What conscience dreads and what prayer does not dare to ask

The priest is given much freedom in selecting the prayers for the weekday Masses. He can repeat the prayers from the previous Sunday or choose prayers from any of the Sundays in Ordinary Time, or even celebrate a Votive Mass.

I tend to repeat the prayers of the preceding Sunday. In this way, the Sunday Mass is somehow extended throughout the week, and the prayers sink deeper into the heart as they are repeated.

This week's Collect might seem a bit of a mouthful but what it expresses is truly profound:

Almighty ever-living God,
who in the abundance of your kindness
surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you,
pour out your mercy upon us
to pardon what conscience dreads
and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.

This prayer is one of true release. There are probably dark areas in all our consciences that we would rather not open up. Yet in prayer, before God, we need have no fear. We may dread to face up to things - sometimes great things, more often the small embarrassing things - but we may be confident in the Lord as he pours forth his mercy upon us.

What might we not dare ask for in prayer? All sorts of things. But perhaps, also, for the grace to truly respond to God's call to discipleship, to abandon whatever holds us back, to say "Yes" even though we may doubt our ability. Or perhaps we fear to embrace the Lord's will fully. With the Lord's mercy, all things are possible.

The Prayer after Communion is similarly beautiful:

Grant us, almighty God,
that we may be refreshed and nourished
by the Sacrament which we have received,
so as to be transformed into what we consume.

It is this "divinization" that is made possible by the Incarnation. The Divine Food that we eat at Communion is not changed into us. We are changed into It. We truly are invited to become what we eat.

The witness of the Roman collar

The following from my 40 Days for Life friends arrived in my inbox recently:

We’ve been out there every day for the last 13 days doing what we do ─ with nothing to show for it ─ except to offer up our prayers and effort to God – until today!

The Roman Collar carries deep meaning for many, almost always evoking a reaction of some sort.  It is a sign of God’s chosen ones to a pastoral ministry.  It evokes emotion, respect, and hopefully turns one’s thoughts to Jesus Christ.  Today, Father Yamid Blanco joined us on the sidewalks with two of his parishioners from St. Francis Borgia – Cedarburg.  All priests have an open invitation to join us at any time – but they are human, just like us!  Most normal people just don’t wake up and say, “I think I’ll go down to the abortion mill to pray today.”  Most people who show up down here were personally invited – me included.  To say I like having priests join us in this spiritual battle is AN UNDERSTATEMENT!  We prayed, talked, counseled and then prayed some more.  Murphy’s Law took effect and they left just before things really started happening on the sidewalks of Farwell.  Here’s what took place.

I was counseling Natasia as she left the abortion mill.  I was asking her all the usual questions – How are you doing – Are you going to be ok – How is your baby doing – all of that.  At 12:06pm, Natasia shared with me that she wasn’t going through with the abortion.  I asked her, “What changed your mind?”  She said, “I just didn’t want to go through the procedure – it kindof’ scared me.”  I said, “Well, it’s a good thing you listened to your God-given intuition – this is a dangerous place.”  Just as I was telling her about the Women’s Care Center, another pair of women walked came outside and walked right between Natasia and me, saying, “Are their services still free – even though we came here first?”  I didn’t want to be rude to Natasia, so I backed up a bit and started talking to all of them and said, “Yes, of course they are!  Free today, tomorrow, next week – get over there and see for yourself!  Why don’t all of you go over there together, right now?!” I asked them what was going on, and they too shared with me that they were going to keep their baby.  Now, I was really curious, so I asked them as well, “What made you change your mind?”  They said, “We saw that young priest when we came in.  We were raised Catholic, but don’t really go to church anymore.  He made us think about what we were about to do.”  I said, “Really?!  What did Father Yamid say to you that made you change your mind?”  She replied, “He didn’t say anything!  He was just standing there praying the rosary with the blonde lady and her kid.”  Still curious, I said, “Did Tobey, the blonde lady, say anything to you?”  She replied, “Yeah, she did, but it was mostly seeing the priest – he looked so happy.”  I then told them what parish he was at if they ever wanted to talk to him someday.  They said, “Cool, thanks!”

If you’ve ever witnessed Tobey at work down here, you know just how focused she is – an excellent sidewalk counselor.  As excellent she is, she was trumped by a man of the cloth, who did nothing more than stand there and pray with his Roman collar in full view.  I’ve always known that someday a priest would be the reason someone turned away from abortion down here at the mill – and today it happened.  All praise, honor and glory be to Jesus Christ!  Thanks, Jesus!  Thanks, Father Yamid!  Thanks, Tobey!  Thanks, Creed!  Thanks, John!  Thanks, Jim!  Thanks, Tom!  Thanks, Missionaries to the PreBorn!  That’s right!  With Christ working through only seven people today, two lives were spared!

Tobey’s love for Christ really shines through in everything she does.  Join her and 2,500 other women from all over Wisconsin at the Women of Christ conference on November 3rd, 2012.  It is always a very moving, faith-filled day.  Get your tickets early – the last few years have ALWAYS sold out! 

TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN babies have been saved from abortion – that we know of!  Here are the running totals:  133-211-1.  133 saved during the last four 40DFL campaigns, 211 total since 8.3.2010 – and one post-abortive mom saved from suicide through this ministry.

See you out there.

Through Christ,

Dan Miller
40 Days for Life

The Priest and his Breviary

Now the Divine Office is an entering into the prayer of Christ; it is a putting-on of the prayer of Christ; it is an identification with the prayer of Christ; it is an abiding in the Vine. Therefore, when the priest opens his Breviary, he 'enters into' the prayer of Christ in a much more real way than a monk, coming into choir where the office is being sung, 'enters-in' to the prayer of the community. It is the prayer of Christ that the priest is praying. Christ is praying in him; he is praying in Christ. He is praying in the name of Christ and in the name of each of His members.

Eugene Boylan, The Spiritual Life of the Priest

Bishop Moth appeals for prayer for vocations to Military Chaplaincy

 Bishop Richard Moth is Bishop of the Forces in Great Britain. He writes:

For the majority of Dioceses in the United Kingdom, prayer for vocations is a key theme of daily Catholic life. The Bishopric of the Forces is no exception. There is a real shortage of chaplains in all three of our Armed Services.

His Pastoral Letter is to be read in service communities. It is a short and succinct Pastoral Letter that would bear reading in all parish communities in Britain. Maybe a priest would feel moved to offer himself for this important ministry. Bishop Moth has asked that this prayer be said:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
instil in the hearts of priests
the desire to dedicate
their lives to you as chaplains
to our Armed Services.
Give them wisdom and strength,
to hear your call.
Give courage and compassion
to those who serve you as Forces Chaplains.
May their hearts be filled
with zeal and love of you
so that your name
may be better known and loved,
for your live and reign
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Sound advice from Gamaliel

Gamaliel I with students from New World Encyclopedia

At Mass today we heard (Acts 5:34-42) this wise advice from Gamaliel, "a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin..., a teacher of the law, respected by all the people", concerning the apostles:

If this endeavor of this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.

Gamaliel was the great teacher of Saul, who set out to persecute the Christians of Damascus but who himself encountered the once dead but now risen Lord.

Gamaliel referred to two earlier movements that had risen and fallen. One was promoted by a man named Theudas who gained about four hundred followers. But once he was killed they disbanded and the movement came to nothing. The other was started by Judas the Galilean. He also gained followers but once he was killed, "all who were loyal to him were scattered."

And so we have the followers of a supposedly dead Jesus. Surely they would disband and scatter too, if what Jesus started was simply another troublesome group like the other two.

We know that the Church still stands. It has not been destroyed, in spite of attempts from those from outside who would wish to suppress it, and those from within who would seek to divide it.

We too must always ensure that we look upon the Church as coming from God. It is not ours to do what we want with. The Gospel of today's Mass (Jn 6:1-15) speaks of the twelve baskets of fragments from the five barley loaves. Twelve baskets for each of the twelve apostles and their successors from which they are able to feed the flock that comes after them. The Bishops have been entrusted with the deposit of the faith. It is an awesome responsibility with which they have been entrusted, the faithful handing down of the Word through their teaching. And we (laity - consecrated or not; deacons and priests) who are not Bishops must ensure that we think with the mind of God, that our initiatives do not have as their origin a human way of thinking but that they be - as far as we can be sure - from God.

Any initiative in a parish, any changes that might be seen necessary, must be subjected to this question: is this from man or is it from God? We do not have any right to think that we, who live in April 2010, own our parish. We hold it in trust for the generations that will, hopefully, come after us. This can also be a way of discernment when there is potential for division in a community. What is the more divine way of proceeding now? Is it to insist on my position, to be so convinced that I am right that I will not climb down? Or is it better to concede a point, to compromise, to let others have the day, and thus preserve a greater good of unity and harmony.

Naturally, there can be no compromise on sin, or the defined truths of our faith. But often, whether it be in a parish or in a family or some other enterprise, people get hung up on little things, when a little bit of give and take would be the more divine way of acting.

And how do we get into the habit of a more God-like way of thinking and acting? Becoming men and women of prayer. Spending time in quiet prayer, particularly before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, will help us distinguish the human from the divine.

PS: the New World Encyclopedia gives this interesting comment on Gamaliel.

Because of his sympathetic attitude to the early Christians, at an early date Christian ecclesiastical tradition has supposed that Gamaliel I embraced the Christian faith, and remained a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of secretly helping his fellow-Christians. According to Saint Photius, he was baptized by Saint Peter and Saint John, together with his son and Nicodemus. His body was said to be preserved at Pisa, in Italy. Contemporary Jewish records, however, continue to list him and his sons as respected leaders in the non-Christian branch of the Jewish community. This would be highly unlikely if he had been a convert to Christianity.

Gamaliel and Nicodemus portrayed as mourning the death
of the Christian martyr, Saint Stephen, c. 1615
From New World Encyclopedia

Blogfast

Now that I blog much anyway, but I'm going to out of the blogosphere (including facebook and twitter) from now thru Lent. May it be a season of deeper prayer for all.

"Two people talking stop forty people praying"

Thanks to berenike for drawing my attention to Bishop Hugh Gilbert's pastoral letter for yesterday.

Silence in church is vital. There is the Great Silent One in the Tabernacle who cannot be heard if we talk in church.

After complaints from people about levels of noise in the church, instead of the recessional hymn I asked everybody after the 11am Mass to kneel for some moments in silent recollection and thanksgiving. After priest and servers had observed their silence on their knees, the people were invited to depart in silence and, if they wanted to socialise/visit with others, to do so either in the narthex or in the room where coffee was provided. The atmosphere was transformed.

Bishop Gilbert's letter will be a very helpful text for my homily next Sunday!

See Prayer - Divine Silence and homesickness for the tabernacle and altar...

How did the new English Mass go today?

The Regal Edition of the Roman Missal available from Midwest Theological Forum.

Here, there were a few stumbles - but by and large it went well. For me as a priest, it was like learning the Mass once again. The Missal - we have the MTF Regal Edition pictured above - is beautifully bound and illustrated. It will take a little while to become familiar with both the layout and the new words, and to discover the richness of what is on offer. Check the appendices for music for the presidential prayers and dialogues, sample prayers of the faithful, etc.

The language is uplifting and - as sacred language should - veils the mystery that we must penetrate with the eyes of faith through prayer and contemplation.

For me, the Mass will never be the same again.

Today we veiled the Tabernacle with a new purple veil made by our parishioner Bonnie Hurkmans. Bonnie is also going to make veils in the other liturgical colours: white, green and red. We are blest to have people like her - and many others in the parish - who put their talents at the service of the Lord. Rosie King has made linen cloths to go under the top altar cloth and on the credence table, and she is working on one for the shelf on which the tabernacle rests. As I mentioned in my homily this morning, the veil over the Tabernacle indicates that there is Mystery beyond the veil that we are called to meditate upon, a Mystery that the Lord will reveal to those who keep silence before it in reverence and awe.

It is a beautiful Tabernacle in itself, as you can see from this previous photograph:

The new purple vestments got their first proper outing today.

Although they look a bit blue in this picture, this is the effect of night lighting
and flash. See the tabernacle above for a better idea of the colour.

The tabernacle veil is made from the same material. The vestments were purchased from House of Hansen with money donated by parishioners and include all the five parts: chasuble, stole, maniple, chalice veil and burse (these last three are not included in the price shown at the House of Hansen website). I shall use them in the Extraordinary Form for the first time this coming Thursday evening at 7pm. Parishioners have generously funded the purchase of new rose vestments which have been purchased from Luzar Vestments and red vestments which are now on order from House of Hansen. We have also received donations towards a new white set and these are now also on order from House of Hansen. Thank you to all our generous parishioners.

During this time of Advent, we consider the Mystery concealed within Mary and await - in silent conemplation - Its revelation.

I was struck by - and preached on - the orations (Collect, Prayer of the Offerings, Prayer after Communion) of today's Mass.

Prayer after Communion:

May these mysteries, O Lord,
in which we have participated,
profit us, we pray,
for even now, as we walk amid passing things,
you teach us by them to love the things of heaven
and hold fast to what endures.
Through Christ our Lord.

By what does the Lord teach us "to love the things of heaven"? By "these mysteries" or by our "walk amid passing things"? Probably the former, but the passing things of this world are also created by God and should lead us beyond them to the appreciation of the beauty of their Creator and Lord.

Indeed, the sacraments, too, are "passing things". A time will come when there is no time and no sacraments. We will no longer see Christ veiled in the Eucharistic "vestments" of the appearances of bread and wine but we shall see Him "immediately", without the mediation of sense, sign or symbol. As ecstatic as our union with the Lord in Holy Communion can be, it is a mere foretaste of the heavenly union.

The new, more sacral language, also veils a mystery. If we now find some words of the Mass a little more difficult to "get" at first, this might indicate that perhaps the previous translation was not up to the mark in showing forth the mysterious nature of the Mass. If, now, we must exert ourselves in thinking and - preferably - contemplating in prayer, this is a grace given us by the Lord. As we prayed in the Collect today:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming...

 We are called to "run forth" out of our comfort zone, out of our worldly way of seeing things, into the realm of mystery through prayer and contemplation. There are many "righteous deeds" that we can accumulate in readiness for the coming of the Father's Christ, but perhaps prayer and contemplation are the more important.

Wishing everyone a blessed Advent.

Theme of World Communications Day 2012: Silence!

St Anne inviting us to be silent (as found at Reluctant Sinner).

Well, actually: "Silence and Word: Path to Evangelisation".

Silence is very difficult to achieve in our day. Last week much of Gwinn, MI, experienced a power outage following 70+ mph winds which brought trees down over power lines, resulting in loss of power. The lack of electricity certainly was not without its inconveniences: no hot water, no lighting, no possibility of cooking, loss of food in the freezer, etc. But one blessing it did bring was silence: no radio, no TV, no internet... just the possibility of reading by candle light (or kindle-light!) and working quietly during the day. One was able to listen more to one's thoughts and the voice of nature.

Pope Benedict has chosen a very important theme concerning communication. Communication is thought to be all about words. But how important silence is too.

The Vatican's news release on the subject states:

The extraordinarily varied nature of the contribution of modern communications to society highlights the need for a value which, on first consideration, might seem to stand in contradistinction to it. Silence, in fact, is the central theme for the next World Communications Day Message: 'Silence and Word: path of evangelisation'. In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterises society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favours habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelisation. It is clearly the desire of the Holy Father to associate the theme of the next World Communications Day with the celebration of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops which will have as its own theme: 'The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith'.

How quickly people react to sound bites. The Pope himself has experienced misunderstanding of statements he has made, the result of a lack of that "discernment and reflection" that is mentioned above.

Silence is also key to prayer, as I have mentioned recently. I look forward to reading the forthcoming message of Pope Benedict which is customarily published on the memorial of St Francis de Sales (January 24th), patron saint of writers. World Communications Day itself is kept on the Sunday before Pentecost (May 20th in 2012).

Reluctant Sinner has further comment.

"That I may see you" - this is the essence of prayer!

Pope Benedict, since May, has been dwelling on the subject of prayer in his weekly Wednesday Audiences. Having a little bit of relaxation time as I attend the Marquette Diocese Priests Convocation, I am catching up a little and have just read the first audience given on May 4th.

Pope Benedict refers to ancient civilizations and their intuition of the existence of God, the desire to have real communion with God, and even their sense of bondage to sin and the need for liberation and God's mercy.

Some examples:

I shall start with ancient Egypt, as an example. Here a blind man, asking the divinity to restore his sight, testifies to something universally human. This is a pure and simple prayer of petition by someone who is suffering. This man prays: “My heart longs to see you.... You who made me see the darkness, create light for me, so that I may see you! Bend your beloved face over me” (A. Barucq — F. Daumas, Hymnes et prières de l’Egypte ancienne, Paris 1980). That I may see you; this is the essence of the prayer!

In the religions of Mesopotamia an arcane, paralyzing sense of guilt predominated, but which was not devoid of the hope of redemption and liberation on God’s part. We may thus appreciate this entreaty by a believer of those ancient cultures, formulated in these words: “O God who are indulgent even in the greatest sin, absolve me from my sin.... Look, O Lord at your tired servant and blow your breeze upon him: forgive him without delay. Alleviate your severe punishment. Freed from bonds, grant that I may breathe anew, break my chains, loosen the fetters that bind me” (M.-J. Seux, Hymnes et Prières aux Dieux de Babylone et d’Assyrie, Paris 1976). These are words that demonstrate how the human being, in his search for God, had intuited, if vaguely, on the one hand his own guilt and on the other, aspects of divine mercy and goodness.

In the pagan religion of ancient Greece, a very significant development may be seen: prayers, while still invoking divine help to obtain heavenly favours in every circumstance of daily life and to receive material benefits, gradually became orientated to more disinterested requests, which enabled the believer to deepen his or her relationship with God and to become a better person.

For example, the great philosopher Plato records a prayer of his teacher, Socrates, held to be one of the founders of Western thought. This was Socrates’ prayer: “Grant to me that I be made beautiful in my soul within, and that all external possessions be in harmony with my inner man. May I consider the wise man rich; and may I have such wealth as only the self-restrained man can bear or endure” (Plato, Phaedrus, English trans.: Loeb, Harold North Fowler). Rather than to possess plenty of money, he wanted above all to be beautiful within and wise.

In reading these words, I wonder if Pope Benedict is preparing the ground for the next Assisi gathering which is often considered controversial by traditionally minded Catholics. The Pope wants to be present to ensure that the event has a proper orientation. Some will want him to preach to the adherents of other religions that Jesus Christ is the only Way. Maybe he will, but surely nothing but good can come in gathering men and women who believe that there is a Being to whom we must pray if we are to be truly human. They may not yet know that Being but they are acknowledging Him nonetheless and their dependence on Him, that they are not self-sufficient.

As the Holy Father says:

In the examples of prayer of the various cultures which we have considered, we can see a testimony of the religious dimension and of the desire for God engraved on the heart of every human being, which receives fulfilment and full expression in the Old and in the New Testament. The Revelation, is in fact purifying and brings to its fullness man’s original yearning for God, offering to him, in prayer, the possibility of a deeper relationship with the heavenly Father.

Today's audience is on Psalm 23 which happens to be this coming Sunday's Responsorial Psalm.

Prayer - Divine Silence and homesickness for the tabernacle and altar...

"What makes the soul really suffer is when one is obliged to lend one's attention to some banal, worldly conversation. The soul then feels ill at ease, estranged by all the insignificant things she hears, and to which she must make some reply. She compares these empty words to the divine silence of the church and the tabernacle, and the heart is homesick for the altar." Spiritual Journal of Lucie Christine as edited by Father Poulain and quoted in Common Mystic Prayer by Gabriel Diefenbach, O.F.M. Cap.

I'll be addressing the topic of silence in Church soon... So many words that should not be uttered in this temple of "divine silence".

Planned Parenthood manager coverts, facility closes.

From 40 Days for Life. Ramona's talk is about 8 minutes into the video.

Nine Eleven and the Cross

          Nine Eleven. Words that now have a definite meaning in the English speaking world. Even in my own country, where the month and date are written in the opposite order, we know what 9/11 means.

          Nine Eleven. An event that changed America and the world. I’m sure everyone can recall what they were doing at the time. I was on my way home from the funeral of a priest - Father John Daly - who had had a deep effect upon me and my family when I was a young boy. Quite possibly I owe my vocation in large part to him. As a newly ordained priest he consecrated our home and family to the Sacred Heart, he taught me how to serve Mass, he frequently visited unannounced and blessed images and Rosaries… I had decided not to have the car radio on but to drive home in silence. When I got home the Chair of the parish council phoned me and referred to ―terrible events in America‖ and then moved on to the matter he wanted to discuss. Then a friend phoned and asked if I had my TV on and whether I had seen the planes hitting the twin towers, and had I heard the news of the plane that hit the Pentagon. I hadn’t. There and then, while still on the phone, I switched the TV on and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

          Today will be a day of much remembering, a day of thoughtful reflection, a day for prayer. It is regrettable that public prayer has - at least at the time I write this - been excluded from the acts of remembrance that will be held at Ground Zero. Prayer is instinctive to man. I bet that many who considered themselves non-religious found within themselves the desire to pray on 9/11.

          On the occasions when I have visited New York City, I have always tried to pay a visit to Ground Zero. It feels like a pilgrimage that one must make when one is so close to a place of such tragedy. It is a place where one asks how such an event could have been conceived in the hearts of men. It is a place where one realizes how quickly what man builds can be destroyed. It is a place where one makes contact with the lives of the individuals who lived and worked and died in that place, and where one ponders the heroism of so many who took part in - and lost their lives in - the rescue efforts. It is a place where one prays for those who died and who lost loved ones. It is a place where one prays that enmity between human beings will cease, that we may all be one in Christ who "is all and in all."

          It is also a place where I find the spirit of America. In visiting the memorial center nearby, I was touched to learn how, whenever a dead body - or what was left of one - was found in the rubble, work would stop, people would be silent, the American flag was laid over the remains on the stretcher, and a moment of prayer was observed: great dignity in the midst of grief.

          The bulletin cover today carries the image of the Cross-shaped steel beams that were found in the rubble or the World Trade Center, as if the Lord wanted to remind everyone - and the world - that His Son had already taken upon himself the suffering and death of all involved in this event. It was from the Cross that the Lord uttered his prayer for forgiveness for those who "know not what they do."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          Tomorrow (Monday 12th) I join 27 other priests from the diocese for a retreat at Marygrove Retreat Center. The retreat will be preached by Father Benedict Groeschel CFR whom most people will know through his appearances on EWTN or his books. I’m sure you will keep your priests in your prayers.
God bless you. Fr John.

Discouragement

Swirl How, Lake District (UK) near Coniston Water, photo take August 16th 2008

My "Desktop" from this weekend's parish bulletin.

Do you ever experience discouragement? I do hope so!

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I want you all to be discouraged. It's just that I would feel a whole lot better knowing that I am not alone in these feelings. Sometimes things seem to be going really well, often for an extended period of time, but sooner or later one comes face to face with the fact that it is not by one's own efforts that the work gets done. It doesn't matter what the work is: priestly ministry, parenting, professional work of any other kind, particularly that kind of work (and I can't readily think of any work that does not fall into this category) that involves relating with others and achieving goals.

I think that when one experiences discouragement, one is brought face to face with one's true self: with one's limitations, one's weakness, one's pride... It must be awful to face this alone. Thankfully, none of us need be truly alone with these thoughts. There are times when we might feel alone, unable to share our feelings with others, perhaps out of embarrassment, but often out of pride and a sense of shame. It can take time for these feelings of inability to communicate to pass. But we do have Someone Else we can and must communicate with: and that is our loving and merciful Father who looks upon us his children with kindness and understanding. He dwells in the depths of our heart, and we need to seek alone-ness with Him in prayer, perhaps just saying nothing, just being in His presence, whether it's in our private room at home, or going out for a drive, a ride on the bike, sitting by the side of a lake, a walk with the dog…

Or being before His Son in the Blessed Sacrament who knows what it is like to be, humanly speaking, forsaken. "My God, my God, have you forsaken me" He exclaimed from the Cross. These are the first words of Psalm 21. The psalm certainly expresses that experience of alone-ness, but it quickly goes on to sentiments of trust: "Yet you are holy... In you our fathers trusted; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not disappointed."

There is also the beautiful sacrament of Confession. I thank God so much that I have the opportunity of certainty of God’s forgiveness. In Confession one opens one’s heart out to Christ in the person of His minister, the priest. For me, it is also to a brother priest. And as we are absolved from our sins, we are reminded that “God, the Father of mercies … has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins.”

We all know enough about the limitations of St Peter and yet Our Lord entrusted him with the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the ministry of loosing us from our sins. We know that if our sins are “loosed” by the power of the keys on earth, so they shall be loosed in heaven.

Each of us, too, has been entrusted with great treasures - above all our faith. At our baptism, along with faith we received the theological virtues of hope and charity, by which we place all our hope in God - hope in His mercy, His forgiveness, His strength, His promises of eternal life - knowing that His love (charity) dwells within us.

Now, I feel very encouraged! I hope you do too!

I shall be going away for a time of vacation on Tuesday, staying with a priest friend of mine (also an Englishman but now permanently resident in the US) in Vermont. Rest assured of my prayers for you in my daily Mass and times of prayer. Wishing you the peace that comes only from Our Lord Jesus Christ. Fr John.

Prayers requested for the US Apostolic Nuncio, gravely ill

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, “has been placed on assisted ventilation” since experiencing complications after he underwent “a delicate lung surgery” two weeks ago, according to the apostolic nunciature in Washington.

So reports the Catholic News Service blog.

The ventilation is necessary “to attempt recovery of his lung function,” the nunciature said in an announcement released in the early evening July 22.

“The apostolic nunciature and the nuncio’s family kindly ask that bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful offer sacrifices and prayers for the health of the apostolic nuncio,” it said.

A veteran Vatican diplomat, Archbishop Sambi was named as papal nuncio to the U.S. by Pope Benedict XVI in December 2005. At the time of his appointment he was the Vatican’s representative to Israel and Palestine, where he helped arrange Pope John Paul II’s historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000.

After he arrived in the U.S. Feb. 24, 2006, he said in an interview with Catholic News Service in Washington that that he is impressed by the vitality of U.S. Catholicism, the level of weekly Mass attendance among U.S. Catholics and their generosity toward others.

As a papal diplomat “I travel a lot throughout the world,” he said. “It is difficult to find a part of the world where the charity of U.S. Catholics did not reach the poor or sick people.”

The archbishop is known for his warm and affable manner, sense of humor and being open and ready to listen to people.

During Pope Benedict’s April 2008 visit to the U.S., Archbishop Sambi accompanied the pope and during the pontiff’s stay in Washington hosted him at the nunciature, where the pope had a historic private meeting with five victims of clergy sexual abuse.

(EARLIER)

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this evening posted the following advisory from the apostolic nunciature on the condition of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican representative to the U.S.:

The Most Reverend Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio, underwent a delicate lung surgery two weeks ago. Unfortunately, there have been post-surgery complications. Currently he has been placed on assisted ventilation to attempt recovery of his lung function. The Apostolic Nunciature and the Nuncio’s family kindly ask that Bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful offer sacrifices and prayers for the health of the Apostolic Nuncio.

Let us offer our prayers for His Excellency.

Father Stefano Gobbi dies

Father Stefano Gobbi, founder of the Marian Movement for Priests and author of a book of locutions said to be messages from Our Lady to priests, died yesterday, Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, at 3pm, the Hour of Mercy.

Let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul.

More information at Spirit Daily.

Father Corapi accused - prayers needed

From the website of Father John Corapi SOLT:

A Call for Prayer

On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed “credible” in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors. I am not accused of that, but it seems, once again, that they now don’t have to deem the complaint to be credible or not, and it is being applied broadly to respond to all complaints. I have been placed on "administrative leave" as the result of this.

I’ll certainly cooperate with the process, but personally believe that it is seriously flawed, and is tantamount to treating the priest as guilty “just in case”, then through the process determining if he is innocent. The resultant damage to the accused is immediate, irreparable, and serious, especially for someone like myself, since I am so well known. I am not alone in this assessment, as multiple canon lawyers and civil and criminal attorneys have stated publicly that the procedure does grave damage to the accused from the outset, regardless of rhetoric denying this, and has little regard for any form of meaningful due process.

All of the allegations in the complaint are false, and I ask you to pray for all concerned.

Ash Wednesday Planned Parenthood Prayer Vigil

Here are a couple of photos of the group from St Peter Cathedral Parish at the end of our hour's vigil outside Marquette's Planned Parenthood facility. We were there from 3:45 - 4:45pm. There was no business going on but our main reason for being there was prayer. A good number of car drivers honked in support.

Times of vigils tomorrow and thereafter are being circulated to those who have indicated a willingness to participate. Let me know if you'd like to be included.

Planned Parenthood Prayer Vigil today

A group of Cathedral parishioners will spend an hour outside Marquette's Planned Parenthood facility this afternoon in peaceful and prayerful vigil. Contact me for details of today's vigil and those for Thursday to Saturday. Following weeks of Lent to be worked out.

The promised dump of snow if falling so don't be deceived by the sunshine in the above photo taken last August!

Rosary for the Bishop

Just a reminder to take part in this apostolate.





Choose your own bishop to pray for. I have selected my diocesan Archbishop and the Bishop of the diocese in which I am currently working.