, we pray, that this gift,
which He Himself gave us with love beyond all telling,
may profit us for salvation.
[Through Christ our Lord. Amen.]

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

2011-07-17T16:14:00.000-06:00

This week, holy mother Church celebrates the 16th Sunday of the Year, or as we commonly say, the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. When the Church uses the term "ordinary" she is not saying this is ordinary in comparison with the seasons of Lent and Easter or Advent and Christmas. She is referring to ordinal numbers, (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The term "Ordinary Time" does not exist in the Latin text, but as far as I can tell is an English adaptation. Let's compare the texts used in the current Missal this Sunday with those which will be used starting November 27th, with the third edition of the Roman Missal. The first text will always be from the current Sacramentary (1974 edition) and the second text, which is in italics, will be from the new translation of the Roman Missal (Third editio typica).

Entrance Antiphon:

God Himself is my help. The Lord upholds my life. I will offer you a willing sacrifice; I will praise your name O Lord, for its goodness. (Ps. 53: 6,8)

See, I have God for my help. The Lord sustains my soul. I will sacrifice to you with willing heart, and praise your name, O LORD, for it is good." (Ps. 53: 6,8)

The Collect

Lord, be merciful to your people.
Fill us with your gifts,
and make us eager to serve you
in faith, hope and love.
Grant this through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Show favor, O Lord to your servants,
and mercifully bestow the gifts of your grace upon them,
that made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and
reigns with you and the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
for ever and ever.

The Prayer Over the Gifts:

Lord, bring us closer to salvation
through these gifts which we bring in your honor.
Accept the perfect sacrifice you have given us,
bless it as you blessed the gifts of Abel
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

O God, who in the one perfect sacrifice
brought to completion varied offerings of the law,
accept we pray, this sacrifice from your faithful servants
and make it holy as you blessed the gifts of Abel,
so that what each has offered to the honor of your majesty
may benefit the salvation of all.
Through Christ our Lord.

The Communion Antiphon:

The Lord keeps in our minds the wonderful things He has done. He is compassion and love; He always provides for His faithful. (Ps. 110:4-5)

The Lord, the gracious, the merciful, has made a memorial of His wonders; He gives food to those who fear Him." (Ps. 110:4-5)

Post-Communion Prayer:

Merciful Father,
may these mysteries
give us new purpose
and bring us to a new life in you.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Graciously draw near to your people, we pray, O Lord,
and lead those you have imbued with heavenly mysteries
to pass from former ways to newness of life.
Through Christ our Lord.

Third Edition of the Roman Missal

2011-07-17T15:30:00.031-06:00

I've decided to start a new series in preparation for the new translation of the Roman Missal. The series will compare the current prayers used at Mass (Opening Prayer, Prayer over the Gifts, Prayer after Communion) with those that we will begin using the First Sunday of Advent, November 27th. For more information on the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, which we will begin using in the United States on November 27th in the Latin Rite Catholic Church, visit the USCCB's web page, by clicking here.

The complete text for The Order of Mass, Third Edition of the Roman Missal.

**UPDATES**
Parishes Authorized to Use New Musical Settings starting in September 2011
Timeline of the Development of the Roman Missal
Liturgiam AuthenticiamThe Order of Mass
Comparing GIRM 2002 and GIRM 2011
Pope Benedict's Address to Vox Clara, 2010

Bishop Thomas Olmstead's Series of Articles on the Third Edition:
Part I: Beauty Reveals God
Part II: Liturgy as Worship of God
Part III: The Fruits and Benefits of the Liturgy
Part IV: Liturgy Anticipates Heaven
Part V: Given by Christ, Received by the Church
Part VI: The Beauty of the Roman Rite
Part VII: What Makes Liturgy Authentic?

**MY BLOG ARTICLES ON THE PRAYERS OF THE THIRD EDITION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL**
The 16th Week of Ordinary Time
The 17th Week of Ordinary Time
The 18th Week of Ordinary Time
The 19th Week of Ordinary Time
The 20th Week of Ordinary Time
The 21st Week of Ordinary Time
The 22nd Week of Ordinary Time
The 23rd Week of Ordinary Time
The 24th Week of Ordinary Time
The 25th Week of Ordinary Time

Memorial of St. Peter Julian Eymard
Memorial of St. John Vianney
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Memorial of St. Peter Claver
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Preface I of the Sundays of Ordinary Time
Preface II of Sundays of Ordinary Time
Preface I of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Preface I for Weekdays
Preface II for Weekdays
Preface III for Weekdays
Preface for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Writings of Pope Benedict XVI

2011-07-17T15:30:00.029-06:00

Pope Benedict on communicating the Word of God:

And it is the Church’s gift and unescapable duty to communicate that joy, born of an encounter with the person of Christ, the Word of God in our midst. In a world which often feels that God is superfluous or extraneous, we confess with Peter that he alone has “the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). There is no greater priority than this: to enable the people of our time once more to encounter God, the God who speaks to us and shares his love so that we might have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10).(Verbum Domini)

Here are the blog articles for the series on Pope Benedict's homilies and other works :

Audience, Logic of Christ, 2010
Homily for Pentecost Sunday, 2011
World Youth Day Addresses, 2011
Homily to Seminarians, WYD, 2011
Farewell Address at WYD, 2011

My series of reflections on Sacramentum Caritatis:
Paragraph 1, The Sacrament of Charity
Paragraph 2, The Food of Truth
Paragraph 3, Development of the Eucharistic Rite
Paragraph 6. The Mystery of Faith

My series of reflections on Verbum Domini:

About Me

2011-07-17T15:30:00.021-06:00

My name is Nick Larkin, and I'm a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Denver at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, CO. I'm currently in my first year of philosophy, with, God willing, five more years till priestly ordination. I'm a true Colorado native, though I've also lived in New Hampshire, California and Minnesota. I love spending my free time in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, hiking, camping, fishing and elk hunting. I also love going to Starbucks to enjoy a good cup of coffee with friends. But my real and truest passion is for the Lord Jesus and New Evangelization. I love studying Holy Scripture and the Sacred Liturgy, and helping others encounter Jesus who reveals Himself in Word and Sacrament. On this blog I will comment on the Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Culture, and whatever else I can think of. I will not engage in battles over liturgical or theological schools of thought, but will focus on reflections that help us encounter Jesus and live more deeply the Paschal Mystery in our own Christian lives. The main areas of focus will be on:

The homilies and writings of Pope Benedict XVI
The prayers for Sunday Mass and Feast Days
The weekly Scriptural readings for Sunday Mass
Some local events of the Church in Denver

Using the principle, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, I will try to help us go deeper into the mystery of our Christian faith, which is fully expressed in the Eucharistic Celebration. I will draw heavily from the sources of Vatican II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, and the Apostolic Exhortations Sacramentum Caritatis and Verbum Domini, the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, and the General Instructions of the Roman Missal.

If your considering a priestly vocation I encourage you to visit:
Denver Vocations
For Your Vocation

If you need to contact me, you can email me at:
nicholasrlarkin@gmail.com

To read my profile, and to see the blogs I follow, click here.

With Archbishop Chaput at a farewell dinner for him at St. John Vianney's Seminary
before the Archbishop left to lead the Church in Philadelphia in September 2011.

Pope Benedict XVI on Pentecost

2011-07-15T09:12:00.047-06:00

I've decided to start a series of reflections on recent homilies of Pope Benedict XVI, which are truly a gold mine. In Light of the World, the pope states that he is not a mystic, but his homilies show a man who has encountered the face of Christ and desires eagerly to share the love of God to a world in need of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, a world in need of the message of hope, and a people in need of recognizing their dignity as persons and the love God has for them.

In his sermon for Pentecost Sunday this year, I was re-convicted of the personal holiness of Pope Benedict. Though he is undoubtedly a scholar, his homilies reflect the heart of a pastor, a spiritual father- speaking to his children in a simple yet beautiful way.

The Second Vatican Council gave this directive when speaking on what the content of the liturgical homily you should be:

"The sermon moreover, should draw its content mainly for scriptural and liturgical sources." (SC no. 35.2) Pope Benedict seems to be showing the Church what the council envisoned in the ministry of preaching, seeing that he draws both from Scripture and the liturigical celebration.

Now to his Pentecost homily itself. He gives us the profession in its simplest form. In the affirmation of the Lordship of Jesus:

"The Creed of the Church is nothing other than the development of what we say with this simple affirmation: "Jesus is Lord." If we want to be in the Spirit we must adhere to the Creed. The words "Jesus is Lord" can be interpretted in two ways. They mean: Jesus is God, and, at the same time: God is Jesus!"

The Holy Father then as any good theologian reflects on the Trinitarian element of the feast:

"The Gospel passage then offers us a marvellous image to clarify the connection between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father: the Holy Spirit is portrayed as the breath of the Risen Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 20:22). Here the Evangelist John takes up an image of the creation narrative, where it says that God breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). The breath of God is life. Now, the Lord breathes into our soul the new breath of life, the Holy Spirit, his most intimate essence, and in this way welcomes us into God’s family. With Baptism and Confirmation this gift was given to us specifically, and with the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance it is continuously repeated: the Lord breathes a breath of life into our soul. All the sacraments, each in its own way, communicate divine life to human beings, thanks to the Holy Spirit who works within them."

He closes with a remarkable reflection on friendship with the Lord and God's love for us:

"Lastly, today’s Gospel presents these beautiful words to us: “the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (Jn 20:20). These words are profoundly human. The Friend lost is present once again and those who were formerly distraught rejoice. But it says far more. For the lost Friend did not come from just anywhere but from the night of death; and he passed through it! He is not just anyone; indeed he is the Friend and at the same time the One who is the Truth that gives life to men and women; and what he gives is not just any kind of joy but joy itself, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Yes, it is beautiful to live because I am loved and it is the Truth who loves me. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Today, at Pentecost, these words are also addressed to us, because in faith we can see him. In faith he comes among us and to us too he shows his hands and his side and we are glad. Therefore let us pray: Lord, show yourself! Make us the gift of your presence and we shall have the most beautiful gift: your joy. Amen!"

Let us take to heart the words of the Holy Father, for yes, it is great to alive, because we are loved!

Priests: Witnesses to our Easter Faith!

2011-05-20T14:33:00.002-06:00

Here in Denver, the local Church is anticipating the ordination of 8 men to the holy priesthood. (Click here to read more about that.) In his weekly column, Archbishop Chaput spoke about the importance of the priestly calling and how it enhances the life of the Church. Much of what he said came from a pastoral letter he wrote in 1999 entitled The Priesthood: As Christ Loved the Church. It has had me thinking of the connection between the beauty and dignity of the ministerial priesthood and Easter.

The first point the archbishop made in his column was that “the Church is not just a collection of individuals gathered around a sacred text. She’s a community—a community rooted both in God’s Word and in sacrament.” This becomes very clear in reading the post-Resurrection accounts in the Acts of the Apostles and the gospel of St. Luke. On the road to Emmaus, for instance, Jesus reveals himself in the breaking of the bread, which is the primary way the Church today and always has celebrated Easter. Each Sunday, that is the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection, we as Christians gather to celebrate the work of our redemption around the table of God’s Word and at the Eucharistic table. Sunday becomes the nucleus of our Christian faith because it is a weekly Easter celebration. And what do we do on Sunday? We gather to celebrate the most Holy Eucharist, the breaking of the bread! Easter and Eucharist are not inseparable. This reality is clear in the fact that in reception of Holy Communion we receive the risen and glorified Christ! The early Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to the communal life, the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis, his holiness Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “ From the beginning Christians were clearly conscious of this radical newness which the Eucharist brings to human life. The faithful immediately perceived the profound influence of the Eucharistic celebration on their manner of life. The Christian’s customary practice of gathering on the first day after the Sabbath to celebrate the resurrection of Christ is also what defines the form of a life renewed by an encounter with Christ.” Blessed John Paul II said in Dies Domini, that the Eucharist “is Easter which returns week by week, celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death, the fulfillment in him of the first creation and the dawn of the new creation.”

Archbishop Chaput goes on in his column to say, “No matter how many other things bear good fruit for the Gospel in our day, there in no ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in the world without the Church; there is no Church without the Eucharist, and there is no Eucharist without the priest.” The Church needs priests so that she can celebrate the Eucharist and keep Easter alive in the lives of the faithful so that we might share in the life of our risen Lord. It is in the sacraments that we today are able to enter in the history of salvation—into the paschal mystery, and that it can be applied to us in a real way. It is in the sacraments that we enter into the work of redemption and abide in God’s love.

The archbishop goes on to say “As a result, in every generation, we always need good priests: well-formed men of hope and courage; men who love Jesus Christ, love the Church and are eager to serve God’s people. And—equally important—we need a community of believers that will encourage these men, and support them as a family in their sacrifices." He then says say, "So I also urge parents to cultivate a love for the Church and her sacraments in their children. I especially urge them to model their own love for the priesthood by supporting our priests in daily parish life, and by creating an environment in their homes where vocations to the priesthood are encouraged, discussed, and received by children as a great and holy personal choice." The archbishop is echoing the Decree on Priestly Training promulgated by Vatican II which says, "The duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life. The principal contributors to this are the families which, animated by the spirit of faith and love and by the sense of duty, become a kind of initial seminary, and the parishes in whose rich life the young people take part. Teachers and all those who are in any way in charge of the training of boys and young men, especially Catholic associations, should carefully guide the young people entrusted to them so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation. All priests especially are to manifest an apostolic zeal in fostering vocations and are to attract the interest of youths to the priesthood by their own life lived in a humble and industrious manner and in a happy spirit as well as by mutual priestly charity and fraternal sharing of labor."

So let us pray for vocations to the priesthood and let us pray for the men preparing for ordination here in Denver. Praise God for always sending laborers to work in His vineyard. These men bring us Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and Baptism and the sacrament of Reconciliation, and it is in these sacred mysteries that our Easter faith is en-kindled and nourished as we make pilgrimage to the city of the Lamb! The Lord is risen, He is risen indeed, alleluia!

The Glory of our Easter Faith!

2011-05-07T07:55:00.004-06:00

Christ is risen, alleluia! This sacred mystery is the source of our Christian faith and what we as Christians strive to proclaim with our very lives. The witness, the evangelization efforts we engage in, find their nourishment and there life in the new life we participate in. The new life which flows from the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this new life that is the heart of the Christian life and is exactly what we desire to share with others. Why do we evangelize? Because we want more than anything else for others to share in our joy of finding and living with God in Christ Jesus! It is our personal encounter and contact with Him that urges us to passionately and unceasingly witness to Him with our lives, our actions and our hearts so as to invite others into the same experience of the love of God! What could be more fruitful then this work? Neither wealth, power or worldly success can fulfill our human hearts. But personal contact with and sharing the love of God -the Holy Trinity- for us and for the world can and will! Hence Jesus says to us:

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another. (St. John 15:9-17)

Let us strive to remain in His love which is the glory of our Easter faith! God is with us and He "will bring us out of darkness into His own marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9) Let us live the new life He has given us in Baptism and let us share that faith, "for a great joy cannot be kept to oneself, it has to be passed on!" (Pope Benedict, 2005 WYD, Cologne)

What does Vatican II say about "actuosa participatione"? Part I: External Participation

2011-01-27T12:39:00.007-07:00

Often in Catholic circles when the topic of liturgy comes up, so does the phrase “active participation.” While often times it is poorly interpreted, it is a fundamental element of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council in the document entitled the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. This Constitution, in Latin called Sacrosanctum Concilium, is the "magna charter" on the Divine Worship in the life of the Church. Section 2 of the first chapter in that document deals with active participation. It states:

Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism. (No. 14)

There is a clear link to what I wrote about two posts ago on “What is Liturgy?” The Council goes on to state, “With zeal and patience, pastors of souls must promote the liturgical instruction of the faithful, and also their active participation in the liturgy both internally and externally.” (No. 19) There are two realities expressed in this. There is the internal and then the external. In this post I’ll reflect on the external and then in the next post on the internal.

The external participation is necessary because man is composite of body and soul. Because of this reality, we pray with our bodies. Often times this participation was interpreted to be active without the internal participation being emphasized. This led to understandings that that to participate you had to be a lector or an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a server, in the choir, or had to always sing. Of course these are ways to participate, but if you are not an usher, don’t feel obliged to become one so as to appear to participate. These are services rendered, and are needed ones at that, even if they are often misunderstood or overused. The external manifestation of participating includes making the responses to the priest, listening to the Scriptures and homily, professing your faith in the creed, singing with the congregation (though you are not required to be singing all the time. (I.e. Personal prayer sparked over a line in a hymn, the homily etc.) Also, this includes gestures like making the sign of the cross, tracing the cross on your brow, lips, and heart at the Gospel, bowing during the Creed when reflecting on the mystery of the Incarnation, as well as bowing in adoration before receiving Holy Communion. This includes both before receiving our Lord’s Body and before receiving the Precious Blood. Gestures and postures are important because they manifest the desires of the heart to render God adoration and praise and make manifest our love for Him in response to His great love for us. (I’ll write a reflection on “Gestures and Postures” latter on in the series…) These express the internal doings of our heart. To help make this hit home, just think of how we show our love and admiration for those we love. First we tell them that we love them with words. But just saying it isn’t enough and doesn’t necessary make it true. I can say “I love you” and then be cruel to you. We express it with words, gestures (like gift buying, acts of kindness, etc.) and this helps show our love. Yes it is often not do justice to the real love we have in our heart but is an expression. Our external participation also shows the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ. In communion with each other we profess our faith, listen to the Gospel and celebrate the Eucharist. That is why the Council Father’s went on to say:

The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all. (No. 48)

We must make efforts to participate in the Sacred Mysteries. Our actions show our belief, and our beliefs are manifested in our actions. As the new dismissal states “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord with your lives.” Our hearts must be moved so deeply that our actions express the conversion and new attitude we have received in Christ for He called us to be a light to the world and the salt of the earth.

What is Liturgy?

2010-12-04T13:43:00.010-07:00

Sunday after Sunday we show up for this thing we call "the Mass" and we sit through a ritual which is the same but slightly altered week after week. Often times we find ourselves responding "and also with you", "Amen" or tracing the cross on our forehead, lips and breast. We do these things out of force of habit without a second though. Needless to say we do this when we genuflect in entering or leaving the Church. As Catholics, our celebration, our worship of God is a liturgical action. So the question arises: What is liturgy?

The Catechism tells us that liturgy is our participation in the Paschal Mystery in which Christ accomplishes the work of our salvation. "For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church." (CCC #1068)

"The word 'liturgy' originally meant a 'public work' or a 'service in the name of/on behalf of the people.'" (CCC #1069) Christ continues the work of salvation through the Mass in which He makes Himself present in the Eucharist and draws us into fellowship with Him through Holy Communion. The Mass is sacrificial in nature because it re-presents (Not represents but makes present again) in an un-bloody manner the Sacrifice of the Cross. Then we go forward in procession to receive the Risen Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

Through our Baptism, we become a member of Christ's mystical Body. Christ is our head and we the members. "Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ." ( CCC #795) "The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal. Through the liturgy the inner man is rooted and grounded in "the great love with which [the Father] loved us" in his beloved Son. It is the same "marvelous work of God" that is lived and internalized by all prayer, "at all times in the Spirit." (CCC #1073) The Father "by sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret:45 God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (CCC # 221)

Thus in the liturgy, united to Christ our Head, we form a priestly people (cf. Peter 2:9) in offering God our Father a sacrifice of praise. We do this is the Mass, the Sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours. As we continue our journey towards using the new translation of the Roman Missal, let us strive to enter more deeply into the sacred mysteries we celebrate week after week.

The Lost Art of Daydreaming

2010-11-13T22:09:00.008-07:00

This evening as I was attending the opening of our all night vigil what struck me was the praying of Psalm 2. There is so much action taking place in the Psalm and much to ponder and chew upon. I quickly found my mind daydreaming about being in shackles and the Lord breaking them to set me free. Almost immediately I corrected myself thinking it umpious to daydream during prayer. So I refocused my attention to reciting the Psalm verse by verse.Yet afterwards as I was taking an late night walk and looking up at the beautiful Denver sky (and hoping that it would snow!)I again began to daydream about Psalm 2. Then I realized that this daydreaming is not bad. In fact it is very good and really aided to my time of prayer and reflection. I realized that daydreaming is somewhat of a lost art in our Catholic faith.

As I thought more I realized that what moved the saints was their ability to wonder in amazment at creation and life and all the gifts the Lord has given us. This is what drove men like St. Ignatius of Loyola and Venerable Pope John Paul II. The monks used to spend time reading the Scriptures in their Lectio Divina and then ponder God's Word during their work hours. St. Ignatius of Loyola began to teach the men of his society to read the Gospels and place themselves in the seen using their imagination.

Yet today we live in a world where often times we don't have to wonder to much because the television and internet do must of the work for us. We become sort of lazy in using our imagination. During this month of November though, the Church proposes that we reflect and ponder the four last things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. Some of the best excercises I've found on this come from St. Francis de Sales in his book Introduction to the Devout Life. The four last things are a perfect thing to daydream about, to contemplate and pray over.

God gave us an imagination and what a remarkable gift it is when we use it. We use it in our school and for our personal entertainments (sometimes not in a very good way) but why not use it to grow in our relationship with God in prayer? Why not engage God in prayer using the faculities He gave us in creating us as human beings?

Let us worship the Lord with our full selfs. Let us dare to daydream about doing great things for the Lord, loving Him with all our hearts and all our strength. Pherhaps one of the best things to daydream about in my opinion is heaven, where we will spend eternity with Him in complete joy!

Matt Maher's Alive Again

2010-11-07T15:43:00.007-07:00

"He is not God of the dead, but of the living,for to him all are alive." (Luke 20:38)

"Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace."
-St. Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions,

A Passionate Love for Jesus Christ

2010-11-06T11:31:00.007-06:00

Two years ago, I traveled to southern California to spend my Spring break with my uncle. Even though my uncle who was raised a Catholic now claimed to be agnostic we had a great time hiking the mountains, driving the Pacific Coast Highway and playing video games. But throughout the week each day I would dismiss myself from whatever we were doing to enter into prayer. After three or four days of doing this my uncle asked my, why I was always going off to pray. My response was, "Well, why do you spend so much time golfing and talking about golf?" To which he responded that it was his passion. To which I responded, "Jesus Christ is my passion." Now even though my uncle did not and still doesn't understand my Christian faith, he respected my answer because he knew that all of us are passionate about something. The question is: what are we as Christians passionate about?

What does a passionate love and zeal for Jesus Christ look like? Often times people can get on a crusade for some agenda in the Church whether it be the Latin Mass or whatever. And I think often times these personal agendas flow from an experience we have in the parish. But I want to propose that this passion and zeal we as Christians are called to have is a passion to live in friendship with Christ and to share this friendship with others through evangelization and discipleship.

If I could narrow my complaints of the Church today and contemporary Christians it would be the general lack of passion for prayer and evangelization. Now I know that is a generalization. First because there are (and I know many) individuals who are passionate for Jesus and His Church. And secondly I'd point out that for those who aren't passionate it is often times a result of poor catechises on the faith and prayer and because they haven't been led into a encounter with Jesus that pierces them to the heart and to transformation. And even if they do have an encounter often times there is a struggle to find the necessary means of support in the community.

If you love someone you want to be with them. You want to share them with others. If Jesus Christ is who He claims to be, which He is, why would we not want to share Him? Especially with those inside our Church and our own families who haven't yet encountered Him. Now it is a tricky things to evangelize or "re-evangelize" Church-goers and even more difficult to preach to family members. It can be with words but often more time with actions. In both living the faith with a joy and peace that attracts others as well as being able to give reasons for your belief and answers to other's objections to Church teachings we can be instruments of the Holy Spirit for touching people's hearts. Yet the most important aspect is not simply knowing the faith (though this is extremely important) but knowing Jesus Christ personally and intimately.

Ask yourself: am I madly in love with Jesus Christ? Is there are fire of charity burning in my heart? Is it impossible for me to not speak of Jesus? Or am I afraid to speak of Jesus? Pray for a zeal, a holy zeal for Christ, for the Church, for souls and for the desire to evangelize. If we ask, the Holy Spirit will grant us such a holy desire.

St. Charles Borromeo once said, "The tiniest fire of divine love has been lit in you. Then do not rush to make a parade of it. Do not take it out into the icy blast. Keep the furnace door shut on it so that it does not die out. Keep your mind fixed on God." Once we have the fire we have to protect it. Pope John Paul II, once cried out at a general audience using the words of St. Catherine of Siena, "If you are who you should be, you will set this world ablaze!" Are we who we should be?

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Jesus Christ is Lord!

2010-10-22T19:27:00.003-06:00

We often speak of Jesus Christ as being our Lord and Savior. And He is. But do we really believe what we say? I've never meet someone who doesn't want Jesus to be their Savior. The reason is simple. We are all sinners and however hard that is for us to confess to others we know in our hearts it is true and so we find consolation in our Divine Redeemer. Yet Jesus is our Lord and Savior. The two go together and cannot be separated. It's that simple. We have to submit to His Lordship over our lives. This takes effort. We pray each day "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." in the Lord's Prayer. We don't pray, "my will be done Lord please bless it." (paraphrasing Fr. Larry Richards) It is a daily routine of getting out of bed and handing over our life, our pleasure and our will to Him who emptied Himself completely out of love for us on Calvary. As American's we often make resolutions and for some reason we seem to fail a lot. The saints tell us to see each day as a new beginning. That means that today is not a continuation of yesterday's resolution and that tomorrow not simply an extension of today's good intention. Each and everyday we have to fall on our knees and surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus. We might fall and probably will and yet each day we have to keep fighting. We are in spiritual combat! No one said it would be easy. Before going to bed we get back on our knees and beg the Lord's forgiveness and pray with ardent desire for the grace to love Him more. He sees our struggle which is an act of love. He delights in our efforts. Our daily prayer must be for the grace to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds and strength and to love our neighbor for love of God. Very much connected with this: we have to silence our hearts and receive the the Blessed Trinity's love for us. If we cannot receive this then we have to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what is blocking our heart from receiving it. Receiving God's love is what enkindeled the fire that the saints had and the fire we desire. If we want that same fire of love and holiness we have to be deeply in tune with the love that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has for us. The reality is that God loves us with all His heart, mind and strength and our trophy to prove this is the Crucifix we all have hanging in our homes. If Jesus is going to be our Savior then we have to submit ourselves to His Lordship. Today take the step and give your life to Jesus Christ. Make Him your Lord and He will surely be your Savior!

To you O Lord be all glory and honor and power, both now and forever. Amen. (cf. Revelations 4:11)

Christian Manhood

2010-10-10T09:42:00.009-06:00

I spent this past weekend up in Buffalo Creek, CO, enjoying the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Next to the cabin there was a river which I found to be a endless source of inspiration and reflection on Baptism. Then of course there were the trees with their leaves turning golden brown and gold. As my heart and mind were captured by the beauty of Colorado and God's creation, I was reminded of the gift and sacredness of life and the reality of death. This reality is built into the world we live. There is Spring and there is Fall, there is Summer and their is Winter. Now from my perspective Winter can be viewed as desolation in life but hey some people would chastise such a view and claim Winter is a source of consolation.

These thoughts I had were highly nourished by a sermon Cardinal Newman gave on Christian Manhood. It is here that Newman challenges us "to inquire how far we have proceeded in putting off such childish things as are inconsistent with a manly, honest profession of the Gospel." Of course he is not contradicting our Lord's command to be like children but saying there is a growth process in the Christian life that is healthy and normal. St. Paul says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." (1 Cor. 13:11)

Just to show what we are getting out, we can look to the apostles for an example. "It is plain from the Gospels, that before the Holy Ghost came down, that is, while Christ was still with them, they [the apostles] were helpless and ignorant as children; and had no clear notion of what they ought to seek after, and how; and were carried away by their accidental feelings and their long-cherished prejudices." Judas betrays Jesus, Peter denies Him, the apostles leave Him when He most needs them. Then of course Philip asks to see the Father, Peter proposes to make a tent for Jesus on Tabor and some even ask to sit at His right and left in the kingdom. Jesus rebukes them for these. Sometimes I read these passages in the Gospel and feel bad for the poor apostles. I think to myself, "I was wondering the same thing" or "I would probably ask the same question." Yet we can see by Jesus' reaction that the apostles have not received their full maturity as Christian men in Christ. It was a Pentecost that the Holy Spirit "breathed into them a divine life, and gifted them with spiritual manhood or perfection. From that time forth, they put away childish things: they spake, they understood, they thought, as those who had been taught to govern themselves, and who having 'an unction from the Holy One, knew all things.'"

The question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we "whole followers of Christ?" Newman shows us that there are three things that often keep us from completely following Christ. He lists: love of display, greediness of the world's praise, and the love of the comforts and luxuries of life.

Love of Display: this can come in "vanity of our abilities [talents]", "personal appearance" or even "love of managing." Newman says that these things are odious in men who profess Christ Jesus and are inconsistent with Christian faith and earnestness.

Love of Worldly Comforts and Luxuries: We often "deliberately study our own comfort as some great and sufficient end" and "go much out of our way to promote it, to sacrifice any thing considerable to guard it, and to be downcast at the prospect of the lose of it." We are called to sacrifice comforts and pleasures for Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Proclaiming Christ becomes our pleasure and comfort in a certain sense.

Fear of Ridicule, Weakness of Purpose: in today's world we can easily be frightened to preach Christ with words and actions. It is counter-cultural. Yet we are called to witness to Him in everything we do in the same way He witnessed to the Father while He was with us. We must pray for courage and fortitude. The Holy Spirit is waiting to set out hearts on fire if we only dare to ask.

So I will end with some more quotes from Newman to reflect on. Let us have the courage to cast away childishness. If we find we struggle then let us get on our knees and beg the Holy Spirit to aid us.

-"To putt off idle hopes of earthly goods, to be sick of flattery and the world's praise, to see the emptiness of temporal greatness, and to be watchful against self-indulgence-these are but the beginning of religion."

-"To perform all our relative daily duties most watchfully, -to check every evil thought, and bring the whole mind into captivity to the law of Christ, -to be patient, cheerful, forgiving, meek, honest and true, -to persevere in this good work till death, making fresh and fresh advances towards perfection, to confess ourselves unprofitable servants, -these are some of the difficult realities of religions obedience."

-"Christ bids you give up the world; but will not at any rate, the world soon give up you?"

*All quotes are from Newman's sermon on Christian Manhood.

Christian Brotherhood: Are You Your Brother's Keeper?

2010-09-24T21:16:00.004-06:00

Christian brotherhood is born through the triumph of the cross. This was the point of my last reflection. It was by Christ's death and resurrection that it was established. By our baptism we enter into His paschal mystery and the Spirit leads us to cry "Aba, Father!" We are adopted and become children of God and brothers of Jesus. We also in a very real way enter into brotherhood with our fellow Christians. The question we have to ask is what does this fraternal relationship require? And yes the question has to be posed: Am I my brother's keeper?

Christian brotherhood in the Church today might be at one of its lowest points in history. The good news is that men are beginning to realize the value of fraternity. Religion and life as a whole as largely become a world of one man for himself. We live isolated lives and maybe have one or two close friendships. Yet this is problematic. Can we really expect to make this pilgrimage toward the heavenly kingdom without accountability and friendship that brothers offer? Do we really think we can stand stronger alone than together? Are we really capable of protecting those entrusted to our care by standing off by ourselves in a one man battle? Brotherhood is born from the Cross. By dying and rising, Christ draws us into sonship through our Baptism. If we share a Father, and Christ is our brother, then that brotherhood Christian men share in is more real than even that between biological brothers.

Here are some principles of Christian brotherhood:

1. Christ -centered. This is our rallying point. Brotherhood's ultimate end is to aid each other on our journey towards heaven and to get as many people there with us as possible. Christ's Law of Charity urges us to wage the good fight for souls, especially our family and friends.

2. United to Protect and Govern. We are stronger when we are united in our cause for Truth and Love. How can we fight the devil and the spirit of the world by ourselves? An army of men on the other hand is limitless if it has the Lord's blessing. As David prays, "the Lord is a Warrior."

3. Accountability. As men of the modern age we don't have a clue what this word means. Yet in the Gospel, Christ is constantly keeping His apostles accountable. He is not afraid to rebuke them, question them, challenge them nor affirm them. Christ sets a standard for how brothers should interact.

4. Masculine-Comradery. The Church has been hyper-feminized today. In our culture this even includes men sadly. But even then it is largely not their fault. Men need other men to be around and grow and just be.

The reality is we are our brother's keeper. Let's start acting like it.

There are many groups that can make this possible in parish life. These include: the Knights of Columbus, the program That Man Is You, men's prayer groups and Bible studies as well as forming Young Men's Youth Groups that disciple these men separate from the young ladies in living our Christian Manhood.

Next week I'll write more on what Blessed John Henry Newman has to say on Christian Manhood from one of his sermons given back in his Anglican days at Oxford.