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.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, that holy day that signals the beginning of the Lenten Season, dates back to the early Church and the use of ashes originally signified mourning. A penitent sinner would use ashes to show in a literal, physical way their sorrow and repentance.

We read in the book of Job (42:3-6), “Job says to God: ‘I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees Thee. Therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’”

Job, repenting of his harsh words spoken to God, acknowledges the power of God and in the presence of such Power, is sorrowful.

When I was a Protestant, depending on who was the pastor at my church in any given year, the practice of applying ashes to foreheads on Ash Wednesday varied. Some pastors were accepting of the idea of ashes; others were not. So some years, we received ashes; some we did not! It is only in recent years that many Protestant denominations (Methodist, for one), have returned to the ancient practice of ashes on Ash Wednesday.

The Catholic Church, however, has always seen the distribution of ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a very important, vital aspect of the Lenten Season.

The Second Vatican Council, in their document Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #109, turned the focus of Lent from mourning and sorrow to “a period of closer attention to the Word of God and more ardent prayer.”

By using the forty days of Lent as a focused period of prayer and Scripture reading in anticipation of the Glorious Easter Resurrection, this time can have profound meaning for us if we enter into it with the right spirit and the right tools.

The Spirit comes to us in prayer. We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit who will enable us to ‘lean into’ the Lenten days with repentant hearts and minds. We acknowledge our sinfulness; our inability to walk the straight path and to enter through the narrow gate. We acknowledge our total and utter dependence upon the Lord to motivate us, to spur us on.

With the Spirit to guide us, we search for the right tools for the journey. Certainly, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of our prime tools. We clean up our souls and “dust off” our venial sins in preparation for these 40 days of fasting, abstinence, prayer, and meditation upon Scripture.

Another tool is the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We partake wholly and with deep reverence as we eat the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord. We are there as Christ institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper. We draw closer to Him in the most intimate of ways.

We read Holy Scripture, meditating on the days leading up to our Lord’s Passion, particularly those Scripture passages given to us in the Lectionary as appropriate for this holy season. We pray the Holy Rosary, meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries and deepening our understanding of them.

We read spiritual books which point us in the right direction for this Lenten preparation. One of my favorites is Francis Fernandez’s In Conversation with God, Vol II, Lent and Eastertide, which are heavily dependent upon the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.

We can perhaps take some time to enjoy special movies that portray our Lord’s life and Passion, such as Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth or Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

All these tools, when used in conjunction with and in the power of the Holy Spirit, should help to draw us closer to our Lord and His Passion.

I pray that each and every one of us draw closer to Jesus during this sacred time. May we all ‘lean into’ the season of Lent with contrite hearts and steadfast love.

May we pray with Job: ‘I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees Thee. Therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ Amen.

Until the Vatican Rules, Don't Dismiss Medjugorje

John Ellis says Catholics should keep an open mind about the claims of the town's 'seers' -
27 June 2008


This in an article I came across this morning in Catholic Herald, the most widely-read Catholic newspaper in the United Kingdom. I thought it was worthy of posting, as so many do not understand what is actually happening in Medjugorje as regards the Vatican Commission and the opposition the visionaries have faced for over twenty-five years. May our Blessed Mother continue to bless each and every one of us with her encouragements and prayers.

On June 24 1981 six children in a sleepy mountain village in what was then Yugoslavia claimed to have seen the Blessed Virgin. Twenty-seven years later, those same "seers", adults now, insist they are still being visited by the Mother of God, and many millions of people from all over the world, believers and unbelievers, have flocked to Medjugorje. Even priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals in their thousands have been on pilgrimage there. Yet still the town's very name can be relied upon to provoke frothy splutterings of vitriolic condemnation from dyed-in-the-wool sceptics - as indeed did Lourdes and Fatima in their time. The epitome of Catholic orthodoxy, Medjugorje seems to be only about peace, prayer, renewal and reparation.

So why all the fuss? The two most-voiced grumbles of the Medjugorje-bashers are these: the inordinate length of time the "visions" and "interior locutions" have endured, and the perception that somehow those who go on pilgrimage there - along with the Franciscan priests who minister to them - are disobeying the local Ordinary. Yet any ruling, any decision to be made concerning events at Medjugorje, is no longer in the hands of the Bishop of Mostar; and while the Church is certainly well able to denounce fraudulent visions or visionaries when required, it never allows itself to pronounce in favour so long as the phenomenon continues and until all relevant facts have been gathered and carefully studied.

In the case of Medjugorje the jury is still out. Meanwhile, the Vatican has made clear that the faithful are free, both lay and religious, to go on pilgrimage there, but even where such pilgrimages are attended by a priest or bishop, they must not be seen as being arranged by the clergy. That is the status quo. There are those who seem concerned that the "visionaries", instead of retiring to the cloister, have chosen to marry and raise families. Have they forgotten La Salette? Besides, in an age addicted to profligacy and promiscuity, where marriage is demeaned and family life dangerously weakened, might not this example be both relevant and timely? And perhaps those who are too eager to convince themselves that Medjugorje, far from being heaven-sent, is satanic in origin should look again at its fruits, for surely this is our best measure.For almost two decades now the International Youth Festival held during the summer in Medjugorje has each year attracted tens of thousands of good, faithful, discerning young Catholics, the very best of the world's youth - and perhaps our only hope for a better tomorrow.

These are the spiritual children of John Paul II, faithful to the Magisterium, disciples of orthodoxy, not easily deceived. And is it really possible that Satan laughs up his diabolical sleeve at the 50 million communicants who have tasted Our Lord in Medjugorje, many for the first time in years? Are dark forces, then, responsible for such fervour at Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration seen there, and for the daily rosary for a sick, deluded, traumatised world? There is surely a dilemma here, for if that is the case then logic tells us hell itself stands ready to crumble, since "a house divided against itself must fall".When the Medjugorje "visions" began in 1981 the then Bishop of Mostar, the late Pavao Zanic, was keen to support the children.

He urged his priests to "accept God's providence", insisting that the "visionaries" were all to be trusted. Later, choosing to interpret one of the children's messages, purportedly from the Blessed Virgin, as a reprimand for having dealt harshly with the local Franciscan priests - whose "crime" was saying Mass for a group of pilgrims - he remarked during a meeting of prelates gathered to discuss the phenomena: "The Blessed Mother would never admonish a bishop"; and therefore, ipso facto, the apparitions were a fraud. Archbishop Franic of Split, who was convinced they were dealing with "affairs of heaven", retorted: "In the Book of the Apocalypse the Holy Spirit admonishes seven bishops!"Any serious student of Medjugorje has to ask some difficult questions.

What was Bishop Zanic's state of mind? During one television interview he spoke of "wiping out Medjugorje", while on another occasion he recommended "burying" it. On April 1 1985 the cardinal in charge of the Vatican State Secretary's office urged Croatian Cardinal Franjo Kuharic to demand that Bishop Zanic "suspend the airing of his own personal statements and renounce making judgments". He refused. Here was a bishop so intent on wiping Medjugorje off the map that he was even prepared to disobey his superiors and set himself against them. Interestingly, the very first commission to investigate the happenings in the mountain village was authored by Bishop Zanic. It proved to be nothing less than a whitewash, his "commission" consisting almost entirely of individuals hostile to the phenomenon, its avowed aim being to totally discredit both "visionaries" and Medjugorje itself.

Once the Vatican understood the extent of Bishop Zanic's opposition his commission was disbanded and a new one set up in its place. Unfortunately, the Balkans war and the subsequent splitting up of Yugoslavia brought everything to a grinding halt, since it meant the Vatican no longer had a local Ordinary with whom it could conduct the Church's business. The incumbent Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, was a close friend of his predecessor and, while not subject to Bishop Zanic's obsessive rants, he is not an advocate for Medjugorje.

Yet it is important to reiterate that the Church's position remains as before insofar as pilgrims are at liberty to visit Medjugorje, and in fact the Vatican has frequently insisted that proper and adequate provision is made for them.For those wishing to examine the fruits of Medjugorje it must be admitted that these are rich indeed. There are stories of conversions and reversions by the hundreds of thousands. The Cenacolo community established there to rehabilitate young drug addicts and tearaways has been successful beyond most people's wildest dreams. The orphanage, originally for war orphans but now open to any child in need of parenting, is thriving, thanks mainly to the goodwill of pilgrims.

Many bishops, archbishops and cardinals the world over are convinced Medjugorje is genuine; many others hold the opposite view. Pope John Paul II counted himself with the believers, more than once stating his desire to make the pilgrimage. Sadly, both Bishops of Mostar in turn determined to deny the Holy Father that pleasure. Since, politically speaking, even the Supreme Pontiff could not go there without formal invitation from the local bishop, they made sure that offer was never extended to him.

Medjugorje dissenters might spend a truly enlightening retreat in the quiet village in the mountains, perhaps kneeling in the open air with 5,000 other "God's idiots" for Eucharistic Adoration; or attending one of many daily Masses, in several languages, each concelebrated devoutly by a dozen or more priests; observing (perhaps joining) the international team of priests who, seven days and evenings a week, generously hear confessions, both in the confessionals and in the open air, sometimes until midnight.

Is this the "fraud", the "addiction damaging to our health" that one Jesuit writer alleges? Until the Church decides, surely we should all stand back, observe with Christian charity, weighing the pros and cons without presumption.

Fr. Damien de Veuster, 1840-1889, The Leper Priest of Molokai

Fr. Damien, born in Tremeloo, Belgium in 1840. He joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts and volunteered for the mission to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). In 1873 he went to minister as a priest in a leper colony on the island of Molokai. He died from leprosy in 1889 at 49 yrs. of age. The testimony of the life he lived among the lepers of Molokai led to an intensive study of Hansens disease, eventually leading to a cure. Pope John Paul II beatified Damien in Brussells in 1995.

It has been announced this week that Fr. Damien will be Canonized on October 11, 2009.

If you care to follow the story as it leads up to Fr. Damien's canonization, visit leperpriest.blogspot.com

My First Solo Day as a Bookstore Volunteer

I am a new trainee. I have recently volunteered to work one Sunday afternoon each month as a voluneer in my Parish's Catholic bookstore. Today was my first day solo. Or at least it was supposed to be...

I am blessed (as we all are) that God always sends us an angel when we most need one. Today I needed an angel several times. I was trained very well a couple of weeks ago by the bookstore's Assistant Manager and I really thought I was going to do all right on my first solo Sunday.

What's that saying? Pride goeth before a fall... or something like that... anyway,

I had to pick up the money bag which was marked 'Sunday' in a certain hallway closet. So I proceeded to the hallway, located the key to the closet, turned the key in the lock.. nothing.

Tried again. Nothing. Tried again on the assumption that I just wasn't turning the key hard enough... Nothing.

I have 20 minutes before the store is due to open, so I head over to the OCIA class taking place in the Rectory because I know a good friend of mine in over there and she knows how to open the bookstore. So I go over and get her, follow her back to the hallway closet and she proceeds to open the closet door no problem! I, in the meantime, am metaphorically beating my head against the table 'cause she has opened the correct closet door while I had been trying to open the broomcloset! So I'm off to a rather inauspicious start...

Next: During 'start of day' procedures, I was supposed to enter my name as the 'user' for the day. My name was not recognized. So now my angel friend, who had accompanied me to the bookstore to make sure I got that door open, punches in her 'user' name and the computer comes up!

Great - I think "things will be fine now - just a small bump getting started." I unlock the door to the bookstore, flip over the sign in the window to read "OPEN" and hang out the flag, which also indicates that we are OPEN for business! I turn to go back inside - whoops, I've locked myself out! What would I have done if my angel had not still been inside! The cash drawer was unlocked, the computer was on, the store declared itself OPEN for business, my own purse and coat were inside; all the while I'm locked outside!

So, for the third time, my angel comes to my rescue! So I'm thinking to myself, "she must think I'm a total nut case..."

So the afternoon proceeds along rather pleasantly. My angel leaves, several customers arrive; two are looking for items I cannot locate. Hmmm, definite pattern emerging here.

But things work out - one customer purchases a different book than the one she had been searching for; I find the item the second customer wanted, hiding on a bottom shelf, and all is well.

Closing time comes - my angel, as promised, returns to help out with 'end of day' procedures.
I count the money in the drawer, post and reconcile to the computer and then: the computer decides it does recognize my name after all, but since I had not put in my 'user' name during the start up procedures, it will not let me continue with the end of day procedures! (Computers...I mutter...)

Long story short - we call the Assistant Manager; she walks us through the error and 45 minutes past closing, we are done!

I sometimes wonder if the evil one, who prowls about looking to destroy our souls, sometimes just gets some big kick messing with our heads: nothing too big-- just the little mundane things that drive us all to distraction and cause us to pull our hair out!

But what he consistently forgets is that God's mercy always goes before us. God had arranged my schedule and my angel's schedule to coincide today; she was there to help me when I really needed help and although many things seemed to go wrong on my solo flight in the bookstore, at the end of the day, we both laughed about it and chalked it up to one major learning experience.

I'll return to the bookstore for my Sunday volunteer day next month and perhaps there will be other, different obstacles in my path. But I learned a lot today and the evil one will just have to come up with something a bit more innovative the next time! I will be prayed up and ready to do battle!

Check out this great blog!

Please take a moment and check out Fr. Dwight Longenecker's fabulous blog, "Standing on My Head" @ gkupsidedown.blogspot.com

Fr. Dwight is a former Anglican, turned Catholic priest. He has written several books, including my favorite "Benedict and Theresa:The Little Rule and the Little Way", in which he examines and compares both the Rule of St. Benedict and St. Theresa of Lisieux's "little way".

If you enjoy his blog, please vote for him as he is in fierce competition with AmericanPapist for "Best Blog"! You'll find the link on his blog page.

Thanks!

World Apostolate of Fatima

I became a member of the World Apostolate of Fatima (formerly known as the "Blue Army") a couple of years ago. I did this in response to my love and devotion to our Blessed Mother and a desire to help spread the messages of Fatima that Mary gave to the world in 1917.

Here is a description of the World Apostolage of Fatima (WAF) from their own website:worldapostolateoffatima.org

The World Apostolate of Fatima/Blue Army is a worldwide public association of the faithful, responding to the requests that Our Blessed Mother made to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, to help save souls and bring peace to the world. It promotes Eucharistic prayer and the Rosary, as well as penance, especially the generous acceptance of the duties of our state in life.

The World Apostolate of Fatima offers a variety of spiritual programs. These range from the Prayer Cells, where individuals meet for weekly prayer in the Parish or home setting, to the Parish First Saturday Devotions, All Night Vigils, and a Sacred Heart Home Enthronement Program and Family Consecrations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These and other programs can revitalize and strengthen the faith of participants in local Church communities.

What is a Public Association of the Faithful?

Only a public association can receive a mission to teach Christian doctrine in the name of the Church, promote public worship or pursue a purpose which by nature is reserved to ecclesiastical authority (canon 301 §1). As a public association, the members act in the name of the Church when fulfilling the purpose of the association.

This is from americancatholic.org which sends a daily "Saints of the Day" email by subscription.

Today is the feast day of Blessed Jacinta & Francisco Marto, the Fatima visionaries.

Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto
(1910-1920; 1908-1919)

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three children, Portuguese shepherds from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after.

At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917.

Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister Lucia died in February 2005 at the age of 97. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year.

Comment:
The Church is always very cautious about endorsing alleged apparitions, but it has seen benefits from people changing their lives because of the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Prayer for sinners, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and praying the rosary—all these reinforce the Good News Jesus came to preach.

Quote:
In his homily at their beatification, Pope John Paul II recalled that shortly before Francisco died, Jacinta said to him, “Give my greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.”

Please support your local parish's World Apostolate of Fatima group. Let's spread the message of our Lady given at Fatima for the conversion of the world.

Saved for Works or by Works?

The Catholic Doctrine of Justification

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind, but now I see…

During a recent discussion, a statement was made that perhaps Catholics really believed that they could earn their salvation by 'works'.

As a former Protestant, I naturally picked up on this and had to point out that Catholics do not believe that they are saved by 'works'. Although there are very many Protestant denominations that believe this and revile the Catholic Church because of this unfortunate misunderstanding of Catholic teaching, it simply is not true.

Where does a Catholic go to get “right teaching” regarding their faith? To Holy Scriptures and to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Article 2 – Grace and Justification, paragraphs #1987 – #2029 concern this very subject, “How are we saved?”

#1987 – Romans 3:22; cf. 6:3-4 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us; that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ and through Baptism.

We are made justified (saved) by grace, through faith.

Grace is given to all who repent and believe, as proclaimed in the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17 Now the very act of repenting could be seen as a ‘work’; what it truly is, however, is “co-operation” with the grace that was given to us through Christ. It is a response to God’s gracious gift; not something we could initiate without that grace being given first.

#1989 – The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.” (Council of Trent (1547): DS 1528)

There is simply nothing that we ourselves, in our fallen human nature, could do to merit justification (the righteousness of God). We could never initiate, nor follow through, with anything on our own that would satisfy the requirements of a just God.

#1992 – Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life.

Now we know that our justification has been merited by Christ alone and has been conferred upon us in our Baptism. Now what? God requires our co-operation as He will not infringe upon the freedom (free will) that He has given mankind.

When God touches man’s heart though the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God’s grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God’s sight. (Council of Trent (1547): DS 1525)

#1996 – Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. (John 1:12-18; 17:3; Romans 8:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4)

How do we then, co-operate with God’s grace? If we are to exercise our free will, we have the choice to reject or accept God’s grace and thus confirm our justification. Is this a ‘work’? Again we turn to the Catechism:

#2001 – The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, “since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it.”

Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God; for without him we can do nothing. (St. Augustine, De Natura et gratia 31: PL 44, 264.)

So even our “co-operation” as a ‘work’ is a work initiated by God’s grace beforehand; we can respond in accordance with our free will, but we can never initiate our own co-operation.

St. Augustine, in his Confessions, went on to further elaborate on the initiation of ‘good works’:

If at the end of your very good works… you rested on the seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that at the end of our works, which are indeed “very good” since you have given them to us, we shall also rest in you on the Sabbath of eternal life. (Confessions 13, 36, 51: FL 32, 868; cf. Genesis 1:31)

The Catechism goes on in Paragraphs #2003 – 2004, to describe the various gifts of the Spirit that enables us to “associate us with his work” and to collaborate in the salvation of others and the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. We all receive these gifts of the Spirit in accordance with the grace given us.

How do we, then, know that God’s grace has been given to us? Perhaps it is my own ego, my own sense of ‘righteousness’ that is working in me. Would that be sufficient? The obvious answer is ‘no’. There is nothing in human experience that would justify that approach.

#2005 – Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s words –“Thus you will know them by their fruits”—reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an even greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.

It is our faith that enables us to experience and cooperate with God’s grace. Based on that experience of faith, we are then able to ‘do good works’ in His name; to produce the good fruit that points to our justification in Christ.

And this leads us back to the beginning: what can we do to “merit” God’s justification?

The Catechism defines merit in Paragraph #2006:

The term “merit” refers in general to the recompense owed by a community or a society for the action of one of its members, experienced either as beneficial or harmful, deserving reward or punishment. Merit is relative to the virtue of justice, in conformity with the principle of equality which governs it.

#2007 – With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator.

God has chosen to associate man with the work of his grace (#2008); this is of his own initiative; man cooperates and the merit of good works is attributed to the grace of God and secondly, to those who respond in faith.

“After earth’s exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in the fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone… In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself.” – St. Theresa of Lisieux, “Act of Offering” in Story of A Soul; tr. John Clarke (Washington DC: ICS, 1981), 277.

And all I can add to this is: Amen.

Pilgrims' Return

Today my dear pastor and a group of intrepid Pilgrims return from a 10 day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They have walked in the steps of our dear Lord, their eyes have gazed upon scenes that His eyes gazed upon, they have walked the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They have sailed on waters He sailed upon and they have felt His holy presence among them. They are returning with a lifetime's worth of wonderful memories. Welcome Home, Pilgrims! I have missed you.

Walking

Today my thoughts are on the discipline of walking. I don’t do much of it – not the long distance stuff anyway. Oh, I walk around the office building, around the grocery store, across the parking lot. But getting out to walk around for the sake of walking, not much…

But now my car is in need of a new pair of brakes and while I wait patiently for the repairs to be made (brakes only one among other repairs also necessary… this may take a while…) I decided to walk to work. Now keep in mind this is not a long walk – only ½ mile one way. It took me 14 minutes of a steady, but not brisk, walk to arrive at work this morning.

It was a balmy 22 degrees outside; slight wind, sunny sky. Not an altogether unpleasant day.

As I walked along, I was thinking about the walking I have done while on pilgrimage. I walked a lot in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina, when I was there in 2005. I even climbed Apparition Hill (a rather rocky, pathless climb) stopping along the way every few feet to pray a Station of the Cross (and to catch my breath). I discovered that climbing back down is harder as gravity pulls on your leg muscles in unusual ways… I didn’t climb Cross Mountain (Krizivac) because it was slippery due to recent rains and much steeper than Apparition Hill. Most of the folks on pilgrimage with me climbed Cross Mountain late at night while I was content to call it a day. But I have regretted not attempting it at least and definitely will try if the Lord allows me to ever travel to Medjugorje again.

We walked a lot in the Holy Land, too. Nothing too strenuous but some days we left the bus parked in the morning and didn’t return to the bus till late afternoon, to return to our hotel. We walked the Via Dolorosa, praying the Stations along the way, carrying a wooden Cross, and jostling our way around and through the crowds on the street.

We walked the green hills of the Galilee, walked down to the marina to pick up our boat to sail the Sea of Galilee, walked the muddy paths around the Mt. of Beatitudes. The only strenuous (for me) climb was up to Ein Karem, the site of Mary’s Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. So I stopped frequently to catch my breath but was rewarded along the way by panoramic views of Jerusalem in the distance.

So my thoughts were pleasantly occupied on my walk this morning; I’ll walk home again this afternoon and repeat the process tomorrow and Wednesday. Thursday’s forecast is for a wintry mix, so I’ll probably give in and call a cab.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy this time God has given me to walk and I’ll meditate along the way, re-calling all the good walks He has so generously provided.

Fr. Jozo Zovko suspends public appearances for a year

From Spirit Daily spiritdaily.com - February 15, 2009


On the apparition beat: at the most famous alleged one, Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Hercegovina, there have been rumors for weeks now that seer Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo is no longer allowed (by the local bishop) to have apparitions in a place called Cenacolo -- a Catholic center near the village that reforms alcoholics, drug addicts, and others with severe problems. We have now confirmed that. Is something in the wind? Or is it just another joust with Mostar?

The most well-known priest associated with Medjugorje, Father Jozo Zovko, who was pastor when the apparitions began, and who regularly spoke to pilgrims (as an integral part of pilgrimages), has suspended all public appearances for a year. It is said that he is going to Italy. The stated reason is health: Father Jozo has had heart issues. Some think he has been silenced.

In 2002, he was disallowed from celebrating Mass at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington after a bishop in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Ratko Peric, who is strongly anti-Medjugorje, sent a letter to all dioceses in the U.S. stating that the priest -- accused of defying the bishop -- was under canonical censure. Some dioceses accepted the letter, while others felt the bishop did not have jurisdiction (Father Jozo's Franciscan superior general in Mostar, Father Slavko Soldo, said the priest was in "good standing").

We'll go with the official statement from Medunarodno Kumstvo in Siroki Brieg, circulated February 9, which states that "due to health reasons, the need for rest and recuperation, and due to the commencement of construction on Badija, Father Jozo Zovko has asked his superiors for permission to reside outside of the province. The province board approved his request. For this reason, we are cancelling all programs planned for the ensuing year."

We will strictly abide by whatever the Church decides, regardless of our personal opinions. The matter is currently under study by a special Vatican commission. We can't report full details because an information curtain has been drawn over such details for many years.

Having been to Medjugorje personally on pilgrimage in 2005 and remembering the time I spent listening to Fr. Jozo, I can attest to the obvious sincerity and trust of this holy man.

Let us pray for Fr. Jozo, for the Vatican commission looking into the apparitions @ Medjugorje, and for the visionaries themselves. Let us ask our Holy Mother to continue to bring her messages of peace, love, prayer and conversion to Christ to the world, for as long as our Heavenly Father allows her to do so. In the love of Jesus and Mary, AMEN.

St. Benedict speaks to me...

Prologue to the Rule: Listen, children of God, to the guidance of your teacher. Attend to the message you hear and make sure that it pierces to your heart, so that you may accept with willing freedom, and fulfill by the way you live, the directions that come from your loving Father.

This first sentence of the Prologue to the Rule of St. Benedict, speaks to me in a profound way. St. Benedict is a teacher, and one that I have made a public vow to follow. I must be open to the Word of God whenever and wherever I may hear it. I must let my heart be pierced by the Word of God and to be open to sharing that Word with others God may put in my particular path. I must be a vessel for His Spirit so that I "co-operate" with God's plan for my life and for the lives of those with whom I come in contact.

Now, none of this is easy and more often than not, I'm afraid, I do not want to co-operate, nor do I want to share the Word with those I am not fond of!

A guest Priest at my home parish today spoke of Jesus' healing of a leper, an "unclean" person in His midst (Gospel Reading, Mark 1:40-45, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B). He told a story of how the late, great Archbishop Fulton Sheen once met with members of a leper colony of 500. He had brought with him several silver Crucifixes to give to each leper. When he was approached by one particular leper, Sheen realized that one of the man's arms was totally gone from the elbow down and that the remaining arm was sheathed in linen cloths due to the severity of his sores.

Bishop Sheen hesitated, and then simply dropped the Crucifix into the outstretched palm of the leprous man, rather than placing the Crucifix into his palm and thus, physically touching him. He immediately realized what he had done; he went on to say that that day there were 501 lepers in that colony. He had failed to carry the Gospel message to this leprous man while he was handing him the very symbol of our Redemption!

This story spoke to my heart and brought me to tears. How many times have I looked the other way, crossed the street, failed to meet the eyes of my Lord shining through the eyes of a stranger, a person in need? I judged them unclean. I disobeyed my Lord. I have failed Him, time and time again...

I have left unheeded not only the Gospel message but Benedict's orders to "fulfill by the way you live, the directions that come from your loving Father."

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa.. forgive me Father, for I have sinned...

Saint Scholastica

Born in Nursia (Nurcia), Italy, c. 480 (?); died near Monte Cassino, Italy, c. 543. Almost everything we know about Saint Scholastica comes from the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great. Saint Scholastica, twin sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia, who founded theBenedictine order, was consecrated to God at a very early age but probably continued to live in her parents' home. It is said that she was as devoted to Jesus as she was to her brother. So, when Benedict established his monastery at Monte Cassino, Scholastica founded a convent in nearby Plombariola, about five miles south of Monte Cassino.

The convent is said to have been under the direction ofher brother, thus she is regarded as the first Benedictine nun. The siblings were quite close. The respective rules of their houses proscribed neither entering the other's monastery. According to Saint Gregory, they met once a year at a house near Monte Cassino monastery to confer on spiritual matters, and were eventually buried together, probably in the same grave.

Saint Gregory says, "so death did not separate the bodies of these two, whose minds had ever been united in the Lord." Saint Gregory tells the charming story of the last meeting of the two saints on earth. Scholastica and Benedict had spent the day in the "mutual comfort of heavenly talk" and with nightfall approaching, Benedict prepared to leave. Scholastica, having a presentiment that it would be their last opportunity to see each other alive, asked him to spend the evening in conversation. Benedict sternly refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from Monte Cassino. Thereupon, Scholastica cried openly, laid her head upon the table, and prayed that God would intercede for her.

As she did so, a sudden storm arose. The violent rain and hail came in such a torrential downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to depart. "May Almighty God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done. "I asked a favor of you," Scholastica replied simply, "and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!" Just after his return to Monte Cassino, Benedict saw a vision of Scholastica's soul departing her body, ascending to heaven in the form of a dove. She died three days after their last meeting.

He placed her body in the tomb he had prepared for himself, and arranged for his own to be placed there after his death. Her relics were alleged by the monk Adrevald to have been translated (July 11) to a rich silver shrine in Saint Peter's Church in Le Mans, France, which may have been when Benedict's were moved to Fleury.

In 1562, this shrine was preserved from the Huguenots' plundering. Some say that we should only petition God for momentously important matters. God's love, however, is so great that He wishes to give us every good thing. He is ever ready to hear our prayers: our prayers of praise and thanksgiving, and our prayers of petition, repentance, and intercession. Nothing is too great or too trivial to share with our Father.

The dependent soul learns that everything we are and have is from His bountiful goodness; when we finally learn that lesson we turn to Him with all our hopes and dreams and needs. Saint Scholastica is obviously one of those who learned the lesson of her own helplessness. Saint Scholastica is usually depicted in art as a habited nun, holding a crozier and crucifix, with her brother. Sometimes she may be shown (1) with Saint Justina of Padua, with whom she is confused though Justina was never a nun (2) receiving her veil from Saint Benedict (3) her soul departing her body like a dove (4) with a dove at her feet or bosom; or kneeling before Saint Benedict's cell. She is the patroness of Monte Cassino and all Cassinese communities. She is invoked against storms.