Entertaining video on the Sacraments:

http://vimeo.com/12736195

Sept 23 Feast of St Padre Pio

Happy Feast of St. Padre Pio!  

I thought these photos would be cool to share for his feast day.  Padre Pio is one of our saints who have been found to be incorruptible (his body doesn't decompose).  

For more incorruptible saints see here.

Padre Pio also bore the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ) and always wore bandages over his hands.  Read more about this incredible saint here.

Fr. Mike, 9-11

A great story for the 10th anniversary of 9-11.  They call the picture the "American Pieta."

Scripture in Mass

This website goes through the words of the Mass and cites where they come from in Scripture.  Pretty neat :)

Nehemiah 8

Does this sound familiar at all?

1

Now when the seventh month came, the whole people gathered as one man in the open space before the Water Gate, and they called upon Ezra the scribe to bring forth the book of the law of Moses which the LORD prescribed for Israel.

2

On the first day of the seventh month, therefore, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.

3

Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

4

Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion; at his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and on his left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam.

5

Ezra opened the scroll so that all the people might see it (for he was standing higher up than any of the people); and, as he opened it, all the people rose.

6

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, "Amen, amen!" Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground.

7

(The Levites Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah explained the law to the people, who remained in their places.)

8

Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.

9

Then (Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and) Ezra the priest-scribe (and the Levites who were instructing the people) said to all the people: "Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep"-for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

10

He said further: "Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!"

11

(And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Hush, for today is holy, and you must not be saddened.")

12

Then all the people went to eat and drink, to distribute portions, and to celebrate with great joy, for they understood the words that had been expounded to them.

Here we find even in the Old Testament some of the roots of our Catholic Mass traditions.  Ezra, the priest, reads the Scriptures on a raised platform.  The people stand in honor of the Word of God, just as we stand for the reading of the Gospel at Mass.  He explains the meaning after he has read to the people, just like the homily does (or is supposed to do).  After the reading and reflection there is feasting, just like we feast on Christ in the Liturgy of the Eucharist after the Liturgy of the Word in Mass.

Happy Birthday to the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Skit Guys

These guys are incredibly funny.  They are a hit with any audience.  This one is my favorite:

Prayer at the Gospel

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, The Eucharist is "the Source and Summit of the Christian life" (CCC 1324).  Understanding the meaning of the things we do at Mass really helps a person enter into this great Sacrament more fully.  This is one of the most important things that we teach, as a youth minister or catechist.  I would like to spend a few blog post highlighting the significance or our Mass practices.

Here's a simple (and probably well known) one to start:



When the priest or deacon reads the Gospel at Mass he begins with the words "A reading from the Holy Gospel according to __________."  At which time the priest or deacon draws a cross with his thumb upon the book of the Gospels.  When we respond, "Glory to you O Lord," the priest/deacon and the assembly (all the people in the pews) trace a cross on our forehead, lips, and heart.  This is not just an outward action, but there is a prayer that each person is supposed to pray silently as we make this action.  There are a couple renditions:

"Lord, help me to understand this Gospel in my mind, speak of it from my lips, and take it into me heart"

or

"May the Word of God be ever on my mind, upon my lips, and in my heart"

Praying this thoughtfully and meaningfully really help to prepare you to take in the Gospel message.  Teach this to your students/teens!!  :)

Revised Roman Missal

LifeTeen put out a pretty good teen explanation of the Revised Roman Missal that begins use on the First Sunday of Advent this year:

Speaking of LifeTeen, you may find some useful tools on their website.  They have two:  http://www.lifeteen.com/ is for teens.  It has blog posts, movie reviews, podcasts, current events, and general Catholic info geared for teens.

The site you may find even more helpful is their website for those working in youth ministry: http://www.catholicyouthministry.com/.  Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber to use most of the resources, but they do have some free resources available.

iPray

Catholic Glossary

AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows.
BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass.
CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the rest of the Parish to lip-sync.
HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY.
HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three octaves higher than that of the congregation's range.
RECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often sung a little more quietly, since most of the people have already left.
INCENSE: Holy Smoke!
JESUITS: An order of priests known for their ability to found colleges with good basketball teams.
JONAH: The original "Jaws" story.
JUSTICE: When kids have kids of their own.
KYRIE ELEISON: The only Greek words that most Catholics can recognize besides gyros and baklava.
MAGI: The most famous trio to attend a baby shower.
MANGER: Where Mary gave birth to Jesus because Joseph wasn't covered by an HMO. Holiday travel has always been rough.
PEW: A medieval torture device still found in Catholic churches.
PROCESSION: The ceremonial formation at the beginning of Mass consisting of altar servers, the celebrant, and late parishioners looking for seats.
RECESSIONAL: The ceremonial procession at the conclusion of Mass led by parishioners trying to beat the crowd to the parking lot.
TEN COMMANDMENTS: The most important Top Ten list not given by David Letterman.
USHERS: The only people in the parish who don't know the seating capacity of a pew.

The Shadow of His Wings

This is an excerpt from my favorite book, "The Shadow of His Wings."  It's the autobiography of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, a German seminarian drafted into the S.S. in WWII:

     Finally, one of them asked if I were a "black" man or a "brown" one - with the black standing for the priests and the brown for the Nazis.  I could hardly keep a straight face as I firmly replied, "I am a brown man."
     This surprised them.  "When did you become a member?" they asked, meaning, of course, a member of the party.
     I answered that I joined the browns in 1936.
     "Where?"
     "In the monastery of the Franciscans in Fulda.  They have worn brown habits for six hundred years, far longer, you will agree, than the other browns have been in existence."
     The result was an uproar of fury and laughter.  I knew, of course, and so did my companions, that this sort of impudence could get me in trouble; but my politics and my faith were in deep conflict with the goals of the Nazis, and to remain silent in the midst of such hatred was more than I could stand.  I really do not believe that I was more courageous than my comrades - simply more outspoken by nature, and perhaps a little more foolhardy!
     Reprisals were not long in coming.  First thing the next morning, during drill, the young officers who commanded our group shouted, "Where are the priests?"
     No one moved.  We did not feel that we must answer that question, since none of us was in actuality a priest.
     Then he cried out, "Let the priests step forward!"  We did not budge.
     Finally, one of the men who heard us the night before pointed to the two of us.  The officer bellowed, "Didn't you hear me say the priests should step forward?"
     In a loud voice, I said, "I am not a priest!  I am a student of theology.  Applying the term 'priest' to me is an insult to the Catholic Church and our Christian nation."  All were silent.
     The young lieutenant, younger even than I, turned white and screamed to me and the other seminarian who had been pointed out to him: "Up a tree - quick, march!  Promptly, tongues in cheek, we obeyed the command and climbed the nearest tree.  We found comfortable perches on handy cross branches and peered down.  Somehow our expressions did not seem to the lieutenant to be suitable; we were not contrite but triumphant, and so once again he gave a command: "Sing a hymn!"
     With all the dignity at our command, considering our perch, we loudly sang Te Deum - in Latin of Course. [Listen to Te Deum here and read English lyrics here.  Beautiful hymn]  The poor lieutenant understood only his army German and roared, "What was that?  I ordered you to sing a church song!"
     "But, lieutenant," I replied loudly, so that the others, who were standing around showing various emotions at this spectacle, could hear, "that was a church song.  We are sorry that you so not understand it.  But, of course, the language of the church is Latin, or Greek, or Hebrew.  Those who do not understand these languages cannot, unfortunately, understand the songs of the church."
     Laughter echoed along the entire front ranks drawn up beneath us.  The young officer was made to look ridiculous  and, pressing our advantage, we began again to sing the Te Deum.
     When the lieutenant yelled, "Stop! Descend!" we pretended that we didn't hear him but remained in our tree, still singing, the sonorous and beautiful music rolling out across the parade ground.  Fortunately, we both had good lungs.
     When we finally came down, he began his attempt at revenge, which included ever ridiculous or difficult command he could come up with.  While trying to put us through our paces and exhaust and show us up at the same time, he succeeded only in appearing even more ridiculous, for our year in the camps had made us hard and strong.  We took to the army drill as if we were made of iron.
     At last, when we had had enough, we followed his command to run east into the forest by running so fast and so far that we lost the sound of his voice.  At the end of two hours, we had plunged completely through the forest, laughing all the while of the lieutenant's misfortune in having us for recruits.  We surmised, correctly, that eventually they would have to come and search for us.  We sat idly on the edge of the road at the other side of the forest, and, sure enough, after a while an auto came along.
     When we were publically scolded for "not using our heads and realizing we should have stopped at some point", we reminded him that we had been told again and again as recruits, "Leave the thinking to the officers or to the horses; they have bigger heads."

Y'all should really buy and read the book.

Rublev's Trinity

Russian artist, Andrei Rublev c. 1360-1430

The story of this icon comes from Genesis 18:

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way.” “Very well,” they replied, “do as you have said.” Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, “Quick, three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls.” He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then he got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.


"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There in the tent," he replied. One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?" But the LORD said to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?' Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do? At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son." -- (Genesis 18:01-14)

Traditionally from this story the three men are depicted as angels and seen to represent the Trinity.  Though they are three they are referred to in the passage as ‘The Lord’ – foreshadowing the unity of the Trinity.  In the background, one can see the terebinth.

Notice how they are all inclined, one towards the other – their eyes are all joined.  They are seated circular, representing the eternity of God.  It also shows the fact that there is not hierarchy in the Trinity.

They are identical, aside from cloths, again showing the unity of the three person of the godhead.  There is one nature, one will, one love, in three persons.

They appear neither male nor female, as God is spirit and has no gender (aside from Christ who is both God and Man).

There is an atmosphere shown in the icon of love, freedom, timelessness, rest, and the most intimate communion. 

The Chalice in the center also depicts not only the meal from the historical event, but represents the Eucharist, which appears to rest on an altar.  The Trinity surrounding the Chalice reminds us of the presence of all three Persons at the Eucharistic table.

Different Colors represent different things for each Person of the Trinity:

• On the right, the Holy Spirit has a garment of the clear blue of the sky, wrapped over with a robe of a fragile green. So the Spirit of creation moves in sky and water, breathes in heaven and earth. All living things owe their freshness to his touch.
• The Son has the deepest colors; a thick heavy garment of the reddish-brown of earth and a cloak of the blue of heaven. In his person he unites heaven and earth, the two natures are present in him, and over his right shoulder (the Government shall be upon his shoulder) there is a band of gold shot through the earthly garment, as his divinity suffuses and transfigures his earthly being.  He is holding his/her fingers in the traditional position of blessing — Christ is blessing the viewer.
• The Father seems to wear all the colors in a kind of fabric that changes with the light, that seems transparent, that cannot be described or confined in words. And this is how it should be. No one has seen the Father, but the vision of him fills the universe.

The table has four sides, with only three filled. The viewer is being invited to join the meal. The Trinity is a community of Love into which the believer is invited to enter.  The icon communicates to the viewer that the basis of the divine life is hospitality. When Jesus sends out the twelve he instructs them to enter whatever house will have them, heal their sick, eat what is set before them, and proclaim that the Reign of God has arrived at that house. Rublev’s icon proclaims the same message: the Reign of God arrives in hospitality.

The icon invites its observers (you and me) to take our place at the table with Father, Christ, and Spirit. There is a space spare, and its shape is a chalice filled with Jesus.

WYD Live

Watch World Youth Day in Madrid Live Here.

Does God Exist?

Irena Sendler

Have you heard of Irena Sendler?  I think she is such a great example of what it means to be Catholic.



Irena was born in Poland in 1910, and raised by her Catholic parents to respect and love all people regardless of their ethnicity and regardless of their social status. Her father was a physician, and in 1917 when a Typhoid epidemic broke out he was the only doctor who would treat the poor, mostly Jewish victims of this tragic disease.  Her father eventually contracted the disease himself, but as he was dying, he told 7-year-old Irena, “If you see someone drowning you must try to rescue them, even if you cannot swim.”

In 1939 the Nazis swept through Poland and imprisoned the Jews in ghettos where they were first starved to death and then systematically murdered in the consentration camps. Irena, by then a social worker in Warsaw, saw the Jewish people suffering and resolved to do what she could to rescue as many as possible, especially the children.

Social workers were not allowed inside the ghetto, but Irena, imagining the horror of life behind the ghetto walls, obtained fake identification and passed herself off as a nurse, allowed to bring in food, cloths and medicine.

By 1942, when the deadly intentions of the Nazis had become clear, Irena joined a Polish underground organization, Zegota.  She recruited 10 close friends - a group that would eventually grow to 25, all but one of them women - and began rescuing Jewish children.

She and her friends smuggled children out in boxes, suitcases, sacks, and coffins, sedating the babies to quiet their cries.  Some were whisked away through a network of secret passages.  Operations were timed to the second.  One of Irena’s children told of how he waited by a gate in darkness as a German soldier patrolled nearby.  When the soldier passed he counted to 30, then made a mad dash to the center of the street, where a manhole cover opened and he was taken down into the sewers and eventually to safety.

Irena also snuck older children out through secret openings in the wall, through the courthouse, through churches, any clever way she and her network could evade the Nazis. Once outside the ghetto walls, Irena gave the children false names and documents and placed them in Catholic convents, orphanages and or with Polish families. Her hope was that after the war she could reunite the children with surviving relatives, or at least return their Jewish identities.  To that end she kept thin tissue paper lists of each child’s Jewish name, their Polish name and address. She hid the precious lists in glass jars buried under an apple tree in the back yard of one of her friends.

In 1943 Irena Sendler was captured by the Nazis and severely tortured for the work she had done.  Irena refused to divulge the names of the other members of Zegota or the location of the lists.   During one particularly brutal torture session, her captors broke her feet and legs with wooden clubs, and she passed out under the excruciating pain.  She was sentenced to death but a friend in the resistance bribed a member of the German Gestapo to help her escape.  Irena’s name was added to a list of executed prisoners, while she went into hiding and continued with her rescue efforts.

Before Irena joined Zegota she had already saved roughly 500 Jews, adults and children.  While working in Zegota she saved 2500 children.  When the was over Irena worked to return those children to their families.  Sadly, most of their families has been killed in the concentration camps but they at least were given the ability to know their real names and who their family was.  3000 people were spared torture and death because one woman had the courage to fight evil.

She was a living saint, a true woman of faith!  When she was called a hero Irena said, “We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes. Indeed, that term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true—I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little.”  Irena had with her one item while imprisoned by the Nazi’s: a Divine Mercy holy card with the phrase “Jesus, I trust in thee.”   She kept this card with her until 1979 when she gave it to Pope John Paul II as a gift.  Irena died on May 12, 2008 at the age of 98.  She bore the scars and disability of her torture until the day that she died.

Irena lived her faith in the radical way that the Gospel call for.  Irena lived the love that Christ modeled for us on the cross and her example invites us to do the same.  Most of us will not have the opportunity to perform such heroic works for Christ, but Irena reminds us that we are called to live the Gospel truth however is needed in our time.

Catholic Mass Origins

Sufjan Stevens

This guy does amazing things with traditional Christian music:

What's in an Icon?

What is an icon and why do they look that way?  Icons are a piece of Catholic history and culture that take some getting used to for many of today's Catholics.  Your average Catholic prefers "Christian Bookstore Art."  Icons, however are very meaningful and beautiful, once you understand the meaning.


Here's a little lesson on Icons:

"Christian iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words. Image and word illuminate each other"-Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1160 

In other words, Christ lived, taught, died, and rose.  The Bible tells us the story in words, while icons tell it in image. 

The oldest icons we have are from the 5th century, but tradition tells us that St. Luke what the first to write icons of Mary and Jesus (Icons are not painted but "written" like the Gospels were written).  Icons follow a strict pattern – the tradition that those who saw the person alive write the first icon and all others follow that model.  St. Luke was the first to write icons of Mary and Jesus and all subsequent icons are written that same way, with only slight variations.  Icons are to be understood in a manner similar to Holy Scripture - not simply artistic compositions but rather are witnesses to the truth the way Scripture is. Far from being imaginative creations of the iconographer, they are more like scribal copies of the Bible.  Those who write an icon spend time in prayer, fasting, and contemplation before beginning.

This is the prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church:

O Divine Master of all that exists, enlighten and direct the soul, the heart and the mind of your servant: guide my hands so that I might portray worthily and perfectly Your Image, that of Your Holy Mother and of all the Saints, for the glory, the joy, and the beautification of Your Holy Church. (Quenot, p.13)  

For centuries, in a society where the majority of people could not read, icons served as ‘books of the illiterate.’ In the same way that stained glass windows were ‘Gospel of the Poor.’ 


First and foremost, icons are a constant reminder of the incarnation of Christ, that is to say, they remind us that God “sent His only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16) to rescue us from our sin and death. We cannot see God the Father or God the Holy Spirit, but, because Christ chose to take on human flesh, we can see Him.

Icons ARE NOT meant to:

o   Illicit an emotional response

o   Portray emotion

o   Portray time and space

Icons ARE meant to:

o   Aid in Worship

o   Portray virtue (compassion, love, perseverance, etc) and truth

Symbolism:

·         Christ is always portrayed as God – even as a child in Mary’s arms, revealing his divinity under the veil of human form

·         Icons depict silence. There are no actions displayed, no open mouths. The icon invites the Christian to enter into silence – prayer and contemplation

·         Icons are two dimensional – time is irrelevant.  They may portray all scenes of a story in one icon because the story is seen as a whole not as they were at one moment in time.

·         There are never shadows in icons. This shows us that the saint(s) portrayed is “glorified” having completed the race and entered into heaven

·         Color symbolism

o   Blue reveals heaven and mystery.

o   Green is youth, fertility and the earth’s vegetation. Green is the color of the living earth and has been used to portray youth, hope and where life begins.

o   Green contrasts to brown which is meant to show our fallen nature on earth and that we will all eventually become dust.

o   Red, the color of blood, suggests life, vitality and beauty.

o   White is purity, the divine world and innocence.

o   Gold indicates sanctity, splendor, and the glory of God and life in the heavenly kingdom.  It shows the eternal uncreated light of God and his heavenly kingdom.

o   Purple reveals wealth, power and authority.

o   Black is used in Iconography to portray evil and death. Demons and satanic beings are portrayed in black

·         Size of figures is always proportional to importance.  

·         Blesseds are generally written with their face to the side, saints are written with their faces forward, and only those who have not attained holiness are seen in profile

·         Eyes are draw bigger in icons to show the wideness of eyes that have seen God

·         Foreheads are written high to denote wisdom

·         Noses are thin and elongated, which denotes nobility.  The nose of the saint is also said to only detects sweet odor of Christ and live-giving breath of spirit

·          Mouths are written small because they are used only for speaking truth

·         The ears are interiorized because only listen to sound of God’s voice

·         There is an absence of naturalism in order to perceive what is beyond nature

Fr. Jim Martin

Fr. Jim Martin on the Colbert Report again.  Love it!

The Apple Incident

A Father Who Keeps His Promises

The following is an excerpt from the book "A Father Who Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn.  It's a really good overview of Scripture, for anyone that's interested.

Everybody felt it: a moment of eerie silence, a low rumble and then the ground began to shake. Buildings swayed and buckled, then collapsed like houses of cards.  Less than four minutes later, over thirty thousand people were dead from a magnitude 8.2 earthquake that rocked and nearly flattened Armenia in 1989. 

In the muddled chaos, a distressed father bolted through the winding streets leading to the school where his son had gone earlier that morning.  The man couldn’t stop thinking about the promise he had made to his son many times: ‘No matter what happens, Armand, I’ll always be there.’
He reached the site where the school had been, but saw only a pile of rubble.  He just stood there at first, fighting back tears, and then took off, stumbling over debris, toward the east corner where he knew his son’s classroom had been. 

With nothing but his bare hands he started to dig.  He was desperately pulling up bricks and pieces of wall-plaster, while others stood by watching in forlorn disbelief.  He heard someone growl, ‘Forget it mister.  They’re all dead.’ 

He looked up, flustered, and replied, ‘You can grumble, or you can help me lift bricks.’  Only a few pitched in, and most of them gave up once their muscles began to ache.  But the man couldn’t stop thinking about his son. 

He kept digging and digging – for hours… twelve hours… eighteen hours… twenty-four hours… thirty-six hours… Finally, just into the thirty-eighth hour, he heard a muffled moan from under a piece of wallboard. 

He seized the board, pulled it back and cried, ‘ARMAND!’  From the darkness came a slight shaking voice, ‘Papa…!?’ 

Other weak voices began calling out, as the young survivors stirred beneath the still uncleared rubble.  Gasps and shouts of bewildered relief came from a few onlookers and parents who remained.  They found fourteen of the thirty-three students still alive. 

When Armand finally emerged, he tried to help dig, until all his surviving classmates were out.  Everybody heard him as he turned to his friends and said, ‘See, I told you my father wouldn’t forget us.’ 

That’s the kind of faith we need, because that’s the kind of Father we have.

The story of that unfailing love is the story of this book.  We’ll examine together what God has done in history to make us his family and to save us from the wretched misery of our own sin and selfishness.  Along the way, we’ll discover anew how passionately he seeks us, how firm is his intention to make us whole again and how deserving he is to receive our gratitude, trust and obedience.

Jealous Kind by Jars of Clay

i built another temple to a stranger
i gave away my heart to the rushing wind
i set my course to run right into danger
i sought the company of fools instead of friends

Chorus:
you know i've been unfaithful
with lovers in lines
while you're turning over tables
with the rage of a jealous kind
i chose the gallows to the aisle
thought that love would never find
hanging ropes will never keep you
and your love of a jealous kind
love of a jealous kind

tryin' to jump away from rock that keeps on spreading
solace in the shift of the sinking sand
i'd rather feel the pain all too familiar
than be broken by a lover i don't understand
'cause i don't understand

[CHORUS]

love of a jealous kind, yeah
love of a jealous kind
love of a jealous kind

one hundred other lovers, more, one hundred other altars
if i should slow my pace and finally subject me to grace
and love that shames the wise
betrays the hearts deceit and lies
and breaks the back of foolish pride

[CHORUS]

love of a jealous kind
love of a jealous kind
love of a jealous kind

"Confession" by Fr. Larry Richards

This is a great talk for teens (and anyone really) on the Sacrament of Confession.  You can listen, download, or order it here.  I highly recommend it.  I am planning on giving one to each of our teens at my parish to take home the night we talk about Confession this Fall.  There's also a good one by the same priest on the Mass here.

Sanctus

Great Homily on Priesthood

The following is a homily given at a priestly ordination by John Cadrinal O'Connor in 1990.  The Catholic Review just reprinted the homily.  This would be so great to use in a catechesis on Holy Orders and the Priesthood!

I look at you as my 18 sons. I look at you as 18 bridegrooms whom I am about to give in marriage to your bride, the Church. You have spent many years in preparation. You have prayed, you have prepared yourselves as well as any bridegroom could to enter into your marriage. Now let us speak of this bride whom you take this day.  

She’s younger than springtime, but she counts her years in centuries. She’s a startlingly beautiful bride, but she is deformed, disfigured with the wounds, with the scars of Christ Himself. She is weary with the centuries, ugly to those who do not know her as you know her.  

She will be to you a gentle, patient and loving bride but she can be to you stubborn, unyielding even harsh. She will be faithful to you and yet at times, she will seem to turn away from you, even to betray you. She will be a consoling and a comforting bride, but she will be an extraordinarily demanding bride. She will lay down her life for you, but she will demand your life in return.  

For this bride that you marry today is not the Church triumphant. This is the Church of this world, the Church of God’s people. God’s people who are strong and holy, God’s people who are weak and sinful. God’s people who are good and generous. God’s people who are selfish and demanding. God’s people who will love you beyond any love you ever imagined, but God’s people who, at times, will seem to you to hate you and to be resentful of you and to be spiteful toward you. God’s people, your bride, will give you indescribable pleasure and immense pain, unutterable joy and profound sorrow. These are God’s people, not yet a fully risen people, not yet a perfect people. And these are the people that you take unto your own as their bridegroom, as their priest.  

As your bishop, I give you but one mandate: love our Church, love God’s people. Love them for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Love them until death, after which both you and they will be transfigured in glory.  

You will share intimacies with your people, but the intimacies will be your administering to them the Holy Sacraments of the Divine Bridegroom. You will heal, you will reconcile, you will pour out love upon them. You will baptize their children, you will gently anoint the pained, the suffering, the dying. You will bury the dead, and above all you will enter into that most intimate of intimacies with your bride, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In the Mass you will lay down your life as Christ laid down His. Your body will be broken, as His body was broken. Your blood will be poured out as His blood was poured out. “Greater love than this no one has,” and truly you will lay down your life for your bride, the Church, God’s people. And never, never will you find God’s people wanting in generosity, wanting in sacrifice, refusing to lay down their lives for you.  

Love God’s people, be kind to them and gentle. Urge them to be what God wants them to be but forgive them when they fail to become what God wants them to become, as they, your bride, will forgive you for your sins, for your weaknesses. And if you love your bride, if you lay down your life for your bride each day, then you will find that your love will grow deeper and stronger as the years go on, just as we are told at the marriage feast at Cana, the bridegroom has saved the best wine until last. In the silver and the golden years of your priesthood, despite the sufferings you may have endured, the temptations you may have experienced, the pressures, the conflicts, the loneliness, the solitude, despite the fact that there will be days that you will ask, “Is this really what God wants of me?”– despite all of that, you will find that indeed, your love of God’s people and your priesthood will be richer, sweeter than even on this day of ordination.  

My final word to you my brother priests: preach the truth always. God’s people deserve nothing less. There are ears itching for new teachings, as St. Paul tells us, but we have the teachings of Christ, of the gospel, of our Holy Father, of the bishops. Preach and teach courageously. Serve God’s people truly as their servants, never as their masters. Above all, love the Church which today you have taken as your bride. 

It's Not Over

The San Domiano Crucifix

I was wanting to write a blog post on this crucifix, which I'm sure most people have seen and wondered what it meant or represented.  However, I found a site that does a great job - so why re-do what's already been done?  Enjoy!  It would be great to use in a catechesis both on icons and on the crucifixion.

Flanked by Cherubim

Ever wonder why many tabernacles have an angel on either side?  









It goes back to the Old Testament, as many of our liturgical practices do.


The Ark of the Covenant was was the golden container which contained the broken 10 Commandment tablets, Aaron's rod (symbol for the priesthood), and bits of manna that God has used to feed the Israelites in the desert.  The lid for the ark was called the Atonement Cover.  On it stood two cherubim (angels), one on each side facing in, which symbolized God's power and presence.  

It would have looked something like this:



The atonement cover was God's dwelling place, his throne guarded by angels.

“There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” (Exodus 25:22)

“Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.” (Leviticus 16:2)

“…the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark.” (2 Samuel 6:2)

“O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.” (Isaiah 37:16)

It makes sense then that the place of God's physical presence amongst us today, in the Eucharist, is similarly flanked by angels.

Church Bulletin Bloopers

Check out these real church bulletin bloopers.  I had them scrolling on a power point once for entertainment as my adult catechists gathered for a workshop once.  They are great for some light Catholic entertainment.

Confession: Search Your Heart

"The Call of St. Matthew" by Caravaggio

This is a reflection I compiled and used for a youth event.  The teens seemed to like it, and it opened them up to the beauty of Catholic art and being able to pray with art.

Purgatory

‎"Purgatory is not, as Tertullian thought, some kind of supra-worldly concentration camp where man is forced to undergo punishment in a more or less arbitrary fashion. Rather it is the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints. Simply to look at people with any degree of realism at all is to grasp the necessity of such a process. It does not replace grace by works, but allows the former to achieve its full victory precisely as grace. What actually saves is the full assent of faith. But in most of us, that basic option is buried under a great deal of wood, hay and straw. Only with difficulty can it peer out from behind the latticework of an egoism we are powerless to pull down with our own hands. Man is the recipient of the divine mercy, yet this does not exonerate him from the need to be transformed. Encounter with the Lord is this transformation. It is the fire that burns away our dross and re-forms us to be vessels of eternal joy." - Pope Benedict XVI, "Eschatology"

Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands:

ICHTHUS

Where did the fish symbol for Christianity come from?




Some people might think it comes from Christ instruction to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17).  Or possibly from some reference to the multiplication of the loaves and fish (John 6, Mark 8). This, however, is not the case.


The Greek word for fish is ICHTHUS. This is an acronym for Jesus. Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter - this translates as "Jesus Christ, Son of God , Saviour."


The story goes that during the persecution of Christians in the early Church, a Christian might draw the upper arch of the fish with his foot in the dirt as a test.  If the person he was with drew the bottom arch, completing the fish, then he was also a Christian.  

Above: Ancient Christian ichthys carved into marble in the ruins of Ephesus, Turkey.