Clerical Narcissism and Lent
The following excerpt is from a story by George Weigel on the First Things website February 22. 
Mother Mary said at Fatima: "My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the sure way which will lead you to God." St. Thomas Aquinas said: "The things we love tell us who we are!" With that in mind, I will try to post each day something about Our Blessed Lady, items about the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and public domain Catholic books too! I pray you enjoy my ministry! Below are two albums of pictures that I created: 1. Our grand daughter Adrianna. 2. Tears of Mary!
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Chirpy Priest
VIS NEWS: Pope Benedict XVI: "Bring our hearts into harmony with Christ's Heart,"
| CHRISTIANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR FAITH IN ORDER TO HELP OTHERS TO GOD
Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday morning the Holy Father met with priests of the diocese of Rome. Following a reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Benedict XVI delivered a long off-the-cuff commentary on the Gospel passage. The Apostle says: "I ... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace". The first call we receive is that of Baptism, the Pope explained, the second is the vocation to be pastors at the service of Christ. "The great ill of the Church in Europe and the West today is the lack of priestly vocations. Yet, the Lord calls always, what is lacking are ears to listen. We listened to the Lord's voice and must remain attentive when that voice is addressed to others. We must help to ensure the voice is heard so that the call will be accepted". According to St. Paul, the primary virtue which must accompany vocation is humility. This is the virtue of the followers of Christ Who, "being equal to God, humbled Himself, accepting the status of servant, and obeying even unto the cross. This was the Son's journey of humility, which we must imitate. ... The opposite of humility is pride, the root of all sin. Pride means arrogance, which above all seeks power and appearance. ... It has no intention of pleasing God; rather of pleasing itself, of being accepted, even venerated, by others. The 'self' becomes the centre of the world; the prideful self which knows everything. Being Christian means overcoming this original temptation, which is also the nucleus of original sin: being like God, but without God". By contrast "humility is above all truth, ... recognition that I am a thought of God in the construction of His world, that I am irreplaceable as I am, in my smallness, and that only in this way am I great. ... Let us learn this realism; not seeking appearance, but seeking to please God and to accomplish what He has thought out for us, and thus also accepting others. ... Acceptance of self and acceptance of others go together. Only by accepting myself as part of the great divine tapestry can I also accept others, who with me form part of the great symphony of the Church and Creation". In this way, likewise, we learn to accept our position within the Church, knowing that "my small service is great in the eyes of God". Lack of humility destroys the unity of Christ's Body. Yet at the same time, unity cannot develop without knowledge. "One great problem facing the Church today is the lack of knowledge of the faith, 'religious illiteracy'", the Pope said. "With such illiteracy we cannot grow. ... Therefore we must reappropriate the contents of the faith, not as a packet of dogmas and commandments, but as a unique reality revealed in its all its profoundness and beauty. We must do everything possible for catechetical renewal in order for the faith to be know, God to be known, Christ to be known, the truth to be known, and for unity in the truth to grow". We cannot, Benedict XVI warned, live in "a childhood of faith". Many adults have never gone beyond the first catechesis, meaning that "they cannot - as adults, with competence and conviction - explain and elucidate the philosophy of the faith, its great wisdom and rationality" in order to illuminate the minds of others. To do this they need an "adult faith". This does not mean, as has been understood in recent decades, a faith detached from the Magisterium of the Church. When we abandon the Magisterium, the result is dependency "on the opinions of the world, on the dictatorship of the communications media". By contrast, true emancipation consists in freeing ourselves of these opinions, the freedom of the children of God. "We must pray to the Lord intensely, that He may help us emancipate ourselves in this sense, to be free in this sense, with a truly adult faith, ... capable of helping others achieve true perfection ... in communion with Christ". The Pope went on: "Today the concept of truth is viewed with suspicion, because truth is identified with violence. Over history there have, unfortunately, been episodes when people sought to defend the truth with violence. But they are two contrasting realities. Truth cannot be imposed with means other than itself! Truth can only come with its own light. Yet, we need truth. ... Without truth we are blind in the world, we have no path to follow. The great gift of Christ was that He enabled us to see the face of God". "Where there is truth, there is charity", the Pope concluded. "This, thanks be to God, can be seen in all centuries, despite many sad events. The fruits of charity have always been present in Christianity, just as they are today. We see it in the martyrs, we see it in so many nuns, monks, and priests who humbly serve the poor and the sick. They are the presence of Christ's charity and a great sign that the truth is here". |
CHARITY, A PRIVILEGED FORM OF EVANGELISTATION Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received members of the "Circolo di San Pietro" who gave him, as they traditionally do every year, the "Peter's Pence" collection which is raised annually in parishes and religious institutes of the diocese of Rome. The sum is offered to the Pope to help him respond to the many petitions that come to him from around the world, especially from the poorest countries. Benedict XVI thanked the members of the group for their efforts in favour of the needy, including canteens for the poor, shelters and international aid, and he encouraged them to ensure that faith, charity and witness continue to be the guiding principles of their apostolate. "Lent has just begun", the Pope noted, "a liturgical period which invites us to reflect upon the nucleus of Christian life: charity. ... The witness of charity has a particular effect upon the heart of mankind; the new evangelisation ... requires great openness of spirit and a sagacious readiness to accept everyone", he said. The Holy Father highlighted how "the authenticity of our faithfulness to the Gospel may also be measured in terms of the concern and solicitude we effectively strive to show towards others, especially the weak and the marginalised. Concern for others involves wishing their good in all aspects: physical, moral, and spiritual. Although modern culture seems to have lost a sense of good and evil, we must reaffirm that goodness exists and it triumphs. "Responsibility towards our fellows means, then, wanting and doing good for others, hoping that they too will open themselves to the logic of goodness", he added. "Concern for our brothers and sisters means opening our eyes to their needs, overcoming that hardness of heart which makes us blind to others' suffering. Thus the service of charity becomes a privileged form of evangelisation, also in the light of Jesus' teaching, Who will consider what we have done to our fellows, especially the smallest and weakest, as having been done to Him". Concluding his address, Benedict XVI highlighted the need to "bring our hearts into harmony with Christ's heart, so that our loving support for others may be translated into participation and sharing of their suffering and hopes. This will reveal both God's infinite mercy for all mankind, ... and our own faith in Him. Meeting others and opening our hearts to their needs is an opportunity for salvation and beatitude".  The "Circolo di San Pietro" was founded in Rome in 1869 by a group of young people under the guidance of Cardinal Jacobini and delegated by the Pope to exercise charity towards the poor. |
TAKE FIVE FOR FAITH: Daily renewal for busy Catholics 2/24/2012
Friday, February 24
FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY; DAY OF ABSTINENCE
Not so fast?
One out of six people in the present generation lives in extreme poverty. Not simply below the poverty line established by government organizations: Extreme poverty means living in danger of death because there is no food. By virtue of living in a country where food is made affordable by subsidies and meal programs are available to make up the shortfall, it’s easy to forget and hard to imagine the kind of suffering starvation entails. If one in six neighbors were hungry, wouldn’t the other five feed that person? Fasting, even abstaining from meat, reminds us that our neighbor is hungry—and of our responsibility to help.TODAY’S READINGS: Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 9:14-15 (221)
“This . . . is the fasting that I wish: . . . . Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Caroline Hopkinson, Father Larry Janowski, O.F.M., Ann O’Connor, Joel Schorn, Patrice J. Tuohy, and Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M.
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Religious priests, brothers, sisters, nuns, and others in consecrated life as well as diocesan priests and permanent deacons are vital to the life of the church. Please invite Catholic men and women to consider a church vocation, and make these FREE vocation resources available in your parish or places of ministry:
Mary TV Daily Reflection 2/24/2012
February 24, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
We continue to examine the main messages according to Ivan. We are considering conversion. As I looked through Our Lady's messages on conversion, this message immediately caught my attention:
"Dear children! Today I want to wrap you all in my mantle and lead you all along the way of conversion. Dear children, I beseech you, surrender to the Lord your entire past, all the evil that has accumulated in your hearts. I want each one of you to be happy, but in sin nobody can be happy. Therefore, dear children, pray, and in prayer you shall realize a new way of joy. Joy will manifest in your hearts and thus you shall be joyful witnesses of that which I and My Son want from each one of you. I am blessing you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (February 25, 1987)
Our Lady describes the process of conversion as I have never heard it before. She makes conversion sound so wonderful. She first tells us that she wants to wrap us in her mantle. I have the picture of Our Lady scooping each of us up in her arms and wrapping us in her warm, soft shawl, as if we were little children. To be wrapped in Our Lady's mantle is to be surrounded by warmth and safety and peace. Such a wrapping sounds so inviting. If this is the way to begin conversion, I for one want to take that way.
The next step in conversion is not as easy. She beseeches us to "surrender to the Lord your entire past, all the evil that has accumulated in your hearts." But think about it. If we are safely in the arms of Mother Mary, won't it be much easier to let go of our shame, guilt, anger, resentment, pride and lust? Safely wrapped in Mother Mary's arms, we can let go of all those things we have tried to use to make us feel safe, things that just don't help us and in fact actually hurt us.
"I want each one of you to be happy, but in sin nobody can be happy." Sin always looks like the answer to a problem at first glance. It isn't until we have sinned that we discover that what we expected to help us has become our greatest difficulty. Sin doesn't make us happy, it solves nothing.
"Therefore, dear children, pray, and in prayer you shall realize a new way of joy." Wrapped in Our Lady's arms, covered with her mantle, we can pray, because we are safe, unburdened, and at peace. We can open our hearts to the Lord, be honest with Him, and talk to Him about our mistakes and sins. In that safety, we can find the "new way of joy". We can find the way of peace, of selfless love, of service. We can find the way of holiness. Through prayer, Jesus will show us how to turn away from our sins and our negative pasts and then how to live in His light and love, and we will be happy!
"Joy will manifest in your hearts and thus you shall be joyful witnesses of that which I and My Son want from each one of you." The very hearts that are full of accumulated evil will become like clear vials of crystal, holding the new wine, the joy of God. Our hearts will sparkle with joy, and they will radiate to all those we meet, inviting them to the same joyful conversion we have experienced.
"I am blessing you." Conversion is a miracle. Our Lady's blessing, her mantle of love, moves us towards conversion. This Lent, may we turn to Mother Mary and ask her to wrap us in her mantle every time we enter prayer. Wrapped in that warm, cozy mantle, we will find prayer and conversion a delight.
"Dear children! Today I want to wrap you all in my mantle and lead you all along the way of conversion."
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Follow the Pope on Twitter for Lent
Some like to give up a favourite food for Lent. Others choose to follow a bible study course. Or commit to helping those less fortunate than themselves. But in our increasingly secular societies, many young people no longer keep the Lenten season in any special way – that’s why the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has come up with a new idea to focus hearts and minds on the challenges contained in Pope Benedict’s Lenten message for 2012..
Starting on Ash Wednesday, themes from that papal message will be posted on Twitter each day during Lent and over the coming months other papal speeches and documents are likely to be tweeted in a similar way, hoping to attract the media-savvy generation and entice them to find out more...But is it all just another technological gimmick that ‘dumbs down’ the message of the Church? Not at all, says Msgr Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, “many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in just 140
“The idea was very simply to try and use Twitter to share with people the essence of the Pope’s message for Lent, so over the 40 days of Lent to tweet every day one of the ideas of this message…. doing it in a way so that people can re-tweet and already people we know from our meeting with bloggers last year are already re-tweeting…
The pope2you site had phenomenal success at the time of its launch… over 5 million hits in the first week or two of its operation….the level of interest was such that we’ve kept it going by focusing on the big themes in the life of the church – Christmas, Easter, World Youth Day….”
Fairly soon we’ll also be able to get the Pope’s Angelus and other speeches on Twitter?
“Yes, I think a lot of attention is being given to the idea of seeing Twitter as a channel that could allow for a more direct and immediate way of sharing the nucleus of the Pope’s thoughts on various occasions, so I don’t think it’ll be confined to Lent…To those who say it’s dumbing down –no, this is entry level…to provoke people’s interest and to invite them then to follow the message and read the text…many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in 140 characters – this is not the only way the Church speaks but it’s an avenue that is open to us and it’s pithy, succinct and it’s one I think that we’re quite good at…”
Mary TV Daily Reflection 2/23/2012
February 23, 2012
St. Polycarp
Dear Family of Mary!
Let's return to Ivan's list of the most important messages: Peace, Conversion, Prayer of the Heart, Penance and Fasting, Strong Faith, Love, Eucharist, Forgiveness, Confession, the Message of HOPE! As we begin our Lenten journey, it seems fitting to take up the second message, conversion. Our Lady said to us in 1996:
"Dear children! I invite you to decide again to love God above all else. In this time when due to the spirit of consumerism one forgets what it means to love and to cherish true values, I invite you again, little children, to put God in the first place in your life. Do not let Satan attract you through material things but, little children, decide for God who is freedom and love. Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus I invite you to decide for life which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call."(March 25, 1996)
This message could guide us throughout Lent. And it reminds me very much of the first reading at Holy Mass today: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20:
"See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
Choose life! Choose God! Choose the Good! Convert! Turn to God, who is your all! Forsake the world and all its allurements. Your happiness lies with God.
Pilgrims who have been to Medjugorje will say that one of the biggest graces they witness there is the grace of conversion. Lukewarm, uninterested people arrive in Medjugorje, not sure what to expect. They leave after a few days, with their hearts on fire for God, and a desire to change their lives, to turn toward God and seek Him alone. Conversion is a beautiful fruit of Medjugorje.
May we enter into the grace of conversion through Our Lady of Medjugorje this Lent, and reignite our hearts with love for God alone!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sacrifices of Lent
Tribulation Times
(Ecc 3:1-7) All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
NEWS LINK: Sacrifices of Lent prepare Christians to focus on Easter
INTERMOUNTAIN CATHOLIC: 10 things to remember for Lent
SPIRITDAILY: Turn off the Noise of the World
LENTEN SABBATICAL
The TRIB TIMES will not be updated again this year during the Lenten season, extending to the first week after Easter. My computer time will be limited to 30 minutes each morning and evening during Lent. I will read all emails I receive, and will answer all that I can, time permitting. I may also occasionally email non-reformatted news articles to Trib Times subscribers that I find to be of particular interest. But barring a major event, the Trib Times web page itself will not be updated.
I apologize to all who have recently subscribed but will keep your email information for use after my return. God willing, the next issue of the Trib Times should be shortly after Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012. Please keep me in your prayers, and be assured that I will do the same.I recommend the following links to keep up with unfolding events:
Catholic NewsNewer subscribers may also be interested in a meditation that first appeared in the Trib Times in 2004, The Pain of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/headlines.asp
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/
http://zenit.org/english/Signs of the Times
http://www.spiritdaily.com/
http://www.lifesite.net/
http://www.lifenews.com/Readings & Meditations for Lent & Holy Week
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/index.html
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/lent.htm
http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/season/Catholic Commentary
http://www.courageouspriest.com/
Statements of Archbishop Chaput
Fr. Z's Blog
LINK TO DONATE TO CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICE: https://secure.crs.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3181&3181.donation=form1
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Practice of Virtue
6. It is only necessary to say energetically "I will," and all will go well.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
Prayers Needed: Priest’s suicide saddens Fargo diocese
FARGO – The Fargo Catholic Diocese is reeling from the apparent suicide of a 45-year-old priest on Valentine’s Day in the rectory of Nativity Catholic Church.
The Rev. David Syverson was found dead after apparently shooting himself in a guest room of the priest’s residence next to the church at 1825 11th St. S., Fargo Police Lt. Joel Vettel said.
In an email message sent to clergy and diocesan staff on Wednesday, Bishop Samuel J. Aquila wrote “with great difficulty and sadness” of the suicide and death of Syverson, who had struggled with and received treatment for alcohol and medication addiction, anxiety and depression, according to a news release that was already prepared when The Forum contacted the diocese on Monday.
Aquila asked clergy and staff to “please pray for all affected by his death, especially his mother and family members.”
Syverson was staying at the rectory while attending outpatient treatment, said Vettel, a Nativity parishioner.
No foul play is suspected in Syverson’s death, which remains under investigation pending autopsy results, Vettel said.
The discovery of Syverson’s body was reported at about 6 p.m. Feb. 14, and it’s believed he shot himself about four hours earlier, Vettel said.
Someone in the house heard a noise from the lower level that they thought sounded like something falling, but they didn’t go downstairs until later, Vettel said.
Syverson was an avid sportsman who loved hunting, bow hunting and fishing, according to his obituary.
The Rev. Kevin Boucher, pastor at Nativity, referred questions to diocese officials.
Monsignor Joseph Goering, who attended seminary with Syverson for four years, said he encouraged pastors of the parishes Syverson had served to let their people know about his death. An article about Syverson and his obituary also will appear in the diocesan newspaper, the New Earth, he said.
Goering said Syverson is the first priest he’s known to die by apparent suicide.
“It happens, but it’s rare,” he said.
“I imagine the church family is similar to our other families in that we mourn the loss of a brother, and we try to understand … the things we can do to help people who are struggling to get the help they need and to provide them with hope,” Goering said. “And then we entrust them to the mercy of God, because we know the Father in heaven wants each of His sons and daughters saved and healthy more than we can possibly imagine.”
Syverson’s funeral was Monday at Sts. Anne and Joachim Catholic Church in Fargo, where he previously served as a priest. He also had served at St. Maurice’s in Kindred, St. Patrick’s in Wishek, St. Boniface’s in Kintyre, St. Philip Neri’s in Napoleon, Holy Cross in West Fargo, St. Elizabeth’s in Sykeston and most recently at Sacred Heart in Carrington.
Syverson left the Carrington church in summer 2011 to seek treatment, Goering said.
The Forum featured Syverson in a Sept. 14, 2004, column about his path to the priesthood.
Syverson talked about how, as a child growing up in Steele and attending Lutheran church, he wasn’t sure of God’s existence. He said he was a “good boy” who got good grades and didn’t party until he went to North Dakota State University, drank his first beer and became “quite a partier.”
After his grades slid and he was put on probation, he buckled down and earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food science in 1989. He then went to work for a food company in Beloit, Wis.
Syverson told The Forum that during the Gulf War, he heard about the thousands of Iraqis who died and started thinking about his own mortality and God’s existence. He explored a number of world religions, but by October 1992 was tired of reading and talking about them.
“I couldn’t see, feel, hear God,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I need proof.’ ”
He said it arrived on Nov. 1, 1992. He was sitting in his bedroom when he turned the lights off and prayed “something like ‘Show me,’ ” he said.
“Immediately I sensed another presence in my room; a living being,” he said. “I was filled with a sense of peace and joy. I knew I had experienced God, that I was in His presence.”
Syverson joined the Catholic Church in 1993 and began studying for the priesthood the same year at Cardinal Muench Seminary in Fargo, graduating in 1995. He earned a master’s of divinity degree in St. Louis and was ordained by Bishop James Sullivan on June 5, 1999, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo.
“He loved his faith. He loved the Lord. He loved being humorous about things,” Goering said.
The Catholic Church, which at one time denied Christian burials in some suicide cases, has softened its stance in contemporary teachings.
The 1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church declares suicide to be “gravely contrary to the just love of self” and “contrary to love for the living God.” But it also recognizes that, “Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.”
“We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives,” the Catechism states. “By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.”
Goering said it’s a constant struggle striking a balance between recognizing suicide as “a grave offense against life” and the act of someone not in their right mind.
“I think we know better now the sorts of difficulties people can have that reduce their culpability, and that gives us hope, of course,” he said.
“This is one of those times when we heavily rely on our faith in the love and mercy in God to bring light into areas of darkness,” Goering added. “And we have faith He will. It’s difficult, but we have faith He will.”
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
Fr. Gordon MacRae These Stone Walls: Lent in a City on a Hill Lent in a City on a Hill
Sacrifice is at the very heart of being a priest and being a Catholic. This Lent, restoring sacrifice is the key to being a Church in the modern world.
Most readers know by now that there is a lot going on in my situation. I want to thank writer, Ryan MacDonald for stepping in with some important news for readers last week. I do hope you understand that I will not be writing about the developments he described so well.
But that is as it should be. I must leave it to others to take up this story, and indeed some have. David F. Pierre, host of The Media Report – and author of Catholic Priests Falsely Accused – addressed the story in stunning fashion in an “Exclusive Report” that I hope TSW readers will review and help pass around. As someone posted about this on a Facebook page, “It’s time to awaken the sleeping giant of on-line Catholic media with news of this story.” Please do.
The beautifully presented Sancte Pater Blog also ran the story, as did others. As Ryan MacDonald wrote last week, I have decided to just stay the course I have been on here at These Stone Walls. Suffice it to say, I thank readers for your prayers, support, encouragement, and hope.
Today, Ash Wednesday, I mark 6,361 days in prison. I didn’t tally this with scratch marks on my cell wall, and I don’t actually keep an ongoing count in my head. I won’t wake up tomorrow and tell myself it’s the start of day number 6,362. At least, I hope I won’t. That would be really awful. But two or three times a year I pull out my calculator and tally the days I have been in this place. I’m not even sure of why we do this, but everyone here does. Our friend, Pornchai Moontri just told me that today he has been in prison for 7,275 days, and others of our friends have been “inside” a lot less.
Sometimes I discover some strange coincidences when I count the days. For example, my 5,000th day in prison was also my 26th anniversary of priesthood ordination. My Ash Wednesday post last year was “Protect Us from All Anxiety: Nightmares and Dreamscapes in the Desert.” The day I described the recurring nightmare that I have in prison was also my 6,000th day behind these stone walls. The numbers don’t mean much except to convey a sense of the drama of time as it plays out in such a place.
Time is experienced differently here than anywhere else. The New Yorker Magazine had a very good article last month by Adam Gopnik entitled “The Caging of America” (Jan. 30, 2012) about our ominous and burgeoning prison system. He wrote that “a prison is a trap for catching time” and described the trap thusly:
“It isn’t the horror of the time at hand but the unimaginable sameness of the time ahead that makes prisons unendurable for their inmates… That’s why no one who has been inside a prison, if only for a day, can ever forget the feeling. Time stops. A note of attenuated panic, or watchful paranoia – anxiety and boredom and fear mixed into a kind of enveloping fog.”
It’s not a pretty picture, and I think the pain of living in prison is experienced proportionately to one’s mental capacity. Prison is the one place on Earth where intellect is a handicap, and possibly even a source of deep personal anguish. I took on “Does Stephen Hawking Sacrifice God on the Altar of Science?” last year because I feared my brain cells might atrophy from lack of use.
Perhaps I am in good company in this suspension of time. A great comment from TSW reader, Carlos, on my post, “E.T. and The Fermi Paradox” mentioned that God lives in the ”nunc stans,” a place where there is no passage of time at all. Carlos is exactly right that God lives outside of time. Psalm 90 gives a hint of this, and it’s a good Ash Wednesday message:
“You turn man back to dust and say ‘Turn back, O children of men!’ For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:3-4)
I know the feeling. My time here has not been experienced as thousands upon thousands of days, but as one very long one – a sort of long Lent with no Easter in sight – except, perhaps, in hope. I guess it’s really that way for all of us. Without hope, there can be no Easter, only Lent. The reverse is also true. To be a Catholic Christian is to live in hope despite all appearances to the contrary.
A CITY ON A HILL
I’m showing my age, but I can hear Roger McGuinn from The Byrds intoning the musical version of Ecclesiastes (3:1): “For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” I don’t mean to lecture you, but “doing time” – “doing Lent” – qualifies me to write about both. This Lent is our time to ponder freedom and all the dire threats to it.
It’s a time to wake up, a time to take stock of who and what we are, and most importantly of what we are becoming. It’s a time to measure our civic duty as Catholic members of the human race in this place at this time. It’s a time to account for what it means to live as humans are meant to live, in God’s image and likeness in a society and culture we are supposed to add to and not just take from. It’s a time to discern whether we as Catholics shape our culture more than it shapes us. Even a prisoner can enter into that discernment.
I wrote of one vivid example a year or so ago, but it’s worth repeating. It’s a typical prison story with a very atypical outcome. It involved my friend, Joseph, whom I wrote about In “E.T. and The Fermi Paradox.” One of Joseph’s many disputes with other prisoners erupted into a fight. Both were hauled off to spend some time in “the hole.” Joseph emerged first, then a week later, his enemy. News of their ongoing combat spread throughout the prison, and the peer pressure was intense. “Fight – Fight – Fight” was the sole message they heard from both friends and foes. The prison was abuzz with the inevitable. Joseph ducked all my efforts to intervene. This was about a month after our friend, Pornchai was received into the Church on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2010.
Seated in the prison chow hall one day, Joseph awaited his opponent for the big scene. Pornchai was sitting with me as usual as hundreds of prisoners poured in for dinner and a show. I decided I would have no choice but to try diplomacy. Then Pornchai suddenly stood up. In the presence of hundreds of anticipating prisoners, Pornchai walked to the door to meet up with Joseph’s enemy.
I groaned as I saw diplomacy fly right out the window. Then Pornchai gestured to the young man to follow him. Together they walked to the table where Joseph was seated. They sat down, and the three of them had a conversation. I watched from across the hall as Pornchai spoke and the two enemies stared at their shoes.
I don’t think the Geneva Convention entailed such drama and a sense of impending doom. Then suddenly – in the sight of all – the three of them stood up. Joseph and his enemy shook hands, gave each other a fraternal smack on the back, then parted company. The war ended and a treaty was struck. I was very proud of Pornchai. Gandhi could not have done better.
There is a Gospel declaration for the age we live in, and Pornchai exemplified it that day. It’s a worthy goal for Lent for all of us who have been waiting for some light in the darkness while sometimes forgetting that we are the ones who are supposed to bring it:
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a bushel, but on a stand where it gives light to all in the house.” (Matthew 5:14-15)
BEING CATHOLIC OUT LOUD
TSW reader, Mary Floeck has posted a number of comments here and in other Catholic blogs. She is a great example of a faithful Catholic discovering that she has a voice in the public square. Mary has found her voice in some recent well written letters published in a few Catholic publications. Having seen her name in many comments on These Stone Walls, I have been very proud to also see it in Our Sunday Visitor and a few other places expressing her hopes and concerns as a Catholic.
In a recent letter in OSV (February 5, 2012) Mary raised the challenges faced by the Church and priesthood by the Holy Father’s announcement of the formation of an “American Ordinariate.” This is the creation of a special diocese for formerly Episcopalian congregations that want to become Roman Catholic. A part of the transition is that the married Episcopalian priests can become Roman Catholic priests and remain married.
The practice is not new. Pope John Paul II established such a process for individual Anglican clergy in the early 1980s. I wasn’t sure I agreed with all of Mary Floeck’s concerns in her OSV letter until just a few days later. I came across a brilliant editorial in The Wall Street Journal by Father Richard Cipolla (”Being a Catholic Priest – and Married,” Houses of Worship, Feb. 3, 2012). Father Cipolla is a Catholic priest ordained in 1984,just two years after I was ordained. Previously a married Episcopalian priest, Father Cipolla became Catholic and was ordained through a special indult of Pope John Paul II extended to Episcopalian clergy on a case by case basis back then.
Mary Floeck’s OSV letter piqued my interest, so I was intrigued by what Father Cipolla had to say about priesthood, celibacy, and marriage. I read it twice, and found it to be an articulate and powerful lesson for me as a priest. It isn’t about celibacy. It’s about sacrifice, the heart and soul of both a priestly and a Catholic identity.
In his brief editorial, Father Richard Cipolla has given the Church and priesthood a Lenten reflection on being Catholic in a culture increasingly closed to Catholic ideals. Here’s an excerpt that helped me prepare for Lent:
“Sacrifice is at the heart not only of the priestly life but also of the life of every Catholic. How could it not be so when the primary symbol of our faith is the love of God displayed on the cross of Jesus Christ?”
“Despite my situation . . . I am a firm supporter of the celibacy of the Catholic clergy. Its basis is not found in councils or popes but rather in the person of Jesus Christ. The heart of the Catholic priesthood is sacrifice, and celibacy frees the priest to give himself totally to the Church and its people.”
Father Cipolla added that the sexual abuse scandals that have been in the spotlight over the last decade have been “a glaring example of the perversion of celibacy,” a result of too many priests living a life that is “selfish and closed off.” I agree, in part, but I also want to emphasize the role played by money in the causes and context of the scandal. In my review of David F. Pierre’s landmark book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused, I pointed out the hard evidence raised by former Los Angeles prosecutor Donald Steier that a full fifty percent of the claims against Catholic priests have been false and tainted by the lure of money. This aspect of the scandal has been grossly overlooked by the entire Church, and a part of our sacrifice as a Church must not be to sacrifice justice for priests falsely accused.
Someone might argue that I have a vested interest in taking that position. Perhaps that’s true, but no justice afforded to me now will give me back even one of the 6,361 days and nights taken from me in prison. Those are my sacrifice, and this Lent I offer that sacrifice for the Church, for the priesthood, and for the readers of These Stone Walls who come here from the city on a hill with a search for truth and justice in their hearts.
“I appeal to you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your selves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may have sure knowledge of the will of God, of what is good, and acceptable, and perfect.” (Romans 12: 1-2)
Memento homo, quod cinis es, et in cinerem reverteris.
Remember, O Man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt return.~ William Byrd, Anglican convert to Catholicism during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
Editor’s Note: Several of you have expressed a desire to join Fr. MacRae in a Spiritual Communion. He celebrates a private Mass in his prison cell on Sunday evenings between 11 pm and midnight. You’re invited to join in a Holy Hour during that time if you’re able.
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2011 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM
February 22, 2012
The Catholic League's 2011 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism is now available. It covers all the major issues that the Catholic League dealt with in 2011, along with many others that came to our attention. The report covers the following areas: activist organizations; the arts; business/workplace; education; government; and the media. There are special sections as well: our exposé of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP); our response to a Rolling Stone article and a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; a reprint of our ads in defense of the Catholic Church that appeared in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune; a lengthy analysis of the John Jay Report on Sexual Abuse; a detailed account of the attacks on Bishop Robert Finn by SNAP and the Kansas City Star; and a section on the War on Christmas. Copies are available for $10 to the general public [click here]. Complementary copies were sent to those in government, education, religious organizations, the media, etc. It is the most authoritative summary of anti-Catholic incidents in 2011.
Contact our director of communications about Donohue’s remarks:
Jeff Field
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail: cl@catholicleague.org
From VIS: LENT, A TIME TO SHOULDER OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITIES
Vatican City, 22 February 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to the subject of Lent (which begins today, Ash Wednesday), the period of forty days leading up to the Easter Triduum, memorial of the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Benedict XVI reminded the 7,500 pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall that, in the early days of the Church, Lent was a time in which catechumens began their journey of faith and conversion prior to receiving Baptism. Later, all the faithful were invited to participate in this period of spiritual renewal. Thus "the participation of the whole community in the various stages of the Lenten journey underlines an important dimension of Christian spirituality: the fact that redemption is available not just for the few, but for everyone, thanks to Christ's death and resurrection".
"The time leading up to Easter is a time of 'metanoia', a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time".
The Church calls this period "Quadragesima", a period of forty days which has precise references in Holy Scripture. Indeed, "forty is the symbolic number with which the Old and New Testaments represent the most important moments of the People of God's experience of faith. It is a figure which expresses a time of expectation, purification, return to the Lord, awareness that God is faithful to His promises; ... a time within which we must make our choice, shoulder our responsibilities without further delay. It is a time for mature decisions".
Noah spent forty days in the Ark during the Flood, then had to wait forty days more before he could return to dry land. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai to collect the Commandments. The Jewish People spent forty years wandering in the desert, then enjoyed forty years of peace under the government of the Judges. The inhabitants of Niniveh made forty days penance to obtain God's forgiveness. The reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, the first kings of Israel, lasted forty years each. In the New Testament, Jesus spent forty days praying in the wilderness before beginning His public life and, following the resurrection, He spent forty days instructing His disciples before ascending to heaven.
The liturgy of Lent, the Pope explained, "has the aim of facilitating our journey of spiritual renewal in the light of this long biblical experience. Above all, it helps us to imitate Jesus Who, in the forty days He spent in the wilderness, taught us to overcome temptation through the Word of God. ... Jesus went into the wilderness in order to be in profound contact with the Father. This was a constant aspect of Christ's earthly life. He always sought out moments of solitude to pray to His Father and abide in intimate and exclusive communion with Him, before retuning among mankind. But in the 'wilderness' ... Jesus was beset by temptation and the seduction of the Evil One, who suggested a messianic path, a path which was far from God's plans because it involved power, success and dominion, not love and the total gift of self on the Cross".
Benedict XVI went on to suggest that the Church herself is a pilgrim in the "wilderness" of the world and history. This wilderness is made up of "the aridity and poverty of words, life and values, of secularism and the culture of materialism which enclose people within a worldly horizon and detach them from any reference to transcendence. In such an atmosphere the sky above us is dark, because veiled with clouds of selfishness, misunderstanding and deceit. Nonetheless, even for the Church today, the wilderness can become a period of grace, because we have the certainty that even from the hardest rock God can cause the living water to gush forth, water which quenches thirst and restores strength".
"During Lent", said the Holy Father in conclusion, "may we discover fresh courage to accept situations of difficulty, affliction and suffering with patience and faith, aware that, from the darkness, the Lord will cause a new day to shine forth. And if we have been faithful to Jesus, following Him on the way of the Cross, the luminous world of God, the world of light, truth and joy, will be ours again".
At the end of the catechesis Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims in various languages. Speaking Polish he highlighted how "fasting and prayer, penance and works of mercy" are the principal means of preparation for Easter.
The Pope also addressed a special greeting to faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who were present in the Paul VI Hall. The ordinariate was set up a little over a year ago for groups of Anglican clergy and faithful wishing to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church. The general audience ended with the apostolic blessing.
Take Five for Faith for Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wednesday, February 22
ASH WEDNESDAY; DAY OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE
Be creative this Lent
Is it Lent already? Yes, which means another season of opportunity to grow in faith. Consider how you might wisely spend the next 40 days by focusing on one thing in your life that needs to change. Try a new spin on the traditional practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer can be engaged in many ways: with words, silence, contemplation of icons—or walking a labyrinth or the Stations of the Cross for the spiritually fidgety. You can “fast” from more than food: Give up media distractions or idle gossip. Alms can be paid out in other than dollar bills: Offer your time to the lonely, your love to a child.TODAY’S READINGS: Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 (219)
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Caroline Hopkinson, Father Larry Janowski, O.F.M., Ann O’Connor, Joel Schorn, Patrice J. Tuohy, and Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M.
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What to do for Lent?
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http://www.fatherbenedict.com/index.php At the beginning of Lent Christian homes are full of conversations about what to do or "give up" during this annual penitential season. Let the medicine match the malady. If you have a cold you do not take chemo therapy. If you have cancer you do not take an aspirin. Why not take a look at those faults and weaknesses that you usually pray about and confess. Then think about a devotion or practice that would directly impact those things. The New Testament often quotes a famous passage from Isaiah 40, "A voice of one calling in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low' ..." So let us level those mountains of pride and fill up those valleys of doubt in order to make a path in our hearts for the grace of the Lord!  |
Mary Vitamin for Ash Wednesday
Mary TV Daily Reflection 2/22/2012
February 22, 2012
Ash Wednesday
Dear Family of Mary!
"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
"Dear children! With the time of Lent, you are approaching a time of grace. Your heart is like plowed soil and it is ready to receive the fruit which will grow into what is good. You, little children, are free to choose good or evil. Therefore, I call you to pray and fast. Plant joy and the fruit of joy will grow in your hearts for your good, and others will see it and receive it through your life. Renounce sin and choose eternal life. I am with you and intercede for you before my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call." (January 25, 2008)
Notice the action words Our Lady employs in this message: plowing, planting, receiving, growing, choosing, praying, fasting, renouncing, and responding. Sounds like a lot of hard work, doesn't it! But there is an underlying sense of great expectation!
Yes, our hearts need to be plowed. The rending of the earth of our hearts is necessary, if new life is to be cultivated there. We have to dig up the old seed beds, dislodging the old growth, the old tendencies and desires, the unfruitful roots of envy, anger, sloth, lust, avarice, pride and gluttony.
Yes, we have to receive the good seeds of holiness: faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. Yes, we have to choose to plant them deeply in our hearts, through prayer and fasting and renunciation.
Yes, we have to wait patiently as these new seeds grow ever so slowly and silently below ground. Yes, we have to wait for the joy we plant to grow into the fruit of joy!
But we will not be disappointed, if we follow this plan of action. Our Lady says she is with us and intercedes for us before Jesus. With such help from a seasoned gardener, we will certainly find ourselves enjoying the fruits of joy by Easter!
This time is a time of grace for us, but not just for us. As Our Lady says, others will see our joy and receive it through our lives. We will be sources of encouragement for all those who need hope! We will bring joy to those who as yet have not found it. A reason for yet more joy!!
So, though we have foreheads covered in ashes, and our faces are downcast, though the plowing we have to do is really hard right now, we have an underground river of joy to draw strength from. Our Lady is with us to help us! We are planting joy!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Church speaks about Modesty
Tribulation Times
February 21, 2012
(1Pe 3:3-4) Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God. 
WEBSITE: The Church speaks about Modesty
POPE PIUS XII: "The good of our soul is more important than that of our body; and we have to prefer the spiritual welfare of our neighbor to our bodily comforts. If a certain kind of dress constitutes a grave and proximate occasion of sin, and endangers the salvation of your soul and others, it is your duty to give it up. O Christian mothers, if you knew what a future of anxieties and perils, of ill-guarded shame you prepare for your sons and daughters, imprudently getting them accustomed to live scantily dressed and making them lose the sense of modesty, you would be ashamed of yourselves and you would dread the harm you are making of yourselves, the harm which you are causing these children, whom Heaven has entrusted to you to be brought up as Christians."
TRACT: Some Directives of the Magisterium on Christian Modesty
NEWS LINK: Churches see fashion no-no's, especially in summer
VIA CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG: Modesty is Unremarkable
My daughters told me recently that modest clothing is unremarkable in itself, but remarkable in its potential effects. Ironically, the benefit of modest clothing is its transparency, so to speak. Modest clothing attracts attention neither to itself nor to the superficial qualities of the person wearing it. In fact, by not being a distraction or an end in itself, modest clothing allows the character of the person to become more evident.
Indecent fashions tend to reduce the human person to the superficiality of their exposed or accentuated body parts ... saying, in effect, "Look at me, I'm an object. Look at me as an object." On the other hand, prudish clothing, although rare, tends to provoke an opposite but equally superficial criticism that the prude is socially inept, awkward, and out of touch. Both styles miss the truth about the dignity of the human person.
In our cynical culture obsessed with shallow sensationalism, modesty is like truth in advertising: rare but powerful. It's the real deal—and that's what makes it so special.
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER ON MODESTY
Modesty at Mass Is a Must
The Death Of Pretty
God Cares about Modesty, Not Fashion
5. This strong insistence of grace that you feel amidst so many relapses is, to my mind, a very good sign, because it shows the ardent desire that God has to save your soul; this, nevertheless, He will not do without your cooperation.
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.