Answered prayers

Here in Effingham, we did not see much of the sun - if anything - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. It was rainy and windy and cool and damp.

Yesterday morning when I awoke the week's weather took a great toll on my body, leaving me feeling tired and weak with precious little energy. Naturally, it was First Friday, a day when energy is needed. I made my usual rounds, trying to be as cheerful as possible.

When I arrived at what I affectionately call the St. Anthony of Padua Retirement Monastery - an assisted living facility in our parish bounds where a dozen or more Catholics gather each morning to pray the Divine Chaplet and to intercede for each other and all who call upon them - I asked them to pray that the weather would change and the sun would emerge once again.

The forecast at the time called for more clouds, more rain, and more cool temperatures Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

They must have prayed fervently for me and for them. The sun is now shining brightly and the skies are blue! I feel rested and well. God be praised, who listens attentively to the humble cry of his children!

A few pictures

In my visits to Hawaii I have met several people who have become good friends. Esther blogs at A Catholic Mom in Hawaii and Easter blogs at A Tribute to Our Priests.

Easter has a posted a few pictures she took when I was visiting and blessing parishioners of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace this past February. These pictures have greatly lifted my spirit while at the same time increasing my longing to return to Hawaii soon. I'm very grateful for these pictures, and for her kind words; truly, I am humbled.

In honor of the day

The dying words of Pope Saint Pius V were these: "Lord, increase my sufferings but also my patience."


His words are a reminder to us of the redemptive power of suffering, both for ourselves and for others, if suffered well. For this reason he asked for an increase of patience.


So often we - or at least I - only want to ask the Lord for an increase of patience (which, experience has shown, can often be a dangerous request in and of itself), but to ask for an increase of sufferings? This seems contrary to reason. It is the foolishness of the Cross that is wiser than human wisdom.


To utter these words of Saint Pius takes great faith, humility and courage. May this holy Pastor obtain for us an increase in these virtues so that we might say with him, "Lord, increase my sufferings but also my patience."

Sometimes you just need a good laugh

...and that's why I like my friends.

I slept little through the night, in no small part because I was reading a book about Father Damien until midnight (I couldn't put it down). I awoke at 6:20 to a telephone call that should not have been made so early in the day.

The lack of sleep, combined with the heavy rain and resulting weak hips, finds me a bit irritable today, which I hope will soon pass now that the sun has peaked through the clouds and the birds are chirping.

At any rate, before I left my office to celebrate Mass, I left my Facebook status as, "Daren is celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass."

When I returned to my office a few moments ago, I saw that one of my friends commented on my status, saying, "While on Facebook? I don't think the pope would like that very much." Hilarious! And probably true :)

You don't see this everyday

Yesterday's track meet lasted three and a half hours - for two teams - because only one event was done at a time. It was bizarre and cold.

Once the meet finally ended we drove from Shelbyville to Mattoon to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings before returning to Effingham. It's a bit out of the way, but the food is good and it's become a bit of a Tuesday tradition.

As you drive bewteen Shelbyville and Mattoon on Highway 16 you pass through Gays, Illinois, a very small town of just over 25o inhabitatns, with a peculiar landmark: the nation's first two-story outhouse (there are apparently others):

It even has an activity sign for tourists on the side of the highway that reads, "Historical Two Story Outhouse 1872." Seeing the sign, we simply had to stop by and take a look.

I suppose the Diocese has one claim to fame that few others have.

Around the blogosphere

Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI prayed at the tomb of his predecessor, Pope Celestine V. Father Toborowsky tells us a bit about this Bishop of Rome. Meanwhile, Father Selvester comments on the Holy Father’s visit to l’Aquila.

In advance of tomorrow’s memorial of Pope Saint Pius V, Godz Dogz has a post about him.

As we enter into spring and gear up for summer, Father Benjamin Sember reflects on modesty.

In honor of the day

Saint Peter Chanel - whose memorial we celebrate today - is known as the Proto-martyr of Oceania and the Apostle of the South Seas for his missionary efforts on the island of Futuna.(McNamara has a post on him today).

The night before he died, aware of King Niuliki's orders for him to be killed, Peter said, "It does not matter whether or not I am killed; the religion has taken root on the island; it will not be destroyed by my death, since it comes not from men but from God."

His words are a reminder to us that the world does not rest on our shoulders. All that matters in the end is whether or not the faith remains, whether we have strengthed the faith.

This is, perhaps, something that priests especially must remember. A certain priest may reach a certain segment of the population better than others. A certain priest may have been at a parish for a good length of time and done much good work there, such that priests before him were unable to do. But that priest is not necessary; he is the instrument of the Lord and it matters not whether he lives or dies.

Let each of us ask the Lord this day for the humility of Saint Peter Chanel.

Bright moments

It is a cool sixty-three degrees here in Effingham, with low, grey clouds and a good dose of humidity. The air feels thick and stuffy.

Hence, the weather has most of us around the office and high school feeling a bit sluggish, though our humor remains. Even in the midst of a gloomy and dismal day, there are always bright moments:
The dogwood looks far more impressive and bright in person than this picture shows. The picture is taken across the street from the rectory, looking to the rear of the church. The tree covers the front entryway.

This afternoon we are supposed to have a track meet in Shelbyville, and none of us seem to keen on going. We're hoping for it to be rained out, but there is only a 30% of rain for the duration of the meet.

We will go and, in the end, we will have a good time and I'm sure our kids will compete well.

After the meet there will be another bright moment: dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. If you haven't tried that parmesan garlic chicken flatbread, you should.

On another bright note, yesterday I ordered a pair of swimming goggles that have some sort of optical strength to them; they arrived today. They aren't perfect for my vision, but, though are a bit blurry, the diopters are such that I will now at least be able to see both faces and even read some signs. Perhaps these will help spur me back into the pool and get back to exercising. I've grown a bit lazy lately.

What does it mean to be a postulant?

Sr. M. Benedicta of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George disucsses postulancy within her order:

Be sure to watch the video, if only for the pictures.

Around the blogosphere

Jimmy Akin has an informative post on Genesis and the Big Bang theory. I didn’t know that the author of the theory of the Big Bang was a Belgian priest, Father Georges Lemaitre. Thanks, Jimmy!

Catholic World News carries a story quoting Cardinal George saying President Obama is “on the wrong side of history” when it comes to abortion. Catholic World News also carries the story.

Hearing that some in the Israeli government are urging Pope Benedict XVI not to bring the “Popemobile” with him for his pilgrimage next month, the Curt Jester has drawn up a new Popemobile for the trip.


Father Selvester discusses the value – or lack thereof – of shops that promise to give a detailed description of your "family coat of arms".

Message for the 46th World Day of Prayer for Vocations

To borrow a phrase from America's favorite pastime (one that I find very dull), in his Message for the World Youth Day 2009, Pope Benedict XVI hit one out of the ballpark. He's done it again with his Message for the Forty-sixth World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Here is the Message in full, with my comments and emphases, a la Fr. Z.

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,Brothers and Sisters,

On the occasion of the next World Day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life, which will be celebrated on 3 May 2009, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, I want to invite all the People of God to reflect on the theme: Faith in the divine initiative - the human response. [So often we hear of a so-called "vocations shortage," as though the Lord somehow stopped calling men to his service as priests and men and women to consecrate themselves to him. The Holy Father is right to focus instead on the human response, which sadly so often is lacking today in the West.]The exhortation of Jesus to his disciples: “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38) has a constant resonance in the Church. Pray! The urgent call of the Lord stresses that prayer for vocations should be continuous and trusting. The Christian community can only really “have ever greater faith and hope in God's providence” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 26) if it is enlivened by prayer.

The vocation to the priesthood and to the consecrated life constitutes a special gift of God which becomes part of the great plan of love and salvation that God has for every man and woman and for the whole of humanity [none of us is saved alone]. The Apostle Paul, whom we remember in a special way during this Pauline Year dedicated to the Two-thousandth anniversary of his birth, writing to the Ephesians says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ef 1:3-4). In the universal call to holiness, of particular relevance is God’s initiative of choosing some to follow his Son Jesus Christ more closely, and to be his privileged ministers and witnesses [we didn't make this up]. The divine Master personally called the Apostles “to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mk 3:14-15); they, in turn, gathered other disciples around them as faithful collaborators in this mission. In this way, responding to the Lord’s call and docile to the movement of the Holy Spirit, over the centuries, countless ranks of priests and consecrated persons placed themselves totally at the service of the Gospel in the Church. Let us give thanks to God, because even today he continues to call together workers into his vineyard. While it is undoubtedly true that a worrisome shortage of priests is evident in some regions of the world, and that the Church encounters difficulties and obstacles along the way, we are sustained by the unshakable certitude that the one who firmly guides her in the pathways of time towards the definitive fulfilment of the Kingdom is he, the Lord, who freely chooses persons of every culture and of every age and invites them to follow him according to the mysterious plans of his merciful love [The current situation will improve, for the Lord will always give us the ministers we need].

Our first duty, therefore, is to keep alive in families and in parishes, in movements and in apostolic associations, in religious communities and in all the sectors of diocesan life this appeal to the divine initiative with unceasing prayer [Sadly, this is often the first thing we fail to do, though it is the first thing commended by the Lord]. We must pray that the whole Christian people grows in its trust in God, convinced that the “Lord of the harvest” does not cease to ask some to place their entire existence freely at his service so as to work with him more closely in the mission of salvation [again, the Lord has not stopped calling]. What is asked of those who are called, for their part, is careful listening and prudent discernment, a generous and willing adherence to the divine plan, and a serious study of the reality that is proper to the priestly and religious vocations, so as to be able to respond responsibly and with conviction.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly reminds us that God’s free initiative requires a free response on the part of men and women; a positive response which always presupposes acceptance of and identification with the plan that God has for everyone; a response which welcomes the Lord’s loving initiative and becomes, for the one who is called, a binding moral imperative, an offering of thanksgiving to God and a total cooperation with the plan which God carries out in history (cf. n. 2062).

Contemplating the mystery of the Eucharist, which expresses in a sublime way the free gift of the Father in the Person of his Only Begotten Son for the salvation of mankind, and the full and docile readiness of Christ to drink to the dregs the “cup” of the will of God (cf. Mt 26:39), we can more readily understand how “faith in the divine initiative” models and gives value to the “human response”. In the Eucharist, that perfect gift which brings to fulfilment the plan of love for the redemption of the world, Jesus offers himself freely for the salvation of mankind. “The Church”, my beloved predecessor John Paul II wrote, “has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as a gift – however precious – among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 11).

It is priests who are called to perpetuate this salvific mystery from century to century until the Lord’s glorious return, for they can contemplate, precisely in the Eucharistic Christ, the eminent model of a “vocational dialogue” between the free initiative of the Father and the faithful response of Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist it is Christ himself who acts in those whom he chooses as his ministers; he supports them so that their response develops in a dimension of trust and gratitude that removes all fear, even when they experience more acutely their own weakness (cf. Rm 8:26-28), or indeed when the experience of misunderstanding or even of persecution is most bitter (cf. Rm 8:35-39).

The awareness of being saved by the love of Christ, which every Mass nourishes in the faithful and especially in priests, cannot but arouse within them a trusting self-abandonment to Christ who gave his life for us. To believe in the Lord and to accept his gift, therefore, leads us to entrust ourselves to Him with thankful hearts, adhering to his plan of salvation [this is the key]. When this does happen, the one who is “called” voluntarily leaves everything and submits himself to the teaching of the divine Master; hence a fruitful dialogue between God and man begins, a mysterious encounter between the love of the Lord who calls and the freedom of man who responds in love, hearing the words of Jesus echoing in his soul, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (Jn 15:16) [Go ahead, read that paragraph again].

This intertwining of love between the divine initiative and the human response is present also, in a wonderful way, in the vocation to the consecrated life. The Second Vatican Council recalls, “The evangelical counsels of chastity dedicated to God, poverty and obedience are based upon the words and examples of the Lord. They were further commanded by the apostles and Fathers of the Church, as well as by the doctors and pastors of souls. The counsels are a divine gift, which the Church received from its Lord and which it always safeguards with the help of His grace” (Lumen Gentium, 43).

Once more, Jesus is the model of complete and trusting adherence to the will of the Father, to whom every consecrated person must look. Attracted by him, from the very first centuries of Christianity, many men and women have left families, possessions, material riches and all that is humanly desirable in order to follow Christ generously and live the Gospel without compromise, which had become for them a school of deeply rooted holiness. Today too, many undertake this same demanding journey of evangelical perfection and realise their vocation in the profession of the evangelical counsels. The witness of these our brothers and sisters, in contemplative monasteries, religious institutes and congregations of apostolic life, reminds the people of God of “that mystery of the Kingdom of God is already at work in history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven” (Vita Consecrata, 1).

Who can consider himself worthy to approach the priestly ministry? Who can embrace the consecrated life relying only on his or her own human powers? [No one, of course.] Once again, it is useful to reiterate that the response of men and women to the divine call, whenever they are aware that it is God who takes the initiative and brings His plan of salvation to fulfilment, is never patterned after the timid self-interest of the worthless servant who, out of fear, hid the talent entrusted to him in the ground (cf. Mt 25:14-30), but rather expresses itself in a ready adherence to the Lord’s invitation, as in the case of Peter who, trusting in the Lord’ word, did not hesitate to let down the net once more even after having toiled all night and catching nothing (cf. Lk 5:5). Without in any sense renouncing personal responsibility, the free human response to God thus becomes “co-responsibility”, responsibility in and with Christ, through the action of his Holy Spirit; it becomes communion with the One who makes it possible for us to bear much fruit (cf. Jn 15:5).

An emblematic human response, full of trust in God’s initiative, is the generous and unmitigated “Amen” of the Virgin of Nazareth, uttered with humble and decisive adherence to the plan of the Most High announced to her by God’s messenger (cf. Lk 1:38). Her prompt “Yes” allowed Her to become the Mother of God, the Mother of our Saviour. Mary, after this first “fiat”, had to repeat it many times, even up to the culminating moment of the crucifixion of Jesus, when “standing by the cross of Jesus” as the Evangelist John notes, she participated in the dreadful suffering of her innocent Son [our "Yes" must also be repeated many times]. And it was from the cross, that Jesus, while dying, gave her to us as Mother and entrusted us to her as sons and daughters (cf. Jn 19:26-27); she is especially the Mother of priests and consecrated persons. I want to entrust to her all those who are aware of God’s call to set out on the road of the ministerial priesthood or consecrated life.

Dear friends, do not become discouraged in the face of difficulties and doubts; trust in God and follow Jesus faithfully and you will be witnesses of the joy that flows from intimate union with him. Imitating the Virgin Mary whom all generations proclaim as blessed because she believed (cf. Lk 1:48), commit yourselves with every spiritual energy, to realise the heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, cultivating in your heart, like her, the ability to be astonished and to adore him who is mighty and does “great things”, for Holy is his name (cf. Lk 1:49).

What to preach

This coming Sunday is the forty-sixth World Day of Prayer for Vocations and I cannot decide what to preach for the occassion. So far as I can tell, I have three options:

1. Go the usual way and preach simply from the assigned readings for the day;
2. Preach from Pope Benedict XVI's Message for the day; or
3. Share my own vocation story.

I don't know that I have a preference for any one option, so I'd like your input. What should I do? Simply leave a comment and, if you wouldn't mind, your rationale.

Two years ago I shared the story of my vocation on the occassion of the forty-fourth World Day of Prayer for Vocations. How often is too often? Is it too soon to share it again? Have I waited too long? Incidentally, I preached it two years ago at the same Masses (time wise) I will celebrate this weekend, so the same people might hear it again, or maybe not.

Please, what do you think?

Don't forget

You have until Friday to submit your nominations for the 2009 Carolina Cannonball Blog Awards for the "little guys" in the Catholic blogging world.

A number of nominees have already been submitted. Be sure to have a look at the nominees and nominate your favorite blogs in the appropriate categories.

A heart stolen by Christ

In the April 2009 issue of First Things, the late Father Richard John Neuhaus offers a quote by Henri de Lubac regarding what Neuhaus calls being an “ecclesiastical Christian” (93). In The Splendor of the Church, de Lubac writes:

Anyone who is possessed by a similar desire will not find it enough to be loyal or obedient to perform exactly everything demanded by his profession of the Catholic faith. Such a man will have fallen in love with the beauty of the house of God; the Church will have stolen his heart.

“Which is to say,” says Neuhaus, “that Christ has stolen his heart.”

Friday afternoon I celebrated Mass in the church for the high school students. It was a beautiful day Friday and the students walked the three blocks from the high school to the church at 2:00 p.m. Perhaps not the best idea before Mass.

I remember being in high school, which may have something to do with why I get along so well with the high school students. I remember the excitement of a Friday afternoon, especially so close to the end of the school day. I remember the restlessness of a beautiful spring day. But I also remember knowing the proper attitude of one inside a church in the presence of God.

Upon entering the church most of the students apparently failed to remember not only what building they had entered but also whose presence they had entered. The talked loudly, few genuflected and even fewer seemed to pray.

My blood, one might say, began to boil. I reminded them that ought to be quiet in a church, both to pray and, even should they not wish to pray, to allow others the opportunity to pray. It was an admonition that fell apparently on deaf ears.

In that moment I realized I was angry because of the tremendous lack of respect shown to the Eucharistic Lord. I was angry because of the offense given him.

I could have been angry because the students had failed to listen to or take to heart what I have so often said to them in other contexts, but I was not. I was angry on behalf of the Lord, because, as Neuhaus says, he had stolen my heart.

This afternoon before Mass in which our second graders received the Precious Body and Blood of the Lord for the first time, the situation was much the same as Friday afternoon. People were visiting loudly and the noise level was such that anyone who was able to stay focused in prayer must surely already be a Saint.

I was angry once again on behalf of the Lord.

How is this lamentable and dangerous situation to be righted when the children learn it from their parents? We try to impress upon the children – both younger and older – the great importance of the Eucharist, that the Lord is truly Risen and present among us – and the adults treat the church as a theatre, as though God were absent and irrelevant.

This morning at Mass, a young lady approached to receive Holy Communion. “The Body of Christ,” I said to her. She simply looked at me, with hands outstretched to receive the Lord. I said, “Amen?” She whispered it back and so I gave her Holy Communion. She started to walk, apparently with no intention of consuming the Eucharist. I abandoned my post in pursuit and grabbed her elbow. “Are you going to consume it,” I asked. She did so.

I realized at that moment that I would gladly give my life in defense of the Holy Eucharist. Yes, Christ has stolen my heart, and I am glad to me an ecclesiastical Christian.

From a very young age I fell in love with the beauty of the house of God. How do I help others do the same? How do I show them the beauty of the Church? How can I help them experience the wondrous love of Christ?

Homily - 26 April 2009

The Third Sunday of Easter (B)

“Lord, let your face shine on us” (Psalm 4:7).

With these words the Psalmist expresses the primordial longing of every human heart to see God. Can this desire be fulfilled? Is it possible for us to see God? Yes, it is possible, because he has shown himself to us.

The disciples first followed Jesus when he said to them, “Follow me,” because they were seeking the face of God (Matthew 4:19). Little did they know that when they looked upon Jesus they looked upon the face of God. If we have not come here today seeking the face of God, I do not know why we have come.

The human longing to see the face of God “recognizes God as a person, a being concerned about us, who hears and sees us, speaks to us, and can love us and be angry at us – as the God who is above all and yet still has a face.”[1] It is the recognition of a relationship that we long to have with him and he with us.

It is a bold request we make today with the Psalmist, asking to see the face of God, a request that even Moses was refused.

Moses said to God, “I beg you, show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). The Lord answered his request, saying, “I will make my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim my name “The Lord”… But…you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:19-20).

As he passed by, the Lord said, “I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:22-23). So great is the Lord’s love for us that he shields us from the light of his face that burns whatever is not pure.

And yet, is this not precisely what we want, to pull back the veil, as it were, to see his glory, to see God as he really is, face to face? For this reason the Psalmist sings, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God” (Psalm 42:2)?

To look upon the face of God is to experience absolute and perfect happiness, for he is Goodness, Beauty and Truth. To see his face is to look upon “the Author of life” (Acts 3:11).

Every member of the Church must live his or her life as one "in love with Christ, attracted by him and determined to make [his or her] own life a continuous quest for his Holy Face."[2]

Is this not, ultimately, what Saint Peter means when he says, "Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away" (Acts 3:19)?

Saint Peter knew well the face of Christ, having lived with him for three years, and he knew well the grace of repentance.

After having thrice denied knowing him, "Jesus turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord...and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61-62). What did he see in that face?

When Peter, at that moment, looked into the eyes of Jesus, he knew that, as Saint John says, "He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world" (I John 2:2).

In that moment, Peter must have begun to realize - if only in an impartial way - the words Jesus said only the night before: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

Is this not why we so often seek to hide from Jesus? We do not want to acknowledge our sins. We do not want to weep bitterly. Yet it was precisely this that Saint Peter found necessary to follow Jesus faithfully and receive his peace. For this reason he says to us, “Repent, and be converted!”

The Lord let his countenance – the light of his face - shine upon Peter and he knew the forgiveness of Jesus, the mercy for which the Lord would soon die to give to him (cf. Psalm 4:7). This is why the Risen Savior stood today in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you" (John 24:37). If we seek his face he will let the light of his face shine upon us, too, and he will say to us, “Peace be with you.”

The disciples stood before him "startled and terrified" because – although their sins were forgiven – they knew how greatly their sins had offended God and how greatly they had failed him (Luke 24:38). Even so, they did not hide from his face, but looked upon it in love and fear, and thus, contemplating his face they knew peace.

My brothers and sisters, each of us must seek his face. King David tells us that the “generation” who seeks “the face of the God of Jacob” lives rightly (Psalm 24:6). Who is the one who seeks his face? It is “he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4). In short, the one who seeks his face keeps his commandments and “the love of God is perfected in him” (I John 2:5). We could say, “seeing happens through a manner of living that we call following after.”[3]

This afternoon I was driving back to Effingham from a track meet in Robinson. I have never been very good with directions. I recognized little of my surroundings as I drove away from Robinson, so I asked my passengers, “Are we on the right road?” They assured me we were.

This is a good question, is it not? It presupposes that we know the destination. Are we, my friends, on the right road? Are we on the way that leads to the face of God, to the satisfaction of the deepest longing of every heart? Have we set ourselves firmly behind Jesus Christ?

“This is the path of Christ, the way of total love that overcomes death” that leads to the light of his face.[4]

When the Lord turns his face toward us, he puts gladness into our hearts (cf. Psalm 4:8). For this reason, the Psalmist sings, “As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O Lord, bring security to my dwelling” (Psalm 4:9).

He speaks here not of the common sleep, but of the sleep of death. He knows that the Lord will answer his deepest longing, that having sought the face of God he will behold it.

The lives of the saints “assure us that if we follow this path, the way of love, with fidelity, we too, with the Psalmist, will be satisfied with God’s presence.”[5] Let us, too, seek his face. Amen!

[1] Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, On the Way to Jesus Christ, Michael J. Miller, trans. (San Francisco, California: Ignatius Press, 2004), 20.
[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 1 September 2006.
[3] Ratzinger, 16.
[4] Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 1 September 2006.
[5] Ibid.

In honor of the day

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622), whose memorial we may celebrate today, was baptized Mark Roy and was known as the “poor man’s lawyer” before he entered the Capuchin Order.

He was appalled by the actions of his fellow lawyers and sought to leave their society in search of holiness. Before he entered the Order, he said, “Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.” It is as if he said, “Gather the fragments [of my life] leftover, so that nothing will be wasted” (John 6:12).

He would not allow himself to be apathetic or complacement in the faith, but would give himself wholeheartedly to the Lord. For this reason he took the name Fidelis (faithful) when he received the Fanciscan habit. Would that each of us followed his example!

Let us beg his intercession this day, that we, too, may be found wholehearted soldiers in the service of our thorn-crowned Captain. Let us heed well his advice:

We must be convinced of the necessity of havng a living, authentic, and active faith. That is all the more true today, when we face so many difficulties. It is not enough to have a vague, weak, or uncertain faith.

In the end, he was found as one "worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name" and received the martyr's crown (Acts 5:41). Let us follow him, that we may "dwell in the house of the Lord" with him (Psalm 27:4).

Two things

Fr. Longenecker has a good post asking, "resurrection or reincarnation?"

Brother Lawrence has a great post on Julian of Norwich over at Godz Dogz.

A little Catholic humor

State - and maybe federal - law requires the placement of signs in every classroom describing what actions should be taken in the event of a disaster.

For example, we have the following signs in the chapel at the high school:

EARTHQUAKE: Drop to the floor, seek shelter, cover your head

FIRE ESCAPE: Go up the north stairs, exit the building - walk to the track, stay with your teacher

TORNADO: Proceed to the north corridor, stand facing the wall

But also in the chapel is a sign that is found in no other room, which may even have been my idea (I can't quite remember), but I only noticed it this morning after Mass:

In the event of the Second Coming... Drop to your knees and beg God's mercy.

Track meets and homilizing

This past Saturday I travelled with the track team to a meet in Pana, Illinois. We left Effingham about 7:30 a.m. (I think) and I returned to Effingham right about 4:00 p.m.

The track at the Pana high school is surrounded by a field of grass where the various teams set up camp, as it were, with tents and blankets. The whole scene reminded me of a fair, or a battle field (I often think in medieval terms).

The whole day proved to be a most enjoyable one. There is something about simply camping out all day that adds a light-hearted feel to the day.

The tent we had could be raised to two levels, one being half-way (about 3 feet high) and the other fully extended (high enough to walk under the tent). Naturally, we initially set it up high, but about an hour later one of the boys said something to the effect that it would be more fort-like if we lowered it, so we did. It was actually a pretty good idea because it also helped keep the sun out. I didn't think to take a picture of the tent, but this gives you a pretty good idea of what we did:

I always bring a camera to long events such as this because it adds one more distraction for the boys and another way to keep occupied.

I spent a good part of the day under the tent working on my homily for the Sunday Mass. It's a process that typically takes anywhere from two to five hours, depending on the readings and when or how thoughts occur to me for it.

The work usually begins on the preceeding Sunday afternoon. I read the coming Sunday's readings and then on Monday I read them again. The readings sort of perculate in my mind for a few days as I wait for some form of inspiration to hit me as I read through a few commentaries and other books.

This particular Saturday nothing really came to mind until I was sitting under that tent. Fortunately I brought my pad with me to start writing. As I wrote the notepad was passed around a few times and the boys offered their suggestions (all of which, I think, were rejected; they kept saying something about making it shorter, and shorter, and shorter).

I usually start out jotting down a few thoughts on paper, which at some point turn into sentences and a few paragraphs. Once I have my thoughts flowing I hop onto a computer and type what I've written, adding thoughts here and there.

Once the typed version nears completion I print it out and scribble all over it. After typing the new scribbles, I print it and scribble again, which then usually leads to the final version.

Delectable news

When I was in Quincy a couple of weeks ago for the inagauguration of Dr. Gervasi as the President of Quincy University I brought back with me ten pounds of sour balls. Tomorrow I will undoubtedly run out of sour balls.

Knowing that I won't get back to Quincy for some time I e-mailed a friend of mine who works for the company where I buy the sour balls (Kirlins) and asked if they might ship the sour balls to the store in Effingham because it doesn't carry them.

A few hours later I received the happy reply in the affirmative. This will not only keep the high school students happy, but the principal, guidance counselor and dean of students, as well.