CSVF Blog

These ads have popped up on buses all over New York City.

Now where have I heard that before . . .

Dawkins?  No.  Hitchens?  No.  Saint Thomas Aquinas?  Yes!

The poor atheists.  They’re not very original with this one.  Nearly eight centuries ago, St. Thomas said basically the same thing.  Grounded in his appreciation of the the integrity of human nature even after the fall, he taught that man does not require the help of faith or grace to do good things.  Though he did doubt whether many persons could fulfill the whole of the Decalogue without God’s help, St. Thomas in fact affirmed its possibility.  Check out his thought here and here.

Unfortunately for its sponsors, this ad renders itself ineffective not only by agreeing with Christianity’s greatest thinker, but also by making a simple mistake. It presumes that believers treat faith simply as a tool of the moral life.  Maybe some believers do this, but as St. Thomas demonstrates one need not believe in order to receive an education in virtue.  Faith enables the believer to do something else.  As the assent to revelation that leads to charity, faith opens human life to the gift of love that can pervade the moral life and change it qualitatively.  A supernatural gift given in baptism, faith elevates the moral life to the pursuit of a supernatural end—the everlasting vision of God.

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I touched the mark of the nails with my fingers;
I put my hand into his side and said:
My Lord and my God, alleluia.

Today, July 3, is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, infamously venerated through the ages as the “doubter.” Tradition has it that this “twin,” called by the Lord to be an apostle, carried the Gospel to India, where he suffered martyrdom.

Early in the third century, the Apostle’s relics were carried to Edessa (in modern day Turkey), which at the time was an important center of Christian evangelization. Over the next millennium, the relics traveled to several other cities before landing permanently in the cathedral of Ortona, Italy, where they are venerated today.

On September 27, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his General Audience address to studying the life and witness of St. Thomas. Click here to read the Holy Father’s text. Of particular note is Pope Benedict’s use of another holy Thomas, surnamed Aquinas, to highlight the meritorious faith of those who, after the Apostle’s doubt, believe without seeing.

It is interesting to note that another Thomas, the great Medieval theologian of Aquino, juxtaposed this formula of blessedness with the apparently opposite one recorded by Luke: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!” (Lk 10:23). However, Aquinas comments: “Those who believe without seeing are more meritorious than those who, seeing, believe” (In Johann. XX lectio VI 2566).

Still, someone like St. Gregory the Great appreciated the workings of divine providence in St. Thomas’s stubborn—one might even say prideful—doubt. Through the merciful condescension of our Lord, Gregory noted, the Apostle’s folly has become our glory.  The following is a an excerpt of a homily given by St. Gregory that appears in today’s Office of Readings.

Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events?  Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed?  It was not by chance but in God’s providence.  In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.  The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples.  As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened.  So the disciple doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.

Through the intercession of St. Thomas, may the wounds of our disbelief be healed.

Almighty Father,
as we honor Thomas the apostle,
let us always experience the help of his prayers.
May we have eternal life by believing in Jesus,
whom Thomas acknowledged as Lord,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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From the Daughters of St. Paul, who run Pauline Books and Media on East 52nd Street:

PAULINE BOOKS AND MEDIA IS MOVING!

We are moving to 64 West 38th Street
(between 5th and 6th Avenues).

We are opening at the new location on July 21.

Our present location will be closed as of July 4.

Hours: Mon, Tu, Wed: 10:00-5:30
Thurs, Fri: 10:00-7:00
Phone: 212-754-1110
Email: manhattan [at] paulinemedia.com

You are all in our prayers,
The sisters and staff at Pauline Books and Media

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At yesterday’s General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI continued to introduce the Church to his thoughts and aspirations for the Jubilee Year for Priests.

Building on the reflections he offered last week, the Holy Father described further the great connection existing between the identity of the priest and his mission.  If after the Council, the pope explained, more emphasis has been placed on the priest’s service than on his sacramental identity, then the time has come to reunite these two in the popular Catholic imagination, at least for the sake of appreciating the authentic fruitfulness of the priest’s service.  As in the life of Christ, identity and mission—word and sacrament—come together inextricably in the life of the priest, who is sacramentally configured to Christ to continue his presence and mission in the world.  As it was for Christ, so it is for the priest. Identity first, and from this flows mission.

The pope observed that we see here the primacy of the divine initiative.  God always acts first with his grace in the lives of Christians, and this is especially true in the lives of priests. Through the grace of ordination, priests are united personally to Christ the Head of the Church, and from this identity flows the priest’s explicitly supernatural mission—in word and sacrament—of reconciliation and sanctification. It must be noted, the pope explained, that the priest’s sacramental identity distinguishes his mission from all other forms of service, both in the Church and in the world.

The Holy Father concluded his remarks by recommending specific spiritual practices for the Jubilee Year for Priests, including Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of priests and for priestly vocations.

General Audience Address
July 1, 2009

Dear brothers and sisters:

As you know, with the celebration of First Vespers for the solemnity of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Pauline Year has come to a close — the year that marked the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the Lord for the spiritual fruits that this important initiative has brought to so many Christian communities.

As a precious heritage of the Pauline Year, we can reap the Apostle’s invitation to go deeper into the knowledge of the mystery of Christ, so that he becomes the heart and center of our personal and social realities.

This is, in fact, the indispensable condition for a true spiritual and ecclesial renewal. As I already emphasized during the first Eucharistic celebration in the Sistine Chapel after my election as the Successor of the Apostle St. Peter, it is precisely from that full communion with Christ that “flows every other element of the Church’s life: first of all, communion among all the faithful, the commitment to proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel, the ardor of love for all, especially the poorest and lowliest” (1st Message at the End of the Eucharistic Concelebration With the Members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, April 20, 2005).

This is true in the first place for priests. Because of this, I thank Divine Providence, which now offers us the possibility of celebrating the Year for Priests. It is my heartfelt wish that this will be an opportunity for interior renewal for every priest, and consequently, [a year of] firm reinvigoration in the commitment to his own mission.

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You are the light of the world;
a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Late in the eighteenth century, while the 13 American colonies were struggling for independence from England, Spanish Franciscans on the western coast of this continent were busy establishing missions and spreading the faith.  Today the Church honors one of those missionaries, Blessed Junípero Serra.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Born at Petra, Island of Majorca, 24 November, 1713; died at Monterey, California, 28 August, 1784.

On 14 September, 1730, he entered the Franciscan Order. For his proficiency in studies he was appointed lector of philosophy before his ordination to the priesthood. Later he received the degree of Doctor of Theology from the Lullian University at Palma, where he also occupied the Duns Scotus chair of philosophy until he joined the missionary college of San Fernando, Mexico (1749). While traveling on foot from Vera Cruz to the capital, he injured his leg in such a way that he suffered from it throughout his life, though he continued to make his journeys on foot whenever possible.

At his own request he was assigned to the Sierra Gorda Indian Missions some thirty leagues north of Querétaro. He served there for nine years, part of the time as superior, learned the language of the Pame Indians, and translated the catechism into their language. Recalled to Mexico, he became famous as a most fervent and effective preacher of missions. His zeal frequently led him to employ extraordinary means in order to move the people to penance. He would pound his breast with a stone while in the pulpit, scourge himself, or apply a lighted torch to his bare chest.

In 1767 he was appointed superior of a band of fifteen Franciscans for the Indian Missions of Lower California. Early in 1769 he accompanied Portolá’s land expedition to Upper California. On the way (14 May) he established the Mission San Fernando de Velicatá, Lower California. He arrived at San Diego on 1 July, and on 16 July founded the first of the twenty-one California missions which accomplished the conversions of all the natives on the coast as far as Sonoma in the north. Those established by Father Serra or during his administration were San Carlos (3 June, 1770); San Antonio (14 July, 1771); San Gabriel (8 September, 1771); San Luis Obispo (1 September, 1772); San Francisco de Asis (8 October, 1776); San Juan Capistrano (1 Nov. 1776); Santa Clara (12 January, 1777); San Buenaventura (31 March, 1782). He was also present at the founding of the presidio of Santa Barbara (21 April, 1782), and was prevented from locating the mission there at the time only through the animosity of Governor Philipe de Neve. Difficulties with Pedro Fages, the military commander, compelled Father Serra in 1773 to lay the case before Viceroy Bucareli. At the capital of Mexico, by order of the viceroy, he drew up his “Representación” in thirty-two articles. Everything save two minor points was decided in his favour; he then returned to California, late in 1774.

In 1778 he received the faculty to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. After he had exercised his privilege for a year, Governor Neve directed him to suspend administering the sacrament until he could present the papal Brief. For nearly two years Father Serra refrained, and then Viceroy Majorga gave instructions to the effect that Father Serra was within his rights. During the remaining three years of his life he once more visited the missions from San Diego to San Francisco, six hundred miles, in order to confirm all who had been baptized. He suffered intensely from his crippled leg and from his chest, yet he would use no remedies. He confirmed 5309 persons, who, with but few exceptions, were Indians converted during the fourteen years from 1770.

Besides extraordinary fortitude, his most conspicuous virtues were insatiable zeal, love of mortification, self-denial, and absolute confidence in God. His executive abilities has been especially noted by non-Catholic writers. The esteem in which his memory is held by all classes in California may be gathered from the fact that Mrs. Stanford, not a Catholic, had a granite monument erected to him at Monterey. A bronze statute of heroic size represents him as the apostolic preacher in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. In 1884 the Legislature of California passed a concurrent resolution making 29 August of that year, the centennial of Father Serra’s burial, a legal holiday. Of his writings many letters and other documentation are extant. The principal ones are his “Diario” of the journey from Loreto to San Diego, which was published in “Out West” (March to June, 1902), and the “Representación” before mentioned.

For excellent resources on the historical significance of Blessed Junípero’s life and work, click here and here.

Under the patronage of today’s blessed, Serra International works to promote vocations to the priesthood.

God most high,
your servant Junípero Serra
brought the gospel of Christ
to the peoples of Mexico and California
and firmly established the church among them.
By his intercession,
and through the example of his evangelical zeal,
inspire us to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Over the weekend, The Baltimore Sun ran the following article on the sickness and cure of Mary Ellen Heibel, a resident of Annapolis who attributes her cure to the intercession of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos.  The Archdiocese of Baltimore has begun to investigate the claim.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was a nineteenth-century German Redemptorist who served several missions here in the United States before succumbing to Yellow Fever in New Orleans in 1867.  He was beatified in the Jubilee Year 2000 by Pope John Paul II.

Click here fore more information on Blessed Seelos.

In Annapolis, a miracle worthy of sainthood?
Woman’s cancer vanishes after prayers to 19th-century Maryland priest
By Arthur Hirsch

June 28, 2009

The treatment for terminal cancer that Annapolis resident Mary Ellen Heibel took at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2004 and early 2005 worked beyond anyone’s wildest hopes, wiping out malignant tumors in her lungs, liver, stomach and chest. Her doctor did not expect it, nor could he explain it.

Surely the outcome was remarkable, but was it - in the sense applied by the Roman Catholic Church in such cases - a miracle?

In a few weeks, a committee appointed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore will begin exploring that question, examining 11 witnesses, including Heibel, pressing her doctors, nurses and friends in an attempt to understand what happened. The findings gathered at the archdiocese’s downtown offices will be shipped to Rome, and ultimately will bear on a campaign to have Francis X. Seelos, the 19th-century Maryland priest to whom Heibel had turned in prayer for help, canonized as a saint.

For only the fifth time in its 200-year history, the archdiocese has launched a test of faith and science to help the Vatican determine whether one of its own was not only exemplary in virtue during life but now has the power in death to intercede with God. In the end, it will be up to the pope to rule on whether Seelos is to join the men and women held up by the church through the centuries as models of holiness.

“Did what happened come about by the intercession of Blessed Seelos? That’s what we have to discover,” said the Rev. Gilbert J. Seitz, the judicial vicar who heads the committee, emphasizing that its job is not to judge the case but to gather information in a process akin to taking a deposition.

The Rev. William Graham, a canon lawyer and member of the committee, says the purpose of the examination is to determine what took place and whether it can be attributed to natural causes.

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The great number of martyrs stood firm in their love for one another
because they shared the same spirit and the same faith.

A day after celebrating the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul, the Church pauses to remember all of the other Christians of Rome who also suffered under the cruel hand of Nero.

From Catholic-Pages.com:

The names of the first martyrs are known only to God.

In July AD 64, during the tenth year of Nero’s reign, a great fire engulfed the city of Rome. It was only stopped after six nights and seven days, when several buildings were demolished. Strangely, the fire restarted in the garden of Tigellinus the next day. It was rumoured Nero himself ordered the fires, since he seemed to have taken so much joy in them. Reports of strange men torching houses saying only that they had orders, fueled the idea Nero started them. It may serve to note that many fires had afflicted Rome over its history, but as with the others it is generally thought that this fire started accidentally as well.

Nero, nonetheless, sensing the growing suspicion, declared the “Christians” had started the fires. No one thought that they had, but they were rounded up anyway. Some were sewn up in wild beast skins and fed to wild dogs while still alive. Some were covered in pitch and wax and after being more or less impaled with stakes, set alight.

Though most were hardened to the utterly savage and barbaric life of the Roman empire, it is noted that many were horrified at the treatment of those first Christians.

Writing at the end of the first century, just a few decades after the persecution of Nero, St. Clement of Rome exhorted the Corinthians never to forget the witness of the Roman martyrs.  The arena of persecution never closes, he reminded them, and thus the example of the martyrs never loses its relevance for the Christian life.  The following excerpt of Clement’s letter appears in today’s Office of Readings.

But not to dwell upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent spiritual heroes. Let us take the noble examples furnished in our own generation. Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the Church] have been persecuted and put to death. Let us set before our eyes the illustrious apostles. Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labors and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience.

To these men who spent their lives in the practice of holiness, there is to be added a great multitude of the elect, who, having through envy endured many indignities and tortures, furnished. us with a most excellent example. Through envy, those women, the Danaids and Dircae, being persecuted, after they had suffered terrible and unspeakable torments, finished the course of their faith with stedfastness, and though weak in body, received a noble reward. Envy has alienated wives from their husbands, and changed that saying of our father Adam, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Envy and strife have overthrown great cities and rooted up mighty nations.

These things, beloved, we write unto you, not merely to admonish you of your duty, but also to remind ourselves. For we are struggling on the same arena, and the same conflict is assigned to both of us. Wherefore let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.  (Chapters 5-7)

Father,
you sanctified the Church of Rome
with the blood of its first martyrs.
May we find strength from their courage
and rejoice in their triumph.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Peter the apostle and Paul the teacher of the Gentiles
taught us your law, O Lord.

Today the Church’s honors the two princes of the apostles, Peter and Paul, both of whom shed their blood for the faith in Rome.  The famous basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul are built over their tombs.

These two men from different backgrounds were brought together by their witness of the resurrection.  Their encounter with the Risen Lord changed them, purified them, and united them in the proclamation of the one Gospel of salvation.  Peter, chosen by Christ as chief of the apostles, preached the faith convincingly to the Jews of Jerusalem, Antioch, and eventually Rome.  Paul, a rigorous expert of the Jewish law, was given a role complementary to that of Peter.  He became the great Preacher to the Gentiles and a powerful witness to the transformative power of grace.  Their preaching took them far from home and into the heart of the empire.  There, under the suspicious eye of Caesar, Peter and Paul gave their final witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.

Every year, newly appointed archbishops from around the world gather in Rome to celebrate this feast with the Holy Father.  During the Mass, the pope bestows upon each of the archbishops the pallium, an ancient symbol of episcopal authority and of the archbishop’s fidelity to the Bishop of Rome.  This morning Archbishop Dolan, appointed earlier this year as the tenth Archbishop of New York, received the pallium from Pope Benedict.

For more on the history and significance of the pallium, click here.

The Catholic Encyclopedia contains extensive articles on both Peter and Paul, which include accounts of their martyrdom.  Click here for the article on Peter, and here for that on Paul.

God our Father,
today you give us the joy
of celebrating the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Through them your Church first received the faith.
Keep us true to their teaching.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

(photo credit)

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From the Associated Press:

Pope signs new globalization encyclical
The Associated Press
Mon, Jun 29, 2009 (4:42 a.m.)

Pope Benedict XVI signed his latest encyclical Monday, a text on ways to make globalization more attentive to meeting the needs of the poor amid the worldwide financial crisis.

The document, entitled “Charity in Truth,” is expected to be published soon.

The pope has said his third encyclical will outline the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples.

Benedict has frequently spoken out on the financial crisis, urging leaders to ensure the world’s poor don’t end up bearing the brunt of the downturn even though they are not responsible for it. He has said the downturn shows the need to rethink the whole global financial system.

The pontiff announced he had signed the document Monday, a major Catholic feast day, after celebrating a Mass during which he told new archbishops they must be models for the faithful, guiding them and protecting them as shepherds care for their flock.

Thirty-four new archbishops, including the new archbishop of New York, Monsignor Timothy Dolan, received the pallium, a band of white wool decorated with black crosses that is a sign of pastoral authority and a symbol of the archbishops’ bond with the pope.

Benedict said the archbishops should be like Christ “who as a good shepherd carried on his back humanity _ the lost sheep _ to bring them home.”

Benedict has been working on “Caritas in veritate,” as the encyclical is known in Latin, since 2007 but held back on issuing it so that he could update it to reflect the global economic crisis.

An encyclical is the most authoritative document a pope can issue. Benedict has written two in his four years as pope: “God is Love” in 2006 and “Saved by Hope” in 2007.

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Yesterday in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which enshrines the tomb of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI announced that science has helped to confirm that the bones enclosed there for centuries are in all probability those of Apostle.  The Holy Father shared this news during a vespers service that formally closed the Year of St. Paul.  Pope Benedict explained that scientific testing on the bones has concluded that they date from the first or second centuries.  Below is the Associated Press’s coverage of the announcement.

Pope: Bone Fragments Found in Tomb Are Paul’s
Associated Press
Sunday , June 28, 2009

The first-ever scientific test on what are believed to be the remains of the Apostle Paul “seems to confirm” that they do indeed belong to the Roman Catholic saint, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday.

It was the second major discovery concerning St. Paul announced by the Vatican in as many days.

On Saturday, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano announced the June 19 discovery of a fresco inside another tomb depicting St. Paul, which Vatican officials said represented the oldest known icon of the apostle.

Benedict said archaeologists recently unearthed and opened the white marble sarcophagus located under the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome, which for some 2,000 years has been believed by the faithful to be the tomb of St. Paul.

Benedict said scientists had conducted carbon dating tests on bone fragments found inside the sarcophagus and confirmed that they date from the first or second century.

“This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,” Benedict said, announcing the findings at a service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican’s Paoline year, in honor of the apostle.

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 Fr. Guilbeau's Homily - June 28, 2009: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (19)

 

 Fr. Jones's Homily - June 28, 2009: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (17)

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O blessed doctor, Saint Cyril,
light of holy Church and lover of God’s law,
pray to the Son of God for us.

Today we may see nothing controversial about the Marian title “Mother of God,” but in the fourth and fifth centuries debate raged among bishops over how Christians should properly honor Our Lady.  Is it fitting, they wondered, to call Mary the “Mother of God,” or should believers apply to her the humbler title “Mother of Christ,” which is more biblical?  The latter title does not explicitly confirm Mary’s divine maternity, but neither does it reject it, which is its strength, argued its proponents.  For them, “Mother of Christ” remained loose enough to accommodate a variety of theological opinions.

This Marian debate was essentially Christological in nature.  At issue was the identity of the child Mary carried in her womb.  St. Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444, saw the problem clearly.  The identity of the child, he argued, should specify the proper title of the mother.  Accordingly, St. Cyril concluded that the traditional title “Mother of God” is indeed fitting for Mary, for it identifies the child in her womb as the Incarnate Word.  Therefore, contrary to the teachings of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril argued that “Mother of God” points more squarely to the full mystery of the Incarnation than “Mother of Christ,” which as used by Nestorius could locate in Jesus a human personality separate from and parallel to that of the Eternal Word.  At the Council of Ephesus, which took up this issue, the doctrine of St. Cyril prevailed over that of Nestorius.

Taken from today’s Office of Readings, the following passage presents St. Cyril’s defense of the orthodox tradition in his own words:

That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the Mother of God fills me with astonishment.  Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him!  Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught to us by the holy fathers.

The divinely inspired Scriptures affirm that the Word of God was made flesh, that is to say, he was united to a human body and endowed with a rational soul.  He undertook to help the descendants of Abraham, fashioning a body for himself from a woman and sharing our flesh and blood, to enable us to see in him not only God, but also, by reason of this union, a man like ourselves.

It is held, therefore, that there are in Emmanuel two entities, divinity and humanity.  Yet our Lord Jesus Christ is nevertheless one, the one true Son, both God and man; not a deified man on the same footing as those who share the divine nature by grace, but true God who for our sake appeared in human form.  We are assured of this by Saint Paul’s declaration: When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law and to enable us to be adopted as sons. (Epistle 1)

St. Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1883.  In 1944, Pope Pius XII wrote this letter to commemorate the 15th centenary of Cyril’s death.

For more on the life and teachings of St. Cyril, click here and here.

Father,
the bishop Cyril courageously taught
that Mary was the Mother of God.
May we who cherish this belief
receive salvation through the incarnation of Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Click below for the audio of today’s show.  After examining the readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I was joined in the studio by Thomas Peters, a popular Catholic blogger known as the American Papist.  Thomas and I discussed how the new media can be a helpful tool in the work of evangelization.  And at the end of the show Fr. Bill Garrott, OP, the vocation director for the Province of St. Joseph, joined me to discuss the Jubilee Year for Priests.

Click below and enjoy!

PROGRAM NOTE: “Word to Life” will not air next week due to the Fourth of July holiday.

 

 Word to Life - June 26, 2009: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (38)

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At yesterday’s General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI shared with those present his hopes and expectations for the Jubilee Year for Priests he has called the Church to observe.

As we have come to expect from the Holy Father, his concerns are primarily theological and spiritual; only in a second moment does he turn to practical matters. In this context, he explains that, contrary to popular practice, priests and their people must first understand who and what the priest is before they can appreciate fully the value of what he does.  Here, the pope holds to the old Thomistic adage that a thing acts according to its being.  Applied to the lives of the ordained, the adage would have us say that priests act according to who they are.  Therefore, Pope Benedict explains, the entire Church—priests and laity alike—must recognize priests first and foremost as sacred persons set apart to offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, which requires of them a deep and unshakable interior union with Christ. This is key for understanding priestly ministry properly, the pope says, for it is out of the identity and interiority of the priest that the vast range of his service flows, including his preeminent task of proclaiming the Word.

In sum, Pope Benedict has set as a goal of the Jubillee Year for Priests the reconciliation of two seemingly divergent understandings of the priesthood—one based on the priest’s identity and the other on his service.  The two are not opposed, the Holy Father explains.  The ministry of the Word and the ministry of the Eucharist are not opposite and competing forms of service.  As we see in the Mass itself, the two are inextricably linked. So too in the life of the priest. The priest’s ministry of the Eucharist underlies, and at the same time is prepared for by, his ministry of the Word.

GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
June 24, 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Friday, June 19, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day traditionally dedicated to pray for the sanctification of priests, I had the joy of inaugurating the Year for Priests. The year was proclaimed on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the “birth into eternal life” of the Curé d’Ars, St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney. Entering into the Vatican basilica for the celebration of vespers, almost as a first symbolic gesture, I paused in the Choir Chapel to venerate the relic of this saintly pastor of souls: his heart. Why a Year for Priests? Why particularly in memory of the holy Curé d’Ars, who apparently did nothing extraordinary?

Divine Providence has ordained that this personage would be placed beside that of St. Paul. As the Pauline Year is concluding, a year which was dedicated to the Apostle of the Gentiles, the epitome of an extraordinary evangelizer who made various mission trips to spread the Gospel, this new jubilee year invites us to gaze upon a poor farmer turned humble pastor, who carried out his pastoral service in a small town.

If the two saints are quite different insofar as the life experiences that marked them — one traveled from region to region to announce the Gospel; the other remained in his little parish, welcoming thousands and thousands of faithful — there is nevertheless something fundamental that unites them: It is their total identification with their ministry, their communion with Christ. This brought St. Paul to say: “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). St. John Vianney liked to repeat: “If we had faith, we would see God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass, like wine mixed with water.”

The objective of this Year for Priests, as I wrote in the letter sent to priests for this occasion, is to support that struggle of every priest “toward spiritual perfection, on which the effectiveness of his ministry primarily depends.” It is to help priests first of all — and with them all of God’s people — to rediscover and reinvigorate their awareness of the extraordinary and indispensable gift of grace that the ordained ministry is for he who receives it, for the whole Church, and for the world, which would be lost without the real presence of Christ.

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The mouth of Zechariah was opened, and he spoke this prophecy:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.

Today the Church celebrates one of the two yearly feasts she holds in honor of St. John the Baptist.  On August 29 we remember his martyrdom, and today his birth. Only two other Christian figures receive such liturgical attention.  The first is Jesus, of course, and the other is Mary.  John the Baptist joins them as the only other having both his birth and his death commemorated by the Church.

In a sermon delivered over fifteen centuries ago, St. Augustine explains the significance of this double honoring of the Baptist.  He concludes that the mysteries revealed by John’s miraculous conception and birth warrant this privilege. An excerpt of this sermon appears in today’s Office of Readings.

The Church observes the birth of John the Baptist as a hallowed event.  We have no such commemoration for any other fathers; but it is significant that we celebrate the birthdays of John and of Jesus.  This day cannot be passed by.  And even if my explanation does not match the dignity of the feast, you may still meditate on it with great depth and profit.

John was born of a woman too old for childbirth; Christ was born of a youthful virgin.  The news of John’s birth was met with incredulity, and his father was struck dumb.  Christ’s birth was believed, and he was conceived through faith.

John, then, appears as the boundary between the two testaments, the old and the new.  That he is a sort of boundary the LOrd himself bears witness, when he speaks of the law and the prophets up until John the Baptist.  Thus he represents times past and is the hearald of the new era to come.  As a representative of the past, he is born of aged parents; as a herald of a new era, he is declared to be a prophet while still in his mother’s womb.  For when yet unborn, he leapt in his mother’s womb at the arrival of blessed Mary.  In that womb he had already been designated a prophet, even before he was born; it was revealed that he was to be Christ’s precursor, before they everr saw one another.  These are divine happenings, going beyond the limits of our human frailty.  Eventually he is born, he receives his name, his father’s tongue us loosened.  See how these events reflect reality.

Zechariah is silent and loses his voice until John, the precursor of the Lord, is born and restores his voice.  The silence of Zechariah is nothing by the age of prophecy lying hidden, obscured, as it were, and concealed before the preaching of Christ.  At John’s arrival Zechariah’s voice is released, and it becomes clear at the coming of the one who was foretold.  The release of Zechariah’s voice at the birth of John is a parallel to the rending of the veil at Christ’s crucifixion.  If John were announcing his own coming, Zechariah’s lips would not have been opened.  The tongue is loosened because a voice is born.  For when John was preaching the Lord’s coming he was asked: Who are you? And he replied: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. The voice is John, but the Lord in the beginning was the Word.  John was a voice that lasted only for a time; Christ, the Word in the beginning, is eternal.  (Sermon 293, 1-3)

God our Father,
you raised up John the Baptist
to prepare a perfect people for Christ the Lord.
Give your Church joy in spirit
and guide those who believe in you
into the way of salvation and peace.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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A crowd of over 400 gathered here last night for a special pre-screening of “The Human Experience.” Preceeded by a holy hour led by the Frassati Fellowship and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the pre-screening attracted a wide variety of viewers: regular parishioners, youth groups from Long Island, young professionals from around the city, priests and religious, and even a few Hollywood producers.  The film clearly struck a chord with the audience, as was evident by the sustained applaused and interesting Q & A afterwards.

Produced by Grassroots Films, “The Human Experience” follows two brothers around the world as they seek to experience human life through the lives of those less fortunate: the homeless in New York City, crippled orphans in Peru, and lepers in Ghana.  What they learn is that despite the variations of culture, class, and health among peoples, one thing unites the experience of all human beings: the desire for love, even for what some Dominicans have called “the love that never ends.”  Combined with commentary from various scientists and scholars, the brothers’ testimony identifies love as the foundation of human experience—love at its fullest, love in suffering, love in the truth, love that transcends human limitation and reveals man’s higher and other worldly hopes.

Click here for the film’s homepage and trailer.  See it if you can, and pray that this pro-life, pro-family, pro-faith film may soon find a distributor.

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Today’s science section of The New York Times contains the following article on the Vatican’s observatory.  As the author notes, few realize that the Church continues to contribute significantly to the science of astronomy.

Located in the deserts of Arizona, the observatory’s super-sized telescopes went online in 1995.  George Johnson shadowed two of the astronomers who work there, and this is what he reports.

Click here for the original post.

June 23, 2009
Vatican’s Celestial Eye, Seeking Not Angels but Data
By GEORGE JOHNSON

MOUNT GRAHAM, Ariz. - Fauré’s “Requiem” is playing in the background, followed by the Kronos Quartet. Every so often the music is interrupted by an electromechanical arpeggio - like a jazz riff on a clarinet - as the motors guiding the telescope spin up and down. A night of galaxy gazing is about to begin at the Vatican’s observatory on Mount Graham.

“Got it. O.K., it’s happy,” says Christopher J. Corbally, the Jesuit priest who is vice director of the Vatican Observatory Research Group, as he sits in the control room making adjustments. The idea is not to watch for omens or angels but to do workmanlike astronomy that fights the perception that science and Catholicism necessarily conflict.

Last year, in an opening address at a conference in Rome, called “Science 400 Years After Galileo Galilei,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the secretary of state of the Vatican, praised the church’s old antagonist as “a man of faith who saw nature as a book written by God.” In May, as part of the International Year of Astronomy, a Jesuit cultural center in Florence conducted “a historical, philosophical and theological re-examination” of the Galileo affair. But in the effort to rehabilitate the church’s image, nothing speaks louder than a paper by a Vatican astronomer in, say, The Astrophysical Journal or The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

On a clear spring night in Arizona, the focus is not on theology but on the long list of mundane tasks that bring a telescope to life. As it tracks the sky, the massive instrument glides on a ring of pressurized oil. Pumps must be activated, gauges checked, computers rebooted. The telescope’s electronic sensor, similar to the one in a digital camera, must be cooled with liquid nitrogen to keep the megapixels from fuzzing with quantum noise.

As Dr. Corbally rushes from station to station flicking switches and turning dials, he seems less like a priest or even an astronomer than a maintenance engineer. Finally when everything is ready, starlight scooped up by the six-foot mirror is chopped into electronic bits, which are reconstituted as light on his video screen.

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O Christ, Good Shepherd, I thank you for leading me to glory;
I pray that the flock you have entrusted ot my care
will share with me in your glory forever.

Today the Order remembers the first Dominican pope, Peter of Tarentaise, who took the name Innocent V.  He was elected to the See of Peter just sixty years after the foundation of the Order.  Before settling in Rome, Peter earned a reputation as a brilliant teacher.  His writings won him the title doctor famosissimus (”most famous doctor”).

From the Dominican Ordo:

Peter of Tarentaise was born in Savoy around 1224 and as a young man entered the Order at Lyons.  He was sent to study at Parish where he took the master’s degree and was given a chair at the university.  Together with Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Albert the Great, and two other Dominicans he was commissioned by the General Chapter of 1259 to draw up the first plan of studies for the Order.  In 1272 he was named archbishop of Lyons and created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.  He was one of the outstanding figures at the Council of Lyons where he labored for the restoration of unity between the churches of East and west.  In 1276 Peter was elected Pope and took the name Innocent. He died within five months of his election on June 22, 1276.

Click here for more on the life of Blessed Innocent V.

Christie’s has listed a medieval manuscript of Bl. Innocent’s Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard.  If you have $14,500 lying around, you might consider snatching it for your collection.  Click here for details.

God of truth,
you bestowed on Blessed Innocent
the gifts of knowledge and prudence
and made him a promoter of peace and unity.
By the help of his prayers
may we cherish what is of heaven
and in perfect unity follow what is right.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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The mortal bodies of God’s saints lie in peace,
but they themselves live with God forever.

Today the Church honors two saints who were among the first of the martyrs of the English Reformation.

From the Roman Ordo:

Saint John Fisher was born in 1469.  After completing his theological studies at Cambridge in England, he was ordained to the priesthood.  Appointed bishop of Rochester, he led a most austere life and fulfilled his pastoral role by frequently visiting the faithful.  He also composed works against the errors of the time.

Saint Thomas More was born in 1477 and was educated at Oxford.  He married and had one son and three daughters.  While Chancellor in the King’s Court, he wrote works on the governance of the realm and in defense of the Faith.

Both were beheaded in 1535 by order of King Henry VIII, whom they had resisted in the matter of his divorce: John Fisher on June 22 and Thomas More on July 6.  While detained in prison, Bishop Fisher was named to the College of Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Paul III.

For more on the lives of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, click here and here.

Today would be a great day to sit and watch “A Man for All Seasons.”  Below is posted the final scene from More’s trial.  Centuries later, we are still dealing with the issues St. Thomas addresses in his testimony.

Father,
you confirm the true faith
with the crown of martyrdom.
May the prayers of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More
give us the courage to proclaim our faith
by the witness of our lives.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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You are the light of the world; a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

From Catholic Online:

Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus was born to a wealthy Roman family at Bordeaux, in Gaul. His father was the praetorian prefect of Gaul who made certain that his son received a sound education. Paulinus studied rhetoric and poetry and learned from the famed poet Ausonius. He subsequently became a well known lawyer. He became the prefect of Rome, married a Spanish noble lady, Therasia, and led a luxury filled life.

Following the death of his son a week after his birth in 390, Paulinus retreated from the world and came to be baptized a Christian by St. Delphinus in Aquitaine. With Therasia, he gave away their property and vast fortune to the poor and to the Church, and they pursued a life of deep austerity and mortifications. About 393, he was forcibly ordained a priest by the bishop of Barcelona. Soon after, he moved to an estate near the tomb of St. Nola near Naples, Italy. There, he and his wife practiced rigorous asceticism and helped to establish a community of monks. To the consternation of his other relatives, he sold all of their estates in Gaul and gave the money to the poor. He also helped to build a church at Fondi, a basilica near the tomb of St. Felix, a hospital for travelers, and an aqueduct. Many of the poor and sick he brought into his own house, and he lived as a hermit with several of his friends.

In 409, he was elected bishop of Nola, serving in this office with great distinction until his death. He was a friend and correspondent of virtually all of the leading figures of his era, including Sts. Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Martin of Tours, and Pope Anastasius I.

Paulinus was also a gifted poet, earning the distinction of being one of the foremost Christian Latin poets of the Patristic period, an honor he shares with Prudentius. Paulinus retained much of the style of the old classical poets, and composed most of the poems in honor of the feast of St. Felix. He is the author of a body of extant works including fifty one letters, thirty two poems, and several prose pieces.

Click here for more on the life of St. Paulinus.  In late 2007, Pope Benedict spent one of his General Audiences reflecting on the bishop’s life and works.  Click here for the Holy Father’s address.

Lord,
you made Saint Paulinus
renowned for his love of poverty
and concern for his people.
May we who celebrate his witness to the gospel
imitate his example of love for others.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY

DECREE

Special Indulgence for the Year for Priests

As has been announced, the Holy Father Benedict XVI has decided to establish a special Year for Priests on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of St John Mary Vianney, the holy Curé d’Ars, a shining model of a Pastor totally dedicated to the service of the people of God.

During the Year for Priests which will begin on 19 June 2009 and will end on 19 June 2010, the gift of special Indulgences is granted as described in the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary, published on 12 May.

Shortly the day will come on which will be commemorated the 150th anniversary of the pious departure to Heaven of St John Mary Vianney, the Curé d’Ars. This Saint was a wonderful model here on earth of a true Pastor at the service of Christ’s flock.

Since his example is used to encourage the faithful, and especially priests, to imitate his virtues, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI has established that for this occasion a special Year for Priests will be celebrated, from 19 June 2009 to 19 June 2010, in which all priests may be increasingly strengthened in fidelity to Christ with devout meditation, spiritual exercises and other appropriate actions.

This holy period will begin with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day of priestly sanctification on which the Supreme Pontiff will celebrate Vespers in the presence of the holy relics of St John Mary Vianney, brought to Rome by the Bishop of Belley-Ars, France.

The Most Holy Father will likewise preside at the conclusion of the Year for Priests in St Peter’s Square, in the presence of priests from across the world who will renew their fidelity to Christ and the bond of brotherhood.

May priests commit themselves, with prayer and good works, to obtaining from Christ the Eternal High Priest, the grace to shine with Faith, Hope, Charity and the other virtues, and show by their way of life, but also with their external conduct, that they are dedicated without reserve to the spiritual good of the people something that the Church has always had at heart.

The gift of Sacred Indulgences which the Apostolic Penitentiary, with this Decree issued in conformity with the wishes of the August Pontiff, graciously grants during the Year for Priests will be of great help in achieving the desired purpose in the best possible way.

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PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.

We pray that Mary will guide your priests
to follow her own words,
“Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).

May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph,
Mary’s most chaste spouse.

May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart
inspire them to embrace
all who suffer at the foot of the cross.

May your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of your love
seeking nothing but your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.
Amen.

Saint John Vianney, pray for us.

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My heart rejoices in the Lord,
for the almighty has done great things for me.

A day after celebrating Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, the Church honors the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the first fruit of the graces flowing from the pierced Heart of the Savior.  In the Immaculate Heart of the Mother, we see the dignity and holiness made available to us by the Son.

Today’s Office of Readings contains a short excerpt from a sermon delivered by Saint Lawrence Justinian.  In it, St. Lawrence helps us to understand the full importance of what St. Luke tells us about Mary’s heart: “And Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51).

While Mary contemplated all she had come to know through reading, listening and observing, she grew in faith, increased in merits, and was more illuminated by wisdom and more consumed by the fire of charity.  The heavenly mysteries were opened to her, and she was filled with joy; she became fruitful by the Spirit, was being directed toward God, and watched over protectively while on earth.  So remarkable are the divine graces that they elevate one from the lowest depths to the highest summit, and transform one to a greater holiness.  How entirely blessed was the mind of the Virgin which, through the indwelling and guidance of the Spirit, was always and in every way open to the power of the Word of God.  She was not led by her own senses, nor by her own will; thus she accomplished outwardly through her body what wisdom from within gave to her faith.  It was fitting for divine Wisdom, which created itself a home in the CHurch, to use the intervention of the most blessed Mary in guarding the law, purifying the mind, giving and example of humility and providing a spiritual sacrifice.

Imitate her, O faithful soul.  Enter into the deep recesses of your heart so that you may be purified spiritually and cleansed from your sins.  God places more value on good will in all we do than on the works themselves.  Therefore, whether we give ourselves to God in the work of contemplation or whether we serve the needs of our neighbor by good works, we accomplish these things because the love of Christ urges us on.  The acceptable offering of the spiritual purification is accomplished not in a man-made temple but in the recesses of the heart where the Lord Jesus freely enters.  (Sermo 8, in festo Purificationis BVM, 38-39)

During our earthly sojourn, may we always have recourse to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, God’s pledge of fidelity to our fallen world.

Father,
you prepared the heart of the Virgin Mary
to be a fitting home for your Holy Spirit.
By her prayers
may we become a more worthy temple of your glory.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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The Lord is my inheritance; he is good to those who seek him.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Margaret Ebner was born in 1291 at Donauworth in Bavaria and made her profession at the Dominican Monastery of Maria Medingen in 1306.  By her own account her true conversion to God began in 1311 when she was twenty years old.  Soon after she bacame seriously ill and was bedridden for nearly thirteen years.  These years of suffering and prayer brought her to the heights of contemplative union with God.  She became one of the more prominent of the Rhineland mystics, known to both John Tauler and Henry Suso.  She left an account of her mystical experiences in her “Spiritual Journal” (Revelationes) and wrote a treatise on the Lord’s Prayer.  She died on June 20, 1351.

Click here for more on the life of Blessed Margaret.

O God, source of all goodness,
you enkindled within Blessed Margaret the fire of the Holy Spirit
and drew her into the secrets of your divine love.
By the help of her prayers
and filled with that same Spirit
may we come to you by the paths of Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Today, Pope Benedict XVI will officially open the Jubilee Year for Priests.  Called in part to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, this year of prayer and renewal has as its goal the greater sanctification of priests worldwide.  The Holy Father has called all members of the Church to enter into the spirit of this jubilee year by praying for priests, fostering vocations, and deepening our love for the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

To open the jubilee year, Pope Benedict has penned a letter to all of the Church’s priests, encouraging them in their ministry and sharing his own love for his priestly vocation.  You can find the Holy Father’s letter posted below.

On this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, may the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus manifest itself again as the source of priestly holiness in the Church.  May all priests surrender to this Heart’s merciful graces, both for their own happiness and for the spiritual well being of their flocks.

Click here for the official website of the Jubilee Year for Priests.

POPE BENEDICT XVI’S LETTER TO PRIESTS

Dear Brother Priests,

On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 - a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy - I have decided to inaugurate a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Cure of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom He has called by name, chosen and sent?

I still treasure the memory of the first parish priest at whose side I exercised my ministry as a young priest: he left me an example of unreserved devotion to his pastoral duties, even to meeting death in the act of bringing viaticum to a gravely ill person. I also recall the countless confreres whom I have met and continue to meet, not least in my pastoral visits to different countries: men generously dedicated to the daily exercise of their priestly ministry. Yet the expression of St. John Mary also makes us think of Christ’s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I am also led to think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?

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Come, let us worship Jesus,
whose heart was wounded for love of us.

Today’s celebration of this annual feast draws us deeply into the mystery of the Incarnation as we marvel at the divine love and mercy we receive through God’s human heart, the pierced heart of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.  As the living source of all holiness in the Church, the Sacred Heart of Jesus remains for Christians both an object of worship and the premier model of human virtue.  As a result, we surrender to its transformative power as we learn from its example.  Its open wound marks the point of all exchange between heaven and earth.

Click here for a brief essay on the history of devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Father,
we rejoice in the gifts of love
we have received from the heart of Jesus your Son.
Open our hearts to share his life
and to continue to bless us with his love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls;
he finds one of great value and gives all that he has to possess it.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Osanna Andreassi was born at Manua in 1449 and received the habit of the Sisters of Penance of Saint Dominic as a young girl.  With great wisdom she blended the practice of good words and the pursuit of secular occupations with a life of contemplation.  She enjoyed many extraordinary mystical graces during her life and many came to her for advice and consolation.  She died on June 18, 1505.

Click here for more on the life of Blessed Osanna.

O God, giver of all good things,
you led Blessed Osanna to prefer the unsearchable riches of Christ
above all else and to so teach others.
By following her example and teaching
may we grow in knowledge of you
and faithfully live according to the light of the gospel.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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