Evangelization

Yesterday's Tribune featured an article about the attempts being made to shore up Catholic education in Illinois, and especially in the Archdiocese of Chicago, where there has been a really precipitous decline in enrollment.

And this week's America magazine includes a tidbit about young adult Catholics: "strong identity, weak commitment."

Could the two be related? Even if the article in America was on the "millennial generation," born after 1979, and parents of school-age children more likely to be Gen Xers, there could be some common lack of commitment "to the institutional church or its moral teachings" (in the words of the America article). I can see that many higher-income young parents might choose schools more for their social advantage than for their religious affiliation... And the impact on Catholic education--especially the valuable education our Catholic schools offer disadvantaged children?

Is the response to rescue our venerable Catholic school system, or are we facing a situation that calls for something more radical? An approach to evangelization that again addresses adults? Because the Millennial generation study indicates that we certainly can't count on this generation to value Catholic education.

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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dem bones

Ho-hum, another attempt to debunk Christianity and make a million.

Kind of glad the "Jesus Family Tomb" show flopped, but it flopped so fast it didn't even give us a chance to take advantage of it to evangelize.

Praying that the Lord shows us how to witness to him "in Spirit and in truth."

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Best Catholic Books

I was very happy to note that Sr. Julia's "Best Catholic Books for Lent" has been viewed some 925 times so far. Many thanks to all who have been promoting this video service! I hope to provide more in the near future.

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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more from nineveh

Still thinking about Jonah and the Ninevites... There's line in the first reading that has always touched my imagination. It is from the King's proclamation of solemn penance: "Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and cry loudly to God."

I always seem to picture a brown cow, mooing in distress under that itchy sackcloth. And God hears it! Because when God is defending his decision of mercy to Jonah (the prophet Jonah for the prosecution), God asks how could he not have pity on that great city and all its children, "not to mention the cattle."

As I was meditating on the Jonah reading this morning, and precisely on that line about man and beast "crying loudly to God," a siren sounded down Michigan Avenue. It was another loud cry to God on behalf of some person in trouble and need. And God hears.

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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greater than Jonah

The readings for Mass today are closely linked. The first reading, from the book of Jonah, skips over the prophet's reluctance to preach and takes us right to his overwhelmingly successful foray into Nineveh (present day Mosul). His call for repentance is taken to heart and, much to Jonah's displeasure, even God "repents" of the doom He had threatened the pagan city with. In the Gospel, Jesus contrasts the responsiveness of the Ninevites with the spiritual immobility of the people of his own day. Whereas everyone, from the King on down, paid attention to Jonah's message, Jesus, who by his own admission is "greater than Jonah," cannot seem to get a hearing. Perhaps...miracles are the problem! After all, Jonah worked no miracle. There was nothing extraordinary to distract attention from his harsh message. But Jesus, in his excess of compassion, kept healing people until that was all anyone wanted from him: to keep quiet and keep working those signs. But "signs" are part of the message, and the message is basically the same, "Repent and believe the good news!"

stem cell surprise

I went to vote this afternoon and found a stem-cell funding question on the ballot--not something I was aware we'd be faced with, or I'd have gotten on my soap-box long ago! It's bad enough we have so few candidates for office in a city that is run through with corruption...

If you are in the Illinois area, please take note of this call for federal funding of stem-cell research ("for therapeutic purposes only," of course). The very vagueness of the wording is creepy.

Whatsoever you do..

Today's Gospel is that awe-ful parable of the last judgment, when "the King" will say to the "sheep", "Come! When I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty you gave me drink..." And to the "goats", "Away from me: you did not give me food,  or drink, or clothes, or a visit..." Because "whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do (or fail to do) for me."

This would seem to put all the onus for charity on us, as if the initiative had to come from us, the strength had to be ours, the goodness of heart all ours. But St. John tell us "It is not that we have loved God, but that God first loved us." So that our part is not an initiative, but a response. The real "obligation" we have, then, is to pay attention to what God is doing, so that we can respond.

Lenten Sunday

Imagine! A God who accepted even to undergo temptation by one of his own creatures--for the sake of his creatures.

St. Ambrose (yes, the teacher of Augustine) wrote about today's Gospel that there are "chiefly three weapons with which the Devil is wont to be armed for the wounding of the mind of man: the one of gluttony, the second of bragging, the third of ambition.... If he who seeks God is often tempted through the weakness of the flesh and narrowness of mind, how much more guilty is he who seeks the world! And ambition is the more ruinous, inasmuch as it is a persuasive advocate of dignities, and often makes criminals of those whom no vices could delight, no extravagance could move, nor avarice overthrow."

Here in Chicago we have elections on Tuesday. Two candidates for city office were removed from the ballot because of earlier convictions for felony, and we have had many other cases of corruption of late. Ambrose, a former city official himself, knew what danger there was in that third temptation. Clearly, though, ambition is an equal opportunity temptation! We can vie for honors in the strangest ways. So, from this and from all sin, deliver us O Lord!

going out to the whole world

If you scroll down toward the bottom of my sidebar, you will find a little map of the world, practically polka-dotted with indications of where people nunblog readers are. It's quite impressive--but I have so much of China, Russia, Africa and South America still to reach before I can say I've "preached the Gospel to the whole world"!

What a mission!

trip on train

When I was very, very small, Mom and Dad told me about an exciting trip that we would one day take on a train. We would eat on the train. We would sleep on the train. We would perform various acts of personal hygeine on the train.... Well, I'm still waiting. I've traveled by train in Italy, and today (for the first time!) I will be taking a "trip on train" in the US. Only a short trip, and not even on Amtrak, just on the commuter line ("Metra") to Lisle, but a trip on a train, nonetheless. I'll be meeting Sr. Susan in Lisle so we can set up a book display for the weekend charismatic conference. The main speaker will be Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Papal preacher, so it should be a great weekend. I'll let you know how it went--and I'll tell you all about my long-awaited trip on a train.

Peter's Chair

The most unusual feast day name... And in Rome, St. Peter's is ablaze with candles. The famous chair is set with candles running on the arms and back, and the 13th century statue of St. Peter seated to teach is draped in a cope and capped with a tiara. Today's the day to go to St. Peter's, let me tell you!

But what about us today? The priest at St. Peter's gave a homily on the teaching office of the bishops and asked how many in the congregation had made a Lenten resolution to pray for the local bishop. It is our duty--and a primary way to support his magisterium.

I was thinking of this feast day in the light of the Pope's upcoming book, which he specifically said should not be considered a work of his papal magisterium, but a simple, personal reflection on Jesus. This will probably be a wonderful book for ecumenical conversations: something you can give to an evangelical who has his doubts about the Pope even being a Christian.... (never mind us poor sheep). I am sure it will demonstrate such a profound Christological faith that it will serve many people as an amazing wake-up call: Catholics really do believe on the Lord Jesus unto their salvation!

At any rate, that puts me on high alert for when the book will finally be released into my greedy hands...

Best Catholic Books for KIDS

Now it's my turn to pontificate about books--in this case, Catholic books for kids. Be sure to "comment" with your own childhood favorites. And if your childhood didn't include any Catholic books, "ecumenical" contributions are also welcome!

By the way, all the books I mention can be found in our Pauline centers. (This was "filmed" in our Chicago children's corner.)

Confession: Good for the Soul

Just in time for Lent: a refresher course on Confession!
Author Bruno Forte (whom I once heard described, some twenty years ago, as "a brilliant young Neopolitan") is a theologian-archbishop in Italy who once preached the Lenten retreat to Pope John Paul. Solid and poetic at the same time.

Pope's new book

Pope Benedict's new book on Jesus will be coming out on May 15 (a revised release date). The book is actually the first volume of a two-volume work, and will focus on the Lord from the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. The second volume will then take up from the Transfiguration through the Resurrection. This would be the time to get your pre-orders in, which I encourage you to do through our Pauline center nearest you (or through our Chicago center, which brings you--among other things!--this blog).

Best Catholic Books for Lent! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2535165461305184750
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Mardi Gras

It's that special day again...

At least back home, an in-your-face reminder that Lent starts tomorrow. Jane called me from home to tell me about the new Mardi Gras beads: Fema trailers on a necklace; taped-up refrigerators on a necklace; a necklace of "beignet" and cafe-au-lait... The family is at Mom's now, feasting on pecan pie and stuffed mirliton. Here in Chicago, our king cake is now but a remnant (with colored sugar sticking to the plate).

Naturally, I've been thinking and praying about "what to do for Lent." I mean, how to make the most of this forty-day retreat that is ours as Catholics. Traditionally: prayer, fasting, works of mercy. But specifically, how? And is there a "missionary Lent" that uses this season as a renewal in view of a deeper capacity for evangelization? How would that color my prayer, sacrifice and works of charity?

Tea and Tylenol

From the latest e-mail by our choir director, it sounds as if I were not the only soprano in the group who was waylaid by a mutant virus...

Good thing Sr. Helen didn't get it! She managed to put together not one but two King Cakes just in time for the end of the season. My own professional verdict is that her King Cake is every bit as good as McKenzies, which is high praise indeed. (McKenzies remains my gold standard--or should I say "purple, green and gold" standard--for King Cake.) Here you see it under wraps, next to my annual Mardi Gras display in the refectory.

Hoping to be somewhat back in voice for Ash Wednesday, when we have utterly heavenly music on the roster at Mt. Carmel.
Prayers for Peggy, the mother of one of last year's choir members. Peggy died this week of breast cancer. She was 52.

Babel

Today's first reading could almost be taken from today's newspaper, couldn't it? The quest for greatness, at the cost of human solidarity? I immediately thought of the race to clone human beings or to achieve some cure from embryonic stem cells, and other similar pursuits at accomplishing whatever comes to mind, regardless of the human cost.

Then there's Jesus, telling us bluntly that "the one who seeks to save his life" or to "make his mark" through some outstanding but ethically dubious achievement, "will lose it," and "whoever loses his life for my sake and for the Gospel will save it."

May we hear the Gospel in such a way as to inspire us to freely follow Jesus, wherever...

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Valentine for Jesus

"Glory to the one who loved us and washed away our sins in his blood!" (Rev.)

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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New Orleans takes a hit

Got a from Mom about the storm that hit New Orleans last night. My godmother's neighborhood was hit by a tornado that touched down in the metro area in at least five places, leading to the governor declaring a state of emergency. And here in Chicago, we are about to get hit by an arctic blast that will send the temps back below zero. In case anyone forgot it was winter.

The Bread in the Boat

Today's Gospel picks up from yesterday's, in which Jesus has just embarked in a bit of a huff after rejecting the demand of some Pharisees for a "sign from heaven."

Once in the boat, he warns his disciples about the "leaven of the Pharisees."

The disciples didn't get it. They think he is talking about the fact that they have only one flat loaf of bread with them. And Jesus (evidently still not having recovered from the incident with the Pharisees) barrages them with questions like, "Do you have eyes but no seeing? Ears but no hearing?" And he reminds them of what happened on the occasions when he "broke bread" for the immense crowds and fed 5,000 and then 4,000 people--with loads of bread to spare.

It doesn't really seem like "good news" at first. The Jerome Biblical Commentary helps with that. The JBC notes that the "one bread" in the boat is really Jesus himself, and that the expression "breaking bread" was about as clear as Mark could be to indicate, in story form, that the Eucharist is the "one bread" we need to live on, and that if we have Jesus, we have everything. In all, the Gospel message today could be summed up in the words that are in every Pauline chapel: Do not be afraid; I am with you. From here (the tabernacle) I want to enlighten. Live with a penitent heart.

warm spell

For the third day in a row now, we are having weather with TWO (count 'em, two) digits! Meanwhile, here at the convent, the hot water heater is down for the count. It always happens over a weekend... Hopefully it will be repaired before too much longer! (And yesterday there was a nail in one of our van's tires...) Such fun. And a snowstorm on the way. (That's for my Mom. Only she is in New Orleans, where the weather may head up to 72...)

 

seeking signs

The Gospel today is short and to the point. The Pharisees are hounding Jesus for a "sign" and Jesus simply shrugs them off with a refusal that amounts to a "What good would it do?"

It's not that there's something inherently wrong in desiring a sign from God. In his approach to spiritual discernment, St. Ignatius presumes we will ask (and receive) a sign from God as a confirmation of a decision taken after prayerfully seeking God's will.

Could it be that the Pharisees were not actually "seeking a sign" but, rather, "setting a condition" for Jesus?

more on life and death in the desert

Today's Gospel has Jesus in "a desert place" with 4,000 people who are growing weak with hunger. He commandeers the disciples' food supply of seven flat loaves of bread and feeds the crowd, sustaining them in life.

Yesterday's news mentioned a small group of people who met death in the desert. At first, it seemed as though this were a case of vigilante justice run amok, and that is how I wrote about it. But today's paper has more information. It seems that there was a group of men in ski masks, armed with assault rifles, who first robbed the immigrants and then shot them. And that a similar modus operandi marked an episode in late January.

And I was thinking it was the immigrant smugglers who were the lowlifes in the story.

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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"Fur" shame

18 whole degrees today! Reminds me of a little conversation in the choir room before practice on Sunday. One of the sopranos told the story of a friend of hers who got chewed out on a street corner by an animal rights person for wearing a fur coat. The friend finally got a word in edgewise: "I assure you, no polyesters were killed to make this coat!"

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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...but they're not vigilantes

A sad, short item in today's newspaper mentioned the shooting death of three immigrants crossing the border at the Arizona desert. One of the dead was a fifteen-year-old girl. The real villain, the smuggler, escaped, and two other immigrants were wounded.

That means there was a good bit of firepower involved. We can probably assume that more than five shots were fired at the immigrant group--either that or every bullet met a living target. And nothing in the news indicated that the shots came from law-enforcement personnel.

The same newspaper included a kind of ombudsman report summarizing reader feedback to a front page (alas, before the Super Bowl) that read "Go Bears!" in ten languages. Most of the readers who reacted were outraged (outraged!) that the largest typeface was for the Spanish-language cheer, and their assumption was that all of the Chicago-area Bears fan who would root in Spanish were "illegals." That's just plain ugly.

I know that the so-called "Minutemen" feel justified in "defending" our borders from people who would otherwise risk exploitation and slave wages in our slaughterhouses and hotel bathroom, but if the Tribune readers are any indication, I'm not so sure I like the "America" these patriots are trying to secure for me.

 

 

"Listen!"

Today we have the Gospel story of the healing of a deaf person who couldn't speak clearly. But, to judge from this week's Gospels, this man wasn't the only one who was unable to "listen" to Jesus. In fact, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus seems to frequently begin teaching by saying, "Listen!" Today's story gives us not just the "opening" of the man's ears, but also his being able to speak plainly. If we can't "listen" to the word of God, we won't be able to communicated it in an undistorted way. What a challenge!

A side note about today's Gospel: Mark goes out of his way to express the heights of amazement in the crowd's reaction to the miracle of healing. "He has done all things well!" (the Greek can also be translated "beautifully")--a possible allusion to the creation story we have also heard this week, when God "looked at what he had done, and saw that it was very good."

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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St. Bakhita

I'm tempted to write all the same things I wrote last year on this feast day--about Saint Bakhita, the Sudanese slave-girl, about the situation in Darfur (certainly not improved much since last year), etc. But we have such a marvelous confluence of readings today with the day's saint, I couldn't pass it by! The first reading is Genesis' account of the Creation of Woman, about which Pope John Paul wrote so eloquently. And the Gospel features the plucky Syro-Phoenician woman who wouldn't take Jesus' "no" for an answer. In fact, some Scripture scholars (and quite a few feminists!) think it is not unreasonable to think that this experience in the life of Jesus ("even dogs under the table eat the table scraps that fall!") brought him to the awareness that it was time for his ministry to move beyond the confines of the Chosen People. (We saw last week that his one foray into pagan territory, the land of the Gadarenes, hadn't exactly been auspicious!) At any rate, it is a good day in the liturgy for women.

And I have wonderful memories of St. Bakhita's canonization, which took place while I was stationed in Rome.

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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heat's on!

Yes, the heat is on here in Chicago, where the mercury got up to 7 (count 'em) 7 whole degrees. And where the elevator company came to melt the works and get things moving again. (No more "stair master" all the time!)

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Wish I'd said that

"Atonal music is essentially pessimistic. It is incapable of expressing joy or humor" (Gian Carlo Menotti, composer and founder of the Spoleto Music Festivals).

 

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Small, secure steps

When I was a junior sister going through my first St. Louis winter, Sister Mary Rita taught me the secret of walking through snow: you take small, secure steps. As she demonstrated this on an terraced walkway, she promptly fell on her boom and slid all the way to the street level. So "small, secure steps" won a place in my memory, popping up every time I have to go out in the snow.

This is my sixth Chicago winter, but today I saw something new: the City of Chicago cleaning snow off the sidewalks! Years ago, if memory serves me, we got sued in Buffalo by someone who slipped on the sidewalk outside of our building. Nobody in Chicago seems to have the same litigious spirit, because the sidewalks are utterly treacherous when it snows, as it is today. You just troop through the grey slush, slip and slide as you may. You're on your own. And you still are, on most streets. But on a few corners, there they were: Chicago Streets and Sanitation, out with motorized carts, outfitted with giant brushes, leaving nothing behind but a clean stretch of concrete. Hope they make it to Michigan Ave soon!

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74 Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Keeping God's Word

Today's Gospel (Mt. 7:1-13) goes very well with Luke's parable of the Good Samaritan. There is a kind of twofold message here. The obvious one is that Jesus doesn't let us play games with the Word of God or shield ourselves from its call through clever interpretations that de-claw it. But also, Jesus is hinting that you can't always tell by appearances who is really keeping the Word and Law of God.

I think we do have the tendency to re-interpret the Word of God to make it less challenging, less of a declaration of sovereignty that clearly establishes the order of things (who is God and who is not). Jesus does not tolerate customs, no matter how venerable, that vitiate the Word of God. This might be the invitation to an examen of consciousness: What customs do I take refuge in to protect myself from the power of God's call? A clue might be the level of passion or engagement with which I defend things that are good, but not ultimate in themselves. It is very, very easy to "nullify the Word of God" for the sake of some beloved custom or other! In a way, every reform movement in Church history has been in answer to this kind of compromise.

Any reactions?

Unbearable!

Okay, bad pun after yesterday's Super Bowl. But the weather in Chicago really is unbearable.  Most of our street people seem to be in "warming shelters" at least for now, though a few are out and about. Today it may have hit a high of 5 (it started out at -6). Our elevator stopped working yesterday morning (-10). It usually gives us trouble in the winter, but the problem is generally limited to when the elevator has been on an upper floor for a while. The grease on the cable freezes and when you hit "down," you get this start-and-stop jerking ride down to the basement, where everything resets. But now the elevator can't even get out of the basement. So we are getting a lot of exercise. The elevator company is getting calls from all over the city. Thanks be to God we are only in a four-storey building!

I hear we are in for a few more days of this extreme weather, and then it should warm way up to 30. Can't wait.

St. Blase

This is the great week of candles in the Catholic Church. On Candlemas, I got to St. Peter's a bit late--too late to light a candle, but not to late to get one! And tomorrow I am anticipating the "Blessing of St. Blase, bishop and martyr" given with candles crossed at my neck, to protect me "from illnesses of the throat and every other evil. Amen."

The image of St. Blase came from an unusual place: a huge room at the Parador de los Reyes Catolicos in Compostela, Spain. On the way to the equally massive upstairs breakfast room, I saw this generously proportioned bust of Blase sitting on a table, facing the windows. You can tell he's Blase because of the miter and fish. At least, he's the only bishop I know with that characteristic. Perhaps their was a Galician bishop with a similar story?

Best Catholic Books for Lent! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74

Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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new music

I was given an iTunes gift card and used half of it already to update my selection of pieces by the U.K. boys choir Libera and... added to that some tracks from Harry Connick's new album, "Oh My Nola" (just the fast songs). I am enjoying this eclectic repertoire very much!

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74

Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Theology of the Body

A young adults' program using the book "Theology of the Body Made Simple" will be held at St. Peter's in the Loop here in Chicago. If you are in the Chicago area, need a good excuse to come downtown on a weeknight, and would like to know what this teaching can mean for you, look into it!

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74

Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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Novena of Healing

We've gotten so many special intentions lately that I thought I would ask you all to join in a novena of healing to coincide with these nine days before the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (the World Day of Prayer for the Sick). We here in community are seeking the intercession of our co-foundress, Ven. Mother Thecla Merlo, in this Marian "atmosphere," so that if God's mercy goes so far as to allow a miracle to happen, it might hasten our co-foundress' Beatification. And give greater glory to God and all that, you understand.

Anyway, some of the intentions are:

• two of our sisters with cancer (one has a rather aggressive cancer)
• the sisters who were in the car accident this week
• Barbara, in Boston (recurrence of cancer)
• Tammie, in Chicago (to be able to conceive)

 

Here's the prayer:

Most Holy Trinity, we thank you for the singular gifts of light, grace, and virtue which you granted to Sister Thecla Merlo, and we thank you for having chosen and constituted her the wise mother and sure guide of the Daughters of St. Paul. Through her intercession, grant that we may live of her great loves: Jesus Master in the Holy Eucharist, the Church, the Gospel and souls--souls sought and served through evangelization with the instruments of social communication--to the point of total sacrifice.

O Lord, if it be in the designs of your divine wisdom, carry out even on this earth, for this very devoted Daughter of St. Paul, your divine promise: "If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him." Exalt this faithful Servant to the joy of the Church and the good of many souls, and grant us, through her intercession, the favor we ask of you. Amen.

 

Best Catholic Books for Lent!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBj2XlTF74

Don't have much time? Here's the two-minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkuWjgiDYo
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The 4th Joyful Mystery

Today's feast has two names. In the Latin Church, it is the "Presentation of the Lord." In the East, it is the "Meeting" or "Encounter" (only they use the Greek word, Hypapanta or Hypapante--I'm not sure). Anyway, the Greek word has more of the "wedding" imagery in it, it seems to me, to match the candlelight procession that is traditional on this day. It is a picture of the parable of the bridesmaids and their lamps, "going out to meet the bridegroom" and escort him to the wedding. But only after they had "waited for the consolation of Israel," the way dear old Simeon and Anna did. (Simeon is one of my favorite Bible people, right up there with St. Barnabas.) Of course, we also get the candlelight tradition from Simeon's own words about Jesus, "the light of revelation to the nations and the glory of Israel." Used to be, people had their year's supply of household candles blessed on this day, to be reminded all year of this "light of Christ." We don't think of lights very much at all, unless the power goes out or we have to switch the clocks for Daylight Savings Time, so we can miss out on this very powerful image of Jesus as the "true light that enlightens everyone."

Today's feast was a favorite of our Founder. He especially saw Mary's involvement in the mystery of the Presentation. She was already acting as "Queen of Apostles" by "giving Jesus to the world" in the person of Simeon. In fact, the Jerome Biblical Commentary says that Luke's Greek word hints that Simeon "accepted" Jesus, as if the child were being entrusted or given to him to hold, not that (as one translation puts it), he "took" the child into his arms. The image our Founder chose to depict Mary as Queen of Apostles, was of the Virgin holding Jesus out toward waiting arms: a lovely Marian picture for today's feast!

Accident report and prayer request

As you may have read on Sr. Lorraine's blog, two of our sisters were in a pretty bad car wreck in the Arizona desert this week. The witnesses were quick to help, and both sisters were airlifted to a hospital. One is due to be released, but the sister on the passenger side is in critical condition. (She was in the process of adjusting her seat belt when a semi moved into their location on the road, and the van tumbled a few times.) Big prayers for both of them, please. (I had to wait to make this post to ensure that their parents would get the news first.) 

Another "World Day"

The Vatican established a number of "World Day" observances: World Day of Peace (Jan. 1); World Day of Prayer for the Sick (Feb. 11, Feast of O.L. of Lourdes), World Day of Social Communication (7th Sunday of Easter, but often pre-empted in this country by the Bishops' Appeals!). Tomorrow, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord ("Candlemas Day") is the World Day for Consecrated Life: a day to recall the importance for the Church that there be people who express something rather particular about the Church's own mystery as Bride of Christ. So it's "our" special day. A good day to pray for vocations, too!