Church of the Week

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Deacon Bob

St. Edward’s Church

Austin, Minnesota

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Rejoice, Ye Dour Catholics!!

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Deacon Bob

I ran across a delightful blog post written by Susan Kehoe, the wife of Deacon Larry Kehoe down in Des Moines, Iowa. She entitled the post Catholics Are Not Baptized In Vinegar.

Her blog is: A Deacon’s Wife.

Reminds me of what our pastor has said on a number of occasions: “There is no extra grace attached to bowed heads and somber faces!”

Christian joy is one of the main things that attract others to the faith. We Catholics have more than ample reason to rejoice with all that we have been given and have become as members of Christ’s body. We have been given a full measure of God’s Spirit that beckons us to rejoice in the Lord always.

Yes, I say it again, rejoice!

Thanks, Mrs. Kehoe, for the reminder.

Posted in General Interest, Virtues | 1 Comment

Quote for the Day

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Deacon Bob

“Let them pay attention to what they must desire above all else: to have the Spirit of the Lord and Its holy activity, to pray always to Him with a pure heart, to have humility and patience in persecution and infirmity.” — St. Francis of Assisi

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Reflection on Prayer by Tertullian

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Deacon Bob

Today’s Office of Readings includes a treatise written by Tertullian, an ancient Church writer, which beautifully describes prayer. I want to translate a segment of it from the Italian text I use.

“Therefore [prayer’s] single task is to call back souls from the dead, to sustain the weak, to cure the sick, to free those possessed by demons, to open the gates of prisons, to release the chains of the innocent; prayer washes away sin, repels temptation, extinguishes persecutions, comforts the fearful, encourages those of generous heart, guides the pilgrim, calms the storm, stops the evildoer, sustains the poor, softens the hearts of the rich, raises up the fallen, strengthens the weak, supports the strong.

“Even angels pray, every creature prays. Animals domestic and wild pray and bend the knee. Leaving their stalls or dens, the look to the heavens, not with closed mouths, but filling in their own way the heavens with their shouts. Even the birds, when they awaken, rise to the heavens and in place of hands they open their wings in the form of a cross and chirp something that resembles a prayer.

“But there is one fact that shows more than any other the need to pray. It is this: the the Lord himself prayed.

“To him be honor and power now and forever. Amen.”

I think we at times forget that even the animals of the earth pray in a certain sense. Prayer is at its root adoration of God. Each of God’s creatures was created to give Him honor. Yes, even the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all the wild and tame animals praise God in their own ways.

How much more praiseworthy is the prayer of a man or woman who prays in spirit and truth, as the Gospel says.

The power of prayer…. if only we open ourselves to the presence of God who lives within us.

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North African Bishops Say “No” to War in Libya

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Deacon Bob

The bishops of North Africa have called for an end to military conflict in Libya.

According to Catholic Culture they have said, “We know that war solves nothing, and when it breaks out, it is just as uncontrollable as the explosion of a nuclear reactor. The first victims are always the poorest and most disadvantaged. Moreover, whether we like it or not, the war in the Near East, and now in the Maghreb, will always be interpreted as a ‘crusade.’ This will have inevitable consequences on the friendly relations that Christians and Muslims have woven and continue to weave.”

Amen to that, say I. Well stated. War solves nothing in the long run.

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Gearing up for the 100th birthday of Papa Luciani

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Deacon Bob

Next year, 2012, will be the centenary celebration of Papa Luciani’s birth. As you know from so many of my previous posts, Papa Luciani was Pope John Paul I, for whom I was privileged to have served back in 1978 during his installation Mass as Pope. I have a very special devotion to him, and look forward to day, God willing, when he will be beatified and then canonized a saint. His cause for beatification advances in the Vatican, after being completed in his local diocese, Belluno-Feltre.

There will no doubt during the next year be significant events to celebrate this birthday at his home town of Canale D’Agordo in northeast Italy, situated in the Dolomite mountains. A stunning location. You can log on to: www.parrocchiacanaledagordo.it  to keep updated on planned events there.

There is also an effort on the way to host a Luciani event in the United States, most probably in New York. Dr. Lori Pieper is leading the effort. Lori has translated most of Luciani’s writings into English, and has produced short video clips of John Paul I that can be viewed on YouTube. I would direct you to her website On Pilgrimmage at the lower right under Blogroll.

I will keep you updated on any further developments.

Papa Luciani, pray for us!

Posted in Papa Luciani (Pope John Paul I) | 1 Comment

The Joy of the Diaconate

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Deacon Bob

One of the many joys of being a deacon is baptizing little people. Yesterday I had the privilege of baptizing a five year old boy in the presence of a large family. I was a little concerned that he might be a bit active, and was wondering how to keep him focused during the multiple prayers and anointings, but the little guy was a real trooper. He stood there quietly and proudly. When I motioned for him to come up to the baptismal font, he jumped right up and bent his head over perfectly. (Mom must have been practicing at home!) The same for the anointing with Chrism.

May God bless him in his young life, and may he keep undefiled the light of Christ within him now.

The diaconate is a wonderful vocation! O the joys of it all…. any man out there thinking about it? Ask to talk to the deacon assigned to your parish. You won’t regret it.

Posted in Deacons | 2 Comments

Quote for the Day

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Deacon Bob

“This is not a church issue; this is a civil rights issue, the premier civil rights issue of our day! All we are asking is that the equal protection of the law promised by our beloved constitution be applied to the pre-born baby. All we’re promoting is the noble right to life assured in our nation’s foundational documents, which list the right to life first among those inalienable rights no one has the power to take away.” — Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, January 9, 2011

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Church of the Week

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Deacon Bob

St. Augustine Church

Austin, Minnesota

Posted in Churches of the United States | 2 Comments

In Defense of Religious Freedom

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Deacon Bob

I read an article today written by George Weigel in First Things, entitled, “All War, All the Time.” In it, he writes about the Church’s struggle for religious freedom back in the 1960s through the 1980s in communist countries bent on destroying the Church.

It is somewhat of a longer read, but very intriguing. There are a number of responses posted to the article which are interesting also.

Click on the highlighted link above to go directly to the article.

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The Annuniciation

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Deacon Bob

Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the day on which the angel Gabriel announced to the virgin Mary that she from all eternity had been chosen to be the Mother of God, and she gave her fiat, “Let it be done.”

From all eternity, God had willed that the Second Person of the Trinity would become man, take on our human nature without any loss of his divinity, without any change to his divine person. From all eternity, God willed that we would be redeemed from our sin, from our rejection of God’s will, and that Mary was his chosen instrument through whom he would work his plan of salvation. Mary was that “empty space” in which God would come into this world as a man.

Some say we Catholics put Mary on too high of a pedestal. God is the one who exalts Mary. Mary is the example of who we all are called to be. It was by divine choice and a singular grace given to Mary that she was conceived without the stain of original sin, that she was prepared by the merits of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, to be the person through whom God would assume humanity, and in doing so, exalt all of us to our dignity as sons and daughters of God.

Just as we are who we are by God’s design and his grace, so too, Mary is who she is by grace and divine choice. In her exaltation, we too are exalted.

Nine months from today is Christmas. Today’s celebration of the Annunciation marks God’s coming into the world, Jesus’ conception. On Christmas, we will celebrate his birth. Without today, that is Mary’s consent to the will of God, her cooperation with God’s grace and choice, Christmas would not exist.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee!

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A Mirror of the World

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Deacon Bob

I would like to alert you to something a friend of mine from Germany, Achim Furniss, has started recently. He has a website Speculum Mundi which is an opportunity for people throughout the world to exchange ideas, concerns and other things they find of importance in their countries or in the world.

Achim is a very interesting man, a Lutheran pastor, and an entrepreneur of sorts, whose daughter was a foreign exchange student in my home a number of years ago. He and a Italian man by the name of Valter have been pen pals of mine for the past few years.

The website is set up so you can post and read messages in English, Italian, German or French. Pick your language. If you want to be a contributor, just register as a new user. Achim does the managing and monitoring of the site.

This is an effort to use the Internet to foster international dialogue and understanding among cultures…. a mirror of the world!

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Quote for the Day

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Deacon Bob

“It is Jesus you want to see, to gaze upon, to think about deeply and with desire to imitate.” – St. Claire of Assisi

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Homemade Bomb Thrown at Pro-Life Prayer Vigil

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Deacon Bob

Two homemade explosive devices were apparently thrown from a vehicle at two Kalispell, Montana locations last Thursday, including one directed at a pro-life prayer vigil. The other was in front of a department store. Both exploded within 15 minutes of each other.

The pro-life prayer vigil was part of the 40 Days for Life campaign.

Karen Trierweiller, the coordinator of the Kalispell’s vigil was critical of the Kalispell Police Department’s response. According to an interview conducted by Relevant Radio, the target of the bomb was an elderly woman on a public sidewalk, quietly praying.

The Thomas More Society, which is a pro-life law center has contacted the FBI to investigate.

This hasn’t been reported in the new from what I can ascertain, except for the local newpaper Daily Inter Lake.

Can you imagine the coverage it would have received if the bomb had been directed at a pro-abortion provider?

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Extra Year of Philosophy On The Way!!

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Deacon Bob

Yesterday, the Vatican released the “Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy” which updated norms issued in 1979. It calls for an additional year of philosophy study before a student can earn a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from a church-recognized  institution.

The document indicates that the Catholic Church must respond to the increasingly widespread notion that there is no such thing as permanent, objective truth. We all have been exposed and influenced by this modern error which says truth is relative to the individual’s situation and experience.

There has been a culural shift in the concept of truth, and a mistrust in so many of the capacity of human intelligence to arrive at objective and universal truth which gives direction to our lives.

Being a graduate with a philosophy degree (a field of study I love, I might add) I welcome this effort on the part of the Church’s teaching mission. People can and must know that there is such a thing as real love, real truth. To deny that is ultimately to deny the existence of God. Reason alone can bring us to the realization that Truth and God and objectivity exists in the realm of epistemology – that branch of philosophy dealing with how we know what we know.

If you read Italian, log on to: The Vatican to review the document. You can also read a summary at The Catholic News Service.

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