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TOB tonight!

	Going "by the book" of JP2, with Fr. Thomas Loya. 7:30 EST on Ustream.tv Tell your friends!

Peter (Claver) and Paul

Today is the feast of St. Peter Claver, the Jesuit missionary to Colombia who designated himself "slave of the slaves forever." The African slave trade was at its height, and so was the human misery that Peter encountered when he arrived in the new world from his native Spain. He devoted the rest of his life to compassionate ministry to the slaves, boarding the slave ships with food, water and medicine, and carrying out whatever services he could. Peter was the Mother Teresa of his day, because those slaves were the "poorest of the poor."
Like Paul, Father Claver could say, "Although I am free, I have made myself a slave." Not that Paul was the first one to come up with such an idea. It was really Christ, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not deem equality with God something to be exploited, but emptied himself and took the form of a slave."
It's an ugly word, but for Jesus, for Paul, and for Peter Claver, "taking the form of a slave" was the language of love.



Happy Birthday to my sister Lea Ann and her son Logan!

TOB starts up again

Our online streaming video class on the Theology of the Body resumes this Wednesday at 7:30 Eastern Time. If you missed the earlier sessions, view the archived video on the channel page.
Mystified by Church teachings on marriage and sexuality? Tune in!
Love what the Theology of the Body has done for you? Tell your friends to join us!

HB, BVM!

Wonderful first reading (if they go with the Pauline option): basically, my signature URL: Romans 8 v 29!
Mary's arrival on the scene was the first breath of the upcoming redemption. As one of the early writers put it, in Mary' God was setting his throne in place. Soon he himself would come to occupy it.
The image isn't exactly the Birth of Mary, but it is so stunning, I wanted to share it. Sr. Sergia in Rome just sent it to me. (She's sending me some new Angelus pictures so I can redo the Angelus video with better quality images.)

A Blessing to Romania

Sister Anna Maria Bulai will be making her first profession in Bucharest on Sunday, Sept. 7. She is the first of our Romanian sisters to make her religious vows, and comes from a family that retained their Catholic faith through that country's long dark years under Communism. In fact, Sister Anna Maria's father was a printer and did clandestine printing for the Church--so her vocation as a Daughter of St. Paul was in line with a family tradition. There will be a certain poignancy to the profession ceremony, because the faithful printer died on August 15, somewhat like the situation my family experienced when my sister was married three days after Dad's death: just as we knew that Dad was taking part in the event from heaven, the Bulais are confident that their father will be there in spirit to see his daughter profess her vows.
Please pray for Sister Anna Maria, for our little community in Romania (one of our relatively recent foundations) and for their mission in that land, and for the Bulai family, still in mourning for a fine man of God.

Measure for Measure

Today's first reading (1 Corinthians, still!) and Gospel both hint at the skewed criteria we can use in the matters of God. St. Paul knew what it was to be "weighed on the scales and found wanting." He complains of being judged "ahead of time" and by merely external criteria. Jesus, too, was judged on external criteria, and found not to measure up to the standards set by John the Baptist and the Pharisees, whose disciples were noted for their ascetical practices (whereas Jesus and his disciples could just as easily be found at a dinner party). There's nothing wrong with asceticism, of course, but Jesus tells us that it needs to come in a "new wineskin" of awareness that "the bridegroom has been taken away" for a while, and that we await the "new wine" of his definitive coming.

With Mother Teresa's death now over ten years behind us, middle-grade children will only be able to know her as they know other holy dead people: not as contemporaries, but as people in books. So here's a book about our saintly contemporary.

Everything is ours

I love today's first reading from 1 Corinthians. The community in Corinth tended to use a variety of measuring rods to establish the worth or status of its members. Disciple of Peter, rather than Paul? Bonus point! Prolific speaker in tongues? Check! Clever in logic and scholarly wisdom? Wealthy? From a noble family (or at least not born into servitude)? Good for you!
St. Paul tosses it all over his shoulder in disgust. These things count for absolutely nothing in the eyes of one who was "determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified." What did it matter if the Apostle you learned from was eloquent or rough in speech? Or if the gifts of the Spirit in you were showy (like tongues) or hidden (like works of service)? "Everything is yours!" Paul said. "Everything: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present and the future." Everything is yours, so what is left to measure each other by, or as a basis for comparison between one Christian and another?
"Everything is yours, and you are Christ's and Christ is God's."

What is happening in Orissa, India?

Persecution and death for Catholics, even if they are simply offering social services. The latest event was just last week.

Cardinal George responds

Our Archbishop answers the "Catholic" politician who made a particularly outrageous misstatement about the Church's position on abortion.

What a surprise!

There was a small box with my backlog of mail. Although the label was from our motherhouse, I didn't recognize the handwriting on it. And the packaging certainly wasn't done in our shipping department. (They'd never seal a box with masking tape!) Naturally, I tore into it. At first, all I saw was bunched-up paper, but on the side of the box was a flap of letterhead.

RE: Come to Jesus
Dear Sr. Flanagan:
Editions Des Beatitudes in France has published the above referenced title. It is our custom to send copies of the published books to the authors. I hope that you are as pleased with it as we are.
Your book will now be able to touch people throughout the world, reaching people you perhaps never dreamed of touching.

Well, they certainly got that part right.
In the box were four copies of "Viens rencontrer Jesus: Petit manuel pour introduire les enfants a l'adoration eucharistique."
Yippee!

Choice Words

One thing that has struck me in the recent coverage of the Palin babies is what has become almost a stock phrase: "she chose to continue the pregnancy, despite..." (the diagnosis of Down Syndrome in the one case, and the underage mother in the other). It used to be that abortion was defended as a woman's "choice." But the language reflected in these news articles seems to say that abortion is now the "default" position.
Am I the only one who noticed that? Am I reading too much into this language?

Living like Abraham

Got a new text message from Mom. They are heading to my brother-in-law's hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Evidently, they weren't able to cross the lake back into New Orleans. Kind of reminds me of Abraham, who "went forth, not knowing where he was going." So please continue praying for all the dispersed.

Not over yet

Just learned that the area where my Mom went to avoid Gustav is under a mandatory evacuation: the after-effect of the storm is that the two local rivers are starting to rise, and these are not rivers with levees or flood walls. I texted Mom and niece; niece responded in two words: "We're packing."

I don't like the looks of this

Mom called from across the lake; with the storm passing to the west, they lost electricity (and it is very, very hot without air conditioning), but they are okay. Meanwhile, back home in New Orleans...

Guess where my prayers are tending? Funny how small New Orleans looks, but that marker is on my Mom's house, so it's pretty big to me.
Things this big, so phenomenally out of human control, can be really good reminders that we depend on God all the time, not just when confronted with massive storms. (In a way, I was tempted to think people were better off before storm tracking and satellite images!)

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Fear of the Lord

The most puzzling of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit has got to be "fear of the Lord." Fear does not sound like a positive thing: how can it come from the Holy Spirit? But today's Responsorial Psalm gives a hint of what the "fear of the Lord" means.

The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness.

The parallel structure of the Hebrew poetry equates "fear" with "hoping for his kindness." And if we wonder just what that means, the psalm continues by spelling out what is hoped for: deliverance from death, survival in times of famine. Concrete hopes! (Like the hopeful prayers of my family in New Orleans right now...)
The psalm also offers an interesting commentary of sorts on Mary's Magnificat. No one more than Mary was "chosen by the Lord as his own inheritance"; The Lord looked with favor" on her, and she knew that "his mercy is from age to age on those who fear him." To deliver his people from death, the Lord would "cast down the mighty from their thrones"; to "feed them in time of famine," he would "send the rich away empty."

"Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice."
"My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

Katrina Memories

It's weird for me, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, to hear Mom on the phone talking about her evacuation plans. Three years ago, I had just returned from my parent's Golden Anniversary celebration when they left New Orleans at midnight (the first time they had ever evacuated the city for a hurricane). This time, it's just Mom, and she is ready to go: the frozen goods are bundled into big black garbage bags, so if the electricity goes out, the freezer won't be ruined. She's got her medicines and clothes ready to go. My sister, Jane, now has a husband (courtesy of Katrina--the one bright spot in the whole history of that hurricane), and they're ready to take the dogs and head for high ground. (Hopefully high ground.) My sister Mary, soon to be a grandmother, is heading for her daughter's house. (Luckily, "Grandma" is a nurse, in case baby Leah makes any surprise moves.) My nieces's husband is a firefighter, on duty until the hurricane threat passes. Another sister, plus a brother and his family, have their destinations in northern Louisiana.
But we're still praying Gustave away. Praying really hard.

You can read my Katrina archives here.

Still keeping busy

I didn't even realize until some time after 9:00 last night that I had forgotten to post anything for St. Augustine's feast day! And here it is the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist (the most macabre feast day in the year). Leave it to the Herodians, the most dysfunctional family in the ancient world, to provide the occasion for this secondary feast of the "greatest of those born of women." Since John the Baptist is my patron saint (my profession name is Anne Joan, after John), this is my "minor" feast day. (His birthday in June is my "major" feast day, thank you.)
Anyway, what was I doing so close to 9 p.m. that I forgot to blog? I was creating a video update about our recording project! Here you go:

God's sense of humor

In our family, when things go just slightly awry, we look at each other and say, almost in unison, "Gawd's sense of humor..." We got the expression (which we repeat with the orginal intonation) from a beloved Boston Jesuit who was a spiritual director and dear friend of my parents. I had one of those moments this morning. During my meditation and even through Mass, I kept getting insights about the spiritually dangerous phenomenon of setting personal non-negotiables that are really more strategies for protecting oneself from hurt or discomfort than they are about protecting objective values. (Not to say that self-protective strategies don't have their place, but it takes discernment to recognize when self-protecting becomes an end in itself.) Then, shortly after breakfast, I ran into a sister who had said something really dismissive and hurtful to me about a manuscript I had sent in. It seems that the editors want some changes. (How many, I don't yet know.) I made an appointment and then hurried to chapel to fit my Hour of Adoration in before the day's recording session... Then it dawned on me: during my meditation, God was, in effect, warning me not to dig in my heels with unnecessary "non-negotiables" that had nothing to do with His glory and peace to humanity! Gawd's sense of humor...
I kind of dread the meeting (Friday noon), so please pray that the outcome may really work for God's glory and peace to humanity!
Now I am almost late for the studio call...

Jesus is still at it in today's Gospel, taking aim at the practices of the scribes and Pharisees (but not at their teachings). The homilist this morning made a very good point about the tendency of people who are committed to holiness of life to overemphasize the external. This can lead to a scrupulosity that loses track of what today's Gospel sums up as "justice, mercy and fidelity."
This is easy enough to understand: It's much easier to focus on things that are more within reach, and external things are under our control. After all, "justice, mercy and fidelity" are attributes of GOD! It can be overwhelming to keep these things in mind as my actual vocation. But in today's first reading, it is Paul who encourages us: God wants to strengthen our hearts for this very thing.

St. Gregory, pray for us!

I know, it's really the feast of St. Louis, King of France... But the album we hope to begin recording today is based mostly in Gregorian Chant, so we are invoking St. Gregory for the project.
Today's Gospel can be frightening. Jesus comes across as scathingly harsh in revealing the emptiness that can hide behind pious practices. It seems it was really the nitpicking that sent him over the edge: "If you swear by the altar," the experts of interpretation declared, "you aren't really held to your oath. Only if you swear by the gift on the altar are you bound to your word." Jesus had a real problem with that: it made the gift more important than the altar! (Jesus had a problem with oaths anyway: "Do not swear at all! Let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no'," he said in the Sermon on the Mount.) I suppose that if you boiled today's Gospel down to the essence, the message would be "live in the presence of God!"

I'm back!

Back from retreat and back to the sound studio for a really exciting project. I have a few bars looping through my head (going on two hours now); appropriately enough, it is the "Ave Regina Coelorum" ("Hail Queen of Heaven," the chant for today's feast of the Queenship of Mary). This is one of the chants featured in the upcoming album, currently without a title (not even a working title!). Today we reviewed some of the music, practiced our Latin pronunciation and spent close to an hour in a photo shoot with Sr. Mary Emmanuel. She posed us this way and that, in this setting and then in another one. I was rather anxious the whole time, not just because of my sneakers (she wasn't doing feet, thankfully!), but because I was wearing the wrong color blouse (pale blue instead of beige!). I don't know how that's going to turn out. I didn't bring my beige blouse with me, thinking I could borrow one. (I didn't know that the photo shoot was today.) As the project continues, we hope to be keeping our choir blog up to date; maybe Sr. Emmanuel will provide some of those photos we smiled for today...

See you later.

Our community encounter week has been so packed, there has barely been time to wash the dishes. (Note that we did have time to eat! Priorities, after all.) Suffice it to say that I haven't done much more than micro-blogging. The encounter ends at noon tomorrow (Aug 14). We have time to wash the dishes (ahem!); the great silence of our eight-day retreat begins at 5:00. Naturally, Internet access falls under the category of "unnecessary conversations" that are not consistent with the best retreat practices. You are welcome to post your special intentions in the comments; I'll check them at about 4:00 (Eastern Time).
As a sign of the special grace I expect from this retreat, be it noted that the retreat begins on the 33rd anniversary of my entrance, and at near the hour in which I first walked through the convent door in suburban Boston. So please pray for me, too!
Blessings! See you in eight days.

Too good to miss

Here's Sr. Tracey's video rendition of our week in the recording studio...

Cookout for St. Lawrence Day

It wasn't planned that way, really. Tomorrow is our "free Sunday" when our encounter meetings are suspended for a day of rejoicing in the Lord. It just happened that one way we like to rejoice in the Lord as a community (especially when we are gathered from the four winds and are with sisters we haven't seen for quite some time) is to fire up the ol' grill. And it just happens that tomorrow will be the feast of St. Lawrence, known for all time as the deacon martyr who was grilled to death, but somehow maintained a wry sense of humor during the ideal. (He was the one who so famously said, "Turn me over now; I'm done on this side.")

From the retreat house

The last of the singers (that would include me) arrived at the retreat house last night for a week of community meetings (to be followed by our eight days of silence). As I was moving into the room I will occupy for the next two weeks, I found a peculiar object on the shelves (no real closets)in the room. It was carefully and quite neatly wrapped in a mattress cover. An old, red brick.
If that wasn't the Cure' of Ars' pillow, I can't imagine what it was doing in a retreat house room. But as long as the holy Cure' doesn't expect me to use it as a pillow, I think I'll be okay with it.

When Peter Was Satan

Today's Gospel is the famous "Get behind me, Satan" passage, where Jesus delivers a real zinger to Peter. Why? Because Peter was "thinking not as God thinks, but as human beings do." And this right after Peter had been praised for what the Father had revealed to him about Jesus! Turns out, Peter had "rebuked" Jesus for predicting his suffering and death. Peter couldn't fathom that God might actually allow the righteous to suffer. It is almost as if Peter was scolding Jesus, saying "Hey, where's your faith?!"

Transfiguration, Real Presence and Reparation

Yesterday was the first I had heard of the recent rash of Eucharistic sacrileges being promoted, as it seems, by a professor of the [University of Wisconsin (Madison)] [CORRECTION: University of Minnesota: sorry about that, U Wis]. It seems that the man is asking folks to send him consecrated hosts so he can desecrate them with aplomb, publishing the manner in which he carries this out (so as to assure himself the greatest possible attention). I understand he is an equal opportunity offender, having simultaneously desecrated the Eucharist and the Koran. Clearly, there is some sort of personality disorder at work here: a kind of exhibitionism.
Rather than dismiss this ("What a loser!"), we are called to two responses. The first of these is, clearly, reparation, not only for the professor, but for those who are collaborating with his deranged project. Our reparation can take the form of the opposite of sacrilege: praise and adoration of the Eucharist and reverence toward the members of the Body of Christ. Our second response, one that has already been taken up by many, is to pray for this person. I am praying especially to St. Paul for his healing and conversion, because if such a person as this were to be converted, he could become an Apostle of the Eucharist, much the way Paul became the most unlikely Apostle of the Gentiles.
The Lord's presence in the Eucharist is almost the opposite of what today's feast of the Transfiguration celebrates. Until that moment on the mountain, our Lord's divinity was utterly hidden: only his human nature was apparent. Then, the glory he had with the Father before the world began manifested itself in that transcendent experience. But in the Eucharist, as Thomas Aquinas sings in "Adoro Te," both divine and human natures are hidden. All we see is a passive piece of bread (or a "cracker," as the sacrilegious professor insists on saying). But perception is not reality--certainly not in this case, nor was it during our Lord's earthly life!
And now, down to the studio.

Our midday break (for lunch and prayer) is almost over. During my Hour of Adoration, I was especially struck by today's Gospel: "Every plant not planted by my Father will be uprooted." I tend to interpret this as a "divine passive," which means that God is really the one doing the action. But it could also be the sheer nature of human initiatives that makes them susceptible to destruction. I found myself flipping pages to that other passage in the Gospel about the house that can't be shaken by wind or flood: the secret is that the house is built on the rock of God's word.

False hopes

Today's first reading (from Jeremiah) confronts the problem of false prophets: people who raise false hopes. And what kind of false hopes? The expectation, in times of suffering, that things ought to just return to the familiar patterns and structures and supports; that things will go back to "normal." It's understandable, of course: we judge what is "normal" by how things have been in the past. But we risk limiting our openness to God's creativity that way. Even in the biblical situation, when the false prophet was promising that the fixtures stolen from the Temple (the Temple of the Lord himself) would be restored, and worship would again proceed like always, God was hinting otherwise: the Temple would be destroyed, leveled to the ground. God wanted the people to be very clear on this, and not to base their hopes on a building, no matter how illustrious. Once that happened, God promised through another prophet, "Greater will the future glory of this house be than what it ever was before."
God's promises outshine our hopes.


On a different note:
We're getting ready for another day of recording; I posted a video of our work so far. Check our Singing Sisters blog for updates!

Still singing!

There's barely time to blog, tweet or plurk (never mind Facebook!) while we are working in the studio, but we are trying to keep the music blog updated, so please keep checking there for my whereabouts! If I get any particularly deep insights, or have any especially interesting experiences while here (and I can get to the computer), you'll still find it here, though!

Keeping up with the Choir

We're going to try to maintain a blog from the studio, keeping the connection open all day so as we get breaks between songs any of the singers can update the blog. And post pics and video. So get your daily update on the recording project: Catholic Favorites, vol. 2. Maybe you'll even hear a snatch of a favorite of yours!

For the Greater Glory

On this feast of St. Ignatius, we are scheduled to begin a new music project (for the greater glory of God, of course). I just learned which songs are to be included in this new album, and it will certainly be a constant reminder to "seek first God's kingship" if all we do is pay attention to what we sing:
Adoro Te
All Creatures of Our God and King
How Great Thou Art
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Let There Be Peace on Earth
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Magnificat
No Longer I
Now Thank We All Our God
O Bread of Angels
To Jesus Christ our Sovereign King
Ave Maria (I don't know which one)
Salve Mater Misericordiae (the typical translation was done by my old professor, C.J. McNaspy, SJ!)
Veni Sancte Spiritus

I'll do my best to post video updates and scenes, observing the limits of time and copyright. Check back often! And every time you do, say a little prayer for the people this project will touch.

Martha, Martha

I know I'm a day late on this, but on yesterday's feast of St. Martha I really wasn't able to do more than a laboriously entered phone message. Besides, I'm still thinking about what the Lord said to St. Martha! And I noticed something.
It is typical in Luke's Gospel for Jesus to repeat a person's name when he has a "good news/bad news" type of announcement. A call to conversion, in other words. It's "Martha, Martha", "Peter, Peter", "Jerusalem, Jerusalem." Even in the Acts of the Apostles, the Risen and Exalted Jesus follows the same modus operandi: "Saul, Saul."
Not only that! Jesus tells his hearers that if they don't carry out his message, one day they will be saying, "Lord, Lord!"
I also noticed an interesting pattern in that section of Luke's Gospel where we find the Martha/Mary story. Just a few paragraphs ahead of that, we have Jesus reminding the disciples, "Blest are the eyes that see what you see." (Boy does that apply to Martha!) Then someone asked Jesus about the greatest commandment in the Law. And Jesus had the man answer his own question: Love the Lord with everything you've got, and love your neighbor as yourself. The very next thing is the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is followed by Martha's frenetic hospitality of the Son of God, and then we get the teaching on how to pray (the Our Father). So there is a subtle "inclusio" of sorts as a commentary on the Law of Love: neighbor (good Samaritan) and God (Our Father) and in the very middle, the story of Martha in which Jesus is both "neighbor" and Lord, the "one thing necessary." Jesus sums up God and neighbor in himself, and the story of Martha and Mary becomes a parable of how to live the Law of Love.

Airport chapel

What a great service! Midway has a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament, too. And O Hare. Where else?

tada!

Sr. Laura and I met some wonderful people at the Catholic Family Conference in Elgin this weekend...
And here's Sr. Laura's finished version of St. Paul for the Pauline Year:

Now I'm heading to Boston (angels on the plane!) for a week of music and then a week of prayer; a week of meetings and then another week of music. I have a frightfully early flight tomorrow...
Please pray for us!

The mustard seed and biblical inerrancy

Today's Gospel always reminds me of the time I first encountered the possibility of error in the Bible (not doctrinal error, mind you, just inexact information). I was about nine, and was the proud and hope-filled possessor of some seed packets, purchased from the local "dime" store. Among the flowers I hoped would grow in our freshly prepared patch of backyard were zinnias. I ripped open the packet and poured the seeds into my hand: hundreds of tiny black dots settled into my palm. And I remembered the words of the Holy Gospel, "the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds."
I had seen mustard seeds (in those little acrylic bubbles). I looked again at the seeds in my hand. These had to be the smallest of all seeds.
Faced with the obvious fact that Jesus was plain wrong about seeds, I was in a quandary. Did Jesus, who was all-knowing, not know about zinnias? Was the Bible wrong about other things besides the relative sizes of seeds? Did any grown-ups know about this? I piously decided to ignore the discrepancy, but every time I hear this Gospel, well... now you know!

Scenes from my walk

On the road

Sr. Laura and I head out this evening for the Rockford Diocese's Catholic Family Conference in Elgin. When we get back Sunday afternoon, I will have just over a day to catch up and...pack for my trip to Boston! So you may not hear from me too much over the next five days.
Meanwhile, I have launched yet another blog, this time on behalf of our recording choir. It is hosted on St. Paul's Tube, a Pauline Family social networking site. Hopefully, during the recording sessions, we'll manage to post daily updates, video clips, reminders for prayer and the like.
One voice that may be missing on this album is that of Sr. Margaret Timothy Sato. I don't think she's missed an album yet, but this month she was named Provincial Superior--a role that can be pretty much all-consuming. Sr. Timothy, a native of Honolulu, takes the helm of the Daughters of St. Paul in the US and English-speaking Canada. Assisting her on the council are: Sr. Joan Paula Aruda, Sr. Marie James Hunt, Sr. M. Domenica Vitello and Sr. Karen Marie Anderson (who is presently also serving as director of novices). This is their very first week "on the job," so I know they would appreciate an extra dose of prayer.

Another book for your shelf

We have a clearance sale going on, which is (to my mind) the perfect reason to quickly read through a book or two before it sells out. One of the books I perused was Ruth Barton's "Sacred Rhythms." It's a kind of handbook on Christian spirituality: prayer, discernment, creating a spiritual "rule of life" (and even the examen of consciousness!). All very solid, very real-life oriented and very readable. What is particularly interesting to me is that Barton, who was brought up in the Baptist tradition, makes all this traditionally Catholic stuff very approachable for non-Catholics, to whom the language may be much less familiar. But her writing is not so focused on a Protestant audience that a Catholic would be distracted or unable to relate. It's just a good, solid and balanced treatment of key issues in our life with God.
Barton deserves kudos for her treatment of the Sabbath in our Christian life, and her helpful explanation of how to create a "rule of life" that sets our life on course in a way that coincides with our life with God, not setting "prayer life" and "real life" on parallel tracks.
As I mentioned, this was a book I picked up from our sale shelf; we have a few copies left (at 30% off!), so if you're quick enough, you might be able to snatch one up for yourself.

Mary, Mary

Today's feast of St. Mary Magdalen renews the problem of the many Marys in the Gospels. Mary Magdalen has suffered the brunt of most of the confusion, being considered a reformed prostitute by the churches in the west, and a virgin by the Eastern churches. And to tell the truth, the confusion is a bit warranted. Luke says that Jesus cast no less than seven demons from Mary of Magdala, and since the number seven represents completeness, that's like saying "all hell" was upon her before that deliverance. A "sinful woman" washed Jesus' feet with tears, dried them with her hair and perfumed them with fragrant oil. Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, also poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair. There were no less than three Marys at the foot of Jesus' cross, and two who approached the tomb on Easter morning.
There was bound to be some confusion.
And maybe that's all right. Maybe the multiplicity of Gospel Marys means something for us. Maybe we should blend them all into one image of Christian discipleship, summed up in Mary, the Mother of Jesus or Mary Magdalen, apostle to the Apostles. Maybe we are all supposed to be those Marys, made one.

Jesus and Jonah

I meant to post about today's Gospel (better late than never!): how today we hear Jesus claim to be "greater than Solomon" and "greater than Jonah." And John the Baptizer said that Jesus was "mightier" than he, "ranked ahead" of him, and so on. I wondered at the terms "greater" and "mightier." What did the Greek say? Well, sure enough for John the Baptizer: he was saying that the one coming after him was "stronger" than he was. But Jesus claimed to be not exactly "greater" in our sense of greatness; the word in today's Gospel is closer to our word for "full, fullness." As would only be fitting of the one "in whom all the fullness was pleased to dwell."
Solomon and Jonah were "types" of Christ; Christ himself is the fulfilment. John was not a "type" of Christ, but his predecessor and the "best man" at the wedding that is yet to come.

Saints Alive!

So this is what pious surgeons do in their downtime...

Adoption Help

A piece in yesterday's Tribune mentioned organizations that offer grants to adopting families. Here are some of them:
The Gift of Adoption Fund
Shaohannah's Hope (Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman started this one)
The Asian Bridge (matching grants for families adopting from any Asian country)
Help Us Adopt

Yum

Thanks to Inge on Plurk, I found this delicious Italian recipe blog (from the Puglia region of Italy, famous for its olive oil). Even if you can't read Italian, you can savor the pictures.

The conversions of st paul

Sr. Laura is creating a new image of St. Paul
for the Pauline Year. It is taking place in her "studio" (aka "cubicle") right across the hall from my "office."
Just today she asked the Paulist priest who celebrated Mass in our chapel if he could be a "hand model" for Paul. (How appropos!) Here you can see the "portrait" taking shape.

Sr. Julia's back!

I brought the video camera down to New Orleans when I visited my family, and Sr. Julia was gracious enough to expound on "summer reading": fiction! I apologize in advance for the audio problems in the first part of the video. You would not believe what I had to go through with this! For a while, I thought it was going to be a silent movie. Thankfully, St. Paul and Bl. James Alberione got at least some sound working...

So Where are "The Nuns"?

A comment that appeared not only in this blog's comment box, but also in Karen's (and I suspect quite a few others--someone must have spent the day doing blog marketing for Sony) announced an upcoming music sensation, already signed with Sony: The Priests. Real ones. And they sing. Their first album will be released in November.
As readers of this blog know, "The Nuns" have released almost two dozen albums. We're still waiting for that call from Sony/BMG: maybe they'd be interested in our upcoming project?

Introducing....

As soon as I get a picture, I'll do the formal introductions! Meanwhile, I just wanted to give you an update on our community, which is in summer flux as we take turns for retreat, updating and so on. Sr. Helen will be returning from her retreat tomorrow; I'll be leaving for mine in two weeks (actually, we have a recording project first and then retreat). Sr. Helena (movie philosopher blogger nun) is taking a course through our "Pauline Center for Media Studies" in Culver City, CA. I'm sure she's loving those Pacific Coast sunbeams.
Meanwhile in Chicago we are hosting a Korean sister who is working on her English skills at a language school two doors away. Sister Triphonia is a theology student at the Gregorian University in Rome (many classes, papers, texts and tests are in English). She is slated for higher studies in moral theology, probably at the "Alphonsianum." (Don't you love how those Roman Universities have such saintly names? In addition to the two just named, there are: the Angelicum (St. Thomas Aquinas), the Antonianum (St. Anthony), the Claretianum (St. Anthony Claret, with a specialization in Religious Life), the Anselmianum (St. Anselm--or was it Ambrose? I'm getting confused. This university specializes in Liturgy studies), the Seraphicum (St. Francis), the Teresianum (St. Teresa--specializing in spirituality!)... I know there are more; who wants to fill in the blanks?

iConfess

Somebody had to do it.
Cajun geek Travis Boudreaux has created an iPhone application for the distracted penitent. (It also functions as a very small web site.)
Great work, Travis! Now, what about the priest's edition?

Listen Up!

I'll be making my retreat day on Sunday, but you can still hear me chatting away with Sr. Tracey and my fellow New Orleanian (transplanted to Georgia these twenty years), Ken Lampert. An interview recorded at the Atlanta Eucharistic Congress will be broadcast Sunday night (8:30 pm) on "The Catholic Hour," WDUN AM 550 (wdun.com). Ken, who grew up in the same Metairie parish I did, just a few streets away, says that the first half of the program will be on Saint Columban, and then you can catch me and Sr. Tracey on the air.

Oviedo: Wish I had Known

Found a book in our center yesterday about the "Sudarium of Oviedo," a bloodstained linen cloth that has been venerated in an historically ascertainable way for at least 1400 years as the "cloth that covered the head" of Jesus after his death. Interestingly, although this cloth was locked in an wooden trunk in Spain and maintained in one place since 1041, the bloodstains match those found on the Shroud of Turin (which never passed through Spain). Sudarium and Shroud feature the same microscopic pollens. And blood type AB (common in the Middle East; rare in Europe). The sudarium was moved from Jerusalem to Alexandria when Muslim armies were conquering the Holy Land; two years later, they were at Egypt's door, and the relic, in its oaken trunk, was spirited off to Spain. As the Muslims advanced through Spain, the trunk was sent off to more and more remote places, finally being secured in Asturias (the one region of Spain that was never under Muslim rule). Finally it was moved in 1041 (or 1014? memory fails me) to what became the capital of Asturias, Oviedo, and a Cathedral was built up around the royal chapel where the trunk of relics was kept.
I visited that Cathedral in 2006. With Karen (see picture taken with her magic camera).
I didn't know what I was missing as we were hurriedly shown around the church (whose guardians wanted to lock up for siesta). We should have been in adoration, but it seems that the caretakers of the relic were only following historical precendent in not alerting us to its presence or significance. (This makes sense, given the need to protect it from destruction. Even in the 20th century, it wasn't safe; during the Spanish Civil War, the relic chapel was fire-bombed. The oaken trunk, though, was not destroyed.)
Turns out that medieval pilgrims to Compostela would make a detour through mountains (Asturias is Europe's prime mountain-climbing region) to visit the Cathedral of Oviedo. A couplet that was common at the time (and that appears in various forms in other languages than Spanish) said that one who went to Compostela and the tomb of St. James without visiting the Cathedral of Oviedo was focusing on the "servant" and not on the "Lord."

Catching Up

I was planning to spend the day catching up on the post-travel backlog in my office. Instead, we learned that the mom of a friend of the community had died, so the day was ordered around a visitation held quite far from downtown Chicago. I got a little bit done earlier in the afternoon, but there wasn't much left for blogging. Hopefully I'll be back in full swing by Monday. (I'm making my July retreat day on Sunday, but I don't blog on Sundays anyway. As for tomorrow...we'll see!)
If you are in the Chicago area, come and visit our center soon. We are having a clearance sale and there are some fantastic titles on the sale shelf. I think that priests and seminarians would be especially excited about the books in the areas of liturgy and Scripture study, as well as spirituality.

Back to Chi-town

Yesterday was a pretty full day with Mom, running around the city and ending up at my brother's house for "the world's healthiest pizza" with his two tiny girls. Then, back home, I couldn't print out my boarding pass for today's flight to Midway. That discovery led to the realization that Mom's impossibly slow computer was simply maxed out. So I spent my last waking hours last night with Mom, deleting duplicate and triplicate folders of family photos. And then doing a defrag. (Mom's not just losing a daughter here; she's losing in-home tech support!)
So, "angels on wings" for the flight to Midway. See you in Chicago!

My recent experience with Facebook got me thinking about the precariousness of our online existence. Interestingly, yesterday (just as my problem was resolved) the paper had a four-column article on the issues involved "Online Freedoms Inconsistent." When we sign up for these free services, we are at the mercy of the service provider. We can be screened, edited, or (as I was) summarily booted out, and we have no court of appeal because this is a private enterprise. That's perfectly legitimate, but my experience this week told me not to take too much for granted. Just two days before I found myself exiled from the Facebook community, I published a post about a pro-life video that had been taken down by YouTube for violating unstated criteria. I kind of wondered if my FB experience was in some way related to my having put that post on my FB page and not only on my blog... In other words, is Orwell's Big Brother online?

As the AP article noted: "Community backlash can restrain service providers, but as Internet companies continue to consolidate and Internet users spend more time using vendor-controlled platforms such as mobile devices or social-networking sites, the community's power to demand free speech and other rights diminishes. Weinstein, the veteran computer scientist, said that as people congregate at fewer places, "if you're knocked off one of those, in a lot of ways you don't exist.""

About Face(book)

After some correspondence with the folks behind Facebook, and a 1.5 mb jpg of my passbook page, I am back on Facebook, presumably as "Sister Anne." I would check on it now, but Mom wants to go see the Hummingbird Lady of Metairie, and our time is short!
Glad this was taken care of; I was getting rather creeped out by the implications of what FB was doing.

Facebook Face-off

I tried to log onto Facebook today, only to be met with the curt message that my account had been disabled by an adminstrator because of a "fake name."
I used SrAnne as my name because Facebook had earlier deleted the "Sister" from "Sister Anne." I just wrote(disabled@facebook.com) to protest (mildly), saying that SrAnne was as close as I could get to my real name, given the restrictions on titles in FB. "Sister Anne" appears on my passport; doesn't that count as a "real" name?
So if you are wondering, as Jeff was, why I disappeared from your friend list, that's the reason. Want to help me (and other offending "srs") get back on?

Independence

Going to Mass on Independence Day got me thinking about what "independence" means for Christians. St Paul speaks about our freedom as children of God. So when did we declare our independence? We can't be independent of God, although there are some strands of spiritual thought that do incline that way. Actually, our "July 4" was our Baptism day, and we celebrate Independence Day every time we renew our baptismal promises. We declare our independence from Satan, from all his works and from all his empty promises. Even more, we "renounce" them.
Jesus has already won the victory: we are free at last!

I saw that the Vatican Congregation for Saints recognized a miracle attributed to St. Therese's parents, and also recognized the heroic faith, hope and charity of an Italian teenager who died in 1990. I had to look her up: Chiara Badano, from a family in the Focolare movement. Beautiful!

Seems a bit... intolerant, doesn't it?

I learned this morning that YouTube yanked an expose' video offline, claiming that the video violated their terms of use. Having viewed the four-minute clip, I can't say I saw anything at all that could have provoked such an action. What the video did, however, was expose the link between various aggressively pro-abortion organizations (including megalith Planned Parenthood) and an allegedly neutral documentary on abortion.
I'm not saying that the interview was handled in the best possible way. The gentleman couldn't wait to play his hand he missed the opportunity for a rejoinder when the woman from "The Decency Gap" insisted that the website he was quoting was old. (It had a 2008 copyright notice.) But, gracefully or not, the points were made and they are valid. And it is hard to imagine the excuse that was made for yanking the video.
So where are the voices decrying this unofficial censorship of unwelcome revelations? Sure, it's not government censorship, but when other private entities exclude ideological input, there are plenty of protests. It seems that Planned Parenthood & Co. has a lot of pull over at YouTube.

In case you are willing to brave it, here is the video that YouTube so heroically pulled in protection of... what? (GoogleVideo has so far been willing to face the consequences of keeping it available, which is odd, since Google owns YouTube; maybe because it is on Google.es?)

Doubting Thomas

Today is the feast day of no-longer-doubting Thomas. Interesting, isn't it, that he who refused the testimony of the other apostles that they had seen the Lord is traditionally considered the founding Apostle of India? Presumably, the people of that subcontinent accepted Thomas' testimony, "I have seen the Lord!" They walked by faith and not by sight, and still do.
Speaking of faith, I am reading an excellent presentation on the Catholic faith by George Weigel: "The Truth of Catholicism." It's not a new book, but it's my first chance to actually read it, and I am delighted with it. Weigel addressed the principal questions that people in our culture have when it comes to things Catholic, and he does it with panache. Is the Catholic Church condemning other religions or Christian communities with its claims? Is "doctrine" a "conservative" notion? Are Catholics the least free of all religious believers? Stuff like that. Weigel's book deserves a careful reading, something our culture doesn't seem to be too good at (one of the reasons the book needed to be written!).
I am also just finishing a fine book of Catholic spirituality: "Coming Home to Your True Self: Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions" by Albert Haase, OFM. I know, the title is pretty unappealing, but the book itself is well written, both solid and contemporary. I already have it lined up for a second read!
What is on your bookshelf for summer reading?

Begone!

"Begone!" When I hear that archaic word, I'm more likely than not to associate it with the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert, when he dismissed the enemy of mankind with that one-word command. But in reading today's Gospel, I realized that this rough dismissal was probably used more often to send Jesus himself away (or at least to try!). Today we hear Matthew's account of the healing of two demon-possessed men in the (pagan) region of the Gadarenes. When the demons left the men and entered a huge herd of swine (leading to the death of every last porker and an immense financial loss for the owners), the townspeople came out to where Jesus was and asked him, probably not too kindly, to leave the district. Even Peter, when he had witnessed the miraculous catch of fish, told Jesus to leave. (At least Peter added the motive, which was "for I am a sinful man.") "He came unto his own, and his own did not receive him."

I suspect that even in Gadara there were many people who heard the news about the demoniacs and the swine, and felt a glimmer of hope that Jesus would come to them, too. Perhaps it was only the herd owners, probably the leading men of the town, who insisted that "the whole town" rise up to expel Jesus. Maybe it did not occur to them that anyone would welcome someone who could "bear our griefs and carry our sorrows." And so they sent God away, and God meekly left.

Wall*E

Father Roderick was right: "Wall*E" is a very Catholic movie, from the rusty robot's discovery of a "partner like unto himself" (the roach certainly didn't qualify!) to the nurturing of life by E.V.E. (!) and the eventual new creation under human stewardship. And delightful all the while. I also loved Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth," sung during the credits.
This is one of those movies where the critics' "two thumbs up" really makes sense!

Community Day

Today is our community Feast of St. Paul. We have a special Mass and Liturgy of the Hours and everything, just for the Pauline Family. So I joined the sisters yesterday and today to celebrate the opening of the Pauline Year and our special feast day. (It was quite a weekend, all in all.) Yesterday's Mass at St. Louis Cathedral was celebrated by the archbishop, with an opera singer as cantor (!). After Mass, my Mom treated the community to a jazz brunch at a French Quarter restaurant. Because it is Sr. Charlotte's Silver Jubilee, she got a free dessert; we all had a fabulous meal. Afterwards, Sr. Julia and I visited the French Market. I had a wonderful time looking at the stalls of surprisingly inexpensive souvenirs and craft items; we both really enjoyed the brass band. Then Sr. Julia took me to one of her favorite places in the Quarter: a shop with hand-crafted Mardi Gras masks--the elaborate kind you would see in movies. The designer told us he had great hopes that a movie that was being filmed here recently would use one or two of his creations, but alas... that will have to wait for another movie. Sr. Julia brought a camera, so as soon as she sends me the pictures (and the video clips of the brass band!), I'll post them for your enjoyment.
The daily thunderstorm came early today (usually it's in the mid-afternoon). When I came home from Mass and breakfast with the sisters, I barely had time to plant one of Mom's newly-acquired rosemary bushes before the lightning started flashing. Maybe I'll dig into one of the books I borrowed from Sr. Julia!

Pauline Year

Well, we're here! What a great day for the first vows of our novices in Boston! The Pauline Year opened with Evening Prayer I of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, and the Vatican has updated the Pauline Year page.

I'll be meeting my Pauline sisters tomorrow for Mass at the Cathedral and lunch in celebration of Sr. Charlotte's 25th anniversary of first profession. Monday a local pastor will celebrate Mass for our community feast of St. Paul; Mom and I are planning to be there!

Pity the poor lector

Today is one of the worst possible days to be a lector. Not because the first reading contains lists of ancient and seemingly unpronounceable names, but because it is from the book of Lamentations. If you can get through today's description of the siege of Jerusalem without your voice breaking and throat tightening, I'm not sure I would like you very much. The Responsorial Psalm is almost an eye-witness account of the destruction of the Temple, as told to God in prayer. These two passages tell of the horror of war from the inside, and give those suffering those horrors a way to pray through the sorrow.
I kind of wish the priest where Mom and I went to Mass had looked at the readings in that sort of light. Instead, he focused repeatedly on the concept of punishment. The Bible does not hesistate to interpret political defeat and so on as signs of the people's infidelity to God, but in today's reading, part of an almost unbearable description of suffering, the Bible seeks to excuse the nation. Instead of accusing the people of infidelity, Jeremiah (the reputed author of Lamentations) explains that they were deceived by false prophets who did not forthrightly declare the sins of the nation; the false prophets spun comforting visions for them, and so they could not repent. The disaster was not so much "punishment" as a consequence of believing the wrong teachers.

More than meets the eye

Today's first reading details the final deportation of the people of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city. And the Responsorial Psalm expresses the anguish of the people as they sit in dejection "by the streams of Babylon."
There's a beautiful parallel structure in that psalm that is very revealing. The people of Babylon wanted to hear the harvest songs, the love songs, the typical songs of the land of Judah. But the Jews (the name itself means "Judean people") just shook their heads. "How can we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?" For the Jews, to sing the songs of Zion meant singing the songs "of the Lord." What else was there to sing about for God's people but the Lord himself?

Where I was this weekend

This is great! Special thanks to Catholic Film Student Girl; looking forward to more!

Rediscovering the Hours

Just finished a really fine book by Robert Benson, "In Constant Prayer." This is an introduction to the whole concept of what we Catholics call the Liturgy of the Hours. Benson was brought up in the Nazarene tradition (he's now Episcopalian) and writes for a non-Catholic readership, but I suspect that many Catholics could profit from this beautifully written presentation. (It helps that Benson is a poet.)
Benson noted in an early chapter that on his morning drive to the store to pick up the papers he reads daily (hey, writers have to read!), he would pass several houses of worship. At that early hour, between 6:30 and 7:00 each morning, he noticed that the parking lots were busy as worshipers streamed back to their cars and went off to work. They were beginning the day with prayer as a community. He also noted that the houses of worship were: a mosque, a synagogue, and a Catholic Church. The churches of his own tradition were not the sites of such daily activity. But many Protestants are beginning to adopt the ancient prayer that Catholics and Orthodox Christians inherited from Judaism. And many Catholics are learning how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, or are joining in morning prayer in their parish before daily Mass.
It never was supposed to be just for monks, deacons and priests: we are all supposed to be participating in the prayer that the Body of Christ (that would be us) offers to the Father. Believe it or not, for about a thousand years, everyone was expected to come to Church daily for morning prayer: it was part of being a believer! That started getting lost at the time of the Renaissance; the Reformation finished the job in many places. (I recall from reading some early writings of our Founder that at least in Italy in the late 1800's, parishioners were expected on Sundays to attend not just the Mass, but also Evening Prayer in their local Church.)
Benson's book comes some years after he published a kind of introductory version of "fixed-hour" prayerbook. It offered first steps in what the ancient monks (and also Vatican II) spoke of as sanctifying the whole day. His book, and a similar one by Phyllis Tickle, enjoyed a really good distribution. What I think we are beginning to see in these years is a rediscovery of the value of what is called by many names: the Divine Office, the Breviary, Lauds and Vespers, fixed-time prayer. It would be an important renewal in Christian living: we seem to be one of the first generations of Christians who do not typically recollect ourselves two, three or the biblical seven times a day in prayer--not the "gimme" kind of prayer, but the prayer of simple praise. And in the Liturgy of the Hours, that praise does not have to depend on one's feelings of exaltation or gladness: the words of praise and thanks have been given to us right in the book of Psalms, which the Hours use as the primary prayer book.
Do you pray some form of the Liturgy of the Hours? What has your experience been? How many "hours" (set brief prayer periods) do you pray, and where?

Content and the King

In the liturgy, we're back to reading from the history of ancient Israel. Today's first reading has a rather touching dimension to it. There is a renovation project going on at the Temple. Good sign. There are the levitical priests at their job, scribes, workmen. And an old book comes to light. The priest in charge takes a look at it. It's what we call the book of Deuteronomy: the details of the covenant between God and the people. And the priest quickly realizes that one of the parties has failed to keep its end of the bargain.
When the king is given the report of the day's work, he is also given a report about the book, which is read aloud to him. And the king is struck with grief. He recognizes that while they have maintained all the structures--the kingship, the Temple, the priesthood and the rites--they had lost sight of the actual content of their relationship with God. Centuries later, Jesus would also warn his followers about paying tithes on mint and cumin but neglecting justice and mercy. And more centuries later, it is still a temptation for us to distract ourselves with pious practices to the extent that we forget to honor the Lord himself. I know this happens to me. So today I am asking for a little extra grace to focus on the goodness and graciousness of God. After all, "it is right to give him thanks and praise."

My Name Day

I know, it's the feast of the birth of John the Baptist and my given name is Anne; how can it be my name day? Because I took a second name when I made my vows, and it is the feminine form of John, Joan. For the first 25 years, I took the feast of St. John the Evangelist as my name day, but around the time of my silver jubilee, I recognized a kind of John-the-Baptist quality in my vocation, so I switched allegiances. Hence, today's Name Day observance.
I started the day in Atlanta, having arranged for an airport ride after Mass. Wouldn't you know, with it being a feast day and all, the Mass had a few extras. And they sang everything. Slowly. I ended up zipping out of Church right after Communion, with only the barest greeting and thanks to Fr. Fred (hi out there!) for the invitation to Corpus Christi Parish. Now I'm at Mom's house for some R&R. I hope to take advantage of the proximity to the Pauline community here to get Sr. Julia on videotape talking about books, so I can produce some more of her "Best Catholic Books" series. After the CNMC this weekend, I am pumped to make Best Catholic Books a genuine podcast... I wonder how many books Sr. Julia will have to talk about for me to get enough footage for that?

Hi from Atlanta

It's more than ironic that I came to Atlanta for a New Media Celebration, but have been unable to access the Internet for four days! I fully intend to rectify that situation now, with the help of the wireless connection at Corpus Christi Parish in Stone Mountain, home of blog commenter and fellow New Orleanian, Fr. Fred Sahuc, CMF. (I'll be giving a talk on St. Paul here tonight, and then heading to Mom's house tomorrow.)
I arrived in Atlanta on Friday so I could help Sr. Clare (from our Charleston community) with a book exhibit at the Eucharistic Congress (Friday and Saturday); turns out Sr. Tracey made the same arrangements, so it was a little FSP reunion there at the convention center! The Archdiocese has been holding a Eucharistic Congress every year, and it seems to be doing wonders for the life of the local Church. I was impressed at how diverse the Catholic community here is; it reminded me of Chicago. There is also a huge African population. Here in Stone Mountain there is a large Sudanese Catholic community, too. The Eucharistic Congress brought everyone together, some 20-30,000, all around the Eucharist. (Much better than a generic "celebrations of faith" with no real center, as if we were all about ourselves.) Then Sunday was the SQPN Catholic New Media Celebration. The three Pauline sisters were part of a crowd of hundreds interested in learning more about social networking, podcasting and other technologies available for the New Evangelization. The one phrase I heard the most yesterday, though, was "I think we're Facebook friends!" I met a number of people I follow on Twitter or whose blogs I read: Dr. Paul Camerata, Lisa Hendley, Fr. Jay (iPadre) Finelli... I did not actually meet, but at least I saw Jeff Miller (the CURT JESTER!!!) and Fr. Roderick. All people whose hearts are set on sharing the faith they live, and using great creativity in doing it. I picked up some good advice, and even got free Mystic Monk coffee (God is good).
Readers of this blog might also be interested in learning about a new Catholic social network, 4marks. I think it just launched a few weeks ago; I hadn't heard a breath about it until yesterday, but am looking into it right now.
Sr. Clare and I received warm hospitality with the Hawthorne Dominicans, the "Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer," who were founded by Nathaniel Hawthorne's daughter (a convert to Catholicism who then became a nun). We even met their Mother General, who was in town for a meeting. (Nothing like sharing pizza with Mother General on Sunday night.) These sisters have such a powerful mission in the culture of life: assisting people in the last months of their life. There are about a dozen patients in their lovely facility, and these people get the most loving end-of-life care. Except for one thing: when I'm dying, please don't wake me up at 7:00 for breakfast. Let's skip breakfast, okay?

Novena to St. Paul

I prepared a simple meditation-style video novena in preparation for the opening of the Year of St. Paul (June 29!). Naturally, you can use the novena throughout the year, especially in preparation for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul! Feel free to tell others about it, or to embed/link it in your own blogs and e-mail. The novena begins tomorrow, June 20!

Taking the mantle

Today's first reading is the mysterious departure of Elijah in the whirlwind. His ambiguous passing gave rise to the expectation that he would come again before the day of the Lord to set everything right. (Jesus famously explained that "Elijah has indeed come" and he was John the Baptist.)
When Elijah was taken up, his cloak fell to his disciple, Elisha, who was given a twofold portion of Elijah's spirit (and used it right away to divide the Jordan so that he could cross back to the other side). Wielding the rolled-up cloak like a whip over the waters, Elisha said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" This has generally struck me as a kind of challenge, tempting God to show himself. But today I heard it as a prophetic statement, given that he was working the prototypical Israelite miracle of parting the waters: Elisha was giving notice that the Lord was acting through him now, on behalf of Israel. Elijah may have left, but God did not abandon his people.

A note about names:
We have become used to the names Elijah and Elisha, which are closer to their Hebrew versions. But Elias and Eliseus are the same two prophets, when their names are rendered from the Latin.

Sometimes you find enough in a single line from the liturgy. That's what happened this morning for me. We are accompanying in prayer the father of one of our former sisters. He and his wife used to volunteer for us (for years and years), but his health has been in steady decline for almost a decade, and now he is at Heaven's door. And today's Responsorial Psalm has just the encouragement for him: "How great is the goodness, O Lord, which you have in store for those who revere you."
That "goodness" is none other than the Lord himself.
Go forth to Paradise, Robert: let angels take you by the hand.

You're bigger than that!

That seems to be the message of today's Gospel. Jesus is telling us to be magnanimous, to show our family resemblance as children of God. Far from measuring out every favor, God lets his rain fall on the just and the unjust. Rather than dole out our mercies, we ought to be prodigal with them. Maybe it is easier to interpret that "be perfect" in terms of flawlessness, a goal we can dismiss out of hand. Instead, Jesus tells us to be like God in open-heartedness: this is just as out of reach as flawlessness, but perhaps more doable. Either way, it is beyond us apart from grace.

This is too fun not to share: our radio ad for the Pauline Year. Special thanks to Jim and his company for putting it together (Sr. Helena wrote it!).

turning the other cheek

Today's two Mass readings would seem to be in contradiction with each other. Actually, in the first reading we only get the evil deed; the retribution will be announced in tomorrow's reading. But retribution is promised for the vicious murder of the innocent Naboth: the dogs will "lick the blood" of King Ahab and his treacherous wife Jezebel (the original Jezebel).
The book of Exodus (quoting Genesis and the laws given at the time of Noah) that if anyone sheds the blood of a human being, then the killer's blood must also be shed. And that is what God tells King Ahab is going to happen to him and his scheming wife: they are going to lose their lives.
But Ahab repents.
And God accepts his repentance. Instead of insisting "An eye for an eye," God does not require that strict justice be visited on Ahab. (Ahab's descendants, however, will suffer the consequences of his misdeeds!)
Jesus says, "You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I tell you to offer no resistance to injury." No revenge. No payback. It seems that Jesus was only telling us what St. Paul put a different way, "Be imitators of God as his very dear children."

Yes and No

Today's Gospel ("Say 'yes' when you mean 'yes,' and 'no' when you mean 'no'") is one of those passages that is echoed in the letters of St. Paul, giving us a hint of what Paul knew of Jesus' earthly life and teachings. (Paul actually never wrote a word about Jesus being a teacher; in terms of Jesus' life, Paul focused more on Jesus as our exemplar.) Paul is answering the Corinthians' accusation that he was being dishonest with them, telling them he was going to be coming to Corinth for a visit and then not making the trip. Paul defends himself, saying that the timing just wasn't good, and didn't they know him well enough to realize that he was not someone who would say "Yes, yes" when they meant "no, no"? He was, he insisted, simply following the example of the Lord, who was not "yes and no," but "yes has been in him."
Tomorrow two of our sisters will say their "yes" to the Lord in the definitive consecration of perpetual vows. Please pray for Sr. Jennifer Tecla and Sr. Joane Caritas!

St. Anthony, please come around!

Honestly, I did not know until I was a novice that St. Anthony was a renowned preacher. I just thought he was a pious medieval friar with a tender streak. It was Sr. Susan, my co-novice (very devoted to St. Anthony) who brought me around, responding to my none-too-pious remark about the saint with the protest, "He's a doctor of the Church!" (My bad.) Since here in Chicago I regularly attend Mass at a Franciscan church, I get an annual lesson in all things Anthony. (Serves me right!)

TOB notes

Sr. Helena took notes during Fr. Loya's presentation last night; you can access them on her blog. The chat transcript is divided into two parts; you'll find it here, but scroll down for the first half!
You can also go to ustream.tv and watch the recorded version, although it will take a while to buffer.

Internet Radio and the Call to St. Paul

YEAR OF ST. PAUL... GET READY TO BE RENEWED!

Friday 5-6pm EDST LIVE at
www.radiopeace.org

What: Festival
Hosts: Sr. Tracey and Bill Brown
When: Tomorrow, June 13 at 5:00pm
Where: www.radiopeace.org


And now, a word from the sponsor:

Thanks so much for accepting the invitation to join us for the beginning of the
Call to Saint Paul, a year of personal spiritual renewal!!!!

We've been having meetings trying to put several big events together and this
Friday's radio show is our first attempt to get the word out.  I really want you
to pray about becoming involved in the Call to Saint Paul.  More information to
follow shortly.

In the meantime, I'd like to ask all of you to do us a few favors:

1.  Can you change your Facebook status from now until after the show tomorrow
to say something about the fact that you'll be listening to Sister Tracey on the
Faith Factor.  Be creative.

2.  Go to the Facebook page for this event "YEAR OF ST. PAUL... GET READY TO BE
RENEWED!" and on the right hand side click the link to invite others to the
event.  Help us spread the word by inviting all of YOUR Facebook friends to this
event.

3.  Add this event to your profile.  In the same area where the link to invite
others to join is, there's another link that will post this event to your
profile.

Lastly, we are going to be having a meeting at the Upper Room of the Paulinas
bookstore on Friday June 27th at 7:30PM.  We're looking for creative people that
can help promote these "Call to Saint Paul" events that we'll be having over the
next year.  If you can help, contact Sister Tracey and let her know.

Do you feel the LORD calling you to do more?   This is your opportunity to say
HERE I AM LORD...

Blessings,

Bill Brown
The Faith Factor Radio Show

Ceding gracefully

Today is the feast of the heroic St. Barnabas. He was the apostle (not one of the Twelve, though) who vouched for the sincerity of the persecutor Saul's conversion, and got him accepted into the community of believers. And then when Saul's overweening zeal (!) caused problems for the community, who invited him to go home to Tarsus, it was Barnabas who traveled there to find him and invite him to minister in Antioch. It was from Antioch that Barnabas, the leader, and his companion, Saul, set out to evangelize. And it was on that "first missionary voyage" that Barnabas, the leader and Apostle, ceded to Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Barnabas' great quality was that he could recognize the presence and action of God in the most unlikely circumstances. He recognized God's power at work in Saul the former persecutor. He recognized the power of the Spirit in the conversion of pagans to the Gospel in Antioch. And when Saul began to outshine him in preaching the Gospel, he recognized the grace of God there, too, and let Paul the Apostle "increase" while he decreased.
All together, you can really understand why this man's nickname was "Son of Consolation."

TOB tonight!

It will be our last session for the summer ("see you...in September"), so don't miss it! 7:30 at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/theology-of-the-body

Free Day

No, it wasn't a day off. This is the kind of day it was:
I walked down Lake Street this morning, and came home with four boxes of cereal. This afternoon, going to St. Peter's for adoration, someone handed me a set of two plug-in air freshners (each with their respective scent supply). Plus, when I went to Millennium Park to do my writing project, there was free music (a rehearsal for tomorrow night's concert; I'll miss that, due to our Theology of the Body session here).
So it was a "free" day!

TOB tomorrow

Know anybody who scratches his or her head in perplexity over Church teachings on marriage and sexuality? Send them to the Theology of the Body online study tomorrow night for an hour or two of clarity. It's a chance to find out what the Church really teaches, rather than swallow the common assumptions, usually filtered through pop culture. Fr. Thomas Loya is guiding the study group through Pope John Paul's actual teachings, starting at 7:30 Eastern, 6:30 Central time. Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/theology-of-the-body.
Facebook members, become a fan of the "Theology of the Body" and get regular updates, plus meet others who are excited about this amazingly beautiful and life-giving approach to human relationships.

the Days of Elijah

The first reading for Mass this week is taken from the first book of Kings; we're in the "Elijah cycle," with stories about that unique prophet, the "model" prophet of Israel. The setting is a three-year drought. Evil King Ahab has killed all the prophets but Elijah, who has escaped his hand. Even though Ahab is sending armies to the neighboring kingdoms, in case any of them is harboring his nemesis, Elijah is safe in the desert. God "commanded the ravens to bring him...bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening," and he found water in a little stream. (I have consistently been distracted from my meditation by those ravens. I would have to be pretty darn hungry to eat "bread and meat" dropped to me by flying scavengers.)
Today's reading continues the drought story: the brook dried up, and Elijah, still in peril from the king, has to move on. It struck me that even though Elijah was a great prophet, a "man of God" "at whose word the heavens were shut" from giving rain, he also suffered the effects of the drought. He wasn't given some magic dispensation from the drought; he bore in his own body the same sufferings everyone else was enduring. And he was no less an "accredited prophet of the Lord" for that. Funny how I subconsciously expected that the prophet would get a free pass on the punishment being felt by the people of the land! It's not God's way at all. He wouldn't even give himself a free pass on suffering when he "was made flesh and dwelt among us."

Hoop Dreams

Chicago made it to the "short list" for the 2016 Olympics. The city has a lot of work to do to actually win nomination, but should that happen, we'd be right in the midst of it all. The big decision comes next year.

Blues Notes

Well, I did get to the Blues Festival yesterday and really enjoyed what amounted to a "revival" at one of the concert stages. The musicians were a church group, and the music was more Gospel than blues; they sang things like "Jesus is the joy of my life" and "I signed a contract with Je-sus and it (something) for the rest of my life" and "The Lord will make a way." It confirmed me in my June retreat meditations! (Ya gotta love Chicago.)

Printer's Row

Decisions, decisions. There are two really interesting events happening in Chicago this weekend: do I detour through Grant Park to catch the Blues Festival, or go out of my way toward the south Loop for the Printer's Row Book Fair? Today I did both: Blues Festival on my way to Mass at Old St. Mary's, and Printer's Row on the way back.
While walking by tents and tables full of books, old and new, I heard myself being summoned by a woman at a table I had just passed. It was the Catholic Writers Guild. Karina presented the Guild's mission of fostering Catholic writing and publishing, and informed me that membership fees are waived for priests and religious (a very good thing, that!). So I hope to join and benefit from their online conferences and other services.
At the next table was the Writers Cafe, another guild (not a coffee shop). The gentleman there wanted me to know about the Christian sci-fi, fantasy and horror focus of the "Lost Genre Guild" (their motto: "Who says faith can't be fun?")
As I continued on, my eagle eyes spotted an unusual number of red book bags. Sensing a nearby freebie, I followed the clues up to the C-Span trailer and got my own free bag. Then I saw green book bags... But I really had to get home by that point. I picked up my free Ghirardelli chocolates instead and turned north.
Tomorrow, we are hoping to bring our chairs to Grant Park to hear BB King at the Blues Festival. But first, I have to make my monthly retreat for June.

Sr. Ruth is Romeward Bound!

Sr. Maria Ruth, the voice of "Radio Paulinas" from our Boston motherhouse, will be taking our Mother General's seat at the next meeting of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications on June 20. Our Superior General is unable to attend, and since the topic will be the radio apostolate, she asked Sr. Ruth (with over 20 years of radio background) to take her place.
Felicidades, Hermanita!

Food Films

All you movie-lovers out there, it's time to register for the National Film Retreat.
This year's theme is "Melting Pots: Food and Family," but my favorite food movie is not on the agenda! Sr. Helena and I frequently quote to each other (and to bewildered witnesses) its central theme: "The secret of life is butter." (The movie is "The Last Holiday," in case you were wondering.)

The heart of the Gospel

Turns out it was in the Old Testament all along: Love the Lord with all your mind, will, strength and heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.
I love that when the scribe gave Jesus kudos on his answer, the Lord commented, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
That Kingdom is Jesus.

Nightstand

I'm really enjoying an embarrassment of riches when it comes to new books right now. I'm in the middle of three others (in addition to the upcoming Kathleen Norris book I posted about the other day). What's on the nightstand?
A Friendship Like No Other, by William Barry, SJ. I like Barry's familiar style, as comfortable as a cup of good coffee. Other books on prayer can seem so high-flown I get intimidated; Barry reminds me that prayer is really as normal and vital as breathing.
Bumping into God in the Kitchen, by Father Dominic Grassi. This is a collection of stories and recipes all bound up with priestly life. I'd recommend this pleasant little book to young men looking into the priesthood. Father Grassi's pastoral heart will give you as good an insight as any into the vocation. And I, for one, am looking forward to trying the recipes.
More than a Dream: How One School's Vision is Changing the World (The Cristo Rey Story), by C. R. Kearney. I just started this one at breakfast yesterday, happy to learn the backstory to a successful and hope-filled approach to educating at-risk young people in our city.
What's on your nightstand?

blog explosion

I thought it was just me. I was unable to check my blog stats this weekend. Turns out it wasn't one of those little techno-flukes. Here's what I learned this morning:
Due to an explosion in The Planet Datacenter at the weekend, service on this
partition was interrupted. Depsite our best efforts 24 to 30 hours of stats
spread across Sunday GMT and some of Monday morning have been lost. We sincerely
apologise for this.
Readers in Houston, where the explosion took place, may have been aware of this incident.
As for me, I am impressed that what I took for granted as an electronic glitch (I had enough of those yesterday myself)--in other words, a virtual problem--was, in fact, a very real and very dangerous event. (Thankfully, no one was killed.) Isn't it odd how technology can guide our assumptions? I wonder what other assumptions or instant interpretations are being influenced more by a technological mindset than by reality...

Stanley

Pity the lone hockey fan in a convent community. No, not me: Sr. Helena. (Living in Canada for 8 years left an impact.) So last night, while I was in chapel, I heard loud cries of excitement coming from down the hall. "WOOOOO! Did you see that? DID you SEE that?!!! WOOO!"
What could be sadder than rooting for your team (the Penguins) and cheering its success all by yourself?
So I finished my prayer and went to the little TV room so Sr. Helena could gush about whatever it was that had just happened. She was still cheering. On the phone. With her mom.
And Pittsburgh brought the cup home.

The Noonday Devil: Coming Soon!

Well, not the noonday devil, exactly, but a new book by Kathleen Norris dealing with the dread temptation of acedia--a spiritual threat understood in so nuanced a fashion by the desert fathers that no one since has ever succeeded in translating the word. "Noonday devil" sounds so much more enticing, though. I was able to get (joy of joys) an advance copy of the book, Acedia and Me, which will be released in September. I started reading it yesterday and the edges are already bristling with red sticky tape flags. You wouldn't think that a book that sums up years of research on a vice usually called "sloth" would make for riveting reading, but this is Kathleen Norris.
I can tell that Acedia and Me is going to be one of those books I will recommend far and wide to those who are interested in spirituality.