Pope Francis on Corpus Christi

The following comes from Whispers in the Loggia:

In his first turn at the traditional outdoor rites celebrating the Lord's Body and Blood, here below is the Pope's homily – with Vatican Radio's English real-time audio translation dubbed in – given earlier tonight on the steps of St John Lateran for Corpus Christi:

Even if the text of the preach is making the rounds, again, remember well that this Pope wishes to be heard as opposed to merely being read.

*   *   *

While the feast is always marked by the pontiffs on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday – its traditional setting, which recalls the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday – where the weekday isn't a holy day of obligation, the observance is now transferred to Sunday, which is the case across the lion's share of the global church. 

For the first time in two decades, Francis walked the traditional mile-long procession from Rome's cathedral to St Mary Major behind the flatbed truck that carried the exposed Blessed Sacrament, instead of riding on the vehicle and spending the route on his knees before the monstrance.

While the choice surprised some, it bears recalling that, as cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio led an annual walking procession from the city to the shrine of Argentina's patroness, Our Lady of Luján, located some 40 miles outside the capital.

Said Marian devotion already well in evidence over his two months on Peter's chair, tomorrow night will see Francis close out Mary's month by leading a public recitation of the Rosary in St Peter's Square. 

Then, as previously noted, on Sunday afternoon the Pope will lead a global hour of Eucharistic adoration in the Vatican basilica for the following intentions written by him....

First: “For the Church spread throughout the world and united today in the adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist as a sign of unity. May the Lord make her ever more obedient to hearing his Word in order to stand before the world ‘ever more beautiful, without stain or blemish, but holy and blameless.’ That through her faithful announcement, the Word that saves may still resonate as the bearer of mercy and may increase love to give full meaning to pain and suffering, giving back joy and serenity.”

Second: “For those around the world who still suffer slavery and who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running, and slave labour. For the children and women who are suffering from every type of violence. May their silent scream for help be heard by a vigilant Church so that, gazing upon the crucified Christ, she may not forget the many brothers and sisters who are left at the mercy of violence. Also, for all those who find themselves in economically precarious situations, above all for the unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless, prisoners, and those who experience marginalization. That the Church’s prayer and its active nearness give them comfort and assistance in hope and strength and courage in defending human dignity.”

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Archbishop Fulton Sheen: The Woman I Love

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On the Feast of the Visitation, Pope Francis preaches Christian joy

The following comes from the CWR:

Today Pope Francis preached a homily on Christian joy during morning Mass for the Feast of the Visitation in the Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel. “Everything is joy,” Francis said. “But we Christians, we are not used to talking about joy, about happiness. I think that many times we prefer complaints! What is joy? The key to understanding this joy is in the Gospel: 'Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit'. What gives us joy is the Holy Spirit.”

L’Osservatore Romano has more from the Holy Father’s homily:

“It is the Spirit who guides us. He is the author of joy, the creator of joy, and this joy of the Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy we Christians cannot become free. We become slaves to our sorrows.”

The Pope then quoted “the great Pope Paul VI”, recalling when he said that “you cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You cannot.” Sometimes Christians, instead of showing the joy of one who goes “to praise God,” have a face as if attending “a funeral procession.” Christian joy comes from praising God. “But what does it mean to praise God?” asked the Pope. It is “to come out of oneself and praise him freely, as the grace he gives to us is free,” he explained.

He went on to say that “if you do not praise God and do not know how to graciously waste time praising him, of course the Mass seems long! But if you go with this attitude of joy, praising God, this is beautiful.” Moreover, “eternity will be this: praising God.  But this will not be boring, it will be wonderful. This joy makes us free.”

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Pope Francis plans to complete encyclical on faith

(CNS)  Continuing a papal tradition of finishing a predecessor's work in progress, Pope Francis intends to complete an encyclical -- on the virtue of faith -- begun during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

"I can confirm that the plan for an encyclical on faith, begun by Benedict XVI, has been taken up by the new pope," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said in a May 24 email response to questions. He said it would "be premature" to guess when the encyclical would be completed.

The statement followed reports in Italian media claiming that the retired pope would be completing the encyclical himself.

In an article for his diocesan bulletin, Bishop Luigi Martella of Molfetta, Italy, had said that when he met Pope Francis in mid-May with other bishops from Italy's Puglia region, the pope told them that he had been worried about Pope Benedict's health, "but now he is much better."

Bishop Martella said Pope Francis "wanted to share a confidence, almost a revelation with us: Benedict XVI is finishing writing the encyclical on faith that will be signed by Pope Francis."

Responding to questions, Father Lombardi said, "I can absolutely deny that Benedict XVI is working on the planned encyclical."

In December, Father Lombardi had said Pope Benedict's encyclical on faith would be released in the first half of 2013. The encyclical would complete a trilogy on the three "theological virtues," following "Deus Caritas Est" (2005) on charity, and "Spe Salvi" (2007) on hope.

A pope picking up work begun under his predecessor, adding his own thoughts and style to it, is common practice. For example, a document about the church's charitable activity begun under Pope John Paul II became the framework for the second section of Pope Benedict's 2005 encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est."

Bishop Martella said Pope Francis also told the Puglia bishops that he was planning an encyclical on poverty, "understood not in an ideological and political sense, but in an evangelical sense." It will be called "Beati pauperes" -- "Blessed Are the Poor," the bishop said.

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The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The following comes from the Living Scripture site of the Salesian Sisters.  Check out their daily postings on the readings of the day:

Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!  The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior.  He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.  He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals. Zephaniah 3: 16-17                                                             

How should we live this Word 

This cry of joy often does not resound adequately in us.  And yet the words, “Fear not…Be not discouraged,” have a more solid foundation for us today than it did then.  It no longer deals with a prophet’s prediction of the end of oppression and violence, but of the valid certainty of a loving presence that will never end. Elizabethrecognized this inMary’s pregnant womb.  For us it is the confirmation ofJesus’ word.  “I will be with you until the end of time.”  From that time, He is silently present in the humblest tabernacle as He is present in His Word, and in every person.  He is not tired of being with human children!  The darker the horizon seems, the closer He is walking among us to save us.

This is true for every individual as it is for the Church and for all of humanity.  God is our powerful Savior so there is no reason to be discouraged, no matter the difficulties or evils that surround us.  He can and will renew all with His love.

Marythe true and new Arc of the Covenant comes to visit us in our fragility and our difficulties, to bring us the marvelous fruit of her womb.  She comes to banish sadness from our hearts.  She comes because she is the Mother of all those she generated beneath the cross.  

Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will contemplateMaryas she comes to my house so that I too may explode with joy.

Come, O Mother, dwell in my home.  Come with Your sweet secret, the promise of the love that precedes me and accompanies me, filling my days with radiance. 

The voice of Mother Maria Candida of the Eucharist, Carmelite

If we want to gather the blest Flower, we must reach the branch that carries it, the virgin womb of Mary. 

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Fr. Robert Barron: On the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

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Pope Francis: God calls us, urges us, to His family

The following comes from Whispers in the Loggia:

In what'll likely become another enduring image of the new Pope, Francis made his usual "tour" of St Peter's Square before this Wednesday's audience amid a rainstorm to greet the crowd estimated at 90,000.

Since his election, the new pontiff's spins in the open-topped Popemobile have come to run increasingly longer as he's adjusted into the role. On a couple occasions when the crowds have extended beyond the Piazza, the passenger's taken his jeep outside the Vatican's front yard into the Via della Conciliazione. While one of these came as a surprise on the day of Rome's annual pro-life march, an extended drive before the Pentecost Vigil shaped up as a security force's nightmare when some in the "outskirts" of the 200,000 person throng threw gifts at Francis, several of which hit their target as he went around the unsecured area beyond the Colonnade. Not until today, however, has the weather been an issue.

Having completed the series of Wednesday talks on the Creed begun by his predecessor, the Pope started with a fresh topic, below in its Vatican Radio translation.

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Wednesday I stressed the deep connection between the Holy Spirit and the Church. Today I would like to start some reflections on the mystery of the Church, a mystery that we all live and of which we are part. I would like to do this, using some well-known phrases taken from the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

Today the first: the Church as Family of God
In recent months, more than once I have made reference to the parable of the prodigal son, or rather of the merciful father (cf. Lk 15:11-32). The youngest son leaves the house of his father, squanders everything, and decides to return because he realizes he made a mistake, though he no longer considers himself worthy of sonship. He thinks he might be welcomed back as a servant. Instead, the father runs to meet him, embraces him, gives him back his dignity as a son, and celebrates. This parable, like others in the Gospel, shows well the design of God for humanity.

What is this God’s plan? It is to make us all the one family of his children, in which each of you feels close to Him and feels loved by Him – feels, as in the Gospel parable, the warmth of being the family of God. In this great design, the Church finds its source. [The Church is] is not an organization founded by an agreement among [a group of] persons, but - as we were reminded many times by Pope Benedict XVI - is the work of God: it was born out of the plan of love, which realises itself progressively in history. The Church is born from the desire of God to call all people into communion with Him, to His friendship, and indeed, as His children, to partake of His own divine life. The very word “Church”, from the Greek ekklesia, means “convocation”.

God calls us, urges us to escape from individualism, [from] the tendency to withdraw into ourselves, and calls us – convokes us – to be a part of His family. This convocation has its origin in creation itself. God created us in order that we might live in a relationship of deep friendship with Him, and even when sin had broken this relationship with God, with others and with creation, God did not abandon us.

The whole history of salvation is the story of God seeking man, offer[ing] humanity His love, embracing mankind. He called Abraham to be the father of a multitude, chose the people of Israel to forge an alliance that embraces all nations, and sent, in the fullness of time, His Son, that His plan of love and salvation be realised in a new and everlasting covenant with humanity. When we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus gathers around him a small community that receives His word, follows Him, shares His journey, becomes His family – and with this community, He prepares and builds His Church.

Whence, then, is the Church born? It is born from the supreme act of love on the Cross, from the pierced side of Jesus from which flow blood and water, a symbol of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. In the family of God, the Church, the lifeblood is the love of God that is realised in loving Him and others, loving all without distinction, without measure. The Church is a family that loves and is loved.

When does the Church manifest itself? We celebrated [the Church’s manifestation] two Sundays ago: the Church manifests itself when the gift of the Holy Spirit fills the hearts of the Apostles and pushes them to go out and start the journey to proclaim the Gospel, to spread the love of God.

Even today, some say, “Christ yes, the Church no,” like those who say, “I believe in God, but in priests, no.” They say, “Christ: yes. Church: no.” Nevertheless, it is the Church that brings us Christ and that brings us to God. The Church is the great family of God's children. Of course it also has the human aspects: in those who compose it, pastors and faithful, there are flaws, imperfections, sins – the Pope has his, as well: he has lots of them; but the beautiful thing is that, when we become aware that we are sinners, we find the mercy of God. God always forgives: do not forget this. God always forgives, and He receives us in His love of forgiveness and mercy. Some people say – this is beautiful – that sin is an offence against God, but it is also an opportunity: the humiliation of realising [that one is a sinner] and that there is something [exceedingly] beautiful: the mercy of God. Let us think about this.

Let us ask ourselves today: how much do I love the Church? Do I pray for her? Do I feel myself a part of the family of the Church? What do I do to make the Church a community in which everyone feels welcomed and understood, [in which] everyone feels the mercy and love of God who renews life? Faith is a gift and an act that affects us personally, but God calls us to live our faith together, as a family: as the Church.

We ask the Lord, in a special way in this Year of the faith, that our communities, the whole Church be ever more true families that live and carry the warmth of God.

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Pope Francis to lead Worldwide Adoration

The following comes from the Catholic Culture site:

Pope Francis will lead a worldwide hour of Eucharistic adoration on Sunday, June 2, the Vatican has announced.

On that date, cathedrals all across the world will hold an hour of Eucharistic adoration at the same time, inviting the faithful to pray for the Pope’s intentions. The worldwide session of adoration will take place from 5 to 6 Sunday afternoon in Rome, and cathedrals worldwide will synchronize their vigils to match that time. The Pope has asked the universal Church to pray for two intentions during the hour of adoration:

1. For the Church spread throughout the world and united today in the adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist as a sign of unity. May the Lord make her ever more obedient to hearing his Word in order to stand before the world ‘ever more beautiful, without stain or blemish, but holy and blameless.’ That through her faithful announcement, the Word that saves may still resonate as the bearer of mercy and may increase love to give full meaning to pain and suffering, giving back joy and serenity.
2. For those around the world who still suffer slavery and who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running, and slave labor. For the children and women who are suffering from every type of violence. May their silent scream for help be heard by a vigilant Church so that, gazing upon the crucified Christ, she may not forget the many brothers and sisters who are left at the mercy of violence. Also, for all those who find themselves in economically precarious situations, above all for the unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless, prisoners, and those who experience marginalization. That the Church’s prayer and its active nearness give them comfort and assistance in hope and strength and courage in defending human dignity.

The worldwide hour of Eucharistic adoration is one of two initiatives for the Year of Faith, announced on May 28 by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. The other initiative is Evangelium Vitae Day, which will be observed June 15-16. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council, outlined plans for the observance.

On Saturday evening, June 14, a candlelight procession will advance down the Via della Conciliazione into St. Peter’s Square, with participants from all over the world, calling attention to the dignity of human life. Earlier that day, participants will visit the tomb of St. Peter, with an opportunity for Confession and adoration in the Vatican basilica. On Sunday morning Pope Francis will preside at Mass with all participants.

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When My Time Comes by Dawes

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Pope Francis: When Christians lack difficulties, 'something is wrong'

(CNA/EWTN News)  Faithful Christians will always face difficulties, said Pope Francis on Tuesday, warning that a worldly, career-based approach to faith avoids the suffering and persecution inherent in following Christ.

“Many Christians, tempted by the spirit of the world, think that following Jesus is good because it can become a career, they can get ahead,” the Pope said.

“When a Christian has no difficulties in life – when everything is fine, everything is beautiful – something is wrong.”

He suggested this temptation is common for a Christian who is “a great friend of the spirit of the world, of worldliness.”

“You cannot remove the cross from the path of Jesus, it is always there,” he added.

Pope Francis delivered his homily at morning Mass at the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence. Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Monsignor José Octavio Ruiz Arenas, respectively the president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, concelebrated Mass.

“Think of Mother Teresa: what does the spirit of the world say of Mother Teresa? ‘Ah, Blessed Teresa is a beautiful woman, she did a lot of good things for others.’ The spirit of the world never says that the Blessed Teresa spent, every day, many hours in adoration ... Never!” the Pope said.

He explained that the worldly spirit “reduces Christian activity to doing social good.”

“As if Christian life was a gloss, a veneer of Christianity,” he said. “The proclamation of Jesus is not a veneer: the proclamation of Jesus goes straight to the bones, heart, goes deep within and changes us. And the spirit of the world does not tolerate it, will not tolerate it, and therefore, there is persecution.”

Just as Pope Francis criticized career-based Christianity, he also warned about a solely culture-based approach to the faith.

He criticized the attitude of following Jesus because one was born in a Christian culture. He said this ignores “the necessity of true discipleship of Jesus, the necessity to travel his road.”

“If you follow Jesus as a cultural proposal, then you are using this road to get higher up, to have more power. And the history of the Church is full of this, starting with some emperors and then many rulers and many people, no?” the Pope observed.

The Holy Father said that this attitude is present even among some priests and bishops.

He concluded with an exhortation to follow Jesus Christ truly.

“Following Jesus is just that: going with him out of love, behind him: on the same journey, the same path. And the spirit of the world will not tolerate this and what will make us suffer, but suffering as Jesus did,” he said.

“Let us ask for this grace: to follow Jesus in the way that he has revealed to us and that he has taught us. This is beautiful, because he never leaves us alone. Never! He is always with us. So be it.”

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Blessed Joseph Kowalski, SDB, Salesian Martyr of Auschwitz

Blessed Joseph Kowalski, SDB
Salesian martyr of Auschwitz

“I have to become a saint because this is what I am intended for."

After Poland was occupied, the Salesians continued their work of educating young people.

On May 23rd, 1941: The Gestapo captured Fr. Kowalski along with eleven other Salesians working in Krakow.

At Auschwitz, Fr. Kowalski was given number 17.350.

In secret, he heard confessions, celebrated Mass, said the Rosary, gave clandestine talks, strengthen his fellow prisoners...

He underwent suffering and humiliation.

When he was discovered with a rosary, he refused to trample on it. He was then killed on July 4th, 1942.

What an inspiration as we come to the end of the Month of Mary.

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"Little children, love one another"

The following comes from Fr. George Rutler at Sunlit Uplands:

Before our present time, not so many people lived long enough for hips and knees to wear out. Memories also fade, but that problem of being old is not new: “Even if [your father’s] mind fails, be considerate of him; do not revile him because you are in your prime” (Sirach 3:13). A whole science is developing to stave off forms of dementia. There is also a spiritual dementia that forgets God, but the mystery of the Holy Trinity is the cure for forgetfulness. Pope Francis recently preached: “The Holy Spirit is God active in us, God who helps us remember, who awakens our memory. Jesus himself explains this to the Apostles before Pentecost: ‘the Spirit that God will send in my name will remind you of everything I have said.’”

The Risen Lord helped the two men on the Emmaus Road to remember the prophecies of the Resurrection. The Pope used the image of a road for Christian life: “Memory is a great grace, and when a Christian has no memory — this is a hard thing, but it's true — he is not a Christian; he is an idolater, because he is before a God that has no road, that does not know how to move forward on the road. Our God is moving forward on the road with us, He is among us, He walks with us. He saves us. He makes history with us. Be mindful of all that, and life becomes more fruitful, with the grace of memory.”

Through the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Mother had the Church’s best memory, and she “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Spiritual memory is not like the reminiscence in which our culture engages on Memorial Day, for instance. That is an edifying piety, and Cicero said that to forget one’s past is to remain always a child. But the Holy Trinity transports the soul into an existence not limited by time. That is why the “memorial of the Eucharist” is an actual encounter with Christ and not a form of nostalgia.

We cannot know the full mystery of the Holy Trinity, but unlike oriental forms of mysticism which would obliterate consciousness altogether, we are given an eternal memory when we love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Beloved Disciple said, “We love Him because He loved us” (1 John 4:19). St. John lived until the third year of the reign of the emperor Trajan, which was 100 A.D. He may have had some gerontological decay, for he had to be carried about and kept repeating, “Little children, love one another.” When the Ephesian believers tried to “be considerate of him” by asking why he said only that, over and over again, he replied, “Because this is our Lord's command and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed.”

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Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher with Kristian Stanfill

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Pope Francis: Following Christ is not a career, it is the way of the Cross

(Vatican Radio) We should not reduce the proclamation of Jesus to being a mere cultural ‘gloss’ or ‘veneer’, it must go ‘straight to the heart’ and change us. Moreover, following Jesus ‘does not mean more power’, it is not a ‘career’ because His way is that of the Cross. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at morning Mass Tuesday in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence. Emer McCarthy reports: 

What is our reward in following you? Pope Francis began with the question Peter puts to Jesus. A question, he said, which in the end concerns the life of every Christian. Jesus says that those who follow Him will have "many good things" but "with persecution." The path of the Lord, he continued, "is a road of humility, a road that ends in the Cross." That is why, he added, "there will always be difficulties," "persecution." There will always be, "because He travelled this road before" us. The Pope warned that "when a Christian has no difficulties in life – when everything is fine, everything is beautiful - something is wrong." It leads us to think that he or she is "a great friend of the spirit of the world, of worldliness." The Pope noted this "is a temptation particular to Christians":

"Following Jesus, yes, but up to a certain point: following Jesus because of culture: I am a Christian, I have this culture ... But without the necessity of true discipleship of Jesus, the necessity to travel this His road. If you follow Jesus as a cultural proposal, then you are using this road to get higher up, to have more power. And the history of the Church is full of this, starting with some emperors and then many rulers and many people, no? And even some - I will not say a lot, but some - priests, bishops, no? Some say that there are many ... but they are those who think that following Jesus is a career. "
The Pope recalled that at one time, "in the literature of two centuries ago," it would sometimes be stated that someone "from the time he was a child wanted a career in the church." Here the Pope reiterated that "many Christians, tempted by the spirit of the world, think that following Jesus is good because it can become a career, they can get ahead." But this "is not the spirit". Instead it is Peter’s attitude when he speaks to Jesus about careers and Jesus answers: "Yes, I will give everything with persecution." "You cannot remove the Cross from the path of Jesus, it is always there." Yet, Pope Francis warned, this does not mean that Christians must hurt themselves. The Christian "follows Jesus out of love and when you follow Jesus out of love, the devil’s envy does many things." The "spirit of the world will not tolerate this, does not tolerate this witness":

"Think of Mother Teresa: what does the spirit of the world say of Mother Teresa? 'Ah, Blessed Teresa is a beautiful woman, she did a lot of good things for others ...'. The spirit of the world never says that the Blessed Teresa spent, every day, many hours, in adoration ... Never! It reduces Christian activity to doing social good. As if Christian life was a gloss, a veneer of Christianity. The proclamation of Jesus is not a veneer: the proclamation of Jesus goes straight to the bones, heart, goes deep within and change us. And the spirit of the world does not tolerate it, will not tolerate it, and therefore, there is persecution. "

Pope Francis said those who leave their home, their family to follow Jesus, receive a hundred times as much "already now in this age." A hundred times together with persecution. And this should not be forgotten:


"Following Jesus is just that: going with Him out of love, behind Him: on the same journey, the same path. And the spirit of the world will not tolerate this and what will make us suffer, but suffering as Jesus did. Let us ask for this grace: to follow Jesus in the way that He has revealed to us and that He has taught us. This is beautiful, because he never leaves us alone. Never! He is always with us. So be it".

Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Msgr. José Octavio Ruiz Arenas, president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. It was attended by a group of priests from the Council and staff from the Vatican Power Station and Technical Laboratory of the Governorate of Vatican carpentry, accompanied by Engineer Pier Carlo Cuscianna, Director of Technical Services of the Governorate.

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Memorial Day 2013: Freedom isn't free

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“How could a man this smart be a Catholic?”

The following comes from Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction:

I shudder to think of it now. There I was at a CS Lewis conference and the esteemed teacher Peter Kreeft had been talking about ten things to learn from JRR Tolkien about evil. A brilliant talk. And, at the break, I had a chance to corner Kreeft to ask him a few questions. In the course of that short conversation, he mentioned to me how he had become a Catholic while attending Calvin College.

Everyone else probably knew it, but I didn’t. And I was surprised. But here’s the thing that surprised me and makes me shudder to think of it now: my immediate thought was, “How could a man this smart be a Catholic?”

By the grace of God, I didn’t actually say that to him. I sometimes wonder how he would have reacted if I had. But I didn’t.

And, by the grace of God, my reaction didn’t stop there. I moved on to a pivotal question: “What does he see that I don’t see?”

It was a pivotal question because I then realized my own bigotry and ignorance about Catholicism. All I knew about it was what I had been told by well-meaning (and not so well-meaning) Protestants – or what I had seen in the lives of a few Catholics. I’d read the Chick Tracts. I’d seen The Godfather. What else did I need to know?

I had concocted a lot of answers without ever asking the right questions. I had already rejected something I knew nothing about. And a very short conversation made me realize it.

At any other time of life, I might have left it there – acknowledged my ignorance and gotten on with my life. But at that moment I was already wrestling with some important issues. I was an Anglican and had been watching the implosion of the Episcopal Church in America. I began to wonder, who has the authority to interpret Scripture and establish doctrine?

I thought back to my formative years as a Baptist. There it was mostly a “me and my Bible” sensibility, as it is for so many Protestants. Every individual with his own leather-bound Word of God got to be his own Pope. That was easy.  Just me and Jesus. And if I belonged to a community of believers, that was all right, too. But it was an optional extra.

That didn’t ring true for me. How did millions of “little churches” line up with Jesus’ prayer for unity? Was that only wishful thinking on His part? And who had the authority to say that my interpretation of the Bible might actually be wrong? Very few, and only if I agreed with them.

As an Anglican I had conceded to – no, I actually desired – some semblance of authority and structure. But the founders of Anglicanism were determined not to repeat the “mistakes” of Rome. The reigning Monarch was the head of the Church of England. And the Archbishop of Canterbury would not be the Pope, but the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion worldwide. In other words: no authority, apart from a sweet grandfatherly influence. We have seen in the last decade or so what that really means.

It wasn’t on my mind to leave Anglicanism. I was in for the fight. But the questions nagged at me and I had to wonder what I was fighting for. Catholicism wasn’t an option. Nor was the Eastern version. And yet… that encounter with Peter Kreeft was like a slap in the face. What does he see that I don’t see?

I was determined to find out. I couldn’t imagine myself ever becoming a Catholic, but it was a decent compromise to explore the Ancient Church, believing it was neither Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox.  That was a safe bet. I could be objective and without prejudice. And so I made the effort. As John Henry Newman has pointed out, to go back into history is to find oneself in staunch Catholic territory. Beware!

Since becoming Catholic, I have encountered a lot of people with the same sensibilities I had at that meeting with Peter Kreeft. They think they know Catholicism, but they don’t. They think they know Catholics, but they don’t. And it’s up to us to show them who we really are and truly believe.

And such is life as I find it.

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Ronald Reagan and Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

Mr. President, General, the distinguished guests here with us today, my fellow citizens:

In America's cities and towns today, flags will be placed on graves in cemeteries; public officials will speak of the sacrifice and the valor of those whose memory we honor.

In 1863, when he dedicated a small cemetery in Pennsylvania marking a terrible collision between the armies of North and South, Abraham Lincoln noted the swift obscurity of such speeches. Well, we know now that Lincoln was wrong about that particular occasion. His remarks commemorating those who gave their "last full measure of devotion" were long remembered. But since that moment at Gettysburg, few other such addresses have become part of our national heritage—not because of the inadequacy of the speakers, but because of the inadequacy of words.

I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.

Yet, we must try to honor them—not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.

Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we—in a less final, less heroic way—be willing to give of ourselves.

It is this, beyond the controversy and the congressional debate, beyond the blizzard of budget numbers and the complexity of modern weapons systems, that motivates us in our search for security and peace. War will not come again, other young men will not have to die, if we will speak honestly of the dangers that confront us and remain strong enough to meet those dangers.

It's not just strength or courage that we need, but understanding and a measure of wisdom as well. We must understand enough about our world to see the value of our alliances. We must be wise enough about ourselves to listen to our allies, to work with them, to build and strengthen the bonds between us.

Our understanding must also extend to potential adversaries. We must strive to speak of them not belligerently, but firmly and frankly. And that's why we must never fail to note, as frequently as necessary, the wide gulf between our codes of morality. And that's why we must never hesitate to acknowledge the irrefutable difference between our view of man as master of the state and their view of man as servant of the state. Nor must we ever underestimate the seriousness of their aspirations to global expansion. The risk is the very freedom that has been so dearly won.

It is this honesty of mind that can open paths to peace, that can lead to fruitful negotiation, that can build a foundation upon which treaties between our nations can stand and last—treaties that can someday bring about a reduction in the terrible arms of destruction, arms that threaten us with war even more terrible than those that have taken the lives of the Americans we honor today.

In the quest for peace, the United States has proposed to the Soviet Union that we reduce the threat of nuclear weapons by negotiating a stable balance at far lower levels of strategic forces. This is a fitting occasion to announce that START, as we call it, strategic arms reductions, that the negotiations between our country and the Soviet Union will begin on the 29th of June.

As for existing strategic arms agreements, we will refrain from actions which undercut them so long as the Soviet Union shows equal restraint. With good will and dedication on both sides, I pray that we will achieve a safer world.

Our goal is peace. We can gain that peace by strengthening our alliances, by speaking candidly of the dangers before us, by assuring potential adversaries of our seriousness, by actively pursuing every chance of honest and fruitful negotiation.

It is with these goals in mind that I will depart Wednesday for Europe, and it's altogether fitting that we have this moment to reflect on the price of freedom and those who have so willingly paid it. For however important the matters of state before us this next week, they must not disturb the solemnity of this occasion. Nor must they dilute our sense of reverence and the silent gratitude we hold for those who are buried here.

The willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live never fails to evoke in us a sense of wonder and mystery. One gets that feeling here on this hallowed ground, and I have known that same poignant feeling as I looked out across the rows of white crosses and Stars of David in Europe, in the Philippines, and the military cemeteries here in our own land. Each one marks the resting place of an American hero and, in my lifetime, the heroes of World War I, the Doughboys, the GI's of World War II or Korea or Vietnam. They span several generations of young Americans, all different and yet all alike, like the markers above their resting places, all alike in a truly meaningful way.

Winston Churchill said of those he knew in World War II they seemed to be the only young men who could laugh and fight at the same time. A great general in that war called them our secret weapon, "just the best darn kids in the world." Each died for a cause he considered more important than his own life. Well, they didn't volunteer to die; they volunteered to defend values for which men have always been willing to die if need be, the values which make up what we call civilization. And how they must have wished, in all the ugliness that war brings, that no other generation of young men to follow would have to undergo that same experience.

As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. And let us also pledge to do our utmost to carry out what must have been their wish: that no other generation of young men will every have to share their experiences and repeat their sacrifice.

Earlier today, with the music that we have heard and that of our National Anthem—I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: Does that flag still wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? That is what we must all ask.
Thank you.
                                                                President Ronald Reagan

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Blessed Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi: The Priest Who Stood Up to Mafia

The following comes from First Things:

On May 25, a mere twenty years after his murder, the Italian Catholic priest Don Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi will be beatified. A figure much beloved in Sicily, Puglisi will be the first victim of the mafia to be declared a blessed by the Catholic Church. Puglisi’s beatification is a sign of how a Church once deeply complicit with organized crime came to stand heroically against it.

A native of Brancaccio, perhaps the roughest and poorest neighborhood of Palermo, the young Pino Puglisi was exposed to the dangers of the mob since being ordained a priest in 1960. His first assignment was a village called Godrano in Sicily. In this hamlet of only about one hundred people, fifteen villagers were killed by the mafia near the time of his arrival. Puglisi responded by going door to door to preach reconciliation and forgiveness of one’s enemies.

Much of the Sicilian Church neglected the danger of the mafia. The archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Ernest Ruffini, regarded organized crime as something of a myth blown out of proportion by the media to deflect from the true threat to Italy, communism. In one interview, Ruffini told a journalist that he was not sure whether the mob even existed. Perhaps, he suggested, it was the product of the media’s fantasy. This compelled Puglisi to pressure Church authorities to speak out against the mafia.

When Puglisi returned to Brancaccio as the pastor of St. Gaetano parish in 1990, he became one of organized crime’s biggest opponents. Puglisi railed against the violence of the mob on Sunday mornings, and his Masses attracted increasingly large crowds of Sicilians who felt that finally someone was speaking in defense of their rights.

However, perhaps as important as his strongly worded anti-mafia homilies were Puglisi’s efforts to create an anti-mafia culture: his parish became a center of resistance to Cosa Nostra’s corrupt rule. Puglisi encouraged his flock to stand up and defend itself against the ever-powerful mafia, thus breaking with many Sicilians’ previous practice of omertà, or taking a vow of silence in light of the mafia’s anarchic violence. Puglisi realized that poverty, ignorance, and idleness breed crime, and so he encouraged Brancaccio’s youths to stay in school and tried to structure their free time. He created a soccer field on the territory of his parish for young boys to play rather than be seduced by Cosa Nostra, and he encouraged many of his young parishioners to be altar servers at his Masses.

Puglisi’s courageous stance against the mafia signaled a strong break with previous Brancaccio pastors’ practices. Whereas his predecessors at St. Gaetano grudgingly accepted the influence of the mafia, Puglisi refused money from Mafiosi. However, like many great Christian witnesses courageous enough to deplore injustice, Don Puglisi paid the ultimate price. On September 15, 1993, his fifty-sixth birthday, Don Puglisi was shot and fatally wounded in front of St. Gaetano parish, his assassination ordered by the mafia.

Puglisi quickly became a legend to many Sicilians. Graffiti with Puglisi’s favorite phrase—“And what if somebody did something?”—is spray painted all over Palermo. In 1999, Puglisi’s beatification cause was inaugurated, and in 2013 he will be beatified, much to the joy of many Sicilians.

Puglisi’s heroism is part of a larger movement in the Italian Church to defend the vulnerable against the mafia after years of silence. The first pope to actively battle the terror sowed by the mafia in Southern Italy was John Paul II. Although from Poland, he took his role as the primate of Italy seriously, making pilgrimages all over the Apennine Peninsula. After a series of murders in 1993, John Paul deplored the mafia during a visit to Agriento, Sicily, proclaiming: “I say to those responsible: Convert! One day, the judgment of God will arrive!” As a vendetta against the pope, the mob bombed two historic churches in Rome. One year later, during a visit to Catania John Paul II told victims of the mafia to “rise up and cloak yourself in light and justice.”

After turning a blind eye to the mafia’s sins for centuries, the Italian Church, like John Paul II, in recent years has become perhaps the mob’s most vocal critic. In the 1980s, Archbishop of Palermo Salvatore Pappalardo became the first cardinal to publicly denounce the mafia’s culture of violence, representing a strong break with the stance of his predecessor Cardinal Ruffini. At the same time, many Italian prelates called for the excommunication of convicted mafia leaders. In 2010, Bishop Luigi Renzo of Vibo Velentia in Calabria asked all his priests not to tolerate the participation of Mafiosi in Corpus Christi processions, a practice commonplace in Sicily that until recently the Church ignored.

For many years, prelates tolerated morally questionable leaders for reasons of convenience. Yet Vatican II, which so eloquently spoke of the Church’s need to defend the poor and vulnerable, encouraged the Church worldwide to stop thinking of its short-term privileges and fight for a more just society. One is reminded of the Church’s instrumental role in bringing down communism in the former Eastern Bloc, or its defense of human rights against dictators such as Pinochet, Duvalier, or Marcos.

That Pino Puglisi, who died as recently as 1993, is the first martyr of the mafia to be beatified is a sad reminder of how the Church often previously sacrificed its moral integrity for reasons of convenience. Yet the fact that the Church ultimately broke its ties with the mafia and gave the world a martyr as impressive as Pino Puglisi is a testament to the fortitude of Christian witness.

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Saint of the day: Philip Neri

The following comes from the Patron Saints Index:

Though he was related to Italian nobility, Philip came from a poor family. His father, Francisco Neri, worked as a notary. Philip’s brother died in childhood, but his two sisters, Caterina and Elisabetta survived. Known as a pius youth, Philip was taught humanities by the Dominicans.

Moved to San Germano in 1533 to help some family with their business, and while there would escape to a local Dominican chapel in the mountains. Having received a vision that he had an apostolate in Rome, Philip cut himself off from his family, and went there.

Befriended by Galeotto Caccia who took Philip in and paid him to tutor his two sons. Wrote poetry in Latin and Italian. Studied philosophy and theology. When he tired of learning, he sold all his books and gave the money to the poor.

Began to visit and care for the sick, and impoverished pilgrims. Founded a society of like-minded folk to do the same. Friend of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. A layman, he lived in the city as a hermit. During Easter season of 1544, while praying in the catecomb of San Sebastiano, he received a vision of a globe of fire that entered his chest, and he experienced an ecstasy that physically enlarged his heart.

With Persiano Rose, he founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity. He began to preach, with many converts. In 1550 he considered retiring to the life of a solitary hermit, but received further visions that told him his mission was in Rome. Later he considered missionary work in India, but further visions convinced him to stay in Rome.

Entered the priesthood in 1551. He heard confessions by the hour, could tell penitents their sins before they confessed, and had the gift of conferring visions. He began working with youth, finding safe places for them to play, becoming involved in their lives.

Pope Gregory XIV tried to make him a cardinal, but Philip declined. His popularity was such that he was accused of forming his own sect, but was cleared of this baseless charge. In 1575 he founded the Congregation of the Oratory (Oratorians, a group of priests dedicated to preaching and teaching, but which suffered from accusations of heresy because of the involvement of laymen as preachers. In later years he was beset by several illnesses, each of which was in turn cured through prayer.

“Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life. Therefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits.” – Saint Philip Neri

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Sainthood cause of 16th-century Jesuit moves to Vatican

The following comes from the CNS:

Although it has taken more than 400 years, the sainthood cause of Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci, the 16th-century missionary to China, appears to be back on track.

Bishop Claudio Giuliodori, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Macerata, Italy, where Father Ricci was born in 1552, formally closed the diocesan phase of the sainthood process May 10. The cause now moves to the Congregation for Saints' Causes at the Vatican.

Bishop Giuliodori had met Pope Francis, a Jesuit, at the Vatican the first week of May. He wrote in the Macerata diocesan newspaper, "I never imagined I'd be able to speak about the cause of Father Matteo Ricci with a Jesuit pope. After the great attention given by Benedict XVI, who never missed an occasion to encourage us to promote the cause, we now have the joy of placing it into the hands of a Jesuit."

The bishop said when he spoke to Pope Francis about the cause, the pope highlighted Father Ricci's "innovative method of evangelization based on the inculturation of the faith" and the missionary's courage and humility in learning from the Chinese.

Father Ricci died in Beijing May 11, 1610, and his death was followed by centuries of church debate and even disputes over the extent to which a very limited number of Confucian practices -- including veneration of ancestors -- could be seen as a tolerable part of Chinese social and cultural tradition rather than as religious practices incompatible with Christianity.

Marking the 400th anniversary of Father Ricci's death in 2010, retired Pope Benedict said Father Ricci's life and mission represented a "fortunate synthesis of proclaiming the Gospel and of dialogue with the culture of the people who are receiving it, an example of balance between doctrinal clarity and prudent pastoral action."

Father Ricci is also known for having brought European scientific instruments and knowledge to China, opening up a scientific exchange between the two continents, the now-retired pope had said. However, Father Ricci "didn't go to China to bring science, but to bring the Gospel, to bring God," the pope said.

The diocesan phase of Father Ricci's sainthood cause opened in 1984, but was almost immediately closed when questions were raised about his commitment to pure Christianity. Opened again with Vatican approval in 2010, much of the work the past three years has involved an examination by historians and theologians of Father Ricci's writings and of the writings of those who worked with him, according to the Macerata diocesan website.

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