Jesus, the Greeks, and Four Dumb Women

I can't stand The View, but the fact that they make themselves sound like complete idiots on a regular basis almost tempts me to watch once in a while.

One of the latest complete blunders happened last week when Sherri Shepherd claimed that Epicurus and Jesus Christ were contemporaries and that the Greeks threw the Christians to the lions. She also said that nothing pre-dates Christianity because Jesus came first in creation.

It seems that dear Sherri is confusing theology with history. Yes, Jesus came first, but not in creation. Jesus Christ as the WORD always existed. He existed at the creation of the world, but Jesus Christ did not take human flesh until sometime between the year 5BC (calendar miscalculation) and the year 0 (for simplicity's sake, let's say that it happened in the year 0).

Since Jesus is God, He existed outside of time and space until he chose to become man and live on earth. Many things happened on earth before Jesus took on human flesh. First of all, all the the Old Testament happened. Anyone with even a kindergarten understanding of the Bible knows that the Jewish people pre-date Christ. A further examination of the Bible shows that so did the Babylonians, the Hittites, and the Greeks, and the Romans pre-date Christ.

The Greeks did not throw the Christians to the lions. That was the Romans. Also Epicurus lived over 300 years before the birth of Christ.

Here is the video for your amusement.

Christmas Meme

I swiped this from Brian.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrap. Gift bags are too expensive.


2. Real tree or artificial?
Fake, real trees come complete with real bugs, and a real mess.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually at some time during the third week of Advent, but the tree went up this year before Advent even began. Why? Because JP wanted it up AND I already had the tree and decorations out because the plumber needed to get into the closet.


4. When do you take the tree down?
Around the feast of the Baptism of the Lord

5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes, but only certain ones. I have a fondness for the Hood Vanilla Eggnog.



6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A full size Yamaha piano. It was a lousy instrument, but I didn't know how to play and was only 7 years old.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene?
Yes, but it's not up yet.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My husband.


9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A weird wall clock of the crucifixion.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, but there are some online friends I send e-cards to.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I love the Nativity Story, but I also love National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I started on Black Friday. Before you cringe, I went around 6 pm and the mall was empty. It was awesome and I got almost everything bought it one day.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Yes, shamefully I have.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Hickory Farms Meltaways. I know...lame.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear. I can't stand colored, especially if they blink.

16. Favorite Christmas song.
Gesu Bambino

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We go to my aunt's house and my in laws. Each are about 15 minutes away.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer.
Yes, but only because Brian had them already written here. (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course Rudolph).

19. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning (if I don't have an early Mass), but we open presents from my parents at their house on Christmas Eve.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The war of Christmas, people out Christmas shopping who seem to have forgotten everything that Jesus taught about loving neighbors.

I tag everyone who reads this.

First Things Blog

First Things now has a blog! Check it out here.

Coming to a Confessional Near You?

H/T to the Ritualist.



Well, maybe not to a confessional near you, but it is a scary look at what may happen in some other denominations.

It's also downright funny. Watch, laugh, and pray for vocations.

The Americanizing of Faith

The last time I posted from one of Fr. Stokes' articles he was bemoaning the decline of funeral homily. Now he is writing about the decline of the Episcopalian/Anglican Church.

For those unfamiliar with Fr. David L. Stokes, he is a former Episcopalian priest, who converted to Catholicism and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood. He teaches theology at Providence College and writes an occasional column for the Providence Journal. As I learned on my first day as his student, Fr. Stokes pulls no punches. He tells it like it is, and if you don't like it, tough luck!

This particular article is from October 29th. I had wanted to post it weeks, ago but you know what happens when something is put on the back burner.

In this article, Fr. Stokes argues that the Episcopal Church has much deeper problems than same-sex marriage and gay bishops. The emphases are mine.

...But Robinson’s election, important as it is in this drama, is really only secondary to the woes besetting the Episcopal Church — and, indeed, Anglicanism world-wide. To couch it in theological language, we may call Robinson the efficient cause of Anglicanism’s fracturing. But he is not the formal cause. Strange as it sounds, the formal cause is nothing less than the demise of the British Empire and with it the ineluctable evaporation of a definite British ethos.

In 1559, Queen Elizabeth I, much more a practitioner of real-politic than her father Henry VIII, dealt with feuding Christian factions by encompassing them within the same state church. Puritans and Catholics, “high” churchman and “low,” woke up one morning to find themselves beneath the same tent. That didn’t mean disputes ceased. The English Civil War (1642-1651) attests to how bloody theological contentions could turn. Still, by the late 17th Century, with a common prayer book and the King James Bible, the lineaments of Anglicanism had emerged — much more a cultural ethos than a confessional church such as existed amongst the Lutherans and Calvinists on the continent.

Elizabeth’s actions had another result. In suspending theological squabbles, she inadvertently suspended corporate theological reflection. For over 400 years the Anglican ethos remained pretty much a late medieval view of God and the human person, suspended in linguistic amber of dazzling beauty. Thus “protestant” and “catholic,” Platonist and even the odd agnostic all found themselves harmonizing after a fashion in the same choir.

What kept this ethos from evaporating like mist? Not the Archbishop of Canterbury. (He has never held authority analogous to the pope.) Nor the creedal statements of Anglicanism. (Like a wax nose these have always been shaped pretty much by whoever was doing the interpreting.)

What grounded this Anglican ethos was the very English culture from which it arose. For example, two Anglicans may, and did, vehemently disagree on a biblical text’s meaning, but they both shared a common culture that took the Bible as normative. Their differences became blended into the soil they share. With the significant exception of nonconformists, to be an Englishman was to be an Anglican, to be an Anglican was to be English. Cultural stability ensured theological consensus.

[...]

For anyone brought up in the mid-20th Century, the Episcopal Church still radiated certain Englishness. We resonated to the rhythm of the old prayer book, the sonorities of T. S. Eliot and the urbanity of W. H. Auden. Ours was the church of C.S.Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, and Vaughn Williams. Those mid-century decades possessed a spirituality of informed and stylish moderation.

Even then, though, had we been more attentive, we would have heard a distinctly nostalgic, even elegiac, tone in all this. But few of us are ever explicitly aware of the under-currents of real change in our lives. It’s not that the Episcopal Church scrapped the old prayer book, nor was it somehow infiltrated by dastardly liberals. Simply, it underwent what happened to most Protestant traditions imported to these shores: As the English ethos slowly dissipated, the Episcopal Church was finally being transformed into an American denomination.

What does this mean? To use the most glaring example: Where once heterosexual marriage was integral to the social and civic ecology of America, it is no longer. And the spiritual ecology of American denominations cannot but adapt accordingly, if they are to be credible. American culture determines the agenda for American denominationalism.

[...]

...I am certainly not ringing the death knell of the Episcopal Church. Indeed, when these disputes are finally settled, I suspect the Episcopal Church may prove an attractive option to many Americans nostalgic for some sort of a spirituality.

[...]

American history’s answer has always been power-plays, cloaked in theological rhetoric — followed by yet another, new denomination. Let’s wait and see.

Read the complete article here.

I think that as American Catholics, we need to take Fr. Stokes words to heart and see that something quite similar is happening in the Catholic Church. Have we moved from the Roman Catholic Church to the American Catholic Church? When we desire to assimilate into American culture, that is exactly what we are doing. I am a member of the Roman Catholic Church. There was a time where Catholics wouldn't dare to eat meat on Fridays, now Catholics don't give it a second thought to eat meat on any Friday, even during Lent. I hear Catholics say that they don't want to stand out or do anything which will reveal their faith. We are to be signs of contradiction, not signs of assimilation. So what if someone looks at us funny when we don't go along with the rest of society. Notice how well Christ blended in?

Cardinal Mahony Attacked

H/T to Gerald. Article from Reuters.

Leading U.S. Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony was attacked on the street by a man enraged by the Church's sex abuse scandal just days after his Los Angeles diocese agreed to make a record payout to more than 500 victims, a Los Angeles newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mahony, 71, spoke of the July attack at a recent conference of priests and said it gave him a deeper understanding of the suffering endured by victims of the nationwide scandal.

Father Sal Pilato, principal of Junipero Serra Catholic High School in Los Angeles who heard Mahony speak at the conference, said the cardinal was dropping off letters at a mailbox near the downtown Los Angeles cathedral where he lives.

"Somebody recognized him and attacked him. It was shocking because it was an act of violence and it was someone we know and respect," Pilato told the Los Angeles Daily News.
Mahony told the priests that the man began shouting expletives and knocked him to the ground. It took a month for his injuries to heal after the attack.

It was not known whether the man was himself the victim of sexual molestation by a priest and Mahony did not report the assault to police. Mahony's office declined to comment.

[...]

Pilato told the Daily News Mahony spoke of the assault with fellow priests in October during a discussion on the abuse issue. The scandal, involving sexual assaults by trusted priests on young Catholics and subsequent cover-ups, erupted in Boston in 2002 and has affected virtually every diocese in the United States.

"The main message was that his wounds healed within a month, bruises and all, but the victims of child abuse are still suffering after many years, that their wounds are far deeper than what he experienced," Pilato said.

The New York Times has a little more info.

“He went down there to drop something off at the mailbox when this guy approached him, saying some stuff,” said Father Gutierrez, pastor of St. Anne Catholic Church in Santa Monica. “Then, boom, the guy was on him.”

[...]

No report about the assault was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, a police spokesman said. “We don’t know if the assault did or did not happen,” said the spokesman, Sgt. Lee Sands, who said Tuesday that he was trying to get in touch with Cardinal Mahony.

The cardinal could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Carolina Guevara, said, “The annual pastoral meeting with the priests of the archdiocese is a private meeting, and whatever conversation that might have taken place was between the priests and their bishop and was not meant to be public.”

Priests at the meeting reported that Cardinal Mahoney said it had taken him a month to heal from the assault. “The cardinal is fine,” Ms. Guevara said when asked about his condition.

David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that “violence against anyone is abhorrent,” but that “there are citizens who feel anger about the way Cardinal Mahony has handled this case for years and years.”

“If he was assaulted,” Mr. Clohessy said. “I feel for him.”

It shouldn't have happened. No one should get assaulted, but this story sounds fishy. I have many questions about this, but my primary one is: How did this help Mahony understand the the victims of sexual abuse?

Sing to the Lord

The USCCB has released the new document on Liturgical music, titled "Sing to the Lord".

There are a few sections which I would like to highlight here. My comments are in red.

The Liturgical Judgment
127. The question asked by this judgment may be stated as follows: Is this composition capable of meeting the structural and textual requirements set forth by the liturgical books for this particular rite? Hmmm, good thought which I think many musicians fail to consider.

128. Structural considerations depend on the demands of the rite itself to guide the choice of parts to be sung, taking into account the principle of progressive solemnity (see nos. 110ff. in this document). A certain balance among the various elements of the Liturgy should be sought, so that less important elements do not overshadow more important ones. Textual elements include the ability of a musical setting to support the liturgical text and to convey meaning faithful to the teaching of the Church.

129. A brief introduction to the aspects of music and the various liturgical rites is
provided below in nos. 137ff. Pastoral musicians should develop a working familiarity with the requirements of each rite through a study of the liturgical books themselves. Liturgical knowledge is another area where many liturgical musicians are lacking. It is great to me a master musician, but that it hardly enough.

[...]

The Musical Judgment
134. The musical judgment asks whether this composition has the necessary aesthetic qualities that can bear the weight of the mysteries celebrated in the Liturgy. It asks the question: Is this composition technically, aesthetically, and expressively worthy? Just think of "I Myself am the Bread of Life", or "If I Was a Butterfly"

135. This judgment requires musical competence. Only artistically sound music will be effective and endure over time. To admit to the Liturgy the cheap, the trite, or the musical cliché often found in secular popular songs is to cheapen the Liturgy, to expose it to ridicule, and to invite failure. Hahahaha! There goes how many songs in the hymnals.

136. Sufficiency of artistic expression, however, is not the same as musical style, for “the Church has not adopted any particular style of art as her own. She has admitted styles from every period, in keeping with the natural characteristics and conditions of peoples and the needs of the various rites.”104 Thus, in recent times, the Church has consistently recognized and freely welcomed the use of various styles of music as an aid to liturgical worship. Ehhh, not too sure about that.

All 87 pages of the document are available here. I haven't read the entire document yet, but I doubt it will change a thing.

Spe Salvi - The Overview

Benedict XVI's second Encyclical, "Spe Salvi" which is dedicated to the theme of Christian hope, was published today. The document - which has an introduction and eight chapters - begins with a quote from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans: "spe salvi facti sumus" (in hope we are saved).

The chapter titles are as follows: "1. Faith is Hope; 2. The concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church; 3. Eternal life - what is it?; 4. Is Christian hope individualistic?; 5. The transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age; 6. The true shape of Christian hope; 7. 'Settings' for learning and practicing hope: i) Prayer as a school of hope, ii) Action and suffering as settings for learning hope, iii) Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope; 8. Mary, Star of Hope."

The Holy Father explains in his Introduction that "according to the Christian faith, 'redemption' - salvation - is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey."

Hence, "a distinguishing mark of Christians" is "the fact that they have a future: ... they know ... that their life will not end in emptiness. ... The Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known - it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."

"To come to know God - the true God - means to receive hope." This was well understood by the early Christians, such as the Ephesians who before encountering Christ had many gods but "were without hope." The problem faced by Christians of long standing, the Holy Father says, is that they "have grown accustomed to, ... have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God."

The Pope recalls that Jesus "did not bring a message of social revolution" like Spartacus, and that "he was not engaged in a fight for political liberation like Barabbas of Bar-Kochba." He brought "something totally different: ... an encounter with the living God, ... an encounter with a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which therefore transformed life and the world from within, ... even if external structures remained unaltered."

Christ makes us truly free. "We are not slaves of the universe" or of "the laws of matter and of evolution." We are free because "heaven is not empty," because the Lord of the universe is God "Who in Jesus has revealed Himself as Love."

Christ is the "true philosopher" Who "tells us who man truly is and what a man must do in order to be truly human." He shows us "the way beyond death; only someone able to do this is a true teacher of life." He offers us a hope that is, at one and the same time, expectation and presence because "the fact that this future exists changes the present."

The Pope remarks that "perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. ... The present-day crisis of faith," he continues, "is essentially a crisis of Christian hope. ... The restoration of the lost Paradise is no longer expected from faith," but from technical and scientific progress whence, it its believed, the "kingdom of man" will emerge. Hope thus becomes "faith in progress" founded on two pillars: reason and freedom which "seem to guarantee by themselves, by virtue of their intrinsic goodness, a new and perfect human community."

The Pope mentions "two essential stages in the political realization of this hope:" the French and the Marxist Revolutions. Faced with the French Revolution, "the Europe of the Enlightenment ... had cause to reflect anew on reason and freedom," while the proletarian revolution left behind "a trail of appalling destruction." Marx's fundamental error was that "he forgot man and he forgot man's freedom. ... He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right. His real error is materialism. ... Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope. ... Man can never be redeemed simply" by an external structure, "man is redeemed by love," an unconditional, absolute love: "Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God - God Who has loved us and continues to love us to the end."

The Pope then identifies four "settings" for learning and practicing hope. The first of these is prayer. "When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. ... When there is no longer anyone to help me, ... He can help me."

Alongside prayer is action: "Hope in a Christian sense is always hope for others as well. It is an active hope, in which we struggle ... towards a brighter and more humane world." Yet only if I know that "my own life and history in general ... are held firm by the indestructible power of Love" can "I always continue to hope."

Suffering is another of the "settings" for learning hope. "Certainly we must do whatever we can to reduce suffering," however "it is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, Who suffered with infinite love." Another fundamental aspect is to suffer with others and for others. "A society unable to accept its suffering members ... is a cruel and inhuman society," he writes.

Finally, another setting for learning hope is the Judgement of God. "There is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice. There is an 'undoing' of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright." The Pope writes of his conviction "that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favor of faith in eternal life." It is, indeed, impossible "that the injustice of history should be the final word. ... God is justice and creates justice. ... And in His justice there is also grace. ... Grace does not cancel out justice. ... Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened."

VIS

Cottier and Vanhoye On Spe Salvi

In the Holy See Press Office this morning, Cardinals Georges Marie Martin Cottier O.P., pro-theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household, and Albert Vanhoye S.J., professor emeritus of New Testament exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, presented the Encyclical of Benedict XVI, "Spe salvi," on the theme of Christian hope.

In his talk, Cardinal Cottier explained how "Christian hope has been subject to ever-harsher criticisms" to the effect that "it is pure individualism: by abandoning the world to its misery, Christians allegedly take refuge in an eternal salvation which is exclusive and private."

"A question remains," said the cardinal, "a question that cannot be eluded: how did the idea arise that, with Christianity, the quest for salvation became a selfish quest that refuses service to others?"

New problems "have a vital impact on the modern crisis of Christian faith and hope," and there emerges "a new form of hope which is called 'faith in progress' oriented towards a new world, the world of the 'kingdom of man'."

"Faith in progress," the cardinal explained "has become the ever more dominant conviction of modernity, and two categories are becoming increasingly central to the idea of progress: reason and freedom." Thus, he went on, "reason is considered as a power of good and for good," and progress, having "overcome all forms of dependency," is "moving towards perfect freedom. In this perspective freedom appears as a promise for the full realization of man."

After highlighting the "crisis of Christian hope in modern culture, and its replacement with faith in progress," Cardinal Cottier identified a "question that returns insistently: what may we hope?" In this context he indicated that "sections 22 and 23 of the document are of vital importance. They explain to us the essential objective of the Encyclical from both a pastoral and a cultural standpoint."

For his part, Cardinal Vanhoye indicated how the introduction to the Encyclical "immediately makes clear the decisive importance of hope, which is later reiterated on a number of occasions. In order to be able to face the present with all its problems and difficulties, we have an absolute need for hope and for a truly valid and firm hope."

In sections 10 to 12, on the theme of eternal life, "the Holy Father uses vivid realism to explain the current mentality of many people," said the cardinal. "Eternal life is the subject of hope, but many people today 'do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life. ... Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without end - this, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable."

Cardinal Vanhoye explained how the second part of the Encyclical describes the "settings for learning and practising hope," and thus has a direct and tangible link to Christian life. Three "settings" are identified: "Prayer as a school of hope. Action and suffering as settings for learning hope. Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope."

The Encyclical also presents "the Final Judgement of God as one of the 'settings for learning and practising hope'," said Cardinal Vanhoye, but "with a significance evidently different from that of the other 'settings' because the Final Judgement is not a present reality like prayer or suffering. Nonetheless, the Judgement gives rise to hope because it will eliminate evil. Here the Encyclical presents profound reflections on the terrible problem of evil and justice."

VIS

First Comes Love, Then Comes Hope

Can the Pope's next encyclical be about anything other than faith? That is my guess. Meanwhile, I will enjoy reading the newest encyclical on hope, which is titled Spe Salvi.

Here is the intro:



ENCYCLICAL LETTER
SPE SALVI
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS
PRIESTS AND DEACONS
MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS
AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON CHRISTIAN HOPE

Introduction

1. “SPE SALVI facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). According to the Christian faith, “redemption”—salvation—is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey. Now the question immediately arises: what sort of hope could ever justify the statement that, on the basis of that hope and simply because it exists, we are redeemed? And what sort of certainty is involved here?

Read the rest here.

Random Thought

Why does vegetable oil and apple juice come in almost the same bottle?

Deacon or Cardinal?

I was looking through some pictures from the Mass of the Rings and I came across two very interesting pictures. It seems that the two "deacons" at the Mass were wearing red zuchettos and miters.

I am guessing that they were not deacons, but were serving as deacons. Who are they? I also don't recall this being allowed. Going to check the GIRM now.

Anyway, click here for the pictures.

Gives a new meaning to Cardinal-Deacon.

Update: I have checked this out and cardinal-deacons do wear the dalmatic at pontifical events. How did I miss this before?

Dominican Vocations

I saw this video a few weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to watch it until today. It contains excerpts from "And the world looks at us", a 1964 Dominican Province of Saint Joseph vocation film written by Fr. Dominic Rover, O.P., and narrated by Dana Elcar. The original film was 28 min in length, but this is only nine minutes long. The scenes included here were filmed at St. Stephen Priory in Dover, MA, the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C., and St. Dominic Church, Washington, D.C. From the archives of the Dominican Theological Library (www.dhs.edu) at the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C.

Enjoy!

Consistory Tomorrow!

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow, November 24, the Pope will hold an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of 23 new cardinals.

The consistory for the creation of new cardinals, according to the new rite introduced during the consistory of June 28, 1991, contains the following points:

Following a liturgical greeting, the Pope reads the formula of creation, and solemnly proclaims the names of the new cardinals. The first of the new cardinals then addresses the Holy Father on behalf of everyone.

This is followed by the Liturgy of the Word, the Pope's homily, the Profession of Faith and the taking of the oath by each cardinal.

Each new cardinal then approaches the Holy Father and kneels before him to receive the cardinal's biretta and to be assigned a title or deaconry.

The Pope places the biretta on the cardinal's head and says, in part: "(This is) red as a sign of the dignity of the office of a cardinal, signifying that you are ready to act with fortitude, even to the point of spilling your blood for the increase of the Christian faith, for peace and harmony among the people of God, for freedom and the spread of the Holy Roman Catholic Church".

The Holy Father hands over the Bull of Creation as cardinal, assigns the title or deaconry and exchanges a kiss of peace with the new members of the College of Cardinals. The cardinals also exchange such a sign among themselves.

The rite is concluded with the Prayer of the Faithful, the recitation of the Our Father and the final blessing.

At 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, November 25, Solemnity of Christ the King, the Holy Father will preside at a concelebrated Mass with the new cardinals, during which he will give them the cardinal's ring, "the sign of dignity, pastoral care and the most solid communion with the See of Peter."

As he places the ring on the new cardinal's finger, the Pope says: "Take this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened."

Following the morning's ceremony, the College of Cardinals will have 201 members, of whom 120 are electors. The members of the College, by continent of origin, are divided as follows: 104 from Europe, 20 from North America, 34 from South America, 18 from Africa, 21 from Asia and 4 from Oceania.

As advisors to the Pope, the cardinals act collegially with him through consistories, which meet by order of the Roman Pontiff and under his presidency. Consistories can either be ordinary or extraordinary. In the ordinary consistory, all cardinals present in Rome, other bishops, priests and special guests are convened. These consistories are called by the Pope for consultation on certain important issues or to give special solemnity to some celebrations. An extraordinary consistory is one to which all cardinals are convened, and is celebrated when some special needs or more serious affairs of the Church suggest that it should be held.

VIS

Photo by Domini Sumus

Battle of the Books

I recieved two books in the mail yesterday, "A Challenging Reform" by Archbishop Piero Marini, and 'The Reform of the Reform" by Fr. Thomas Kocik.

Strangely, the tracking on the package shows that it was delivered on Tuesday afternoon, but it was nowhere to be found. It showed up yesterday afternoon.

It makes me wonder if the package was out in a dark alley somwhere, while the books duked it out.

Thankgiving

I finished most of my Thanksgiving preparations, a few minutes ago. The dressing, potatoes, and squash are done; the turkey is brining; the house is clean. In the middle of making the dressing, using my grandmother's secret recipe I realized what I am thankful for, in addition to God's loving providence, my husband, and my wonderful son: the woman who taught me how to cook.

I am thankful that I had such wonderful grandparents, who taught me about what really matters in life. I have written in the past about my maternal grandmother, but I have never written about my paternal grandmother. She went to her eternal reward 3 1/2 years ago. While my maternal grandmother taught me about spirituality, my paternal grandmother taught me about the Christian life.

Her grandfather was a Portuguese count, who banished his adulterous son for his indiscretions. He and his wife moved to the United States and my grandmother was born in the beginning of the 20th century, in a small apartment in Fall River. It was a long way from the comforts of the palace, but little changed. Her mother died when my grandmother was a toddler, and her father remarried quickly. Two more children were born and my grandmother was treated much like Cinderella is the old fairy-tale. When she became a teenager, she asked permission to move to Portugal to live with her grandparents and aunt. By this time, the Portuguese revolution had already taken place and her grandparents had lost the palace and their titles.

She loved her life in Portugal and met a young man, who was from a family of bakers. He was just one of several young men who would to serenade her from beneath her window, but he was different. He was a homebody. He went to work, went to church, and didn't hang out at the local cervejaria (bar). They married and had four children, the second of which was my father. Then WWII broke out and her husband urged her to return to America with their children. They left Portugal in 1944. It was a difficult decision because he would not be allowed to come with them. She would be on her own with four small children, one only an infant.

She waited in America until the end of the war. My grandfather arrived around 1947 and their family was finally reunited. Soon after, they had another child. Their youngest daughter was only a teenager when my grandfather passed away in 1963. After my grandfather's death, my grandmother moved into a housing project in New Bedford. She watched the neighborhood change many times, but she refused to leave. By the time I was born, it had become one of the worst projects in the city, but it was her home.

She was a firm believer that the way to a person's heart was through their stomach, and would spend many hours cooking for the neighborhood children. Many of these children did not have parents they could depend on and my grandmother's apartment was always filled with these kids. She fed their stomachs, minds, and spirits, and even when they were grown they never forgot it. I remember being at my grandmother's one evening when there was a gang fight outside her window. We ducked under the dining room table in a attempt to avoid getting hit by a stray bullet. I was shocked when after the fight, several of the gang bangers knocked on my grandmother's door. She opened the door without a care in the world. They wanted to make sure "Grandma" was ok. She assured them she was fine, gave them a stern tongue lashing, and gave them some food.

Sometimes I would visit her and find that she was playing dominoes with some of the neighborhood teens. They knew enough to keep their gang colors in their pockets when they visited her. For a long time I wondered why they had such a connection, but I think I understand it now. She cared; she understood. Although she was in her 80's she had grown up without the love of her parents, just like them.

Eventually she was unable to live on her own and moved into the suburbs with my aunt. It was a battle to get her to leave. When she left, it was like a piece of her essence had been left behind. A few years later she moved into a nursing home. Dementia robbed her from us in a slow, painful process, but she always asked if I was cooking her recipes. I always lied and told her that I was. She was thrilled when she found out that JP was coming, but sadly died four months before his birth.

I was shocked to see so many of the kids she fed, at her funeral. Some of them had risen from their childhood struggles to become successful adults, and others followed in their parent's footsteps. All of them remembered the love of a little old Portuguese lady, who made great food and had a place at the table for everyone.

I am thankful that I had that wonderful woman in my life. She didn't only teach me to cook, she taught me to look beneath the surface and see the child of God hidden "in a distressing disguise", as Cardinal O'Malley likes to call it. She taught me to be unafraid to give of myself to everyone I meet. She taught me to be strong and independent.

Vavo, thanks for the recipes, but even more thanks for the recipe of life.
God, thanks for giving me so many wonderful sources of wisdom, guidance, and inspiration.

Catholic Carnival 146

Welcome to this weeks Catholic Carnival. We have a abundance of great posts this week, so make sure to check them all out.



Since I have spent the last two months immersed in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, I thought that this carnival should have a Thomistic theme. Plus, when looking through my notebook, I just happened to stumble upon one of the long lost articles from the Summa Theologiae which has been lost for over 700 years. Enjoy!



ST II-II. Q. 190 A. 1

Whether the faithful should participate in the Catholic Blog Carnival



Objection 1. It would seem that none should partivipate in the Catholic Blog Carnival because nowhere in Sacred Scripture is Christ, who is our example and model for Christian living, shown to participate in a Catholic Blog Carnival.



Objection 2. Further, the Philosopher said, "All men desire to know", but some posts in the Catholic Blog Carnival are primarily for the purpose of entertainment, rather than education.



On the contrary, Cardinal Ruini said that blogs can be a means of "showing [the youth] the true Jesus.”



I answer that, as stated above, Christ is our model for Christian living. Did Christ not teach in the meadow, and mountain, as well as in the temple. The internet is the meadow and mountain of the third millenia.



Furthermore, it is impossible for the Catholic Carnival constitute man's happiness. For happiness is the perfect good, which lulls the appetite altogether; else it would not be the last end, if something yet remained to be desired. Now the object of the will, i.e. of man's appetite, is the universal good; just as the object of the intellect is the universal true. Hence it is evident that naught can lull man's will, save the universal good. This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone; because every creature has goodness by participation. Wherefore God alone can satisfy the will of man, according to the words of Psalm 102:5: "Who satisfieth thy desire with good things." Therefore God alone constitutes man's happiness, but the Catholic Blog Carnival and those who participate in it likewise participate in goodness.



Reply to objection1. Had the internet existed at that time, it would be fitting for Christ to have participated in a Catholic Blog Carnival.



Reply to objection 2. While it is true that all men desire to know, it is fitting for posts to be of a recreational purpose. Sacred Spripture says, "He Once more will he fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with rejoicing" Job 8:21



Now that we have St. Thomas' approval, we can proceed with the Carnival.



Prima Pars: Sacred Doctrine. The One God. The Blessed Trinity. Creation. The Angels. The Six Days. Man. The Government of Creatures.

Jesus taught by analogy – through parables comparing, for example, faith to a mustard seed. At Ho Kai Paulos, Joe briefly explores what analogies mean to us and why they work so well, ending with the ultimate analogy – the one that we each are for God in his post The Power of Analogy

EBeth explains how Catholic parents have a responsibility to be informed in matters of faith, in her post A Word on being a Good Catholic Parent, posted at A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars.



Francesco Scinico presents Who Wrote The Pentateuch? posted at What Matters In Life. This scholarly post attempts to explain who the author of the first five books was according to traditional scripture study as well as though the historical-critical method.


Does "Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord” really give us the sense of urgency which is contained in the Latin, "Ite, missa est"? Herb Ely reviews Gregory Pierce’s book: The Mass is Never Ended: Rediscovering Our Mission to Transform the World in his post, Go, You are Sent Forth which is posted at HerbEly



Prima Secundae Partis: Man's Last End. Human Acts. Passions. Habits. Vice and Sin. Law. Grace.



In St. John Paul the Great posted at Kicking Over My Traces, cehwiedel presents a glimpse into the life of Pope John Paul II, provided by his assistant -- who is now the archbishop of Krakow, Poland



A catholic democrat from ohio presents Consistent Love of Life posted at a catholic democrat from ohio. In this post, it is argued that to be truly pro-life, one must be anti-abortion and anti-war.



The previous post is well rebutted by Denise Hunnell in her post Mother of A Soldier posted at Catholic Matriarch in my Domestic Church aka Catholic Mom. Denise asks us to pray for those who serve in the military and hopes to help us understand their service is not a contradiction of their faith.



Here is my entry titled Missed Opportunities posted at We Belong to the Lord. In this post I describe how little struggles and frustrations of life can be opportunities for personal holiness, if we take advantage of them.



For Lucas is Sarah's submission from her blog, Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering. In this post she pays homage to the twelve-year ache of losing a nephew. She says that sometimes we wonder why the first arms to hold him were our Heavenly Father and the Blessed Mother, but in the end, our lives have been changed by the impact of his.



Secunda Secundae Partis: Faith. Hope. Charity. Prudence. Justice. Fortitude. Temperance. Acts Which Pertain to Certain Men.



Matthew S is tired of all the conjecture and rumor and thinks we should give Fr. Francis our prayers, as well as the benefit of the doubt because right now, we don't know and we don't have the right to know. Therefore, he presents Fr. Francis Mary and EWTN posted at Play the Dad? No, be the Dad!.



Ever wanted to get away from it all, and go somewhere quiet? Brian Brown presents Silent Insight - Consider a Silent Retreat posted at Silent Insight - Daily Catholic Meditations for Faith, Listening, and Peace. In this entry he provides a brief overview of his experience on a silent retreat, as well as a link to a list of retreat houses.



In Jesus, Santa and under the Christmas Tree, posted at A Third Way, Melissa attempts a new-to-her approach to Santa's contribution underthe Christmas tree.

Jean at Catholic Fire gives her opinion on the story of three young men who were abused and arrested by police while performing pro-life outreach. This post contains that video and information on how readers can help them. See it at Take Action: Police Attack Pro-Lifers in Shocking Display of Abuse

Tertia Pars: The Incarnation. The Life of Christ. Sacraments. Baptism. Confirmation. The Holy Eucharist. Penance.



Denise Hunnell uses the writings of Pope Benedict XVI to to show that rather than being burdensome or oppressive, the authority of the Magisterium is actually liberating in Treasure of the Magisterium posted at Catholic Matriarch in my Domestic Church aka Catholic Mom. She says there is great security "on the rock".



Christine presents Pope Gets Radical and Woos the Anglicans posted at The World...IMHO. Pope Benedict brings tradition and reverence back to the liturgy and angers the left.

Every heard of the TV Show called "Common Ground"? It's a discussion between a priest and a protestant minister about what Catholics really believe. Jay from Deo Omnis Gloria says "It's a great show". Read about it in his post What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From One Another.

Red Neck Woman gives her response to being asked how Catholics could possibly equate God-Breathed Scripture to "man-made" traditions in, God Breathed, posted at Postscripts from the Catholic Spitfire Grill Blog

Supplementum Tertiae Partis: Penance (continued). Extreme Unction. Holy Orders. Matrimony. The Resurrection. Appendices.

Brian from Christus Vincit presents an explanation from Catholic Culture which re-iterates the Church's teachings on which gender qualifies for legitimate Roman Catholic priestly ordinations in Catholic Culture on Poncho Ladies™.



Owen returns to Luminous Miseries with a new purpose and with the permission of his Spiritual Director to bring us his personal reflections on the daily readings of the Holy Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. In his post Gratitude he discusses how doesn't take much to say "thank you" but how often we neglect this gift.


Did you catch the connection between prayer and work in the readings last Sunday? Kevin from HMS Blog did and he writes about it in his post, Ora Et Labora.


I hope you enjoyed these posts as much as I enjoyed being your host. Have a great Thanksgiving and remember that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to God for his loving providence.

Deo Gratias!

Remembering Fr. Smith

Providence, RI -- Rev. Philip Alphonsus Smith, O.P., Providence College's 11th president, was remembered "as a child of God from the day he was baptized" during his Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, November 9, 2007 in St. Dominic Chapel on campus. Father Smith died unexpectedly at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence on Sunday, November 4. A current professor of philosophy at PC, he served as president from 1994-2005.

Approximately 650 members and friends of the College community, including 35 members of Father Smith's family as well as city and state government dignitaries, attended the Mass, overflowing into the lower level of the chapel.

The principal celebrant was the Very Rev. D. Dominic Izzo, O.P., prior provincial of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph and chair of the PC Corporation. The principal concelebrants were College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.; Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P., College executive vice president and treasurer; Rev. Terence J. Keegan, O.P., professor of theology and College executive vice president and treasurer under Father Smith; and Rev. William P. Marquis, O.P., prior of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory and an assistant professor of economics and department chair.

Approximately 40 Friars from the Dominican Community at PC concelebrated the Mass from their pews.

Presiding were six bishops representing the Diocese of Providence: the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, D.D., current ordinary bishop of Providence and a member of the Providence College Corporation and the Board of Trustees; the Most Rev. Robert E. Mulvee, D.D., bishop emeritus of Providence; the Most Rev. Louis E. Gelineau, D.D., bishop emeritus of Providence; the Most Rev. George H. Pearce, S.M., archbishop emeritus of Suva, Fiji; the Most Rev. Ernest B. Boland, O.P., D.D., bishop emeritus of Multan, Pakistan, and a resident of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at PC, who ordained Father Smith in 1968; and the Most Rev. Francis X. Roque, D.D., retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services/U.S.A.

In addition, four of Father Smith's seminary classmates--with whom he was ordained- -participated in the Mass: Father Keegan, who preached the homily, as well as Rev. Michael M. Burke, O.P., Rev. Bernard G. Dupont, O.P., and Rev. Donald P. Thibault, O.P., who traveled from New Orleans, La., Louisville, Ky., and Pleasantville, N.Y., respectively, to celebrate their Dominican brother's life.

Father Smith's niece, Jill Dunn '00, and his sister, Bertha Smith Dunn, proclaimed readings from the Book of Wisdom and the First Letter of John, respectively. The General Intersessions were proclaimed by two of Father Smith's nieces, Gwen Carragher Staub and Nora Smith Davis, while the offertory gifts were presented by two other nieces, Linda Mae Smith and Donna Smith Taucer.

At the start of his homily, Father Keegan addressed why a healthy and vibrant Father Smith was taken so suddenly.

"It's a simple answer and an answer I give to my ninety-seven-year-old mother when she asks me, 'Why am I still alive?'" said Father Keegan with a smile. "I tell her, 'Mother, you're still alive because God doesn't want you yet.' I firmly believe God wanted Father Philip Smith; it was his plan."

Father Keegan went on to laud Father Smith's tenure as College president. After saying that he joked with him about a College president "who went to hell and another who died and went to heaven," Father Keegan said there was no question where his friend of 46 years was.

"I don't know another person on Earth who had a greater love for Providence College than Father Philip Smith," he said. "There are so many reasons why we are here. He had a deep and meaningful influence on our lives….He was so many things to so many of us."

In referencing the earlier Gospel from St. John, Father Keegan added, "He was a rugged, strong, assertive person but inside he was a child of God. He was a child of God from the day he was baptized. He loved his priesthood, loved the Dominican Order, and loved to exercise his ministry."

On the day of the previous week when Father Smith was about to be driven to the hospital for surgery, Father Keegan recounted how Father Smith asked for his blessing and knelt before him.

"As I blessed him," Father Keegan said, "I prayed that the operation would be a success and that God would bring him safely home." He then added, "Be careful what you pray for because you might get it. The operation was a success and God did bring him home, not to his perishable, temporary home at Providence College but to his real, eternal home in heaven."

Referring to a passage in Mark's Gospel where Jesus knelt before John the Baptist and heard a voice from heaven, Father Keegan concluded, "Father Smith was indeed God's beloved son in whom God was well pleased."

After Communion, Father Smith's successor as president, Father Shanley, offered a reflection. He remembered Father Smith as a visionary whose goals for the College blossomed to magnificent fruition.

Father Shanley specifically noted the artificial-turf field, the Smith Center for the Arts and, most importantly, St. Dominic Chapel, as proof that Father Smith "was a builder" and "connected to the mission of Providence College."

"He left this place a much stronger institution than when he entered," Father Shanley said. "I know how tirelessly and passionately he worked."

He went on to say how impressed he was with Father Smith's drive to get back to teaching following his presidency. "After 11 years of not being in the classroom, having to face down eighteen- to twenty-one-year--olds is a daunting task, but he was up to it," he said.

However, despite his gifts as a teacher and his vision for the campus, Father Shanley said that Father Smith was first and foremost a priest who shined brightest in one-on-one situations. "I think that is when we saw Father Smith at his absolute best. He had a wonderful way of encountering a person in need and then presenting Christ to them," he said.

After the Mass, hundreds processed down the College's Grotto Lane to the Dominican Community Cemetery, where Father Marquis presided over the burial rite.

Video from the funeral Mass can be downloaded from the Providence College website.

Missed Opportunities

This week has been a trying one. It was one of those weeks there everything seemed to go wrong. Even something as simple as having a new washing machine delivered into a nightmare. I wanted to yell and scream and tell these people where to go and how to get there. I was ready to do just that, when I remembered that St. Thomas Aquinas taught that there are no indifferent actions.

Everything we do brings us either closer or, takes us further from God. Something as simple as turning on a light switch can bring us closer to God, because that simple action leads to another action. With that in mind, I decided to be charitible and explain my frustrations is a more productive manner, and view my personal frustration as an opportunity for mortification.

Each of the little frustrations of this week were opportunities for sanctity or sin. The choice was up to me. Before you get the wrong idea, I failed miserably and most of these opportunities for sanctity were wasted.

Next week will be filled with plenty of other opportunities for sanctity. I'm aiming high.

Catholic Carnival 145

The latest edition of the Catholic Carnival is up at Adam's Ale.

My submission was my Toddler Theology post.

Get your posts ready because next week's carnival is being held here. I have already recieved a few entries, but many more are needed.

Toddler Theology

My three year old son, JP, explained the Doctrine of Recapitulation to me this evening. He didn't know what he was saying, he was just giving me his explanation of God as he understands him.

I was getting him ready for bed and he said, "Jesus made me". I wasn't going to get into the theological implications of his statement so I said, "God, the Father made you." He said, "Did Jesus help". "Yes, Jesus helped".

Then came the statement which both floored me and made me laugh hysterically. "Yes, Jesus helped. He put my head on".

Suddenly the drawing that Dr. Bonney used in my New Testament class to illustrate the Doctrine of Recapitualation crept into my mind. There were two scenes involving stick figures. The first had one headless stick figure with his head lying by his feet, to represent Adam after the fall. The second had a stick figure representing Jesus. Jesus was just finishing putting the head back on the man, representing how the Old Testament law prepared for the Sacrifice of Christ to restore our human nature.

While I know we are supposed to have the faith of a little child, I am pretty sure this wasn't what Jesus intended, but it's still pretty cool.

Glendon to be Ambassador to Vatican

The LifeSiteNews.com article is titled "Praise and Criticism of Bush's Mary Ann Glendon Nomination", but I think it should be titled praise and praise. After all, once any faithful Catholic looks at who is giving the criticism and the grounds for that criticism it should be clear that the criticism actually praises her moral character (even if the words were intended to harm her character).

Anyway, here is the article:

President George Bush's nomination Monday of Mary Ann Glendon to be U.S. ambassador to the Vatican has been criticized as reactionary and subversive by US abortion and homosexual advocates. Glendon is a high profile and pro-life member the president's bioethics council.

Glendon, 69, is known at Harvard for her advocacy of Catholic teachings on a number of issues, including abortion and same-sex "marriage." She will succeed Francis Rooney, who served as envoy to the Vatican for the past two years. Glendon's appointment is for a five year term, and requires Senate confirmation.

Father Richard John Neuhaus, on the influential First Things website, today calls the selection of Glendon "a brilliant choice". He also notes a downside to her appointment in that "Prof. Glendon will be resigning from the editorial board of First Things."

Glendon was a member of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, advising the president on moral and ethical issues related to technological developments in bioethics. She has frequently criticized radical feminism and defended the Church's position on life issues. "The challenge of the church is to keep abreast of changes, but not dumb down its doctrine to the spirit of the age," she said in an earlier interview with the AP. "Contrary to popular stereotype, John Paul II has done a great deal to put women in many responsible positions."

In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Glendon to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In 2004, Glendon became the highest ranking female advisor to the Church when she was named president of the Academy. She also headed the delegation of the Holy See to the international 1995 Beijing Conference on Women sponsored by the United Nations, where she came under fire for her uncompromising statements against contraception.

US abortion and homosexual advocates have criticized Glendon's nomination. Jon O'Brien, president of the pro-abortion organization Catholics For a Free Choice, stated, "Dr. Glendon's stance on many matters of importance is not representative of Americans' views on these issues, let alone those of American Catholics". He added, "Her appointment comes at a time when the global community needs more critics of the Vatican's policies on sexual and reproductive rights."

Fr. Neuhaus reports that the Boston Globe is also not happy about Glendon's appointment. He quotes the Globe, "Glendon, 69, is an antiabortion scholar and an opponent of gay marriage who has written about the effects of divorce and increased litigation on society. Her 1987 book, "Abortion and Divorce in Western Law," was critical of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion."

The Globe also reports that Rev. Richard P. McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theologian and leading US dissident Catholic is not happy about the Glendon appointment. McBrien told the Globe, "She has also been an outspoken critic of feminism, tending to write it off as a relic of the 1970s, all of which endears her to conservative Catholics and makes her an ideal choice for President Bush."

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, however, praised Glendon in an interview with the Boston Globe. "Dr. Glendon's career is marked with numerous achievements in law, education, and international affairs that provide her exemplary credentials for this post," he said.

In her capacity as a legal specialist in the field of bioethics, Glendon has been a leader in the Catholic opposition to same-sex "marriage," and has acted as an advisor to Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Vote for the USCCB

Thomas Peters at American Papist is running a real time poll for the candidates to lead the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Head over there and place your vote. Who knows? Maybe our input will make a few bishops think.

Oh and Tom, thanks for the mention.

Learning Your Way to Faith

I had an inspiring converstation with one of my classmates yesterday. She is nearing the end of her studies and has saved her theology courses for last because they were the ones she had the least interest in. They were also the courses she was most intimidated by, because she had never studied religion and does not belong to any religious group. She was baptized as a baby, but never recieved any other Sacraments and never attended any church. She isn't athiest or agnostic, she doesn't know enough to be either. I would classify her as lost.

She started taking her theology courses this semester and signed up for Aquinas. Some might think that Aquinas might be a little deep for someone with no religious training, but she told me last night that she was thinking of becoming Catholic because of the words of St. Thomas Aquinas. She said that she has spent her life trying to find happiness and fulfillment and Thomas has shown her where true happiness lies: God.

She said that she attended Mass last weekend for the first time in her life and was fascinated. She is in love with the Mass and can't wait to learn all about it.

Imagine, in a little less than a semester she has gone from a non-believer to a Catholic inquirer. I am encouraging her to take a course in Sacraments in the Early Church. I am sure it would only deepen her growing faith.

Please keep this young woman in your prayers as she responds to God's call.

What's My Blog's Reading Level

What's it Called?

I wish I could say these guys were Catholic, but I doubt it. It's a great song anyway. Enjoy!

PC and The Dominican House of Studies Mourns

I never had Fr. Smith as a professor, but I saw him around campus often. We chatted a few times, and I attended many Masses which he celebrated. He wasn't as strict as Fr. Shanley, the current president, but he made many positive changes at PC.

Here is his obituary:

Rev. Philip Alphonsus Smith, O.P. ’63, a priest, educator, and administrator who served as the 11th president of Providence College, died unexpectedly at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence on Sunday, November 4, surrounded by close friends, including members of the Dominican Community. He was 74 years old.

A current professor of philosophy at PC and a member of the Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus, Father Smith served as president from 1994-2005, guiding an impressive, multifaceted transformation of the College.

Under Father Smith, the College achieved a reputation as a premier regional liberal arts institution, raising the academic standing of its undergraduates to its highest level ever. Providence College was consistently ranked #2 among colleges and universities in the North Region in U.S. News & World Report’s annual college guide, America's Best Colleges.

During his presidency, Father Smith also enhanced the quality and diversity of the faculty; directed a revision of the Mission Statement to emphasize the Catholic and Dominican traditions of PC; and oversaw $110 million in new construction and infrastructure improvements, including the construction of St. Dominic Chapel, a new performing arts center, and the campus’ first suites-style residential facility. He also oversaw the development of the College’s first Strategic Plan.

In recognition of his many achievements and commitment to the academic standing and mission of the College, Father Smith was awarded the Veritas Medal—the highest honor the College can bestow—during the College’s Eighty-Seventh Commencement Exercises in May 2005. The Board of Trustees also voted to name the new performing arts center on the East Campus in his honor, and the facility was dedicated as the Smith Center for the Arts on October 29, 2004.
“Father Smith ably led Providence College through eleven years of opportunity and growth,” said College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. He continued, “Under his guidance, the academic profile of our student body dramatically improved and the campus landscape was transformed. I know that Father Smith was particularly gratified to oversee the building of St. Dominic Chapel, a dream that the College had long deferred. His legacy is one that we will always treasure and never forget.”

Father Smith served the Dominican Order as a priest for nearly 40 years. He entered the novitiate of the Dominican Order (Order of Preachers), Province of St. Joseph , at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio, in 1961, and made his first religious profession there a year later. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on June 13, 1968, at St. Dominic Church in Washington, D.C., by the Most Rev. Ernest B. Boland, O.P., D. D. ’49, then-bishop of Multan, Pakistan, and currently a resident of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at PC.

A native of Prince Edward Island, Canada, Father Smith joined the College faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of philosophy. He was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and to professor in 1994. From 1982-1985, he also was the special assistant to then-College President the Very Rev. Thomas R. Peterson, O.P. ’51.

Before becoming president of PC, Father Smith served as president of the Pontifical Faculty of the College of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., from 1990-1994.

After earning a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from the College in 1963, Father Smith went on to attain his master’s degree in philosophy from St. Stephen’s College in Dover, Mass.; his bachelor of sacred theology (S.T.B.), licentiate of sacred theology (S.T.L.), and lectorate of sacred theology (S.T.Lr.) degrees from the College of the Immaculate Conception; and his Ph.D. in philosophy and religion from Drew University in Madison, N.J. He also received honorary degrees from Brown University and Caldwell College in Caldwell, N.J., in 2005.

Born on September 6, 1933, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Father Smith was a son of the late Philip and May (Byrne) Smith. He was raised on a 100-acre farm in Fort Augustus, east of Charlottetown, and attended the Webster Corner School, a one-room schoolhouse, from grades 1 through 10, before completing his high school education at St. Dunstan’s School in Charlottetown. He came to the United States in 1959.

His body will be received at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus on Thursday, November 8, at 4:00 p.m. Calling hours will follow, concluding with the recitation of the Office of the Dead by the Dominican Community at 7:00 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Smith will be celebrated on Friday, November 9, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Dominic Chapel on campus. Burial will follow in the Dominican Community Cemetery on campus.

Donations may be made in his memory to the Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. Scholarship Fund in care of Providence College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 549 River Ave., Providence, R.I., 02918.

What's the Hymn For

Fr. Longnecker has a great post on his blog titled What's A Hymn For.

Here is one of his gems:

The final problem is that too many hymn writers seem to have little understanding of either Scripture, the symbols and types of the faith or the theology of the faith. The great old hymns that have stood the test of time were written from the authors' deep immersion in the great themes of Scripture, the great stories of the Old Testament and the great theological concepts that inspire and instruct us as we sing. The newer stuff tends to be dumbed down, sentimental and weak.

The Nicene Blues

USCCB Election Field

The United States Bishops will be meeting in Baltimore from November 12th to the 15th. On the order of business is the election of a new president, vice-president and chairs for the various committees.

This year's slate has a strong New England, particulary Boston, presence with Cardinal O'Malley, Bishop Edyvean, Bishop Malone, Bishop Murphy, and Bishop Lori all vying for spots.

Francis Cardinal George, the cirrent vice-president is reported to be heavily favored to suceed Bishop William Skylstad as president.

This may be the last year for where the terms for all the committee chairs end at the same thing. Plans are currently being proposed for 1/3 of the committee chairs to leave office each year.

Here are the candidates:

President and Vice President:
Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee
Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky
Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia
Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Duluth, Minnesota
Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pennsylvania
Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland, California

Treasurer-elect:
Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky

Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church (chairman, for a two-year term)
Bishop Richard J. Garcia of Monterey, California
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of San Antonio

Committee on National Collections (chairman, for a two-year term)
Bishop Ronald P. Herzog of Alexandria, Louisiana
Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland, Oregon

Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth (chairman, for a three-year term)
Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, OMI, of Anchorage, Alaska
Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth, Texas

Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations (chairman, for a three-year term)
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston
Bishop George L. Thomas of Helena, Montana

Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, chairman-elect
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis
Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago

Committee on Catholic Education, chairman-elect
Bishop Thomas J. Curry, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles
Bishop Walter J. Edyvean, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, chairman-elect
Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange, California
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta

Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, chairman-elect
Bishop Richard J. Malone of Portland in Maine
Bishop Richard E. Pates, Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Committee on International Justice and Peace, chairman-elect
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, New York
Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York

Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, chairman-elect
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California
Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota

JPII on Priestly Vocation

You never know what jems you will find on YouTube. Listen to Pope John Paull II talk about his vocation to the priesthood.

Pumpkin Fun

One of the best things about fall in New England is visiting pumpkin patches and picking apples. We did a little of both the other day.

I had forgotten how amazing the simple pleasures are.

The World Series Champions

Yeah, this is a few days late, but I spent most of Monday in Boston and all of yesterday in school.

I had a great time hanging around outside Fenway park waiting for the Rex Sox to return. Gerald was there too, but I didn't see him. He got a much better spot than I did, so check out his blog for great pics.

The World Series banner wasn't up yet.

Happy Halloween

Have a great night, remember to celebrate All Saints Day tomorrow, Go to Mass, and enjoy Fr. Rodericks Halloween Story.

Organist Celebrates 50 Years

From the Fall River Spirit

Norman Gingras really is one of an almost lost breed. He is one of the most skilled organists in the diocese and he plays one of the most beautiful organs in the diocese.

Given the trend these days for people to change their employment paths every few years, it's hard to imagine someone staying on in the same job for half a century. But Normand Gingras has enjoyed every moment of the five decades he has served as organist and choir director at St. Anne's Church and Shrine.

Despite his years of formal European music training, Gingras still sets aside time each day to practice on the grand pipe organ in the choir loft of St. Anne's Church that he oversaw the installation of more than 40 years ago. And at 80, he wouldn't even think twice about going out of the house without his signature jacket and tie.

He's traveled around the world, and makes regular jaunts to New York's Metropolitan Opera. So does he ever think of retiring?
"Why, if I can still do it? I don't know what I'd do with myself," he says.

He says he will keep on playing at his requisite five Masses a week and numerous weddings and funerals throughout each year as long as he can continue to ascend the 40 steps leading to his perch high above the pews with ease.

Read the rest here.

The Life of a Bishop

Bishop Thomas Tobin, from the Diocese of Providence, is featured in a four part series in the Providence Journal. Although Bishop Tobin is not my bishop, I attend school in his diocese, so I am happy to say his is almost my bishop.

The series includes information on episcopal regalia, such as the zuchetto and crozier.

Check it out here and remember to check back each Sunday for updates.

Contractor Charged With Theft from Diocese

Even the Church needs to be wary of contractors.

From the Herald News:

A local man has been arrested and charged with stealing $25,000 from the Diocese of Fall River after he allegedly took the money as an initial payment to install air conditioning but never did the work, police said.
Jeffrey A. Aubry, 43, of 1323 Slade St., is charged with larceny of more than $250.
Sgt. Thomas Mauretti, police spokesman, said Father John Perry, pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish, Taunton, contacted Aubry to complete installation of central air conditioning in the church.
“It was agreed to have the work done for the summer,” Mauretti said.
Aubry requested a first payment of $25,000 and was paid that amount on March 14, 2007.
“As of this time, no work has begun,” Mauretti said Thursday.
He said Aubry cashed the check and “made himself unavailable.”
Detective Thomas Chace of the Police Department’s Major Crimes Division arrested Aubry after contacting him.
“Mr. Aubry said he used the money to finish other jobs, and that he intended on filing for bankruptcy,” Mauretti said. “He is unable to provide any of the $25,000 given to him.”
Bishop George Coleman, representing the Diocese of Fall River, had signed the contract for the air conditioning work, Mauretti said.
“St. Jude Church is at a loss of $25,000,” he said.
Mauretti said Perry told police that Aubry had done work for him previously when Perry was at St. Joseph’s Church, Fall River. Perry said Aubry also had done work at Holy Name Church, Fall River.

Pope Names 23 New Cardinals

Following today's general audience, the Holy Father announced the names of 23 prelates who will be created cardinals in a consistory due to be held on November 24, the eve of the Feast of Christ the King. The consistory will be the second of his pontificate.

Following the November 24 consistory, the College of Cardinals will number 202 members of whom 121, under the age of 80, will be electors.

Given below is a list of the new cardinal electors:

- Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

- Archbishop John Patrick Foley, pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

- Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

- Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum."

- Archbishop Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Peter's in the Vatican, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City and president of the Fabric of St. Peter's.

- Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

- Archbishop Raffaele Farina S.D.B., archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church.

- Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco Vicente of Valencia, Spain.

- Archbishop Sean Baptist Brady of Armagh, Ireland.

- Archbishop Lluis Martinez Sistach of Barcelona, Spain.

- Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris, France.

- Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, Italy.

- Archbishop Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal.

- Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India.

- Archbishop Francisco Robles Ortega of Monterrey, Mexico.

- Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, U.S.A.

- Archbishop Odilio Pedro Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

- Archbishop John Njue of Nairobi, Kenya.

Having pronounced the names of the new cardinal electors, the Pope then indicated that he had also decided to elevate to the dignity of cardinal "three venerable prelates and two worthy priests," all over the age of 80 and hence non-electors, for their "commitment and service to the Church." Their names are:

- His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq.

- Archbishop Giovanni Coppa, apostolic nuncio.

- Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic, emeritus of Parana, Argentina.

- Fr. Urbano Navarrete S.J., former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

- Fr. Umberto Betti O.F.M., former rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.

He added: "Among these, I had also intended to confer the dignity of cardinal upon the elderly Bishop Ignacy Jez of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, Poland, a worthy prelate who died suddenly yesterday. We offer a prayer for the repose of his soul."

"The new cardinals come from various parts of the world," said the Holy Father. "And the universality of the Church, with the multiplicity of her ministries, is clearly reflected in them. Alongside deserving prelates who work for the Holy See are pastors who dedicate their energies to direct contact with the faithful."

He went on: "There are other persons, very dear to me who, for their dedication to the service of the Church, well deserve promotion to the dignity of cardinal. In the future I hope to have the opportunity to express, also in this way, my esteem and affection to them and to their countries of origin."

Benedict entrusted the future cardinals "to the protection of Mary Most Holy asking her to help each of them in their new tasks, that they may know how to bear courageous witness in all circumstances to their love for Christ and for the Church."

VIS

Catholic Carnival 141

Is up and running at 50 Days After.

On The Decline of the Funeral Homily

Followers of this blog will be aware of my fondness for a certain theology professor, Fr. David Lewis Stokes. Fr. Stokes recently wrote an article for the Providence Journal which has been picked up by newspapers across the country. The topic was how the decline of the funeral portrays our changing view of death.

Only Fr. Stokes could make the analogy that we view death as a cruise ship and heaven as "the predetermined destination of a cruise ship".

Of all the elephants galumphing around our culture’s living room, none is more significant than the change in our rhetoric of death. By this I mean the metaphors and similes by which we speak of the dead.

You have only to listen to a funeral homily, squirm through a eulogy, or read “verses” offered in memoriam to realize that there has occurred a seismic shift in our cultural imagination. Heaven now lies before us devoid of geography. Death has ceased to be a drama.

I’m not suggesting that our fascination about “spirits” and the “spirit-world” has diminished. Far from it. The trend of TV shows about angels, etc., reveals that this fascination with the “beyond” flourishes. Mary Roach’s Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife remains a bestseller. You have only to drive through a suburban neighborhood to see how Americans have transformed even Halloween into a bizarre kind of dia de los muertos.

To name the specific elephant in question, let me be blunt: However fascinated most Americans are in the “afterlife,” the fact remains that those grand themes, once the raison d’etre of mainline churches and pulpits — that is, death, judgment, heaven and hell — have vanished from the very religious communities that first articulated them. They are just plain gone. Preachers and theologians, politicians and toastmasters may trot out the occasional words — but now for ornamentation, not out of any necessity.

To understand just how dramatic this shift in our rhetoric, consider three examples. When a dying John Donne crawled into his pulpit in 1631, he preached a sermon entitled “Death’s Duel.” What makes it one of the greatest sermons in the English language is its rhetorical force. It is an explosion of metaphors and images of incredible specificity. Donne rendered life as a perilous journey and death as our foe “even from the womb.” He left his congregation in no doubt that each individual’s appointment with death is the most serious engagement in life.

When John Bunyan’s stalwart Christian of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) finally reached sight of the Celestial City, he finds himself plunged neck-deep into a river of dread. “And . . . a great darkness and horror fell upon Christian, so that he could not see before him.” There was no immediate entrÉ into heavenly bliss. Heaven was a city to be won after arduous struggle, not the predetermined destination of a cruise ship.

As late as 1865 Cardinal Newman could publish The Dream of Gerontius, a dialogue between a dying man, angels and the demonic, which became something of a Victorian bestseller. Far from being a pious bit of Catholic triumphalism, he rendered death as no less than “this emptying out of each constituent / And natural force, by which I come to be.” The poem expresses a dread of death worthy of Dante or even Jean Paul Sartre.

Contrast these with the following contemporary tropes — gleanings typical of American pulpit: “Tom may be gone, but he will live on in our hearts.” “Aunt Bertha is in a better place.” “After years of hardship, Uncle Fred is finally home.” “We don’t know why Sally was taken from us so young, but someday we will.” Or, my own favorite, proclaimed over a woman who had made the lives of her children and grandchildren absolute hell, “For Edith the great symphony of life continues now among the stars.”

I have no doubt that many people have found comfort in such statements. The significant thing, though, is that compared with the specific rhetoric of a Donne, Bunyan or Newman, these tropes refer us ultimately to ... well, uh ... nothing.

They point to a landscape without topography or content. They imply that a human life is not so much a drama to be acted with the utmost ethical seriousness but a pleasant odor that will eventually dissipate. The only traditional image that seems to have hung on is that when we “pass” we enter into a bright white light. But within this light ... who can say? (Frankly, heaven for me has always been autumnal and filled with deep shade.)

But why should it matter? We forget. How a society renders death and the “beyond” says everything about how it renders life and the here-and-now. The ways in which we picture what happens to the dead determine the ways in which we picture our own lives — the ways in which we engage in ethical reflection.

A life pictured as a cruise that will encounter the occasional storm is very different from one whose destination is pictured as fraught with demands, uncertainties, and the abiding shadow of possible moral failure.

The reason that most mainline churches have ended up focused on politics or sexual expression or “an aesthetic experience,” is simple. Without a rhetoric of the “beyond,” what else is there to talk about?

And the reason that sustained ethical reflection is scarce among most theologians is obvious. Now that life’s drama has no final act of any depth, life itself cannot but be pictured as one discrete scene after another.

Sadly, our modern dilemma is that we cannot return to a lost rhetoric without making it artificial. Those well-meaning preachers and speakers who try to “follow an antique drum” have come to seem to me about as “genuine” as a costumed guide at some colonial theme park.

No doubt we may rediscover the rich and mysterious topography of the “beyond.” But if we do our rhetoric will be decidedly different.

Poets and novelists, painters and artists, as well as the itinerant mystic, are always stumbling into it. Just don’t look for it to come from the American pulpit.