Looking for Quotes

I need your help! We want to put some great Catholic quotes around our bookcenter, in the units above the Spirituality, Prayer, Marian and Children's sections, and over our Movie section. The ideal candidate will be pithy (I mean really short) and by a recognized Catholic authority. Like a saint. And may even (ahem!) mention "books" or "reading." (Except for the movie section. Obviously.)
Please add any favorites from your book of quotations to the comments below!
Thanks a million...

CNMC

I got back from Texas yesterday (goodbye 105º, hello again, 60º--no, I didn't miss you at all). Now I have a pile of papers going every which way across my desk. Make that several strategically located piles of paper, each one representing a different form of follow-up or catching up to do. But first of all, I wanted to write a bit about my experience at the Catholic New Media Celebration. For the details, you can go right to the SQPN site and even watch the proceedings, which were streamed live.

Last week I wrote that I expected a few other nuns to be there. My hope was to interview them and get a little portrait of the women religious involved in new media. Unfortunately, that would have to be a self-portrait, because I was the only nun there. So much for that idea.

There was a "meet and greet" on Friday night at the hotel in downtown San Antonio where most everyone was staying. (Not me; I stayed in student housing at Incarnate Word University, thanks to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, who staffed my high school back in the day.) The actual conference took place in the University's very well appointed (but way too frigid) Sky Room. I was continually distracted from the luncheon speaker's message by the thought that the table cloths looked awfully warm... I tried wrapping the large napkin around my arms, but that didn't really help. Finally, Maria Johnson snatched one of the catering company's serapes and wrapped it around me! That helped a lot; I wore it until the caterers were packing up. (Now I know next time to bring a serape. Or a close facsimile thereof.)

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed (besides the overactive air conditioning) was the preponderence of Macs on the tables. As keynote speaker Fr. Dave Dwyer commented, it seemed like an Apple convention (see what I mean?). Fr. Dwyer suggested that all ought to be praying most fervently for Steve Jobs.

Many of the participants were live-blogging and twittering from their places. I kept trying to get online with my Dad's old Palm Tungsten, but with all those Macs around, I didn't stand a chance of getting a breath of wi-fi. (I had to content myself with sending messages from my cell phone.)

As the day went on with its selection of presentations, I was struck my how many of these Catholic podcasters are converts (a striking percentage), and how many came into podcasting with background in radio and IT generally. I learned more about what it might take to do a podcast of some sort. (I would kind of like to do that, but goodness, the discipline it requires! I find it challenging enough to keep up with blogging and Twitter!) I also considered submitting our Theology of the Body online study group to SQPN, especially now that we will be moving it to a time of day that will be easier for European participants to join us live. At least it would be a start. (I know that from the motherhouse, there are plans afoot for a prayer podcast, however.) But I do want to go over to MyCatholicVoice, one of the conference sponsors, to see if they can assist my community in making some progress in that area.

A highlight of the weekend was meeting in person a few people I have known only online. In fact, just about everyone I met there I have only known or first met online (and met them for real last year). I met Inge, a geeky convert from the Netherlands. I met Stephanie, a music teacher from Milwaukee. I finally met Travis Boudreaux, a Cajun geek from Lafayette. I finally met Jeff Young ("the Catholic Foodie") from New Orleans--who is also a member of the Pauline Family's "Holy Family Institute." I even met Carleigh (whom I knew from Plurk as "MsC"): turns out she is a convert (what did I tell you?) and Pueri Cantores director who was beyond amazed and awed to learn that I sing in a parish choir under her musical idol, Paul French. (Paul, are you reading this?) An interesting finding was how many of these very active social media people seem to be introverts. These new technologies provide a kind of non-threatening way to meet people and exchange ideas while still remaining in a safe, quiet corner!

Here's a little something fun from podcaster and brain surgeon (no kidding) Paul Camerata to sort of sum up the weekend:

Picturing Paul

I saw that yesterday's Vatican newspaper announced that a new, ancient image of St Paul has been discovered in the catacombs of Rome. Appropriately enough, it was in the Catacomb of St. Thecla. (Thecla, of course, was the ancient Church's feminine version of Paul: a bold evangelizer to the nations!) This "new" Paul seems to be the oldest image of him ever found--dating to around the 4th centry--and yet it totally matches the traditional "canon" of features for icons of St. Paul: a thin man, bald except for a dark ring of hair around the back of his head and a dark, pointed beard (the image "left breathless restorers": I'll try to find a better translation) . Meanwhile, here is a computer-rendered translation of an article about the find from the L'Osservatore Romano, by the great Italian Scripture scholar Gian Franco Ravasi.

Scrapes and Escapes: Peter and Paul

Today's great feast of Sts Peter and Paul gives us a kind of hodgepodge of readings: the first reading, from Acts, is Peter's miraculous escape from Herod's jail (despite the precautions: 16 guards, double chains and an iron gate). This is marvelously depicted by Raphael in one of the Vatican stanze. Then we have a second reading: this time, Paul is in jail--no miraculous escape for him. (Come to think of it, Paul never actually gets a miraculous escape from his many tribulations--unless you count the well-timed earthquake in Philippi that one time...) Instead, the Lord who gave Paul strength for ministry will "deliver" him to the Kingdom. And the Gospel is the famous "You are Peter" of Matthew 16. But even here, we get a hint of power and strength, because the Gates of Hell will be unable to prevail against the God-given strength of the Church.
And it is with this promise that the Year of St. Paul ends.
Has the Year of St. Paul been particularly meaningful to you? Did you gain new insights into Paul as a person, or into his admittedly dense writings? What aspect of Paul's life or mission has touched you in a particular (and maybe surprising) way this year?

Hi

Hi from CNMC. You can john up online at the address I posted yesterday.

Live stream

The event I an at is streaming live at http:www.ustream.tv/channel/sqpnlive You might have to add a number sign at the end but I can't do it on a phone.

You know you're in Texas. . .

. . .when the highway signs read Slow Zone: 60 mph

Banal Na Pag-aaral

I don't know if I typed that up correctly. My understanding is that it means something like "Holy Study". My Filipino readers will have to clue the rest of us in to what it really means, but that is the name of the group I spoke to last night. I gave my "Life and Legends of Paul" talk for the local chapter of this Cursillo-inspired faith movement. (The last scheduled talk for the Year of St. Paul! What am I going to do now?)
Everyone was so engaged--when I mentioned a Scripture passage or an episode from the life of St. Paul, I could many heads nodding in recognition. The group I met yesterday in Morton Grove has been around for 24 years, but the movement has been going strong for 40 years.

Speaking of movement, I will be on the move tomorrow, through Midway Airport, to be precise. I'm heading for the Catholic New Media Celebration in San Antonio this weekend (with a little pause in Austin to see my sister!). This is only the second gathering of bloggers, podcasters and social networkers who are actively involved in the new Evangelization. I'm looking forward to meeting people I know mostly through their online work. One thing already seems clear: I'll be one of a very small number of sisters. Quite a few priests are very active in online Evangelization and social networking, but there are relatively few nuns doing this, outside of the official vocation directresses of the various communities. Nuns tend to be bloggers, but not as present in the other electronic media. (We're there, but not a strong and "visible" presence.) Coming at this from my own angle, I can see that one reason for this is, simply put, demographics. The average age of women religious in the US is in the 70's, even though there are some communities, so there are fewer of us to be involved (much less with access to technology). Technology is another part of the puzzle: with a vow of poverty, we aren't exactly waiting for the UPS man to deliver the next generation iPhone to the door! And many of our communities are strong on corporate mission, in which communitarian websites and "official" communications are more the order of the day. Plus, most of our time is already spoken for. (Which is why I am writing this after 9:00 in the evening; it was my turn to cook...)
Anyway, when I learned about the weekend event, I wrote to my provincial to ask if I could be the "Pauline presence" in this new world of new media. I don't have a netbook or iPhone (that vow of poverty thing!), I won't be blogging too much--except for what I can eke out in text messages (at ten cents a pop) (thanks be to God, we do have cell phones!). Hopefully, I'll have a lot to say, and maybe even a few pictures, when I get back! Meanwhile, you can follow many of the procedings through the StarQuest Production Network, which is sponsoring the CNMC.

Seeking Justice

You don't have to know much about the Bible to know that one of St. Paul's key words (at least in his tour de force letter to the Romans and its prequel, Galations) is "justification," along with its cognates. And that his prime example of a "just man" is Father Abraham, who appears in today's first reading (acting, indeed, not just "justly," but very generously). As I read the passages for today's Liturgy of the Word last night, it struck me that this particular configuration of texts for Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time might best be read backwards: starting with the Gospel, then to the Psalm and finally the first reading, because while the Gospel shows us the path of justice, with Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, and the psalm sums it up with a description of a righteous person, the first reading shows us what that justice looks like, through Abraham's example.
There's been a whole lot of talk in churchly circles over the past decades about "doing justice." Generally, that means "social justice," not the "justice before God" that St. Paul was specifically writing about. The funny thing is, for St. Paul, neither kind of "justice" could come about through observance of a law or code; justice is the flowering of holiness. The "fruits of the Spirit" in things like "charity, joy, peace, patience" and so on are the external overflowing of grace. But much of the justice talk these days focuses on what seems suspiciously like another Law. Instead of "charity, joy, peace and patience," you see a rather grim determination that social "justice be done, though the heavens fall," and not a little snide criticism of those who give priority to things like faith and piety. St. Paul would probably say that this is putting things backwards.
Don't get me wrong! Social justice is a very good thing. Jesus made it clear that the Last Judgment would not be on doctrine and prayer, but on how we treat "the least of my brothers." St. James (as strict a "Law man" as you could ever find) said as much, too (James 1:27). But how do you become the sort of person who treats the least one with goodness and self-forgetting generosity?
If the Church's mission is first of all sanctification--conformity in mind and heart with the mind and heart of Christ through faith and worship (self-giving in thanks and praise, in union with Christ's self-giving), then, "though the heavens fall," justice will be done by these holy people. Holiness comes first, and justice, even the basic social kind of justice, will come about. You only have to look at the saints for the evidence.

St Paul Novena

It's hard to believe, but the Year of St. Paul ends a week from today. That means that the novena for the feast of Sts Peter and Paul started on Saturday. Our community novena began yesterday (we have a Vatican-approved congregational feast of St Paul, by himself, on June 30). Well, even though it's a bit late, its never too late to start a novena, so I will reprise the one I put together last year. It's based on our community novena, but shortened to YouTube dimensions. Just add a reading from the Letters of St Paul and voila: you are making a great Scriptural novena!

Bleeding Heart

For years, today's feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has seemed rather quaint to me. I associated it with my grandparents and great-aunts and with pious images of Mary with her heart outside her robe, encircled with roses, but also on fire and at the same time pierced and bleeding. Sometimes you saw the little silver sword, other times, just the wound, like the one in Christ's side on the cross. I tended to see the image more in terms of a kind of sweet, but vague sense of devotion, rather than with any real substance (even though the image, in its own way, really does evoke a lot that can be found in Scripture). And the language we have come to use about the Heart of Mary can be off-putting, too. If her heart is "Immaculate" (and it is, being sinless), is it also in "mint condition"; "like new"; "unmarred" as if untouched by the disappointments, failures, humiliations and grief of real life?

Today, walking home from Mass, I was suddenly struck by an old, painful memory. It was an experience I had had while doing the Pauline mission some thirty years ago. And I felt all the impact of it as if it were happening for the first time. I wanted to just cry (I don't think I cried when it happened, though I had been quite shaken). This suffering of mine, even though it was objectively very slight (embarrassingly so), is still present and very much alive in me. For the rest of my walk home, I wrestled with this stupid memory; an experience of the past suddenly so vivid that I could "offer it up" just as validly as if it were happening in the present. (There is no "past" or "present" with God, anyway; what does he care if you are offering up something from thirty years ago?)

And while in my case, it is kind of apparent that this is an unresolved, psychological sort of situation, I am beginning to grasp something of a connection with the Immaculate Heart of Mary and its unhealed wound. Her experiences, especially witnessing the sufferings of her Son, remained alive and present and painful in her heart and memory, too. She could never "get over it." It was always there, even after the Resurrection, the way the Risen Jesus still (even now!) bears the wounds in his hands, feet and side.

Because Mary "treasured and pondered" all the mysteries of the Lord's life in that heart of hers, we can still find them there. The heart that stretched itself so wide as to treasure all God's action has room for us, too. The treasures she stored up can be found there, received there, even distributed to others from that wound in her own, unhealed and bleeding heart.

Yesterday it was my turn to lead the community's shared Hour of Adoration. I used parts of the Pope's letter as a theme, and played mix and match with the mysteries of the Rosary to pray it in view of the Year for Priests. Maybe you'd like to do that, too. I used one scripture passage per mystery, choosing a passage that connected that mystery of the life of Jesus to the specific call of the priest.

First Mystery: The Wedding at Cana. "He revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him."
Second Mystery: The preaching of the Kingdom. "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Third Mystery: The Last Supper. "Do this in memory of me."
Fourth Mystery: Christ's death on the Cross. "Behold the Lamb of God."
Fifth Mystery: The Ascension. "Go out to the whole world...making disciples and baptizing them."

Year "for" Priests, so what about us?

During my prayer this morning, I read the full text of Pope Benedict's letter to priests for the special year that opens today. That reading convinced me even more that this year "for" priests involves all of us, and I don't mean in the sense of the "priesthood of the laity" (although that is certainly valid). What I mean is that those of us on the other side of the altar (pace the TLM/ad orientem crowd) need to have a clearer sense of the vocation of those who serve God and us in the specifically ministerial priesthood. And the Pope's letter really does offer a beautiful, very rich lens for that. Not that most of what he says can't also be applied (mutatis mutandae) to the rest of us. (As a matter of fact, I intend to draw on this Letter for a retreat talk I am preparing.)
I am also going to accept the challenge of this Year for Priests by taking on its call for interior and ministerial renewal on behalf of the priests who are dismissing the Pope's invitation, for whatever reason, and for priests who are excluded from the priestly ministry for whatever reason. They still share the priesthood of Christ in an extraordinary way (nothing can take that away; no free choice of their own, no action even of the Church), and so this year should also help them in some way toward their fulness of life.
What about you?

Prayer to the Sacred Heart for the Year for Priests

Jesus, Divine Master and Shepherd,
We honor and bless your tender and merciful heart, the heart of a Good Shepherd. You live in the Pope, in the bishops, in your priests.

We appeal to your most Sacred Heart for our earthly shepherds. The harvest is always great, but the laborers are still very few. Give us holy priests who love your people as you love them: to the point of giving their lives. Bless their priestly labors.

Grant us the grace to take our part in the "priestly service of the Gospel" so that your Word will spread to the limits of the earth. And through the ministry of your faithful priests, may we be among your sheep when you return to call us home to the Father.

Year for Priests

Here's the Pope's Letter to Priests. It's well worth your time reading in order to have a clearer understanding of what this "Year for Priests" is about, and what the Pope (in line with tradition) sees as the role of the priest in the Church today. We have some odd models out there: priest as business administrator; priest as sacrament dispenser; priest as liturgical cheerleader... The Pope's letter is actually quite helpful in rediscovering the "place" of the parish priest; when we're clear on that, we'll be better able to live our lay vocations in a healthy collaboration with the ministry that the priest exercises on our behalf.

Sacred Heart Triduum

Jesus, Divine Master,
I thank and bless your most meek Heart, which led you to give your life for me. Your blood, your wounds, the scourges, the cross, your bowed head tell my heart, "No one loves more than he who gives his life for those he loves." The Shepherd died to give life to the sheep.

I, too, want to spend my life for you. May I always be available to respond to your love in the events of my daily life, and to show your love to the people most in need.
Live in my heart, O Sacred Heart of Jesus: Inflame my heart with a love like your own.

Long lost

Our vocations team is preparing a new brochure, and somehow I got on the list to look at the drafts. Years back, we had a vocation flyer that had a wonderful quote from our Founder. I loved it, and thought it was very impelling and inspiring, but I couldn't quite remember how it went. (Naturally, I gave the vocations team my two cents' worth about including the quote, although I couldn't actually provide the quote itself.) Well, lo and behold! The outgoing novice director came up with it, to my everlasting inspiration. (And it may show up on the brochure, in the end, too.)
Here it is (tell me what you think):

She who possesses knowledge,
who has intelligence and willpower;
a tremendous capacity to love,
a spirit of self-sacrifice,
a burning desire for holiness,
and a consuming thirst for souls—

Let her come with confidence
to the Daughters of St. Paul.

She can spend herself completely
in the Pauline apostolate
while her horizons grow ever longer,
broader and more beautiful.

—Blessed James Alberione, SSP

Founder of the Daughters of St. Paul

Sacred Heart Triduum

Continuing to prepare for Friday's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the opening of the Year for Priests...

Jesus, Divine Master,
I thank and bless your sacred and most merciful Heart for having given us the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother, Teacher and Queen. From the Cross you placed us all in her hands. You gave her a great heart, much wisdom, and immense power over your own heart! May all humanity know her, love her, pray to her! May all allow themselves to be led by her to you, the one Savior of the world!
I place myself in her care, as you placed yourself. With this Mother, I want to live now, in the hour of my death, and for all eternity.

Sacred Heart Triduum

Jesus, Divine Master,
With the angels, adore and praise your most Sacred Heart, the sign of the great love that led to your Incarnation.

Glory to God and peace to all people! These desires of your own heart burn in ours as well. We thank you for having called us to share in your work of evangelization. Enkindle in us your own fire of love for God and people, so that wherever we go, we may radiate you by prayer, example, the offering of our sufferings and our participation in the world of communication.

Heart of Jesus, on fire with the very love who is the Holy Spirit, send the Spirit upon us in abundance.

Bishop Gregory...on Twitter?

What I Have Seen and Heard I see that Atlanta will be moving more decisively into the new media. But Bishop Gregory still didn't actually say he was going to be on Twitter. If he is, I'll follow him!
You can follow me, too. Just look for nunblogger.

Sacred Heart Triduum

Continuing our twice-daily preparation for Friday's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the opening of the Year for Priests...

Jesus, Divine Master,

I bless and thank your most sweet Heart for the great gift of the Church. She is the Mother who instructs us in the truth, guides us on the way to Heaven, and communicates supernatural life to us. She continues your own saving mission here on earth as your Mystical Body. She is the new Ark of salvation.

Grant me the grace to love her as you loved and sanctified her in your blood.

May the world know her! May all sheep enter your fold! May everyone work together in your Kingdom of love!






"The Church has been established in this world to celebrate the Eucharist, to save man by restoring his Eucharistic being. The Eucharist is impossible without the Church..." (Alexander Schmemann).

Happy Anniversary

It's the anniversary of one of the loveliest pieces of music ever composed... The year was 1791. The composer was Mozart. Here's just a clip of the instrumental version from our album, "Celebrating 20 Years."
(I'd give you a link to the album, but our website is being renovated and all my links are out of commission!)

Sacred Heart Triduum

Jesus, Divine Master,
I thank and bless your most lovable Heart for the great gift of the Holy Eucharist. Your love makes you renew your sacrifice in the Mass, give yourself as food for our souls in Holy Communion, and dwell continuously in the tabernacle.
May I know you, O hidden God! May I draw healing water from the font of your Heart. Grant me the grace to understand and actively participate in Holy Mass, to receive Holy Communion often, with faith and love, and to visit you daily in this Blessed Sacrament.

Ticketmaster

The other day I was coming in on Belmont from Lakeshore Drive. It's a nerve-wracking intersection, because there are criss-crossing streets (sort of a rotary effect, but without the actual "rotar" part) with two major streets involved in the mix. Naturally, the City of Chicago sensed a fund-raising opportunity. (Good thing I'm a pretty law-abiding driver.)
As I made the turn from the exit, the first light ahead changed rather quickly. Just as quickly, I came to a stop. At the same time, two intense flashes of light came from what looked for all the world like Darth Vader's hat rack. Thankfully, I was solidly braked (right on the stop line with its magnetic "ticket cam" trigger).
You have been warned.

Sacred Heart Triduum

In preparation for Friday's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (and the beginning of the Year for Priests), I will provide two prayers a day by our Founder; I'll post one in the morning and one in the afternoon so you can sanctify the day.

Jesus, Divine Master,
I thank and bless your most generous Heart for the great gift of the Gospel. You said, "I was sent to evangelize the poor." Your words bring eternal life.
Grant me the grace to preserve your Gospel with veneration, listen to it and read it in the spirit of the Church, and spread it with the love with which you yourself preached it.
May it be known, honored and received by everyone! May the whole world conform to the Gospel in life, laws, morals and teachings. May the fire you brought to the earth inflame, enlighten and warm us all!


(Sr Irene took the picture at St. John Cantius over the weekend.)

Great St. Joseph

I learned the hymn "Great St Joseph" when I was a postulant. Every first Wednesday of the month is devoted to St. Joseph (I thought this was a community tradition, but it is part of the "popular piety" of the Church). Well, that called for a lot of hymns to St. Joseph. "Great St. Joseph" had the advantage (for this soprano, at least!) of featuring one really high note in the last line. I was one of the few sisters who could manage to sing the whole song!
Anyway, I say all this by way of introduction. We have a book about St. Joseph coming out this August. It has what we know about his life, some of the stories from church tradition about devotion to St. Joseph, lots of prayers (including, yes, a prayer to sell one's house--and a prayer to find a house) and many stories of families who have their own St. Joseph miracles to share. Well, the editor, Sr. Kathryn James, has now set up a St. Joseph blog where you can share your own St. Joseph stories. And prayer requests, I'm sure. (If there's no section specifically for that, post your requests wherever they fit, and I imagine a special section will be forthcoming.)
http://stjosephhelps.wordpress.com/

Dies Natalis

In the Church calendar, the "Dies Natalis" (birthday) is usually the anniversary of someone's death. Generally by martyrdom. Unless you are John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ, all of whom have feast days celebrating their actual birth. And in the case of John, also one for his martyrdom; for Mary, for her Assumption into Heaven; and for Christ, the 40-days-in, 50-days-out centered on the Triduum of his death and resurrection.
So much for birthdays, then, right?
Well, technically, yes.
But today is the "Dies Natalis" of the Daughters of St. Paul. It is the anniversary of our founding. Not a founding as in, holy leader and devout followers make some public step consituting a new religious order. In our case, we celebrate as the day of our founding the day 24-year-old Teresa Merlo, invited to meet "The Theologian Alberione" in the sacrisity of Sts. Cosmas and Damien Church, came from Castagnito d'Alba to the big city (Alba itself) with her mother, left Mom praying in the church while she listened to the young Fr. Alberione's plans for a future religious congregation devoted to the "Good Press" (although for the time being, they would support themselves by sewing uniforms for the Italian army). His spiel finished, Alberione invited Merlo (who had already been rejected by the local religious communities on account of her weak health) to join a fledgling enterprise that had nothing at all to offer her by way of external signs of its future: no habit, no community (although a few women, catechists from the parish, were already sewing those uniforms), no mission for the time being.
When Teresa returned to the pew, her mother whispered, "What did he want?" Teresa gave a summary of what "The Theologian" had said.
"What did you tell him?" Mama Merlo wanted to know.
"I said 'yes'."
All of which makes this a very Happy Birthday!

Corpus Christi (in 17 syllables)

This past week I've been experimenting on Twitter and Facebook with liturgical haiku. You know, taking the Japanese poetic form of three lines, with 5 syllables in the first and third lines and 7 in the middle line, and using this very restricted form to express something of the message from the Mass readings or the saint of the day.

I tried to come up with something for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi). Which one do you think works the best? Please feel free to compose your own and add it in the comments!


Last Supper
Jesus took up bread,
but would not feed us mere bread:
"This is My Body."


Holy Mass
Giving thanks and praise,
We offer the perfect Gift:
It is Christ Himself.

Procession
Petals floating down,
Incense wafting to the skies,
Come, let us adore.

The image is a detail from one of the windows at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church, where I will be singing some mighty splendid music for this great feast.

To fun not to share

New Archbishop for New Orleans

"Local boy makes good": Gregory Aymond called back home from Austin to be the next archbishop. That makes him the first native son to head this local Church--in a diocese that's been around since it was part of "the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas" in 1793. That's right: we've had bishops from Cuba, Spain, France (lots), Belgium, Holland, Germany (several; one had even been a convert). Heavens, we even had a bishop from Napoli! But until today, no local Ordinary who was actually local. Although I might kind of count Bishop Dubourg, since he was born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), where so many New Orleans families originated (some of my ancestors among them). But really.

I e-mailed my sister, Lea, in Austin: "You need a new bishop." She texted back, "Darn. I like him."
That about sums it up.

Lectionary clue

I love today's passage from 2 Corinthians--the letter is a showcase of Paul's personality and talents as a writer. And this passage is extraordinarily rich in terms of how it presents Paul's understanding of his own mission. But the way the lectionary tweaks it, we have a special angle to use in interpreting the text.
Actually, the only tweak comes in the middle of the first paragraph: Paul is referring to himself and his apostolic collaborators, "always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body." That uppercase "B" in body hints that the "body" in question is not Paul's, but Christ's--and that, like Paul, we too can "complete in our body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church" (that's Colossians 1:24). The "dying" of Jesus is mysteriously ongoing in time, even though he has already won the definitive victory! There is room for us, even a role for us, in "the sufferings of Christ."
In case we missed the point, Paul says it again: "For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
Still unclear on the concept? Paul patiently sums it up: "So death is at work in us, but life in you" ("for the sake of his body, the Church").
The Mystical Body, offers the world in "real time" a diptych of the Gospel in the flesh (in our flesh): the dying and the rising of Jesus "for us." This is evangelization!

eyes and ears

Today's the feast of St. Barnabas for those of us where Corpus Christi is deferred to Sunday; elsewhere in the Catholic world, today is the Feast of Corpus Christi itself--on a Thursday, as a kind of "match" to the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus first told us "this is my body" ("corpus meum"). St. Thomas' wonderful poem for the Feast gives pride of place to the ears that "alone most safely are believed" when we try to discern the Real Presence. We can trust what the Lord said ("this is my body") more than what our eyes tell us when we look on the Eucharist. St. Barnabas, on the other hand, shows us what our eyes could tell us, if we had vision like his.

Barnabas was sent (when news about Gentile believers "reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem"--ears again!) and Luke tell us that Barnabas "saw the grace of God." ("Blessed are the eyes that see what you see," Barnabas!) There are many parts, but one body of Christ. And if Barnabas was the eyes, Saul would soon become the ... mouth!

Speaking of Saul (Paul), where was he? What was he doing?

If you make a kind of timeline of Paul's life, reconstructing it on the basis of what we find in the Acts of the Apostles and his own letters, there is a kind of "black hole" of 5-8 years between his being part of the community in Jerusalem (and being sent from there to Tarsus in the province of Cilicia) and the beginning of his ministry in Antioch and then to the world. There's no hint that Saul had any success as a preacher during this period, but there is a hint that he was trying to preach in the local synagogues: in 2 Corinthians he mentions three times when he received the "39 lashes"--a synagogue penalty for violations of the Torah (preaching a crucified Messiah could have fallen under that category). But it wasn't all suffering and failure, even though Saul seems to have been very much on his own, humanly speaking. Paul also (in that same 2 Corinthians) mentions an extraordinary spiritual experience--being "taken up to the 3rd heaven" (in Jewish mysticism, that's the throne of God). He even dates it: "fourteen years ago." From this clue, we can date Saul's lonely time in Tarsus to the years around 43 A.D. And shortly after this, "Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul."
Even though the image (like most images of Paul and Barnabas) puts Paul in the forefront, we owe it to Barnabas and his ability to see the grace of God that Saul was ever brought out of exile in his hometown of Tarsus to come and minister among the nations.

I found a link to the video below on Twitter. I remember when Dr Nathanson was the personification of the abortion industry. Like George Tiller after him, he thought there were good, solid reasons, compassionate reasons, for abortion. It was the "silent scream" of a baby aborted in his clinic, a scream he saw in a live ultrasound, that mounted the argument he could not answer. (You can find the video on YouTube. He tried to use it to undo his work, but the culture preferred the more comfortable lie to this uncomfortable--discomforting--truth.)

Nathanson left his work and the organization he helped found (the still-influential Naral Pro-Choice America), and has spent the last decades undoing what his own hand had wrought. So that's what he's doing in the video. In a very laid-back way (the context is some bill in South Dakota--the one from last November?), he says again what he has been saying for the longest time, as the lies he started continue with a life on their own: it was all lies!

Send us your stories!

This just in from the motherhouse publishing office:

In August, a new book will be released entitled St. Joseph, Help for Life’s Emergencies. When we began that book we asked input from the sisters and our friends, particularly for stories of times when St. Joseph had interceded for you and come to your aid. Now we are doing a book on Jesus with the same format, particularly looking at Jesus as mercy or love and mercy. We want to include stories that you have, stories from your family, co-workers, cooperators, any priests or sisters you know, etc. etc.

Stories of any “small miracles” or healings are welcome but ALSO any story of a particular time when you might have especially felt the Lord’s presence in your life in a unique way, especially as these relate to the Sacred Heart or to Jesus' Divine Mercy. Go ahead and “share away” – sometimes, the simplest tales are the best. You can add it to the comments here or send it to Sr Christine Salvatore. Don’t worry about how the story is written. We will need to rewrite them all anyway to keep the book in a consistent format. The information is what is essential and most precious. If anyone would like to tell their story rather than write it down, e-mail Sr Christine and she will contact you to make a phone appointment.
THANKS so much. Deadline for submission is July 17^th so we hope to hear from you soon.

Amen, Amen!

As much as I love St. Paul, and his second letter to the Corinthians in particular, I've always found today's first reading (2 Cor 1:18-22) a bit hard to grasp. It's easy enough to appreciate its poetry, but what does it mean to say "however many are the promises of God, their 'yes' is in him [Christ]"?
Today I think I got a bit of an insight.
Paul isn't saying that Christ was a "yes" to God's promises as in "Sure, I agree with them. Great promises!" He's saying that Christ is the "yes" as the one who fulfilled the promises; carried them out personally; took them on himself.
And that means that the "Amen from us through him to God for glory" is no mere, "Sure, I agree," either. It's the expression of our willingness to let the promises (and all they import) into our lives. In other words, Mary's "Be it done to me." Or as we say three times a day in the Our Father (morning prayer, Mass, evening prayer: you knew that, right?), "Thy Kingdom come."
Amen?

Giving the Mass the boot (off the air)

I got this from the USCCB blog:

The Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”) is poised to vote on June 14-15 on a revised programming policy for its affiliated TV stations which, among other policies, would not permit them to air “sectarian” programs.

That means that air time would not be available for things like TV Masses, which are a real service to shut-ins (especially the poor, who do not have access to cable). According to the USCCB, "The Archdiocese of Washington already has been informed by WHUT in Washington, D.C. that its Mass for shut-ins, which had been aired for years on that station, will be dropped."

PBS isn't paying for the broadcast of the Mass; they just want to refine their "brand." But this decision would affect (back to the USCCB here) "several stations owned by religious entities. Those include WLAE, a New Orleans PBS affiliate owned by a lay Catholic organization" and "KMBH, a Brownsville PBS affiliate owned by the Diocese of Brownsville." And...don't the airwaves still belong, technically, to the people? We're not talking subscriber cable here, but broadcast.

PBS staff told USCCB that the decision-making committee would find community reaction helpful. If you have a reaction to this proposed decision, please send an email or fax to: Helen Osman, Secretary of Communications, USCCB at hosman@usccb.org or 202/541-3129 before June 12, 2009.

For more specifics, visit the PBS site.

Re-reading the Beatitudes

We hear the Beatitudes (Matthew's "extended play" version) several times a year, most notably on All Saints' Day, but here they are again for our regular old Monday in Ordinary Time. But today the Beatitudes line up with a first reading and responsorial psalm that are also about "blessings": the opening "movement" of St Paul's second letter to the Corinthians ("Blessed be...the God of all consolation") and Psalm 34 ("I will bless the Lord at all times.... Blessed the one who takes refuge in him"). That's a lot of blessing going on (in both directions: up to God and down to us)!
Maybe it was this context that helped me recognize a long-term impediment to my appreciation of "the" Beatitudes. I realized that when I have read the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn; blessed are the meek..." I was intimidated by them, because I read them more as a series of qualifications, a kind of all-encompassing job description for discipleship. But what if all those qualities and their attendant blessings ("theirs is the kingdom of heaven; they shall be comforted; they will inherit the land") really express the same condition and the same promise, but each time under a different aspect? That would make the eight (really nine) Beatitudes a kind of super-charged Hebrew poem in typical parallel structure (and the 3 X 3 ups the ante even more in terms of its poetic quality). The Beatitudes poem would be "enclosed" within the beginning "theirs is the Kingdom of heaven" and the closing "your reward will be great in heaven." That makes the Beatitudes a poetic call to hope: precisely what the first reading celebrates: "just as you share in the afflictions (of Christ), so you will share in the consolation."

Touched by an Angel

Remember the old TV show? The high point came when a heavenly light shone over the seemingly ordinary character who then admitted, "I'm an angel. God sent me to you." That's what happened to Tobit and Tobiah in this morning's first reading. And this was no ordinary angel, but "Raphael, one of the seven who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord."
On Trinity Sunday we celebrate the mysterious nature of that Glory. God is one, but God's way of being one is bigger than our sense of oneness. When the heavenly light shines over us, we'll discover that we, too, are not "ordinary characters," but participants in a mystery of one-in-communion.

Being one-in-communion even now (though we don't really experience it in any ongoing way), we are one body in Christ, like the song says. In that one body, I ask your prayers for two of my friends who this week were diagnosed with cancer. I know they'd appreciate it.

Paved with good intentions

As I was crossing Daley Plaza on my way to Mass, I saw an ungainly truck stopped across from the (equally ungainly) Picaso. Garishly painted and with its sides built up so that it seemed a cross between a delivery truck and a haywagon, it was designed to attract attention. It was covered with hellfire and damnation, all with regard to abortion. It was revolting. Not that I saw any mutilated babies or anything like that (of course, I wasn't wearing my glasses, either), but it offensive in a different way, offensive through the very arrogance of its presence and its condemnatory message. I'm as pro-life as they come, and I was offended!
So I reflected on how I felt--having this abomination of a message presume to speak for me. And it seems to me that this truck was (certainly not "pro-life" at all) not even really an "anti-abortion" effort. There was nothing about this moving billboard that could have won a wavering soul over to a greater respect for life. There was nothing there to teach a sincere doubter. There was certainly nothing there to draw to repentance a woman who had had an abortion, or a man who had paid for one, or a doctor who had performed one.
If it wasn't a creative bit of propaganda from an abortion-rights group designed to alienate the uncertain from a pro-life position--if it really was what it claimed to be--it was an ugly manifestation of human pride hiding behind a noble cause.
A fresh coat of paint over that whole truck would do a lot of good.

The most romantic book of the Bible

Forget "Song of Songs." Pick up the book of "Tobit," which we are continuing to read this week at Mass. Too bad the liturgy experts cut out so much of the good stuff. Today's reading is the wedding of Tobiah and Sarah. But you don't hear what came before that: when the Archangel Raphael (disguised as the ordinary traveler Azariah) tells Tobiah about Sarah, "Tobiah fell so deeply in love with her that his heart was no longer his own."
The selection from Mass also skips over the funny parts. The backstory is that poor Sarah has walked down the aisle seven times, but all seven bridegrooms met their death at the hands of a meddlesome demon before they could so much as kiss the bride. So after escorting the couple to the bridal chamber, Sarah's father goes to the yard and digs a grave for Tobiah! When the newlyweds appear safe and sound the next morning, the grave is quickly filled in and hidden (with a bit of patio furniture?).
All the romance in the first reading sets the stage for the true heart of the Gospel, when Jesus tells us plainly that "the greatest commandment" is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and your neighbor as your self."

Good Start

This week's first readings are taken from what has to be the most charming book of the Bible, Tobit. Tobit reads more like a fairy tale than scripture; it has a mysterious character with a secret identity, a rags-to-riches plot line and even a wedding and a "happily ever after"! Maybe it is a fairy tale; the Bible is a library with books of every description, why not fairy tales, too? (Although in this case it is an "angel tale.")
Today's passage is an elaborate cut-and-paste that shows us the twin predicaments of the elderly Tobit and the beautiful young Sarah. Both are miserable and in a very reasonable state of depression. And both are praying for death. But God has something better in mind. (Doesn't he always?)
What is interesting is how they begin their prayer: both of them start not with a description of their sorry state, but with acclamations of praise. This Jewish prayer tradition is something that many of us may have lost track of (even though it is firmly ensconced in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church's official prayer, which begins with the "Invitatory" psalm, calling us to praise).

Cue the "Sound of Music" (the title itself is from the psalms):
Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.
When you read you begin with A B C.
When you pray you begin with...
Blessed be!

Singing in the rain

The show must go on... Million-Dollar Quartet kept on singing while the audience shivered in their coats and hats (wrapped in blankets) as a cold rain started to fall. I didn't last very long, but wow.

Give to Caesar

Today's Gospel is Jesus' famous cut-to-the-chase response to a question meant to trip him up. (Note: it is not a good idea to try to catch God in a slip of the tongue.)
What "belongs" to Caesar? The letter to the Romans (and the first letter of Peter) tell us that we owe "respect" (and taxes, too). But what about God, then? According to Peter and Paul, that would not be "respect," but "fear" (or "reverence" if you will). But I like to connect this to another Gospel passage, where Jesus is more detailed about "what belongs to God": "all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength."

Mystery Boy

Mom found this photo somewhere in the house; nothing written on the back (but it looks like it became unglued from an album). We don't know whose home it is, or who that cute little boy is, but we think it just might be my Dad (maybe in the Irish Channel?). (He looks just like my brother Thomas did at that age.)

Protest

Just walked out of the door and almost into the very center of a small but vocal protest. About 20 people were walking down Michigan Avenue (right in front of our book center!) carrying a red (!) banner with black lettering: "abortion on demand without apology."

Read the fine print

You. Shall. Not. Kill.