Utter Muttering

Blog update

2008-10-07T21:36:00.003-04:00

It is with no little amount of trepidation that I let you know I've decided to move my blogging to a blog hosted on stblogs.com. It allows me to do a few things I've been unable to do on blogger, and it also allows me to help support (even if only in my own very, very small way) a Catholic enterprise. I've copied over all the posts you'll find here just in case anyone really needs to find something I've written before. This blog will remain but will go dormant; you can find my new blog at http://ubipetrus.stblogs.com/.

And yes, I admit that it's entirely possible I'll become like some others that have tried to move off of blogger and have come back, but at least for now I'll move forward with this. I hope to see you there!

Pelosi contra Gregory of Nyssa

2008-10-01T21:37:00.003-04:00

It's interesting how life comes at you from multiple directions sometimes. This weekend in our RCIA class the fiancee of one of the inquirers suggested that he had been taught that the soul exists before the body, quoting Jeremiah 1:5 "before you were formed in the womb I knew you" as a basis for his understanding. Trying to explain God's existence outside of time became a rather interesting experience in explaining something one knows he cannot ever fully understand himself.

Now, and if you know me you won't be surprised, that poor attempt at an answer has been gnawing at me ever since. So tonight I sat down with my Logos and determined to read up on the whole issue. After digging through Origen, Tertullian and Irenaeus I came across the following from St. Gregory of Nyssa, from his On the Making of Man. It's amazing how well it contrasts with Nancy Pelosi's recent attempt at patristic research.

But just as we say that in wheat, or in any other grain, the whole form of the plant is potentially included—the leaves, the stalk, the joints, the grain, the beard—and do not say in our account of its nature that any of these things has pre-existence, or comes into being before the others, but that the power abiding in the seed is manifested in a certain natural order, not by any means that another nature is infused into it—in the same way we suppose the human germ to possess the potentiality of its nature, sown with it at the first start of its existence, and that it is unfolded and manifested by a natural sequence as it proceeds to its perfect state, not employing anything external to itself as a stepping-stone to perfection, but itself advancing its own self in due course to the perfect state; so that it is not true to say either that the soul exists before the body, or that the body exists without the soul, but that there is one beginning of both, which according to the heavenly view was laid as their foundation in the original will of God; according to the other, came into existence on the occasion of generation.

He says it, without surprise, far better than I ever did.

And I was just feeling sorry for myself this morning

2008-09-26T15:48:00.002-04:00

Yeah, work is kicking my keester and I'm feeling perpetually further behind than I was the day before. But I've got nothing on this. 'Scuse me, I have to go admit that I've got it easy to a few people.

Ember days

2008-09-26T08:13:00.003-04:00

If you, like me, have never heard of Ember Days you'll want to read this article at Rorate Caeli. It's a reprint of an article by Michael P. Foley from The Latin Mass Magazine. After reading it I feel, in a way, as if I've been robbed of some of my patrimony all these years. There is still too much of a "we threw everything out with Vatican II" attitude and all too often people glibly state that "we don't do that any more" neither knowing why we did it before nor why we do it now. History is a powerful teacher, if only you are willing to learn.

Update: I'm way behind (again) on my blog reading, or I'd have known to include a pointer to this post at NLM. So much about Ember Days I never knew, so much to have missed...

Signs and Mysteries

2008-09-24T20:37:00.003-04:00

Okay, I admit it. When I saw this book on the list of possible books for review from Catholic Company I just about jumped out of my seat. I haven't met a book by Mike Aquilina yet that I haven't found both intellectually and spiritually stimulating. This one was no different.

It's a fairly slim volume, tipping the scales at 188 pages including references. A good number of these pages are accented by beautiful artwork by Lea Marie Ravotti; a book on symbols cannot survive without good artwork and this work does not disappoint. I've seen a couple of quibbles over the use of a relatively fine font combined with a medium brown ink. When I first opened the book I said, "oh yeah, I see what they're talking about". Then I started to read it. In the end analysis I'll say this: it may take a couple of pages to get used to it, but as long as you're not trying to read it by candle light by the time you're out of the Introduction you won't even notice it. And that's from someone who is destroying his eyesight by staring at a computer screen for eight to twelve hours a day for a living.

As important as the aesthetic of the book may be, without content it would be a niche intellectual object. Content, however, is not a problem for this book. In fact, I am in complete agreement with the author's plaintive cry in Chapter 1:

Few of us today, however, can even begin to understand the messages left for us by our ancestors. We have lost our Christian mother tongue - the code of the martyrs - and we are impoverished by the loss. They have become like hieroglyphics, a language that only academic specialists understand. What is worse is that we have forgotten how to think the way these distant ancestors thought, and this has rendered them even more remote from us. Their symbols seem incomprehensible now.

Yet delivering the message was, for them, clearly an urgent matter, a matter of ultimate consequence. To carve or paint or scratch these symbols, they burrowed into the ground and breathed foul air while laboring in dim lamplight. Our ancestors did this so that their message might reach us. We owe them at least the effort of a sympathetic study.

We do indeed, and this volume is an excellent start. By turns intellectual, historical, philosophical, academic and spiritual it lays out for us a world all together too many of us take for granted when we even acknowledge its existence at all. We have, by and large, lost the use of this language and that is only to our detriment.

I can say that within only a page or so of the first symbol explored in this book I was thinking "now there is something I can use with our RCIA class". The book is not so simple as to be redundant for all but the true patrologists out there, nor is it so complicated as to be over the heads of those with a thinner Christian formation. It is clear that Aquilina is not only comfortable with his subject matter but fluent in it. There is a point at which one becomes sufficiently steeped in a topic that conversing about it no longer requires complex explanations and stiff wording. No, in this topic the author is closer to conversational in tone which makes for a very comfortable reading even as the reader works his way from the author's words to a quote from a Church Father to a quote from the Bible and back again. It is a rare treat to read a book this informative that is simultaneously this fluid.

In my last review I said I was going to buy a copy of the book for myself since I had received an unbound galley copy; this copy was "the real thing". This time, though, I'm going one better than before. I'm not buying another copy for myself, I'm buying one for our RCIA director. If you know me, you know it's a rare thing indeed for me to buy a book for someone else; the last time I did that it was Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth so Mike Aquilina is in good company here. Does this mean I'd recommend this book to someone else? Absolutely, and for this price it's an absolute steal given how much you will learn. Buy it, read it, learn something about your faith. Then read it again and learn something else. Yeah, it's that kind of a book.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Signs and Mysteries-Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols .

40 Days for Life begins

2008-09-24T12:52:00.002-04:00

For the first time since its inception, 40 Days for Life is in New Hampshire. Last night we held a kickoff rally outside the Planned Parenthood abortuary in Manchester. It was, in a word, powerful.

All told, I'd estimate around 60-70 people showed up - maybe more by the time things really got going. Before they rally started some people were handing out St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards (and how appropriate the line, "Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil", he who is ultimately behind this menace) and the Prayer for the Conversion of Abortionists by Fr. Frank Pavone. Things started shortly after with prayer and then witness from three different individuals, each with a different story. (Click on the picture for a larger version.)

The woman speaking in the above picture is the one who came to our parish this past weekend. She told of how she waited and prayed day after day for God to send someone to bring 40 Days for Life to New Hampshire (boy, that sounded familiar...) until finally one day she realized that just maybe God had put her in that place at that time for that very purpose. What a powerful reminder that each of us has an irreplaceable role to play in this world - one God has laid out for us that no one else can do.

The woman in the back whom you can just see holding flowers is a sidewalk counselor who came to speak to us from Massachusetts. Her message was simple - pray, and be a witness, because you never know who is watching or what will happen if you put yourself out there. And above all, trust in God even if you don't know how He is going to provide for you. She shared with us a few stories of times on the sidewalk when she had to step out in faith before she knew how things would work out and when she did God responded in a big and unforeseeable way.

The young man in the front of the truck spoke last, and his story was short but powerful. He is the father of a child aborted against his will. He told us of how when he called Planned Parenthood to ask them not to go through with the abortion he was told flatly that he had no rights in the matter and that's all there was to it. The dimming sunlight reflected off no small number of tears as he spoke.

One side of the crowd

The other side of the crowd

After the witnesses were given we, again, prayed some more. We then made a candle light procession in front of the abortuary, singing Amazing Grace, turned around at the Elm Street intersection and processed back to where we started again. We had time to briefly chat with some friends and acquaintances as sign up sheets were handed around for anyone who could commit to at least an hour's quiet, prayerful witness.

Yes, if you're curious, we did have one heckler yell out "choice!" as he drove by but, well, it took a minute to even figure out what he (yes, "he") said as he didn't make much of an attempt at either enunciating his opinion or even yelling in our direction. There were also a couple of girls in nurse outfits standing by the back of the abortuary using their cell phone cameras to record the procession as they laughed and giggled. I can only guess that they work there and have simply no idea what they are doing or the pain and harm they are causing. They were, in a way, among the first people to see the power of 40 Days for Life, even if they don't yet realize it. Those two young girls have never left my prayers from that moment on.

Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith

2008-09-23T21:05:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I feel funny writing a review about books like thisthat have, to some extent, become a type of cultural icon. The then-Cardinal Ratzinger stepping out from behind a door, the Catechism in his hand and his now well-familiar understated smile on his face as the cover shot is now a familiar sight to many. It should come as no surprise that this book covers a wide variety of topics, spanning the range of pretty much every area of Catholic belief. As we continue further into the Benedictine Pontificate many of the topics he covers in this book and how they are covered become more well-known in general, although books like this are equally valuable for the insight into how the Pope both thinks now and has worked in thought through his life. I'd heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested a not-too-deep but fairly broad insight into the thought of the man who would become Pope Benedict through the years.

Just because, and because it seems like this topic comes up now and again I thought I'd include his reflection on a topic that cannot help but be a hot-button. Even so, you notice right away the now-familiar combination of depth of knowledge, orthodoxy, and pastoral sensitivity - a combination we all would do well to emulate

Thus, for example, in the writings of William of Auvergne we find him making the distinction by which outward and inward communion are connected as are sign and reality. He then explains that the Church would never wish to deprive anyone of that inner communion. When she wields the sword of excommunication, then, according to him, this happens only in order to heal the spiritual communion with this medicine. He then adds a thought that is at the same time consoling and stimulating. He knows, he tells us, that for not a few people the burden of excommunication is as hard to bear as martyrdom. But, he says, very often a person makes more progress in patience and humility as an excommunicate than in the situation when he is outwardly in communion.

That deserves some not-inconsiderable chewing on. The man just makes you think - we are indeed blessed to have him as Pope.

One of the things I've long wanted to do...

2008-09-23T15:16:00.003-04:00

...is teach my kids how to not only say the Rosary in Latin but to chant it as well. Hey, you know, in for a penny in for a pound and all. Well, with a hat tip to Rich Leonardi, I have a good start finally.

The simplicity of eloquence

2008-09-23T14:53:00.002-04:00

Tolle, lege! Anything I'd say would just degrade it.

Your friendly neighborhood reminder

2008-09-22T22:37:00.002-04:00

Don't forget - the kickoff rally for 40 Days for Life is tomorrow, Tues., Sept. 23 at 6:30 in front of the Planned Parenthood on Pennacook Street (off of Elm Street) in Manchester. It is only through prayer and our faithful witness that we can turn the tide of this war of evil and help to bring about a culture of life throughout New Hampshire, throughout this country, and throughout this world. I hope to see you there!

Now this is how you do a vocations video

2008-09-20T09:07:00.003-04:00

If more orders and indeed dioceses explained their role and goal with the combination of beauty and simplicity this video shows I cannot begin to imagine how many more vocations we would see. Yet again we see that those orders and dioceses who cling most closely to their original charism and the teachings of the Church are growing and thriving. H/T to Roman Catholic Vocations.

40 Days for Life comes to Manchester

2008-09-19T21:10:00.002-04:00

In a word ... finally! I've been hoping someone at the right level would decide to get this Diocese involved in the 40 Days for Life movement and it appears that it has finally happened. There will be a kickoff rally outside the Manchester Planned Parenthood this coming Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 PM and then prayerful witness outside the building from 7AM to 7PM from Sept. 24 to Nov. 2.

How can you help? First, come to the kickoff meeting if you can. At least as important as that, however, is to sign up for a slot to spend an hour in prayerful witness in front of the Planned Parenthood abortuary. (If I'm not mistaken, this is another PP building where they lied on their zoning application and the local government eventually decided to let them get away with it. Evil has no shame.) If you can't manage any time in that schedule, and that happens, then I only ask you to do whatever you can to help out the cause of the most innocent of lives - pray, fast, do pennance, any or all of the above. Parishes in the area will have signup sheets available this weekend so we can sign up for both time slots for witness and to offer any other thing we can offer. There is also a signup form on the 40 Days for Life site here - how this will be coordinated with those forms collected at parishes I don't yet know but I'm sure that's been planned out.

More information is available at the 40 Days for Life site, at New Hampshire Right to Life and in this PDF that has been circulated in bulletins recently. Whatever you do, however you can help, please do it. This could be the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire and the beginning of a beautiful new era of life in this state.

I can hear you out there!

2008-09-19T21:06:00.004-04:00

Having a very low resistance to gadgetry I've added the Followers gadget to the blog. If you like anything I've written here and are willing to admit it, feel free to add yourself - if you don't want others to know you read this blog you can do so privately even. No prizes for signing up, no bling, no money.

BornAliveTruth.org launched

2008-09-19T16:03:00.002-04:00

You mean you didn't know already? What size rock is that you've been hiding under? I suppose I should just be nice and say "tolle, lege". Even more than that, watch the videos, and donate if you can.

He read my mind!

2008-09-19T15:43:00.002-04:00

Reading this post by Jeffrey Tucker at NLM made me wonder for just a second if maybe he wasn't probing around in the small amount of gray matter still under active use in between my ears. Now, to be honest, the music at my parish is nowhere near as bad as that which many are forced to endure Sunday after Sunday - in fact it is generally well-sung and the selections are occasionally even quite good.

What I find missing, and which Jeffrey alluded to in his Second Great Catholic Radio 2.0 Liturgy Debate, is any linkage at all between the liturgy we are experiencing and the music. We've gone from music that was created for Mass to music that occasionally sounds good at Mass - from a unified whole pointing to the unity of both Creator and Church to an amalgam which speaks more of the community as a collection of dispersed talents. I want to be very clear on this so no one thinks I'm just complaining - the songs are almost always performed very well and I have yet to hear a single song that outright does not belong in Mass. At the same time there is a great opportunity to use that music for everything great music can do - spiritual uplift, catechesis, etc. To put it another way, it's okay as it is, but it could do so much more.

Perhaps the one difference I have with Jeffrey (besides not knowing a fraction of what he does when it comes to both liturgy and music) is that I haven't the slightest hint of musical skill. As the saying goes, I couldn't hold a note with a bucket. He, and all true musicians, can speak to the situation of liturgical music "from the inside" as it were, whereas I can only look at it and say "it seems odd" or "it seems right". Perhaps I am too picky. Perhaps I am one of those who will never be satisfied. Or perhaps I've, through a combination of luck and persistence, sniffed out one truth from a pile of assorted options. Which that is, I'll be honest and say I don't really know.

Who would you be in 1400?

2008-09-16T15:41:00.002-04:00

With a hat tip to Happy Catholic. I'm not at all surprised by the result, particularly not by how close my two high scores are. Maybe St. Ignatius and I have more in common than I'd thought before.

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Lord

You scored 11% Cardinal, 59% Monk, 41% Lady, and 65% Knight!

You are of the intellectual breed and yet you are also very interested in war. You are of the aristocracy and head the cavalry a safe distance from the carnage of the front lines. You believe in defeating your enemy with not only might, but also wit.

You scored high as both the Monk and the Knight. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the Knight, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

First I'm laughing, then I'm crying

2008-09-15T19:11:00.002-04:00

I never knew I was such an emotional wreck. This time the fault is all that of Diane at Te Deum Laudamus.
It certainly ties together the great feast of yesterday and the memorial of today in the only way possible. Mary always leads us to Christ, and Christ always leads us to the Father through His Cross. Te Deum Laudamus, indeed!

A certain priest owes me a new keyboard

2008-09-15T10:54:00.001-04:00

As we all know, coffee is very bad for keyboards. Particularly when applied nasally. Fr. Zehnle, I'll be sending you a bill!

Jealousy...

2008-09-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

...never looked so good. Congratulations to Fr. Johansen and his parish. Ad multos annos!

Thoughts on a fast

2008-09-10T10:25:00.004-04:00

Disputations called for a fast, and being a sucker for a little physical mortification I jumped on it. The fast was to run Aug. 29-30, breaking for the Sunday on which we do not fast, then resume and run from Sep. 1-6. It was an eye-opening experience in several ways, and I thought I'd jot them down here, not to brag that I did this but for whatever amount of edification or education they may provide anyone who happens to trip across this post.

The first two days of the fast were not all together that unusual. I normally fast on Fridays anyway so one or two days was nothing new. (This is not to brag - I started this as part of the "It started here, it ends here" Friday Fast in St. Blog's ... then I found out after several months it was supposed to be First Fridays only. At that point I was used to it and since I could use all the help I can get I just naturally continued.) You'd be amazed at how easy it is to keep yourself both distracted from and focused on your fasting once you do it a little.
After the break from the fast on Sunday as required, I found day three to be a little harder than I'd expected. I actually got hit with hunger pains a couple of times, but they were easily dismissed by actually remembering to offer it up to God (frequently with the words "God, I have no idea how you can use this, but it's all yours" or something to that effect) and then getting back to work.
Somewhere between days three and four I realized just how hard it was to follow the precept of "when you fast, ...". I wanted this to be something people didn't know about, partly because I didn't want them to think me weird and partly because I didn't want anyone to think me holy or some nutty thing like that. Fasting really isn't hard, at least not for me.
Days four and five found a little minor demon (think Wormwood, if you're familiar - if you're not, get familiar-you won't regret it) whispering in my ear to cut corners. "Remember, you're allowed two small meals, and nobody would notice anyway." Yep, 'tis true - how could anyone notice me not fasting if nobody knew I was supposed to be in the first place? I confess, I used that wiggle room a little until I was able to kick myself in the keester and straighten out.
Days six and seven I started to notice more consistent hunger pains. But like I said above, it's nothing new so it wasn't a big deal. To be honest, if I didn't have the hunger pains I probably wouldn't have remembered to offer anything up so they were, in themselves, a blessing.
By day eight Wormwood had met his demise and the taunts were more Screwtape-ish. Which was just fine because by then I noticed a new feature. It genuinely hurt to eat. My body had finally adjusted to not getting its usual constant intake of food (see, I snack constantly, so there's a world of difference between fasting and my normal intake pattern) and eating anything physically hurt more than eating nothing. At this point I'd have rather not eaten anything. I'm sure there's a psychological definition for that, and I'm equally sure I don't really care what it is.
Come day nine it was a constant battle running in my head between finishing this off, wishing it weren't going to end (remember what I said above about psychology?), and thinking I'd never make it through. Physically it was no longer a big deal - being a Saturday I was running around like crazy so distraction from hunger was no big deal. Mentally though it was a constant stream-of-consciousness flow of thoughts. Had I done enough? Had I done it right? Was it worth it? How stupid am I? Could I make it through? Am I being pompous thinking I'm important enough that this trinket actually matters?

Perhaps the most striking realization that I had around days eight and nine was that Christ called for "prayer and fasting" not just fasting. Yep, I'd spent all that time doing a half job because I hadn't managed to do anything to crank up my prayer life for those nine days. It's times like these that I realize you can measure my cranial thickness on a Cro-magnon scale.

All in all I have to say it was a very positive experience. Yeah, it hurt a little now and then, but so does just about anything worth doing. I can't help but feel a loss in how little we fast as a Church as compared to centuries past - it is a practice which gives back far more than it takes, and one whose direct gifts are so desperately needed in this world.

Heaven's Song

2008-09-07T14:32:00.004-04:00

For several days now, no probably more like a couple of weeks now, I've been mulling over how to write a review of Christopher West's newest book, Heaven's Song. Having gotten an advanced copy through Catholic Company's reviewer program I felt the need to write a well-thought-out review even more than usual. Those who know me well know this all too easily plays into my proclivity for procrastinating. Then I read this what I hesitate to call a review. You see, it just doesn't match anything that I read nor anything else I've read from Christopher West, and that is just enough to get me to actually move.

This book is a review and overview of a series of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body writings which were not given in his series of audiences on the matter. Why were they not given? It is not because they are overly indulgent or vivid in describing sensitive matter, it is because those audiences are usually populated by everyone from the elderly to young children and the Pope rightly deferred to the parents' role as the primary educators of their children in this matter. Attention must be paid to the fact that while these writings were not given as part of the audiences they were left available in writing and can now be found in Michael Waldstein's translation from the original Polish in Man and Woman He Created Them. I suppose calling them "secret" at this point is both a bit of salesmanship and truth as I doubt many have made their way through that tome just yet. West does not, however, just let the writings speak for themselves, he also throughout presents them in less theologically-dense terminology and in a way that can be used readily by anyone in a position to talk about these issues be it as a pastor, consellor or one giving a talk on this subject.

As much as the word "erotic" is thrown around about this book it's very important to realize at the same time that does not mean "dirty" or "inappropriate". Briefly glancing at the cover notes on the book and reflecting on what I've heard about the Song of Songs I expected this book to be difficult and uncomfortable to read because, well, there are some things people just don't talk about in polite company. Don't let that concern stop you though - this is decidedly not something Hugh Heffner would have on his coffee table. In reality, I was surprised at how little the actual act was discussed, and even then only with delicacy and in abstract terms. I was, honestly, waiting for some part of the book to finally cross the line and it simply didn't come - West remained properly respectful of his subject matter throughout the book.

But let's get to the nut of the matter - would I recommend this book to others? Absolutely - but not if they're not ready for the Theology of the Body as a whole. To be honest, I don't think this is the best book with which to start studying the Theology of the Body - the subject matter is just too delicate and the reader might well be put off and assume the whole series does not show a sufficient deference to human sexuality. Let's be honest - one does not start talking about dating with a discussion on sex. For those not yet ready for the hardest part of this teaching I would recommend one of Christopher West's other books. At the same time I would hope people don't stop there because this book in some ways acts as a capstone to the whole TOB.

To put it simply, should you read it? Yes, a thousand times yes, but only when you're prepared. At the same time, if you're like me and have had to struggle with overcoming years and years of screwed up teaching on sex and sexuality be prepared for some uncomfortable reflections on your past life. I'll admit it, the book was hard to go through sometimes - but only because it reminded me of how far I've had to come and how far I still have to go. Perhaps the hardest part of dealing with this book is how positively it deals with the topic of sexuality. In many ways it's easier, even if less accurate, to deal with it as a "just don't" subject but TOB reminds us in the most direct terms that this whole area is a gift from God. If we can restore this pure understanding of our sexuality as both gift and calling the impact on society would be simply unbelievable.

This book needs to be on the shelves of all priests, deacons, catechists and anyone who may deal with the area of human sexuality. It is an important piece in the work to recover sexuality from the tailspin into which modern culture has tried to force it and restore to it the respect which it is due as a true gift of God. Finally, I have to agree with Sister Spitfire - since, as part of the review program, I got an unbound galley copy I'll be buying the, if you will, "real" copy as soon as my book funds allow. I can already thing of several people to whom I will be recommending or lending this book as well. The Theology of the Body is a tremendous gift to the Church and the world as a whole and this book adds to it all in dealing well and respectfully with this most important area.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit Catholic Company to find more information on Heaven's Song.

Ah, now that's the way to celebrate a birthday

2008-09-04T09:33:00.002-04:00

Stolen whole and entire from NLM for all five of you out there who love the Extraordinary Form and don't read NLM:

On Sunday, September 14th, members of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest will celebrate a Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Hanceville, Alabama.

The conventual Mass will be broadcast live by EWTN, the Global Catholic Network, to a worldwide audience of 140 million homes, through TV, radio, and live streaming video (Internet) at www.ewtn.com.

This could well prove to be a very nice birthday present for someone I know quite well on whose birthday it falls. Hmmm, I wonder who that is?

The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for September

2008-09-02T18:18:00.003-04:00

The Holy Father's general prayer intention for September is: "That those who, because of wars or oppressive regimes, are forced to leave their homes and country may be supported by Christians in the defence and protection of their rights."

His mission intention is: "That, faithful to the sacrament of matrimony, every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelising community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of its brothers."

+++

Them are some powerful intentions. Leave it to the Pope to wrap up the whole faith in two sentences.

Prayers for our Bishop

2008-09-02T16:42:00.002-04:00

From the "wow, things move fast sometimes files":

Following some discomfort experienced while exercising, Bishop McCormack consulted with his physician, who recommended a cardiac evaluation. Bishop McCormack underwent a scheduled cardiac catheterization on Friday, August 29, 2008, performed by Dr. Louis I. Fink of the New England Heart Institute at Catholic Medical Center.

Based on the results of this procedure, and at the recommendation of his physicians, Bishop McCormack elected to have coronary artery bypass surgery. The surgery was performed by Dr. Benjamin M. Westbrook of Cardiothoracic Surgical Associates at Catholic Medical Center at 2:00 p.m. Friday.

Bishop McCormack is now recovering at Catholic Medical Center and is expected to be released from the hospital within the next few days.

I know many have had and continue to have issues with many things in Bishop McCormack's past, but it is the Catholic thing to do to pray for him now as he recovers from this surgery. At just over 73 I have to imagine, even with all the medical advances in this type of surgery in recent years, this is going to be quite a strain. May this experience help him grow closer to Christ and help him to become an even better shepherd. Mother Mary, pray for him!

Yet another reason to pray the Breviary

2008-08-29T12:43:00.005-04:00

You get to pray the Benedictus, where Zechariah's lips are opened after nine months of silence and a beautiful prayer of praise and thanksgiving pour forth at the birth of his son on the very day the Church celebrates that very John the Baptist's beheading. It is impossible to miss the amazing and simultaneous contrast and coherence between the two events. To then pray, "[y]ou my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins" and to contemplate how that prophetic work, and indeed how nearly all of the prophets met their end, is simply sublime. If you haven't started to pray the Breviary, now is a beautiful time to start.