CSVF Blog

The storm has passed, and recovery efforts are beginning.  Please consider assisting our brothers and sisters on the Texas coast by donating to Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

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Rejoice, O sorrowful Mother; after your great sufferings, you shine forth as Queen, enthroned beside your Son.

Coming one day after the Triumph of the Cross, today’s Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows expands our meditation to consider the inescapable sorrows of those standing around Christ’s cross.  First and foremost, we focus on the sorrow of Mary’s broken and martyred heart.  On Calvary, she is Mater dolorosa.

Calvary marked just one of many sorrows experienced by Mary, sorrows predicted by holy Simeon.  The Church’s spiritual tradition counts seven sorrows in all: the prophecy of Simeon itself, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem, the way of the cross, the crucifixion of Jesus, the deposition of his body, and the burial.  These afflictions increased the merit of Mary’s already sinless love.  In her, redemptive suffering reveals itself as integral to the Christian life.

The liturgy for today includes a sequence, the Stabat Mater, which can also be broken up into hymns for the different hours of the Divine Office.

Attached below you’ll find the audio of Arvo Part’s 1985 composition of the Stabat Mater.  A modern piece, it evokes the painful tears shed by Our Lady on Calvary.

Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him, sharing his sufferings.  May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

Arvo Part's Stabat Mater Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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O crux gloriosa,

O crux adoranda,

O lignum pretiosum,

et admirabile signum,

per quo et diabolus est victus,

et mundus Christi sanguine est redemptus.

Today’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross has its historical roots in the early fourth century, when St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, recovered the true cross after it had lain hidden and buried for centuries.  The event is depicted in the slightly damaged fresco above.

All too often in our prayers, the cross can become an abstraction, an ideal, a comforting thought that lightens our burdens.  Today’s feast, however, returns our focus to the cold, hard fact of the cross–those two wooden beams on which Christ obediently and lovingly fulfilled the commands of both divine justice and divine mercy.  It’s the object we venerate today, not just the idea of it.

So lift high the cross of Christ!  It is the sign of our hope and the trophy of our victory!  

And we venerate the cross today with devout kisses as the altar upon which the Divine Lamb was slain for us.  Its arms carried a most precious burden, which it lifted from our own shoulders.

God our Father, in obedience to you your only Son accepted death on the Cross for the salvation of mankind.  We acknowledge the mystery of the Cross on earth. May we receive the gift of redemption in heaven.

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

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Considering that in New York City 72 abortions occur for every 100 live births (see Crain’s), this conversation may be long overdue.

From Michaelene Fredenburg, the founder of Abortion Changes You:

When I became pregnant at 18, I had an abortion.

I was completely unprepared for the emotional fallout. I thought the abortion would erase the pregnancy. I thought I could move on with my life. I was wrong.

I experienced periods of intense anger followed by periods of profound sadness. When my feelings became too difficult to deal with, I reached out for help from a trained counselor.

With counseling and the help of supportive friends, I was able to enter into a healthy grieving process.

In addition to grieving the loss of my child, I slowly became aware of how my choice to abort had impacted my family. I was surprised and saddened that my parents, my sister, and even my living children struggled to deal with the loss of a family member through abortion.

Over the years I’ve heard many heartrending stories about abortion. Although each story is unique, a common thread moves through them all—abortion changes you. Yet there is no forum to help abortion participants—and the people who are closest to them—explore this tragic truth. Although abortion has touched many of us, we rarely share our personal experiences regarding it.

This is what led me to write a book that shares some of the stories I’ve heard. There was also a need for a safe space for people to tell their stories, explore the ways abortion has impacted them, and find resources. We created AbortionChangesYou.com to fill this need.

It is my hope that this Web site will assist you as you seek to make sense of your abortion or the abortion of someone close to you.

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On this week’s show I chatted with Fr. Luke Sweeney, Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of New York, and Deacon Vincent Druding, a fourth-year theologian at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, about the readings for this Sunday’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Before speaking of the feast itself, Fr. Sweeney and Deacon Druding shared stories of Pope Benedict’s visit to the seminary this past April.  Deacon Druding can be seen in the photo below.  He’s the one bowing before Pope Benedict.  

At the end of the show I spoke with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP, about what he’ll be preaching on this weekend.  As always, Fr. Thomas Joseph takes us right to the heart of the mystery.  His words are few but profound.  Our student brothers are blessed to have him teaching at the House of Studies in Washington.

Enjoy the show!

Word to Life - September 12, 2008 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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St. Alphonsus Ligouri writes: After the most sacred name of Jesus, the name of Mary is so rich in every good thing, that on earth and in heaven there is no other from which devout souls receive so much grace, hope, and sweetness . . . It is well known, and is daily experienced by the clients of Mary, that her powerful name gives the particular strength necessary to overcome temptations against purity.

Restored to the Roman Calendar in 2002, today’s Feast of the Holy Name of Mary was first celebrated locally in early sixteenth-century Spain.  Within a century and a half, however, the feast was granted universal status as a commemoration of the successful Christian defense of Vienna against the invading Muslim Turks. Click here for more on the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

Lord our God, when your Son was dying on the altar of the cross, he gave us as our mother the one he had chosen to be his own mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant that we who call upon the holy name of Mary, our mother, with confidence in her protection may receive strength and comfort in all our needs.

We make our prayer 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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PRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

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“Theology on Tap NYC” is getting ready to kick off its fall season. Here’s an invite to their first gathering:

Join young adults for a series of lectures at Metro 53 Bar and Restaurant, 307 East 53rd Street, between 2nd and 1st Avenues.  The event is from 7pm-8:30pm. 

The first lecture of the Fall 2008 season is on September 29 by Fr. Thomas Williams, LC, Vatican analyst for CBS News and author of the books: Greater Than You Think: A Theologian Answers the Atheists About God, Spiritual Progress: Becoming the Christian You Want to Be, and Knowing Right from Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience.  His topic this night will be ”Conscience, Your Morals and Mine.”

Click here for more details.

(The Pope does not plan to attend.)

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The Cathedral of St. Patrick Young Adults will be hosting an open house for new members on Thursday, September 18.  Meeting at 6:30 PM in the Parish House (14 East 51st Street), young adults in their 20s and 30s will be treated to dinner and a presentation of the group’s organization and activity.

RSVP to info@cspya.org.

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(My apologies for getting this up a week late!)

Beginning on Monday, September 8, the Church of Our Saviour will host a series of seven lectures on Cardinal Newman by the Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., professor of philosophy at Fordham University. This series will consider the life of John Henry Newman, with a focus on some of his most important works.

September 8:    Introduction

September 15:  Tradition and the Church

September 22:  Some Classic Texts

September 29:  The Nature of Belief

October 6:  Belief in Traditional Christian Doctrines

October 20:  Certitude and Doubt

October 27:  The Nature of Religious Faith

Lectures are from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the undercroft and are sponsored by the Wethersfield Institute. Pre-registration is required. Please call (845) 373-8037. Admission is $70 for the series or $10 per lecture.

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“This is like deja vu all over again.”

Two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grievously misrepresented the Church’s teaching on life and earned herself an unprecedented rebuke from the nation’s bishops, Senator Joseph Biden, also a professed Catholic, answered the same question, from the same journalist, on the same show, in the same scandalous way.  Other than substituting the name “Aquinas” for “Augustine,” Biden simply copied Pelosi’s script when he claimed that medieval debates over delayed ensoulment reveal a loose thread in the Church’s otherwise seamless defense of life, a thread on which a Catholic politician may licitly hang a political defense of legalized abortion.  The argument made little sense when Pelosi made it, and after the corrections offered by the bishops it makes even less sense now.

In at least one way, however, Biden’s answer to the question “When does life begin?” does more damage than Pelosi’s to the public’s perception of the Church’s teaching.  More than twice on Sunday’s Meet the Press, Biden asserted that the statement ”life begins at conception” is an article of faith which a Catholic must accept under the authority of the Church’s Magisterium.  As a witness to his Catholic credentials, Biden proudly proclaimed his obedience and fidelity.  But Biden’s presentation of the Church’s teaching is not true.  The statement “life begins at conception” is not an article of faith.  It is a statement rooted in reason and science used by the Church to explain the full scope of the fifth commandment.  By arguing that “life begins at conception” constitutes a tenet of a religious creed, Biden erroneouly reduces the Church’s Gospel of Life to a sectarian, fideist claim unsupported by either reason or science.  As a definition of a particular creed, Biden argued, the statement “life begins at conception” can hold no sway in modern democratic debate.

As expected, the bishop’s have begun to respond.

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Like many young European religious of the late sixteenth century, St. Peter Claver left family and homeland to spread the faith in the New World.  As a Jesuit priest, he settled in Cartagena, Columbia, the capital of the African slave trade.  There, Peter Claver dedicated his life to becoming “the slave of the negroes forever.”

Trained as a missionary, Peter brought the faith to those Africans unwillingly brought to Columbia. He would meet them at the docks, supply for their physical needs, find translators who could speak their language, and offer them comfort and solace in the slave prisons.  He catechized them, and many received baptism.  Peter was also a fervent advocate for the Africans, protesting the abuse they received from their Spanish captors.  For his protection of the slaves, Peter himself received much abuse.

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Tune in at 1:00 PM tomorrow (Tuesday) to Sirius 159, The Catholic Channel.  I’ll be on the “Pathways of Learning” program hosted by Sr. Marie Pappas, the Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York.  We’ll be talking about the Year of St. Paul.  

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Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaims joy to the whole world, for from you arose the glorious Sun of Justice, Christ our God; he freed us from the age-old curse and filled us with holiness; he destroyed death and gave us eternal life.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Birth of Mary.  Occurring nine months after the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of Our Lady points our attention forward to the feasts of December, the greatest of these being Christmas.

As the antiphon quoted above reminds us, Mary’s birth heralds the new reign of grace the birth of her Son will bring.  In a sermon on Our Lady’s dormition, St. John Damascene (d. mid-eighth century) concentrates explicitly on this theme.  If we lay aside for a moment issues regarding the historicity of his claims, we can see the theological point he wants to make.  It is fitting for Damascene that spiritual and physical sterility, linked by a common cause, are together rendered fecund by a common solution.

Joachim and Anne were the parents of Mary. Joachim kept as strict a watch over his thoughts as a shepherd over his flock, having them entirely under his control. For the Lord God led him as a sheep, and he wanted for none of the best things. When I say best, let no one think I mean what is commonly acceptable to the multitude, that upon which greedy minds are fixed, the pleasures of life that can neither endure nor make their possessors better, nor confer real strength. They follow the downward course of human life and cease all in a moment, even if they abounded before. Far be it from us to cherish these things, nor is this the portion of those who fear God. But the good things which are a matter of desire to those who possess true knowledge, delighting God, and fruitful to their possessors, namely, virtues, bearing fruit in due season, that is, in eternity, will reward with eternal life those who have laboured worthily and have persevered in their acquisition as far as possible. The labour goes before, eternal happiness follows. Joachim ever shepherded his thoughts. In the place of pastures, dwelling by contemplation on the words of sacred Scripture, made glad on the restful waters of divine grace, withdrawn from foolishness, he walked in the path of justice. And Anne, whose name means grace, was no less a companion in her life than a wife, blessed with all good gifts, though afflicted for a mystical reason with sterility. Grace in very truth remained sterile, not being able to produce fruit in the souls of men. Therefore, men declined from good and degenerated; there was not one of understanding nor one who sought after God. Then His divine goodness, taking pity on the work of His hands, and wishing to save it, put an end to that mystical barrenness, that of holy Anne, I mean, and she gave birth to a child, whose equal had never been created and never can be. The end of barrenness proved clearly that the world’s sterility would cease and that the withered trunk would be crowned with vigorous and mystical life. 

Hence the Mother of our Lord is announced. An angel foretells her birth. It was fitting that in this, too, she, who was to be the human Mother of the one true and living God, should be marked out above every one else. Then she was offered in God’s holy temple, and remained there, showing to all a great example of zeal and holiness, withdrawn from frivolous society. When, however, she reached full age and the law required that she should leave the temple, she was entrusted by the priests to Joseph, her bridegroom, as the guardian of her virginity, a steadfast observer of the law from his youth. Mary, the holy and undefiled, went to Joseph, contenting herself with her household matters, and knowing nothing beyond her four walls. 

Again, we see how the Church celebrates Mary in light of her unique relationship with her Son.  Even her birth is interpreted theologically within the logic of grace introduced by Christ.  Mary is Christ’s first and greatest disciple.  As such, she is our mother and the perfect model of grace.

Father of mercy, give your people help and strength from heaven.  The birth of the Virgin Mary’s Son was the dawn of our salvation.  May this celebration of her birthday bring us closer to lasting 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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Yesterday, the folks at Creative Minority Report posted a “new” video of the Nashville Dominicans.  It’s from a February episode of PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.  

Like the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, MI, the “Nashvilles” have been getting a lot of good press lately.  Enjoy the video.

Two years ago, the same program highlighted the increasingly famous “Vigil of All Saints” held each October 31 at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.  Click here for the report and video.

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All three of this weekend’s readings focus on one of the more difficult spiritual works of mercy: fraternal correction.  

However difficult dealing with sin might be in our own lives, as Christians we are duty-bound to confront sin in the lives of others, too.  How do we do this?  In lieu of the audio of today’s show (technical difficulties!), I’m posting several links to articles and homilies that might help us understand and better appreciate our duty in Christ to become active instruments of conversion.

First, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the preacher of the papal household (pictured above), shares his own thoughts on this Sunday’s Gospel.

Secondly, as you might have guessed, St. Thomas dedicates a whole question of the Summa to fraternal correction.

Lastly, the old Catholic Encyclopedia has an excellent summary of the Church’s classical wisdom regarding the duties we have to our neighbor.

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Statements released this week by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops clarify the Church’s teaching on two issues that dominate today’s cultural and political discourse.  The first concerns the Church’s consistent teaching on life, and the second is a joint statement with Orthodox Jews regarding marriage.  

The first statement is a fact sheet that further contradicts the erroneous summary of the Church’s tradition given recently by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Her comments necessitated an elaboration of this earlier statement.  The second text bears witness to the Church’s ongoing efforts to find religious allies in its cultural fight to preserve and defend the natural definition of marriage.

From “Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching”:

Thus modern science has not changed the Church’s constant teaching against abortion, but has underscored how important and reasonable it is, by confirming that the life of each individual of the human species begins with the earliest embryo.

Click here for the entire text.

And from “Created in the Divine Image”:

God’s design for the continuance of human life, as seen in the natural order, as well as in the Bible  (Gen. 1-3), clearly revolves around the union of male and female, first as husband and wife, and then as parents. A unique goal of marriage, which is reproduction and the raising of families, exists apart from that of same sex unions, which cannot equally participate in this essential function. While others may claim the right to establish private relationships between persons of the same gender that simulate marriage, the legal classification of such relationships as marriage dilutes the special standing of marriage between a man and a woman. Since the future of every society depends upon its ability to reproduce itself according to this natural order and to have its young people reared in a stable environment, it is the duty of the state to protect the traditional place of marriage and the family for the good of society. 

The entire text can be found here.

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As the presidential campaign heats up and attracts the attention of the nation, we observe how the relationship of politics and religion, especially in the lives of the candidates themselves, remains a hot-button issue for pundits and voters alike.

In two weeks’ time, a couple of events scheduled at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus will explore this issue and evaluate its impact on the current political climate.  Both events are free and open to the public.

From Mitt Romney’s Mormonism to Barack Obama’s pastor, religion has played a controversial role during the presidential race. Were the Democrats finally “getting religion”? Did Mike Huckabee represent a new face of evangelicalism? Were Senators McCain and Obama obliged to denounce outlandish statements by clergy supporters? Has the coverage of religion enlightened or obscured major moral issues facing the nation, like war, abortion, poverty and torture, and helped voters size up the candidates? 

An extraordinary panel will focus on both the issues and how well the news media have been covering them. 

MODERATOR
Ray Suarez, senior correspondent, PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and author of The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America.

PANELISTS
E.J. Dionne Jr., syndicated columnist and author of Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right.

Andrew Kohut, president, Pew Research Center, and co-author of The Diminishing Divide: Religion’s Changing Role in American Politics.

Peggy Fletcher Stack, senior religion writer, Salt Lake Tribune.

Don Wycliff, University of Notre Dame; former editorial page editor and public editor for the Chicago Tribune.

SPEAKERS

Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete – theologian, author, columnist

Mr. Peter Steinfels – New York Times religion columnist

Ms. Helen Whitney – award-winning TV producer for ABC and PBS

Sponsored by the Crossroads New York Cultural Center.

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Elected Bishop of Rome in 590, St. Gregory the Great was the first monk to assume the Throne of St. Peter.  Like many popes, he lamented his election.   In numerous letters and scriptural commentaries, Gregory described the hardships of leaving the solitude of his monastery for the raucous clamor of the papal palace.

As a young man, Gregory had the city of Rome in the palm of his hand.  He was its prefect, an imperial position not without its glory and honor.  But parallel to his ability and fame, Gregory developed his taste for spiritual realities.  As a result, he eventually left the political world for a life of monastic silence.  He converted his family estate into a monastery and gathered together friends with whom he enjoyed the quiet blessings of fraternal prayer and companionship.

This monastic peace did not last.  Requiring his talents, the Pope had Gregory ordained a deacon and then sent him as his personal envoy to Constantinople, the imperial capital.  There, Gregory maintained his monastic discipline while fulfilling the duties of state.  This unique juxtaposition of prayer and politics in Gregory’s life would soon become something he would model for the entire Church.

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Hurricane Gustav’s notable but less than expected severity offers us only momentary gratitude as we look ahead to the impending threats named Hanna, Ike, and Josephine.  In what’s turning out to be a busy hurricane season, those residing on our nation’s shores continue to need our prayers.

After Hurricane Audrey in 1957, Bishop Maurice Schexnayder, the second Bishop of Lafayette, penned a prayer that is still used yearly by Catholics in Louisiana and all over the Gulf Coast.  I pass it on for your use.

PRAYER FOR HURRICANE SEASON

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude. You are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control: the Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to you, O Loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time.

O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a stormless eternity awaits us.

Amen.

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The Sisters of Life have announced a new opportunity for young adults and all New York City Catholics to give a public and prayerful witness to the Church’s Gospel of Life, or as the Sisters say, “to pray at the front lines of the culture of life and death.”

From Sr. Lucy Marie, SV:

Join with the Sisters of Life and NYC young adults and be part of a new generation building a culture of life.

First Saturday Prayer Vigils begin on Sat, Sept 6th with 8am Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC – Msgr. Phillip Reilly will be the main celebrant. See Flier below and attached. Come to all or part of the morning.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass begins our day in beautiful Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the Sisters of Life will provide a Schola), Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament follows, and people can either remain in the Church to adore our Lord or attend the rosary procession to the local abortion clinic – Planned Parenthood.

Upon return from the clinic (approx 10:15am) we will have a social (complete with coffee and bagels) with a short (15 mins) presentation by the Sisters of Life. You will hear of concrete ways to be of service, as Co-Workers, helping vulnerable pregnant women that are currently being served by the Sisters.

Promote this to your friends and let me know if you plan on attending on Sept 6th and approx how many people you may be bringing. Keep the spiritual success of this effort for Life in your daily prayers.

Thank you and God Bless.
Sr. Lucy Marie
Respect Life Coordinator
Archdiocese of New York
212-371-1011 X3192

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