We proclaim the death of the Lord...

Why? Shouldn't it be His Resurrection? My reading from Christ the Ideal of the Priest has provided a neat insight.

We must realize that, at the consecration, the whole drama of Calvary, with all the consequence of sufferings and humiliations which it involved for Jesus, is present before God. It may be said in all truth truth that we are displaying before the eyes of the Eternal One all this divine past; that is why the Apostle says so aptly that at every Mass "we announce to the Father the death of His Son."
...

Every time that a priest celebrates Mass, he is presenting (to the Father) the Son Himself under the sacred species making, for love, a true immolation, though in sacramental form.

Let us dwell a little on this thought. What does the Father see on the altar stone on which the holy sacrifice is offered? He sees the body and blood of the Son of His love: Filius dilectionis suae (Col. 1:13). And what is that the Son is doing on the altar? Anuntiat mortem: He is placing before the eyes of the Father His love, His obedience, His suffering, the oblation of His life. And the Father casts on us a look of mercy.

We really do need to try to acquire a "God's eye view" of the Mass.

The act par excellence of priestly charity is a Mass well said.

I am currently reading Christ - The Ideal of Priest by Blessed Columba Marmion (available from Ignatius Press and Amazon). It is a truly rich book of spirituality and theology for a priest. But all Christian faithful would benefit greatly from its wisdom. In my reading this morning I read the following:

We must remember that the act par excellence of priestly charity is a Mass well said. When he is celebrating, the priest must not think of himself alone. He bears in his heart the responsibility of his charge of souls. He must pray for his flock, for his works; for his parish, for his diocese, for the whole Church and, from the chalice of benediction which he consecrates, he will pour out on souls, even those far distant, a flood of merciful grace. On Calvary, Jesus took upon Himself our anguish and our sufferings. he was the Good Shepherd Who gave His live for all His sheep.

At the altar, when he is offering the chalice, the minister of Christ, associated by Him in His work of salvation, must embrace in a great movement of charity the divers needs of the whole human race: Offerimus tibi, Domine, calicem ... ut pro nostra et totius mundi salute, cum odore suavitatis ascendat: "We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice ... for our salvation and for that of the whole world, rising with a pleasing fragrance."

This was the final paragraph in a section on the various ways a priest must exercise charity in imitation of Christ. A Mass well said is no substitute for all the other ways of living charity that are necessary for a holy life, particularly a priestly life. But it is surely the crowning of all the priest's life of charity.

As for text of the Mass quoted above, it is of course from the Offertory prayers of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Here is the prayer in full with English translation, and the corresponding prayer in the Ordinary Form of the Mass. I'm afraid the newer is poorer, in my opinion.

The older:

Offérimus tibi, Dómine, cálicem salutáris, tuam deprecántes cleméntiam: ut in conspéctu divínæ majestátis tuæ, pro nostra et totíus mundi salute, cum odóre suavitátis ascéndat. Amen.

We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend in the sight of Thy divine majesty with a sweet savour, for our own salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen.

And the new (in English only):

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will bcome our spiritual drink.

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

Priest in South Africa attacked, left for dead

Father Andrew Cox, the fifty year old pastor of the parish of Constantia in the Archdiocese of Cape Town, was brutally attacked by three intruders on Sunday night as he was locking the parish premises. The attackers stabbed him, tied him up, attempted to gouge his eyes out and left him in the parish strongroom where he was discovered by his secretary on Monday morning.

He says he spent the night praying and he forgave his attackers. At one point he got hold of the knife the attackers were using against him but could not bring himself to attack his assailants.

It would appear that Father Cox is a faithful son of the Church. A google search reveals that he has recorded a talk defending Humanae Vitae as a prophetic documen inspired by the Holy Spirit and explains that opposition to contraception is integral to the Church's teaching on the dignity of human life.

Reports on the attack here and here.

Please keep this good priest in your prayers. (And his assailants too.)

Royal Wedding Anniversary and Vocations (Good Shepherd) Sunday

April 29th is the first anniversary of the wedding of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I offer loyal congratulations to the couple.

Their wedding was memorable for the fine address given by the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres. Had his address been delivered by a Catholic Bishop, we would have been justly proud. it began with these unforgettable words:

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

There was this practical and profound reflection on the importance of the presence of God in marriage:

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

Not a sentence of the Bishop's address was superfluous and I can only recommend that you read it. (It is not long.)

Becoming what God means us to be is surely at the heart of this Good Shepherd Sunday's World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Pope Benedict has published his customary message for this day and it, too, is profound. The theme of this year's "Day" is Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God.

The Holy Father writes:

The source of every perfect gift is God who is Love... We are loved by God even "before" we come into existence!... The profound truth of our existence is (...) contained in this surprising mystery: every creature, and in particular every human person, is the fruit of God's thought and an act of his love...

Along the same lines as the Bishop of London, Pope Benedict quotes St Augustine's famous excerpt from the Confessions:

Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.

In other words: only if we love created things for the sake of God in whom every created thing, including the perfect gift of a spouse, has its source will we truly encounter Love.


Those called to the perfect love of Christ in the priesthood or the consecrated life of the religious will also love created things for the sake of God for as they respond to the call to an exclusive love of God without the mediation of a spouse, they are also called to a deep love of neighbour.

These two expressions of the one divine love (love of God and love of neighbour) must be lived with a particular intensity and purity of heart by those who have decided to set out on the path of vocation discernment towards the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life; they are its distinguishing mark.

Let us pray today for all young men and women, boys and girls, that they may open their hearts to the never-failing love of God who loved us even before the foundation of the world. May many find happiness in the total offering of themselves,

drawing from this wellspring (of self-offering and openness to the love of God) through prayer, constant recourse to God's word and to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury to Promote Renewal with St Jean Vianney Relic

SHREWSBURY, England, NOV. 4, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The heart of the patron saint of parish priests will tour the Diocese of Shrewsbury this July, providing an occasion to pray for the renewal of the priesthood.

The relic of St. John Vianney will be in the diocese for a four-day visit.

Priests venerate the heart of the Cure of Ars during a priests retreat I attended
at Ars in September 2005.

Three intentions are being proposed for the occasion: the renewal of the ministerial priesthood, new and generous vocations, and the renewal of the missions and life of all parishes in the diocese.

The relic will be accompanied by Bishop Guy Bagnard of Belley-Ars, France, and two priests of his diocese.

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury requested the relic tour when he met with Bishop Bagnard in September. The English bishop had taken young Shrewsbury clergy and the diocese's three seminarians to Ars.

"I am delighted we can welcome this relic of St. John Vianney to England," Bishop Davies said. "The Scriptures speak of the saints as those 'witnesses' who encourage us in our faith. This visible reminder of the heart of a simple and extraordinary pastor will encourage us to look to that love and truth found at the heart of the Catholic priesthood, for St. John Vianney said simply: 'The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.'"

Bishop Sample shares his Vision and Program for the New Evangelisation

At the final session of the Convocation of Priests serving in the Diocese of Marquette, Bishop Alexander Sample spoke about his vision or program for the New Evangelisation. He summed it up by saying: It's the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

This is very much in line with Pope John Paul II's view: that there is no need for any new program. However, Bishop Sample highlighted two central themes that are, as it were, coming over the horizon:

• the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
• the work of the New Evangelisation.

The Sacred Liturgy
Bishop Sample suggested that the new English translation of the Mass was an opportune time for the Church, for us, to set about the work of renewal and reform of the Sacred Liturgy, and that this is central to the work of the New Evangelisation.

The bishop placed himself clearly in the camp of Pope Benedict who spoke of the need for a reform of the reform long before becoming Pope. Some might say that the bishop just wants to take us back to the way things were before? The fact that he celebrates the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at the Cathedral every month has apparently created some waves. And the positioning of the Crucifix on the altar facing the celebrant has also provoked some comment. But there could be nothing further from the truth. Pope Benedict allowed a greater flourishing of the Extraordinary Form so that it would stand side by side with the Novus Ordo, that both forms might enrich one another.

It is a good time to take a step back and to examine: what has been good, what has been lost, what can we recover. "I'm following, I'm listening to Benedict XVI. I trust that the Holy Spirit guides our shepherd" Bishop Sample said.

Priests pray silently before Mass.

A forthcoming Pastoral Letter
Bishop Sample referred to a letter concerning the liturgy that he - with the help of others -  is working on. In this letter he will examine:

• The Essence of the Liturgy
  What is the Holy Mass? We do not create Liturgy. It is what it is. It has an objective and intrinsic meaning as both
  - Sacrifice
  - Sacred Banquet (as per St Thomas Aquinas - Sacrum Convivium).
• The Cosmic nature of the Liturgy
  Pope Benedict discussed this in his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy". The Mass has an eschatological orientation. In the Mass we celebrate and commemorate what already is but await what is to come.

The offertory

A clear understanding of these points informs the celebration of the Mass. In Pope Benedict's book "The Light of the World" the Holy Father reminds his readers that the liturgy is not the expression of the community. It is not to be tinkered with.

• Ars celebrandi
  The Mass is the Sacramentum Caritatis.There is an art - ars - to its celebration. It should be beautiful, reflecting the beauty and greatness of God. We should appreciate the purpose and meaning of the words, gestures, vessels, the Cross on the altar, the orientation of prayer. The East is connected very much with the Cross. Our gaze - especially in the Eucharistic Prayer - must be fixed on Christ glorified on the Cross as we await his coming.

• Sacred Music
  The renewal of the Sacred Liturgy is intimately connected with the renewal of Sacred Music and Bishop Sample will address this in his letter.

Also to be addressed are some practical points:

• some do's and don'ts;
• some things that need correcting;
• not to invent options.

The bishop advised us all to re-read the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) and the rubrics. He quoted Fr Z's blog, What Does the Prayer Really Say, and Fr Z's motto: "do the red, say the black." Chances are that if we re-read the GIRM and the rubrics, we will probably notice something that we either had not known, had forgotten or had overlooked.

We must celebrate the liturgy well. Then it will be the Church's liturgy, celebrated with beauty, prayerfully, reverently. "If we don't have the Liturgy, what do we have?"

Bishop sample offering the chalice

The New Evangelisation
Bishop Sample referred the priests to his Holy Thursday Letter.

The letter of Pope John Paul II Novo Millennio Ineunte reminded us that the program for the New Evangelisation is contained in the Gospels. But there were seven pastoral priorities:

1. the call to holiness
2. prayer in the Church
3. Sunday Mass
4. Penance/Confession
5. the primacy of grace (not just our own efforts)
6. listening to the Word
7. proclaiming the Word.

As regards the call to holiness: Are we serious about prayer in our own lives? We must live what we proclaim. When he was elected bishop one of the priests of the diocese presented Bishop Sample with a poster of the movie "The Lord of the Rings" with the quotation of Frodo saying: "I wish the ring had never come to me." The bishop recalled Gandalf's reply: "So do all who live to see such times. That is not ours to decide, but ours is to do the best with the time that has been given to us."

Concerning prayer, the bishop commended the practice of the Holy Hour. "I beg you," he said, "to be men of prayer."

Confession:

1. go!
2. preach about it.
3. be available.

On the primacy of grace, it is less about numbers and more about fidelity. The Church is His Church. Novo Millennion Ineunte refers to the discouragement that can result with the instigation of yet another new program following on the heels of others that have either fizzled out or that have not produced results. It's not us. In other words, it's not a question of dreaming up new programs. The Lord does not want us to be successful but faithful.

Pope Benedict has established a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation and there is an upcoming Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation. Whilst we await guidance from these ecclesiastical organs, for us it is time to stop talking about the New Evangelisation and rather make it happen.

Whilts it is not about a new program we do need a strategic plan, and we need to develop it together. So perhaps there might be established a task force to focus on a diocesan plan, a strategy for the New Evangelisation, focussed on the 7 headings of NMI.

Our personal holiness really matters as priests. It makes all the difference in the Body of Christ. In the year of priests we were reminded that the effectiveness of the priestly ministry relies on the holiness of priests. If the priest is holy, the people are good. If the priest is good, the people are ok. If the priest is mediocre, God help the people!

We must be serious in our life of prayer, in our sacrifice, etc. The bishop confided to the priests that he prays and offers sacrifice for each priest in the diocese. His Friday Mass, fast, prayer, abstinence are all offered for the priests of the diocese. He asks Our Lady to pour out the Precious Blood and Water that flowed from her Son's side upon all the priests and that she would hold us close to her Immaculate Heart.

Bishop Sample also encouraged us to reach out to one another, to foster priestly friendships, to reach out to one whom we notice to be isolated, reclusive, etc. He encouraged support groups, and exhorted us to do all we can to be present at ordinations, the Chrism Mass, the funerals of our brother priests and of their parents.

Bishop Sample preaching on the feast of St Bruno

In his homily at the Mass that followed the final session, Bishop Sample, commenting on the gospel appointed for the Mass of St Bruno, encouraged us to serve the Lord with undivided hearts, to be men of hope. We are blest because we hope in the Lord, that we should teach our people to place all their hope in him.

On the previous day, Bishop Sample invited all the priests to make the following Act of Consecration after the homily:

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO MARY

Mary, Mother of Jesus and Queen of Peace
since Jesus from the Cross
gave you to me,
I take you as my own.

And since Jesus gave me to you,
take me as your own.
Make me docile like Jesus on the Cross,
obedient to the Father,
trusting in humility and love.

Mary, my Mother,
in imitation of the Father,
who gave His Son to you,
I too give myself to you;
to you I entrust all that I am,
all that I have
and all that I do.

Help me to surrender ever more fully to the Spirit.
Lead me deeper into the Mystery of the Cross and Resurrection
and the fullness of the Church.

As you formed the heart of Jesus by the Spirit,
form my heart to be the throne of Jesus
in His glorious coming.
Amen!

As a final thought, perhaps it is worth recalling Bishop Sample's coat of arms:

You can read about it at the Bishop's Page of the Marquette diocesan website. Concerning his motto, we read the following:

For his motto, Bishop Sample uses the Latin phrase, “VULTUM CHRISTI CONTEMPLARI” (“to contemplate the face of Christ”). This theme is taken from the writings of Pope John Paul II (Novo Millennio Ineunte and Ecclesia de Eucharistia), in which the Holy Father reminded us that it is the task of the Church to make the face of Christ shine before the generations of the new millennium. The Holy Father further reflected: “Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.” 

So the New Evangelisation has been at the heart of Bishop Sample's vision: that all may be led to the contemplation of the face of Christ.

Priests of Marquette Diocese gather for convocation on New Evangelisation

Father Alfred Bradley with Bishop Alexander Sample after Mass on our final morning.

From Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th October over 50 priests attended the Marquette Diocese Priests Convocation at the Four Seasons Island Resort in Pembine, Wisconsin.

The guest speaker was Redemptorist Father Alfred Bradley C.Ss.R, Director and Pastor of the Shrine of St John Neumann in Philadelphia.

The theme of the New Evangelisation is very dear to the heart of the Bishop of Marquette, the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample. Father Bradley covered key areas of the priest's role in the New Evangelisation:

On the New Evangelisation, Father Bradley described it as

• showing others the face of Christ (after John Paul II)
• witnessing by our lives that God exists (after Benedict XVI)
• showing people "the art of living" (after Benedict XVI)

Referring to the writings and sayings Pope Benedict (for whom he expressed the highest regard and admiration), he described the true problem of our times as a "Crisis of God", the absence of God which is disguised as an empty religiosity. Unfortunately, we Christians can also behave as if God does not exist.

We need to proclaim God as

• Creator
• Sanctifier
• Judge (not a very popular notion).

Unltimately our work of evangelisation must be Theocentric, i.e. the basic thrust is that GOD EXISTS, and all that follows from this.

Key documents that Father Bradley referred to:

• Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI)
• Novo Millennio Ineunte (John Paul II)
• Ubicumque et semper (by which Benedict XVI established the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation)
• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers on the occasion of the Jubilee of Catechists, 12 December 2000
• Archbishop (now Cardinal) Donald Wuerl's pastoral letter Disciples of the Lord: Sharing the Vision. A Pastoral Letter on The New Evangelization.

Father Bradley quoted the well-known phrase from Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi n.41:

"Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."

Pope Paul VI elaborated on the importance of the witness of Christians in the midst of the world:

Through this wordless witness these Christians stir up irresistible questions in the hearts of those who see how they live: Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them? Why are they in our midst? Such a witness is already a silent proclamation of the Good News and a very powerful and effective one. Here we have an initial act of evangelization. (EN n.21)

On Confession: Father Bradley said that the goal of any parish mission that Redemptorists carry out is to get people to go to Confession. He quoted extensively from Pope Blessed John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia and the priest's role as pontifex (bridge builder), describing the Church's mission as reconciling people with God, neighbour, themselves and creation. Father Bradley reminded us of the Pontiff's comment that, from seeing sin everywhere we appear to have passed to seeing it nowhere, and that the modern notion of respect for consciences appears to exclude the duty to tell others the truth, and that priests too can fall into this trap. Father Bradley reminded the priests that it is not possible to bear witness to Christ unless they reflect his image. Therefore priests themselves must celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, i.e. they must also go to Confession.

Father Bradley also spoke powerfully about the Eucharist and the sacrifices that have been and are made by men and women with real faith in the Eucharist. (For example the priests in Priest Block 25487 in Dachau, movie version The Ninth Day.)

Servant Leadership was also a theme that Father Bradley developed.  In oder to be servant leaders, we priests need to be people of character

• able to make insightful, ethical, principle-centred decisions;
• honest, trustworthy, authentic, humble;
• leading by conscience and not by ego;
• filled with depth of spirit and enthusiasm;
• committed to desiring to serve something beyond oneself.

Ultimately it means to be like Christ.

Father Bradley is rightly in demand as a mission preacher. He certainly inspired the priests at the convocation by his evident devotion to the Lord, real appreciation of the mystery and wonder of the priesthood, his frank description of some of the crazy things that have gone on in the past that undermined people's faith and particularly the priesthood.

Father Bradley also used some very moving youtube movies to inspire us or that might be helpful in inspiring others:

Click on the picture to play.

And what did the Bishop say? Another post will deal Bishop Sample's inspiring address on the final morning.

Meanwhile, if you want to see priests relaxing, visit my facebook page and that of Father Ben Hasse. My photo of a bald eagle on the Menominee River seems to have caught people's attention:

The Fall colours were amazing!

St Pio of Pietrelcina - Padre Pio

Priests Retreat with Father Benedict Groeschel

Monday to Thursday this week I participated in the Marquette diocesan priests' retreat at Marygrove Retreat Center. The food is excellent! And so were the conferences given by Father Groeschel, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

Father is clearly ageing - he miraculously survived a serious car accident some years ago - but is full of practical wisdom. Death was mentioned in probably every one of his conferences which dealt with the topics of Faith, Hope, Trust and Charity in the life of a priest. He spoke about Purgatory (pronounced in his Jersey City accent as Poygatoyry - "if you want to know what Poygatoyry is like, go to Joysy City" he quipped) and said that he expects to spend a long time there and looks forward to meeting us there too! There's a thought - we are all likely to need Purgatory.

Father also spoke clearly on some of the madness that has occurred in the Church in recent years, particularly the catastrophe of the Blessed Sacrament having been removed in so many churches and chapels to side rooms or concealed spaces where It is hidden from view.

Another "small world" eperience occurred as Father Fidelis - Father Benedict's "carer" pictured above - and I remembered one another from when he was superior of the CFR community in London. He remembers also my brother, Father Stephen, and my sister Susan who was and is very much involved in the pro-life movement in London.

Some good news from Ireland: 22 new seminarians commence studies in Maynooth.

The Seminarians, a photo by Irish College on Flickr.

An outsider might think that Ireland is producing no vocations. Not so! For sure it would be great if the numbers were higher, but here are the statistics according to Zenit for the last few years:

2006: 30

2007: 31

2008: 30

2009: 36

2010: 16

2011: 22

These figures are for the national seminary in Maynooth. Irish seminarians also attend the Pontifical Irish College in Rome. Altogether there are more than 90 seminarians for the dioceses of Ireland.

Bishop Says Men Are Responding With Hope to God's Call

MAYNOOTH, Ireland, AUG. 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Nearly two dozen new seminarians began their studies for the priesthood at Ireland's national seminary Sunday.

The 22 men have an average age of 25 and they come from 14 of the 26 dioceses of Ireland.

After an introductory month, 18 of the students will commence their academic formation in Maynooth and the remaining four will undertake their studies at St. Malachy's College, Belfast.

Monsignor Hugh Connolly, president of the national seminary, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, welcomed the students and their families.

"You come from a wide range of backgrounds, previous experiences, and the four corners of the country, but with one common factor -- you are responding to an invitation given in and through faith, to become priests who will spread the Gospel in the years to come," he told them. "I thank the families and friends of the new candidates for their strength and generosity in supporting the men thus far, and I invite you to continue to provide this vital encouragement. The road ahead has many challenges."

Bishop Donal McKeown, chairperson of the Council for Vocations of the Irish Episcopal Conference, spoke of the changes in the Church in Ireland.

"Despite the uncertainties of the future, all new seminarians are responding with hope to God's never ceasing call to proclaim his kingdom," he observed. "God still has faith in people. With grace and the vision of the Gospel, it is possible to build community, to promote healing and to build supportive relationships. God has asked you to accept his call to go out to the rich harvest where the laborers are few."

The new students bring the number of seminarians for Irish dioceses to more than 90.

In the last five years the total annual number of new seminarians beginning their studies in Maynooth has been: 16 in 2010; 36 in 2009; 30 in 2008; 31 in 2007; 30 in 2006.

New blogger - discerning his vocation

Bloggin as "CatholicDiscern" this young 20 year old is discerning whether or not he has a vocation to the priesthood and aims

1. To encourage the open discussion of Christian Vocation.
2. To provide people with information that may help them to discern their Christian Vocation.
3. To provide information of Vocation events that are going on throughout the UK.

He can also be followed on Twitter.

He writes a thoughtful reflection on his experience of World Youth Day, particularly the prayer vigil and Mass on the last day: In a Field with the Body of Christ.

He can surely be assured of my prayers.

Mutual Enrichment of the Ordinary Form at Father Charles Briggs' Silver Jubilee

From the Southwark Archdiocese website (reproduced here in full since it is not possible to link to individual posts):

Father Charles with Archbishop Kevin, clergy and servers after his
Jubilee Mass

Father Charles Briggs, Parish Priest of Saint Mary's, Chislehurst, and the diocesan Archivist, celebrated twenty-five years as a priest on Tuesday, 2nd August 2011, with a High Mass of Thanksgiving at St Mary's.

Father Charles was assisted by Father Timothy Finigan as deacon and Deacon John Harrison as subdeacon. Archbishop Kevn, who gave the homily, was among the large number of clergy from the diocese and beyond who were present. Eight servers competently served the High Mass, which was in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. At the end of Mass a Solemn Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving.

Note: Ordinary Form Mass with deacons and concelebrating priest, deacons raising the chasuble as the celebrant elevates the Host. Mass ad orientem. (My comment.)

Father Charles offered a further Mass on Saturday, 6th August, when he was joined, among others, by Provost Joseph Collins and Father Philip Glandfield

And from the Archivist's personal archive:

Father Charles is ordained by Bishop John Jukes in August 1986

"Who knows what's down the road?"

Why priests should wear their clerical attire while travelling

A couple of weeks ago I travelled home to England for my nephew's First Holy Communion. As I boarded the flight in Chicago, the stewardess - Linda - welcomed me aboard with the words: "Good morning Father, or should it be 'Pastor'?" I replied that "Father" was indeed an appropriate title, to which she responded that she always carried her Rosary with her.

A little way into the flight, Linda came to my seat to show me her beautiful Rosary beads, each white bead hand-painted with beautiful blue designs.

Later on again, she introduced me to one of her colleagues. After a small chat and greeting, they both went off to carry out their duties. I thought that would be the end of it and settled down again to reading Newman's Development of Christian Doctrine (always good to have a little light reading when travelling!)

Some time later, Linda's colleague came by and stopped to chat. After enquiring where I was working and where I was from, she said that she is of Danish origin and how sad it is that nobody goes to Church in Denmark whereas in the US "everybody" goes to Church. She said that she was Lutheran but married to a Catholic and they had brought up their children as Catholics. I asked if she had ever considered becoming a Catholic. She had but found the prospect of giving up all that was dear to her - the memories of her First Communion and Confirmation in the Lutheran church - difficult. I had just read the following passage from Newman about true conversion being ever positive and never negative in character which I said I would write out for her and give her.

A gradual conversion from a false to a true religion, plainly, has much of the character of a continuous process, or a development, in the mind itself, even when the two religions, which are the limits of its course, are antagonists. Now let it be observed, that such a change consists in addition and increase chiefly, not in destruction. "True religion is the summit and perfection of false religion; it combines in one whatever there is of good and true separately remaining in each. And in like manner the Catholic Creed is for the most part the combination of separate truths, which heretics have divided among themselves, and err in dividing. So that, in matter of fact, if a religious mind were educated in and sincerely attached to some form of heathenism or heresy, and then were brought under the light of truth, it would be drawn off from error into the truth, not by losing what it had, but by gaining what it had not, not by being unclothed, but by being 'clothed upon,' ' that mortality may be swallowed up of life.' That same principle of faith which attached it at first to the wrong doctrine would attach it to the truth; and that portion of its original doctrine, which was to be cast off as absolutely false, would not be directly rejected, but indirectly, in the reception of the truth which is its opposite. True conversion is ever a positive, not a negative character." (quoted from Tracts for the Times, No. 85, p. 73, by Newman in Development of Christian Doctrine, 1903 edition, p. 201)

Before we arrived in London, she collected the text and said that she would probably re-enroll in RCIA in Chicago. Please keep her in your prayers.

Upon my return to Chicago, I boarded the shuttle-bus to take me to the hotel where I had left my car. The driver - a woman - looked at the paper and asked: "You are Reverend John?" to which I replied in the affirmative. "Oh, I need your blessings!" "Why?" "My life is in a mess. My husband left me two years ago and now I'm divorced." And so the conversation proceeded. She is Polish, having come to the US many years ago. She has found it hard to go to Church since her life fell apart but always has her Rosary and picture of Our Lady with her. In the fifteen minutes it took to arrive at the hotel, we were able to have a wonderful conversation and she was so happy when we parted. I was too. I have no idea how she has followed up from our conversation but I remember her now by name in prayer. (Her name is very similar to my above-mentioned nephew's grandfather so it is easy to remember.)

Had I not been wearing my clerics, none of these would have happened.

So, my brother priests, I encourage you to be visible when using these means of public transportation. You never know how the Lord might use you. And even if you face awkwardness or abuse, it is for the Lord's sake you bear it, not your own.

Pope Benedict's 60th anniversary of priestly ordination

A belated post to commemorate this auspicious anniversary. In accordance with the request from the Congration for the Clergy, Bishop Sample initiated the 60 hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter Cathedral, Marquette, after the evening Mass yesterday.



Pope Benedict said yesterday:

Sixty years on from the day of my priestly ordination, I hear once again deep within me these words of Jesus that were addressed to us new priests at the end of the ordination ceremony by the Archbishop, Cardinal Faulhaber, in his slightly frail yet firm voice. According to the liturgical practice of that time, these words conferred on the newly-ordained priests the authority to forgive sins. “No longer servants, but friends”: at that moment I knew deep down that these words were no mere formality, nor were they simply a quotation from Scripture. I knew that, at that moment, the Lord himself was speaking to me in a very personal way. In baptism and confirmation he had already drawn us close to him, he had already received us into God’s family. But what was taking place now was something greater still. He calls me his friend.

His homily can be read here and there is a special page on the Vatican website.

Father Corapi is causing scandal

Briefly... in the hope that I might post more thoughtfully on the subject:

• priests function only by faculty of their respective Ordinaries;
• we all hope for justice in the Church;
• sometimes the innocent suffer;
• this applies to priests;
• priests are ordained to a special consecration unto Christ the Head
• Who was the Innocent Victim
• and if we priests become innocent victims...
• we must be prepared to embrace the suffering involved
• and in humble obedience
• die to ourselves
• even while pursuing the legitimate recourses to which we have a right in Canon Law
• no matter how slowly these may proceed
• or how unjustly we may think we are being treated.
• So Corapi should do the same.
• He should die to self rather than refusing to die (as he puts it on his new website) by "resigning" his priesthood and leading people away from their pastors by the scandal that such a public defection is causing in the Church.

Answering the Lord's Call - Diocese of Marquette Vocations Video

This is a vocations promotion video published 20th May 2011. A number of the seminarians appearing in the video have since been ordained to the priesthood, most recently Fathers Ryan Ford and Nicholas Thompson ordained at St Peter Cathedral Marquette by Bishop Sample last Friday.

For more information on vocations contact Father Greg Heikkala
(906) 250 1878
gheikkala@DioceseOfMarquette.org

Ordinations today

Please keep in your prayers Deacons Ryan Ford and

Nicholas Thompson

who will be ordained to the priesthood later today by Bishop Sample at St Peter Cathedral, Marquette. A joyous day!