Absent but not gone...

Sometimes in this life, we have moments (days, weeks, ....) that we feel like we have nothing to offer. We are like Ezekiel's valley of dry bones... We are wandering in the wilderness, seeking the Promised Land, but finding that we are only circling around, wandering in circles, lost and alone.

This is where I have been the past week or so... sometime around the middle of Holy Week, it happened. I was going along cheerfully, trying to not let my problems overwhelm me, but at some point, I succumbed...

Easter Vigil was wonderful, as always, but I was there mostly in body; my spirit was elsewhere..
Easter morning Holy Mass was a blessing, but again I was not entirely there.

St. John of the Cross describes this wilderness journey as the Dark Night of the Soul. I know that, in part, I was under spiritual attack; in part, God was silent to my despairing cries.

I could relate to Our Lord's words from the Cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

My problems are nothing in the grand scheme of things. To take a phrase from 12 step programs, 'This too will pass.."

But when you are in the smack middle of a dark night, it does not seem like it will pass; it feels that God has abandoned you utterly.

I am struggling still to walk this dark journey yet I know there is a light just ahead.

My weapons accompany me: the Holy Rosary, Confession, Eucharist. I am praying the Fifteen Prayers of St. Bridget and have found consolation in all these tools of the spiritual life.  I know that at some point I will find again the Promised Land and return to tell you all about my journeyings..

Till then, my Celtic friends....Godspeed.

The Holy Week of our Lord's Passion

Sunday - Passion or Palm Sunday

"Jesus enters into Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. He is hailed "son of David" by those who days later will cry out "Crucify Him!" Would we have done the same?

Monday - Watching "The Passion of the Christ" with fellow parishioners tonight.. Every year after seeing this movie, I realize that little else in life really matters compared to this most Holy Sacrifice...

"See I make all things new!" - Revelation 21:5

Tuesday - Chrism Mass

This is the Holy Mass where all the catechumens and candidates of the Diocese who are being Baptized and received into full communion with the Catholic Church get to meet in one place with the Bishop presiding.

The 'holy oils ' are brought back to the parish for use during the following year: the oils of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick.

It is a chance to see most of the priests of the Diocese all together; the procession to the altar, led by the Knights of Columbus in dress regalia, is wonderful to see.

I remember when I was a candidate, I was so excited to be finally 'accepted' by the Diocese and to know that within a few days, I too would be a member of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

A very exciting time right in the middle of a very holy week.

Let us pray for our catechumens and candidates that they will feel the grace of the Lord during this very special time in their lives.

Wednesday - Tenebrae

We are having a Tenebrae service in our Parish tonight.

In a Tenebrae service, the church is lit only with candlelight, including one larger Christ candle on the altar. The word Tenebrae comes from the Latin, meaning ‘shadows’.

The purpose of Tenebrae is to recreate the emotions of Christ’s Passion: His betrayal by Judas, the disciples’ abandonment and the beginnings of His Agony.

During the Tenebrae service, there will be Scripture readings and Gospel narratives. At the end of each reading, a candle is extinguished… so that by the end of the numerous readings, all the candles are out, leaving the nave in darkness.

The last reading will be Psalm 22, which Christ quoted from the Cross:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

When this Psalm reading is completed, the Christ Candle is extinguished. All is now darkness.

We have reached our most despairing moment: Christ has asked to be spared from drinking this bitter Cup but surrenders Himself to God’s Will. God seems not to answer: Christ will endure His Passion. The darkness of our sins prevails…

There is no benediction, no final blessing. The participants leave the Church in silence.

We wait…. in silence, in darkness…in grief…

Coming Home to the Catholic Church

Here’s the recent statistics regarding the numbers of people being received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church this coming Easter Vigil 2009! These numbers represent just some major Dioceses in the country; certainly not all Dioceses have reported, so this number is low but certainly representative:

The Archdiocese of Atlanta: 2708
The Archdiocese of Seattle: 1242
The Archdiocese of San Diego: 1225

In 2007, 49,415 adult baptisms & 87,363 people were received into full Communion with the Catholic Church.

Amazing, isn’t it? Aren’t people leaving the Catholic Church in droves? Didn’t the sex abuse scandal of 2001-02 drive most intelligent, cosmopolitan, enlightened people away from Catholicism, never to return?? That’s what the liberal, secular media would have you believe. But, IT IS NOT TRUE!!

It is true that the Church lost members due to the scandal, and other reasons, such as the Church’s position on contraception, stem cell research, and abortion. But even during these difficult years, people were coming into the Roman Catholic Church in much higher numbers than the mainstream media would ever want you to know.

I came ‘home to Rome’ in 2005 in the Manchester Diocese, State of New Hampshire. That particular year, over 100,000 people either formally returned to the Church or came in through RCIA programs, in the US alone.

So who are these people? They come from all walks of life, all backgrounds.

Some are people who had been previously ‘unchurched’ in that they had no church affiliation whatsoever, some were ‘reverts’ who returned to the Catholic Church of their youth, and some, like myself, were ‘converts’ who left one Christian denomination (usually Protestant) to become members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church through the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation.

Early in his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI was questioned regarding the numbers of people leaving the Catholic Church. His response was to the effect that perhaps in the future, the Church would be ‘smaller, but purer’.

That does not mean that we are ‘pure’ in the sense of free from sin, because all are sinners, but that those who remained in the Catholic Church would be those who, freely and of their own accord, chose to remain as faithful members of Christ’s Church.

A Catholic friend of mine, back in 2004, after learning of my intent to join the Catholic Church, remarked, “Why would you do that now, of all times? We have too many warts…”

I replied, “I’ll take Christ’s Holy Church, warts and all.”

And so, I guess, I’m not alone. The numbers are evident. People want to be a part of this Church. People, at some deep level, know that the fullness of Truth is found here. The Catholic Church is the only Church that has the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Christ is present always in our tabernacles. Why would you want to be anywhere else?

Resource: Catholic News Agency as reported on www.spiritdaily.com

What Pope John Paul II means to me...

Today is the 4th anniversary of the passing into Eternal Glory of our beloved Pope, John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II passed away the same year I entered into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, so he was my Pope for only a very short time. But he had become, for me, a guiding light on my journey home to the Catholic Church.

So it seems only right that today I write about my feelings for Pope John Paul during this first year of my own Catholic blog.

As we all know, John Paul was bigger than life. His presence demanded that you pay attention; his words demanded that you listen.

I began to listen a couple of years before my conversion to the Catholic faith, mostly by watching the Catholic television network, EWTN. I watched it pretty faithfully for a couple of years before I even dreamt that one day I would be a Roman Catholic. I would watch Life on the Rock with Jeff Cavins and I would watch Daily Mass celebrated at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, broadcast in the evenings.

I remember one particular winter when I was sick as a dog with whooping cough for almost six months and would spend the evenings huddled up in a blanket in my recliner, full of cough meds and prescription anti-biotics, dozing on and off throughout the evening. I would turn Daily Mass on at 7:00 and sit there with my eyes closed, just listening. Then I would continue to listen to whatever Catholic programming was on after Mass.

This was very comforting to me. I knew that I would not be jolted awake by scenes of violence or profanity. I could literally ‘rest in the Lord’ while I gathered my strength for the next day.

And it was during that winter that I became acquainted with John Paul II. I heard him spoken about with deep respect and affection. I heard others talk about his teachings. I watched him celebrate Holy Mass at St. Peter’s on Holy Days. I began to look for news about him and to schedule time to watch EWTN if I knew he was going to be televised. I began to feel my own deep respect and affection for this man.

At that time, I knew that as Pope, he was the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but that was all I really knew about the Papacy. I didn’t know that he was the Vicar of Christ, that he had received his authority from St. Peter himself, through Apostolic Succession, I didn’t know that he would become such a powerful influence in my own spiritual life.

As we all know, Pope John Paul II was a prolific writer. It has been said that you could spend the rest of your life studying the words and thoughts of JPII and not be able to fully digest all that he had to offer. His books, his encyclicals, his poetry… so much to take in.

One of his teachings, however, that has drawn me in and captivated my attention, is a series of Wednesday messages, given over a period of about six years, beginning in 1978 right after his election to the Chair of Peter. These teachings are known as Theology of the Body.

I remember my pastor in 2005, Fr. Paul, talking about Theology of the Body (TOB) and stating that it would take Catholic scholars and laity a hundred years to fully ‘unpack’ these remarkable teachings. But that these teachings on human sexuality would literally ‘revolutionize’ society’s distorted ideas about the role of human sexuality and its place in our lives. Through TOB, we would learn that our sexuality is so much a part of who we are and who we are called to be, beings made in the image and likeness of God, that we would find new freedom and wholeness in our lives and use the God given gift of our sexuality as it was intended to be used – as a divine expression of the life of the Trinity.

TOB is, in its major components, a study in anthropology, in sociology, and in theology. It is a ‘right ordering’ of our human desires and needs firmly grounded in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is a life-changing study. And I can only wish that I had found it much earlier in my own life!

John Paul II was a man of remarkable depth, deep intellect, and an uncanny ability to convey complex theological ideas in layman's terms. This deep study of the human person is accessible to everyone.

Our parish has over the last five years offered studies of TOB. We started out with a beginner’s class, just noting the basics of this remarkable teaching. We moved on to a deeper level with Theology of the Body Explained, presented by Christopher West, who has made the ‘unpacking’ of this material his life’s vocation.

We are now in the middle of an advanced class, going deeper and deeper into the profound implications of life lived authentically, as either a married or celibate person. This advanced level class is called Into the Heart and is again taught by Christopher West, using the text of John Paul II's Man and Woman He Created Them.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg of JPII’s writings. His encyclicals alone need more time to be delved into and the gold nuggets of his rich wisdom mined.

There is no better person to study (outside of Jesus Christ Himself), if you want to know the deep wisdom of our Christian, and Catholic, heritage.

As this blog often deals with various apparitions of our Blessed Mother, I end with this: a few days after the passing of John Paul II into Glory, it was reported by one of the Medjugorje visionaries, that during an apparition of our Lady, John Paul II was seen standing beside our Blessed Mother, young and vibrant. Mary told the visionary, ‘Here is my son – he is with me.’

John Paul II lives in the fullness of the Kingdom of God and enjoys the Beatific Vision.

May Jesus Christ be praised! Amen

Secretary of State Clinton meets our Lady of Guadalupe

Last week, Patrick Madrid was running a caption contest on his blog,
patrickmadrid.blogspot.com

He was looking for captions for this picture

which shows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looking at the tilma of Juan Diego in Guadalupe which, of course, shows the famous imprint of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I submitted my caption and, lo and behold, I came in as a First Runner Up (three way tie)!

Here is how he announced the winners:

The winner and the runners up are those who, in my subjective judgment, best and most cleverly captured the ironic weirdness of the scene: a woman who has made a lucrative career for herself as an implacable foe of the Pro-life movement (and, more fundamentally, a foe of all the unborn children who have been, are being, and will be slaughtered through abortion, as the result of her efforts to support it) being shown the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Life Herself.

There's no need for me to editorialize further on this bizarre juxtaposition of Truth and error, light and darkness, goodness and evil, which is represented by these two very different, diametrically opposed women.

The winner of this caption contest will receive a personally inscribed copy of my book 150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know.

Contest Winner:

Nick — "Behold: The ORIGINAL 'Mexico City Policy'"

Congratulations Nick!

First Runners Up (3-way tie):

Micaela — "That sinking, nauseous, empty feeling in your abdomen, Hillary? Well, it isn't from the burritos . . ."

Dee — The culture of death meets the Mother of Life.

BillyHW — "Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon...well, I don't want to ruin the ending for you."


I, of course, am Dee with my caption “The culture of death meets the Mother of Life.”

Visit Patrick Madrid’s blogspot to see the rest of the wonderful caption entries and read the whole article.

What is going on in Medjugorje?

About a month ago, it was reported that Fr. Jozo Zovko, of the parish of Siroki-Brijeg, Bosnia-Hercegovina, is now on a year-long sabbatical. Allegedly, this is due to a health concern for which he has been receiving treatment.

He has cancelled all talks to Medjugorje pilgrims.

Next, it was reported that the local Bishop of Mostar, who has jurisdiction over the hamlet of Medjugorje, and hence St. James Parish, has stopped the visionaries from receiving their apparitions of our Blessed Mother at Cenocola. Cenocola is an alcohol/drug rehabilitation center for young men. It has had amazing success over the years in helping young men to clean up and move on with their lives.

Yesterday, it was reported that the Bishop of Mostar, Radko Peric, has now forbidden Holy Mass and Adoration to be celebrated at the Oasis of Peace!

Bishop Peric has long been an opponent of the visionaries and has declared the apparitions to be a fraud.

His ‘jurisdiction’, so to speak, over the visionaries has been removed by the Vatican which is now conducting an investigation into the alleged apparitions. A former commission, set up to review the apparitions, in which Bishop Peric was a member, was de-commissioned due to the fact that only non-believers in the apparitions were on the commission.

However, he is still Bishop of Mostar and therefore, still has authority over the Parish of St. James.

Now, if just one of these incidents had been reported, I would probably not make too much of it, such as Fr. Zovko’s sabbatical. Perhaps he truly does have a health condition that would require taking that much time from his duties.

But, with the additional incidents at Cenocola and now the Oasis of Peace, I have to wonder: What is going on in Medjugorje?

Whoever heard of forbidding Holy Mass to be celebrated? This is a scary thought, which quite frankly, sends chills up my spine. It has long been prophesied that one day the Holy Mass would be forbidden and faithful Catholics would have to ‘go underground’ to celebrate Holy Mass. Is this a harbinger of tribulations yet to come?

Are the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary about to draw to a close? Are the first of the ‘secrets’ about to be revealed?

It has even been reported, by an alleged visionary/prophet here in the US, that the first secret will be revealed soon; in fact, possibly as soon as this month!

Prophetic ‘rumors’ come and go. But it does make me wonder when incidents like these happening in Medjugorje take place within a couple of weeks of each other. Could something really big be on the horizon? Time will tell. But for me, Medjugorje and what happens there, is a HUGE barometer of our times… Could the first secret be revealed soon? And if so, what does it mean for us and for the world?

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and adored.
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary be praised and adored.
Amen

Mary Reilly

Have you heard of Mary Reilly, a woman living in upstate New York, who allegedly has locutions of our Blessed Lady?

She has made numerous accurate predictions of events after having received messages from the Blessed Virgin.

Scripture states that the sign of a true prophet of God is that the prophecies they speak must come true all the time; a prophecy that is proven untrue is the sign of a false prophet. Some prophecies may be delayed; that does not render them as false.

Please visit www.markmallett.com/blog for his entry of March 19th found under “Daily Journal” to read the incredible story of Mary Reilly. She provides some interesting insights into the future which seem to be in line with other prophecies regarding the end of this era and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Amen.

St. Brigid of Kildare (Ireland)

I was having an interesting discussion yesterday regarding St. Brigid (sometimes confused with St. Bridget of Sweden), a Celtic saint. This led me to look up some more information about her from Catholic Encyclopedia. This is what I found:

Born in 451 or 452 of princely ancestors at Faughart, near Dundalk, County Louth; d. 1 February, 525, at Kildare. Refusing many good offers of marriage, she became a nun and received the veil from St. Macaille. With seven other virgins she settled for a time at the foot of Croghan Hill, but removed thence to Druin Criadh, in the plains of Magh Life, where under a large oak tree she erected her subsequently famous Convent of Cill-Dara, that is, "the church of the oak" (now Kildare), in the present county of that name. It is exceedingly difficult to reconcile the statements of St. Brigid's biographers, but the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Lives of the saint are at one in assigning her a slave mother in the court of her father Dubhthach, and Irish chieftain of Leinster. Probably the most ancient life of St. Brigid is that by St. Broccan Cloen, who is said to have died 17 September, 650.

Cogitosus, a monk of Kildare in the eighth century, expounded the metrical life of St. Brigid, and versified it in good Latin. This is what is known as the "Second Life", and is an excellent example of Irish scholarship in the mid-eighth century. Perhaps the most interesting feature of Cogitosus's work is the description of the Cathedral of Kildare in his day: "Solo spatioso et in altum minaci proceritate porruta ac decorata pictis tabulis, tria intrinsecus habens oratoria ampla, et divisa parietibus tabulatis". (The rood-screen was formed of wooden boards, lavishly decorated, and with beautifully decorated curtains. )

Probably the famous Round Tower of Kildare dates from the sixth century. Although St. Brigid was "veiled" or received by St. Macaille, at Croghan, yet, it is tolerably certain that she was professed by St. Mel of Ardagh, who also conferred on her abbatial powers. From Ardagh St. Macaille and St. Brigid followed St. Mel into the country of Teffia in Meath, including portions of Westmeath and Longford. This occurred about the year 468. St. Brigid's small oratory at Cill-Dara became the centre of religion and learning, and developed into a cathedral city. She founded two monastic institutions, one for men, and the other for women, and appointed St. Conleth as spiritual pastor of them. It has been frequently stated that she gave canonical jurisdiction to St. Conleth, Bishop of Kildare, but, as Archbishop Healy points out, she simply "selected the person to whom the Church gave this jurisdiction", and her biographer tells us distinctly that she chose St. Conleth "to govern the church along with herself".

Thus, for centuries, Kildare was ruled by a double line of abbot-bishops and of abbesses, the Abbess of Kildare being regarded as superioress general of the convents in Ireland.

Not alone was St. Bridget a patroness of students, but she also founded a school of art, including metal work and illumination, over which St. Conleth presided. From the Kildare scriptorium came the wondrous book of the Gospels, which elicited unbounded praise from Giraldus Cambrensis, but which has disappeared since the Reformation.

According to this twelfth- century ecclesiastic, nothing that he had ever seen was at all comparable to the "Book of Kildare", every page of which was gorgeously illuminated, and he concludes a most laudatory notice by saying that the interlaced work and the harmony of the colours left the impression that "all this is the work of angelic, and not human skill".

Small wonder that Gerald Barry assumed the book to have been written night after night as St. Bridget prayed, "an angel furnishing the designs, the scribe copying". Even allowing for the exaggerated stories told of St. Brigid by her numerous biographers, it is certain that she ranks as one of the most remarkable Irishwomen of the fifth century and as the Patroness of Ireland. She is lovingly called the "Queen of the South: the Mary of the Gael" by a writer in the "Leabhar Breac". St. Brigid died leaving a cathedral city and school that became famous all over Europe. In her honour St. Ultan wrote a hymn commencing:

Christus in nostra insula Que vocatur Hivernia Ostensus est hominibus Maximis mirabilibus Que perfecit per felicem Celestis vite virginem Precellentem pro merito Magno in numdi circulo.
(In our island of Hibernia Christ was made known to man by the very great miracles which he performed through the happy virgin of celestial life, famous for her merits through the whole world.)

The sixth Life of the saint printed by Colgan is attributed to Coelan, an Irish monk of the eighth century, and it derives a peculiar importance from the fact that it is prefaced by a foreword from the pen of St. Donatus, also an Irish monk, who became Bishop of Fiesole in 824. St. Donatus refers to previous lives by St. Ultan and St. Aileran. When dying, St. Brigid was attended by St. Ninnidh, who was ever afterwards known as "Ninnidh of the Clean Hand" because he had his right hand encased with a metal covering to prevent its ever being defiled, after being he medium of administering the viaticum to Ireland's Patroness.

She was interred at the right of the high altar of Kildare Cathedral, and a costly tomb was erected over her. In after years her shrine was an object of veneration for pilgrims, especially on her feast day, 1 February, as Cogitosus related. About the year 878, owing to the Scandinavian raids, the relics of St. Brigid were taken to Downpatrick, where they were interred in the tomb of St. Patrick and St. Columba. The relics of the three saints were discovered in 1185, and on 9 June of the following year were solemnly translated to a suitable resting place in Downpatrick Cathedral, in presence of Cardinal Vivian, fifteen bishops, and numerous abbots and ecclesiastics. Various Continental breviaries of the pre-Reformation period commemorate St. Brigid, and her name is included in a litany in the Stowe Missal.

In Ireland today, after 1500 years, the memory of "the Mary of the Gael" is as dear as ever to the Irish heart, and, as is well known, Brigid preponderates as a female Christian name. Moreover, hundreds of place-names in her honour are to be found all over the country, e.g. Kilbride, Brideswell, Tubberbride, Templebride, etc. The hand of St. Brigid is preserved at Lumiar near Lisbon, Portugal, since 1587, and another relic is at St. Martin's Cologne.

Text taken from http://www.newadvent.com/

The interesting part of this whole essay is that it is not mentioned directly but Brigid (pronounced Breed in the ancient Gaelic) is often confused, and their stores interwoven, with another Brigid who was a pagan and honored as a goddess. The whole idea that St. Brigid's convent was underneath a large oak tree, oaks being highly venerated by the Druids and priestesses of pagan Ireland, certainly has reinforced the idea for centuries.

Edward C. Sellner, in his book Wisdom of the Celtic Saints states that 'nuns at her monastery are said to have kept an eternal flame burning there, a custom that may have originated with female druids residing at that spot long before the saint arrived. Their leader supposedly was a high priestess who bore the name of the goddess Brigit or Brighid, a deity of wisdom, poetry, fire and the hearth. Like other Celtic goddesses who sometimes appear in groups of threes, the goddess Brigit was associated with two sisters by the same name -- one who was patron of healing and the other of the smith's craft. The attributes were eventually identified with Brigit, the saint, whose feast day, February 1, came to be celebrated on the same day as that of the pagan goddess.'

This is just one of the many Celtic saints Sellner describes in his wonderful book, Wisdom of the Celtic Saints and if you find this an interesting topic, this would be a great place to start learning more of the holy men and women now known to us as the Celtic Saints. Happy reading!

Spring!

I don't know how your life has been going lately, but as for me, this winter has been especially hard. Cold, icy weather; economy in the trashbin; car problems that cost a small fortune to repair; leaking roofs and wild drivers crashing through my living room!

All in all, I've had enough.

So, these are the things I am looking forward to this spring:

Yellow forsythia, green grass, temps above 60 degrees, sipping wine on my porch, spring peepers, open windows to let in the fresh air, marshmallows over the firepit and the smell of fresh soil in my flower pots!

Glorious, glorious Spring!

Pope Benedict to wear cross at Western Wall - how amazing!!!

Did you see the article on line yesterday regarding the fact that a certain rabbi did not want Pope Benedict to wear a cross during his visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem? Below is an article from Catholic News Agency today stating that the Pope may wear a cross while praying at the Western Wall. Of course, this is a retraction of yesterday's comment, which is now being referred to as "misleading."

Ok, here's my thoughts on this particular matter: You've got to be kidding, right? Ah, he's THE POPE. THE HEAD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. And this rabbi is upset that he will wear a cross??? Perhaps Benedict should ask the rabbi to take his Star of David off, or perhaps remove his prayer shawl... which of course, he wouldn't do, as Pope Benedict has respect for our Jewish brethren...

Rome, Italy, Mar 18, 2009 / 02:13 am (CNA).- Contrary to comments attributed to an Israeli rabbi, Pope Benedict XVI will not be barred from entering the holy area of Jerusalem’s Western Wall while wearing a cross.
On Tuesday the Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who oversees worship matters at the Western Wall, as saying that the Pope should not wear a cross during his visit to the area.
“It is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross,” the rabbi reportedly said, according to SIR.
Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, issued a clarifying statement saying that the Jerusalem Post’s quotation was “misleading.”
Ambassador Lewy said that Israel will “respect, as a matter of course, the religious symbols of the Holy Father and of his entourage, as expected in accordance with rules of hospitality and dignity,” following the same procedure applied in Pope John Paul II’s papal visit to Israel in 2000.
“This was confirmed to a high Official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jerusalem personally by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch,” the ambassador’s statement continued.
Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit the Western Wall on May 12 as part of his journey to the Holy Land.

3/18 Apparition to Mirjana

"Dear children! Today I call you to look into your hearts sincerely and for a long time. What will you see in them? Where is my Son in them and where is the desire to follow me to Him? My children, may this time of renunciation be a time when you will ask yourself: 'What does my God desire of me personally? What am I to do?' Pray, fast and have a heart full of mercy. Do not forget your shepherds. Pray that they may not get lost, that they may remain in my Son so as to be good shepherds to their flock." Our Lady then looked at all those present and added: "Again I say to you, if you knew how much I love you, you would cry with happiness. Thank you."

May we always follow our Blessed Mother's words with sincere intentions and fullness of heart.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Top o’ the Mornin’ to ye! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

There are very many wonderful websites offering history and legend regarding St. Patrick today so I thought I would simply offer this prayer, St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

It has always been one of my favorites and I hope you, too, will find comfort and joy in Christ this day through the words of this beloved Saint.

St. Patrick's Breastplate is found in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early 9th Century. St. Patrick is said to have written this prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, High King of Ireland.

It is the quintessential prayer of Celtic Christian spirituality. We bind Christ to ourselves for protection, comfort, fellowship and good will towards our fellow man.


St. Patrick’s Breastplate

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of pagans, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison,
Against burning,
Against drowning,
Against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the boat.

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe. Amen

St. Michael Prayer Campaign

While reading some articles on one of my favorite Catholic daily websites, www.spiritdaily.com
I came across an interesting, and important, link.

We are fighting a battle in this world, more today than ever before. We are living, in the words of the Great John Paul II, in a ‘culture of death’. This has only been worsened by the recent Executive Orders signed by our new President. A reversal of the Bush Administration’s law limiting the use of embryonic stem cells was signed into law this week. It will broadly expand the use of viable embryos for stem cell research, including the creation of new stem cell lines which was banned under the Bush law.

While this new technology does indeed hold out promise for new treatments for some of the worst illnesses and disabilities we face in the modern world, it comes at much too high a price – the destruction of human life in the embryonic stage.

Or in other words, killing one person to possibly help another.

While President Obama couches his words in carefully constructed rhetoric, this is the bottom line. Pitting science against morality might be something he is prepared to defend, but it is indefensible in the eyes of Almighty God. The knowledge of scientific principle is a gift given to humanity from God. It is to be used to increase our knowledge of the created world. It is not to be used to destroy creation in any forms.

Obama would have you believe this is a political issue. It is not. It is a moral issue.

Pope Leo XIII composed a powerful prayer, which all Catholics are familiar with: The Prayer to St. Michael. At one time it was an obligatory prayer at the end of Holy Mass.

Human Life International is campaigning to bring the St. Michael Prayer back to Holy Mass. If you are interested in helping to fight the battle against the destruction of human life, please visit Human Life International’s website, www.hli.org . Join in the battle by supporting their St. Michael Prayer Campaign for the Conversion of Abortionists. Let’s get the beautiful and powerful St. Michael Prayer reinstated at the end of every Holy Mass.

Prayer is our most powerful tool in the battle against the evil forces of this world. We can change the world, if we do our part.


St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits,
who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Festival of Purim

Tonight at sundown the Jewish festival of Purim begins. Purim is a celebration of the time when the Jewish people were saved from total extermination by a young woman named Esther. Her story and the story of Purim is found in the Biblical Book of Esther.

Esther was the niece and adopted daughter of Mordecai, living in Persia (modern day Iran). Esther was living in the home of King Xerxes, King of Persia, as part of his harem and had been made Queen of Persia by King Xerxes because he loved Esther more than all of the other women. Esther was Jewish but King Xerxes did not realize this as neither Mordecai nor Esther ever made mention of the fact.

Haman, a jealous, arrogant, self-serving man was advisor to King Xerxes. He despised Mordecai, because he would not bow the knee to Haman and therefore, Haman decided to exterminate the Jewish people.

In Esther 3:8, we read Haman’s words to King Xerxes: ‘There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people’s and they do not observe the king’s laws; therefore, it is not befitting the King to tolerate them.’ King Xerxes agreed and issued an edict of extermination.

Now there was a certain law of the land that stated no one could enter the king’s presence without being first summoned by the king. For Esther to place herself in the king’s presence uninvited was a very dangerous undertaking.

In Chapter 4 of Esther, we read that Mordecai, learning of the King’s edict that all the Jewish people be slaughtered, sends a message inside the royal court to Queen Esther, asking that she intercede for her people. Esther replies:

"All the servants of the king and the people of his provinces know that any man or woman, who goes to the king in the inner court without being summoned, suffers the automatic penalty of death, unless the king extends to him the golden scepter, thus sparing his life. Now as for me, I have not been summoned to the king for thirty days." (verse 11)

Mordecai responds to the Queen’s message in verse 13 – 14:

"Do not imagine that because you are in the king's palace, you alone of all the Jews will escape. Even if you now remain silent, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another source; but you and your father's house will perish. Who knows but that it was for a time like this that you obtained the royal dignity?" - New American Bible

Another translation puts Mordecai’s words this way:

And who knows if you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this? – Revised Standard Version

So Esther, together with all the Jewish people, fasted for three days in preparation and then Esther approached the King. Much to her surprise, he welcomed her. She was able to tell him about Haman’s plan to destroy not only her but all of her people. King Xerxes reverses the extermination planned by Haman and he puts Mordecai in Haman’s place in the royal court. Mordecai and Queen Esther were then able to work together for the benefit of the Jewish people and the feast of Purim celebrates this victory over destruction by God’s powerful hand.

The reason I point all of this out today is that verse 14 has always stood out for me. All of Scripture contains many levels of understanding. On one level, we have the story of Esther and Mordecai saving the Jewish people.
On another level, we have the meanings of Scripture that we can try to apply to our own 21st century lives.

We, ourselves, live in changing times. We need look no further than the evening’s news to know that we are in dangerous days. Wars, economic crisis, homelessness, lack of security accost us everywhere. We search for answers, seek deeper meanings, and wonder what will be the outcome of it all?

Those with faith know that God is in control but we all feel the need ‘to do something’ that can help, not only ourselves, but our families, our parishes, our communities, our world. What is it that we can do?

“And who knows if you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this? “

Perhaps, we ourselves have been put here at this time for a specific purpose? I often wonder why, of all the generations of my family, I am the only one who has converted to Catholicism? Perhaps for a reason beyond my understanding or imagining? I do believe that God has a job for me to do, as yet undisclosed, but to be revealed later. Perhaps during some up-coming crisis, I will be able to lead someone to God’s fullness of truth found only in the Catholic Church.

Whatever that job may be, I pray that I would be worthy and ready for the task.

Why has God brought you to the Kingdom? There is much to think about here. Let’s reflect on this Jewish festival day of Purim and start thinking about God’s purposes. Let’s ponder with Mordecai his words, “And who knows if you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this? “

Amen.

See you Sunday

I'm just hangin' for tomorrow - back to posting on Sunday!

The power of positive words

I was reading an interesting article today on www.spiritdaily.com regarding a Japanese scientist who has been working with water crystals. He has allegedly confirmed that when water is frozen right after being surrounded by good or bad words, the crystals change their formation.

Bad words produce distorted, blob-like crystalline structures while good words spoken produce beautiful, symmetrical crystals, much like the beautiful intricate snowflake patterns we are all familiar with.

Like all articles on Spirit Daily, they offer this information for the reader’s discernment.

He goes on to say, “This principle is what I think makes swearing and slang words destructive. These words are not in accordance with the laws of nature. For example, I think you would find higher rates of violent crime in areas where a lot of negative is being used. Just as the Bible says, first there was the Word, and God created all of Creation from the Word.”

Actually, this seems to make some sense to me. After all, we know that God spoke the heavens into being by the power of the spoken Word. We also know that we, as God’s creatures, are called to work co-operatively with God in His on-going redemption of the world. How do we co-operate? We know that the power of prayer, spoken and silent, has restorative, healing powers. Our Blessed Mother continually urges us to “pray for the conversion of the world.”

So obviously, our prayerful words have power to effect positive change, in our own lives, in our families, in our communities and in the larger world.

There is mystery about life. There are millions upon millions of unknown, mysterious things in the world; some God reveals to us and some He does not. Science, used properly, is a tool God has given mankind to better know and understand the world around us.

Might this be just one example of how unbelievably amazing this world truly is?

Something to ponder...

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

This seemed like an appropriate quotation for our day and time. Would that we had more men and women with the heart and soul of President Reagan. Today we are in dire straits and we need good, Godly men to lead us forward towards a brighter tomorrow. We are sadly lacking the very thing we need. May God spare and preserve us...

Why Worry?

I was remembering a Scripture passage that I had memorized many, many years ago as a child, where Jesus was saying not to worry about tomorrow, cause things are bad enough today… Well, that’s not exactly how He said it; that’s my paraphrase or the way I have always remembered that passage.

When I was a kid in Protestant Sunday School, the only translation of the Bible we used was the beautiful, poetic King James Version. So most of the Scriptures that I have memorized and retained over the years play back in my head in the KJV translation.

In Matthew 6: 26 – 34, Jesus is speaking about the fact that to worry is a pointless exercise. He asks “and who by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”

Here is the passage from the Revised Standard Version:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”

“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!”

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Or in the words of the beautiful King James:

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” – Matthew 6: 34

The reason I point out all of this is because I’ve been worrying about a lot of things lately.

I’ve been suffering from the winter blahs and when I’m in an already depressed state, it does seem that I worry more. So I have to remember to ‘offer it up’ to God, to lay my burdens on Him, and especially not to take them back upon myself, once I have given them to the Lord. I’m not particularly good at any of this.

I struggle; I resist the whole idea that I am not capable of managing my own life; that I need God so desperately each and every minute. But the truth is: I do. I need Him to take all the worry and stress away. I need to lay my burden down and not pick it back up. I need to remember this Scripture that I have carried with me in my heart almost all of my life:

“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” – Matthew 6: 34

Perhaps you need to remember this too. Have a blessed, worry-free day!

Human will vs. God's will

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the human will, and in particular, about free will.

I thought I had read somewhere, something about superior will vs. inferior will in regard to our free will.

I have searched around the Internet and cannot find any reference to superior vs. inferior will. Perhaps someone out there in the blogosphere can point me in the right direction?

In the meantime, here are my thoughts: In terms of our free will or as I am calling it for the purposes of this discussion, human will, it would seem to me that we can divide our will into two categories: superior will and inferior will.

By superior will, I would be referring to those times, when through prayer and discernment, we commit ourselves to following the highest will of God, as we can best discern that will.

By inferior will, I am referring to those times when, without prayer and discernment, we commit ourselves (consciously or unconsciously) to following our own desires, our own way, and end up following our inferior will, unenlightened by God. This, of course, probably occurs many times during a single day.

There would be a thousand examples of this, as there are a thousand ways to sin, because that is really what is being discussed here – our concupiscence towards sin.

I’ll use fasting as an example, because I’ve been thinking about that a lot also, as you know if you have been reading this blog for the past few days…

If I get up in the morning with the intention to fast, and I am successful in my commitment to fast, then I have, in my own free will, aligned my will with the Father’s. I have been obedient to His will (which I know because both Jesus in the Scriptures & the precepts of the Church tell me to fast) and I have also exercised my superior will, because I have chosen to be obedient.

However, if I get up in the morning with the intention to fast, and I am unsuccessful in my commitment because I have chosen, again using my own free will, to eat that cookie or have that piece of steak at dinner, then I have been disobedient to His will and I have exercised my inferior will, because I have chosen to be disobedient.

Now perhaps this is a discussion that doesn’t need to occur, because you, the readers, already understand this. Perhaps it is only I who don’t understand. Perhaps this is something that if I were more astute, I would already know that the Fathers of the Church have thrown this idea around for centuries, and I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

Or perhaps I’m getting this all wrong and need to be corrected. If so, I would welcome any corrections you might send my way.

But this is the bottom line: How many times during the course of a day, week, month…. do I exercise my inferior will over my superior will, without so much as a thought about it. Free will is something we know that we possess, but how often do we consider how well we are handling our free will? How many times, without even thinking about it, am I choosing to be disobedient to the will of the Father?

If this whole idea of superior vs. inferior will makes absolutely no sense, my apologies. If, however, it resonates with you and you can point me in the right direction in terms of what others have said about this subject, please do so. If my feet are all wet, you can tell me so, too!

Book Review - Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the World by Anthony Doerr

Four Seasons in Rome in the author’s personal account of a year spent in Rome in 2005 living on an American Academy Fellowship.

Doerr’s wife Shauna had just delivered twin boys and their peaceful, adult life was turned up-side down by the inclusion of two new babies. Doerr recounts the struggles and joys of their new topsy-turvy life: adjusting to twins while learning to live in a foreign country. Either one of those experiences would be daunting enough; but to combine the two was an adventure beyond his imaginings. Coming from Boise, Idaho, the cultural differences, language barriers and sheer ‘newness’ of life in Rome was fascinating fodder for a writer.

This book is poetic prose. Doerr writes with brutal honesty, charming wit and descriptive precision. I could see and feel and taste through Doerr’s words with an amazing clarity. I felt as if I, too, had experienced first hand some of the delightful and not-so-delightful adventures that the Doerrs’ shared during their year in Rome and the Umbrian countryside.

Doerr was there for the death and funeral of our beloved Pope, John Paul II. He witnessed first hand the thousands upon thousands of pilgrims who flooded into the Eternal City for what Doerr describes as the ‘biggest funeral in the history of the world’.

As someone who is planning on visiting Rome this year, I found this book to be insightful and inviting. I can’t wait to experience Rome for myself and this book has only encouraged me all the more to pursue that dream.

Our Lady's Message, given to Mirjana today.

From http://www.blogger.com/info@medjugorje-online-com

Message through Mirjana - March 2, 2009
"Dear children! I am here among you. I am looking into your wounded and restless hearts. You have become lost, my children. Your wounds from sin are becoming greater and greater and are distancing you all the more from the real truth. You are seeking hope and consolation in the wrong places, while I am offering to you sincere devotion which is nurtured by love, sacrifice and truth. I am giving you my Son."

More thoughts on fasting..

I've received some feedback (unfortunately, off-blog) regarding my previous post on fasting and the issues I have experienced with it. I have been offered various types of fasts and "how-to"s... As I stated previously, I have read all sorts of books, articles, etc. about how to fast and what to eat when fasting, and why one should fast... that's not really the issue.

Knowing how and why something should be done, does not necessarily make it happen. If we could all follow through with our best intentions, and always do things correctly and always make the best choices, I guess we could do away with Church altogether, cause we wouldn't need the graces and blessings of the Sacraments... we'd be restored to our original Edenic perfection!

For me, fasting is a spiritual struggle and perhaps will always be so. Perhaps this struggle is given to me by God to help me grow spiritually. Growth in holiness is always fraught with struggle, false starts, the too high expections we place upon ourselves and the humility that comes from realizing we are but dust. After all, this is the message that we start out the Lenten Season with: Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.

So I will continue to struggle with fasting and to rely totally upon God's graces to see me through.

More on Fasting

Seems like the whole blogosphere of Catholic websites is discussing fasting this week, which is only natural.

Check out www.fisheaters.com for their article titled "Fasting and Abstinence"; also spiritdaily.com for an article entitled "The Power of Fasting". All good reads and good websites.

Prayer of Three Things

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, I ask of Thee three things this day:That Thou wilt help me to repair before my death, all the graces I have lost through my own fault; that Thou wilt assist me in attaining that degree of merit and perfection destined for me, and which I may have frustrated by my infidelities; and finally, that Thou wilt deign to pardon me all the sins which I have caused others to commit, and restore to them all the graces I have caused them to lose. I ask these graces of Thee, O Holy Trinity, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus,the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the intercession of the glorious Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. Amen.

Being an Oblate - Part II

There were two other retreatants who were becoming Associates of Holy Cross Monastery on Saturday night. We met with the Associate’s Master, Br. Ron Haynes, and he reviewed with us what it means to be an Associate of Holy Cross Monastery.

We had all written our Rule of Life, with the vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life as the principal elements of our Rule. How would we live out this Rule of Life when we were outside of the confines of the Monastery, when we were back in our regular lives, balancing jobs, homes, family, church commitments, friends and the thousand other demands upon our time?

How would we find time for prayer, meditation and good works? These are the challenges we all face who strive to walk the path that Christ walked, striving to be in the world but not part of it. We all acknowledged the challenges which lay before us; we all chose to continue to associate ourselves with this Monastery, these Brothers, this ministry.

Saturday evening during the Triduum (three holy days preceding Easter) is a beautiful time at the Monastery. All the preparations for Easter Vigil have been made; the candlesticks have been polished, the incense is ready. The food for the Easter Feast has been prepared. All is ready. The Monastery gleams in the candlelight.

It is a bit unusual to be having guests take their Associate Vows over the Triduum but this year an exception was made for us. Accompanied by all those in attendance who were already Associates and some of the Brothers, the three candidates proceeded down the stairs to the Crypt Chapel, the burying place of the Order’s Founder, Fr. James Otis Sargent Huntington.

The Chapel Crypt is beautiful at any time of the year. It is a stone chapel. The back wall behind Fr. Huntington’s tomb is curved and the walls are stucco white. There is an oriental rug upon the stone floor and the steps leading up to the altar. The candlelight absolutely glows against the white wall, the brass shining in the flickering flames. Pots of bright pink flowers adorned the altar. The room was lit by only candlelight. It was truly breath-taking. We stood in front of the altar together while we said our Associate Pledge.

It seemed good and right that I was taking these Associate vows during this particular Triduum but it was also quite strange. Because it had been only a few short weeks before that I had experienced a profound conversion during a Friday Holy Mass and I knew that I had to become a Roman Catholic.

Lenten Fast

Okay, so I admit it right up front. I’m not a fan of fasting. In fact, it’s my least favorite thing that I’ve had to participate in since becoming Catholic.

Truth is, I suffer from low-blood sugar. Which basically means that if my sugar levels drop too low, I get cranky. My hands shake. I get cranky. I feel woozy. I get cranky. My legs turn to rubber. I get cranky. You get the picture…

Now I’m usually a fairly level person when it comes to moods. My moods don’t tend to swing to either extreme – giddy or grumpy. But when my sugar drops, watch out.

Now I know that fasting is an extremely important spiritual discipline. If Jesus did it, it must be important. I’ve talked with others who practice fasting and they seem to get a lot from the practice. Do they get cranky? They don’t tell me that they do, unless they are hiding that one small detail…

I have read several books or chapters of books dealing with the discipline of fasting. I read them, I say, ‘yup, got that.’ And then I go about my merry way…

When I returned from pilgrimage to Medjugorje, I said to myself, “Guess I’ll start fasting, ‘cause our Blessed Mother asks us to do so.” That was in 2005 and I’m still trying to start. Or not even to start, just to think about starting…

The Catholic Church calls for a day of fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and to abstain from eating meat on all Fridays of the Lenten season. I have no issues with giving up meat once in a while. Not a problem. But this year, I totally forgot that it was even Ash Wednesday at all until I thought about my evening plans and remembered that I had to go to Holy Mass. So, needless to say, I had not fasted nor abstained from meat all day. In fact, I had a roast beef sandwich for lunch! Guess I’ll need to go to Reconciliation right away….

So then I thought, “Well, Ash Wednesday doesn’t technically start until you receive your ashes, right?” Okay, so I know I’m justifying my actions here, but what else can I do? What’s done is done…

So here’s what I’ve decided about Lenten fasting: I do need to fast. Jesus and Mary both ask us to do so. So...

I will pick up the Lenten fast today (Friday) and abstain from meat. I’ll also limit my daily intake of food and ‘give up’ certain favorite items…On Fridays I’ll stick to tuna fish, salads, cottage cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. Except that that’s not much of a sacrifice as I do enjoy those foods…

I guess this is where the real quandry lies: Abstaining from meat or eating only two small meals on a fasting day (as prescribed by Church law) is not much of a sacrifice. I would feel like I’m cheating God if I ate at all on a fasting day; yet the Church clearly allows two small meals (added together they should not be as much as a normal meal.)

So, as my Pastor said last week, don’t think of Lent as a time to just ‘give up’ something but as a chance to ‘do’ something for God that you might not ordinarily do, such as visiting our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration more frequently, praying an extra Rosary, or visiting someone who is alone. If fasting is not on your normal agenda, then starting to fast now would be a good thing; a sacrifice for God. This seems much more in line with what Lent should be all about. Giving back to Jesus what He so generously gave to us – Himself.

To be an Oblate - Part 1

Lay people who choose to affiliate themselves with a monastery are most commonly called oblates. These people, in communion with the monastery and its values, hold up and support the monastery by their prayers, their works and their resources.

I am associated with Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York. Holy Cross is situated on the left bank of the beautiful Hudson River in the small township of West Park, approximately 100 miles north of New York City.

Across the river, you can watch the Amtrak train as it snakes its way between Poughkeepsie to the south and Albany to the north. You can also see the Vanderbilt Mansion, listed as a National Historic Site, National Park Service. It is located in Hyde Park, on the east bank of the Hudson.

The Order of the Holy Cross, of which Holy Cross Monastery is a part, was founded by Fr. James Otis Sargent Huntington in New York City in 1884. The Order is a Benedictine Anglican monastic community.

The community moved from New York City to Maryland before settling in West Park in 1902. The grounds comprise 2 Guest Houses, the Monastery Church of St. Augustine, and the Monastic Enclosure, which is the private residence of the Brothers.

The Order of Holy Cross is comprised of 4 houses in the United States, Canada, and Grahamstown, South Africa. One of the Order’s houses, which was located in Santa Barbara, CA, was recently destroyed by the wild fires that raged through southern California in the last months of 2008.

The brothers of Holy Cross live in community under the threefold vow of obedience, stability, and conversion to the Monastic way of life as stated in the Rule of St. Benedict. Their lives also reflect the rule of their Founder, Fr. James Huntington.

I first became aware of Holy Cross Monastery many years ago while attending a week long retreat on Gregorian chant at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, across the river in Rhinebeck, NY. It was there that a chance conversation over lunch led me to my first spiritual retreat at Holy Cross. It was given by Br. Andrew, a wonderful Scotsman who speaks with a delightful brogue. It was a Celtic retreat and we discussed Celtic spirituality, walked the labyrinth as a prayer tool and listened to Celtic music played on the harp by self-taught Br. Andrew himself. It was a wonderful, Spirit-filled retreat weekend. And I fell in love with the monastic life, especially as lived out by the brothers of Holy Cross Monastery.

Since then, I have returned to Holy Cross Monastery many, many times. I have found peace, solitude, camaraderie, prayer and friendship there. I have studied, chatted, taken long walks in the woods and along the shore of the river, taken longer naps and eaten my share of wonderful food over the years. I have formed friendships with people who live within a few short miles of my home but whom I would never have met unless our paths had intersected at Holy Cross Monastery.

I have written a Rule of Life for myself, based on the Benedictine vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life. At Holy Cross, I have pondered what it means to be a true disciple of Christ and I have been both challenged and encouraged to follow the path that the Lord has set before me, wherever that path may lead.

During the Easter Triduum 2004, I journeyed to Holy Cross to spend the three holy days in preparation for the great Resurrection celebration with the brothers and guests of Holy Cross Monastery. I was there to take a public vow to become an oblate, or as we are called at Holy Cross, an Associate.

I will never forget those three awesome, holy days. Good Friday was spent in silence. We were all assigned some small tasks to do during the day, in preparation for Easter. I was sent to the Sacristy to help polish brass candlesticks. We polished in silence. I spent time in the Great Hall, reading Scripture and spiritual books. We all read in silence. Whenever the church bell rang, summoning us to the Daily Office, we gathered in St. Augustine’s Chapel in silence, walking down the hallway to the Chapel, side by side with friends and fellow Retreatants, all with one purpose, to worship God in this holy place. We returned to the Great Hall, awaiting the dinner bell, filing into the Refectory in silence, eating in silence, clearing our places and returning our used dishes to the kitchen, in silence. We spent the evening in silence and retired to our rooms for the night in silence.

I found this enforced silence terribly difficult. Even if I don’t know someone or don’t feel the need to speak to someone as we pass in the hall, or share a spot on the couch in the Great Hall, I, at least, always look at the person and offer them a smile. I soon discovered that smiling at each other during a silent day was discouraged…

I felt awkward about this, as if I were denying my own nature and found myself seeking places throughout the Monastery where I would not encounter other people, to spare myself the discomfort of not smiling, not speaking.

I asked Br. Ron, my spiritual advisor at Holy Cross, about this ‘not smiling’ rule. He taught me about the monastic practice called “custody of the eyes”. He explained that since we speak so much through our eyes, our smiles, our presence, we must avoid the chance of breaking silence by being ‘drawn in’ to someone, that monastics learn to avoid looking into someone’s eyes during silent hours or silent days. Once I understood this, it seemed to make it so much easier the next time we were in a period of silence. I learned to just not look. I learned to not take it personally when someone didn’t look at me or return my smile. I learned custody of the eyes.

On Saturday, after breakfast, the silence of Good Friday was over. There was work to do. I helped fold bulletins for Easter morning worship. I polished some more brass candlesticks. I spent time in the Monk’s Cell Bookshop, browsing at books and chatting with the Brothers and guests. It was a happier, more up-lifting day than the somber, silence-filled Good Friday. I took a nap in the afternoon because I knew that Easter Vigil began at 4:00 a.m. outside in the chill of a March morning. And I knew that Saturday evening I would take my vows as an Associate of Holy Cross.