A new disease

Driving around Springfield this afternoon I discovered a new disease on the marquee of a video rental store:

A prayer from the heart

A few days ago my friend and fellow blogger Sarah posted a lovely prayer to the Savior at Harbor of Aloha:

I want so badly to please You, Lord, with my thoughts, actions, words, and deeds . . . and I need You beside me to guide me. I would love to write resolutions and stand by them like a stubborn kid in a candy store crying for candy! I want to be relentless in my pursuit of pleasing You.

Help me be kind to every single person I meet. If I fail to do so, even in my thoughts, may I quickly ask for pardon and may a Hail, Mary be boldly on my lips!

Help me remember that I have a family to feed and keep . . . so I do not buy "things" on a whim of feelings of wanting, but rather, withhold from buying and just trust You to provide the goods to fill my emptiness. Let me first think of You, then talk to my husband about our budget and tell him what I want/need so we can do this together. If I fail at this, help me remember Your Mother, and how trusting and resourceful She is! I know Her example will encourage me.

That's it. I just want to love You and the gift of my family that You blessed me with. If I'm generous with kindness to all and love my family in all the ways I can (being loving, but also a good steward of the money, gifts, and talents I have, because of You) . . . well, I'm blessed enough.

Amen.

A simple and honest prayer, straight from the heart.

Mahalo, Sarah!

I told you so, or the words of a would-be dictator

I was no supporter of the presidential campaign of then-Senator Obama, for a great many reasons.  Repeatedly I was aksed why I did not support his campaign and I offered many reasons why, not the least of which was that we had seen leaders who rose quickly through the ranks sheerly by their charisma throughout history before, and it rarely ended well.

I pointed out the various difficulties with his experience or lack thereof, with his personality and friendships, and with the direction he said he wanted to take this country, but in the end I settled on the simple and proven example of history.

With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), one of my former students asked me if it was to time to say, "I told you so."  I answered, "Not yet."

Yesterday when commenting on his decision to appoint Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the circumstances of the appointment are, quite frankly, irrelevant), President Obama said (with my emphases):

When Congress refuses to act, and as a result, hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them. I’ve got an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. And I’m not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people that we were elected to serve.

Those, my friends, are the words of a would-be dictator.  A President does not act alone.

And so, now the time has come: I told you so.

The trouble of gift cards

Due to the generosity of a few friends this Christmas I have a couple of gift cards to Barnes & Noble to use, but I'm having some difficulty deciding what to add to my library, though I think I have narrowed my choices down to two books.

The first would be The Complete Far Side.  I love this comic strip and, though I have a few collections of it, I do not have the complete set.  This would proof great bits of random humor during stressful moments.

The second would be the 50th anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings.  Naturally, I have the trilogy already; this would be a nicer volume to keep for reading at home during the winter months when I don't get out much.

Which do you think I should get?

My soul aches... And my joints, too

As the weather in central Illinois continues to ride a sort of roller coaster, my arthritis continues to act up.  Today it has been especially active in the backs of my hips, causing great discomfort when I stand and sit.  Sitting more than ten minutes has proven difficult and standing up again not much easier.

This evening as I lay on the floor (it's the most comfortable place I have at the moment) watching Animaniacs I was reading Hawai'i Magazine where I found a poem from a reader in Plainfield, Illinois that resonates deep in my heart:

My soul aches...
whenever I smell flowers or see a hibiscus.

My soul aches...
when I dream of the ocean or sea a palm tree.

My soul aches...
when I hear IZ or Hapa sing or read Hawai'i Magazine.

My soul aches...
because it wants to go home.

Yes, my soul aches, and my joints, too.

If you would, please remember me in your prayers.  7:00 a.m. Mass will come early tomorrow and I fear my joints may not be in a good state at such an early time of day.  Unless the weather front moves faster than expected.

A new years resolution from Archbishop Dolan

Reflecting on the dawn of the new year, His Excellency the Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, offers a few resolutions for the new year that are both simple and profound:

Everyday, first thing, a morning offering;

Every week, first day, Sunday Mass;

Every month, first Friday, confession [more].

That seems a pretty good way to start the new year.

On the new year

In the West, 1 January is an inaugural day marking the beginning of the civil year. The faithful are also involved in the celebrations for the beginning of the new year and exchange "new year" greetings. However, they should try to lend a Christian understanding to this custom making of these greetings an expression of popular piety. The faithful, naturally, realise that the "new year" is placed under the patronage of the Lord, and in exchanging new year greetings they implicitly and explicitly place the New Year under the Lord's dominion, since to him belongs all time (cf. Ap 1, 8; 22,13).

A connection between this consciousness and the popular custom of singing the Veni Creator Spiritus can easily be made so that on 1 January the faithful can pray that the Spirit may direct their thoughts and actions, and those of the community during the course of the year.

New year greetings also include an expression of hope for a peaceful New Year. This has profound biblical, Christological and incarnational origins. The "quality of peace" has always been invoked throughout history by all men, and especially during violent and destructive times of war.

The Holy See shares the profound aspirations of man for peace. Since 1967, 1 January has been designated "world day for peace."

Popular piety has not been oblivious to this initiative of the Holy See. In the light of the new born Prince of Peace, it reserves this day for intense prayer for peace, education towards peace and those value inextricably linked with it, such as liberty, fraternal solidarity, the dignity of the human person, respect for nature, the right to work, the sacredness of human life, and the denunciation of injustices which trouble the conscience of man and threaten peace.

- Directory on Popular Piety, 116-117

The Death of the Old Year

To close out the old year, I offer you the following poem:

Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,
And the winter winds are wearily sighing:
Toll ye the church bell sad and slow,
... And tread softly and speak low,
For the old year lies a-dying.
Old year you must not die;
You came to us so readily,
You lived with us so steadily,
Old year you shall not die.

He lieth still: he doth not move:
He will not see the dawn of day.
He hath no other life above.
He gave me a friend and a true truelove
And the New-year will take ’em away.
Old year you must not go;
So long you have been with us,
Such joy as you have seen with us,
Old year, you shall not go.

He froth’d his bumpers to the brim;
A jollier year we shall not see.
But tho’ his eyes are waxing dim,
And tho’ his foes speak ill of him,
He was a friend to me.
Old year, you shall not die;
We did so laugh and cry with you,
I’ve half a mind to die with you,
Old year, if you must die.

He was full of joke and jest,
But all his merry quips are o’er.
To see him die across the waste
His son and heir doth ride post-haste,
But he’ll be dead before.
Every one for his own.
The night is starry and cold, my friend,
And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend,
Comes up to take his own.

How hard he breathes! over the snow
I heard just now the crowing cock.
The shadows flicker to and fro:
The cricket chirps: the light burns low:
’Tis nearly twelve o’clock.
Shake hands, before you die.
Old year, we’ll dearly rue for you:
What is it we can do for you?
Speak out before you die.

His face is growing sharp and thin.
Alack! our friend is gone,
Close up his eyes: tie up his chin:
Step from the corpse, and let him in
That standeth there alone,
And waiteth at the door.
There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend,
And a new face at the door, my friend,
A new face at the door.

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

Arthurian scholar receives royal honour

I was very happy to learn recently that Mr. Geoffrey Thomas Leslie Ashe has been named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to culture by Her Majesty the Queen in Her Majesty's New Years Honour's List.

Geoffrey Thomas Leslie Ashe, MBE

As a scholar of things Arthurian, Mr. Ashe has spent many years searching for the historical personage upon whom the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are based, looking especially to the archaeological record.

Some of his books are happily in my library, including his The Discovery of King Arthur, King Arthur: The Dream of a Golden Age, The Landscape of King Arthur, and The Quest for Arthur's Britain.

Having as its motto For God and the Empire, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was founded by King George V in 1917 to honor especially those who served in non-combat roles during World War I.

Although as a Member of the Order, Mr. Ashe cannot be addressed as Sir, this is still a great honor for an illustrious Arthurian. Congratulations, Mr. Ashe!

Day of prayer and fasting in Nigeria

Following the bombings by the Islamist sect Boko Haram - which is still not on the U.S. list of terrorist groups - that killed at least 200 Christians in Nigeria on Christmas Day, the Bishops of Nigeria have declared tomorrow, December 31, to be a day of prayer and fasting.

I will join in solidarity tomorrow with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Nigeria.  Please join me in praying for them and fasting with them.

Persecution Watch

• In 2011, 26 priests, religious and lay pastoral workers were murdered;
• In Uganda, Muslim extremists threw acid in the face of a Protestant bishop, blinding him in one eye and threatening the other;
• In Nigeria, the death toll from the Christmas Day bombings at churches has risen to 200;
• Also in Nigeria, a Christian family has been killed in a machete attack;
• In Iran, government authorities have detained everyone present in an Assemblies of God church;

Bishop visits Brussels church

Yesterday morning His Excellency the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki what remains of St. Mary's church in Brussels and prayed with some of the parishioners.

From The Telegraph:

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese toured the charred remains of St. Mary's Church on Thursday morning and met with parish leaders to offer his support and impart his blessing.

"I think the bishop was taken aback by seeing the church in its present state," said the Rev. Don Roberts of St. Mary's. "He expressed his sympathies to us and gave us every confidence that we will be doing something (to rebuild)."

The historic Brussels church suffered considerable damage in a Christmas Eve fire that destroyed the interior but left the walls standing mostly intact.


Read more: http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/roberts-63949-church-mary.html#ixzz1i3FyZjHM

Please pray for the parishioners of Brussels who have suffered such a tragic loss on Christmas Eve.  Please pray, too, for those involved in the ongoing planning.

It's still Christmas, folks

A priest-friend of mine recently wrote an post at Pray the Mass on the continuing celebration of Christmas.  It is a timely reminder of our Catholic faith and culture.

Here's a bit of it:

I am often struck at the impatience with which some folks end their celebration of Christmas. Today, I walked into the local hospital, when I commented that the registration area looked like it had been remodeled, the admitting nurse looked at me with a blank face and replied, “oh, yeah, they took down all the Christmas stuff!” The reader should note that the Christmas “stuff” had been up since around Thanksgiving – coinciding with what we, in North America, have come to experience as “the Holiday Season.” Not five minutes later I was in the chaplain’s office reviewing the Catholic census when one of the hospital staff chaplains asked, “Father, did you have a nice Christmas?” My cheerful response was, “Yes, and I am still having it, I celebrate Christmas for at least eight days!” “Oh,” he said, “taking a page from the Jewish playbook?!” I stopped for a moment to think about it, and said, “something like that.” I had parishioners to visit and didn’t have time to talk to him about the concept of an “Octave”, but his comment set me to thinking about the origin of this ancient Christian practice of observing certain solemnities as “Octaves.”

Read the rest.

A friendly reminder

To purposely get drunk is always seriously sinful and should be confessed before receiving Holy Communion. If you feel yourself getting tipsy, it's time to stop drinking; it's that simple.

Drinking itself, of course, is not sinful, provided it is done in moderation. Remember what the Psalmist says: "Wine gladdens the heart" (Psalm 104:15), but also remember the words of St. Paul: "Do not get drunk" (Ephesians 5:18).

A modified set of arms

Yesterday Father Guy Selvester, who blogs at Omnia Post, was kind enough to send me a modified rendering of my coat of arms, complete with the insignia of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, for which I am very grateful:

Another CLI Promo Vid

Promo Video: Catholic Leadership Institute 2012

For many years now I have been involved with the Catholic Leadership Institute sponsored by the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.  In the past, the retreat was sponsored by our Office for Family and Youth Ministry, but beginning this year it will be sponsored by our Office for Vocations.

The week-long program teaches young people the qualities of leadership, but specifically those of a Catholic leader so they can return to their parishes as leaders.

A video has been put together for the upcoming CLI 2012 to be held July 15-20:

If you or a young person you know would be interested in attending CLI 2012, please let me know.

Paprocki: Christmas celebrates God's generosity

What follows is the text of the homily preached at Christmas Midnight Mass by His Excellency the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, with my emphases:

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Probably the most famous Christmas story in the world, apart from the Nativity itself, is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It has done much to foster the conviction that Christmas is a time for forgiveness and family gatherings. Not only does the repentant Scrooge send a turkey to his long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit, but Scrooge himself goes to dinner with his nephew and wider family. "Nothing could be heartier," Dickens wrote. "Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, won-der-ful happiness!"

One of the most popular television Christmas specials is A Charlie Brown Christmas. In it, when a frustrated Charlie Brown asks what is the meaning of Christmas, Linus responds with a recitation of Luke's story of the birth of Jesus, the very Gospel we read at Midnight Mass. But, poor Charlie still does not quite "get it," and perhaps neither do we. The real meaning of Christmas is not revealed until the end of the story. Snoopy has won first place in a contest for the best outdoor Christmas decorations. Snoopy's doghouse is a gaudy collection of garland, orna¬ments, and flashing lights. Next to Snoopy's doghouse, Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree that is shedding its needles seems worthless — until the children strip Snoopy's doghouse of its gaudy display and turn the little tree into something magnificent.

Earlier, while rehearsing the Christmas pageant, part of the cause of Charlie Brown's frustration was when Lucy had handed out the scripts. When she gave Sherman his script and told him he was to be a shepherd, he lamented, "Not a shepherd again?! Why do I always have to be a shepherd?!" Despite what we might think of the story of Jesus' birth, the star of the story is not only Jesus. The shepherds also share top billing. This is their story and the story of what God has done for them. It is the story of the ugly little tree that can become magnificent with a little love.

Sherman didn't realize the importance of his role. The co-stars of the Christmas story are the lowly shepherds. Like the story of the ugly little tree made magnificent through love, it is also the story of the shepherds and what God has done for them. It was so great an experience that they left their flocks exposed so that they could be pulled into God's presence.

This is a story of generosity and Christmas celebrates generosity. It is a generosity of love that is affective. It is the story of God's generosity with us. God has come to us, and it can become a story of our generous response to such great a gift.

There is a fairytale quality to Luke's account of the birth of Jesus, where the harsh realities of the actual event are softened by the glow of the miraculous events surrounding it. But if we have no more than a romantic image of it, that does not bear close scrutiny. Luke reminds us of the political realities of the day, with whole populations on the move in order to be registered in the census commanded by Caesar Augustus. The economic reality is just as uncomfortable: the baby is laid in a manger, an animal's feeding box, because no other accommodation is available to poorer people.

It is no accident, therefore, that Luke records that the first to hear of the birth of the Messiah were shepherds, the poorest of the poor, living in the open, moving from place to place with their sheep, having to defend them from wild animals. The words the angel uses are significant: the angel tells the shepherds that a savior has been born "to you" – Jesus is to be their savior, not just the savior of the high and mighty. The shepherds are not expected to believe the words of the angel on their own merit: a sign has been given to them. When they see a child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, the angel's words will be confirmed – the rumor of good news really is Good News.

Suddenly, with the angel, there is a "a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel." The shepherds have a vision of heaven, of a world above and beyond their own, a vision that will inspire them and add a new dimension to their lives. The song of the angels is not a concert performance to bring a little cheer to the shepherds on that first Christmas night; it is, rather, the song of the blessed that is constantly being sung to God.

This reality is evoked at every Mass. During the Preface, some aspect of God's saving work is recounted. Each Preface closes with "And so, with the Angels and all the Saints we declare your glory," or similar words. At that moment, as we join in the "Holy, Holy, Holy," we are with the shepherds in the fields, adding our voices to those of the angels. At that moment, it is as though the veil between heaven and Earth has been torn, enabling us to glimpse God's glory. At that moment, we can imagine that the roof of the church has rolled back, and we can see the spiritual reality of God's kingdom. This vision changes everything for us, and is the key to our life and our faith.

There are times when we can be comforted by the romanticized picture of Christmas with which we are so familiar: the familiar story, the crib, memories of childhood, Christmas ritual. There are times too when we can see behind the story to the coming of God into the harsh realities of human life.

For some people, these harsh realities have only become worse in the past year. Since the uprising in Egypt last January, human rights groups have estimated that as many as 100,000 Christians have fled to the United States to escape rising religious persecution in Egypt. Meanwhile, Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk in northern Iraq said that again this year "Midnight Christmas Mass has been canceled in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk as a consequence of the never-ending assassinations of Christians." He said that 54 Iraqi churches have been bombed and at least 905 Christians have been killed in various acts of violence, while hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq since 2003. We stand in solidarity with them and with persecuted Christians throughout the world.

Closer to home, just this evening, St. Mary Church in Brussels, Illinois, burned down after Mass. No one was hurt, thank God, but the loss of this sacred edifice in our diocese will be devastating for the people of this parish. Let us remember them in our prayers, knowing that Christ's birth is especially meaningful for those who suffer and who long for His coming.

We know that the birth of the Christ child is not just a feel-good story, but it is significant and life-changing for us and for our world. Whenever we face some personal difficulty, or feel down about the state of the world, or are burdened with worries, we can be certain that God is in the middle of it all: the Word has become flesh, and really lives in our midst. The "Holy, Holy, Holy" reminds us of this, not just this Christmas night but every time we come to Mass.

May God give us this grace. Amen.

Catholic church in Nigeria bombed on Christmas Day

Very sad and troubling news comes today from Nigeria, where at least ten people are dead and many wounded after a bomb exploded outside St. Theresa's church in Madala.

This is the just the latest attack on Christians in recent weeks.

Update:

Here is a picture of the blast:

Update 2:

The death toll is now at 27.

Happy Christmas!

On this blessed morn I am delighted to provide for you two versions of one of my favorite Christmas carols, The Carol of the Bells.
The first is from the boys of Libera:

The second, which has been an annual staple on this blog for several years now, is a classic of my childhood from A Claymation Christmas:

Happy Christmas!