Close Call

Well, this happens to multitaskers... I got engrossed in: an IM chat with my Mom in New Orleans; posting my assigned essay on Dante on the CTU student website; fixing the template issues on this blog and recovering some of my links--all while keeping simmering on the stove (with the timer on) a sugar-water and grapefruit peel concoction with hopes of turing it into candy like my godmother, Toodie, used to make. And so here I was... until the sharp scent of burnt caramel reached the community office. A pot (lost, I'm afraid) of smoking black gunk was threatening to set off our fire alarm at any moment. (Once we had a whole crew of firefighters come in to inspect a pot of eggs that had exploded on the stove when the superior forgot that she was boiling them.) (Now that was a problem! Bits of egg everywhere. At least sugar water tends to, uh, congeal.)
I had so many more serious things to post after a few days' absence from blogging (in intense activity, not in absence, actually). One of those concerns the phenomenon of professional theologians and other activists who are worried sick over the results of the conclave. The papers have been full of dire prophecies: women leaving the Church en masse out of frustration at not being candidates for ordination; the repeated reminders that most Catholics do their own thing when it comes to sexual morality, making Church teaching irrelevant... Yes, obedience is hard! But when you are pushing the envelope, you've gotta know when you've been ... licked.

Cell-estial tones

Well, I wanted to make a regular web page for this, but every day that goes by is busier than the next, and in order to offer these unique ring tones for cell phones that play MIDI files, I am just going to put the links here.
Now, I don't know how to install the ring tone in your phone; I mean, you can't dial a number and get one of these ring tones. But if you have a computer cable that connects to your phone and file manager software, you can download the tone and install it yourself. That's what I did, and now when my phone rings, it is the Regina Coeli (at least through the Easter season). If you can't use them in your phone, you might have fun using them in your computer to announce various functions or messages!
The tones are generally chant-based, my arrangements or traditional ones. All are common domain.
To download, right click on title and select "Save Target As" and then assign the location in your computer

Regina Coeli
Alma Redemptoris Mater (Palestrina)
Jesu Rex Admirabilis (Palestrina)
Ave Maria (da Vittoria)
Miserere (Allegri, I think)
O Filii et Filiae

Mothers' Day Idea

Not to make this an advertisement page or anything, but we got our first copies in of "John Paul II: A Marian Treasury," and my immediate reaction was, "what a perfect gift for Mothers' Day!" It is a small volume on very high quality coated paper, with brief passages of Marian devotion from John Paul II and full color pictures of our late Holy Father at the Marian shrines of the world. Some of the images are very touching, as when he bends to kiss the feet of a statue of Mary... Do yourself a favor and look for this lovely edition from Pauline Books & Media. Sr. Lorraine was the one who put this collection together, so pay her a visit, too!

Let Latin Live

Been having fun with Latin lately. It is quite the thing. It certainly took long enough! When I was in high school, I was the only person in my entire class of 375 who signed up for Latin III. Needless to say, the course was not held, and I was assigned not to my second choice of French I, but for Algebra II, which was and is definitely not my thing. I was also president of the school Latin club for about two years, not because of any leadership skills on my part (that's not my thing either), but because the other girls recognized my enthusiasm for Latin and things Roman. Finally the Catholic world is catching back up with its cachet in this department!
I had more serious things to write about today, but I forgot what they were, and I am in a rush. Today I have a Dante class at CTU (I'm the "presenter of the day" and the topic is Paradiso, Cantos 6-9, and 6 is about, ugh, politics), and then this evening choir practice with conductor Simon Preston. (You are supposed to be impressed at that.) I managed to do my physical therapy stuff, but am still limpy from that "serious of unfortunate events" that hit me in early Lent, exacerbated by the "kneeler incident" at St. Peter's. If anyone out there has stock in the company that makes "ThermaCare" heat packs, you can thank me for your upcoming dividends...

Oremus pro Pontifice

Here are the words for the traditional chant prayer for the Pope. A number after the syllable indicates how many notes that syllable gets.

O-re (2)-mus (2) pro Pon-ti-fi-ce (2) no- (2)-stro (2) Be-ne-dic-to (5).
Do-mi-nus con-ser (2)-vet (2) e-(2)-um, et vi-vi-fi-cet (2) e-(2)-um (2), et be-a[tum (2) fa-(2) ci- at e-(2)-um (2) in ter-ra, et non tra-(2)-dat e-um (2) in a-ni-mam in-i-mi-co-(3)-rum (2) e-(2)-jus.

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.

Let us pray for Benedict our Pontiff. May the Lord keep him and give him life, and make him happy on the earth, and not deliver him to his foes.


A midi file of the melody is also available.

Hail, Mary! (No, not that Mary!)

This is my sister, Mary, born 20 months after I was. She was just named one of the 100 top nurses in Louisiana, and on May 14 (her eldest daughter's 22nd birthday), after a marriage (this may actually be their Silver Anniversary year), three lovely kids, enormous expertise in surgery, her R.N. license and many years of night classes, will graduate from Loyola University with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. She has already begun taking graduate level classes toward becoming a nurse practitioner.
Mary is a delightful person, a great cook (thanks to her mother-in-law, God rest her soul), a fantastic nurse and ... a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (did I spell that correctly?). We love her to death, and are happy for her to have achieved this goal.
Congratulations, Mary!

Chicago Events

Three Choir Festival with Simon Preston

One hundred voices (including mine!) accompanied by organ, drums and ten-piece brass ensemble.

Music by Bach, Palestrina, Victoria, Stravinsky, and Ferris, plus the Jongen Mass (Op. 130).

Friday, April 29, 8:00 p.m. at O. L. of Mt. Carmel Church

Saturday, April 30, 8:00 p.m. at Rockefeller Chapel.

Tickets $20-$30; call 773-325-2000

 

First Friday Movie Nights

Take your Bible to the movies! Using the "movie lectionary" to match movies to the Sunday Gospel. Gathering at Pauline Books & Media (172 N. Michigan Avenue, downtown Chicago) 6:30, movie at 7:00; popcorn provided. Starts May 6 with "A Man for All Seasons." RSVP 312-346-4228.

 

First Saturday Women's Book Club

Starts May 7. Discussions will center on personal faith-journeys as they relate to a broad spectrum of literature: secular and sacred, classic and contemporary. Meets at Pauline Books & Media (172 N. Michigan Avenue, downtown Chicago) from 12:00-2:00 (bring your lunch). Women of all ages welcome! Contact Blanca Arellano (blancestella@aol.com).

Benedictus Qui Venit

I was so moved by His Holiness' first homily that I posted the English translation. And his reference to the year of the Eucharist inspired me to dedicate my little Eucharistic Adoration book to him, quoting the homily in which he asks "everyone to intensify in coming months love and devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to express in a courageous and clear way the real presence of the Lord."
I've also started a new blog, Benedictus Qui Venit, for reflections and conversations specific to the magisterium of our new Pope. Unfortunately, today being my busiest day, I cannot make an initial post! I have so many things in the works, my goodness. Little by little I will make some progress.
God bless and keep our Holy Father!

Bless you, Benedict!

I don't know why my post didn't post. I attempted it shortly before the 1:15 Mass, sending it by e-mail so I wouldn't have to carry my laptop to the basement DSL line and log in, etc. Well, so much for that.
Wait 'til I have a chance to tell my "what were you doing when you found out about the Pope" story.
Here is my rescued post:
Benedict: What’s in a Name?
I have to say it, Pope Benedict XV was one of my heroes. He never gets much press (ha! That’s going to change now!), but he was a good Pope, and I believe (I can’t check the history on this right now) he was also engaged as much as possible for the times in the peace process among nations. That is quite a big deal, considering the anti-clerical sentiment that was so strong in Europe at the time, and the anti-Catholic sentiment that was so strong among Americans as well. He didn’t give up. And there is the human factor, too. Think of it: Benedict (I think his given name was Giacomo della Chiesa, or “James of the Church”) was elected after an extremely charismatic and saintly Pope, St. Pius X. And he was elected “over” (if you will) the heir apparent, the equally charismatic Merry del Val (I hope I am spelling his last name properly). Seems that della Chiesa and del Val never really saw eye to eye on things, della Chiesa being somewhat more “progressive” (as such things were judged in 1914!). Anyway, the story is told that when the Cardinals made their first act of reverence toward the new Pope (and at the time, the gesture was kissing his foot), when del Val came forward, Benedict commented, in the words of Psalm 118, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Frankly, I think that took a lot of humility; he was the “dark horse,” the one no one dreamt would be elected. And without missing a beat, del Val completed the verse, “By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”
Today it seems as though the noble del Val has come to the Papal throne in Joseph Ratzinger. The media have begun to offer the first character sketches of our new Pope, whom, frankly, I have only ever really known from his theological works and his service in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and never as a person. The reports are that he is a mild and self-effacing man, and a good listener. I hope he will in turn be listened to, especially by those who may have been influenced by previous characterizations of him as some kind of ecclesiastical heavy.
He may very well be John Paul’s “Merry del Val” become Benedict. Something new is beginning. Give it a chance to reveal itself.
Long Live the Pope!

Ideas for Eucharistic Reparation

With people carting the Blessed Sacrament away from Papal Masses, blissfully unaware, at least in most cases, that they are perpetrating an enormous sacrilege, and then putting the Eucharist up for sale (or, as I now prefer to say, "ransom") on E-Bay, it is a good time to revive the custom of reparation.
Here is a preliminary list of ideas of ways to offer reparation for Eucharistic sacrilege. Given the horrendous nature of the offense, these are tiny efforts; we can only ask the Lord in his tenderness to accept them as if they were more adequate. (Please add your own ideas in the comments section.)

• Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, even if only for five minutes of adoration.
• Make a spiritual communion.
• Go to Mass during the week.
• Participate more attentively in Sunday Mass.
• Read John 6 (the "Bread of Life Discourse").
• Learn more (or more deeply) about the Eucharist. A good starting point would be the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There are also several wonderful papal documents on the subject.
• Promote awareness of the Eucharist and Catholic teachings on the sacrament.
• To really put yourself into this, volunteer for your parish religious
  education program!
• "Fast and abstain" from E-Bay until they agree to a change of policy
  regarding the sale of the sacred.

Streaming from the Vatican

Here is the address for real time video from the Vatican TV center:
For medium bitrate
For high bitrate
This will play in Windows Media Player.
You can see St. Peter's quite well (on DSL, that is); hopefully the WHITE smoke will also show up clearly!

Jesus Hostage on E-Bay

Well, as several Catholic blogs have by now noted, the Eucharistic Jesus is once again being held for ransom, I mean bidding, on E-Bay. This time the "seller" is in Great Britain; the top bid is by now a hefty 10K in U.S. funds. And we think E-Bay would even contemplate putting the Eucharist on its verboten list? Nein, I tell you: it is obviously a very lucrative market: crazy Catholics are willing to pay such sums to keep the Eucharist out of the wrong hands... Or maybe its the wrong hands who are willing to pay the sums, I don't know. But it's clear that E-Bay is not going to want to exclude an item with such a potentially high profit margin.

Of course, the Lord set himself up for this by making himself so available. It's that darn Incarnation thing. Once again and for all time, Jesus associates himself with those whose bodies are exploited for others' profit.

And we don't even have any way of verifying that it even is a consecrated host and not just any old communion type wafer that is being offered.

Are there no Catholic hackers out there who could track the seller down so he/she might be ... persuaded to release the hostage?

I may have found it

Well, I don't know if I really found it, but the service I signed up for really is the one associated with the Vatican Press Office, so perhaps for this occasion they will provide us with our own digital white smoke. You send a text message (POPE ON) to 24444, and it will confirm with a text message shortly thereafter. To cancel you send a message (POPE OFF) to the same number.
Any other possibilities?

Waiting for News

Does anyone know of a service I can sign up for (very temporarily) that will automatically send an "Habemus Papam" message to a cell phone as soon as the white smoke comes puffing up from the Sistine Chapel? I just signed up for one that has a daily Pope message (at 30 cents a pop, I will cancel it by the end of the week!), but that might not do the trick.

Sistine Lock-in

Well, the Veni Creator has been sung and the door has been closed. All we have to go by now are smoke signals and the hoped-for pealing of bells.
Meanwhile, in yet another marvelous liturgical coincidence (!), the Gospel for today's Mass practically gives a job description for the new Pope:
"The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.... I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd."
And for all of us, Jesus says,
"The good shepherd lays down his life to take it up again."
How?
The most obvious way would be in his own resurrection--in which our human nature itself takes its life up again.
But then he takes his life up again also in the Church, his body (von B has a great section on this in Heart of the World),
And he takes up his life again in each of us, if we let him live freely in us.

Just Wondering

This post is provoked by my experience of late in choir. Well, of late and of early, because the experience began last year. And before I even begin, I admit right up front: I know I am naive in the area I am about to declaim on. Child of a pious family (Dad was national president of the Association of Holy Name Societies, as well as founder of our parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul), I entered the convent at 18. Most of my friends were exceptionally devout. (At slumber parties, instead of telling spooky stories, we shared tales of Marian apparitions--which can sometimes be pretty spooky themselves.) So, there you have it. I don't have a clue when it comes to weddings, but lately I am surrounded with talk of invitations and dresses and dancing and, oh, yes, churches. Then there are the people--people older than I--who casually (and this in conversation with a nun, for crying out loud) mention spending the night with their boyfriend or talk about their live-in partner.
Anyway, I am wondering if part of the problem of big blowout weddings is that they are so huge, they eclipse the relationship. No wonder (I mean, aside from the obvious) people live together before the wedding. It is such an enormous undertaking, just logistically it makes sense for people to "anticipate the outcome," so to speak. The wedding itself is seen as so important that the "life" it technically begins gets lost in its shadow. The wedding becomes the ceremonial validation of a relationship--something like a debutante's being "introduced" to society.
It just looks to this admitted outsider as if the wedding ceremony and attendant events (which, at least here in Chi-town, can border on the preposterous) has so eclipsed the marriage as to lose its actual meaning. Are we over-rating weddings? They hardly seem to be about what Canon Law refers to in an outstanding passage as "the matrimonial covenant [this is the heart of a wedding] by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life" (Canon 1055, cited in CCC 1601).
Now, wedding celebrations are a good thing, don't get me wrong. The Bible has a reason for imaging the Kingdom of Heaven as a wedding feast. But when the celebration becomes such a huge undertaking, requiring a year of planning and a significant chunk of income, hasn't it become an end in itself? Kingdom of Heaven wedding feasts are about the union of Christ and Church, bridegroom and bride. But where that has already been anticipated, the whole meaning of the celebration changes, and the image loses its message.
Now it could be that part of the problem is six-month minimum preparation for a Church wedding. Pre-Cana or Engaged Encounter meetings just get squeezed into the wedding planner's list, which gets bigger and bigger.
Actually, I'm kind of in favor of going back to the old Roman approach (before the influence of Germanic custom entered the Church in the matter of marriage): people had a normal civil marriage, the only kind that existed, and after several years, when it was apparent that the marriage was solid, the Church had a way of "recognizing" itself in their marriage, and so it was blessed.
What do you married people out there have to say on this?

Sede Vacante and the Eucharistic Prayer

We have no Pope. For a while, we have only our bishops and their invisible communion to signify our worldwide communion as Catholics. This was brought home to me yesterday when (for the umpteenth time) the priest stumbled over the Eucharistic Prayer where we explictly offer the sacrifice "in communion with" our, uh, um, err, ... bishop Francis," and not "John Paul our Pope." It only makes the Pope's ministry of unity more apparent.
And then there is John Paul's change of "status" in regard to us. He is no longer "John Paul our Pope," but "our brother John Paul," for whom we ask "eternal light, happiness and peace" in the commemoration of the faithful departed. There is a poignancy to that. I am reminded of Augustine's "for you I am a bishop; with you I am a Christian": John Paul is no longer a shepherd over us, but again our brother.

30 pieces of silver on E-bay

Clearly, the dude offering a consecrated host on E-bay is ignorant and arrogant to the extreme. (Not that God would hold that against him, of course: as Paul said, "because I did not know what I was doing in my unbelief, I have been treated mercifully.") Actually, I am more concerned about that guy's friends. I mean, you think he was at a Papal Mass alone? Is it possible that there were no Catholics with him on that occasion? Did they not have the guts--or, more critically, the faith--to let E-bay dude know that what he was doing was, at the very least, unacceptable? Did they try asking him for the host so as to consume it? It is not entirely unheard of for the Eucharist to end up in the hands of tourists who do now know what they are doing.
I heard of a situation in Rome where a Japanese tourist who had followed the example of those at the Mass to go up in the communion line was then confronted by an Italian who blocked the way and gestured that it was to be consumed on the spot. I had an experience myself at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral: a young woman, about 19 or 20, who clearly was just following the crowd (and, it turned out, her Dad), slouched toward an extraordinary minister of Communion. She didn't even put her hands forward in the usual gesture of receiving, but stood there a minute, and then opened her left hand. The minister placed the Eucharist in the girl's hand, and the girl moved on, depositing the Blessed Sacrament in her pocket. I practically fell across the many sets of knees between my place and the side aisle as I scrambled to the meet the girl. "Did you just put the Eucharist in your pocket?" I asked. She was embarrassed, but tried to indicate that it was nothing; she was just trying to make her Dad happy. "Just give it to me," I told her. Her Dad came over and I gave him a glance that told him he needed to move on. (Poor Dad didn't need to know what was going on.) The girl dug in her pocket and came out with gum, a ticket of some sort, and--on the second attempt--Jesus, whom I received into my hands. "Next time, just don't come up in the Communion line. Your Dad will be happy enough that you came to Mass." I gave her a kind of blessing and let her go. Then I received a second communion.
Now, I rather doubt that E-bay would permit that a Torah scroll be put up for sale, but in the end this is not about E-bay. It comes down on one hand to our right as Catholics to be respected in our relgious beliefs and practices by those who do not share them. (E-bay dude was quick, suspiciously quick, to take refute in his not being Catholic, as if that exonerated him from the human obligation of reverence for others in what they hold sacred.) And on the other hand, it comes down to us Catholics having the faith and the guts to hold people to intervene when such obvious sacrileges take place.

New JPII book

A new book on the Mariology of John Paul II was just released by Pauline Books & Media. We didn't even get our first copies yet, but I wanted to alert all visitors to this. My good friend, Sr. Lorraine, prepared the introduction and did the general editing.
Here in our bookstore, books by and about Pope John Paul are still flying off the shelves. What a consolation for us to know that the Pope's message is reaching people who prior to his death never read a single word of his teaching! From heaven, may he explain, exhort, encourage....

Favorite Cardinals, Part 2

I put Kasper and Martini (SJ!) because I have followed them for some time now, and read some of their works, especially Martini's. I have his "Testimony of St. Paul" (I think that is the title; marvelous meditations on the life and teachings of Paul, very insightful), "The Beauty that Saves the World" and (in Italian, even though it is from a retreat he preached in English), "My Weakness is My Strength" (again, with a strong Pauline orientation!).
I also like Lustiger, but that is really because he is a convert, and I think it would be neat to have a Jewish Pope, especially one whose family suffered in the Holocaust. Such a one would sort of "sum up" in himself the travails of the 20th century. (And I do think Lustiger was a good "pastor" type bishop, too. That is SO important!)

Favorite Cardinals

I admit I have favorites. Cardinal Martini (SJ) is at the top of my list. I've read a number of his books--for years, now. But it seems to me that when he retired, he also revealed that he has Parkinson's. And he's very old. But a lovely, saintly scholar and pastor. May his tribe increase!
And Cardinal Kasper.
But whomever the Holy Spirit chooses for us will be fine by me!

bat boy

Sr. Helena noted, about the 13  year old who went on some kind of autopilot rage and killed his friend's brother with a baseball bat, "I'll bet this is a video-game thing; the trigger gets tripped without any kind of thought process. We're going to see more of this." She's probably right, but I hope not.

Things I had forgotten about Italy: Carabinieri

Hearing the police sirens on the air during the Papal coverage reminds me of a very peculiar practice: when the carabinieri are in pursuit of someone, or zipping through traffic under circumstances in which our American police would use flashing lights, sirens and bullhorns, the Italians merely wave a little stick with a little round sign (I mean the size of a paper snack plate) to indicate that you must get out of the way. Or pull over. I’m not sure which.

Things I had forgotten about Italy: Crossing Streets

Seeing Rome in the news so much, I am "inspired" to offer some life-experiences from my time there. Too late for those who went to the Holy Father's funeral, but just in time for those who will hop on the next transatlantic flight for the installation of the next Pope.

When I went back to Rome last fall, I had to get re-acquainted with the protocol for street-crossing in Italy. See, in Chicago, if you are in the crosswalk, cars may actually stop! (Except in Chinatown.) But in Italy, cars will only stop (and they will, on a dime) if you are directly in their path. You, the pedestrian, are expected to keep moving, as if totally oblivious to the roaring engine coming directly toward you. The driver is using a sophisticated Italian form of physics to calculate the precise speed that will allow him/her to reach the crosswalk just at the point when you will have cleared the immediate roadway. You, the pedestrian, however, must never, never attempt eye contact with the Italian driver: eye contact means surrender. Your will to live must manifest itself not in self-protective behavior, but in a confident and steady stride. (Do NOT speed up or slow down! That will complicate the driver’s calculations, and he/she may not be capable of the higher math this requires!)

Writers Block (after the fact)

All you writers out there will understand me completely. Last night I finished up a manuscript and sent it off to the editor. Now, this is not a BIG manuscript, and it probably isn't an IMPORTANT manuscript, but ... now that it is sent off (to one of my fellow sisters, mind you), it is torturing me. Why did I send it as soon as it was done? Why didn't I wait a few days? Because now all the things it still needed are haunting me, and I, in turn, am haunting the editor with successive e-mails like "revised!" or "more."

 

Theology of the Body

I think that one of John Paul's greatest "legacies" will be his Theology of the Body. This was no ivory-tower theology worked out in the chaste mind of a celibate loner. Karol Wojtyla had a wide network of friends and students. Most of these were married (Wojtyla had celebrated the Wedding Masses for them!), and their priest-friend became their confidant. The Pope's Theology of the Body came from those conversations, and from Wojtyla's pastoral assistance to these very real, normal, 20th century families.

I first encountered Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body when it was presented to the world in his general audience talks, beginning in 1979. I was a brand-new sister, just one year in vows, when these talks began. At the time, we had a few minutes of Church news (with reading of Church documents) every day after breakfast, and the Pope's talks pretty much filled the slot for years. I was struck from the outset, somewhat as the people in Jesus' day were: "Here is a completely new teaching, in a spirit of authority!" It was new, even though rooted strongly in the tradition of the Church. No one before John Paul had ever made the connections he made between the Creation accounts in Genesis, Trinitarian theology, and the "nuptial meaning of the body," made to be gift. That to be a person is not simply being self-aware (a dangerously limiting definition that many take for granted), or capable of relating to others: to be a person means to be a GIFT; to be in mutual gift is to love. Talk about the meaning of life! And since the Pope identifies the Holy Spirit as the "Person-Gift" in the Trinity, then you have the highest affirmation of our human bodied condition.

As a woman, I found it extremely affirming. Remember, this was still a time when women's liberation seemed to assume that women had to "match" men in every possible way. But now there was a strong, affirming, positive and utterly beautiful teaching that put the discussion into entirely different terms. The Church's "instinctive" rejection of artificial contraception made perfect sense in this context (not that the wisdom of Church teaching in this area hasn't been proven again and again even by the direction society has taken in the last almost 40 years since Humanae Vitae, the document which awkwardly, but rightly, affirmed the Church's stance).

So the Theology of the Body has pretty formed my interpretive key for things related to women's issues, marriage and celibacy. And I am always mystified by Catholics (and here I mean the well-informed ones) who do not even bother to take the Pope's message seriously. What's with them? Do they not want to believe that the wider culture needs to be evangelized? Do they not want to hear an alternative voice in these areas so linked to our human experience of happiness and fulfillment? Once I went to a catechetical conference at which one of the workshops was devoted to moral issues. The speaker, a priest, could have been on Planned Parenthood's payroll. Isn't it enough for Planned Parenthood to be using its multi-million dollar (if not billion dollar) budget to spread that message? Doesn't the world--heck, don't our catechists--deserve to hear something else, something that just may be inspired by the Gospel?

Theology of the Body is perhaps the first theological approach to making the Trinity more than an abstract, if holy, doctrine. In the Theology of the Body, the Trinity becomes the full vision of our vocation as persons. We are called to live Trinitarian life in a human key. And for the first time in theology, our bodies have something very essential to do with our human imaging of the Trinity.

Somebody tell the world: this is remarkable!

 

Pope Notes

Blogger is having some real problems, so I hope I can somehow get this posted while it is still relevant!

Reading through the Pope's Spiritual Testament in the community Hour of Adoration, I noticed how many Latin expressions and other Church-speak there was--things I can recognize after all these years in the convent, but which would be mystifying, perhaps, to your average reader. So I decided to provide a kind of "footnotes" service.

 

The Pope’s notes were drawn up and revisited, apparently, every year on the annual retreat. Our founder used to call the retreats (monthly and yearly) the “practice of a good death,” and the way the Pope spent his last days really was like a perfect retreat: recollected in intense prayer. It really was the “practice of a good death”!

 

 

"Totus Tuus ego sum": "I am all Yours," the beginning of a brief prayer of consecration to Jesus through Mary: I am all Yours, and all that I possess I offer to You my lovable Jesus, through Mary Your Most Holy Mother. Note the uppercase "You," mirroring the Pope's use of the uppercase for "Tuus" (yours): this is addressed to Jesus, and so the uppercase is used as a sign of reverence. “Totus Tuus” was also the Pope's motto, as found on his coat of arms.

 

"apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apd Eum redemptio" is from Ps. 130: 7, "with the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption." Psalm 130 is especially used in prayer for the dead--and in the Pope's testament, the context is the note about his funeral.

 

"Transit" is rendered in English, so he probably didn't use the Latin "transitus" (passage), but you get a clear sense of a continuing journey, in which death is a way station, not an end.

 

"Sanguis martyum-semen christianorum": "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians," a quotation from the third century Christian writer, Tertullian, daring the Roman authorities to extinguish the Christian faith by killing Christians. All they would do, Tertullian says, is increase their number.

 

"octogesima adveniens": literally, "the coming eightieth" (written, no doubt, before his 80th birthday; the Vatican retreat is usually held in Lent, and the Pope's birthday was in May). This is a bit of a pun. John Paul's predecessors had written documents commemorating the 40th and 80th anniversaries of the social encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (by Leo XIII, recognizing, among other things, the right of workers to form unions). The documents were entitled, repectively, "the coming fortieth" and "the coming eightieth" (the titles being the first two words of the document itself). John Paul issued his own encyclical (Centesimus Annus; the Hundredth Year) on the centenary of Leo's encyclical.

 

"nunc dimittis": see Luke 2: 29 for the words the elderly Simeon addressed to God when the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple. Literally, "now you (may) dismiss" me from this life, because your promise has been fulfilled.

 

Petrine: this is the adjective referring to St. Peter (as "Pauline" is for Paul).

 

"in medio Ecclesiae": From Ps. 22:23, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you." The word translated here as "assembly" is "ecclesiae," which can also be translated "church." John Paul is evidently taking advantage of that fact, as he repeats the expression, in Latin, several times.

 

"ad limina Apostolorum": "to the threshold of the Apostles." The Apostles are Peter and Paul, and their doorway is in Rome. Heads of dioceses visit Rome at least every five years to confer with the Pope about the state of the Church in their charge. These are called the "ad limina" visits.

 

"In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum": "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit." While this is clearly a reference to Jesus' dying words in Luke 23:45 and Ps. 31:6 which they cite (the Psalm, it should be noted, is in the future tense in the Vulgate Latin), the immediate citation is the Responsory for Night Prayer: "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth: I commend my spirit." Night prayer has a very strong theme of preparedness for death (as our own little children's prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take").

Posting problems

Blogger is having some major posting problems (at least with MY blog!) so I can't offer you the "Pope's Testament Footnotes" I had prepared earlier today. Check back tomorrow.

Posting problems

Blogger is having some major posting problems (at least with MY blog!) so I can't offer you the "Pope's Testament Footnotes" I had prepared earlier today. Check back tomorrow.

Testament footnotes

In reading the Pope's Spiritual Testament during our community Hour of Adoration (it really was phenomenal "spiritual reading"), I noticed how much "church speak" there was in it: the Latin phrases and other references that only insiders would be able to appreciate. And so I pulled together a set of notes. Only they are on my laptop. Which is two stories above me, and not turned on. (While I was online earlier, the Blogger server was not working properly, so I couldn't post the notes.) Come by tomorrow, and (Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise) I'll have them ready for you.

Pope's Testament

I found a copy of the Pope's Spiritual Testament as released by the Vatican. I personally find it very moving that he did give the idea of resigning some serious consideration. (It also indicates just how much his suffering weighed on him, that he didn't want his condition to compromise his ministry.)

How true

Today's Chicago Tribune had a political cartoon that summarized my own thoughts on much of what has appeared in commentary since last Saturday: to the left, a woman (with a cross around her neck) exclaims, "He was unyielding on moral principles!" and (oddly) on the right was a man making the same evaluation of the Pope, but ... let us say, not favorably. The caption read "The Legacy of John Paul II" with a line to the effect of "the controversy begins."
Oh, yes.
What I find difficult to understand is why people should have a problem with the Pope not bending in matters of moral teaching. I mean, that is the whole point of moral teaching. Those who would have the Pope "change" his teachings in matters, say, of sexuality, would be horrified if he were to change the Church's moral teachings in matters of, oh, fair wages or the right to form labor unions. There are polls showing that 78% of Catholic Americans "disagree" with the Pope on the morality of artificial contraception. That could just means that 78% of Catholic Americans simply don't know any better; it doesn't mean they have the moral high ground! And in fact, how many people who "disagree" with Church teaching really know what it is, anyway? I suspect most Catholic Americans get their knowledge of Church teaching, especially in the "hot button" areas, from Time and Newsweek (or ABC, CNN, etc.) , and not from direct contact with Papal Encyclicals or the massive catechesis John Paul II provided in his Wednesday audiences (Theology of the Body being the prime example, of course). Or they went to Catholic school or (heaven help us) parish religion classes (once a week, 19 weeks out of the year, until Confirmation), and so they assume they were exposed on an appropriately wide and deep level to everything of significance in Church life and doctrine. When you consider the lack of ongoing religious education in the life of adult Catholics, it is amazing that 22% of them agree with Church teaching!
My hope is that the Holy Father's death will really give people the impetus to find out for themselves, on a genuinely adult plane, what he really taught, and not just take the un-nuanced, stripped down to less than the full truth version that the media cannot but offer. We cannot expect the media to do what is not their job.
And on a highly positive note, we learned recently that there are informal (underground?) study groups around Chicago where young adults are pondering...Theology of the Body!

Catching Up

The events of the past week have captured my attention to such an extent that it is really an effort for me to focus where strict duty lies... In my case, at the present there are two somewhat overwhelming duty-matters and one moderately pressing. Being highly task oriented, however, I tend to focus on whichever one (a) can be most promptly executed or (b) has a reachable deadline.
I am currently:

• Translating a 500 page book by our Founder
• Taking a course on Dante (with attendent papers, seminar presentations, etc)

and (less stressful, but still....)

• Writing a book for children's Eucharistic adoration.

I have been giving Dante priority when a paper is due, and the kiddie book off and on attention when I get some sense of inspiration (thank you, Jesus, for letting me know what Scripture and theme to cover for the third and last "visit").
And today my computer crashed a million times, so now I am doing the Windows/Office update in the hopes that I will again be able to use key programs.
In between things, I am still trying to devise those Catholic ring tones for cell phones.... almost ready to install the Regina Coeli in my cell for a test run!

Message from Rome

Three of our sisters from the States just went to Rome last week to take part in a month-long program on our history and spirituality. They e-mailed to let us know that they would be there today to pay their respects to the Holy Father. One of the three is Sr. Diane, who was here in Chicago until just last fall. I know she considers it an enormous gift of grace to be able to participate first hand in this moment in Church history.
Here in Chicago there was a simple service of the Word in the Cathedral this evening. The assembly was made up in great part of priests and religious, along with many laity involved in Church activity. Two of us were able to make it; our new professed, Sr. Phivan Therese, was planning to go, but then our bookstore computer went kaplooey on her, so she had to stay on the line with our Pauline tech support.
And, speaking of our Michigan Avenue bookstore, we had the local CBS affiliate in this afternoon, and the early afternoon news gave some wonderful coverage of the books by or about the Holy Father. Sr. Helena says she doesn't like to be on camera, so it must have been pure grace that made her so photogenic and articulate.
Our stock of Pope books is already impressively low.
And speaking of books, Sr. Lorraine's work presenting and compiling the Marian thought of Pope John Paul should be coming out very soon.

Hints of Grace

From what I've read in papers, blogs and comments to blogs, the Pope's death is leading many people to look at their own relationship with the Catholic Church. Some people have already been back to the sacraments for the first time in years, starting off with a much-neglected or long put-off confession. Other people are wondering how they drifted away in the first place. And others remember hurtful things (goodness knows there are enough of those around) and yet still feel a spiritual itch that nothing else they've tried can scratch.
Could it be the work of grace? One way to tell is whether this persistent thought or feeling brings with it a longing and desire and dream of what is good, upright, pure, honest... all those things Paul write about in Philippians.
I think the hardest thing about grace is that we always fall short of it. That's why it's grace, of course, but at least for myself, I keep wanting to "get there" on my own (keep all the rules, as it were, so no one can fault me on anything, not even God). I suspect that (besides being plain old perfectionism) this is an American thing*, what with our heritage of the "rule of law." Makes it hard to let grace be grace, and to let ourselves fail in God's sight and still be loved and redeemed. I'd really rather take the credit myself! At least for me, this seems to be the strongest area of resistance to God.

*I say "American" because I lived in Europe for some time and noticed that Europeans, and especially Italians, do not have the same attitude about law. Americans freak out when there is a law that we would tend not to observe with any great regularity (I'm not talking morality here, but just a simple civic matter--seat belts, for instance, or not driving on sidewalks). We can't stand to be on the wrong side of the law: we will fight to repeal any law that "threatens" us that way. Europeans will leave the law on the books, never observe it and never care. That just doesn't happen here, and I think it carries over into our way of dealing with Church teaching, too.

In Paradisum

One of the comments requested the music for the traditional funeral song, "In Paradisum." Lacking any written music, and not having the time to plunk it on a keyboard and then try to get a midi file from that, I just sang it into my computer's mike. The end result is scratchy but serviceable. You'll get the idea. And you'll probably hear it sung (in Latin) at the Holy Father's funeral.
The file is over a megabyte, so it may take some time to download. Sorry about that.

Trying Again

I am having trouble uploading pictures. The Hello program keeps sending its own screen! Anyway, THIS is the photo from the day before I left Italy in 2001.

Photo attempt

The day before I left Italy in 2001, the Central Committee for the Jubilee had an audience and "baciamano" with the Holy Father in the Sala Clementina. As you can imagine, it is a treasured memory! As we left the Sala, we were each given a copy of "Put out into the Deep" (Duc in Altum) (in Italian...).

In Paradisum

There's a hymn we always sing at our sisters' funerals. It is a really old chant-based hymn, and sometimes we have sung it in Latin, but I only know the English by heart:

Go forth to Paradise.
May angels take thee by the hand
and at the gate of heaven may the martyrs greet thee at thy coming.
May they lead thee in the city of Jerusalem,
the holy place of God.
May the choirs of angels
sing with joy to welcome thee.
And with Lazarus, who once was so poor,
may thou find eternal peace at last.

You know, the Holy Father really did die on Divine Mercy Sunday (it was after Evening Prayer I on Saturday night, so liturgically it was Sunday), and at the same time he died on the First Saturday of the month, the day especially connected with Mary, who has marked his life so strongly.

Media Matters

Well, it is true that of the networks whose coverage I have monitored lately, CNN is the most disappointing. I really didn't need to hear Joan Chittister this morning informing us that the Holy Father represents the theology of the 13th century... (And she represents...?) I like a lot of Chittister's reflective work, and her book on suffering is one I recommend to anyone in pain. Well, maybe CNN edited out her nuancing.
And last night on Fox, was it Bill O'Reilly being so obnoxious about the Pope?
On the brighter side, however, there is a website (sponsored by the Daughters of St. Paul...) with a kind of sum-up of information on John Paul's life and pontificate. It is a great reference point for fact-checkers and for non-Catholics who may not have followed much of his life, travels and teachings or who don't have a clue about papal elections: www.johnpaulpapacy.com. Please spread the word!

Watching and Praying

Does anyone have the URL of the Vatican TV service? I am hoping to find live feed from CTV so I can follow along without missing the Vatican comuniques while I am working.
One thing I especially love about the present situation--almost as Paul would say--that through it "Christ is being proclaimed and in that I rejoice!" (cf somewhere in Philippians I). I mean, because the poor Holy Father's last agony is so protracted, the media are being forced to maintain constant coverage. They are interviewing priests, professors and pastors (I mean bishops; I just wanted some alliteration) to fill the air time, and what that means is that over and over again the message that "in dying we are born to eternal life" is repeated so that our immortality ends up as a given before the conversation or interview even begins. Christ is being proclaimed, over and over, as Risen and as the source of our hope. Over and over and over.
What other world leader (or religious leader, for that matter) would be able to have their principle theme announced so widely as they themselves were dying? It is a remarkable gift of Providence.
When I woke this morning (all three times; I'm not a really deep sleeper) and found that the Pope was still with us, it crossed my mind that God may indeed wait until Divine Mercy Sunday to call him. That would be yet another powerful statement.
In all, the media coverage has been very supportive of faith and hope. Above all, hope. "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

Put Out into the Deep

I think the Gospel phrase "put out into the deep" which John Paul used in his encyclical at the close of the Jubilee is very appropriate as we keep watch with the Pope, accompanying him to heaven's door--setting out into the length and breadth and height and depth of Christ's love to which he has been such a remarkable witness. The atmosphere here in the convent is somewhat the same as during those times when one of our sisters has been dying with us at home. It is as if the Holy Father were in our house, and while we are going about our everyday duties, it is all being done quietly, as if tip-toeing so as not to make any disturbance. I am finding it very hard to pray, except to just keep vigil. But on my way to Mass this afternoon, I found myself asking Jesus if he would let Pope John Paul, as he breathes his spirit into the Lord's hands, to in some way take my spirit to a new place, too: I mean, as the Pope surrenders fully to the Lord, may he grab me by the hand and help me to surrender to the Lord more fully.

Keeping Watch

Just a few words before I return to chapel to keep vigil for the Holy Father.
I am really impressed at the quality of the TV commentators these days. Remember not too long ago when any snide and smarmy expert (maybe with unresolved issues about authority, celibacy, whatever) was given the electronic pulpit during events of high papal visibility? Now there are these reverent, loving, hopefilled (and at the same time honest) voices... It is so nice not to have acid spilled all over the place.
So I go to join those who are keeping watch with the Holy Father. How marvelous today's Gospel is, with Jesus on the shore and Peter throwing himself into the water to come to him!