Thursday, September 30, 2010

An historic chapel on a hill outside Marquette

Yesterday I checked out this lovely chapel was erected by an Austrian couple Sepp and Annemarie Hoedlmoser who owned the Tiroler Hof Motels (nopw closed) on overlooking Lake Superior. I'd love to know more, particularly how to gain access to view the inside.

If anyone can provide further information, please do.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

North American Martyrs Shrine, Aurisville, NY

Not far from Fonda and the Kateri Shrine is Aurisville and the shrine to the North American Martyrs. Blessed Kateri was born at this place in Aurisville. The martyrs honoured here are:

St Jean de Brebeuf SJ, known as the Apostle of the Hurons, martyred on March 16, 1649 at St Ignace here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.


St Isaac Jogues SJ, martyred at Aurisville by Iroquois indians on Oct. 18 1646.


St Gabriel Lalemant SJ, a companion of Jean de Brebeuf, martyred on March 17, 1649 at St Ignace.

St Antoine Daniel SJ, martyred by the Iroquois at Mount St Louis in Canada on July 4, 1648.

St Charles Garnier SJ, martyred by the Iroquois at Etharita in Canada on Dec. 7, 1649.

St Noel Chabanel SJ, martyred by an apostate Huron in Canada on Dec. 8 1649.

St Rene Goupil SJ, martyred for making the sign of the cross on a little Mohawk child at Aurisville on Sep. 29, 1642.

St Jean de LaLande SJ, a companion of Isaac Jogues, martyred at Aurisville on Oct. 19, 1646.

A brief bio of each of the Saints of Aurisville can be read here.

The shrine is set on a hill overlooking the beautiful Mohawk river and valley. Some pics in the slide show following. (Just click on the slideshow at any time to see the pictures in greater detail.)



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Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 - 1680)

Church of the Annunciation, Ilion NY
I'm going back over my summer vacation photos. While on vacation in Vermont I took the opportunity of driving over to Ilion in New York State to visit another English priest abroad, like me of the Southwark archdiocese, Father Anthony Barratt. Fr Anthony has been pastor of the Annunciation Parish at Ilion in the diocese of Albany for some six years. He is also Dean of Herkimer County and lectures on various theological subjects.

Interior of the church.

Prior to that he was Vice Rector of St John's Seminary, Wonersh. So we were staff members of the seminary at the same time. Father Anthony celebrated 25 years of priesthood towards the end of July.



Some of the parish team after morning coffee.



Fr Anthony, yours truly, and a retired priest who lives nearby. I'm afraid I cannot now recall his name but he struck me very much by the warmth of his welcome, his evident holiness and dedication to the people in hearing confessions, and not treting retirement as a time off from priesthood, always celebrating or concelebrating Mass daily.

Well, none of this has much to do with Blessed Kateri, except that about 40 miles East of Ilion along the Mohawk River is the National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, NY, where she was baptised. You can read Kateri's story here.


She is a remarkable young saint who paid the cost of being a disciple of Christ in having to leave her homeland to join a settlement of Christian Indians in Canada. I blogged about her earlier this summer.


  A board explains a little of the history of the site.



 A candle chapel where people can leave votive candles burning for their intentions before a statue of Blessed Kateri.
 
 Exterior of the main shrine church.

If you plan to visit, go straight upstairs to the church, unless you are really interested in some Indian history in which case you can visit the museum downstairs. To be honest I did not find if of much interest.

 Interior of the shrine church.
The church has a Kateri chapel at the back with devotional items, presumably left by the faithful:

Of interest are some depictions of her life painted on the beams of the roof.


  1675: Fr James DeLamberville SJ visits Kateri at Fonda.
 
 Baptism of Blessed Kateri on Easter Sunday (April 5th) 1676


1676: Kateri refuses forced marriage.

 1677: Blessed Kateri flees to a village of Christian Indians at Caughnawaga, Canada

Prayer for the Canonisation of Blessed Kateri:
O God, who among the many marvels of your grace in the new world did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and the St Lawrence the pure and tender lily Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech you, the favor we beg through her intercession, that this young lover of Jesus and of his cross may soon be counted among her Saints by the Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Turning leaves - Fall in the UP

The leaves are turning. This tree is directly across the road from my rooms. Just find the colour of it amazing.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Men's Ministry Apologetics Course



Apologetics - the art of defending the faith and giving a reasoned explanation for the faith. That's what the men who have joined the Saturday morning Apologetics Course at St Peter's Cathedral seek to acquire.


Coffee and donuts are available before the meeting which starts at 8.45am and lasts about an hour and a quarter.

The course follows a series published by San Juan Catholic Seminars.

Today's first session gave practical points concerning Bible reading and how to engage with others - Protestants - who may wish to discuss the Catholic faith. Charity was a key word.

Interestingly, the course says that one must always insist right at the beginning on dicussing the Eucharist in the light of Jn 6, Lk 22:17-20, 1 Cor. 10:14-17, Mk 14:22-24, Lk 24:30-35, 1 Cor. 11:23-29, Mt 26:26-28. We also looked at the writings of some of the early ecclesiastical writers and their description of the celebration of the Mass and their faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. These writings were given even before the Canon of Scripture was set by the Church. With these references to Scripture and the Fathers, one has an immediate opportunity to engage with one's Protestant interlocutor on the Church's scripturally based belief in the Eucharist. It is difficult if not impossible to deny that the faith of the early Church was clearly that Jesus is really and substantially present in the Eucharist, i.e. that the Lord is present by transubstantiion, and that Protestant theories such as trans-signification are not in keeping with Christ's teaching.

It was refreshing to note the men's obvious desire to learn their faith for their own sakes and to be able to pass it on to others. An interesting discussion took place concerning current developments in the liturgy in the Church, from reverence for the Eucharist to the hymns we use. But that shall remain within the group for the time being!

May God bless abundantly this latest initiative at forming men as lay apostles for the New Evangelisation.

From Our Own Correspondent reflects on Pope Benedict's visit to the UK



The programme, broadcast on the BBC World Service this morning, starts painting a negative picture but reveals how positively the Papal Visit resulted. Listen again here. The piece on the Pope comes first.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Ordinariate for former Anglicans by October 9th?

The Catholic Herald carries two reports concerning developments on the Anglican Ordinariate question. Things would appear to be more advanced than is commonly known.

In his address to the Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland on the final day of his visit to the UK, Pope Benedict told them that the Ordinariates allowed for under his Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus

should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute postitively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all.


According to one of the Catholic Herald reports, the anglo-catholic Bishop Burnham has written a series of pastoral letters on the subject, preparing the people under his pastoral care for the eventuality of anglican clergy and laity 'coming over' to Rome by means of the Ordinariate.

October 9th, being the feast of the Blessed John Henry Newman, is hinted as a possible date for the erection of the first Ordinariate. Things would already need to be at an advanced stage of development for this to happen so soon.

But let's pray that one of the fruits of Pope Benedict's visit will be some movement on this important step to unity in the Church.

In the United States of American, according to another report in the same Catholic Herald, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington DC is the delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who will oversee the establishment of an ordinariate in the US and to guide the incorporation of anglicans groups into the Catholic Church.


The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops website carries an official statement.

Things are moving!

Brother St Andre Besette - God's Doorman

A quick post about an upcoming movie on this wonderful saint, devoted to St Joseph.



He is especially venerated at the shrine of St Joseph in Montreal.

Canon Morrow, great pro-life priest, dies

Following my previous post, Fr Morrow has gone to his eternal reward.

Thanks to Terry for drawing my attention to this article in the HeraldScotland.

May he rest in peace.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Our cups are overflowing!

One of my former parishioners has written of last week's visit of Pope Benedict to the UK:

Yes, it was a wonderful two days, both in Hyde Park and Cofton Park. I have still to come down to earth. The sheer joy of all those present, the numbers of young people there, especially at Hyde Park, where the average age seemed to be 25-35, and of course international catholic pilgrims everywhere, who now make up such a vibrant, new and rich part of the church in our country.

The depth of the love for the Holy Father was palpable everywhere, the pride in being Catholics, the cheers and applause; but most poignantly of all, the silences. In Hyde Park, during Exposition, not a sound was to be heard amongst 80,000 pilgrims, with the giant television screens just showing the Blessed Sacrament in the Monstrance. The silence too at Cofton Park, as we waited for the Mass to begin, and as the rain stopped coming down.

The images of the Holy Father in Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall, and the huge crowds on the Mall and elsewhere, were so moving.

I had suggested to non Catholics who had asked about the visit before it happened, to listen to what the Pope said, and to be prepared to be surprised. What an incredibly consistent, clear, uplifting and humbling message he had.

I read somewhere that the politicians are now wanting to capitatlise on the "Benedict Bounce!"

I shall never forget it.the visit for as long as I live. All our prayers were answered. Our cups are overflowing!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Hike around Sugar Loaf Mountain

For my day off today I decided to explore some of the trails around Marquette. I walked up (or climbed) Sugar Loaf Mountain and then across to Hogback Mountain, through beautiful forest and down to Wetmore Landing. The return to my car involved a second ascent up Sugar Loaf Mountain (I could have walked back along the road but that would have been rather boring.)

Splendid views, and the leaves are beginning to turn as Autumn/Fall approaches. The colours are beautiful.

Some photos (click on the slideshow for larger pics):



Anatomy of a Murder



Having watched this great 1959 movie the other day, I decided to check out some of the scenes as the movie was filmed on location here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The scene of the murder was the Thunderbay Inn located in Big Bay, about 27 miles from Marquette, where I go to celebrate Mass most weekends. The Inn, and also St Mary's Church, feature in the movie.

St Mary's Church, Big Bay, which is served from here at the Cathedral

The Thuderbay Inn

I had also completed quite an energetic hike and needed some refreshment, so a visit to the Thunderbay Inn was more than a movie 'pilgrimage'.

Inside the Thurderbay Inn

There weren't many customers! But it was nice and friendly - went for their 'special': barbecued chicken sandwich with tomato, salad and choice of side dish. I suprised myself by getting through two tumblers of Pepsi - was pretty thirsty after the hike.


Tavern named after the movie

The court scene takes place in Marquette (named Iron something-or-other in the film), the courthouse being located on W. Baraga Ave, right where I am currently living. The Cathedral appears in a couple of scenes as does the old dock at the bottom of the street on Lake Superior.

The Court House on W. Baraga Ave.

View down W. Baraga Ave. to Lake Superior from outside the Courthouse

View up W. Baraga Ave looking towards St Peter Cathedral from outside the Courthouse

It's a great movie - watch it if you haven't.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Seminarians give witness on BBC Radio

Three of our English Seminarians were interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live. Listen to them here (probably for a limited period of time). Their interview takes up most of the first half hour of the programme.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The BBC and the Papal Visit



Here in the US, I have availed of the BBC News website that provided full coverage of the papal visit, making use of the official feed from the Papal Visit website (presumably provided by the Vatican) and their own cameras and commentators.

My overall impression: BRILLIANT JOB.

You can watch the BBC's Highlights of the Papal Visit here. It is beautifully accompanied by Praise to the Holiest.

Of course they presented something of the protests, and also covered the issue of the abuse scandal. But overall they were informed and sought the commentary of competent Catholic laity and clergy.

The presenters also allowed themselves to be caught up by the atmosphere of the occasion. Notably this afternoon, the lady covering the Pope's visit to the seminarians at Oscott was clearly overwhelmed by the love (she hesitated to use the word) that the future priests of the Catholic Church manifested towards the Holy Father. Far from a Church demoralised and weighed down by scandal, or irrelevant, she and other presenters witnessed  and reported a Church alive and whose members are a significant section of the population of Britain.

Being abroad I do not get to see other programmes put out by the BBC or other channels. I daresay there will be analysis, some of which will be negative. But as for the actual coverage of the events, they were excellent.

By the way, when people go on about the cost to the taxpayer, Catholics are taxpayers too

The Beatification of John Henry Newman



The goal of Pope Benedict's pilgrimage to Britain was Cofton Park for the Beatification of John Henry Newman. I was up at 5am ET to watch it live via the internet, thanks to BBC News and the Papal Visit website. It was, again, wonderful to see a good turnout and such a dignified liturgy.


Liturgical comment: the Pope's normal practice of having the seven candles on the altar appears not to have been adhered to, neither in Bellahouston Park nor in Cofton Park.


As well as to his intellectual legacy:

“I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.

Deacon Jack Sullivan, who was cured through the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman, proclaims the Gospel.

Pope Benedict referred to Blessed John Henry's dedication as a pastor of souls:
He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here.

Priests take the opportunity to venerate a relic of Blessed John Henry after the Mass.

Another Confessor raised to the altars, a patron of the formation of the laity? and of parish priests?

Pope Benedict bids farewell to Deacon Sullivan before departing for the Birmingham Oratory.

Pope Benedict's homily courtesy of the Catholic Herald.

This day that has brought us together here in Birmingham is a most auspicious one. In the first place, it is the Lord’s day, Sunday, the day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and changed the course of human history for ever, offering new life and hope to all who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. That is why Christians all over the world come together on this day to give praise and thanks to God for the great marvels he has worked for us. This particular Sunday also marks a significant moment in the life of the British nation, as it is the day chosen to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. For me as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion, and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology. My thoughts go in particular to nearby Coventry, which suffered such heavy bombardment and massive loss of life in November 1940. Seventy years later, we recall with shame and horror the dreadful toll of death and destruction that war brings in its wake, and we renew our resolve to work for peace and reconciliation wherever the threat of conflict looms. Yet there is another, more joyful reason why this is an auspicious day for Great Britain, for the Midlands, for Birmingham. It is the day that sees Cardinal John Henry Newman formally raised to the altars and declared Blessed.

I thank Archbishop Bernard Longley for his gracious welcome at the start of Mass this morning. I pay tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman, including the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and the members of the Spiritual Family Das Werk. And I greet everyone here from Great Britain, Ireland, and further afield; I thank you for your presence at this celebration, in which we give glory and praise to God for the heroic virtue of a saintly Englishman.

England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries. Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognise today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands, St Bede, St Hilda, St Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has born rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God’s people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.

Cardinal Newman’s motto, cor ad cor loquitur, or “Heart speaks unto heart”, gives us an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his many fine sermons, “A habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency – prayer, I say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualising and elevating the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually… he has imbibed a new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles” (Parochial and Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231). Today’s Gospel tells us that no one can be the servant of two masters (cf Lk 16:13), and Blessed John Henry’s teaching on prayer explains how the faithful Christian is definitely taken into the service of the one true Master, who alone has a claim to our unconditional devotion (cf Mt 23:10). Newman helps us to understand what this means for our daily lives: he tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to each one of us, a “definite service”, committed uniquely to every single person: “I have my mission,” he wrote, “I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place… if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling” (Meditations and Devotions, 301-2).

The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing “subjects of the day”. His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilised society, and into the need for a broadly based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic university in Ireland provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.

While it is John Henry Newman’s intellectual legacy that has understandably received most attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor of souls. The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: “Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathised with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides, and have led you on from your own selves into a new life, as they can who come from the midst of you” (“Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel”, Discourses to Mixed Congregations, 3). He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here. One hundred and twenty years later, great crowds have assembled, great crowds have assembled once again to rejoice in the Church’s solemn recognition of the outstanding holiness of this much-loved father of souls. What better way to express the joy of this moment than by turning to our heavenly Father in heartfelt in heartfelt thanksgiving, praying in the words that Blessed John Henry Newman placed on the lips of the choirs of angels in heaven:

Praise to the Holiest in the height
And in the depth be praise;
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways!

Palpable warmth of Prime Minister's farewell speech.



As the Catholic Herald so aptly reports:

David Cameron has told Pope Benedict XVI in a powerful farewell speech that his visit had made Britain “sit up and think”.

The Prime Minister said to the Pope: “You have spoken to a nation of six million Catholics, but you have been heard by a nation of over 60 million citizens.”

He cited the Pope’s speech in Westminster Hall on Friday, saying that “faith is not a problem for legislators to solve but rather a vital part of our national conversation”.

He said the Pope’s lesson for Britons had been “to follow our conscience, to ask not what are my entitlements, but what are my responsibilities; to ask not what we can do for ourselves, but what we can do for others”.

Mr Cameron also appeared to link the Pope’s message to the Big Society, referring to a “new culture of social responsibility that we want to build in Britain”.

“People of faith are great architects of that culture,” he said. “For many faith is a spur to action… Faith is part of the fabric of our country: it always has been and it always will be.”

The Prime Minister said he looked forward to “ever closer co-operation” with the Holy See on issues such as climate change and development.

He said the Pope had made Britain “sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing”. “Your presence here has been a great honour for our country,” he said. “It has left us with strong and positive memories.”

Mr Cameron described Britain as a country that “cherishes faith” and that is also “deeply and quietly compassionate”.

“I see that compassion in the incredible response to the floods in Pakistan, in the spirit of community in countless good deeds done for friends and neighbours every day. I see this compassion and generosity in the many, many kind messages I have had as I cradled a new daughter and said goodbye to a father.”

In his own farewell speech Pope Benedict thanked Mr Cameron and said he hoped his visit would help strengthen relations between Britain and the Holy See – “especially in co-operation for international development, in care for the natural environment, and in the building of a civil society with a renewed sense of shared values and common purpose”.

He said finally: “As I take my leave of you, let me assure you once again of my good wishes and prayers for the peace and prosperity of Great Britain. Thank you very much and God bless you all!”

Comment: this "deeply and quietly compassionate" nation murders 600+ of its citizens every day.

An unfortunate omission from Pope Benedict's address to the Bishops?



What was it? Abortion - a veritable holocaust in the UK, the abortion capital of the world. Maybe the Holy Father had some private words about these matters and wanted to keep the public statements cordial.

There can be no doubt that, from all the teachings the Holy Father gave while in the UK, one can very clearly discern his insistance on preaching the fullness of the truth for which the human heart and mind is made. Indeed, in his address to the bishops today, he said:
As you proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, with its promise of hope for the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected, be sure to present in its fullness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespeard assumptions of today’s culture.
He is therefore inviting the Bishops - and all of us - to be bold in going against the relativistic environment in which we live and to proclaim the absolute sanctity of every human being.

In his address to parliamentarians and people of influence at Westminster Hall, Pope Benedict posed a key question when he said:
And yet the fundamental questions at stake in Thomas More’s trial continue to present themselves in ever-changing terms as new social conditions emerge. Each generation, as it seeks to advance the common good, must ask anew: what are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse. If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy.

Throughout his visit, the Pope clearly had in mind the wider audience of the British people, trying to show them that the Church - and religion more widely - can point to the higher and eternal values that should direct us and in which each human being will find his/her true fulfilment. He always spoke in such a loving, understated, disarming and appealing manner. Whereas the Pope endeared people by his love and wisdom, the hateful protestors appeared vile and repulsive.


Yet those who labour in the pro-life movement, many of them surrounded by great forces of evil and darkness, might have been much encouraged had there been some more explicit reference to this most fundamental of issues. It is clear that in this, as in so many areas, Christians cannot continue with business as usual as the Pope said so eloquently yesterday in Hyde Park.

In that same address the Holy Father told the gathered assembly:
Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person.

Pro-lifers would be so much encouraged if they knew that their Pastors considered their work to be at the heart of the work of bringing the kindly light of Christ into the doom that encircles us.

In speaking to the bishops before his departure, the Holy Father encouraged them to make use of the services of the recently established Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation of countries of long-standing Christian tradition. It is somewhat unfortunate that the President of this Council, formerly President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, is an Archbishop who considers abortion to be a valid moral option in certain circumstances (see here, here) and who so effectively undermined the local Archbishop who upheld the Church's teaching and discipline on this matter.

Just some thoughts about an otherwise wonderful Papal Visit.


Pope Benedict addresses the Bishops

Before departing for Rome the Pope address the Bishops of the two hierarchies of Scotland and of England and Wales.

He encouraged the bishops to

be sure to present in its fullness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespeard assumptions of today’s culture.

Among other things Pope Benedict also refers to the Ecclesial Movements which have charisms for evangelisation and to the new translation of the Roman Missal and his hope that it will contribute to renewed revence in the celebration of the Holy Mass.

It would seem that the particular matter he wanted to emphasise concerned the admission of Anglicans into the Communion of the Catholic Church by means of Ordinariates made possible by his Motu Proprio Anglicanorum coetibus which, the Holy Father said,

should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute postitively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all.

Let us await developments.

The full text of the Holy Father's address can be found at the Catholic Herald and is reproduced here in full:

My dear brother bishops,

This has been a day of great joy for the Catholic community in these islands. Blessed John Henry Newman, as we may now call him, has been raised to the altars as an example of heroic faithfulness to the Gospel and an intercessor for the Church in this land that he loved and served so well. Here in this very chapel in 1852, he gave voice to the new confidence and vitality of the Catholic community England and Wales after the restoration of the hierarchy, and his words could be applied equally to Scotland a quarter of a century later. His beatification today is a reminder of the Holy Spirit’s continuing action in calling forth gifts of holiness from among the people of Great Britain, so that from east to west and from north to south, a perfect offering of praise and thanksgiving may be made to the glory of God’s name.

In thank Cardinal O’Brien and Archbishop Nichols for their words, and in so doing, I am reminded how recently I was able to welcome all of you to Rome for the ad limina visits of your respective episcopal conferences. We spoke about some of the challenges you face as you lead your people in faith, particularly regarding the urgen need to proclaim the Gospel afresh in a highly secularised environment. In the course of my visit it has become clear to me how deep a thirst there is among the British people for the Good News of Jesus Christ. You have been chosen by God to offer them the living water the Gospel, encouraging them to place their hopes, not in the vain enticements of this world, but in the firm assurances of the next. As you proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, with its promise of hope or the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected, be sure to present in its fullness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespeard assumptions of today’s culture. As you know, a Pontifical Council has recently been established for the New Evangelisation of countries of long-standing Christian tradition, and I would encourage you to avail yourselves of its services in addressing the task before you. Moreover, many of the new ecclesial movements have a particular charism for evangelisation, and I know that you will continue to explore appropriate and effective ways of involving them in the mission of the Church.

Since your visit to Rome, political changes in the United Kingdom have focused attention on the consequences of the financial crisis, which has caused so much hardship to countless individuals and families. The spectre of unemployment is casting its shadow over many people’s lives, and the long-term cost of the ill-advised investment practices of recent times is becoming all too evident. In these circumstances, there will be additional calls on the characteristic generosity of British Catholics and I know that you will take lead in calling for solidarity with those in need. The prophetic voice of Christians has an important role in hightlighting the needs of the poor and disadvantages, who can so easily be overlooked in the allocation of limited resources. In their teaching document Choosing the Common Good, the Bishops of England and Wales underlined the importance of the practice of virtue in public life. Today’s circumstances provide a good opportunity to reinforce that message and indeed to encourage people to aspire to higher moral values in every area of their lives, against a background of growing cynicism regarding even the possibility of virtuous living.

Another matter which has received much attention in recent months, and which seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders, is the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests and religious. I have spoken on many occasions of the deep wounds that such behaviour causes, in the victims first and foremost, but also in the relationships of trust that should exist between priests and people, between priests and their bishops, and between the Church authorities and the public. I know that you have taken serious steps to remedy this this situation, to ensure that children are effectively protected from harm and to deal properly and transparently with allegations as they areise. You have publicly acknowledged your deep regret over what has happened and the often inadequate way to was addressed in the past. YOU growing awareness of the extent of child abuse in society in devastating effects, and the need to provide proper victim support should serve as incentive to share to lessons you have learned with the wider community. Indeed, what better way could there be of making reparation for these sins than by reaching out, in a humble spirit of compassion, towards children who continue to suffer abuse elsewhere? Our duty of care towards the young demands nothing less.

As we reflect on the human fraility that these tragic events so starkly reveal, we are reminded that, if we are to be effective Christian leares, we must live lives of the utmoust intergrity, humility and holiness. As Blessed John Henry Newman once wrote: “’O that God would grant the clergy to feel their weakness as sinful men and the people to sympathise with them and love them and pray for their increase in all good gifts of grace’ (sermon, 22 March 1829). I pray that among the graces of this visit will be a renewed dedication on the part of Christian leaders to the prophetic vocations will then arise spontaneously, and we may be confident that the Lord will respond by sending labourers to bring in the plentiful harvest that he prepared throughout the United Kingdom (cf Mt 9:37-38) . In this regard, I am glad that I will shortly have the opportunity to meet the seminarians of England, Scotland and Wales, and to assure them of my prayers as they prepare to play their part in bringing in that harvest.

Finally, I should like to speak to you about two specific matters that affect your Episcopal ministry at this time. One is the imminent publication of the new translation of the Roman Missal. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the contribution you have made, with such painstaking care, to the collegial exercise of reviewing and approving the texts. This has provided an immense service to Catholics throughout the English-speaking world. I encourage you now to seize the opportunity that the new translation offers for in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist and renewed devotion in the manner of it’s celebration. ‘The more lively the Eucharistic faith of the people of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples.’ (Sacramentum Caritatis, 6). The other matter I touched upon in February with the Bishops of England and Wales, when I asked you to be generous in implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute postitively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all. Let us continue to pray and work unceasingly in order to hasten the joyful day when the goal can be accomplished.

With these sentiments, I thank you warmly for you hospitality over the past four days. Commending all you and the people you serve to the intercession of Saint Andrew, Saint David and Saint George, I am pleased to impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to all the clergy, religious and lay faithful of England, Scotland and Wales.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Wonderful Vigil at Hyde Park with Pope Benedict

The Monstrance being placed upon the altar by Deacon Gerard Hatton (a former student of mine).

The Papal Visit to the UK is exceeding all expectations. A huge crowd participated in the prayerful Vigil. The moments of silence during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - including on BBC News TV - were truly moving.

The Pope said Christians cannot go on with 'business as usual'. He spoke of Newman's coversion as both a spiritual and an intellectual experience, in other words an experience of faith and reason. He said:
In our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself ‘the way, and the truth and the life’.

Pope Benedict seemed once again to express the hope that amongst his listeners there might be some saints called to renew the Church and the world:

We know that in times of crisis and upheaval God has raised up great saint and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society; we trust in providence and we pray for his continued guidance. But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person. As our Lord tells us in the Gospel we have just heard, our light must shine in the sight of all, so that, on seeing our good works, they may give praise to our heavenly Father.

The Holy Father also addressed the young people about the definite service to which God is calling each one of them.

Be open to his voice resounding in the depths of your heart: even now his heart is speaking to your heart. Christ has need of families to remind the world of the dignity of human love and the beauty of family life. He needs men and women who devote their lives to the noble task of education, tending the young and forming them in the ways of the Gospel. He needs those who will consecrate their lives to the pursuit of perfect charity, following him in chastity, poverty and obedience, and serving him in the least of our brothers and sisters. He needs the powerful love of contemplative religious, who sustain the Church’s witness and activity through their constant prayer. And he needs priests, good and holy priests, men who are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep. Ask our Lord what he has in mind for you. Ask him for the generosity to say ‘yes’! Do not be afraid to give yourself totally to Jesus. He will give youthe grace you need to fulfil your vocation.

Here's the full homily, once again courtesy of the Catholic Herald.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is an evening of joy, of immense spiritual joy, for all of us. We are gathered here in prayerful vigil to prepare for tomorrow’s Mass, during which a great son of this nation. Cardinal John Henry Newman, will be declared Blessed. How many people, in England and throughout the world, have longed for this moment! It is also a great joy for me, personally, to share this experience with you. As you know, Newman has long been an important influence in my own life and thought, as he has been for so many people beyond these isles. The drama of Newman’s life invites us to examine our lives, to see them against the vast horizon of God’s plan and to grow in communion with the Church of every time and place: the Church of the apostles, the Church of the martyrs, the Church of the saints, the Church which Newman and to whose mission he devoted his entire life.

I thank Archbishop Peter Smith for his kind words of welcome in your name, and I am especially pleased to see the many young people who are present for this vigil. This evening, in context of our common prayer, I would like to reflect with you about a few aspects of Newman’s life which I consider very relevant to our lives as believers and to the life of the Church today.

Let me begin by recalling that Newman, by his own account, traced the course of his whole life back to a powerful experience of a conversion which he had as young man. It was an immediate experience of the truth of God’s word, of the objective reality of Christian revelation as handed down in the Church. This experience, at once religious and intellectual, who would inspire his vocation to be a minister fo the Gospel, his discernment of the source of authoritative teaching in the Churh of God and his zeal for the renewal of ecclesial life in fidelity to the apostolic tradition. At the end of his life, Newman would describe his life’s work as a struggle against the growing tendency to view religion as a purely private and subjective matter, a question of personal opinion. Here is the first lesson we can learn from his life: in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself ‘the way, and the truth and the life’.

Newman’s life also teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. The truth sets that sets us free cannot be kept to ourselves; it calls for testimony, it begs to be hear, and in the end its convincing power comes from itself and not from the human eloquence or arguments in which it may be couched. Not far from here, at Tyburn, great numbers of our brothers and sisters died for the faith; the witness of their fidelity to the end was ever more powerful than the inspired words that so many of them spoke before surrendering everything to the Lord. In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society.

Finally, Newman teaches us that if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his Kingdom, Newman understood this, and was the great champion of the prophetic office of the Christian laity. He saw clearly that we do not so much accept the truth in a purely intellectual act as embrace it in a spiritual dynamic that penetrates to the core of our being. Truth is passed on not merely by formal teaching, important as it is, but also by the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness; those who live in and by the truth instinctively recognise what is false and precisely as false, inimical to the beauty and goodness which accompany the splendour of truth, veritatis splendor.

Tonight’s first reading is the magnificent prayer in which Saint Paul asks that we be granted to know ‘the love of Christ which surpasses all understanding’. The Apostle prays that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith and that we may come to ‘grasp, with all the saints, the breadth and the length, the height and depth’ of that love. Through faith we come to see God’s word as a lamp for our steps and light for our path. Newman, like the countless saints who preceded him along the path of Christian discipleship, taught that the ‘kindly light’ of faith leads us to realise the truth about ourselves, our dignity as God’s children and the sublime destiny which awaits us in heaven. By letting the light of faith shine in our hearts, and by abiding in that light through our daily union with the Lord in prayer and participation in the life-giving sacraments of the Church, we ourselves become light to those around us; we exercise our ‘prophetic office’; often without even knowing it, we draw people one step closer to the Lord and his truth. Without the life of prayer, without the interior transformation which takes place through the grace of the sacraments, we cannot, in Newman’s words, ‘radiate Christ’; we become just another ‘clashing cymval’ in a world filled with growing noise and confusion, filled with false paths leading only to heartbreak and illusion.

One of the Cardinal’s best-loved meditations includes the words, ‘God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another’. Gere we see Newman’s fine Christian realism, the point at which faith and life inevitably intersect Faith is meant to bear fruit in the transformation of our world through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives and activity of believers. No one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken our society, or simply trusting that patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society. We know that in times of crisis and upheaval God has raised up great saint and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society; we trust in providence and we pray for his continued guidance. But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person. As our Lord tells us in the Gospel we have just heard, our light must shine in the sight of all, so that, on seeing our good works, they may give praise to our heavenly Father.

Here I wish to say a special word to the many young people present. Dear young friends: only Jesus knows what definite service he has in mind for you. Be open to his voice resounding in the depths of your heart: even now his heart is speaking to your heart. Christ has need of families to remind the world of the dignity of human love and the beauty of family life. He needs men and women who devote their lives to the noble task of education, tending the young and forming them in the ways of the Gospel. He needs those who will consecrate their lives to the pursuit of perfect charity, following him in chastity, poverty and obedience, and serving him in the least of our brothers and sisters. He needs the powerful love of contemplative religious, who sustain the Church’s witness and activity through their constant prayer. And he needs priests, good and holy priests, men who are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep. Ask our Lord what he has in mind for you. Ask him for the generosity to say ‘yes’! Do not be afraid to give yourself totally to Jesus. He will give youthe grace you need to fulfil your vocation. Let me finish these few words by warmly inviting you to join me next year in Madrid for World Youth Day. It is always a wonderful occasion to grow in love for Christ and to encouraged in a joyful life of faith along with thousands of other young people. I hope to see many of you there!

And now, dear friends, let us continue our vigil of prayer by preparing to encounter Christ, resent among us in the in Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Together, in the silence of our common adoration, let us open our minds and hearts to his presence, his love, the convincing power of his truth. In a special way, let us thank him for the enduring witness to that truth offered by Cardinal John Henry Newman. Trusting in his prayers, let us ask the Lord to illumine our path, and the path of all British society, with the kindly light of his truth, his love and his peace.

Amen.

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